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Phoenix512
Exalted Player
Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 10:42 pm

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Phoenix512 » Tue Feb 03, 2009 4:55 am

Phoenix kept mostly silent as he heard conversations about breaking out as he did not want to reveal his ability until there was a clear shot at a guard. A sword was his focusing element for the wind blade and he did not even to think that he could do it without a sword. Kazuma, don’t you remember your training?

Training, what do you mean?

You even forgot about that. You and I used to spar with each other all the time back in the real world. Perhaps you don’t remember consciously but you do remember it just now when you used your power with your fist. Don’t think about it just do it. I’ll meet with you later.

Suzaku went silent again as Phoenix sees a blast of light coming through the small window. It was Dien’s ability enhanced through Nighthand as it destroyed the warren’s shield. But in the end, it was Lighteria who kill the warren by accident. So it was a matter of time before Senna managed to open Phoenix’s cell. He slowly got up and exited the cell. The blademaster immediately realized that he should address his appearance now before everyone asks him. His midsection and back was basically blackened due to the scars that did not heal. His legs had the scars as well but there was more healthy skin. Phoenix saw the symbols on his hands for the first time as they were scarred tissue as well but purposely had a shape.

“I know what I looked like but no, I wasn’t tortured by them. These scars were always there since I became infected.” Phoenix noticed that Rayo was walking off to scout he presumed. As he walked, he noticed there were many cells. Wondering about how many of them were imprisoned and what crimes they committed against the Elites. For all he know, some of them were minions of the Elites that try to make a power play against them and got caught for it. And speak of the devil, the blademaster did find someone who try to make a power play against the Elites by using the Freedom Fighters. It was Marionette but Phoenix just ignore him as he noticed the tortured man across from Marionette’s cell. The man had wings but they were bounded by razor wire with half of the feathers have been plucked. He was filthy, bruised, and cut up.

For some reason, Phoenix felt he had saw this man before. The blademaster took a closer look at him and recognized him. He began to speak to him even though he doesn’t seem to acknowledge him. “I know you and how you were brought here. You’re Kelvin Zephyr, one of the admins involved in the battle of Mac Anu?” The man just stares at Phoenix without saying anything to him. Phoenix was not quite sure how to proceed but he decided to continue to talk with him.

“The only time I met you was there. You were trying to reasonable towards us, the Freedom Fighters. Even trying to believe our story about the Elites. It’s a shame that you had to experience the cruel power of the Elites this way” This time Phoenix got a response from Kelvin as he cringes at the mention of the Elites but nothing else. The blademaster wonder if Kelvin couldn’t speak physically but from looking at his neck, his vocal cords does not appear to be damaged. Then he thought that the warren would preferred to keep them intact so he could listen to their screams as the prisoners were being tortured. Kelvin’s wounds were not just physical but psychological as well. Then he thought about his wings as they were plucked so he could not fly ever again.

“Your wings, they were beautiful. I’ll bet you enjoy flying while feeling the wind. I can’t do anything about the wings but maybe I could help with the wind itself.” The blademaster used his power to create a small breeze without hurting Kelvin since the suppression field made it easier for him to do this. Kelvin closed his eyes as he feels the wind. Phoenix asks, “Does that feel good?” but he gets no reply from him.

Phoenix realized that he cannot help him right now and decided to tell Nighthand and Sheena about him. “Sekai, can you tend to Kelvin? I need to talk to Nighthand and Sheena.” He walks away from Kelvin and finds Nighthand and Sheena. “It seems that Kelvin Zephyr is here. Unfortunately, he’s been brutally tortured by the Elites. He’s gone mute.”

”So we have more allies and more wounded.”

“If Kelvin is here, then the other admins are probably here as well.”

”Who knows. By all accounts, this prison is massive, and finding anyone in it could take days.”

Phoenix gave a sigh from that statement. “We don’t have days especially with lack of abilities and clothes. I need to find my pet. I know she’s here but my guess that she isn’t in a cell. I still can use my wind abilities but without a sword, they will be a bit unfocused.”

”I’m sure weapons and items are our first priority.”

“Thanks. I’m think I’m about ready to leave this area.”

Phoenix leaves Nighthand and the others and begins to head towards the exit. He cracked his knuckles as he definitely wants to beat on the Elites now since he saw what they did to Kelvin. For some reason he could not explained himself, he want to avenge him. Even though he met him only once, Phoenix wanted to actually fight him for fun and honor. Kelvin, I’ll personally make sure that your torturers will get the punishment they deserved. I’ll make sure that they won’t hurt anyone else ever again.
Phoenix
Level 48 Blademaster
Equipped Skills: Vak Revolver, Gan Revolver, Dek Vorv, La Repth, Juk Kruz, Rue Kruz, BiVak Rom, GiGan Zot
Other Skills: Rue Kruz, Rip Synk, Rip Saem, Crack Beat, Rue Slash, Ani Slash, Gan Crack, Gan Revolver

Wish List: Phoenix's Fire, Gold Necklace
EX-Spheres: LV 3 - Overdrive, LV 3 - Curative, LV 3 - Elemental Breath

User avatar
Talal
Ikkitousen
Posts: 123
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 2:50 am
Class: Twinblade

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Talal » Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:00 am

She sat there, in the far back corner of the cell huddled into a ball. Her knees were pulled in giving her forehead something to rest on while her arms squeezed tightly against her head with hands covering her ears from the noise in the hall. At that moment, she wished it were all a dream. A dream she would wake up from at any moment and she’d be back in her nice, quiet apartment. Not long before it all started, it was over. The screaming was gone as well as the sound of whatever brightly colored battle was taking place. Her arms and hands slowly retracted from their death grip around her head. Takua wanted her to relax. How in the hell could she relax in a place like this? She kept her eyes closed with her head down, wrapping her arms around her legs to pull them in close and took a few deep breaths.

Just do as he says and pull yourself together. Think positive. That door will open and you need to be ready for it.

Talal sat there and listened for awhile to the shuffling that was now occurring in the hallway. She heard names being thrown about in between painful thumps from the lurking headache, but since she wasn’t looking, still wouldn’t know who was who, at least not for now. The cell door slid open making the girl look up from where her face had been planted in her knees. ”Wow! Now that’s what I call the power of positive thinking.” She caught a quick glimpse of another girl dressed in the same garb as the Twin Blade walking onto the next cell. She must have been the one walking around out there before.

Slowly exiting her cell, the Twin Blade peered up and down the hall. She found familiar faces mixed with plenty of new ones. They were all dressed similarly, other than the guys being on the shorter receiving end of the stick. It made her rather uncomfortable, but on the other hand, at least they were all…covered where it mattered. The girl looked down at the dead guard on the floor. Where was his ghosted form? A private grimace briefly crossed her face. So much she still didn’t understand.

What she did know was that already they were leaving a trail to follow and they hadn’t even left the hallway yet. Tactics were never really her thing, but hiding? That was usually something she could do. So the best way to stay hidden was to remove any evidence that you were there in the first place. Again, the dark haired girl looked down at the guard and then at all the open cell doors and had a notion of what she should do.

First, the Twin Blade needed to figure out how to close the doors. She hadn’t seen how they were opened so perhaps there was a hidden button or hand panel or something. Small hands searched and patted along the wall in between two cells. There was nothing, no buttons, no secret hand panels. She then checked the inside edges of the doorway. They were solid just like the walls. There was no crease in the stone to show what happened to the door or that a door even exists.

Okay, perhaps I should find out how they were opened. Maybe that would tell me how to close them.

Peering down the hall, she found the girl that she thought opened the doors. Walking towards her, the Twin Blade noted that she did look well. Was she sick or did escaping from her cell, however she had managed that little trick, wiper her out or something? Again, so much that the young girl didn’t know. The Twin Blade approached the girl slowly. They were both strangers to each other so perhaps a little caution was good.

“Excuse me, are you the one who opened all the doors?”

"Hmmm?" She looked up, then nodded tiredly. "Yeah. Yeah, that's me. Huh. Don't know you, do I?"

"Of course, how rude of me. My name is Talal, and you are?"

"Senna." She started to hold out the hand with the gauntlet on it, then paused as though surprised to see the sizeable device on her hand, before holding out the other hand to shake with. "Sorry to meet you given the circumstances, but... what's up?"

A brief smile was given as she exchanged the offered hand shake. "Well for one, I guess I wanted to say thanks for getting the door open, so…Thanks! I also was curious if you might tell me how you did it? I think perhaps we should close them up again, just to make things look the same should we manage to exit out of here unnoticed. It might buy us a little more time in the long run?" Talal wasn’t too sure if what she had in mind to do would even matter once they got going and it was unfortunately coming through in her voice. So much for sounding like I know what I’m doing.

Senna nodded slowly, removing the gauntlet as she did so. "Can't hurt, right? Wear this, hold the bar in the door and turn to open. Not sure how to close it. Should be similar.”

She took the gauntlet from the girl with a nod. "Thank you, again. I'll go get started." A slight look of concern was given. "Are you okay? You just don't look so good is all."

The Twin Blade was waved off in response. "Just tired. Better get to it if you want to close them all, hmm?"

Nodding, Talal started back down the hall towards the fallen guard. Better get him out of the way before trying to figure out how to work the doors. She sat the gauntlet down on the floor next to the wall to keep it out of the way and grabbed the guard by the hands and started tugging. He was a stocky fellow; one that definitely liked his meat and potatoes. The simple thought managed to add yet one more question to her list. Would she need to eat? Shaking her head, she leaned backwards towards the nearest cell and tugged the man into it. Another heavy thump pounded her skull. Bending down and pulling something heavy was definitely NOT the thing to do with a headache in tow.

With the guard nicely tucked away it was time to get down to business. Exiting the cell she reached down to pick up the gauntlet, but it was gone. The girl frowned and began searching the hallway floor thinking it had gotten kicked or something. Finally, she began visually searching everyone’s arms as she passed. Nothing. Towards the end of the hall that appeared to be a dead end, she overheard a conversation. There was a man who had been here before. Maybe he knew how to operate the doors. But finding out meant she had to talk to another person she didn’t know. As long as she was blunt, but polite and didn’t stray into chatting, she should be fine.

Talal walked up slowly and rather cautiously, her long black hair hanging both front and back making her happy she had chosen the long locks. Looking straight at him and attempting to look simple and inquisitive hoping her feeling of being lost and out of place wouldn’t show through.

”You've been here before?"

”In a few circumstances. I’ve raided it before, and I’ve been warden a couple times.”

At the sound of the word ‘warden’, her head tilted slightly and inside her defenses went up. ”Then you know how to close the doors. Show me, please.” Adding the word please was a good move she thought as she pointed to the cell he had exited from.

”Oh, is that all?” He laughed. ”It’s like one of those magnetic cabinets or something. You just take the gauntlet and press here.” He pressed his hand against where the door would have slid into the wall. ”If done with the gauntlet, it will depress slightly and the door will slide back out, the bar rotating back to locked.”

The Twin Blade nodded and thanked him for the demonstration. Now if she could just find the gauntlet. Talal turned to see Sekai walking out of a cell with a badly injured winged man hanging from her shoulder. She went to help and stopped suddenly in mid motion when she saw the gauntlet on her arm.

”Sekai. Not meaning to be blunt but, do you mind if I borrow that gauntlet from you? I need it to finish something that I started.”

Tawny eyes blinked as she shifted a little, keeping a gentle hold on the badly injured man and tilted her head at the Twin Blade.

"Of course, please forgive me, I can't... really assist you in removing it but..." She held out her hand, looking like she was having trouble supporting the winged individual on her back but smiled a little nonetheless.

Shaky hands reached out to remove the gauntlet from the young girl's arm. Her nerves were obviously not doing well but she was managing. Removing the gauntlet, a brief and worrisome smile was given."Thank you." She turned to walk away and paused, turning back to the Archer. "He is too heavy for you, but I need to go finish what I started. I'll come back and help you though as soon as I'm done, if you like?"

"It's okay, I think... I think I've got him. If I have any trouble, I'll be sure to let you know," Another shy, small smile. "Besides, they'll need Talal-san once we retrieve our weapons and armor; I'm of more use in the back."

Brown eyes stared at the Archer for a brief moment puzzled. What could she possibly do for a group such as this? She was the lowest leveled of the Eventides and most likely the group as a whole. Even more so, she was less experienced than everyone there. Thankfully, only Takua knew the real depth of her lack of knowledge of The World. A small sigh and the Twin Blade was off to do what she set out to do, starting with the first empty, open-door cell nearest Sekai. Placing the gauntlet on her arm, she pressed the wall with it as instructed and watched the door slide closed and then locked automatically. The group was on the move so she quickly moved down the hall, zig zagging to catch all the open doors without having to double back until they were all closed.

