Felcaer: The Necropolis (Windra)

[Luxon Cobrat]

Night had passed and morning had arrived. As the sun rose above the place where a long-awaited reunion had happened the day before, a silver-skinned succubus paced about on the ground nervously. Of course, the sun didn't actually hit the ground here, as the vegetation above was too thick for that, but if she needed confirmation that the bright circle was still shining overhead, she would need only to fly up into the air a ways.

Entropy had been waiting here for the better part of an hour now. Really, she'd probably arrived earlier than she had needed, but this was something that she wanted to get finished with as quickly as she could. For the last two years she had been running, trying to avoid capture by the assassin Rekka. She was more slippery than one would expect, really. In fact, she had survived for nearly twenty millenia by being able to keep from being found when she didn't want to be. But Rekka was as good at finding people as Entropy was at not being found, so it would only be a matter of time until something gave way. At least, there was no guarantee that she could stay hidden forever.

On that note, staying in one place for such a long time had Entropy more than a little worried. Rekka could come out of the shadows at any moment to strike her down and drag her back to Wrathmont. But it was a risk she had to take, as she needed Naira and Scarlet to come along with her if she was going to have any chance at pulling off what she meant to do. So, for now, she just had to put that thought out of her mind and--

Suddenly, her breath flew out of her lungs as the hilt of a sword slammed into her stomach. It wasn't until after that, as she crumpled to the ground gasping for air, that she realized that Rekka actually had shown up, materializing right in front of her and striking without warning.

"You slipped up," he informed her. "I've got you now."

"We," corrected a pink-haired vampiress, also emerging from the trees. "But yeah. We ain't toyin' around this time."

And without another word, Rekka swung his hilt down again, aiming for the back of Entropy's head. But luckily, the succubus was still able to rush out of the way before it hit, also capable of moving with lightning speed, drawing her breath back in even as she did.

"Off to a nice start today," she commented, spinning around and tossing a ball of fire at the incubus.

Before it exploded, however, the assassin had already disappeared. And now, Zom rushed in, diving to tackle the succubus. Entropy dove aside from that, but Zom sprang back up the moment she hit the ground, and spun to snatch at her again. Catching Entropy by the leg as she tried to rise int the air, the vampiress pulled her back down and slammed her into the ground. And an instant later, Rekka materialized over the succubus, holding the blade of his dagger to her throat. Entropy immediately responded to that by bring her sharply pointed tail up and thrusting it at Rekka's back, but Zom was fast enough to catch it and pin it back to the ground.

At that point, Entropy swallowed, realizing that she was out of options. Everything had... suddenly come crashing down right at the last minute. Closing her eyes, she let out a sigh of resignation. Her only hope now was the off chance that the allies she had been expecting would happen to show up right at this moment...

[Windra]

<center>
OoC
Permission given by Lux.

--

Of course! How could either of them arrive late for their little meeting near the Edge of the Woods, let alone watch as their friend was harassed by those who were determined to cart her away ... ? They didn't. On both counts. While Rekka and Zom made their attacks and had the Succubus pinned ... a signal was made with claws ... A nod somewhere ... And then ...

They seemed to come from the very sky. The first motion was aimed towards that blasted sword. A gloved hand grabbed it by the blade, yanking on it, forcing it to twist upwards and away from Entropy's very vital neck arteries and veins. Using this random distraction as a vague opportunity, Naira slung her empty hand back, clenched it into a fist ... and thrust it outwards, flesh meeting cheekbone at a sharp speed. This would knock the Incubus back a few feet ...

Scarlet was a brusque hunter at heart. A guerrilla fighter unlike her half-dragon friend ... under only some circumstances. Normally she would go right out into the open with guns blazing, but somewhere in the depths of her psychotic mind glimmered the faintest of intelligence. She knew that shooting targetlessly in this small area would not only do damage to the two enemies, but to Entropy as well ... the very person they were determined to save. That would work too well, would it? So she had climbed onto a large oak tree that grew at such an angle that it actually twisted over the area. Once Zom was close enough to be within leaping range, Juggernaut took one giant jump and landed upon the vampire's back. Claws wrapped about a neck and arm as the red-skinned woman wrestled her away ... restrained by some unknown force, or a mental voice, or something ... restrained from ripping the heart out of the undead blood-sucker's chest.

