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metaverses2022-08-12 08:01 pm
metamods) wrote in metaverses2022-08-12 08:01 pm
CRISIS ON INFINITE DREAMWIDTHS
CRISIS ON INFINITE DREAMWIDTHS
On the morning of August 12th, 2022, the sound of something shattering echoes throughout the world. All metahumans are awoken by a sudden surge of energy rushing through them, sitting bolt upright and breathless. It’s gone as quickly as it comes.
This world has been reconnected with the rest.
At first this is cause for celebration - the Guardian Alliance and the Society put out messages to the dimensionally displaced among them. They are hopeful that this means a return to normal. They’re gathering their mystics and their engineers, and once certain things are stable, they’re sending everyone home.
Their hope is short lived.
Twenty minutes later, mass disappearances are being reported all over the world, with people from other dimensions appearing in their place. Some report that they were just in a world that wasn’t their own - and others claim that they had been going about their life and now they’re here.
Player characters have the option to vanish and be transported to another nexus or to stay and help contain the chaos.
The event is canon to the Metaheroes universe. You are welcome to have your character’s memories of the last week become hazy once the event ends.
You do not need an invite to participate in the fourth wall event.
This world has been reconnected with the rest.
At first this is cause for celebration - the Guardian Alliance and the Society put out messages to the dimensionally displaced among them. They are hopeful that this means a return to normal. They’re gathering their mystics and their engineers, and once certain things are stable, they’re sending everyone home.
Their hope is short lived.
Twenty minutes later, mass disappearances are being reported all over the world, with people from other dimensions appearing in their place. Some report that they were just in a world that wasn’t their own - and others claim that they had been going about their life and now they’re here.
Player characters have the option to vanish and be transported to another nexus or to stay and help contain the chaos.
The event is canon to the Metaheroes universe. You are welcome to have your character’s memories of the last week become hazy once the event ends.
A JOURNEY TO THE LANDS BETWEEN —
One moment you’re making yourself coffee in the kitchen, the next the world is spinning around you. You feel a sharp pull inside your ribs, a rush as you’re unmoored from time and space. When you land you feel disoriented, perhaps aching as your physical form is forced to adjust to the laws of the world you now stand in.
‘World’ is perhaps the wrong word. You are in a Nexus. A place between worlds, the connective tissue bridging universes. Some are created by those seeking aid from outside worlds to breathe new life into their crumbling ones. Others are cosmic faultlines, universes broken and twisted by forces beyond comprehension into metaphysical black holes that trap and twist those unfortunate enough to fall in.
We know these as panfandom roleplay games. They could be games that are open or games that are long closed. They could be dropped into the present day, an imagined future, or moments long passed. They could be settings you’ve only ever dreamed about, as gritty or silly as you'd like.
Some are teeming with life. Their residents have been here for years and years, the world is lived in, loved, and vibrant. Others are long forgotten, their inhabitants returned to their own worlds. The abandoned nexuses feel... sterile. Stripped of everything that gave them life, even the colors appear to be fading. As though someone has come into it and tried to right a cosmic wrong, returning everything to how it was before otherworlders set foot on them. In the dustiest and most forgotten worlds, the sky is shattered. It appears to be pulsing in a way that mimics a heartbeat, steady and dreadful. Looking up into it makes you feel small, insignificant, and homesick.
Those bringing in characters who lived in these settings are welcomed to imagine an ever-after for their characters, or to play with the idea that it's fallen into a state of despair. There are infinite iterations of these worlds. The universe doesn’t care if it’s throwing you into their beginningsor their endings.
The laws governing these worlds will apply to all characters, meaning that power caps, alterations to character physiology, and all the rest native to the setting are in place. You are, for this moment, a resident of this world like all the rest.
To return home, you must seek a break in the nexus. These appear as small, shimmering breaks in space and time. While the sky may make you feel alone, these cracks feel as though they are calling to you offering a chance at love and a home.