Hopefully, it would buy the group a little more time.
Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Walk beside me that we may be as one.
***************************************
Talal
Image
Level 39 (0/1000 EXP) Twin Blade

Weapons/Armor: Mukuro (Swirling Dark, Dark Dance), Ice Hunter Cap (Repth), Wristbands (Juk Rom), Fishing Gloves (Rue Kruz), Wyrm Hide (Gan Don), Snow Panther (Ap Vorv)

Wish List: Scrolls, Tarot Cards, and Armor higher than level 30.

User avatar
Dien
Exalted Player
Posts: 226
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 1:59 am
Class: Blademaster
Location: The "Who's Online List," Stalking People...

Part 3

Post by Dien » Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:05 am

(OOC: For the record, this takes place before Takua’s post)

The power had gone out from him. Fire built upon fire, superheating the air as Nighthand grabbed a hold of the strength that Dien had within him. Static flashed across his vision, the sheer weight of the power being used threatening to tear his body limb from limb, so to speak. What they’d done was dangerous – it was like smashing two atoms of exotic matter into one another through a particle accelerator, fusing twilight with twilight. The strain increased upon him as the attack was honed and focused, strengthened from the inner workings of the blademaster’s own character and the blasted field wherein they were held. Much more and his body would be rendered useless, his mind crushed by the sheer weight of power they were using. He could feel as the spell crashed against the guard’s shield, his own will resonating with Nighthand’s to produce everything they could muster. There was a crack—they were through! But just at that moment, the power was exhausted. Even though the man’s shield had been undone, there was nothing left. They couldn’t touch him!
__________

Of course the blademaster was surprised to find himself alive after the attack. Normally using that kind of power would have left him dead, ghosted next to the smoldering remnants of his body. But lying on the floor of the cell, his body still intact with his life, he could tell that something had intervened. Hell, being alive told him that much, but this was likely the reason why he felt like shit. Half a dozen status effects were stacked upon him, or if they weren’t it sure seemed like it. There couldn’t be anything more than 1HP left, though the absence of red blinky syndrome was cause for alarm towards that end. Not that it would be missed.

Oh come on,” he heard, “this so-called ‘red-blinky syndrome’ sounds incredibly useful.

“You’d think so,” he responded, his hand rushing to his forehead to add pressure to the headache—as though that would make it better, “but it just gets annoying after a while.” He wasn’t used to having her back yet. Having every thought subject to the criticism and approval of another mind really would force him to change the way he thought. At least if he was seeking to not offend the girl who’d latched onto him.

Which you’ve been doing a good job of so far,” she commented, her form visible now as she knelt in front of him, “that was pretty reckless.

“Oh hush,” he said, looking up to Danielle’s face, “it needed to be done. It was our best shot at getting out of here, by any stretch.”

You could’ve challenged him to a duel,” she replied, “that much would have at least spared your character data the charring you just inflicted on it.” The girl seemed to gaze through him, eyes peering over unseen bits of data that he could feel were starting to decay.

“Can’t be that bad,” he managed, propping himself up on one arm as the world spun around him, “I mean, I’m still alive, aren’t I?” The concern on her face turned lethal for a moment, telling more in that instant than her words could have. Was he really that screwed up?

Yes,” she replied, closing her eyes, “fortunately I managed to set an auto-repair script in place – it’ll heal the scar in time, but you need to rest.” Wait, what? Auto-repair script…when had she learned how to do that? A smirk crossed her lips, and she responded. “While I was waiting in the firewall network, I managed to find the ghost remnants of those precious widgets of yours. I can’t use them as well as you could, but fortunately I’ve still got a fair amount of access to your character data. Right now you’re a mess, but your auto-recover scripts seem to be rather capable of undoing the damage.” It was a look he had never seen on Danielle – confident almost to the point of arrogance, proud of the thing she’d done. It was justified, too. The girl had just figured out how to use his widgets in the blink of an eye, and if what she was saying was right, had just performed a critical repair. Hell, he was proud of her.

Oh Dien,” she said, rising to her feet, “stop it, you’ll make me blush.” He shrugged, pushing his drowsiness out of mind as he pushed off the ground. “What are you doing?” Danielle asked, concern covering her again.

“Didn’t you notice?” he asked, looking over his shoulder, “we’re out.” She glanced up to the doorway and back to him, her powerlessness once again showing. “I’m gonna go have a look around. Sounded like there were more than just the few of us who were on that fire field, and Sheena said there were two others. Time to go make some introductions.”

You’re in no shape to-

Then stop projecting and start monitoring my character to make sure I don’t tear another hole in myself. She scoffed, but complied, disappearing to watch the paint dry.

Meanwhile Dien stepped into the hallway. He was right in that there were a few new faces. From what he could gather, their names were Baron, Takua, and Talal, and each of them was attired as the rest in that they practically weren’t. Getting over that fact was simply a matter of pretense: something he’d learned in high school that had actually stuck was that an awkward situation would instantly cease to be awkward with a bit of pretense. And all at once, it didn’t matter that he could see the better part of most of the female members of the team’s bodies, nor that they could see the better part of his. The man-thong was still uncomfortable, but no longer would he be preoccupied with his very-nearly-nudity.

Conversations abounded, and for a few minutes he merely stood, taking in as much as he could. Most of it was frivolous, not entirely necessary for the moment, but by God they were being noisy for a bunch of jailbirds still sitting next to the cage. By Dien’s guess, the guard they’d taken out wasn’t the only one they’d have to worry about before they could get out of there. He turned, about to walk towards the end of the block that the guard had come from when something caught his ear. Marionette…Demorian…here?! What the hell?! He’d been so careful, at least from what the hacker had seen, there was no way anyone with an in-game interface would be able to track him without at least a month’s work. It’d take that long to pick up even a dozen of the strings that he’d held in his grasp at least, and then tracing them would require such extensive work that it would be ridiculous. So naturally, when Dien heard this he needed to know just what had happened. That, and he needed to find out how much the man could still see.

“So you’re the face behind Marionette then?” Dien asked, walking towards the man. He looked surprisingly…normal, for one who had lead them about so much.

“That I am. Demorian’s the name.”

“I see,” he said, thinking a moment, “‘Demorian’ has a better ring to it than ‘Marionette,’ methinks.” There was one real question on the blademaster’s mind concerning this turn of events--all notions of small talk aside. “So can you still see things with the kind of detail that you showed me before, or did they take that away?”

“Hmm…How to explain.” He said, putting a hand to his chin and twisting it back and forth. “I never ‘saw’ like that. It was more like…like a spiderweb, I guess. Bits of code, little eyes, little worms, digging and watching throughout as much of The World as I could access, all feeding back to me.” He shrugged. “They didn’t take it from me so much as I left the center. I doubt they found it, so it’s probably still out there, growing and changing on automatic, but I can’t make use of it from here.” He tapped his forehead and pointed to his eyes. “Just regular old eyes right now.”

“Kinda makes sense,” he replied, leaning against one of the walls between cells, “so exactly how did they manage to catch you? I remember you seeming really confident that they wouldn’t be able to when last we met.”

“Oh, blame Garaa for that one. I… don’t actually know how he managed to catch on to my plans. He didn’t even care about the hubs you blew up for me, he went straight for me when I made my move.” He laughed. “He’s sort of second in command for a reason.” Laughter was the very best medicine, though considering their situation, it seemed a bit inappropriate.

“Another question or two, Demorian,” he said, eyes closed as he willed away the headache that blurred his senses, “as Marionette, you were working on the side of the Elites, even though you had been in opposition to them from what I gathered. How exactly did that pan out?” Dien’s eyes opened, looking inquisitively at the man as the exhaustion from his exertion began to set in again.

“What do you mean? Hell, it’s a long story however you slice it.”

“Forgive me for my curiosity,” he began, placing his hand on his forehead, “but for all we know you could still be on their side, and following you would lead us all to our execution. The more we know of you, the more I feel we can trust you.”

“Why trust me?” He smiled. “Rayo won’t. Sheena certainly won’t, not for a while. Don’t trust me. Trust Sheena to put a fist through my ribcage if I cross her.”

“Well that glimpse you showed me before you went poof was quite the favor,” Dien began, “I’d like to trust you at least until we’re out of Yamiyo, if only because seeds of doubt will hinder teamwork and the like. Thus I say, the more we know of you, the more we can trust you, and the better our chances of getting out of here alive will be.”

“Getting out alive…” He says softly, to himself. “Heh. Maybe it’ll be nice working with a team again.” He shrugs. “I’m sure you’ll get the story some other time, when we’re not, you know, in the middle of a jailbreak.”

“And here I thought you were confident of our safety at least for the next minute or so,” the blademaster replied with a smirk, “if it’s so imperative that we get out of here, then by all means let’s get moving.” Interesting words coming from someone who was having trouble keeping his balance.

“Heh. I told you, it’s a long story.”

“If my guess is right, we’ve got a long ways between where we are now and the central room you spoke of, and then another five to ten minutes while we all put our clothes back on and sort out our equipment,” he paused, letting his eyes shut as the next phrase yawned itself out, “I figure, if you leave out irrelevant details, it can’t take more than fifteen minutes to tell.” A great deal of effort was spent trying to gather his feet under him again for movement. “Though if you’d rather not, I’m sure none would care too greatly.”

“You seem to care.” He grins and shrugs, starting to walk towards the exit. “It all started back when they announced a new MMO called The World.” He pauses, stops, and looks back at you. “Not that you’re in any condition to actually be taking this in. You always were pretty self-destructive with your abilities.”

Dien laughed, “so you noticed.” With a grunt, he started to move forward slowly, taking great care to make sure his feet stayed beneath him. “Back at The World’s inception, though, that’s a few years ago now, right?”

“Four, five years, something like that. Hard to tell from in here.” He starts walking again. “I stood in line for fifteen hours waiting for the game’s release.”

“Sounds like something my brother would do,” he said, smiling at the memory of the sibling still probably recoiling in the real world, “so you were quite the gamer, I take it?”

“Oh, hell yeah. I wrote guides for a living.”

“Very nice,” Dien said, “so you got The World, what then?”

“Then I started playing. Then Twilight hit. Then…what have we here?” He stopped by a cell, where the girl Nall had rescued wass emerging, looking around at all the people with a pretty scared look. “Oh, my. You’re not one of them.”

“Nall saved her,” Dien responded, stepping forward to the girl as best he could, “she owes the man her life, same as at least Canti and I.” Recalling Suraisu’s betrayal was not something he liked doing very much, but just the same he extended her a hand. “The name’s Dien. Nall seemed to trust you, so I think I ought to as well.” She seemed to collect herself, completely ignoring the gesture of trust and walking past them to where Nall was. The glare off her face was almost more frightening than Danielle’s, and for once Dien was glad he wasn’t on the receiving end. Demorian, on the other hand, simply tsked before continuing.

“Well, I hope they sort that out. Anyways, that’s enough of my story for now.” Dien merely nodded, letting himself lean against the wall again as his exhaustion finally caught up.

Told you, you need rest. And for once he agreed, letting himself fall to the side of the hallway. Hopefully someone would be kind enough to pick him up and carry him out of the cellblock. Whatever these cells were doing, he imagined it couldn’t be healthy.
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Image|||Level 35 Blademaster (+200 EXP)
Wishlist: EXP, Ends of Earth, Armor with Status Effects

User avatar
Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Nighthand » Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:24 am

Demorian, through with his talk with Dien, moved close to Sheena despite her obvious physical rejection. She glared at him, but walked with him towards the end of the corridor, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“So he’s still alive.” He said low. Taking his cue, she responded in kind.

”No thanks to you.”

“You know I had a harsh decision to make. You don’t know the half of it, though. Trust me; I came back to you as soon as I could. This was the fastest way.”

”You didn’t have to betray us to the Elites.”

“I didn’t. That was all you. I just… wasn’t there when they hit.”

”Damn it, Demorian! Why don’t you ever put effort into keeping us alive?”

He was silent for a long moment. “I will. Now, that is. I tried to escape on my own, I tried working from the inside to sabotage them, I tried everything I could think of. Nothing works, and while I was gone, you guys killed two of them. I think it’s time to settle down.”

Sheena too was silent, before she grudgingly nodded and increased her step to bring her to the door.

Meanwhile, Nall and the girl he had rescued were in a heated confrontation. At least, as heated as it could get with Nall half dead, and the girl weak herself.

