[The hands continue to come down, seemingly a little more targeted on you now, like they're beginning to zero in after squishing these zombies and bugs at random--
And as they continue to do this, the tremors grow worse. You can feel a small shake with each hand that comes down, but... the impacts of the hands aren't the source of the major rumbling. They're just adding to it, dislodging more icicles from the ceiling as they come down, keeping the ground shaking disruptively.
You can hear some of the monsters crying out for help-- half-squished and dying, perhaps fleeing with a limb or two broken off, or simply screaming as a hand comes down on top of them. Now that you're in the thick of it... that's becoming your background noise.]
rolls an 11, she's - going to probably get a little distracted by the monsters crying out for help? if any of them are people are her cr choices, she probably... cannot help herself from trying to save one or two of them, even as she's fleeing.]
emboldened by her luck with dodging and slicing, she keeps charging ahead! a [14] isn't as impressive, but so long as no one is directly in her way, she is going to focus on staying icicle-skewer-free. ]
these are only his thoughts to keep himself sane as they trudge along this hellscape of bugs and hands, because he's sure if he were to actually take in the surrounding scenery and watch the viktor legion die and die and die, he will lose what little grip he has left on reality. btw 12. ]
[well this continues to not go well for charles but at least he's faring somewhat better with a roll of 9. does his best to ignore the monsters, including any cr.]
[ Throne: Well... you can certainly try. She can reach for corpses that look strangely like Eunhyuk, like Viktor -- didn't she try this before, already? She's sure she saw them earlier. Maybe a little less frostbitten, a little less mutated, less covered in bandages. The deeper they get, the closer they get to the Bough, the more their CR distorts into these rime-ridden and mutated things. She can reach for them, and they'll reach for her, but something always snatches them away -- these massive hands from the sky. She's lucky enough that she doesn't get crushed under, even as the tremors leave her footing unsteady.
Baiken: Indeed the hands cannot catch Baiken who is truly balling with the power of lesbian strength. She can slash at falling icicles and slabs of ice where there aren't frostbitten zombies. She is doing a REALLY good job at making sure their pacing remains consistent and undisturbed!
Ichiban: Ichiban manages to retain his sanity, for better or worse. He is drinking deep of the Copium. The burning in his chest grows stronger, as does it for everybody else.
Lovelace: Sorry Ichiban did revert your injuries it was in his section. Yours, Charles, and Shoma's are going to be a bit of a mix here, because:
Charles, Lovelace, Shoma: So, Charles just got squashed and Isabel got half-crushed before Ichiban reached into Hell to reverse this. With how they were just brought back to life, this is going to be pretty rough on them though, and it looks like they're about to get crushed underhand again. Easy targets, right? Sitting ducks as they are, just regaining their footing and their middling rolls. Except, Shoma summons the strength in his tiny body and the mechanical arm leftover from his Screwloose Wallop, winding that arm and sending a power-punch right into the oncoming palm so hard that he actually manages to get it to flinch and retreat.
WILD.
Any CR you try to pick up or save along the way are massacred by the zombies or by the hands. After a bit, you honestly start suspecting that whatever this place is, whoever that hand belongs to, it might be doing this to you on purpose.
[You proceed deeper, and deeper, while these hands continue to pick off the people you know and care about. Every time you succeed at dragging one out of the way, moments later... they're squashed to nothing anyway.
It feels more and more futile.
The Bough is so, so close. You can feel it begin to resonate with you, faintly, from this distance...
this is a joke i love eunhyuk even if throne is still like nyeh. anyway she's about to pass OUT [9] after watching like four viktors and a lucien get rock smashed and pancaked.
this woman is here and she waits to see what everybody else is doing but she will take out her knife]
[ i rolled a 2 which i guess means that maybe he just fucking drops from exhaustion and stress once everybody stops in front of this woman except for charles who is nyooming. i don't know how a 2 translates, you tell me. ]
[So- these are good rolls, and yes, under normal circumstances? These would absolutely do something for you.
However.
That faint resonance picks up, here, echoing in your hearts. You can feel some sort of influence take hold at the very sight of this woman when you approach.