"Get outta here, punk asssss!" snarled she, using both arms to hurl Zom in one direction. Eyes blazing with something akin to hatred and bloodlust, she stepped back until she was alongside Naira, who'd recovered into a formal fighting position. They were both posed before Entropy ... a wall of muscle and spirit that could not be passed.

"If you want to run, run," advised Naira. Her tone was unshakable. No emotion lingered with her words. "But if you come back to bother her, it'll be the last time you do."

[Luxon Cobrat]

The assassins were both taken by surprise. Concentrating as they had been on subduing Entropy, neither of them noticed the succubus' friends until it was too late. Almost simultaneously, Rekka was struck by Naira's fist and knocked away while Zom was grabbed up roughly and thrown by Scarlet. It only took a moment for the incubus to recover his balance, but by that time, the half-dragon and the V-ACT had already formed their defense in front of Entropy.

Zom took a moment longer to recover. Having landed messily on her face, she staggered back up and never really regained an actual "balance" on her feet, though she may have never had it to begin with. For that matter, she seemed to be a bit tired, as the sun above, though its rays didn't pierce to here, was taking its toll on her. She managed to give Scarlet an indignant look for a moment and muttered something unpleasant under her breath, but that was the extent of her response.

Rekka, eying Entropy's saviors with a more malevolent look, appeared as though he might have ignored Naira's advice and rushed in to attack. But behind the two undeads, the succubus stirred and returned to her feet as well, as ready to join in the mix as anybody. Seeing that, Rekka grunted and returned his blades to their sheath.

"This is not an even match," he admitted, doing the closest thing to conceding defeat as he was likely to do. "The opportunity is lost for today..."

The incubus then placed his hand on Zom's shoulder. The vampiress apparently jumped at that touch, perhaps not having been expecting it, and almost lost her footing again in the process. She then gave Scarlet and Naira one last defiant huff before both herself and Rekka blinked out of sight.

Entropy spent the next few moments glancing about, staying on guard in case the two enemies were actually still lurking about, preparing to strike again. Eventually, though, apparently becoming satisfied enough that such wasn't the case, she breathed out a deep sigh of relief.

"... Thanks..." she said. "That was... really close..."

[Windra]

<center>

Whether or not either of them had noticed her or not, Scarlet had switched around, jumped to Entropy's side, and clapped the girl roughly on the shoulder. Her grin was, as always, endless and slightly intimidating. Eyes twisted in flee, arching upward as if the muscles in her face contorted to enable the peculiar orbital bone size and capacity. Sharp teeth, ragged clothes, lipless and eyebrowless with a smudge of dried blood here and there and a none-too pleasant scent radiating from her body ... Scarlet could easily make the stomachs of strong men curdle and jump.

"Yer always gettin' yer ass in trouble, girlieeeeee," she mused, attaining a high octave that flickered and bounced. "When ya gonna be's gettin' tougheeerrr. Gotta bash sum asses and rip sum dic - "

Naira wrapped an arm around one of the V-ACT's shoulders and covered her mouth with the same arm's hand. Scarlet mumbled muffled profanities into the gloved palm. In the meantime ... "That was close." Concern welled up. "Are you hurt?" Then ... "If not, we should get going. The sooner we rid you of the pest problem, the easier you'll be able to sleep at night, eh?" To-the-point and concise, Naira was starting to develop a new kink to her personality: why waste time when there was little of it to use?

[Luxon Cobrat]

"Ah!" Entropy jumped, startled as Scarlet's hand clapped on her shoulder, catching her by surprise.

Calming down after a moment, though, she began to look somewhat crestfallen.

"Sorry I'm not very tough," she sighed. Then, in response to Naira, "I'm alright. Yeah, we should go ahead and move out..."

A moment later, she straightened back up, making a visible effort to harden herself for the upcoming trek.

"This is it," she declared. "Final battle for everything. Somebody's goin' down today. Now let's... uh..."

Suddenly faltering again, she looked at Nay.

"You... can still do the portal thing, right?'" she asked nervously.

