lostcarnival | ⇨ FAERIE TALES

Herbert is immediately incredibly cranky about this clone facing him because it's narratively forcing him to do the exact thing he was hoping to avoid. Shoving the stopper back into the bottle and setting it off to the side for anyone who ignored it like an idiot to potentially come back to, Herbert reaches into his bag and removes the hot oil sword that should absolutely not fit in there.

"Let's see how you do against your fatal weakness!" he announces, flaring out his wings. "The Oleum Blade!" Reira probably cheers over his radio. He'd feel like an idiot about it if he wasn't getting so into it. Like a stage sword fight, he slices towards his opponent's sword rather than his actual opponent--but in this case, he is actually trying for strategy, what with the rival sword being made of ice.

Overall, though, he has no actual clue what he's doing. Hopefully, in a story, this won't be too detrimental.

It's a little hard for Malachite to grapple with Yamantaka when she's trying to keep a dragon down, especially since it has a pair of hands it doesn't have to use just to stand.

But also, there's enough water that two hands larger than Malachite's own made of water join the fight to help her stay balanced and continue to grapple with the demon. It does not, however, stop Malachite's tail from thrashing around and creating large waves of water.

Herbert's water clone, on the other hand, has it's weapon and itself sliced in two from the Oleum Blade. It seems at least that strategy worked.

Unfortunately, just as the water clone starts to fall apart, it just splits into two, and both water-Herberts stab towards him.

The demon redoubles it's efforts, the extra arms it was using to shove Malachite back now having to deal with the giant water hands. It braces itself, growing even larger to match Malachite's strength, which thankfully doesn't draining Shima too badly at the moment thanks to that narrative armor the Athenaeum is providing, leaving him to help deal with fight on the ground.

"Whoa hey, that's no good!"

Shima moves to block those strikes, the ice swords of Herbert's clones clanging on the warded metal of his staff.

"Uuh, hey Doctor, you're good at chemistry right? Ya got anything up your sleeve that you could.. coat the Oilem Blade with ta evaporate these guys or something?"

Edited 2018-05-27 23:58 (UTC)

Completely unaware of anything going on outside of horrible fusion gullet-town, Peridot is having a pretty bad time. Malachite has her trapped, and even being amped up with earth spirit energy isn't really giving her an edge with breaking free from these horrible rectangle toothed throat-jaws.

It's hearing Malachite's voice(s) booming in her ears, screeching with fury, that gives her a sudden burst of inspiration. Her claws and her fire are obviously having an effect, but she has been fighting in an effort to get free and rejoin the fight outside. Maybe... She doesn't need to get out. Maybe she's exactly where she needs to be.

She just wishes she could think of a less humiliating method of pulling this off.

"Ugh... And then Peridot stopped fighting and tricked the monster into swallowing her, the creature completely unaware that in doing so, it was playing right into the hero's hands, sealing it's own doom," she groans reluctantly, and braces herself. Stars she can't believe she's doing this bullshit

"Better than, swordfighting--do you have any idea how to use this?" Herbert hisses, gesturing with the sword awkwardly at Shima. He does not, in fact, hate fighting himself because if he was fighting himselves, they too would be crap at fencing.

But as far as another thing to coat his sword with... "It's already made of hot oil!" he explains, but he transfers it to his left hand to rummage in his bag and pull out a handful of some sort of mineral, tossing it at the sword, which flares up, abruptly. "Now it's....salted! And hotter!" He's looking a bit anxious because he's starting to get really ridiculous at this point, but it's his best idea. "We'll bring these watery dopplegangers to the boiling point!"

Okay, maybe trying to bite her was a mistake. It's kind of hard to narrate any more story when there is an agitated True Fae in your mouth, and Sans hasn't got the will to just push the story in the right direction with thought alone. Mostly because having a fae try to put their tentacles in his eyes sockets is really freaking him out.

He roars, unleashing a blast of energy through his mouth, trying to burn her and her weeds before they can tangle him up. Overall, though, this is not going so well. His massive form stumbles over into a wall with a heavy impact, the Lady dragging him over as if her weeds are reins.

Oh boy, Sans definitely needs help. Shima borrows the influence of having Yamantaka summoned to shove back the clones with superhuman strength, getting them a little bit of space.

"Cool, sounds great! I'm pretty sure my science teacher demonstrated something like that in class once! We'll have ta hurry though, the Warden's just managing ta hold that fae back but it's gonna take a second for those blasts of his ta really start breaking up that stuff she's trying ta lasso him with 'n we wouldn't wanna leave him in a lurch before he's totally powered up and ready ta do some damage."

Shima readies to rush the clones.

"Just slash 'em when I say so, Doc. 'N keep charging your laser, Warden-san!"