...You stop short, as she looks at you and just smiles. Satisfied, but in a cold sort of way. Not the cat who got the canary, but the scientist whose mouse has finished a maze for the fifth time today. Nothing special, not really.
As your bodies come to an unwilling halt at the raise of her hand, you can hear a familiar male voice quietly whisper in your heads:
"Be it the nightmare or the road... I never strayed once from that woman's control."
Her head cocks, evaluating you-- and her hand lowers in a purposeful gesture.
Above you, more hands descend. Directly above you. Your bodies refuse to move, despite the impending impact.
[ You may be braced for impact, for the hands to come crushing you. Hey, did you ever consider what happens if nobody is there to wind the clock for you? What happens then? Maybe this would all just finally stop then, and you could get a break. Your corpses would be lost forever in the cold, but if you stayed here, frozen... you wouldn't feel any more pain. That's the thing about living your life -- you make your choices, and sometimes, they hurt.
...
But it's not over, yet. Figures come to the rescue, it seems. You hear the sharp sound of clashing, and you're still whole and hale. You see many figures around you, these zombified frozen corpses grasping and rebelling against the oppressing hands, bones cracking under the pressure. three figures stand especially prominent, holding off the onslaught with all their strength.
Their appearances are only important to three of you, but they're a tin box, a large imposing man in a warm coat, and some guy who looks comically familiar. ]
Yurodiviye Leader, King Riven
Made some new friends after all, have you?
'Twould be shame were you to die ere your journey had begun.
Tieqiu Boss, Amame
I couldn't just leave you behind to deal with everything on your own.
Jefe de Los Mariachis, Arthur
I am not here to save you specifically. I just don't want her to get the Bough.
[ Notably, the last guy is in a sombrero hat, funny outfit, and most importantly, he is holding off these hands with a pair of giant maracas. Listen. I think we all need a misery break and this is how it's happening. Aren't we glad to have some friends in our dire time of need.
But that's not the most important part. The important part is that that burning turns into something more tangible -- this Bough is tied to you, your identity, your entire being. It's calling for you to manifest a power unique to you, something you hold, something that is only yours.
This place, this woman, your past --
None of that defines you now.
You can now manifest a powerful [[personal E.G.O.]] with a 0% chance of Corrosion, a reflection of who you are. ]
[They have help, it seems like- after they speak, you realize they aren't the only prominent figures you recognize this time.]
Anji
I told you it wasn't time yet, didn't I?
Tomi
Looks like it's my turn to help you out again, yeah?
Temenos
Oh, don't tell me you thought it would be that easy to be rid of me. Someone has to guide you, hm?
[The last time you saw them--
The last time you saw them doesn't matter now, does it? That may linger in your minds for a long time to come, after this, but... they're here once more. You're still here. It's not futile.
there's no outward acknowledgement aside from the fleeting glimpse of surprise. it settles just as quickly as it appeared, and baiken's stance shifts, primed and ready as she taps into her own e.g.o. manifestation. it's fucking go time now.
there's a glow of red and pink, a crackle of lightning to manifest into the contradictory duality of strength and discipline.
she also gets an ironic (for this situation) song. ]
[ kind of a weak laugh at seeing arthur again. sorry. it's still funny. she's so tired but it's still hilarious.
lovelace's personal E.G.O. is just: she starts to glow a bright, vivid blue. All over, but her eyes and hands are the brightest. she hovers up off the ground, and when she snaps her fingers—the enemy bursts into flames. wow i hope she does this after any melee fighters have gone. please assume that is the case.
i can't link music all of the soundtrack slaps but it's a suspense series. there's no action music :yell: i got jealous here's something. ]
[he has. a lot of mixed feelings about who came to help and not just because of jefe arthur. he stares at the yurodiviye leader, something both pained and grieving and yet thankful in his expression, before he looks away. anyway, not dealing with that right now. focusing on the task at hand.
he activates his e.g.o. unfortunately it is not a nerf gun that shoots beans, as it instead summons a blazing blue emblem. the insignia glows, before breaking apart into swirls of energy around his blade. they crackle and roar, forming a torrent of water like the river to send surging at the enemy, mixed with purple lightning.
also sure music. also this one which is only tangentially related to charles but it's related to hell so GOOD ENOUGH]
[ here's the thing. he is...well aware his mind fractured a few hours ago and the cracks continued to widen the longer they went. he's tired. he's wrung out. and seeing her, even as a tin box and with an autotune voice, is both enough to give him a boost and tear him open all over again.