“You! What have you done! You brought this on me!”

Nall sighed. ”I didn’t. You did. You’re stuck, now.”

“Stuck? No! No, I’ll just explain to them, get them to see what went wrong, prove I’m not…” Already her voice was faltering.

”Prove you’re not? Not what? They put you here. At the least, you’re accomplice to jailbreak. They won’t stop there. You know that.”

“No, it can’t be. I’m not one of you. I’m happy!”

”That’s not what you told me before, Amalo. I gave you the choice to come with us if you wanted. Now is that chance.”

She was silent, and stalked off without a word. The only direction to move was the direction of the exit, unfortunately, so she merely made her face as icy as she could, to discourage being talked to.

Meanwhile Kelvin moved fitfully, supported by Sekai, but barely. He wasn’t heavy; even were he not emaciated, his body had been tall, lithe, and agile. Sekai, though, was small herself. Nighthand walked up to the pair and, with one arm, grabbed Kelvin by the shoulder and transferred support from Sekai to himself.

”I’ll take him. You go ahead.”

Sekai looked surprised before she shook her head. "I-It's okay, you'll be needed as one of the strongest of us all in battle, I can do this."

Nighthand looked up towards the front, where two pairs of fights had barely been resolved. “I may be stronger than you, but you’ve got a better chance of getting people to keep amicable. Especially that new girl. She might need some help.”

"New girl? Do you mean Talal-san?" Confusion flickered across her face as she looked up. "I'm... a little, um, behind, I suppose is the best way to put it."

Nighthand shook his head. “No, I mean that labtech up there that Nall rescued… right, you weren’t there.” He points. “Her. She was one of Nalls captors, but apparently he was getting through to her when we broke in. Now she’s here, and that means the Elites figured she was one of us. If she goes off on her own, like I’m sure she will once she gets out of here, she’ll probably die.”

That seemed to do the trick, concern stealing over her face as she glanced in the direction he'd pointed. "Nall-san won't be able to convince her to stay?" She asked softly.

“No idea. Judging from the look of things… not really.” As the girl stalked off, her face icy. “You might have a hard time yourself, but you’ll do better than me.”

"I... will try my best, but," She pauseed a moment, watching the unfamiliar girl storm off. "If I may, why is it you believe that I will be of any help in keeping people... um, amicable?"

Nighthand smiled, which in combat would have been chilling indeed. “Because you care. Unlike most of us.”

"How many people here don't care?" She asked, immediately shaking her head. "No, don't answer that. I don't think I want to know." A small, uncertain smile. "I'll do my best, hopefully we can find something to help this one's wounds, they look terrible." She said, gesturing slightly to Kelvin.

“Indeed. Don’t worry; we’ll take care of him. Things will be a lot smoother once we get our equipment back.”

With a mutual nod, the small archer headed off towards the new girl, with the heavyblade trailing his burden behind. Kelvin was actually no heavier than one of his swords… a fact that spoke both of the heft of one of those blades, and the emaciation of Kelvin himself.

By the time he dragged the admin over to the door, the door had been opened. Demorian stood by it, giving a lecture.

“We’re lucky that warden came when we tried to escape. It meant the floor was set to the bridge.”

”What do you mean?” Nighthand asked him.

“This dungeon is huge. Ten floors, each with eight spokes, identical to this one. Each of these eight has two hundred cells in it. The trouble is, it’s always shifting. There’s a central pillar, a tunnel into the ground, ten floors deep. It’s completely featureless except for the bottom, which has a single door opening onto a bridge. This bridge.” Demorian gestured at the opening. “The door doesn’t move. The floors do. Each floor can rotate around the tunnel like spokes on a wheel, and they can sink into the ground or rise up. At their highest, the bottom floor is accessible to this door. At their lowest, the top floor. As such, it’s possible to rearrange the cell blocks into whatever configuration desired. Only the master map, in the control room on the surface, knows what the configuration is and where the prisoners are.”

He turned and left, walking across the bridge, not looking around. Nighthand, however, did look around. What he saw was a vast dark shaft extending who knew how deep into the earth. Demorian was the first to open the door on the far side, a similar mechanism to the cell doors only not requiring the gauntlet. Inside was a spiral staircase around the outer edge, no railing. In the center of the bottom was a large stone box with a curious mechanism on it.

Each side had a colored shape on it. On the top were several lights.

“This is your first challenge. All our equipment is inside. We used to call it Pandora’s Box, because when it’s opened, unless you have special protection, you’re compelled to either put everything you have into it, or take everything you have out of it. Afterwards it erases the memory of having done so. Also, I hate this lock.” He touched the top. “You can flip lights across from each other and at corners, and you gotta get the lights on their proper sides.”

With that, he left it to them.

-------------------ooc:

Code: Select all

     B       Y       Y
    /|       |       |\
   B-+-------+-------+-R
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   Y-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     G       R       R
That’s what it looks like. The lines are just the possible paths that one of the lights can take. I know it’s an easy puzzle, so to keep from having it solved first post, each person may only make three moves per post. Keep track of each move for me, either by posting the diagram three times or by noting them down and posting the final diagram.

If you consider the bottom of the diagram to be the side facing us as we enter, the colors of the sides are like this:

-R
GB
-Y

Red, Green, Blue, Yellow. Same as the indicators above.

Raquar
Ikkitousen
Posts: 108
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Location: Hiding in the shadows

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Raquar » Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:20 pm

He tried to be as inconspicuous as possible during the conversation between Nall and Amalo but found it slightly difficult as he was in a sense at this point the Blademaster’s Siamese twin. He watched the lab tech walk away and turned back toward Nall. It seemed like the man could speak, although he didn’t have a lot of energy, and the boy had questions, some reinforced by the interaction between the two just moments before. The man shrugged off his support as they entered the bridge room and stared somewhat uncomfortable at the stairs. He didn’t look like he was going to enjoy the climb.

”Nall, can I ask you something?”

”Sure.”

”Why are we fighting the Elites?”

“That’s a doozy. Simply? They’re why we’re stuck.”

"I guess I understand that to some degree. But it seems to me that if I hadn't made an effort to go against them, I would be just a normal player. That and when I ran into them for the first time getting you out, they didn't exude any bloodlust. They didn't seem to enjoy killing. And they didn't needlessly slaughter us. They just sent us away. It was hard for me to pull the trigger on Klive back there. I couldn't justify it. The only reason I had of doing it was because I thought that that's what would have been wanted of me. I still don't understand it now."

The elder man sighed. "Long story. They infected The World with Twilight so they could enslave as much of humanity as possible. World domination, or hostages, or something. They send out hunting parties and capture players, make them slaves. They've killed hundreds, of not thousands, of real people. They don't seem hostile because they have so much power they can play with their food." He inhaled and winced slightly as a slight bout of pain took him. "The only way out is to get the Twilight Items and use them to control the virus, to remove it."

”I guess that makes sense. Is that why you left?” He did after all know some of his ‘World’ history.

”Something like that.”

"If they control the way out, wouldn't it be reasonable to make a pretense of joining them? To at least be closer to the items? I mean, taking it by force seems to be a bit of a challenge. Klive took a direct hit from something that seemed to do quite a number on you and you are probably one of the strongest if not the strongest PC I've ever seen in the world."

A different voice broke into their conversation. "Doesn't work. That's why I'm here." He looked over to see Demorian had wandered over. The Blademaster glanced up and shook his head ruefully before responding.

"Among other reasons, Demorian. In any case. They'll never give up the items, not without dying."

The boy had overheard some of the conversation between the Puppetmaster and Sheena earlier so understood a little of what was going on. It didn’t help however, that his doubts were still not completely erased. "That wouldn't terribly surprise me. I'd imagine that none of them could be convinced to defect either. I just don't know though. After seeing the disparity of powers between them and myself, even the little gift that the Twilight has granted me seems pointless. And I'm not entirely sure that I want to go back. I don't know, just a dilemma I suppose."

He turned to address the newcomer. "You tried to join them?"

The response took him slightly aback. “I did join them. I did things none of you will ever know about. None of it got me any closer to escaping.”

"Shouldn't you put a little trust in us if were going to get you out of here? I don't know about the rest of us, Nall or Sheena specifically but at this point I don't really care what you did. I'll think of you based on the now, the past doesn't matter all that much to me. I suppose you're trying to help, that can be seen through the convoluted hoops we jumped through when you were Marionette. How did you get involved in this whole mess?"

The man shrugged. "I got caught when they dropped the bomb, so to speak. When Twilight was first released. Not many people were playing yet, and it happened at night so most of the people who played weren't logged in. Probably the only thing that kept CC from killing it right then."

Now he was even more confused. "Wait. CC Corp could've killed it? Did the Admins sit around and think it would be funny? They seem to me to be useless figureheads at this point. Different from the Elites sure, but I almost have more respect for the Elites at this point."

"Not the virus. The whole game. This whole thing would have been averted if they had downed the game and reformatted the servers. Too bad they're too in love with their money." It seemed that Demorian agreed with him on that point, but Nall was quick to put it another opinion.

"No it wouldn't have. Twilight is built directly into the game's code. We think of it as a virus, but it's literally a part of the game."

He would have to take Nall’s word for it. "Were Elites Admins at some point? And that makes me wonder too, why do the Admins hate us for trying to clean up their mess? Is it because we've discovered that Twilight bends the rules a bit? For discovering our own gifts?"

"A couple of the Elites were in the original coding staff of the game. The rest were picked up after. As for the admins... we have hacks. To them, we're no better than the hackers."

He snorted. "Explains why we're the ones doing the legwork. Does that guy have a story?" The Long Arm jerked his thumb at the Admin currently draped around Nighthand.

"No idea. He's the only admin sympathetic to our cause... but that's not saying much."

Perhaps if the guy could actually talk the boy could question him later. For now . . . "Thanks I guess. For answering some of my questions at least for now." He turned to face the Puppetmaster. "Can I talk with you privately for a sec?"

He begrudgingly agreed.

"All of those were questions were things I've been wondering about and questioning. But there's one thing that I keep hesitating about and that fact is slightly scary. The Elites represent the elements of The World. And even though I know its supposed to be bad, I can't help but wonder if one could help unlock more of my gift. Give me more power. Make me actually useful to the people here."

“Nope.” A brief pause. "I mean. Garaa could. But he won't. You wouldn't learn anything anyways. You'd just suddenly be a hundred times more powerful, and bound to that demon."

He sighed. That was what he had figured. "I guess I didn't expect anything different, but I hoped. Maybe. Guess its just up to me."

"Probably. You might be able to find someone, but, it's not really something you can tutor."

Surprisingly that put him at ease probably more than anything previously said. His demeanor visibly brightened a small amount. "Yeah you're right. Thanks."

He ignored the puzzle for the most part right now, he was slightly absorbed in his own thoughts. Besides, if somebody needed his help they could always ask. Right?
Level 28 Long Arm
Archspear, Newt Necklace, Smith's Gloves, Wyrm Scale, Kuja's Thong Dress
EXP: [700/1000]

WISHLIST
Levels
Weapons: - All
Armor: Head - Scarab Earring
Body - Nothing until Mid 30's. Ninja Garb Hand - Nothing until Mid 30's. Leg - Nothing until Mid 30's.
Items: Cooked Biles, Darkness Scrolls (Any and All)

User avatar
Dien
Exalted Player
Posts: 226
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 1:59 am
Class: Blademaster
Location: The "Who's Online List," Stalking People...

Part 4

Post by Dien » Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:47 pm

Once they’d gotten out of the cellblock, the blademaster had asked Takua to let him lean against the door for a bit. There looked to be a lockbox in the middle of this room, and it would take a minute or two to for everyone to regroup, and then a bit more time to unlock the mechanism. This would give enough time (he hoped) for the scripts Danielle had set in place to do their handiwork. Granted, this meant he’d have to stay still and do as little as possible – thankfully his mind was still intact, so when Canti came over with the prison riot idea, the blademaster was able to review it and talk a bit of sense into the excited demonic incarnation. It was actually worth doing, once they knew who else was in the jail with them.

But there was a puzzle, and having caught a glimpse of it over the twinblade’s shoulder really tantalized Dien. It would mean an opportunity to actually think again, so after he’d made his point and reassured Canti of the quality of his idea, he stepped off the wall towards where a few other had crowded about Pandora’s box.

“Takua,” Dien said, stepping forward to stand behind the man who’d carried him. It was only then that he noticed the puzzle box that Demorian had referred to. ‘Pandora’s Box’ or so it was called, and it was calling his name. Within a moment he’d mapped out the path to the solution. “Is it just me, or does this thing seem a bit…simple?” The man looked up, almost blinking in some surprise, before he looked back to the puzzle in front of him. After another few seconds, he grinned slightly and looked back at Dien.

