Bermuda Holiday Session 8

Princess Guard - The New Era 2017/12/02 	 Charm Titan Pulsar Wolf Cecila Harlequin Aaliyah

31

Cargo Ship Santabelle
From the exterior the cargo ship Santabelle has the appearance of a decrepit vessel slowly rusting from lack of maintenance. The superstructure is marred by patches of rust and peeling paintwork. There are many that look like it on the seas, plying for trade and cargoes that have mostly moved to the great airships that have made a comeback from the 2040's.

Inside however it's a different story. The vessel is well maintained. The forward cargo hold has been converted into a concealed living space for the Beasts villain team. Several bedrooms and a common area. One bedroom is currently occupied by the kidnapped friend of Johnathan, the redheaded Amanda Reinhart.

Titan says, "I think we need to turn that lot in to the authorities. I'm not really worried about this 'Chimera' person."

Harlequin says from the other side of the Gate, "While it would be fantastic to go up against a Chimera of unknown properties, this is actually a distraction from our real purpose right now. We'll call the British and American navies with the ship's info and let them shell it, shall we?"

Pulsar looks around at the others - his gaping (and glaring) slashes and holes on chest and forearm seem to be dimming as he knits himself back together. With the hostage saved, he doesn't feel the need to stay for Chimera - but he's not against it either. He seems like he'd rather defer to Titan - but he speaks up anyway after nodding his agreement with Titan. "I agree, but if we wait for their boss - do we have any idea of what we can expect?"

Wolf turns his shaggy angular head up to look up at Titan and Sasha as they discuss tactics. Seeing that Pulsar is still hurting, he heads over to heal him some more

Stomp shrugs after looking at the unconscious Claw and Fang. "Hey, do you have any vacancies on your team? The rest of our group are killers and, well, I don't fit in too well, you know what I mean?"

Harlequin looks over at Stomp then to Titan then back to Titan. "The Princess' Guard serves the Fae realm of Undermoon. If you wish to come with us, the Captain of the Guard can assess whether you would be a good fit."

Pulsar's injuries glow brightly as Wolf applies his energies to his photon matrix - fueling the closure of his wounds. He sighs and crouches to pet Wolf and says "Thanks buddy. I'm not sure I'm as tough as I thought I was - glad you were here."

Charm says, "I see no reason to stay to pick a fight."

Stomp looks puzzled, "The 'who' realm of 'what'?"

Titan furrows his brow, "Shell it? Err...seems unlikely, doesn't it? Let's get the authorities called. However they deal with it is fine. And if Chimera shows up...we'll deal with it, then. No need to wait for him or her specifically, except that he ordered the kidnapping in the first place."

Wolf's fuzzy ears track the conversation, pointing to each person as they speak in turn.

Titan looks to Stomp through the gate. "You kidnapped a woman. And you were ordered to kill her if you couldn't hold onto her. Would you have followed through?"

Stomp's shoulders sag at Titan's question. "I wouldn't have killed her. But to be honest, I wouldn't have gone up against the others to stop them."

Wolf focuses intently on Stomp, ears and eyes alert to subtle cues indicating hidden "tells". . . to see if he's being entirely truthful?

Harlequin smiles underneath his mask, the presence of said smile coming out in his tone of voice, "Well, no worse than any recruits to many an army. And Captain Ghost is a very good judge of character. I say we use the time tested case of bumping the decision up to a higher authority." He adds after a beat, "I can run Stomp back to Colonial Bay and be back shortly."

Wolf nods once, as he observes Stomp and then watches Titan to see if the plan is to sit tight here while Harlequin hops out and back?

Titan nods slowly, "I think you're being honest. But at the same time, you have to deal with the consequences of your actions. Deal with that first. Afterward, you can look us up in Colonial Bay."

"That seems more than fair." Pulsar says of Titan's offer.

Titan ties his hair back again, since the ponytail had been jarred loose in the fight.

Harlequin murmurs, "Well, then we should get the other two over here to turn over to the authorities. Could you help us with that Stomp?"

Stomp shrugs disappointedly, "I'm not immortal. By the time I've 'dealt' with the consequences of bad life choices I'm going to be old and grey. I can't say your offer ain't fair but it doesn't leave me a lot of choice."

