WHEN: 1943 FEB 3 ; afternoon
WHO: Eliza "Netra" Windamier (mitsukai.kohime), Hector Graham (frogsandlies), Delilah Shaw (delilah.mercury), Brooklyn Sedd (timidvi), Alex Arbeit (ditto.nachtigal), Blake Jermyn (casron.fhang) ; Brute, Bernice, and Umbridge
WHERE: The bridge from the graveyard to the Seiiki district
[14:19] ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma): The fog is particularly thick today. It seeps out of the graveyard like smoke, occluding vision and carrying the stench of something rotten. Wet earth, disrupted wildflowers, old stone... the graveyard is more active than it should be for a place of rest. But more distressing perhaps is the sprint of something, hulking and humanoid, from the grounds of Eumenides with a pale, blonde figure over one shoulder, making a beeline for that graveyard and the odd cacophany of noises coming from in its grounds.
((ST rounds. ST posts, everyone posts once in any order, ST posts again. We will be rolling per the pinned rules in the #dice-roll channel for things. Feel free to notice the figure carrying our captive friend or be drawn by the fog and the smell!))
[14:25] Hector: was out for a walk and a smoke. The fog was thick and that usually meant bad things. The mark upon his hand started to glow and pulse, almost painfully as he neared the hulking mass. He rubbed at the star of Abe no Seimei and then nodded, headed off down toward where he'd previously met with the monk who bestowed it upon him. "Welp..." He tilted his head, sucking in a deep breath of the scent of death and rot. His ghost companions appearing at his side. /'This doesn't bode well.'/ Mumbled Maria behind her bunny.
[14:28] Eliza Windamier had spent the days getting everything set up with the Cannery and the Airship docked at the sky markets above. Yesterday she taken a off to enjoy the baths with her first mate, her partner, lover and all the above and today she decided to explore the town abit in a Vanship. She noted the large amount of fog though it reminded her alot of London during her times there doing business or simply dropping off deliveries. As she nears the gravesite her vehicle begins to slow. The hum of the engine as it vibrates with power, she peers off to the side to see someone running? Or so it looks it but as well as the ground looked alive. In the moment she looks down to see Hector in the area as well. Her eyes lift to focus again as she goes to active her Sight (Rank 1) to see if she can notice anything out of the blue besides the strangeness of the ground moving.
[14:32] Delilah Shaw: wasn't really hanging around the graveyard out of any strange 'calling' or appreciation for the place. It was, well.. it was quiet out there. She liked drinking the most in places where a lack of voices without meant all she had to listen to were the voices within. The devils you know were easier to ignore and drown in the drink, and all. That said, /normally/ this was the case. Right now there were... people? She smells the air as she gets closer, and that rotten smell hits her nose faster than anything living possibly could. Delilah takes a sip of the whiskey in the metal flask in her hand, and it's about mid-sip that she spots a shock of blonde hair hanging off the shoulder of one of the figures sprinting away down-range. A beat passes as she makes a mental calculation in her head.. looking up to the asylum looming over her, and then back. "You rank fuckin' cunts." Comes the barked-out response, and... the vampire disappears out of view. She reappears directly in front of the sprinting figure, and it's clear in the sliver of moonlight that hits her face that all the color has drained from her eyes. Her body drops down and low, then she throws a punch right into the creature's midsection, not even offering so much as an attempt to negotiate with the thing. Something about that blonde hair appears to have driven the Irish woman straight to violence. (Strength 3)
[14:33] Blake Jermyn skipped over the stones crossing the river, humming a gleeful little tune as he set out on something he never thought he'd miss as much as he'd come to over the past few weeks: A GOD. DAMN. WALK. His new mechanical legs wobbled and slipped with every step, but that failed to keep the wide, shit-eating grin off his face. God, did it ever feel great to be able to wander around in nature again! God, did it ever feel great to CLIMB! However, as he hauled himself up off the riverbank and into the little garden just past, he stopped dead, pale blue eyes going wide. "....You're shitting me, right? Zombies? Legit, fucking, zombies?"
[14:36] Alex was currently draped over one shoulder of the humanoid behemoth that came bounding across the bridge from the direction of the Sanatorium. In truth, they seemed... unexpectedly calm, considering the situation. They weren't flailing or kicking, just hanging there with their arms trying to hang on to a meaty shoulder so they didn't bounce so much. "H-hey! P-please, y-you can put me down now! I really need to go back before the orderlies notice I'm gone!" They politely pleaded with the imposing figure who was currently abducting them, concern in their eye aimed towards the back of his head. Everything was moving so fast though, that they barely noticed the flash of Delilah's red hair moving towards themselves and the thing holding them until the last second, their eye going wide and hands waving to try and stop whoever it was from trying to hurt whatever was carrying them. "No, WAIT, DON'T!"
