Personification Life IC IX - [Semi Open]

[Giovenith]

Oh Celestia, please no. Encased in the dark with a magic-eating monster, the last thing Willow thought anyone here needed were others trying to be tough about it, so he thought to himself while hearing someone scream about blood and honor and other equally archaic things. Regardless of what they could do themselves, he didn't want to be caught in the turbulence. Careless storms tore fliers apart.

"Getting out," Willow agreed, carefully standing up, trying to keep his companions near. "Quickly. Forget fighting, keep close and watch steps." Life was far more important than pride.

---

"Mandi, we'll be okay..." Giovenith tried to soothe, gently pulling her friend to his feet. "Let's move, stay close to me... Scan-"

There was a sudden absence, Scandi's presence poofed away. One moment there, the other not...

[Swith Witherward]

Jorgen's flashlight would reveal several people standing up. The Klingon, Jorgen himself and a few others. The room was filled with a haze which swirled in the beam as it swept the area.

The columns had been utterly destroyed; only the very bottoms remained and these jabbed from the floor like jagged teeth in a sinister maw. The ragged remains of vines wilted from the ceiling. Nearly all the flowers had been blown from them and the petals scattered the floor like a perverse parody of a lover's trail. Some people were still whimpering. Others seemed pale from fear.

Rylli latched onto Bran and buried her head against his chest. She was scuffed up and covered in what could have been dust from the explosion. Katya clutched Torii's hand and stared at the flashlight, eyes widened and questioning. Hans pushed the table aside and offered his hand to Chrys. Rudolf rose to stand beside the Klingon. Deuce remained in a quasi-squat, a table leg clutched in a large fist.

"We go," Minerva stated. "Let's move towards the-"

Her voice caught in her throat as Jorgen's beam captured one final person. It was Scandi. He dangled from on leg like a doll, the vines twisting around his ankle and suspending him from the ceiling. The area around him was strangely clear of debris.



In the hallway by the stairs, Todesfall uttered an unearthly, low hiss. He would have flattened his ears to his skull had they not been human and fixed in position. His lips drew back in feral fashion to reveal uneven and sharp teeth rather than human dentition.

[The Factory of Spike]

Mortimer walked over to where the person was dangling. He would have started to sweat, if he had had pores. Please don't be dead. I don't want to see one of them, he thought. "Is he alright?" he asked the room at large, and then tried to cut the vine holding Scandi up. He wondered if he should panic. It might make people more comfortable.

[TotallyNotEvilLand]

@Kei: Saren nodded, starting to suck on his hoof and curl up into a ball. "Thank you, Miss Kei! I bet daddy is gonna be so happy I made a new friend." He said, completely forgetting about his father being in danger. It was true that Cerril would be able to handle himself in a combat situation... At least, the one he imagined. Cerril in a fight was much like a chimpanzee, in the sense that instead of firing a weapon he tended to beat people over the head with it instead. Or just headbutt them. Either way, he rest assured that his father was safe.

@The Diner: Meanwhile, Cerril was not assured of his safety. He wasn't used to dealing with something that he couldn't solve just by shooting it or having one of his lackeys capture it. Now there was some twit shouting about honor and glory. While, yeah, this was kind of the shtick of his entire race, they also knew that discretion is the better part of valor sometimes. And now someone was dangling from vines... This was just fan-fuckin'-tastic.

[The BranRiech]

"Rylli." Bran said sternly. He took her by the shoulders and flashed a smile. "We're going to get out of here and find Rachelle, alright?" He suggested, since Minerva was saying that they needed to get out of the room anyways. Rachelle couldn't have gone far, being someplace inside, or being smart and hiding outside, wherever she was, it couldn't be far.

Bran didn't look, but Minerva's sudden silence unnerved him a bit.

--

"That's the spirit, little guy!" Kei grinned, holding out a hand for a High-five, or whatever it was with Saren. She liked small children for one reason, and one reason only. They were cute. Well, alright, 2 reasons. They could be made happy and complacent with the least amount of effort. Gawd, dealing with Tony as a small child might have been hell, but it was like . . . 20 hells when he grew up.

[Fvaarniimar]

Nick looked up from the vegetables which he was chopping. With his claws. Or a knife. Frankly he couldn't tell. What had caused that loud banging noise? Oh. Someone was knocking on the door. Which was the door to his apartment for some reason, but of course that was normal.

