Personification Life IC IX - [Semi Open]

[Swith Witherward]

She thanked him and got into the elavator. She pressed the button and the light lit up. The lift activated and it began to pull her up. The door opened. She got out out and walked down the hallway to her room. Each room had a wooden door with a gold colored label. The hallway was white and carpeted. She was more focused on her room than noticing the flooring of the hallway, she could just hear the rustling of her boots and the soft sound her steps made. She finally made it to her room and unlocked the door. She opened it and saw her new apartment. The walls were white, the bed sheets were purple. There was a window that gave a good view of Bellevielle. In addition, there was a desk with stationary, a closet, and a bathroom. She hung her coat, took the jobs listing, and laid down on the bed. "What am I gonna do?" She said to herself.

The job listings were fairly bleak.

There was a flyer tucked in with the papers which read:

Eldritch Industries Now Hiring! Talented men and women of science wanted! 
Opportunities to innovate at the cutting edge of technology! Fully stocked laboratories! We want to help YOU 
create a brighter tomorrow for the world! Apply today!"

Behind the text was a picture of a woman scientist holding hands with a android scientist as they walked towards a sunset. At the bottom of the flyer were little precut slips with the phone number and website ready to be torn off. It seemed that only one had been taken so far.

The Chaos Restaurant was looking for a dishwasher. The address placed it a short distance away, still within the Market District. There was a "help wanted" listing; someone in the building needed a babysitter during school hours. A polite building memo reminded everyone to lock themselves in their apartments after nightfall tonight, or else come help the rest of the residents patrol the Building as interim security ("meet in the lobby before sunset").

A local newspaper would provide more listings for around town.

[Fvaarniimar]

"Yes, yes. That is a natural thing, but that doesn't make it pleasant, friend. But it does look quite fun. I'm not sure if my home has anything like it....." Indeed, his homeworld had no things made just for entertainment like that. It wasn't that they did nothing for fun, just that thrill rides had no use. Especially seeing as Khydirs could simply fly around and get thrills by exploring and daredevil flying. But Namal was determined to see what humans found fun, and seeing as this was here he thought they might as well try it out!

".....So, any idea how we get on that ride or whatever it is? I'm not sure what it even is, after all".

Nick bristled slightly as Namal replied to his stray thought regarding vomit. <Oh crap I>'ve been talking this whole time? How awkward. The cat licked a paw; by the time he had finished licking it, Namal had inquired about getting on the ride. The now somewhat cleaner feline perked up his ears and was trying to figure things out when he noticed a few moving not-usual colored shirts. I guess there's still a difference between all of these colors... I know. I need a rainbow. Preferably a labeled one.

An obliging labeled rainbow appeared about a foot off the ground, in front of Nick's nose. So that's red- orange, there- wow, lots of yellow! It's all over- ooh, purple's cool! Neat- it's the color of my scarf! Feeling and ignoring a slight sensation of what a human would call giddiness, he batted around the neckwear in question, carefully avoiding use of his claws. Oh, wow! That one which always just looked washed out- it's purplish too! Everything looks like a rainbow! As his gaze returned to the shirt-wearers, it became apparent that they were getting into boxy structures. Wait... <Look! They (image of the shirt wearers) seem to know what to do! We just wait for the thing to rotate again and get into a boxy structure (image of Ferris wheel car) and... I guess something happens?>

[Swith Witherward]

Torii had been in a pissy mood. Well, she still was, but Myra had humoured her, and she laughed with her. Yea, she thought that Gio and Yuna were bitches now, but she'd be frantic to see them in a few hours as well, and, while Marcus really almost put her into another fight, she thought he was a really cool guy. He still pissed her off with his bumping her, though.

"Maybe we can watch it, eh?", She hugged right back, twisting the two around in a few circles, before slipping and falling onto the grass. "Yea, like when someone wishes for immortality, but not eternal youth, and they keep getting older and older. I know there's something to do with cellular breakdown and aging, and a brain kill-switch or whatever. Magical means seem easier, though, and I'm determined to do it soon; adulthood is too old. I like how I am right now."

Myra cast a fleeting glance towards the carnival. If Torii remained on the grass, Giovenith and Yuna would pass right by them. She bit her bottom lip, worried about confrontation again.

"I'd rather be in my twenties," she confessed. "Old enough to be taken seriously, young enough to get away with murder. And we better get moving before Yuna and Giovenith catch up."

[The BranRiech]

"I should be fine." Yuna confessed, looking back at herself. The damage was less so than what Yuna had thought had been done, and her wings still looked capable of flight. Not like she'd need to considering Gio was stuck with her legs. "Hey, let's steer clear." She remarked, noticing Torii and Myra in front of them. "Don't want them to start anything we don't have to."

