Reginald chuckled at all this. "I have to say, old man," he said, turning to Hotaka, "I really do not trust you. But, as I can hardly prove anything at the time being, I suppose I will have to accept your assistance. . ."
The Oracle opened her mouth, and then shut it tightly.
"What?" Reginald said irritably. "You know something, don't you? About this old man and his motives? Can't you just tell me?"
"I have told you," the Oracle replied. "Telling you the future. . ."
"Changes it, okay, enough already!" Reginald sighed.
Svetlana, however, was forced to wait until the paralysis had worn off before moving forward.
"What ever happened to sensible heroes?" She wondered as she gathered 'Pariah's' dropped loot. "Is odd though, am wonderink what capitalist wants with these."
------
After-Image giggled hollowly again before coasting along the hallway.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
(OOC: Is the Oracle being heard by everyone or just Reginald?)
((Everyone. She's a little hologram that appears from the stone tablet he carries on his back.))
As Wielder came around the door, the Painpipe found only an empty ragged robe.
'Pariah' had vanished into thin air - lootless, but very much escaped...
---------------------
((Very well. I was hoping for more people, but I don't want to draw the actual story out any longer. Time for .))
The abandoned sewer network seemed to be sewers no longer. More and more tech lined the walls as the group descended, finally arriving in a small room with a row of windows lining one side while a door was present to the left.
The wondows overlooked a massive room with the dimensions of a 747 manufacturing plant.
And the floor bore that resemblance.
All around, machines hummed and piping gurgled, the floork vibrating with the rythm of the electronics embedded in it.
Every now and then, a cloud of fog shot from somewhere, obscuring the view for a moment and generally making the window hazy.
But anyone who looked closely enough could see the slowly turning rings of a giant portal mechanism in the back of the hall. In front of it stood a cannon-like apparatus, at least half the height of the portal mechanism, which spanned a good twenty meters.
Fog rolled off the cannon in a constant stream, covering the floor in its wafting waves, creating an eerie and spooky atmosphere. The thing had to be coolded something fierce to emtit that much cold air.
And around the cannon, almost in a perfect circle, stood thirteen structures that looked like giant metal tombstones, pulsing with pale-green energies. Stuck to them bo some force were mages of various groups, from the Circle of Thorns to the Legacy Chain. They were clearly in agony.
And on the floor itself milled its owners.
Rikti.
Clad in suits of cold armor, weapons at the ready, they were preparing...
---------------------
"Well..." Hotaka commented, almost whispering, his breath fogging up the window from the cold on the other side, "Rikti stealing cell phones and tying up mystics. That's a new one..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
OOC: Kind of leaving me hanging here, Devious. How the hell is Wielder supposed to get anywhere with just an empty robe lying in front of him and no description of where he is at all?
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
((Oh, my bad. 
I'm trying to let people take as much control of their characters' path as I can. At least until...well, you'll find out. Anyway, I'll add this if you like: ))
The roars and slurps of Hydra came at Widler and Svetlana, but they seemed to be interested in something completely different, charging right by and milling about aimlessly before lumbering off again.
Something was putting them into a strange state, and that something could very well be associated with the humming that seemed to come from below...
((So feel free to meet up with Guapo or anyone else running around down there right now. There's a lot of unexplored paths in the sewers, and probably quite a few short cuts. 
))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
OOC: I have been in the sewers [i][b]once.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
((Yeah, funny thing, that's about all you need. 
The sewers look all the same and are just repeated over and over at different angles. The only thing I changed was hat the doors to the abandoned section are now guarded by stuff - and 2 of those doors now seem to be clear.))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
OOC: Right, right. -_-
BIC: Leaning back inside the door he had just jumped through, Wielder tapped his painpipe on a bit of metal to get the other hero's attention.
"I BELIEVE THE VILLAIN WAS MERELY A DISTRACTION!" he shouted. "THERE SEEMS TO BE MUCH COMMOTION AMONG THE PAWNS OF DARKNESS KNOWN AS THE HYDRA SPAWN! AND AS WE ALL KNOW, THE BEST ADVANTAGE LIGHT HAS OVER DARK IS OUR KNOWLEDGE OF TEAMWORK! I WOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE IN INVESTIGATING THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THIS EVENT!"
