lostcarnival | this is a robbery [closed]

Entry tags:

this is a robbery [closed]

Who: Childermass, Lambert, Cole, & Yuya.
When: Sometime later during the Harbinger invasion.
Where: The Wishmuth Museum of Art
What: The Harbinger of Fortune has his eyes set on ruining an exhibit opening for the museum's more lucrative patrons...
Warnings: Lambert's ass, Cole's TMI memory theater, and Yuya possibly wishing he'd chosen to team up with two completely different Guardians at that point in time tbh.

What would have otherwise been a quiet gathering of Wismuth's elite, to ooh and aah over the Wismuth Museum's newest additions, has ended up going a more poorly than anyone could have ever planned for. It all started with requesting to see the invitation of one man, having strolled into the reception in an indolent, uncaring manner. No one recognized him. No one was surprised when he told them he did not have one.

Surprise only came when the shadows all around them sprang to life before anyone could try and eject him.

Now the museum is surrounded by the flashing lights of cop cars and news vans, the radio and TV all announcing a strange hostage situation to add to the rest of the bizarre and dangerous events taking place in Wismuth these past few days. Not that the police can get in contact with the hostage-takers. Not that they can go into the building itself, either! The few who have vanishing just like everyone else who'd been in there before, considering their sole contact having been a short-lived emergency call from a security guard and then... nothing.

Overall, it's a mess all around the locked-down streets bordering the Wismuth Museum of Art.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Okay, so, a lot happens at once. There's no real suave way to react to a series of firework bubbles going off, though they don't quite reach him. The crows still lingering around the room spot them first and, acting on their own, dive. Bubbles pop, there are loud sounds, the shadows burst along with them, not having been all that solid to begin with.

Childermass jumps, cards startled right out of his hands. They won't hit the floor, though. They only look like cards, but they're still his Spark. They don't scatter across the ground, they rise up, floating, picking up some sort of orbit around their master and then--

They're all gone, just like that, in the blink of an eye. Thankfully not for good, since he's only stepped into the shadow the display case behind him casts. He reappears out of a shadow by a Grecian statue, standing on the pedestal space in front of it. It puts him slightly above the rest and gives him a front row seat to the images flashing across the air.

"That's..." A lot of things he never wanted other people seeing, actually, thanks Cole. His attention snaps to the crow sister (who isn't one at all, he already suspected), then to Yuya, and finally to Cole.

Yeah. That's got to be Cole. Rather than dwell on what's being shown, he'll scowl and pull a card out of the air, immediately flinging it at the spirit. Not a major arcana and therefore carrying no spell, but a minor one and those? Those are sharp.

Good job startling Childermass, Yuya, bad job Cole startling Lambert as well -- who the hell uses the power of sneaking up an enemy to show off someone else's memories?! The expression of chagrin and humiliation that stabs through Lambert is wildlly out of character on the crow sister's face, ugly flush coloring her cheeks, and the few moments of surprise that Yuya bought are for nothing since all Lambert can do is gape.

And then it's too late to grab Childermass, and Lambert snarls, still wearing the changeling's guise. There isn't even time to shout at Cole for being a fucking idiot before Childermass attacks, and then the response is completely instinctive: Lambert steps to shield Cole, disguise falling away as he raises the familiar witcher spell to block the card, though he isn't certain witcher magic will be enough to block it.

In the meantime? Childermass will suddenly find himself illuminated by headlights as a fucking motorbike comes at him out of nowhere, engine roaring and echoing around the room as Pig charges right at the pedestal he's standing on to try and knock it out from under him.

Edited 2018-02-21 06:05 (UTC)

Yuya stumbles out of the entry way, equally startled as his rushing out is met not with action from Lambert, but... more of Cole's home video. He knows Cole can do this, and later he'll realize he shouldn't be surprised this was what he attempted--but Yuya still comes to a halt and stares, gaping in disbelief as the memories play.

It's at the memory of them in bed together that Yuya realizes this is really rude and he should really not be looking at this, so he quickly jerks his attention away as his cheeks flush and he shifts awkwardly on his feet.

At least the violence getting initiated is a suitable distraction, and while Lambert's protecting Cole and Pig rides for Childermass, Yuya shakes the bubble wand to start another flurry heading towards Childermass. These are a little larger, and don't quite do anything, but there's so much more of them and the color makes them harder to see through.

