ic [Gorgon] Unwelcome Guests [IC]

[Supercape]

Rene followed up Nick's assault with his own unique mystic assault, painting magic onto reality with his mind. Like the stroke of brush onto the fabric of the world, a streak of purple fire wormed its way into the world and then flew towards one of the Revenant Grue.

Rene muttered a French profanity under his breath as the fire erratically jumped past the intruder. It spat and coiled, stalling mid-air, and actually turned on itself, ready to blaze again, not yet spent.

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox levelled her sword, focusing her will into the tip of it, as the fires began to stoke and blaze up and up. She drew it up over her head, as if to swipe it down in a wide arc, and promptly did so, taking full advantage of Rene's invisibility spell by not shouting an incantation.

Instead, the flames on her sword burst forwards in a solid lance of flame towards one of the tattooed Grue, the air around the blast igniting and the entire room jumping up in temperature about 5 degrees. The small inferno hit the monster square on in the chest in a shower of sparks and smoke... which dissipated to reveal an unharmed Grue.

[Lone Star]

Kid Cthulhu cracked his knuckles, and stuck out a green hand. His mind raced to outer realms, moving through labyrinthian paths as he sought the source of his cosmic magic. A portal opened beneath one of the Grue Arcane, and tentacles surged forth to grapple it. The attack wasn't effective, and the Grue sorcerer easily slipped from the bonds. "Ah, dammit. I still need to practice. This stuff isn't as easy as it looks." he said to no one in particular. "So, to arms?"

[trollthumper]

The Grue Revenant stalked around the room, trying to find the source of the voices that pestered it and its colleagues. It stalked between shadows, favoring the darkness.

"Your world is doomed, mages," it said. "The Gorgon's eyes turn on you, and escape is impossible. The Silent Choir beckons, and soon you shall join. Accept surrender, and allow your treasures to find their way to worthy hands. Allow yourself some moments of peace before you hear the songs of the shades."

"The Silent Choir, huh?" Nick asked. "Always wondered about Grue thanatology. I'd love to sit down and talk to you guys about it, but you've invaded our demesne and tried to take what's rightfully ours, so here's the part where we kick your ass back into orbit." He let out a smirk. "Then again..."

He clenched his fists, and the room was carpeted in ectoplasm. The ghosts of Parkhurst might have been bound by the Grue, but there had been enough death and psychic trauma within the manse's walls that the very essence of ghostly matter could be made to respond, like running a current through a frog's leg. Ghostly arms rose from the floor, reaching up to envelop the Grue. The Grue mystics were better prepared for the assault, slipping from the grasp of the arms entirely or tearing them open with inhuman strength as they tried to clinch around them. The revenants, however, were caught more off-guard, most of them hampered by the phantom arms or dragged down to the floor.

The mystics were quick to respond. One fired a blast of crimson energy that lit up the room and missed Equinox by a good three feet. "The Gorgon has taken dozens of worlds," it said in a purely manner-of-fact style. "Worlds prepared and readied with magic, technology, and other armaments. Your world is lost."

"Accept this," said another Grue. It had managed to lock down Nick's voice, and, he realized as its fist bore down on him, managed to find him under the illusion. The fist bounced off of his jacket, sending a tremor up his arm but allowing him to stay on his feet. "Allow your legacy to carry on. You may be lost, but your works will not be in vain."

"Just accept death, huh?" Nick said. "Wow. No wonder you guys keep screwing up when it comes to Earth."

[Supercape]

This was war, and Rene knew that it could get bloody and nasty all too quickly. Nothing was more dangerous than men with nothing to lose and everything to fight for, and right now that was himself and his allies.

"Viva liberte!" he called, as white flecks of light flew down from the ceiling, congealing into lines and then intermeshed cobwebs that spun and danced as they curled towards one of the Grue...

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox reached out for a second with her will, and contemptuously swatting the blast headed towards her to the side with her defensive wards, and casually let the veiling magic around her slide away, her shields bursting into white light as she set her feet squarely on the floor, pouring her will and anger into the sword until the cold fury snuffed out the flames.

"You know what?" she growled, taking a light step forward and pirouetting on the spot. "Drosisteíte!" called the witch as her front foot again came down, arm leveled flat at the first Grue Arcane's chest, the air between them freezing into mist and vapour as the blast of concentrated cold powered forwards.

The spell slammed into the Grue's mid-section with such force icy shards exploded around it in a fine mist, driving the stricken alien's legs from beneath it so it slammed face first onto the floor, cold blue tendrils of magic wafting from Siobhan's sword like smoke from a gun barrel.