--

Lying crumpled in a corner, was Toscha, who'd been bloodied pretty well by the puncturing claws of Aegis, and he cried out in pain, as it tore through him. Kei was unphased, and sighed. She'd turn him to stone to avoid his untimely death, but he'd have to handle himself at the moment. Kei was using a majority of her power to try and win the fight.

She started blasting more lethal spells and attacks at Aegis, and Harold, each in turn.

[Torsiedelle]

Torii had been in a pissy mood. Well, she still was, but Myra had humoured her, and she laughed with her. Yea, she thought that Gio and Yuna were bitches now, but she'd be frantic to see them in a few hours as well, and, while Marcus really almost put her into another fight, she thought he was a really cool guy. He still pissed her off with his bumping her, though.

"Maybe we can watch it, eh?", She hugged right back, twisting the two around in a few circles, before slipping and falling onto the grass. "Yea, like when someone wishes for immortality, but not eternal youth, and they keep getting older and older. I know there's something to do with cellular breakdown and aging, and a brain kill-switch or whatever. Magical means seem easier, though, and I'm determined to do it soon; adulthood is too old. I like how I am right now."

Myra cast a fleeting glance towards the carnival. If Torii remained on the grass, Giovenith and Yuna would pass right by them. She bit her bottom lip, worried about confrontation again.

"I'd rather be in my twenties," she confessed. "Old enough to be taken seriously, young enough to get away with murder. And we better get moving before Yuna and Giovenith catch up."

Ugh, Yuna and Gio. They were on Torii's bad side right now, still, so she took Myra's advice. Standing up, she stuck her hands back into her pockets.

She was going over different situations in her mind, over and over again. She did this every now and then, and Yuna and Gio...she still hated them right now, but her feelings didn't translate to anger. No, unlike anger, this was a deep Panging, and she didn't feel like saying much after that. Her face fell a little tired as well.

"If they catch up with us, then oh well. Who knows, maybe we can all cool down and stuff; I might even change my mind about helping. I don't want to ruin my friendships over a stupid fight."

[Monfrox]

"SHIT!" Flint cursed as she rolled down and hit the floor to dodge the stream of acid. She came around and aimed the handgun, firing until the slide locked back before she rolled onto her stomach and got up to skirt away from whatever was coming after her. She wobbled away, the adrenaline negating the effects of the blood loss for now, but her arm was getting heavier. The blood that was being pumped through her veins was collecting at the bottom, and it was starting to take it's toll. She walked over to Toscha and tried to reload her pistol with her one hand while also trying to put the empty mag back into her vest; a habit she picked up from her time in the Zone. "With any luck, the others will be able to help us." She said, trying to comfort the lamia a bit.

[Giovenith]

"Probably, yeah, we should let it cool down," Giovenith agreed, motioning for Yuna to slow down a bit so that the others could get ahead faster. "On the way, we should plan for tonight though. I was thinking that even if we do meet up again, it will be hard to keep an eye on everywhere at once, so maybe I could set a few birds in some of the halls as alerts. What do you think?"

[The BranRiech]

Despite Flint's comforting, Toscha kept on crying for help as blood rushed out his back. He'd probably be getting all sorts of infections too, his open wounds coming into contact with the blood that was already caked on him from earlier. The warm blood seeping out his back though wasn't really rushing, but it was still something one would go to the ER for, and probably call an ambulance pretty quickly.

"W-we'll be fine?" He stammered out as Flint crawled over.

--

"That'd be a great idea, actually." Yuna said, wondering where Gio had birds from. If they could survey areas fir them, Yuna could care less about what they were. "We should get some sleeping bags, a chair for each person who'll show up, and maybe some snacks. We could set up in the corner of the lobby if you'd like, make it a bit more cozy."

While the coziness factor probably didn't matter too much, it would still be nice.

[Giovenith]

"That'd be a great idea, actually." Yuna said, wondering where Gio had birds from. If they could survey areas fir them, Yuna could care less about what they were. "We should get some sleeping bags, a chair for each person who'll show up, and maybe some snacks. We could set up in the corner of the lobby if you'd like, make it a bit more cozy."

While the coziness factor probably didn't matter too much, it would still be nice.

"I actually don't think we can afford to settle down like that, Yuna," Giovenith disagreed gently, shaking her head. "Not that it's a bad idea or anything, but if whatever is coming out of those portals was tame enough to be able to stay off guard and relax for any long amount of time, we wouldn't have needed cultists guarding the gateways in the first place. We really shouldn't take the risk. We might need to bring makeshift weapons. There's a very high possibility that this will be dangerous."

