dormheads | WEEK 6 CYOA - TAICHI, MALIK, RITA, MANWOL

[It's not him, she thinks. It's an illusion. Claude fights with a dagger, and he's skilled with a bow. The sword is there only because she cares about Sakyou. The same with Tsuyukusa's staff in her hand. Thinking about him hurts, but thinking about him reminds her of what Tsuyukusa would do. He'd never back down from a fight, and Manwol's not about to do the same.

The staff is too short, it won't prevent Claude from slicing at her if he tries, and while she's confident in her abilities she has a bad feeling about what the 'false appearance' part of her roll means -- especially with the way he's blending in]

Rita! Shoot him before he disappears!

[Manwol takes a chance, turning on her heel and running towards Rita's ghost instead, aiming to block its claws with the staff before they can swipe down -- hoping to buy her just enough time,

if it works then maybe he'll be distracted long enough for manwol to grab the sword, but for now]

[ they're stacked with magic, but malik's one useful ability can't be accessed here. so he's left to fend for himself while the rest of the gang gets coordinated.

he has to try, though. when he takes a moment to stop running and to face his fear head on-- it. doesn't go well. he can't even get close, the stench being too much to bear and making his stomach churn. he has to keep moving away but, there's only so much room for him to run, lest he run into his unfortunate groupmates or another fear that would also annihilate him.

but maybe if he keeps his own fear away from everyone else's, they won't be affected by it. or... would the false taichi and claude be affected since they're based on people? would they be able to handle the stench? that gaze?

sorry gang but he's gotta find out. he's booking it over to the two taichi's to test this theory out. ]

[rita's backing up a few more steps without even realizing it, but when manwol runs over, she snaps out of it. and nods, turning her attention to "claude."

she starts casting, motes of light gathering around her, a magic circle appearing at her feet. she'll have to trust that manwol can hold off her pursuer... and even if not, this is their best chance.]

I got it! This oughtta wipe the grin off his face!

[there's a flash of light! but nothing comes from where rita's standing.

instead, from the floor below "claude," a stalagmite bursts from the ground, sharp and jagged and aimed to run him through.]

[well the girls are doing great with their teamwork, to say the least. he can't quite see what exactly is going on, though he sees the light and vaguely recognizes the circle as the kind rita started using in their paintball game a few weeks ago.

here's the thing. taichi has a fight or flight tendency permanently set to fight, so even though the other taichi teleports, he feels the heat. he turns and tries to get out of the way of touching, but he can see a blur heading toward him. correction: two blurs.]

Malik, dodge! [without a second thought, he's using his soccer legs to try and kick the other taichi backwards to make him stumble into the figure following malik. somehow he did not think about how this might burn his foot but whatever, desperate times.]

[Manwol can come successfully block the ghost! It still wants to attack Rita, just like Claude wants to attack her... but that does give them something to work with, too. The ghost only vaguely turns its attention to Manwol so that she isn't dealing with two enemies, and as Rita blasts Claude with a whole stalagmite, he shouts in surprise and is knocked back. It doesn't impale him, he seems to have had the reflexes to dodge that, but he's no longer blending in after being shoved off his feet.

Meanwhile, Malik draws his own pursuer over to the two Taichis, and real Taichi will also feel kind of sick just from his approach. Fake Taichi gets kicked back, stumbling, but-- yeah, Taichi is definitely going to get his foot and his leg burned, as the heat around him flares into a flame that scorches him during the attack. The good news is, though, that fake Taichi definitely does not do well being near Malik's dad. He looks a lot like he feels even sicker when he's gotten close, wheezing for breath.]

[Manwol's tempted to run forward and engage Claude(?) herself, but she grits her teeth -- glancing briefly at the others to gauge their status, soon enough to see Malik running towards the Taichi Twins and Taichi sending his apparent clone stumbling.

Instead, she tries to make eye contact with Rita and then glances over at Taichi's clone who's apparently wheezing for breath. if Rita wants to take a shot then Manwol will continue to keep her ghost enemy at bay in order to buy her some time. meanwhile,]

Malik!

[and she points at claude with one hand in the universal gesture of 'try to kill him with ur poisonous dad, or at least damage him maybe before he MORPHS BACK ALL CHAMELEON LIKE, HOPEFULLY']

[ he dodges as instructed, although it's a narrow miss. he's starting to run out of breath between his sprinting and his ever encroaching disgusting dad.

he hears his name and snaps his attention to manwol, then claude(?) - okay. he has enough stamina left to make one more sprint over to where he needs to be, but this better work, because his energy isn't infinite.

so he runs in the direction of claude, but careful to keep his distance because of that sword. ]

[rita follows manwol's gaze to taichi's clone, wincing when she sees his kick connect with fire.]