Titan nods. "The authorities may be willing to cut a deal if you can give them information or testimony."

"And if you have someone from an embassy speaking for you. Willing to give you a new start," murmurs Harlequin.

Titan nods. "THAT I'd be willing to do. And I might be able to get Ghost to speak on your behalf, too."

Stomp laughs bitterly, "Or I could just cut my own throat now and save the others the effort of tracking me down." He sighs, "Hit me. Punch me out. Then I won't have to answer questions about why I was the only one left conscious."

Titan's decision has been made easier with Amanda still standing there. He places a call to the authorities.

Those still in the cargo hold of the ship feel the vessel rock and hear a heavy thudding clang as if something has just landed on board.

Charm says, "Sounds like we've thought about this too long...."

Titan says to Amanda, "Stay here where it's safe." He heads back through the gate.

Wolf says, "Well if you are too afraid to stand up to these men - you won't do well with us. You have to find your own bravery my friend."

Pulsar says to Stomp. "We don't do what we do because it's easier.""

A moment's silence after the thud. Then the sound of tearing metal echoes through the interior of the ship. A sound that seems to be quickly getting closer.

Charm says, "What's the plan?"

Titan says to Harlequin, "If this goes badly, close that gate."

Titan smiles. "But it won't."

"Titan and I will take point." Pulsar says as he goes full hologram and begins drifting toward the sound of shredded metal. Perhaps he's proving a point to Stomp.

Wolf sets up at the front of the group, facing the noises, screening Charm and the Gate from the incoming danger if possible.

Titan moves up with Pulsar.

Harlequin murmurs as he glances over at Amanda. "My dear, would you mind terribly if I teleported you to somewhere safer, such as the cruise ship?" He turns his attention back to the Gate while he's speaking.

A few seconds later the door to the cargo hold, concealed on the other side but obvious to those in the cargo hold, is smashed off its hinges and flies across the open space to slam into the far wall. And Chimara is revealed in the doorway. Chimara is twice the size of Stomp in rhino form. He has the scales of Claw, the lion head of Fang, the rhino like body of Stomp, and a wicked looking scorpion's tail arcing over his massive body.

Chimara growls, "Who dares to invade MY ship?"

Wolf whuffs out a short sigh, then steels himself for the oncoming onslaught. He closes his eyes briefly and transforms into O-kami form

Amanda nods to Harlequin, "Yes. Please."

Titan raises a brow, "Going for the classics. Perfect." He steps forward, "I'm Titan. And we're the Princess Guard. We saved your kidnap victim. And...well, beat the tar out of your team."

Chimara laughs in a low menacing growl, "You think you can do the same to ME! Fool. I shall drink your blood and feast on your flesh."

Charm simply answers by breaking into song. In all likelihood Chimara is as resistant as Stomp, but it's worth a go.

Harlequin drops all of his other ongoing enchantments save for the Gate to the ship. He then makes a gestures and opens a Gate at a ninety degree angle and out of sight of the ship's gate back to the main promenade of the ship. "Good sailing, mam'selle. Now go!"

Chimara does actually hesitate noticeably to Titan's expressed confidence.

Titan decides to go for the home run. "I suggest you just surrender and call it a day before we have to beat the tar out of you, too."

"You heard the man." Pulsar says as he solidifies into existence next to Titan.

Chimara starts to shake off the momentary hesitation... and becomes angry with himself for the reaction, and thus angry with Titan for making him feel uncertain.

Titan can see that it's not going to work...and that Chimera is about to go on a rampage. So...best make sure that Titan is the target. He flies over and lands next to Chimera, taking a swing at the brute.

Chimara is knocked back a few feet but Titan really didn't feel his punch had any other effect.

Chimara slams into the wall of the cargo hold next to the doorway he wrecked on the way in.

Charm sings her siren song, trying to get Chimera lost in the music.

Chimera seems to be too lost in the music even to regain his feet - at least for the moment.

Chimara relaxes, not moving except for the waving of his scorpion's tail in time with Charm's playing. Then his eyes snap open and he growls, looking at Charm.

Charm stops playing, since obviously the spell is broken. "Hm. It seems that it *is* the savage breast and not the savage beast that music calms. Darn."