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"Would be grateful if loud American would be quite." Svetlana muttered before heading over to Wielder. "Da. Shall assist for the greater good of the people."
--------
After-Image drifted to the window, the cold not affecting the spirit.
Is odd, Altered Ones never deleved into arcane that I have heard of. Believe Ancient Mages are deserving, but Chain do not.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
(OOC: Actually, El Guapo Grande's kraken opponent is dead, but that doesn't mean the route is clear. Dead things leave corpses 
)
El Guapo Grande kept going (clearing many many MANY more gangs that were apparently running away from things.) until he heard a shouting voice. Something about 'light' this and 'dark' that.
Shrugging, El Guapo Grande dashed towards the voice...
"What on earth are those creatures?" Reginald said, readying his bow. "You all seem to recognize them."
"Oh, those are. . . Oops!" the Oracle began, quickly covering her mouth at the "Oops".
Reginald sighed. "Oracle! They're probably going to tell me in a second, why can't you?"
"It's the principle of the thing!" the Oracle said irritably. "And can't you call me Ruth? It's my name!"
"...Rikti." Pariku remarked, narrowing his eyes. "And they appear to be trying to harness arcane power. As extraordinarily interesting as the result may be, I highly doubt that it will prove beneficial to us."
Nena's left ear twitched and bucked a little, and she turned her eyes to another tunnel mouth.
"I thought I heard great justice." she said mildly.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"EXCELLENT!" Wielder shouted as he pulled back into the main tunnel and saluted the Russian hero. "TOGETHER WE SHALL STRIKE FEAR INTO THE HEARTS OF ALL EVIL BEINGS AND BRING JUSTICE TO THE JUSTICELESS! FOR GREAT JUSTICE!"
Spinning around, Wielder dashed off in the direction that he remembered the team of Hydralings going. After about twenty steps, there was an off-shoot that El Guapo Grande came shooting out of, almost running into Wielder.
"HALT!" Wielder shouted as he stumbled and pointed his painpipe at Grande. "ARE YOU A COG IN THE GREAT SIEGE ENGINE THAT IS GOODNESS OR PERHAPS YOU ARE A PAWN IN THE TWISTED CHESS GAME THAT IS EVIL!?!"
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"I am the Glorious El Guapo Grande, luchadore and hero of the village with one goat and three small children!" El Guapo Grande announced.
Wielder would notice what seemed to be a trail of trolls and hellions behind him. He would also notice that El Guapo Grande is buck naked still except for a pair of tight pants he stole from a husky hellion.
"I see Rikti," Ryuji said, manifesting an ice spike on his arm, "But I don't hear Rikti screams, what's the plan?"
"GREETINGS GLORIUS EL GUAPO GRANDE!" Wielder announced, ignoring the man's lack of clothing. "IT IS INDEED GOOD TO FIND ANOTHER SEEKER OF VIRTUE AMONG THE FILTH OF THIS EVIL INFESTED SEWER! I AM KNOWN AS THE WIELDER OF THE PAINPIPE AND IT IS MY DESTINY TO FREE THE WORLD FROM THE DARK GRIP OF EVIL!"
Pausing to take a breath, Wielder looked down the hallway at all the unconscious Trolls and Hellions and nodded, satisfied.
"PERHAPS YOU, I, AND A FELLOW DO-GOODER SHOULD TEAM UP AND FIND THE EXPLANATION FOR THE MACHINATIONS OF EVIL THAT SEEM TO BE EVERYWHERE!"
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"El Guapo Grande deeply appreciates the aid of you, Shouting One! El Guapo Grande has found many ugly tentacle monsters, like those that terrorize the young supple school girls of Japan, down in that direction," El Guapo Grande pointed the way he came.
Back at the former Hellion hide-out the police had mostly contained the area. Ambulances were trickling in as the rescue workers pulled Hellions out of the rubble. The fire department had sent two trucks to insure the safety of the scene, but they didn't think it necessary to send more. Most Hellions tended to occupy buildings that had been abandoned or condemned, so the city had already turned off gas and electricty. The only risk was if one of the more powerful Damned got uppity and started torching things. That risk was considered 'low.'
