Possession is 9/10 of the law

[raavashing]

Characters: Anyone helping Wan attempt to counter-possess Asti; Malicant
Date: Sat. 10/25
Location: Various TBD
Situation: Wan is attempting to possess Asti; others are acting as distractions/helping power boost
Warnings/Rating: Will post them in subject lines when/if needed

The log is going to be broken up between the following Event 'points' just to manage them easier:

Pre-Possession Power-Up (Mingle for those powering up Wan before his group heads to the Turtle's Head)
Pre-Distraction Meet-Up (Mingle for the distraction teams to finalize tactics or throw caution to the wind)
Possession Attempt (The actual possession attempt)
Distraction Group One (Headed up by Dante, this group is going to be dealing with the cultists directly)
Distraction Group Two (Network distraction group and/or different group of cultists)
End of the Day (for people to deal with the fallout of the event if they want to do so in this log)

ANYONE can tag in and take part in any of the threads except the Possession Attempt itself - that's closed to Wan, Valdis, Zuko, and Katara so the group is small and less easily noticed.

Comments

[solo_patria]

"Let us hope for that, at least."

Enjolras would rather be unnecessary than anything else. "And I'd better get some things set up before it is too late." Though he could not quite leave yet, not without one final thing.

"And with any luck, everyone here will find success. So, good luck."

Perhaps they might be successful after all.

[solo_patria]

It is much better not to be alone in this, true. Enjolras had been nervous about that very fact. Alone, he would not have been enough, but now they can manage to scrape by with what they have. Because, yes, they have to.

He's returning Raine's answer with a serious nod, his face calmed enough, though he takes a moment to release some breaths as well, his thoughts turning to Combeferre. Enjolras knows, without a doubt, that he would have been here now, were he still on the island, and there is something of the training that he's gotten that means anyone he manages to help will have been helped, in fact, by Combeferre's own skills, simply passed down a little. There is a comfort in that, and a new confidence that, whatever happens, things will be as they should.

"Good." He's aware, really, that healing for himself is obviously possible, but even so, there is a part of him that holds to pre-battle traditions that were part of fighting in Paris. "Old habits die hard, I suppose."

And the friends that he has here are friends he has not known long, or well enough that they could know his mind the way les amis were. And there is also Taraja. Should anything happen to her... He's putting that thought out of his mind before it is fully formed, looking ahead to the moment before them instead.

"But, no. We will be all right. And so will all of them."

[wrathfulkhan]

Oh, don't be like that!

The arrows struck, but they tinked harmlessly off of Gene's armor. They'd need a ballista to puncture it, and the armor was constructed well enough for it to be spaceworthy. So really, the cultists are just going to be annoying him.

He clenched his fist, the orange ring glowed, and a cloud of acid billowed from the gem, disintegrating the archers' bows. Let that be a warning to you!

Cultists

[royalguard_style]

We're not being like that. Geez.

With the bows gone, the small band drew their knives and charged towards Gene. Maybe, just maybe, they could find a weak spot in the armor, even if it was a long shot.

No, they aren't getting the hint.

[raavashing]

You'll do great. You already have.

[Wan's arms tightened for a moment before he released his younger self.]]

See you when this is over.

[If he survived.]

[wrathfulkhan]

Y'all would be adorable if you weren't the homicidal servants of an entity of pure malicious evil.

Gene could fight them all off hand-to-hand, but why expend the energy? The yellow ring gleamed on his finger and shot a bolt of ice at the nearest cultists, hoping to freeze their legs or even encase those on the front lines bodily in ice.

[raavashing]

We need to find a way to gather without the Great Darkness finding out about it. Or at least in a way that doesn't draw his attention more than anything else we do. I'll talk to who I can and see if we can arrange anything. Is it okay if Rio'era touches your mind in the next few days? If not, I can send you a letter.

[ruinsprofessor]

Yes, that's fine. I'd agree we need to do that, though I'm unsure if there truly is any place here that's outside that one's notice.

[Raine glances between the two of them, thinking. After a moment she inclines her head.]

Thank you. You took quite a risk for this, it seems. It's early to say, but... we may have a chance, with what you've found.

This is why I don't play villans

[royalguard_style]

The cultists that were completely encased in ice were down for the count, but the remaining ones simply altered their limbs so they could easily slip out of the trap, leaving only three of the six left to fight. They continued trying to stab any place where they thought there might be an opening, such as Gene's joints or his neck.