Wolf had interposed himself between Charm and the Gate on one hand and Chimera on the other. Seeing an opening and an opportunity, he now gets a running start and then tucks himself into a ball, shouldering into the creature's left forelimb in order to prevent Chimera from getting a rhino-like charge going that could plow through the whole team like a bulldozer. In further applying what he's learned from Stomp's tactics of earlier, Wolf also ends the move catercorner to Chimera, forcing the enemy to expose a flank as he chooses his targets, even if Wolf misses.

Chimara grunts as Wolf's slam strike gets through to where he lives, and knocks Chimara in a grating slide along the now dented cargo hold wall.

So, as she usually does, Aaliyah was spending an afternoon in her tomb. Yes, it's kinda creepy, get over it. It's where she feels safe and secure. Buried underground in a place that she can only get in and out of via her magicks. Either way, she was simply reviewing some ancient texts when the divine clue-stick smacked her in the back of the head. She lifted a hand and rubbed the bridge of her nose before inclining her head, "So where am I off to this time?" she asked aloud.

After a moment, she nodded, "Very well." she states, "I will go where I am needed." And her hands begin moving in a complex series of gestures, the Eye of Horus sigil growing out from her there, and also in the air just over the deck in the cargo bay of the ship... a golden sigil some might recognize, with a magical signature that is just as recognizable. The sigil fades away and Aaliyah stands there, taking in the surroundings. "What is this my friends?" she asks.

Amanda hurried through the alternative gate Harlequin opened back to the cruise ship as Chimara arrives on the Santabella.

Harlequin lets the Gate to the cruise ship close then takes a few steps through the remaining Gate before letting it shut behind him as well. As he raises his hands, blue and silver disks whirl into existence around him, circling him in eccentric orbits.

The mage takes a moment then points a finger at Chimera. "You, sirrah, are a real pain. Much like this is!" A sooty red blast jolts from Harelquin's forehead at Chimera.

The sooty red bolt goes wide and passes, harmlessly, well save for a lingering scent of brimstone, through a bulkhead. Pulsar joins the fray - though he stays positioned between Chimera and Titan and the rest of the Princess Guard. He stands defensively but that's not all he's planning.

As before, Pulsar cocks his arm back the way a javlin thrower might as he pools ambient photons and creates a few trillion more which he arranges in a solid field shaped like a lance.

As it pools the room may grow subtly darker though only for a half a second. He closes an eye to aim at the Chimera and then hurls the bolt at him.

Chimara shakes his head, takes a deep breath, and looks to be fully re-invigorated.

Chimara rolls back onto his four feet and picks a target. Wolf is the one who hurt him most. Leaping over to where Wolf is he tries to rear up and drop his front clawed feet onto Wolf to pin Wolf down for a stinger attack.

Wolf quickly and adroitly steps sideways to dodge the incoming attack. It's a bit of a strange sort of sideways, being neither to the left nor to the right, but, well, that's an Umbral Step for you. In the flicker of a half of an instant later, he's transparent.

Chimara's scorpion tail quivers and lifts, then slashes down, passing through the suddenly not fully there Wolf. The sting dents the steel floor of the cargo hold and a vile smoking green liquid spurts out of the tip.

Charm gets the sense that Chimera is not going to be easily calmed or cowed. So instead she sings a song to *increase* his confidence, hoping that in his arrogance he may be prone to making very foolish mistakes.

Pulsar frowns when Chimera jumps his wolfling pal.

He charges Chimera as fast as he can thinking, .o0(What a dirty low down...). He arcs towards the giant hybrid losing any regard he might have for his own safety. He just knows he needs to help Titan and Wolf keep Chimera from going after their softer, glass-like cannons. He attempts to grab the bestial man.

Harlequin murmurs in his antiquated sounding Fae to Charm, "Would you mind if I protected us a bit more, my dear? If you desire, I can raise a wall to protect us from physical harm."

Charm nods in reply to Harlequin, without ceasing her song.

At the last second - Pulsar vanishes in a flash of light from just at the right of Chimera. He reappears in what almost seems like the same flash of light behind his target.

He wraps his arms around the beast and wrangles it into a hold he can maintain. "Let's see how you like it..." He says between grunts.

