holyspirits | W5 PLAYER CYOA - Daigo, Eupha, Saber, Wisadel

Huh? Oh, nothin'. It's just dried blood, probly.

[ he sounds cheerful enough. jiaoqiu glances at him, but picks up the thread of the conversation: ]

We may have something that you can use to contact someone to pick you up. Would you mind us taking you to our base of operations? You can take a moment to eat something and we'll get you set up with the device. I'm not sure it will lead you to... Hell. But something is better than nothing.

Sounds like a plan to me. Even if we can't get there-- if we can get some kinda word out to the other two, maybe they can make it here to get all of us out?

[glancing over to saber... nerd squad save them. SAVE THEM NERD SQUAD]

I think thaf is our best course of action. We can double check our individuals as well.

[ well they may also need to restock but they're not saying that one out loud it seems rude ]

[ then they will do just that! they lead the two of you through those platforms - there's some teleportation involved - until you reach a nice little closed off area. it's got a huge tree right in the middle of it, and it's surrounded by makeshift tents and tables that are being used to direct soldiers to various parts of the yaoqing.

but none of that is so important. jiaoqiu sets you both up in one of the tents, and promises to come back in a minute with more supplies. basilio gives you both a little jazzy salute, and heads off after him.

the two of you are alone in this tent! there are a couple of things of note in here. a big storage box, two cots, a few bookshelves with various knickknacks on them, and a rug. it'll be a bit before your guides come back. and he did say to stay here, but you don't necessarily have to. what will you do? ]

[wis'adel immediately flops down onto one of the cots, wincing slightly with the movement. yeah, she could go dig around here and be nosy, but what happened back there was disconcerting, and now she kind of just wants to chill?

she'll look over the knicknacks though, what are they.]

...what a weird fucking place.

[ they will rudely open the storage box ]

Yes. I am surprised they brought us here.

[ it is weirdly helpful at all ]

[ there's a couple things on the shelves - there's a fading train pass, a holographic type thing that shimmers slightly when you tilt your head, and a white circular device with a screen.

when saber opens the storage box, they find... a little dude. there's just a little dude in there, snoring. you instinctively know what this is - it's a tuskpir, and they're known for eating nightmares! though maybe this little dude could be useful with a lot of things. it makes a little meh... mehr mehr... meh meh sound as it snores. ]

...well, they didn't say not to touch anything!

[yoinks the pass and pokes at the white device... what is this.

she glances over at the little sounds the tuskpir makes, though, peering down at it.]

-aw, it's cute.

Oh, yes. I have an odd reason that may be useful to us for some reasons.

[ they feel crazy saying it out loud ]

[ she takes the pass! you get the idea that this may summon something to help you in your battle against satan. the device is a superconductor! it will power someone up one time to super saiyan levels.

as for the tuskpir, it sleepily wakes up and stares at you both with big dumb eyes, its little legs waving around in the air. ]

Reminds me a little of some of the dinos. Haha, look at your stubby little legs... can you even walk?

[listen you can't assign me animal handling backstory and not expect her to go AWWW CREACHER.

she passes the superconductor to saber, though.]

Here, feels like this is gonna be more useful for you than me.

... mm. How are you fending?

time to go poke their head somewhere to see what the heck is going on here ]

Edited (Not me forgetting to set up another alarm and then typoing) 2025-03-19 08:40 (UTC)

[ help

the tuskpir does little kicky legs again, with a meh meh meh!! and rolls over to stand up. it can walk, and it can run pretty fast, but it probably cannot get out of this box. please assist.

in any case, as you poke your head out to see what the heck is going on here, you hear a commotion in the distance. in the direction your new friends went. uh oh! ]

I'll manage, don't worry about me.

[she had a weed and she's FINE

she is not fine. but she'll keep saying it, honestly, she's good enough by video game logic. just going to free the tuskpir, picking it up...

before that commotion happens. UH OH INDEED. saber gets a quick glance and a nod; let's go check that out.]

[ guess they are now traveling with this baby!!!!

well it's probably best if wis is holding onto it, since she can fight from a distance while saber cannot.. but yeah time to run over to see what's going on. ]

[ surely nothing bad will happen to the baby

anyway, she can pick it up, yeah, it is so content to be carried around if she wants to.

when you reach the commotion, all you can see at first is a huge crowd of people all mumbling and chattering in concern. why? because there's horrible snarling sounds coming from the center. there's a voice that comes from that center: Back up! Back up, he's --

and then there's an alarming, echoing crack of a sound, and a howl.

that's about the point that people start scrambling away in earnest, screaming. you can only just barely see it, but basilio is on his hands and knees, screaming in a mixture of rage and pain as horrible black crystals crawl out from under his skin, bursting out of his spine and shaping into ginkgo leaves. these flowers start to glow, pulsing, like a thermal bomb ready to blow at any second, but it doesn't seem to stop him. the glow of his eyes and his sharp, malformed teeth are burned into your mind as he looks up at the two of you, and pulls himself to his feet. wis'adel, you'll recognize those black crystals. even in the middle of your au memories, you will very quickly and suddenly know that this is oripathy, somehow - that it's mixed with mara, for rather explosive results.

