Morose

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Guin Stark

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Location: Asteroid M
Skills: Telepathy
~Fit Check~

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There wasn't much else that Guin could do. She was beyond spent, beyond exhaustion. She couldn't taste her tongue and her head was ringing, and she had a sneaking suspicion that if she held a hand to her ears, she would pull it away slick with blood. It was only her own dazed survival instinct that got her to board the Blackbird when the circuit between them ended, that got her to collapse up against the wall, as the world felt like it was spinning around her. She didn't know if everyone had gotten off the ship in time - didn't have the capacity to think about it, to worry about it.

All she wanted was to collapse into a puddle, to sleep for about a thousand years and wake up feeling like a person again. Hopefully she'd done enough. Hopefully everyone would make it off of the Asteroid alive. But there was nothing else that she could do - no other miracles that she could perform, mutant powers or otherwise. She didn't even have the strength to use her powers to rally everyone to move a little faster, to take their actions a little quicker.

Distantly, she hoped that Pietro would be there soon - that she could close her eyes and just trust that he'd catch her if she fell.

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Neil Spellman

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Location: the Asteroid
Skills: Telekinesis
~Fit Check~

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Time was almost up. Max had worked some miracles, but it wasn't enough. Neil didn't need to be psychic to know that the Blackbird wasn't full, that there were still stragglers on the station, waiting for rescue. But they couldn't save everyone. Their heart sank, even as they did what they could. Even as they used their telekinesis to reinforce, to protect - to keep the Blackbird safe, to prevent the hangar from closing in around them.

They wondered if Cortez would be pleased - if the game was still considered won. They wondered why it always had to be like this, why mutants could never know peace, could never have a home. The mansion wasn't a home either - not for everyone. The asteroid, Genosha... It had all been taken away. All lost. Leaving the mutants wandering, separated - leaving them vulnerable.

Inferno - STRIKE THE MATCH! - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Nallore@Trainerblue192@PatientBean@Blizz@Kirah@KazAlkemi

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Earth-666

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@Nallore@Blizz@Trainerblue192: You, JackInTheMax, had replaced three corners of the pentagram with Everdark energy, displacing the babies to the Sanctum Santorum. One of the babes has been transfigured into a demon. It is permanent. Its soul burns every brighter, the corruption spreading deeper as the pentagram kicks into overdrive - as the forces of Limbo fall from the sky onto the Earth. You can see other realms now - Asgard, Helheim, the Dark Dimension - all of them bound for collision, all of them fated to come undone.

Most disturbing, though, is the heavy breathing - the breath of old gods forgotten by time, sealed away in another dimension. The Elder Gods are almost free.

"We need to shut this thing off now!" Wong exclaimed. "I'm sorry!" he then added, pain clear in his eyes, as he conjured up blades of pure energy.

And slaughtered the remaining babes.

Their souls were gone, no longer powering the pentagram - it began to flicker and pulse, struggling to maintain its form, feeding off of the Everdark. A hand made of wind and dust closes around you, JackInTheMax - the hand of a god, reaching from its prison to crush you.

On the ground, Ananym let out a primal scream - her body had already healed the wound you'd given her, Madalyne, it was indignity that she screamed for. But her scream was not her own. No, she screamed with your father's voice - she screamed with Ed's voice. She unfurled the wings from her back and shot up into the sky after you, spitting venom, as she continued to use his voice - as she taunted you and your pain.

"You're human now, hmm?" Edus!Ananym taunted. "Pathetic. I'll be doing you a favor when I kill you - I'll use your spine to build my throne."

@KazAlkemi: You abandon the streets of the city, retreating into the relative safety of the Sanctum Santorum. Zelma has temporarily set aside her crossbow, instead rapidly figuring out the basics of infant care - she'd never babysat before, and most things inside the Sanctum Santorum at not child proof. The space is emanating with raw magic, pulsing off of thousands of artifacts contained within. Perhaps you have an idea of what you need - or perhaps it is simply power that calls you.

An ornate box with Greek markings catches your eye - it rests on a pedestal, with a single word carved into the stone below to mark it: Πανδώρα.

