17561/The Tower, Inverted

The Tower, Inverted
Date of Scene:	02 April 2024
Location:	An abandoned town in Upstate New York.
Synopsis:	The entity is no more, but something unknown was gained. What will be its legacy?
Cast of Characters:	Julio Richter, Betsy Braddock, Douglas Ramsey, Tabitha Smith, Caleb Dykstra

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Julio Richter has posed:
Theres this stone building, no windows and only one set of doors. Used to be about ten stories tall. Plopped in the middle of Anytown USA. They say it was owned by a lodge, but they say that in a way that your expected to think Free Masons, or Elks, or Shriners. Something benign, bunch of old men with tarnished metals, swapping stories about the good old days. They don't expect you to ask which kind of lodge, because they don't want to answer. If they know its because maybe they were told to stay away from it. Or because they had a grandpa who was a member for a little while, and he fed them enough bullshit to make them suspicious. They dont tell you that the one time anyone came out of that place that they heard about was back in the 50's. The guy looked ok but every day he lost more of his memory, and his ability to make memories, until each day he woke up and didnt know where he was, or who he was. They don't tell you that they locked the guy up in a mental hospital until, and there he stayed until JFK became president. Then in 63 JFK signed the community mental health act, and all those hospitals closed down, let out. This guy got put out on the street, someone you might have met with a hand out, begging for change until he died from exposure or disease, or from the secret he was carrying.

Maybe that building I told you about, its in one of those lost towns.

Times Beach, Love Canal, Centralia.

One of those places where something bad happened. People packed up, moved away. The ones who stayed on got lost to the ravages of time and neglect. Eventually the lawns grow up, fill with weeds, cant really see the houses from the road any more. No one around for upkeep, even to mend the clearly marked signs on the blockades that say "Do not enter." or "Town closed." or "Danger, Dioxin.". The trees grow in fast, cover the place from above. You fly over, you'd never known there was a town there, a place with people hoping for a better life until they scattered like roaches.

Maybe if your a geomancer, its a place you can dream about. Not a good dream though, a kind of dream that stalks you when you sleep. Something in that place reaching out to a kid who thinks and speaks and dreams in earth and stone. He tries to make it go away, tell someone about it when he wakes, but dreams they dont translate so well. All understanding leaves when he wakes, he feels slack jawed trying to tell someone. Like an idiot. He can't make them understand how maybe, he saw something, and it scared him. Now the building is sunk into the earth, nine stories down, the parking deck next to it to. A localized earthquake, a freak seismic event. But somethings still in there, something bad, something screaming out into the night like a wounded animal.

"I...I..." Julio Richter stammered, "I need you help."

Julio Richter has posed:
The top of the parking deck is now accessable as the bulk of the structure has been sunk almost all the way into the ground, preserving its integrity for the most part. Climbing over a short wall, that might have originally kept you from hurtling ten stories to your death, you are able to now walk down the ramp into the structure and into the earth below. Worming around the down ramps, you descend deeper into the earth. Its cool and moist. By some miracle, the occasional long narrow flourescent light is still working, buzzing, flickering. Down down, is it a tunnel into the earth or a tower rising from it, even Jeff Vandermeer wasn't sure. Theres no view of the town, just dark. Earth and rock spill in from where sunlight used to. One solid wall shows cyclicly as you turn, where the parking deck has been snuggling the mysterious building its whole life, and at the bottom a large crack shows through to the lodge vault itself, light spilling in. Beyond the crack the building appears lit by some unidentifiable source, showing the entire thing to be hollow and almost empty. It would appear to be filled with water, a couple inches deep above a marble floor, muttled with dirt and rock near the crack. In the center of the room is an elevator, cables extending from its roof upwards into the dim dark. It is large, presumambly for cargo has two sets of doors, both are open, the floor inside is dry. The soft sounds of "The Girl From Ipa Nema" play melodiously into the cavernous interior of the vault.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter peers through the crack, and swallows. "I think I remember this from my dream. I think...thats the way in." he says, indicating the bizzaire elevator car sitting in the middle of the room, with cables extending into the void and no notable structure surrounding it.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Psylocke was there, her psychic senses picking up Julio's distress easily enough. So she suited up and joined him and the others, "Alright, I'm just hoping there's not a trapezoid-headed maniac running around here." Her eyes flicker around, "Seems like a pretty clear invitation, though."

When she recognizes the music in the background, she frowns slightly, shaking her head.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
There's places all like that all over the country, really; places where crap got dumped or got buried before people realized that was bad; clay shells that got busted because someone thought nothing of building a school on cheap land despite all the warnings. Mistake after mistake after mistake.

And yet. And... yet. Doug has been reading a lot of books on the Occult lately. He's chasing some vague scrap of language down a rabbit hole and honestly he's not sure where it's going to lead. The first step is learning to read a language; the second, to understand when you hear it spoken, and the third is to speak it yourself.