[14:41] ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma): There is so much noise. It draws the attention of things that're sloshing their way across the bridge, one emaciated, bony figure dragging herself by nobbly fingers down the steps. There's another, yet unseen that seems to take great umbridge in all the curse words being bandied about a vicious wind kicks up to launch some loose rocks and a particularly vicious-looking pinecone in Blake's direction. Delilah's punch however lands solidly into the creature's midsection, hitting with such force that it does a little squish and sinks about an inch into the necrotized flesh. The poor brute groans and wobbles, dropping Alex as he wheels around and wildly backhands at Delilah in retaliation.
[14:43] Hector: emerges into the darkest areas of the fog to see someone just PAUNCHING a zombie's literal guts out and Blake skipping with new legs! "Hey Blake! Awesome new legs dude!" He sucked in a deep breath, the fog around him literally disappearing into his mouth like he were slurping down the whiteness and then holding it. When he exhaled, he blew out black smoke and his eyes turned black in kind. Black veins appeared in the corners of his eyes, down his neck and across his cheeks. He leaned down and placed a hand upon the ground, a huge five point start shooting out in every direction. "Let's just shut the area down eh? We don't need anymore than is already here. It's a shame Bela isn't here." Shame. Shame. Wait, was one of those zombies holding poor Alex over its shoulder?? "SHIT! Maria!" The littlest soul on the battlefield would hurl her stuffed bunny in the direction of Alex and the zombie. It would expand, bigger and bigger and bigger, trying to form a literal spongy stuffy for Alex to land upon if/when they inevitably fell. ((Master Necromancy+Blessing of Abe no Seimei lockdown the area so the restless dead can't get away. I.E. big five point star Ghost Trap. And Marie is tossing a plushy to try and catch Alex.))
[14:46] Eliza Windamier shifts her look towards Delilah taking notice of the sudden disappearance. And in that moment she looks towards where the blonde she noticed being taken she spots Delilah there now taking out the kidnapper. Blakes voice catches her attention and she gives a look towards Blake for a moment but that all lasts but a second as Alex's booming voice has her look back in Alex and Delilah's direction. No words are said as a metal fingered hand reaches up to gently pet over a floating orb out of many that orbit around her. As she pets the orb she listens to all whats going around her. Some tasty info such as someone getting new legs. Something she could file away for later. She debated if she should assist or not. To waste a bullet or not to waste a bullet. Naa, she decides to pull her self out of the Vanship to stand on top of it as it hovers in place, watching everyone from the air like some high and mighty being. What will come fro mthis? She shall see.
[14:46] Brooklyn Sedd didn't often frequent the graveyard. After all, that was hardly where the woman died - nor was it where her remains rested. Her remains, as a matter of fact, had long since been... Disposed of, with little remaining, but she tended more to haunt the abandoned cabin in the woods. She also tended to be more or less benign, other than a frankly horrific
Today was something a little different. She felt it, the thrum of something AWFUL, and like all too many of those left behind in this world, she was... Drawn to it. She could hardly help it.
Amidst the supernatural chaos, the flayed woman literally descended, dangling like a puppet on a single thread, bobbing up and down, her eyeless sockets staring out soullessly into the world. Briefly, the psychically sensitive would feel a flood of something's AWARENESS come into contact with them and the surrounding world.
Unlike the other spirits entrapped by Hector's magic, this one seemed... Well, not entirely benevolent, but not particularly malevolent, either. At least not yet.
[14:48] Delilah Shaw felt her fist sink into the thing's flesh far enough that she picked up pretty quick what she was dealing with. "Dead thing." She hissed out, voice dripping with contempt and boiling over into rage. The thing retaliates by trying to swing a hand wide at her, and.. she just shoots up her free arm and glances off the blow by the wrist. "Wannabe revenant, huh? Got tired of the fuckin' grave and you wanna play around in our world? Alright." She looked up into the glazed-over eyes with a pair of her own, and she cracked about the most sadistic grin you coulda seen. "You're gonna get a crash course on being proper undead." She pulls her hand out, drops back a step, and shoots out a booted foot towards the beast's kneecap.
Delilah doesn't appear to register Alex's cries of protest, though. At least not in time to stop her assault. She's fully committed to beating the shit out of this thing, and appears to be gradually slipping away to her rage.
[14:54] Alex let out a yelp of surprise as Delilah's fist slammed into their would-be rescuer and caused him to drop them over his shoulder and to the ground behind him. Their confusion only deepened when they landed on a large stuffed toy that seemed to come out of nowhere like a beanbag chair, blinking and looking around until they spotted Hector and Marie, offering a smile and a wave their way. No time to linger though, they hastily hopped to their feet and flung themselves forward to try and get between Delilah and the big zombie, if possible, pleading with the both of them now. "Wait, Delilah, stop! He's not bad!" They shouted as they tried to wrap their arms around her, before glancing back at the zombie who'd been carrying them too. "I-it's okay! Sh-she didn't mean it!"