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Runa the Grey

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Location: New York City
Skills: N/A
Spells: N/A

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Runa was not surprised that Prudence had been unable to drain the horn.

She was, however, impressed that Annika managed to pinpoint the reason why in advance of Klara's explanation. The horn was connected to the ocean to their east, the one that the Midgardians called the Atlantic. However, even with that knowledge, Annika's conclusion was incorrect. Runa did not wish for them to drain the ocean - such a thing was impossible. She wanted them to drain the horn. And as to that end, their efforts had yet to persuade her that she ought to rally to their cause. She expected more.

Not even Klara, as much as Runa was filled with pride as she recited their histories, made the effort that Runa expected. She could hear as the child drank from the horn, salt-water filling her mouth. She did not drain it. How could she? Even Thor had been unable to drain the sea, had failed at this task. If they were to persuade her that this time, this place, that this reality - that all of reality was worth preserving.

"Drain the horn," Runa reiterated. "I will not ask it again."

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: Lotus Hotel and Casino
Skills: N/A

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Nancy stared at Leandra, her eyes twitching as she contemplated what to do. Her adrenaline hadn't gone down yet, and a tempest of emotions were rippling through her body, most of them rage - most of them anger, hatred, aggression. Leandra couldn't die. But at least it seemed she couldn't regenerate body parts - couldn't grow another tongue. Nancy would never have to hear her again - would never have to suffer through another conversation with Cupid's daughter.

And then her head snapped to the side, snapped as Demetri started going on and on about prophecies, about how they needed to talk to Leandra. Nancy was sick of prophecies. She hated it, hated those glimpses of the future. It was nothing more than a curse, nothing more than another way to be hurt. She wanted to scream at him, to tell him that he didn't need to fret so much about prophecies, that things would happen the way they'd happen and then it would be over. But more importantly, she couldn't stand to have Leandra in her sight.

"We'll tie her up and bring her back to Ne- to Camp Half-blood to face justice. Again."

She had no doubts as to how Leandra's second trial would go.

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🌈👻 Leda Storm 👻🌈

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Location: Tartarus
Skills: N/A

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From the grainy image, Leda immediately recognized Kiera's surroundings - she was back in New York, back in the city. She was safe. Relief filled her, as much as her dead body could have an emotional response. "I'm in Tartarus, luv - not sure how, really, I ought to be in Elysium by now. There's another girl here with me, the Roman leader - Madalyne." Leda then hesitated, not really sure what to say - could she ask for Kiera to come for her? Maybe they could meet up at the Doors of Death, find their way on out?

"I'm definitely dead but... I'm okay, I think. Nothing's broken. Well. Nothing on me now. I don't know why I'm in the Pit, but... Well, not to get your hopes up, but there's a chance I could just pop out through the Doors of Death? Come back to life and all? Hades won't be thrilled, but I bet he'd have too much paperwork to handle. How are things up there? The quests all complete?"

Avengers Academy 💥

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@BlueSky44@Nallore@Trainerblue192@Achronum@PatientBean@Forsythe@Blizz@Kirah@Natsu

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9:40 PM - Sun. October 31st, 2038 - Margaret Carter Institute

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Trick or Treat 2023 Records

• Mary Sue - Trick - Her backpack was stolen in the library! She'll have to replace her laptop/books/etc.
• Vicky - Trick - Through a misunderstanding with a teacher (Usagi) Vicky has detention for the entire month of November
• Sabine - Trick - someone hacked Sabine’s socials and put up some disgusting, bigoted content pretending to be her
• Andy - Treat - Magneto sends her a gift, it’s a pair of vambraces that fit her perfectly, they’re made out of an unknown material and can deflect bullets and the like
• Zari - Treat - On Halloween morning, Zari also gets a present from her family. It’s an enchanted tool belt. Whatever tool she needs if she reaches for it, it’s there
• Leah - Trick - After the Monster Mash when Leah returns to her room, there is a postcard on the wall from Oslo. Written on it is her birth name. Nothing else.
• Dorian - Treat - On Halloween day, Dorian’s father sends him a ~spooky~ gift. It’s a mini dinosaur! And by mini I mean like 6 inches tall. But it’s alive!