Peridot is still rammed inside her throat, but now that she's not struggling any more Malachite is hardly even aware of her... which is impressive, considering that in her dragon form Peridot is big enough that you can see how uncomfortable that must be from the outside. Thanks, narrative suggestion!

Of course, the demon she's fighting helps too.

Malachite has been making most use of her water powers, so far -- Jasper's contribution to the fusion's fighting capabilities seems to be mostly in her immense size and physical strength. But now, as the bull-headed demon increases in size in front of her, one pair of her eyes narrows in a familiar, angry squint -- and she summons Jasper's helmet, scaled up to fit her giant head.

Malachite's component parts aren't united enough to bring Lapis's wings and Jasper's weapon together. They can't form something that matches Malachite herself, because Malachite has no stable identity of her own. So the helmet is still the same orange as Jasper's gem usually is, clashing horribly against Malachite's sea-green colour scheme.

Not that Yamantaka will have the time to admire it it. As soon as Malachite has it on her head, she's slamming the column of it forward directly into the demon's bull-head.

Edited 2018-05-28 02:43 (UTC)

Gross! But, it works well enough for Peridot's purposes; with Malachite distracted, the jaws loosen their grip, and Peridot changes back into her regular form to wriggle free. And then, with the liberal use of her claws to help control her descent, she journeys uh... Deeper.

Moments after Malachite headbutts Yamantaka, she'll suddenly feel a literal stabbing pain in her vertical abdomen, as the blade of the Vorpal Sword is thrust out through her gut from her insides. It slices in a horizontal arc, as easily as a hot knife through butter, severing the fusion nearly in half right at the waist.

At the same time:

Shima charges the clones, springing over them at the last second, staff clashing against their swords.

"Now, while I've got 'em distracted!" he shouts to Herbert.

As Peridot cuts herself out of Malachite, the fusion literally poofs into two, separate gems. Both of which fall to the ground, and subsequently, into the water with a splash, and neither of them move from there.

This also means that the waterclones wibble, then splash down back into nothingness with Lapis' concentration over them gone.

Grimacing, Herbert starts to slash along through the clones...and then staggers to the side without even the token resistance of the water and ice. He's confused for a moment before he looks up and sees that Malachite is gone: Peridot's mission complete. Taking a breath, he clenches his jaw and runs towards where the Lady has Sans, sword in his right hand and scooping up the potion from the ground with his left.

"Your fatal weakness!" he pronounces, and throws the flask to smash on the floor over the Lady, swinging down at the seaweed with his now literally flaming sword after he does so.

Fire isn't her weakness, really, but according to the narrative flow of this scene that doesn't really seem to matter. The Lady has been busy trying to tangle up Sans, latching onto his skull, neck, and front paws with her weeds and threatening to do worse. She's found it amusing mostly - as much as his lasers have singed her, it's all still very much a game.

At least, until Malachite poofs and Herbert comes at her with a flaming sword that is weirdly good at cutting through her hair. She falls off of Sans's head, which she had been standing on until that point, the release of hair tension causing her to lose her balance.

"Well, this is disappointing," she says, glancing over at the water that Lapis and Jasper fell into. "I'm done playing for now, I think."

She leaps into the air, away from Herbert, and dives into the pool of water the gems fell into.

"She's gonna keep being disappointed, 'cause whether she's about ta try and take her toys 'n go, or pull something else, we still get there faster."

Yamantaka, who'd been stunned by that gem-weapon headbutt earlier gets bolstered by Shima enough to manage to reorient himself, long enough to reach with his clawed hands into the water to scoop up the prone gems that'd gone under and drop them on the stone floor of the library.

Edited 2018-05-28 04:37 (UTC)

Peridot also falls, because the thing that had been containing her basically just evaporated under her feet. The difference between her and the other two gems, though, is that she is the only one of the three of them that's wearing a ring that literally lets her walk on water. So. Instead of splashing below the surface? She falls on her face.

The Lady of the Lake rushes past her, and she scrambles to lift herself up on hands and knees, following the fae's path.

"Is that it!?" She says incredulously. That can't be it. It seems far too easy. She didn't even get to punch the fae in the face? What the heck?!

The gems aren't there.

She doesn't understand it. She dove in first. The water is hers. Yet, the gems aren't there. Someone grabbed them first?

The Lady emerges from the water, coming to stand on it as well, looming over Peridot.

"Fine," she hisses. "I'll take this one instead."

Think fast, Peridot. The water is about to swallow you whole.

Oh. So it was too easy.

Unfortunately Peridot is still basically prone when she feels the shadow of the fae rise up to loom over her, and she only has enough time to just scramble to her feet with an angry hiss before that water is rising up to nab her

As she established earlier in the narrative, she still has that powerful Earth Spirit aura surrounding her, which gives her the force of will to fight back and keep from getting completely wrecked right away, but... This is a true fae they're dealing with. She won't last very long without assistance, no matter how hard she kicks her feet and paddles with her tail against the pull.

