The Challenge From Beyond - Regroup

[meatbabies]

You're the ones who are good enough (or lucky) enough to be close to Escherville. You've had the good fortune to be scooped up and now you need to regroup and get ready to take on the Nightmare King himself. Time to reorganize and gear up as best you can with what you've got. The Nightmare King isn't going to wait for you.

Get moving.

((OOC:

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[demon_alessa]

Not surprisingly, there is one member of the group here who is free of feeling as tired as the rest of her human cohorts. Alessa, after all, had been preparing weeks for this. As far as she was concerned. people just needed to stay out of her way once they reached Escherville, and that went double for giving her orders: chances were, they had been surprised by his advancing attack, and she needed competence, not some wannabe leader grasping for straws in the dark.

She knew a few of the people here: Leon, obviously, with that ridiculous looking weapon that took down the "god", Reinforce, who was, well, nude for reasons unexplained, the ghost boy she'd heard by reputation who was no longer that at the moment, and a few others she was unfamiliar with. They all looked worse for wear, and no wonder: they had broken free of the first assault of the Nightmare King, who was already starting to break free.

Not going to happen.The growl in her throat was low, but there was no mistaking what she was doing: all of the power she'd been hoarding

[is_the_ultimate]

[demon_alessa]

"I'm aware."

Of course she was. That was what she'd been preparing for, wasn't it? She would be as incompetent as the command she'd criticized if she didn't realize when the Nightmare King was attempting to break from his bonds. She had even felt the exact moment when it happened: it was as if her insides had been screaming, and no wonder, their means were linked enough that it made Alessa uncomfortable and vaguely ill-feeling.

Alessa chuckled. "What did you expect? There were a few annoying diversions, but I'm not likely to let a thing like this King catch me unaware. Likewise, you've looked better."

She ran a hand idly over the hedgehog's back. "Don't forget what I told you. I can help. Even if you don't need it. This will not be an easy battle for anyone. Don't lose focus."

[is_the_ultimate]

[on_errantry]

Rhiow, it seemed, was one of the only people who had managed this far without being too worse for wear - at least physically. She was keeping very careful tabs on her energy and had rationed her spells strictly in order to save herself for now, when it counted.

She kept the doors to Escherville in sight, eyeing them warily as she approached the half-circle arc of Speech that lay on the ground, barely visible and inert. Rhiow trotted to the power configuration in the array, sniffing at it, examining the power parameters. She wasn't sure how much oomph she would have to put into this, but she hoped she had enough. It would stop anything short of a guided missile, but if they had to deal with those they were in more trouble than Rhiow had thought.

She sank her claws into the power array and felt the tingle of the hyperstrings go up her spine. Once the threat began, she would raise the barrier. She didn't want to leave anyone trapped on the other side.

[proffesorcrisis]

"You sure about this?" Isaac said, looking down at the cat, brush, paint, and thaumaturgical battery array in hand. He crouched and put a hand out, containing one of those batteries. It resembled a miniature lantern filled with glowing green gel.

[on_errantry]

Rhiow pricked her ears forward at the glow, tilting her head to examine the object. "I think I'll be fine for the moment," she said. She knew she shouldn't show off - it was a waste of energy and entropy was certainly running today - but she flexed her claws in the array. The characters, which ranged from one edge of the cathedral in a wide semicircle in front of the door and around to the other, flared to life. The Speech might bear some vague resemblance to Arabic, or similar languages, but anyone who spoke those languages would find them entirely undecipherable... except...

Except if you looked at it long enough you might be able to make out the incredibly specific, technical language that described what Rhiow required of the universe.

Rhiow looked back over at Issac. "What is that, a power source?" The shield wasn't activated yet, still inert, but it only needed a short string of words to bring it online.

[proffesorcrisis]

Isaac couldn't read Arabic for the language didn't exist on Bas Lag. He did know a barrier when he saw it though, especially one linked to the energy of the originator. The kitty was messing with powerful stuff, making some fundamental demands of the universe (no, multiverse, he reminded himself).