She felt somewhat bad about turning down the idea, seeing as it was something Giovenith herself would normally jump right on board with, but the godling highly doubted their job tonight was going to be very "sleep-over worthy." There was legitimate concern in her heart that her friends or the other residents could fall to harm tonight. The mathematician they'd met on their elevator travel's words made a surprise return, reminding her of the mention of Iblis being in the vicinity. Honestly, she didn't even know how they could all possibly go against anything like that with their ages and power levels, but they had to try.

[New Aksarben]

Willow slowly tilted his head and narrowed his eyes contemplatively at his intoxicated friend. It had never flown across the pegasus's mind that Sterling would have any desire to delve into the activities of his practice, and truthfully a part of him suspected it was the cider talking. Still, Sterling was not, ironically enough, the type of pony to talk for the sake of talking. He rambled a lot, sure, but always about things that he would talk about. Willow had never known the unicorn to waste breath on feigning preoccupation, even when drunk.

Art was serious, that always rang true, so Willow didn't want to be fuzzy-headed for it. He wished it, so it was.

"The purpose of abstract art," he began, sounding professional once again. "Is to evoke emotion, sensation, and thought, rather than to depict the tangible. All art evokes feeling in one way or another, but I prefer abstract because of it's rawness to the approach, with a focus on color, shapes, textures, arrangement. It's like juicing out the pure essence of your subject itself and displaying it."

Willow wasn't entirely sure Sterling could understand what he was explaining at the moment, but it still felt necessary to say. He flew over to gently help the unicorn to his feet, and then wished up a simple canvas on a wooden easel.

"Now some ponies like to say that because of it's method, abstract art has no intrinsic value, or takes no real skill to produce. To quote the most vulgar comparison I have heard thus far, "somepony could throw up on a canvas and it'd be no worse."" Willow rolled his eyes. "But that simply is not true. It is too easy for anypony to say they can do something, and indeed anypony to could splash some paint around. But that does not make it abstract, it makes it a mess. Soulless, without artistic purpose, and therefore worthless and ugly. Breathe life, create sensation."

Here, he flew backward to give Sterling space with the canvas. "I'm sure you can summon the paint yourself. Let yourself feel, don't second-guess your initial feelings or rationalize them into a simple model. Just pay attention to what you feel, and let it out. How about you paint me... knowledge?"

The pony shook his head, and silently wished his drunkenness to disappear. He for sure wanted to be sober for this, and he listened to every world of Willow's explanation thoroughly. HE had been serious about this for sure, and wasn't about to back down now that he was no longer drunk. He probably could make something even better now that he was sober after all. He nodded when WIllow told him what he should try painting, and looked at the canvass, trying to imagine what knowledge would look like.

Knowledge was a very nebulous concept. It likely wouldn't be a perfect representation, whatever he ended up drawing. Sterling was imagining it would look very..... purple.... Wait, no, it would vary from light to dark shades. As Sterling was imagining it, he started imagining the product of what he was imagining, and as such generated some paint to start this out with. The unicorn worked diligently, keeping the mental picture he had in mind at the forefront. It was a bit strange just thinking about a concept like this for the normally concrete thinking pony, but it was a weird kind of concentration too. he was determined to impress his friend after all.

Soon Sterling was finished, or at least satisfied with what he had made. He smiled, and looked over it again, taking in the details. In the center of the canvas, a dark purple was predominant, a color that faded towards a lighter color towards the outside, becoming specked with spots of white as it did so. Around the fringes it was completely white, which in Sterling's mind represented what was already known. The darkness that was slightly illuminated was the knowledge that hadn't been uncovered yet, and would only be reached by learning what was around it. The outside was not purely white however. It had flecks of bright colors like gold, silver, pinks, yellows, and many others spread throughout it, showing diversity in knowledge to Sterling. Within the darker portion were also flecks of color but they were much less clear and generally darker than their cousins in the rim. Indistinct shapes were in the center, and more defined ones, created by the flecks and dots, were in the outer areas of the canvass.

".....Did I do good? I was trying to match what I was imagining in my head, but I'm not quite sure I got it all. I think I got the gist or at least the spirit of what I was imagining however."

---

The Pillar in the center of the room twisted suddenly opening up and lauching another pair of transdimensional lightning bolts, one of which was aimed at Deuce and one which was aimed at Kei. They two shards of light winked in and out of existence as they sailed towards the two, phasing the matter in their wake with devastating results.

