{ THE TREASURE ROOM } BATTLEGROUNDS CONCLUSION P 31

[Toshihiko Two]

Harrison is not good at fog.  

[demon_pachabel]

Cass had reached out to touch the healing cut on Marcus's arm, giving him a look that said 'Don't show them that'.

"I can't imagine any of that, Marcus...because I became the opposite. I became a walking target. People wanted to see your kind come across me so it could be displayed on television for everybody to see.

Eleven years of torment.

Isn't that what your kind lives off of, though?" She obviously wasn't asking, but knew exactly that it was the point.

Still, there was a certain look she gave the zombie as it - he? - looked at her, eying her like she was a slab of meat. She reeled, turning to actually strike out at Alex, but Marcus had already stepped in between the herself and danger. She might have had another one of those mental swoons happening in her head again. Just...damn.

He was so getting cuddles later.

Istoleyurvamps

Seussi

OnionGrump

 

[Ice Queen]

Roch turned and headed for the group, his eyes narrowed on the hunters, then falling on the antennae boil that had pissed him off at the gathering. "Don't eat them, who knows what it'll do to your FEAR," he said, still carrying his guitar.

"Are we just going to stand here throwing insults? Why the jack are we here? Is it your fault?" he demanded of the hunters. "Or more likely... has anyone seen one of those freaky fluff things that hang out with witches in poofy skirts?" Which... y'know, didn't sound that badass, but the boil was looking around with a slightly paranoid expression on his face. "I'm laying odds on one of those."

ramenli

Seussi

Kaiyumi

Bloodlust Dante

OnionGrump

demon-pachabel

iStoleYurVamps

 

[Zoobey]

Once again, the trainees were left with nothing but the need to protect themselves. Once again, the students found themselves thrown into something that was clearly beyond any of their level of control or understanding.

And once again, both parties did not understand why there were here.

The one delegating all the actions made things suddenly very clear. The pressure of gravity increased each step he took, black and gold silk robes sweeping the tattered grass as cracks and crevices formed in the earth, threatening to swallow any students or Hunters that strayed too close. His Fear was overwhelming. "All those who seek conquest, kneel before its presence." Even the strongest of them all, even the heirs felt themselves not just kneeling but plastered flat against the grass. "Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions."

The stopped suddenly, right in front of Invictus: standing next to each other, there was no mistaking the resemblance, they could have easily been the Heir's older sibling. It was unclear as to if they were talking to Invictus or everyone around him. "We grant you this opportunity to conquer, to prove yourselves worthy of our Clans, and yet, you disappoint us once again." As they spoke, the ground seemed to sink deeper, the pressure however much more unbearable for the Hunters. "You cannot even dispose of these simple livestock, despite our all help and assistance. You act weakly, clumsily, despite us giving you power. Is this school you covet, is this Amityville, really worthy of the assistance of the Four Clans?"

They raised one hand in dismissal, twisting their fingers together angrily. "The Clan of Conquest has made its first decision from the four: Amityville is unworthy. As for you, my son," here, the Horsemen of Conquest apprehended Invictus, folding his arms together, "You will still be tried. Your right of ascension to the throne is still lacking, your judgment as clouded and weak. The other clans will pass their judgment soon." He gazed levelly at Eris, breaking eye contact finally. "I will finish what needs to be done then, may this be a lesson to you all that Humans, no matter their shape and form, are simply livestock."

Excruciating pain hit the Hunter trainees. This level of Fear was beyond their weapon's ability to protect. It felt as if their very skin was curdling away, vision slowly blacking out, eyes ready to literally burst from their sockets. Their ribs groaned, lungs suddenly robbed of air-

- and then there were a series of cracking noises. Their bones were beginning to break, the weaker ones at first, fingers, toes, but as the pressure increased, their whole body was ready to cave entirely, ears bleeding -

-Then nothingness. The pressure stopped.

The trainees were still alive. And Caelius was pissed.

Another sweep of his weapon sent the shockwave flying directly at the horsemen, though Conquest simply deflected it. The Horsemen remained impassive. "All livestock remain the same regardless of shape and size."

