Log:Threesome

The Regent: The Lost Years 2015/02/21 Paragon Porter Regent Sasha 2

It's still chilly out, and they never did get to watch that second movie the other night. So now is Date Night In, Part Deux. Kysmette's been fed, bathed, changed, and is in bed. The popcorn is popped, the coffee is made, the couch is there, and the movie's good to go.

Third is seated on the couch with her legs folded underneath her in an attempt to keep her feet warm, and she leans against Porter after he settles down with the popcorn. "So, Protectors of the Solar System is a go," she announces. And waves her hand at the entertainment system to activate the gesture controls so she can start the movie. Only she ends up fast forwarding instead of playing. "Wait. Stop. Go back! Start from beginning!" Para says in increasing dismay as she realizes she's not fully sure how the controls work.

"Well, we could watch it really quickly..." Porter chuckles. "Here, let me..." He waves his hand. Twice. Three times. And then it listens. By turning off the system. "Ok. Well, at least it stopped playing fast?"

Third chuckles as Porter saves the day. By technical victory of stopping the fast forward. "My hero! At leeeaast you weeerrr...able..." Third blinks and shakes her head to clear it. Or tries to by twitching it to the left a few times only. To Porter, her thoughts suddenly feel disorganized. Like she can't focus on words no matter how hard she tries. "Swee....sweeee..." she tries to call for help but can't even say his nickname. She's already leaning against him, so at least that stops her from pitching forward. Instead, her head just droops down and she leans more heavily into him, her body going completely limp as she suddenly passes out.

Porter blinks as Third's thoughts go...loopy? for a second. So he understands why she's suddenly woozy. He catches her, mostly because she was already leaning on him. "Whoa... what... is that?"

Porter suddenly finds himsef falling. Not literally, it just feels that way. He "awakens" with a start when he lands, and looks around. Only it's not with his eyes. And not in his place. And the ground looks much farther away....

He knows big people, like giants, but he's never been one before. Now he's not only a giant, but an Ice Giant. An Ice Giant General! A leader of many in the wastes of the plane of water, fighting against the armies of Thrym for Ran's glory. And Porter/Iggy's forces are hunting down a small group of ice elementalist enemies who are cut off from the rest of their army. ((Ok, this is... different.))

The slowly awakens in the mind of someone new. He blinks his eyes as he realizes whose consciousness he is now in. ((Govno, this is going to awkward to talk to Matt about later)) he muses in the Regent's mind. He looks down at his hands, the Regent's hands for a moment. ((I hope you are comfrotable with this Matthew Regent...))

The Icy Wastes. It is exactly what it sounds like, it is an expanse bereft of life except for the Giants and the icemen. Few others can survive for any length of period in this region. A brutal war fought between the forces of Ran and the Forces of Thrym takes place as it does throughout the plane of water. In the north, the Icemen are few but they are legion, one Iceman easily worth 2 giants, it is unfortunate for the icemen that the Giants outnumber them 4 to 1. It has been a hard war for both sides, both sides suffering greatly in their losses.

((Matthew Regent)): (Who are you?..wait..you are the other..the one who was present in my mind 22 years ago..when this began.) he thinks to Harlequin (Why are you here now?)

((I have no idea, Matthew. I have no control over my comings or goings. Time sweeps me from place to place. For me, that 22 years was but an endless moment ago.)) Sasha thinks in his deepest thoughts to himself. ((I am not about to describe the void I am trapped in between these moments.))

Krrik leads the icemen of his platoon beneath the wastes as they tunnel through the snow drifts and figid ice, trying to reunite with the rest of Thrym's army. They've been cutt off for some time and haven't found a way around the Ice Giant's formations to cut through to the army. So for now, they've tried finding a long route in an attempt to avoid the ice giants. The icemen are tired and worn as they travel through the tunnels. Krrik holds his icy, craggy fist up to signal a halt, then burrows up to the surface to check their surroundings.

