Tuesday, December 3, 2069 - 4:45 PM Eastern
At the top of the Potemkin Central tower, a battle royale is taking place, with strangely robed and garbed persons chanting around a statue in the center of the garden, factions split up at northern and western ends trying to assault them and push them back. The statue itself stares blindly at the proceedings, a bare-skinned man dressed in naught but a lion's pelt loincloth, his arms swept back holding a massive globe of Earth over his head. The lines that define the longitudes and latitudes are glowing brightly.
With the elimination of the Fae on the east and their shield rune, the glowing sphere protecting the chanters in the middle of the globe has begun to flicker. To the north and west, battle rages between rival factions as they attempt to press the other Map ceremony defenders back against the shield, where hopefully if the shield disruption favors them, they'll be in range to lunge inward and assault the chanters directly.
Yappy secures what looks like a horn, rimmed in brass and made from the curling horn of some giant deer-like creature. The scrawny brown-furred werewolf looks over at Tracy, then yelps as he sees her assaulted by a fox creature. He begins loping toward her, with Cait Sindarel overhead.
Renard himself is all but dead, an apparently charcoal-crisped fox morph collapsed on the inside of the shield. His shield rune is defended by two surviving duplicates-- the third was destroyed by a vengeful Jason after it attempted to charm Inari.
The first surviving duplicate menaces Cadena, after his staff-strike succeeded in revealing Renard's ruse. "Think you're so clever, do you?" he taunts. "Cadena... I am your father!"
The second has successfully tackled Tracer off of her Nightmare, Fuseli, leaving them engaged in melee combat as she is forced to let go of the laser gatling and draw her sabre to parry its blows. As Jason yells No one touches her, it boasts, "Touching her? I'm all over her!" perhaps choosing to believe Jason meant Tracy, not Inari. It attempts a complicated series of strikes and feints, which she barely evades.
Atlas's globe shines brightly along its meridians. Irielle calls to Jason, "The ceremony! We have to interrupt it soon, it feels as if it's about to complete!"
"Get off of me!" Tracy yells at the fox that's 'all over her' at the moment. To everyone else, she warns, "Big portal forming, might be reinforcements for anyone but us!"
"Oh I know you can look after yourself, but he was flirting," Jason says rather hurriedly to Inari, "With magic! It might have worked!" He's about to say more but Irielle cry grabs his attention. "Bah! I have to go breach the shield wall! You can threaten to kill me later!" he asides to Inari then dashes back towards the shield so he can complete his grenade fiddling!
Inari shakes herself back to alertness. The golden vixen, dressed in a black jumpsuit, lifts her assault rifle. "Flowers aren't my thing," she calls to the remaining Renards, then teases Jason. "Little faith in me?"
"Father?" Brother Cadena sighs to Renard Duplicate #1, "If that's so, you're so very far behind on Mother's alimony payments."
"Little faith in myself to keep anything good!" Jason replies, en-route to Irielle and the shield.
"Plus, this just means I was able to deflower you!" Jason adds after some thought ... and really glad he has some distance between himself and girl with a big gun.
"Rrrr!" Inari looks as if she's having thoughts about putting a bullet through the space between Jason's eartips.
Cait yells, "Get your grubby hands off my girl!" The dragonwinged pixie zooms straight for Renard #2, buzzing around him!
Unfortunately, it appears that her tiny rapier is unsuited for doing more than tickle the fox, judging from his laughs and giggling.
Yappy calls insistently, "Tracy! What do I do with this?" He holds the horn up, approaching them more cautiously than the impetuous fairy.
Inari decides against giving Jason a warning shot for that bad pun. Instead, she moves up closer to the shield and Jason, slinging her rifle back over one shoulder. She draws her laser sword which hums ominously, blade a sinister red.
"I think if you blow it, the Wild Hunt arrives!" Tracy calls out. "They may already be coming though; something is opening a big portal!"
Brother Cadena spins his staff, and makes for as if to swing, but then he drives low, sweeping Renard #1's feet. The ethereal chains have no effect, but the headpiece is solid enough.
"Whoa!" The Renard duplicate topples onto his tail. "Good comeback, by the way." He throws Cadena a mocking salute, before rolling back onto his feet and slashing at the robed dog.
"I don't quite know what's gotten into me," Brother Cadena says, looking momentarily confused, even though he easily and almost absently evades the slash.