Albert would find pain coursing through his body from his right leg as the beam had phased the bones located their out of his body leaving his right leg immobile and mostly useless. However that attack caused Harold to take notice of the personification and it began barreling towards him. He continued pressing on lashing out at Albert and continuing to spit acid at him while his body continued to morph and shift as semi humanoid organs bubbled up from his flesh like the ingredients of a soup before the flesh around them consumed them once again. Even as Harold surged towards Albert who was now only a few meters away he lashed out and the approaching Deuce and nearby Wren as the tentacles on his back leapt at them with sinister intelligence. They were pinkish red appendages each of them as thick around as a man arms. Wren was able to blow three of them apart while Deuce was easily able to saw through around seven of them. However they were simply too numerous and whenever they were damaged they would sink back into the creatures opening and another would shoot out. Eventually a couple of the tentacles would find purchase on the two chaos worshipper and would begin to constrict and use their powerful suction to attempt to pry off their armor. However Flint was able to get a lucky shot off distracting Harold from Albert for a moment and he replied to her by sending a stream of orange acid at Flint.

Aegis’s actions at this point could be forgiven as a symptom of him being insane and then being startled by a combination of Harold and the others but something’s didn’t have excuses and this was one of them. Aegis was in a completely primal mode and the screaming and bright lights were not doing anything to help him. Because of this he leapt forward with two bounding strides and rammed a clawed like hand into Toscha’s back as he fled. He strike him with such force that his blunt fingers actual punctured his skin and he proceeded to lift him up and toss him across the room at Kei.

Albert hissed as the pain radiated from his right leg, freezing him up for a few moments before even more pain started. He could feel his body recreating what had been lost quickly(compared to a human) with the bone slowly being replaced. It was part of being a personification of a nation, you couldn't truly kill one as they were an idea made into flesh, and it was very difficult killing ones as prevalent and powerful as a nation. Especially an extremely nationalistic and patriotic one as an offshoot of the Roman Empire. That fact alone made Albert and Jacob all the more powerful. That usually let them heal much faster by human standards, usually being able to recover in a few hours if not a day from something that might kill a person. The adrenaline just made it work faster, too.

He growled as he stood his ground, tossing one of his guns back into his back quickly before pulling out a shotgun from his nation with the same effect,s just with the particle beam energy being split into a shotgun shot pattern and upping he power more. He continue firing with both his weapons towards the monstrous nightmare attacking him and his friends, hoping to do at least some damage to its main body. IF nothing else he'd be willing to jump into it and simply use his fists to try tearing it apart. He would not let this thing kill him and his friends. The others were alreayd seriously being wounded as it was, so Albert had to work fast at destroying this thing. Or at least getting it distracted enough to let the others escape or help rip it apart. Albert for sure was willing to stay behind to hold this thing off.

So the personification continued firing, and shouting at the monster, the acid sizzling against his armor's shields and rapidly draining its charge. It wouldn't last much longer, and it would probably start eating through his armor here soon. Albert himself might be able to withstand it for a while, but it would still hurt horribly and might take a while to recover from the acid burns. But he was basically immobile right now seeing as his leg was healing and replacing the bone, which could take a while. Most likely several hours or up to a whole day.

Albert's armor covered ear twitched slightly as he heard Toscha over the din of the battle, and he quickly glanced over and yelled, "Yes, Lamia, we are for sure going to get out of this and be fine! I promise you that!" He wasn't sure how they were going to that, but Albert would do his very best to make sure it would happen.

[Giovenith]

"Hmmm..." Willow hovered above Sterling and winced in deliberation at his friend's creation, ice eyes sweeping over and calculating every little part of it. The colors, the consistency of the paint in places, the shapes and shades, down to the little leftover hairs from the canvas itself. "Radiance, that's a common beginning style, but a good choice in one. It's a jump ahead of others, who might begin with simple streaks. Good job, Sterling. Most ponies don't begin with this degree."

Careful not to touch the wet work, Willow gestured to the dark center. "Are you going toward, or away from here? Do you think this whole thing says anything about yourself? That's not criticism, it's curiosity. I gave you knowledge because I know it is something you can relate better to. What do you think making this has told you about yourself in regards to how you approach and interact with?"

[The BranRiech]

"I actually don't think we can afford to settle down like that, Yuna," Giovenith disagreed gently, shaking her head. "Not that it's a bad idea or anything, but if whatever is coming out of those portals was tame enough to be able to stay off guard and relax for any long amount of time, we wouldn't have needed cultists guarding the gateways in the first place. We really shouldn't take the risk. We might need to bring makeshift weapons. There's a very high possibility that this will be dangerous."

She felt somewhat bad about turning down the idea, seeing as it was something Giovenith herself would normally jump right on board with, but the godling highly doubted their job tonight was going to be very "sleep-over worthy." There was legitimate concern in her heart that her friends or the other residents could fall to harm tonight. The mathematician they'd met on their elevator travel's words made a surprise return, reminding her of the mention of Iblis being in the vicinity. Honestly, she didn't even know how they could all possibly go against anything like that with their ages and power levels, but they had to try.