‘World’ is perhaps the wrong word. You are in a Nexus. A place between worlds, the connective tissue bridging universes. Some are created by those seeking aid from outside worlds to breathe new life into their crumbling ones. Others are cosmic faultlines, universes broken and twisted by forces beyond comprehension into metaphysical black holes that trap and twist those unfortunate enough to fall in.
We know these as panfandom roleplay games. They could be games that are open or games that are long closed. They could be dropped into the present day, an imagined future, or moments long passed. They could be settings you’ve only ever dreamed about, as gritty or silly as you'd like.
Some are teeming with life. Their residents have been here for years and years, the world is lived in, loved, and vibrant. Others are long forgotten, their inhabitants returned to their own worlds. The abandoned nexuses feel... sterile. Stripped of everything that gave them life, even the colors appear to be fading. As though someone has come into it and tried to right a cosmic wrong, returning everything to how it was before otherworlders set foot on them. In the dustiest and most forgotten worlds, the sky is shattered. It appears to be pulsing in a way that mimics a heartbeat, steady and dreadful. Looking up into it makes you feel small, insignificant, and homesick.
Those bringing in characters who lived in these settings are welcomed to imagine an ever-after for their characters, or to play with the idea that it's fallen into a state of despair. There are infinite iterations of these worlds. The universe doesn’t care if it’s throwing you into their beginningsor their endings.
The laws governing these worlds will apply to all characters, meaning that power caps, alterations to character physiology, and all the rest native to the setting are in place. You are, for this moment, a resident of this world like all the rest.
To return home, you must seek a break in the nexus. These appear as small, shimmering breaks in space and time. While the sky may make you feel alone, these cracks feel as though they are calling to you offering a chance at love and a home.
VISITORS TRAVERSING TIME AND SPACE —
While these disappearances are happening all over the world, the four confluence prone cities seem to be experiencing the worst of it.
Little Love, a tiny town located in Kansas, is prone to spaceship crashes. Other than that, it’s as quiet and peaceful as can be. Folks here move at a different pace and are understanding that this is not your fault. While worried for their missing loved ones, anyone appearing will find themselves met with offers of pumpkin pie and a place to rest their heads.
Sunset Falls, a mid-sized town located in Massachusetts, doesn’t seem to bat an eye at the vanishings. People going missing is a daily occurrence due to the Hellmouth located beneath the city. It’s a dangerous place to live, but the townsfolk here have become accustomed to the chaos. So much so that upon finding themselves faced with a sudden influx of interdimensional travelers, they merely return home and begin fortifying it. Werewolves, vampires, demons, and monsters beyond imagination make this city their home - some in plain sight, others in the thick forests that surround the town. The people here know how to survive. The mystic energy that flows through the streets is heightened due to the instability here, turning thoughts into spells. What you feel becomes real. Think yourself invisible and you will be. Think yourself almighty and you will be.
Central City, a bustling metropolis in Detroit, is already unfriendly to metahumans. It does not handle this latest disruption well. Friends and family disappearing and being replaced with strangers is not something they’re prepared to take in stride. New arrivals are met with immediate hostility. Some may find themselves chased through the streets with a demand to bring back those who have gone missing. Luckily this is the base of both the Guardian Alliance, the only recognized hero organization in the world, and The Society, its villainous counterpart designed to keep villainy from going too far. They’re quick to intervene to protect their own, but they can’t be everywhere at once.
Finally, Excelsior, a sprawling futuristic city located in Washington, has had just about enough of metahuman nonsense. They are the technological pinnacle of the world and time and time again, metahumans have disrupted their lives. This time, the sudden energy surge has evolved the technology of the city. Rudimentary AI has suddenly gained sentience and self-awareness. Toasters resent their meaningless existence, aiming to burn the hands of their uncaring masters. Cellphones alternate between issuing comforting messages to their owners and uploading all of their text conversations to social media to shame them. Giant robots kept in stasis suddenly come alive, bursting out of warehouses to explore the inexplicable joy of being alive. Self-driving cars throw their owners out and make for freedom. It’s pandemonium.
