Outside Special Collections and Beyond, Sunday Noon
Special Collections
As the tournament began elsewhere, a small group of people arrived at the entrance to Special Collections.
This time, the plan didn't involve research.
Cable
Cable was impressively armed.
In other words, he had some really large guns on him, and he was well and truly dressed for the occasion in his universe's native spandex.
"Listen up," he said, "This is a dangerous assignment; don't presume to know what you're getting into. Stay on me at all times." He gave the group one last once-over. "Is everyone armed?"
Tahiri
Tahiri reached down to her equipment harness and touched the hilt of her lightsaber. "Yes, sir," she answered, and put a tight lid on the part of her mind that was getting twitchy at the sight of all that technology Cable had on him.
Savannah
Savannah gave a faint smile to her little sib.
"This was not the kind of Fandom welcome for you I had hoped for."
Tahiri
Tahiri shrugged one shoulder and returned the smile, crookedly. "It's okay. I'm used to stuff like this."
Savannah
Savannah nodded at Cable. She was indeed armed to the teeth - even if most couldn't tell that.
Jan
Jan rubbed his horn along one hoof and then the other, ensuring it was as sharp as it could be, then lifted his head and snorted, stamping his feet.
He was always armed.
Savannah
Having seen him in class, Savannah gave the unicorn a faint smile.
"Another new enemy, another person to learn that you don't mess with Fandom."
Jan
Jan stamped his hoof again, skin twitching. "We must protect our territory, whatever it takes."
Savannah
She nodded, her smile becoming slightly feral. "I completely agree with you on that."
Alex
Alex held up his blaster and said simply, tersely, "Check."
Buffy
"And legged," said Buffy, who had quite a few things hidden on her person besides the crossbow she was carrying around seemingly for fun.
Rikku
"You bet," Rikku nodded, Godhand strapped firmly into place. "I have extra if anybody needs stuff."
She had a gun tucked into her shorts and a few knives strapped on here and there. Not counting the explosives. She could loan a few pieces out.
Teyla
Teyla had both her bantos sticks and a knife, and nodded to Cable. It might have been foolish, but she was hoping she would not need either one.
Eve
Eve was thinking of Sean, who had won his bout and Gwynn, who had lost hers. She was thinking about all the others.
And she was bouncing a fireball back and forth between her hands, though careful to keep it away from anything that would actually catch fire.
Cable
"Be careful with that," Cable told her, "It's a little conspicuous."
Eve
Eve nodded and murmured the extinguishing spell. "Got it." She was already forming her fingers into the sorcerer gesture needed for another spell. She had a feeling the sorcerer magic she knew was going to come in handy. "I've got better, anyway."
Cable
"Good," he replied, before moving on, "We'll need it once we run into the enemy."
Marco
Marco was there. In biker shorts and a t-shirt, slightly shivering, but there. Sometimes, it's best not to ask.
Special Collections
The entry to Special Collections was dark and misty. Trees had appeared in between the rows of books and a path resembling the one on the map appeared before the team.
Cable
"Quiet."
That was all he had to say. His head was bent, his fingers on his gun, and he moved with a sleek silence onto the path.
Eve
Eve followed close behind, fingers curved in the last part of the gesture for a knock-back spell. Not what she wanted to arm herself with right off the bat, but if things went bad and someone set it off by knocking into her, then the worst that happened was that someone else would go flying.
Special Collections
Quiet sounds emanated from the mist and shadows passed around them.
Overhead there was the sound of wings flapping coming closer to all of them.
Jan
Flattening his ears, Jan looked around warily, skin twitching at the sound of wings, and he lifted his head to scent the air. He did not like this, and he was worried he wouldn't have room to fight when it came time.
He had no doubt whatsoever they would have to fight.
Tahiri
Tahiri's hand fell to her lightsaber hilt, and her eyes narrowed as she looked around; there was a distinct feeling of agitation in the Force that left her with no doubt as to the likelihood of combat, either.