"Oh." Yuna said, looking quite stupid all of a sudden. "I thought we were only guarding the lobby, you know?"

Quick, time to salvage the idea! They could always use a home base to organize their patrols if they had to, and Yuna needn't worry about weapons. One time, Drova brought some guards someplace without knowing that the city didn't allow them. They'd been sent home, but forgot their weapons behind, and Drova always had his Pneumatic rifle.

"Could at least set up some chairs someplace." She shrugged. "I'm good on weapons, and I could always ask Will to borrow something, if he'd be fine with that, unless he's refusing to even assist us because of this whole incident."

[Morlodania]

Jorgen finally managed to walk up to the seventh floor, and made his way to his room, his lower legs almost completely locked up at this point, he was more dragging himself along than walking at this point. He pulled himself down the seamless metal hallway, all the way to his room's door, unlocking and opening it. The seamless metal continued into his room, just as it did every place in this structure, almost as if the whole building was made of a single piece of metal, likely bronze. He made his way to a chair, also made of bronze, or something looking like bronze, and sat in it, a soft cushion covering the seat and back of the chair. Once he did this, he looked around, studying the room. There was a desk, small table, several chairs, and other such things. Other than that, there were doors to other rooms, likely a bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen. He nodded to himself and got to work, beginning to clean his mechanical parts with great efficiency that only years of practice can allow.

[Primordial Luxa]

This onslaught proved to be too much for Harold would was able to absorb most of the damage through the use of phase organs and chemical clouds but as Kei opened fire and took off a pair of his legs and Deuce used his additional arms to rip his tentacles from his sockets he began to have second thoughts. Harold began to retreat which only earned him more blows from Flint and Albert which blew a hole is his long next and caused his head to fall to the floor where it exploded in a shower of chemical acid. Harold was however still alive as unholy energy and life clung to him. It was his birthright and he was not about to lose it. As he slinked back towards one of the rooms exits he began trying to put hex’s and curses on his attackers and large glowing symbols began to materialize out of thing air and hurtle towards the group as he fled.

The Pillar in the center of the room twisted suddenly at Naomi’s display of power. It didn’t like it, not one bit and it made sure everybody knew. The DEiMOS was a Frankenstein creation stitched together out of dead gods and cosmic events and as such I didn’t like other cosmic entities meddling with its form. Much in the same way that adding foreign blood to a person could cause serious damage so could the use of strange magic’s.

All the sound in the room suddenly ceased as the DEiMOS changed the laws of reality to stop all current air based vibrations. It then proceeded to rapidly shift the center of gravity sending everything falling towards the ceiling before it reverted it to normal sending everything smashing back into the floor. This powerful blow was enough to knock Aegis out cold and send much of Harolds internal substance out of his body.

This was followed by the hole that the group had entered through increasing in size tremendously before the reality and special stability of the room began to force its occupants outside. Each occupant could feel their form being sucked and folded an squeezed through an entire universe as it happened before all of them were laying in the apartments back yard next to the DEiMOS. Aegis was unconscious and missing his left arm but Harold was nowhere to be seen.

[Monfrox]

Flint quickly moved over to Toscha and held her disabled arm up to shield herself and him from the acid. It ate away at the sleeve of her jacket and into the skin, up until it completely ate away at the layer containing the foreign substance her arm had been filled with. However, with a new hole, all the blood that had been collecting at the bottom now rushed out, staining her vest, pants, and pooling onto the floor. Now, she was far too weak to think straight. "It....is...." She didn't finish her sentence. Her hand let go of the spent pistol and she collapsed onto the floor next to the lamia. She was paler than white, itself. There were little holes from the acid droplets on her jacket, and they ate through to her undershirt. She could barely move, let alone see. The edges of her vision were clouded and blurry, and she felt sick to her stomach. Her breathing was shallow and her heart gradually slowed down. She rolled onto her back with the last of her strength and blankly stared up as her extremities began to go numb. Her eyes seemed almost empty, like she was just barely there.

[The Union of Carpathia]

She thanked him and got into the elavator. She pressed the button and the light lit up. The lift activated and it began to pull her up. The door opened. She got out out and walked down the hallway to her room. Each room had a wooden door with a gold colored label. The hallway was white and carpeted. She was more focused on her room than noticing the flooring of the hallway, she could just hear the rustling of her boots and the soft sound her steps made. She finally made it to her room and unlocked the door. She opened it and saw her new apartment. The walls were white, the bed sheets were purple. There was a window that gave a good view of Bellevielle. In addition, there was a desk with stationary, a closet, and a bathroom. She hung her coat, took the jobs listing, and laid down on the bed. "What am I gonna do?" She said to herself.

