Shadowfall

[Battal]

(Gonna wait on @Blewcheese.)

Edited July 2, 2014 by Lord_Battal

[Blewcheese]

(I'm in Taiwan with a crappy iPod and crappier Internet connection. Sorry for not responding.)

"Jakob isn't responding to me. Something may have shifte in his mental state when he underwent that transformation. We'd better head up here. Don't fall." At that, Pops began climbing up the precarious ledge, followed by his apprentice.

[Battal]

As the group pushes onwards, Jakob and Shadowfall's fight is drawing uncomfortably close to the ledge they walk on.  A portion of the ledge ahead crumbles into dust, and more looks like it's about to start giving way as well.

[Will]

"F**k, the ledge is going to be destroyed! Hurry up!"

Dark Will opens the satchel, and retrieves a grappling hook from one of the pockets. He hands it to Will.

"You have a broken arm, you know! Just use it!"

Will shoots the grappling hook to the top of the ledge, and begins to use the rope to climb the ledge.

"Man, why can't we all have grappling hooks? This ledge is so flipping tall!"

[Battal]

Will runs into an invisible wall about halfway up, and a small message appears in eyes.

 

"You cannot go that way."

[Blewcheese]

Pops looked up at Will, who seemed to have stopped. He quickly spoke to him telepathically. 'Something the matter?'

[Will]

"Guys, did we just enter a video game or something? There's an invisable wall with floating text- oh my god. IT'S F*****G COMIC SANS!"

"That's not good."

"So. what? We can't climb the ledge!? What do we do, then!?"

"It says we can't go this way. Maybe there's another way we can go other than down or up."

[Battal]

"Jump, you idiots!"  Jakob shouts, squirming out from Shadowfall's grasp. 

[Blewcheese]

Pops finds enough boulders and stone around to, with Joseph's help, form a makeshift platform that should help them as they crossed.

[Battal]

The group carefully climbs over Joseph and Pop's makeshift bridge, and makes it across the ledge and into the cliffs.  Rock walls rise up on both sides, blocking the fight from view. 

[Blewcheese]

Joseph shudders, unsure if the blockage is a good or bad thing. Pops continues running, somewhat lost in thought.

[Battal]

The group doesn't make it very far through the gorge, though; in a blur of dust, stone and unbelievable agony, the entire side blocking their view of the fight is shattered like glass as the two combatants smash through it.  One of Jakob's wild attacks slices Joseph's chest into ribbons, while Will and Violet are bathed in Shadowfall's dark flames.  The others manage to come off with only a few lacerations and broken bones, but the ledge completely collapses, sending the group tumbling towards the abyss.

[Will]

As Will and Violet fall, their vision grows darker. They feel every inch of their body's boil, as their lives begin to be sucked out of them. Dark Will begins to catch up to them.

F**k, I can only save one as I am now! The only one way I can save both is if... f**k me. This is it. I've had a good run. I'll die even if I don't save them, so I might as well go down useful.

Dark Will bites the tip if his thumb, drawing his purple blood. He draws a symbol on himself, and grabs both both Violet's and Will's hand. The fire is drawn off of Will and Violet, as well as the burns. Beneath Shadowfall's fire, Dark Will enters his fire form. The two fires combine, as Dark Will begins to loose shape. Eventually, Dark Will is just a floating orb of black fire. Will's eyes drift open just in time to see the orb explode outward. The fire extinguishes from the explosion, and Dark Will is no more. Will's eyes widen as far as they can without his eyes popping out.

"NOOOOOOO! SHADOWFALL, YOU BASTARD! I'LL DESTROY YOU!!"

It was then when Will realized he was falling down a hole. He tries to open his pack, but his left arm was broken. The pain stunned him, as he clutched his left arm in agony.

"F**k, Pops! What do we do!?"

Will opens his pack with his right arm, only to see nothing of use inside.

"We're f****d, aren't we? Is this how we die? Falling to our deaths?"

Edited July 6, 2014 by Will

[Blewcheese]

Joseph shrieked with pain, blood oozing out of his chest. Pops had levitated his apprentice towards him and began to manipulate his blood. "What we do is hope that I don't completely exhaust Joseph." He then proceeded to send small streams of Joseph's blood at each member of the group. He was rewarded with another scream from his bloodied son, as well as the group's fall begining to slow down. "If you had some bandages or something, that would be great."

