EVENT CONCLUSION: BEYOND THE SEA

[nextnightmods]

EVENT LOG:
BEYOND THE SEA

characters: everyone!!
location: in the helix station under the lake, and back to the surface! (hopefully)
date/time: july 19th ish
content: After successfully exploring the Helix Station, characters have all they need to deal with the world eater stuck in the portal down below. How are they going to do it? Click and find out!
warnings: injury, body horror, monster horror, blood, maiming, you know, the usual

game plan.

Based on the votes, the consensus is quite clear: it's time to see if a creature that can destroy worlds can be killed. Characters are well armed from the finds in the test lab. Having recovered Weaver from the R&D wing, they have her assistance in attempting to use the MK VIII to assist with this task. The Key Extraction group found strong potions that might help to pacify the creature long enough to fight it. They have all they can hope to in this impossible fight — the idea is simple. Open the doors, distract the monster with brute force and attempt to pacify it with the narcotics they've recovered, while Weaver does what she can to get the drone restarted and hopefully in place for a killing blow.

If things go badly, though, the team has all agreed on a Plan B. If the tides start to turn, then the group will finish what Alastair started and shunt that bad boy back into space. It's not possible for them to change the trajectory, the World Eater will end up back where it started. However, it won't be in their lake anymore, so that's still some sort of a win. As Weaver is controlling the drone remotely, she will be the one in the control room, and will run the reversal routine if the attack begins to fail. Cao Pi is in charge of the radio to call if things start going south. Hopefully someone taught him how to use it!

boss battle.

Javert, Fitz, and Law (armed with a key Weaver provided him), with a coordinated use of the lockdown keys, manage to open the Portal Bay. Even with power restored, it is practically pitch dark in the room. It's as if the World Eater trapped in the portal manages to suck in and contain any light that dares get too close. They can hardly see the monster before they brave entering the room, though as they walk deeper into the darkness the group can see its shadowy form lodged in the portal. It's trapped around the torso, with only a small part of it visible to the group. Impossibly huge, and perhaps somewhat reminiscent of something that might have resembled a green eyed spirit, once, though it has started growing new extremities and limbs, as well as a few more sets of eyes. It rouses as they enter, and just looking at the World Eater manages to send an unspeakable wave of unease, anxiety, and hopelessness through the group.

Gregor, Stone and Jill throw the fragile bottles of sedative. They crack and settle on the skin and wide empty eyes of the monster. While it's clear it did not incapacitate the World Eater, the mental effects lessen and its movements seem to slow.

With that, it's a free for all, all members of the party armed to the teeth and determined to fight for all they have. The weapons recovered by Cao Pi, Link, and Reiju prove especially useful, though as they cut and slash, the World Eater seems to recover new limbs, new tendrils, seem to generate at random. Like a hydra, every piece they cut down seems to restore itself. Braving closer to its torso leaves the creature leaking toxic black blood over the floor. Touching it proves it is bitterly caustic, easily burning through rubber and clothing and flesh alike. It's a bitter, ugly battle, and not without damage to the fighters themselves.

The fight seems doomed to fail, even with the World Eater slowed and mostly immobilized. It's more than just slashes, heavy hits that can send bodies flying across the room. A flash of attention can leave an attacker immobilized, dark swirling terror clawing through them strong enough that they might try to hurt themselves or their company instead of the monster itself. Worse yet, any time the World Eater seems to lull, it seems to draw the living energy from any lantern nearby, rousing itself and dampening the fighter that might have been feverishly fighting a second before.

However, with the distraction provided, Weaver successfully reactivates the MK VIII. It sounds much like a giant sized bumble bee, until it rockets through the air toward the monster. The beast manages to swat the drone away, once, and for a moment all hope seems to be lost. Until the device lurches in the air and zooms right back to its task, landing on the monstrosity and scuttling deftly over the surface of the World Eater in attempt to find a weak spot. The battle swells, attempting to keep the World Eater from clawing the drone from its body before the drone has a chance to work properly.

It feels as if it takes hours for the drone to locate a weak point, though the reality is it doesn't take much longer than a handful of minutes. The sickening churn of flesh, bone and blood resonates in the room as the drone buries successfully inside the monster. Those lingering for the fight aren't spared, as even as the device whirls inside of it, the World Eater keeps up the fight, reaching for and lashing out at whoever remains close enough. There's no running for cover, as the fight rages until the very last.