Jason darts towards the shieldstone, having to hop-rebound off a chair in the process. He comes skidding to a halt near it and promptly whips out the grenade, a few small picks, and a dragon! "Few things in life cannot be solved by the application of the right type of explosives," he quips. "A shocking statement coming from me, but soon everyone will see the light. A pure flash of brilliance!"
"You don't? A piece of the White, that's what got into you," Renard #1 claims. "Have you noticed a tendency to go to pieces when things get confusing? The White isn't good at adapting to chaotic situations... Not like the Black!"
Renard #2, meanwhile, tries to score another hit on Tracy, but even shaken as she is, she manages to evade his attacks.
"Adapting to chaos and simply being chaotic are two entirely different things, Monsieur Renard," Brother Cadena responds.
Tracy gets angry enough to throw out strategy and just snack the guard of her saber against her assailant's head! "Go fox yourself!" she yells at the Renard clone.
Renard #2 ouches, rubbing his head! "Now, that's not very ladylike of you at all... 'Lady Tracer'!"
Something seems odd about the skies of the New Metropolis, as if a massive heat wave were causing the air to shimmer and blurring the skyline. Airships floating in the distance seem to waver in and out of visibility.
The shield crackles... And drops for a few seconds.
"Push inward!" yells one of the attackers. The defenders, shield no longer at their back, fan outward to try to intercept them.
"You know, Renard Number One, it's been entertaining," Brother Cadena says, as he shifts his stance again - but then he spins and makes a lunge for the gap in the shield, hooking his staff under the previously "unconscious" fox, "but I think I'd prefer to deal with the original."
The original Renard, still comically charcoal-blackened, widens his eyes as he sees Brother Cadena approaching. "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, we can talk about this!" he stammers quickly.
The high priest continues to chant, gesturing with his hands to his acolytes as they pause. "Access code epsilon, triskelion megalith obsidian, debug point three one four one five..."
Noticing the shield is down for the moment, Tracy calls out, "Fuseli, blast the High Priest!" The Nightmare has to move away from her to get around the tree - and avoid catching friendlies in the line of fire..
Original Renard struggles in Cadena's grip, held fast by the staff under his chin and across his body. "It's not too late to join the Black!" he gabbles. "The pay is great and you can do what you like! No dress code!"
"Monsieur Renard," Brother Cadena says, his body trembling. "You have NO idea what you're talking about. You do not want me to be Black. I promise you."
Fuseli stops near a boulder, practically on top of a chanter who just happens to be in the line of fire. With a horrible whinny, the Nightmare rears up and then strikes the ground, causing a fan of cracks to spread out towards the High Priest to the south of the statue - and then the crack burst upwards with magical flame!
The closer chanter screams in pain as the ground opens up beneath him, covering him with hellish flames! The High Priest breaks off his chant to throw himself out of the path of the blast. "Two six-- argh!"
Seeing the high-priest suddenly jump right next to him, Jason gets a disturbingly evil grin under his helmet! "SSay, I think you want a ride on fox airlines. The trip is a blast, but the landing is a bitch," he quips as he tries to grab onto the priest!
Still dealing with Renard #2, Tracy struggles and makes another strike with her saber - hitting with the blade this time, but not having much force behind it. "C'mon, ride's over already!" she complains to the fox.
RIU eeps as Fuseli's attack passes uncomfortably close to him! It washes against the side of the airship maintenance storage building, cracking the walls.
The second Renard duplicate laughs. "Life's a never-ending rollercoaster ride of highs and lows... Until you run smack into death!"
"What-- unhand me at once, you miscreant!" yells the high priest as the man in the golden fox armor grabs him. "Do you not see how important it is to us all that the Map be unlocked?!"
"Ever hear the old saying, caught between a rock and a hard place?" Jason asks the priest as his tone takes on a disturbingly evil note. There's a dull thump as jets power up ... and Jason targets the statue, intending to use the priest as a make-shift air-bag!
Jason has never been known to do things that make a whole lot of sense when he's annoyed and worried ... and rocketing a priest and himself into a large statue is certainly an example of that! The priest makes a horrid wheeze of a sound when all the air is knocked right out of him. Jason's armor turns into a display of screeching and sparking of metal as he slides along the front of the statue just before a final burst kicks his direction vector enough that he lands is rather dramatic, at that! "That was crazy, but it felt oh-so good. Now I just have to go get that globe..." he cackles.
The other chanters hesitate, distracted by the attacks against their high priest. The flow of magical potential halts for a second...
