Inside 72: Halfway to a Gross

[Ironsmith]

[Verdant Heights]
(Goblin Traffic Stop)

Braon's gaze snaps over to Fayyaad as he addresses her, as does her head, eliciting a sharp crackle of bone from her neck as it twists unnaturally to face him. She turns slowly to face him the rest of the way, now seeming to vaguely recognize him.

They'd met at Trog's, he'd said. Did he have even the slightest idea how little that narrowed it down? She must have met hundreds of people there over the years. People she'd stolen from. People who tried to steal from her. Drinking buddies. Scam marks. Even a few quasi-romantic encounters upstairs. What was supposed to make him stand out?

If Braon had been fully present, she could have answered that immediately. He'd been genuinely kind to her. That was somewhat rare, even in a civil place like Trog's. She'd learned to value it, tried to nourish those relationships when the opportunity arose, and lamented their inevitable crashing as Braon would invariably disappoint them.

But that part of Braon, the part that cared what people thought of her, that wanted good friends and companionship, that was afraid of letting them down and being left all alone again, was gone. She'd walked out like everyone else, when the going got rough. All that was left was Misery.

As such, Fayyaad's actions barely stood out to her among the blur of light, sound, and drink that was Trog's. If their encounter had been any less recent, she may have forgotten it entirely.

"...Fayyaad, Fayyaad..." She mumbles to herself, stroking a finger along her chin in thought. "...That's right. We did meet at Trog's, didn't we? The pyromancer." She flashes a malicious smile, the very tips of her needly teeth poking out from under her lips. She raises her hand, commanding the brambles to reach out and crush the tiefling. They move to obey, slithering toward him with malicious intent...

...and promptly wilting, just before they touch him.

Okay, no. You're not going to hurt him like you would anyone else.

It takes her a moment, and a second attempt, to piece together exactly what happened. She frowns, then growls in frustration, as she realizes her tendency toward self-sabotage had survived her encounter with the Pit, and reached some impressive new heights at that. "Change of plans, redcap." She snarls, pointing at Fayyaad. "Forget the kids. Bring me that fielding's ring. Cut it from his hand if you have to."

Uh-oh. Now look what you've gotten me into.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Riftline Station]

Khannie hugs the weird white cat one more time, just for good measure. Maridia is getting excited from all this hugging, so the fairy dragon gets a hug, too. She sets both small creatures down on the bench rolls her shoulders. "Use to my new body? I've been human before but it was just a temporary magic thing. This feels different, definitely."

She tries punching.

Just a quick jab at the air.

Left jab.

Right hook.

Then a blur of motion as she throws a series of twelve or so punches in the span of a heartbeat.

"Comet punch still works," Khannie observes as she walks hops in a little circle, cranking back and- "EEEEIAAH!"

Throws a wild hay-maker.

"Huh, no lightning punch, though," she says, opening and closing her fingers as she looks down at her hand, contemplating the notable lack of arcing electricity. "It feels like I could-"

She tugs at her scarf, allowing it to loosen slightly as she punches again. The deep purple end of the scarf seems to almost unravel into a billowing cloud of fabric that her fist simply vanishes into its shimmering folds. At the same time another, much larger scarf portal appears some distance away as a fist the size of a semi-truck comes careening out of it and smashes a crater into the park across the street.

"Eep!"

Khannie quickly retracts her arm, fabric portal and giant gauntlet vanishing.

"Okay, uh, that's kind of like shadow punch I guess?" she mutters sheepishly. "I guess my Magical Girl powers are a lot like the sorts of moves I knew as a pokemon. That should make getting into the swing of fighting easier. I already know how to fight. I'm pretty tough."

Khannie is pretty tough according to Khannie.

It continues to not fight the hugging, but doesn't really seem into it either.
Neutral.
"There are Witches in the city, but most of them are not currently active or are being dealt with by others.
I could lead you to one of the latter, if you'd like."

[Rebonack]

[Riftline Station]

Khannie considers her options here.

She COULD practice on some other sort of bad guy.

Or she could go to a place where another magical girl (probably?) is fighting a witch already.

"I think it would be a good idea to see another witch being fought," Khannie reasons. "Even if they don't need my help then I'll get to see how OTHER magical girls fight and how witches fight, too."

She really has no idea what to expect from these witches.

Do they bake kids into pies?

Turn them into mice?

Put cures on people?

Without knowing what her foes are capable of then she's going in blind. Best to observe someone who knows what they're doing already.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Show me to where a witch is getting fought right now."

[5a Violista]

[Abandoned Hospital]

It's really unfortunate that the saw isn't functional. It seems like it would be really useful.

Hitting the padlock is an obvious no-go: it'd be loud enough that it would draw that thing right here. She needs to be quieter, she thinks.

Which is why, when she notices the unsecure hinges, she decides that's the route to go.
Carmen looks around for a flathead screwdriver or something else that could be used to pry at the hinges, as well as looks to see if there's any tools that could just remove the hinges itself.
So, she works at it, trying to get the hinges off that way and get the locker door off.


[Mossman Park]

Luckily, for now, it seems that lone pixie has a dryad nearby to occasionally spend her time with.


That's obviously not a ghost, because it's nowhere near spooky enough or obvious enough to be a ghost. The water-horse said it would be obvious when something was a ghost, and this isn't it.
The pixie that touched the wisp glances around to make sure nobody else realized what had happened, and then secretly tries to touch the other wisps. Unfortunately, being kind-of like a hivemind, the others did notice, and that means some of the others try to touch them first.