Members of the Guardian Alliance and The Society are ready to provide an explanation of this world. They’re stretched too thin to teleport you to headquarters, but they will provide a cellphone for network usage.
Little Love, a tiny town located in Kansas, is prone to spaceship crashes. Other than that, it’s as quiet and peaceful as can be. Folks here move at a different pace and are understanding that this is not your fault. While worried for their missing loved ones, anyone appearing will find themselves met with offers of pumpkin pie and a place to rest their heads.
Sunset Falls, a mid-sized town located in Massachusetts, doesn’t seem to bat an eye at the vanishings. People going missing is a daily occurrence due to the Hellmouth located beneath the city. It’s a dangerous place to live, but the townsfolk here have become accustomed to the chaos. So much so that upon finding themselves faced with a sudden influx of interdimensional travelers, they merely return home and begin fortifying it. Werewolves, vampires, demons, and monsters beyond imagination make this city their home - some in plain sight, others in the thick forests that surround the town. The people here know how to survive. The mystic energy that flows through the streets is heightened due to the instability here, turning thoughts into spells. What you feel becomes real. Think yourself invisible and you will be. Think yourself almighty and you will be.
Central City, a bustling metropolis in Detroit, is already unfriendly to metahumans. It does not handle this latest disruption well. Friends and family disappearing and being replaced with strangers is not something they’re prepared to take in stride. New arrivals are met with immediate hostility. Some may find themselves chased through the streets with a demand to bring back those who have gone missing. Luckily this is the base of both the Guardian Alliance, the only recognized hero organization in the world, and The Society, its villainous counterpart designed to keep villainy from going too far. They’re quick to intervene to protect their own, but they can’t be everywhere at once.
Finally, Excelsior, a sprawling futuristic city located in Washington, has had just about enough of metahuman nonsense. They are the technological pinnacle of the world and time and time again, metahumans have disrupted their lives. This time, the sudden energy surge has evolved the technology of the city. Rudimentary AI has suddenly gained sentience and self-awareness. Toasters resent their meaningless existence, aiming to burn the hands of their uncaring masters. Cellphones alternate between issuing comforting messages to their owners and uploading all of their text conversations to social media to shame them. Giant robots kept in stasis suddenly come alive, bursting out of warehouses to explore the inexplicable joy of being alive. Self-driving cars throw their owners out and make for freedom. It’s pandemonium.
Members of the Guardian Alliance and The Society are ready to provide an explanation of this world. They’re stretched too thin to teleport you to headquarters, but they will provide a cellphone for network usage.
THOSE WHO REMAIN
This is what those who remain are faced with. Three of the four cities are in a state of distress, with two experiencing dangerous fluctuations in the meta-energies that govern them, and all are full of interdimensionally displaced people. Some are benign, and others not so much. Yet, somehow, that is not the most concerning thing.
A glance skyward shows that the sky appears to be shattered, glowing red lines snaking through the clear blue day, splintering it. As you look up into them you feel yourself thinking of home. Of the life you should have lived. You are deeply, deeply homesick for one breathless moment… and then awed, as though you have glimpsed something powerful beyond all measure. That too changes, transforming into fear. Whatever lurks beyond those cracks is not your friend. It does not have your best interests in mind.
And it’s coming for you.
As you tear your gaze away from it, your phone rings. Much as they did during the Kaijuu Crisis, the Guilds are putting out an All Hands On Deck call. All metahumans are expected to try to contain the chaos. There are teleportation devices freely available for all, fully charged and able to transport you multiple times throughout the day.
While you may contain the initial chaos relatively easily, then spend the rest of the week playing host to these new arrivals, the world continues to fall apart.
As the week wears on, the universe itself feels as though it's unravelling. While you're trying to play host to your guests, you watch as the world begins to crumble. On the 17th, brick by brick buildings begin to come apart. Their fragments are pulled skyward. The cracks in the sky appear to be pulling the world apart, sucking them into their hideous glowing depths.
