(Open Season) Isla de la Muerte Inslito ((The big fight thread))

Lucard was distracted for a moment as Suraya fled to Tyran's side, firing his pistol at the spot they had been instead. With a howl of rage at their escape, Lucard turned and was about to smash Pious around the face with his second pistol before stopping at Bathory's message.

He's eyes seemed to burn with a red glow as he throw his red tinted glasses to the floor. He too could feel the power taking over this island, but he cared not for it. It was just another ancient power, and so many had awoken in recent years for this to be of any concern. He growled "this is not over Priest, i will have vengence for your assisting a wanted criminal escape justice". With that, Lucard began to fly after Erez'zul and the Ferals.

"OI, you sparkly git!" Patsy yelled furiously, much in the same was as a football hooligan (complete with a rather unladylike single-finger salute, too), to the fleeing Lucard. "If anyone's gonna be cavin' the holy pillock's face in after this, it'll be ME!!"

The immortal then sighed, turning her attention to the discarded glasses in the mud just off from Priest's feet. While strolling over to pick them up, she almost pressed the button on her earpiece before realising it was already pinned down by dried mud.

"Wilf," Patsy called to her associate? "Find a way off this rock before the twerp's black hole nabs yous, alright? I'm gonna finish this stupid job."

"Already done, it appears." Wilf answered. "Corman's already sent the extraction team hours earlier than planned."

"Really, now?" Patsy said, picking up the spectacles. "Good. I'll sort out my own exit, you get the hell as far away as you can, alright?"

"Very well." Wilf confirmed. "And I will see to it you get your pay doubled if you make it out alive."

"Count on it." Patsy muttered, before turning to Priest and pointing the launcher his way. "Consider yerself warned, you rookie. If Tomb gets out of this mess, any innocent blood she'll be spillin' afterward's gonna be on your hands, alright?"

With that, Patsy smirked at the hero, before launching herself into a backward superjump in Lucard's last known trajectory. "Deck you later, hun!"

****

Meanwhile, over at E1...

An unconscious Carly was levitated down into one of the three intact speedboats of the extraction team. By the time they had reached the two mages, they had both spent the last of their power holding a field above them to protect from the volcano's effects, to the point that Carly resorted to using some of her own life-force to keep the thing running just a little longer.

"Mikhail!" Wilf yelled over to the boat's driver. "Floor it back to Rhode Island. Ensure her safety as a priority! The rest of you, jump aboard one of the other boats."

The two other mages aboard the boat complied without protest, hopping onto a separate speedboat each.

"Roger that!" Mikhail barked back before speeding off toward the horizon ahead. Wilf meanwhile, with the assistance of the very same levitation spell from one of the extraction team, vaulted over his cliff-embedded vessel to land safely onto the new boat's deck.

"Alright," Wilf commanded. "We'll split into two teams. Miriam, your team will comb this blasted isle's northern coast. Sigmund?"

"Comb the southern side?" the German driver of the boat Wilf had landed on answered, pre-empting the mage's orders.

"Exactly." Wilf confirmed. "And whatever you do, stay away from the dark tendrils you can see sprouting up from this island! Let's move. We cannot allow the girl to leave this place alive. Sandip, I'll be needing a weapon!"

Old Insidium Plant (E4)

Priest hadn't really been listening to Lucard's threats, knowing full well the ex-crime lord Alicia Barzini could avoid a gunshot. He had spent the whole time communicating with and coordinating his team across the island. By now Blade Racer and his team should have reached the Helicarrier on the Eastern cliff. Miranda and Conall had done their jobs, holding Landborough Port and keeping it clear for escape. With Damsel on board, Miranda's submarine should be clear of the Island by now. Suraya and Tyran were invisible, also heading for the Helicarrier.

Pistol and the Priest looked on as Lucard and the Rocket-Girl finally smartened up and lost patience waiting for a confession from the Priest that wouldn't come. The villains uttered their parting threats and fled, though the truth in the girl's last words were not lost on the pious hero. Still, he held his faith fastened in truth, justice and the American way. He had to. Rebellion against the founding, Christian principles of his country was not something he was mentally and morally capable of accepting. Like all boy scouts, his allegiance was to Law and Order.

