Re: The Nightmare's Downfall [Plot][Closed]

by **Empoleon_Blownaparte** Tue Dec 23, 2014 11:09 pm

Pete followed behind them, not really patient enough to stay with Balif during his little episode, when he saw Melody he gasped "Ho-Ly. Hell..." he said in disbelief "Is... She okay?.... Stupid question, I should say "Is she alive"?!" he said in a sad, panicky voice...

by **Paige weaver** Tue Dec 23, 2014 11:21 pm

Balif looked at the girl in disbelief as well "How the?"

by **Drae** Wed Dec 24, 2014 2:11 am

"From what I can tell she is still alive," Kuro said, crossing over to Melody before digging into his duffel bag for something. When his hand came free he was holding a short sword, and he swiftly threw the blade at one of the higher chains. The metal severed with a snap, and the Faunus caught Melody as he threw another blade at the remaining chain.

"As for what happened... I can't say for certain, but it seems as though it wasn't exactly good," Kuro added, his features darkening as he searched for somewhere to set Melody down where she would be safe. Before he could, however, the girl stirred in his arms. Her eyelids fluttering slightly before she opened them weakly.

"Hnn... What happened?" Melody groaned, shifting in Kuro's arms before she slowly began to remember what had happened prior to her becoming ensnared in her previous state. Turning her head to the chains, which lay limp against the walls and floor, she smiled faintly before turning her attention to the ceiling. "If you came looking for Sissy, I can't say I know where she is. Something attacked us... I couldn't get a proper lock on it, and I... I can't seem to remember much else," Melody explained, not needing any prompting in order to explain what she remembered of the events that transpired in the room.

"If that thing managed to defeat Sissy, then she's probably deeper inside. Mizu and Leaf may be with her as well," she added, slowly climbing out of Kuro's arms and unsteadily walking over to her railgun. She picked the battered weapon up gently, treating it more like glass than a heavy-duty piece of artillery. If she had any trouble lifting its weight, she didn't let it show on her features. Kuro looked at her with a slightly worried expression, much like an older brother would look at his younger sister if she was injured but still trying to fight. After mentally fighting himself over something for several seconds, Kuro slowly shook his head before scanning the room again.

It looks like we have some footprints over here leading into that doorway, He thought, kneeling beside a pair of prints that were a darker shade than the rest of the room. The lights were all off, and the chandelier above their heads looked to be in an impressive state of disrepair considering how little time had passed. After double checking the prints to ensure his reasoning, Kuro slowly stood up and picked Ragnarok off the ground beside him. Placing the blade into its sheath, he turned around and beckoned for his allies to follow him.

by **Empoleon_Blownaparte** Wed Dec 24, 2014 2:17 am

Pete was shocked by what Melody said Ooooh shit... Leaf's here too?... Damn..." he said with worry growing on his face "So... Uh... What do you guys think's happening here?..." he said as he followed Kuro "My guess, Lucy's been possessed by a demon... I sure as hell hope I'm wrong, but still, that's my guess..." he said with a sad shrug...

by **MrBrough** Wed Dec 24, 2014 2:22 am

Starshine gritted his teeth when he heard Leaf's name mentioned "Well that explains why I haven't been able to get in touch with her" he thought. "Pete don't be absurd demons don't exists whatever did this is mortal which means it can and will die when we find it" he said with uncharacteristic vehemence

by **Requiem** Wed Dec 24, 2014 3:49 am

Keeping his eyes upon the girl as she woke herself, the crossbreed felt his ears flicker yet again as he watched her stumble across to her weapon. After doing so, he looked back to Kuro who, by then, was giving the signal to move on. Haven gave another quick glance to Melody before shifting heel in a shroud of uncertainty, forming silent steps as he trekked after the feline. "Both of you could be right... Uh...kind of, at least. I mean, yeah; she probably isn't possessed by a demon, but...as far as we know, Lucy's a mortal being. And she could be the mortal being behind this, in the worst-case scenario...right?" He paused, connecting both blades of his by the base of the handles and sliding them over his shoulder. For a sight aid, he slipped one of his lighters from the customized pouches on one of his suspender straps, skipping the whole step of igniting it and just using the fuel and materials within to just make a flame straight out, which rid of its container within moments. He held his hand up, bringing the pyre created up with it before lowering his hand yet again. The fire remained overhead and above the group as they moved along, however, illuminating the way to an extent with a faint, cyan-like glow. "I mean...the whole Truth or Dare thing was the only situation that I saw her. But...even then, wasn't she acting a bit funky? Like...something was up?"