The original Renard, stung by Cadena's rejection of his offer, yells at them, "CONTINUE! I'll deal with them!"
He takes a deep breath, and the other Renards fade out of existence. Instead, the fox grows in size! Charcoal flakes off his fur, leaving it dark black, and his form hunches over as his arms transform into legs with a gruesome crackling. Cadena feels intense heat within his arms as he struggles to keep his staff locked around Renard's neck.
Renard's paws burst into flame! Black metal shackles shimmer into place around them, trailing chains that cause the nearby grass to smoulder.
"RIU, light up that chanter!" Jason orders the dragon through his mental link, along with which one he means by looking at him!
Brother Cadena stops shuddering, as he hangs on. "Oh! So that's where you are! You have absolutely no idea how much of a relief this is. Oh, wait, maybe you do."
RIU aims a laser-straight bolt of lightning straight for the chanter! He crumples to the grass, smoke billowing from his robes. Even with Black Renard having made an appearance, the other chanters look decidedly nervous. "Access code... Access..."
"ZETA!" roars Renard, sending a gout of flame his way. The acolyte squeals and starts gabbling syllables.
Cait looks disappointed that her Renard has gone away... Until she sees the huge black four-legged fox-like monster. "Oh hey! A new playmate!"
"Inari! Go for the other chanters while over-compensation-fox is busy!" Jason calls out to his golden friend.
Yappy shivers. "Reinforcements... Um! I guess we could use some reinforcements!" He lifts the horn, evidently a bit uncomfortable about the idea of touching his lips to a mouthpiece that someone else might have gotten his saliva on.
"Never mind the big fox, stop the chanters," Tracy calls out, as she gets back to her feet.
"Hold off on the horn, Yappy!" Tracy says when she notices the werewolf again. "We don't need more chaos yet. Try to take out one of those ritual guys!"
Inari dashes toward the fray, laser sword at the ready. "Count them good as gone," she says confidently.
The golden vixen lunges toward the far acolyte, forcing him to dodge-- but at least it distracts him from his rapidfire chant of syllables.
"Jason!" Tracy calls out next. "The portal is still building.. I think it's the portal! This whole area may be shifting into the real world soon!"
The pixie zooms over Black Renard's head, avoiding his reflexive swipe narrowly, beelining for another cultist! Yappy sets the horn down disappointedly, and breaks out his assault rifle instead.
"Cadejo!" Brother Cadena cries out, "I was wondering when you were going to show up. Forget these cultists! I have the key now. Together, we can awaken Lady Manjari. She's still alive!"
"Working as fast as I can here!" Jason calls back. "Contrary to how it seems, I can't work miracles every second!"
After calling out her warnings, Tracy hurries to rejoin Fuseli.
"What foolishness is this? Of course she is still alive," Black Renard retorts, trying to shake Cadena off. "Ah-- release me, and we can waken her from her slumber. It has been too long since she has visited the blessed realms!"
"The fox is full of crap, Cadena!" Jason shouts, "That's why his fur is so dark! Don't listen to him; he has no idea what you're talking about!" Of course Jason is thinking how he doesn't really have any idea either outside of a vague notion.
Once she's back in the saddle, Tracy whispers to Fuseli, "Keep an eye out for Yappy's evil counterpart. There's bound to be one for him too.."
Fuseli snorts, looking up at Tracy sidelong.
Black Renard thrashes under Brother Cadena, shaking him off and sending him flying! He bellows triumphantly and rears up on two legs. "Fool! Those who play with fire will get burned in the end!"
"Wait a minute," Brother Cadena says, suddenly uncertain, even while hugging onto the giant black furry creature's back and being tossed about. "Cadejo, what's wrong with you? Normally, you would have put a snide remark in there or a backhanded compliment that was really an insult if I thought about it, not a lame cliche, an-- WHOA!" While he's pondering this at an inappropriate time, he's sent hurtling headlong.
Jason checks his power cells and frowns. "Not much left, Lets see if this other grenade can boost my reserves," Jason thinks as he gets to work trying to pull the power core from the grenade! "RIU, to me and shoot the next castor!" he orders.
The shield crackles, then reforms faintly, sealing Jason, Inari, Tracy and Fuseli, and Cait in with the remaining three acolytes. Cadena remains outside with Black Renard, along with Irielle and Yappy.