"Oh, cool!" is the response to the Yeth Hound, completely forgetting (at the moment) that it would require using doors and stairs. "Yes, we should go right now!"
Of course, that pixie that responded is then mocked for being such a dumb idiot that she has to use stairs and a door to get to a forest. (They're not saying they won't go along, too, but...) And that she's so fungus-brained that she hasn't even considered how she's going to open such a dumb fat doorknob.


[Toward(?) Plum Mountain Park]

Oh no!
Rain.
Butterflies tend to not like rain, actually, and Mairi is actually smaller than both the other pixies she met so far. Get hit by enough raindrops, and it might knock her out of the sky! And there's a lot of rain. Sure, the butterfly whose wings she has comes from a rainforest, but getting hit by lots of rain isn't really a good thing for flying, usually, when you're pretty small.

After all this effort getting here, they can't really fly. (Well, maybe if they had more practice flying them they might be able to manage it. Maybe.) They basically get cast to the ground.
Four fall in streams that they're unable to escape and get washed downstream, leaving sixteen still standing.

Luckily, this gives them some ideas. If they can't fly down, just float down! Some search for sticks, others get (honestly probably unsafe) leaves, and they use those as little boats to ride down the water. They just have to follow the stream down, right? Seems simple enough. Easiest way to follow a stream is to ride it down.


[Verdant Heights]
Goblin Traffic Stop

The black goop stops coming, and she ends up just unable to stop coughing as a few remaining inky drops drip down Harley's chin.

An arm that looks just like Harley's (before she turned it into tentacles) reaches out of the blackness, and strokes her cheek. It leaves ink behind where it touched. Then, the owner of that arm comes out of the ground and embraces Harley; it's wearing the exact same outfit (including the blindfold), except it's also wearing a white mask that has a smile-shaped black void for a mouth.
It pulls her into a tight hug, with one hand on her back and the other on her head like she's trying to soothe her, but it doesn't help Harley feel or look any better. More scared than anything, really. And it squeezes tighter and tighter, until it bursts itself into oily ink so vividly colorful that it makes most everything else look gray by comparison. As the ink drips off Harley's face, it vaporizes and leaves a similar mask behind.

Harley collapses onto the ground like a puppet that's just had its strings cut.
And above her, a dark figure appears out of the swirling inky mist, in the air above Harley's body. It's wearing a black tattered dress, has claws so sharp they may as well be knives, has long black hair(?) branching backwards like tree roots, thin limbs and what could arguably be called high heels if the heels attached mid-calf and the leg/foot was a curve instead of a leg or foot. . . and, most importantly, instead of a face or a mask, it has a long grey thing that vaguely resembles a beak, if you had to call it something.

Face-first, it flies towards Pusknee.
Before reaching that Pusknee, the thing instead bursts into black mist.
The black mist spreads around, homing towards the people nearby except Pusknee (and Fayaad and Braon, because those two are just a bit too far away) - goblins, people, it doesn't care - and starts entering them through their mouth, eyes, ears, cuts, scrapes. . .

And then, all at once, all of them get attacked at once. For the non-goblins, it isn't as serious, just cuts spontaneously appearing on them here and there, but the goblins it entered have a much worse fate, where they get shredded from the inside out, which should cause them to burst into shrapnel of metal shards and shredded trash.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Riftline Station]

The not-quite-a-cat stretches itself out like an actually-a-cat getting up from a nap, before hopping its way up to Khannie's shoulder.
"Okay then. Just follow my directions."

Directions in Inside are complicated things most of the time, but it seems fairly adept at issuing what it thinks she needs to get by. Some of it even functions to show her some shortcuts over and around buildings.

The distance isn't extreme, they're not going across the city, but it's a good few neighborhoods away before their destination is reached.

Their destination...appears to be a shining orb, of concentric glowing lines, emanating in and around some central point and each other, glowing with a rather pure-looking golden light.
"And here we are, a witch's labyrinth."

[Rebonack]

[Witch's Labyrinth]

Since we aren't at Riftline anymore.

Khannie follows the directions dutifully, moving along at a decent jog. She's got pretty good endurance but she doesn't want to tire herself out before she gets to the fight. Again, she has no idea what to expect.

She'll wave at people now and again, looking for all the world like... well. A magical girl. Being followed by not one but TWO familiars! Definitely extra special. She'll keep it up until she reaches-!

A glowing ball.

"Huh."

Honestly Khannie had something like that green witch from The Wizard of Oz in her mind. Someone living in a great big spooky looking castle. Instead there's a glowing ball floating in the air. Khannie really has no idea what to do here.

"Umm... okay? Like the thing Minotaur lived in?" Khannie asks. "Or like... those funny designs on the floor in some of the fancy tall church buildings?"

She had been to a few of those just because she thought they looked really pretty and wanted to know what they were like on the inside.

"It's really shiny," Maridia helpfully points out.

[Zefir]

[[Looking for Jo]

Since the succubus can't really do anything to stop Fade from just entering, she says, "Okay," and just enters.

The leader is in that room.
She's seated behind a desk, and appears to have been doing paperwork when she was time-frozen...apparently, she was one of the first frozen, before alert of an attacker had time to go through the place. In fact, she wasn't even aware that she was frozen in time, because she looks up with an annoyed face, saying "You're interrupting me again? I can't wait to..."
Then she notices Fade.
The leader shuts up, trying to figure out what happened.

The succubus tells the leader what happened. And that Fade is here looking for Jo.

The leader pauses and sets down her pen.
She then quickly picks it back up, and looks down at the paperwork again to hide her facial expressions.

[Looking for Jo]

That sounds like a weak spot. I mean doesn't she got at last a few stones near her to avoid such a situation? They should realy rethink their system if the leader get's shut like that. At worst it might not even be the plan of the attacker just a coincidence.