Priest exchanged a look with his reformed and rehabilitated sister-in-Law, the woman who had once carried out a hit on him and ended his previous life. Her redemption and her decision to leave her criminal past behind was an example of the success of the prison and parole system, a beacon of hope that even Tomb may one day make up for her own crimes, by giving back to society. Pistol understood the signal to leave and speed-boosted the Priest with her kinetic enhancement powers. Her and her posse disappeared in a cloud of dust, heading to the Helicarrier.

Strengthened and enhanced by both the Desert Princess and the Lady Pistol, Priest was glowing with power. With unparalleled speed, he flew Eastward. He would join Tyran's guards and be there on board Tomb's submarine to escort her Stateside and into custody.

F11

“Well if I’d of felt this wanted when I was younger, I wouldn’t have grown up to be such a bad egg” Tomb says glibly, but her eyes were like that of a cornered animal.

Death was so not an option she wanted right now, her final rest wouldn’t be final or so restive. She glanced at the guards left behind by the Nighthunters, she doubted she’d go to prison; no she’d disappear and end up working for some government department, with her inventions hidden away for special forces work, probably no chance of time off for good behaviour either.

On the other hand she could trust the guy who appeared to have gone full Sith cosplay when designing his clothes, which would mean uncertain death or imprisonment, which was a step up from certain anyway.

“Well I guess my mother never actually did tell me not to trust strangers, do you have a plan for getting out of here?” she asks, eyeing the ferals, and Erez'Zul with uncertainty.

Now Not So Hidden Super Secret Cavernous Submarine Dock Where Tomb Planned To Escape From on a Long Hard Bright Pink Pony Ride, Eastern Cliff (F11)

The helicarrier fired up as Priest approached and slowly rose into the air, discarding a waterfall of ocean sea as it did so. The cargo doors stayed open, ready to accept the escaping Nighthunters team. Priest communicated by radio with the on-board crew who relayed to him what had been going on inside the deep caves. Underwater projectiles, purple villains and feral vampires had compromised the escape plan.

Pressed into action, the ultra-enhanced hero shot into the caves and arrived inside. He didn't take long to assess the situation. His clever plan had somehow been foiled. He concluded that someone or something must have tracked Tomb to this location. But if there was such a power, why had they not done so from the get go? Why track the girl now and not hours ago? There was no longer need for words. The time for action was now.

With the speed of lightening, the armoured hero charged forth and brought down his fists like a force untamed. The attack aimed at the animalistic vampires.

The Ferals were on seperate sides fo a circle, they were focused on Tomb, but not blind to attacks. With sickening speed the targetted creature moved to the side, dodging the attack.

++++

Lucard moved slowly towards the group with mild interest, his eyes focussing on Tomb, raising his pistols. "The girl comes with me, and noone else".

F11...

The place descended into a full blown warzone, at least from Patsy's point of few as she came slamming down on her feet into the ground. The impact served to break off a small, negligible chunk of soil from the cliff edge before her, but now probably wasn't the time to worry about that - She had a genocidal maniac to eradicate!

"Oookay," the immortal muttered to herself, grabbing the grenade launcher once more. "That little ball of shadowy fun back there was probably about ten metres, so best to be careful with this little baby, eh?"

With that, she hopped off the cliff, skidding down its face until she finally slipped off the opening into the cavern and grabbing a convenient chunk of rock cropping out above her.

As she dangled far from helplessly, though, she watched on as the all hell was about to break loose.

And waited.

"Enough!" Nightwalker snapped, a curt gesture making the air itself shimmer slightly. "The girl has a right to answer for herself, to the bidder of her choice. Then, of course, it may be a matter of open debate between proposee's," he added, eyes narrowing, slightly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

Somewhere above the island

A figure clad in brown flew around, safely hidden inside her tough bubble shield as she searched for anything in the falling ash. Having lost her track she didn’t know where to go next. She noticed something glowing flying fast in the distance. As good a trail as any, she decided to follow it to it’s destination.

