Alleyverse Sewer System

[I think I am here.]

On 05/06/2019 at 11:21 PM, Sorana said:

Protect me, please? I can see almost nothing at all.

She asked Max and then focused on the stone, on the spren inside. She started to bargain with the spren, and when it agreed, she moved on. So many different stones, so many spren. She kept them all on a leash, left a little bit of her concentration with them, they needed to change at the same time. If she changed too many stones at the same place, the ceiling and the floor would break. So only one. And another one, until she had enough for a thick, solid cage.

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You got it, Max said and placed a hand on her shoulder, stepping in front. He summoned Sethramir and watched for any nearby attack. Althea constructed the cage, and he prepared to slice in half any attack that came to them. He considered asking her if she was okay again, but he knew he was worrying too much. Still, having her blinded put a knot in his stomach.

@Gancho Libre

Edited June 15, 2019 by I think I am here.

[Truthless of Shinovar]

Suddenly, Max got a call on his phone.

@I think I am here.

[+Sorana]

3 hours ago, Truthless of Shinovar said:

Suddenly, Max got a call on his phone.

@I think I am here.

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I have to admit I'm a bit astonished, why Tels should have Max number... but I'm sure you have a good reason for that

 

[Truthless of Shinovar]

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Ghostblood connections, shh.....

 

@I think I am here., you might want to have Max pick up soon, before the main plot progresses too far

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Truthless of Shinovar

[Gancho Libre]

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Sorry, guys! It's been a while. Let's wrap this up:

*Sorry to whoever said i wasn't using alivening correctly. I thought what I did was allowed, but if not...*

Vesuvius blinked, and there was a cage, completely encircling him. In his state, he could not easily escape.

He lowered his knife-hand.

[+Sorana]

Althea took hold of the spren, strechted her mind farther and farther and then she exhaled, handed the stormlight out to the spren, felt them change, move closer, together until a solid cage was around Vesuvius.

She opened her eyes, tried to see something through her dark glasses and then took them off. Her glow had vanished, left them again in the dim light of the sphere they had been using for light.

Go. That's your chance.

She gently touched Max shoulder, felt the cloth beneath her fingers and smiled.

@I think I am here.

[I think I am here.]

On 25/06/2019 at 0:25 PM, Sorana said:

She opened her eyes, tried to see something through her dark glasses and then took them off. Her glow had vanished, left them again in the dim light of the sphere they had been using for light.

Go. That's your chance.

She gently touched Max shoulder, felt the cloth beneath her fingers and smiled.

Ok.

His Ghostblood messaging device rang and he sent it to voicemail, stepping forward to see Vesuvius in his cage. A small space, not much time or space to dodge. Raising Sethramir, Max inserted the sword through one of the open holes in the cage, and sliced inwards to attack Vesuvius within it. He was careful not to cut the cage in the process, and if Vesuvius tried to force Sethramir to do it Max would dismiss it completely.

@Gancho Libre

The voicemail was this:

“Hi, this is Max Tenira. Rioter and Soulbearer, Ghostblood, Canton Leader of Operations and husband of Althea Tenira. I might be busy right now, but if you leave a message I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

@Truthless of Shinovar

Edited June 26, 2019 by I think I am here.

[Truthless of Shinovar]

Tels growled, but left his message. 

“Max, if you are at all interested in controlling the fate of the Alleyverse, then please, come to The Forge. We need someone with your specific skills, and you may be the only person who can do the job we have in mind. The payment would be could, and you would have a grateful Alleyverse on top of that. The Forge, don’t forget.”

[Gancho Libre]

The shardblade stabbed through Vesuvius' alivened half, swiftly tearing through bands of metal and gears. Vesuvius groaned, but he had no space to move.

Everything was falling apart.

'You can escape...' a voice whispered in Vesuvius' mind. 'All you have to do is acknowledge who you are. I have chosen. you. All you have to do is choose me,'

Beige color ringed Vesuvius' vision. He knew what was happening. He was losing control.