[Lone Star]

Kid Cthulhu, eager to show the other mystics his worth, stretched out a green arm. The robe folded back, revealing serpent-like scales on his skin. "I...wish I had an appropriate pun to use!" he said, a ball of eldritch fire forming in his hand. He aimed it at one of the Grue Arcane, and the energy of the spell increased, until the flame was the size of a basketball. He released the energy, and six spheres of otherworldly fire sped towards his enemy.

[Dr Archeville]

"Alright, big guy," Dead Head muttered as he ran toward one of the still-free Grue revenants, shovel slipping into hand in one smooth motion, "let's see whatcha got up in yer brainbox." A banshee-like shriek escaped the human revenant's lips, which, coupled wit the fact he was still invisible, actually managed to catch the alien invader off-guard. Sadly, it mattered little; while Dead Head's shovel connected with a solid blow, the alien's necrotic flesh proved unyielding.

"Well, spit," Dead Head cursed, turning quickly o see if any of his allies needed help, not realizing his sounds were drawing the attention of one of the Grue Arcane.

Simultaneously, Mutt charged towards one of the Grue Arcane, fading into view and baring faintly glowing fangs as he chomped down on the alien's arm, or, rather, the life force within that arm. But this alien had apparently faced such horrors before, as he was unphased, and his life force remained secure. "Woof."

[trollthumper]

The undead Grue weathered Dead Head's blows, and swung in return -- but Rene's illusion managed to hold up, as the monstrosity missed by a mile. The other Grue tried swinging at empty air or firing blindly with mystical energy, unable to pin down the heroes thanks to the concealing magics.

Slowly, something emerged from the floor. One of the Grue revenants turned as Phantom rose from the floorboards, her gauzy form still halfway between this world and the next. She scanned the room once, then turned to the others. "Hold on to something," she said brusquely as she raised her hands. The air grew darker, and those tuned into the flow of magic could feel another world gouging its way into this one, a place that burned with eternal energy. And it was coming through right on top of the Grue.

Many of the Grue were quick, dancing out of their own personal Ground Zeros before the extradimensional cataclysm could touch off. Others weren't so lucky, buffeted by the torrent of ethereal flame. Two of the Grue practitioners reeled as the phantom fire tore at their heads, and soon, inhuman screams filled the air. One practitioner fell to the ground, the shifting tattoos on its arms locking into a fixed shape. Soon after, a revenant hit the ground hard, the barrow lights in its eyes gone forever.

Nick was honestly lost for words. He'd heard about the power the Chosen of Heshem carried; now he knew what it was like to get a taste of the apocalypse. One of the revenants took advantage of his distracted state to slip its bonds, pushing up to its feet and aiming to close with its hidden target. He recovered, flooding power back into the working, The ghostly hands reached towards the Grue, dragging most of them down once more. Only one of the practitioners remained free, floating slightly above the floor.

"Anyone else feeling lucky?" he asked the room.

[Supercape]

"I always feel lucky" replied Rene. "Even when ze fates spit in my wine!" he laughed.

"What a scene!" he said, his arms open wide. "It is glorious. I can see it now..." he held his hands open, framing the battle in a square formed by his two hands. "Oui, Oui!!! More colours! Nick, hold that pose! Dead Head, please turn your head ze other way, it is so much more impressive...."

"Ah yes..." he said, after a moments consideration.

"Ze colour!!!" he concluded, as inspiration struck, and a streak of purple-golden fire erupted from the roof, circling and striking a Grue Revenant.

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox gritted her teeth and held her shield firm, just barely, as the massive influx of magical energy Phantom swamped the room with began interfering with the complex amount of bindings she had to perform to create the artillery-proof barrier. "Aspidas," she managed to force out.

She leapt up off the floor, coming down in a crouch close-by to the only unhindered Grue mage, and pivoted on one foot. "Ego sum a telum of a senior quod era , sto down vel fio ut!" She swept her flaming sword in a wide, sweeping arc, carving a thin grazing line across the alien's chest as it moved away from the clumsy strike.

[Lone Star]

Kid Cthulhu stood, his mind in other places. His eyes moved around, darting from one side of the room to the next. He wasn't watching the battle- Kid Cthulhu was preparing a particularly nasty psionic blast for one of the Grue Arcane. After a moment, his mind moved back to this reality, and a smirk crept across his face. A green hand aimed at one of the Grue Arcane, and he gathered psychic power in the back of his mind. Let's see him try this one on for size. The psychic power was released from his palm, and the air between them bent as if to accomodate his strange arcane workings. "You'll need a crapton of aspirin for that headache!" he shouted, laughing.