[Windra]

<center>

Naira guffawed heartily. A hand waved before her face in a circular motion. The space rippled and weaved like disturbed water, come in and out of focus ... Otherwise, though, the scenery was still the same. Onlookers wouldn't suspect a thing right up until the moment of their leaving this realm and heading for another, where their disappearance would be unable to conceal. Scarlet experimentally prodded at the area, grinning with pure glee as the tips of her claws vanished into the unseen void. She pulled back with a squeal prying from her lips.

"I've never been to this place, so I've got no mental image to run on," said Naira, idly twining a bt of her own hair around an index finger. "We're gonna have to do what we did when we went to Ethernos that one time: find the right strand and give it a tug." Even if Entropy didn't remember, she would when they stepped through the portal.

Scarlet did one last look around. For once, her head seemed screwed on the right way, ad very tightly. "Kay, we be's gotting everyt'ing we be's needin' fore we goez headhuntin'?"

Nemo nodded. "Got everything but my sanity."

"Awww. I don't even have daaaaaaaat." uggernaut padded at her own clothes, feeling for the guns, the supplies. "Ready zeddy!"

[Luxon Cobrat]

Entropy remembered that place. That would have been readily apparent, as she immediately froze the moment Naira mentioned it, going from nervous to scared stiff. Memories of being chased through the void, hounded by the creatures that had infested it, came rushing back into her mind.

After a few moments, she swallowed.

"That's... uh... it's..." she stammered, before managing to regain enough composure to talk coherently. "We... beat Kuro... right? So, that place is... safe? ... Isn't it?"

With no small degree of apprehension, the succubus stared into the portal like someone who was afraid of water standing at the top of a diving board. Slowly, she inched towards it, knowing that there was no way around this but not able to wrestle her fears away. Cautiously, she poked it with a claw like Scarlet had, but immediately pulled that claw back as soon as it had disappeared through, afraid that she would be sucked in if she didn't...

[Windra]

Serously now ... watching Entropy made Naira realize that while Naira had the time to get used to Kuro's vanquished status, others had not had the same luxury. Entropy remembered times when things were troublesome for not only her but all of her friends. Scarlet had been a nutjob back then - not to say she wasn't now ... but she behaved a little more on the 'tamed beast' side. Naira was constantly being pursued by Kuro, Valtiel, threatened with the death of her sister ... which happened anyway. And then there was herself, facing the Incubus on a day-to-day basis with the underlying threat of being destroyed or manipulated. Who knew what would happen had she ever been captures?

"Kuro's long gone," Naira assured her, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. A nod was given to Scarlet, who positioned her claws by Entropy's back, hovering inches away from the skin ... Juggernaut[ burst into a grin, trying hard not to cackle.

Because they'd been planning this. Well, not really. But they were more than aware that some things needed a push to get started. This was one of them. Naira pulled, Scarlet pushed ... and before they knew it, all three were being flung through the portal and into the open expanse of 'space, the final frontier'.

They were hovering. Stars glittered all around. Worlds of their own with more beyond. Each had its own distinct shape, feature ... something that made them stand out visibly. Earth looked blue and green as always: a human's figure was walking across its globe. Then there was Ethernos, or what was left of it. Ghosts scurried about the surface, eyes wide, mouth's open in silence. From each realm extended a string - colored to make it stand out. The effort needed to find one specific planet was not difficult. If Entropy really wanted to go ... she would just 'know' which string to pull, even if it was a blind choice.

"I still love dis place," crooned Scarlet, taking great joy in the zero gravity. She twisted and turned but never went out of reach. "I'MA FLY!"

"We're lacking enemies here. The trivial times are long gone," said Naira. "We'll be safe. Now ... make your decision."

[Luxon Cobrat]

The reassurance that Kuro was gone calmed Entropy down a bit, but it was probably still best that she was pulled through the portal as she was, since she couldn't help still feeling some degree of apprehension about it. Once on the other side, she glanced about nervously, looking for any signs of anything that would give chase.

But like Naira had said, Kuro was gone. When nothing hostile sprang out of the void, Entropy finally let out a sigh and relaxed.

"Safe... hm..." she mused aloud once Naira had spoken to her. "That's... good. Because, the next place we're going won't be safe at all..."

But despite her words, Entropy didn't hesitate to begin looking for the string for her world. Within a few seconds, she found it, though she didn't really understand how she knew which one it was. Before she actually pulled the string, though, she stared at it for a moment longer, thinking deeply as she tried to decide on a plan to follow going forward.