Doug is wearing a filtration mask and a black and yellow costume that's got a form fit and provides all manner of hazmat shielding; he's carrying an air quality meter with him along with some other useful tools hanging off a belt. He narrows his eyes. "This takes me back." He says. "That deep, existential dread? Feels like childhood."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby turned up because hey, a friend asked. Luckily for people she did not turn up turnt up. There could be an argument that se was considering she turned up dressed kind of loudly.

Being upstate New York she didn't need to hijack the Blackbird. Just come on her motorbike. The blonde dressed in all leather, pink catsuit, padded, with a red jacket over the top of that. It's functionally a uniform but lacking X livery, she looks like some influencer out looking for selfies and clout.

"Our childhood involved Brood, Alien Despots, Sentinels, you dying, why would you be nostalgic?" she asks to Doug. The expression she wears one that shows she does not like reminiscing that far back.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb? He was passing by in his car, a 1970 Dodge Challenger, when he spotted the sunken building and people gathering around. Some sort of accident? A cave in? That's curiosity getting the better of him...

So, there he is, approaching, a large duffle bag that he carries with him just in case something happens - you never know, right?

"Uhm, what the hell happened here?" He asks, looking around, "Is someone hurt...?"

Julio Richter has posed:
Inside the elevator there a set of gilded buttons with cloudly glass covers, barely visible are the locations "The Lobby", "Hall of Memory", "Hall of Deeds", "Hall of Chains", and "The Infirmary". Across the top plate of the doors opposite you there are a series of indicator lights to let you know what floor you are on. There is one extra that is not labled, second over from "The Lobby". You appear to be at "The Lobby" at the moment. The pair of doors opposite the way you entered also appear to be damaged, four large and heavy looking dents sit in the metal plating that forms the door opening, but the doors close all the same once you have entered and appear to be intact. The lighting in here is bright and cheery, the Girl From Ipa Nema plays on repeat, the delicate sound of Antionio Carlos Jobims samba guitar and the velvety voice of Astrud Gilberto join forces in a nod to an underaged girl he noticed on the beach one day.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Psylocke glances over at Caleb, "That's a very good question, and what we're trying to find out. And you too, apparently." She smiles slightly, "Welcome aboard, by the way." She pauses, then looks at the group, "I'm going to establish a psychic link, since this is far too weird for my tastes. Though I might suggest the Hall of Memory for the first stop, since that seems to be the best place for answers, at least on the surface."

And then, there's a faint butterfly-shaped aura of pink energy around Psylocke's eyes as the psychic link with those present is established.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter looks to Psylocke, nodding at her confidence, "What she said." borrowing it for his own.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug looks up at the sign emblazoned 'HALL OF CHAINS'. "I'm getting a total Morgue or Men's Bathroom from Resident Evil 2 vibe from this sign." He says, as he shines a flashlight on it. "I don't want to go in there. But I have a feeling we're going to have to go in there. I just know it."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb is mildly surprised when he notices Betsy's 'butterfly effect' lighting up, and then, all of a sudden, it's like he's on radio. <<Oh, wow...>> He kinda smiles at the sursprise. <<Well, pleased to meet you. Name's Caleb.>> He looks at the options, <<Uhh... Wow, I really do pick'em...>>, and shrugs, <<I'm down with whatever you choose...?>>

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"The hall of chains sounds somewhere between a dungeon and a metal concert. Or Emma's room. Same diff." Tabby points out while she steps in and looks at the options on the elevator control panel. "But we can totally stick with Memory as a warm up."

Tabby gives a reassuring smile to Caleb as the mind link kicks in. <<I'm Tabby, the gorgeous lady with the wild hair is Betsy, and we have Do8ug and Rictor. Don't mind the voices in your head. Or the new ones if that is a thing. Better than dodgy dell reception and tuning you in to walkie talkies and ear pieces.>> she reassures.

Between her and Betsy, the telepathic range is wat better than Bluetooth. <<Eventually Cypher, lets warm up to the impending trauma. I've got a fresh batch of weed brownies back home we can split.>>

As for choice. tabby hits Memory but she teases Chains because this is still Boom-Boom.