((You control me...we have to find the icemen, Thrym has need of the Sergeant, he carries information that Thrym needs))

IGGY is still Porter, at least in his head. Or in his head inside of Porter's head, maybe inside of Third's head? He tries not to think about it too hard: makes his head(s) hurt. Anyway, of all the things he's been accused of, violent isn't one of them. Walking along with his group, he spots when the Iceman cometh out of the drifts. But he doesn't do anything to alert the others, orders or no.

((Well, let us try to use your elemental powers to find movement in this frozen realm. Hmm, something like a termor sensor. Your control of Earth should allow you to detect movvement that way, correct?")) thinks Harlequin. And he attempts to put this into action.

((Yes...you...)) and the active connection is severed, and you are left on your own.

Krrik burrows back down as soon as he sees the ice giants. He manages to study their forces and numbers. Once underground and in the tunnel below with his mean, he details the formation and numbers. "I know you are all tired. But with our numbers, we can take them. We have a chance to take down a General and deal a blow to Ran's armies. Are you with me?" he rallies his men.

The Icemen all give a supporting roar, it sounds like wind passing over the plains, but it registers as a hearty approval

"We strike down their General. Cut off their chain of command, then take down their troops," Krrik gives the orders, then leads his men and tunnels through the snowy wastes towards the position he saw the General.

The Regent knnels down and touches the frozen ground at his feet. After a moment, his eyes flash with anger as he calls to the winds to take him with all speed towards his foes. As he flies, he girds himself in his armor and strengthens it diminish damage any fruther as he reviews what he knows of fire and magma powers.

The approach of the Icemen are unnoticed by the Ice Giant force.

IGGY watches the head duck back down. Good, no one else seemed to spot it. Maybe they'll keep on moseying on to... wherever they're going.

As the Regent approaches through the air, he murmurs in the vaults of his mind, ((I do not know where you are, Matthew Regent, but I may have to kill to preserve you. My apologies.))

Krrik leads his men beneath where they can hear the footsteps of the ice giants above. He holds his hand up to make them hold until the heaviest one is above them...where hopefully the General is. Krrik's hand goes down to signal the attack, and he and his men begin to tunnel upwards and burst out of the snow drifts behind the Ice Giants. Krrik's hands start to grow with heavy ice shards and become bulky like clubs as he takes the first swing at the General.

IGGY is an Ice Giant. And a General, as blatantly marked by the excessive number of body piercings. The blow fails to pierce his mighty hide, and is just a few hairs above a tickle. He fights the reflex to sigh, now realizing that the Icemasters didn't keep moseying on. On the other hand, they attack didn't do much. So he just glares at his attacker, and snorts.

IGGY is a mighty general! Porter... not so much. He's not motivated by the religious civil war... thingie...stuff going on. So murderhoboing isn't his thing. But he doesn't want his "fellow" giants to be, either. So, alternate tactic! The snort is followed by a deep inhale, and then a roaring laugh at the face of his attacker. Maybe they will all flee in terror from the mighty Ice Giant General, Yo!

Krrik knows they can take the General's forces. It'll just take a coordinated effort. "Stick to the plan, men! You 5, with me!" he points to the bravest looking of his troops. "The rest, cover us and scatter his men! We'll teach these Ran dogs that we are not to be triffled with. For Thyrm!"

Krrik's men are bolstered from seeing their leader unphased by the General's laughter.

The Icemen shout out "FOR THRYM!!!" and it thunders across the icy plain.

The Regent says, "As a fire wreathed Regent comes across the scene of battle through the air, he does two things one after the other. First, he shouts out in a stentorian voice, "Sergeant Krrik, fall back to the rear. Let your men attack!" And second, using his borrowed knowledge of elementalism (as well as using his own knowledge), the Regent reaches forth with his powers, grasps the snow and icy fog that surrounds the Ice Giants, and with a modicum of difficulty, turns it into superheated air and steam that bursts outward in a line across the Ice Giants. It appears he is trying to cut the Ice Giants unit in half while not hitting the Ice Men"

The five Ice Giants caught in the line of exploding steam are all blown back from the line of attack. All five of them have a melted and charred look to them despite there being no fire. The touch of the overwhelming power of the Regent cut them down as if they were nothing. They are dead.