RIU corkscrews himself up around a glowing ball of energy, his wings flaring out wide to focus energy! For a moment it is as if the sun were glowing brightly in the midst of the shield... And then he unleashes the blast, straightening out all at once in the direction of the farther acolyte! ZORCH
The two remaining acolytes, their protector locked outside the shield, look at one another. "We surrender!" one yells. The other one turns to run for the trees, beating against the wall of the shield.
Renard yells angrily at them, "Cowards! Do not falter, there is still hope!"
Inari gives Jason a look, as if to question whether he wants to accept their apparent yield.
"Hope for what, exactly?" Tracy asks. "If you're surrendering, tell us what was going to happen once the map was activated"
"Oh ... no there isn't. Inari, please send the remaining chanters into slumberland. I suppose we don't have to kill them, but we can't risk them starting the chant again," Jason concedes.
Yappy glances toward the shield, then back at the more obviously reachable Black Renard. He levels his assault rifle at him. "I, um. I've got you covered! Hands up!" He frowns in thought. "Your money or your life? Or, no, wait, I've got it. No funny moves!"
Renard turns to snort with contempt at the small werewolf. "Would you accept a serious move then?" He bares his fangs.
The sense of quantum instability in the air hovers, then begins to recede ever so slightly.
From where he's been flung into the tree, Brother Cadena spits out leaves, and laughs, with a pained tinge.
Tracy looks.. down? "Cait, do you feel it?" she asks the fairy. "That big portal is opening on the floor below, I think."
Brother Cadena calls out, "Lord Drachehand, how strong is the rooftop underneath that statue, do you suppose?"
Jason's head tilts. "Oh, now that is interesting!" he mutters as his metal-clad fingers tap on the statue he stands near. "Too hard for us to break with what we have, but there may be another solution!" he declares ... then grows ominously silent. He's up to something.
Inari pounces on her acolyte! She begins wrassling him into submission, using some duct tape to tie his wrists together to his ankles, ensuring that he won't be getting up anytime soon.
"Oooh lookie. That is promising," Jason cackles. He offers the shield-rigged EMP grenade to RIU as he says, "Go give this to Inari. It looks like I have some business to tend to below. Or rather, someone." He heads south.
RIU beeps! and takes the grenade, but looks worried at its master.
"Do you think Tracy is any safer with a grenade?" Jason asks RIU.
The miniature Chinese dragon gives Lady Tracer a sidelong glance, then beelines for Inari!
"Where are you going, Jason?" Tracy calls. "Do we need to smash the globe or not?"
"I need to smash someone's face," Jason answers!
"He could have an Imperial battalion down there you know," Tracy notes, and looks up at the globe. "You, ritual guy that's still functional: what was your master's plan?"
The acolyte, backed against the shield wall, looks up at the threatening pixie in his face, then over at Tracy. "Uh... To awaken the Map! See, it was really concealed in this globe all along, it was just sleeping, and once we awokened it, we'd be able to command it and make it take us wherever we wanted! Like, safely away from here." This last appears to be what he really wants right now.
"Okay," Tracy says, and pats the side of Fuseli's neck. "Let's go up and see if we can kick a whole in the side of the globe. We'll try France first.."
Cait snorts. "And who did you think was going to give the Map its marching orders? You, or that crazy fox back over there?"
Once hovering in place, Fuseli turns and gives the globe a mule-kick!
"Tracy, I need some of your unmodified grenades when you get a chance!" Jason calls out.
WHANG! Fuseli's hoof strikes a glancing blow against the globe, leaving a long score across Paris.
"Now you..." Tracy starts to say, then sighs and fishes out her grenades. "RIU!" she calls for the dragon.
RIU eeps? from where it's dropping an EMP grenade off at Inari's feet.
"Come get these grenades before I just throw them at Jason," Tracy calls to the mini-dragon.
The minidragon heads toward Tracy next!
"Yappy! Ms. Irielle!" Brother Cadena cries out, as he leaps wildly at Black Renard, "ignore this imposter! Go for the shield rune and throw everything you have at it!" He grapples onto the beast's back, and clings on, then leans in, hissing into his ear, "I should have known you were a pretender. My Black Cadejo would never stoop to playing a ... a lute!" He says that last, dripping with disgust.
"But he's in the way!" Yappy protests. He jogs to the side, trying to get line of sight, which unfortunately impairs his accuracy. Irielle doesn't protest; instead, she reaches up to the sky, praying. Her hands begin to glow brightly.
Bullets spray wildly through the air, narrowly missing or ricocheting off of the rock in the way!
The angel concentrates... and then splays her hands outward as if pushing! A beam of holy radiance gushes out toward the rune, causing it to waver and distort, on the verge of dissipating.
