Elevator Terminal
Having stayed close to the back and out of sight for a while, Lewa let off a burst of air at his feet as he hopped his way closer to the front.
"If there's a dark-villain to be caught, then Lewa Nuva is your Toa. I can swift-scout ahead of heavy hitters to way-find this 'death-god Ridley', and when it comes clash-time, then my powers can keep our fighting one quick-step ahead of the ever-ugly customer! Never worry-fear, young Everett, our team is on the job!"
With this enthusiastic sales pitch, Lewa sidled over to Manon, and spoke as discretely as possible to him, which wasn't much. "Between you and me, I'd also rather not be too near-close to him or the other humans as we go. Nothing sorry-bad against them, they all seem cheery-nice people. It's just...still getting used to 'organic' people, and they kinda weird-creep me out sometimes."
Breath of the Sun
Seras - Elevator Terminal
Everett's response isn't unwarranted, given the potential danger the Pirate Commander posed. It does, however, sting Pip's pride a bit, that Everett thinks Ridley to be above their pay grade. Seras, conversely, takes it in stride, because she's used to being underestimated. Her preferred form isn't exactly imposing, after all.
Seras moves quickly and smoothly, clapping a hand on Everett's shoulder, both to keep him from running and to try and reassure their client. "Strictly speaking, there's no guarantee we'll run into Ridley, nor do we have any reason to fight him. If we have the time and opportunity, it'd be nice to rid the universe of a monster-"
"And grab any bounty he's gotten himself." Pip adds.
"-but even if we do that, it'll be far away from you, Mister Everett. So don't worry too much, alright? Don't let fear stop you. His kind tend to be like bullies: they target people who can't fight back. I doubt he's brave enough to openly attack a bustling city like this."
She sends a brief glance towards Giegue, clearly upset at his attitude, and for a brief moment the alien might detect a hint of psychic presence from Seras, ancient and dark. If he focuses on it, he might even, for half a moment, glimpse the illusion of dozens of blood-red eyes staring at him, a faint hint of the smell of blood.
Only for a heartbeat, though, before Seras returns to her usual chipper smile.
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
The Gayest Bowser
Don and Himeno - Selfishness
The Space Pirates. Don shuddered at the name of their commander. The Gokaigers had engaged the rabble before in dangerous space; usually over loot but sometimes to protect species. He'd heard the name a couple of times here-and-there, but if this Ridley was in their destiny, it'd be the first time they'd meet face-to-face. He kinda thought the kid had the right idea nope-ing away....But he also couldn't help but feel like it wasn't ideal.
Himeno meanwhile didn't seem to change her expression whatsoever, giving everyone brief smiles when her eyes locked with them but otherwise sipping her tea. How could she not be tense? And he still didn't know how she knew him.
"I can fight and tend to wounded; preferably the latter then the former." Himeno states calmly. "Ishabana is the kingdom of medicine. There's nothing I can't save, with time."
"Uuuuuh...I'm kinda just here." Don says, his lack of confidence beyond obvious. "I can help out though! Once I know...how."
"You were in a war for Shugods' sakes." Himeno replies. "Act like it."
"Ok, how do you know...me?"
Don wouldn't get an answer to his question, as she stomped off in response to Everett's leaving, positioning herself between Giegue and the boy. Others had already thought to do the same, so she actually had to...squeeze in a tad.
She looks Everett dead in the eye.
"You know that fear you're feeling right now? It's completely justified. It's natural. And it's okay." She says. "But you know what you can do? You can seize this whole operation for yourself. Be a little selfish - Make that pain and that destiny yours. You're royalty! You have an army at your command and a pilgrimage to make. You're basically a prince by this planet's standards. Be a king. If you need to hide behind us, go ahead. Stay in the corners. Be scared. But be here...stick around to give the orders. If not to get braver than maybe to shut up brutes like them that want to force you to do it."
Himeno points at Giegue and HK-47 as she says this; a wry smile on her face.
Himeno Ran knew about the power of selfishness. To be willing to reach out and take what you want. To desire more. There was nothing wrong with a little indulgence...especially if it helped everyone else as you splurged. That was what Ishabana was all about.
Edited by klom99 on Apr 26th 2024 at 6:00:01 AM
"Doctor, I did say look for the Spymaster. Or should I say Spy....Master?"
Elevator Terminal
Amid all of these various pep talks, Zeemi's contribution is-
"Achoo!"