by **Drae** Wed Dec 24, 2014 6:47 am

Kuro nodded in agreement as he continued on, silently grateful for the light Haven provided as they passed several intersections. "Yea. After the party Natalie told me that she wasn't usually that strange," He said, the hair on his neck standing on end as he slowed to a halt in one of the intersections. Glancing to the side, he once again caught sight of Lucy.

But something was very, VERY wrong.

Lucy's appearance seemed to have changed completely. Whereas she normally wore a white and purple-striped dress with steel-gray armor, what Kuro saw now was Lucy in a black and red-striped dress with obsidian-black armor. Her aura also seemed far darker, more evil than Kuro recalled. It was then he realized that her change in Aura was the cause of his body's unusual reaction. She slowly walked into the corner of the intersection before turning her head, a psychopathic grin on her face as she looked at him with crimson eyes. Wait a minute, that can't be right, Kuro said, his hand slowly reaching up towards the handle of his weapon before Melody peeked around the corner, her eyes widening in fear before she shouted.

"RUN!" Melody tugged Kuro's arm, dragging him back in as she turned and sprinted back down the corridor as the figure whom looked like Lucy followed in quick pursuit.
"Why are you running? I just want to play with you a bit~!" She shouted, her voice chillingly calm and without any other emotion than sadistic glee. As Kuro ran after Melody they passed row after row of intersections, but it seemed that they had gotten lost in the labyrinth of the Castle.

After a few solid minutes of running, during which the members of the party had witnessed several spires of Aura rush up behind them as if intent on skewering them alive, Melody eventually slowed down. She still maintained that scared look, but it seemed as though she was a bit less panicked. After catching his own breath, Kuro slowly approached Melody. "Mind telling us who the hell that was?" He answered, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady as his ears laid flat against his skull.

Melody turned and looked at him, taking note of the heart rate and other vital statistics her Heads-Up Display was supplying her with. After calming down enough to speak, Melody slowly lifted her head to meet Kuro's eyes. "That was what attacked us in the living room. That... thing took me down rather easily. And whatever it is, it is certainly not Lucy."

by **Requiem** Wed Dec 24, 2014 11:26 am

Withholding and registering the information given within his intellect, the Devil gave another quick nod while progressing forward, arming himself with his blades for safety once more. In a swift motion, he parted the hooks clipping the two hilts of either blade, giving each a quick and skillful spin within either hand before holding them simply within his grasp. As he did so, he continued to look around; both the light emitted by the flame and his sense of night vision aiding him. Given a little while had passed, he couldn't help but feel a sudden and powerful chill not quite crawling, but rather shredding down his spine in an immensely comfortable way. Such a sensation caused him to physically shudder, a low mutter escaping his lips as his ears pinned against his head yet again. After doing so, he looked over his shoulder, catching sight of the figure that Kuro had initially spotted. He stared at her for a moment, tilting his head. Once he had done that single thing, however, things seemed to jolt into a rather quickened sequence of events.

Before he knew it, he found himself running and dodging numerous aura-oriented forms that appeared with a high degree of intensity and threat, finding it a tad difficult to make his way around even with his seasoned skill in parkour and freerunning. On occasion, he would swing one of his blade into the thicker spires, stepping onto the platforms that were created as a result and jumping over several other forms that were being produced. For the sake of having their trail be harder to pick up on, he drove the flame that he had created to grow smaller by will until it was but the slightest ember that followed him as he sped along, seeming to hover along by his right Faunus ear.