Julio Richter has posed:
The indicator light over the door advances to the unlabled location. There is a palpable feeling of crossing a threshold as the elevator begins to move. Some imperceptable barrier. Finally, the door opens and The Bucket Head joins you inside. It is a tall and slender humanoid. It is just a touch too tall for the elevator and is forced to stoop. Its wearing a bucket on its head, obscuring its features, and a long black raincoat obscuring its body. It has large undecorated clown sized boots, and its hands are tucked into its pockets. It steps into the elevator and turns its back to the group, whistling along with the music quietly. The doors close and the elevator begins to move again, the indicator light now advances to your selection and the elevator begins to move again.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
When the Bucket Head steps inside, Doug looks up at it. Then straight ahead. Then back up at it. Then he rubs the back of his neck, and rocks slightly back and forth lightly to the music. Mentally, he starts thinking about how he's going to explain THIS one to his therapist. 'So there I was, when something out of a Junji Ito Manga got into the elevator. I was sincerely hoping I'd be able to get out of there before it took that bucket off and showed me what was underneath...' He flattens his mouth into a line.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy gives Doug a wry look, "I told you that manga was no good for you. Can't believe you still read that stuff, Douglas." She makes jokes because, well, it's who she is. And panicking because the Silent Hill reject joined them in the elevator isn't exactly on the list of options right now.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
<<Yeah, I've seen some of you around>>, Caleb says, yet pointing at Tabby, <<You blow shit up, right?>>

And then, The Bucket Head (not the guitarist) walks into the elevator.

He looks at the others with a deadpan face.

<<This... Is an alien thing, right?>> He shrugs, <<Or just stepped into horror zone, like when with the freakazoid with the spikey hair?>>

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby's reaction to the extra passenger is totally a more blase reaction. "Sup, next floor, ladies lingerie, sporting goods, existential horror." She probably should be feeling all that dread and worry, but she's been through a lot and it might have left a few dings in her psyche by now.

<<Yeah, Boom-Boom when we're working usually. Sorry if I spaced in recall. I tend to end up in a lot of random team ups I lose track of it all!>> she thinks apologetically to Caleb.

Julio Richter has posed:
The Bucket Head replies casually from inside his bucket, perfectly content to interact with the group but no desire to alter its posture. "Hall of Memories at any rate. I'm not really here, or I am, but I'm not a person really. More of a book? Maybe personified ritual. You know? Everything here is just swimming in metaphors anyway."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug gives Betsy a sheepish smile. "He's Japan's answer to Cronenberg, I can't help it." He looks up as the elevator goes DING and Bucket-Head gets off. Oh great. It talks. And this is their stop. He gets off the elevator. "I wonder where we meet the embodiment of all the mistakes we've committed in life."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Psylocke gives Doug a wry glance, "As long as it doesn't show that disastrous blind date I had back in July. Not one of my best moments." She chuckles dryly, unable to help herself. Then she looks over at the mouths, then at the Buckethead, and shakes her head slightly. "Brian's told me about these kind of deals. Very faerie-like."

Julio Richter has posed:
The elevator door opens up on a small foyer, a majestic door with a plaqard that reads: The Hall of Memories

This room has damp air and smells of warm breath. The floors, walls and ceilings are contructed of human mouths webbed together by sanguinous muscle tissue. The floor has an elastic feel, like walking on a large trampoline. Its difficult not to step into a mouth on the floor and when you do it might take the chance to taste your shoe or knaw a bit on your ankle, or protest loudly in muffled unintelligable words. Despite the caucaphonous din, its possible to discern speach from the mouths, telling stories of childhood and life, precious moments each one. When someone speaks that is not a room mouth, they all begin to shush each other "Shhhh shhhh shhhhhhhh..." until the whole room is silent in pregnant expectation. The Buckethead calls out from the elevator: "In order to receive the Ward conferred by this room one must offer a precious memory to be accepted and owned by a mouth for eternity. This memory is now lost to you. You can say it out loud, you can whisper it into a mouth, all that matters is the offering and its quality, and the effect its loss has upon you."

When and if a memory is offered, it is repeated back to you by the mouth, your mind lapses in its ability to relate to the story. You feel a sense of distance from it, and a gnawing sensation of emptiness.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb looks at Doug, <<That one's easy... Some disgusting creature twisted into imagery symbolizing your regrets.>> He sighs, <<Faced one of those for years in my dreams.>>

<<Out of curiosity... Hall of Memories. Is this like, inside someone else's mind?>> He reasons, <<Is this... Some ort of planescape?>>

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"He's the one that has the creepy hot chick that tries to make more of herself by taking over other girls tight?" Someone made Boomie read Tomie at some point. With the elevator stopping

Looking back to buckethead. Tabby frowns. "Hey, I assume we don't choose the memory?" to the others. <<Uhh, I dunno how well this is gonna work. But if we're choosing. Think real hard, maybe between Betsy and me we can make a back up, pass it back to you after the original gets wiped from your own brain.>> she shrugs her shoulders.

She's not exactly Betsy, Jean or Emma on skills.

For Tabby it's the first memory of feeling like the school was actually a home way back when she first joined.