Perplexed and hanging on for dear life, Brother Cadena cries out, "At the RUNE, Yappy, not at the MOON!"
Inari gets the cultist tied up and collects the grenade. "For me?" She looks over at Jason askance.
"It'll disrupt the shield! Use it if you need to. I have a certain other Jason to go deal with," Jason calls back and points towards the ground.
"The chanters are down!" yells one of the defenders. "Fall back! Get within the shield, next chance we have, we can still do this!"
"By yourself?" The golden vixen bares her teeth. "I don't think so!"
"Yes! Please keep at it, no matter what happens!" Brother Cadena cries out. "It's weakening! Yappy, you can do it! Aim lower and walk up into the target!"
The shield wavers, pulsing in and out.
"There are armed guards down there! And ... he's sort of my fault as it is!" Jason claims. "I've got to at least disrupt the device he's trying to hook up down there!"
"Whatever you do, don't think like yourself, Jason!" Tracy advises.
Black Renard thrashes, trying to shake Cadena off so he can get back to the shield rune!
Brother Cadena seems to, for a fleeting moment, be channeling some other role in his repertoire as he rocks with the rhythm of the bucking fox, keeping his balance. "Whoa, whoa there! Calm down. Easy now! Don't you want to come with us back to the ranch? How about a nice apple? Now, I wonder what she's going to name you, huh? Blackie? Too obvious. Wildfire, maybe?"
Underneath, in the Dantech server room, Jason Zero finishes tuning the device. "All right, once I switch this on, the dimensional anchor should kick in and we should de-synch again," he says. "Damn the BLACK! With all this prodding, we may have to deal with ATLAS being incompletely programmed and fill in the blanks. Andrei, ready to pull me back once I switch this on?" He pauses, listening to a distant response.
Inari leaves a struggling acolyte behind as she runs up to catch Jason before he can descend down the concealed hatch to the room beneath. "You're not going alone," she insists.
"Whatever happens here, I want all of you to know it's been an honor to have known you," Jason calls out to the others. "Please look after RIU if anything happens to me." Inari's interruption causes Jason to eye her for a moment. "Looks like we're both dealing with the past, then," he concedes to her. I'm going to shut down his device and then deal with the machine. If you can manage the guards..." How, he leaves t her as he descends to destroy the anchoring device!
Renard whines and yips, trying to throw Cadena! "Wait! There's been a terrible mistake! I'm not a mustang! I'm a fox! You aren't supposed to ride foxes, and you especially aren't supposed to give us apples!"
RIU eeps! It scoops the grenades from Tracy's outstretched hands and beelines to its master's side.
With the grenades passed off, Tracy turns Fuseli to face the globe, and pats his neck again. "One more time; point blank! Glimpse of the Abyss!"
"Now, a juicy steak... Some tender rare beef and we could forget all our differences," Renard proposes.
Fuseli cracks the ground! The statue itself begins to tilt as flames leap up, fracturing the stone. Glowing crystals are exposed within the cracks, and sparks fly like miniature fireworks.
Cait ooos. "Pretty!"
The defenders cry out. Lord Sebastian pronounces, "The infidels are destroying the Map! Graymane! We must drop the shield and destroy them!"
"The statue is part of it too?" Tracy says, blinking a bit at the result. "Good job, Fuseli!"
"My, you've got a lot of spirit in you, boy!" Fantasy Ranch(tm) Hand Cadena says with a whistle, as he keeps on Black Renard's back. "Won't you be a fine one for Miss Maggie! Land's sakes, but now for some reason I'm thinking about those pan-fried steaks. I could sure go for that and a tall glass of lemonade once we get back!"
A shadowy rogue appears from behind Tracy and Fuseli. "Destroying the Map isn't part of our agreement," Jack Fisher reminds her, pointedly. As in, with a dagger resting against the back of her armor. "I'll have to ask you to desist."
As the battle rages above, Jason peeks down through the security camera as he's about to undog the hatch leading to the server room. Jason Zero appears about to leave, with the device behind him humming slowly as it builds up power.
"When did you decide to be a hero?" Jason asks himself as the hatch is forced and in he goes! His right gauntlet charged and glowing with Saint Elom's fire. He takes aim at Jason Zero's device ... and opens fire!
"Where have you been?" Tracy asks the Shadows agent. "And I was just trying to free it from its shell.. I didn't think it was going to be this big!"