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@Nallore@BlueSky44@Forsythe: Back at the Margaret Carter Institute and released from the jar, Cassie quickly grew back to a normal size - she'd ingested Pym Particles, giving her the ability to shrink or grow at will. Her parents hadn't been exactly thrilled when she'd revealed that fact to them. "I have nooo idea," Cassie grumbled. "Hold on, my phone's blowing up," she said, before seeing she had a bunch of missed messages and calls - one of which was from her sister.

@Vicky

im fine, where are you?? omfg ill be there asap where are you??

Cassie grimaced, her face unusually pale. "I'm so sorry, but I gotta go - I'll catch up with you all later, bye!!" she shouted, before taking off at a run out of the dance.

"What the hell?" Kate muttered.

America nodded in agreement, although she frowned slightly as she glanced over at Zelda, but didn't say why, keeping those thoughts to herself.

@Blizz@PatientBean: Before Ser Nemo and Darius could come to check on Sabine and Leah, Sabine had already swept out of the room.

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April Flynn & Percy Novikov

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Location: Stark Hall - Fourth Floor / Stark Hall - Fifth Floor
Skills: N/A
Costume: Perfuma from She-Ra | the Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who

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Hearing what Mads said only made April feel worse - only made her feel weaker. She shouldn't have shattered from seeing that, she shouldn't have been broken by that... that vision. Mads had it worse than her. She didn't have the right to be upset when Mads was an actual demon, was actually cursed with an infernal bloodline, actually could be called a monster (not that April would ever do such a thing). Her own fears and hurt were made invalid in Mads' presence, and it didn't bring her comfort or joy or peace. It only made her want to disappear more, to wish that she could take it all back - that she wouldn't be pulling attention and sympathy right now, sympathy that she did not deserve.

Danni's words were a little more healing, but they were offset already by April's determination to force these feelings aside, to diminish her own pain as if trauma was a competition, as if one person suffering more meant that another couldn't suffer at all. "I'm fine, I'm fine," April repeated, softly, but her voice a little firmer - as if she could convince herself it was true. "It was... it was just a lot, but I'm... I'm all good now and... yeah! I'm so so good. The goodest." Her laugh at Danni's joke was weak, but at least she managed one. At least she was able to begin to gaslight herself even just a little bit.

Meanwhile, a floor down, Percy couldn't help but feel grateful for Dorian's understanding - it was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He had expected some pushback, some pleading, some hopeful puppy dog eyes - not because Dorian had done those things, but because everyone outside from his family had done those things. It had been the same at his old school, where people tried to get him to do things that he couldn't do, things that didn't make sense - they tried to make his brain operate on a wavelength he just couldn't function on.

"Coffee - maybe with something stronger," Percy mused, at Dorian's offer of a drink - he had acquired some alcohol and kept it hidden in his room. Spiking the coffee with it would be nice. And with all the teachers busy with the dance, he wouldn't need to worry about Firestorm potentially catching him. He knew logically he was too young to drink - but he didn't care. He had his vices.

Inferno - STRIKE THE MATCH! - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Nallore@Trainerblue192@PatientBean@Blizz@Kirah@KazAlkemi

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Earth-666

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@Blizz: You must think yourself very clever, as you summon on the forces of your unnatural realm, of that place of shadows. The energy pulsing off of the pentagram is immense, your skin buzzing from proximity, your cells beginning to decay. It is no easy feat - the creation of the portal is trivial, the veil disintegrating more and more rapidly by the second. One more hole in it is easily made. The portal appears. The energy begins to drain, to travel into the Everdark, into the land.

The land to which you are intimately connected.

Your body spasms, suddenly beyond your control, as the demonic energies pulse into your soul. You begin to burn up, your teeth loosening, your canines falling out in your mouth, as your hair rapidly grays and then withers away, your body prematurely aged to a man of 80 years - your knees brittle, your legs weak. Each breath is agony, each breath is pain.

Your vision is dim, your hearing almost gone - but not so much that you cannot hear her.

That you cannot hear Ananym whisper, appearing next to you in a blaze - "Jackass, your meat looks... bad."

If this is what has happened to you, what has become of the Everdark?

You have seconds to live - seconds before you fade away.