The job listings were fairly bleak.

There was a flyer tucked in with the papers which read:

Eldritch Industries Now Hiring! Talented men and women of science wanted! 
Opportunities to innovate at the cutting edge of technology! Fully stocked laboratories! We want to help YOU 
create a brighter tomorrow for the world! Apply today!"

Behind the text was a picture of a woman scientist holding hands with a android scientist as they walked towards a sunset. At the bottom of the flyer were little precut slips with the phone number and website ready to be torn off. It seemed that only one had been taken so far.

The Chaos Restaurant was looking for a dishwasher. The address placed it a short distance away, still within the Market District. There was a "help wanted" listing; someone in the building needed a babysitter during school hours. A polite building memo reminded everyone to lock themselves in their apartments after nightfall tonight, or else come help the rest of the residents patrol the Building as interim security ("meet in the lobby before sunset").

A local newspaper would provide more listings for around town.

The flyer had one offer: a dishwasher. Carpathia saw the job as mundane, almost beneath her. Plus, that type of job was against the reason she was here. She was here to learn, to experience this strange place. She couldn't do that in the back of some eatery. She decided she would need to find a newspaper, perhaps at a diner or a dispensing machine. She wondered for a moment if she should do that now. The train ride was long and she WAS hungry, maybe a diner wasn't such a bad idea. She grabbed her coat and headed out through the hallway.

[Morlodania]

Jorgen finished cleaning his machines faster than normal. Either I'm getting better at this... Or this place alters the flow of time slightly... Either way, I'm good with it... He stood, his machines clicking and whirring to life as he did so. He scanned the room once more, and nodded. He could live here, no problem. Very nice room indeed. He heard someone walking down the hall outside, and went to the door, opening it ever so slightly. He poked his head out, to see the woman from downstairs walking bye. "Hey. I saw you downstairs... Where would you happen to be going, if you do not mind my asking?" He was only slightly curious, and if she blew him off, he did not mind in the slightest, he was more than used to it. He stood in the doorway, awaiting her response, his mechanical parts now shining, rather than being dull and lackluster as they were when he first entered the building.

[ApertureScienceInc]

What happened next could only be described as the universe hiccuping, Chrys and Stephen would nit remember what exactly happened, but they were now both safe in the carnival, a beat up lunar rover laid on it's side, and the Astronaut who had been chasing the Vagrant had seemed to no longer be there (not that anyone noticed). The Portal fizzled out of existence, leaving the imagined moon behind, as it vanished too. The exact circumstances could be that they both blacked out for a few seconds due to the pressure, or the mysterious Astronaut fell through and helped from the other side, or possibly the "powers that be" couldn't make sense of what was going on and simply poundrd their foreheads on the "writing planes that be". Although it was all pointless speculation, what mattered was that they were safe.

"Am I dead?" Stephen grumbled as he lay on the ground. Oxygen returned to his brain, waking him up from the short blackout.

Chrys looked by reflex above Stephen's head. "You don't look dead. Or you possibly got better already without me noticing, in which case I died and got better as well." She glanced around the carnival. "But I don't see anyone who could do resurrections, so probably not. But then again, is life an illusion? I personally don't think so."

She shucked her helmet, releasing her hair in a sudden blonde explosion. The front of her head was throbbing slightly, but the helmet helped. Still...

"Doing stunts like this is so not my idea of fun. Dora can do this next time." She sighed, wondering where her Sister was and hoping "Katya" wasn't the answer.

Slightly confused, Stephen sat up. "I'll assume that means no." he replied, still groggy. "Never again shall I open a portal to space nor the multiverse." he vowed. Suddenlt his stomache rumbled, a reminder that he skipped breakfast. "I doubt that carnivals have good breakfasts, but then again this feels more like a dream than anything else." He added as a pancake house was conjured into being. He was beginning to think that he really was still asleep, but this place had always had tricks up its sleeves.

[Giovenith]

"Oh." Yuna said, looking quite stupid all of a sudden. "I thought we were only guarding the lobby, you know?"

Quick, time to salvage the idea! They could always use a home base to organize their patrols if they had to, and Yuna needn't worry about weapons. One time, Drova brought some guards someplace without knowing that the city didn't allow them. They'd been sent home, but forgot their weapons behind, and Drova always had his Pneumatic rifle.

"Could at least set up some chairs someplace." She shrugged. "I'm good on weapons, and I could always ask Will to borrow something, if he'd be fine with that, unless he's refusing to even assist us because of this whole incident."

"Chairs will be fine," Giovenith smiled and nodded, trying to make sure Yuna felt welcome in the planning, rather than stunted by the after feelings of the day's events. "Once we get home, I have a few ideas about how we'll set it up, too..."

