lostcarnival | ⇨ WISMUTH ENDGAME

Entry tags:

⇨ WISMUTH ENDGAME

Who: Everyone!
When: Evening Day 27
Where: The Wismuth Super Dome, Round 2
What: On the verge of creating a world ending army of Harbingers, CY-Ren and her followers are challenged by the carnival and the Star Guardian team. It's time to stop.
Warnings: Singing

THE LAST REQUIEM↴

CY-Ren's planning of a charity concert has been well received - news of bomb threats and harassment from fans have painted her as a victim in the media spotlight, and her generous attempt to make amends is getting plenty of attention. She's been busy spinning things for as much focus as possible, and the threat of potential danger has the news focusing in on the proceedings. The date is set for Day 27 in carnival time. You won't want to miss it!

► BUILD UP: In the last couple days before the concert, CY-Ren will be reaching out to all of her Harbingers, regardless of where they might be at the time - yes, this means that even if you ran off, she'll come to find you! (Unless you're in the carnival like Taako, then you're fucked.) She'll tell you that her plans are coming to head, and that if you help her with one last task then the planet will be on its way to destruction. There are multiple ways you can aid her: you can help amp up her performance as evil backup singers/musicians, or you can set yourself up around the perimeter at specified locations, using your sparks as a beacon to her magic. She's certain that she's perfected her musical formula, this time - when the concert gets underway, all those present with the capacity to be a Harbinger will awaken, and the end of days will begin.

► THE CONCERT: By the time the concert arrives, the Star Guardians will have the idea that there's something unnatural about the way the new Harbingers were made - this isn't how it usually happens, and that sets them apart from someone like CY-Ren. Maybe that means that they can be pulled away with less drastic measures as well, given that the Void didn't have the full right to their souls in the first place. Anyone coming to help (and those who aren't Star Guardians will be encouraged to come as well, given that if they are making attempts at friendship, super powers aren't required) will gather in the area early, determined to stomp this one out before it can get too far.

► HARBINGERS: This is when they will be encountered by Harbingers guarding the perimeter, as well as a small army of void creatures defending CY-Ren's last performance. Star Guardians will become aware through the power of Creation that the Harbingers on the perimeter must be neutralized in order to disrupt the concert - CY-Ren is feeding on their negative energies, and it will make it too dangerous to attack her directly. Confrontations with any Harbingers can be worked out on an individual basis via plotting - just make up a location around the concert and have your Harbinger providing a beacon of their own design.

As the concert ramps up, however, the excess of Void energy will cause the newly made Harbingers to destabilize - mentally or magically, their powers will be harder to control, and their negative emotions will be running wild. However, with that instability, there is also room for a breakthrough - for someone to blast the darkness from their Sparks with friendship and light. Now is the time to reach out.

► STAR GUARDIANS: If a Harbinger is successfully turned away from the darkness, they will briefly regain control of their Sparks, and be able to manifest as a Star Guardian for the first time. This will allow the Guardians to outnumber CY-Ren's forces. Their look and powers will still be based around the same Spark, but purified by Creation and aimed towards positive things. Time to win.

► DANCE OFF: Given that the Spark of Music and the Spark of Dance are colliding, it is perhaps not a surprise that this all manifests as a big ass musical number. As CY-Ren and Noa have a music battle, everyone present (even if you aren't a Star Guardian) will find themselves magically inspired to join in. You can dance, sing, or anything in between - the more people who support Noa's side, the stronger she will be. There will be a megathread for this part of the conflict, and at this point any unturned Harbingers will awaken and be able to turn their Sparks towards the light. As CY-Ren begins to lose power, what the players do with her will be up to you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

At Lambert's warning, Rita ducks her head behind Yuya and squeezes her eyes shut, using him as a shield against the blinding light.

When he moves to get off the bike, she does too. With a kick of her feet and a few heavy beats of her wings, she lifts herself off the bike and glides over Yuya's fallen form, over to the right, just as planned. The motion's wobbly -- she's missing a sizable portion of feathers, making it hard to balance with her wings, but it's a short enough distance that she makes it without toppling over.