... Damn it! I can't use my water magic with everyone spread out like this! You'll all just get caught up in it!

[she doesn't hate malik that much, you know? she's looking between him and taichi, and... makes a quick decision. she pulls out her phone, accesses something on it, and tucks it away again. she starts casting another spell.

another flash of light, and the spell manifests as a heavy burst of water that blasts the fake taichi from below, then falls back down on him from above.]

[a few things happen here. one, the claude monster's knocked back and he has a brief moment where he's very excited to see that that plan worked! two, he's not a fan of nausea and he finds his head spinning a little as the stench approaches. and three, there's a startled, pained yelp as his foot and leg catch on fire. the flames go out and the burns settle as he stumbles a bit to keep his balance, falling back a bit to make sure malik and his dad are bolting for claude and trying to keep an eye on his clone.]

Nice shot! [this is kind of wheezed out because wow, being sick and on fire and half-blind is truly a horrible combination but honestly? good for her. he's trying to keep an eye on all four of the figures as they go. that ghost really isn't looking good...so yeah. he does the stupid thing and begins making his way toward manwol to help somehow, even if it's just to be a distraction to confuse this stupid ghost.]

[As Malik bolts in Claude's direction, he'll find his outline beginning to waver again-- and since Malik is likely between him and Manwol, now, Claude has no problem taking a swing to try to start getting to his real target. He's moving in enough to aim a slash at Malik's side, though he's slowed a bit after that strike as the nauseating smell approaches and catches him off guard for a second.

Taichi's clone yells as he's hit with that double blast of water, and the flames that had started to surround him are doused. It definitely works, and does some damage to him... but it also gets him to retreat for now, just blinking away as he teleports. He's not in anyone's immediate line of sight.

The ghost, meanwhile, seeing it's outnumbered... it retreats for the moment too! It floats up, quickly, and seems to sort of disappear into the machinery. A faint sound comes from it, but nothing happens immediately.]

[Manwol heads straight for Claude too, intending on taking advantage of the opportunity everyone's helped make. She swerves around Malik, and aims her staff up to try and block Claude's strike before he can hit him -- but of course, this means she's also in the vicinity of Malik's dad!!! and the smell is absolutely overwhelming,

her eyes are watering, but she doesn't need to breath in order to try and slam the staff against the wrist wielding Sakyou's sword,]

[ malik sees claude(?) and uses what energy he has left to try and back away, and manwol swerves in to his defense. with her between them, malik feels safe for about a microsecond before the nausea overtakes him.

he can't run anymore, and he's trying to get as much air as he can before he starts to gag. there's nothing more he can do, he can't even be bait until he catches his breath- which is going to be nigh impossible with dear Father nearby.

he knows he shouldn't look, but as he starts to retch from the sickening smell, he does. his gaze is pleading and desperate.

too bad that's not really his dad. ]

[while manwol's off to deal with claude, rita's looking around in alarm for the two enemies that just vanished! she takes a breath and a stance, ready to fight or dodge if the fake taichi shows up again.

if it's the other thing... she's not so sure what she'll do.]

[manwol and malik are dealing with claude and malik's father, and two of their enemies vanish from sight. he pauses in his steps, trying to squint at the ceiling even if he moves to pick up any sort of heat emitting from his clone.]

Watch the machines. [it's enough of a warning, and he's looking to see if there're any walls they can back into. it doesn't solve the ghost problem, but at least his clone can't teleport behind them that way.]

[Claude is doing badly enough that Manwol can knock the sword away! What she and Malik will quickly realize, though, is that this is the case because... well, neither are they, now. Longer exposure to this nauseating smell is actually poisonous, and they're starting to feel worse the longer they stay near it.

Meanwhile, Malik gives him that desperate look... and his eyes glint as he stares back. Despite knowing that smell is very bad news now, Malik isn't going to be able to move a muscle until the petrifaction wears off, frozen in place.

Rita and Taichi, while on observation duty, will notice some of the machinery beginning to whir again as parts that previously looked pretty solid begin to detach-- and one comes crashing down towards the two of them.]

[Manwol barely has enough time to celebrate when she staggers, gasping for air at the same time she tries covering her mouth, she glances to the side and sees Malik -- frozen? he's not moving, and while she's not sure why she knows that it's bad.

the sword (wherever it is) or malik?

she grits her teeth, staggering, and then tries to drive the pointed end of Tsuyukusa's staff into his father's heart. she normally has good aim and the staff gives her a little range, but she's already pretty close,

maybe one of the others will see the sword, but for now]

[ malik feels his muscles tense and his body freeze. he knew it was a bad idea. there's nothing he can do.

he wants to tell manwol to run, it's not worth it, but his jaw is unmoving.

then she goes right for the heart, and malik really, really wishes he could close his eyes.

he's just stuck here, and now he's getting sicker by the second. wonderful. ]

[it's a good thing rita's watching that machinery, because she's ready to move when it comes crashing down. she can only hope that taichi does the same.

in her desperate sprint she ends up throwing herself to the ground and rolling, but manages to fling herself in the direction of that sword. she scrambles over and grabs it.]