"-Bleep-, I'm coming!" It came out as a meow. Frustrated, Nick raised his voice. "Cut it out, will you?!" He started hearing voices. Some of them screams. It seemed to take hours, but finally the cat reached the door. Which he realized was a mouse hole. Next to it was a tiny red-and white dot which started shrieking. "Eat me!! Eat me!!" The cat did, whereupon he shrank until he could just fit through the door. He looked through a peephole which appeared; some dirt of party appeared to be occurring. Specifically, a group of people, each with a placemat, surrounded a whirlpool of said material, whooping up a storm. They were banging on the ground at random intervals.
I need the vegetables.
Nick rushed back to grab them, dropping them several times before successfully situating them in his back. He tried to go through the door, but found himself unable to move.

[Motoneuron]

Ki was walking towards the dining room when he heard and saw it. Hejumped a bit at the sudden blast and loss of light, but he had been through worse… he had just been hoping to get away from it here. His eyes were born for the low light of his home planet and quickly adjusted to the darkness. He readied his razor sharp claws and quietly crept towards the source of the noise, keeping an eye on all around him. He had no idea who was innocent and who was to blame for this, it was probably best to stay out of sight and observe for now

[Tiltjuice]

"Stop! Step back!" Chrys cried out, throwing out her hand. Her gaze was riveted to the readout above Mortimer's head, which might have been either running down at a faster than normal pace or alternating between a black-bordered and a translucently ghost-like infinity symbol. In her haste, she didn't notice that one hand was occupied with Hans' helping her back to her feet and the other held three and a 1-meter-long span of red-hot, spark-spitting steel.

[Mincaldenteans]

"That is most dishonorable!" Mezran said in disgust, "What kind of petaQ would hurt a child!?" He shook his head in contempt for the enemy. "Apparently it lacks the yoHjaq to face us in battle!"

Dan looked at Dora, offering his hand to get out from under the table. Staying with the group seemed like a good idea for now, and for all intents he figured most of them would make a dash for it rather than fight like the bellowing oaf.

"You are familiar with what this is?" Mezran demanded from Chrys, "Tell us where we can find this yIntagh so that we may slay it!"

[Monfrox]

"Ой дерьмо..." Flint said as the entire situation flipped itself upside down. She, without any hesitation, shot back and pressed her back to the wall. She took her rifle out and held it close. She began shaking as she moved, sliding her back along the wall. Cinnamon was following suit, and both had only one thing in mind: Getting the hell out. They held their hands along the walls as they tried to feel out a door nob or doorway. Something to indicate an exit for them to dash out of. Everything else didn't matter as much as leaving before something even worse happened. Both were not having any of this shit. Their lives may have been monotonous in their own respect, but they felt like they were being punished for committing some kind of wrong now. "I swear I will never get into another bar fight for as long as I live..." Cinnamon said. "I will never take from others what is not mine..." Flint stated to herself. Both of their voices sounded a slight short of absolute fear.

[Altito Asmoro]

Raka decided to went back again at the dining room, minutes before the incidents happened. Lights went out, people screaming, darkness encroaching the room, chaos everywhere. Fortunately he had his medication back then. He pulled out his pistol for safety and at the same time, tried to followed the crowd. It is a bit hard due to the lack of brightness, but he thinks he can see well in the dark.

Kind of.

[Mandicoria]

"Scandi?" Mandi felt around the table, all he found was his lighter. "I swear to god, if this is some sort of damn trick from him." He then turned on the lighter and used the small amount of light to help him see Giovenith. "Dammit, I don't think he's with us."

-----

Scandi covered his eyes when the flashlight shined at him. "Hey, keep that light outa my face!" He was obviously uncomfortable in the position he was in, but who would be comfortable? "Good god, its the Paskeran Border War all over again!"

[The Carlisle]

Kale was about to speak, but then everything went to shit. The noise scared her and the chaos only furthered it. She did what she usually did in these situations and grabbed for the person nearest to her. This person turned out to be Deuce. She grasped onto his leg tightly, refusing to let go.

"W-What the hell is g-going on?!," she said with her eyes closed, shaking with fear.

[Terintania]

Up in his room, Leroy's though process was interrupted by a...feeling. Like something was wrong, even though up here in his room, everything was perfectly calm. He had always had good instincts when it came to danger, and they were acting up now. Standing up, he slowly drew one of his swords, listening carefully, on high alert.

His footfalls were completely silent as he made his way out of his apartment and down the stairs to where Wolfgang and Todesfall were crouched. His back against the wall, Leroy crouched near them. "What's going on?" He asked, though the question was clearly not directed at Todesfall. Wolfgang let out a small bark, and a whimper, and Leroy rubbed the scared Wolf's head. "You have a better answer?" He asked Todesfall, as if he assumed that Todesfall would have any idea what Wolfgang said.