Yeah, it’s a little simple. If I were, say, paranoid, I’d say that it’s a little too easy, but it certainly seems to be simple indeed. You’ve already come up with the solution?

“Easily,” Dien replied, making the first three moves himself so he could get a better grasp on the situation, “yeah, ten or eleven more moves and our puzzle is complete, and we can actually get out of these not-even-speedos.”

Or so we hope. All I want is my stuff back and I can be more than a sack of fleshy meat. Now, if I’m not mistaken, you then you to go this way,” Takua said, calmly taking the next three moves before looking at it again. “Eight moves, I think, unless we really screw this up. No?

“Unless there are a couple moves that don’t need to be made,” the blademaster said, thinking a moment. His solution involved matching all the colors and then flipping the whole thing over – likely Takua’s did, too, “now, correct me if I’m wrong, but couldn’t we just take six moves and flip the box over at any point without any real consequence?”

Most likely, but it is a hell of a lot easier on the mind when everything is nice and easily set up.

“True,” the blademaster said, stepping back a bit, “at the same time, I’m not in any shape to take the brunt of an enforced will. Probably better to have one of the stronger members finish off the puzzle, assuming they’ll listen to our solution.”

I don’t see why they wouldn’t, after all if they listen to us we can get our equipment back and make this a proper breakout. That said though, I agree. Might want to give out instructions though.

“Naturally,” the blademaster said, stepping back, still rather light-headed from the attack, “and I do hope we get it done rather quickly. I could use a Repth…”

So could most of us at this point I think. Along with that change of wardrobe. Either way, make sure that you don’t, you know, die when we can’t Rip Maen will ya?

Dien laughed, “I almost did.”

Takua grinned before he chuckled slightly. “I suppose that’s true, but you didn’t, lucky you.

“Blame the pale guy with the wings,” he said, “or thank him, rather. I dunno how it worked out, but it did.”

And at that the conversation came to an end. It was good to know that there was another strategic thinker on the team, but just the same he needed to make it known that he had the solution. So, turning about and using as much strength as he could muster, he began to speak loudly – enough for everyone to hear, at least.

“Takua and I have figured out the box,” he said, “or the solution to it. If you wanna double check before you take a crack at it, just let either of us know, and we’ll direct it open.” Why not to open it himself? Simple: the box had a will-bending mechanism on it, likely powered by Twilight. He didn’t want any part of that when his character data was as fragile as it was.
__________
OOC:

So I came up with a system for denoting which swap was made. It’s based on the following square, which names the positions on the square by where they are, top, left, right, or bottom row, and whether they’re in the top/left, middle, or bottom/right spot in that row. Don’t have to use it if you don’t want to, but it’ll help keep track of what moves are made:

Code: Select all

     TrL     TrM     TrR
     /|       |       |\
  LrT-+-------+-------+-RrT
      |       |       |
      |       |       |
  LrM-+-------+-------+-LrM
      |       |       |
      |       |       |
  LrB-+-------+-------+-LrB
     \|       |       |/
     BrL     BrM     BrR
Moves Made:

Code: Select all

Move 1: LrT-RrT
     B       Y       Y
    /|       |       |\
   R-+-------+-------+-B
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   Y-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     G       R       R

Move 2: LrT-TrL
     R       Y       Y
    /|       |       |\
   B-+-------+-------+-B
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   Y-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     G       R       R

Move 3: TrL-BrL
     G       Y       Y
    /|       |       |\
   B-+-------+-------+-B
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   Y-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     R       R       R
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Image|||Level 35 Blademaster (+200 EXP)
Wishlist: EXP, Ends of Earth, Armor with Status Effects

User avatar
Takua
Ikkitousen
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:19 am
Class: Wavemaster
Location: Walking the line of madness

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Takua » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:09 am

The Wavemaster was happy when they finally moved through the doorway into the main room. There was something nervewracking about staying at the scene of the crime as it were, something about inviting their doom by staying in the hallway outside of their cells. Of course, the fact that they were moving into the center of the prison, from what he had overheard, didn't exactly make him feel super special awesome. Demorian seemed to be a source of tension for the entire group, let alone this Sheena person who seemed particularly put off by him. She seemed powerful enough, sort of like Nemera in some very odd way...or perhaps that was just because he was hoping that Nemera was still alive. That was, sadly, very likely the reason.

One of the problems though, he thought to himself as he and his cargo trudged through the door, was that carrying someone while hallucinating and paranoid tended to give him very bad frights, especially when he saw a blade slip out of the man's hand as if by magic and lance towards him. It was only by remembering that they had all their items taken away and thus he couldn't had had that did he not show any outward sign and thus drop Dien. He was, however, very happy when the man indicated that he wished to be put down, which allowed the teenager to get a bit of breathing room. He quickly made his way into an area of the room that was near what Demorian had called Pandora's Box so that he could look at it, but not close enough to anyone else that they could easily get the jump on him. Or so he hoped. He was, however, close enough that he heard the explanation behind the box, or what the man whom they had freed said was inside, and that was more than enough to garner his interest. All of their weapons were inside of there?

Fuck his paranoia, he needed to figure out how to open that puzzle and get his equipment back. Without it...well, few things beat being paranoid and not being able to do anything about it. Didn't really seem to jive well with that part of his brain for some completely inexplicable reason. Sarcasm aside, he needed it so that he could be useful, so that he could prove to the rest of the Freedom Fighters that he could do something. If you wanted to stay in a group, you had to prove to the group that you were of value. Unless you had that...well, the outcome was obvious. Eventually you'd be kicked out, or left by the side of the road to rot. And in this war...well, the consequences of that would only be death.

Putting that aside for the moment, he started to examine the lock in question. It seemed simple enough at first glance...and remained simple as he continued to stare at it. This was what was guarding their equipment? You had got to be fucking kidding. Either this was a trap, and one particular voice was whispering that it definitely was, or else the Elites didn't really put that much emphasis on protecting what had been nicknamed Pandora's Box. It seemed that Dien shared his thoughts on that, because he had apparently solved it already. Takua suppressed a surge of resentment that someone else had just finished it off before he could start to work on it, but that slowly died down as he realized that it was really easy. He could actually see the rest of what Dien wanted done, and took his own three moves shortly afterwards. There were only so many things that they had to do after all, so this was a piece of cake. Maybe there was a shorter way, but he certainly didn't care. It was a way, it could be done, they could get this over with and get the fuck out of dodge.

Certainly, he had more than enough reason to want to leave the prison, but he also wanted his weapons back. To be able to protect himself would be invaluable, and would certainly help suppress his paranoia a tiny bit. Right now, he could use all of the help that he could get, especially since nobody actually knew what was wrong with him. If he lost it too badly before he could do that...well, he was screwed. People with mental problems always needed companions who knew what was going on and who could help them out. Right now, there was no other person who knew, something that he would have to fix in short order.

((OOC:

Code: Select all

TrL-LrT
     B       Y       Y
    /|       |       |\
   G-+-------+-------+-B
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   Y-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     R       R       R

LrT-RrT
     B       Y       Y
    /|       |       |\
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   Y-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     R       R       R

LrB-BrL
     B       Y       Y
    /|       |       |\
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   R-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     Y       R       R 
Takua - Lvl 57 Wavemaster
Image
Image
Image
Wishlist: Levels, Stun Rod, Hag's Wand, Wand of Truth, Ex-Level, Ex-Spheres, and Myth: Demiurge, FL Fukuoka

User avatar
Locke
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Posts: 111
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:21 pm
Class: Twin Blade

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Locke » Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:47 am

Libra was a bit miffed at being ignored, but he suppressed it quickly, instead opting to follow the others as they headed towards the end of the cell block where the warden had come from. Common sense said that it would be the exit, so it was only natural that they would go that way. The AI was a bit worried, however, though he didn’t say anything, preferring to mull over the issue before causing an unnecessary paranoia for everyone else. The thing was… the escape was easy. Too easy. Either their captors were the most self-absorbed and egotistical villains in existence, thinking no one would ever escape their prisons, or there was something else going on. There were way too many convenient situations to make it pure coincidence, at least in Libra’s mind.

For one thing, how did one of their fellow prisoners just happen to be outside of her cell when no one else could escape? Was she a traitor planted among them, a spy amid the enemy? And even if there was probable cause for her freedom, how had she figured out how to open the doors so quickly? After all, there had been no proof that the gauntlet was needed. And then there was the other man, Demorian. The others had referred to him as Marionette or the Puppetmaster, meaning he was known. Not only that, but he had freely admitted to being a neutral party, playing both sides to his advantage. That meant he could turn at any time if it suited him, so that he could easily buy his own freedom at the cost of lives. Either way, Libra had his eyes on the two of them, suspicious until proven wrong.

And then, of course, there were his own personal worries. Baron, you’ve been really quiet, are you okay?”

He’s fine, Libra. He’s hit the verge of mental and emotional exhaustion, poor boy. I’ll keep an eye on him for now, you focus on the escape.

Libra gave a wry chuckle. All women are mothers at heart, aren’t they?

Silence greeted his response as the Gemini’s nature prevented Celeste from retorting angrily. The twins alternated their speech, not by choice but by a program within their data, and until the other spoke, the first had to be silent. Instead, Celeste had to make her feelings known by a wash of anger that only served to further Libra’s amusement as he headed down the hallway, keeping an eye out for any situations that could arise. Without knowing where he was, there was nothing to do but follow the old saying: “Expect the unexpected.” Seeing as he had no foreknowledge and expected nothing, he had to be ready for anything.

Listening to Demorian’s description of the dungeon they were trapped in, Libra grudgingly admitted that it was an ingenious design. With the central pillar being the only way out, and only a bridge connecting it to the cell blocks, whoever was in control could make any one area accessible… or none at all. However, that meant that there was a chance for the configuration to change even as they waited, so it’d be best if they at least got to the bridge as quickly as possible. What happened from then… well, Libra really didn’t know. He figured that the group would have to take it as they went, unless Demorian wanted to let slip some more plans. And that was assuming he wasn’t a traitor and didn’t “accidentally” leave out information that would be vital to allow everyone to live.

Crossing the bridge, Libra looked over the edge out of curiosity, wondering what “floor” they rated compared to the others, but all he saw below was darkness. That either indicated a huge gap between floors- meaning the dungeon was a lot more massive than first expected- or that someone was messing with light so that it didn’t shine. Shivering in thought of what could do the latter, the AI guided his host’s body forward along the bridge, into the central pillar where a large lockbox waited for them. Two of the members already seemed to have the situation underway, so Libra let them handle it while he got a grasp of the situation.

Libra approached the woman whom everyone had looked to as a leader. Being new, he figured he might as well go to her to get an idea of what was going on- it was better than just standing around and watching. Now, what was her name again...? Ah, that's right, someone had called her Sheena. "Excuse me, miss... Sheena, is it? Do you have a moment?"

The woman looked over and shrugged. "Not going anywhere until this box is opened."

"Fair enough." He gave a short sigh before continuing. "Alright, I've noticed you all know each other, you're a group. And you know Sekai, which means you're no bad guys. The question is... who are you people? As I'm sure you've noticed, I don't exactly belong."

"You belong now. We're all people who were put into comas by the Elites and are fighting against them."

"Alright, that's understandable. As part of the Eventide Crescendo, Baron-" He trailed off for a moment, unsure if he wanted to mention that he was an AI inhabiting the host body. It seemed more prudent to remain unknown. "-I mean, I fought against the Highers, so naturally the Elites, seeing that we were up to something, decided to come after us."

"I have no idea if these Highers were involved at all, or if the Elites just tracked down Sekai. I've never heard of them, to be honest."

"...Alright, that certainly changes things. But that's not important right now, I suppose. The question is when we get out of here- where do you plan on going?"

"Well, we have a hideout we'll probably return to. That, or we'll lead a direct assault on the Elites, but here in their server that's exceptionally dangerous."

Libra had figured as much. Still, it was worth asking nonetheless. "I see. Last question- seeing as how I'm nothing compared to the others and their... talents, how may I best be of help? I figure that I might as well be useful if I'm fighting alongside you guys."

"For now, just don't slack off. You can still kill things if we find them, and if nothing else, you can be a brief distraction. You'll develop a power eventually."

A... power? "I apologize, but I don't follow. There's nothing special that would cause such a development."

