|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 26, 2015 20:38:59 GMT -5
Madison was content to sit and watch the battle from the tree, searching for her violin and bow, interrupted only by...
"YOU DARE CHALLENGE ME? LET THIS BE THE PUNISHMENT FOR YOUR INSOLENCE."
Without being aware, all the bandages on her top half unravelled themselves and lashed out like a whip at the combatants below, not really caring who they hit.
They pulled back and rerolled themselves onto the mummy girl, who resumed looking fr her violin from the trees as if nothing had happened.
|
|
|
|
Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Oct 26, 2015 20:39:11 GMT -5
"Gh?!" Bruno's eyes went wide. He could reform from that mist... that wasn't good. At all. "Merda!
He'd managed to get himself way in over his head this time. And he had no backup. The black-haired man grimaced, and he stepped back, Stand still hovering by him. "What... what are you...?"
Well, he couldn't give up yet. He wasn't about to die again so soon.
...Of course, he was snapped out of his thoughts when the girl's bandages lashed out, striking the top of his Stand's head, getting a yelp of pain from the man; even with his own head removed from his shoulders at the moment, he could still feel that pain.
And he swore mentally at that; he was trying to keep her out of danger.
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 26, 2015 20:51:39 GMT -5
"I am Sanguine, Air General of the mighty Præt'nos," the demon answered smugly, pointing his shadows, one of which morphed into the shape of a sword, at Bruno. "And we represent the final destination of your kind."
He flinched once when one of Madison's bandages smacked him in the neck, though he tried to hide this. Couldn't give away that sensitive spot.
"AW CRAP! CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP ALL OF THE CRAP!!" Patrick yelped as he desperately chased after the orb.
Melancholic was taken off guard, the sphere knocking him upside the head and bouncing to the ground. By this point, the little blob inside was getting fed up with this sickening ride, deciding to take the initiative itself. It pushed against the orb and started rolling through the grass like a hamster in a ball, dodging and swerving around shadows every which way.
It just needed to escape. Once it was out of this infernal orb, there were so many hosts to chose from...
|
|
|
|
Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Oct 26, 2015 21:00:03 GMT -5
Seeing the blob roll its orb around, Ace jumped at it and slammed a staff down on the sphere with all her might and tremendous gravity, doing what she could to help smash the thing open.
Release the demon... Release it upon the monsters... Let them see what true evil was!
Whether it be from the fog turning her more demonic, extreme frustration with the Præt'nos, or an overwhelming combination of both, Ace was clearly way out of her mind.
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 26, 2015 21:21:09 GMT -5
"Um... whoops?" Madison gave a sorry smile towards where she thought Bruno was, the bandages finishing rewrapping themselves around her body, though somewhat awkwardly.
"I HAVE NO REGRETS! Oh hey, my violin! I was wonderin' where I dropped it! LEAVE THE VIOLIN AND BRING ME SOULS!"
The mummy made a movement as if to jump out from the tree, but was caught by a loose bandage on one of the branches.
There was then the sound of gauze tearing as Madison started to plummet with a "YIPPEE- NO!"
... Right above one of the shadows in fact.
|
|
|
|
Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Oct 26, 2015 21:35:47 GMT -5
"Hh!" Sticky Fingers unzipped one of its hands, launching out to catch the girl so she didn't fall on a shadow. He saw the shadow transform into a sword and he sure didn't want her to get impaled.
"...Alright." He'd noticed that flinch when the bandage struck Sanguine's neck; one didn't fight Stand Users without being alert to little tells like that. "My name is Bruno Buccellati." He swallowed down his fear. It wouldn't do to run when there were folks who needed help. Giorno wouldn't have run, after all.
"...And I don't care what you are. I'm not going to let you do whatever you want."
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 26, 2015 21:46:12 GMT -5
Sanguine's grin widened, even as Bruno saved Madison from his shadows' clutches. "You can't stop the process now. It's already begun."
He swung his sword at Bruno's arm, aiming to sever his grip on his own head. "THE DARKNESS HAS ALREADY RISEN!"
"ACE STOP!" As Evan dealt with the shadow demon problem, Patrick jumped on Ace, desperately trying to get her away from the orb. Or the orb away from her. Or something! "ARE YOU CRAZY?! WE DON'T NEED HIM MAKING THINGS WORSE!"
The barrier seemed to be weakening the more pressure exerted upon it. The blob anxiously kept on rolling, this time allowing the shadows to strike it all across the field like a pinball. If this kept up, by the time the orb broke, it was a clear shot to any host of its choosing!
|
|
|
|
Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Oct 26, 2015 21:52:58 GMT -5
"NO! I KNOW HOW TO HANDLE HIM! THESE MONSTERS NEED A TASTE OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE!" Ace furiously insisted, throwing Patrick off and watching the orb get tossed around.
When it flew her way, she reeled back like a batter and swung a staff into it one more time with an impressive, audible crack.
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 26, 2015 22:22:13 GMT -5
"Thanks for the catch mister~! YOU SHALL BE ALLOWED TO LIVE AND SERVE! Now, where'd it go..." Madison chirped, walking off a bit to the side to try and locate the pink fiddle...
"I found it! THAT IS OF NO WORTH!!" She proclaimed as she picked up her favoured instrument and began to play. It felt like happy bumblebees!