[14:54] Blake Jermyn's eyes widen in shock as he suddenly finds himself in the line of fire, scrambling out of the way with a softly whispered "fuckfuckfuckfuck-" with absolutely no clue that this was exactly the thing that was making it worse. Scrambling out of the way, his eyes flared bright as he tapped into that hidden flame within, siezed the rocks and pinecones from the air and sent them winging straight back towards the crawling dead. "Hey Hector! Kinda caught ya at a weird time, but we'll catch up!" He called out to the other man with a grin and a wave before his focus fixed back on the zombies, and he began to grope around for more small rocks and stones to use as projectiles.
[15:07] Gyeong So (desmond.okelli) had been out tracking the ghost activity and that's when he stumbled on this. Damnit. Of course he knew there wasn't a real way to put those things down since he'd sealed their passage, and because of that this one is hanging back and waiting til everyone incapacitated them enough to do the thing. (Just posting in that I am lurking, not an active part of le fight.)
[15:11] ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma): Any wayward spirits that were try to flee the area and the fight run right into Hector's ghost trap and turn around, and those with Necromancy can likely see the flitting shapes roaming or floating back and forth aimlessly in the space. So there's some sign it worked. The two visible creatures don't seem terribly inclined with leaving the area, luckily... Bernice-so named for the burn on her poor knees- barrel rolls in the grass but still gets pelted with rocks and that pinecone, which takes a good chunk of skin from her scapula. Not TERRIBLY happy with that she contorts and starts dragging herself toward Blake, her mouth dropping open wide... and wider... and wider, seeming to stretch impossibly. Those who look at the maw might get the feeling they're about to fall in, like they're standing on a cliff peeking over the edge (roll to beat a DC 10 if you look at Bernice's gaping maw). Umbridge the unseen spirit's attention turns toward Hector, whose display with the ghost trap is particularly offensive. One of the wooden markers meant to mark graves lifts into the air before turning and zooming at Hector in an attempt to knock him off balance. Brute, too slow and possibly too dim to dodge well, loses the use of one leg as Delilah smashes out a kneecap, shearing the patella through weak and rotting flesh so it dangles loosely in the corpse's filthy jeans. He topples down to one knee, letting out a cry and once Alex interposes themself in between them, he tries to wrap his arms around the other asylum patient - either to grab them up again or cover them, hard to tell which.
[15:14] Brooklyn Sedd hovered above the chaos, her skinless 'body' dripping blood over the graveyard ground, her sockets ever lifeless. There's a violent, twitching shudder that runs through the dangling corpse's body as SOMETHING rubs back up against her attempts to get her bearing, and the spirit, twice as susceptible as the other restless dead due to the method by which she became cognizant of her world - suddenly she's collapsing onto the grass amongst the walking corpses, her body violently spasming.
Psychics might get a brief flash of the possibility that something quite dangerous might be coming from the flayed spirit in the grass. Though maybe it might just be insightful?
Who are we kidding. Brooklyn spasms. She's always in pain, but right now it is greatly amplified, and her ability to perceive the world was twisting and altogether going hay-wire.
And that pain was about to start to overflow.
[15:19] Hector: snorts and concentrates, doing his best to hold the restless dead where they were. That also meant he was holding onto his friends and maybe making some others uncomfortable, but it was what it was. He was throwing out hardcore magics like using a global antibiotic on something he wasn't sure what was just yet. "Is it weird though? I mean really? Around here...it's Tue...well it's Friday, but you get me." He couldn't help but chuckle, watching Alex tumble down but thankfully land on something soft. Maria would wave to Alex and then Hector tilted his head. "OK, ok, everyone calm down, please. Is it possible to form like...lines? Like can we have a line for people who wish to move on, a line of people who are fine where they are and a line of people who are here to pick a fight? Or is that too much to ask?" He spat out his tongue and snorted, his eyes black and black veins everywhere but a rather kind and genteel smile upon his face. Hector isn't really a 'dodgy' sort of person, so when a marker comes at him, it's going to smash him right in the back and send him tumbling. He eats dirt face first and lets out an ACK! before raising his head to spit. "OW! I said can't we all just calm the Hell down??" At least he's on the ground so he's not looking into the gaping maw. "Maria, Agatha, Hat Man!" At his command all three of his companions manifest and get ready to rumble.
[15:21] Eliza Windamier uses a foot to hit a switch on the Zanship that costs it to slowly begin to decent towards the ground to hover in place aka park. Pulling out a Hamada Type she was gonna go for the Brute but pauses when Umbridge' was close by. Thankfully she wasn't in its line of sight and sorta behind her. She turns now and with her gun aims towards the back of its head to fire a round into it. "I believe you're the one that needs to calm." she says flatly to Hector.. Her goal at the moment was to take a guest home and that guest happens to be Bernice.
[15:22] Delilah Shaw stepped back when the brute's leg went clean out from under it, and anyone watching close might notice exactly how little effort Delilah seems to expend for the sheer force put out. It's like giving something a forceful shove with her boot, but she made contact with the strength of a car hitting the thing. She raises her boot up with the intent to smash down onto the thing's skull when Alex is suddenly standing between them. She immediately moves to grab for them herself when Alex wraps around her, trying to lift the smaller blonde up into her arms. That rage seems to vanish into relief. "Sorry. Wait, what? Why- sorry, whatever. We need to get you the fuck out of here. I'll take you back home to Odette's place." She glares down now, at the thing below her.. and she starts to speak in a layered voice when a shot rings out and she's instinctively tilting her body to try and cover Alex in the process of picking them up.
