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Post by Aidan on May 7, 2023 11:59:53 GMT
Another series of explosions rocked the ship, this time from much closer to the Ascension engine. Conduits mounted on the wall began to burst, and the lights flickered as rampant power surges pulsed through the ship. The skyship was on its last legs.
Clever boy, the demon in Damien thought as it seized his voice. “I should be able to. Let’s get out of here before this place goes up completely.”
Two passengers. As soon as they cleared the ship, there was no reason to hold onto either of them - it could get rid of the bothersome friend and the loathsome witch at the same time…
Anastasia, meanwhile, did not fight back as she was hauled toward the makeshift exit. Instead, she began to laugh. Even if she had failed, even if she were to die, at least there was a good chance the Raiders would go with her.
With screams of adrenaline-fueled terror, Yuki, Grenadine, Metzli, and Kapp leapt through the hole in the viewport and dropped into the light-filled open air beyond.
As they dropped from the ship and passed through the spiritual energy radiating off of Aidan as he pushed the ship away from Tolaria, they felt a sudden rush[/b] of energy flood their metaphysical senses, powerful enough to burn away the smothering effects of the dampener field the ship was radiating. Yuki had felt something similar before, when Aidan had used his power to bolster her own, but this time it felt exponentially different.
As they dropped from the ship - which was much further above the volcano than it ought to have been - the power of Tolaria itself flowed through their veins, carried by the Guardian’s spiritual aura.
Only Damien, Resonance, and Elyas were left on the ship.
…But not for long. Elyas and Resonance moved Demandred to the edge of the hole and the porcupine took a deep breath. Demon possession… that was the last thing they needed, and it had to happen to Damien. Well, that was a Future Elyas problem. For now, he glanced to Resonance and nodded to her - she was the larger of the two, and would need to hold onto Demandred as they dropped.
An air drop sans parachute was not an experience he had ever wanted to pursue, but here they were. Elyas stepped through the hole and dropped into the open air below, momentarily blinded by both the light and the passage through the energy field below.
As his friends began to leap from the ship, Aidan pressed forward, throwing all of his might behind the ship, the piece of metal he was pressing against buckling. A little further, a little faster - he could feel the ship’s death rapidly approaching, and it needed to be as far from him and his friends as possible.
Tolaria whispered in his ear, and the rhythm of the island moved through him. They could make it through this. Demandred would not[/] succeed.
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Post by Resonance on May 7, 2023 15:09:25 GMT
Res attached Anna's staff to her back with her spear. It was big and awkward compared to the retracting spear, but that didn't matter as much right now. "Okay Damien, let's go." Since Damien was carrying Anna more or less over a shoulder, she got behind him and hooked her arms under his wings/shoulders, crossed her hands over one another, and took a firm grip of his jacket in each hand. That should be enough of a grip while they were in free fall... and if Damien was about to be possessed, that'd stop him from just rolling and shaking her off.
Mei clung to Kapp and Mike, and tried very hard to not just completely break down and freak out at the fact they were freefalling towards a volcano. It wasn't working very well. Kapp felt her grip get painfully tight. Shadows swirled haphazardly around her as her building panic caused her magic to bleed out.
That was, until the power surge hit them and Mei suddenly had an idea. She pulled her shadows around her, and they rapidily solidified into something truly real. Her normal shadow form was still somewhat incorporeal, but she could focus on things like her claws or tail to give them substance, like her sister's blades. With this influx of power, her whole form was SOLID. And that meant her manta like wings were, too. "Kapp, Mike hold on!"
When Kapp (and possibly Mike, though most likely just Kapp holding on for both of them) had a good grip, she wrapped her tail around them. Then she slowly opened her manta wings and tried to steer them further away from the volcano. There was no way she could take all their weight, but she didn't have to - she just had to hold out long enough for other fliers to get to them (she hoped).
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Post by Uberwulf X on May 8, 2023 22:45:02 GMT
Metzli was falling into open air. Guess this scratched that itch for wanting to sky dive, or having Damien fly her high then drop her, trusting that he would come back and scoop her out of the air (and never tell their parents they did such a thing). She was perfectly fine with Gren's need to grip as she worked, as she was more focused on the fog off the dampener wearing off. She squinted through the wind, seeing Aidan be so godsdamned impressive that if Resonance and Xu hadn't staked their claims, she'd be trying to win him over. However, she was able to tear her eyes from the amazing display, and start looking for ledges high in the volcano that she could shadowstep to, if Gren wasn't able to get them out.
I-- I didn't say that.