Edited 2018-05-28 15:09 (UTC)

Alphys almost didn't get a chance to fight her own water clone, because she was distracted by the sight of Sans AND Peridot transforming into ultra-cool super forms?? What the heck?? That's so cool??

...And then her water clone beamed her upside the head with its weapon, knocking her to the ground. It's only dumb luck that she isn't taken out completely when the clone splashes into nothingness and she can drag herself up with a groan. Oh, her aching head... she takes a moment to get her bearings about what's going on, which is just enough to tell that things are going pear-shaped at an alarming rate.

"B-boss!!" Alphys stammers as the fae is about to take Peridot. She's gotta do something, and she's gotta do it fast.

She reaches into her pocket and grips her Wismuth charm, immediately feeling a sense of calm wash over her, and she starts to sparkle. "And just when the heroes thought all was lost, uh... Peridot's best friends in the world, Lapis and Jasper, snapped out of the lady's control and rescued her from the villainess' clutches!"

Edited 2018-05-28 15:16 (UTC)

What might normally have been a groggy start for Lapis is thankfully overcome by Alphys' narration. Her head is surprisingly clear, but she doesn't question it. Peridot is in danger, and she has to help. She needs to save her, she needs to do something to help, because she just can't let Peridot go through what happened to her.

She lifts the water into a column where Peridot and the Lady are, giving very few options to flee. "Jasper! Get her!"

"Friends?" Jasper starts to protest, shooting a sharp, indignant look at Alphys -- but it's honestly difficult to fight the tide of the story Alphys is pushing along when she wants to fight the Lady of the Lake anyway... and can she really complain about fighting alongside Lapis?

Lapis's instructions bring her back to focus on the Lady and Peridot atop the pillar Lapis has made, and a split second later she's launching herself into a spin dash, hurtling forward and then directly up the side of the column of water. When she reaches the top she stops spinning, stabilising midair and summoning her helmet so she can redirect her momentum into slamming it down towards the Lady of the Lake.

"Alright! With the original kidnappees awake and unexpectedly breaking out of the Fae's control, they made just enough of a chance with their attack for the heroes ta blast her when she's knocked clear!"

Edited 2018-05-28 19:37 (UTC)

Well, some of that comes true. Jasper is strong enough to knock the Lady down into the water, the surface tension not enough to hold against the force - but it isn't enough to keep the Lady from grabbing Jasper with her arms and weeds, preventing her from leaving after the blow has been struck.

"Oh, you came back to me already," she says, and attempts to slam Jasper down into the water along with Peridot.

Peridot is thoroughly confused at first. One second the water is trying to drag her down, the next it's erupting into a column that lifts her up above the main surface of the lake. It's kind of disorienting, and it doesn't make sense until, in her haste to find a way out, she glances around and makes out the blurry shapes of Lapis and Jasper, apparently already conscious again. She sees Jasper fling herself into the action for an attack, and she can still see both gem and fae above her, grappling with one another now. There's a very real threat here that, if the Lady succeeds in pulling Jasper into the water as well, they're going to wind up basically back at square one, and that is just downright unacceptable in her opinion.

Concentrating hard, Peridot turns her gaze downward and searches with both her eyes and her mind to try and reach back out for the Vorpal Sword with her metal powers, wherever it happened to have fallen in the chaos. Considering half her current contract involved gaining better mastery over this specific ability, she senses it quickly enough. It flies to her, but she doesn't catch it in her hand; instead, she keeps guiding upward, with every intention of sending it out of the top of the column to slash upwards at the space between the Lady and the gem. Peridot can't speak to aid her actions right now, but she's putting every ounce of concentration into the moment and the intended results: At the very least, she wants to cut through those tangling weeds... but she won't complain if she slices a fae arm or two off, too. It is a sword that can cut through just about anything, after all.

The sword flies upwards, cutting through one of the Lady's arms. The part that is severed turns to water as it falls, splashing into the pool along with the rest of it. The Lady seems more surprised than hurt.

"Sharp knife!" she says, and then lashes upward with her hair to catch the sword on its way up. "I'll take that."

The bits of her hair that wrap around the blade cut themselves in two, but she manages to keep a grip on the hilt. Then, she aims it at Jasper, and takes a swing.

Lapis not so much pulls as yanks the water holding Jasper and Peridot back towards her, isolating the fae in her own column. It's a little bit rough and lacking finese, but whatever gets the job done, right?

Another hand comes up from the water and forms a hand, intent on flicking The Lady into the closest wall which as much force as she can possibly muster. Lapis would also like her sword back, whenever Peridot gets the chance? It's part of her skeleton morp, thanks.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject