[Day 2, Night - A House South of Town]

[direstnews]

[Written into the ground alongside one of the houses to the south of town tonight are a series of strange letters, forming a rough circle near the wall. A figure of approximately Loki's build, not there during the day's exploration, leans against the wall at the corner. The door to the house is open.]

[Some hours after the sudden switch from day to night, Loki stands in front of the door, a candle before him, a kitchen knife in one hand and a spoon in the other. He checks the mirror set carefully in the darkness, nothing yet visible in its surface. Then he strikes the knife with the spoon's handle, and he holds his breath - and he waits.]

Comments

[12npcs]

[A tattered mess is left, swiss cheese holds showing the demon Rosette's startled expression as the creature turns, schlorping forward on what little mass it has. She drops the empty revolver and moves to snap her pistol up out of its place at her belt... but the speed of it..]

[charmed_life]

[Okay, Asellus. Think. That illusion will shatter as soon as that whatever-it-is catches it. You only have a little bit of time]

[Time to close the distance so she can execute one BACKSTAB]

[assworthsaving]

[He reacts immediately to what is coming at him-- whatever it is. He backs up and discharges his weapon again, aiming right at it.]

Elena, get out of here!

[direstnews]

[Hooks his fingers into the shoulder sockets and pulls- and pulls.]

[Let's get this thing clear and add a little distance before we use it as bait.]

[12npcs]

[The sai sinks into the quivering piece, the lightning causing it to blort, bubbling in some unpleasant paralysis as is snapped back towards you.]

[tearsinnajar]

[Backing up and firing as well.]

What about you?

[12npcs]

[As you do, a piece you were just about to fall INTO is stuck by a sai and snapped away from you, and up a nearby wall.]

[atacarme]

[oh . . . well, thank you whoever did that.

Just going to. Take a moment to gather her shit]

[12npcs]

[It's heavy, pushing you to truly strain... but you get it up out of its shallow grave.]

[overclocking]

[... I WILL END YOU

He bolts, grenade already in hand and feet hardly skimming the ground in his haste.]

[allsneakandnoplay]

[when it's about 4 feet in front of him, stops it midair for BLADE MODE, switching weapons in a flurry and slashing at it with obscene ninja speed with his high frequency blade]

[12npcs]

[It shrieks. A terrible sound reverberates around you... You land hard against its back as your weapon sinks in.


You feel yourself start to follow it in...]

[12npcs]

[The shots make holes in the glob, crack the wooden appendages. Something wet and noxious bursts up and splatters the ground harmlessly with each impact... Even losing mass, it continues to advance with whatever it has left..]

[assworthsaving]

[Eugh. Well that's kind of gross. Aiming again--]

I got it- just go!

[And fires another shot. Like hell he's got it. He doesn't even know what he's got but he's trying to keep his distance and keep it away from Elena.]

[12npcs]

[It almost seems to hang there in the air, bulging around each slice... before it falls apart at each of those seams, dropping to the ground below in quickly liquifying cubes.]

[direstnews]

[Drags it across the ground, panting, keeping an eye on the fight to pick his position: a place that will cause most of the creature-pieces to pass right by an armed opponent if they did something like, say, charge blindly toward his location. If they're not quite so stupid as that, perhaps he'll serve distraction enough to gain the combatants a few extra moments as its attention is turned his way.]

[When he gets there, he drops the torso, cups his hands to his mouth, and yells at the top of his voice:]

Would you not have even one prize this evening?

[soul_sister]

[You reach it just as the mass begins to envelop her gloved hand. Her pistol fires, the shot meant to go directly into it, wrenched up by the beast.]

[overclocking]

[Excellent. That gives him just enough time to pull the pin out of this grenade, slam it into this bastard with all the strength he can muster, and then dart forward the rest of the way to drag Rosette out of range.]

[charmed_life]

[ABORT ABORT ABORT]

[She digs in her heels, shifting her weight violently in an attempt throw herself backwards and away from the creature. And that sound. That sound]

[She screeches in return:] LET GO!

[tearsinnajar]

[She's unmoved—well, in a metaphorical sense, in a literal sense she's keeping a gap between her and it as she fires.]

Do you think now is really the time for the heroics? It's after you, too!

[nyanotech]

[Leeeeaning over your shoulder.]

Do you really think this is a good idea?

[allsneakandnoplay]

[do those cubes have any heat left in them?]

[12npcs]

[Your struggles sink your knees deeper, but keep your face out of its back. It flails and struggles, whipping you this way and that. It's scream gathers in pitch and intensity, somehow worming past your ear drums, spiraling through the canals and directly into your brain.

For a brief moment, you feel with such crippling intensity... your first views of cities and villages on the horizon, strange landscapes and mountain formations, the breathtaking from the mundane, in crisp maddening detail, accents and garb, foods and cultures, in some insane whirlwind of color and intensity....




... and it vanishes, shuddering into some sick, empty apathy as the beast tears free of YOU and staggers back away.]

[12npcs]

[Drake and Elena's shots impact the middle almost at the same time.. causing it to shudder and split again, ripping apart again into two halves.

They begin to drag themselves towards you... only pausing as a young man finds a high perch and calls out a taunt.

Stricken by some senseless indecision, they both pause for half of a second...]

[direstnews]

Their weapons cause it hurt. It wavers even now.

...I would grant them time.