Francis springs after her, and together, they take on a stance of battle-readiness. Her book, too, reappears beside her, its pages turning.

That all makes the only person caught off-guard by the sudden explosion of light to be, of course, Childermass. It's the gleam of light that has him whirling around to look, scowling at first at the intrusion until he sees the wave of light rolling away from where Pig landed. Then it's just his eyes widening, frown melting away into surprise, and him trying to throw an arm up over his face to shield it a moment too late.

He gives a pained shout instead, still curling an arm over his eyes even though he's been blinded. He staggers a step back before dropping to one knee, a choice to, at the very least, avoid falling over like a total idiot. Golden light interferes with everything up there, from blasting apart swathes of the nearest shadow crows to causing the output from the beacon to falter, though not cease.

"Bastards!" Childermass curses wildly, even if he can't see them, even though he's down and temporarily out of it as he is. Seems the light from that arrival is actually, physically painful to him rather than just annoying.

Lambert, unlike the others, has the benefit of goggles, which he wrenches down over his eyes as Pig remains where she is, still glowing bright, though Lambert himself isn't certain how long she'll be able to keep that up. There are two immediate concerns: taking down Childermass, and attacking the beacon that makes his skin practically crawl with the awful amount of Void energy coming off it. He isn't certain what's going to happen if he outright destroys the damn thing, magical artifacts seeming like something best left to Rita's purview, so of course, he'll go for what little semblance of a plan they had in the first place.

"Trap him!" he snaps, hoping Yuya hitting the floor wasn't an indication of an impending concussion. He forces Pig to turn in the tight space, her light already beginning to dim back down to her wheels.

Yuya rolls over, gripping his bubble wand tightly as he shoves himself to his feet and starts running. He spares a look to the beacon, shuddering before he turns his focus onto Childermass. He's already sending bubbles his way that, when popped, explode into an extremely sticky, glue-like substance. He's hoping Childermass will find his way into enough of them, or what's left of them on the ground.

Childermass is down, and Yuya's working to trap him, with Lambert at the ready... Looks like Rita has a chance to turn her attention to the energy feeding into the beacon. That burst of light just now seemed to disrupt it, if only a little...

Can she destabilize it further...?

Might as well try. Rita sweeps out an arm as if to command her weapon. Her book opens, and from it, three streams of fire burst forth, intertwining in a braid-like pattern as they shoot out at one of the minor arcana.

With the initial shock of the arrival wearing off, Childermass does lower his arm to squint past it just enough to see the bubbles fired his way. He snarls and immediately launches himself upwards, the constructs that form his wings snapping open and doing the work for him. The bubbles will coat the rooftop where he'd been before, but up higher? He's safer from them, for now.

Rita, however, is a more immediate concern. He feels it, the very instant her fire latches onto the minor arcana.

"What did I tell you about meddling?!" He snarls, pulling his deck literally from thin air, the cards gleaming malevolently in his hands. He draws and immediately throws it to the ground. "Baker!"

And, yes, it is Baker that bursts forth from that card. Rita's encountered the twisted specter the arcanine has become before -- color tainted to a void-like purple and form vague around the edges, almost ghost-like -- and here comes round two, because it's here that the big dog is targeting for his own stream of fire, only his is much, much bigger and far more dangerous.

Lambert's not mobile right now, but Pig certainly is, and neither witcher nor Pokemon-turned-familiar are about to let Childermass roast their allies. It happens in a split second, Pig screeching forward to put themselves right into the path of Baker's flames to shield Rita, and Lambert only has enough time to raise an arm to cover his face, a flash of metal sparkling in the light of spectral flame.

Do Peridot's magic-absorbing bracers work against Pokemon fire? Lambert hasn't got any idea, but he's about to find out the hard way.