Sure she bailed more than once but that first feeling was what always led to her coming back instead of moving on. <<If we are in someone's mind scape, we'd be looking at a heft psychic type. We'd know right Betsy?>>

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug tilts his head, and then looks up. "Okay. I get it." He closes his eyes. "I choose to give up the first time I fell in love." He leans in, to whisper the circumstances in - apparently just between him and the mouth, not shared with anybody else. Then, he straightens back up. While he looks a little pained to give it up, he also looks like he can live with it.

<<It's fine.>> Doug thinks. <<I fall in love all the time, with the same people, over and over again.>>

Julio Richter has posed:
The Bucket Head replies, "They can be picky on what they accept, but its up to you. I mean, its your memory. Only one Ward of Memory is required by the Guardian."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy nods at Tabby's idea, << We can try. But this seems to be some sort of magickal thing... and from my limited experience, it's not exactly something you can cheat all that well.>> She pauses, then when Douglas says his thing, comes up with her own, though she doesn't announce it. But from the link, there's definitely a sense that she came up with *something* to say.

Julio Richter has posed:
One of the mouths STRAINS toward Doug, making kissy lips at him. It seems to want his story.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Like I said." Doug says, "Let me. Nobody else needs to give anything up." There he is, Mister Self-Sacrifice, back in action. Don't let him jump in front of any guns.

Julio Richter has posed:
Doug is now marked with a circular semiotic on the chest of his outfit, an occult symbol representing the Hero's Journey.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
<<Well what's valuable to someone memorially is subjective right? It could be something absolutely horrible happening that could be the most valuable memory.>> This is probably the most terrifying thing in the building.

Tabitha smith being seriously philosophical.

Doug giving one up gets a wince and Tabby does her best to try and see that memory and at least keep it in her mind. Whether she can or not is a different matter, but she at least tries to game the system.

Is it cheating? Maybe. But Telepaths kinda do that all the time.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb is found glaring and Bucket Head, and then to the others, clearly stressed. "Wait... Giving up a memory?" He shakes his head. "Nuh-uh. No effin' way!"

But he seems to relax when he finds out only one has to make the sacrifice.

Julio Richter has posed:
A mouth smooches prospectively at Tabby, another at Caleb, even Betsy and Julio. As if delicately indicating it would be just fine to share something. What could it hurt? Julio backs slowly away, complying with Doug's order, until he is waiting with Bucket Head in the elevator.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy glances over at Tabitha, apparently thinking something similar as she tried to make that 'backup' as well. Though with the magic of this place, it's hard to say if it worked... eventually she puts a hand on Tabitha's shoulder, nodding back towards the elevator. And refraining, albeit barely, from sticking a psychic knife into the face that made kissing noises at her.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug looks down, and then he exhales. He tilts his chin back up, and then murmurs "Even if I didn't remember, it doesn't matter." He walks back into the elevator, and then sighs, before he gestures at the button for the Hall of Chains. "Let's get it over with."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Yeah, no!", Caleb recoils and retreats back to the elevator post-haste as the book makes its approach.

He looks at the others, "Why do I have the feeling I'm not going to like this?" He's visibly stressed.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy gives Caleb a wry look, "Just /now/? I haven't liked this since we got here." She grins, looking a bit amused despite it all right now. "This isn't exactly what I'm used to, unless it's a bad fever trip from Morgan."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
How precious a memory it is, Tabby couldn't tell. But she does give one. The first time she took her van. The Van off roading around the back woods tracks around the school.

Well it's the tracks normally used for riding the horses but it totally fit a '92 Mitsubishi Delica.

Everyone inside possibly terrified at the first time Tabitha gave it some air time on a big bump.

It was fun.

Of course she also sends it and the feelings she does remember

"Maybe something else will just bubble up and take it's place." she says aloud.

Julio Richter has posed:
Tabby's chest is adorned my a circular semiotic, an occult symbol of the Hero's Journey.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"I'm glad you feel amused. I don't", Caleb says. "We're defined by our memories, that remind us of our promises. We give up on them, we give up on a part of who we are."

Julio Richter has posed:
The elevator door opens up on a small foyer, a majestic door with a placard that reads: The Hall of Chains

This room contains a series of mortician's tables, rectangular, angled and slueced to allow fluids from a cadaver to drain away safely. On each table is a nude body, some are disturbingly featureless, others look like people in repose. As you walk between then, they gently reach toward you from where they lay on their backs, stroke your arm or touch your leg. They softly beckon you. Some lean up, offering their curves and form in sultry seduction, inviting you to lay with them on the table which they cannot seem to leave the confines of. They do not speak but coo at you and make quietly surprised sounds of joy at your presence. The Buckethead calls out from the elevator: "In order to receive the Ward conferred by this room one must offer a connection to another living entity. That connection will then be stripped from you, they will never look upon you with familiarity ever again. The guardian requires a trinity of such wards. It is the highest cost you will pay in this place."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy glances sidelong at Caleb, "It's either make jokes or let the fear take me at this point." She pauses, then glances over at the Buckethead, "Why?" Which seems like a simple enough question, as she does her best to ignore the hands. "You're talking about wards that we need or the like, but /why/ do we need them? What is this place?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug steps out, and makes a face. "Ugh." He looks around, and then says, "Great." He turns toward the Bucket-Head, and then says, "How can you ask for that? What gives you the right, man?" He rubs the back of his neck. He huffs out a breath, and then seems to really have to think about this one. But he's having a hard time looking at all those writhing figures. He wrinkles his nose and looks away from them.