The Death Hunter moved in for the kill, his scythe weapon shrieking as collided with something half-bured within Conquests's robes: an arrow-less bow. "My sentiments exactly."

The two seemed for a second, evenly matched. A second, a few moments, perhaps even for the trainees what seemed like hours as the pressure of gravity lifted itself, and they could simply breathe again, pull themselves together as much as they could, try to focus away from the pain, using their weapons as crutches, as lifelines. A second later, Conquest summoned a black orb from the tip of his finger-

- The Death Hunter swore as he jumped one step back. Where he had been standing was simply a black vortex of nothingness, a black hole that consumed only whatever was directly within its radius. Even the shockwave closing in on the horsemen was swallowed up by the vortex directly in its trajectory. Caelius narrowed his eyes, took a few steps further, and began to pace, in strange deliberate footsteps, scythe weapon dragging into the grass.

The second 'black hole' formed in Conquest's palm, the horsemen drawing his bow as he attached his Fear attack to the tip of his arrow. "What will it be then, human? Will it be your first to fall-" He aimed at first for the Death Hunter - "Or those that serve you?" The aim changed direction, to where most of the trainees were lying on the ground. "Thus on the one hand we have ability to protect ourselves; on the other, a victory that is complete."

"Trainees are disposable." The Death lead took two more steps, weapon still buried tip-first in the grass. "There will always be more of us waiting." The pattern he was carving on the ground was complete: a large rectangle, the edges burning a faint blue. A portal out. "Don't ******** underestimate us."

This time, Circe's shockwave buried into the ground directly underneath Conquest's vortex, causing the ground to begin to shake unstably before it everything started to quake. The black hole, attempting to stabilize itself and not damage its creator, was swallowing the very ground on which it hovered over.

Everything else was once again, pure chaos.

There might have been Caelius, or Clarice, shouting for the trainees to fall back, to run, for the ones still able to move to grab the injured and literally jump into the portal. For the students, it was a different story, as they watched the trainees flee and knew themselves that they were about to die. Many students had already experienced this feeling, the single second of agony and surprise before their body dissipated and reformed. This time, it felt inevitable, even as Conquest attempted to rein in their very attack.

At that very last second, as the Horsemen finally, inevitably let go, as students finally embraced the pain, finally finally finally, their bodies cracking and warping with the force of the distorted black hole-

- a glimpse of another brilliant arc of blue fending off Conquest just as the last of the trainees filed into the portal, the Death Hunter locked in battle with the Horsemen, the two of them drowning in darkness.

- And then it was over.

OOC: THE CONCLUSION

- PLEASE POST A REACTION POST AS NEEDED, as your student dissipates one more time and has RETURNED TO THE GATES OF AMITYVILLE, as your Hunter is now back in Deus Ex Machina next TO THE LIGHTHOUSE PORTAL. Feel free to break into an orp/ reaction solos/ prps as you wish.
- Status effects remain in effect for Amityville, but Deus trainees are back to normal.
- The two NPCs are GONE (they were swallowed by the vortex)
- EVERYONE WHO POSTED IN THIS RP GET + 3 RP POINTS and an additional + 1 for going over 800 words.
- If you posted in the thread prior (either the ORP "Keep Calm and..." for Halloween or the ORP "Panic in the Dorms" for Hunters, you earn an additional +2 rp for being a GM ORP and then a +1 for having it over 800 words.

THE BATTLEGROUNDS IS NOW OPEN

THE BATTLEGROUNDS?

- It seems the effects of this battle has done strange things overall to Halloween and Amityville, not to mention left the Hunters on Deus on edge from further potential Horsemen /Fear attacks. Students have been claiming to see a strange corridor in and around the school that leads to this Haunted House while Hunters have been asked to patrol the area now.

Check out how to do a Student vs. Hunter battle here!

 

[demon_pachabel]

It really was in that moment where just how weak the Heirs were in comparison to the real deal was displayed. Invictus buckled underneath the pressure of gravity, dropping first to his knees, then nearly onto all fours, his body telling him to stop resisting, yet his own pride told him he could not buckle - not like this. Even he recognized the voice speaking before who it was who was speaking finally appeared, and it would be with great effort that allowed him to forcibly pull himself up to his feet so that it would be standing that the man was greeted.