"I don't want to be left behind anymore. But I don't know how to fix this."
"I couldn't just leave you behind to deal with everything on your own."
he doesn't reach for her, but it does cause him to draw in a few shaky breaths to get his shit together. they're almost done. they can leave after this. they can get this stupid bough and get the fuck out of here.
so yeah. he squares up, looking at this woman while he prepares to summon his own personal e.g.o. i wanna link music too because the qte music is a banger. anyway that's going.
and for a while it looks like nothing happens? except there's a very subtle shift. it starts with a few extra inches. about seven or so, limbs elongating and features filling out. it's the shift in his face, the roundness in his cheeks disappearing to something a little sharper and more angular. the eyes change, too, something more almond-shaped than round. it's a weird shift, a sickening crackle of bone and the sound of mental bending under pressure before all that stands is...a guy. about eighteen years old, a little on the lithe side still but still with a robotic arm. it's red, large and similarly shaped like what you'd expect from a gundam.
anyway the manifestation means that the robot arm throws a fucking punch that explodes on impact. ]
[ as throné and baiken witnessed on their half of this experience, ichiban's true power lies not in his ability to punch things really hard, but in the strength of his bonds. instead of manifesting as something with a tangible effect like the others, the activation of ichiban's personal e.g.o. is represented by a fiery red aura that envelops his body... as well as that of his friend, tomizawa.
suddenly, a taxi screeches onto the scene, and tomizawa jumps into the driver's seat. using the widespread confusion caused by the vehicle's abrupt appearance, ichiban sneaks up behind hermann and pushes her into it. tomizawa turns around briefly to meet eyes with his new rider and offer her a courteous smile, before placing his hands on the wheel and revving the engine.
"attention all passengers... you might wanna buckle up."
[ So. You all tap into your personal E.G.O.s, and unleash a barrage of attacks upon Hermann and her hands.
Shoma goes first, throwing his punch that knocks Hermann into the wall of the basement interior, into the strange ice mansion's walls that seem to tremble and shake. It's strong enough to leave a crater where she lands -- your mental strength manifesting itself into something more corporeal, something that proves you've grown. You have, willing your outside to match what's inside.
Hermann... she's not done yet -- but neither are you, for that matter. Charles follows it up with a powerful strike of of a wave, knocking her and all the rime corpses out of the way and enveloping the field in crackling lightning, clearing a path for the rest of you to pass -- an open road to the bright Bough, an unobstructed path forward.
Before Hermann can get back to her feet, Isabel glows with strength and power welling from within, and with a sweep of her hands or a simple snap of her fingers, the hostiles are set aflame, burning corpses and disease with them.
Can you believe this is the hinged half of the E.G.O. manifestations? Teej, take it away. ]
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And as they continue to do this, the tremors grow worse. You can feel a small shake with each hand that comes down, but... the impacts of the hands aren't the source of the major rumbling. They're just adding to it, dislodging more icicles from the ceiling as they come down, keeping the ground shaking disruptively.
You can hear some of the monsters crying out for help-- half-squished and dying, perhaps fleeing with a limb or two broken off, or simply screaming as a hand comes down on top of them. Now that you're in the thick of it... that's becoming your background noise.]
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rolls an 11, she's - going to probably get a little distracted by the monsters crying out for help? if any of them are people are her cr choices, she probably... cannot help herself from trying to save one or two of them, even as she's fleeing.]
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emboldened by her luck with dodging and slicing, she keeps charging ahead! a [14] isn't as impressive, but so long as no one is directly in her way, she is going to focus on staying icicle-skewer-free. ]
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these are only his thoughts to keep himself sane as they trudge along this hellscape of bugs and hands, because he's sure if he were to actually take in the surrounding scenery and watch the viktor legion die and die and die, he will lose what little grip he has left on reality. btw 12. ]
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CHARGING AHEAD I GUESS? DEFENDING ANYONE ELSE IF MONSTERS GET CLOSE ENOUGH? ROBO-PUNCH?
also actually since cr is here he will actually fucking stop and seemingly debate if there's any way they can be helped. ]
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Baiken: Indeed the hands cannot catch Baiken who is truly balling with the power of lesbian strength. She can slash at falling icicles and slabs of ice where there aren't frostbitten zombies. She is doing a REALLY good job at making sure their pacing remains consistent and undisturbed!