And then, something popped into her head.

"Uh... better idea," she said, letting go of the string. After a moment of searching about, she found a different one, and took it in hand instead. "We need to make a bit of a sidetrip first."

The succubus waited long enough to give Naira and Scarlet a chance to take the string before pulling it...

[Windra]

OoC
Very small post. Hope ya don't mind!

--

Entropy found the strand fairly quickly. Scarlet was on the move first, using what little gravity there was in this place to move her limbs and propel herself forward. A little difficult considering the smallest moment could send them soaring in a random direction that wasn't the place they'd intended to go in the first place. Still and all, Juggernaut hovered beyond the Succubus' back, latching onto her shirt at the last second with a stray claw ... then her full hand.

"I can flyyyyyyy," sang Scaret, legs dangling, hair flaying, teeth shining the way they always did: yellowish and beaming in what little starlight was provided. "Like an eagleeee, through the seaaaaa."

"You're also a crackhead," commented Naira. With wind magick being one of her most powerful attributes, all that was required was a simple flick of the wrist. "Bet they never mentioned that in the UV guide book ... " Nemo wound up alongside Entropy just as she reached for another string, and held onto the piece with her left hand. "What do you have in mind?"

Scarlet's eyes grew very wide and sparkly. "Candy Mountain?!"

[Luxon Cobrat]

Candy Mountain?

Entropy looked back over her shoulder at Scarlet.

"No..."

Then, to answer Naira.

"Back to Druin," she said. "The Soul Prison there is the biggest one besides the one in Felcaer. Since Wrathmont must have tapped into it after he took it over, I want to destroy it. The backlash from that just might weaken him enough, at least for a while, to give us our chance to take him down."

Seeing that both of her companions were hanging on, she gave the string a pull. And with that, the three were pulled away, their speed rising rapidly as they were pulled across the stars.

The trip was somewhat long this time. It seemed that wherever the world they were going to was, it was far away from Deep Forest. The stars of the Forest, Earth, And Ethernos were all long out of sight before the glow of Druin's star even became a glimmer in the distance.

As they finally came upon that star, the sight that awaited them was a strange one. The actual light was rather small, actually. Smaller than an Earth-sized planet, in fact. And it seemed to be circling some sort of gigantic machine that resembled a medieval model of the universe, an armillary sphere. But at the very center of the sphere, rather than a globe, there floated a round platform of rock, the topside of which was covered by a massive cityscape that also appeared medieval in technological level.

However, it wasn't toward that slab that the string pulled them. Circling it were a large number of metallic rings, numbering in the hundreds, but thin enough to not obscure the view of the center, and on each of these rings was another round slab of stone, though these were much smaller than the central one. As the three drew closer, another image became somewhat visible as well- the central world seemed to be surrounded by a dark aura, and a number of shadowy tendrils extended from it all the way across space to envelop the majority of the smaller slabs.

It was toward one of these that they were pulled, one that looked quite large in comparison to the others, though the central one remained many times its size. As they were pulled ever closer, it became apparent that this one was covered by city too, but the city here was ruined and devastated. War had passed through here, and had not treated it kindly.

The end of the ride left them on Druin, on a city street surrounded by wrecked shanties and workshops, a forest of enormous towers rising high into the dark and polluted air on all sides. Those towers at one time had been a majestic sight, but now they were burned out and destroyed like everything else.

"If it weren't for the air, we could see Felcaer from here," Entropy mused, staring into the sky. Then she sighed. "Though, I don't know if I would want to see it again right now, like it is. That shadow..."

Raising a hand to her face, she wiped a bit of moisture from her eyes, then took another look around.

"Let's see... I should be able to find the palace from here," she declared. "The towers always were good as landmarks. So... everybody good to go?"

[Windra]

OoC
Sorry for the annoying delay. Life outside of the board, you understand. It happens.

--

Their landing in this ... spot ... was not graceful by any means. They didn't tumble and fall, no. It just wasn't the most beautiful sight you'd expect to lay your eyes on. Of course, this was a world recently captured and destroyed by hands with evil pressing their fingertips. Things were wrecked, torn apart, blown the hell up. It wasn't gonna be a field of roses, savvy? At least there weren't any bodies floating around everywhere. It was already messy without the addition of blood and gore slipping through unwanted spaces. No trickles or trails meandering about in the streets. No limbs strewn askew, hanging lopsided on fenceposts or anything like that.