Shaking her head, Aaliyah didn't get an answer to her question but.. in the heat of combat, things get chaotic. She just nods and strides forward a few paces. "I take it that is the one which needs subduing?" she asks with a grin. But she is already weaving her hands and then she murmurs a few ancient words in her native tongue. Her hands finish the gesture and she points both palms at the Chimera. As she does so, spirits seem to shriek from her palms and leaves a glowing trail as they charge towards the enemy, trying to sap its defenses.

The spirits slam into his body, but they have no physical form. They pass through Chimara and flow out behind him... and then fade into the spirit realm, taking energy from their target... "His mind should be less shielded, presuming it was in the first place." she states, "Next, the spirits to attack his soul." she suggests.

Titan nods. "Yeah...yeah. This is the 'one who needs subduing'." He steps up to Chimera and takes a swing. He's not so honorable as to hold back when his opponent is held.

Chimara grunts as Titan's powerful blow slams into his flank.

Harlequin raises his hands and makes an encircling gesture. As he completes it, a translucent sapphire wall composed of perfectly tesselated octagons rises into existence around and above and below Harlequin and Charm.

The mage gives a contented looking nod as the barrier forms then looks over at Chimera. Another sooty red bolt blasts from his forehead at Chimera.

And this time the sooty bolt passes harmlessly though the floor of the hold. Probably some fish will get the pain of its life.

Chimara could sting Pulsar, or bite him, or tear Pulsar apart with his claws. But any of those acts will not prove Chimara's superior strength. In his hightened confidence and arrogance he is determined to prove he is the better by winning on sheer strength versus strength.

Chimara struggles but Pulsar holds on with surprising ease.

Wolf seems to do absolutely not much of anything.

Mental powers are like that sometimes. In Chimara's head Wolf continues to seem to be in the not fully there state and thus cannot be affected by Chimara's physical attacks.

Pulsar braces himself against Chimera and holds on to the living amalgam with all his might. He decides that he's best suited here - so he does the only thing that makes sense. He squeezes - though not with all his might for fear of causing permanet damage.

Pulsar must not be able to quite get his arms into a feasible position to cause any damage against Chimera - the beastman is too wiley, struggling too hard against him. He settles for maintaining his grip on Chimera instead.

Chimara doesn't use his claws to tear at Pulsar. He doesn't arch over his tail to sting Pulsar. Full of overconfidence and arrogance thanks to Charm's playing he simply tries to break free with brute strength, and just fails.

With mental communication:

To: The Rhino    From: The Dog A beast I am, yet Beast I fight! and it's _your_ time to Choose: To cast your lot with us, or him. . . now pick one!: win or lose.

Charm has just pretty well exhausted her bag of tricks: Chimera is just too hard-headed. She has one last go at trying to lose him in her music; at the risk of exhausting herself.

Charm plays her heart out, but perhaps Chimera is not the sort to be easily moved by music, magical or otherwise.

Stomp looks at Wolf hesitating. Then he says softly, "He's going to kill me..." and falling forwards Stomp morphs into his Rhino form. Stomping over to Pulsar and Chimara he tries to step on and hold down Chimara's scorpion tail.

But Stomp misses his mark and fails to capture the tail.

Titan sees an opportunity, with Chimara still held. He winds up, intending to put all of his strength into a punch to the boss's gut.

Pulsar sees what Stomp is doing, he tries to assist by holding Chimera still - but even then Stomp's efforts miss.

Nevertheless, Pulsar smiles weakly and says "You've made the right decision, and in the end - that's what matters." Stomp probably gets the distinct feeling that Pulsar wants to give him a thumbs up, but his hands are full.

Harlequin listens as Charm's music fails to soothe the savage breast of Chimera. He thinks snarkily but not over the link .oO(Probably armored, his breasts are...) as he yet again tries to just inflict pain on the brute. His eyes flash a sooty red as a similarly colored bolt shoots from his head towards Chimera. It leaves a faint stench of brimstone in its wake.

And yet again the sooty bolt does not connect with Chimera's mind. .oO(Maybe it's missing because he's not real? An actual chimera? Nah...)