F11

With a loud crash something landed on the ground near the increasing group of people and beings. As the small cloud of dust settled the hooded figure of a slim girl revealed. A blue glow visible through her red goggles and her body burning with slow moving flames of blue energy. With her mask fully covering her face her expression wasn’t visible, but from her posture it could be seen she was rather angry. Her clothes looking torn and burned in places, possibly from the ash falling all over the island and flying too close to the few remaining trees. The rocks on the ground around her rose into the air and one after another dissolved into nothingness. “I'm done playing…”

(written with Pious’ consent)

Now Not So Hidden Super Secret Cavernous Submarine Dock Where Tomb Planned To Escape From on a Long Hard Bright Pink Pony Ride, Eastern Cliff (F11

Erez'Zul watched as more and more people gathered inside the cave, this wasnt going to end with a simple fight, it would be a war.
The dark figures words were not lost on him however, he seemed level headed, and he knew Pious was a man of reason...the ferals however...

He aimed one hand at each of the ferals, fire bursting from his palm at one of them while dark energy gushing at the feral fighting with Pious, the energy would decay anything, living or dead, within seconds, reducing the flesh to nothing and the bone to dust.
If it missed and hit Pious....didnt really matter.


Old Insidium Plant (E4)

Screecher watched as everyone left, he was about to follow when he heard a familiar howl, looking down he saw the two demons Erez'Zul had left to guard the plant, they had left earlier to frolick in the jungle, the harsh atmosphere of fire and ash was like a small piece of home to them.

He floated down to the ground, landing next to them the smaller of the two jumped into his arms, like an odd looking dog it started licking his face.
He placed it on the ground and looked at the direction everyone had dissappeared to. He wanted to go after them but another thought came into his mind first. Destroyer.

His eyes glowed a brighter shade of green, he instantly knew where Destroyer was.
He set off again, running towards the mine where Destroyer would eventually exit from, the two demons galloping behind him.

Sector F11
Sub Pen

Quote:

Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha Moving with a grace that defied his size and apparent build, he positioned himself between Tomb and the water, while still facing her.

Strangely enough, in response to this the mechanoids held fire. While this may have seemed illogical, there was indeed good reason. They'd been ordered to kill Tomb - and no one else. Though pure coincidence, the Nightwalker had discovered a means to protect the girl from their assault.

For now.

They lay in wait for a while, moving little more than centimeters in the wake of the tides as those aboard the getaway submersible spoke, offered, postured, and threatened. None of it mattered to them. They were machines. They had directives. Everything else truly was irrelevant...
__________________

Sector D5
Ye Olde Insidium Mine

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liz Bathory [Elizabeth] landed in front of the few left over from her once organised incinerating platoon. Adressing the one zombie knight who still had a flamethrower things had to be decided fast. "You... go down the shaft and burn everything even remotely looking like a containment! And don't stop for anything!" The knight nodded and activated the flamethrower.. then ran inside the darkness knowing full well he would never come out again. [...] Elizabeth looked up once more and send out a mental message to Lucard and Erez'Zul. "Get the girl and bring her. But if you cannot... the portal to safety is here and will stay open for at least 30 minutes. She can go down with her island. The virus and process is destroyed!" Then she stepped through the mirror herself.

Vyachslav practically froze when he suddenly 'heard' mental broadcasts once more. It was as if a veil had been lifted, like he'd emerged from a thick, viscous fog that had enveloped the world. His 'sight' was back. He didn't know why, and truth be told, he didn't much care. Telepathy worked again! That was what mattered.

Not that it really helped in a concrete way at this point, but it was certainly a comfort. The world wasn't as empty and silent anymore, and the constant sensation of being enclosed was gone. Of course, technically he still was - but it didn't feel so anymore.

Of course, the resulting stop gave the manifested nightmare reaching up behind him chance to catch up, and it didn't waste the opportunity. Not that Vyachslav cared. He'd already analyzed the thing below; a form of psi-matter that accelerated the specific time of whatever it touched. He, or rather the people with whom he associated, had encountered such things before. The time trap Vario. The First Harmonic Power's temporal displacement field. The time torpedo. The etatstopper. The list went on. As a result, Vyachslav's associates had long ago developed countermeasures thereto, and he hadn't just left those behind. No, the god killer was no threat whatsoever.