Maybe he can obcsure Childermass's vision so he can't throw another card.

Well, that didn't work. And oh great, Lambert's pissed at him again. Cole's already attempting to step out of the card's way before Lambert comes in with his shield. If the card does break through the shield, then it'll slice Cole on the shoulder. If not, there'll be plenty of other opportunities for everyone to wonder just how a spirit can bleed in the first place.

"Guardian Memory!" Nigella shrieks as she just FLIES right towards Cole. Once she approaches him, she turns into a beam of green light, which separates and magically forms two daggers. Cole grabs each dagger, shifting into a combat-ready stance.

"I thought he could remember but his thoughts are all for her!" Cole points out, as if this somehow serves as an explanation for what he did. The problem with daggers is that they're melee as hell. Yuya's bubbles and the sudden motorcycle (okay???) are providing decent cover though, so he makes an attempt to dart away from Lambert, trying to find a spot that's closer in the fight but not currently occupied by a goddamn motorcycle.

Motorcycle? Motorcycle. Childermass is going to focus on the motorcycle speeding its way across the exhibit room to hit him first. That one seems important to focus on! The card he threw won't do much beyond bounce off the witcher's shield and then vanish in a blip of blue light, so Lambert and Cole are relatively safe for the moment, especially with Yuya's bubbles getting between him and his line of sight of the two.

But back to the motorcycle. It connects with the pedestal, which means it connects with the statue, which means the whole thing is about to fall over and shatter. What it doesn't connect with is Childermass himself, because he jumps up right before impact and then there's stone shattering and all the masonry dust that kicks up filling the room under him, all under him, since when he jumped up he had no intentions of landing again.

He pulls another card out of the air around him.

"Enough!"

The word is followed by him holding the card up — the Fool — followed by a veritable windstorm kicking up around him. It picks up the dust from the statue, kicks around loose jewelry, broken glass, and, ultimately, slams outward towards the walls of the exhibit hall. It's like a wall of wind hitting them, shattering display cases as it goes and his own attempt to push all of them further away from him, motorcycle and all. In the midst of this, the shadow crow that had remained on his shoulder collapses into formless black and creeps across the magician's form, covering his clothing and transforming into something entirely new — all black and silver with pale blue highlights, the same color as the glowing fae marks barely visible on what part of his chest can be seen through that.

"Of course my thoughts are all of her! Did you honestly think I would waste them on someone as pathetic as him?" He raises his voice over the howl of the wind. "Don't make me laugh!"

Edited 2018-02-21 16:05 (UTC)

The card might miss its mark, but Childermass's words find theirs, cutting through the shriek of the card's breeze and the cacophony of loose debris hitting the shield.

Pathetic.

It doesn't matter that his rational mind knows this isn't Childermass right now, that the Void or CY-Ren or whatever else has twisted him around. It's still his face, his mouth giving voice to every doubt he's ever had about whatever this is between them, every fear he's ever had that the magician might wake up and realize he was wasting his time. With the way that Wismuth heightens emotion, the word's a lance that cracks straight through the armor he'd built up to protect himself, around the fragile hopes he'd kept so carefully hidden away even from his own mind. It hurts.

Of course, he only lets himself feel the full brunt of that for a moment, because Lambert reacts to heartbreak the same way he reacts to anything else: by getting pissed off. At Childermass, at CY-Ren, at Creation, at everything that's led to this stupid fucking mess.

"Pig!" He screams over the gale. Pig's engine roars, glowing gold as his Spark responds to his will.

Fine -- Childermass wants to blow them away? He'll blow that damn peacock out of the sky. Pig rears and slams her front wheel into the ground, and columns of solid rock shoot out of the ground around her, some aiming to slam up into Childermass from beneath or the side and others forming shelter against the wind.

Edited 2018-02-21 16:51 (UTC)

Yuya is, of course, knocked back by the wind, almost backward somersaulting as the force wins out over his scrawny limbs. His back hits the wall, and he covers his head and projects his own shield dome to cover himself from the debris, and grant him a little recovery from the wind.

He rolls forward to his knees, looking up at Childermass. And then to Cole and Lambert, a little more worried about how they're faring.