Julio Richter has posed:
The Bucket Head replies, "Its how the ritual keeps the Dweller from gaining back strength. Its a heavy cost for siphoning his power, the Guardian wont let you through the to the Dweller without these wards, otherwise he might get strong enough to go free. And well, there goes the cash cow."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Upon hearing those words, Caleb's jaw drops...

He shakes his head, "Fuck that! I'm not stepping out of this elevator!"

Julio Richter has posed:
As the Bucket Head speaks this, those that can or want to, get the sensation of reading through a tomb of some kind, which is odd because clearly its a giant man with a bucket on his head talking to you.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"So I remember but they don't?" Tabby asks and looks around. "You know, this looks way too much like a murder dungeon. Really old Clive Barker type stuff." she points out the decor.

"Or is that we never recall the person either? You can have my Dad." that was probably the first thing that popped in her brain.

The other memories that were taken from everyone, well they gradually fade back in. Fuzzy, but the gist of the whole thing was there. Other memories can likely fill in the blanks.

Tabby's still new at this kind of thing.

But her father forgetting about her completely isn't something she'd have a problem with.

Remembering the daughter he beat black and blue.

Julio Richter has posed:
The Bucket Head explains, "Your memory is lost down in lingerie, his up here."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy looks over at Tabitha, << Allow me. >> And then the memories snap back in, more clear this time since Betsy has more experience at this sort of thing than Tabby. She pauses, looking thoughtful, then says, "Alright, I have one I can give up." She sounds fairly serious about that, her eyes haunted for a brief moment.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter wondered, looking between Doug and Betsy, <<Perhaps this what happened to the people who built all this. They lose everything of themselves as they take power not belonging to them. Over time they forget who they are, everyone forgets them.>>

Julio Richter has posed:
A figure on a gurney reaches out toward Betsy, to take her into its arms.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy pauses for a moment, then steps into that embrace. The figure in question that embraces her pulls her in, and its features slowly morph and change into that of a young man in his mid 20s, hazel eyes and blond hair. Once the change is done, and she feels the connection slip away, at least for now, she backs away.

<< That one I could let go. But remember the connection doesn't have to be a positive one... and, depending on who it is, I can psychically reinforce the connection so it isn't severed. >> She doesn't say whether or not she did it for this one, though.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"If that's the case", Caleb turns to Julio, "then why are we entertaining this crap? I don't want ot forget who I am! I need to know who I am! My family depends on me! Screw power!"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug rubs the back of his neck. "I can't give anybody up. That's a sacrifice I can't bring myself to make." He looks up at Caleb, and then exhales, "What's the alternative? Whatever this sickness is, it just grows and grows? Or Rictor goes insane because he can't shut it out? It's not about Power. It's about the fact that this isn't right and it's got to be dealt with."

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter steps up with Betsy, taking the hand of of a cadaver. "Maybe you know my story, maybe you don't. My father was involved in the cartel, they kill him in front of me. I brought down the mountain on them to avenge my father, and my mother she blamed me for his death." he looked around to the others for support or affirmation that he was making the right move. "Thats how you know me, a rabbit on the run. No where to go but the briar patch. So let my mother forget she ever had a son, better than her hating him for a crime he did not commit."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Ric, if they just want power, like energy. That's easy." Tabitha lets her bioelectricity charge up, enough to make her blue eyes glow bright."

Sure they're talking aloud by the mind link is still up, which allows Betsy and Tabitha to do the whole back up.

Putting their heads in the Cloud.

"My dad and my stepmoms used to beat me as a little kid. It got worse when my powers kicked in. Wish I could say running away was the end of the bullshit." Tabby admits, though Betsy, Doug and Ric already knew that part.

The backups continue but this time she checks to make sure anyone wants the memories back. "Losing memories doesn't actually like make you a different person. We all lose them over time. Some important, some piddly. A lot of the time you just remember that you did stuff, not actually as it happened. Photographic memory aside. We usually just recall cliff notes. So don't worry too much." she reassures to Caleb.

Julio Richter has posed:
And with three offers, Tabby, Julio and Betsy all gain the circular semiotic, the occult symbol of the Hero's Journey.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"It's the /connection/", Caleb replies. He remains in the elevator, "I sacrifice the connection to say, a loved one, the next time they look at me they just going to say 'oh... it's you'", he looks at the Bucket Man, "Am I getting this right?"