"There is. The very virus that's caused the coma you're in will eventually cause a... side effect. That's what our abilities are, side effects of the infection. The longer you're comatose, the more likely to have one you are and the stronger it will be."

"I... see. Alright then. I'll do what I can for now. Thank you for your time."

Libra walked away, shaking his head and thinking. Powers? Twilight? It was all too much to comprehend at the moment. When the group got back to their base, he could ask them all about the matter, but for now, he had to focus on the jailbreak. He moved over to the box, noting the configurations, and after a moment of deliberation, made a few moves that he thought would be beneficial before he got distracted again, feeling Baron's mental presence starting to awake.

Someone else could finish the puzzle.

((OOC:

Moves Made:

Code: Select all

Move 1: BrL-TrL
     Y       Y       Y
    /|       |       |\
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   R-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     B       R       R

Move 2: LrB-BrL
     Y       Y       Y
    /|       |       |\
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     R       R       R

Move 3: TrL-BrL
     R       Y       Y
    /|       |       |\
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     Y       R       R
Character Information
Baron | Level 47 Twin Blade [100/1000 EXP] | 891 HP / 265 SP
Weapon: Fishskin
Armor: Emperor's Crown/Bone Armor/Thunder Gloves/Ninja Anklet
Accessories/Books: Ethereal Angel Wings, Silver Grunty
Skills: Thunder Coil, Gale of Swords
Spells: Merrows, GiRai Don, BiVak Rom, GiGan Zot, Rai Don, Ani Don, Duk Lei
GP: 750 (As of 8/2/15)
Wishlist: Nny Scales, Lucky Shoes, Saint Cross, Greave Sticker, Pet EX-Levels/Spheres(!)

Lord Canti
Exalted Player
Posts: 300
Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: In da' plains of hell, natch.

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Lord Canti » Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:34 pm

“I thought so. I don’t have to fear any of you; the suppression field and my own shield are enough to stop anyth-”

(Boom. Just as they planned. Or close enough. The Warden wasn't actually affected by Canti's Darkness Flame, but then again...he didn't need to, since his entire focus was to keep him occupied. It would've been NICE if the guy had also taken a hit off the dark side, but not everything works that way. His apparent shield protected him from the Twin Blade, but not Dien. Possibly due to the physics involved, and definitely having something to do with Nighthand's enhancements, the fire blast out from him struck the Warden and toasted him. Mmmm... Toasty potatoes. But...wait a minute. Why did he hear him talking? Shouldn't he be dead or...?)

*CRACK!*

(And it was at this point that Canti was surprised to find Lighteria falling on the man and killing him, perhaps not even intentionally. The Twin Blade's jaw dropped at this, and he fell back in the style of an anime facevault. It was so...so...so ridiculous! He began to laugh at the irony of it while still on the ground. Moments later, he heard Senna and Lights talking, and sounds of the intended escape plan being implemented. Canti stood up as Senna began opening the doors, grinning a still-demonic grin as it slid open. She was busy freeing people, so he didn't have the time to comment, but mentally...the Twin Blade was going "Damn!" in a Chris Tucker voice. Those Elite bastards... How dare they...ummm... As Canti stepped out, he couldn't help but sneak another glance at the the dark-haired Long Arm. Okay, they were still bastards, but the strapping long lad in Canti's mind was not entirely disapproving it would seem. Moving along, though, it appeared that they had more in here than themselves. A quick observation took in the fact that Sekai was here, along with what looked like friends of hers, though he didn't know any of them. Canti might've asked about them, but at that moment...a frown appeared on his face...as he heard a familiar sinister voice. It was the Marionette voice, demonstrated by a relatively normal-looking guy. Yes, this was him alright. The puppetmaster was as mortal as we, and the Twin Blade overheard that he was one of the Freedom Fighters at some time in the past. The still-demonic Canti grumbled at this. He was probably worse than Nighthand. Still, he knew the layout of this place, and now they might have the benefit of his knowledge in its entirety later on. Maybe. Sheena didn't trust him and Sekai was defending him... Well, he had his own crusade. Let the Archer do what she must. She was a merciful one.)

Canti: Let's see... Who else we got here?

(Hmmm... Well, our scorecard so far covers...the rescue team, Nall, Sekai, Sekai's currently unnamed friends, Demorian a la Marionette, and now we add to it...one deposed administrator! Specifically, Kelvin. He was the one guy in the admin group that actually liked the Freedom Fighters, as opposed to - you know - all the others. That was kind of a surprise, though he'd heard that there had been some rumors of missing staff in The World... While the group was on the move, he noticed...one of the other Twin Blades in the hall closing all the doors. Wait, that was fairly clever. They hadn't even thought of it. And while this went on and Dien spoke to the puppetmaster, out came a new face, that being the girl that had opposed the Ben Grimm clone back in... Now, where was that again? Anyway, she was pretty damn flustered, but understandably so. All things considered, the Twin Blade left her alone. Canti continued to listen in, to everything. And in that act, he began to devise...a grand master scheme. Quickly, he looked around for the one guy that would be able to help him work this out, someone he trusted enough around here.)

Canti: Yo, Dien!

(Suddenly, the Blademaster would find himself facing a monstrous demon with black eyes and claws, obsidian spikes sticking out of its body and shadowy markings on its skin, plus horrible jagged fangs which- Wait a second... That was Canti... He found the Blademaster leaning against a wall nearby, obviously tired from exertion. Canti didn't feel tired, per se, but he had failed to return from his demonized state. And furthermore, he failed to notice this fact entirely.)

Canti: I just had the most brilliant evil master plan!

"Yes?"

(Dien reacted to his appearance, but the Twin Blade didn't notice.)

Canti: This prison is filled with probably a ton of people like us, in probably the same setup. Would you agree that it's likely we'll have to take on whoever's in charge here?

"Makes sense, though I'm not entirely sure there are too many other people. If Demorian's right, that gives us eighty cell blocks to check - which could take some time, considering how long they are. Add in the fact that the Elites built this place to prevent effective break-ins, then it means we probably aren't likely to find anyone anytime soon."

(He gave Canti a sympathetic look.)

"Besides, who's to say they'd be sympathetic to our cause?"

(But the demon-face just grinned wickedly.)

Canti: We're already in, Dien. The only thing that's left to do is look around, shout out things like 'Who wants out of here?', and kick some ass. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking 'Canti wants to rally an army of Freedom Fighters'. And you know? That's actually part of it. But the first thing that hit me was...prison riot."

(Now, he was letting off an evil sort of snicker.)

Canti: Just imagine it. We don't need them loyal to us. We just need 'em to hate them. They'll gladly raise havoc to stick it to the bads. Self before all things and that, right? We can worry about who joins and who runs later. But until then, we make the enemy shit gold bricks...

(He was beginning to sound a little...malicious. The Blademaster had a point to make on this, however.)

"That's...Canti, think about it this way. It's designed so people won't stage jailbreaks from the outside, right? Well, wouldn't it make sense to have eighty thousand cells to sort through for only a handful of people? It'd take a hell of a lot of luck to pick the right one of eighty cell blocks to go to, and a lot of time spent making second, third, fourth, and more guesses. If someone had broken in here? It'd've been noticed, and each guess would mean more time for the Elites to notice and sweep in to mop up the jailbreakers. It makes life much easier to leave an entire 80-block ward with only a few prisoners and a complex mechanism to switch between them for any pursuers.. What I'm saying is, what do you think are the chances we'll actually find anyone else in here?"

Canti: That all depends. How many people do you think the Elites put into a coma?

"I highly doubt they send everyone to death row. I mean, Demorian says they wanted to enslave people, so why would they hold them all in a jail cell, let alone one known as death row?"

Canti: You have to store your slaves somewhere.

"A jail cell with only one doorway that shuffles between eighty blocks serves as a poor slave barracks, if you ask me. No way to restore your workers and keep them fresh, and certainly not an efficient way to start or end a workday."

(This may have sounded like an adequate statement to make without fear of rebuttal...but only if this were anywhere else but The World. This game did not play by the normal rules of anything, slavery included. Canti could see even a prison like this being, yes, THE slave pits. What ELSE would you have a gigantic jail for? The Elites kill anyone they don't wanna hold, so it stands to reason that this was the one and only death row block in the hold for their human subjects. As for Dien's point of reference...)

Canti: Teleporters, man. They can probably mass 'em out and in. It's only designed so that nobody else can try that. Or am I over-thinking this?

"If it were more likely that there were other people here, I'd say it'd be worth a shot, but as it stands, chances are pretty good we're alone in here. He said there was a master computer somewhere with the locations of all the prisoners in the ward. I say we check that first before starting your prison riot."

(The Blademaster put a hand on his shoulder, smiling reassuringly. He wasn't vetoing the idea itself. He merely figured that the Twin Blade was going about it wrong, probably. Frankly, it was too insane NOT to work. He grinned at this.)

Canti: Oh, really? Gee, and here I was thinking you'd have something against the mayhem.

"Oh no, mayhem's great when it's upsetting the order that's holding you down. And it'll probably only help our case once we get out of here--a nice distraction for our captors, I dare say."

Canti: Great. Am I missing anything else here?

"Umm, besides the fact that I know Nighthand and I together are badass? Probably not."

Canti: Personally, I'm not liking Nighthand much, but that's just me.

"He's powerful and he's been around for a while. Can't say I agree with his leadership style, but I don't really mind it much. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a puzzle that calls for my attention."

Canti: Yeah, you go do that. I need to find a way to de-bind my friggin' wings.

"Might talk to Sekai. I think she managed to help Kelvin out with it, and I don't think she'd mind giving you a hand."

Canti: Thanks.

(Dien went off to go handle the puzzle. It's what he was good at, so no problem. Canti was about to head over to Sekai, but a quick inspection of both her and Kelvin told him that - No - he hadn't been unbound in the wing department. And the reason for it was this... Now that the Twin Blade saw another pair of wings, he could see the problem. They needed blades to cut these damn wires off with, and none were available yet. Or were they? Okay, the Twin Blade had an idea now...)

Canti: Okay, I've got this whole appearance-changing demon transformation going, and I know it's a right and proper effect of my powers. Given that, I SHOULD be able to wield it properly in a manner I can use. So...GO SPIKES!

(There was a surge of effort coming from Canti as the markings on his body began to shift, and the obsidian spikes jutting from him began to shudder. Soon, they began to retract...and then he suddenly released...but made it shoot out in a different direction. Agh! It's poking his wing! No no no! In again, quickly! Okay... Let's try this again... A little control and...snap! Evil spikes shot through his skin at the appropriate points and the wires were cut! Canti's wings shot out, and then he went to one knee from the painful backlash of how sore they were from being bound.)

Canti: Now I know how Warren Worthington felt...

(This was gonna be a bitch when he stopped being in a coma. He was gonna feel phantom pains over the wings he won't really have. In any case, he began to watch over the progress of the stuff-box. Apparently, it was going well. Not far from this, he noticed Demorian, whom he had not spoken to yet...though the man had been...sort of the ultimate stranger. But he was curious now, and began to retract all his spikes and return his appearance to normal as he spoke up to the ex-puppetmaster. He spoke without actually looking at the guy, keeping his eyes...on the prize.)

Canti: So, what happened to Guardian?
I'll have a doozy of a sig later, I swear. It'll reflect ".hack//CODE" an' everything.

Hey look! A profile! It's got items and stats and things! Cool! If it isn't fully up to date, it will be, so don't worry 'bout it.

User avatar
Senna
Awakened Player
Posts: 150
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:28 pm

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Senna » Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:27 am

She wasn’t quite sure how people did it. Being a sheep was incredibly hard. INCREDIBLY hard.

Rayo’s shouted comment alerting them to who one of the prisoners in the hall was at least a bit of a warning. She supposed she should be grateful for that – she was still working on opening the doors at the time, and for a second she froze in the act. Marionette. Marionette, master of Primal. Marionette, creator of what which had trapped her here in the game.

She opened the last few doors with a sort of mechanical rhythm, feeling her stomach sour at what she knew, she just KNEW, was coming. She hadn’t really forgiven it for what it had done, but that was partly because she didn’t precisely blame it for her current condition. It had given Primal abilities to fight those with this Twilight-whatever virus, and what happened to her was a consequence of such programming, she assumed. It had not targeted her, and likely didn’t care about what had happened to her one way or the other. What happened was at least as much her fault – probably more her fault – than anyone else’s. She also assumed it would pull no punches about the act, and she could respect to some degree that assumed willingness to own up to its actions.