"What if it is the statue? You may already have caused it irreparable damage," Jack Fisher counters. "You've stopped the ritual. All we need to do is to clean up the rest of the defenders and they won't be able to continue."
"Yeah... except we're on the wrong side of the barrier at the moment," Tracy points out. "But.. we do have their full attention now I bed!"
Jason Zero looks startled as Jason Prime appears, but the portal is already closing behind him. "What-- no!"
The bolt impacts with deadly energy on the 'dimensional anchor'... And things go haywire.
A weird pulse of dimensional instability sweeps the area, just as Lord Sebastian and Graymane power down their runes and the shield falls. Acrid pollution wafts through the air and stings the eyes. In the distance, a flock of armed response Valkyries sweeps toward the rooftop, their engines growling. Some of the combatants waver and fade from existence, then reappear as others blink out.
"That wasn't my fault!" Tracy immediately declares.
In the server room, blue lightning crackles between the dimensional anchor, now thoroughly toasted, and the quantum core right next to it.
Lines crackle around the globe, and then... The statue itself comes to life, red sparks emitting from the fractures in the stone. Its globe wavers and becomes a holographic representation, an image that shrinks and floats up to hover over its palm. "I... AM... ATLAS," it shouts, and glares down at the battle raging on the rooftop. "WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER?"
Renard cowers, now genuinely worried.
"Time to shut down that core!" Jason immediately thinks, "Before this gets any worse!"
The Black Thorn releases itself from dock, swearing crewmen running among its riggings and leaning over the edge to cut the lines. It floats upward to gain altitude and turns its guns to bear.
Inari, just above Jason in the access shaft, perks her ears. "I don't like the sound of that," she tells him.
"It was the BLACK," Tracy claims, standing right at Atlas's feet. "He wanted to take your power."
"Intruder!" yells the guard right next to the access hatch though well underneath it. He whirls around and then looks upward.
"Nor do I!" Jason calls back. "I'll need to shut this core down like yesterday! But ... I'll settle for real soon now!"
"THE... BLACK." The Grecian statuesque hero frowns. "THERE ARE INTRUDERS IN MY DOMAIN. THEY MUST ALL DEPART." He holds the globe-image up and concentrates on it.
"Whoa now, easy, Wildfire," Ranch Hand Cadena says, patting the giant fox on the ruff. "Don't you worry none about this here interloper. We'll get this right straightened out, so we don't have to bother none of the rest with this, hear now?" He clears his throat. "Now listen here, sir, on what account are you on Arcadia Ranch? Now, Cadejo done said he patched the fence - after putting up no end of trouble over it, true - but I take him at his word, and you'd have to see the sign if you came 'round the gate."
"I AM ATLAS," the giant responds unperturbed. "IT IS YOU WHO INTRUDES ON MY DOMAIN. LEAVE."
"Wait!" Tracy calls up, her portal sense going off.. but feeling weird. "Please, Mighty Atlas.. where is your domain, exactly?"
Inari whispers to Jason, "Scoot out of my way, I'll drop down and cover your back."
"Scooting!" Jason agrees and tries to move to the side! "I can stop this. I'm sure of it! Positive! Absolutely!" he babbles.
The shield has faded away, along with the shield runes. The defenders, about to rush in, halt at the sight of the animated statue. For the moment the battle seems to have halted.
"Let's all give Atlas some room," Tracy calls to Cait and Yappy, while pointing up towards the maneuvering airship.
It's a good thing Inari isn't built more generously or the slim, jumpsuited fox would have a hard time getting past Jason! She drops down into the server room, amidst sprays of bullet from several different directions.
Cait and Yappy find convenient trees to hide under! The brown-furred werewolf calls to Irielle, "I saved you a spot!"
Ranch Hand Cadena smacks himself on the forehead. "Well, good grief, Wildfire. I do reckon that in all the hoopla, we might well've crossed a fence back there. What say you we ride on and find our way back home afore it gets darker?" He pats Black Renard's shoulder lightly. "Now, I do wonder. If I were looking for the way back home, which way would it be?"
The golden vixen manages to avoid several of the attacks-- but not all of them! Though her jumpsuit is armored, a bullet slams into her back and sends her stumbling against the nearby core access terminal, momentarily dazed.
"RIU! Defend Inari!" Jason orsers the dragon in a panic!
orders...