Julio Richter has posed:
The Bucket Head explains, "They wont know your face to look at you."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb Dykstra simply shrugs to Psylocke, gesturing to Bucket Man. "Moving on, then?"

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy sighs a bit, "Something that needed to be done. And yes, I'm ready." She looks at Julio and Tabitha, no quips this time as she gives them both sympathetic looks.

Julio Richter has posed:
The elevator door opens up on a small foyer, a majestic door with a plaqard that reads: The Hall of Deeds

This room is dimly lit, the majority of light coming from a series of pedestals containing glass boxes. The boxes glow luminously, each with a beating heart inside. Some of the hearts are barely pulsing, some are violently spurting blood which runs down the insides of their glass prisons. Each one is reverantly isolated and displayed on columns of volcanic glass of varying heights. On each of these black glass pedastals, many parchements with caligraphic writing have been smeared with blood and then slathered onto the glass so that it sticks. The hearts seem to get more agitated the closer you stand to them, to the point where you can barely see them inside the glass boxes with all the blood frothing about inside. The Buckethead calls out from the elevator: "In order to receive the Ward conferred by this room one must offer a source of inspiration, a great acomplishment, a notable deed. This deed must be written on parhment provided, smeared with your blood, and then offered to the column. The deed is then lost to you, you may never draw inspiration, angst, or enui from it again. The guardian requires two Wards of Deeds."

When and if a deed is offered to one of the hearts, there is an internal wrenching sensation within, a feeling of immeasurable loss. When gazed upon, your deed looks foreign to you, it doesnt even look like your hand writing anymore.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter wondered again, "So everyone you know, everyone who knows you, everything you've done. They pay this cost over and over to gain power, but then...whats left?" and he offered, "Nothing. Its like a fucking needle, man."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy glances over at Julio, "which is why we're not staying. Save long enough to make sure whatever is down here, stays /buried/. Because I suspect it getting out is going to be rather horrible for everyone." She glances back at the Buckethead, at that.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter nodded to Betsy, "Close the fucking book forever." seeming to think that something had been left unfinished.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"The rememberance of nothing", Caleb says. "An empty vessel for someone's bidding." He looks at Bucket Head, suspicious, "Is this to keep it away... Or to bring it?"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"That can happen on it's own. People drift. Pick someone you won't expect to see. My dad, I expect he wouldn't recognize me anyway. Man's still a violent drunk."

Betsy once saw the news report he was on.

Moving to the next floor, Deeds.

The gist of it gets a frown. <<We're covering everyone's backs, or the back ups of your memories. I don't think it's figured it out yet. Good thing, about having friends. They can remember it for you. In our case. We can remember it for you, wholesale!>> Comes more reassurance along with her and Betsy using their telepathy to make sure nothing of value stays lost.

<<This whole thing got a point, is this to keep something worse at bay, or is this just to let the entity survive. If it's like the latter we can just level the place. Haven't tried psychic bombs since Shadow King when I started the telepathy thing.>>

Julio Richter has posed:
The Bucket Head explains, "Once fully warded, the Guardian will permit you to pass into the infirmary where the dweller is held. The dweller will be unable to draw power from you based on your collective sacrifices and the related wards."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug exhales, softly. "...Sometimes you just have to give something up. You may not want to, but you have to. The spotlight's on you." He takes out a swiss army knife. "You give something up so other people don't have to. That's just what this... life is about." He looks down, and then back up. "I saved the world once. But that one, I can lose. Being there for the people I care about, all the adventures we shared together? That I'd never give up. But you have to choose. If it be now, 'tis not to come: if it be not to come, it will be now: if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all." He writes it down, and then takes off his glove to prick the pad of his thumb with the sharp tip of the corkscrew, then smear his thumbprint onto the note. "No time for regrets."

Julio Richter has posed:
The heart gushes in pleasure at the new Deed offered by Cypher, proudly spraying the inside of its glass prison like a 70's era garden sprinkler.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy, meanwhile, made sure to keep what Doug said safe in her own head. Telepathy being handy in that regard as it not only keeps the memories, but the emotions tied to them.

She pauses, then looks over at the others.