For the briefest of moments, Porter and Third's minds touch, not long enough to convey anything but confusion horror and etc, just feelings, before Krrik/Third can feel Porter's mind drowned by another being and he is gone.

IGGY sees others boiled alive. Even for Porter, that's enough to think violent thoughts, now. Which is all the real General, now boiling with rage, needs to overwhelm and return to HIS body. "Death to all the lackeys of Thrym! Destroy them all!" And he, being the mightiest among giants, shall start with Thrym's Champion! What better way to rally his giants than slay The Regent and prove their superior might! He fights fire the the very chill of the wastes, tearing a cunk of ice from the ground at his feet and hurling it at the flying one

The chunk office hits the Regent square on and forces him back through the air over a dozen meters. But the intense heat of the fiery aura around the Regent and his innate defenses means little damage is done to him. It does seem to have disoriented him somewhat so he'll have to refocus his attention on the battle.

Amidst all the chaos of battle, Krrik looks up and recognizes the Regent twice-over. Once as Krrik, then again as Third as she suddenly comes to her senses and gains control of Krrik's body as Krrik's mind becomes passive. The iceman looks around in dismay and horror at the death around him. "Regent...he...just killed them...?" the Third-controlled Krrik murmurs in shock. Is that what the Regent is? A killer? It takes her a moment to suddenly realize she can feel Porter's mind. Somewhere. In all this chaos. It's a briefest of touch, only able to convey the emotions of the moment, and then he's gone. Just like those ice giants the Regent slaughtered. No! "Porter!?" Krrik yells aloud since the mental link to Porter is so suddenly lost. She fears the worst at first, but hopes perhaps he's somewhere else and just drowned out for now.There's no way to tell. For some reason, the Regent wanted Krrik to fall to the rear. But...Porter's out there! So Krrik moves away from the general and towards the fallen Giants. Maybe he's there. Maybe they're not dead. Maybe she can help do something. Anything.

IGGY isn't content to knock the Regent away,. He wants to knock him down. And hit him. And stomp on him. And hit him more. He roars this time and starts charging for The Regent.

The Regent rights himself in the air then watches as the Ice Giant General charges at him across the frozen ground. He shakes his head and then levels his hand at the General. A ball of fire coalesces out of thin air then superheats until it is a brillant blue, "You should not have sided against Thyrm, General," he says as he releases it to burst around the Ice Giant

BOOM! The General would argue against. Maybe he did, but it was lost in the suddenly conflagurating detonation. Out of the fireball, the General flies, but only just enough to clear the initial blast zone. The landing is rough, his limp, smoldering form skipping across the snow and ice before landing to make a divot and large cloud of snow.

The icemen follow Krrik's initial commands. After the Regent blasts the general back, five of them charge to try and deliver a coup de grace. The other ten swarm to cut down the remaining ice giants.

En Ga Aru. The pain of the hit is felt by both IGGY and Porter and beyond time and space even as Third Loses control of Krrik, she feels his pain across the threshold.

The Regent begins to glow with unearthly power once again, and Sasha's mind is smothered by the rage that fills the Regent's mind and Psyche ((You Killed them! With all this power you chose to kill them! There were other options!!)) he thrusts power begins go coalesce into his being...

As Third's mind reels in pain from her bond with Porter. And now she knows, painfully, which body Porter inhabits. He's still alive. There's still hope. But through the pain, she loses the strength to maintain control and Krrik's mind becomes dominant again.

This is war and slaying the enemy General will be a great victory for Thyrm. Krrik disappears beneath the snow, only to reappear beside the General. Third's mind tries to exert itself again. ((Stop this. He's not who you think it is.)) Krrik's fingers pull together and his arm extends into a sharp lance made of ice as he ignores the inner voice. Third pleads. ((You don't have to kill him! He's down! You can capture him! Restrain him! Just don't kill him! Please!)) Krrik draws back his arm and plunges it towards the Ice Giant's vitals. Third screams, trapped in the ice elemental's body.

Regent raises his hands, and shouts, his voice overriding everything, "Icemen Retreat to your lines, He points in a direction that will get them back to their forces, "This ends now!! No more death amongst the Elementals need take place! This war has enough loss, I am here to protect the realms, but this is NOT necessary! Krrik GO!" his eyes blaze and geothermal jets of steam break free and geyser from the ice plain, separating Icemen from giants no one is hurt, but neither can the combat continue. "Return Thrym has need of you!"