"Aye, a thaumaturgical battery. You could hook it to your array instead of using your own energy. No offense but you're pretty small."

[enter_aeneas]

There was a mission in his head and a glare in his eyes. Aeneas was prepared-apparently in more ways than one.

”Oh, quaint spit bubble, dribbling down from Stacy’s high ceiling. Where are you destined? The floor in front of my face? This unfortunate human’s shoulder standing several feet ahead? Why don’t I guide you someplace else in your descent, hmm? Wouldn’t you rather stay away from this mess that we crewmembers are about to throw ourselves into?...”

He is indeed mentally serenading a glob of intestinal mucus. It was something he’d learned how to do while holed up in med bay that helped him harness his newfound water magic, to better connect him with his target substance. It was like Aeneas’s version of a mantra, only…more personal. Better directed, in his opinion.

Reliably, as it fell, the fluid abruptly swerved and spattered against the stone of ruined buildings. Aeneas cracked open an eye, raising his brow curiously.

”…So then you are as vengeful as we are…”

[worm_dancer]

The worm reared back and roared from the other side of the alley. It was a sound somewhere between orca, lion and screeching tire. The spatters hissed and burned it and she frantically calmed it, shushing it and stroking the great hide.

Who'd caused that? Oh, it was Aeneas, the alien who had helped her out of the trap the other day. "Careful!" She called.

[enter_aeneas]

The screech of the worm met the screech of the alien, startled out of his inner meditation with senses heightened by Matt’s magical abilities. It wasn’t anything like some of the more piercing sounds he could make, but it was still bizarre: white noise, filling in the high overtones of some sort of soprano crocodilian, all coming from behind barely parted mandibles, deep within his throat. It was probably also similar to the noise he would’ve made if someone had stepped on his tail, though Aeneas wasn’t about to admit that to an open audience.

No, right now he was far too preoccupied with figuring out what this new creature was, and why he hadn’t seen it wandering about. Surely something this large couldn’t go unnoticed for so long?

Oh, but he did recognize the female calming it. The one who reminded him so much of Arha, with those same, blue-within-blue eyes

[worm_dancer]

Sheeana listened to the cry of surprise and experienced a moment of jealousy. What she wouldn't give for a throat that could produce those sounds...

She continued to soothe the creature for a few seconds. Honestly. You can be such a child sometimes, Tyrant.

"Only superficial damage. Shai-hulud is a desert creature."

[captain_jtk]

Kirk was moving through the crowd, pausing here and there to say a word or ensure that everyone was in good health. Finally, he tried to get the attention of the rather large crowd that they'd manage to put together.

"I need your attention, please. Now, it's obvious that the Nightmare King is making his move, his bid for freedom. We're going to have to stop him. I'm afraid we don't have time to ask after the rest of the crew - we need to go immediately and we need to get organized. Nanoha? Everyone? Let's get organized. Fast."

[agoodomen]

Daimon saw Kirk's attempts to get attention. Pointing his trident in the air, he shot off a blast of soulfire in the air. "Calm yourselves. The Captain has need of you."

[bears_omnitrix]

A pulse of violent purple energy echoed on the other side as Eon lowered his hand. "Listen to the captain. We're only going to get one shot at this. Let's make it count."

[demon_alessa]

"Oh stuff it, we all have ears," Alessa said to Daimon, appearing behind him, rolling her eyes. Honestly, just because people had these powers didn't mean they needed to show off all the time. It was so juvenile.

"Can we choose our own team," she paused at the word, "captain?"

[grayaura]

Mai was searching through the assembled crowd. Zuko had to be hear somewhere. She knew him. He wouldn't just sit around or give in to depression (well, maybe he would), but he'd be here. She wasn't calling his name (yet). That wasn't the way she worked. Instead, she simply brushed through the crowd, looking for his familiar face.