[15:23] Blake Jermyn gasped as the zombie turned around to start pursuing him, taking a careful step back with his wobbling, unsteady legs. "Shit-..." However, those legs didn't seem to want to cooperate as he stared the screaming zombie down, the shaking steel limbs immediately tripping, stumbling, losing their balance, sending him hurtling /towards/ the undead woman, rather than away. In a last ditch effort, his mental grasp snatched more stray stones and attempted to pelt Bernice. "I mean I never seen a fuckin' zombie here before, but guess maybe I'm hangin' out around the wrong spots," he squeaked to Hector as he flailed.
[15:29] Alex relaxes at least somewhat when Delilah seems to calm down as they interpose themselves between the two revenants, reaching a hand up to pat the big zombie on the shoulder gently as he tried to cover them. "Shhh, it's okay. Can you help him now?" They asked the hulking zombie sweetly while pointing to Blake who had another of the undead crawling towards him, hoping their new friend might be able to gently interpose.
That's when they felt the chill run up their spine and their head swim with nausea from the sense of potential pain rolling off of Brooklyn. "W-wait!" They tried to squirm away from Delilah quickly to get to the skinless ghost's side if they could, waving to try and get Hector's attention. "Hector, this one needs help!" He was the only person they knew for sure knew anything about this stuff.
[15:41] ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma): Poor Bernice(instead of Umbridge) doesn't know what hit her. That bullet goes splat into the back of her head, earning her body a braining that leaves it limp in the grass. She seems down for the count, or at least unable to properly move any of her undead ghouly bits. Which is good for Blake, who nearly stumbles right over on top of her. His rocks and such pelt the corpse, some of them embedding in the deadened flesh - but it's clear she's not getting up again anytime soon, even if those with the relevant skill can see the spirit still clinging to that body. Umbridge takes umbridge. People are yelling, guns are loud, and there's a vehicle of some sort in the lovely garden aree. Another of those wooden posts lifts into the air, this time pinwheeling toward Eliza. Brute, luckily... is a good boy. He rumbles up on a knee and two fists and starts hobbling toward Blake at Alex's behest, fully believing he still needs help - with the manifestation of that 'help' being anyone's guess.
[15:45] Eliza Windamier seeing that Bernice down down for the count or so she seems, Eliza reaches to pick up the corpse to take. In that moment she spots a incoming wooden posts heading her way. She lifts Bernice body in the way as a meat shield letting the corpse take the blunt of the hit. Without so much of a word, she turns and heads back for her vehicle with Bernice now flung over her shoulder to be hauled off.
[15:49] Hector: winces as he pushes up to his knees, reaching back to feel his head. He pulled his hand down to a few drops a blood. "That's another concussion p'rolly." He groaned before starting to wave his hand. "Agatha...go help Blake with that one. Maria, help Alex's zombie friend." He coughed and started to drag himself towards the strange skinless woman. "Whoooa there, hey little lady. What you got going on here? Name's Hector, Hector Graham. We're all friends here. We just need to take a breath. If we go across the bridges, we're going to start freaking out the Normies and the Island doesn't like that. It might start doing bad things to ALL of us." Looks up and gives pointed looks to all those gathered, including the woman who said he needed to calm down after she shot at the crawler. "When the humans get spooked, shit gets weird here. Just gotta contain and maintain..." He smiled again, warmth, acceptance, even love radiating from Hector. He was not freaked out, upset or disgusted with any of them. He just wanted to give all those dead beings a hug, even the squishy zombie and crawly woman with her big gross maw of endlessness. He bent beside Brooklyn and started to coo and sing at her. "Hush little Darlin' don't you cry. I'm gunna buy you a pumpkin pie." Bernice might be down, but now Blake has a different dead woman, an Agatha coming to his 'aid?'ish? There's a woman dangling by a noose just sort of...hanging out beside him and Maria is trying to help the brutish guy missing his limbs. With what? Who even knows at this point. But Hector is trying to soothe Brooklyn, so he's missing that the pistol wielder is trying to make off with one of the corpses, else HE might take umbridge er...offense.
[15:51] Delilah Shaw whirled her head back towards the sound of the shot, spotting the woman holding the gun behind her. "Shout before you fire, you reckless shite! A 'duck!' or something might've been nice since I'm pretty sure the fuckin' zombies are too dumb to understand us." The color's bled back into her eyes now, pure milky whites being replaced with her normal pale-green. She breathes out a sigh, and only then feels Alex start to practically struggle around in her arms. "He-" She grunts, trying to hold on. "Love, you're fine! I'm sorry for beating the shite out of your.." She looks over to the brute trying to hobble over to Blake, and she kind of.. kicks the thing's foot along towards it when the almost-severed limb seems to catch on a branch and start to tear. "...friend? But, whatever. We need to /go/." Her limbs do loosen a bit, so as to not accidentally hurt Alex in their struggling with her damn near titanic strength.