[Dr Archeville]

"Mutt! Double-team!," Dead Head called out, never taking his eyes off the Grue Revenant he'd attacked moments ago. "Hey, you! Yeah, that's right, I'm callin' you out!" The human revenant let out another soul-piercing shriek as he reared back with his shovel and brought it down in a high overhead sweep down on the alien revenant's skull... but to no effect!

At the same time, Mutt lunged in, teeth flashing visible and just corporeal enough to get a good grip on the alien's calf, but its unnatural flesh proved too tough! "Ruff!"

"'Rough' is right, boy! Thinkin' it's time we come up with a different tactic."

[trollthumper]

The air grew thin in the lab as a sense of elsewhere creeped across the gathered heroes. Phantom was drawing something in from outside again. A storm of light and shadow tore through the cavernous facility, passing harmlessly over the other mystics - and hitting the Grue with full force. The revenants, divorced from pain by their dead flesh, weathered the eldritch assault, but the Grue Arcane, opened to the flow of magic, were overwhelmed. Two fell to the floor in pain, lying still as phantom energy still trailed from their eyes, while the last of their number kept to his feet and tried to weather the assault.

"Good job!" Nick yelled. "We keep this up, and --"

One of the revenants barked something up. It was only later that Nick realized it was something approaching language - for a very loose definition of "language." It sounded like something from the dark, lightless corners of the universe - or places beyond even there. Whatever it was, the feeling of death washed over Nick's sense - and when he looked down, he seemed a little bit more distinct. The revenant had killed Rene's glamour.

"...well," he said. "That changes things."

"You are doomed," the revenant said - not like a taunt, but like a simple statement of fact. "Your knowledge will live. Your fate will be avoided. Right now, across the globe, our arcane detachments are gathering your discoveries for future effort. The Gorgon's wrath shall be averted. Accept your sacrifice, for the good of the universe."

"Y'know, normally I'd be all about a heroic sacrifice." Ectoplasm gathered in the air, trailing upwards from the floor; it hardened on Nick's hands in the form of cruel claws. "Thing is... we're not throwing in the towel just yet." He crossed the floor, raking his talons across the revenant's chest. "And you can't make us."

The phantom claws went through the revenant's chest, but it didn't seem to notice. "Likewise," it said. "You have made your choice. May you die nobly."

[Supercape]

"Formidable! Formidable!" yelled Rene at the top of his voice.

"This is ze Art!!!!" he said, spinning on his heel joyously. In his mind, he conjured up magnificent images of mad battles in strange and arcane dimensions - some he seen, some he had read about.

Wait...

Why not?...

Calling forth his magical power he drew upon those very magnificent images he had in his mind, and teased them into the reality ofnow - imposing them onto the minds of the Grue. If they wanted to toy with magic, then let them have a glimpse of that

"Oui!" he smiled, as the insanities of those dimensions poured forth in strange colours and shapes around the Grue.

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox batted aside a Grue's attack with a quiet twist of the eldritch forces shielding her, and whirled back to face the Grue she'd barely scratched with her sword, the hilt and blade melting away in her hand to reveal her simple wooden wand, levelled at the alien mystic even as the witch rose gently up off the ground, a gentle current of air lifting her up and causing her long coat to billow like a cape.

Reaching out with her left hand, she channeled the moisture left in the air around her, drawing it in and drying out the room around her, and let the water begin to trickle down through her arm faster and faster until it burst forth from her wand, a veritable riptide aimed at her adversary with bone-crushing pressure, knocking her adversary back a couple of feet, visibly pained from the attack.

But the concentration needed to perform combat magic worked against her here, leaving her open to a powerful blow from one of the undead Grue, the beast's mighty fist crashing into her with such force that it was all she could do to stop her wards from failing, let alone prevent the blow from raising a huge red welt on her cheek and send her thoughts spinning.

[Dr Archeville]

"'Nox!," Dead Head called out. "Damn, these Grue Revenants is tough buggers," he muttered.

He let out a whistle, a sound that echoed in Nick's skull. [bg=#000000]"Ancient Spirits a' Parkhurst! Transform this decayed form inta... inta... well, gimme somethin', guys!"[/bg] Small wisps of ectoplasm leached out form the floors, walls and ceilings and into Dead Head, making him bulk up considerably; faint images of hands overlaying his own seemed to guide his blows. He reared back with his shovel, but instead of bringing it down in a crashing overhead sweep as before, he kept going back and around and brought it crashing up under the Grue Revenant's jaw, shattering the handle of his trusty tool with the force of the impact! In one eerily smooth motion, he spun around and plunged the shattered remnant of the handle into the shoulder of another Grue Revenant, then continued around to face a third Grue Revenant, the one that had just attacked Equinox. [bg=#000000]"Yer next!"[/bg]

Meanwhile, Mutt had been snarling and snapping at the lone standing Grue Arcane. At a moment he sensed some vulnerability, he leaped over to the intruder, sinking his mighty jaws into the alien arcanist's leg.