Making sure she did not trip in her walking, Giovenith dug about in her pockets and pulled out a musical triangle, holding it up with both hands and moving it this way and that, contemplating. She also proceeded to pull out the end of a line of Christmas lights, nodding and humming in approval. They would probably be arriving back at the apartment soon.

[The BranRiech]

"Accent lady?" Toscha murmured, lying there in the snow as he started to go numb as well, the cold getting to him as the snow near his back turned red, blood still seeping from his wounds. He would have slithered back inside, but Flint was needing help too. He shook his head, and lunged over to Flint, trying to wrap himself around her, and grabbing his tail-covering.

Instead of putting it on, he tried wrapping it around Flint's wound, hoping to stop the bleeding while he himself was nearly passing out, as blood started pooling on his back.

--

"Awesome." Yuna smiled. She had a few chairs at least. She knew she wasn't really contributing to much, and that it'd probably be pointless, but there wasn't much she knew about combat besides hunting, and even then, she didn't know much besides the time she went out with Will, of course, she couldn't tell anyone about that one.

"We'll see who shows up, and form a plan then, howabout? We'd need to know our strengths."

[Swith Witherward]

Ugh, Yuna and Gio. They were on Torii's bad side right now, still, so she took Myra's advice. Standing up, she stuck her hands back into her pockets.

She was going over different situations in her mind, over and over again. She did this every now and then, and Yuna and Gio...she still hated them right now, but her feelings didn't translate to anger. No, unlike anger, this was a deep Panging, and she didn't feel like saying much after that. Her face fell a little tired as well.

"If they catch up with us, then oh well. Who knows, maybe we can all cool down and stuff; I might even change my mind about helping. I don't want to ruin my friendships over a stupid fight."

A sense of relief swept through Myra. She didn't want to see the Teen Club all split up over stupid stuff, especially as they all normally got along really well. There was a sore spot in her heart where she'd been poking around with a guilt stick. Surely it was her crabby attitude over Valentine's Day that had caused a low in the group yesterday? And those bullies were all her fault, too. No one would have been hurt at all if she had just stayed home. This wasn't a new battle for Myra. She remained reclusive for many reasons but mostly because she didn't want to cause trouble for anyone. The fight weighed heavily upon her and, although she knew deep down that she wasn't responsible for the current fallout between people, she was too accustomed to taking the blame for everything that happened in life.

She took these negative thoughts and feelings and smashed them into a dense ball. It was easier to swallow it this way. Once swallowed, it remained deep down and allowed her to hang a cheerful mood in its place. Wearing a bright mask was better than letting anyone see her sorrows.

"I'm glad you said that, Tora," she admitted. "It'd be more fun with you there. Let's head back."

[Giovenith]

"Awesome." Yuna smiled. She had a few chairs at least. She knew she wasn't really contributing to much, and that it'd probably be pointless, but there wasn't much she knew about combat besides hunting, and even then, she didn't know much besides the time she went out with Will, of course, she couldn't tell anyone about that one.

"We'll see who shows up, and form a plan then, howabout? We'd need to know our strengths."

"We can add on seeing who shows up, yes, though there are a few basic things I'd still like to do," Giovenith nodded, not taking her eyes off the triangle as she wrapped some of the Christmas lights around it. "I'll show you once we get there."

Soon enough, Giovenith pushed past the doors to the lobby and began surveying all, pointing her musical instrument around like a dousing rod. "Uh huh, uh huh, mhmm... maybeeeeee... Yuna, we'll need three chairs, but not for sitting." Leave it to her to be vague.

[Cerillium]

Marcus was already at the front door and about to enter when a strange sound caught his ear. His brow furrowed. Ignore it? Yea.... no.

He retraced his footsteps down the walkway and then skirted the short rail fence separating the side yard from the front yard. It brought him along the frozen ground that lied between the Building and the vacant lot where the Raptor House usually stood. He rounded the corner and walked into a train wreck.

"Fuck. Oh fuck!"

Heavy legs pounded the ground and flecking up mud and snow as the boy bolted. He nearly lost his footing as he came around the front yard again. Arms flailed and he slid until his boots kissed pavement again.

Marcus, like most boys, was perfectly capable of exceeding respectable "outdoor voice" volume levels. He screamed a caterwall that could have been heard in the fish market beyond the carnival. "Torii! Myra! Where are the others?! Hurry. There's been an accident or something! Hurry! Backyard!"

He didn't wait for them. There probably wasn't time. He returned to the train wreck and slid across the mud towards the group of people sprawled out on the ground. They were covered in gore and wounds. The stench of death clung to them. He recognized some like Dora and Deuce. What shattered his heart was his unconscious sister's eyes staring sightless towards the heavens. The only thing that could have broken his paralysis was seeing his step-mother in the same state, only she seemed only stunned rather than unconscious. It galvanized him into action.