[redlightgreenlight]

It was a risk we were willing to make.

[Though she meant it, her head dropped and her tail fell limp at the memory of what she had done to get them out alive. And if it helped them to defeat Malicant, then she supposed it was worth it.]

He didn't want us there, and tried very hard to kill us, that is proof enough.

[raavashing]

All but one of the shadows got to their targets. The last was intercepted by a singularly dedicated cultist and gave the remaining one the time he needed to complete his shifting. Large, black, leathery wings spread out with a snap and in the next moment he was in the air, knife in hand. His target was clearly Zuko and Wan. The others in the line, now no longer having to be a living barricade, rushed Valdis and Katara at the same time, seeking to push them over the edge with sheer force of numbers.

[12goingon113]

[Aang's eyes are misty with emotion, as he takes a step back from Wan.]

You'd better.

[raavashing]

Unfortunately for Akito, the Cultists toughing their skin to avoid being damaged by Dante's attacks made it equally difficult for their own arrows to pierce their skin. They mostly bounced off and were otherwise ignored. The group on the ground were focusing on a finding a way to counter being knocked down by Tony's repulsor blasts and Dante's more powerful attacks. They left dealing with Akito to their fellows on the roofs.

With most of the archers focused on keeping Akito below the roofline, one of their members - all long and oddly jointed limbs - put her bow down to jump on Akito as he passed by. His path easily anticipated from the last few passes. She landed hard on his back and side, attempting to use her weight to drag him down and force him to fall into the crowd below.

[oceanblue]

When her ice did nothing yet again, she sighed, but gasped as Valdis' attack took effect. She dropped back down to the ground, pushing the water out from around her and toward the cultists before her with as much force as she could muster. With them forcing her back, she hesitated at the edge of the shell, then took a deep breath and fell back willingly, the water below waiting to accept her.

That was when she saw the full extent of the shifting flying overhead.

Shifting her position just before she hit the water, she let it consume her, and then, moments later, had it throw her back up into the air, her intention to intercept the enemy headed for Zuko and Wan. With another wave of her arms, part of the wave she was riding would try to engulf the winged beast, or at least knock it off its course before she had to physically do it herself.

idk what you're talking about this is great

[wrathfulkhan]

The cultists were angry, and Gene grinned beneath the helmet. Three on one was hardly fair. Maybe he should unfreeze the other three, make it an even fight.

Nah.

He roared, striking at the cultists with his armored form, the vicious claws on the armor slicing at them. He was aiming to put them down, not necessarily kill them.

[redlightgreenlight]

The shadows returned, dragging the four taken souls into the collective darkness. Valdis received a surge of strength just as the cultists raced forward. She dug in, shifting her weight back onto her haunches and waited for the cultist to come within reach, then she launched herself up into the air and over their heads. She landed and spun around just in time to see Katara use the water to propel her toward the flying cultist. She would have to trust Katara to save Zuko and Wan.

Now that the cultists were between her and the edge of the shell, she had only a split second to carry out her plan. She swung her body, throwing herself sideways at the cultist, trying to knock as many of them off the shell's edge as possible, knowing full well that the force would take her over the edge as well.

[royalguard_style]

Gene's attacks struck true, and the cultists were struck down in a pool of blood, unconscious but alive. The remaining cultist was kneeling on the ground, swearing under his breath and trying to keep ahold of his knife.

"I refuse to allow you to insult our lord like that! I will defend his honor to my dying breath!" The blade trembled in his hands as the cultist struggled to stand up.

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene laughed harshly, the laughter sounding demonic through the voice modulator. "Your master has no honor. Your master is a child-killing coward. And your master will. Be. Destroyed."

The orange ring flashed again, and the poisoned blade dissolved into nothingness.

"Go," he said wearily, shoving the cultist away. "You disgust me. Gather your fellows and leave."

[royalguard_style]

With no choice, the cultist scowled an ran, with no regard to his comrades. His master needed to know just what he would be facing, and maybe, just maybe, he would figure out a weakness in his infinite wisdom.

And with that, Gene has a huge mess to clean up now.

wow sorry i just realized i've had this tab open for like a week

[ruinsprofessor]

That's a good sort of optimism to have. Raine can't quite believe everyone's going to come through perfectly all right, but she wants to, and Enjolras' words are a nice thing to hear. She's reminded of one of her students, and she smiles just a little, for nostalgia's sake more than anything else. "Yes," she agrees. "Yes, we'll make sure that happens."