He locked eyes with Max. "Don't do this," he said, in a hoarse whisper. "The children... are safe. They escaped before I could do anything. The pewterarm saved them. Please. There is a work I must do."

Vesuvius' flesh hand reached down, stretching for his pocket.

"You..." he said, "are in my mercy, yet you do not know. Let me free,"

Vesuvius slapped down on his pocket. Within the fold of cloth, a small, glowing detonator waited, the button facing inward. the slap pressed the button up against Vesuvius' leg and pushed it in.

And a single minecart-like craft rolled out form the darkness ahead, moving slowly towards them.

[+Sorana]

19 minutes ago, Gancho Libre said:

"You..." he said, "are in my mercy, yet you do not know. Let me free,"

Vesuvius slapped down on his pocket. Within the fold of cloth, a small, glowing detonator waited, the button facing inward. the slap pressed the button up against Vesuvius' leg and pushed it in.

And a single minecart-like craft rolled out form the darkness ahead, moving slowly towards them.

A minecart-like craft. Explosives. Probably explosives. She reached out for it, touched it with her mind, spren, many spren. It didn't see itself as a unit. There was no time to discuss with all of them and she inhaled again, only to have nothing happen. Her spheres, depleted. She still had the bracelet, and so she touched it, streched towards the stormlight trapped in there. She hadn't filled it completely, had relied on her spheres, because she had too few experiences with a metalmind. The stormlight was there and it rushed towards her, as soon as she touched it, her body exploding in light again. Althea whimpered in pain, when the sudden light blinded her, but she still felt the spren, where they were. She reached out for the cart and ripped the veil between the realms open, attempted to teleport it away, somewhere far away into the tunnels, where it couldn't hit them, when it exploded.

[I think I am here.]

On ‎6‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 11:10 PM, Gancho Libre said:

He locked eyes with Max. "Don't do this," he said, in a hoarse whisper. "The children... are safe. They escaped before I could do anything. The pewterarm saved them. Please. There is a work I must do."

Vesuvius' flesh hand reached down, stretching for his pocket.

"You..." he said, "are in my mercy, yet you do not know. Let me free,"

Max kept his sword up, scenarios surging through his brain. How much of what Vesuvius said was a lie? Had the children escaped or was it an attempt at getting mercy? Was there apparently a reason Max was at Vesuvius' mercy, or was it all bluff? He heard Althea whimper from behind and he saw her teleport the minecart, away. Almost subconsciously he sent a comforting memory to her, hoped that would be enough for now.

His grip on Sethramir strengthened, and when Max turned back to Vesuvius there was new resolve in his eyes.

"Listen," he almost growled, moving close to the cage, angling Sethramir to Vesuvius' neck. "If you really wanted to talk things over, maybe you should have started before you began to attack us, before you hid in the sewers, before you caused all those families to mourn for their children." Families. The topic was strangely personal, and Max couldn't pretend that didn't influence him. But he tried to keep his emotions in check, tried to understand.

"Still," he said, Shardblade shaking in restraint. It would be so easy to just get it all over with. "There's only one way to find the truth."

And quickly and carefully Max tried to move the tip of Sethramir to the headband, trying to cut it without harming Vesuvius. If it worked, he would Riot Vesuvius as far as he could, Riot guilt and Riot his honesty, trying to drown out any inhibition to tell the truth.

[+Ark1002]

Ronin broke into a sprint. Hellbent and Devaan were in complete agreement, though for different reasons.

Hellbent wanted the challenge, and didn't want to lose the fight.

And Devaan... Devaan was going to make Ronin pay.

They moved as one, Ax and blade, flying towards Vesuvius's skull, aiming to kill.

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Sorry about this Gancho...

 

[Minato™]

Neo looked back, noticing the cart. He saw Vesuvius as well however. And before Ronin went flying for Vesuviu's skull, Neo snatched Vesuvius' headband away.