Still, that didn’t mean she liked the creature. She would have been more than happy to put it aside, think about it no more and focus on the forward. But it kept cropping up. And now… now someone was going to likely let it out. Maybe that was even the right thing to do.

It didn’t make her any happier about it. What was it JFK had said about enemies and forgiveness? The corollary – never forget their names.

Having opened the last of the main cell doors, she leaned her back against the wall and slid to the floor, feeling suddenly and inexplicably exhausted. Leftover kick from using her cowardly ability to walk through a door? She hoped so. Marionette. It was going to ask them to let it out, possibly to help it escape. And why wouldn’t it? They were, at the moment, its best bet, and it seemed a consummate businessman if nothing else.

One of the newcomers stopped to ask about the doors, and seemed pleasant enough. Senna felt a little bad, being sort of vague and short with the girl, but she wasn’t feeling wholly there. At least the encounter relieved her of the gauntlet thing, and the idea *wasn’t* a half-bad one. She closed her eyes as the girl left and listened to the chatter, waiting for someone to rally the troops and direct them into the next task.

As she listened, she overheard some further conversation. And came to one conclusion.

There was one person in this party she could thoroughly never trust. It was a foul, foul thing Sekai had done. And Senna… Senna couldn’t say a damn thing about it. She’d made her own bed, so to speak. Making trouble here, starting a fight – they’d leave her. They’d be right to leave her. So she waited for them to move, and she followed the herd. She tried to think like a sheep. Sheep didn’t have to think about much of anything, they just went where they were supposed to, or they wandered off and got eaten by wolves. Fairly easy work, being a sheep. Hang back, stay away from the problem areas, let the sharper minds figure out what that thing holding their items was, try not to look like a thundercloud had taken lodging in her eyes (and failing).

Takua and I have figured out the box, or the solution to it. If you wanna double check before you take a crack at it, just let either of us know, and we’ll direct it open.

Well, that had taken less time than she’d thought. Watching the work being done was a welcome distraction. It kept her from looking around or listening to everyone else, and she was feeling sullen and catty enough that that suited her just fine. She was content to stew until addressed. At the best, it kept her from stewing over the ridiculous clothes.

"Hey Senna," Dien said, motioning for the girl to approach, his eyes still locked on the puzzle before them, "wanna take a crack at this?"

She approached, trying to school her countenance to neutrality. "Honestly, it's just a mess to me. Wouldn't know how. Thanks, you both, for workin' it out though."

"Nah," the blademaster replied, "if you can solve a Rubik's cube, this is a piece of cake." A brief pause and then, "wait, you can solve a Rubik's cube, right?"

She paused, then said thoughtfully, "If taking off the stickers counts."

The sigh that escaped the player's lips was very telling of the disbelief he'd just shunned. After a moment's thought, he spoke, "alright, you wanna learn?"

"Sure. Just tell me what to do."

Okay then," he began, turning finally to face her, momentarily distracted by the game model's figure that was almost unrealistically perfect and unduly exposed by the green loincloths they wore. Shades of red crossed his face, and his voice cracked as he continued, "so understanding the box is a matter of knowing which color-positions can trade places. For the middle tiles on each row, they can only switch across, which means their location is relatively static. The ones on the outsides, though--on the corners, I mean--they can switch across the square, and they can switch around the corner they're attached to." He paused, realizing that in looking at the gestures he was making, he'd been facing directly at Senna's breasts--however hidden they were behind pale green fabric. Deep red flushed his face, and he looked away, not entirely sure what to do with the hands that had betrayed him so.

"That, uh, that make sense to you?"

Hmm… think so. How do you know what color needs to be on what side? Or… it doesn’t matter, once the sides are the same there’s only four things to try?

"Yeah," he said, taking a moment to think over her statement, "that's the breast next step. BEST, I meant best."

Senna blinked. Oh yeah. She sighed heavily and steadfastly fought the urge to glance down at what some sadist had decided passed for adequate clothing. "When we find whoever picked the prison garb... pain. So how do I move these?"

"Just touch the ones you want to switch at the same time," he said, his eyes closed and turned away as he continued to mutter something about Freud hating him.

She did as instructed, lining up the colors like good little soldiers despite it causing no visible reaction, then glanced over in an attempt to figure out Dien’s muttering. While she couldn’t really catch much, it, combined with the..erm, situation… was clear enough. “Hutchinson’s Law,” she said after a second. “Don’t worry about it. They want us uncomfortable.

"Yeah," he said, sneaking a glance before he could catch himself, "better to get this thing open as quick as possible then, eh?"

Still firmly not looking toward the bulk of the group, she responded, “Definitely.

Code: Select all

Move 3: TrM-BrM

     R       R       Y
    /|       |       |\
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     Y       Y       R


Move 3: TrR-BrR
     R       R       R
    /|       |       |\
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     Y       Y       Y
Senna, level 33 Long Arm (710 HP/180 SP)
Most common kit: Ichigou, Racoon Earcaps, Air Bracer, Snow Panther, Winter Coat, Graceful Book
Spells/Skills: (Critical Hit/Death) Repulse Cage, Ap Corv, Ap Vorv, Rai Rom, Rue Zot, La Repth
Click for full equipment and items
14300 (1/23)

User avatar
Talal
Ikkitousen
Posts: 123
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 2:50 am
Class: Twinblade

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Talal » Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:13 am

Methodically, the small girl finished her self-appointed task of closing all of the cell doors. She had been careful to make sure that no one had gotten re-jailed along the way by accident. How much if any time it would buy them towards their escape was still an unknown. The fact that they had someone within their ranks that knew the facility may or may not play in their favor. The tidbits of conversations she’d overheard showed that feelings towards the man in question varied amongst the group.

Once the last door was closed, she waited for the others to pass. So many new faces and for now her well being was somewhat in their hands. She felt lost in a world she knew nothing about even though she was surrounded by those that were to be considered allies as well as perhaps a few friends…eventually.

Trying to keep her eyes lowered, the Twin Blade stared at the pairs of bare feet as they passed. They were all heading to the end of the hall. There was a door there and hopefully it would lead somewhere other than another long hall of cells. Following the group through the door, the girl had a moment to look at them. A few had wings that had been bound by wire and looked rather painful. One looked close to death if only from the color of his skin and all the scars which she had heard him say had been there for sometime and not to worry. From the sounds of things, this was the first time that anyone in the whole group had seen the rest of the group without their outfits or armor. It made sense actually.

Looking past the group ahead, she was excited to see that beyond the door was not another bright hall. It was dark and until she passed through the doorway, hadn’t realized that what was there was nothing but a platform bridge that led to another door on the far side. It stretched over a deep cavern of sorts. How deep it went was unknown since just a few feet down and it was as black as an abyss.

No! Nononononononono. Crap o crap o crap o crap.

The fact that everyone was either already on the bridge and getting across or already completely across was both a good thing and a bad thing for the dark haired girl. Good in the sense that no one was facing her to see her completely freak out without even taking a step. Bad in the sense that the one steady arm that had supported her on the last bridge, was already across and through the next door. Talal crossed her arms in front of her while her body trembled in fear. Her feet were on autopilot and began pacing the short width of the bridge.

Couldn’t it have been anything but a freaking black hole? That’s worse than being able to see the bottom. Gah! I need to get across. I don’t want to be left behind.

Finally, the pacing stopped and Talal marked her spot on the far door. Now, all she had to do was keep her eye on that spot and tell her feet to move towards it. Yeah, that works in theory usually…right? One foot slid slowly in the direction of the far door, straight down the middle of the platform bridge. The next foot then slid past the first never actually lifting high enough to loose contact with the surface. The steps continued until she was about three quarters of the way across and finally starting to feel like she was overcoming one of her fears when a small whisp of air blew up her thigh sending her flailing.

Arms flew out to the sides and a small high pitched squeak escaped from the girl’s mouth. Her eye contact was broken with the door and that huge mistake was finally made…she looked down.

Dark brown eyes became as big as golf balls while her hands flailed about in the air trying to find anything to grab a hold of but there was nothing there to grab. The girl’s legs buckled sending her to land harshly on her ass with a loud thump. Crawling to the center of the width between the two edges where she had fallen, Talal sat. Her legs pulled in, knees up and arms wrapped as tight as they would go around them. Her eyes closed and her forehead once again found the top of her knees as she whispered quietly to herself repeating the same phrase over and over. Her mind had finally given into the pressure of all the changes that had happened all too fast. She was physically paralyzed from her fear and mentally, unable to accept the reality that had become her new home.

”It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream….”

Several moments passed until her mind began to slowly come back from its denial, realizing that she wasn’t waking up from the dream she so desperately wanted it all to be. There was at that point really only one option of what she should do and that was to get off the bridge. Failed attempt after failed attempt of convincing herself however to stand up found the Twin Blade scooting across the last few feet of the bridge on her butt until she had reached the other side.

Standing up and adjusting the lower portion of her outfit, tugging down attempting to cover the red marks where she had almost rubbed the skin raw from scooting like she had, the girl walked into the room quietly and found a piece of wall that had yet to be taken. A quick glance told her that the attention of a select few had been taken by a colorful box, while the rest seemed to be waiting around. She assumed they were waiting for the small group to finish with the box. For now, her place was with those that were waiting while she tried to get her body to stop trembling. Hopes of holding onto the last shred of outward mental strength she had left keeping the façade that she was okay alive.

Just for a little longer.
Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Walk beside me that we may be as one.
***************************************
Talal
Image
Level 39 (0/1000 EXP) Twin Blade

Weapons/Armor: Mukuro (Swirling Dark, Dark Dance), Ice Hunter Cap (Repth), Wristbands (Juk Rom), Fishing Gloves (Rue Kruz), Wyrm Hide (Gan Don), Snow Panther (Ap Vorv)

Wish List: Scrolls, Tarot Cards, and Armor higher than level 30.

Phoenix512
Exalted Player
Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 10:42 pm

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Phoenix512 » Sun Feb 15, 2009 3:33 am

As usual the Elites seem to love to design complex and pointless puzzles to their instillations and “Pandora’s Box” was no different. Something Demorian said was odd to Phoenix as they were compelled to take everything or nothing at all until he realized that it was probably to prevent individual escapees from getting their equipment back easily. As the others were talking or solving the puzzle, the blademaster decided to talk with Demorian since he was too busy earlier with Kelvin. He approached Demorian and said something in a sarcastic attitude.

"So the puppetmaster is just a mere marionette now. It must have been heart-breaking for you that you can't control us anymore."

Demorian shrugs. "You served the purpose I needed you to."

"Except that it didn't exactly work did it?"

"Nope. But then, you're here too."

Damn, I hate it that he’s right about that. Oh well. Phoenix continues on with talking with Demorian. "Yeah, looks like our plans were ruined by them. So did you hate Nall back in your Freedom Fighter days?"

"Hate him? No. We just disagreed on a few things, like I'm sure all of you do now and then. I chose to try to make my own way."

"That's what I thought as well but trying it alone is just suicide. I know I'll die without them. So that's why I'm with them."

“When you've obtained the kind of power I have, it gets harder to justify it that way."

Phoenix was beginning to wonder what kind of power Demorian truly have. He continued to ask him questions. "Could you take down an Elite with your power but not the head one since he was the one who brought you here?"

"Who knows. I'd probably stand a good chance against Klive, but Xenobia's body-control can defeat any single player effortlessly. It all depends on how well planned I've set up the encounter."

Xenobia was going to be trouble for anyone. The blademaster wondered about Demorian’s henchmen that cause them so much trouble in the past. "Did you create the Guardian and the others or were they gifts by the Elites?"

"They were mine. Experiments."

"Did Garra trashed your Guardian or he's still alive?"

"I imagine he's still where I left him. Not much ambition, that one."

"The perfect servant I suppose."

"Who better to keep close to home?"

"Your home will probably be gone even if we escaped from here."

"Nah. It's still out there. I'd know if it was removed."

Phoenix was somewhat impressed that Demorian could tell that his base was still intact but who knows if he’s lying to him or not. For now, he followed along. "Impressive. So why did you need to talk weird with us? Was it because of Sheena and the previous Freedom Fighters?"

"Yup. Them, and the Elites. Anyone who knew this look or this voice."

"Makes sense. Sheena would probably put a hole in your chest if she found out it was you at the time. Anyway, I should try to press some buttons to get our equipment back since they're taking too long with it."

Demorian nods as Phoenix heads to the stone box. Suddenly he hears the voice of his pet. Kazuma, you don’t want to admit that he’s like you in many ways.

I know, Suzaku. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I could be like him. He’s more powerful than most of the Freedom Fighters combined. I hate being this powerless compared to the Elites.