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Runa the Grey

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Location: New York City
Skills: N/A
Spells: Elder Futhark Runes (ōþila)

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Runa considered them, considered their pleas - considered Prudence's request that she make this choice for herself, that she not choose on behalf of the god she had created, of Those Who Sit Above in Shadows. They tilted their head towards the sky, even though their eyes were long since gone - they reflected on what would they want, if they were able to choose. For so long, Runa had existed, had existed for their god - had existed to prevent Ragnarok, to break all the cycles, all the chains. And in doing so, they had bound themself - had restrained themself, had accepted the curse as a curse and not as an opportunity, a chance. It was not a curse that they could shed, not one that could be transferred to another - they shook their head at Carolina's suggestion.

"Very well," Runa said, before drawing a rune and casting it. This question, they had decided, would be settled in the manners of their culture - of their people. Their companions may have forgotten it, but they were first and foremost an Asgardian goddess. Their aid could not be won lightly. There had been a time when the gods meddled in the affairs of Midgard openly, when her uncle fought to protect it - and the price had been high, the tragedy brought upon the Odinson heavy.

The rune shimmered, before a horn appeared in Runa's hand - a drinking horn. It was a familiar weight. Perhaps Klara would recognize it, if her father had told her this tale. "I will give you my portion of Stephen's mantle, of his soul - if you can drink dry this horn." The challenge was open for any.

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Guin Stark

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Location: Asteroid M
Skills: Telepathy
~Fit Check~

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Guin nodded somewhat absentmindedly at Pietro's request for her to not overdo it, right before he rushed back off into the fray. That would've been the smart play - it would've been the good thing for her to do in terms of her own health and wellbeing. She had pushed herself to her limits and a little bit beyond, drained and weak from connecting with so many minds at once. She watched as people rushed in from portals and the hallways, as they hurried onto the Blackbird, as Mira got the ship prepared to take off. Slowly, Guin rose to her feet on shaking legs, as Lance came up to her, talking about head counts.

Not everyone was there. They were missing people. And Guin felt like she would vomit up blood if she tried to reach out telepathically again, but how could she not? How could she not push herself more and more when lives were on the line? Everyone on the asteroid - well, almost everyone - deserved to live, deserved to get on the Blackbird and make their way home. None of them deserved to die for Cortez's disgusting game. Maybe Exodus. But no one else.

"Shit. I'll reach out, tell them to hurry their asses back here," Guin told Lance, before smiling slightly at Carolina and shaking her head. "Just help get people onboard."

At Max's plan though, Guin resisted the urge to roll her eyes - barely. But she couldn't help but be mildly offended, that he was acting like there were no possible telepaths around, and she was right there. Maybe it was out of compassion that he didn't ask her to do it, but she didn't care. She wasn't weak. She wiped her nose, dislodging a mixture of wet and dried blood, before taking unshaky steps forward. "I'm in." Did she trust him and his crazy plan? No. But if it saved lives... she had to try.

Roll Request

Guin will fulfill the telepath role in Max's plan.

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Neil Spellman

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Location: the Asteroid
Skills: N/A
~Fit Check~

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They felt ill as Pietro whisked them to the hangar, as they made it to the Blackbird, dragging Anne Cortez along. She hadn't woken up yet thankfully, just a silent shell that Neil made sure made it onto the plane, even as they would have shed no tears over leaving her behind. And even though the world was still spinning a bit, Neil did their best to help others - to usher people onto the Blackbird, helping those who needed assistance, and trying to find seats for everyone. The ship hadn't been intended for a hundred mutants - but it would have to do.

Then Max suggested an ancient ritual, and Neil's chest filled with hope. Of course Max knew some deep magic! He must know how to save everyone at once on the ship, probably even safely teleport them down to Earth through some pocket dimension lost to time. They grinned slightly at the thought, at the realization that they could do this - that the X-Men would save everyone that day.