Ichiban: Ichiban manages to retain his sanity, for better or worse. He is drinking deep of the Copium. The burning in his chest grows stronger, as does it for everybody else.
Lovelace: Sorry Ichiban did revert your injuries it was in his section. Yours, Charles, and Shoma's are going to be a bit of a mix here, because:
Charles, Lovelace, Shoma: So, Charles just got squashed and Isabel got half-crushed before Ichiban reached into Hell to reverse this. With how they were just brought back to life, this is going to be pretty rough on them though, and it looks like they're about to get crushed underhand again. Easy targets, right? Sitting ducks as they are, just regaining their footing and their middling rolls. Except, Shoma summons the strength in his tiny body and the mechanical arm leftover from his Screwloose Wallop, winding that arm and sending a power-punch right into the oncoming palm so hard that he actually manages to get it to flinch and retreat.
WILD.
Any CR you try to pick up or save along the way are massacred by the zombies or by the hands. After a bit, you honestly start suspecting that whatever this place is, whoever that hand belongs to, it might be doing this to you on purpose.
You proceed deeper. The Bough is so close. ]
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It feels more and more futile.
The Bough is so, so close. You can feel it begin to resonate with you, faintly, from this distance...
But when you draw a little closer, you see the figure of a middle-aged woman standing directly in your path.]
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i apply my [16] to intimidation aura. ]
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this is a joke i love eunhyuk even if throne is still like nyeh. anyway she's about to pass OUT [9] after watching like four viktors and a lucien get rock smashed and pancaked.
this woman is here and she waits to see what everybody else is doing but she will take out her knife]
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kelsey joked about baiken naruto running but can charles try to go around this woman or at least see what's behind her on the path with a roll of 16]
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However.
That faint resonance picks up, here, echoing in your hearts. You can feel some sort of influence take hold at the very sight of this woman when you approach.
...You stop short, as she looks at you and just smiles. Satisfied, but in a cold sort of way. Not the cat who got the canary, but the scientist whose mouse has finished a maze for the fifth time today. Nothing special, not really.
As your bodies come to an unwilling halt at the raise of her hand, you can hear a familiar male voice quietly whisper in your heads:
"Be it the nightmare or the road... I never strayed once from that woman's control."
Her head cocks, evaluating you-- and her hand lowers in a purposeful gesture.
Above you, more hands descend. Directly above you. Your bodies refuse to move, despite the impending impact.
...but please hold for Lowe.]
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...
But it's not over, yet. Figures come to the rescue, it seems. You hear the sharp sound of clashing, and you're still whole and hale. You see many figures around you, these zombified frozen corpses grasping and rebelling against the oppressing hands, bones cracking under the pressure. three figures stand especially prominent, holding off the onslaught with all their strength.
Their appearances are only important to three of you, but they're a tin box, a large imposing man in a warm coat, and some guy who looks comically familiar. ]
'Twould be shame were you to die ere your journey had begun.
[ Notably, the last guy is in a sombrero hat, funny outfit, and most importantly, he is holding off these hands with a pair of giant maracas. Listen. I think we all need a misery break and this is how it's happening. Aren't we glad to have some friends in our dire time of need.
But that's not the most important part. The important part is that that burning turns into something more tangible -- this Bough is tied to you, your identity, your entire being. It's calling for you to manifest a power unique to you, something you hold, something that is only yours.
This place, this woman, your past --
None of that defines you now.
You can now manifest a powerful [[personal E.G.O.]] with a 0% chance of Corrosion, a reflection of who you are. ]
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[The last time you saw them--
The last time you saw them doesn't matter now, does it? That may linger in your minds for a long time to come, after this, but... they're here once more. You're still here. It's not futile.
This isn't all you can do.]