Edited 2018-02-21 17:02 (UTC)

Having zero defensive capabilities but being just as scrawny as Yuya, Cole fares just as badly as Yuya. The spirit's knocked back and slams into one of the walls of the exhibit hall. He manages to get back to his feet, though he's battered with debris all the while and he's holding up his arm to try and protect his face.

Cole doesn't really know what to do. He was hoping that Childermass would remember, that the memories would reach past the Void and they'd at least get a moment where they could talk to the real Childermass. But that didn't work, did it. His thoughts are too occupied with CY-Ren.

Well, no matter what, Cole knows he can't really do anything against a ranged target except 'toss and stab'. And that can't do much against a windstorm to begin with. Cole leaps behind one of Lambert's pillars, using it as a barrier while he continues the world's most ineffective pep talk.

"You don't mean that! You were happy before her and you can be happy again!"

Stone columns shoot up all around, pinning Childermass between them and momentarily blocking him from view as they do. The wind immediately dies off, as if the brand new tomb of stone has worked. Admittedly, that had hurt, but giant stone pillars? Those cast a whole lot of shadow when all clustered up like this. A few heartbeats after the wind dies, the stone trembles and begins to heat up. A few more and the columns are smashed apart by the arrival of a craggy fire elemental, armored in molten rock. It shoves one of the columns off towards Pig the Motorcycle first and foremost.

But where's Childermass?

Well, if he's going to fight three at once, he's going to start with who he perceives to be the weakest link. That would be Kid Bubbles over by the wall there, so, hey Yuya, guess who's lunging out of yet another shadow and slashing forth with a razor-edged card? That's right, it's that guy, the one with all the feathers.

A fire elemental isn't what she normally deals with, but Pig won't make such an easy target, considering she has wheels and a blatant disregard for the laws of physics, and she nimbly zips out of falling rock. She won't stop there, either, driving around the columns blocking Lambert's line of sight. He swears, when he realizes his own fuck-up, but with a nimble and needlessly flashy move, he flips onto Pig's back.

He doesn't know how well Yuya's shield will stand up to a slash from a card, but he doesn't intend to wait and find out, sending Pig screeching forward and ignoring the fire elemental for now in favor of trying to attack the Harbinger again. With a bike. Look, sometimes a good wheel to the face is all you need to make your point.

"We need light!" he bellows. Without shadows in easy access, Childermass can't flit around as easily, and it'll be easier to pin him down.

Unfortunately, the shield isn't even up when Childermass bursts through the shadows. Yuya drops it as soon as the wind dies down to regain his mobility. He doesn't expect Childermass to come for him, and he moves a little too late. The card strikes across his face as he dives downward. It stings, and his face feels wet, but Yuya doesn't even think about the pain. He needs to move, so he does, launching himself nimbly around Childermass's side and then he's just running.

Light, light, he can do light. He doesn't stop running but he does hold the bubble wand up, and the bubbles that roll out from behind him are bright like little suns. They're just as delicate as normal bubbles, but at least he can keep making more and more of them.

Edited 2018-02-21 19:28 (UTC)

Stabbing elementals and rage demons works in Dragon Age. As such, Cole's going to try and take that elemental out. Besides, his daggers are a little bit magic thanks to that 'made from his familiar' thing, maybe magic stab damage could help against fire.

Besides, Yuya and Lambert are focusing on Childermass. If nobody pays attention to this thing, it'll set everyone on fire. He lunges forward, daggers in hand, as he attempts to stab and slash at any gaps among the molten rock coating of that fire elemental.

Lucky for Cole, stabbing elementals will work here, too. He won't make short work of it, but magical stabbing does pass through rock and flame and leave the creature leaking quickly cooling dribbles of lava. There'll be a mess on the floor but, well, it was a mess already. It roars (more like fumes, really) and swings its big ol' fiery arms after the spirit.

Meanwhile, Yuya manages to put space between himself and Childermass, the bright bubbles of light forcing him to stagger back and throw an arm up over his eyes. Those are bright and one ended being shot close enough to call it in his face. With the extra light, the layout of the shadows in the room changes dramatically, so he's left briefly without a way to escape quickly like before.

Overall? That makes it pretty damn easy to hit him with that bike this time around.

And hit him solidly that bike will, but rather than aiming to ram into him physically again she'll jump, suspended far too high in the air for half a heartbeat Lambert kicks her into a forward spin.