Scarlet drew in a breath of 'fresh air'. "This be's my kind of environment," she crooned joyously, tongue slipping betwixt the teeth to slap away the drool hanging from her bottom lip. "Like one ... giant ... barbecue ... "

"Your mindset still does bother me some," said Naira, inching towards Scarlet. She rested an arm around the other's stocky shoulders. "And to think you and I are muses for the same person ... " Leaning in, the half-dragon whispered, "You sure you're not adopted?"

Scarlet chuckled, and her rhetoric was just as strong. "Silly you, you be's knowin' mah presence in her mind. Even the best goodie two-shoes needs a bit 'o chaos in 'er so she can surviiivee."

Naira rolled her eyes. Loosening her grip on the V-ACT, Nemo switched attention over to Entropy. "This place looks like hell, En, but we're ready as long as you know the way."

[Luxon Cobrat]

Looking around between the towers, Entropy gave a decisive nod, then floated a few feet up into the air.

"This way," she said, before bolting away over the broken road. "Try to keep up! We've got to get there before we're noticed!"

The distance to cover was great, but flying at full speed took Entropy across it fairly quickly. It wasn't long before the outline of a high mountain in the middle of the city became noticeable through the dark haze that permeated the air, growing ever larger and ever clearer the closer she got. On she went, never stopping until she was right at its base, which happened to be surrounded all the way around by a fairly wide and deep pit that contained a pool of some sort of unpleasant-smelling black liquid seeping down from above.

And then she landed, stopping almost on a dime. High above were the ruins of what had been the castle where she and Scarlet had battled Wrathmont's forces before, with what looked like a mass of writhing black tentacles running out of it up into the sky. But Entropy seemed now to be more focused on a large hole further down the mountain that seemed to have been burrowed down into it. Off to the side, there still lay a wide swath of rubble running through the buildings into the distance, like something big had rolled through knocking them down as it went.

(OOC: And sorry about the... meagerness of this post. I needed to wait for Scar and Nay to catch up again before I actually do anything...)

[Windra]

Entropy was on the move. Naira's reaction was less than a hair short - off she flew into the wilderness that was ruin. Lithe legs made for a fast getaway. In case they were spotted by ... whatever ... there was no way the halfling could be caught. Not easily, anyway. Nemo's speed was hereditary, passed on from one generation to the other and amplified to its maximum capabilities courtesy of the Reaver status. All it took was one errant twitch and she would go flying, faster than lightning, into whichever direction she needed.

"Don't wait up!" she yelled when the demoness stopped. At this time it was unknown if she was joking or prodding at Entropy's lack of patience. "We'll be right behind you - move!" Seriously. They had to be stealthy or they'd be seen. Wasn't pausing in one place going to make them obvious? Naira had no choice but to slow her steps when nearing Entropy. She wasn't surprised when Scarlet closed in to their location less than a second later. She wasn't out of breath, but why should she be? The dead were not hindered by their lungs' inability to keep up.

"What're we be's waitin' fer?" questioned Juggernaut. It was clear from the eagerness in her glossed eyes and the shimmer to her razor teeth that she was eager to get rolling.

[Luxon Cobrat]

"Wait..." Entropy said, holding an open palm out to Naira and Scarlet, motioning for them to stop. "There's something..."

Her gaze shifted up momentarily to the massive tendrils extending up from the castle and disappearing into the clouds above. Then, slowly, her eyes lowered to the pit she stood before, and she stared into it for a moment before moving her hand close to her face and whispering a soft chant into it. And then she rose into the air once more and bolted out over the “moat.”

As soon as she did, a dark-brown tentacle, about a foot wide and covered with tooth-like barbs and with what appeared a mouth full of jagged teeth at the end, shot up towards her. But Entropy, apparently not the least bit surprised, immediately spun towards it and sent a spray of ice shards shooting towards it, pin cushioning the tendril down its length. A loud and shrill squeal erupted from the mouth, but the succubus chased after it, forming a large boomerang-shaped blade of ice in one hand, swiping it cleanly through the tentacle as soon as she was close, leaving the severed part to fall limply back into the liquid as the rest retreated. Meanwhile, another pair of tentacles had risen up behind Entropy and began to whip towards her, but the succubus spun around immediately and threw the blade at them, sending it in an arc that slashed through both of the tentacles at once.