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arthur? okay?
everything is bad and throné is so, so tired, but she can manifest something. she just kind of like, reaches for temenos? wherever he is, whatever he's doing, she just holds onto him, and turns to this woman, whoever she is, and summons her personal E.G.O. which i have decided is this: she glows yellow, and then more yellow, and then a whirlwind of blue, and spits out the edgiest thing in the universe: a shadowy phoenix, which shrieks at top volume and screes across the screen talons first.
wow flurry you have another character with phoenix imagery? I'M SO SURPRISED
here's music with. agnea's boss fight in the background i guess? i don't know why this is a thing.]
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there's no outward acknowledgement aside from the fleeting glimpse of surprise. it settles just as quickly as it appeared, and baiken's stance shifts, primed and ready as she taps into her own e.g.o. manifestation. it's fucking go time now.
there's a glow of red and pink, a crackle of lightning to manifest into the contradictory duality of strength and discipline.
she also gets an ironic (for this situation) song. ]
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lovelace's personal E.G.O. is just: she starts to glow a bright, vivid blue. All over, but her eyes and hands are the brightest. she hovers up off the ground, and when she snaps her fingers—the enemy bursts into flames. wow i hope she does this after any melee fighters have gone. please assume that is the case.
i can't link music all of the soundtrack slaps but it's a suspense series. there's no action music :yell:i got jealous here's something. ]no subject
he activates his e.g.o. unfortunately it is not a nerf gun that shoots beans, as it instead summons a blazing blue emblem. the insignia glows, before breaking apart into swirls of energy around his blade. they crackle and roar, forming a torrent of water like the river to send surging at the enemy, mixed with purple lightning.
also sure music. also this one which is only tangentially related to charles but it's related to hell so GOOD ENOUGH]
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"I don't want to be left behind anymore. But I don't know how to fix this."
"I couldn't just leave you behind to deal with everything on your own."
he doesn't reach for her, but it does cause him to draw in a few shaky breaths to get his shit together. they're almost done. they can leave after this. they can get this stupid bough and get the fuck out of here.
so yeah. he squares up, looking at this woman while he prepares to summon his own personal e.g.o. i wanna link music too because the qte music is a banger. anyway that's going.
and for a while it looks like nothing happens? except there's a very subtle shift. it starts with a few extra inches. about seven or so, limbs elongating and features filling out. it's the shift in his face, the roundness in his cheeks disappearing to something a little sharper and more angular. the eyes change, too, something more almond-shaped than round. it's a weird shift, a sickening crackle of bone and the sound of mental bending under pressure before all that stands is...a guy. about eighteen years old, a little on the lithe side still but still with a robotic arm. it's red, large and similarly shaped like what you'd expect from a gundam.
anyway the manifestation means that the robot arm throws a fucking punch that explodes on impact. ]
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suddenly, a taxi screeches onto the scene, and tomizawa jumps into the driver's seat. using the widespread confusion caused by the vehicle's abrupt appearance, ichiban sneaks up behind hermann and pushes her into it. tomizawa turns around briefly to meet eyes with his new rider and offer her a courteous smile, before placing his hands on the wheel and revving the engine.
"attention all passengers... you might wanna buckle up."
words simply cannot do the ensuing scene any justice. ]
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Shoma goes first, throwing his punch that knocks Hermann into the wall of the basement interior, into the strange ice mansion's walls that seem to tremble and shake. It's strong enough to leave a crater where she lands -- your mental strength manifesting itself into something more corporeal, something that proves you've grown. You have, willing your outside to match what's inside.
Hermann... she's not done yet -- but neither are you, for that matter. Charles follows it up with a powerful strike of of a wave, knocking her and all the rime corpses out of the way and enveloping the field in crackling lightning, clearing a path for the rest of you to pass -- an open road to the bright Bough, an unobstructed path forward.
Before Hermann can get back to her feet, Isabel glows with strength and power welling from within, and with a sweep of her hands or a simple snap of her fingers, the hostiles are set aflame, burning corpses and disease with them.
Can you believe this is the hinged half of the E.G.O. manifestations? Teej, take it away. ]
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[[BOUGH]]
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FINALE
SIDE: HIGH-ROLLERS