...nothing of intellectual value whatsoever. Wiping her nose on her sleeve (ew), she turns to Aqua.
"Oh, just kinda feels like there's a lot of it in this system, that's all. Or somethin' like it. I get stuff mixed up sometimes. There's something like Psynergy that's not like...the exact same thing and I get confused. You're probably sensing the same thing I am."
She gasps before throwing an arm around Aqua's shoulders and practically suffocating him in a one-armed hug.
"We're confusion buddies!"
Oh dear lord no. She stubbornly refuses to let Aqua go, even as Giegue verbally annihilates Everett, leaving the young man visibly dumbstruck.
"...Why's the kitty being such a jerk...?"
She certainly thought she said that quietly, at least.
As Gesicht offers to...blow something up to demonstrate his weaponry, Everett just gives him a stunned look. If the kid had a lot to process before, this is running the risk of putting his head into Blue Screen Of Death territory. For what it's worth, Susie's deep breathing exercise appears to walk him back...a tiny bit, at least.
"...I...think I like Titus's plan. Maybe splitting up so some of you can take out Ridley and the others can escort me...could work-"
"Dibs on helping to hunt the dragon!"
Zeemi shouts that directly in Aqua's ear.
"That girl? Scares me."
But it's Seras and Himeno that appear to really get through to him, as the color starts to return to Everett's face.
"You're...you're both right. Ridley probably wouldn't attack a target that'd be too big of a threat...and this is my trial. I...I'm gonna have to do it. So...let's get started. Are we doing one big team, or splitting so some of you can look for Ridley? I...I've got like, a single knife. And I'm pretty sure it's for cutting like...ropes. Not...pirates."
Meanwhile, Ruri's attempt to connect to the Business Suit yields an...unexpected result. Not only is she unable to access any of its functions, but she can sense something else coming back up the connection into her mind. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to like her attempted hack as it proceeds to try and assert its own control - over her.
Edited by ZodanTheUnbounceable on Apr 26th 2024 at 8:56:19 AM
This post is sponsored by Amalgam Comics.
Léodagan, the Bloodthirsty
Elevator Terminal
"You can save your remark to yourself, machine. That is not the time." Giegue snarled at HK-47, irritated that the droid barged in. He couldn't care less what the machine thought of him, even if that was positive. The droid was supposed to obey and shut up instead of spitting irrelevant nonsense. He still silently agreed with Alia and Titus. As much as he loathed the two, their remarks were pertinent.
"The idea of splitting up is tempting, I admit. Normally I would fully agree with it. However, we don't know where Ridley and his armada are. You all speak of chasing him down, but you forget that the opposite could happen as well. What happens when he ambushes the wrong team while the other is away? This dragon seems to be a very mobile creature. He may prioritize the weaker targets should he find out about us, which means Everett and the people with him. Splitting up could mean leaving the boy more vulnerable." he pointed out before proposing a solution.
"The best idea I can think of would be a compromise. If we are splitting up, both teams should not be too far from one another, in case of an ambush. We cannot stray too thin."
He was about to speak again when others barged in, trying to reassure the boy, much to his frustration. But at least, he didn't intervene, letting them say their pieces, as foolish as those "heartfelt speeches" were. He would have spoken up, but the kind voice of reason in his head told him not to and just... let them do their job.
Obviously, with this train of thought, the alien couldn't understand why so many people were giving him such a bad look for simply saying the cold, logical truth. What else would they want him to do?
But... then, Susie made a mistake. She had to mention her father. No, not just that. She spoke about her not abandoning him, wanting his approval, and Giegue could not just see, but feel her melancholy as she briefly faltered. What was unremarkable to others caught Giegue off-guard emotionally. He suddenly felt something stinging him in the chest, starting an unfortunate chain reaction.
Because of Susie, he started to reminisce about his parents, both the good and the bad that came from it. Maria's loving embrace, he never wanted it to stop, he never wanted to be away from her, the moments he spent with her were forever engraved upon his heart. And George... He betrayed him. His father abandoned him. And she, she was gone. Forever. And it hurts it hurts it hurts him so much no not here not now no no no NO go away go away make it stop the pain it's too much it hurts it hurts MAKE IT STOP STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT .
Giegue immediately tried to push the flooding flashbacks away, suddenly jerking away from Everett and the others before putting both hands on his face, growling in pain, his cold demeanor cracking up. He tried to regain control of himself. The last thing he wanted was to have a meltdown in front of them. He tried to burry the sudden turmoil that was going on in his head.