(is it your fault? are you next?)

and that's about when jiaoqiu comes out of the crowd and grabs both saber and wis'adel, trying to push them to somewhere safer. ]

We have to go, he's gone, there's nothing left of him --

[ we're really putting bas through some shit this cyoa huh ]

[shit. shit, she-- wiš'adel never touched him. how did this even happen? the reasonable assumption is it's somehow her fault, but that shouldn't be possible, he couldn't have...

she glances down to her arm, brow furrowed, before jiaoqiu appears to grab them.]

Wait, wait, then shouldn't we stop him--?!

[ saber, meanwhile, has absolutely no idea what just happened, and only stares at the scene dumbfounded until jiaoqiu comes up to them. they stare at what's left of bas before turning their attention to the other two. ]

There are people. Can they handle this or are they civilians?

[ the crystals on her arm have grown since she looked at them last.

as for jiaoqiu, he looks over his shoulder. ]

There are soldiers, they'll take care of him. I couldn't ask you to help with our problems when you're just visitors.

[ but - he's not going to stop you if you want to fight, to save the people. he just doesn't want to make you responsible for this. ]

[...

she pauses, looking at them. if they've grown--

something strikes her, eyes wide for a second, and she curses.]

Shit. No, you have to-- we have to get everyone away from him. Trust me. Clear 'em out of here.

[she shoves the tuskpir into jiaoqiu or saber's arms. please keep creature safe. excuse her, she's breaking away to go try to catch basilio's attention, gun leveled on him:]

Hey, you!

[ well, saber will listen to her since she seems to know what she's talking about. jq can hold the baby because it's what he deserves 🥺

but saber will just try to get the civilians to get out of the way. if anyone argues they will literally just pick them up and move them they do not give a fuck ]

[ jiaoqiu does hold the baby, looking Very Confused as to why he suddenly has a tuskpir. but he moves back, trying to get out of the way - tries to help saber, too. saber, as you're helping the crowd, you can't help but feel like there's something wrong about this. like you know the person that this monster was.

he certainly seems to know you, because even though wis'adel shouts at him, he seems like he's absolutely focused on saber in particular. he drops forward on all fours, as the flowers continue to grow and snake out from his spine, wrapping like snakes around his limbs. he's going to throw himself at saber and whatever civilians that saber is trying to move away with a roar. the civilians scream, knocking each other out of the way to try and flee.

those crystals are pulsing a little faster, now.

as basilio runs past, he does in fact ram into wis'adel (and jiaoqiu, by extension) on the way past, which throws her to the ground. ]

Shit!

[ow, you asshole

she glances to see if jiaoqiu is okay, first.]

We'll handle it. Make sure they get out.

[you're on civilian duty, jq.

meanwhile, since bas is focused on saber, she takes the opportunity she's got: wiš'adel hauls herself to her feet and takes aim, firing at those pulsing crystals.]

[ JIAOQIU PROTECT THEIR BABY YOU FURRY FRUIT

saber is momentarily confused, trying to figure out why they know this man that they've literally just met. none of this makes any sense, but they don't have much time to think about it further when what's left of bas attacks.

if he actually reaches saber despite the shooting, saber will try to wrestle with him before reaching for the snoopy knife. I have no idea how saber has been carrying this thing and i am not going to figure this out now ]

[ jiaoqiu looks fine, though he's disoriented. he nods a little, giving her a worried look, and then takes the baby and stupid fruits his way off to go and protect civilians best he can, shooing them away, guiding them somewhere safe.

the shooting seems to do some damage, cracking the crystals, but it's clear whatever this hybrid infection is doesn't like that. the vines swipe out and wave wildly. one of them, a particularly spiky vine, strikes out like a scorpion tail, attempting to punch a hole through wis'adel. it's knocked off true course from saber wrestling with the monster, but the intent is there.

the longer this fight goes on, it's like your au memories can't quite hold. you both are starting to remember two different histories at once - the one you had before, and barbarilla and kung fury both. it feels like filling your heads with water, sloshy and slow.

the monster, frustrated by the fact that it can't get a good grip on saber on account of being shot at, punched and stabbed, screams in saber's face. it's a horrible noise - strangled and pained, like whatever is left of him is still in there, horrified. it doesn't change anything, much. unable to stop, it starts ramming its fists into saber as best it can - those fists turn sharp, surrounded by the razor sharp vines. as saber is grabbing for the knife, it lashes out and slices saber's kung fist right off, sending it flying a few feet away.

one of the crystals on the monster's back cracks entirely, and starts to leak. the pulsing is now much, much faster, like a bomb about to be set off. ]

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