Edited ( ) 2018-03-16 02:55 (UTC)

"Rita!" Yuya's easily distracted by Baker's coming attack, but Lambert moves before he does. It's probably a good thing, because it gives Yuya the time to realize that Childermass is up, out of the way, and they need to bring him down.

So he swings his wand hard, one way and back in two sets of bubble that start to blend together. They float towards Childermass--some of them still explode into goo, while others will make that same deafening crack that happened in the museum.

Of course, he's only able to focus on it for that much before his worry drags his gaze back to the other two.

It's a good thing that Pig moves fast, because Rita freezes when she sees Baker back and on the offensive once again. Even if she did react immediately, the attack comes too quickly for her to conjure a spell in response...

It's only when Lambert lands himself in the flame's path that she snaps out of it. "Wait, you--!" He didn't have to do that, damn it!

But he kind of did, and even though she doesn't know if Lambert's okay, there's only one thing to do now: keep fighting. Anything else would be a waste of this opportunity he's making for her.

Cursing under her breath, Rita flips to a new page in the book and calls forth another spell: "Arc of Judgment!" A crackling bolt of electricity shoots out of the book, twists and turns in the air above Lambert and Baker, and zigzags its way toward another minor arcana card. "I'll meddle as much as I please!" she adds, now that she has a chance to breathe. "We've all got too much to lose to just let this happen!"

Sorry, Lambert, but they don't. Baker may be changed by supernatural forces but his fire is the same as ever, a natural ability, or as natural as one can expect from a Pokemon, anyway. The witcher and his loyal bike will meet the flames in the worst way possible as they ignore the bracers entirely, though they do block Rita from the blast.

It also has the strange perk of immediately distracting Childermass. He'd meant for Baker to attack Rita, not Lambert, and with CY-Ren's influence long since purged, seeing that idiot shove his way into the line of fire has a flicker of panic crossing his face. He grabs for another card, but there isn't enough time to do anything, whatever it is he may have wanted to do.

"Lambert!"

Lambert, you idiot! He would have added the rest, but the loud bang from a bubble jerks his attention away. He floats backward on instinct, away from the sound, and right into another bubble. This one pops on one of his wings, immediately weighing it down with goo rather than letting out an exploding sound. He curses again and falters in the air... All of which gives Rita free rein to interrupt that second card. She zaps it right out of the air, breaking its connection with the central card.

It's been a while since Lambert's been on the receiving end of a fireball, but it's not like it's never happened to him before. That doesn't make the flame that sears across his arm and side any less agonizing -- being able to tolerate heat doesn't mean being fireproof. Neither is that flimsy Guardian clothing, though at least it doesn't go up entirely in flame, just ends up blackened and singed, filling the air with a sharp, bitter smell like burnt hair.

Gritting his teeth, the witcher waits out the rush of flame without a sound of complaint, and only once he's certain there isn't any more coming that he raises his other hand -- the leeward side, the one shielded from the flame -- and casts a rushed, sloppy spell in Baker's direction.

"Stay down!" he orders, the crack in his voice betraying the pain. As soon as the spell's cast, he uses the same hand to beat out the small flames licking up his clothes, hissing as he brushes reddened, blistering skin. It's not by any means as bad as it should be, for such a direct hit, but fuck if it doesn't sting.

The last of his bubbles area still floating up towards Childermass. Yuya's running towards them as Lambert ignites, hand thrust out to cast the shield around them as he skids to a halt. They can't attack from under it, but it buys precious time from another attack by Baker.

"Lambert, are you--" he stops as his nose scrunches a little at the scent. "How bad is it?"

That agitated voice just now... Was that Childermass?

Rita didn't expect that to get such a reaction out of him... Maybe Yuya was right. It's still possible to get through to him...

With the barrier around them, Rita takes a moment to breathe... then walks to Lambert's side, opposite Yuya. She looks at him, taking in the sight of his burnt skin, then glances away with a wince. It's not the worst she's seen, but it's hard to face the fact that he's only hurt because he was shielding her.

She keeps her book close and watches Childermass, prepared to attack again should the barrier between them go down.