That was the moment Seras chose to glare at Giegue. Instinctively sensing the dark energy briefly pouring from the vampire, he stared at her and the many eyes around her, very shortly too. At that moment, she would see his eyes. But they were wide, desperate, and mad, his pupils dilated.
And as he stared at her, she would feel a psychic presence flowing right from his eyes to her in return, just like how Giegue had been able to perceive the ancient presence coming from her. It wasn't even against her, Giegue was still struggling to regain control at this very moment. However, people well-versed in psychic powers like Aquarius would also feel this powerful presence as it entered Seras's mind.
No, not entering. Invading, fully blowing up the door, screaming bloody murder. Agony. Despair. Anguish. Guilt. Fear. Hatred. Insanity. A confused, uncontrollable force, yet barely comprehensible, incredibly overwhelming. All of it was accompanied by the faint image of a swirling face, screaming in agony.
All of that, in one heartbeat, thankfully. It disappeared the moment the distraught alien hid his face again.
Still, with Everett calming down, so did Giegue. He managed to regain his composure as if nothing happened. The only traces of his little breakdown to the others would perhaps be him shaking lightly. He stared at Susie in an accusing, almost hurt manner.
Edited by Scipion3 on Apr 27th 2024 at 4:50:43 PM
"You're married like me, you know monstrosity can take many forms."
The Light That Blinds
Help (Aquarius)
...well, that doesn't help much.
"'Like Psynergy but not' could mean a lot of things," I mutter, thinking out loud. "Though I guess it must be psychic in nature, since only Giegue and I can—"
Oh Helios she's hugging me
I freeze in place, my eyes widening to dinner plate size, repeatedly flicking over to Zeemi. Um. Okay. This is happening. What do I do. How do I handle this. When was the last time I was hugged. Why is she hugging me she barely knows me am I shaking I don't think I'm shaking oh Helios am I going to have a panic attack or cry I don't need either of those things right now—
"Dibs on helping to hunt the dragon!"
It takes all my self-control not to pull away and curl into a ball—and then comes the screaming vision, the blood-red face that feels crushing—
"Okay!" I say too quickly and too loudly, a forced smile on my face as I squeeze the Talisman in my pocket again. "Any moment Ridley is off doing whatever he wants is probably a bad one so how about we just get moving already?"
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Fool From The Depths
BB & B, Bastion (Elevator Terminal)
In response to the Toa's request to them, Manon uttered only a single word.
"Understood."
When Everett asked for confirmation if they were splitting up, Liam nodded.
"Not that I'm in charge of things here, but I'm still all for team split up." he clarified.
"I may not be a big fan of Mr. Pale here," Charlie said, gesturing at Giegue. "But I gotta admit, he's got a good plan."
"Agreement: We should remain in contact with each other at all times." Manon piped up. "Charlie, Liam and I are already supplied with communicators, but even if we were to give ours away, 3 is not enough for all of us present." They looked around at the others. "If anyone has any spare communication devices, please speak up now."
Something's Fishy Here...
Breath of the Sun
Seras - Elevator Terminal
"Well, glad that's sorted." Seras lets go of Everett's shoulder, but before she can discuss team assignments, Giegue is suddenly pushing back, and then-
A woman tattooed with black magic sigils, an eye opening on her palm, curses flowing off her hand like ink as she reaches into Seras's mind and pulls, yanking memories as easily as she yanks her hair, the blade of the scythe reflecting a terrified gaze as it gets closer and closer to her eyes-
Seras's left hand explodes into darkness, becoming a spiked black tendril that shoots towards Giegue, but it stops short the instant Giegue's episode ends. The psionic resonance between alien and demon is cut off by a surge of Seras's willpower.
She breathes heavily, and Pip is suddenly hugging her; it is obvious his embrace, his hand on her one still-solid arm, is the only thing that kept the shadow from trying to spear Giegue's heart.
"Do not," She says, forcing herself to stay calm, "Fuck with my head."
As quick as it appeared, the darkness pulled back, flowing back into Seras and reforming into a regular arm.
"Also, see a therapist. Mon Dieu." Pip says, trying to be jovial but clearly shaken, as though he had somehow also seen the psychic collision. "I'm suddenly glad you never learned that Evil Love Beam trick, mignonette."
