Log:New Starguard Adventures, Scene 5

New Starguard Adventures 2016/03/14 Lionel Bonefinger Chen Grimm Malcolm Psyn The Torus Victory

5

In the Alien District, in the middle of the intersection a circle of light appears on the pavement. A ring of red, with pentagram lines inscribed within. It's a portal of sort and a dark, robed finger rises up out of it. Face concealed beneath its cowl. It extends a skeleton hand and fingers pointing out towards Grimm. "Gabrielle Grimm..." the figure says, "...Welcome, to your destiny..."

Lionel Bonefinger(#2773TOnp)

A white-haired man in his sixties, dressed in robes. At a glance, he's dressed like an archetypical wizard, in a dark robe with dark red trim. The material has a slight sheen to it and has a textured pattern. The robe hangs to just past his elbows, revealing that his right hand is skeletal, with runes engraved in black along the fibia and tibia. The robed is closed at his collar with large medallion with green jewel at its center. He carries a old, gnarled wooden staff in his left hand.

In the CBSU gym, the dog beast puts the weigh of its forepaws down on Chen. It's maw glows red before and it inhales - a prelude to it breathing fire down at Chen.

Meanwhile in Old Town, the Dog Beast is perched on the rooftop of a 3rd story building in the historic district. It leaps across the gap of the street below, and bounds towards where Psyn has been knocked back to.

Chen is enveloped in the fire and flames. With no visible reaction except for a muted laugh followed by the fateful words, "Is that all you've got?"

The hooded figure takes a moment to adjust to his surroundings.

In the Alien District, the Dog Beast continues to whimper, still cowed for the moment by Grimm's enchantment.

Torus watches as Psyn is blasted away by the Demon Dog, which The Torus would point out to everyone, that he doesn't believe in demons. Maybe DEMON, but not actual demons; dog or otherwise.

Considering how close she is, The Torus teleports to her location- her shoulder specifically, appearing on the other side of the wormhole in its spherical form.

It sets Psyn as its center of gravity so that it may keep track of her, and hopefully be able to keep her safe.

It speaks aloud, its post-post-human voice grating and unnatural by contemporary hears. "Psyn- perhaps we might fare better if we coordinate our actions? I will not help you harm this creature, but I am fully capable of protecting you from it and possibly containing said creature."

Chen changes her form, morphoing into a six limbed armored octopus analoge. Six tentacles with suckers and claws attempt to wrap around the dog beast and hold it tight.

The dog beast's heavily muscled form feels like iron to Chen's grip. She's able to tighten her grip around the creature, but only just.

Victory shouts to the basketball players that had been cornered, "Get out of here! We'll keep it busy while you escape!" He runs over to help Chen out, attempting to strike the Dog Beast thing with a side kick.

Victory's boot thuds into the side of the beast, but it doesn't budge an inch.

Psyn takes a deep breath and nods, "Alright." she says to Torus, "I am going to try hitting its mind, but it might not work, any help with defense you can provide. If this doesn't work I have a few other things that might." she says and then she focuses on the dog beast and blasts away with a psychic bolt.

The Torus floats silently near Psyn until it speaks up in response to her, "Confirmed. Please stay within a reasonable proximity to this unit for best service."

The Torus has no idea she's done anything at all yet, so it waits for her to fire her volley off.

The Dog Beast howls in anguish it's eyes flare brightly, red and angry towards Psyn. It snorts and brimstone seeps from its nostrils.

Forge blinks a few times as the DEMON wizard's voice rings out, the metal man looking first at the terror-subdued dog beast and then at the actual source of the proclaimation about Grimm. Arching his back, Forge rolls almost onto his shoulders before he kicks his weight forward to kip up to his feet and immediately charges toward Bonefinger.

"Yeah, no. That's not happening, Loudmouth," intones Forge as charges. Stopping at the last second, liquid metal extends out from one hand behind him, flowing into the shape of a sledgehammer. Forge pivots on his lead foot and swings the hardening metal at Bonefinger, intending to overwhelm the wizard's as yet unidentified defenses.

Maybe Forge should get his eyes checked, that swing and a miss wasn't even close. Was he expecting Bonefinger to be taller or something?

The old man shifts quickly and side steps the blow, showing surprising agility.