Taichi! Take it!

[she's hoping he didn't just get crushed by falling machinery, because this weapon is too big for rita to handle properly, so she's going to climb to her feet and throw it to him.]

[SEE WATCHING THE MACHINES WAS A GREAT IDEA. it means both of them can dive in opposite directions and likewise, he rolls and gets back to his feet. trying to move on his burnt leg isn't really great, but he's stubborn and malik's petrified and manwol's busy and rita's throwing a sword--

--wait, fuck, rita's throwing a sword. he barely grabs it, squinting harder to focus on the target ahead before he takes it and darts off.]

Watch the machines and try to help Malik! [it's hard to say if they can do anything for malik, but they have to try? at least with the fake claude distracted, taichi sprints across the room and adjusts the sword in his hands to try and stab him through the front, similar to manwol's stance.

godddd he's going to owe a lot of springs a lot of apologies later.]

[Manwol drives the staff into Malik's father's heart, and while he does look over to her, it seems he can't do the same trick twice in succession. It sinks in, and he tries to reach for her, to grab at her, but... a few moments later, he slumps to his knees, and then to the ground.

After he's dead, Malik will find he can move again, but even though his body disappears (and the stench with it), neither of them feels any better.

Similarly, Taichi can go ahead and run that sword through Claude, but once he has a hold of it... hm. It's weird. Hey, remember how one of fake Claude's attributes was Aggressive? Taichi feels that too, now. He may end up stabbing Claude more violently than he really intended to. Rita held it briefly enough that it didn't quite trigger, but holding it with intent seems to have done the trick.

As Claude slumps to the ground, fake-Taichi abruptly appears just behind the real one. He'll feel the heat from him.

Meanwhile, Rita will see another piece of machinery clunk to the floor, then another... then they attach to each other, the machines making a horrible grinding wail that sounds a lot like that ghost. Exposed wires and cables extend from it here and there, sparking.]

[Manwol's both high on adrenaline and sick from the poison -- her mind feels cloudy, and she thinks about how the man she's just killed looks so similar to the memory she saw, -- looks so similar to Malik, but there isn't time to think. she just rips the staff out and looks wildly towards the others

she sees claude slump to the ground (it's not him, it's not him not him not him,) and then sees the other Taichi teleport, and it's instinct]

Taichi -- get down!

[and she throws the staff as hard as possible in his direction, towards the fake-taichi]

[ malik continues to be useless and sits down. he feels so sick. it's not just the poison, either-- but dealing with his daddy issues will have to happen at another time, because he's either going to die or puke and right now he wants to do neither of those things!

meanwhile, the machinery is doing it thing. manwol seems to have taichi covered, but rita-- ]

Rita! Try to overload the machine!

[ He's not quite modern but he has working idea of how they function. maybe it's like his bike -- overclock it and burn out the engine? ]

[rita's eyes widen as she watches the spirit take control of the machinery...]

Overload what? That thing isn't running on logic right now, it's--!!

[though as she says it, she'll look over the mass of parts for anything that can be used against it. those exposed wires could be turned against it... maybe there are other vulnerabilities?]

[well.

sorry to everyone in the room, but having an apparently cursed sword means he's jamming the blade just a little harder into claude's chest before ripping it out with little care for what happens to the corpse. manwol shouts and it helps him pinpoint a direction...not that he needs it, given he can feel the heat.

he flat out ignores her warning though and while the clone is (hopefully) distracted by the flying staff, he'll move out of the way as best as he can while he turn around and attempts to jam the sword into his clone, too. with luck both the staff and the sword will cause enough damage. if they have to fight their way out, fine. he'll put up a good enough fight.]

[The wires might do something, yeah! There is also a point in the center where something seems to be glowing.

While they do their thing, though, this machine golem is going to swipe a makeshift 'arm' at Rita. It's patchwork, jagged; this thing doesn't need weapons, it is one.

Fake Taichi... ducks the staff Manwol throws, because she did literally yell his name and tell him to duck! But he's not prepared for real Taichi and his cursed ass sword. He shouts in pain, reaching out to try to grab Taichi's arm with burning hands, but... in the battle of sword vs. soccer boy it's pretty easy to see who wins this one.]

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