Invictus's face showed one emotion that may have never been clearly displayed to any other - reverence. He was humble before the figure that left the earth trembling and the hunters on the defensive, looking up towards him with a sort of awe. This was soon replaced with an attempt to mask shame - as though Invictus could not bear to handle how much disappointment had suddenly been bestowed not only upon him, but the fact that he had not been working hard enough to strengthen the others to ruin this..livestock.

Yes, they were livestock. Horrible wrenches thrown into the gears of how things were meant to work. Even now the gears crunched down upon it, but still, he needed to reach in and forcibly remove them.

"Honorable Father, I make no excuses." he answered, taking the weight upon his shoulders, making no attempt to try and plea for some sort of praise, acceptance of his attempts, or anything of the sort. He needed simply to work harder. To make them all work harder. His mind was already reeling with ideas - how he could press it on further. How he could press himself harder. This man who stood, tearing apart the fabric of everything - he wanted to be that so. All of Invictus's carefully guarded emotions were easily peeled back, exposed in the face of this being.

"I will do better." he finally said, the only words he could bring himself to say - how many times had his father heard those words? How many times had Invictus brought himself to the point of torn flesh and blood just to not fall short of that promise? Once again, he was promising himself pain so that he would be ready for the next time he was not up to snuff with where the true Conquest expected him to be.

He watched in fascination even as the man turned upon the hunters. However, it wasn't the pain of the Hunters he was watching - it was the actions of his father. Every small movement, every stroke of his hand, the bow, everything. It was everything he needed to be, and if he was going to become it, he needed to observe. And he watched like it was some sort of compulsion - some undying desire that said he needed to see everything. To take everything in. Invictus would undo himself in frustration the moment he forgot anything.

Even as the pain of his father's hand began to rend everything apart, he forced himself, only by the sheer will of his own pride, his own promises, to watch. Even as the fabric of his own being was ripped to shreds, and then pushed back in upon itself.

"I will make you proud, Father." Invictus hissed, his final words.

And then his FEAR collapsed.  

[kuropeco]

He didn't have time to needle the frost demon more - and he'd been planning on it, planning and giving her a nice bullet to the stomach, maybe, in return for what she had shot at him.

But then the horseman was there - not the weaker heirs, the ones Gale had seen roaming around before, the ones Caelius had brought back with him after their excursion to Amityville - but a tall, powerful, horseman - Conquest.

The power surged, the pressure increasing.

Gale dropped to his knees, doubling over in what he could only describe as pure and total agony. It was worse than the time he had caught fire - this time his bones felt as though they were cracking and snapping, feeling as though he were going to be crushed alive. He couldn't draw breath, his lungs incapable of expanding, and he could hear Jinhai screaming in his head, the sound reverberating inside of his skull. Blood slid down his face, making his neck feel wet and sticky, and just when he thought he couldn't handle anymore -

It stopped.

Gale collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, letting himself simply lie there for a moment, paralyzed with the lingering pain. Jinhai was making soft little noises in what seemed like an attempt at soothing him, but Gale pushed himself to his feet, swaying unsteadily.

Only to realize that it wasn't just him that was unsteady - it was the entire ground.

The black portal that spread from one side to the other was the way home, and Gale - with whatever strength he had remaining in his limbs, grabbed his sniper rifle and leapt into the black hole.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The only thought Ren had, after witnessing the events that unfolded in front of him, giving into the excruciating pain of the portal, was that he really hated the hunter with the scythe.

And that he really....really hated dying again.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Sparrow, along with Ren, decided that he really disliked this method of returning back to Amityville. He did not fully understand the ramifications of the situation that had just occurred, but simultaneously he had no other thought in his mind other than to just get rid of the pain. He held on for as long as he could, trying to watch the scene between the hunters and the horsemen, but when the chaos began to reign and the hunters began disappearing, Sparrow finally gave into the pain and let his body dissipate into nothingness.  