A sudden invasion by DEMON is not what Grimm was expecting. Alien invasions, maybe drone tanks, but not a mage that knows her by name. The pit of her stomach churns coldly at the talk of destiny. It's not the first time someone's proclaimed prophecies related to the source of her powers. Let it not be said that being a conduit of Qliphotic powers doesn't have its down sides.

But it has its upsides, too, because Gabrielle is far from helpless. "The last person who talked to me about destiny was defeated by the man you're facing off with now," Gabrielle tries to sound impressive, just as Forge swings away and misses. Well, okay, next tactic. Blast the guy! She'd ask questions, but she's had that go south real fast before. Who needs questions?

As she hovers in the air, she stretches out her right hand towards Lionel Bonefinger, her long dark hair fluttering gently. Suddenly, a portal of darkness opens up right above Lionel, and a torrent of dark shadowy energy rains down towards him.

A field of dark energy crackles around the wizard, protecting him from the worst of the blast, but the impulse of it still knocks him flat.

The dog-like creature struggles for the superior position with Chen on the ground. While the two wrestle one another, the two basketball players take Victory's advance, disappearing from the gym via a nearby exit.

The Dog Beast seems enraged by Psyns last attack. It breathes a torrent of fire at the mentalist.

Chen winces a little. She had to weaken her defenses to have the flexibility to grab the dog beast. But soon it will be her turn.

Torus is no slouch as it redirects itself towards the raging inferno heading towards the duo.

As it nears the substance that makes up the Torus flies towards Psyn, stopping infront of her, creating an armor like chitin all around her.

The wizard shakes off the effect of Grimm's blast. "Quaint," he says, turning his attention towards her. "So you've learned a simple use for your powers. Do you even realize? You are meant for so much more."

Chen keeps her tentacles wrapped around the dog beast and elongates the spines radiating out from them as she attempts to turn the beast into a pin-cushion.

The blast is a bit more intense than The Demiurge would have expected- especially coming from what he considers a figment of a very strong imagination.

The programmable material absorbs all of the beasts blasts- shuntign the heat away from Psyn deep inside the armor its made for her.

The Torus' primary material though is shrewn up and away and even the remenants of the armor is blown back too as The Demiurge looses its connection to the Torus.

What's left is teleported away as The Torus' primary systems fall out of sync with its master.

Chen's bite scrapes at the monster's skin, but doesn't break it.

Victory tries again. He was unable to affect hte creature much the first time...so he better put everything he can into the next try. He spins and attempts to plant his foot into the creature's side.

Victory's kick lands solidly in the creatures ribs. It flinches. With a grunt and a belch of smoke, it's clear that the kick found it's mark.

Victory lets out a kiai shout as the kick lands. He takes a deep breath..and realizes that again, he might not quite be strong enough. . o O (Alright, I can't keep doing that. Not long term.)

Chen calls out, "Neat. Remind me to high five you when we have this beast under control."

Psyn blinks as what the dog did seemed to take out the Torus. It has her a bit worried, but her blast did seem to have a bit of an effect if maybe not as much as she expected. She thinks for a moment and then pushes herself a bit and sends another blast at the dog.

The Dog Beast staggers under the weight of Psyn's mental assault. It's still moving, but it's visibility hurt by the attack, lacking the ferocity with which it first entered the fight.

Effortlessly, the wizard floats up to his feet. He points his skeletal hand towards the Dog Beast, uttering a single word in a strange language.

A bolt of black energy shoots from the wizards skeletal fingers, freeing the Dog Beast from it's magical bonds.

Now free, the Dog Beast turns to Malcolm, rearing up on it's hind legs as it sucks in a deep breath. FOOOOM! Fire roars from deep within the creature as to drops down to the pavement and tries to blast Malcolm.

Forge watches Lionel Bonefinger free the local dog beast from Grimm's mental and mystical bonds of terror with a single bolt of black energy. He turns to face the dog beast fully and spins his sledgehammer around rapidly until it forges itself into a suitably large, frisbee-like shield. As the roiling flames erupt toward him, Forge hunkers down behind his shield, letting flames lick and lash off of the rounded edges of the convex shield.

"Oh Skeletor, Skeletor, Skeletor. Does letting your minions do the dirty work ever work out well for you? I mean, really?"