I know, Kazuma. But you’ll have me. With our power combined, we’ll be able to do anything.

I hope so, Suzaku. For now, I will finish this puzzle.

Phoenix was able to finish the puzzle with some assistance from Suzaku since she was the smarter half of the two. After the third move he did, he was able to get the lights in the correct positions. Alright, open up Pandora’s Box. Show us the hope you have inside of it.

Code: Select all

 Move 1: LrT-RrT
     R       R       R
    /|       |       |\
   G-+-------+-------+-B
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     Y       Y       Y

Move 2: LrM - RrM
     R       R       R
    /|       |       |\
   G-+-------+-------+-B
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   G-+-------+-------+-B
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   B-+-------+-------+-G
    \|       |       |/
     Y       Y       Y

Move 3: LrB - RrB
     R       R       R
    /|       |       |\
   G-+-------+-------+-B
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   G-+-------+-------+-B
     |       |       |
     |       |       |
   G-+-------+-------+-B
    \|       |       |/
     Y       Y       Y
Phoenix
Level 48 Blademaster
Equipped Skills: Vak Revolver, Gan Revolver, Dek Vorv, La Repth, Juk Kruz, Rue Kruz, BiVak Rom, GiGan Zot
Other Skills: Rue Kruz, Rip Synk, Rip Saem, Crack Beat, Rue Slash, Ani Slash, Gan Crack, Gan Revolver

Wish List: Phoenix's Fire, Gold Necklace
EX-Spheres: LV 3 - Overdrive, LV 3 - Curative, LV 3 - Elemental Breath

Lord Canti
Exalted Player
Posts: 300
Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: In da' plains of hell, natch.

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Lord Canti » Mon Feb 16, 2009 2:35 am

(At this time, Canti had settled into a healthy repast of boredom. Not something that is easily achieved while ill-dressed, unarmed, and lacking any support other than his Twilight abilities in the enemy's own jailhouse. The only reasonably interesting thing to happen, aside from tinkering with this freakin' box, was a colorful faux paux from Dien to Senna that made Canti snerk. Beyond that...nothing. Between nervous tension at being caught and having nothing to do, the winged Twin Blade was lacking anything to fill the void. He'd already opted not to mess with the puzzle, since there were better-equipped and more patient people waiting to try their hand at it, but it was also a fact that that was...more or less...the only game in town. Even the apparent fate of Demorian's favorite minion was lacking in special interest. He was actually kinda' hoping that Marionette was without strings to pull, that Guardian had been compacted into a sprite-puppy and put to sleep. Not that he had any love of seeing those puppets - real living peope - killed either, but Guardian was an asshole. But amidst all this, Canti then found...a distraction. It was easy for him to catch it. One of the other players was having trouble on the bridge, namely crossing it it seemed. This was...the same girl that had closed the cell doors earlier. Because everyone else was on the box or taken in by the box, they didn't notice. They wouldn't have noticed, because it was actually Canti's special instincts that pinged this. Looking out of the corner of his eye at the black-haired girl, he spoke to her.)

Canti: You alright?

(She jerked slightly at the sound of his voice. Raising her eyes from the floor, she just stared at the winged player in front of her for a moment.)

"Yeah, mostly."

(She was smaller than him in height and frame, but not by all that much. Canti abandoned attention of the box entirely, making this pretty much a one-to-one conversation. Besides, he was deliberately speaking at a low tone so that no one would notice. He could spot awkward situations at fifty paces.)

Canti: Don't worry. It happens to us all.

(Confusion and an obviously inwardly pointed grimace crossed her face there, as she realized that whatever facade she was playing at had apparently failed. Still, she had to be certain...)

"I'm sorry. What...are you refering to exactly?"

Canti: The bridge. Makes total sense, I know. Since it's effectively real.

(The girl's eyes widened at the mention of the bridge. Her tone was now a whisper itself.)

"You saw me cross the bridge?"

(She turned her head away, eyes avoiding him in embarassment. Canti smirked, though, crossing his arms. This sort of thing shouldn't blown out of proportion.)

Canti: Relax. You think you're the only one ever shell-shocked by this?

(The smile faded then, and he looked off to the side.)

Canti: I'll say this much, though. It's rough, being in here. I'm still adjusting, myself.

(This was technically true, though not in the same manner. Her trembling had subsided a little, but was still noticeable. A small smile appeared.)

"No, I'm sure I'm not the only one. I was trying to put on the brave face and have apparently failed. And...yeah adjustment I'm sure will take a while. But, it's more the bridge and those spiral stairs over there that have got me wrapped around their little finger at the moment."

(Her smile disappeared. Canti blinked, mulling this over in his head, then looked at her again.)

Canti: Ah, what's it again? Oh yeah. Vertigo?

(She sighed.)

"I guess that's a side effect? Let's just say me and high places don't mix well."

(Another grimace followed as she muttered a barely audible "screw it", her tone changing to something more defensive, but low.)

"I'm deathly afraid of heights. It's rather paralyzing at times, depending on how high and a few other things. So yeah, I'm not looking forward to leaving this room but I know we have to."

(Then, there was another sigh, her tone softer again.)

"Sorry, you didn't deserve that. You're just trying to help."

Canti: Nah, it's alright. I got my problems too."

(And to dig into what sort of problems Canti had, you had to have a good set of construction equipment, like...everything used at The Big Dig at Boston, once upon a time. Let's just say that the guy also knew what it was like to be far from perfect, socially if not in all human aspects. Though...now he kinda' wondered if this height thing would happen to her in Dun Loireag, but decided not to ask. Instead, the smirk was back.)

Canti: Name's Canti, by the way. Saw you closing the cells earlier. Pretty clever, that.

(That got her in a much better mood, as she chuckled over his comment.)

"Oh that...Thanks! Just thought it might buy us a little more time, but now I'm not so sure. This obviously isn't your typical jail. Not that I've ever seen one of course. I'm Talal. Pleasure to meet you. What exactly do they think is in the box?"

(While the backpeddling there was kinda' funny, Canti didn't make anything of the jail comments at all. It's just one of those things. He now shrugged.)

Canti: Our stuff, according to Mr. Puppetmaster.

(This was in indication of Demorian, whom had been universally-identified as the enigmatic Marionette, unmasked.)

Canti: Everything from our clothes to our items and pop-up options. I can't even access my music like this.

(Take note here. The others may not have had a music track pop-up like Canti's. Talal looked at Demorian for a moment, placing the info about him on the back burner for now and then her eyes lit up.)

"Our stuff and our menus? That would make me feel a lot better as I'm sure it would for everyone."

(There was a slight pause as something else clicked...)

"Music? You have a music menu? I must have missed that during character setup."

(He joined in her laugh, glad to have set a better mood here. We couldn't afford to be all doom and gloom in a place like this. Besides, he'd promised Senna never to go emo on them. If he started now, someone might smack him one.)

Canti: If it's all in there, then I'll be a happier Twin Blade. More comfortable too. My music was a hack done by a friend, though. If you have a request, I can see what's there...

"Perhaps later, when we're out of this mess. I just might take you up on that. Another Twin Blade eh? That makes three of us that I know of then. Nice."

(There was another brief pause, then...)

"Thanks, by the way. For understanding. It helped."

(She held out a hand, palm facing down. It was completely still. More than that, he'd gotten her mood to improve, as she was even smiling despite the ruddy piece of crap situation they'd been put in. Getting a new player past the preliminary problems was definitely worthwhile.)

"See? No more trembling."

Canti: Just channeling the wisdom of a friend. There is no charge.

(He said this jokingly, glad to be on the right foot here.)

Canti: I know that Lights and Zhao are Twin Blades, so we really have at least four. Gotta ask, though...

(And Canti was actually hesitant to ask about this...)

Canti: What happened to you, anyway? Who did it?

(There would be no question of what the winged player was asking here. Talal understood what he meant entirely, her smile disappearing and her eyes filling with sorrow)

"We, I mean Sekai, Takua, Baron, myself were thrown out of dungeon while trying to find a crystal of some sort that was valuable to the Highers. Part of our group, Zan, Nemera, Sidhe and a member of the Progeny - Alana, were not so lucky. We don't know what happened to them. We received a flashmail from one of our team to meet at a field, only to find out it was a trap. Xenobia was there and made us choose a champion of sorts."

(She pointed to Kira/Sekai.)

"Takua, Baron and I were forced to sit on the sidelines and watch, paralyzed somehow and unable to move while Kira fought Xenobia...and lost. The last thing I remember is vines sprouting from the ground and piercing us all through our eyes and then waking up in the cell block with all of you...comatose and stuck."

(It was a sobering story, which Canti listened to silently and without interruption, though the mention of Sekai and Zan made him stir. So, he was right. She and the others were Sekai's friends. And where exactly was Zan at this time? That guy seemingly abandoned them. So had Sekai, though hers were over certain principles and discord wihing the Freedom Fighter group itself. Turning more meloncholy for a moment, the dark Twin Blade sighed.)

Canti: Xenobia got me too, actually. Dien, Zhao, and I were head-hunted by a man called Suraisu, our escort through a special new dungeon as a test to make it to a 'new guild'. Big ugly tower, lots of fighting where we started to feel the damage, and then Suraisu turned on us. We might've been taken then if not for Nall.

(He indicated Nall with his head.)

Canti: He beat the guy, got us out, but then while in Mac Anu, we were waylaid by both Elites and Admins. I didn't see what happened to everyone at the time. But I got earth-smashed by Reinier while under Xenobia's power, and then I woke up at our HQ, feeling every inch of it.

(She might've heard something about this, perhaps. A time when Mac Anu was closed and perhaps some people had seen some very suspicious characters beforehand. No matter... Even if she hadn't, it didn't change the fact that it was a harsh thing to have gone through. A fucking war with the Elites and the Admins. Cobalt Knights and hacker-creations, fighting every other conceivable opponent. It was a brutal battle... The Twin Blade was trying not to show his feelings on the matter, that it still disturbed him. The fact that his eyes were black made this easier. Talal couldn't tell what he was feeling, but gave him a soft understanding look.)

"Yes, we had moments in the field and dungeon we were in where we could feel stuff. I'd have to say the dungeon was the worst."

(She shuddered, and then refocused on the conversation.)

"There is an HQ? You mean like a clan area? I hadn't thought yet about where I'd go after this. Just one more thing to get used to I guess."

(Okay, now he looked at her more pointedly, as though more serious now.)

Canti: You can't go back to your clan. It's not safe. Whether you're a Swordbreaker like me or in another group, our place is the one that's shielded from detection. Otherwise, ya might end up back here again.

"Okay. Thanks for the heads up. I wouldn't have known otherwise. I still have a lot to learn."

(A look of some relief crossed his face. She surprisingly accepted this a little faster than Senna did. Well, in all fairness, Senna had reasonable doubt at the time. He had to grant her that. But now that they knew what happened to their captives...)

Canti: No problem. Us blades have gotta look out for each other.

(She smiled appreciatively at this.)

"Looking out for others is what I'm usually good at. But it's nice to be the one looked after once in a while."

(Talal paused again, hesitation obvious in her tone when she spoke again. This had brought up another point that was of some importance here.)

"Can I ask a favor? I don't really want the whole world to know about my issue with heights. Just between us...Yes? And um, mind if I stay close going up the stairs?"

(Already back in good humor, the winged Twin Blade gave a reassuring smile. Why do you think he'd kept this conversation quiet, and that she had followed suit? Some embarassments could become more than a minor issue, so he'd keep an eye out for her, at least until things were straightened out somehow.)

Canti: Not a word, and go ahead. Oh, and I can fly, by the way. Anything happens, I gotcha covered.

(A look of relief passed over her.)

"Indeed. I had noticed your wings. Are they badly injured from being bound?"

Canti: At first, it was really painful when I got 'em loose using my powers. But The World isn't real enough to account for broken bones or twisted muscles as far as I can see, and I've done alot in here already. They'll work as long as the infection makes them work, I guess.

(She looked puzzled at his response and wanted to ask about his powers but decided to leave it alone for now and simply smiled. Canti, however, being the persceptive one again caught this right off.)

Canti: You'll see soon enough. Man, I should leave the briefing to Nighthand or something.

(Which just left those safe-crackers to give 'em back their stuff so that they could get going!)

OOC: The preceeding story was true. The names were not changed to protect the innocent, but only because there was also no guilty party. It went unheard, though, so you're kind of out of luck anyhow. Heh heh heh.
I'll have a doozy of a sig later, I swear. It'll reflect ".hack//CODE" an' everything.