Krrik's ice lance is stopped dead by the General's thick hide. Much to Third's relief. She manages to gather herself and exert control again. Krrik's arm jerks back quickly and reforms into a craggy hand of ice again. It takes her a moment to firmly establish control, and then Krrik announces to his men, "Listen to the Regent! Back to the lines!" She manages some excuse that might sound reasonable. Krrik looks down at the fallen Ice Giant General. "Porter...? It's me, Third...I...don't know how long I can control this body."

At the Regent's instruction, the Elementals begin to form up and dig underground, disappearing into the snow as they tunnel down and in the direction the Regent pointed. Only Krrik remains.

The limp General stays limp. He won't be waking up anytime soon....

On the other hand, that does seem to free Porter's consciousness, which does finally awaken. In the proper body. Back on his couch, with Third held to him.

For Porter and Paragon, they are thrust from their hosts bodies and find themselves back in their own bodies in their own consciousness, Sasha on the other hand has a conversation coming from the Regent....

Third wakes slowly after Porter does, her arms also wrapped around him now as she's relieved to see he's alright.

The Regent releases Sasha from his mental bindings ((I do not know who you are. I do not know what you are doing here, but the defense of the elemental realm and all who are denizens there of are my responsibility. Do you even understand what that means?))

Sasha looks about then back to Regent. ((You are involved in a war for the survival of your realm. You are beset by betrayals from within and from invaders from outside. And you have not even faced the true forces behind these events.)) He then adds, ((And yes, I well understand what defending one's people's entails and the horrors of war. One of them is that people die. That sometimes to win you have to kill. And that each time it kills part of yourself. Why else did you think I warned you, Matthew Regent, of what I was going to do!))

The Regent Thinks back at Sasha, ((The horror of war is the killing, the role of the Regent is to save as many as possible. The demons? destroy them all, the Elementals, save everyone that I can. You are of course correct, I have had the unfortunate need to kill many, but the mission was to return the Sergeant and his platoon to the ranks, Thyrm needs the knowledge in his head. I have..We had the power to stop the Giants without killing them, to save the platoon, and to fulfill the mission, We are at war, but the death of an elemental is a weakening of the realm as a whole. I am not here to destroy my enemies, I am here to bring order, and stability. We will find why this rift war continues, I shall do what I need to do, but IF YOU EVER RETURN TO THIS BODY, UNDERSTAND THIS IS MY WILL.))

((Your body, your Realm, your rules, Matthew Regent. I do not have to agree with them to follow them,)) Sasha states. ((I am trapped here bodiless and without my own powers until this ends it seems. I will leave any decisions regarding your Realm up to the minds of the bodies I am thrust into.))

The Regent seems to soften in his Stance, ((You are a victim of circumstance. I do not understand how it works either, or why you are here, or that other person, I beg of you to understand my will. I do not fight for just the lords of the realm, I fight to protect all the denizens. There are planes that, like the plane of air are fighting united, against the enemies, For the most part, the elementals themselves are pawns of their leaders, And perhaps their leaders are pawns to whomever is leading the demons, Again, as we dig deeper we find more...it goes against my very nature to kill anyone, and so..I choose to protect rather than kill, to end conflict where I can with the least amount of collateral damage. Archanois Regent speaks to me and tells me to destroy that which I cannot tame. I will not do so. The gods weep, even as they destroy for, except for a few of the gods, their purpose is to create and give life, not to take it away...Do you understand me?))

The Russian youth is silent for some time then murmurs in Matthew Regent's mind, ((I am not a god or even a demigod, Matthew Regent, and would likely be a poor one. I will follow your instructions with regards to your Realm and with regards to yourself.)) He adds after a beat, ((I am after all, in the end, an obedient tool of Fate. Much as I hate it.))

The Regent seems amused, 22 years has changed him and he is no longer a youth, no matter what he looks like, ((As am I As am I.)) and with that Sasha exits back to the void...