And if she says it aloud, maybe she'll believe it a little more.

"Old habits?" Raine asks neutrally, after a few moments more of space. Not quite idle curiosity, if they're going to work side by side she'd like to know more about him. And there's a dearth of activity at the moment, so it's that uncomfortable place of anticipation, just waiting for something bad to happen. She's certainly not expecting anything good.

<3! No worries!

[solo_patria]

It's not as though Enjolras is certain that it is a sane thing to think, but, well, he cannot help but believe it anyway. He knows perfectly well it could all end rather worse than he is predicting, but this has also reached the point where everything but his job is well out of his hands, so he'll focus on the positive thinking aspect of all of this, where he is sure things will go well. And maybe he's started believing it more too, since he said it.

"Old habits." He agrees, "At home, well, the worst possible outcomes often came about. The abilities of even our best doctors were not a guarantee and we had no healers who can work with spells and such. Much of the fighting that we did was fairly...bayonet wounds, many wounds, were fatal even while a man had yet survived an initial injury. Death was far more likely as an outcome there with no healers like you, and not quite so many advancements in treatment. I learned here that we had a long way to go, then. And I suppose, it was as likely we'd be executed at any given moment. Some of us were, though I was in the last two of those to fall.

Setting plans in order is left over from Paris because of that reality. Here, it is still different, but I suppose I derive comfort in the old attempts at ensuring all would be well, though they seem far less necessary precautions here."

[ruinsprofessor]

Believing it really is half the battle, sometimes, as much as pragmatism would like to say otherwise.

Raine nods, tucking the information away into her mental picture of him. No magic, high risk of fighting, tactical knowledge. And he'd died, before he came here, which wasn't wholly surprising any more. "A war?" she asks, which seems most logical given what he's said. Though execution might suggest something a little more treasonous; most soldiers don't outright get executed when their leader surrenders.

"Even if those precautions turn out to be unnecessary, taking them can only help," she adds after a moment. Past actually surveying the area, she's taking up pacing, chafing a little at the waiting. It makes tactical sense to be a fallback point; they don't have enough healers to spread among everyone. She's just used to being a little closer to the thick of things.

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene probably should have killed him.

But oh well. He's trying to be a good person now.

...though maybe not so good he's going to clean up those cultists. He teleported away, resuming his DDoS attack. They could try to slow him down. Operative word being 'try'.

[solo_patria]

"We certainly considered it a war."

Enjolras has never been quiet about his past, and now is definitely not the time to begin being that. Instead, he's allowing himself, just a moment, to slip a bit from the tight constraints he's held himself to so far here, and to think of Paris, all the heat, the scent of powder on the air, Bahorel collapsing just like that, Prouvaire's words demanding that the future live on, a smile from Courfeyrac, Combeferre's hand on his shoulder, the words Long Live The Peoples! etched into a wall, even Grantaire's final decision and declaration that he was one of them. He's smiling, as they rush through, taking the moment to thank, and to exist with each of his brothers, before he's clarifying the statement.

"The National Guard called it an Insurrection. Both sides of it were right." He adds, a hand sliding to an earring briefly, then back down again. "They killed nearly all of them before I was ready to give in, but for one of them, as I said, and I suppose, at home, we've been billed as either idiot students wanting to change the world, or terrorists of some sort." He shrugged at that, not quite admitting or denying anything when it came to those statements. It was only that sometimes, when there were no sane or simple options left, violence became the only alternative.

"True." He agrees. "And it stands against the day, whenever it is, that I am recalled to home, after as well." He's fine with leaving that behind if nothing else. "I take it your experiences add up quite a bit to this."

[ruinsprofessor]

There's something about his words that rings a bell of familiarity with her, though emotionally rather than anything else. "Idiot students wanting to change the world," Raine repeats, and it sounds fond. "There are worse things to be. I have some of those, myself."

And they succeeded, which is still half a miracle sometimes when she thinks about it. "There were nine of us," she says out loud, reflecting. "Months of fighting, journeying across the world to try to put it right. The dynamics were decidedly different than they are here, of course, but many of the same principles apply."

A pause, and she adds, quieter, "I'm sorry." She means it for his loss, because she can only imagine losing so many of her friends, and hopes she never has to do anything else.