⇨ HELL

[ringleaders]

Who: Vampire prisoners and rescue squad.
When: Evening Day 67 - Day 68
Where: Vampire Hell
What: The rescuers go to hell. Top levels are in approximate chronological order.
Warnings: Violence, torture, tryhard demons who aren't very creative.

RESCUE MISSION: HELL↴ The air smolders as you travel through the star-shaped portal the Ringmaster has opened - the gateway to the hell dimension that has taken so many if you. Ahead, you can see the grand entrance to Morningstar's fortress, a single point of civilization in the center of a barren, lava drenched hellscape. Of course, you won't be entering from the front. That would be stupid. The Ringmaster's plan is simply in explanation but far more difficult in execution. Her instructions are that she will attack the fortress directly, and that the rescue team is to enter inconspicuously and rescue who they can while she engages Morningstar. She has provided you with silver weapons - daggers, swords, and some projectiles - which you may or may not choose to use. Shedding a trail of orange and green embers, the Ringmaster will sprout her dark, feathery wings and take to the air, leaving the rescuers to contemplate their instructions now that they've arrived. The fortress is large, and as such there are many potential side entrances to find. It will take some doing, but the group will be able to accomplish it. Meanwhile, many of the vampires within will be distracted by the Ringmaster's now very audible arrival, and don't seem to be expecting a secondary attack. The initiative is yours, and the captives are there to be found... but will you succeed? ► GATEKEEPING: For those who don't trust their mettle enough to travel all the way to hell, there is an important job to be done back at the carnival. The Ringmaster's obsidian daggers have opened a portal there, but while the rescuers enter that portal must be protected - both to keep it from collapsing and stranding everyone there, and to prevent anything demonic from escaping onto the carnival grounds and causing havoc. If you need to take it easy but still want to help, this is a good place to be. It's also a good place for nervous hand-wringing about whether any of your friends will make it back alive. ► PLAYPEN: The cavernous pits where the neonate vampires are dumped, in order to engage in a survival of the fittest style battle royale where only the strongest and most cunning will emerge. Those that were turned during the masquerade were dropped down here a couple days ago, and so someone needs to go collect them. Try not to get eaten by the hordes of other starving neonate vampires down there while you're at it. Maybe you could even try to save some of them, if any seem worth redemption. ► CAPTIVES: While the supervisors were initially all caged together in large cell surrounded with a moat of lava, it seems that most of them have now been moved elsewhere. Where they have ended up is a puzzle you'll have to solve quickly - there are plenty of vampire sentries about to try to get in your way, and some of the prisoners may already be significantly worse for wear. If anyone has any powers that help them find people, this would be the time to use them. ► MINIBOSSES: Unfortunately, the enemies here aren't only capable of damaging the body, but the mind, too. In these particular cases, that corruption of the mind has been used pointedly to Morningstar's advantage - two of the carnival's most dangerous members have now been turned against it. If you want to get out of here alive, you'll have to go through them. If you're really lucky, you'll get them out alive, too. ► BOSS FIGHT: Before the rescuers and the rescued can escape, Lord Morningstar will arrive to corner them, with an entourage of elders. Let's hope that she gloats long enough for something to turn the tables.

Comments

[mirrortide]

What Steven is saying makes sense in the terms of how she's acting, but it doesn't make sense because Peridot knows them. Why would she be afraid?

Lapis steadies Steven with a small wince when he moves, because that really looks like it hurts. "Let Amethyst and me handle it." She doesn't want Steven to get hurt. She doesn't want to have to choose between protecting Steven and Protecting Peridot. "We'll figure it out, okay?"

[periphrasing]

Peridot plummets off of her perch with a squawk, Amethyst's yanking sending her face first at the ground. She staggers back to her feet, shaking her head rapidly, and immediately launches herself towards Amethyst next, claws scything through the air with rapid slashes of her hands.

[starseedling]

Steven jolts when he sees Peridot go for Amethyst, but he doesn't dash ahead himself quite yet. His eyes flash over to Lapis, and he swallows, and then nods. He knows that it doesn't help to try to argue with people in a situation like this - he's just gotta help in the ways that he can.

"I'll watch your back," he says, and brings his shield up again with his good arm. "We gotta get her out of here."

It's starting to seem that the easiest way to do that would be to poof her, but that's not really something he wants to do today. But if she really is like a corrupted gem, do they really have any other choice?