Avengers Academy 💥

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@BlueSky44@Nallore@Trainerblue192@Achronum@PatientBean@Forsythe@Blizz@Kirah@Natsu

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9:30 PM - Sun. October 31st, 2038 - Margaret Carter Institute

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Trick or Treat 2023 Records

• Mary Sue - Trick - Her backpack was stolen in the library! She'll have to replace her laptop/books/etc.
• Vicky - Trick - Through a misunderstanding with a teacher (Usagi) Vicky has detention for the entire month of November
• Sabine - Trick - someone hacked Sabine’s socials and put up some disgusting, bigoted content pretending to be her
• Andy - Treat - Magneto sends her a gift, it’s a pair of vambraces that fit her perfectly, they’re made out of an unknown material and can deflect bullets and the like
• Zari - Treat - On Halloween morning, Zari also gets a present from her family. It’s an enchanted tool belt. Whatever tool she needs if she reaches for it, it’s there
• Leah - Trick - After the Monster Mash when Leah returns to her room, there is a postcard on the wall from Oslo. Written on it is her birth name. Nothing else.
• Dorian - Treat - On Halloween day, Dorian’s father sends him a ~spooky~ gift. It’s a mini dinosaur! And by mini I mean like 6 inches tall. But it’s alive!

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@Nallore@BlueSky44: "Yeah, don't mention it," Kate said, breathing a little bit heavily from the adrenaline. She blushed ever so slightly, before turning her attention back to their current problems. "So... we are still down one Cassie. And I've no idea where America and Link went off to. And the dog is gone." She frowned, feeling particularly betrayed by Buttons. Lucky the Pizza Dog would never have done something to her like that.

A moment later though, a portal was punched open and America, with Zelda in tow and a jar, fell on through.

"Hey babes!" America said with a grin. "We found Cassie. Making a quick exit."

She then punched open another portal - this one leading to the school gym, and motioned for everyone to go on through. "Emphasis on quick. I don't think the King likes us."

Kate raised an eyebrow, before jumping on through the portal. "Don't tell me you got us banned from freaking Camelot!"

@Forsythe: While her external communications had been disabled, that didn't prevent Vicky from monitoring her surroundings. She would notice that Cassie's phone was once again pinging the cell towers in their area - that whatever had happened to her that night, it seemed she had returned. Or at least, her device had.

@Blizz@PatientBean: Everything happened incredibly quickly. Leah moved to strike, to kill the beast and save her girlfriend. Sabine managed to calm Marrok, showing Marrok happy moments for the first time in their existence. Leah's strike with the sword was perfection, as if the blade was an extension of herself, the strange metal resonating with her fury. She speared Marrok through the mouth, the blade traveling upwards and through Marrok's skull, killing the werewolf.

Their surroundings then dissipated around them like smoke, yet what felt like grief would cling to them, would infect their minds, as they would find themselves back at the Monster Mash - back at the dance, with a werewolf's carcass at their feet.

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April Flynn & Percy Novikov

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Location: Stark Hall - Fourth Floor / Stark Hall - Fifth Floor
Skills: N/A
Costume: Perfuma from She-Ra | the Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who

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Percy's face wrinkled up into a snarl as Danni booped him on the nose. "Don't," he hissed, looking almost like a cat about to bite if touched once more. Perhaps if he had felt less exhausted, less like shit, it would be easier to be on good behavior - to remember that Danni was very dear to Dorian. But right now, all Percy could think about was how he desperately needed to lie down, to curl himself around a water bottle and sip very slowly, to not be perceived by any other living souls. Teddy wasn't around today thankfully, so he'd have the dorm room to himself.

He had no interest in a cuddle pile - the thought made him want to rip off his skin. He didn't like physical contact. He didn't understand it, didn't know why Dorian's friends all liked to pile into a giant writhing heap of bodies. Percy valued his personal space to an extreme. He turned to look at Dorian, and Percy shook his head. "I can't... I can't do that. All those people..." he murmured, using all his willpower to be gentle, to not snap and take out his exhaustion on his boyfriend. Dorian was suffering too - he couldn't even walk much, just as exhausted as Percy felt.

Meanwhile, April had the cup of water from the communal bathrooms cupped in her hands, the water shaking choppily not from the movement of her body but from her powers, like a small sea storm was happening within the paper cup. The next thing she knew, Danni was there - beautiful, sweet, brilliant Danni. He wrapped around her almost like a snake, like a protector. And something loosened her lips, something made her body connect through the tears, enough for her to say the word - to say what it was she'd seen.