"I'm from another plase with the task to find the described person." Fade says. "What do you know about her?" It is clear that Fade noticed her hiding. I mean she didn't reply to the description immediatly so she is trying to think things over. Not that Fade could take note of a telepathik communication, but he is sure she either is the person or knows about her.

[Morty]

[Verdant Heights]
Goblin Traffic Stop

Fayyaad flinches back, ready to summon fire, when the brambles wilt on their own. Must be the ring, still. If the good luck charm survives this fracas (and if he does, for that matter), he'll have to show it to Cassandra. She'll doubtless find it fascinating.

But right here and right now, Braon seems... not herself. Not that he knows her all that well, having met her once, but he generally prides himself on being a good judge of people. And Braon isn't acting on her own volition. She might have, at some point in whatever series of events led here, but not anymore. When the brambles die, he seizes the opportunity and quickly spins his staff, adding to the heat built up from striking Pusknee, before pointing it at Braon. From the tip of the staff strikes out a thin, but white-hot ribbon of flame, aiming to strike the brambles holding the enchantress' right arm and burn through them to sever them.

(Goblin Restaurant Raid)

Calm Reed backs away when the goblins charge, raising her knees to block the attacks, her body becoming fluid as water and the goblins' strikes seeming to ripple instead of hitting flesh and bone. She fights defensively for a moment, letting them expend their momentum trying to hurt her. Then she backs away more forcefully, before aiming a spinning kick at the goblins' faces, intending to knock them back, before surging forward and bringing her fists on them in a barrage of strikes before they've even had a chance to land.

[Rebonack]

[Mossman Park]

Lots of wisp poking happens.

The wisps don't really react to things because they're ghosts in the loosest terms possible. They're echos of people, but an echo that has been bouncing off the walls for a really long time now. And like an echo that has been bouncing around for a long time there isn't much to hear anymore. The pixies get little flashes of memories each time they poke the wisp.

"Okay, follow me!" the yeth hound says as he... kind of... floats off that way? He makes only the barest effort at moving his legs to make it look like he's running. Because he isn't running. He's flying. If you can just float around everywhere then why would you bother with walking ever? "So you lost sneezed your name out and now you want to find it? I might have been listening a little, hehe."

He's an eavesdropping dog.

"People make such a big deal about how being a fairy is bad but I think they don't know what they're talking about," the yeth hound says as he zips between trees and over boulders. "Like it happened to me and now I don't have a bed time and I don't have to go to school and I get to go around spooking people whenever I feel like it."

They haven't reached the house in question, yet. It must be buried pretty deep in the park.


[The Enchanted Forest]

Because that's where all those pixies are now.

Those washed away into the streams are almost immediately beset upon by other tiny sprites more aligned with watery things.

Nixies!

Since they're rude jerks they start grabbing at the four who fell into the streams to try to yank them underwater and drown them. There's no reason beyond aside from the fact that if these air-headed mushroom brains didn't want to be drowned then they shouldn't have fallen into the stream.

The boat making process is definitely more successful. Though that first leaf that goes into the stream quickly fills with water and flips over. The nixies probably helped a bit with the leaf-boat overturning. If our heroes really want to get a boat working they'll need to actually assemble something a bit more substantial. That, or find a pretty big log they can all work at shoving into the stream together.


[Goblin Traffic Stop]

Pusknee is about the grab one of the sniveling children inside of the overturned mini-van when Braon begins shouting about fetching a ring. The redgap glares at her with not at all concealed spite. "Would you make up your damn mind already?" she hisses at the enchantress over the cries of the children. "God, I swear there's no respect for an honest goblin these days. You snotlings stay put. Auntie Pusknee will be right back." Then she smiles a huge, misshapen smile full of teeth that would make an orthodontist faint. "You kiddos and me, we're gunna go on an adventure together."

Then she hops off the vehicle again and gives her whip a crack, sparks leaping where it strikes the pavement.

One of the smaller goblins is looming over Thelma with its club poised to brain her when suddenly many things happen at once.

Long and short of it?

That goblin pops into a heap of trash and bones. So do all the rest of the grotesque little imps.

The children inside the van begin crying all the louder as they're savaged with flurry of tiny cuts.

And Pusknee? She heaves a sigh when all the crazy starts exploding. "The hell is all this, then?" she hisses, gesturing at the witchery going down. "HEY MARE! You still want me to get the ring or deal with whatever that is?"

[Reinholdt]

[Verdant Heights]
(Goblin Restaurant Raid)

Jedrek won't let something like IMMENSE PAIN and EXTREME AGONY slow him down. His teeth audibly clench, making his chiseled jaw even more pronounced. Whether he can use that hand to punch again is up in the air.

Fortunately he has two hands.

Which means he can step up to take advantage of Toadbutt's balance and launch a second qi imbued punch, his biceps bulging as his arm swings through the air in an effort to connect with Toadbutt's face and wipe the sadistic grin off his face. Preferably in a far too literal and maybe a little gruesome sense.

[bc56]

Abandoned Hospital
A screwdriver is easy to find. As for other tools for removing hinges, it starts to get back into the "too loud" category.
If Carmen wants to take a few minutes, she can get the hinges apart and the locker door hanging open by the padlock.
But if she doesn't want to risk taking that much time, she'll need another option.

[Rebonack]

[Goblin Restaurant Raid]

The goblins really aren't having a great time with this fight. They whollop on Calm Reed as hard as they can for a few moments and then get hurled away. One of them gets pounded into mush before it even touches the ground. The other somehow manages to lurch out of the way before getting absolutely clobbered. With Calm Reed after the goblin that is a perfect opportunity for the OTHER remaining goblin to try leaping onto her back! The awful little creature is wielding a pizza cutter which, frankly, isn't a great weapon but the goblin is going to try to make it work slicing into the warrior's neck.