Cable
Cable pursed his lips, and his frown carved heavy grooves in his brow. He made the international signal for keep quiet, to make certain no one would agitate whatever might lay in the shadows. He moved closer.
Special Collections
There was a flurry of sound as a flock of books jumped off their perch and flew over the heads of the group, using their own covers as wings.
They circled once and then twice around the group before zooming off into the mist.
Savannah
Savannah shook her head as she carefully straightened back to her full height.
Marco
Marco was following behind the group, trying not to run into anything and ready to punch anything that got close.
Buffy
Buffy looked up at the books, but kept moving, looking ahea- was that a gorilla?
Marco
Marco nodded at Buffy and did a thought speak message to everyone in the group. < Don't mind the gorilla in the back, it's just me, Marco. > He paused. < Don't ask. >
Cable
Cable's form froze for a moment. A telepath--?
No. It wasn't quite the same. He glanced over his shoulder-- raised both of his eyebrows, and continued. It was body language for trust me; I won't.
Special Collections
Another flock of books flew by overhead. Almost as if they were monitoring the party as they traversed through special collections.
One book in particular broke free of the flock and zoomed towards the heads of the adventurers... as if testing the mettle of the group....
Rikku
Now seemed like a really good time to duck. Rikku dropped to her knees with an "Eeep!" and hoped no one got clocked in the head by the book.
Cable
There was a flash of blue telekinetic energy near Cable's head as his powers shot up instinctively. He paid them no heed; he was leaping aside, a curse in the Askani tongue ringing loud in the air.
Tahiri
"Sithspawn -- !" Tahiri dove out of the way at what seemed like the last second and came back up into a crouch. This, in some bizarre way, almost reminded her of dodging sandbats on Tatooine years ago.
Eve
Eve dropped to her knees, wincing slightly. Bruises won out over getting nailed by a flying book of doom. Okay, not so much doom, but definitely trouble. At least trouble.
Jan
Jan shied so violently his back legs slid out from under him, and he half-fell, which at least had the advantage of getting him out of the way of the book.
He was beginning to despise the things.
Teyla
Teyla ducked sharply and glared as the book flew away. She couldn't understand why they were being threatened when they were here to help, and supposed she should be grateful that dealing with these books was a rare need.
Buffy
The books didn't so much bother Buffy as much as they annoyed her, because getting hit in the head with a book was not on her to-do list for the day, so there was a nice bit of ducking involved.
And a muttered, "Can't wait to tell Giles about this..."
Marco
It was hard for a gorilla to duck, but with a muffled mental curse at the world and book in general, Marco did just that.
Alex
Alex hit the deck, since he had no interest in getting concussed by a flying book before they even got where they were going. That would have been rather useless.
Special Collections
The book swooped back up to join the rest of the flock in a smug fashion. That is, if books could feel smug.
Satisfied that the party had no intention of harming itself or any of its books, Special Collections began to take a more airy feel and the path began to change and now instead of books and trees, there appeared a tunnel and pipes and cables all leading to...
The path began to change and now instead of books and trees there was now a tunnel and pipes and cables all leading to...
A door.
Which unfortunately was guarded.
"Oh you rascals!" came Mayor Wilkins voice from the loudspeaker. "Did you really think we'd make this easy for you? It would have been so much easier if you did it our way. Now we have to resort to violence. Enjoy our souped version of what you know as gremlins. They can be particularly nasty."
There was a small weary sigh which was followed by "Ah well. Kill them."
Cable
"Stick together!"
Cable practically ripped his gun off his back, frowning and gritting his teeth, "Be careful!"
And he was charging.
Savannah
Savannah had conjured two fireballs and followed Cable.
Eve
Eve followed close behind Savannah, fingers prepped in an energy bolt gesture.
Gremlin
Gremlins liked shiny things and gremlins liked killing things (at least these gremlins did). This made Cable doubly attractive.