There's no warning for when it happens. The World Eater cries out, a terrifying bellow that echoes throughout the station. With the cry comes a flash of bold light, brighter than any of them have seen since arriving in Beacon. The light builds, pushes outward, and the explosion deafens suddenly and completely. The room is bathed in light and anyone in the Portal Room is thrown to the sidelines, bouncing like ragdolls off the sturdy metal walls. The implosion paired with the light existing inside the creature floods through the room, likely to leave characters blinded and deafened for a few seconds after.

However, as they come to their senses, they find the World Eater felled, lying in multiple bloody burnt pieces. Troubling, some of them do seem to keep twitching and moving. Still, it seems to be over. The fight was not without consequences, and certainly not won easily, but it was won all the same.

return to the surface.

With the beast felled, and the party much worse for the wear, the group collects back in the submarines which have thankfully had a chance to charge this time around. The ride isn't exactly fun, but there's no alarm messages or rides in pitch darkness, at least. Even if there's still a good chance that characters might suffer decompression sickness, dizziness, queasiness, and headaches as they head back topside.

It's a battered and bruised group that makes it back to the docks. Plenty will need medical attention, and there might even be some with broken lanterns that will need to be taken to the lab and repaired immediately. Those that died in the fight will awaken in 3 days, however, there might be some consequences when they revive.

Those that are in better shape have a lot to share. What they've seen, what happened, and what should happen next. They've had a rough go of it, characters on the surface have their own oddities to share, too. There's a new guy in town, after all... And boy does he have some ideas and opinions.

ooc notes.

For refreshers on the first part of this event, please see the first event post! The results of this event are based on the voting found here. If your character was involved in the portal room fight, we have provided a comment for injury rolls here. If your character died in the fight, please head over to the Death Page to report it. Thanks for taking part in the first major event of our Next Night! It was quite a ride but we hope you had as much fun as we did!

Feel free to use this post for action tags set during the fight, as well as meeting up and sharing information with the others topside. As of this event, new NPC Weaver will be ashore with her submarine to offer her aide to the residents of Beacon after their help with the Helix Station. Keep an eye out for more from her soon! She will be staying at the docks in a submarine. If anyone has a cot a bunny can borrow, hit a girl up...

QUICKNAV
comms	|	network • logs • memes • ooc
pages	|	rules • faq • taken • mod contact • player contact • calendar • setting • exploration • item requests • full nav

Comments

[ultraviolents]

[ you died is on the tip of her tongue, but he already knows that. they’ve already been through this and she was hoping, against all odds, that this would be something neither of them had to experience again. she would have taken his death blow herself again if she’d known what was happening, except you couldn’t even consider what had happened to be a death blow, could you? his life had been snuffed out, without him having the chance to fight back.

it still makes her angry, even angrier than seeing his death over and over again, knowing she’d been in part responsible for it. it doesn’t do her any good and the thing responsible is dead. she still feels it, but she can’t focus on that right now. what he needs from her isn’t anger.

he lets go of her good hand (funny how the hand that had been chemically burned is now her good hand) and feels out the splint and bandage on her wrist. his touch is gentle, but the barrier isn’t what it should be and it hurts. she grits her teeth against the pain and cups the side of his face. ]

Yes. And then we killed it. [ not exactly in that order, but. ] It’s been set, it’s fine. What about you? [ her voice is still strained with grief, tears stinging the backs of her eyes. ] Are you okay? Does anything feel wrong?

[ she’s a little too focused on him to notice the state of his lantern, but it seems to have caught the tree spirit’s attention. he whimpers again, trying to get their attention. ]

[catholicisms]

( it's true. he knows. there's no other explanation for waking up the way he had, dazed and a little sore and mostly quite confused. it's happened all too recently, so it makes it less jarring to have it happen a second time, all too soon. Matt knows he died, though... how he died is admittedly a bit of a mystery.

part of him wants to press. part of him isn't sure Elektra is the right person to ask. the rest of him isn't actually sure he wants to know. whatever happened in that fight, it's clear he didn't survive it. )

Broken? ( there's more than that, he can smell it. cuts, starting to clot and heal over. bandage, starchy and clean. new from being changed. Matt can feel the tense at his touch and his fingers still. does he need to touch what he can sense without it? technically, no, even though it's a crutch he leans on all too easily with Elektra. he won't feel around any more, it doesn't help her injuries any. he just winds her closer, as it turns out she's the steadiest thing he can sense in the room right about now. )

I'm... ( Matt frowns, almost like he can't quite decide if he's well or not. he doesn't feel the same as he had the last time he woke just like this, though what is different seems hard to pin down. ) I feel... lightheaded? Dizzy? ( is that a part of the lantern repair process? he has no idea. the tree spirit and their soft attempts to get their attention does break him out of his confusion, though. ) What's wrong?