That's just two small goblins left.

And, of course, Toadbutt.

WHAM!

We probably shouldn't discuss what just happened to Toadbutt in great detail.

Bits fly apart.

And like the other goblins he disintegrates into a shower of garbage, bones, and blood that was never his to begin with. His cruel hammer clatters to the floor, radiating thirst for destruction.

[Ironsmith]

[Verdant Heights]
Goblin Traffic Stop

Fayyaad flinches back, ready to summon fire, when the brambles wilt on their own. Must be the ring, still. If the good luck charm survives this fracas (and if he does, for that matter), he'll have to show it to Cassandra. She'll doubtless find it fascinating.

But right here and right now, Braon seems... not herself. Not that he knows her all that well, having met her once, but he generally prides himself on being a good judge of people. And Braon isn't acting on her own volition. She might have, at some point in whatever series of events led here, but not anymore. When the brambles die, he seizes the opportunity and quickly spins his staff, adding to the heat built up from striking Pusknee, before pointing it at Braon. From the tip of the staff strikes out a thin, but white-hot ribbon of flame, aiming to strike the brambles holding the enchantress' right arm and burn through them to sever them.

[Goblin Traffic Stop]

Pusknee is about the grab one of the sniveling children inside of the overturned mini-van when Braon begins shouting about fetching a ring. The redgap glares at her with not at all concealed spite. "Would you make up your damn mind already?" she hisses at the enchantress over the cries of the children. "God, I swear there's no respect for an honest goblin these days. You snotlings stay put. Auntie Pusknee will be right back." Then she smiles a huge, misshapen smile full of teeth that would make an orthodontist faint. "You kiddos and me, we're gunna go on an adventure together."

Then she hops off the vehicle again and gives her whip a crack, sparks leaping where it strikes the pavement.

One of the smaller goblins is looming over Thelma with its club poised to brain her when suddenly many things happen at once.

Long and short of it?

That goblin pops into a heap of trash and bones. So do all the rest of the grotesque little imps.

The children inside the van begin crying all the louder as they're savaged with flurry of tiny cuts.

And Pusknee? She heaves a sigh when all the crazy starts exploding. "The hell is all this, then?" she hisses, gesturing at the witchery going down. "HEY MARE! You still want me to get the ring or deal with whatever that is?"

[Goblin Traffic Stop]

Braon instinctually throws up her hands to protect her face, realizing too late that Fayyaad was aiming for her arm, and she lets out an inhuman shriek of pain as the vine is severed, trailing fire up the length of her arm for good measure.

And then Pusknee delivers the news about the rest of her minions going up in clouds of viscera. Whoever caused that was going to be pretty worthy of her attention, too... and at least they wouldn't have the benefit of a protective charm tailor-made to stop her.

"Get the fiendling!" Braon snaps, pointing with her burned arm at Fayyaad. "I'll handle the witch."

Well. Other witch.

Still, a one-on-one fight seemed a little too fair for her tastes. Especially since Fayyaad had been kicking Pusknee around when she arrived. So as a parting gift, before going to deal with Harley, she makes a pair of enchantments.

The first she weaves into the air, channeling her frustration and newfound desire to see Fayyaad dead into a tangible force. The wind whips wickedly around him as the spell takes shape, as though some huge unseen thing was slithering around Fayyaad, searching for an opportune time to strike.

The second, she draws straight from the Pit. Pusknee hadn't been strong enough to take on Fayyaad before, so it was time to give her a little more juice before turning her loose again. Braon starts pumping the redcap full of Nightmare Essence, replenishing and invigorating the goblin.

When those are done, she turns her attention toward Harley, leaving Fayyaad to deal with her minions.

[Morty]

[Goblin Traffic Stop]

Not good. Severing the vines didn't have the effect Fayyaad had hoped for. Braon doesn't seem weakened by it, except for just being burnt. And now he has other things to deal with. Two things, apparently, even if he can't see one of them. He starts circling away from Pusknee, in a fluid, graceful dance-like motion. He needs to build up some heat to deal with this creature.

[Goblin Restaurant Raid]

Calm Reed wasn't expecting a goblin to jump onto her back and start trying to cut into her neck with... whatever it is that this creature is using. She really should have, let's be honest. But the monk has something of a tendency for tunnel vision. Instead of trying to scramble and dislodge the wretch, she opts to simply fall onto her back in an abrupt motion, to crush it under the weight of her armored body.

[Vahnavoi]

Bishop and Knight Pawnshop

The shop's quite easy to find, the directions being simple and accurate. Inside, it's a bit of an Aladdin's cave. All sorts of things have been brought here at some time or another, pawned off and then left. There's a display of electronic goods, ranging from toasters, to phones, to a Pip-Boy. There's a rack of weapons ranging from simple steel daggers and brass knuckles, to an intricately carved stone giant's stalagmite-club (although that's not on the rack, simply propped up next to it) and a two-handed sword made from a bronze-coloured metal. There's also racks of clothing, bags, and all sorts of other things.

Behind the counter is a figure in tattered and grimy robes, a ratty hood pulled over their head. The only part of their face that can be seen are three glowing spots which could be eyes. A spindly-looking arm ending in a gloved hand with only (apparently) three fingers and a thumb rests on the counter. One of the glove's fingers has been pulled back and held in place with a safety pin. "Can thiss one... assisst you, honoured biped?" The figure's voice is sibilant and low, with a strange reverb to it as though it's echoing inside that hood.