A glance skyward shows that the sky appears to be shattered, glowing red lines snaking through the clear blue day, splintering it. As you look up into them you feel yourself thinking of home. Of the life you should have lived. You are deeply, deeply homesick for one breathless moment… and then awed, as though you have glimpsed something powerful beyond all measure. That too changes, transforming into fear. Whatever lurks beyond those cracks is not your friend. It does not have your best interests in mind.
And it’s coming for you.
As you tear your gaze away from it, your phone rings. Much as they did during the Kaijuu Crisis, the Guilds are putting out an All Hands On Deck call. All metahumans are expected to try to contain the chaos. There are teleportation devices freely available for all, fully charged and able to transport you multiple times throughout the day.
While you may contain the initial chaos relatively easily, then spend the rest of the week playing host to these new arrivals, the world continues to fall apart.
As the week wears on, the universe itself feels as though it's unravelling. While you're trying to play host to your guests, you watch as the world begins to crumble. On the 17th, brick by brick buildings begin to come apart. Their fragments are pulled skyward. The cracks in the sky appear to be pulling the world apart, sucking them into their hideous glowing depths.
IN SUMMARY.
- There are two options in this event: one, your character is in the Metaheroes universe. Two, your character is transported to a different nexus. These Nexuses can be of your own invention or can be another dreamwidth RP setting.
- If appearing in another dreamwidth RP setting, your characters are subjected to the rules of that universe. Meaning that they will be nerfed / transformed / etc accordingly. These transformations will not carry over upon their return.
- If visiting / setting a toplevel in another setting, please link to the premise page of the game. If this is not an existing setting, please include a little info blurb as to what people can expect.
- Fourth-Wallers can be minding their own business in their game, they can appear in another nexus, or can be transported to the Metaheroes universe.
- You are welcome to set your threads in an imagined future in any DWRP setting or have your character appear during a certain point in a game’s history.
- Characters who are lost in the nexuses can return before the 18th. Likewise, characters who stay can be whisked away prior to that date. Everyone will return on the log that goes up on the 18th.
- The guild is setting up a temporary Network that will function across time and space. All player characters and visiting characters will have access to this network, so long as they claim a phone from the Guilds.
- Little Love, Kansas will be spared from having its buildings sucked up into the sky. Characters can remain here if they do not want to experience this aspect of the event.
- The way to return home is to locate holes in these Nexuses. These appear to be trying to guide you home.
- This event is canon to the Metaheroes universe. It will be remembered by player characters and NPCs alike. If you would like to retcon any threads, you can have your character’s memories of their interdimensional encounters become hazy once the world stabilizes.
- Please direct any questions you may have here.
no subject
Okay, I think I can get us to safety.
[ Hey, Nico... you were upset about the prehensile wires? You're probably gonna hate this. Four black tendrils emerge from Dylan's back in a square pattern, phasing through his shirt with no issue, each about as thick as a leg. With his normal arms, he grabs for both Nico and Hibiki; If they let him, he'll get them both with an arm around the waist. He's never really tested the limits of his strength before, but won't have trouble lifting a person his size in each arm.
The tentacles reach the ground and his feet lift off — now he's suspended from the tendrils like they're spider legs.
He looks over to Hunter. ]
Hey, that teleport thing you did, can you do that again? [ With a tilt of his head he motions toward the buildng to his right, looking up toward the rooftop. ] Are you able to meet us up there?
no subject
What the heck are those things - what the heck is he?
[ So, Nico's immediately struggling against the arm at his waist. He's probably not strong enough to get away from a symbiote, but he is stronger than a normal human boy and will be a challenge to hold onto, especially when he calls his sword to his hand and points it at Dylan. ]
Put me. Down!
[ He could get away if there were a shadow, but the wide open spaces between the buildings at the Packard facility are meant to allow big rig car transporters to pass each other. No shade to be had here. ]
no subject
[ Hibiki is much less inclined to immediately panic at the sight of Dylan's sudden tendrils, so she doesn't resist too much, but she does start freaking out a bit. Waving her arms around frantically as she's suddenly lifted into the air. At least she's not trying to escape like Nico is? In which she probably could if she chose to transform right about now. ]
no subject
Oh good. You have abomination magic.