The blonde was oblivious as a swarm of golden scarab beetles materialized to her song, and began to take flight...
|
|
|
|
Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Oct 27, 2015 3:18:40 GMT -5
Bruno leapt back, Sticky Fingers' legs giving him more agility. As Madison began to play her violin, and the scarabs appeared, he blinked, then grinned. "Alright then. This works. And..."
He punched the ground with Sticky Fingers, sending a zipper across it to try and entangle Sanguine by the legs. "I don't care! My comrades would never forgive me if I just turned tail here. Sticky Fingers!"
"ARIARIARI!" His Stand threw a few more punches with extended range due to unzipping, aiming for the creature's head. Bruno had a pretty good idea where its weak point was and he was going to exploit that.
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 27, 2015 9:24:50 GMT -5
Generally speaking, the swarm of beetles did relatively little to the shadow creatures beyond obscuring their vision somewhat. Also generally speaking, Præt'nos didn't really have "legs" per se, but that's not really important to the story. It's just another reminder that Mr. Anders should probably create a character info sheet for them, especially considering the giant story arc involving them that he just foreshadowed. Heheh... Foreshadow. Puns. Oh jeez, now we're just getting sidetracked.
Sanguine did his best to block the strikes aimed at its head. This guy was a tricky one, he had to admit. Between Bruno's bizarre strategy and Madison's swarm of beetles, focus was becoming increasingly difficult. If he could just protect his neck a little while longer...
Things were not looking any better on Patrick's end.
"NO!!!" Patrick saw the orb flying towards them as he tried to restrain Ace. He raised a hand, hoping he could guide it away by manipulating the abjuration energy that comprised it. But as he got a hold on it, Ace threw him off, severely breaking his concentration, though the connection between the orb and its creator remained.
With Patrick unintentionally, indiscriminately manipulating the energy, as soon as Ace's staff connected with the orb, the bright blue energy shattered like glass.
And upon collision, the black blob inside went flying.
FINALLY!
It smacked a random Præt'nos in the face and, upon finding that it was the only orifice the creature had, tunneled into its mouth, much to the demon's chagrin. But the blob found itself trapped there. There was no esophagus to crawl down, and upon inspecting the darkness that was its body, it found no brain to connect to. This wouldn't do!
It was just as well, considering the Præt'nos turned its body into pure shadow, effectively expelling the blob. Undeterred, it moved along, bouncing across the field at an impressive speed. Even if it couldn't infect any of the shadow demons, there were still some more tangible hosts to pick from.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Oct 27, 2015 17:37:24 GMT -5
Now that her work was essentially done and all that was left was to wait for the blob to take its pick, Ace got back to work on exterminating the shadow demons in a fit of ballistic rage. Between her and Jack, these freaks wouldn't stand a chance.
It came to her attention that the Præt'nos' physiology was ill-suited for Jack to possess. Bearing this in mind, she had to wonder if such would or would not be the case for someone who was half Præt'nos. There was only one way to find out. Thus, she lifted the blob into the air via gravitons and flung it at the green-eyed Præt'nos that was looming close to Evan.
As she did this, the thought occurred to her that maybe... just maybe... this was a stupid idea.
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 27, 2015 18:02:53 GMT -5
"Lalalala~ Good night- SUFFER MY WRATH- buggies~!" With that, the fiddler's melody changed, becoming steadily more haunting, causing more bugs, each more grotesque than the last, to materialize to her song.
|
|
|
|
Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Oct 27, 2015 18:14:02 GMT -5
Bruno grinned slightly as more bugs came in, looking at Madison. "Grazie!" Seeing an opening, Bruno used Sticky Fingers to place a zipper on the ground... which he then began 'unzipping', hurtling himself along the ground, around Sanguine. "Now! Sticky Fingers!"
Once again, as the man leapt into the air, his Stand began punching, aiming for the creature's neck.
"ARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARI-"
"Arrivederci!"
A massive punch swung to finish the flurry of blows.
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 27, 2015 18:30:55 GMT -5
Sanguine swerved and blocked to the best of his ability, but still he took the hit hard. The final blow, as strong as it was, merely served to throw him off balance. But, unfazed, he pulled himself back together and ensnared Bruno and his Stand in a tangle of shadow tendrils.
"Pointless."
This is insane! Van cried in Patrick's mind. Normally I'd suggest getting out of here, but... but what on earth could've compelled Ace to release Jack?!
Have we not established that she's off her damn rocker?! Ray retorted.
Patrick swallowed hard. He wasn't sure what was more terrifying, Ace's breakdown or the prospect of Jack's return. Either way, the latter certainly posed the bigger threat. Without thinking, he ran in the direction that Ace had thrown the blob, hoping he could stop it before it infected anyone.
Too late. Upon colliding with Toby, Jack forced his way into the demon boy's mouth, trusting Ace's judgment. Toby hacked and gagged, anxiously trying to expel this creature as he felt it tunneling into his head.
And then, all of a sudden, there was nothing but searing pain. For both of them. Toby screamed. Jack squeaked. As the latter attempted to forge a connection, Toby's form flickered disturbingly between human and Præt'nos, eyes flashing between green and silver. Eventually, when it became clear that they simply were not compatible, Jack forced his way back out, allowing Toby to shift back into demon form. The blob plopped to the ground right behind Evan, who was still engaged in fisticuffs with the other Præt'nos.
Well, so much for that idea. Jack thought for sure he was on the verge of taking over.
But wait... The mage was running his way.
Perfect.
|
|