[demon_pachabel]

No Halloween-being had ever made Cass feel fear before - the genuine kind that spawned something to life. Not before that moment. Even next to Marcus she barely managed to grab a hold of his coat before she felt her body freeze in the presence of a full fledged Horseman. Even the smaller one he stood looking down upon had never threatened her - not even the one called 'Death' that she had met had caused her to fear.

But this one, who stood over them like they made absolutely no difference either which way.... he terrified her. He terrified her down to her core. A core that he seemed to reach out and grab - she couldn't hear anything. Her skin burned. Even in her heard, she could no longer hear Nicodemus. She couldn't feel the brush of his presence against her head that normally reassured her that he was there. She couldn't even feel the ground beneath her feet as she collapsed down onto her knees. Then came the darkness. The images of everything happening blurred together into a horrible cacophany, shapes melding, and then bleeding together. Even the normal flickers of light and color behind her eyelids were gone.

It was simply black.

She couldn't even cry out in pain - the only sensation she could feel at that point. Nicodemus unsummoned from her fingers, remaining dormant around her waist just in time for Cass to feel the first crack. It felt like an eternity. A slow crack...and then a snap.

One of her fingers had just broken. Then came the next one. She couldn't feel blood, her mind focusing on the pain in her hands....and then came the utter crushing of the bones in her feet - functional, but they felt like a giant bruise. Even her stronger bones began to crack, a new wave of pain coming over her mind as a single thought managed to pass through her head;

'I am going to die like this.'

She couldn't hear what was happening around her, but the second she could suddenly move her lungs again, she inhaled, flat on the ground, a mix of blood, tears, and broken bones as she gasped for air. Her mind was reeling. What was happening. She could barely see blurry shapes as she looked around, trying to figure out what was happening. Noises were bare drops against her consciousness.

But unlike Cass, Nicodemus could hear even without needing her ears.

You need to move if you don't wish to die. he urged, his voice the only clear thing in her hear. Cass reached out, grabbing the closest white-and-gold thing she could find. White, gold, blue.. this was..

That is Marcus. He needs to move too, Cassandra. he said.

Even then, Cass's hands were pathetically useless as she reached out to touch the moon hunter in her semi-blind, semi-deaf, and very broken state.

"Marcus," she coughed, a very distinctly read trail dripping down her chin, "we need..." cough, "to go..." she sputtered, nearly collapsing against him.

istoleyurvamps

 

[Pepzilla]

Really as much as Bul wanted to continue to argue with Gale their head to head match of bitterness came to an end when the greatness of conquest filled their bodies and the air around them.

There was no summoning of fear there was no angry glares towards Caelius. Instead Bul had been watching the very brief interaction between the powers of Conquest. In the time it took to observe what was happening Bul concluded that... the Horsemen clan was something above and out of his mental reach. Despite missing the assembly in which they had first addressed the school Bul could feel now the awkwardness that was their relationship.

Invi in particular had an interesting reaction. Sure that was his father but never had Bul seen this rare interaction. Obviously, not a lot of students had or ever would. Part of him wished the hunters would learn from this a lesson in humility but if anything they now had an advantage. Any time the hunters faced Halloween they learned and improved.

But before Bul could analyze any further the weight of the world literally pressed on his body. Not once but twice now he would experience a death by fear dissipation. And although it could be considered a blessing he got to reappear... DYING OVER AND OVER WAS NEVER A FUN THING.

Lucky humans only had to experience it once.  

[ramenli]

And suddenly protecting Miss Xiu-Ying was not one of his concerns as he was forced to the ground, too weak to stand against the weight forcing him down. Everyone else was pressed to the ground as well, but that made little difference to the mantodae. But then that hunter ghoul was up and moving and he could not even push himself off of the ground. Why am I so weak? He managed to think before the all too familiar sensation of his Fear ripping apart set it, forcing him to dissipate. Again.  

[Kyrieko]

At this point, she gave up on trying to follow what exactly was going on. Really, there was a limit to how many times one could be surprised by the...situations the students kept finding themselves in. And LW was starting to go along the thought process of, 'Amitiyville loves tormenting its students in creative ways~'

Oh and she was pretty sure she was developing an allergy to the scent of humans now. Or at least that was what she blamed her massive headache and inability to smell anything right now.