Damien grit his teeth, fangs grinding as Resonance took hold of him to be sure he actually made it out. Good thing she did, because Damien was poised to freeze and try to force the demon out; he was barely willing to let the thing come with him, trying to use its power to make sure his friends made it out safely. However, it was another thing entirely to take the reins.
"This is where you get the hell off!"
Anger and indignation combined with Damien's refusal to be someone's tool again. With the spiritual barrier and the Guardian's manipulation of the Chaos Emerald, Damien snapped open his wings with a defiant bellow not only to catch the air for his passengers, but to expel the demon who had reached for the sun.
((Nat 20 resistance roll))
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Post by Kyt on May 12, 2023 20:29:40 GMT
Yuki's adrenaline filled shriek morphed into high laughter as they fell. Wind whipping past them, nothing but landscape below them, and spiritual power bombarding them with energy.
Eyes bright and defiant to their situation, she bit out her incantation, feeling her connection snap into place.
"Everyone group up!" She didn't go flying as often as Aloe, but she was no stranger to manipulating herself in the air. Short bursts of wind, noticeable even against the force of gravity pushing against them, began pressing the group away from the volcano.
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Post by Kokinyu on May 13, 2023 20:00:17 GMT
Free falling into a gods damned Volcano. Things looked terrifying and bleak, and their options were down to none. Certainly Aidan was inspiring to look at, and that aura he projected made it hard not to feel something resembling hope but...
That aura... He could feel the shift in magic. Mei's own power was emerging- the switch was flipped. "Shit- shit shit- lift, thermodynamics, uh- uh- uh- Mei, keep doing what you're doing! " Trying to think wasn't easy. With Mei's tail wrapped around him, and one arm wrapped around Mike, the snow leopard tried to shift mid fall and spread his body out. "Spread out- Spread your arms you heavy bastard!" And with one palm slightly below Kapp spread his fingers and dumped what power he could. There was no water in the air to freeze, but the air conditions were a perfect playground to try something impossible. The air below them began to chill and condense- causing the hotter air below it to push up and against the trio, not unlike a glider.
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Grenadine fought through the trembling adrenaline as the spike drove into her shoulder and began etching the rune. The magic around them was shifting, sensations were returning, and the arm chose a hell of a time to regain the ability to feel. She winced, carved into the leather-hard clay, and saw Yuki nearby pulling her friends closer. "Elyas, if you can turn your ability off, turn it off now or hold on to someone!"
Wait for it...
Wait for it....
With a growl and a cry she braced against Metzli's back and clasped her hands together. Grenadine channeled what power she had... and much to her surprise, it surged. Whether it was Aidan or the emerald, she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. It was a simple spell, a hacky spell that did little more than shift some physical properties around. But amplified so, the effect rippled outward with greater potency and range.
It wouldn't hit Damien, Anastasia, or Resonance, but those who'd been corralled by Yuki's careful aerial manipulation were caught by the rippling magic and altered- effectively made lighter while their surface area remained the same. With the hot air of the caldera pushing upward against them, this effectively allowed those even without magic to glide.
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Post by Aidan on May 21, 2023 16:31:13 GMT
The Raiders plunged from the ship, hot air whipping at their fur, the caldera gaping open below them. Mei flexed her shadow and a pair of great manta-like wings unfolded and caught the rising thermals, slowing her descent almost immediately, her grip on Mike and Kapp tight. Kapp used his own power to manipulate the air temperature, providing Mei with a cushion of air upon which to glide.
Yuki, meanwhile, extended her control over the wind itself, recalling how Aloe would use her power over air to create recursive currents to guide her flight. Yuki applied the same idea to those around her, drawing upon the burst of power she had just received to amplify her control and finesse, loosely grabbing hold of her allies and pushing them toward the rim of the caldera.
Grenadine added her own magic to the swirl of power around the Raiders, extending the reach of Yuki’s grip, guiding and dividing currents of air around Metlzli and Reson, splitting the super-chilled air that Kapp wove into being. Her awareness spread thing, Grenadine gathered the disparate strings of power and wove them into an array that would support them all.
The wind around the descending Raiders intensified as their fall began to slow and become more controlled. They weren’t just falling anymore - they were flying. Together. Using their magic to support one another.
With prisoners in hand, the Raiders dove toward the caldera of Mount Infinity.