[Fvaarniimar]

Nick looked up from the vegetables which he was chopping. With his claws. Or a knife. Frankly he couldn't tell. What had caused that loud banging noise? Oh. Someone was knocking on the door. Which was the door to his apartment for some reason, but of course that was normal.

"-Bleep-, I'm coming!" It came out as a meow. Frustrated, Nick raised his voice. "Cut it out, will you?!" He started hearing voices. Some of them screams. It seemed to take hours, but finally the cat reached the door. Which he realized was a mouse hole. Next to it was a tiny red-and white dot which started shrieking. "Eat me!! Eat me!!" The cat did, whereupon he shrank until he could just fit through the door. He looked through a peephole which appeared; some dirt of party appeared to be occurring. Specifically, a group of people, each with a placemat, surrounded a whirlpool of said material, whooping up a storm. They were banging on the ground at random intervals.
I need the vegetables.
Nick rushed back to grab them, dropping them several times before successfully situating them in his back. He tried to go through the door, but found himself unable to move.

A ball rolled out the door, growing as it did so. A little girl spoke. Had Nick been awake or perhaps in a different dream, he would have recognized her as the one who had been nice at the animal shelter.
"The snowglobe. Take it. "
Shrugging- illogical as that was- he did. The vegetables floated through the door, coming to rest on the churning mud. They promptly animated, getting into an argument and then making mud pies.
A fair trade.
The noises had been continuing throughout, escalating occasionally. Nick all of a sudden felt terrified. But he had to go on.
After some walking, he encountered... that kid. She towered over him, as usual.
Shit shit shit shit shit.
Cheerfully, she picked him up, ignoring the snowglobe.
"Hi, nice kitty!" In the distance, Nick could hear screams. "Do you want to help me find the bacon?" No, I don't. But I can't talk to you. It isn't safe. "I have a map. It's supposed to help me destroy it. I don't know why I need to destroy bacon. Do you?" She positioned Nick so that he was staring straight into her eyes. "Well, do you?
The scene changed; the pair found themselves in a river, the girl still muttering about bacon. Nick tried to swim away, as far as possible. He only managed to go a few feet before freezing again. Laughing, the girl came over, saying in a singsong voice, "Naughty kitten, not nice, strayed too far from mommy, now you pay the price!
Helpless, Nick awaited his impending doom as her strong arms grabbed him-
And brought him to her chest. He looked up into soft hazel eyes.
"Psych. You're okay now, sweetie."
Nick licked his butt. Amazingly, the snowglobe still didn't fall.
"Hahaha, you're so silly! Wish you could talk. Maybe you know something about the bacon."
It's now or never. I need her help...


<I can. Sorta.>
The girl started trembling, and pulled apart into two girls- one with wavy brown hair and steely blue eyes, aka THAT KID, and one whose hair was constantly changing color and who retained the hazel eyes. Nick and Hazel Eyes started to run, Nick tearing off and Hazel following at a distance.
"Kitten, get back here!" Nick found himself unable to move, slowly slipping downwards toward her. "You too, Sissy. I don't want to deal with you or the freak, but we have to... Deal with the bacon. Or have you forgotten already?" Steel Eyes glared at Hazel, who had caught the falling cat, and tapped the map.
The scene changed, with the trio now in a pigpen.
"We can destroy the bacon by killing the pigs."
"We can destroy the bacon by keeping them alive. Then they won't be bacon."
"Someday they will. Unless we immolate them. Then they'll be charcoal, never bacon."
"It's your pick, Nick!" Steel and Hazel, for a moment, merged. "Who will you side with?" They came apart, splintering.
"Bigot sis." "Sissy."
"Charcoal is good for cooking vegetables." Steel wagged a finger. "The mud people will like you if you bring it."
"Trust me, Nick. Please. Trust me." A tear rolled down Hazel's cheek.
A crashing noise. The three swiveled around. The barn had fallen. Hazel set a hand on Nick's head, trying to make herself heard.
I'm so sorry. But I'm here now. Please, sweetie, please.
<...Okay.>
"The pigs live." Hazel put her hands on her hips.
"What?! How could you give up hope of them accepting you, kitten, how could you?!" With that, Steel changed. First, her irises lost all hints of blue. Then, the gray started leaking out, first covering her sclera and pupils and then the remainder of her body. She became longer and at points much thinner, until she resembled a screwdriver.