[trollthumper]

Phantom drew her hands together, weaving invisible strands with dextrous fingers. Loose equipment went flying from all corners of the lab - loose keystones, glass beakers, mortars and pestles, kitchen knives, and various precious gems, all launching forth at ballistic force. One volley managed to dent the alabaster skin of a revenant, while the sole Grue Arcane remaining upright was beaned upside the head with a Klein bottle. It fell to the ground, losing some measure of shape as it hit the floor.

"Six of us," said Nick. "Two of you. So, I'd say you've got an option. Get out, and keep whatever pride you've got left... or we'll see what happens when that immortal coil of yours finally winds down."

The lead revenant glared at Nick, then brought its hand down on empty air. Nick prepared for an attack, but instead, a black and bleeding rift in space opened up. The revenant lifted its comrades - three in its arms like it was carrying balsa wood - and its comrade joined in on the retrieval effort. It walked to the rift in the air, never once taking its eyes off Nick. "This is not over," it said, before vanishing into the abyss.

Nick breathed a sigh of relief. "Well," he said. "That was a hell of a thing. Guess I need to tighten the defenses on this old place a bit. Might be a while before we run into a concentrated assault again, but --"

His thoughts were cut short by a sound like a meteor impacting outside. Just as he recovered, another orbital volley hit what must have been the mansion's front yard. As he recovered, an empty shriek filled the air - not so much a roar as the profound absence of a roar. Under his makeup, Nick went pale.

"Oh," he said. "So that's what they were talking about. Not good. Not good at all."

[Dr Archeville]

Man, this spirit-juicin' feels good! Gotta let it go, though, don't wanna risk doin' any harm to 'em.

[bg=#000000]"Yeah, I'd b[/bg]e glad t'help with tha-," he began, voice losing its eerie reverb as the spirits withdrew their power from him, when the big impact hit. "The heck?! Y'all get prepped, I'll go see what it is!" he yelled as he was already halfway to the front door. "C'mon, Mutt!"

Mutt whined, gave Nick and the others a "why me?" look with is big glowing puppy dog eyes, then turned and trotted after the revenant.

"Mebe they sent down another big Grue-Beast, like in the last invasion," Dead Head thought aloud, "or mebe they summoned somethin'? What would a Grue sorcerer summon? Man, all sorts a things we all could learn if they'd talk with us 'stead a' tryin' to conquer us all the time."

He flung upon the door and looked out on the yard.

[trollthumper]

"Don't think it's a summoning," Nick said. "Then again, I never saw how that thing ended up here. Could've been dropped from orbit for all I know." He ran through the winding corridors of the Parkhurst, corridors that twisted and shifted and tried to lead astray. It seemed the mansion's defenses were coming back up now that the Grue had been driven out - but not as fast as Nick would've liked. "Back during the Invasion, the Grue let something loose in Lantern Hill. They took a good dozen of their soldiers who'd 'mustered out,' and pressed them back into service. An undead war construct, powered by sheer ectoplasm and hate. All of them feeding their power into one another and lashing out with invisible fury."

Nick pushed through the front doors of the Parkhurst and looked down on the hill. The gates of the mansion were still rusty and hanging off their hinges, providing the perfect illusion of dishevelment, but the cobblestone walkway had been smoothed and rebricked recently, allowing for easy parking. It also allowed Nick to see clearly what was crawling up the driveway - two masses that were half of this world and half of the next, shells of gauzy ectoplasm wrapped around dozens of Grue bodies, stitched and strapped together. They slithered up the walk, half-glimpsed tendrils scything through the air.

"I don't know what the hell they called it. I thought 'Hecatonchire' worked. Oh, and look. They sent two of them." He turned to the others. "You wanna say hello?"

[Supercape]

"Bonjour!" yelled Rene, raising his hands in a grasp and clutch.

"These things....ze light does not fall well on them. I am afraid it is most ugly..." he continued, sniffing his nose as a build up of arcane fuel swirled around him.

As it did so, he concentrated his mind, once more discharging it as a painter with a brush on a canvas. This time, a stalectite of Ice, glistening and crystal, frost and snow sluicing off its sides, formed from the ceiling and bore down on one of the horrible creatures below...