That could be useful... Neo thought.

Edited July 6, 2019 by Minato™

[Gancho Libre]

Vesuvius activated a high-powered explosive lodged inside his alivened torso.

For an instant, Vesuvius was regretful. This was the only way he could escape? Destroying his own body, and maybe the bodies of everyone else? He should be better than that.

But no, he had been teamed up on. He had fought valiantly. And now, he was sacrificing himself to pay the price.

The explosion ripped apart the metal bindings that made up his ribcage before expanding to eat away at Vesuvius' real body, blowing it apart like a pinata. Vesuvius died in an instant.

And the explosion tore through the cage and funneled down either side of the tunnel, a shock wave of fire and death.

Of course Vesuvius would save his most powerful small bomb for himself.

[+Ark1002]

Ronin's shields activated.

The blast parted around him, like he was a boulder in a stream. Then his shields gave out. He was blasted backward, face, body, everything BURNING.

The world went black as he faded into unconsciousness.

[+Sorana]

“Elsecall, now.”

Althea listened to Brashen, without questioning his command. She couldn’t see what was going on, but Brashen could. She mentally touched Max and reached out into the bracelet at the same time. It was almost empty, but almost wasn’t empty. Her thoughts brushed over the Ronin and the kid, then she ripped the border between the realms apart. She was fast, but still it was instinct that saved her. Heat rolled over her body, burned her skin and her eyes hurt even more, despite her closed eyelids, but she didn’t stop, Shadesmar was her sanctuary and so she went there, used it to get away from the explosion. There wasn’t enough left to go far, and so she simply went back to Frob’s hideout, because it was a place she remembered well, because it was close.

She stumbled to the ground, when her foot hit a leg Hellbent had ripped off earlier. Large burns covered her body and she curled up in pain, trapped in darkness.

Max?

She asked, felt along their bond, tried to find him, begged for an answer, for a sign that he was alive.

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Althea will take all characters with her, if you want to.

@Ax's Boyfriend

@I think I am here.

@Minato™

[I think I am here.]

It all happened so fast. In a flash Max’s vision was blinded by the glowing, flaming figure of Vesuvius as shrapnel and fire shot out from every direction, the cage blowing apart, the heat scorching Max from his hand, the closest point to Vesuvius. He yelled and suddenly the world shifted and turned and he fell onto a stone floor.

Blinking, Max turned over and grabbed his right hand with his left. It burnt, it hurt so bad. Sethramir had been dismissed when the explosion hit, and Max looked upwards. Still in the sewers. Tilting to look at the dead bodies around, he was at Frob’s base. Althea must have elsecalled him.

Max?

He heard her voice over their bond and he groaned, sat up and leaned against the sewer wall, never finding the dirty watery liquid on the ground that splashed when he moved. He looked and saw her, and managed to push through the pain of his hand to talk.

I’m here, he said, taking a pause to groan in pain again. Are you okay? Are you hurt?

@Sorana

Edited July 9, 2019 by I think I am here.

[+Sorana]

46 minutes ago, I think I am here. said:

I’m here, he said, taking a pause to groan in pain again. Are you okay? Are you hurt?

Noises, someone moving, groaning. Althea sobbed in relief when she heard him, he was alive. He was here. It made the pain more bearable, made it easier to concentrate.

I’m here, he said, groaned in pain again. Are you okay? Are you hurt?

Althea wished she could help him, get him to a hospital, but there was so much pain, her brain muddled by exhaustion, Zokora, maybe she - the thought eluded her.

No and yes.

She replied instead, tried to find out where he was, listened if she could find him, crawl over to him. The thought alone was daring, but if it meant that she could touch him. She wasn't sure, couldn't pinpoint a direction in the sea of blackness and so she stayed where she was, not moving at all. Silently she clung to their bond, because it was better, everything was better than the blazing pain wrecking her body.

 

[I think I am here.]