"Magneto," she whispered, like speaking a curse. "I was him.... I became... I became him..." April confessed, the water in the cup shooting upwards towards the ceiling, hitting it, and then crashing back down onto them, dousing them on the bed. She hated herself for being so weak. She hated herself.

She hated herself.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: Lotus Hotel and Casino
Skills: Audiokinesis

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Nancy's rage increased exponentially, as Leandra dared to accuse her of being a bad friend to Mads, as if she wasn't doing everything she could to help Mads, to get her back. She disarmed Leandra quickly - Leandra had always been a shitty fighter, and it helped that Demetri, having come to his senses, had turned into a snake and partially constricted her. "I'm done listening to you," Nancy spat, before grabbing Leandra's tongue in her hand, and severing it with her dagger. "You're never going to dirty her name with your disgusting mouth, you goddamn mega bitch."

She held the tongue in her hand, even as the blood trickled from it, and she turned her attention to the monsters. She whistled, trying to find the right pitch, the right frequency. She tried to build that resonance, to explode their brains from the sound - and at first, she was struggling to focus, struggling to find the right note for violence, but then she found it. Three of the remaining five monsters exploded into dust and gore.

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🌈👻 Leda Storm 👻🌈

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Location: Tartarus
Skills: Rainbow Manipulation

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"Normal, I think?" Leda said with a shrug. She wasn't really sure how being dead was supposed to feel like - she felt pretty much the same, although she assumed that she didn't need to breathe or eat or drink or anything anymore. She probably didn't need to sleep either. She was free to just sorta vibe for the rest of time. It had sounded nice in life, the idea that she could just chill like a hero in Elysium, that she could have parties and all the food and drink she wanted and rest on her laurels. But now, in Tartarus, it all seemed empty - faded and lackluster.

"Yeah, I can give Mum a ring," Leda said, before immediately settling on a person to call. She held her hand out in front of her, summoning up a soft beam of rainbow light. She didn't have a drachma or anything on her, nothing to offer Iris as an offering, but hopefully... Hopefully her mother would be kind. Hopefully she'd do this much for her. She had just died after all.

"Mum, I owe you a drachma," Leda said. "Would you mind putting Kiera on? She's probably at her dad's place right now."

She waited, anxious for a moment, before the rainbow rippled - and a grainy image of Kiera came on through. "Kiera! Luv, it's me! It's Leda! Can you hear me? I didn't have any change to offer Mum, hopefully the quality's not too bad..."

Inferno - STRIKE THE MATCH! - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Nallore@Trainerblue192@PatientBean@Blizz@Kirah@KazAlkemi

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Earth-666

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@Blizz: You rack your mind for ways to kill immortals, to slay the undying, but all that comes to mind is a wooden stake through the heart, and wreaths of garlic around the corpse. The treatment for a vampire. But given Runa's lack of heart (and fangs), this may not be the most effective approach.

@Nallore: You move to leave, to summon the winds beneath you and ascend to the sky with the Cloak of Levitation. But the fabric is suddenly unwilling, your feet remaining firmly rooted on the ground. Perhaps it is because of your change - that you are no longer the same Madalyne, the same girl that became Sorcerer Supreme. Or perhaps it is the cloak insisting that you remain, that you witness the newfound civil war. Or maybe it is simply your own anxiety, your own fear that grounds you - that keeps you from ascending.

@Nallore: As you peer into the future, you find it hazy, shifting. There are some eventualities where you win the goddess to your side - others where she abandons you, where she is another foe that you must face. Each time you grasp for more detail, for more information as to how a future may come to be, it slips between your fingers like water, distorting the greater image. But you know this - it is possible. There is a way to get the end you desire.

@Trainerblue192: You attempt to grab onto the babes, onto the infants powering the sigil, but they elude you. The magic of the pentagram locks them in place, strong enough as to disrupt your teleportation, to disrupt your spells. They must be removed physically - but a disruption to the circuit could unleash an explosive amount of energy. Enough that the odds of survival, for you or the babes, seem grim...

