Alleyverse Sewer System

[I think I am here.]

9 minutes ago, Sorana said:

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."

The woman stepped back and Althea grabbed his leg and her face became a mask of pain. Max’s head began to spin and he tried to comfort her but her heart beat irregularly and her lips — were they turning a shade of blue? The woman had positioned her, poisoned his Althea — and there wasn’t any stormlight to heal her.

He looked to the woman, but he was too tired to move, to injured to attack. “What. Did. You do to her?” He asked, fury in his voice. Tapping on his nicrosilminds, he Rioted all the fear the woman had, enhancing the effect ten times over. “What did you do to her?!”

—-

Alask looked down as the man’s girlfriend — or, judging by the rings, wife— was poisoned, and in rage he shouted at them. Alask was going to tell the man, to summon the Phoenix and it would be over, but maybe he had to let the man shout first, before giving a solution to his wife’s ailment. Alask hated he had to do this, but it had to be done.

[+Sorana]

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

The woman stepped back and Althea grabbed his leg and her face became a mask of pain. Max’s head began to spin and he tried to comfort her but her heart beat irregularly and her lips — were they turning a shade of blue? The woman had positioned her, poisoned his Althea — and there wasn’t any stormlight to heal her.

He looked to the woman, but he was too tired to move, to injured to attack. “What. Did. You do to her?” He asked, fury in his voice. Tapping on his nicrosilminds, he Rioted all the fear the woman had, enhancing the effect ten times over. “What did you do to her?!”

—-

Alask looked down as the man’s girlfriend — or, judging by the rings, wife— was poisoned, and in rage he shouted at them. Alask was going to tell the man, to summon the Phoenix and it would be over, but maybe he had to let the man shout first, before giving a solution to his wife’s ailment. Alask hated he had to do this, but it had to be done.

Lena laughed coldly. She opened the syringe and poured the content on the ground in front of him.

"Wrong reply."

She held up another one, hummed excitedly.

"I've got another one. This is the last. Think about your reply wisely."

[I think I am here.]

7 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Lena laughed coldly. She opened the syringe and poured the content on the ground in front of him.

"Wrong reply."

She held up another one, hummed excitedly.

"I've got another one. This is the last. Think about your reply wisely."

Max’s heart sunk when the syringe was emptied. “No!” He yelled, holding Althea close, hoping she wouldn’t leave, wouldn’t go. It’s going to be okay, It’s going to be okay, he kept whispering in her mind, as much as for him as it was for her. It’s going to be okay.

The woman revealed another syringe and Max’s eyes widened. He slumped against the wall of the sewers. Rioting wasn’t working. She have been a coppercloud, or something. Storming, rusting copperclouds. And there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t negotiate, the woman seemed beyond that, her laugh had a sadistic undertone. He was utterly powerless, and the woman held complete power over Althea, which meant the woman had complete power over him.

“What do you want me to do?” He asked, submitting.

“We need you to summon the Phoenix,” Alask said, stepping forward. “Use your mind control to summon it, and make it destroy PlasmaCore. Make it destroy the PlasmaCore building.”

Max looked at Alask with a disbelieved expression, a cruel, mirthless, hopeless laugh on the tip of his tongue but he didn’t dare let it slip, not with that woman holding Althea’s life. That wasn’t how his “mind-control” worked. That wasn’t how the Phoenix worked. But... he had too.

Just one Riot. He knew he had the capability. It would exhaust lots of his supply, but if he channeled it all upwards, his general Rioting power in all directions up, he could Riot the Phoenix, maybe bring it here for the two blackmailers to see. Then, if he played it right, he could Riot it away using the rest of his reserves. He could do that, right? Riot uninterest.

He didn’t care, but he justified it to himself. Yes, no one would die. Just Riot it in and out. And his wife could be safe.

“I’ll do it,” he said. “I’ll do it, okay?! Just please, I won’t be able to if she dies, just help her a little now...”

[+Sorana]

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

“I’ll do it,” he said. “I’ll do it, okay?! Just please, I won’t be able to if she dies, just help her a little now...”

Lena counted the time between the woman's breaths, how her skin turned even paler than her usual light complexion. She had no idea how long the phoenix would take to appear, but if it took a while... He would never do it, if she was dead.