When the group finally came to a stop, he skidded a tad until finally ceasing his own momentum, leaning against one of the walls and breathing in a quiet yet deep way while attempting to maintain his full focus once more. "I-It...it looks like her, though..." Haven managed to stutter through broken breaths, rubbing his face. "I-I mean...aside from the whole palette swap... Jesus Christ..."

by **Empoleon_Blownaparte** Wed Dec 24, 2014 6:11 pm

As the group came to a stop, Pete was visibly freaked out "Oh. My. God. That thing was LITERALLY not Lucy! It had, like... Two souls, I could feel it!... How I could feel it, I have no idea... Did anyone else feel the two souls thing?..." he said with fear, but not panic, more just... Worry for himself and his friends, especially Lucy...

by **MrBrough** Wed Dec 24, 2014 6:16 pm

StarShine came to a halt a little ways ahead of the group his eyes glowing a bright gold from his semblance. "Pete calm down freaking out is just going to get you killed" he said putting his hand on his shoulder. "Anyway we should begin looking for everyone else"

by **Paige weaver** Thu Dec 25, 2014 2:44 pm

Balif followed quietly behind the group looking all around him wondering why was he of all people here? As he thought that he took a deep sigh

by **Drae** Fri Dec 26, 2014 7:11 pm

Kuro turned his gaze to the empty hallway in front of his small group. It seemed to stretch on forever into inky blackness, and Kuro began to wonder what had happened within these walls since he had last seen Lucy. He took a tentative step forward, checking to see if the Nightmare had caught up with them. After nothing happened he took another step, his right faunus ear twitching as he heard a faint voice bouncing off of the walls around them.

"Where did you all go? I only want to play~," The demon called, her voice so faint that only a faunus would be able to even remotely pick it up. Kuro's gaze shifted slightly as he turned his head, his eyes narrowing before he motioned for the rest of his comrades to follow him along. "Try not to speak too loudly," He whispered, his steps quiet as he ventured further into the black.

After a few silent minutes of walking down the hallway, Kuro saw what looked to be a doorframe. Its edges faintly scarred as he approached it. The doorway sat on the left wall of the hallway, and when Kuro looked in he could see the door lying broken and shattered inside the room. Upon stepping into the room, Kuro noted that the interior looked completely untouched save for a small box on top of the small dresser on one side above an empty space were a drawer would go. He slowly approached the box, unaware of the dusty picture beside it. He looked at the box for a few moments, wondering if he should open it before his curiosity won out. He gently lifted the lid of the box and set it aside before turning his attention to what lay inside.

Inside the box, surrounded by a clear cryogenic cube, were two arctic fox ears. Their tips covered in frost as they stay suspended in their frozen prison. Kuro slowly backed away from them, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what was going on. Melody walked into the room to find Kuro staring at the cryocube with a puzzled expression. Her gaze slowly drifted over to the cube, her eyebrows lifting as she saw its contents.

by **Requiem** Fri Dec 26, 2014 7:18 pm

At Kuro's beckoning, Haven steeled himself and forced his composure to stabilize once more as he nodded, trekking after the feline in a careful fashion. He followed him through the darkness, the ember by his ear completely blowing out as he allowed his eyes to guide him for the remainder of the way. After a while, he found himself stationed near the very room that had taken the leader's attention, and walked in slowly after noting how the other teen had drifted off inside. Upon entry, he noted how both Kuro and Melody seemed to have their attention rested upon a box some ways away, and, from a pure sense of curiosity, he slowly walked over and peered over their shoulders. His own ears flickered as he spotted the ones residing within the containment. "This...just...keeps getting weirder and weirder..." he muttered.

by **Empoleon_Blownaparte** Fri Dec 26, 2014 8:17 pm

Pete also followed them in, as he walked up to the others and looked upon the cube, his eyes widened in shock "Aw... Man... Did Demon Lucy torture and kill poor Kitsu?..." he said with sorrow "I liked that little critter..."

by **MrBrough** Mon Dec 29, 2014 1:48 am

Starshine looked at the ears and shook his head "That does not bode well... we need to get moving and find everyone else you saw how bad off she was" he said motioning his head towards Melody "The others may be even worse off"

by **Drae** Mon Dec 29, 2014 2:44 pm

Melody nodded in response before turning to Kuro, "We need to get going," She said, the faunus nodding in response as he turned and walked through the door. Melody spared a glance backwards at the box before following him out.

Kuro turned left into the hallway, resuming the course he had been following before he stumbled across that room. Melody anxiously followed behind him as the minutes passed. Her HUD picking up the small sounds that she naturally could not and informing her of them. Her HUD merely amplified these sounds to a more audible level. She placed two fingers to her right ear in response to a rather strange noise she had just heard. Melody's eyes narrowed as she commanded her HUD's computer to run the sound again.