But even as those tentacles dropped, several more rose up, all darting for Entropy at once.

“Don’t think so!” the winged girl shouted as she bolted back onto land and out of their reach. “And that should make a nice enough distraction.”

Then, she turned to Naira.

“See that hole up there?” she asked, gesturing to the tunnel that had been bored into the side of the mountain. “That’s where we need to be. Think you could teleport us up there?”

[Windra]

The sight of Entropy going at it was amusing. And provoked some unwanted thoughts because, well ... tentacles, they didn't exactly have a good reputation, you know? Naira shuddered. In the meantime, Scarlet grinned with glee. She clapped her claws together, perfectly fine with this peculiar scenario ... as disturbing as it strangely was.

"Finally, ahma get sum acshun!" said the Juggernaut who started heading steadily towards the overhang, eager to meet her fate amongst the writhing mass. Before the V-ACT 32 could plummet off, a powerful arm loped around her midsection and gave a mighty yank back.

"You are some kind of screwed up in the head, Scar. Seriously." Naira didn't look too happy with her 'lesser half' at the moment. The frown was, in fact, quite overbearing and very disappointed. "Really now ... Just ... no." That was all that was needed to said. While Nemo dragged the red-skinned fae back, Scar whined petulantly the whole way. Naira used her free hand to tap the Succubus on the shoulder. "I'll get us there, no prob. Just hang on, and don't let go. As always."

They were mere blips in a mere time-frame of a few seconds. No longer did they loom near the edge where hellspawn worthy of the nickname 'Cthulu' awaited hungrily. Rather they sprang into existence within the confines of the bored cave, looking out just beyond the cliff.

Naira did not remove her grip from Scarlet, who's eyes were still set.

[Luxon Cobrat]

Once they were up by the tunnel, Entropy set aside a moment to spend on Scarlet.

"You know, just because it's got tentacles, that doesn't mean it's only got one thing on its mind," she said. "That one's probably more interested in dinner."

And with that, she stepped into the cave. As soon as she did, she felt a sense of dread like the one she had felt last time she was here, and it almost caused her to backpedal out. But this time, she focused herself and pushed forward, doing her best to ignore the feeling, knowing that it was being caused by some source beyond herself. It was strange, though, that she was the only one who had ever seemed to be affected by it...

Just moments after the succubus had disappeared into the hole, several winged creatures of humanoid form descended to the moat where the tentacles where still flipping out. They must have a patrol, as they immediately began searching about the area, obviously attempting to find whatever had disturbed the creature. They would be at it down there for a while, but getting into the tunnel and out of their line of sight would have still been the best idea.

Acting on that idea, Entropy lifted herself into the air and flew quickly down the tunnel. Not far into the mountain, the course took a steep downward direction, barely horizontal enough to walk on. It went on for quite a while after that, until it had reached a point deep below the mountain. Then it emerged into a rather large cavern which, if Scarlet had been able to see, she would have recognized as the place where the last stand against Wrathmont's attack had been made.

Not to say that the room looked quite the same now. It still held the same stepped layout, with several levels of floors progressing down into a pit at the center. The stone column that had dominated the center was gone now though. However, the first detail one would probably notice would be that the aforementioned column had been replaced by a fiery red sphere burning in midair. Furthermore, the room seemed unnaturally dark and cold despite the fireball blazing in the center. Otherwise, it appeared to be completely unguarded...

[Windra]

Despite all this ...

Despite Scarlet's inability to see properly, hindered by the post-mortem glazing of the occuli, her olfactory senses granted her the chance to recognize a familiar location. She had been here before, yes. And really, was it that long ago? Blood pulsated quicker through her veins. An anticipation was building. Here had once been a battle. Perhaps another, more insane one would take place. Glee exploded from her clapping claws while the tongue, so long and strange, drooped from the beast's jowels and follied about, wriggling to and fro.

"Bloooooddd ... ," she drawled. Salivation formed pools on the ground. "We can haz?"