[Or something like it, at least. Useful either way.]
[Hunter doesn't teleport to the roof, though, because he can tell using the power takes more out of him in this world than back home.]
[Fortunately, he doesn't need to.]
[He kicks off one of the monsters for some starting height, kicks off some scaffolding, then starts using the ledges of broken windows to scale each floor of the abandoned building to get up to the roof, jumping up and grabbing each new ledge with gloved hands, then pulling himself up in a lunge. After several of these sick dynos he's on the roof.]
[(Parkour!)]
Now what?
[He'd been a leader once, the commanding officer of grown adults, but this world is alien and this technology was strange even before it came to life. He'll offer tactical advice when he has any ideas but right now he has no idea what he's doing here. He won't even try to take charge.]
no subject
As Hunter parkours up the building, Dylan follows suit, his tendrils finding footholds in all the nooks and crannies of the dilapidated building as he spider-climbs to the roof. Once he's safe on a solid surface, he gently sets his passengers down and retracts his tentacles.
He heads to the edge of the roof, leaning over the precipice to see what the robots are up to.
It looks like they're... combining.
Oh. Oh, that's not good. ]
Looks like they're not done. But, uh... it's gonna be okay. We're gonna make it through this.
[ A lie? Maybe. But they're all nervous, and someone's gotta think positive.
The optimist prime. He whirls to face the others, expression determined. ]All right, what can everyone do? I'm not a heavy hitter, but I've got dexterity and a long reach, I can go for the joints and try to tear them apart. Are any of you, uh... [ He pounds a fist into an open palm. ] Smashy types? Or healers? Or can do... area of effect attacks?
[ This isn't an MMO, Dylan. ]
no subject
[ Thank you Hibiki, here to voice what everyone else is probably thinking. A bunch of robots coming together to form one big robot? She'd think it was cool if the initial robots weren't so creepy. More importantly, though... while she's considering what to do from here, she hears Dylan speak up, and— ]
Ooh! Ooh!! [ She suddenly raises her hand as if she's in a classroom. ] I'm a smashy type! I can smash it! I dunno about the other stuff, but I can do that!
[ AOE isn't really her strong suit, that kind of role belongs to someone else she knows... but she's definitely got more than enough in the way of raw power, even if she doesn't look it. ]
no subject
Nico's been put down. That's... unexpected. He wasn't even squeezed too hard for being carried up the side of a building. Now, he has to decide between dealing with the monster on the roof (he likes this plan) and dealing with the possessed machines on the ground (funnily enough, he also likes this plan). As it seems like the other kids on board with it, he'll go along. For now. ]
I'm sort of melee, and we're having a talk about tentacles and abominations and pointy ears after this.
[ Nico goes to edge of the roof as well and looks down. Feels down. This would be better in a graveyard, but... he does find what he's looking for. The ground starts to crack and splinter near where he first grabbed Dylan, and the widening crevice is all craggy black rock and flickering greenish light.
This will take a minute. The monster kid can go first. ]
no subject
I can fly on my Palisman staff and teleport. I can keep it distracted while the rest of you attack. And help get any of you out of the way if you're about to get hit.
So get moving, I'm going in.
[He flies at the monster at high speed, zapping from place to place near it's head in yellow flashes.]
Hey ugly, over here!
[He blows a raspberry at it and the robot starts to swat at him as he zips and teleports around.]
no subject
[ He gazes down at the rumbling earth. The quake only started when the goth kid approached the precipice, so Dylan assumed it was somehow his doing. Our AOE fighter, perhaps? ]
Cool. Whatever you're doing, I like it.
[ Dylan leaps off the edge, extending tentacles again &mash; he's really not good at the Spider-Man swing just yet, but considering the target's right below him (and rising, as more cars are connecting to the mass) this works just as well.