( sadly, what has the treeby upset, Matt can't actually sense. the dimming of light is absolutely a visible cue, and that's the only kind he can't track. )

[ultraviolents]

[ she'll tell him if he does, that she'd turned from the fight after getting injured to see him on the ground, his lantern empty of light. she'd screamed, clung to him, eventually having to be dragged away by someone (she still doesn't know who). the trip back and the past few days had been a blur; she remembers getting sick again from the trip and decompression and forcing herself through it to get back to the labs to restore him, she remembers coming back to the hotel to find the tree spirit and bring him with her to the church to wait and pray for his return. anything more specific she has to reach for. ]

Yes. And stitches. [ but she's sure he can tell that, and she's way more concerned with his state than hers. she sits beside him, the less damaged hand brushes over his face again, tries to look into his eyes when he mentions feeling woozy. had something gone wrong? did she make a mistake, or is there a limit on how many times can be brought back, and how quickly?

the tree spirit whines again, patting urgently at her knee, and that and matthew's questioning draws her attention away from him and to the treeby. ]

What is it? [ the tree points underneath the bench of the pew, where matthew's lantern is flickering. elektra's heartbeat feels like it freezes in her chest, her gaze flicking back to matthew's face again for a moment, and her hand moves to hold his again as she moves to check it.

for a moment, when she first gets sight of it, it looks as if it's flickering dangerously. but then it's gone, back to burning steadily. ]

[catholicisms]

( it doesn't matter that he was literally dead at the time, his stomach still manages to tie in knots that injuries she sustained that he had no ability to protect her from. there's nothing more terrifying than the absolute mortality of the people you love. even worse when there's nothing you can do to stop it.

it tempers him, slightly, to remember that Elektra just had to live through it. ) I'll be fine, ( he promises, even as she tries to feather fingers through his hair and look him in blank eyes. he's still a little lightheaded but honestly, not that concerned about it. he did just die, or... was recorporealized. however the lanterns worked.

it clearly doesn't make her feel any better, as her grip on his hand tightens and she searches for something he can't guess at on his face. ) Elektra, I'm fine. I think I was just disoriented, I already feel better.

( and while he 100% would say that, even if he wasn't feeling particularly better... Matt finds it's actually quite true. the lightheadedness is quickly fading, about as fast as the flicker faded from his lantern. the tree spirit winds vined palms around the lantern as Matt bends to scoop it up from the floor. ) See, I'm fine.

( hopefully the two of them are convinced. the mournful looking mandrake holds onto his lantern, masked face downturned. clearly not as reassured as he'd have liked. )

[ultraviolents]

[ she's been feeling the same way since he'd died, and the knots in her own stomach have barely subsided, even after he's woken up. in fact, unease has just accompanied the knotting, making her feel slightly ill all over again. the whole time she'd waited for him to wake, she'd been terrified that she'd gotten something wrong, that he'd end up missing another one of his senses or his memories, and she'd never forgive herself if that happened. she honestly isn't sure what she'd do if it did.

she's not convinced at all. and from the look of things neither is treeby, who looks back at her, clearly still distressed. her mouth purses as she turns her attention back to him and watches as he moves to retrieve his lantern, and he does appear to be steadier, but there's an uneasiness in the pit of her stomach that doesn't subside. matthew's always downplayed his afflictions to a dangerous degree, who's to say he's not doing that now? ]

All right. [ she doesn't bother hiding her doubt from him, but it's not as if there's much she can do for him while they're still in the church. ] Let's go home.