Damien plunged through the hole in the reinforced glass, inky darkness creeping over his vision as the demon inside sought to solidify its control over him. Its grasp tightened around his mind, digging in, looking for the crackles to settle in and seize control…
And then power surged through Damien. Spiritual power, reinforcing his will. A will that had spent enough time under the thumb of others to have solidified into an iron rejection against any attempt to control him. Damien didn’t push back against the demon - he ripped, he tore, he clawed, he bit, he threw the entirety of his metaphysical fury in the face of a creature that had only recently been released from a prison that had left it weakened and subject to manipulation.
There was a screech in the backof his mind as smoke poured from his mouth and lifted from his flared wings, the demon expelled from his body and left to degrade away in the energies between airship and volcano.
Elyas, his aura pulled deep within him, found himself near Yuki. He reached out to take her hand, if only to keep from getting separated from the group.
With his friends free of the ship, Aidan pushed himself away from the glass underside of the airship and spun in place, bracing his feet against the ship as he crouched and pulled in his power. With one great burst, he gave the ship a final push as he leapt free of it, the glass around the Ascension Engine shattering in the explosion of power.
Aidan plummeted past the Twilight Crystal, the gemstone pulled into his wake, as the Argus airship tilted as it rose, a series of explosions finally ripping free of tis hull as it rose into the air.
And then it exploded.
A deafening roar echoed across the sky as metal debris was hurled in all directions. The air seemed to ripple as a shockwave of metaphysical power erupted from the ship, pressing down on the Raiders as they descended. For a brief moment, Aidan was caught up in the fire and the smoke - only to emerge a split second later, arms flung behind him, eyes ahead, as he dropped in a curling dive after the Raiders.
Empowered by the Twilight Crystal, he caught up in moments, soaring alongside his friends as he drifted over towards Resonance. Glancing over, he flashed a grin, a surge of pride passing through their bond.
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Post by Resonance on May 24, 2023 17:50:20 GMT
Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Mei was relieved as everyone poured their magic in, and they were all okay! Literally flying with each other. She was still freaking out, but there was hope - if anyone could make it out of this, they could. "Keep going!
We're on the right track!" She angled her wings to glide towards the rest of the group so they could all stay together.
It didn't take a meta-scientist to figure out what just happened as Damien expelled the demon from him, shedding it off in streams of smoke. "Fuck yes! That's my cousin!" She hugged him hard and laughed - probably from the emotional rollercoaster of preparing herself to fight him, as well as falling to their doom over a volcano, and then the conflicting emotions of pride and triump from Aidan and the crystal. It was A LOT, okay? As Aidan joined them she grinned wildly over at him. They weren't out of the woods yet though, so she continued to hang on to Damien so Aidan was free to make any more quick saves if needed.
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Post by Uberwulf X on May 26, 2023 18:00:44 GMT
Metzli was really glad that she didn't have to try and shadowstep in these circumstances. She wasn't nearly as adept at it as her allies, so she was absolutely willing to let Yuki and Gren handle the bulk of the lifting in this regard. Still, she laughed once she caught sight of Aidan emerging from the smoke of the massive explosion.
"I think... I think we won! Hell yeah, I think we saved the planet!"
Damien was plenty surprised as Reson suddenly hugged him, as he was still recovering from the roller coaster of energy that was... well, everything going on. He still managed to hug her back as he fell into a full glide, his prisoner well in hand. When Aidan showed himself, Damien scoffed with chuckle.
"Godsdamned showoff."
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Post by Kyt on Jun 2, 2023 18:01:53 GMT
Yuki was laughing. The contrast of fighting for their life, only to now be free falling over a volcano, but somehow it was all ok? was enough to make anyone giddy. They'd done it again. Never mind they were in a situation that most people would be certain was utter doom. Aidan was fucking glowing.
Trying to make sure they were able to keep everyone together, maneuvered enough that Elyas could grab her arm easily as she saw him approach. Little wind currents continued to sporadically buffer everyone, herding them together, and occasionally blasting up from below to push back against terminal velocity.
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Post by Kokinyu on Jun 3, 2023 2:17:23 GMT
Kapp whooped and hollered, hand wavering as the pulses of chilled air extended under them again and again. It was as if a wellspring of power had just opened up to him- be it adrenaline, the crystal, or some mojo Aidan was working. The fact that they weren't going straight down- the fact that this was working... They weren't invincible.
But damn, if it didn't feel close. "We got this- We got this!"
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Grenadine looped her prosthetic under Metzli's arm to anchor herself, her other hand clutching the scribing needle to keep it pinned in place. Truly, her awarness was waning- even despite Aidan's power, despite the adrenaline, despite the dire circumstances. But she could hold on. They only needed a minute to cross the distance.