Cadena's staff glows fitfully. Lines stretch outward from it in all directions... And then strangely, streak outward to Atlas's globe! The statue's eyes snap open as he stares at Cadena. "THIS PLACE CALLED HOME," he commands. "YOU WISH TO RETURN THERE."
ATLAS's eyes seem to bore into Cadena's for a long moment, as if searching his mind.
RIU mreeps and dashes down after Inari!
"I really hope Cadena knows what he's doing," Tracy says, and then searches around. She felt a portal open.. the emergency sort, when a player is too wounded to fight or defend.."
"Right you are!" Ranch Hand Cadena says, reaching up to tip an imaginary hat. "I beg yer pardon for trespassing on your land here. If'n you don't mind, I'll take Wildfire right on back. Hoo-eee! I can smell Miss Maggie's cookin' now. I better hurry on back afore Cadejo eats it all."
"It's Cadena.. Where's he going?" Tracy mutters, then turns Fuseli to head towards the dog (and monster fox).
And with that, a portal opens before Cadena... And Renard, scrabbling at the edge, is nevertheless unable to hold onto the grass sufficiently, falling in after him.
Whoosh!
"Yeeee-hawwwwww!" Ranch Hand Cadena cries out!
"CADENA!" Tracy yells, but it's too late. "Was that a cryosleep vault through the portal?" she asks.. Fuseli, since nobody else is around her.
Jason doesn't even have to think about it. He drops down after RIU darts in. Glad he borrowed some power from the grenade, he raises his hand, the gauntlet crackling with energy! "RIU, number one. I've got two..." he orders, then opens fire!
Seeing Irielle and Yappy at one of the trees, Tracy calls out, "Yappy, stick close. Atlas is gonna do something weird and we don't want to be separated!"
ATLAS resumes focusing on the globe. The helicopters in the distance waver... And then fade out. A fresh-smelling breeze sweeps in, redolent of the special blend of brass that says 'New Metropolis' to Lady Tracer. The gathered vampires, werewolves, demons, angels, and hardened mercenaries slowly gain solidity even as they retreat toward the lift tubes on the side of the Tower.
"He's reversing the convergence effect," Tracy says, at first with relief.. then with alarm. "He's sealing us off in here!" Calling to the statue, she asks, "Atlas! Will you send those of us who don't belong here back to our world too?"
RIU is remarkably accurate with his bolt in addition to being quite deadly. He twists into a blinding ball of light just before a burst of electrical energy arcs out and slams into the first guard. The sound and stench is impressive as he's charred and taken down! Jason's aim is not nearly as good at RIU's. His bolt finds purchace on the second guard, but a chunk of its power arcs off and dissipates into the wall, leaving his target feeling stunned and tingly, but very much alive.
The statue's eyes turn and hold Tracy's. "YOU WISH TO RETURN TO YOUR WORLD. BUT WHAT WORLD DO YOU CLAIM, WOMAN OF THREE?"
Cait peeps from the cover of her tree. Yappy whines, glancing over at the hatch. Right now it seems a bit safer to be underground...
"Earth," Tracy says. "We have to finish stopping the Convergence there. What will you do? The ritual wasn't finished, so.. I'm guessing nobody can control you now?"
The onlookers whisper and chatter among themselves. Tracy is sure to be a local legend before long.
"THOSE SUCH AS I ARE MADE TO BE WHAT THEY ARE. WE SHALL SERVE OUR PURPOSES," ATLAS replies enigmatically. A portal appears behind Tracy, showing the eerily red-lit Quantum Link room and the puzzled Tesliem guards and technicians frantically working at their stations.
Tracy takes a moment to fumble with communication gear, which was knocked loose during her tumble. "Jason? Inari? Can you hear me?" she says. "We have a portal back! Are you ready to leave?"
The second Dantech guard staggers, shaken by the bolt. He holds his head.
Jason puts his arm around Inari's waist. "Come on, sexy, time for us to go or we'll be trapped," he rells her as he tries to get her to the ladder up. "And don't worry, I'll be leaving a present."
The remaining guard gasps as the server room is attacked by not only a jumpsuited fox but an ARMORED fox! He tries to put a spray of bullets through Jason.
Bullets spang off of his golden armor and whiz through the air just over his shoulder. Close, but no cigar for the Dantech guard!
Inari shakes herself alert. "Wha-- ugh! Give me a boost up," she says to Jason.
The other guard blinks woozily, but is still seeing stars.
"This would be more exciting if we weren't in serious danger," Jason quips as he gives her a helping boost up ... by lifting her from her bottom.