[16:02] Brooklyn Sedd seemed to continue to shudder and spasm in the grass, even as Alex tried to squirm his way to her side - and likely failed, since Delilah was still holding onto him.
But she was in pain. So much pain. And so were all the other spirits. But there was something more, beneath all that pain and suffering, beneath the feeling of exposed nerve endings on fire.
Well, it was all about to spill over anyways; but there was Hector, at Brooklyn's side, and she didn't quite understand why but she felt the anguish begin to return to normal levels, and felt...
For a moment, something slips through. Everyone in the cemetery can feel it, or at least a whisper of it. Anger. Rage. It's not Brooklyn's - despite the constant pain she's suffering, anyone with an empathic talent or psychic sensitivity would be able to tell that she's perfectly happy remaining in this world. But that anger and rage, for just a moment, seems to suffuse the space, seems to come from a great host of souls - and then the moment passes, all is well.
There is a wordless groan from the skinless woman, whose body bleeds into the grass. If Hector happened to see HER maw... Well, nothing special happens, actually, she's not Bernice. But there is a distinct lack of teeth, and tongue. So she doesn't seem to be able to speak in any significant way. And the sight might be slightly disturbing, or maybe not - considering she's already flayed of everything, and eyeless anyways. Plus being surrounded by all the other corpses and ghosties.
[16:06] Alex smiles to see Hector heading towards the skinless spirit on the ground, trusting him to be able to help her, if anyone could. They relaxed in Delilah's arms with the expert taking care of that. That was... most of the dangerous things now handled, right? "Just keep him safe!" They called out after Brute to clarify after their previous vagueness about helping Blake, before turning to finally level their gaze back on Delilah with a smile. "Crazy day, huh?" they blinked though, seeming to have noticed something was off, a hand raising to touch against her cheek. "Was something weird happening with your eyes a second ago? Are you sick?" Now they were just fretting over her.
They did notice Eliza running off with one of the zombies, but mostly just assumed she was a good Samaritan, probably taking poor Bernice to a hospital. And then they felt that wave of rage pouring out and washing over the cemetery, making their body tremble again in Delilah's arms with a gasp of shock, their fingers gripping into her shoulders tightly. "S-so much.... anger..." They whispered, one hand rising to rub at their temples. "Wh-what was that?" They glanced back to Hector as though he might have the answers.
[16:09] Blake Jermyn flailed, stumbled, and, just as his attacker went still, one leg shorted out for a second, leaving him to faceplant right on top of the once-again corpse. "Awww, /gross/..." But he hardly had time to wipe himself off before another one was coming straight at him. His eyes went wide, flaring as he reached once again for stones on the ground... Only to pause, casting a wide, incredulous glance from Alex to Delilah and back again. "....This thing's friendly, right? He's not gonna 'help' by like, eating my face off?" All the same, he was slooooooowly backing away, dragging himself across the ground, only to stop dead as that wave of rage slams into him, seeping into his core and fuelling the fire within, causing stones and twigs on the ground to start whirling around him in an out of control whirlwind. (You can dodge roll that if y'all want or it can just add atmosphere :U)
[16:22] ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma): Bernice is such a nice meat-shield. She takes the post with a THWAP into her softened flesh and the wood sticks a little before falling to the ground. Umbridge hates that. There's a sharp sucking in of air and an angry rattling of the wooden posts before the poltergeist moves on, spurred by that sudden flash of anger. It feeds her own, forcing a manifestation of violence and pissiness in the form of a skeletal frame with drooping skin hanging from its head and shoulders, barely clinging to the braised and prominent brows on its face. The mouth hole hangs open in a perpetual scream, the mouth itself filled with curved and viciously sharp teeth. Each hand ends in a gnarled and bony claw dripping with a viscious blackness that itself seems to scream - and seems absolutely like something you don't want touching you. Unfortunately, all that rage spurs Umbridge into action, slailing those claws in wide swaths as she swoops around the small area of the garden. Brute, who was also affected by that anger - hobbles after Blake and seems to turn all that rage into the biggest bear hug that a massive zombie can muster as the whirlwind of twigs and stones slices away at his face and chest and arms.