[Battal]

While the group's fall is slowed, there is nowhere to land, and Joseph's cuts are beginning to smoke and burn with heat.  Jakob is also looking less then well, being able to do little more than be a ragdoll to distract Shadowfall.

[Battal]

(doo do doo)

[Blewcheese]

(Figured I'd wait for @Will . But I guess I'll go ahead and post.)

 

Groaning with effort, Pops collected adequate debris underneath the group to form a platform. Occasionally, he would sap some of his apprentice's blood to keep himself going, but Joseph was slowly growing pale. The platform began rising up at a somewhat slow speed.

[Battal]

Shadowfall watches with mild interest as the group's very slow escape continues.  "You do realize you're not going anywhere, right?"

[Will]

(In Denver, can only post from phone and not often.)

"Pops, take some of my blood. Joseph needs his." Will grabs a nearby chunk of debris, and cuts open the top of his arm.

[Battal]

"This is rather hilarious."  Shadowfall says, continuing to observe the group's slow escape.  "Again - you realize you're barely moving, right?"

[Blewcheese]

Pops nodded a thank you at Will, and sapped the blood from him instead of his son. He shot a glare up at Shadowfall, but immediately the slow rise groaned to a halt. Pops shuddered and fell to the ground of the platform, which was gently beginning to descend.

 

It was a bluff, of course.

[Battal]

Shadowfall gives a small wave to the now-descending platform.  "Goodbye."

[Blewcheese]

And then the infamous beetles song rings through the air.

As the platform descends, it crumbles into nothingness, leaving the group once more tumbling helplessly to their doom. However, they seem to make contact with some sort of trampoline-like platform; a very thin layer of blood. Their slow seems to descend until the elastic energy rockets the group upwards.

[Battal]

(Pops and Joseph Escape Artists: The farther you fall, the bigger the trampoline!)

 

(Warning: do not use in high-octane life and death scenarios, ESPECIALLY while fighting a nigh-immortal demongod who just happens to have a large set of wings and wants to kill you or turn into a slave for life.  Pops and Joseph Escape Artists CO is not responsible for any horrific injuries/incredibly painful death that the Blood Trampoline 200 may cause.  All rights reserved.  see store for details.)

 

(Yeeeeaaaaaahhhhh, maybe not the best plan.)

 

A grim smile stretches across Shadowfall's face as he unfurls his massive skeletal wings.  Black smoke rushes in, filling up the gaps between each supporting bone.  He explodes off the ground in one massive push, shattering the mountain he had been perched on.  Reaching the group in seconds, he grabs them out of the air and lands back on solid ground with an earth shattering crash. 

 

"Not your best idea, mentlemancer."  He spits, looking down at Pops.  "For a Warrior built to use his mind, you're really not that smart.  Much like your fool brother, trying oh so desperately to save you.  But he failed, so pitifully, at that task.  How he wailed when we took him in for questioning.  Like a cat with its tail in a grinder.  We bludgeoned him for hours.  Didn't get any information, but oh well.  It was fun."

 

He turns his head towards Joseph, staring at him mercilessly with cold, white eyes.

 

"Be happy, boy, that I'm not spending so much time on your mentor."

 

Shadowfall drives one of his clawed fingers through Pop's chest, splattering his hand with the mentlemacer's blood.

[Blewcheese]

(Got 'em out of the hole, didn't it?

 

rip)

 

Pops fairly long life seems to sputter to a halt as he is pierced by Shadowfall's claw. His dying expression is not of pain, but of grief.

 

Then Joseph looses his mind for the umpteenth time.

 

Pops glared up at his killer, seething with some sort of rage. "You'll fall, demon." The blood that had sprayed onto Shadowfall seemed to glow brighter each second. "You won't win." He hung on to his breath for as long as he could, but already it was coming in rasps. His skin began oozing his own powerful blood, and his body slowly dried up like a prune.

 

Joseph cried with disbelief. He'd lost his father once, then found him again. That was a horrible thing, wasn't it? A taste of pleasure, then having it suddenly ripped away... Enough to drive a man mad. Debris circled around the apprentice, and he let out a feral, nearly inhuman shriek.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Blewcheese