Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - ???

Please tell me I have something to work with. Is that body real? If I hit it, does she die? Do I have any means of precisely excising that book? G'nichi silently asks of his swords. For now he keeps her talking.
"See, that in itself presents a problem. Syncope here was willing to keep this all going. Souls being born from this god, created and destroyed in an endless cycle.
And she calls you a monster? She's a hypocrite, sure, but it doesn't give me a lot of faith in you as you dance around the question of what you plan on doing with this power if you win. What do you reply when the monsters call you a monster? The Gihren response is not really what I would be hoping for."
Wow that is an obscure reference G'nichi no one in their right mind is going to get that.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - ???]

"Syncope is very utilitarian. If she calculates a net gain in an action, that is the action she will take. Incorrectly, at times, I would say. Originally, this was a cornerstone of our partnership, as I offered options outside of the cold logic."
A sigh.
"Originally.
I saw value in turning the power of this particular threat into a weapon to be used against the other threats on the list. A god horror turned against other god-like horrors, in what I thought to be a fairly tidy reapplication of our efforts.
She did not. Here we are.
Is it an unreasonable idea? It isn't as though I would turn to torching the countryside, exterminating the local peasantry."

Meanwhile, the sword:
The greatsword seems pretty sure Page is real, or at least, real enough.
The gladius seems slightly more suspicious.
"This woman is so thoroughly steeped in necromantic magic, I can't tell if she's actually alive or dead. She and that book are certainly the source of the energies around us, though.
The book is particularly concerning. It looks to be like us, I sense an awareness within it. You'll have to physically separate it from her before you can influence it with our own abilities, I think."

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - ???

G'nichi makes a show of sliding the greatsword onto the loop he made for his shoulder. His left hand rests on his side.
Okay. Get close, get the book. Got it.

"Fair enough. I...never really considered how many god-like horrors that might be lying around. I don't see why we can't talk this out reasonably. Frankly I don't know if I agree to all of this but there's no sense in doing something dumb, right?" he says, taking a few steps forward and reaching out his right hand to shake.
This is flat-out the oldest trick in the book but G'nichi is not a terribly clever lizard.

[Earl of Purple]

Walking to GLoG

The 'girl' in the plastic dress is hit with a stick and knocked aside, missing Miranda and thumping to the ground and rolling until she's back on her feet. She looks up to see how Miranda's faring with the other two before she decides if she should jump back in or not.

The 'boy' is grabbed by the hair and held back, though if it can't reach her face with its mouth-tendrils, he'll bite at wrists and hands instead. He'll plant his feet on Miranda's chest and try standing 'up', using the muscles in his legs and back to rip out of Miranda's grip, and it's done something weird with gravity, too; its weight has shifted, most of it pressing against her chest rather than her arms even though that makes no sense. Even if Miranda lets go it won't fall off; the monster has designated her 'the ground', and its personal source of gravity. It'll always fall towards Miranda, if she throws it off, or if it jumps, until it dies. It's not concerned about the heat building up on either side of its head, either.

The last scuttles around Miranda before bending down and ramming into the backs of her knees. She's tall, and has the high ground; knock her over, and she's instantly less mobile and hopefully far less dangerous. Not that they currently expect much danger, since all she had was a stick.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - ???]

The plan is novel in its simplicity and boldness, if nothing else.
Staples of an action hero.
There's an according argument to be made that that is why Page smiles, agrees, and does actually reach her hand out to him.
It would also support the success of his subsequent grab-and-cut arm removal technique.

The reality is less friendly.

The arm is removed in a spray of pink-with-rainbow-tinges blood and Page looks like someone who just got to a mildly upsetting chapter in a book they were reading.
"Ah, heroes. Lady Feiadyne's causality trap really did leave no hope for the negotiations after all."

And then the arm attempts to eat G'nichi's face.
Like a grotesque snake, the torn end rips itself open further, the bones within splintering and splaying out in a truly terrible mockery of fangs and maw, before it whips itself around in his grip towards his head.

Mari begins a truly wretched series of curse words as this happens, but is not quick enough to immediately help.

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - ???

Calling G'nichi a hero does kind of imply things about yourself, doesn't it Page?
G'nichi would suggest this but he has a much more pressing thing to say.
"BLARGH" How heroic.
More pressingly, that's the sound he makes when his breath weapon goes off. His own maw opens as a shotgun-blast of flames erupts from his throat as he attempts to twist out of the writhing thing's grip. His sword hand plunges down as he attempts to slice the still-clinging hands free of the book. The book is likely to get cut while he does this, but he doesn't much care about its well-being.