Had his analysis been right.

A screech of pain flooded the mine as a tentacle brushed his right foot, corroding the Yntercite of his exoskeleton, rotting the flesh of his innards, sapping the life from his being. He reached almost instantly, jerking ahead and whirling about in the very same motion, orientation given a damn. Both combi-cannon assemblies snapped from his lower arms and switched firing modes, unseen waves of destruction pulverizing the rock and company between the hammer of the interval cannons and the anvil of space. The tentacle left the equation. So did a chunk of its owner. The god killer, or at least a small piece of it, had been expunged from the mine shaft.

For now.

It would be back. That was a fact Vyachslav knew only too well. Thus he moved. He knew he looked pitiful, dragging the dead, bleeding foot behind him on the three that remained, but he wasn't about to risk another encounter. The anstromites in his armor were already at work regenerating the lost limb, and the diagnostic reported the damage wasn't as extensive as it felt and could be fully repaired, but he had to face facts: next time, he might not be so lucky.

Those thoughts and the pulsing pain of injury in his mind, he hardly even noticed the Blood Countess' undead soldier make its way toward him. What he did note however, was the latest news from the ship - and he cursed its lack of initiative. Fine. So it followed orders. Obviously, that wasn't good enough.

He took control...
__________________

Sector F11
Sub Pen

Quote:

Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha "Enough!" Nightwalker snapped, a curt gesture making the air itself shimmer slightly. "The girl has a right to answer for herself, to the bidder of her choice. Then, of course, it may be a matter of open debate between proposee's," he added, eyes narrowing, slightly.

Below the surface of the water, hidden in its murky ebb and flow, the two lurking mechanoids once more came into motion. As another individual appeared and postured, they moved to a new vantage point from which to target Tomb. The instant Erez'Zul attacked, so did they.

In utter silence, a pair of 24mm shells left the water, propelled to supersonic velocities in fractions of a second. The shocks they trailed were a death sentence to any normal human within three meters, and the bullets themselves lethal to even armored vehicles. Their target was Tomb's skull, and they would cover the distance in less time than it took the human eye to complete half a blink. In complete quiet they came, the cacophony of their launch left behind them in the vortices shed.

A whole blink of the human eye later, the cavern shook with a sound of thunder...

F11

Tomb is swayed slightly by the Priest’s words, she takes a hesitant half step towards him, her eyes filled with doubt, only for them to open wide in shock as the Priest knelt as the rifle shots echoed around the room.

Trembling in fear she stares at Nightwalker, swallowing and nodding her head.

“Get me off of this island, and I’ll work for you” she cast a guilty look at the Priest.

D5

With a frightened bellow, the beast known as Hugo finally emerges from the mines bleeding profusely from various scrapes where the tightness of the mine shaft had forced him to leave fur and skin behind as he ran from the welling darkness.

He heads south, narrowly avoiding more of the tentacles as they burst upwards.

D5 Lab

The glass orbs begin to pop and crack as the darkness washes over them, half the lab is already gone, reduced to dust and rust.

The feral that Erez'zul's attack had been aimed at crumpled to dust, the attack having a full impact. The second feral however dodged the shot, but was hit by Lucard, who had fired a single shot into the creatures head. They had servered their purpose and could burn with the island. Lucard however was not finished and looked toward the purple man. Using dark powers, Lucard cast a pit of negative energy around the purple man and Tomb, hoping to prevent them escaping. Lucard looked at the fallen priest and sent some of the same magics into Pious, healing his wounds. "it is not your time to fall young man, get up and help me! Erez'zul! Do not let Tomb escape!"

He turned to Patsy and shouted simply "shoot them!" begining to unleash his own volley of bullets at the fleeing pair.