"Kuro. I've picked something up, exactly three hundred yards forward. Sounds like chains," She said, the feline she was speaking to pausing in his step to listen to her. After hearing Melody's report, Kuro tuned his Faunus hearing to where Melody had said the sound was emitting from. And sure enough he heard it. Chains, chains and a rather familiar voice barely heard through the distance.

"Hnn... Why couldn't they have tied me up with, I don't know... licorice? They probably did that to Mizu..."

by **MrBrough** Mon Dec 29, 2014 3:20 pm

All Starshine registered from what Melody said was chains and three hundred yards ahead. Thus he immediately rushed three hundred yards ahead and switched modes causing his eyes to glow crimson and kicked in the door to the room and prepared himself for whatever grizzly scene he was going to find, but much to his relief he instead found alive intact Leaf "Oh thank goodness" he said with a sigh of relief

by **Drae** Mon Dec 29, 2014 3:33 pm

Leaf lifted her head from her grumbling to find Star staring up at her. She smiled, once again making a bad situation seem hopeful as she looked down at Star. "And here I thought my prince was never going to come," She said sweetly, ignoring the fact that her robe was torn and that her staff was lying several feet away from her.

Melody and Kuro walked in a few moments afterwards, and Leaf's smiled grew with the sight of her friend alive and intact. "And here I was beginning to worry you'd followed me here all alone, Star."

by **Empoleon_Blownaparte** Mon Dec 29, 2014 4:03 pm

Pete looked up at Leaf with an awkward smile "Uh... I'm here too... Hey..."

by **MrBrough** Mon Dec 29, 2014 4:21 pm

StarShine rolled his eyes at the absurdity of their behavior given the circumstances and chose to simply free her instead of chatting about it. With that thought He unsheathed Sun flare and cut the chains holding Leaf causing her to fall. StarShine threw his blade to the side an act normally unthinkable to him and caught her and asked "you okay not bleeding anywhere or have any broken bones?"

by **Requiem** Mon Dec 29, 2014 6:02 pm

Following after the others toward the back for a little while, Have turned his figure and began walking after the group backwards, making sure that nothing sudden would appear and strike. Once he ensured that the others had stopped, however, he gave the clearing one last look before turning around and gazing over at what the neighboring individuals had found; his focus lighting up just in time to catch Star cutting the second girl free. A slight chuckle escaped his lips, a smirk tugging upon his expression for the first time since entry as he crossed his arms loosely. "Prince, eh...? That's quite Charming, really..." he muttered, snickering to himself while stepping forward. these sounds would be ended with a sigh after a moment or so, as Haven began to look around again, his Faunus auds angling on occasion and straining to hear any possible sounds to take note of.

by **Drae** Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:27 pm

Leaf smiled up at Star as he asked about her well-being. "I'm fine, really. Just a little tired is all," She said weakly, leaning against Star as she looked over at LightCaller. "Also, would someone mind getting that for me?"

by **MrBrough** Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:44 pm

"Yeah no problem" he said shifting her weight into one of his arms as he walked over and grabbed her staff. "Here" he said holding LightCaller up to her

by **Drae** Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:51 pm

"Thanks," Leaf said, clutching the silver and gold staff to her chest as Kuro and Melody walked further into the room. Leaf looked at them upside-down from within Star's grasp as the two slowly observed the room.

"Same person?" Kuro asked, turning his gaze to the Railgun as she nodded in response. Melody lifted her gaze to meet Leaf's as the blunette rose from a crouching position by one of the shattered chains. "Any idea where it took Mizu or Sissy?" She asked, her voice sounding a bit worried on the last word.

Leaf shook her head before pointing down the corridor at the north end of the room, "I think Mizu is down there, shortly before you guys arrived I heard something singing songs about magic from somewhere within," She replied, Kuro mentally facepalming as the young witch's unique personality came to the forefront of his mind.

by **MrBrough** Tue Dec 30, 2014 12:23 am

Starshine nodded in acknowledgement "I guess we should go free her then" he said turning to look Leaf in the eyes "Can you walk or do you need to be supported?" he asked softly causing his latent hero of justice tendencies bleeding through

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