Meanwhile, Jon MacMaetor was not-so-silently fuming.
"Mexican moron! Takes down a building! Got no plan! Ruins my whole mother [censored] crime scene! Loses the [censored] thing we're supposed to get back! Godammit!"
"Sir?"
"WHAT?!"
"The investigator from MAGI has arrived. Says he's going to need full access to the scene to search properly."
"Alright, fine. You stay here, I'm leaving you in charge."
"Where are you going, Detective?"
Jon ran his hands down his trenchcoat, smoothing it, and feeling everything was in place.
"I'm going to find the idiot that did this and arrest him for obstruction of justice, vandalism, depraved indifference, criminal negligence, and however many counts of attempted murder as there are Hellions in that pile of rocks. That's where I'm going."
The Detective got the spare shotgun out from the trunk of his cruiser and loaded it up.
"And I expect that by the time I get back we'll be able to tack on resisting arrest and assaulting an officer," he said darkly as he slid into the sewer.
[ QUOTE ]
"I see Rikti," Ryuji said, manifesting an ice spike on his arm, "But I don't hear Rikti screams, what's the plan?"
[/ QUOTE ]
"I sense quite a few strong feelings there." Hotaka mumbled. Did Ryuji have a history with the Rikit? Perhaps even fought in the Rikti War?
Well, it was of little consequnce either way. The mages on the 'metal tombstones' were what really interested him right now.
"My plan's to free the Chain guys, kill the soul-stealers, maybe carve up that Shaman too, and then make a mess of whatever the Rikti are doing. That good or does someone have a better idea?"
"We still need to get out hones back, Sensei." Waziri added.
"Oh yes. For some odd reason, they stole our cell phones. If you find them, we'd appreciate if you told us..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Pariku stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"I hesitate to kill any of the captive mages - perhaps they can provide us with an arcane edge against the Rikti. I would imagine they have enough motivation to join us against them. But one thing is for certain; we have to get them out of there before the extraterrestrials are able to commence their machinations."
"We can't let 'em start their plan, neither." Nena said, gripping her greatsword a little tighter. Pointing a green-gauntleted hand towards the left end of the group, she nodded. "We can bottleneck them in the tunnel if we approach from that direction. Anyone who can get to the mages should go around the back, and then we can flank the group."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Insteed of answering, After-Image faded from view and passed through the wall on her way down to the captive Legacy Chain mages. She'd had far too many bad experiences with the Circle and the Pantheon to even think of freeing them. Someone else would have to work with them.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
"I am still not sure what the Rikti are," Reginald said, "but I believe I can assist the mages."
He cloaked again, and there was a faint humming noise as Reginald ran some sort of device over the door, attempting to disrupt any traps or locks on it so it could be opened. He stood to the side, so that if the door opened suddenly and the Rikti attacked through it, he would not be in their line of fire.
The door slid aside without protest. Apparently, the Rikti believed the Hydra was more than enough to keep anyone out, especially with a Kraken at every door down here.
This was probably why no Kraken had been seen in Perez for almost a week now.
And as it opened, a wave of noise flooded out of the massive hangar, and stepping out onto the catwalk beyond the door only made it worse.
Looking over the railing, the Rikti on the floor - four or so stories below - didn't even seem to mind the loud humming and rumbling. Every one of them wore an armorsuit, weapons charged and ready for combat at any time.
"My, my." Hotaka commented, sticking to the shadows at the end of the catwalk attached to the stone wall of the sewer. It was likely no one could hear him, but he continued anyway, "They're up to something big this time."
And just as he said this, a sound of thunder echoed across the hall. The core of the cannon had begun to rotate, and the portal was building up energy, its rings charging steadily, field lines crackling powerfully at its vertex.
It had begun...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
OOC: Never remind people of things, they'll always do it.
BIC: "VILE EVIL TRICKERY!" Wielder shouted as he thrashed around, eventually righting himself. "YOUR HOPELESS SHINNANAGENS CANNOT HOPE TO STOP ME FROM MY TIRELESS PURSUIT!"
Jumping to his feet, Wielder surged through the sewer door on his tireless pursuit of all evil everywhere.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.