"Freedom Barrage," Pig intones, solemn as ever even as she recites ridiculous attack names. In front of her, a cluster of four-pointed stars that resemble Lambert's costume decorations forms out of glowing light ... and with a twist of the handlebars, they'll slam right into Childermass in all their sharp, pointy glory, aiming to hit hard enough to knock him down. If some of them can pin him to the ground by that stupid costume and keep him from drawing another card, so much the better.

In the meantime, Cole (and Yuya, if he decides to help him) are left to deal with the fire elemental on their own, for the moment.

Yuya turns to look over his shoulder as he hears the engine, cringing a bit. He has to have some faith that Lambert won't hurt Childermass badly. He obviously cared a lot about him.

He whips his attention around the room, assuming the biggest threats are Childermass and the elemental. Lambert seems to have things covered, but Cole is fighting fire with a knife. So Yuya rushes for them, throwing forward very large bubbles that float up and up, trying to go over the elemental's head--where they burst, exploding in a heavier, soapy sprinkle in an attempt to dampen it.

For someone who's plan is 'stab fire', Cole's actually doing a fairly decent job at it. It's obvious his forte is hand to hand combat: his daggers are doing a number on the elemental, darting in and out of it's 'skin'. He dodges most of the firey swings, though one does occasionally smack him in the shoulder or leg. Whenever something makes contact, Cole grimaces. He's not a sturdy spirit and it shows.

Because of that, any sort of help is appreciated. Cole backs up as Yuya calls the soapy bubbles towards the elemental. After all, he doesn't want to get wet either. Still, this might be a chance.

"Freedom did it, you've got to say the attack also!" Nigella chirps seemingly from nowhere, as Cole backs up to ready the dagger. Slightly grumpy, he calls out, "Memory For You!"

As Cole says the attack name, his daggers start to glow bright green. And Cole just straight up flings the dagger at the elemental, aiming for a spot in the thing's head.

Edited 2018-02-22 04:22 (UTC)

Cole's managing to whittle away at the elemental, though the merry dance he's leading it on is only helping to further trash the room. It takes out displayers and even more exhibits with every swing, trying to smash him, all up until bubbles start bursting over its head.

That? That stings and, of course, it roars in pain and whirls around -- slowly but surely -- to search out the cause. Sure, the bubbles are doing it, but where are they coming from? It's not the most intelligent construct around but it can figure out that much. It hunkers down and roars a second time, gearing up to charge and--

Then a knife sprouts out of its damn molten head. It never gets started in its charge, managing one step, two, as the heat begins to escape it in gouts of steam. Its molten armor begins to stiffen, become stone...

Back in the Childermass's face versus a horse that is literally a motorcycle fight, Childermass draws back abruptly, startled by how close the wheel of the bike comes to him, and it's instinct to reach for a card. He isn't quick enough this time, though, the stars from such a ridiculous-sounding attack knocking him over. At least one pins an arm down, point deep enough in the floor that he's stuck for the moment. The black and silver tarot cards scatter when he hits the ground like that, landing all over and across the floor.

"No!" He sounds pained, seeing them fall like that. It doesn't stop him from trying to reach for a card, however! Stretching as far as he can for the nearest one! "Not... like this!"

Because this would be a stupid way to lose. What would CY-Ren think? That he's useless? Weak? He can't have that, he won't have that!

Too bad, because he's absolutely about to have that.

Pig lands right on top of the cards Childermass is struggling to reach for, scattering them further with a shockwave as she comes to a halt, Lambert peering down at him. At the angle Childermass is at, he won't see much more of the witcher than red combat boot, plenty of muscled leg, and the edge of golden shorts digging into his thigh.

"Just stay down," Lambert advises pleasantly, "Before I break your face." He glances up to see how the fight's going, the elemental apparently no longer active. Huh. So much the better.

Yuya stalls for a moment, but when its clear the elemental is stalled he lets out a breath of relief and his shoulders slump. He looks to Cole to make sure he's fine, and since he doesn't look injured Yuya turns back around to Lambert and Childermass.

He heads their way, shuffling around the side so he can see Childermass without getting in Lambert's way. He has his wand ready, hands gripping it tightly.

The knife flies back to Cole's hand as the spirit effortlessly catches it. He's beat up and his forehead's bleeding thanks to a stray piece of debris but Cole's still standing in one piece. Which really, considering how he normally gets beat up to hell and back in a fight, he'll take this.