At Lambert's order, well, of course Baker backs down. He goes from snarling beast to puzzled to flopping down on the rooftop in the span of seconds, idly panting and watching Mr. Guardian of Freedom over there curiously. Baker knows Lambert. Baker isn't sure why they're attacking Lambert but if he doesn't have to now, hey, whatever.

And Childermass isn't even going to fuss over his familiar suddenly becoming useless. He's busy landing heavily on one of the big metal A/C units that sit up on here with them. Partly due to his wing being disabled, partly due to wanting to avoid further bubbles now in the air as well.

He gives the three behind the shield dome a torn look, but it doesn't last. He raises an arm towards what's left of his shadow crows and gestures them towards what's left of Yuya's bubbles. They dive for those, popping them and winking out of existence with each bubble they take out, leading to a series of splats (of goo falling to the rooftop) and bangs.

Lambert, perhaps to no one's surprise, curses foully when the other two Guardians group up on him. He'd probably appreciate the sentiment more if they weren't in the middle of a fight here, and he forces himself off Pig with a slight stagger. The bike's shiny gold finish that was facing Baker's assault is slightly blackened with soot, but she's otherwise unharmed.

Instead of actually answering Yuya, he steps forward to the edge of the bubble barrier, eyes fixed on the goo-afflicted Harbinger.

"Are you an idiot!?" He bawls at Childermass, lungs clearly working well enough to be heard even over the splat and bang of Yuya's other bubble's popping. The beacon's still going, though even he can tell it's begun to partly falter.

"I'm supposed to be the one who sets people on fire! Not you!"

Yuya's eyes snap between Childermass, Lambert, and Lambert's wound. Things have slightly calmed down after that initial burst of violence (of course, they just came up on Childermass out of nowhere), but Yuya's reluctant to drop the shield just yet. So he doesn't, waiting out whatever Lambert wants to say to Childermass.

With any hope (or a whole lot of luck), maybe he'll get through with this. Maybe they won't have to fight any further.

"That’s what you're concerned about!?" Rita snaps at Lambert in disbelief.

Well... at least he pacified the pooch. That’s one of Rita’s biggest worries out of the way.

"...Taking out those cards seems to be effective," she observes after a moment, her voice quiet. "If we get rid of them all, we might disrupt the beacon entirely." Rita still doesn't know whether to believe this can be resolved with words. If there's a way to use logic and magic to fix things, why not do that?

"Of all the things to complain about...!"

Yeah, Childermass thinks that stupid, too, Rita, but he honestly has more important things to do than get in an argument over who can and cannot set people on fire. He tries to clear his wing of the goo one last time but, failing that, he pulls a face and simply dismisses the damn things. If they're getting in the way, he won't keep them around.

From that point, he turns his attention back towards the beacon, drawing a new card to point towards it. Chances are the means to fix it, but the energy — down two cards to help it focus — has begun to go haywire. It's reaching for any form of corrupt Spark to latch onto and Childermass drawing a new card is like holding a lightning rod up high in the middle of a thunderstorm. Void energy arcs away from the beacon, grasping not only for the new card but up his arm as well.

Which hurts.

He lets go of the card with a shocked jerk, staggering back a step and struggling a bit to shake his arm free again. He manages, the energy turning its attention to the card he's left in its grip instead. He shakes the pins and needles of the contact out of his hand and then holds it out towards the now floating card instead, focusing, willing it and the energy back into the circle from afar.

"Now look at what you've gone and done," he mutters, "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to break a circle like that?"

What's equally if not more stupid is Lambert takes a step forward when Childermass jolts like that, pushing past Yuya's bubble with hand already half-outstretched -- and scowling. That's a useless gesture -- what is he going to even accomplish?

"Dangerous--?! As if you're one to talk! You're trying to end the world!" Really, it objectively doesn't get more dangerous than that!