[drrdrrdrr]

"Don't worry, Ste-man, we got this," Amethyst agrees, although she isn't sure at all that they do. If they really are going to have to poof her, that'll be a heck of a job. Nothing she or Steven have at their command is as powerful as Garnet's gauntlets, and Vampire Hell isn't exactly moist –

Her train of thought doesn't get far before Peridot's going for her too. She flinches back, ducks a swipe from those claws, and uses the whip that's still wrapped around Peridot's arm to pull her off balance, and yank her closer – a risky move that could either get her decisively clawed up or give her the opportunity to sock her it's-complicated-facebook-status-friend in the jaw.

[mirrortide]

Wow, hey, Lapis doesn't need water powers to attack. She has a sword! Not that she'll probably use it on Peridot unless either Amethyst or Steven tells her too, and even then she'd still... rather not, honestly.

She's going to stand around clearly ready to do something, but she's not exactly sure what. Amethyst looks like she has things under control, and she's not sure if her helping would be helpful or not.

It's not like she has experience being a team player, or anything.

[periphrasing]

Honestly that sword is the one thing that would be guaranteed to poof her. But it'd be horrifying.

Amethyst actually succeeds in socking her right in the face. Peridot reels back as much as she can within the allowable length of the whip and rubs her wrist at her face, making a horrible noise akin to a burst of static from a dial-up modem.

Her whip bound hand, however, is going to start charging up a fireball to try and hit Amethyst with point blank.

[starseedling]

Okay, but... do they actually got this or are they just saying that they've got this? Right now it just looks like Peridot's getting punched in the face and Lapis doesn't know what to do. He doesn't really know what to do either, but it doesn't make it easier for him to just stand and watch.

Peridot is so scared and so lost, and he can't stand just watching her get beat up on when she's like this. He's still flinching from the pain of the burn across his shoulder, but maybe staying out of this is easier said than done.

"Maybe I should try to heal her? Maybe she's hurt!" he calls out, voice cracking, despite the fact that he said he'd leave it to the two of them a whole of ten seconds ago. He says where he is, at least.

[drrdrrdrr]

"I dunno, dude," says Amethyst, struggling to keep a hold of Peridot, "you can try it but someone's gonna have to hold her d-OWWN–"

That last part comes, of course, when the fireball hits her, knocking her away from Peridot like a purple squeak toy and jolting her into letting go of the whip, which dissipates in a flash of purple light.

[mirrortide]

It's honestly a good idea, Lapis agrees that Steven should try and heal Peridot from whatever it is that's affecting her, and Lapis would love to voice her own agreement to that, but Amethyst goes flying away from Peridot and Lapis hesitates.

How exactly are they going to hold her down if she keeps swiping at them like this? There's no water around, so it's not like Lapis can really do anything too effective. She told Steven to leave it to her and Amethyst, so she's going to have to make it up as she goes, apparently.

She launches herself at Peridot to shoulder check her, like the worst possible wannabe quartz. It's not like she has a lot of options?

[periphrasing]

Well, Lapis at least keeps Peridot off of Amethyst, which is good, because she was definitely going to go leaping after her with claws extended to try and do some real damage. Instead, she stumbles, and then whirls around to launch herself at Lapis. Coming at Peridot with her shoulder like that means that her arm is, unfortunately, prime for the tiny green gem to sink every single one of her sharp little teeth into.

[starseedling]

In this moment, there's nothing for Steven to do besides be super alarmed, and a little bit baffled.

"LAPIS, NO!" he cries out, looking horrified.

[drrdrrdrr]

Meanwhile Amethyst's hauling herself back up, looking singed and a little dazed -- not so dazed she can't take in what's going on though, because as Peridot sinks her teeth into Lapis's arm she lets out a wordless, incredulous shout and runs at the two of them. Hopefully Lapis will be okay if Amethyst just slams into both of them, but she's hoping maybe she can get a hold of Peridot from behind...

[mirrortide]

"Hey!" Lapis calls out in surprise as Peridot sinks her teeth into her arm, and she wheels her arm back to punch her with her strong noodle arms. And then Amethysts barrels into both of them, and knocks Lapis off balance.

They'll probably both be going down, honestly, but Lapis is certainly going down, and she's going to be landing on her sword at that. There's a soft 'Poof' noise, and a cloud of smoke, and a singular blue gem laying on the floor.