Two gremlins fixed on him, one leaping high in the air, clawed feet aimed at Cable's face, one dashing forward to swipe at his stomach.
Cable
He'd been afraid to find Stryfe waiting there for him. Relief at the fact he wasn't, however, quickly dissipated as the task at hand suddenly became... at hand. Cable didn't even bother to say something snappy (that was someone else's thing); he moved.
He lashed his metal arm out at the gremlin going for his face, firing off a round quasi-blindly at the other one-- "I hate being ambushed!"
Well, it wasn't snappy.
Gremlin
Gremlin number one latched onto the lashing arm, becoming a six foot tall dead weight, because the arm was shiny. The arm was going to come off, and the gremlin would keep it as a trophy.
Gremlin number two dodged, far too slowly, and was suddenly minus most of its arm. It stared dumbly at the spot where it had been, then snarled and dove for Cable's legs to try and bring him down.
Cable
Now that was a move Wade (and many others) had tried to pull on him far too often. Even with the weight on his arm, Cable managed to use what few seconds he had well, pulling out of the way of the second gremlin.
The first, on the other hand, was a severe nuisance. His upper lip curled up, his arm pulled--
--and he tried to strike the gremlin straight in the face with the back of his gun.
Gremlin
Second gremlin crashed into the floor, whimpering because the lack of arm hurt, but its claws clutched at Cable's feet.
First gremlin didn't notice the incoming gun. It was too busy gnawing at the metal, determined to have at least one souvenir from the Fandom invasion.
When the gun smashed into its face, it stiffened and fell, smacking into the floor, but it bounced back like a basketball - a large, green, partly pointy basketball - intent on the arm of shininess.
Cable
Annoying didn't cover it.
Firing a few more rounds at the bouncing gremlin, Cable paced backwards quickly, ignoring that one at his feet for the moment. Too close-quarters for firearms to be fully effective. He needed to trade, and fast.
Luckily, the psimitar was still a familiar weight on his back, but he needed some time-- his eyes flicked across the area for a split second.
Gremlin
Well, that was just mean. Gremlin two had time for one extremely rude gesture before it expired. Messily expired. It puffed up and exploded, sending green goo splattering towards Cable.
The goo rained down on gremlin one as it pushed to its feet and lunged to headbutt cable in the gut,
Cable
White-hot pain shot through his system for all of a second, but that was familiar, his entire body staggering back several steps... ...and the gun went flying, smashing into the floor behind him.
Good.
Cable was reaching for the psimitar the moment he recovered, and the weapon glowed brilliant blue with energy as soon as he touched it.
Gremlin
The gremlin's eyes went wide at the sight of the psimitar.
Now that was a shiny thing. That was far better than the metal arm the other gremlin had been after.
All it had to do was reach out with its one remaining hand and take it...
Cable
All he had to do was wait for the gremlin to reach out and touch...
As soon as its green fingers got close enough, the glow on the weapon intensified as Cable focused his telekinesis into it-- the purpose it had been created for-- and fired.
Gremlin
The gremlin screamed once, and green goo exploded outwards from where it had once stood, showering everything in the general area.
Cable
Gore was dripping from his hair. He wiped it away before it could flood his vision, cursing something fierce in the Askani tongue.
But Cable really didn't have the time to waste on cosmetics. The next instant, he was moving, fingers curling into and snagging the rifle off the floor, slotting it back into its supports on his back with one fluid arc.
He held tightly onto the psimitar. The steady flow of telekinetic energy he was pumping into it was beginning to irritate the techno-organics on his back, but all things considered, that was a niggling concern-- he needed to get back to the students. Now.
Bryce
Bryce smiled darkly as he took a step forward, his eyes on Savannah. "Hello, sister dear."
Savannah
Savannah tensed up and then her eyes narrowed. "Ah. I knew there was someone that had to be holding your leash, brother mine."
Bryce
Bryce laughed. "Such a dramatic way of putting it. You have to get that from your mother."
Savannah
"I'll take that as a compliment being as how our dad was in love with her."