[Ironsmith]

[Walking to Glog]

Miranda yelps as the kyld knocks her off her feet and onto her back, while the other one continues snapping at her wrists and apparently trying to crush her chest with its full body weight. She's going to have trouble adjusting to the creature's altered body weight, and its anatomy is going to make most of her hand-to-hand grappling techniques less effective, but she does have a simple trick that promises to be more effective than usual here; a right cross to the mouth, or eye, such as it is.

Meanwhile, her Hotbox is going off, letting her know that those canisters are ready. She grabs the one labeled "capsaicin" and hurls it toward the kyld that missed her earlier, the can rupturing when it hits the ground and spraying its eye-watering, throat-destroying chemical contents everywhere, producing a sensation roughly similar to rubbing pureed ghost pepper into a uniquitous series of papercuts wherever it touches.

Finally, while she's still not used to her tail, Miranda isn't going to let a prehensile limb go to waste; it curls almost instinctually around the kyld at her legs, with Miranda aiming to pin the monster's arms to its sides, such that all she really has to worry about are the comparatively small bites.

[bc56]

Walking to GLoG
"Do I have to do everything myself?" Lizzie complains. "Arms like so, stance like so. Feel the heat rise from the center of your being, and cup your hands towards your target to focus it." Sensations and the suggestions of gestures accompany the words; a basic form used to conduct pyromancy. Hopefully Miranda obeys, because she's going to need something deadlier than pepper spray and a big stick to defeat all three of these creatures.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - ???]

It's like tossing a match on gasoline soaked dry grass.
The arm erupts in flame, emitting a ear rending screech that echoes through the hallway most unfortunately.

This also serves a dual-purpose of making it very easy to slice the twitching fingers free from the book!
The book that is very suspiciously indifferent to both the flames and the sword. Still feels quite cool.

At the same time, Page lurches backwards away from G'nichi and any possible flame splatter, muttering something under her breath that briefly casts a dim red glow across her skin.
"I would like this keep this reasonable, if possible. Return the book, hero."

Trying to find some middle ground between sticking close enough to G'nichi to not being in the pink mist and far enough away to not be in the crossfire of all the...fire and monster stuff, Mari is crouched on the ground and has pulled off her bracelet with her teeth. From there she has begun the arduous-while-one-handed task of smoothing it into a peculiar, metallic stick shape.

"I am blocking it for now, but the book is actively trying to reach your mind."

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ- ???

The blaze spreads to his shirt but G’nichi is too fireproof to care.
”How about instead you back off and let me fulfill a promise I made to Bahamut?” G’nichi points his sword at the book and digs its point into the cover.
…
Then he remembers he’s kind of here to kill her so he doesn’t see much point in threats. He stabs into the book, hard. He instructs Gladius to torch it with if she can. And adds a cough of his own fire for good measure.

[Earl of Purple]

Walking to GLoG

The kylder on Miranda's chest doesn't move as she topples, continuing to try biting at her wrists and trying to keep her occupied. One of its extending mouth-tendrils is trying to find Miranda's ulnar artery, which would probably be a bad thing.

The one Miranda throws a bomb at reaches out to catch it, and then leans over to examine it- which proves a bad idea, as it then explodes. She drops it rather violently and darts back, closing her eye and retracting her mouths to try and protect herself from the noxious gas. The other two flinch as well, and Lizzie might notice the empathic flash it transmitted- a feeling of sunlight on bare skin on a warm day; something that these things don't like, judging by the flinch.

The monster that knocked Miranda over isn't trying to avoid the tail, and is so restrained; it tries taking bites out of it, but thinks its best job is to try and stay on Miranda's legs so she can't stand up easily.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - ???]

Tink.

The small gray notebook burnt-black leather bound book stained with rusty red reacts to both the sword and flame much as a boulder would: not at all.
Less, even. A boulder would at least be scorched, or perhaps slightly marked by the edge of the blade.
The book remains utterly pristine.

Unnatural.

"This is...necromancy of some sort, but I've never see this form of it. There's a soul in it, I think..."

Stabbing/burning the book does trigger something else though: Page's commitment to a fight.
"Oh young thing, I cannot allow that at all."
There are the unpleasant cracking noises of shattering bones and her limbs begin to lengthen and contort into horrible angles. She grows and grows in height, until she has to hunch over beneath the roof of the hallway.
"Dance."

Mid-growth, her voices deepens into something monstrous, and her remaining arm makes a sweeping motion towards him.
A few pink gemstones, razor-sharp like daggers, fly out of the mist at her feet towards G'nichi.