[TotallyNotEvilLand]

"That's the spirit, little guy!" Kei grinned, holding out a hand for a High-five, or whatever it was with Saren. She liked small children for one reason, and one reason only. They were cute. Well, alright, 2 reasons. They could be made happy and complacent with the least amount of effort. Gawd, dealing with Tony as a small child might have been hell, but it was like . . . 20 hells when he grew up.

Saren quickly slapped his hoof against Kei's hand, giggling. The only females he ever dealt with in his life were either rather distant (His caretaker), overly attached (His aunt), or expecting him to live up to some sort of prophecy (His grandmother). This person wasn't any of these, and therefore, he enjoyed sticking around with her. Perhaps he'd nag his dad to let him visit her a lot. That'd be nice. "Can you be my babysitter?" He asked, still completely forgetting about his situation.

[Cerillium]

Up in his room, Leroy's though process was interrupted by a...feeling. Like something was wrong, even though up here in his room, everything was perfectly calm. He had always had good instincts when it came to danger, and they were acting up now. Standing up, he slowly drew one of his swords, listening carefully, on high alert.

His footfalls were completely silent as he made his way out of his apartment and down the stairs to where Wolfgang and Todesfall were crouched. His back against the wall, Leroy crouched near them. "What's going on?" He asked, though the question was clearly not directed at Todesfall. Wolfgang let out a small bark, and a whimper, and Leroy rubbed the scared Wolf's head. "You have a better answer?" He asked Todesfall, as if he assumed that Todesfall would have any idea what Wolfgang said.

"Violent entities," Todesfall hissed. "Shapechangers and mimics. Malevolent beings." It was perhaps no better an explanation than Wolfgang had provided. "Our job is to stop them from emerging and joining the general populace. The problem is, we don't know who in there has been replaced."

Mortimer walked over to where the person was dangling. He would have started to sweat, if he had had pores. Please don't be dead. I don't want to see one of them, he thought. "Is he alright?" he asked the room at large, and then tried to cut the vine holding Scandi up. He wondered if he should panic. It might make people more comfortable.

Chrys' cry came too late. Several hands reached up from the floor to ensnare Mortimer's feet and ankles. It unbalanced him and he fell forward onto the dangling Scandi. The vines tore free and both of them tumbled to the ground where more hands were waiting to grab them in the dark.


Welcome to Gre'thor, a voice whispered near Mezran whispered. Take off your face and stay a while. The creature could have been a reptilian version of a timber wolf when seen by the casual observer. It was surrounded by small lumps which, when momentarily illuminated by a pass of Jorgen's flashlight beam, revealed themselves to be soft, headless balls of brown or beige fur. The lips of the canid's wide maw pulled back to reveal sharp teeth and dark gums; the small balls began to chitter.


Rylli stared into Bran's eyes and she seemed to calm down. "Alright," breathed the woman, "but let's hurry. Please. Let's just leave." Her fingers folded into his own and she pulled him towards the door.


Something struck Kei from behind with enough force to send her flying forward. Saren slipped from her arms and tumbled into the darkness. There was a loud squeal and a bit of thrashing but the offspring seemed no worse for wear. Something very Saren-like crawled from the dark and pressed against Kei. The real Saren found himself lifted from the floor by an unfamiliar person and carried towards the kitchen.


And then hell broke loose. Forms crept through the darkness and lashed out at those simply standing around. They appeared as various things. Some were shapeless, featureless and dark. Others appeared as fellow residents. Minerva kicked at one with her foot and latched onto Jorgen. She hauled him towards the window. "Out! Get out! Everyone!"

[Monfrox]

At that second, both the Froxians sprang for the exit. "FUUUUUCK!!!! THIIIIIISSSS!!!!" The shouted in unison as they all but bolted out of the room. "Where....where to go..." Flint thought frantically. Cinnamon grabbed her arm. "Oh?" She found herself being dragged along by the hysterically fast fighter pilot until they both came face-to-face with the others and stopped. They went pale and mute as they stood there, quaking in their respective boots.

[TotallyNotEvilLand]

@Whatever the hell just happened: Saren immediately started crying again and panicking, trying to grip the floor but failing. Cerril immediately heard this and started running out, panicking and trying to find the source of the noise. "I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU HURT HIM, I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU FUCKING WISH YOU COULD DIE!" He yelled, forcing his way through a window after Minerva.

[The BranRiech]

Bran quickly nodded to his wife, and seeing that Minerva wanted them to get out, he agreed with the plan and quickly started to skitter out of the room, heading towards the stairs. "We'll head back down to the bunker, Rachelle probably made her way back there anyways." He nodded to her, making their way out of the room over the din that was starting, people panicking and such.