[16:31] Delilah Shaw breathed out a sigh as things seemed to settle for a moment, looking down with a stare more kind than befit her face. "Very. You've got so much explaining to do, love." She visibly flinches a tick when Alex calls out the bleeding out of her glamour a minute ago. And she's suddenly visibly aware of just how much of herself she'd been exerting in the fit of rage when she thought they were in danger. "I ah.." Delilah coughs her most convincing of coughs off to the side, and drops her voice a decibel to make it sound like she has a sore throat. "Yeah. Caught something out in town from.. someone I met for a job opportunity." She shifts Alex's weight a bit to get them comfortable, then starts to turn and walk away when that wave of /anger/ seeps out into the cemetary around them. For a moment, Delilah feels herself slipping again. She looks off to the brute, to the skinless body on the ground, to everyone around her she can hear and smell and see and she wants to- breathes out. Slowly. The rage passes through her.. just in time for a stray stone to fire out from Blake's direction and embed into the small of her back. And then something starts /screaming/, and she doesn't have nearly enough time to react to the fresh arrival turns out to be a beast that swings its arms around with wild abandon. Pain sears across her back as she catches a hit from behind, and she insinctively lets go of Alex when the thing provokes her unbridled fury in a moment. There's a moment as she turns around, and her mouth seems to start to stretch. Ripping, splitting, until the flesh pulls apart to reveal.. teeth. Too many teeth. Every single one positively drenched in seemingly fresh blood, with a too-long tongue snaking out between them. Her voice rumbles out with a similar echo to when she wields her control... but louder. So much louder. "GONNA. FUCKIN'. KILL YOU." The thing that blinks forward and throws a punch at the newest monster barely resembles Delilah. That shock of red hair, longer and messier, is all that gives it away.
[16:32] Hector: is not disturbed in the least that Brooklyn is eyeless, toothless and tongueless. He gives her a sympathetic look and sighs. "Oh honey...not even any way left for you to scream. Like my Agatha. They tied the rope too tight 'round her throat. All she does is gurgle. But I understand her. You do not have to use words. Just...be. Be yourself and I can understand you. There's a universal language of those who have passed beyond the Veil of the living to that which is dead. People like me can understand you." A shudder of anger ran down his spine and he grunted. "Dammit, which one is it?" He gave his right hand a flick, opening and closing it until the five pointed star appeared. "You're fine, now. I won't hurt you and I won't send you anywhere you don't want to go. That's not my job. I'm not a judge, I'm just a Reaper. If someone is ready to go...then I send them. That's my lot in li...er...heh, life? Death? I suppose, that's just my lot." That was the stick he drew and he was fine with that. Pushing himself to his feet, Hector wobbled from side to side, surveying the area. Then a few stones pecked him in the face from the psych rush coming off Blake. "Ow ow! Fuck! Ahem...can anyone tell WHICH of these guys is the one putting off all that anger? I think that is the one that has hit their expiration date." Powers up the symbol of Abe no Seimei on his hand...time to reach out touch faith. "Rin, Yo, To, Tsai, Tsin, Retsu!" Something babbles out of Hector's mouth and it looks like words taking shape in the air, he tilts one way, his neck bending too far with a snap, his body dipping down, spinning around and then jerking back up to a standing position near that Restless Dead. Behind and slightly to the side of that swinging claw. There is a voice hanging in the air, like a whisper of whispers on top of whispers, 'Found you' and around Hector there are five points, five shadows...they all have bowler hats. So that's where Hat Man has been all this time. "EVIL BEGONE~!" Hector's hand goes out, reaching, grasping, intent on slamming into the back of that clawed arm and shooting straight through it, to fold the restless dead in on itself and clamp it down, swirl it around and fore-go the Gate all together. This is...the first time he's actually intent on using this in this way. The way the old man told him, when they don't want to go, when they're angry and fight... Force them home. POW!
[16:34] Eliza Windamier caught Delilah's words but no answer is given back. She got what she wanted which is a zombone named Bernice. What she gonna do with said zombie? God only knows. Before she arrives to her Vanship she pauses when she feels that anger. That rage. She couldn't help but shudder in bliss. A soft low moan escapes her lips at everything she is feeling around her. Like the pits of Hell with all those souls in pure eternal anguish, she for a brief moment felt at home. Gathering her self she tosses Bernice corpse body into the back seat of the Vanship and before she can enter her self, she turns when that sudden burst of anger and a scream to follow it is heard and also felt. As someone who feels on pain, agony and more, she could feel it all and it only made her even more excited. Perhaps to a point she may have wet her self in such excitement. All that emotion. And with Delilah suddenly going rage mode as well, it only just feeds more into her hunger! All that energy. Unable to resist, she takes in a breath and goes to hold out her hands as she focuses around her and Umbridge. Her very body begins to ooze a blight, spreading across the ground around her and the air. Hectors words are heard and her eyes finally show a sign of emotion, a bit of annoyance and a maybe some anger. She must feed!(Corruuption Rank 2 Post 1 of 2)
[16:40] Brooklyn Sedd felt the sticks and stones from Blake's sudden rage-fueled burst of telekinesis rip through fat and muscle and not-cloth, the incarnated ghost letting out a shrill shriek and another series of spasms. Fortunately, this one didn't seem to involve or portend the arrival of a cemetery-wide blast of anguish or rage.
The spirit twitched, curling into the fetal position as the sticks and stones lash about every which way, bruising and battering and gashing the currently corporeal existence, yet making no effort to avoid the violent power.
There IS, however, a sickening CRACK as a stone strikes the flayed woman in the head. The ghost's form crumples limply, again, before seeming to slowly fade away.