But the pain! The familiar pain and the realization that, yet again, she was going to die just made the she-wolf give up paying attention to anything else around her. She merely gripped the sides of her arms and waited out the pain until, at last, she once again died Jackdamnit!  

[Seussi]

Alex was so focused on his own hunger, so driven by his desire to tear the flesh from the bones of these ridiculously soft and weak humans, that he didn't even notice anything was amiss.

That is, until he was suddenly forced to the ground by some pressure above him and a voice began to call out through the crowd of now downed students and hunters. He actually snarled a little, hands clenching in the dirt of the ground and lip pulled back from his teeth. He was not happy.

Things began happening rather quickly at this point, and somewhere through it all his mind seemed to snap free of whatever was clouding it, and he began to actually see what was going on with a clear mind. The horseman, conquest. He was here, and he did not seem overly impressed.

As the events that Alex could only watch and do nothing about began to unfold in front of his eyes, he was only sure of one thing. He was going to die, again. He was going to dissipate, again. And there was nothing he could do about it, because he was just a pathetic, rotting corpse that couldn't even help in a fight.

As the pain and pressure washed over him, as he was torn completely apart by some black void, all Alex could do was close his eyes, and be thankful that at least this time it wasn't fire.  

[prolixity]

Jordan laughed. "That's a good one, coming from you," he said to Sparrow.

And then an unbearable pressure descended on him, worse than the slowing weight that had held them all; though he stayed on his feet as long as he could, the pressure dragged him to his knees, then flat against the dry grass. He could barely breathe, and could only listen as the robed figure spoke. The Clan of Conquest. He'd remember that. Ferros stirred with recognition in his mind at the title.

The pressure increased then, pushing all the air out of his lungs and narrowing his field of vision to a thin tunnel in darkness. Then nothing, except the awful crushing force. He could feel his bones creaking, starting to snap -

- and then a sudden, unexpected reprieve. Jordan gasped for air and shoved himself up to his knees, watching the confrontation play out.

Disposable. He'd remember that too.

At least one of his ribs and several fingers had broken under the weight of Conquest's attack, and he could feel blood trickling out of his ear and nose, warm and liquid. But he was alive and in one piece. He'd take that. Ferros had reverted to unsummoned form, and his growl of incoherent fury rumbled in Jordan's mind.

The ground shook and began to fold in on itself beneath the black hole. Jordan forced himself painfully to his feet and half-fell into the portal.

kuromeez

 

[Syusaki]

Wilson would have stepped forward to deal another blow at the drop bear—would have—if the sharp increase in gravity hadn’t startled him. He searched for the source, his eyes looking through limited lens until settling on the mysterious figure of a horseman. With the two Conquest horsemen side-by-side it wasn’t difficult for the trainee to deduce the stranger’s identity nor was it surprising to realize who exactly was causing him to buckle forward as he forced himself to keep standing. The attempt didn’t last long.

He dropped to the ground with a thud, the metal of his weapon clattering as he struggled to stay on his elbows and knees rather than pressed flat against the grass like a thin sheet of paper. Wilson clinched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, resisting the temptation to groan from the intense pain rippling through his body. He breathed slowly and deeply, the air growing a bit lighter as he failed to register his weapon returning to its unsummoned form. The mask was gone. His hands covered his eyes, ready to burst, while he wheezed and grasped for another breath, which grew more difficult with each passing second.

Then came the first crack, quiet and barely noticeable, but then came the excruciating shockwave of pain. One after the other he could hear the horrifying sounds of his bones cracking, starting with his fingers before easing onto his toes, then his entire hands and feet. Wilson could even feel a warm liquid trickling down the sides of his face—blood?

One moment was filled with pain, and the next nothing. He opened his eyes, his vision clouded with black spots. Hissing, Wilson swayed to his feet. He just barely managed to observe the exchange between Conquest and Caelius before he heard the command to run. The trainee gladly obliged, each step sending painful needles running up his leg, but he paid no heed until he finally passed through the portal.  

[Ice Queen]

And with that, (because his owner just counted his points and can afford to be lazy,) Roch died. Again. He's starting to lose count, seriously.