Rise from Darkness (OPEN)

[ParamountKeymaster]

Mere seconds after unfolding, Mario was grabbed and crumpled again by the firm grip of a clawed hand. He was then lifted up to the fanged grin and white eyes of the hand's owner. "Interesting... A little man made of paper. Does paper even have a soul?"

As a Præt'nos lunged at Lark, his blade pierced the beast in the soft spot between the neck and shoulder. It screeched in pain, an odd black substance erupting from the wound that looked both sludgy and misty, then it faded into the darkness, its body too unstable to maintain its physical form.

Seeing this, the surrounding Præt'nos tried to strike Lark down by various means. Many of them simply snaked along the rock walls and commanded the shadows to attack in writhing swarms. Any demon who drew too close was cautious enough to swerve around Lark's blade or only take hits in invulnerable parts of the body, though he did manage to drive his blade into a few more necks.

All the while, rock spikes continued to erupt as Lark approached Melancholic. The Earth General's yellow eyes were narrow with contempt. With his hands raised, boulders and shadows alike soared every which way in a dark and debris-filled storm. In any other situation, he wouldn't care all that much about intruders... but who knew what this brat had overheard? Couldn't risk igniting a resistance before the assimilation even began.

By this point, Toby's pants sounded more like choppy, shuddering cries as he charged towards the cemetery's gates. The rocky earth stung his bare soles and his heart threatened to beat right out of his chest. He wanted nothing more than to escape via shadows or a portal, but the darkness all around him was under the Præt'nos' control; he would've just been running right into their grasp.

Just a few more yards... he was almost out of there...!

"YIPE!"

A mighty gust of wind pushed him backwards, causing him to land bum-first on the pavement. Soon after, a shadow wrapped around his leg and hoisted him into the air. Toby flailed around helplessly, tensing up when he found himself face-to-upside-down-face with a pair of white eyes.

"Guten Abend."

Toby couldn't even squeak something back to her. There was no air left in his lungs.

"General Sanguine!" The shadows wrapped around every inch of Toby's body, leaving only his face exposed. Enlightenment swept him forward and presented him to Sanguine. The Air General's fingers gently caressed Toby's chin.

"Hello, Toby..." His voice was soft, playful, somehow managing to be both comforting and chilling. "Nice of you to join us."

Toby panted in ragged snarls. His face suddenly turned livid with fury. The whites of his eyes started to turn a pale green. "Let go of me..."

"Attaboy..."

[ryocker]

Paper Mario froze, his arms being crumpled up by the one holding onto him. "W-what's a soul?" he asked, trying to be ignorant. He flailed a little, his flat, papery body attempting to get out of this grip without being torn to tiny pieces. This was not a good situation to be in, not at all...

He tried to make a reach for his hammer, but he still couldn't quite grip it thanks to his body being crumpled up. "B-be reasonable...!"

[DanteMGalileo]

"Y'know," I said, dodging some of the rock spikes, "If ya weren't so dang evil I'd be willin' to trade secrets with you."

I give a small chuckle as I slice another shade creature. The shriek I get tells me it was a lethal blow. 'Course, the little fuckers landed a few hits on me.

Oh my tailor is gonna hate me. Then again my tailor hates everyone anyways. No biggie there.

But what I guess to be their leader sends a virtual storm of debris and darkness right at me. "Aw, frig," I remark. I can't just stop it there. Wind! I need wind! It would be nice if I could manipulate wind right about n-

Oh wait. I can!

I close my eyes and smirk as I command the air around me to deflect the incoming blow. Parts of it still scrape me. Gonna have to see the doctor too I guess. But parts of it get blown away too, if the noises are any indicator.

I can tell it's livid. I can't help but laugh as I open my eyes and continue my charge. "You idiot. Don't'cha know it's bad to cross someone who can control more elements than you?"

I place my free hand on the Galaxy Cloak, extending it open...

Then I snatch up what appears to be the leader of this group and warp away with him.

About a second passes as we warp. Once we land we're in a dark room in an equally dark cave, dimly lit by a few flaming skulls, a murky river just about visible.

"Welcome to the arena buddy!" I say in a cheery tone, taking in its confusion. "Not so brave without your underlings eh? Good! That's how I like it!"

I point my staff at it, daring the shade to make the first move.

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Let's find out, shall we?" Shadows wrapped around each of Mario's limbs, poised and ready to yank in opposite directions.

----------

As Lark approached, Melancholic reeled back and prepared to slice, only to be swept up into a completely different location. He took only a moment to examine his environment, then he faced Lark again, hardly deterred. Shadows and stones orbited his form. "Save your breath. I don't need any help to take on the likes of you."

Shadows arose in a circle around Lark, aiming to seal him within a dome of darkness. Melancholic would make quick work of this kid. He had more important business to return to.