Titan slams his fist into Chimara, "You think you can beat all of us? You can't even beat me."

Pulsar nods at that and says to Stomp, "He's right - we're stronger together." He redoubles his efforts to hold on and grips his wrists with both hands.

Chimara twists his head sufficiently to look in the rough direction of Stomp, "I'm going to kill you, traitor" he snarls. Then he flexes his muscles again in an attempt to break free of Pulsar's grip.

Wolf positions himself between Chimera and Stomp, making it perfectly clear to both than any attempt by Chimera to kill Stomp will have to kill Wolf first.

Pulsar 's grip is broken free just as he tries to clamp down on both wrists. It seems Chimera's timing was perfect.

But instead of re-engaging the grip on Chimera, the Holographic Hero decides to protect Wolf who's protecting Stomp.

He says aloud what Wolf's body language has made clear, "You've got more than enough on your hands dealing with us - and you won't be getting to him..." He points over his shoulder to Stomp, "without getting through us. And Brother - you aren't making nay headway there."

Charm resumes her song of confidence, having failed once again at anything greater.

Stomp sighs and flinches when Chimara breaks free. "He's not kidding. I'm committed now." he says with more than a hint of regret in his voice. Moving past Wolf he rears up and attempts to slam down his massive weight on Chimara.

But Chimara is just too nimble for the rather slow lumbering Stomp.

Titan takes another swing at Chimara, "You're a chump. Seriously... is this the best you've got?"

Pulsar waits for Titan's cue and even though he misses - Pulsar takes a swing from behind while Chimera is stalled.

Pulsar's swing is wide and that only adds up to failure as Chimera is just so damned agile.

Harlequin takes a half step forward as a blue light limns his body then appears on the other side of the barrier that is now only protects Charm. "One last gasp at non-damaging, I think, before I pull out the other guns..." he mutters as he gathers dry, dusty magicks to himself. A greyish light builds between his hands then flashes over at Chimera. It seems to encompass a fairly good sized area but Chimera is the only one the magicks focus on.

The mage blinks behind his mask as the spell hits and apparently takes effect. The greyish light encompasses Chimera rendering him incapable of voluntary muscular movement. "Yes!" shouts Harlequin as he punches the air. "Act quickly! No telling how long it'll last!"

Charm braces herself for one final effort, trusting to Harlequins shield to protect her. She lets the magical music flow from her soul through her fingers and mouth, all but ignoring the rest of the world....

Wolf stuttersteps, knowing that Chimera has always been faster than he. When Chimera fails to attack, Wolf dives into the opening Chimera has given him.

Charm's playing achieves little but exhausting herself.

Chimara breaks free from the deathly grip of Harlequin's spell, and lifts his long clawed front limbs to slash at Stomp.

Wolf leaps back to protect Stomp, and gets a bit mangled.

Wolf seems to be missing a large chunk of his left flank. Gore aplenty, blood lots. Wolf closes his eyes briefly, then opens them without making a sound.

Charm falters in her playing. "He's more hard-headed than a dwarf!" Then falls silent on seeing what happened to Wolf.

Stomp winces at the wounding of Wolf while Wolf defends Stomp. "You'd do that? For me?" he asks Wolf. Then a look of determination comes to his face and he lunges at Chimara.

But despite good intentions he too misses the agile Chimara.

Titan finds himself ignored again by Chimara. For the third time, he thinks? Fine...might as well take advantage of that. He winds up for another big punch, hoping to connection solidly.

Harlequin watches Chimera claw Wolf viciously then sees that the spirit wolf is still conscious. "So be it," he murmurs in a cold voice. He raises his hands which causes a low grey fog to roil around his feet then he stans one hand at Chimera. A skeletal hand, larger than a normal man's, rises from the fog as a sharp chill spikes the air. It flys at Chimera, grabbing at the brute, as if trying to pull something out of the creature. It avoids all others as it unerringly targets Chimera.

The hand then seems to hesitate and flys back at Harlequin, sinking deep into his chest.

The mage's skin, what little is exposed, grows white and wrinkled as the skeltal hands rips something from within Harelquin.

Charm takes a breath, centres herself and tries once again to cast a mighty spell

Titan connects solidly again, without even bothering with a soliloquy this time. Either Chimara will decide to deal with him...or not.