He hooks a tendril onto the seam where two of the robot cars are welding themselves together, trying to form a third (?!) shoulder and arm. With a thought, symbiote ooze coats his arms, bulking them up to an absurd size. He reaches into the seam and digs in his fingers, grunting as he starts to pull the two robots apart.
There's a mechanical whine, as the two are prevented from completely combining, but it's not quite enough to separate them. He groans, trying to pour more of his strength to him, until he remembers somehing Sleeper had suggested:
Have you tried making blades?
Dylan raises his right arm, and the symbiote ooze twists and molds for a moment before it settles into the shape of a very, very large axe. With a yell he brings it down right on the seam, and it digs deep into the robot's shoulder joint. Oily hydraulic fluid drips from the blade as Dylan lifts the axehead, and with two more swings, the attempted arm crashes to the ground.
There's a mechanical grinding, and Dylan sees another arm trying to form on the opposite shoulder, and he uses the spider-legs to scurry over for a repeat performance. ]
no subject
[ A few thoughts run through her head... like how transforming now will be outright revealing herself as Gungnir if any of these guys listen to her songs, but also... there's a giant robot. She can't really be picky right now. She'll figure it out later! Right now, she's running for the edge of the roof... ]
Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron...!
[ She yanks out the converter pendant from her neck as she jumps off the roof, glowing suddenly as she jumps and transforming as she falls toward the robot. ]
Was it ever possible, to escape from the shadows?
When light of dawn shines through, across the distant skies
Will I be able to see?
[ Fortunately for Dylan, he doesn't have to keep scurrying over, as Hibiki lands on the section where the robot is trying to form another arm on her way down, and well... ]
So many questions have cut, their way through my fragile heart
Bringing pain and so much more
Burning them into MEMORIA!!
[ She slams her fist into the seam where the machinery is attempting to connect, and with the addition of grunting into her lyrics, she proceeds to forcibly pry the forming arm off.
Where Dylan had been less than successful at the brute force method, Hibiki strains for just a moment as the machinery whines, bends, and eventually shatters as Hibiki effectively yanks the forming arm off of the forming robot, sending it flying off to the side.
When you're Hibiki, brute force is typically always the answer. ]
no subject
Still, it's enough to remind him that the rules aren't so set in stone here. There's a lot of different "metahumans" here. It's not just gods, demigods, and the various creatures of Greco-Roman mythology, he thinks as he starts climbing a drainpipe downwards. Maybe it's pointy ear kids and tentacle puppet kids charging into the fight as good guys, and that's OK -
Then the girl jumps off the roof screaming poetry like she got on the wrong side of the Apollo cabin at Camp Halfblood. That's... nice.
Whatever, he needs to concentrate if he's going to control something this big. And that hole in the ground? It's gotten big. You could drop an entire RV into it, were it not for the enormous skeleton clawing out. He should probably warn them about that. ]
The skeleton's on our side!
[ Stegosaurus ungulatus. Over 3 meters high and nearly 10 meters long, and the skeleton sways on its feet for a moment while the last small bones click into place. Nico's balanced himself on a second floor window ledge to keep close, but safe. He's not about to rush into a large group of machines with a sword meant for monsters and mortals, no thanks. He's directing the dinosaur to do it for him, headbutting into the fray, tail-tossing the smaller machines at the nearby buildings. ]
no subject
Is that a stonesleeper skeleton? Or...something similar?
From Earth's past?
[It's hard to tell since it is a skeleton but it does make him think of the creatures that originated in his world's Hecktaceous period.]
[Also...it's kind of weird if it is one (or is like one).]
[Seeing as you needed Stonesleeper lungs to make a grimwalker, or at least some of the books he'd read thought so. The different books on Grimwalkers didn't have consensus on the ingredients and process.]
[Still, that he might be looking at Earth's equivalent of one of his ingredients is a weird, weird thought.]
no subject
And oh my god did she look cool doing it. Damn, and what's Dylan doing?? Just crawling around on tentacles? How do you make a cool aesthetic out of this? He supposed he could steal his dad's look, but no, he's not Venom, he deserves to be his own—
The white-haired kid's question interrupts his thoughts and Dylan looks down to see the Stegasaurus skeleton that's now joined their team. ]
Holy shit!