"No, you cannot haz cheeseburger," Naira said with a dismissive wave of her finger. She stifled a chuckle at the V-ACT 32's pouting expression before looking on. "But this place reeks of old battles." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Something's not right."

"S'kinda cold ... " Juggernaut was unknowingly, unwittingly, stumbling towards the blazing ball of flame. "Sumfin nice an' toasty here, d'oh!"

[Luxon Cobrat]

(OOC: And, seeing how this thread has lagged out, it's time to just close it up. A bit messy, and not going to be the way I meant for it to end, but it'll be easier to move on this way.

Permission was obtained from Windy a while back to deal with her characters.)

Landing at the edge of one of the levels, Entropy stared into the fireball thoughtfully.

"So that's the Soul Prison exposed," she mused, then looked back to Naira. "Nay? I think reaving that would be the best way to deal with it. Thing's full of corrupt souls."

"Not so fast," taunted Rekka's voice, the incubus now standing on another edge of the floor, Zom beside him. "You didn't think we'd be expecting you?"

"I'm only surprised you let us get this close," Entropy answered. "But if it's just the two of you, you're outnumbered."

"Don't worry about that," Rekka replied. "Did you think coming here was a good idea? This is the worst place you could be."

As the incubus spoke, Zom rose into the air and began to drift forward, eyes set on Entropy. The look on her face was grim - showing no sign of anticipation, only the resolve to do something unpleasant that had to be done.

"She's basically an extention of Wrathmont," Rekka explained. "In a place like this, her power will be magnified tremendously. Your rebellion will be ending now."

"My rebellion?" Entropy asked. "You're the one that turned against the Overlords and brought Wrathmont on us all!"

"And the Overlords themselves are traitors to Wrathmont!" Rekka shot back. "Wrathmont is our creator! As his servants, the Felcaeri would have ruled an empire that stretched across the whole Underworld!Thanks to your ancestors, we're slaves now, damned to be trampled under the heal of every demonic tyrant that passes by!"

"You talk like you know..." Entropy answered. "Wrathmont isn't the way to our freedom. With him, any hope of freedom will be gone forever."

"Freedom?" Rekka spat. "There's no such thing. The best you can hope for is power. To be on top instead of on the bottom. You know that. That's why you're an Overlord."

At this point, Zom was starting to look impatient.

"Is this philosophical debate about finished?" she asked. "I just want to get this over with."

And with that, the vampiress turned her attention to Naira and Scarlet.

"I hope you're not trying to extend this conflict to other universes," she said to Entropy. "That's just irresponsible. We'd better nip this problem in the bud before it gets out of hand."

In that instant, the two Earthlings simply vanished, finding themselves dropped right back down at the edge of Deep Forest. If Naira had tried to teleport back to Druin, she would have found the world suddenly inaccessible, closed off by a tremendous dark power.

Entropy, unaware that her friends' fate had been so kind, reacted with a startled panic at their disappearance.

"What... What did you do?" she sputtered. "Dammit, I didn't think you could--"

"If you were that concerned about them, why did you bring them here?" Zom asked.

Entropy just scowled up at the vampiress.

"If you're Wrathmont..." she growled, "I'm bringing you down!"

Without any further ceremony, Entropy launched into the air, charging at Zom with claws extended, ready to rend flesh from bone. But Zom moved like a streak of lightning and was behind Entropy before the succubus could react. Coming down at Entropy with both fists at once, Zom bashed her out of the air and sent her careening straight into the ground.

Everything was spinning as Entropy felt herself being pulled back up, Zom having snatched the succubus up into her grasp. Despite the delirium, she tried to struggle free, but her arms were pinned at her sides and Zom's raw strength was too much right now for her to overcome. She thought to try blasting Zom off with magic, but realized just then that the vampiress' touch seemed to be draining some vital force from her body, and she couldn't the energy that remained to her to focus itself. On top of that, the succubus' physical strength was quickly leaving her as well.

"Just relax," Zom cooed into Entropy's ear as darkness began to invade the edges of her vision. "You're too cute to suck dry. The boss wants you alive, anyway. Seems you've got somethin' he wants."

Soon finding herself clinging to the last bits of consciousness, Entropy could only shudder at what lay in store for her now. It had only taken a few short moments for everything to fall apart. This hadn't been the right move at all...

((Thread finished.))