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - ???

THEN PULL IT OUT! G’nichi mentally screams, tearing at the book with his power like he did the souls in the basin. He leaps to the side, trying his best to simultaneously manipulate the mist to deflect the bolts away from him in case he’s too slow and also to keep them away from Mari.
”You don’t get a choice, Red Book.”

[Ironsmith]

[Walking to GLoG]

"I could really do without your sass right now!" Miranda snaps at Lizzie. She's not standing right now, which makes it a bit difficult to take on a stance, and she doesn't much appreciate Lizzie backseat driving while she's fighting for her life. Fortunately, it sounds to her as though the odds have gone from three-to-one to a mere two; the kylder that just got a face full of pepper spray is, by her estimate, out of the fight for a while, since it won't be able to see or smell her and should be in incredible pain right n-

Miranda lets out a shriek of pain as the kylder around her legs starts taking bits out of her tail, unpleasantly surprised at just how painful it is. Good god, how many nerve endings were in that thing?! Somewhat involuntarily, she retracts her tail, releasing the creature from her grip but giving it a good, swift kick in the process.

Seeing the monster on her chest trying to bite her hands off, and with her arms already bleeding gratuitously, Miranda takes a different approach and shifts her grip from the creature's head to its arms, attempting to roll over and reverse their positions, not entirely aware of the bizarre gravity mechanics at work here. If she succeeds and ends up on top, she'a going to focus on beating the creature in such a way as to disorient it further; repeatedly slamming her fists into its eye.

[bc56]

Walking to GLoG
"I handed you enough power to annihilate these three monsters, a mere fraction of my abilities, and what do you do with it? Nothing!" Lizzie is displeased, to say the least. "Fire is the least of the magics at my disposal. If you gave me control for but fraction of a minute, I could kill all three of these with ease." The claim is backed up by mental images; memories. People and monsters being incinerated, having the life sucked out of them, destroyed by lightning flung from perfectly manicured fingertips, and the rush of power that comes with wielding magic in such an intense and deadly way. That sort of power could be Miranda's, if she would just listen to Lizzie for ONE MOMENT. "Would you rather I shared my instincts with you? There would be unpleasant side effects, but you would at least maintain the illusion of being in control of yourself." Or Miranda could keep beating on the kyldren without Lizzie's magic. That would probably frustrate the succubus to no end.

[Earl of Purple]

Walking to GLoG

The kicked child recoils off Miranda's legs, and the other goes limp and resets its gravity to the actual ground after she wrestles over to lie above it and punches it in the eye. She can keep punching it, but it doesn't otherwise react and may be unconscious or dead.

If Lizzie recognises them, or Miranda's heard anything about kyldren before, she'll know it isn't dead. They dissolve quite quickly when they die, and the one that isn't moving is faking it, playing dead to try and surprise her later.

The kylder she kicked has retreated and climbed onto the statue, except it isn't really 'climbing'- it's walking quickly up the side of the goat and its rider as though it were a particularly treacherous patch of ground. It's trying to get as high up the statue as it can before jumping down at her.

The female in the plastic bag dress continues to roll, trying to remove the noxious chemical.

[Ironsmith]

[Walking to GLoG]

"Sure, sure. Because that's the smart thing to do when a demon offers you power; accept." Miranda drones sarcastically, getting up from the "dead" kylder. With that one out of the picture, the second peppered and the third one giving her a little distance, Miranda had another option on the table, one she intends to make full use of:

Run.

She sprints in the direction of GLoG, moving nimbly over any tree roots or the like in her path. At the first sign that she's being followed, she'll produce the second canister and throw it behind her; if the kyldren can read, they might be able to catch a glimpse of the word "magnesium" on the side as it passes. Just before the flashbang itself goes off.

[bc56]

Walking to GLoG
"I didn't offer you power. I have it to you, free of charge. I was hoping you'd use it to protect the two of us from those creatures (they're all still alive, by the way, and will be after us momentarily)." Lizzie responds. She's telling the truth here. She gave Miranda access to her pyromancy without asking for anything in return. She then offered ways to make it easier for her to use which would definitely have significant costs. The flash grenade sparks enthusiasm. "They hate light and heat. Which is why you should use fire against them!"