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox sighed as she gazed upon the giant... things... on the lawn. "Oh, come on," she commented wearily, tilting her head to the left until her neck clicked. "Why does my life always seem to involve things with tentacles?"

"No offence, kid," she remarked to her Cthuloid companion as she burst forth out onto the lawn, coat billowing as a gust of air swept up from beneath her and lifted her 100' up off the ground. "Aberrations, I beseech thee," she yelled, pointing her wand at one of the beasts, then sliding it down to the earth just below it.

"Descend into the cave of Trophonios,

And you'll suffer a terrible fright,

But spirits of earth can do the same,

When you feel their crushing might!"

With a tortured roar, two columns of earth tore forth from the soil, entwining and whirling around each other like two snakes writhing around in a knot. Then, with a single flick of Equinox's wand, a massive surge of arcane power, seeminged to fill the air between her and the towering pillar of rock and stone with a sense of solidity and heaviness. So much so, that when the pillar spiked down into one of the Grue monstrosities, it almost seemed like an anti climax despite the thunderous crash of splintering stone.

[trollthumper]

The Hecatonchire seemed to shrug off the burst of upturned earth as it surged towards the rusted gates of the Parkhurst. Kid Cthulhu took to the air, taking in the view of the undead behemoths from above. "Ew," he said. "I've seen shoggoths that were prettier than you guys. And friendlier. Think about that for a bit. Or... think about this!"

From an outside perspective, it was hard to tell that anything had happened, as such. There was a brief ripple in the air around Blake, but given the chaos and the sheer stress to the fabric of reality, it was hard to notice. The Hecatonchire certainly noticed it, however. It came to a crashing halt, thrashing at empty air and rending the earth where it stood as it let out a horrific scream. It shrugged and collapsed, and Nick waited to see if the phantom intelligence in the driver's seat had truly been dispelled. Just as he let his guard down, however, the Hecatonchire reared back to life - or unlife, as it were. It drew ectoplasm into its form like a soprano taking a breath, and half a second later, a dozen translucent limbs came flying towards him and his company. One of them caught him right across the head; he saw Kid Cthulhu reel in mid-air, while Phantom was knocked to the ground by the force of the assault.

"Can't fault Grue craftsmanship," he said, clutching his forehead. "Pretty sure I can fault their ethics, but when they put something like that together, they really put it together."

[Dr Archeville]

The ectoplasmic limbs did far worse to Dead Head and his cadaverous canine companion. One landed a solid blow to Mutt's midsection, with enough force to knock him into the air and back into Parkhurst; mercifully he was already unconscious by the time his body crashed to the floor. Dead Head also suffered a grievous wound, as an ectoplasmic claw sliced through his chest, severing his left collarbone cleanly in two. As his arm began to fall off, he turned from the soaring Mutt to glare at the injury, and as quickly as it was inflicted the undead flesh knitted itself back together, good as new.

"Oh, y'all's gonna pay fer hurtin' mah Mutt, ya slimy bastards!" He pointed and roared at the first Hecatonchire, then made a mad dash for the second, at first rearing back as if to land a potent blow with his shovel, but quickly realizing his shovel had been broken on the jaw of one of the Grue Revenants, and shifting to a double-fisted overhead bash. Unfortunately, the beast proved too quick, and rolled aside in time for Dead Head's assault to miss.

Craaap...

[trollthumper]

The first Hecatonchire didn't seem to notice Dead Head's threats, and the second one regarded his barrage the same way a hunter might regard a gnat buzzing around his head. It stared at him - as much as the gigantic mass of dead bodies could be said to be "staring" at anything - but turned its focus away towards Equinox. The heads of the dead Grue lolled like cut-string marionettes as their fury coalesced into a tangible force, striking the witch like a rocket.

The other mystics were starting to fight off the assault from the Grue necroweapons. Phantom had managed to shake off her confusion and gone intangible to avoid further attacks. She focused her fury into a blast rent from the very forges of the universe itself - but the Hecatonchire she was aiming at managed to withdraw its ghostly bulk before the blast could make contact. Nick, meanwhile, had closed the distance with the thing. A year ago, he would have considered this madness, an invitation to becoming a damp stain. But he'd seen a lot in a year. And besides, he wanted these things off his lawn.

Phantom claws formed and hardened on his hands as he raced towards the beast. He raked them towards the Hecatonchire's side... only for the ectoplasmic mass to withdraw once more, just missing the path of his claws.

"Size of elephants," he muttered, "grace of sports cars. Some thing just aren't fair."