Grimm frowns as the mage floats up again. Hoping to help Malcolm out a bit, she tries to focus her powers. Raising her hand up with her palm parallel to the ground, she quickly swipes her hand down as she tries to leave the mage's perceptions in the cold, dark void.

The wizard seems unaffected by the enchantment.

"Childish," he comments.

Scrambling for position, the dog beast tries to get on top of Chen, and dash her against the floor of the gymnasium.

Grimm gulps a little as her power has no effect on the mage. Her magic is more innate and wild than practiced and formulated. She wields it more like a toy than a weapon compared to someone like Lionel Bonefinger. "I...I..." she loses her voice for a moment, then narrows his eyes and tries to regain her courage.

The dog creature roars, and it tries once more to shoot Psyn out of the sky.

Psyn gets blasted by the dog....again. She was hoping to take it out already and she is looking a bit worse for wear though her psychic force field has taken most of the brunt of it.

The Dog Beast circles Malcolm slowly, before trying to shoot hellish fire on him again.

Chen is unaffected by being slammed into the floor of the baskerball court. Her flesh is currently hardr than the floor is.

Forge turns slowly to keep his shield up against the Dog Beast, but it's rolling hellfire gradually finds its way past his biometallic shield. The impact of the flame launches Forge backward, his superheated shield sailing one way whilst Forge himself traces a smoky arc through the air until he crash lands on the pavement 16m away. Smoldering, Forge stays down for the moment.

Chen puts mass into her muscles and tries to rip the dog beast loose from its grip on her whicle holding onto it.

Victory can only really put his full effort into a strike one more time...so he does. He spins, pivoting his heel and tries to connect with an arcing roundhouse kick at the beast's head.

Chen tears herself free of the dog beast still holding it in her tentacles.

The beast struggles while pinned by Chen. It manages to twist, slightly, turning Victory's strike into a glancing one.

The creature tries to pull free of Chen's grasp.

The dog beast is struggling and pulling against Chen's grip but with six tentacles holding it even dislodging one or two briefly isn't enough for the beast to free itself.

Psyn is hurting and she knows that she can't last too much longer, so she puts everything into it, pushing herself hard. She slams her mind hard against the dog's again trying to hope that this time it will go down.

The beast howls and contorts as Psyn assaults its senses. It struggles and strains trying to fight against the onslaught. Suddenly, it goes limp and sinks to the ground on the rooftop.

The wizard levels his staff at Grimm. Reality ripples and parts. A rift opens to world full of fire, just behind Grimm. Fire rushes to freedom, shooting from the portal, and threatening to douse Grimm in flames.

Meanwhile, the Dog Beast stalked closer and closer to Malcolm, blasting him with fire as it approaches the prone hero.

Grimm prepares for the attack to come from the wizard or his staff. She feels a sudden heat at her back as the portal opens and an orange glow washes over her before the torrent of flame explodes out from the portal and surrounds her. The force of the impact with the rush of air and fire propel her forward acros the sky like a smoking, smoldering comment as she lets out a pained cry. Between the searing pain and the smoke, Gabrielle's completely disoriented as she starts to fall, curled up in a ball against the painful flame.

Forge's attention is rather focused on Grimm's body being launched through the air, smoking, from the blast of hellish fire erupting from the gate that Bonefinger opened behind her. He slams a metal fist into the concrete a moment before he realizes that the Dog Beast is still advancing on him, unleashing another rolling, roiling stream of fire upon him.

The roaring fireball engulfs Forge's metal form and drives him hurtling backward, rolling and flipping wildly until he smashes into a building. Shattered masonry crumbles down around Forge's smoking, smoldering metal form, lightly extinguishing some of the flames as the metal man struggles to regain any sense of where he is or what's going on.

Torus comes to as its constituant parts rain from the sky in a fine dusting.

His sensors are all over the place having been so thoroughly accosted, but as they impact the Earth like impossibly small snowflakes, it reorients itself to its proper center of gravity- who's well is far from its grav sensors.

The Torus pulls itself together as it opens a wormhole to Psyn.

There it sees Psyn has already brought the great beast to its knees.

"Impressive." It says as it rematerializes as a bowling ball sized sphere.

From there it's just a matter of opening another bridge and sculpting a container for the beast.

Tight cables materialize aound the beast and then embed themselves into the Earth around it.