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Runa the Grey

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Location: New York City
Skills: N/A
Spells: N/A

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The detail's of Jack's facial expression were lost on Runa. "Mm, yes. Another time - one not too distant." That had been the name they had introduced themself with to this crowd, to this group - Gullveig. It was not a name they had born as a maiden, when the universe was still bright and filled with hope. No, the moniker had come later. Runa was not the first Gullveig - yet she would be the last, she would see to it that it was so.

"Klara will not suffer - because she has already ascended," Runa said, their voice steady and strong. "Klara died long ago - died in the war alongside her father."

Yet Prudence's words Runa considered, considered her request to be selfish, to not take action at the behest of another. Everything she had done for millennia had been because of Ragnarok, had been for her family - for the god she had birthed from their collective consciousness, from their souls she had ascended. And that action had cursed her, had cursed her to forever walk the Nine Realms - to know no salvation, no peace, no death. Her god had made every being swear to continue her life, to spare her from death - just as her grandmother had done long ago for her father Baldur. There was no punishment great enough for her sin, for those she had slaughtered to power the spell. And her god made sure that Runa knew that - knew that even as she had saved them, they had forsaken her.

So Runa considered for a moment, just a brief moment, whether Prudence was right - whether she ought to forsake them in turn, ought to allow the cycle to continue on again in countless realities, for more pain, more suffering, more agony.

Klara defended her, forcing Jack to heel - and the corners of Runa's lips twitched ever so slightly.

Then came Max's appeal to the past, to a conflict almost long since forgotten - a bewitchment, an enchantment, where a sorceress had made Runa believe that she was human - believe that she was loved. The memory of it ached as much as it comforted.

"What would you bid me do?" Runa asked Prudence, asked Klara.

They were on a precipice now, dancing between shatter points, between choices.

But in their heart, they knew the path they must pursue - they knew that everything they had ever wanted was forever beyond their reach, and the only comfort could be found in oblivion's embrace.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: Lotus Hotel and Casino
Skills: N/A

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Nancy's eyes widened, in a mixture of horror and rage and a tiny fraction of relief as Leandra's body knit itself back together, as the corpse rose, filled with life once more. Her blood boiled as Leandra gained the upper hand, their positions reversed as the zombie held a knife to her throat, as the monsters shoved Cassian - fucking grody ass Cassian - through the Doors of Death. She hated the way that Leandra smiled at her, briefly imagining knocking out all of her teeth, or better yet, prying them out. She would find new ways to make Leandra suffer.

Especially as Leandra held Mads before her like a bait, like temptation.

Especially as Zeke softly said her name.

Nancy inhaled deeply.

"Nothing you can say is worth shit to me," Nancy snapped. "Nothing you can do is worth shit to me. You're just a sad little powerless puppet doing your best to make other people miserable - but guess what? You're nothing. To anyone. No one is going to remember you, no one is going to sing little songs about Cupid's fucked up daughter, no one. Not even the rats that will eat your spleen as you rot in a dumpster like the trash you care."

"So you can go fuck yourself." Nancy then spit in Leandra's face.

Roll Request

YOLO. Nancy is going to get Leandra's dagger out of her face, and attack.

Skills: Daggers, Hand to Hand Combat, Sleight of Hand

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🌈👻 Leda Storm 👻🌈

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Location: Tartarus
Skills: N/A

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Leda let out a slight sigh of relief as the drakon wandered away, its movement shaking the ground. They were safe - for now, at least. But she was still plagued by questions, by worries about what would happen if they were to be hurt here, if she could die a second time. As a demigod, she had always been comforted by the fact that she knew what would happen when she died - she knew that she would end up here in the Underworld, that she could be given the rewards heroes deserved. She didn't know what would happen now though, that safety, that security was gone. In its place was fear.

"Can ghosts even rest, y'know?" Leda said, as they made their way into a cave of sorts, not too large and clearly disused. It'd be an okay spot to take shelter, and it didn't seem like any other monsters lived there. Well. She supposed monsters weren't in a huge habit of living in Tartarus anyways, likely shambling along to try to reform, to come back to the mortal realm to find more demigods to terrorize. "Or what's to happen if you die, eh? Do you vanish? Or... will you just stay right where you are, since monsters respawn here?"