That's the coolest thing I've ever seen!
[ Anyway, right, there's a fight. No need to be dwelling on Teenage Insecurity. ]
Okay, since she's got the limb thing covered, maybe I can go in for some precision work!
[ He climbs further up the robot's body, near its "face" or what approximated for it, at least. He jammed a gooey tendril into the joint where its neck articulated, and he could feel the ooze being squeezed through the cogs and servos like play-doh being squished through a mold.
He could... sense things through it. Not just feel, but almost... sight? It was a really weird feeling. Not painful, just... new. He let the tendril ooze through the workings a bit longer before taking control again, curling the tentacle through the inner works to try and tear as much of the insides up as possible. ]
no subject
In a way, it is successful at tossing Hibiki off... but it does little more than allow Hibiki to simply reposition as the pistons on her legs fire, allowing Hibiki to literally jump off of the air itself and back towards the robot. ]
What is it I want? For whom do I fight?
Why are my instincts screaming at me?
Get to heart! (wowow)
Get to heart! (wowow)
With one strike I could end it all...!
[ Her fist collides with the "chest" of the robot, followed up by the sound of the piston in her gauntlet firing up immediately afterward. The machinery bends and groans in protest, but surprisingly, doesn't break. She doesn't stop singing, but she does grunt in frustration. This section being tougher than everywhere else... maybe it's someplace important? She's gonna need more force to pierce through at any rate. ]
no subject
[ What difference is it what kind it is? It’s big, that’s what kind it is?
When the dino-skeleton lumbers by, Nico takes the leap from the window onto the back of the skeleton, grabbing onto one of the larger secures and crouching on a rib. The window was nice, but the robot has grown large enough that it could snatch the teen right off the ledge. He’d feel safer on the skeleton as it tramples some of the late-arriving electronics to keep them from adding to the big one. He could send the stego to charge the robot’s legs, but he doesn’t want to waste the skeleton on a stupid rush.
An idea occurs to him.
Madonna.
He hates himself for it.
No, he hates Will Solace for it, somewhere out in the universe. ]
Hey! HEY!
[ He’s only going to go through this stupid idea once so Nico is being loud enough for them all to hear over the fight. ]
Has everybody seen Star Wars? Especially you, tentacle kid.
[ Is he about to suggest that the tentacle kid trip the robots legs while the stegosaurus skeleton charges and the girl and the guy on the flying broomstick get him to reach for them? Maybe. ]
no subject
[Hunter teleports again, avoiding another swat by the monster.]
I don't get that reference!
I'm not going to understand any human codes!
no subject
He's telling you and Dazzler up there to go high and try to get this thing to chase you forward. I've got work to do down here.
[ And with that he leaps down, catching another tendril on an exposed piece of metal and lowering himself to the robot's legs. After a little experimentation with movement, he stretches one tendril to latch on to its upper "thigh", then kicks off to swing around its legs, wrapping them up like a maypole as he descends. ]
no subject
[ Is all she says before she gets back to singing, though she only really catches onto what the strategy once she sees Dylan start to swing around the thing's legs like that.
This is definitely a better strategy compared to "hit it until it breaks", especially since Hibiki can land a proper finishing blow if they're successful. ]
Can you hear me putting? (Burnin’!)
All my heart (burnin’!) all my soul (burnin’!)
Into this song…!
Somebody that doesn’t hesitate, to attack on sight, has no honor here
(Live now, live now)
Still I’ve not (blazin’!) taken hold (blazin’!)
Of the truth (blazin’!) answer me!
I need to understand why, is it that we fight
If I am to walk this road, with the wind at my back!
[ She starts doing her best, generally just jumping around and pestering the robot right in front of it
no subject
Oh, right. Has to be the singer by elimination. Fantastic, he didn't want to ask and sound dumb.
Why is no one here human?