The swordsman is somewhat dazed by the eclectic assortment of junk. The implications are dizzying - this place is a lot weirder than what he thought it to be, when got washed on a sandy beach just two or three days ago. He picks up the Pip-boy and marvels at it, momentarily forgetting why he even came here.

Then the clerk calls to him and he snaps out of it. He puts the Pip-boy down and takes the sheathed rapier off his sash, presenting it to the clerk. "Yes. I need money for a mortage. How many, uh, spheres could I get for this sword?" Before the clerk replies, the swordsman thinks and adds: "In general, what can you tell me of this sword? You seem to have quite a selection of goods here, I imagine you are well-learned in history and origin of various objects."

[5a Violista]

[Looking for Jo]

They kept all their Crystalized Divinity in the most secure room of the place, so that nobody could easily take it.
But it is a significant flaw that they kept the vast majority all in one place instead of multiple places as backup.

The succubus with the bow hangs back.

The leader considers his new question, too. "So you're from The Capital?" she asks, misinterpreting which other place he came from. She sighs and puts her head in her hands. "Those paladins haven't given you an update? But you've already received word that she got away."

The leader shakes her head. Why would The Capital send someone to them instead if the other group? "So we came to an agreement with those paladins, that we'd hand her off every hundred years, but when it was those knights' turn, she escaped. They took too long to tell us, but when we found out, we sent out our best scouts like Helen to try to follow her trail."

She seems resigned, as if she expects Fade to reprimand her for losing such a valuable person. (Even though it arguably wasn't her fault.)


[Mossman Park]

The pixies would love to stick around and poke the wisps some more, but it looks like they have something slightly more important to do.

They all fly and follow "Yup, lost it like that." The pixies barely make any effort at moving their legs, too, because flying is sooooo much better. No point in ever walking, walking is for chumps.
...
But some of them think pretending to run while flying is a decent idea and try to mimic the yeth hound.

"Fairies are pretty cool, probably comparable to being a dragon or a mermaid," they say to agree in the conversation. "Oh! But I stilp have a bedtime. It's at 'when I get tired' o'clock."

Of course it would be deep in the park, that's where Mairi was expecting the way into the mystic forest to be. Can't get to a mystic forest if you use a house that isn't in the forest.


[The Enchanted Forest]

After the ones that fell in the water and the fastest ones who grabbed a nearby stick or leaf, there's only about a dozen left.

Drowning can be painful, right? The pixies who just watched those other dumb pixies stupidly get on a leaf or stick and drown laugh at them but also try out the pain magic, storing their pain for later.

And, of course, even though they were planning on getting into the water the exact same way, they suddenly decide to not continue with it. Only dumb fairies drown.

Well,
Since all these Mairis that aren't getting in the water now still brought over leaves and sticks, they decide to start turning it into a raft. Sticks, leaves to help make a place to stand on, and tying them all together with flower stems and grass, using a bunch of different knots. Plus! Even one pixie gets an eyepatch made out of a torn flower petal! Looks pretty good, if she does say so herself.

The pixie with the colorful eyepatch got nominated as the captain, because nobody wanted to be it.

With the boat ready and half of them armed with little toothpick-sized twigs, the eyepatch pixie commands the others to start pushing. Under her magnificent and excellent guidance, all of them manage to push the stick-boat into the water and hop and pull each other on.


[Abandoned Hospital]

There's two problems.

First, if Carmen takes too long then the robot thing will find her. And if she runs out of time, she'll have no time to get herself ready.

Second, if she's too loud, she'll immediately be found...but at least she'll know the robot thing is coming.

She starts unscrewing some of them. The robot probably doesn't know where she is, so that should be fine.

But, about halfway through, she feels like she has been in one place for too long.
So, she stops trying to do it quietly, and instead tries to pry it open.


[Goblin Traffic Stop]

Harley's body is lying on the ground, unmoving and surrounded by oily color.


Now that all the regular goblins are gone, the black mist finally leaves the people and they stop getting new cuts.

The black mist gathers together, and the dark witch re-forms.

Coincidentally!
The witch agrees with Braon: one-on-one fights are far too fair.
Braon is the closest person who isn't unconscious or crying in pain, and Pusknee is another goblin, so they are the first targets.

The shadows around all start vibrating like the surface of a pond after a rock is dropped in it.

Shadowy hands reach out of them, at Braon and Pusknee's neck and arms, trying to grab them and pull them down and into the shadow.
They're pretty weak and easy to destroy or pull away from, but they're relentless.

Once that starts, the witch flies at Braon, trying to grab her in an embrace (which would probably be fine if it weren't for those sharp claws).

[Zefir]

[Looking for Jo]

It appears Fade has less data then he expected. I think he knew about the paladins taking her imprisoned but from what he heared it wasn t like this.

"I can tell you I am not from The Capital. I am from another place and I think you can t know it.
The paladins are no more. At last not those who i visited.
Tell me what was her reason you imprisoned her in a collaboration with the paladins? What did she do?"

Fade is cold and direct. He sees no reason to hide such informations

[Autum Park]( since i can t look up what parks we got)

A strange story seems to begin here. A plush animal lizarad, so it will be mentioned in the books, arrives in the park looking for a fae. He looks everywhere, under a bench, in a tree under the hat of another passing visitor and so on. How he does all that without beein caught? Plot armor? Yeah sure.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Witch's Labyrinth]

Currently Khannie and Co. are standing behind a dumpster in a particularly smelly alley, putting the brightly glowing geometrically-inclined orb in a even more incongruous position.
It continues to pulse away.