Julio Richter has posed:
Douglas is affixed with a circular semiotic, the occult symbol of the Hero's Journey.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter shrugs, "I really havent done anything cool yet." he admits.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
<<You /ABSOLUTELY/ sure that you can save my recollection of the event??>>, Caleb tells Betsy with a no-jokes-allowed tone in his thoughts.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy responds in the link, << Absolutely. I guarantee it. >> And Caleb gets the impression that despite the glib exterior Betsy's been presenting, her thoughts are quite serious, and she is taking this with the appropriate amount of gravity.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
They group won't lose memories for too long. The blonde picks something. When she claimed the name Boom-Boom for herself instead of just an elementary school nickname. The not taking crap and giving it back. Just cause she doesn't have that moment, doesn't mean she doesn't have others, and friends to draw from. "With four of us but only needed three people that kinda... You know what, psychic bombs. <<It's not like you can really do a proper inventory on memories. But we're sticking the ones that get snipped back in place. You'll likely have stuff missing out of normal information creep. But this stuff we're restoring as we go.>> Benefits of being considered empty headed. Tabby has lots of storage space. And Betsy has the chops to glue things back together.

Julio Richter has posed:
Tabitha Smith is affixed with a circular semiotic, the occult symbol of the Hero's Journey.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The young man closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. "I lived through the times when Gotham was a 'No-Man's Land'. When the cataclysm happened, me and my mother who was pregnant at the time, we got buried in the rubble of our own home. Days passed, and no help came. She was injured, badly, and died during childbirth - a childbirth which I helped deliver. It is my strength, the promise that I would keep my sister safe, at the cost of my own life."

A tear falls from his face, as he cuts the palm of his hand, and 'signs' the ritual.

"I forfeit this... I forfeit my soul."

Julio Richter has posed:
Caleb is affixed with a circular semiotic, the occult symbol of the Hero's Journey.

Julio Richter has posed:
The heart gushes in pleasure at the new Deed offered by Caleb, proudly spraying the inside of its glass prison like a 70's era garden sprinkler.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
There's a particularly bright glow from Betsy, the butterfly aura on her face intensifying as Caleb feels the lack for the briefest of moments...

And then it's slotted back in, right where it was. As Betsy says in the link, though just for Caleb's mind, << There's no way I'd let you make /that/ sacrifice for this. At least not without getting it back. >> It's a jagged fit in the mind, and it doesn't feel quite... right, but it slowly starts to feel natural as the memories and feelings aren't gone. Just a bit... fuzzy, though they're working themselves out.

Julio Richter has posed:
The elevator stops between floors. You know this because none of the indicator lights are lit. There is a disqueting swaying to the elevator. A yawning sound coming from the cables. A steady increase in vibrations, like something on approach. Four massive human like fingers spread the far doors open from the outside and fit perfectly into the dents on the interior framing. The doorway beyond is black and void until a fast approaching fleshing thing unfurls into view, occupying the entirety of the open doors! Its wet, covered in something dense and viscous like oil or gelatin. The massive tongue forces its way into the elevator car, occupying all empty space, folding onto itself, piling over and over like toothpaste from a tube. It presses with immense force, squeezing you into the walls, forcing you to feel the flow of your own blood as your heart gasps in attempt to push back against the pressure. Your fingertips bulge like balloons. The lights are occluded into darkness, the samba drowned out by the terrible sounds of fluid and pressure!

When the massive tongue retracts, the light floods back in from the corners of the elevator car, you can hear the comforting music again. The Bucket Head is gone. The fingers retract politely and the doors close, some sense of safety or even just privacy returns and the car begins to move again. The light indicates "The Infirmary" as the next stop.

"o/` When she passes each one she passes goes Ahhhhhhh. o/`"

Julio Richter has posed:
The elevator door opens up on a small foyer, a majestic door with a plaqard that reads: The Infirmary, No admittence

Inside this massive room are an impossibly long set of sweeping stairs on three sides leading to a central dias in the middle, they are carved from stone and dusted with sand. The room is rectangularly shaped with a ceiling open to the heavens, a boiling atmosphere of radiant energy and clouds swirling in tempest. Below center of the tempest rests the dweller. A humanoid entity for whom it is difficult to make out much feature or detail. Its back is an eruption of tenticles and long curving spikes or horns. Its wings are perhaps some measure larger the the interior volume of the room its self and have been vaulted like curtains, spread to either side of the creature and run along the walls where they drape diaphonously. When you enter it stands, its eyes black with rage in a stripe across its face, its back arched from the drag of its wings, it descends toward you down the stairs, fingers gripping the air in defiance, the massive wings pulling along the walls as it goes. When it speaks its voice comes from everwhere at once. "I will give you NOTHING!"

But the wards you have earned insure it can do nothing to you, or to stop you, and this halts its approach toward you on the stairs. It awaits your reply. It is at your mercy. One could imagine this thing ruling a planet, or free traveling the universe with nothing to stop it, cowing anything that dared look upon it. A life of predation. It is a terrible thing and an awesome thing. But in this state, drained for decades by greedy cultists, it looks sick and wounded, and tired.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug watches the tongue withdraw, and he steps into the infirmary. His boots go squish, squish, squish on damp floors, before he studies the howling entity, and then he takes it all in.