"You'll be okay, you'll be okay," he murmured to Flint and Toscha. He had no idea how he would even begin to move Deuce. "You'll be okay. Help's coming."

Please, let help come!

[New Aksarben]

"Hmmm..." Willow hovered above Sterling and winced in deliberation at his friend's creation, ice eyes sweeping over and calculating every little part of it. The colors, the consistency of the paint in places, the shapes and shades, down to the little leftover hairs from the canvas itself. "Radiance, that's a common beginning style, but a good choice in one. It's a jump ahead of others, who might begin with simple streaks. Good job, Sterling. Most ponies don't begin with this degree."

Careful not to touch the wet work, Willow gestured to the dark center. "Are you going toward, or away from here? Do you think this whole thing says anything about yourself? That's not criticism, it's curiosity. I gave you knowledge because I know it is something you can relate better to. What do you think making this has told you about yourself in regards to how you approach and interact with?"

"Well, I was thinking of the center as being the knowledge we have yet to learn, but to get there you usually have to get to it by progression: Working towards the knowledge and truth through what you know and building upon that. I try going towards that center as learning is a passion of mine, and I want to share that knowledge with others, thus advancing the collective knowledge of ponies. The little colors in the dark areas are either glimpses of where knowledge is leading towards or leaps forward into unlocking the full picture brought forth by philosophers and scientists and other ponies that work towards advancing our knowledge of things." Sterling looked at the painting as he spoke, before looking over towards WIllow.

"I think that I like seeing the big picture and a glimpse of what I want it to look like before I start working. Like I think of something then work to make it a reality. When I read old books I try putting that knowledge into my own perspective to see if I can realize something knew that others might not have thought of before, like the connection between the ideas of primordial forces in our culture and the ones of this world that I thought of when I was reading and thinking about how our home was founded. Nothing gives me joy more than telling others what I learned to spread that knowledge, after all." He smiled towards Willow, and nodded to his friend to signal he was done talking right then, seeing as he did have the habit of rambling on often.

---

Albert groaned from the pain still radiating through his body from his leg. It was a horrendous pain but probably not as bad as some of the other injuries he had seen people receiving during that final fight. The burns and acid and purple lightning, and all the other horrible things they had collectively been through had been absolutely terrible and he was a bit surprised they had gotten out all alive, even if they had all sustained injuries. But they had gotten out, but it seemed like most would need some help getting inside and probably a long time to recover physically.

An armored hand reached up slowly and pressed the button that let him remove his helmet, and soon that piece was thrown into the snow. Albert glanced around the yard, and seeing people he knew (even if it was only somewhat, and not that well) galvanized him to start struggling to stand up. He was pretty damn glad that he had this armor on, seeing as his leg was missing its bones and otherwise he wouldn't have been able to stand at all. The armor was acting as a splint to keep his leg straight and would protect it very well, but it would still hurt to walk immensely. Albert grimaced as he struggled from his knees to a standing position, breathing heavily from the exertion and pain. "Gotta move through the pain... Get some of the others inside so they can get help...."

His ears were back against his head and his tail brushing the ground from the pain and tiredness. He was so tired and just wanted to lie there but he still had enough strength to help get some people in. Like Deuce. He could probably help the large guy get inside easily due to his strength. He started limping over the yard towards the large warrior, grimacing the whole time as shocks of pain rushed through his body each time his right leg had any pressure on it. He was so glad this suit would negate some of the weight being put on his feet, right now. A shout from the front yard told Albert that others were likely to be coming to help, but Albert knew he had to help in some way.

"Deuce! Deuce! Are you awake? I need to know if I need to just pick you up or if I can just help keep you upright to get inside!" He shouted as he got closer, glancing around the yard worriedly, not sure how else he could help right now, but for sure wanting to get some people inside so others can get them some help with what strength and endurance he had left in his body, despite his leg. He could also probably carry Dora inside if Deuce could at least walk. If not he could make trips, even if it hurt him even worse. He did seem to be one of the few who could still walk after all from their group.

Again, Albert was incredibly thankful for his armor right now, even if the acid and other attacks had started corroding it before they had been thrown out of that place.

[Giovenith]

"Hm?" Giovenith looked up from her concentrated triangle-staring, turning around at the call she'd heard, and then looking at Yuna. "Did you hear that?" she asked with hushed quickness, pausing for a moment to wrack her senses and confirm. Quickly, she shoved the triangle back into her pocket, grabbed Yuna's hand, and pulled her towards the door. "Come on, there was emergency yelling!"