The not-a-cat on the new magical girl's shoulder points a little paw at it in a vague poking motion.
"Hmm, I'm missing the reference you're making for your first thought, but it sounds closer. A labyrinth is a Witch's domain, a place of power created by them that they and their servants typically operate within. Normal people can get sucked into them and are usually lost forever.
In your case, magical girls will need to enter them in order to hunt down and slay the Witch. They don't always look like this, from the outside. You'll know when you're inside though."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Three Detectives]

"There's twenty people dead and apparently the people in New Inside think someone from 'ere is somehow responsible," Michalson explains. "One of our 'problems' got inside and started infecting people, my contact said. And they want the investigation to be overseen by someone from the outside. This is a fine mess. Somethin' I'd have leaped into when I was younger and barmier. I guess I'm just older now."

[Three Detectives]

"Problems? You mean like the orphanage 'problem'? That sorta thing?" Ithuriel asks, a little hesitancy creeping into her voice. The thought that it might be related to that takes the edge off her enthusiasm.

Probably not the first time Michalson's seen this. Ever since the orphanage, Ithuriel's had a bit of a paranoid tendency to jump to that conclusion.

[bc56]

Abandoned Hospital

Halfway through, Carmen shifts tactics. That's when things go wrong.
It's easy enough to find a prybar, but the protesting sounds of the metal door being forced are loud. Not loud enough to cover up the metallic skittering from the vents.
It's coming, moments before the door is fully forced. There's something shiny visible in the locker, but if Carmen stops holding the door to grab it, she risks getting her hand stuck. If she's fast enough, maybe she could get it out.
Or it might just be safer to run or hide before the machine gets here.
Or there are other options, if she can think of something clever.

[Rebonack]

[Witch's Labyrinth]

Yuck.

It's smelly back here.

Hopefully the witch's whole domain doesn't smell like the back of a dumpster.

Maybe witches like gross, smelly places for making their lairs? As said, Khannie really hasn't got a lot of experience in the witch department yet.

"Labyrinths are places of power for witches and their servants, got it. So I have to go inside? Probably just poke it or something," Khannie reasons. "Well, if normal people can get sucked in then I need to make sure no one gets too close. Maridia?"

The fairy dragon looks up from where she's perched on a fire-escape upwind of the dumpster.

"It's going to be your job to make sure no one who isn't a magical girl gets too close to the glowing thingy, okay? If someone starts getting close because they think it looks pretty or whatever tell them that it's dangerous and to stay away."

"Okay Khannie!" the small dragon agrees.

Great.

That's one problem taken care of.

Next up?

Khannie takes a deep breath (trying not to gag on the garbage smell), squares her shoulders, and tries walking into the orb with one hand outstretched toward it. "Okay, witch, I've got a bucket of soapy water with your name on it."

There's trepidation. And a little fear. But mostly excitement. The sort of excitement Khannie has always felt right before she knows she's about to get into a fight. She's fought pokemon. She's fought weird cyborg things. She even fought a super villain at Skyside once! Khannie's no weakling and she's definitely no coward. She's tough and smart and quick. She's good at thinking on her toes and improvising. And most importantly she's good at instincts. Sometimes in a battle there's no time to think. You've got to let your fists do the thinking for you.

She's got this.

Maybe the other magical girl won't need her help.

Maybe she'll just stand back and watch.

Maybe there will be people trapped inside who need help while the other girl fights the witch?

A vista of possibilities opens up before her-

-right as she gets plunged into a roiling kaleidoscope of surreal madness.

[Reinholdt]

[Verdant Heights]
(Goblin Restaurant Raid)

Jedrek pauses over the garbage remains of Toadbutt, to ensure he isn't just waiting to mystically reform or anything. When the redcap stays dead, he glances around for anyone that is need of aid who isn't Calm Reed.

Calm Reed can handle herself.

Then if there isn't a pressing issue, he'll go for the goblin that isn't attached to Calm Reed's back, seeking to corner and punch it with his uninjured hand. His movements are a bit slower and less forceful than they were with the redcap and he's not swinging with both fists for obvious reasons.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sewer System Purple]

Can't? That doesn't make sense, sincethey can-
But then, how much do they know about fey? Very little.
"We have an agreement, then."

"You may have your forces take this creature with you, and use it to contact us more easily." The vox scrambles a bit closer to the proper demons.

The mutant watches Sargon's projection carefully, and if he doesn't do or say anything outrageous, will turn and walk back the way it arrived.
The angel turns to Pyrthon, and makes a 'follow me' gesture with their claws.
They are kind of wondering, is Jaccalish a chief scientist for all the demons? Isn't that a weird position to exist? Or if they're Sargon's lead scientist, why is Pyrthon best to reach them?

[Sewer System Purple]

It gets diluted between dimensions. Whatever the angels are now, they aren't afflicted the same way these people are it seems.
"I hope we will both benefit from this then." Sargon remarks with a nod. "We shall take your... actually, what do you call this being? I do need to call it something."

Meanwhile, Pyrthon and the rest of the blue team, with the exception of one metal fiend who have decided to stay behind with Sargon and the red team for some reason. They might have exchanged words with the more traditionally composed fiends at some point during this exchange.

"I'm curious." Pyrthon suddenly remarks as they left the red team behind. "Are you aware of beings that call themselves 'phyrexians?"

[Rebonack]

[Autumn Park]

If we're being totally fair there's really no list of parks and people basically just make them up on the spot. Or at least that's what Rebo has always done.

So.

What have we got going on here?

A stuffed animal toddling around the park in search of faeries?

That is basically guaranteed to catch someone's attention pretty quickly.

In this specific case?

As the lizard nears a large outcrop of pink, black, and white speckled granite boulders a woman with hair matching the color and texture of the stone abruptly pops out of the top of the rock. Only her head and shoulders, though. She regards the lizard with curiosity.