Chimara is SLAMMED through the rear wall of the cargo hold, and through a half dozen of the real cargo containers in the mid-ship hold. There's a Chimara shaped hole going deep into the container stack. At the end of the hole is an unconscious Chimara.

Titan looks over to Harlequin, "Can you heal Wolf?"

Harlequin gasps out, "That is my plan, yes. Go kick the bastard while he's down."

Stomp looks in disbelief at the unconscious Chimara. "You... defeated him." Then he remembers something and hurries over to Wolf, "Are you going to be okay?" he asks worriedly.

Titan lets out a long breath. "I'm afraid that if I hit him hard enough to seriously put him out, I'll knock him out of the ship." He stalks over to Chimara, keeping his eyes on the downed villain.

There's not even much twitching. It doesn't seem like Chimara is going to be waking up any time soon.

Wolf clambers up to all fours and trots over to reassure Stomp that he'll be OK. Feeling pieces of his insides trailing on the deck behind him, he angles his approach so that Stomp only sees his right (unwounded) side. "Whuff!" Wolf wags, reassuringly.

Harlequin does the same sort of odd, stuttery walk/run that Wolf did over to spirit wolf. As he kneels next to Wolf, he says, with a gentle joke in his voice, "Sit. Stay." Then, oddly, since this is the hold of ship, the scents of freshly turned earth, fresh rain, and the hint of growing plants and animal mush fill the air around Wolf, Stomp and Harlequin. A healthy green liquid light fills the mage's hands which is them tipped over onto Wolf. The light suffuses his body, restoring health and healing wounds.

Wolf sits, still hiding his left side from Stomp's worry.

The mage continues to call upon the powers of Nature until the spirit wolf is fully healed.

Titan picks up Chimara and carries him over to where Fang and Claw are. He looks over to see Wolf's status.

Titan says to Wolf, "That was brave. But Stomp could probalby take the hit." Titan looks to the others, "After that, I'm inclined to let Stomp go. but I'm not going to decree it. Thoughts?"

Charm says, "Stomp acted valiantly."

"I think we last saw him heading for the ship's boats." Harlequin looks at Titan then to Stomp. "Would you care for me to transport you to Colonial Bay? Where you can meet the elven woman who night become your new boss?"

Titan nods to Harlequin, and smiles at Stomp, "Yeah, I didn't see him leave."

Titan turns to deal with the other three villains.

Wolf *noses* Stomp encouragingly, hoping he chooses to make a new life for himself in the Fae Realms, but, respecting his decision whichever it may be.

Harlequin looks down at Wolf, a smile in his voice. "You get steak tonight by the by.

Wolf wag wag wag wag wags.

Stomp morphs back to human form. "I'm... really not suited to all this." he says, with a wave of a hand encompassing the fight scene. "But I owe you. If you're willing, I'll vanish and make a new life for myself. But once I'm settled I'll contact you and if you need me I'll come."

Harlequin smiles. "As you wish, Stomp. Pick a city and we'll go there."

Stomp doesn't need to think long. "Paris?" he asks.

The mage looks over to Titan. "I will be back as soon as I am able, Titan." He then reaches out a hand and puts it on Stomp's arm. "And if you will just follow me?" And with that, Harlequin opens the first of a series of Gates to transport Stomp and he to Paris and then Harlequin alone back.

Titan nods. "Sounds good. Good luck, Stomp."

Charm says, "Farewell."

"That's a heck of a deal you got there, but you earned it." Pulsar says agreeing as he drifts towards the now, not so injured Wolf. "Hopefully you'll find your way to using your powers for the good of all - but just being a good citizen is enough for me." He floats down to his knees to kneel next to Wolf and says to Harlequin, "He earned a week of steaks if you ask me."

Pulsar waves to Stomp as he and Harlequin depart.

Wolf *points* his nose in Farewell salute to the teleporters, wishing them safe travels and best luck for new beginnings.

Stomp halts long enough to echo the sentiment, "Good luck to you all. And thank you. I needed pushing. I wasn't happy but I didn't have the courage to break away on my own." He looks at Wolf, "You gave me that." Then he follows Harlequin through the gate.