Seras finally gets her trembling under control, and affixes Giegue with a stern look, though there's no pressure behind it this time. "I don't know if you saw anything in my head, but I've had bad experiences with mind-readers. Please keep that power of yours under control."
It's phrased as a request, but the implied threat is obvious.
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
Elevator Terminal
One other, unexpected recipient of this psychic probe just happened to be standing right next to Aquarius. Giegue can likely tell that while his psychic wave may have reached Seras and Aqua, it also connected with the purple-clad moron standing among them.
"...My face itches."
Oddly enough, the probe seems to have had significantly less effect on her than the other psychically-inclined members of this little gathering. While Giegue's mental presence may have thrown open the doors to their minds, this "Zeemi" lady seems to have only received a particularly loud knock on the front door...not that anybody seems to be home. The lights are certainly on, at least...Giegue's probe can at least tell that there's something in there. Oddly, however, he can't quite tell what it is.
Zeemi reaches up and idly scratches her cheek, looking at Giegue as he regains his composure.
"Is the kitty okay...? 'Cuz he's acting a little-"
Upon Seras's tendril emerging, Zeemi employs her last resort.
"Wh-hey! Stop, both you guys!"
A spray bottle. Filled with water. Sprayed at both Giegue and Seras, like they were misbehaving cats.
"You guys're supposed to be working together!"
Everett has resorted to quite literally hiding behind Seras and Pip, though he's at least trying to act casual about it.
Edited by ZodanTheUnbounceable on Apr 27th 2024 at 10:18:00 AM
This post is sponsored by Amalgam Comics.
Ruri — Elevator Terminal
Ruri screamed. She rarely admitted her mistakes, but she'd made a serious error in judgement. She cradled her head as she winced, gritting her teeth as she attempted to abort. For all her talk about idiots she wasn't much better.
Edited by kkhohoho on Apr 27th 2024 at 10:06:27 AM
Fool From The Depths
BB & B, Bastion (Elevator Terminal)
"Whoa whoa whoa, hey, stop it!" Liam cried, rushing to try and stop Seras from attacking Giegue, only for Seras to cease her attack just in the nick of time and Giegue to intervene, causing him to let out a small sigh of relief.
"Knock it off, edgelords!" Charlie growled at Seras and Giegue. "We're trying to plan here!"
Just then, Ruri let out an agonizing scream, drawing Charlie, Liam and Manon's attention to her all at once, Liam letting out a small cry of "ack!" before dashing over to her side.
"A-are you okay?" he asked shakily.
"Assessment: No." Manon replied. Liam looked towards the Engi.
"What's wrong with her?"
"She does not appear to have suffered any physical damage, nor do my scans detect any known illness or maladies within her body." Manon clarified. "It seems whatever she is suffering from is affecting her on a mental or spiritual level. Perhaps if we had a Zoltan Cleric or psychotherapist here, they could diagnose her affliction."
"Well I sure don't see any of those, metalhead!" Charlie grunted. "What do we do here?"
"Those with psionic abilities may be able to aid us in healing her." Manon replied, gesturing towards Giegue, Aquarius and (shockingly) Zeemi. "Assuming the affliction does not pass on its own."
Liam looked between Giegue and Zeemi and Aquarius.
"Please, can any of you help her?" he asked, sounding desperate. "I don't want her to suffer like this!"
Something's Fishy Here...
Elevator Terminal
With every passing minute, Alia was regretting joining this group more and more. They hadn't even reached the surface of the planet yet, and already there was infighting. She hadn't quite caught what had set her teammates off, but it was enough to get her to march forward, stepping next to Everett and placing a hand on his shoulder to try and keep him calm as she spoke up.
"That is enough, all of you. If you can't even stop yourselves from attacking each other, how can I trust you to protect Everett?" The Reploid said, a stern tone in her voice as she looked at her would-be teammates, settling on Ruri and the obvious pain she was in. "Whoever is able to help her, please, do so. Then we need to depart."
Left unsaid at the end of that sentence was 'before something else goes wrong', but the look on Alia's face made that sentiment loud and clear.
Proud member of the AGOG community.
AKA Nixer
Cibo: Elevator Terminal
Cibo had stopped keeping track of what was going on by this point. Her perception of time had begun to warp again as the talking faded into the background, even though it seemed important. It was all just moving too quickly. Everett was leaving, and then he wasn't. Several people tried to threaten or coerce him (in that order) to stay, and then there was a psychic phenomenon from Giegue. She barely blinked, but Seras responded as if she'd been stabbed in the lung. Cibo merely gave the vampire a blank look, perhaps judgemental but relatively unreadable with how brief of a glance it was, but she jolted to life again when Ruri screamed. Especially with Alia stepping up to try and get everyone in line. With a goal in mind again, and back to living in the moment, Cibo gingerly stepped past everyone to approach Ruri while reaching into her toolbox for the few medical supplies she had.
She very nonchalantly brushed Liam out of the way with her gangly arm. Despite her silence, she had suddenly become very intimidating. The calm with which she moved had an undertone of anger to it, though it was more insidious than it was obvious. If anyone pushed back against her, it would feel like trying to move a boulder. She was as stiff and mechanical as a seven-foot tall being such as herself could be.
"Are we going to get into the elevator once we're done?" she asked plainly, looking through her medical supplies briefly before pulling out something that seemed at least partially antixiolytic. "I tapped out of everything that was happening about five minutes ago. If that keeps up in the future, I'm not gonna be very useful. I'll definitely be annoyed, though."
She presented the medication for Ruri, though if she wasn't capable of receiving it herself, Cibo would simply make her ingest it by force. It was only a pill, so it was a better situation than if it were an injection. Either way, placebo would work in the short-term, so long as Ruri was aware of the fact she was being tended to.
"I've never seen psychic powers used before. If that's what it's like, I'm glad I don't have a brain in here anymore," she remarked, tapping the side of her head with her finger. "Left that behind back... home? In prison. I left it in prison."
bork
Léodagan, the Bloodthirsty
Elevator Terminal
Someone with common sense would have tried to dodge Seras's arm. But not Giegue. Though on the outside he looked fine aside from the shaking, he was still reeling mentally and didn't even try to defend himself. When he noticed that she was close, he looked almost absently at her. He didn't even seem angry as he slowly realized what she's been trying to do. Heck, he didn't even hear her first warning, he only heard the second one.
Giegue realized she had been affected by the madness to act aggressively. She had to do her miserable intimidation tactic at the worst time possible, and so she had a taste of what was going on inside him. Of course, having done it unconsciously, he had no way of knowing what happened inside Seras's head, nor was he aware others could have felt the massive surge of PSI that suddenly erupted from him (though in Zeemi's case, well... She was idiotic enough to deal easily with the echoes of the "all-mighty idiot" slumbering within the alien. If Giegue knew that, he would have fainted).
Speaking of which, Giegue noticed his skin covered in water. Looking around, he noticed the culprit and he stared at Zeemi for a moment, not sure if he should be angry, shocked, or concerned about how she thought that would do anything. He then looked back at Seras.
At least the vampire had been able to restrain herself. The alien, on the other hand, hasn't. He had to have another episode, and that was in front of those people. He was still weak. Vulnerable. Pathetic. Giegue felt disgusted with himself for reminiscing. The Reploid Alia was right, how was he supposed to even protect that damn boy when he was incapable of self-control?
And then came the paranoia. He started to fear they were going to ask questions. About his powers. What was going on in his head. About... everything. Because that meant he should open up. And that meant that everything was going to resurface again. And that terrified him. Maybe he could, maybe if he explained, they could understand, but no, they couldn't, and he would not do it. Giegue was incapable of coping with his human emotions. That love, it hurts it burns so much HE HATES IT . No. He had to ignore the pain too. Ignore everything. Just...
"please, can any of you help her?"
"FINE!!!"
Liam talking to him caused Giegue to suddenly snap and turn towards the Mantid with wide eyes. Nothing happened this time, but the alien was not doing okay. Realizing what he did, he put a hand on his head as if he were having a headache.
"F-Fine, just... just stay away from me... not a word... please..." he said trying to sound threatening, but failing miserably. He wasn't sure if he was speaking to Liam, Seras... or anyone else.
Giegue approached Ruri as Cibo tended to her (which Giegue found completely stupid. She was suffering from the mind, not the body). It took him longer than usual but he attempted to communicate with her mind to assess her situation.
"She... will be fine. She tried something she should not have with that machine. It fought back. I'm helping her pull out of the connection..." he explained, pointing at Susie's business suit. He wasn't in the mood, nor did he have the mental strength to explore further what exactly happened or try to connect with the business suit.
And that was followed by yet another furious look at Susie as if she's done something wrong. If she had kept her mouth shut, nothing would have happened.
Still, Giegue had enough mental strength to try to help Ruri out. If she was having trouble aborting the connection on her own, he would try to aid her.