25 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Noises, someone moving, groaning. Althea sobbed in relief when she heard him, he was alive. He was here. It made the pain more bearable, made it easier to concentrate.

I’m here, he said, groaned in pain again. Are you okay? Are you hurt?

Althea wished she could help him, get him to a hospital, but there was so much pain, her brain muddled by exhaustion, Zokora, maybe she - the thought eluded her.

No and yes.

She replied instead, tried to find out where he was, listened if she could find him, crawl over to him. The thought alone was daring, but if it meant that she could touch him. She wasn't sure, couldn't pinpoint a direction in the sea of blackness and so she stayed where she was, not moving at all. Silently she clung to their bond, because it was better, everything was better than the blazing pain wrecking her body.

No and Yes.

Storms. Max looked from where he was leaning against the wall to her. She couldn’t see, and Max found it hard to move.

I’ll show you what I see over the bond, he said, and he focused his memory of what he saw, carefully showing it to Althea over their bond, showing her the memory, hoping that would help her see. It was the current memory, of where she was, where he was, and where they were.

[+Sorana]

3 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

No and Yes.

Storms. Max looked from where he was leaning against the wall to her. She couldn’t see, and Max found it hard to move.

I’ll show you what I see over the bond, he said, and he focused his memory of what he saw, carefully showing it to Althea over their bond, showing her the memory, hoping that would help her see. It was the current memory, of where she was, where he was, and where they were.

Althea shuddered when she saw how she looked, her hair smeared with blood and other stuff, she prefered if she had no idea what it was. Her cloths were partially burned off, angry red wounds covered her skin. And Max was probably worse. She had stood behind him, he had shielded her from the explosion.

Her thoughts drifted off and it took her a while to realize, that she had done nothing at all, had drifted on the pain, on the gentle nothingness behind. Slowly she tried to get up, tried to move, only to fall back to the ground. The pain robbed her of her breath, had her lie there until she forced herself to turn, to crawl over to him. It wasn't far, only a few feet, and then she would know, she could touch him -

She was lying on the floor, her hands outstreched, her face hurting. Everything hurt, so it was strange, that she noticed her chin. Dazed she tried to push herself up again, continued to crawl in the general direction, until her hand touched something. A shoe. Relieved she dragged herself further, but the shoe moved. It was a foot, lying around on the floor. Hellbent.

Althea sagged down, back to the wet floor, admitted, that she had lost all orientation. Had there been a lone foot in Max memory? She couldn't recall and the blackness was everywhere, calling her, dragging her down.

"It's not far."

Brashen hopped on her left arm and she groaned, unable to move, to go on. Brashen hopped on her arm again and she groaned, forced her body to move. Somehow she found the strength to drag herself further and then she felt another shoe, this time with a leg, a warm leg, not a corpse. Max. Missing the strength to sit up completely she simply stayed where she was, rested her forhead against his thigh. They needed help, but now that she had reached him, her thoughts fled her and she slowly drifted off, found it hard to focus on anything anymore. The nothingness gently envelopped her and while she struggled against it, she slowly lost the fight.

Edited July 9, 2019 by Sorana

[Gancho Libre]

Fred strained against his restraints. All around him, grey-cloaked figures took notes, examined jars filled with red liquid, or conversed with quiet tones in a language he couldn't have understood if the words had been audible.

Fred was tied to a table, his legs bound with steel links that melded with the metal tabletop. Similar cuffs would have been used for his arms, but he didn't have those, so the cuffs stood unused level with his head. Instead, an ersatz leather strap wound up and over the tabletop, binding his lower torso to the cold metal. 

Besides the table and the cloaked strangers, he was unable to discern his surroundings. His vision fuzzed at longer lengths. The darkness didn't help. A single gemstone, set into the ceiling just above Fred's eyes, was the only source of illumination.