Yeah, yeah, he's supposed to be winning Childermass back to their side with friendship, but perhaps unfortunately for Creation, Lambert's friendship has always come with a fair share of fighting. If nothing else, at least, maybe he can provide a distraction to keep Childermass from focusing on the beacon, or any other attempt Yuya might make to tie him down. He takes one step closer, and another, the energy from the void making his skin prickle with discomfort.

"Stop being such an ass! You don't want this!"

It is forceful, but it isn't like Yuya disagrees. Maybe Childermass does need to be yelled at, he doesn't know him that well.

Yuya watches Lambert push against his bubble, and that's when he drops it so as not to obstruct him further. His gaze quickly drifts around the beacon, considering its structure. Pulling it down by force is probably more dangerous than convincing Childermass to drop it, but he knows across the city that Noa is standing up against CY-Ren directly, soon if not now, and she could use all the help she can get.

He stares for a moment before shuffling closer to Rita, lowering his voice to a whisper. "There's something in the middle. What if we pull it out?"

Maybe the whole beacon will collapse with it. Or maybe they'll just blow themselves up with magical energy.

"I guess we'll have to find out," Rita replies to Childermass's warning, smug and satisfied with her own recklessness. Lambert's right; how dangerous could it be, compared to the end of the world? Besides, if this bothers him so much, maybe he'll let slip some details about how it works. It's win-win, as far as Rita's concerned.

Rita's book starts to glow, charging with Creation energy to prepare for a powerful spell. If Lambert can keep him occupied, maybe she can start taking out more of those cards.

But Yuya has another suggestion, and Rita listens as she prepares the spell. "I wouldn't risk it," she whispers back to him. "The energy's too volatile, and too concentrated at that point. You don't want to get in the middle of that."

"If you think I'm going to stop for one of your petty little arguments, you don't know me all that well after all," is the answer Lambert gets from Childermass. He shuffles through his cards for a second replacement, drawing a card once he settles on something suitable.

As long as they linger on their side of the rooftop, he's just going to carry on repairing the beacon.

"No," Lambert says, gritting his teeth. "You never stop for anyone else, do you?"

But he keeps striding towards Childermass, unarmed, hands balled into fists at his sides. Violence is the only solution he's ever really known, and he wants to reach for it now, except...

Except that really wouldn't solve anything, would it?

"But you're wrong. I do know you," Lambert snarls, stepping forward quicker now, moving to stand between Childermass in the beacon. " You say you're pissed because nobody's ever going to thank you?! Bullshit! You never asked for anyone's thanks in the first place! You're a selfless idiot who never thinks about protecting himself! You think you need to do everything on your own and never rely on anyone else, but you're a soft-hearted bastard who couldn't even leave a servant alone, who spoils his dog rotten when nobody is looking!"

Behind him, Pig starts to glow again, and her engine roars as she starts to drive in a circle around the roof -- where her wheels run, it leaves a wall of golden light, rising from the ground to banish the shadows -- and once she completes her circuit, she'll aim to come to a stop beside where Baker's flopped down.

Yuya nods. That's a fair assessment--Rita's the magic expert here, so he's going with her judgement. He looks at Lambert's back, pausing for a moment.

"Then you go for one side and I got for the other? Lambert will reach him--" Yuya sounds completely certain about that. "But I don't like what the beacon's doing, so we should stop it."

Rita pauses, turning to watch Lambert lay into Childermass. Selfless, soft-hearted... He's not wrong, but Rita never expected to hear Lambert say it like that.

Yuya's next suggestion earns a nod from her. If they keep waiting, Childermass will fix the whole thing and they'll be right back where they started. "I'll take the ones to our left," she whispers, then returns her attention to her book. It seems like it's gathered enough power to try this technique with.

"Come forth! Indignant Judgment!" Electricity shoots from the book once more, this time in multiple branching strands that converge above one of the minor arcana cards. The energy then crashes down hard like a bolt of lightning, with some sparks shooting off towards nearby cards. If she's lucky, she might take out multiple cards in a single shot.

As forceful as the spell is, it doesn't come close enough to harm anyone on the roof, though it may make a few people's hair stand on end.

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