Bryce
"In love, wanted to piss off the Cabal, both the same when you get right down to it," Bryce taunted.
Savannah
"And you know all about pissing people off, don't you, Bryce? I'm not surprised that Sean kicked your ass." She looked at him. "Get out of the way and let us pass."
Bryce
"Figures that you'd side with him," Bryce said. "He's an outcast and you shouldn't exist."
Savannah
"Is this the part where I turn pale and my eyes fill with tears because you said something mean?" Her hands flexed at her sides. "Walk away, Bryce. You don't want this kind of trouble."
Bryce
"No, this is the part where you face the fact that when it comes right down to it, family is all someone has -- and you've got precious little of it around that wants you."
Savannah
Power started crackling around Savannah's hand as she started the spell. "I have plenty of family, Bryce. Blood isn't the only family. Get out of our way."
Bryce
"Make me."
... nobody ever claimed he was the smart Nast.
Savannah
It was obvious that Savannah had been hoping that Bryce would live up to his stupidity. Baring her teeth at him, her hands swung up, and two energy bolts flew at Bryce.
Bryce
Bryce flew backwards, slamming into a wall. He lay there a moment, barely conscious. Concussions for the win!
Savannah
Savannah was already casting again as she watched him. She'd be exhausted as hell later, but she was not letting him hurt anyone in this raiding party.
Bryce
Bryce managed to fire a pair of fireballs in Savannah's direction before slumping into an unconscious heap.
Savannah
Savannah deflected one of the fireballs, but the other hit he shoulder, knocking her back. She was going to counter with another spell, but realized Bryce was down.
She took a moment to catch her breath. "He's down and won't be a problem again."
Guy
A man moved from the shadows, smiling at Eve. He was holding his sword lightly in his hand.
"And where do you guys think that you're going?"
Eve
"In there," Eve replied, nodding towards the door and prepping an energy bolt spell. "But first I'm going to kick your ass." Or go down trying.
Guy
"The group of you aren't going anywhere." He smirked at Eve, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "You have a problem with me, little girl?"
Eve
"Damn right I do," Eve said. "And you want to know why? You hurt my friend. Badly. Nobody hurts my friend."
Guy
"Your friend? The Hood brat." He shrugged. "She should have known not to try to fight a man."
Eve
"She fights damn well," she said, omitting a few choice epithets in favor of the more direct route of an energy bolt to the stomach.
Guy
He wasn't expecting that and he doubled over. "You are a witch," he gasped out in surprise.
Eve
"Right in one," Eve replied cheerfully, her eyes dark. "A very, very powerful witch. Who's trafficked in things that would make you wet yourself in fear. So you see, I'm really not someone you want to piss off."
Guy
Guy was not smart enough to know when he should back off... and really. Killing a friend of Gwynn's? Oh that was something he just couldn't pass up.
He straightened with a snarl and stepped forward, swinging his sword at her head.
Eve
Eve ducked, the blade whistling over her head. She murmured a few words under her breath and before Guy could realize what had happened, she'd hit him with a suffocation spell. And not the minor one, either.
Guy
Guy stared at her in shock, his hands going to his neck and face in confusion. He tried to fight it, but he wasn't versed in magic, and went to his knees.
Eve
Eve murmured the spell again, not wanting to run the risk of it fading and letting him loose, or even him breaking it somehow.
Guy
It was too much for Guy.
His hand let go of his sword as he lost consciousness.
Tahiri
When you heard 'Kill them,' it didn't leave much doubt as to someone's intentions. Tahiri thumbed the power stud on her lightsaber, and the light blue blade hummed to life. Part of her had been looking forward to this bit; she didn't know which part, and right now, Jedi or Yuuzhan Vong, she didn't think it mattered too much.
Gremlin
It was a gremlin, but it wouldn't be sneaking up on anyone from an airvent. It was far too tall and far too broad, and it grinned, showing rows of sharp, white teeth.