Hey look! A profile! It's got items and stats and things! Cool! If it isn't fully up to date, it will be, so don't worry 'bout it.

User avatar
Lighteria
Well-Oiled Machine
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:59 am
Location: :noitacoL

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Lighteria » Thu Feb 19, 2009 4:50 pm

So far so good.

With his teammates being freed faster than a starving wolverine leaps upon a horny teenage couple in any given horror movie, Lighteria feels the stirrings of a feeling you don't often get when you're surrounded on all sides by a large hostile force of super hackers bent on your torture and annihilation. He starts to feel optimistic. Everyone seems to be recovering their senses from the utter, utter trouncing they received recently and also seem to be sympathetic with these new, poor unfortunates that happen to have fallen into comas as well. Glancing at them silently and listening in on conversations he clearly wants no part of, the twin blade judges them to be mostly affable and he's relatively it's just his imagination when he sees that one guy muttering to himself just out of earshot with a twinge of insanity in his eye. Introductions and well-thought out first impressions though are going to have to wait for a moment where they're not fighting for their lives. ...Ok, for a moment when they're less actively fighting for their lives. ...Also when they have more clothes on. There has yet to be a moment in Lighteria's life where he feels comfortable standing around silently, awkwardly shuffling his feet amongst a group of any more than say, three. Combine that with the fact they're all dressed in outfits that would get them kicked out of the jungle-people's village for revealing too much only exacerbates that feeling, and as everyone and their brother starts to chat each other up about escape plots, current events, gossip and their favorite type of salad dressing, the timid twin blade only grows increasingly nervous. Even the taunting and laughable puzzle he could maybe distract himself with is instantly besieged by the team's super-brains, slapping the puzzle upside its head so fast you could actually hear the colored lights crying for their mothers. ...Who are presumably flashlights. Yes, Lighteria knows when his thoughts turn to the lineage of fluorescent bulbs his internal monologue of self doubt or a mindless recitation of one of his stories can't be far behind. With a little more intestinal fortitude, the player would force himself into a dark corner of an open cell and hide until these feeling pass but instead he stands stone-still, fist clenching to the point his fingernails start digging into his skin from being too tense. There is probably nothing that can snap him out of this nervous stupor save a sudden fight.

...You know what? I'm pretty sure that's not who I think it is standing next to Pheonix and chatting about how funny all their wacky misadventures ended up bringing them together in such an odd place.

In the back of his head, Lighteria knows Demorian's probably more on the group's side than the elites and he should probably make an effort to be nice and realize that despite the stringing along, the puppet mastering, and the god awful mind games. However, there is just the tiny problem of the man having thrown a non-AI their way to defend his sorry posterior with. Seeing one of his teammates mercilessly ripping apart an actual person who is essentially in their same situation only consensually, was a disturbing time for the twin blade. The damned of it is that it happened really f**king fast. Before the poor twin blade could throw himself between the two combatants, starry-eyed and heart-broken, pleading for the better angels of our nature to take over before we turn into that which we so despise it was all over. It was more like watching a Mac truck going at full speed while it runs over a puppy. Yeah, you WANT to do something about it but it's over so fast you barely have time to realize it's happened before the big hulking colossus has turned your cute little sympathy funnel into a gooey red street paste. Horrible metaphors aside, it was a traumatizing experience for the twin blade. So much so in fact that it left him stunned and catatonic for the better part of a few hours, leaving him able to muster only the ability to sit on a couch and stare blankly at an opposite wall while neglecting his pet. This little trauma sort of pushes back any thoughts of being amicable with the man and instead pulls the twin blade into a massive spiral of thought. The vision of Angel dying, his coming to grips with the fact he'd been part of it, the irreconcilable fact that he normally wouldn't hurt a non-AI fly... it quickly overwhelms his head, quickly undoing the minor healing the panacea of time had afforded him since it happened. The twin blades eyes mist up and his fist clenches even tighter than it had been for the past ten minutes. With no other thought than anger, Lighteria rushes forward towards Demorian, his arm pulled back and ready to lamp him across the jaw with all the fury and hatred his heart can muster.

This is very little fury and hatred. The logical portion of his brain screaming at him to stop and the fact that he really does hate to hurt people who aren't actively trying to kill him, really REALLY saps his strength. His grand fist blow of justice glances Demorian across the cheek with as much force as you'd expect from someone trying to push you lightly away but being too forceful. It might leave a red mark for a minute, but the gesture is punctuated by the first complete sentence Lighteria has managed to finish without stuttering for a good long while.

"BASTARD!!" Lighteria squeaks out, his voice going high pitched again because of the lump in his throat. Demorian blinks, presumably in surprise and rubs his cheek, attention now obviously shifted to the twin blade.

"Huh... Hi?" He responds. This is not what Lighteria envisioned. For one thing, the man has not been flung halfway across the room and through the opposite wall. For another thing, he doesn't seem to totally realize that was a punch. Anger welling up again, Lighteria's eyes start watering, body shaking with barely contained rage.

"That... that all you can SAY?! A-After everything you did! T-To us!? To... her?!" He manages to stutter out. Rather impressive for not having rehearsed that in his head. Again, Demorian is not quite on the same wavelength.

"Uh... yeah, pretty much. What are you looking for?" Demorian responds, just a bit too incredulously for Lighteria's taste. The nonchalant nature of this guy is infuriating. Again, going for drama, the twin blade grabs the puppet master's collar, tears starting to fall down his cheeks.

"You... you hid behind people! Real people!! And.. and for what?! Your silly games!?" Lighteria blurts out, letting the guy's collar go and resorting to punching his chest. Again, trying to muster force but utterly failing, succeeding in only making Demorian sway slightly with each hit.

"If by games, you mean an attempt to save my life, sure." He says plainly, grabbing Lighteria's wrists, finally having had enough of getting jostled around. "Everyone has their reasons." Lighteria yanks lightly with his arms, quickly realizing he's shaking and trembling too much to put any muscle behind it. Instead of getting free, the twin blade glares, sending tears streaming down his cheeks again.

"What right.. what right did you have to send her after us?! You had NONE!" Lighteria responds, assuming his case is airtight.

"And what right do you have to be fighting the elites? To change the status quo for them?" Demorian responds, getting a surprisingly menacing growl out of the twin blade.

"We're not... using people..." Lighteria's head drops suddenly, tears now streaming down his cheeks out of guilt and anger. "Why? Why did they have to die?"

"Everyone dies sooner or later. The ones that I found were already there." Again, not the response the twin blade wanted. Furious at his callousness, his foot stamps on the ground and he looks back into the man's eyes.

"That's no excuse for hiding behind them!!" He says, without trailing off and stuttering, shockingly enough.

"Maybe not. But I didn't want to die." Demorian says plainly. It takes a few seconds for this to sink in, Lighteria's face turning from a scowl to a look of disgust. You can almost see his stomach churn.

"You... coward" Lighteria chokes out, shuddering.

"If that's what you want to think." Demorian says, letting his wrists go finally and turning away.

The twin blade staggers sideways like he's lost his balance, hitting the wall and sinking to the floor guided by the smooth stone. He slumps in a sitting position and lets his head hang, feeling utterly sick to his stomach both from the lack of closure to also knowing he, again, got emotional in front of everyone. With nothing to say and in no mood for puzzle solving, he curls against the wall with a barely audible groan.
Lv. 37 Twin Blade (180 SP)
Weapon: Rashou (Thunder Coil- 30, Suvi Lei- 20, Mumyn Lei- 30) (Life Drain)
Armor: Holy Tree Mail (Juk Kruz- 20) - Scarab Earring (La Repth- 20, Rip Maen- 40) - Time Sandals (Ap Do- 15) - Forest Gloves (Juk Kruz- 20)
GP: 14384

Wish list (In order of priority): Angel halo accessory, chibi angel wings, Bone Armor, Professional

Lighteria: "Obsessively updating my profile since Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 pm"

User avatar
Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Re: Captured! Jailbreak of the Century

Post by Nighthand » Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:59 pm

The final move was made in the puzzle-box, and all of its lights faded. For a moment it seemed as though nothing would happen, and then it opened.

Then in the space of a blink, the box was closed, the puzzle-light back on, and everyone was back to normal. “Normal” being a funny word, in this case. Everyone had their equipment back, and was standing in the same spot they had left, but it was as though they had blacked out for a minute or two; any train of thought they had was gone. It was disorienting to say the least; to black out and wake up in the same exact position you left. More so to have all of their stuff back. Only Demorian seemed unaffected. Whether it was because he had been through it before and knew, or because the black-out didn’t apply to him as a former warden, was impossible to say.

Demorian himself proved to be an interesting character out of prison uniform as much as in. His outfit was, if described in one word, belts. Lots of carefully layered belts, a pair of black boots, and a dark gray sleeveless trench coat with twin blue stripes. That, and he already held his weapon ready; a one-handed sword looking as though it was half-metal and half-ice. It seemed to trail a slight mist when it moved as he shifted, looking around, and radiated cold.

“Alright! Looks like we’ve only got one more thing standing between us and the exit,” Demorian said, gazing up the stairs. “Aside from the huge staircase that is.”

”And what might that be?”

“A fight of course. The box was opened, that triggers an alert in the command center. Since the warden we killed didn’t report back, they’ll send a squad to investigate.”

Without another word, Demorian started taking the stairs two at a time, running to reach the top as fast as possible. Nighthand looked after him, and then grabbed one of his swords from his newly-accessible inventory. He quickly slashed the bindings on his wings and, more carefully, slashed those on Kelvin’s. The other man fluttered his wings slightly, though it obviously pained him. At least he looked slightly better. He wore a kimono in various shades of blue, swirling and shimmering like a hazy day. He leaned on his staff, which was now seven feet long, despite having only been a third of that when the group had last seen him. It was a smooth pole of wood with an egg-sized red jewel on top.

Still, though, his eyes focused on a point far into the distance, beyond anything the mortal eye could see. At least he stood straighter, looking more noble than he had before.

”Come, Kelvin. We’re almost out.” Nighthand said to him. Not wanting to walk the man up this excessive staircase, he picked up the relatively light wavemaster and spread his wings. They ached from being bound so long, and he still disliked them, but they served their purpose. Up the center of the shaft he flew.

In his arms, feeling the wind of flight through his hair, the admin began to relax.
At the top of the stairs, perhaps fifty circles of the staircase up, there was a ceiling. Flying over to the stairs, Nighthand landed and walked up the last two dozen or so steps to the floor, where he put Kelvin down. The admin stood taller now, but either couldn’t or chose not to say a word. He did seem more alert, though.

Demorian was already at the top, unfazed by his long run. Soon, the others began to arrive, on wings and on foot. All that remained in the room to do was exit, though a large door in the far wall. A door that, just as the last of them arrived, swung open.

The door’s opening was obscured by a crashing alarm, a flashing red light, and six… figured, descending from the otherwise smooth ceiling. The figured were vaguely human, as though someone had their legs chopped off and were glued at the waist to the ceiling, upside down. They writhed and twitched and had no faces, only mouths full of fangs. Their arms were long and ended in talons. There was only one difference between each of the six; a color, a tint of their skin, betraying an elemental affiliation. They screamed, and the klaxon ceased, the light stopped flashing, and the group was not alone.

While the door had opened and closed, it had let in ten figures. The leader of the ten was tall, heavily armored, and wore a hood to cover his face. He held a massive axe in one hand, propped lightly against the ground. He was standing tall behind three slightly less armored men, each wielding a lance with slightly glowing blades.

Arrayed in front of them were six men dressed like rogues, more leather and speed than armor. They twirled daggers in each hand that looked like kris blades, though it was hard to tell with the speed they moved.

“Ah, so they sent the Headsman after us.” Demorian didn’t sound pleased. “We’ll need to watch out. I recognize these weapons.” He faced the rest of the group.

“The Headsman’s axe, if it even so much as touches you above the shoulders, will kill you instantly. Those glowing spears, when the blades cut you even a little, deliver a shock to the nervous system that scrambles… something. It makes your next attack miss, at the least, be it physical or magical. Those daggers are worst, though. Every time they deal damage, they lower one of your stats.” He paused, looking up. “Oh, and those guys cast spells!” as he was finishing, each of the hanging figures pointed in unison at his spot, and he dove out of the way. He rolled and came up a dozen feet away, just as the place he had been standing erupted in six level 2 spells, all rom or don.

The Headsman gestured, and the rogues dashed forward. The fight was on.

---------------------ooc:
Image
Demorian
One quick note: for now, script your fighting with me, cuz these guys are pretty angry.

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