The golden vixen kicks Jason with one foot as she gets goosed! Then braces herself on his shoulders and leaps up to the high access panel.
While motioning Yappy to come over, Tracy says into the mic, "Jason? We have access to the final platform, but they've got Chaz hostage up there. Should I invite any of the gamers to head through as a distraction?"
"If you think they'll help, sure," Jason replies.
"Listen up!" Tracy announces. "Anyone who wants to help save the world, line up here!"
Jack Fisher smirks to Tracy. "Our main concern was that the Map will wind up in no one's hands. I think we're safe... But I'm going to keep an eye on things just to be sure." He disappears into invisibility, his toothy grin the last thing to vanish.
ATLAS waves his hand. "THEY ARE NOT OF EARTH. IT WILL HARM THEM TO GO THERE," he cautions Tracy. Hearing this causes several of the adventurers who step forward to look at one another.
Irielle looks hesitant. "Um... Harm how?" She looks askance at Tracy.
"Without regeneration support the bodies will break down," Tracy notes. "It feels like.. burning.." she admits.
"right behind you," Jason calls after the escaping Inari. He gives her a second or two to get a bit up the passage, then uses a short jet burst to get himself into the hatchway too!
Cait wrinkles her nose. "Okay, so burning... Not so good. How about can we get back after this little trip?"
"I AM CLOSING THIS INTRUSION OF REALITIES," ATLAS pronounces. "THERE WILL BE NO RETURN."
Would-be heroes take a step backward. The little pixie gives Tracy a sidelong look. "Honey, I love you like a sister, but..."
"Well.. you're connecting over VR links, so.. nothing should actually happen if you disconnect," Tracy says. "I've done it before. Of course, the people you see through that portal are also from a Virtual Reality, and they aren't melting. As long as the Convergence is in effect, things should be okay.."
"Remember the attack on Arcadia tower a few days ago?" Tracy asks the crowd. "Those guys walked through a portal from the Gloaming. But going through could at least cause a distraction that could buy the rest of us some time." Then she grins, and notes, "And you'll be famous for taking your character into the Real World, even if just for a minute!"
Lord Sebastian looks disdainful. "As I recollect, they melted into 'a mysterious polymerized goo' shortly after the incident. I wish to avoid this fate, thank you."
Inari shinnies up through the access tunnel and heads for the portal, but pauses to glance at Tracy evidently trying to talk people into joining her.
"Fine, we'll save the world on our own then," Tracy says, waving for Yappy to get up on Fuseli behind her. "Wish us luck!"
Graymane shakes his head. "Girl, we've spent years on our characters," he says, breaking character, though he retains his thick werewolf accent. "Famous for a few minutes? And then start from scratch? Lassie, I think you've got another think coming!"
And up Jason follows Inari! when he reaches the top he pulls out the EMP grenade Tracy send over. "Up and out, RIU! he orders the dragon ... and once the dragon is clear, activates the grenade and drops it down the hatch! "Fire in the hole, time to go!" he declares.
"Jason," Tracy whispers into the comm, "When we get a chance, can you dig up any cryo-stasis facilities where Margaret Arcadia's body might be kept?"
ATLAS holds the portal open. "IT IS TIME TO DEPART, INTRUDERS," he commands.
Irielle smiles softly. "Good luck," she whispers to them.
"Right now I want to just get out of here," Jason retorns and runs for the portal!
"Right, before the boom," Tracy says, and nudges Fuseli forward through the portal!
Fuseli snorts at the faint-hearted. He breaks into a gallop, charging for the portal!
"FAREWELL, WANDERERS," ATLAS intones. He gestures and the last remnants of reality fade from the skies of New Metropolis.
The portal closes behind them... But not before a tiny fairy darts through after Tracy! "Ack! Wait for meeee!" yelps Cait. Smoke streams from her dragonfly wings as she smacks into Lady Tracer's head.
"Cait!" Tracy says, surprised, wondering how long the little body will last. Or her own, for that matter. Or Fuseli's! If the Convergence is really closing down, she doesn't know what the next few minutes will hold for any of them.
And just as the portal shrinks, from a circle to a dot, then blinking out from behind them... They hear a ghostly scream as if from far away.
"I have no idea what we're going to do on the other side ... and I'm low on power again. Maybe I should just concede we're dead," Jason thinks a bit grimly as he continues on with RIU back on his shoulder and Inari nearby. "Maybe dying would be preferable than admitting I did something heroic. I'll never live that down."