----------

"General Melancholic!" The Earth Army Præt'nos were properly startled by their leader's disappearance, but they were just as quick to recover.

"He'll be fine! General Sanguine has the anomaly!"

As the Præt'nos surrounded them, Toby continued to squirm within the shadow wrappings. His powers only budged them slightly; the opposing force was too great. "You... You monsters! Don't think I don't know what you're up to!"

"The thought never crossed my mind, dear boy," Sanguine teased.

"You... won't... absorb the island..." Toby calmed down slightly. Only slightly. "I won't let you..."

"Cute. You think you're enough to slow us down?"

"Melancholic seems to think so. Are you gonna kill me?"

"I'm curious to see what would happen if I did..."

[ryocker]

His eyes had turned buggy and white, the paper man struggling as his flat body felt ready to tear at any feasible moment. He desperately looked around, trying to find some way he could feasibly prolong his lifespan... Wait.

Paper Mario's flat body grew as the guy tugged on his limbs, the flat man eventually big enough to try getting free- but he was squished back to normal size in a hurry. "H-hey, don't be-a hasty," he gulped. "If I do have a soul, what's to say you can-a do anything with it? It might be-a made of paper, just like-a me!"

It was all he had to try saving himself, but with any luck...

[DanteMGalileo]

So it wants to, uh, assimilate me I guess? Oh hey, dome of darkness. "Nice trick, where'd ya learn it?"

Fwoosh! A stream of flame came from one of the skulls, burning away some of the shadows.

"It's a beautiful day, innit?" I say in a mock-jovial voice. I can just tell it's getting agitated.

"I mean, yeah- You don't care do ya?" I continue as I kill the fire stream to focus on conjuring a giant hand of smashing out of the murky river. I figure if this thing's almost as good at gaiakinesis as I am then it'll be just as weak to water as I am.

"Since you're gonna get drenched, let's trade names," I say this as the arm starts to form from the dark water. "Name's Lark Mercury, what's your's? Wanna play rock paper scissors? I pick rock."

FWAMM!! That arm just about missed Melancholic.

"Sorry, rock beats nothing. And I lied about trading names. You just need to stop existing."

I'm really enjoying the reaction I'm getting here.

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Won't know unless we try!" the Præt'nos decreed, tightening his shadows' grip on Mario as they started to pull...

----------

Melancholic didn't even have to move. Rooted where he stood, he gracefully commanded the earth and shadows to strike Lark in a flowing visual and potentially lethal display. When the watery hand arose from the stream, Melancholic simply raised a wall of shadows to shield himself. All throughout this, he remained stiff and deadpan, glaring at Lark with apathy and annoyance.

"It doesn't matter what your name is. Now if you don't mind, I was in the middle of something important."

----------

"You wouldn't d-MMPH!" The shadows wrapped around Toby's mouth, threatening to consume him entirely.

Terrified beyond all measure, Toby anxiously strained to latch onto the surrounding darkness, his state of panic fueling his anger. Finally, with a piercing scream and a mighty thrust, Toby repelled the shadows and broke free. Simultaneously, he commanded the shadows to strike any Præt'nos he could. One such tendril smacked the Præt'nos holding Mario like a whip, breaking his concentration and freeing the paper man.

"Ha HA, now things get INTERESTING!" Sanguine lunged at Toby, a cyclone roaring to life around him. Toby bounded to the side, waving his arm in a wide arc; the shadows mirrored his movements and swept Mario out of harm's way.

[ryocker]

Paper Mario suddenly grew a square outline, cutting at the shadows and ruining the shadow man's grip on him. "Not-a me, you don't!" he steamed, hitting the gound and folding like an accordion. He released the pent up energy, flying high into the sky, unseeable for a moment thanks to his flat body.

BAM!! As quickly as he shot into the sky, Mario fell back to earth, smacking the Praet'nos with his flat hammer, leaving a cut on the head portion of its body. He jumped back, twisting himself up then swinging like a tornado, smacking away at the shadows trying to grasp him again. "Just-a try me!" he taunted, finally returning to his cartoon-in-the-real-world appearance.

[DanteMGalileo]

"Something important, eh?"

WHAM! The water hand seemed to be doing a battle against the earth storm.

"I dunno, it sounded pretty lame to be. And not important at all, really."

I gave a chuckle as I commanded my aquatic limb to punch the admittedly beautiful display that could easily end my life. "Y'know, if you weren't so dang evil, I'd say we'd be pretty good friends. What'cha say we go out for a pint or two after this?"

LARK IT'S A GODDAMN PRÆT'NOS NOT ONE OF YOUR OLD FRIENDS.

[ParamountKeymaster]

Melancholic's scowl hardened as he rapidly swiped his claws along the open air, the shadows mimicking his movements and slicing the aquatic arm with a series of dark whips. A circle of spikes erupted from the floor around Lark and two shadow tendrils wrapped around his neck.