[catholicisms]

( well, if it makes her feel any better... he's not trying to hide anything. he'd been up front about feeling dizzy, and he's also being upfront about the worst of it abating. he can't actually see what ails him, as Matt can't sense what is happening with the light in his lantern. it'd make perfect sense to him if someone else spotted it, he just can't spot it on his own. )

Let's go. ( he's not feeling particularly unwell now — as far as he can tell, perhaps he was just a little disoriented upon being revived. he has no idea what it would be, other than that. it's not that he hasn't heard that reviving has an occasional consequence, he has. he just doesn't know enough to presume that's what is happening here. Matt manages to get to his feet just fine, and lifts the spirit (who has his lantern in tow) without falling over. so maybe it was just a dizzy spell. )

Is there... anything else I should know? ( in the days he's been off the clock, so to speak. she's injured, he's willing to be she's not the only one. it's almost hard to believe they managed to succeed against a monster capable of destroying entire planets and worlds, though she wouldn't lie about that and even if she would, he'd know that she was. )

[ultraviolents]

[ it only makes her feel mildly better, and only after he moves around a bit without any assistance or stumbling, even lifting the toddler tree spirit into his arms, who looks back at her, their expression still troubled. she reaches out to pat them on the shoulder, trying to offer reassurance that she doesn't really feel.

she's heard about consequences, too, and however inevitable they are after a certain amount of deaths she'd never forgive herself if something he ended up continually suffering from was a result of her attempts at restoration. but however much she and the group now working on resurrection have learned, they're far from experts, and even solis's attempts had ended with something going wrong sometimes. ]

I don't know. I haven't left. [ he might be able to tell that even if he can't see her - there may be flares of heat and pain in her joints and muscles from sleeping on the church pews, her clothing is rumpled and however little she's felt like eating, her stomach is gnawing with hunger. ] Someone else got killed. A few others were injured. I think there's meant to be a meeting once everyone's had some time to recover.

[catholicisms]

( it's never going to ease her conscience, no doubt, but Matt wouldn't hold any malfunction against her, or any other members of the lantern repair team. for starters, not even Dr. Solis herself had been impeccable in lantern repairs — so even by the highest standards, the chance of error was high. beyond that, he knows that nobody is an expert at the complicated science required to repair lanterns.

if something is a bit wrong, well... he'll learn to adjust. so far, a dizzy spell upon waking doesn't even seem like a particularly bad consequence. it'll take more time to realize the worst of it. )

Elektra. ( it's said with a tired, quiet resignation. if the roles were reversed, would he have done any different? probably not, but that doesn't mean he needs to approve of her spending ... days? how long has it been? — holding a hopeless vigil at the church. ) I suppose we've got plenty to go over. How long has it been since you surfaced?

( how long has she been cooped up in here, is another way of phrasing that. )

[ultraviolents]

[ she knows that he wouldn't, and that she'd probably view anything that went wrong if their positions were reversed the same way. it doesn't mean she'll feel any better once they realize the true consequence. ]

Matthew. [ she sounds equally as tired and resigned, but firm. he can disapprove all he wants, he's not even the first to admonish her for how she's been handling things and taking care of herself. there's not exactly much she can do to reverse her actions (or inactions) of the past three days, and he's right, they've got a lot to go over. ]

Three days. I went to the labs first, then to pick up this one. [ she gives treeby a pat on the shoulder, who turns to her and nuzzles their cheek against her hand. ] The man who fixed me up stopped by in between. [ see, a doctor's seen her, she's fine. ]

[catholicisms]

( no, she can't change it. and their hopeless codependence means he can only judge her so much. would he have been able to handle it any better? likely not. probably worse — Matt is calm, cool, and collected up until the point of loss. after that it goes entirely off the rails.

still, he can want better for her, even if neither of them are likely to accomplish it. )

You went to the lab with your arm torn apart? ( he's not surprised, but he is a little disappointed. BABE, NO. she's clearly had it looked at now, though, so he doesn't linger on it. ) We're lucky to have a doctor around again. ( he suspects dangers are only bound to get worse, not better.

[ultraviolents]

No. [ does that sound defensive? maybe a little. honestly, matthew, she was grieving but she's not an idiot. ] The doctor stitched it up before we went back to the surface. I went to the labs once we did.

[ which, given that she'd reacted to the second submarine ride about as well as the first one, was still probably not advisable. don't worry, she's already heard about it. ]

Yes, we are. [ because she's got the exact same suspicions, and she's worried. for them and for everyone else.

she has the sudden urge to hold him close, however she can, but his arms are currently occupied. her arm winds around his waist instead, both to have him near and for him to use her for support in case he needs it again. ]