A creature that would make worlds tremble - depleted. Exhausted. "...God." Doug says, pushing damp hair back from his forehead.

"...It's in absolute agony."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Normally Betsy channels a psychic knife, or a katana... chalk it up to Kwannon's influence on her psyche. This time is different though, particularly when facing something like this.

This time, she holds a psychic broadsword in one hand, mental energy radiating from that and the shield that she now has in her other arm. She faces off against the Beast, and her voice is determined, "There's only one thing that we're here to take." If she feels pity for the fiend, she doesn't show it, instead she has icy determination that all of this, stops here. This far, and no farther, as she jumps at the thing, blade aimed for the center of mass as it glows with a fierce purple light.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Souls and memories might have a link, but they aren't vital to each other. Trust me. I used to date a Demon Queen. Lovely lady, sexy Russian accent." The other mutants know who Boom-Boom refers to.

To the others as they enter the infirmary. And the entity. <<Look I still can't tell what this whole schtick is. Is this a prison and we just jumped through hoops for a funky shield?>> she asks and feels kinda lost on this whole thing. Thankfully no actual memories were lost on the group's side. Anyone else outside maybe might be able to get some help. But that's a day in the Cerebro room with the higher end telepaths.

<<Agony. Honestly it's probably some psychic vampire thing. We should probably just put it out of our collective misery. Betsy, wanna get our...>> she wass about to ask before the sword appears and Tabby in turn starts igniting her hands in psychic flames. No actual plasma but hey, she's take a stance like she just swung an arcade fight stick into a double quarter circle.

Holding it ready to fire when Betsy takes her cuts.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Wait." Doug says, before he exhales, and then he holds up his hand. "Look. We don't want to take anything from you! Cycles of abuse need to break. Whatever you are, whatever you've *done*, you've suffered enough and so has everyone else. Maybe the people who imprisoned you here thought your suffering was justifiable, but that doesn't make it true. And whoever they are, they're long gone."

"I dated that same Demon Queen. She always underestimated - underestimates - her own humanity." He shakes his head, and says, "What do we have to do to end your suffering?"

"The quality of mercy is not strained; it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes." He runs a hand through his hair. "How can we help you let go?"

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Okay, let's bring this fucker to a conclusion."

He drops his duffle bag, and he starts pullng out... Guns, knives, katanas, shurikens (explosive ones, no less - his design), even what looks to be explosive pellets for cartridges.

He looks at the others, and shrugs, "What? I got no cool powers, I got to compenasate someohow...!"

And, when he arrives, he looks at the thing, and tilts his head, "Okay, this has gone the way of live-action hentai, so I'm giving this a hard pass." He starts aiming and shooting those explosive pellets, each sticking to the surface then detonating violently!

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy says, "This isn't 'Yana, Doug, and if this thing recovers, it's only going to go badly for everyone." She nimbly leaps and dodges the creature's tentacles and claws, then thrusts her blade deep into the creature's head, letting the focused totality of her psychic powers scramble the wounded creature.

Then, sensing Tabby is about to pop off a bomb, she telekinetically leaps back away from the creature, getting out of the blast radius in a hurry.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha's blast will come once Betsy is out of the way. Psychic fire condenses into a stream much like it was her normal plasma. The idiom she's using to visualize her attack.

Once she's clear, the blast flies, directed with simliar control as she might display. Able to change it's direction to make sure friends aren't caught by accident.

As wild as tabby might be, she always made sure even when she did bomb her friends in a prank it never hurt anyone.

This is not a moment to dial it down.

The Tabithamehameha seems bright and roaring. How it does against this entity when the smoke clears will be something to find out later. For now though.

BOOM!

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb kicks a few weapons to Doug. "Shooting provides much better results!"

And pretty much what he unloads is... Everything! from tiny pellet shot to explosive shuriken, he's determined to leave no piece of it intact. If there are gorey parts flying off, he does target practice on them into smaller bits and paste.

At some point even the Protagonist from DOOM would say, 'Would somebody think of the children!!??'

Julio Richter has posed:
The Heroes have spoken, imposed their will, and the entities fate decided. As the entity falls, so too does every part of it become sand, flowing down itself until its form is no longer discernable, scattering down the stairs and bouncing to a rest on the hard stone. The tempest above cools, the radiant energy scatters, collects and then funnels into each Hero, granting them something known only to them.

In the nearby foyer all can hear the twang of snapped cables, and the dull thump of the elevator falling lazily over on its side. The placard on the door loses one of its rivets and tilts off mounting. The elevator song wrrrrrrblbrbsrbsbls to a stop.

Without having to be told, Julio commands the earth in this place to emancipate the team on a long column of stone up into the eye of the slowing tempest where they can find themselves in the ruined lobby, the barrier of water that had been the floor washing away all traces of the experience.

Its a short but quiet walk back to the surface.