Kneeling down she injected the antidote, enough that the woman would survive. No need to tell him, that the dose in the syringe was for a heavy man, not a lightweight person like his wife. And it was probably better, if she didn't mention, that most of the damage was permanently.

"It will give her a few more minutes."

She lied and stood up again, when the breathing changed slightly. She stepped back, held up the remaining antidote and started to eat a pancake. Everything was better with a pancake.

[I think I am here.]

13 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Lena counted the time between the woman's breaths, how her skin turned even paler than her usual light complexion. She had no idea how long the phoenix would take to appear, but if it took a while... He would never do it, if she was dead.

Kneeling down she injected the antidote, enough that the woman would survive. No need to tell him, that the dose in the syringe was for a heavy man, not a lightweight person like his wife. And it was probably better, if she didn't mention, that most of the damage was permanently.

"It will give her a few more minutes."

She lied and stood up again, when the breathing changed slightly. She stepped back, held up the remaining antidote and started to eat a pancake. Everything was better with a pancake.

Max nodded, his breath ragged, looking back to Althea, seeing her calm if only slightly. A few more minutes. Alright, he could do it in a few more minutes. He closed his eyes, and he focused. Just the Phoenix, no one else, he didn’t want to repeat Oasis. And after he summoned it, he’d Riot it to go back, right? No one would be hurt.

He tapped his nicrosilminds, flaring his Rioting, channeling his anger at the woman, the man next to her, channeling his hate for both of them for doing this to him and Althea. He imagined, that somewhere in the sky was the Phoenix, some distance away, and in his silent rage he almost expended most of his metalminds, he clenched his fists until the knuckles turned white and the Rioting emanated like a wave, upwards, channeled only upwards.

Just for a small time, he thought as a massive wave of absolute hate, hate at PlasmaCore specially, emanated from him, channeled towards the skies, channeled to wherever the Phoenix was, unrelenting, uncontrolled. I know you’re out there, he thought, his mind a whirlwind of pain and fatigue. I know you can feel this.

As a side effect, every flying thing in the sky, mostly birds, too were affected and began attacking everything PlasmaCore, especially the large building. All that was left was the main attraction.

@Voidus

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You know the drill  

 

[Voidus]

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...

Really wishing I'd been keeping up to date on this thread now
Alright well I'm gonna really quickly catch up on things and then edit something in if no one else posts by then.

 

[I think I am here.]

2 minutes ago, Voidus said:

...

Really wishing I'd been keeping up to date on this thread now
Alright well I'm gonna really quickly catch up on things and then edit something in if no one else posts by then.

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 That’s just how it is with sewer threads sometimes. One moment you’re fighting some random thugs and the next you’re summoning a massive flaming bird of destruction because your wife’s been poisoned.

 

Edited July 10, 2019 by I think I am here.

[kenod]

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Hey, the Phoenix is going to the PlasmaCore building right? I really want to see what Kumiko will do with it...

 

[Voidus]

The headwind had picked up in a familiar portent, she could almost taste the Investiture that was to come. A sharp, energetic taste coupled with the fierce wind that was no wind. The Alleystorm those who crawled on the ground had called it. She simply called it delicious.

She had no current need to refill any of her stores, but the storm would fill them above their normal capacity anyway, she would be able to enjoy the limitless use of her abilities for a short while until the storm passed. The intoxicating feeling was enough that she'd often considered simply riding the storm as it passed over the continent and beyond, luxuriating in a life of infinite energy welling up within her as fast as she could use it.

But this excess was only so pleasurable because she had the time without in between. Experiencing that all the time would simply lessen the experience from the extraordinary to the ordinary. From marvel to routine. The ruler of wind and fire enjoyed the chaos of the storm, its unpredictability. If it became her permanent state then it would no longer feel wild, and that would be the worst fate she could imagine for it.

She angled herself a little higher and began banking, allowing the wind to catch her from the back now. She felt it ruffle through her feathers as it took some of the burden off of her wings, giving her a little force forwards. It meant that she was travelling back the way she'd come but that didn't matter too much. She'd seen some flashes from the city in the distance, some large shape that loomed overhead. But she'd steered around it on her way here, she could do the same on the journey back.