--

"Saren?"

Kei rubbed her head, armor protecting her from any bruises, and her helmet prevented a rather nasty hit to her head as she tumbled into a wall. She looked at Saren and held out her arms, gesturing for him to come over.

"We're going to find our way out of the building, alright?"

[Terintania]

Up in his room, Leroy's though process was interrupted by a...feeling. Like something was wrong, even though up here in his room, everything was perfectly calm. He had always had good instincts when it came to danger, and they were acting up now. Standing up, he slowly drew one of his swords, listening carefully, on high alert.

His footfalls were completely silent as he made his way out of his apartment and down the stairs to where Wolfgang and Todesfall were crouched. His back against the wall, Leroy crouched near them. "What's going on?" He asked, though the question was clearly not directed at Todesfall. Wolfgang let out a small bark, and a whimper, and Leroy rubbed the scared Wolf's head. "You have a better answer?" He asked Todesfall, as if he assumed that Todesfall would have any idea what Wolfgang said.

"Violent entities," Todesfall hissed. "Shapechangers and mimics. Malevolent beings." It was perhaps no better an explanation than Wolfgang had provided. "Our job is to stop them from emerging and joining the general populace. The problem is, we don't know who in there has been replaced."

Leroy tilted his head slightly, though he seemed satisfied with the answer. At the very least, it was better then Wolfgang's answer, which was basically just that he had no idea. "There's no way of telling them apart? If they're dangerous enough, we should just stop anyone who comes out, one way or another, and figure out who's real and who's not later."

Wolfgang didn't seem particularly impressed with Leroy's suggestion, which was basically to just kill everyone who came out of the room. He gave a quiet bark, then tilted his his head, giving a questioning whine as he did so.

"Wolfgang asks how good they are at mimicking people. He wonders if he could tell the difference by smell or something," Leroy translated.

[New Aksarben]

Sterling's eyes widened even more as he cried out in fear and surprise as many forms came out of nowhere all around them. He hesitated for a brief second before starting to dash towards the nearest exit he could see, doing his best to avoid the others he knew were normal and not shapeshifter things. He lowered his head a bit, keeping his eyes slightly open to see where he was going, heading towards the stairs. He glanced back towards Willow and shouted to make sure he was coming as well

"Willow! Run! Don't let the changeling-things there get you!" He was especially worried about himself and Willow as both of them had innate magic within them. while Willow's wasn't as evident, it would be obvious thinking about the pegasi's anatomy that he required that to really fly. Plus, the ability to walk on clouds and influence weather was magic as well. Sterling's body would have even more magic within it, given his race's large connection with it and the ability for them to more actively apply magic to their goals. Sterling was doing the best to not use his magic, given that it might be more difficult to escape if he was using his magic.

[Cerillium]

Cerril would need to make a small leap to get from window to the top of a delivery van where Jorgen was standing. From there, he could access the ground. Saren (the real one) was still crying and making a fuss which could be heard by those in the room. The Saren in Kei's arms wiggled and twisted then sunk his teeth deep into her arm.

Bran would find himself confronting several large shapes looming in front of him before he even left the room. Wolfgang, Todesfall and Leroy were in the hallway itself and waiting to see who or what would emerge.

Todesfall nodded to Leroy. "Stop them and see who is who, ja. And then seal the door. We can't tell by smell."

[TotallyNotEvilLand]

Cerril sighed and prepared himself. Just like in training... He thought, getting a small running start before jumping out of the window and grabbing onto the edge of the van and dropping down slowly. In the meantime, he needed to figure something out. "Daddy's gonna get you out of there, Saren! Bite them! Stab them with your horn, just don't let them get close!" He said. Saren was a bit too young to get self-defense training, and Cerril's weapons were up in his room, unfortunately.

[Tiltjuice]

"No, I don't know, but I wish I did - then I'd turn the heat up on the thing!" That was no idle boast, as her spatha was still spitting sparks; but she cooled it down and sheathed it quickly.

The warrior in Chrys wanted to stand and fight, much like Mezran felt. She swore bitterly as Minerva's urging won out, though. With a glance at Hans she tugged him toward the window. Not even trying to move Mezran - she'd leave that to Rudolf; she knew from experience how hard trying to budge a very big man could be.

Dora was on Flint and Cinnamon's heels, but where they'd been fast enough to sweep past before Todesfall, Leroy and Wolfgang arrived, she emerged from the door and promptly ran into them. The former Conservator, while plucky, hadn't quite recovered from the last adventure (she hadn't had time to get a stiff drink or seven).