Well, the spirit was still there, really. But overwhelmed for the day, the woman began to vanish back into incorporeality. She is, however, still present, in some sense - Hector and Alex might be able to tag her presence, in some way. It seemed simply as if she had let herself slip behind the veil again, to rest, recover... And possibly to avoid whatever that UNSETTLING feeling is that is spreading out from Eliza's presence.
[16:42] Alex parted their lips to reassure Blake that the Brute was a perfectly good boy who wouldn't hurt a fly on purpose, but it was cut short by that explosion of ambient rage making them shudder in fear. The whirlwind from Blake caught them with a rock across the brow, making them wince and flinch away, but it was when Delilah suddenly let them go that they also caught a nasty slash from the wildly flailing skeletal phantom across their chest that really made them scream out in pain.
They stumbled over backwards into the flowers, taking deep, shuddering gasps in pain and gripping a hand to their chest to try and stop the bleeding of the ichor-dripping wound. Still, their white clothes were quickly staining red, and they struggled to open their bleary eye again to see what was happening as tears streamed down their cheek. "D-Delilah?!" They called out with worry, only able to see the blurry shape of her darkly-clad form and bright ginger hair flailing back at the skeletal creature.
[16:56] Blake Jermyn "Oh fuck me," Blake gasped in horror as the thing reached for him, only to find himself in a... Hug. "Ooookaaaay buddy," he said carefully, patting the big, undead brute on the back as it held him. Thankfully, it seemed to have shielded him from the howl of anguish coming from the manifesting spirit as he ended up clinging to the shambling beast, shielding his face in its stinky embrace. "Fuck me what the fuck is that thing..."
[16:59] ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma): Delilah's fist rockets into that thing's skull, meeting bone that's barely covered by flesh. It sends the thing toppling down to the ground, where it seems to... crack, bend, start to crumple and shudder as Hector's command begins working on it. That rage is fighting, though. Deep and endless, the anger keeps it clinging, gnarled hands digging at the ground, trying to remain in this plane, to keep from being sent through. It does not seem able to do much aside from cling for dear life, considering the very-much-in-progress crumpling of Hector's banishment... it's simply taking longer than it should have. Brute hangs onto Blake, apparently getting some sense that he's helping - though he does let out a troubled groan at all the NOT OKAY going on around him.
[17:07] Hector: was sort of expecting this to just...DO THE THING! He could just wave the doors to the afterlife open and so when he was met with a ten ton brick to the spiritual face there's a grunt. His wings explode from his back, catching an unseen wind and he HOVERS! He does the thing! Look Blake he's doing it! He grips his wrist with the opposite hand and focuses. "Oh no you don't! You have harmed mortal beings with your manifestation. Your rage has upset the natural order of your fellow dead. As a Reaper of this island, I pledge you are a danger to yourself and others, you are a danger to the Veil and to humanity. To return balance...I return YOU!" He grit his teeth and started to pray. Hector was a Gnostic Pagan, believing in a much greater whole with many Gods and Goddesses, including those who did ill and those who did good. But ultimately there must be a balance maintained. Since he was a Necromancer, the balance of Life and Death was his specific domain. "For whom so claim this soul, I send them Home, to You within your bosom judge deeds in life, as I invoke over restless deeds in death. As above, so below, as within so without, so mote it be! BEGONE~!" He repeated, wings giving a flap as he pushed further with magic, trying to force the creature to move on.
[17:10] Delilah Shaw seems to match the creature rage for rage. Her well is postively endless, and it's not long before the thing's seemingly endless screaming finds itself competing with a new noise. A loud, blood-curdling, HOWLING... and it's coming from the ginger vampire currently trying her damndest to pulverize anything in her way into atoms. "KILL YOU. KILL YOU. KILLYOUKILLYOUKILLYOUKILLYOU." She punctuates the last shrieked-out 'KILLYOU' by pounding her fists down again, trying to smash the thing to dust. It's somewhere after her swing will land that she'll catch the scent of blood on the air. Uh-oh.
[17:13] Eliza Windamier continued to focused around her letting her blight just seep on out all around her to taint the grounds and the air around her. Her corruted aura sapping the emotions, passion life bring the sense of dread to all those in the area. The pain, the anger just feeding into her hunger like a succubus at a brothel. Though the blight can affect all those that it washes over, her primary target being the raging spirit to which the spirit would receive even more pain, in this case, mental pain that put this spirit into its rage. THOUGH, maybe lucky to all those here, her corruption may make Deiliah less rage, to sap those raging emotions away if she gets affected. (Corruption Rank 2, Post 2/2)
[17:15] Blake Jermyn sort of awkwardly pat the back of the gigantic zombie clinging to him, trying to calm down and soothe the poor thing. "Theeere there buddy, I know those two are terrifying," he said with a nod towards Delilah eviscerating the onryo, "but let's just.... Siiiiidle away from them, and everything's gonna be just.... Fine...." Slowly, he tried to... Tug? Steer? the massive shambling brute away from the scene of the fight, gently patting his squishy hide all the while. "Good... Zombie...." As Hector's wings burst forth and lift him into the air, Blake turns to give him a wide grin and a thumbs up. They grow up so fast...