Fred twisted back and forth, trying to ease the leather strap that bound him, but the cloaked strangers were obviously confident in his inability to escape. They didn't mind him as he screamed, as he sobbed, as he begged, and he pleaded, as he bribed, threatened, or promised. They ignored him completely. If they had not been so conveniently gathered around him, he would have doubted his own existence.

Over the course of minutes, or hours, or days, the cloaked men and women gradually all turned their attention to him. Conversations and observations all ceased as hidden eyes gazed at him. Fred screamed again, but they didn't seem to hear him. For seconds, or years, they stared, doing nothing but boring through him with their vision.

"I... am sorry," one, or all, of them said. Fred didn't register he had been spoken too until several seconds after the words had been spoken.

"Who are you?" he screamed at them. "Let me go!"

One of the cloaked ones, a tall women, stepped forward, almost brushing the table with her robe. "I am sorry, but we cannot let you go,"

It was evident that she was the only speaker, but she had a voice as if a hundred had chorused the words with her.

"Why not?" he wailed.  "Why does Vesuvius want me?"

"He wants your pewter," the woman said, as plainly as if she had said she liked onions. "He was planning to spike it out of your and give the ability to himself. However, that is not our need,"

Fred's breath caught. "So... you don't work for him?"

The woman's face was completely hidden, but Fred had the impression that she was smiling. "No. And the ones who do are dead, now. Scoundrels, thieves, murderers, the vilest men to be found, for only the vilest would work for Vesuvius. a true villain, that man,"

Fred took a deep breath. "So, what do you want?"

The woman lowered her head. "You seem like a nice person," she said, with a mournful tone. "I regret that I have been chosen. I have done so much damage, so much to free my master,"

Fred frowned and glanced warily at the silent and still strangers gathered around him and the woman. "I... chosen to do what? What master?"

"I wish I could answer your questions," the woman said, her head still lowered. A lock of bright yellow hair fell out from the hood and rested on the grey cloak. The woman didn't seem to notice. "But my master is impatient. And the sooner He is free, the sooner I can be as well. His mind is starting to turn for the worse. He can't take it. And I can't risk the answers to your questions getting out to other ears before my master wills. I am sorry. I... will regret this. But the longer I talk, the less I want to continue,"

Fred noticed a change in the atmosphere. "Wait," he said, desperation in his voice. "What do you mean? What are you doing with me? What are-"

The woman raised a spike she had hidden behind her back and plunged it into Fred's heart, then withdrew it just as quickly.

The other cloaked men and women, the illusions, vanished as she lost concentration. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she held the bloody spike in her fist. She threw back her hood revealing glowing, blue eyes.

She left the room, leaving the bloody corpse of a pewterarm behind. She didn't stay to watch the beige mist float up Fred's body.

[I think I am here.]

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Aw man. I really liked Fred...

 

19 hours ago, Sorana said:

Max. Missing the strength to sit up completely she simply stayed where she was, rested her forhead against his thigh. They needed help, but now that she had reached him, her thoughts fled her and she slowly drifted off, found it hard to focus on anything anymore. The nothingness gently envelopped her and while she struggled against it, she slowly lost the fight.

“Althea,” Max said, suddenly worried as she stilled and closed her eyes, lying down next to his leg. “Althea!”

He checked her pulse with a start, but to his great relief her heart was still beating. So she was unconscious, not dead. Groaning he reached down and pulled Althea upwards, trying to get her to sit up next to him, and trying to wipe away all the grime she’d accumulated by lying down in the sewers. He tried to sit her up and he was fine if she leaned against him. She’d had a hard enough day.

Moving his scorched arm with a groan he moved it around her, onto her opposite shoulder. They wouldn’t die here. They couldn’t.

*^*

Alask peaked behind a sewer wall and there they were. He thought. He looked back to Lena. “Do you think these are the ones?”

[+Sorana]

12 minutes ago, I think I am here. said:

Moving his scorched arm with a groan he moved it around her, onto her opposite shoulder. They wouldn’t die here. They couldn’t.