[Recaiden]

[Temple Site]

"It means..." Jaccalish makes a longer pause. "We suppose we can tell you. Long have our people sought a world but it have only brought misery. Both for us and the inhabitants of the world we visit. Turns out establishing yourself anywhere can be quite difficult. But then we found the nexus and in it we saw an opportunity. Unfortunately, the rest of our kind followed us here and violence followed in their wake." They shake their head. "Pointless. But after all this time we have researched the nexus and learned how it works. So now we just need to have it work in our favor as we intend to bring our world here and not the other way around. We believe this will benefit all of us, even you." They gesture towards the two 'angels'.

Nathan just watches Jaccalish for a few moments, surprise clear in their eyes.
"You intend to move an entire planet using the Nexus's unique spatial properties?" That's ... bold. Probably not impossible.
"Please elaborate on how this would be helpful. Is not your world wrecked, blackened, near-lifeless? Is it not host to other factions of your people, who would be hostile to both you and us when they arrived?" Couldn't that easily throw the whole solar system into chaos? They start calculating. Isn't there a fair chance that will provoke a huge reaction from the other angels? Maybe they have a plan for that already.
But a connection like that - if they could use it to locate their own realm, and bring in an entire world, one that isn't in ruins...that has potential.

[Earl of Purple]

Walking to GLoG

The first sign she's being followed comes quite quickly. The kylder atop the statue leaps after her, landing easily on its feet and following. Its short legs slow it down, but it's perfectly capable of seeing its way through the trees and obstacles in their way, and doesn't risk running into a low branch or thin tree without seeing it first. It also isn't affected too much by the flashbang, stumbling slightly as the flash of light temporarily blinds it- though only so long as the light lasts. The bang is more hampering, and its hearing is impaired as a result.

The kylder that was playing dead is also quick to join the chase, rolling to its feet and starting after Miranda- though it kept its eye closed, so when the flashbang goes off it's badly affected and trips on a root and falls over again, lying still until it recovers.

The bang and flash also reach the one coated in pepperspray, which reaches up to cover its eye before getting to its feet and also joining the chase. It still itches all over from the capsaicin, but its pack-mates are in trouble and may need its help. Of course, it can't see yet, so the 'chase' consists of following the empathic impressions of its companions as it walks from one tree to another.

[Morty]

[Wastelands Campsite]

"By the ancestors, we're not equipped to fight ghosts!" one of the goblins yells.

"Light some fires. It might scare them off," Olvisin suggests, trying to keep a cooler head and partially succeeding.

The goblins back away, some trying to drag away the one that just fainted, and light an assortment of flares and torches.

[Ironsmith]

[Wastelands Campsite]

The second the flares are on, the goblins holding them are going to experience tremendous relief as that horrible itching sensation goes away, leaving them only with the troubles of being inexplicably covered in blood and getting back out into daylight safely. The shapes in the dark get more restless, as well; they've tasted fresh blood and are hungry for more, but are just sane enough to not go toward something they think will destroy them.

[Walking to GLoG]

"Same thing!" Miranda protests breathlessly, picking up the pace with the kyldren on her heels. "I'm not relying on you! That's asking for trouble!" She reaches into her Hotbox and pulls out her remaining two canisters; a high-pressure helium bomb and a container of knockout gas. "And I can handle things just fine on my own!" She declares, throwing the former canister a few feet in front of them, so it will burst when the lead kylder runs up to it, while the latter she drops at her feet, set to detonate a few seconds after the first. The end result should be a small explosion that would physically check her pursuers and displace the breathable atmosphere in the area, followed by releasing a cloud of knockout gas right on top of them.

[bc56]

Walking to GLoG
"Hmmph. Mortals." Lizzie goes silent, but the connection is still there, allowing Miranda to potentially still wield Lizzie's magic if she wishes.

[Earl of Purple]

Wasteland Campsite

"How c'n we deal wi' them? Stop 'em from bein' a danger t' others?" They aren't a danger to Frigate; he doesn't have blood. Or any other bodily liquid equivalent to blood (except maybe a pool of water somewhere, but he's lain down since the last time it rained so the usual places it pools are probably empty).

Walking to GLoG

The cannisters go off, and... don't seem to do much. They're slowed down by the helium, the one caught in the blast even falling over and having to crawl out of the area of effect whilst the ones behind- recovering from the flashbang- go around the bubble of helium as it disperses, able to smell the lack of good air. The knockout gas doesn't even do that, their physiologies being too far from mammalian for the gas to have any effect. They are slowing down, however, and Miranda's long legs mean she's getting away- but they aren't giving up. The girl at the back disappears, running up a tree and jumping through the branches overhead. They're still communicating with their empathic abilities; one of the emotions is nearly recognisable, as enjoyment.