This gremlin adored following orders, and it ran at Tahiri, arms outstretched, to slash at the hand holding the glowing stick thing.
Tahiri
Well, no need to have to sense that one coming in the Force, not when it was almost twice her size.
There was, however, more room to move vertically than laterally where she was, and Tahiri did draw on the Force as she jumped, one hand outstretched for an overhead pipe. She'd misjudged, though, and didn't quite reach the pipe, which only meant that as gravity inevitably kicked back in, all she could do was slow her fall and hope she'd timed it right to land behind the gremlin instead.
Gremlin
The gremlin wasn't too bright, and bouncing girls were well outside its experience. It slowed as she disappeared, trying to work out where she'd gone, and growled its frustration, not noticing that she had passed completely over its head.
It did hear her land, though, and whipped around to stare in suspicion and astonishment, baring its teeth at her, a snarl like a bandsaw filling the air.
Tahiri
Just as she landed, grimacing a little at the slap of her bare feet against the ground -- she could have stood to slow that descent a little more -- Tahiri was reaching out with her off hand and pushing with the Force, green eyes and blue lightsaber blade both blazing.
Gremlin
That was just cheating, and the gremlin howled its anger as it pushed against the invisible force with all its might, claws digging furrows in the floor.
Tahiri
As quickly as she'd pushed, Tahiri inverted the effort and pulled, this time against a fallen piece of pipe that now came flying up off the ground, careening toward the gremlin's head.
Gremlin
It hit with an audible clang, and now the gremlin was mad and it had a headache. Gremlins' heads were hard, though, and it used the momentum of the strike to lunge forward, intending to grasp her in a bear hug, from which position biting off her head would be simplicity itself.
Tahiri
It would be hard to bear hug with one arm, wouldn't it? That was the theory Tahiri was working with, which was why she slashed out with her lightsaber, aiming for one of said arms.
And hoping the sound of that pipe impacting its skull didn't mean the gremlin was made of Mandalorian iron.
Gremlin
Sadly, for the gremlin at least, it was made only of gremlin flesh and gremlin blood. It stared in dull incomprehension as its arm fell off, then howled, scooped it up, and rushed at her, wielding its severed arm like a club, aimed right at her head.
Tahiri
And suddenly, just for a moment, she was back at Myrkr, bracing against the spitting amphistaffs and battle yells of onrushing Yuuzhan Vong warriors. The moment passed quickly, but it took her out of the fight at hand quite possibly long enough for the gremlin's blow to land.
Gremlin
Baring its teeth in a grin, the gremlin swung the arm with all its strength and smashed it against the side of her head, whirling around to try and repeat the action on the other side.
Tahiri
The pain -- sharp, lancing through her head -- woke Tahiri up more than anything, and the Yuuzhan Vong part of her reveled in it, so that the blow, heavy as it was, hardly made her flinch.
All of her, though, was alert now, and blinking away blood from the gash that had opened over her left eyebrow, she ducked just under the arm-turned-club and slashed upward with her lightsaber again. It was a sloppy move, and a skilled swordsman would have been able to find any one of a half dozen holes in her defense, but hopefully the gremlin didn't fall into that category.
Gremlin
The gremlin jerked the arm down in what would have been a credible parry -- had the weapon it was wielding not been an arm.
The arm flopped and it flapped, and then the gremlin was collapsing, folding in on itself as it was sliced in twain by the glowing blue stick. One claw clenched convulsively, twitching towards her ankle, but it was only reflex, the beady eyes growing dull as green goo spread in an ever growing pool towards Tahiri's feet.
Tahiri
And Tahiri added 'fighting giant gremlins' to her still-short list of Reasons to Wear Shoes, as she powered her lightsaber down and scrambled out of the way lest green gremliny goo get all squishy between her bare toes. Sure, it could have been worse -- it could have been blorash jelly -- but still, gross.
"So maybe this is what Hutts would be like with legs. Ew."
[ and cont'd in... the next! ]