Althea tried to help him sit her up, wincing in pain when her burns scraped over his cloths.

"I... love you..."

She mumbled and leaned against him, grateful to have her head out of the grime. She was so tired, the pain clouding her thoughts. For a while she did nothing, but sit there, tried to get her thoughts sorted enough to think of a plan, of something to do now.

==============

16 minutes ago, I think I am here. said:

Alask peaked behind a sewer wall and there they were. He thought. He looked back to Lena. “Do you think these are the ones?”

Lena grinned and straightened her wig. She had disguised them, a beard for Alask, a fake nose for herself, some makeup, a different hair colour and you looked like a new person.

"They fit the description. Good for us"

She sauntered into the room, grinning slightly.

"You look like you need help. Lucky you, I know my way around bodies and how to patch them up."

Looking through her bag she offered some painkillers to the man. He would need them, if he was to call and control the phoenix.

"Some painkillers. I can take a look at the two of you?"

[I think I am here.]

3 hours ago, Sorana said:

She sauntered into the room, grinning slightly.

"You look like you need help. Lucky you, I know my way around bodies and how to patch them up."

Looking through her bag she offered some painkillers to the man. He would need them, if he was to call and control the phoenix.

"Some painkillers. I can take a look at the two of you?"

Max smiled slightly as Althea leaned against him and said she loved him.

A woman with a bearded man came from the shadows, and Max’s eyes widened. She said they looked like they needed help, offered to look at them. She said she had experience with patching bodies and Max almost laughed a little. He was far too injured and tired to consider any other motive.

“This is, this is really well timed. There was an explosion,” he said, looking down the sewer tunnel but realising wherever they’d fought Vesuvius, it probably didn’t exist after that explosion. He accepted the painkillers and took one for himself, looking to Althea. “Painkillers,” he whispered, and put one in her mouth. “Yes, sure you can look at us.”

—-

Alask walked cautiously behind Lena, unsure whether the beard would completely disguise him. Whatever happened to these two people, he was glad he hadn’t been here when it happened. Shez would have gone crazy with all the blood. Explosion? Shez would have hated the fire too. He stayed behind Lena and crossed his arms to look somewhat more intimidating.

[+Sorana]

1 hour ago, I think I am here. said:

Alask walked cautiously behind Lena, unsure whether the beard would completely disguise him. Whatever happened to these two people, he was glad he hadn’t been here when it happened. Shez would have gone crazy with all the blood. Explosion? Shez would have hated the fire too. He stayed behind Lena and crossed his arms to look somewhat more intimidating.

Althea swallowed the pill. Painkiller sounded like heaven. She listened to Max talking and was content to leave the conversation to him. She couldn’t see who had come, kept her eyes closed. Without stormlight it would take them a while to recover on their own. Someone knelt down next to her, gently pushed some of her cloths aside, probably looking at her wounds. A hand closed around her ankle, counted her pulse.

“This will hurt a bit.”

She was warned, felt something cool over her skin, then a slight prick. She tensed, felt something cold spread into her. Then nothing but pain. Her throat constricted and she groaned when her heart beat faster, then stopped working. Panic rose in her throat when she fought to breathe, when her heart thankfully took another hesistant beat. Her hand tightly closed around Max thigh and she pressed another one to her chest, willed her heart to go on beating. Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong.

====================

Lena’s grin widened and she quickly stepped back, out of the reach of the man, after she’d injected the poison. The woman lay there for another heartbeat or two, then her face contorted in pain, her breath getting fast and irregularly. Panic covered her face and Lena pulled another syringe out of her bag, held it up for the man to see.

“Actually it’s easy. Your little freak there has a few minutes left, then the damage done is so large, she will die. If her heart doesn’t give up earlier. Not unlikely if I look at her.”

She grinned widely, enjoyed the sight of the woman's lips turning blue.

“But I think we could trade. I give you the antidote, so that you can try to save her miserable life, you do, what my friend here asks of you."