Edited by Scipion3 on Apr 29th 2024 at 2:42:04 PM
"You're married like me, you know monstrosity can take many forms."
The Hope, The Hero
Elevator Terminal (Lieutenant Titus)
Titus wordlessly shakes his head as the psychic contest between Giegue and Seras runs its course. Having said that, he nods at Giegue's point about communication.
"An excellent point, Giegue. Communication would be vital in a situation like this. Myself and the tech-priest can tune our Voxes to the correct frequency, so it is not an issue for us. As for our common foe, Ridley, perhaps it would be better to have our combat strength split evenly among both teams as a countermeasure."
Of course, this is before the brief standoff between the vampire and the psychic happens, and Titus can only sigh while doing an armoured facepalm in reaction to this. "This is hardly the time..."
Galleus, meanwhile, looks at Ruri while Cibo is attending to her, curious. He didn't notice Ruri's construct companion before, but now that he sees it, he wonders if Ruri had accidentally angered her construct's machine-spirit. Given Alia's choice words on the matter as well, the tech-priest for once decides to keep his vox-augment shut. Of course, he does cock his head at Giegue pointing out Ruri's attempt to connect to the Business Suit, so he is half-right, in a sense. Another matter for another time.
Cibo's comments do catch Titus' attention, especially the one about how she left her brain back in prison? As far as Titus was aware, while there were robotic constructs that served menial duties for the Ultramarine Companies, as well as other important tasks, the Imperium never quite figured out how to transfer a human mind into a completely cybernetic copy. The Adeptus Mechanicus were the only ones who even tried such a ritual, but they kept the information to themselves ever since they first attempted it.
"Agreed, we should move quickly. We're wasting daylight, otherwise."
Spelunking through a Halo Ring is something else...
(Filling in for the GM for this post, so let's do this.)
Elevator Terminal
With the team cooperating (for once) to assist Ruri with her rather painful predicament, it soon became apparent that their efforts yielded fruit as the connection between Ruri and Susie's Business Suit was severed, leaving the former blessedly free of a foreign presence trying to assert dominance over her. Seeing as that crisis was averted, Alia took the initiative and nudged Everett along towards one of two open elevators. She didn't rightly know what the ride down would be like, but the fact that all of them wouldn't be forced to jam together in a single elevator was appreciated.
There was still room for the others to join Alia and Everett, but the other elevator looked to have a bit more space if that was more their speed. They'd just have to share the elevator with...Zeemi? Either that woman was fast on her feet, or there was more to her than was readily apparent.
"Pspspspspsp."
Given the way she was looking at Giegue as she made that weird set of noises, the fortune teller with the swirly eyes seemed to be inviting him aboard the elevator, along with whoever else felt inclined to join.
Edited by Bored_Man on May 2nd 2024 at 9:00:10 AM
Proud member of the AGOG community.
Ruri — Turns Out I'm The Asshole
Ruri was free. She fell to her knees, swallowing Cibo's pill, letting the pain pass. Something had invaded her. There was something in the buisness suit, something that should not exist. She had felt every inch of it seeping into her brain, threatening to consume her and make her its plaything. She had so many questions. Where did this force come from? Was it artificial intelligence or something more sinister? Did Suzie know? What precious secrets was she guarding?
She couldn't answer. For all the questions swirling in brains, there was one more important than all the others.
Had she made a mistake? She'd hadn't though she'd suffer consequences for such actions, none she wasn't prepared to handle. She wasn't prepared for this. She didn't bother to perform a scan, didn't ensure there was minimal risk. Was she that conceited? So arrogant she'd throw all caution to the wind for the sake of her own amusement? What did that make her?
She couldn't take it. She ran into the other elevator, nervous and desperate, huddling in the farthest corner. If she made herself small, maybe they wouldn't notice her.
Edited by kkhohoho on May 2nd 2024 at 10:37:46 AM
Fool From The Depths
BB & B, Bastion (Elevator Terminal)
Liam breathed a sigh of relief as Cibo and Giegue helped Ruri recover, turning his attention back to the young woman.
"Oh, thank Stella... are you alright? How are you-"
But then Ruri made a mad dash for the elevator, and Liam immediately began to follow her, moving swiftly with his many legs.
"WAIT! Where are you going?" he cried, joining her in the elevator. "Why are you running away? What happened?"