Nightwalker's eyes seemed to gleam for a moment.
"So naive..."
The essences of the dead ferals rose like pale ghost lights from their shattered bodies, not souls per se, but whatever force had been keeping them animate.
The first joined the swirling mass of Nictus energy that now surrounded Nightwalker and Tomb, another hum joining the chorus as it too was infused with it's own semi sentient shard.
The second simply rose up, glowed and swelled sharply...and exploded violently, hurling dark matter and Nictus energy blasts at everyone outside the shield with equal violence.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

F11

The hooded girl watched as the Priest did his speech before sacrificing himself for Tomb. Her gaze then turned to the Nightwalker figure, eyes glowing with rage. “Oh no you don't!” she shouted, quickly raising her hand and sending a strong shockwave at him, ripping through the ground in a straight line and aimed directly at Nightwalker. She braced herself on her spot and started throwing punches at the air, sending a quick barrage of solidified bright blue energy fists, each about half the size of a grown man and appearing in front of Nightwalker, which disappeared right after they landed or missed their hit. The ground around the girl’s feet cracked before she rose to the air, her hands held together above her head before she swung them down towards the ground, sending a tremor throughout the cave. Hoping that the others would take a moment to regain the balance she sped towards Tomb, aiming to grab a hold of her and fly towards the submarine hatch.

The orbiting essences swirling around Nightwalker locked onto the hooded girl as she attempted to grab Tomb, lashing out and latching onto her with an ever growing growling hum, as they voraciously began to try and tear her life force from her. The shields themselves held against her attempted contact, for now.

"So...Why am I not surprised to see you wielding the energy of one of the other foolish zealots, the blind preachers who understand nothing and achieve even less?" Nightwalker asked coldly as he glared at the Priest, eyes flaring slightly. He grunted slightly as the shield shimmered, the opposing energies attempting to cancel the other out. With a curt gesture he motioned to the hovering Nicti Essences. Both instantly locked onto the Priest, unleasing viscious blasts of energy at him and anyone else caught in their arc of fire.
Sparing one more moment from the teleportation sequence, Nightwalker unleased a massive blast of energy in a wide arc, the emmanation aiming to stun those caught in the blast radius. Then he returned to his primary focus, the anti-glow rising faster in Tomb than in himself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

F11, the cave

The hooded girl screamed out as she felt the Nictus energies trying to slowly kill her. She quickly did a twirl in the air and regained her ground, pushing those wisps away with her powerful telekinesis. Not giving up the girl enclosed herself in her protective shield again, crashing and pushing against Nightwalker’s own shield, trying to break through it.

Vyachslav cursed. The pain must've been affecting his concentration more than he'd thought. It was the only immediate explanation of his stupidity, of making the neophyte's mistake to not confirm the placement of his forces during a flanking maneuver. His experience should've told him otherwise. Instead, he'd not even followed the most basic of logic.

He would not do so again.

Pushing the pain into the furthest recesses of his mind, he reassessed the situation. There was no point in continuing to fire. If the Nictus' shields could annul all those attacks presently directed at Tomb and him, the 'deck guns' didn't have a chance against their resistive power. Worse yet, none of the others around looked to even have been perturbed by them, despite the deadly shocks their shells had trailed. The only one that seemed to have even been affected in any way was the Priest, and he was already back up and at full power once more. Disturbing and, all things considered, rather frightening.

So Vyachslav analyzed. And thought. And calculated. His opponents were tougher, more aware, faster, and more powerful than he...but maybe, just maybe, he had the edge in smarts. And tricks. Yes. On even ground, he was no match for them. He couldn't go up against them.

He'd have to go around them.

The beginning teleportation! That could be it! If he acted quickly enough.

Calculations yielded results. Yes, it could work. The defenses of a Nictus were chiefly based on mitigation, meaning they resisted harm instead of deflecting it - and even if that resistance fully annulled incoming strikes, it didn't redirect them.

The order came like greased lighting. He was taking control of the ship. Generators spun up, breakers clacked, circuits completed. Less than a second after the Nightwalker had said his last words, a short-range warp pad attempted to lock on to Tomb and yank her right over and on board the vessel, trying to teleport the foe into its dispatch bay.

From there, things would end quickly and simply. Vyachslav had no intent to gloat, or to even let her know where she'd been taken. The internal defenses would shoot her, several plasma bolter turrets tasked with reducing the girl to monoatomic vapors the instant she came aboard...