"Hey there little guy," the oread calls out. "What's a cutie like you doing out here?"


[Mossman Park]

"Oh! I met a dragon guy once! Then this witch swapped our minds into each other's bodies for a while. Being a dragon was fun, too," the yeth hound recounts.

Deeper into the forest they go until at last they reach a clearing wherein there is a run down, dilapidated house. Really, the place looks like it is in the process of decaying into the ground. Peeling paint, ruined roof, broken windows, the front door hanging awkwardly off one hinge. And absolute dump. The yeth hound zips in through one of the windows.

This definitely looks like a haunted house.

Makes sense, given that yeth hounds are sort of like ghosts, right?

Once the pixies are inside the house, though, things change.

It looks bright and alive and cared for. Not really a great house, but not a huge dump, either. Lights flicker and muffled voices sound from a nearby dark room. And the yeth hound? He seems to have been replaced by a human boy.

"Dad's watching TV and drinking," the child/yeth hound cautions. "So we have be quite since he'll get mad if we make too much noise."

That said, he sneaks over to the basement door and very quietly opens it up.


[Enchanted Forest]

Into the giant river (really it's more of a creek) the pixies go!

The raft bobs downstream, buffeted by waves and rapids as the stream grows steadily wider. A school of nixies try singing some enticing songs to get the pixies to join them in the water but surely Mairi isn't dumb enough to fall for that. The nixis obviously just want to drown them. They might try shoving a bit at the raft but smacking them with those sticks they harvested will easily dissuade that behavior. It doesn't take long, or maybe it takes many days, but eventually the rain stops and the pixies find themselves in the delta of a vast sea that stretches out of sight. Waves dew lap against shores of sand like stars glittering in the moonlight. Those waters are deep beyond imagining, full of everything and nothing and all that ever could be, or was, or wasn't. The pixies will know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that to be submerged in that primordial sea is to be undone.

A sea of forgotten memories.

An ocean of lost names.

The pixies have found the Dreamheart, foaming and churning at the bottom of the world.

This is where their lost name surely went.

But how will they retrieve it?


[Verdant Heights]
(Goblin Restaurant Raid)

If Toadbutt is mystically reforming then either he's doing it really slowly or it isn't actually happening.

Jedrek's remaining foe is already pretty dazed and gets punched into a pile of garbage without much trouble at all. Take that you gross goblin! At least some of them weren't incredibly obnoxious to destroy.

Meanwhile, Calm Reed's pizza cutter friend has enough sense to dive backwards as she tries crushing it, rolling across the floor and grabbing Toadbutt's hammer as it goes. The goblin will begin skittering off toward the door with the weapon, pausing only briefly to make a very crude gesture at our heroes.

It may turn out that pausing for any reason was a mistake on its part.

(Goblin Traffic Stop)

The redcap finds herself bolstered and unlike some of the other goblins that Braon has done this too she doesn't get any bigger.

Instead?

She grows more lithe, more greasy, more eel-like in spite of the fact that she's still recognizable human. If grotesquely disfigured and disproportional. She moves with serpentine grace, striking out toward Fayaad and raising her arm to strike with-

"Are you #$^@!&& kidding me!?" the goblin shrieks as shadowy arms grab at her limbs and neck. With a wrench she pulls herself away, her slick form difficult to get a grasp on. But that was enough to slow her down and give Fayaad a bit more breathing room. "I swear to god when I get my hands on you I'm going to tear off your head and **** down the hole. I have had it with your lucky streak."

Wow the redcap is mad.

You madcap?

Apparently she is because she just spun her whip around and cracked the weapon toward Fayaad.

It isn't close enough to reach him, but the air where it strikes explodes in a nauseating cloud of vapor and fever. The tiefling probably had enough distance to avoid the full effect, but it won't leave him feeling well if he was even slightly caught in the blast.

[Ironsmith]

[Goblin Traffic Stop]

Interesting choice of words, "breathing room". Because that seems to be the antithesis of what the wicked wind is giving to Fayyaad. There's a gigantic updraft near his position, drawing in air, anything on the air (like, say, a poison cloud that might have otherwise come up short), and small objects like loose chunks of asphalt, though thankfully none of the latter will hit Fayyaad (You're welcome!). The real concern is that this will probably adversely affect his pyromancy; the wake of the draft gives him precious little to fuel his fire with, and probably doesn't do great things to his lungs, either.

Braon shambles toward the witch, her vines slapping away the hands as they approach. She suspects that this weird shadow monster's magic would be sufficiently resonant with her own that she could make use of them, but decides to leave that avenue unexplored for now. When the witch helpfully jumps into grabbing range, a pair of vines snake out from behind Braon's cloak and block her progress, forming a cross-brace between them that will likely entangle the witch if she goes through with giving free hugs.

Hmm. This witch looked like exactly the kind of thing the Pit wanted to see more of. There wouldn't be much point in trying to destroy it, but at the same time, she dislikes the idea of having it underfoot as well. Perhaps she should focus on redirecting the creature's activities toward something more productive.

[Morty]

[Verdant Heights]
(Goblin Restaurant Raid)

It is indeed a mistake, as the vengeful Exalted monk rises from the floor like a gathering tsunami and closes the distance, aiming a swift kick at the goblin's neck, intending to break it. Need to deal with this creature before they can see to the wounded.

(Goblin Traffic Stop)

Contrary to what might be expected, Fayyaad doesn't try to dodge. Instead, he rushes to meet the whip head-on, seemingly heedless of the danger. Or rather, accepting it as a necessity to get out of this jam. He swings his staff to meet the whip, trying to make it wrap itself around the staff. Should he succeed, he will send a surge of flame through the staff. The fire lights up the weapon and tries to travel up the whip and towards Pusknee. The wind is giving him trouble, so he focuses what head he's built up into this single surge.