[Morty]

[Wastelands Campsite]

"Alright, everyone, huddle up! Keep the flares around you! If we create a circle if light, we can get out of here."

The goblins scurry to obey the order, creating a circle of firelight, with the unconscious one being put safely in the middle.

"I don't know if we can defeat them," Zaalmin says, waving around two brightly burning flares. "They seem to be just darkness. Maybe if we forced them into sunlight?"

[Ironsmith]

[Wastelands Campsite]

"You can't do that! It would kill them!" Horace protests. Not that he's in any position to stop them; he still can't stand on his own, and even if he could, the odds are hilariously stacked against him. So, naturally, he tries a different tack. "Those moroi are all that's left of our expedition. Please, you can't hurt them!"

[Running to GLoG]

Damn. Those were Miranda's last cannisters. She's going to have to print off something else if she's going to do anything other than run. Although, now that she has some distance, she might consider the merits of a more traditional weapon...

Miranda reaches down to her Hotbox, hits a few buttons, and rounds a corner. When the first of the kyldren follow her, they're going to come face-to-face with the wrong end of a helium pistol.

pyut

[bc56]

Running to GLoG
Lizzie is fed up with this and just sulks in silence. If Miranda doesn't want her help, fine. Be that way.

[Chaotic Bob]

ABAJ - ???

THEN PULL IT OUT! G’nichi mentally screams, tearing at the book with his power like he did the souls in the basin. He leaps to the side, trying his best to simultaneously manipulate the mist to deflect the bolts away from him in case he’s too slow and also to keep them away from Mari.
”You don’t get a choice, Red Book.”

There is a slight note of panic in the presence's voice.
"It's not as simple as the others, it's fighting back!"
This is easy enough for G'nichi to determine, as he can feel his power grab something, but it's like grabbing a porcupine. Unpleasant, painful, and actively trying to get away from his influence.

It feels like a doable task, if he can just sit with it for awhile.

Seems a bit more challenging while Page is actively trying to kill him.

"We always have a choice, young thing. A choice to wake up and do better, a choice to live, a choice to die. Our leaders chose to let their world end and those who survived suffered while they escaped in death. We who survived were broken, but persisted.
You now make another choice, to break more and others, but will you persist?"
Those gems that flew past G'nichi pause in the air past him, before slamming together into the vague shape of a sword's blade and come crashing back down towards his back.

All the while she begins advancing down the hall towards him.

"Ah, um, okay okay. We've got the book, maybe we should just run?"
Mari has fashioned some sort of thin silver rod out of her bracelet and is wielding it like an anemic little spear.

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - ???

”That’s great! MAKE THE CHOICE TO DIE, PLEASE.”
G’nichi hears the sword on his back hum in his head and he dives left to avoid being impaled. He doesn’t think it’ll fly into Page but it would be great if it did.
”Mari, we are leaving! G’nichi shouts, sliding around the corner and high-tailing it just slowly enough that Mari can keep up. All the while he mentally wrenches at the soul of the book. He has no idea if ripping this thing apart will hurt Page but her desire to protect it suggests it will at least be bad for her.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - ???]

The good old tricking-people-into-stabbing-themselves trick is always wonderful.
Unless they seem to be magically/telekinetically controlling said sword in some weird way.

The sword splits into individual gems again as G'nichi moves out of the way, whirling around Page like miniature moons as her body begins twitching and cracking once more, while she begins laughing in a way that sounds strangely just shy of sobbing.
"Would that I could, but I can't die."
Her upper body slams down into the ground after contorting yet further, into something vaguely like the horrid combination of a massive gorilla, spider, and iguana.

"No escape from me here..."
And Page begins to pursue.
Slower than G'nichi, given the size of the hallway seems to be restraining her now-large form a bit, but she is definitely moving at a pace demanding his haste.

The mist has begun to swirl around her like a lethargic cyclone.

Mari has pulled up some adrenaline from somewhere (probably the idea of being chased down by Page) and scrambles after G'nichi as best she can.
"The, uh, the thing down there, the big pillar. If it's the source point connecting all the dreams and we smash that, I think that will do...something. Syncope and I had talked about it earlier and think it may have something to do with how she lost control here."

Meanwhile, with the book.
There is a peculiar, abstract sensation in G'nichi's mind, most easily compared to dunking his head into below-freezing water, as he continues to pull at the book's soul. Alongside it, he hears the distant echoing of a song, a chorus of voices singing a wordless song, behind which some larger voice seems to be howling something else entirely, trying to drown out the others.

"It's...trying to bridge us to something. This would be much safer under a magic circle or ward."