[17:18] Alex's tear-blurry vision cleared somewhat as they lay there in the grass, propped up on one elbow while trying to keep pressure on their wound with the other arm, just in time to see Hector's wings fully manifest. So it really *was* him after all. They marveled for a moment, but the rage from Delilah drew a worried whimper from their throat as she tore at the skeletal thing while Hector fought to banish it. With gritted teeth and a gasp and groan of agony they pushed themselves back up from the ground and started to shamble over towards Delilah, their free hand reaching out for her shoulder while the other remained clutching tightly at their shredded, blood-stained shirt.
[17:21] ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma): Energy sapped from the Onryo, squished out with each pounding of Delilah's fists. The thing might've just reconstituted itself and gathered power again if Hector had not crumpled it out of existence, FORCING it to the beyond with a shudder that shook the ground. Once the quakes stop Umbridge is gone, and Brute is just left tottling Blake's tiny form (comparatively) with dangling metal legs away from the remaining rage monster because it's what he's been told to do.
[17:26] Hector: falls back, confused, drained and trying to hide his wings. He's pretty sure he managed to send off the one most dangerous of the restless dead and that was what he needed to do. He's out of sorts, however, and there's blood from various little cuts at his cheeks. His companions will get him the Hell out of there and to somewhere he can recover. He's going to have to practice that exorcism spell more...that shit is rough.
[17:28] Delilah Shaw felt her fist hit dirt at the exact same time something grabbed her from behind, and she whirled about to face Alex with almost no recognition in her eyes. She lets loose a loud, rumbling shriek into their face and shoves. Hard. Enough so that she doesn't really moderate her strength as well as she should, in an effort to just get this stranger /away/ from her. Delilah hops up to her feet there and glances out around the graveyard, and something about the brute from earlier ticks something in her brain. She leaps, claw-pointed fingers outstretched, and slams into the thing with all the impact of a train hitting, clearly not trying to stop herself from ramming right into Blake on the other side of the thing. The vampire seems to be less interested in feeding, or fighting. She's trying to get away. Violently.
[17:29] Brooklyn Sedd after all had passed, Brooklyn's spirit began to wander away, her invisible and intangible form slipping between the cracks of the world until she'd arrived back at the cabin in the woods where she'd first met her end. Her mind felt hazy again. She was slowly gaining more control of her newfound faculties - but that was all, and the ghost was now tired in ways that only a constantly suffering ghost could be.
[17:30] Eliza Windamier takes in a breath before she cuts the blight off letting it settle in and disappear. She got her feed and her prize. While the others ar ebusy with whatever, she steps back before turning to grab the side of the Zanship to yank her self up and over into the drivers sear. Reaching to flip a switch the engine begins to hum loudly. With a pull of a lever, she begins to lift from the area to get some height to take off.
[17:36] Blake Jermyn grins as he dangles from the arms of the gigantic undead man, continuing to gently pat it as it carries him away. "Theeere we go buddy, just, follow me, I'll take ya home, show ya to the old ma-WHAT THE FUCK?!" All of a sudden he was slammed to the ground, crushed under the weight of the zombie, gasping with bruised lungs. Did a bomb just go off?! Best explanation he had.
[17:38] Alex barely had a split second to react to Delilah's new, nightmarish features as she swiveled around towards them and hissed, before their slim, frail mortal form took the full force of her supernaturally powerful shove. They were thrown off their feet and sent sailing backwards straight into the stone wall next to the bridge behind them with a loud, sickening CRACK, from which their body slumped limply to the ground, leaned against the stones. There was a smear of blood left near the top of the low wall where their head had struck it, and their eyelid fluttered for a brief moment before slowly sliding shut.
[17:41] ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma): Brute took the force of that impact entirely which meant awful things for his internal organs.. and probably worse things for Blake as the pulp-filled casing that was once a corpse just collapses on top of him, pinning him to the ground in a sloppy wet mess. It's unfortunate that Brute was already not entirely intact... because Blake's soon sprinkled with fetid blood that oozes out of the poor guys's nose and mouth along with the wet gurgle as the corporeal form becomes far too mooshy to stay attached to. Without the ghost trap in place the other spirits that hadn't become that level of troublesome disperse, flitting around into the fog.
[17:43] Delilah Shaw carried her momentum past, catching one of the brute's arms with her hand and pulling hard enough to make the dead flesh tear straight off. She screams out at Eliza's vehicle whirring up, and the severed arm is abruptly flung across the garden at the pirate before Delilah stands up and sprints off. She's gone before long, blinking entirely out of existence to escape to god knows where on the island. That can't be good.
[17:44] Blake Jermyn's tears mix with the rotten blood the brute coughs up onto him, one shaking hand reaching up to cup the zombie's cheek. "You were a good zombie, buddy.... And a good friend... I'll never forget you, big guy," he managed to wheeze as the undead body disintegrated atop him, slowly prying himself free to limp his way home.