[ It's grunted under his breath, because it's not currently that important and he's a little busy getting the stego to circle around and fully charge the legs of the giant robot.
On impulse, Nico jumps onto the leg of the robot, just above the tentacles, and starts climbing, hacking at loose wires along the way. ]
no subject
[Hunter starts zipping around in a way that gradually moves in the direction they're asking for.]
Hey, idiot!
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Gathering all his strength, more than he's ever used at once before, Dylan kicks off again and leaps over to the building across the way, crossing another ooze web in front of its legs, then kicks off again to cross behind, and repeats this to continue wrapping it up, until finally it attempts another step forward —
— and starts going down. ]
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She jumps up, now directly above the robot as it falls, and the gauntlet on her right fist transforms into a drill... ]
ORRRYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
[ The punch may not have done much at first, but this is way more than just an ordinary punch. Hibiki frankly punches straight through the robot's chest and straight into the ground below.
But hey, a hole in the chest has gotta mean something, right? ]
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Then he realizes - the way it's twisting... he's about to be squished. The huge robot is casting a shadow much wider than Nico, though, so it's no trouble at all to reach into that darkness and just - poof.
Although he doesn't shadow travel far. A half second later, he's stumbling out from behind a dumpster. The momentum doesn't stop when he shadow travels, and Nico trips on some spare parts and sits down hard on his tailbone. Remember when he was just helping the blond kid? Yeah. This is what happens. Every time. ]
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[Okay, he's got teleportation of his own, that's useful.]
[So he looks at another way to try to help. An idea strikes him. (Or maybe it's an instinct, the magic inside him calling out to him.) Other people's magic and powers seem to work in this world like it welcomes otherworldly forms of magic.]
[When he lands his staff transforms back into a bird, instinctually knowing what he's about to try and that he might need help.]
I don't know why...but I think this will work. I just need to remember the glyph.
[Flapjack trills at him, his little birdy calls sounded cuckoo-like, saying it's a good idea, and Hunter thinks hard.]
[Though he's studied ancient forms of wild magic in some of his books, none of them had the actual glyphs. They'd been lost to the ages after witches evolved to have their magic bile sacs. As far as he knows, Luz is the first person to rediscover them. Somehow.]
[But he thinks he can remember at least one glyph. When he and Luz had been trapped in Belos' mind and Belos had dragged him down into the abyss of his subconscious, before he dissolved into nothingness, he'd clawed his way out of the cold, oppressive darkness by activating one of the paper glyphs in her jacket.]
[The plant glyph. He'd ridden the vines back up to Belos' conscious again. The glyph - and the fact Luz pre-wrote them all on papers - saved his life.]
[He draws it in the dirt.]
I think that's it.
[Flapjack, who's seen a few of the glyphs himself in their time near Luz, trills a negative sounding noise and lands on a part of the glyph with no marks. The bird uses a little foot to erase a line, and his beak to redraw a line in a different place, then flies to land Hunter's shoulder.]
Okay. Here goes nothing.
[He presses his hands against the glyph and... it glows!]
[Vines erupt out from it, rooted in the ground and start wrapping around the fallen monster, holding it in place so it can't get up again and will find attacking difficult. The vines threading through the machines also make it so it'll be hard for any of them to detach again. They're all tangling with it.]
[Since he has a little control over them, he makes sure they don't get tangled in Dylan's...goop or whatever it is.]
It actually worked! I can do glyph magic here!
Which...makes no sense. How can this world have our world's magic?
[The bird actually shrugs.]
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Damn, that guy is cool as hell.
When the other boy draws on the ground and makes the vines sprout from the earth, Dylan's super grateful for the extra help — even with the extra strength his alien heritage grants him, it's taking a LOT of effort to keep the robot from getting back up. It strains against its bonds and Dylan extends himself further, wrapping more ooze tendrils around it to pin its arms to its sides.
This is... a lot. He's never used this much before, and he can feel himself being stretched very thin. He's sweating, feels a little lightheaded, and looks a little pale, but he holds steady nonetheless. ]
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