Cole walks over towards Childermass and Lambert, though he's looking at Childermass with an expression like he can see right through him.

"Even now he thinks of her," Cole sadly murmurs. "I failed, I've lost, I can't let her see me like this."

Childermass is the enemy. But Childermass is still hurting. Cole wants to help, but he doesn't know if he should. He looks up at Lambert with a confused and slightly pleading expression. Come on, tell him what to do!

Damn Cole and his abilities, as if Childermass wanted to hear everything already on his mind rambled to the damn wind. He raises his lip in a snarl at the spirit then turns his attention back to Lambert, the closest of the three Star Guardians.

"You look ridiculous in that," he rattles off the insult before reaching for something completely different than one of his tarot cards. He reaches for the sash of his costume, under which he's kept a very particular belt even with all the other changes. As it turns out, the witcher isn't the only one bringing extra knives to a magical girl fight.

There's the quiet snk of metal leaving a sheath and anyone touched deeply enough by faerie magic will know exactly what the little blade Childermass draws in, in a heartbeat, or more like they'll feel the uncomfortableness iron causes, on some level. Lambert's made the mistake of setting his boot down within shanking range and that's exactly what he'll try to do -- one little blade of pig iron straight into his leg. Not the worst iron in the universe by any means, but still.

Lambert doesn't know what to do, so he's got no idea what to tell Cole to do -- though there's one forming at the back of his mind, another half-baked plan same as all the rest of this has been.

Whatever CY-Ren or the Void did to him to make him like this, Lambert doesn't know. But Cole can see what's happened in a way Lambert can't. Maybe they could turn him back if--

Before he can open his mouth to articulate it, though, there's a sharp jab and then an explosion of agony in his leg as the iron sinks in, because Creation apparently doesn't believe in armor. It isn't the worst he could be stabbed with by far, no, but it still burns, nothing like the time he tested the edge on his own arm, and he jerks back. Except he's straddling a bike, so that goes as well for him as you'd expect. He tries to yank it out of Childermass's grasp before he can twist it for more damage, and get in a good kick to his face if he can too.

"Bastard!" he snarls. Pig holds steady, but maybe her rider's distraction is all Childermass needs to rip free of the floor long enough to get them off him.

Edited 2018-02-23 03:55 (UTC)

Something about the knives unsettles Yuya in a way he can't describe, but he doesn't really get the time to think about it on account of Lambert getting stabbed. Which, honestly, is bad enough even with normal knives.

"Lambert!" Yuya lunges forward, free hand reaching out for him. His gaze goes down immediately to the wound, and instinctively he raises the wand to try and smack it down on Childermass's arm. He'll feel bad about being rough later, but right now it's all impulse to stop Childermass from irreparably hurting Lambert.

As the least fae-changed of the lot, the most Cole feels from the iron is mild discomfort. However, Lambert's pain is like a beacon in his brain and Cole just lunges forward, knives still clutched in his hand, ready to just straight up fuckin stab Childermass should the situation call for it. He still doesn't know what to do. But he just can't let anybody else get hurt.

Throughout all this he remains quiet. Still, Cole is tense as hell and ready to spring if the situation calls for it.

It's kind of a team effort in the end. Well, a two-person team effort with Cole hanging out in case they need to tag him in. It all happens so fast. Lambert rips his leg out of reach, twisting the little knife out of Childermass's grip as he does so. He won't dwell on the loss, using the momentary distraction to rip himself free of the stars pinning him instead and roll out of the way, just before the witcher brings his boot stomping down where his face used to be.

Childermass makes one more desperate reach for the nearest card of his deck, this time willing it to fly to his hand rather than relying on physically grabbing it at a close range. He rolls back around just in time to raise it like a shield to meet Yuya's wand.

"Devil Trap!"

Oh god, now he's doing that, too. No. No, that's fine. That's a thing. He's just going to pretend this is totally normal. Right. The card is, in fact, The Devil, and shadowy chains immediately explode from the tarot card as soon as the words leave his lips. If nothing else, maybe he can take out just one of them. Isn't that better? Turning his failure into even the tiniest victory?

In any case, Yuya is about to experience what trapped so many other people here at the museum. If the chains catch ahold of him, if they don't break, he's going to find himself dragged into the card. Into darkness.

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