But if this wasn't the end of it... If there was another boot- another complication, another Demandred- waiting on the other side of this caldera... Gods help whomever stood between her and her much needed breather.
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Post by Aidan on Jun 10, 2023 1:52:19 GMT
Aidan flashed a grin at Damien. “Learned it from you, bro.” With a burst of spiritual energy, Aidan arced in front of the Raiders toward the lip of the volcano and swept his legs down and forward, landing in a skidding slide with the Twilight Crystal drifting after him. As he turned to meet his friends, his spines and quills blew from one side to the next as another burst of energy released the golden-white glow from his fur, his body returning to its natural color.
Mei landed, and then Damien and Resonance, Yuki and Kapp and Grenadine… One by one the Raiders landed on the caldera of Mount Infinity, a thick cloud of smoke high above them where the Argus airship had once been, a bubbling, seething pool of lava pouring into the remnants of Sanctuary below them. Among them, the defeated remnants of Demandred’s dark alliance - Mike, Anastasia, and Demandred himself.
With solid ground beneath him once more, Elyas took a few wobbly steps to rebalance himself and then approached Resonance and Anastrasia. He produced a pair of metal cuffs from his belt and knelt by where the girl had been set down, then reached out and clamped them around her wrists.
“Anastasia Darkholme,” he said, “it brings me great pleasure to say you’re under arrest.”
Anastasia Darkholme, the daughter of Hannibal Darkholme and Morrigan the Fae, looked up at the porcupine with seething hatred in her eyes. At some point during the descent, her body had changed, growing slightly smaller, her clothes more ill-fitting. With the departure of the demoness she had bound within her, she had lost the years she had gained through magic, and now looked like the young girl she had always been.
Argus was defeated. Anastasia was in custody. The Ascension Engine had been destroyed, and Tolaria remained safely aloft above the ocean. The battle had come with a fair share of losses - an entire year of experiences that could never be re-lived - but the Raiders, both the young and the old, had emerged triumphant.
Demandred’s dark reign had come to an end.
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Post by Aidan on Jun 24, 2023 1:27:37 GMT
Epilogue
The remnants of the Argus airship lay scattered across the peaks of the Ice Mountains, still smoldering and smoking after the Raiders’ recent triumph against Demandred. It had been a full day since the battle, but the fires of the fallen ship had yet to be doused completely by the cold mountain air, and still burned fitfully within caves of twisted metal. The Tolarians would be sending a salvage crew before long, but there was far too much occurring in Metropolis to occupy their attentions for the moment. In short, the traveler roaming amongst the ruins had plenty of time left to complete his search, though the auspex unit secured to his forearm suggested that it would soon come to end nevertheless. The chill wind ripped at his tattered cloak, the hood drawn up to offer some measure of protection against the elements. He hadn’t been prepared for this degree of cold, but then nothing here was as he expected it to be, even after all the stories. He was almost afraid to leave the high mountains, afraid of what he would find in the cities, but knew his journey would take him there eventually. The only thing he lacked was an adequate guide. The auspex chirped as he moved through the snow, and the traveler paused, turning in a circle, arm raised, until it locked upon the signal he was searching for. It was faint, and seemed to be coming from within a twisted heap of jagged metal – part of the airship’s hull, it seemed, along with sizeable chunks of interior bulkhead. The auspex was insistent, though. What he sought lay beneath. Exhaling softly, the traveler lowered his arm and surveyed the wreckage, studying the wreckage to see how the pieces fit together. Once he was satisfied, he nodded, planted his feet, and raised his hands. A cerulean glow enveloped the heap of metal. Chunks of debris were yanked free of the pile and cast to the side, as though plucked from the ground by the hands of an unseen giant. The traveler made slight motions with his own hands, the cerulean glow shifting to new pieces of debris, accomplishing hours, if not days, of careful salvage work in a matter of minutes. All the while the chirping sound grew stronger, more insistent, until it transformed into a steady tone. The traveler lowered his hands and wiped sweat from his brow before he approached the newly excavated salvage site. Electronic components lay scattered about, twisted amidst a tangle of wires and conduits, but his eyes quickly found the source of the signal – a small black box, only slightly larger than the size of his fist. He knelt beside it and carefully removed it from the tangle, then stood and turned it over in his hands, searching for the correct port. Once located, he unspooled a cable from the auspex and plugged it into the box, establishing a connection. The screen flickered. Lines of text and code scrolled across it, and then vanished, replace by the image of a girl’s face. A smile flashed across the traveler’s face. “Hi there. You don’t know me, but I’m here to help.” |
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