"I don't drink."

----------

Toby tucked, rolled, then sprung back onto his feet with a surprising amount of grace. He took a stance next to Mario, commanding his shadows to clash against the Præt'nos', stabbing at any demon he could reach, repelling the shadows that threatened to latch on. Whenever the opportunity arose, Toby would drive a shadow tendril into a Præt'nos' neck, effectively disrupting their forms. He hoped that Mario had noticed this and caught on.

"We're not gonna do much damage it it's just two of us!" Toby shouted, though the panic in his voice was still evident. "We gotta get outta here! AAH!"

The shadows beneath his feet erupted, launching Toby high into the air. Just as he began his descent, Sanguine took full form and snatched him again.

[ryocker]

Paper Mario crumpled himself back down, Super Jumping after Toby and Sanguine as he pulled his flat hammer out. At the peak of his jump, he slashed the Praet'nos's neck between the head and shoulder, warping himself into a large, flat piece of paper as he tried to become a parachute. "Grab my sides!"

Once Toby had a hold of his head and feet, Paper Mario began to drift them slowly back to the earth. "Hmm... Maybe-a two of us wouldn't do it, but I think three of us could-a cause some serious damage," he offered to Toby as they kept up their decent. "I've got a super powerful-a weapon, but it could only work if three of us co-operated!"

He kept watch of the ground, trying to swerve out of the way of possible enemies. I just-a hope that other guy doesn't mind working-a with us...

[DanteMGalileo]

"Argh!!!"

When Melancholic sliced through the aqua arm, the water would splatter all over the cave, including Lark himself. There was a sizzling sound as the water hit his skin, leaving what appeared to be burn marks on the pale flesh. The white-haired mage glared at the spikes that had shot up around him... And gave a guttural screech as the tendrils wrapped around his neck.

There's only one way out it seems. Well, two.

Lark brought a shaking hand to his side, reaching for the Galaxy Cloak...

WHAM! Melancholic would be aware of a blunt pain in his neck, a small asteroid slamming into his weak point. The shadows around Lark dissipated, the white-haired man taking a deep breath for air.

I've gotta get outta here. Seeya later ugly!!

I swooshed the Galaxy Cloak around me, intent on leaving ugly behind here...

But my leg felt oddly heavy as I warped back to the cemetery, landing with a rather undignified "Ouchie!"

[ParamountKeymaster]

Melancholic grunted, his hold on the shadows weakening. Though the sting in his neck was plain and obvious, the damage dealt was minimal. When he looked up again, Lark was just in the process of vanishing. The demon had to huff at the pointlessness of this encounter before raking his claws against the void, swooping into the resulting portal and sealing the rift closed behind him.

He arrived back in the cemetery just as Sanguine raised a shadow barrier to lessen Mario's blow to his neck. The pressure was enough to loosen his grip on Toby, but the darkness had absorbed most of the blunt force.

As he found himself in free-fall, Toby quickly obeyed Mario's command and grabbed on, allowing the two to parachute out of the fray. He did his best to steer as Sanguine stirred up the air again, listening to Mario over the whistling wind. "Three, huh?" He looked over his shoulder to where Lark had reappeared. "Well, whatever works, I guess!"

He yelped and lifted his legs when the shadows reached up to grab him. Sanguine's voice echoed seemingly from all directions, "You're making this so much more difficult than it needs to be, boy! We don't have to fight!"

"It's not like you wouldn't anyway!"

[ryocker]

Mario hopped out of Toby's grip, curling himself into a cone as he spiraled into one of the Praet'nos's necks, seperating pieces as he drilled away. He unfolded, bashing more of the enemies away with his hammer, trying to make a safe spot around Lark. "Hey! Mr. Magic fella!"

During a moment of safety, he pulled out a red cardboard box with a yellow diamond shape on it. "I've got a way to fight these guys, but I'mma gonna need help from-a you and the boy," he informed him, cutting another one with his flat hammer, momentarily giving it depth as he thwacked a different one backwards, leaving the neck open. "Will you help us out?"

He kept swinging at the torrent of shadows, trying to keep the heat away from his allies. They didn't have a lot of time!

[DanteMGalileo]

Mmm, tastes like iron.

I pull myself up to my feet, spitting out a bit of blood. Heh, looks like water still does a number on me.

At least my clothes repel the resulting dust, though sadly I can't say the same for rips and water.

Ooooh, what's that box paper man brought out? "Interesting thing. What'cha need to cut 'em down? Just give me the word and I'll start slicin' and dicin'! Or just rain arrows down. I could go either way, really."

Oh look, I'm being rude. "The name's Lark Mercury, by the way. And what's your name, paper man? And do you catch fire as easily as common parchment?"

Hopefully Mario would decide to ignore the last comment for a bit.