[Three Detectives]

That orphanage business sure has stuck with Ithuriel. Michalson doesn't judge. They both carry their demons. He hasn't really told her, or indeed anyone, of some of the worse things he did during the revolution.

"No, it seems to be somethin' else. It's infectin' people somehow. It's enough to make people in New Inside out for our blood, one way or the other."

[Bloodwell Park- Dark Monolith of Khaine]

Well, this is a delicate situation. Sophie conceals what she actually thinks about these (barbaric, in her opinion) rituals. It wouldn't do to mention it now.

"I see. It does sound like a deliberate slight from his side of the family, to refuse to participate in the tradition. Or perhaps they didn't have any capable fighters? If Kerrucik fought you, though, it doesn't sound like they lack for them. What do you think is going to happen now that they're married?"

[Earl of Purple]

Bishop and Knight Pawnshop

"Sspheress? Like thesse?" The pawnbroker reaches under the table and pulls out a netting bag filled with glass spheres. They look like marbles, but they glow. "I can give you a broam and two markss, ssapphire and amethysst." Three spheres are pulled out of the bag and offered to the Swordsman. They glow, and the chips of gemstone inside are larger than the ones in the spheres he found earlier- they were all chips, the lowest size, whilst the broam is the largest size and the marks are in the middle. Also, sapphire and amethyst have the second highest stone value, so together these three spheres are worth seven hundred and fifty of the lowest denomination spheres, which is what he mostly had earlier. Taking the sword, the pawnbroker pulls it from its sheathe and admires the blade, dark red steel. "Thiss ssword... A bloody hisstory, honoured biped. Bloody indeed. The ssilver bassketwork, feel it? How ssturdy it iss? Dwarf-work, honoured biped. The Brasssblood Clan. They toiled in sslavery and sservitude for ccenturiess, honoured biped, bound by the Housse of Trosstigssen and the Kingdom of Ssermica. Thiss weapon they forged for their massterss, a gift to the lasstborn princesss. The firsst thing the princesss did wass execute the ssmith that forged it, with thiss very blade, honoured biped. Then they challenged their eldesst ssibling for the right to take the throne after their father, a duel to firsst blood. The princesss losst, honoured biped, her ssibling sslashing her facce sso all could ssee her defeat. Enraged, she thrusst again, sslaying her ssibling. Her father imprissoned her for her crime, but she esscaped, ussing thiss ssword. She sstarted a ccivil war, a missnamed one. She sslew all her ssiblingss and her father with it, and gifted it to her own daughter after the war. It sslew her, too, on her daughter'ss wedding day. She sslaughtered the groom, her mother, and many of the guesstss, before sslaying hersself with it. The regicide and familicide hass sstained the ssword'ss blade, honoured biped. Given all thiss, I could offer more, honoured biped, itss hisstory iss known, but I doubt I could ssell it for more, honoured biped. Legendss ssay the ssword sstill thirsstss for the blood of itss wielder, and who would want ssuch a blade?"

Bloodwell Park- Dark Monolith of Khaine

"Oh, there's women fighters on his side of the family. The priestess here is a cousin, albeit quite a distant one. Daughters of Khaine have a wicked reputation, too. Berserkers, with no fear and a desire to shed blood for their lord, I've heard. Now they're married? I think Ysable will be ignored by her mother-in-law, at best. At worst she's turned into a cat again, or something. Either she'll stick it out for a few decades until the old biddy dies, or she'll leave and re-join the clan. Or maybe he'll try to keep her down so she doesn't come back and we lose contact with her. I don't want that to happen, so I'll visit." Ysable's new mother-in-law is quite old, and half-elves live a long time. A few decades would be unpleasant to live through, but they'd pass.

[Reinholdt]

[Verdant Heights]
(Goblin Restaurant Raid)

Just in case, Jedrek performs the traditional flicker as he moves suddenly to behind the goblin so that the monster is cornered and unable to escape Calm Reed's kick. He already knows how slippery these creatures can be.

[Vahnavoi]

[Knight and Bishop pawnshop]

The swordsman looks at the offered spheres. "Yes, those look like the right kind." The amount seems paltry, but he figures since the gems are larger and apparently charged with some power, they must be worth more, even though he knows almost nothing of how this currency work. He'll just have to take it back to the elf and hope for the best.

"I'm fine with this amount for payment", he continues. "I wouldn't worry of finding another buyer if I were you. If I ever get the chance, I'll come and buy it back from you with a greater sum you're giving me now. This history you've told me is highly interesting and if my situation better allowed for it, I'd see if I could break the curse on it myself. I have... experience... with weapons that carry a grudge." He recalls the knife he found from the underground temple he destroyed. Could there be a connection?

"Oh, before I leave. I recently stumbled on some... religious iconography of unknown origin." He taps his head, trying to remember the details. "It was... three humanoids in a circle, conjoined by their arms. They had no faces, only holes lined with teeth where faces ought to be. I saw two variations, first of the circle facing outwards, second of the circle facing inward. The symbolism felt familiar, but I couldn't decipher it. I don't know if it had anything to do with this blade, but maybe you do?"

[Morty]

[Bloodwell Park- Dark Monolith of Khaine]

What a mess. It's nothing new, really. Families are just like that and Sophie saw a lot during her career as a social worker. It involved... she's not going to say it involved less violence, but the violence was less professional and tended to rely on improvised weapons. Either way, there's probably not much for her to do here. The two families will work out their differences or they won't.

"It's good that you're willing to do it, then. I hope your two families manage to work it out, one way or the other. Without any future cat transformations."