As she began soaring back she saw the shadow in the distance still, looming high above the city. Above the skies themselves. She'd seen the shape once before, the last time she'd visited the city in earnest. The day that she'd first felt that irritating itch, that surge of power that tried to rule over her.

A sudden shiver ran down her spine, a particular rarity given the large plumes of flame that usually burned there. At first she thought she was simply recalling that day too vividly and ruffled her feathers a little while casting an irritated glance towards the city that lay far in the distance. But the sensation didn't fade with the memory, it grew stronger. It seemed to almost target her as she drifted, searching for her. Her eyes caught the other lesser creatures of the air seeming to become stunned before they began speeding unnaturally towards the city. Something was controlling them. Something was trying to control her.

The enemy yet lived.

Her eyes sharpened in an instant as she banked once more. She would not steer around the city this time, she would visit it once again. She would remind the hated enemy why she was to be feared.

The flames that lapped along her feathers flared suddenly brighter, becoming almost white at their base and extending out further still from her body. She felt a fire within her rage as if in response. She felt the power of the enemy pulling at her inner fire and stoking it to a fury, but she needed no help in that. Her eyes were already filled with rage.

She could simply wait for the storm to carry her to the city, use its power to further the destruction that she would wreak. But that was too passive, the fire within her would not allow it. She raised her wings and with a might downward push began accelerating towards the city. With her size alone she was fast. With the abilities that had been granted to her she was faster still. And when she used some of her inner storm to alter the pull of gravity she became speed incarnate. She descended upon the city like the wrath of the heavens, a distant speck of light that was growing far too quickly for any to escape.

For the second time in two decades the cry of the Phoneix pierced the skies above Alleycity.

[+Sorana]

15 minutes ago, Voidus said:

For the second time in two decades the cry of the Phoneix pierced the skies above Alleycity.

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Just a general question. Would it make sense to post that in the main plot as well? It will affect the characters there more, than those in the Sewers.

Edit: just saw it, sry.

 

Edited July 10, 2019 by Sorana

[Voidus]

Just now, Sorana said:

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Just a general question. Would it make sense to post that in the main plot as well? It will affect the characters there more, than those in the Sewers.

 

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Yeah have posted it there as well. Depending on who is interacting with her / what happens I'll probably just do OOC quotes to update if anything happens in the opposite thread with a link if anyone reads the post.

 

[+Sorana]

1 minute ago, Voidus said:

Yeah have posted it there as well. Depending on who is interacting with her / what happens I'll probably just do OOC quotes to update if anything happens in the opposite thread with a link if anyone reads the post.

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Sorry, I edited my comment, while you replied. I found it afterwards.

We can move whatever happens here to the mainplot thread, so that it's all in one place.

 

[Voidus]

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That's probably easiest.

Also given that you assisted in initiating this and also have a voice in the BoV plot that this isn't going to cause major issues with the main plot but if it is let me know and I can try to gracefully write it out / change tactics to make sure other things aren't getting overshadowed.

 

52 minutes ago, kenod said:

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Hey, the Phoenix is going to the PlasmaCore building right? I really want to see what Kumiko will do with it...

 

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Yeah that's going to be interesting.

 

[I think I am here.]

3 minutes ago, Sorana said:

We can move whatever happens here to the mainplot thread, so that it's all in one place.

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That makes sense. I’ll make one last post here, then we switch to the main plot thread?

Max looked up. Even under all these layers of ground, he could still hear it. The Phoenix. He’d summoned it again. He made sure to try and control the hate, reduce it to the PlasmaCore building. But he was too tired and he could only hope what he’d done before was enough.

“Do you hear it?” He asked. “It’s here.” He looked to Althea.

“Please. I did you wanted me to.”

——-

Alask didn’t smile. He knew this was done only because it had to be. But the plan, it had worked, the Phoenix was here. He looked to Lena, and nodded.

[+Sorana]

1 minute ago, Voidus said:

Also given that you assisted in initiating this and also have a voice in the BoV plot that this isn't going to cause major issues with the main plot but if it is let me know and I can try to gracefully write it out / change tactics to make sure other things aren't getting overshadowed.

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Well... Alask asked the one character of mine thinking this is funny...

But yes, I'll tell you, right now I suggested to put chapter 4 off, until the Phoenix is resolved, or at least until the characters could react to it.