"Oi, leave her alone, Blades." Charlie grunted in his direction. "She's having a bad time, she needs some rest. I don't think talking to her's gonna help."
"Again, the circumstances would be much more favorable if a psychotherapist was present." Manon noted. "I do not know if you will be able to aid her properly. My calculations on the matter are...inconclusive."
"But-" Liam started, then threw up his hands in the air with frustration. "Look, I have to try, okay?" He turned back to Ruri. "What's...what's hurting you?"
Something's Fishy Here...
The Light That Blinds
One Last Question Before We Go (Aquarius)
Oh thank Helios she let go.
My shoulders sag in relief as tension releases from my body. Part of me wants to just run straight into the non-Zeemi elevator and get this over with as quickly as humanly possible...but I had noticed what happened with Ruri. And I might not be very good at comforting people, but I am good at learning, and that feels like something we should learn about.
So I walk up to Susie. "Susie? It's your suit, do you have any idea what Ruri tapped into back there? Or do you have no clue what I'm talking about and this is just going to be a..." I lift my hands to do air quotes. "'Screw around and find out' kind of thing?"
I really hope not. This is about the last thing we need right now.
Well, that, or Ridley crashing through the front door.
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
The Gayest Bowser
Himeno and Don - Images of Home
All at once, a domino-set of mistakes fell one after the other. The Diet Galactinsect had a nervous breakdown and was trying very hard to hide it, which caused another breakdown in-turn and of course all the "toughies" had to weigh in and be sarcastic about it. Reminded her of all of the feuding the Kings got up to back home. Hell, even after having united as a planet, there was still the occasional power-playing. Usually from Kaguragi. Thankfully, the alien made things right and fixed the girl up, but she ran away out of...stress? Embarrassment? Embarrassed stress?
"She needs time to process things. Prodding her will only exascer-You're already running over."
This was gonna end well.
"As for the splitting-up, I'll stay with our little King here. As romantic as it might be for the princess to hunt the dragon, this one's our main concern."
Don finally piped up.
"If they're obsessed with an objective..." Don says. "...they'd probably just launch everything they have at that and take the losses. They might just go straight for him. This again, this might be Ridley we're talking about and I've haven't fought him yet, so I dunno..."
Edited by klom99 on May 8th 2024 at 6:04:08 AM
"Doctor, I did say look for the Spymaster. Or should I say Spy....Master?"
Breath of the Sun
Seras - Elevator Terminal
Seras has the decency to look sheepish, though she does wince a little when the water hits her. She lets the oddball spray her so that Everett doesn't get wet, then flickers into shadow for a half-second to dry herself.
Pip just gives an eye-roll as people admonish her. "I don't know if you've noticed, but kitty-cat isn't exactly the nicest person. If he's going to pull out his claws, so will we. On the other hand, if he plays nice, we won't have problems."
"I don't think he did it on purpose, Pip." Seras notes, seeing Giegue's reaction. The alien is clearly shaken from what happened. "Anyway, I apologize for losing my cool, there. Bad memories. An old enemy was psychic."
She moves towards the elevator, then bites her lip. "I think I'll get some fresh air and meet you down there. I'll probably stick with the bodyguard group if we do split up."
"Oh yes, give us the dull assignment. No fun at all." Pip complains, though it's clear he's joking. Seras elbows him, then they once more seem to meld together as Seras disappears into the floor.
Anyone who peeked outside would spy an oddly cohesive cloud of bats descending rapidly to the surface below.
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
BB & B, Bastion (Elevator Terminal)
"Hey wait, come back!" Liam cried as he ran after Everett, easily managing to catch up to him due to his natural Mantis speed. "I promise, you're not going to be in any danger!" He looked towards Charlie. "Right, Boulders?"
Charlie paused for a moment before speaking.
"I mean, you've got us. Don't see how you could lose when you've got a Rockman, a Mantis, and people who could probably knock holes straight through a shield layer." He pointed out.
"See! There's no way anything bad's gonna happen to you!" Liam reassured the boy. Charlie glared in Susie's direction when she gave another speech, but didn't comment. Then, Titus brought up the idea of splitting into two teams, and that got Liam's attention.
"Oooo, that sounds like a good idea!" he agreed eagerly. "We'll have to be smart about team composition, make sure we don't have bad combinations, but...if we do this right, we can kill two birds with one stone!"
"Volunteering statement: My calculation skills will be valuable for that purpose." Manon piped up.
Something's Fishy Here...