[periphrasing]

Peridot skids a little ways beyond that, yelping in surprise and digging her claws into the ground to try and keep from sliding too far. Instead of rebounding and attacking Amethyst, she glances around frantically; in her present state, she can't even come close to comprehending where Lapis disappeared to.

The only sensible conclusion she can draw is that she has somehow lost track of one of the intruders, and that is an idea that terrifies her. Her mistress, her currently absent pack leader, surely won't treat her kindly for such a failure.

[drrdrrdrr]

"Lapis--?" No time to freak out about that, though -- if she's gotten poofed then there's all the more need to get a hold of Peridot. Amethyst seizes her from behind, one arm underneath each of Peridot's and a leg hooked around her middle, and braces herself for getting bitten in the hand or something equally unpleasant.

"Steven, c'mon!" she yells. "I've got her, get over here and lay some magic spit on her!"

THIS PROBABLY WON'T DO ANYTHING

[starseedling]

Steven is super alarmed by what happened just there, and lets out a small cry of dismay, but Amethyst's shout pulls his attention back to the immediate situation. He can check on Lapis in a second. They have to help Peridot first.

"I'm coming!" he shouts, and licks his hand, running over to smack his palm over Peridot's gem.

NOPE

[periphrasing]

Peridot is putting up an unholy racket during all of this, thrashing and clawing and kicking and biting, slapping her tail on the ground. She's definitely going to put her teeth into Amethyst's hand, if she dares to let it get within range.

...The healing spit does nothing. It doesn't even slow her down? She just looks Steven in the face and hisses, spitting embers as she does.

WELP!

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst wraps her arms more tightly around Peridot even as she's getting them bitten and clawed so that she can haul her back from Steven before she does him any more damage. "Are you kidding me??" she grits out, "This is – ugh, Peridot, quit it!!"

[starseedling]

Steven pulls back, looking mortified that it didn't work. That was his only good idea! If healing doesn't work, then...

He glances down at the sword Lapis dropped. He considers that he could pick it up, but he can't make himself move in that direction.

"Amethyst," he says, helplessly. "I don't know what to do!"

[drrdrrdrr]

"I think – hey, I said quit – augh!" Her face scrunches up as she tries to wrest her arm free from Peridot's teeth without letting go of her. "Just – rrgh, just hold onto feet and her tail for me, willya?"

[starseedling]

"O-Okay!" Steven says, eager to take instruction from someone at this point. He swallows, and then tries to get close enough to grab her without getting slashed again - his arm is still hurting badly enough on its own. "Come on, Peridot. It's okay. You're gunna be okay."

He tries to speak as soothingly as he can while wrestling his arms around her legs and thrashing tail. He's reminded stupidly of the time that he and Amethyst were trying to teach her how to shapeshift by pulling on her arms and legs, except this is way less funny in retrospect. And way more difficult.

Two quartz should be able to grapple one Peridot, shouldn't they? Man, why are him and Amethyst so bad at things sometimes...

[periphrasing]

If there's one stroke of good luck about all this, it's that Peridot's physical strength is just about as sad as ever. She's just... An extra squirmy pain in the ass, who unfortunately happens to have sharp teeth and claws. Two weapons which she's trying her damnedest to make the most of, at the moment. That means she's just gonna keep chomping repeatedly on Amethyst's arm in an attempt to get her to let go, while her two attackers try to wrangle her.

[drrdrrdrr]

Steven getting a hold of Peridot's lower half means Amethyst's free to use the arm that isn't being vigorously chewed on -- and man does that hurt, but she's doing her best to plough through it -- to produce her whip.

"Auughhh, I swear, if this doesn't hold her–-" But it does, once she's managed to actually get it around Peridot's shoulders. She tears her arm away from those teeth (it feels like Peridot keeps some of her arm, but she's not going to stop and look right now) and wrestles the whip around her upper arms. "Steven!" She holds out the end to him. "Get this around her legs!"

[starseedling]

Steven takes the whip and painstakingly wraps it around Peridot's legs and tail, grunting with the effort as he tries to avoid getting any toe claws to the face. Finally, he manages to wrap the end of the whip into a knot, and he loosens his grip in relief.

"Phew," he says, wiping some sweat off his forehead. Man, it's so hot in here. "Do you think this will stick?"

[drrdrrdrr]

"I hope so," says Amethyst, grimacing as she does her best to secure the whip at Peridot's back. Usually when she gets people caught in her whip it's from a distance and temporarily... she really has no idea if this will hold.