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As usual, or to be more specific, as per the recent trend, Elise found Strazio Rockwell haunting the hallways of the medical wing, half-bandaged, haggard and perpetually grumpy. She could feel him from around the corner, of course, along with the eldritch ghost slithering around in his essence. She could also feel Gamzee and Nico nearby, but...well ultimately this was what she had come here for. Flashes of Takil and her boys rand through her mind, and her step faltered slightly. Move on.
It had all worked out just fine in the end.
"Hey Rockwell, nice work on Azula in the tomb there. I saw the playback." Elise said with a forced smile. She sauntered up to him, and he turned slowly to look at her. There was an energy in his stare...something not entirely friendly. After seeing what he was truly capable of when the ghost was activated, even the vampire swallowed reflexively.
"...you okay dude?" she ventured. Strazio blew a sigh out through his nose.
"Guess so. You gonna take me home and poke around in my brain now?" he grumbled. Elise fiddled with the hem of her new black and silver cardigan; Greenstripes had purchase her a new outfit while waiting for her return. Yeah, that had kinda been the plan. But again, now that she had seen what this strange, paternal spirit was capable of, she wasn't sure she wanted to mess with it until they both knew more about it.
"Not...yet. We owe Luka a hand with her hidden temple thing and...anyway..." Elise said, glancing at an unimportant spot on the wall.
"...you're more than just a test subject, man. When you wanna figure this shit out, you let me know. Until then, I'm gonna just stay close. Deal?" she said quickly. Strazio picked up on the ground she was giving, and the amount of humility she was trying to express. Hotheaded and violent, yes, but Strazio was no less socially adept than any other psychopath stuck in the Crossroads. He decided to relent, just slightly, for now.
"...good enough. Let's get going." he breathed. Elise nodded and beckoned to Greenstripes, who launched himself off of a nearby chair and stuck to Elise's shoulders like a giant wad of gum. He slowly wormed his way into her travel bag like a cozy, gelatinous teddy bear as they walked towards the transport room. As they waited their turn at the transporter pads, Elise peeked her head over the Syntech operator to see who was ahead of them.
"Two for Markov. Energize." the red-headed worker chirped. Elise just barely managed to catch Izaneus' eye as he and Mustang evaporated into a swirl of quantum filaments. Interesting choice, baby wizard. The rival mage smirked and shook her head - straight out of the Academy, into the Abyss and over to the nearest war zone. Maybe the pale faced scrub had some moxy in him after all.
The transporter tech beckoned Strazio and Elise forward, and they took their places on the glassy pads. Elise glanced over at the albino magus, and noted that he was shifting uncomfortably. Muscles bulged in his neck as he rolled his head around, like a nervous horse. He caught her staring and shrugged.
"Just...never know when you're gonna get accidentally zapped to the wrong place." he chuckled. Elise nodded.
"Speaking from experience?" she pried. Strazio blinked.
"Uh...yeah? I think so. I don't...whatever." he trailed off. The tech cleared his throat.
"Where you headed?" he called, leaning over the console.
"Uruk." Elise said flatly. The worker gave her a similarly blank look for a moment. He'd watched a decent amount of the competition this year.
"Bold choice. Alright, two for Uruk." he said with a shrug. Elise interjected loudly.
"Three!" she snapped. Greenstripes poked a few arms out of her knapsack and waved.
"Three for Uruk. Til next year!"
Everything went hazy and white for a few moments. Rainbow scintillation bounced in and out of forests of intangible light. Colors played and swirled in ways not meant to witnessed by souls dissected and flung across the yawning gulfs. She'd seen it all before.
In the next instant, the three souls materialized in the instantly hot, instantly bustling central plaza of Uruk. Elise dimly noted that it was day-time, and summarily burst into a pillar of flames.
"Fucking lord!" Strazio yelped, jumping back from the conflagration. Greenstripes immediately leapt into action and launched himself at a large banner that had been hung to welcome the return of King Gilgamesh from his successful campaign aboard Dante's Comet. Apparently they had gotten back before the golden ass had returned - which was both a blessing and a curse. The octopoid familiar tore down the banner with a swift, wrenching yank, causing the whole assembly to come crashing down on the small crowd that had gathered to see the commotion.
Humanoid shapes, shouts, and smoke all swirled around beneath the fallen tapestry as calls began to cry out through the plaza.
"It's the vampire!"
"Elise is here!"
"Traitor! Traitor to the King!"
"Get the tarp off! Kill it!"
Meanwhile, beneath the fallen banner, Elise was returning to her senses from the excruciating pain as a blind, panicked melee broke out in the darkness. God fucking dammit all to fucking shit. She could barely move her blackened fingers to cast any sort of spell.
"Strazio!" she shouted. She could hear his enraged shouts nearby. People were brawling blindly, but she could already feel others trying to rip the tapestry away. She had to think of something fast.
Luckily for them, the only friendly face in Uruk had been waiting for them nearby. Elise heard the roar of an immense engine and a familiar horn. Screeching wheels and more panicked shouts sent people scattering. The next thing she knew, the vampire had been grabbed and hauled into the back of Wrencher's personal truck. Elise opened her eyes just in time to see Strazio jumping into the opened tailgate before the rear door was shut and he fell on top of her.
The engine roared, wheels squealed, and Elise did her best to remain still. She could still hear, at least.
"It's never graceful with you two, is it?" chided the familiar voice of Luka. A foul, breathless chittering seemed to respond to her taunting.
"What the fuck is that thing doing here?!" Strazio shouted. Elise scrunched up her face as Greenstripes covered her like a giant, gooey weighted blanket. Could she just like, chill for a goddamn minute?
"No easy to killy a gem!" Wrencher's voice rasped out. She could hear stomping and angry fumbling before Luka screamed at both of them to simmer down.
"Relax! Fuck! Wrencher is a corrupted gem. She can't be killed by normal means- " Luka started before Strazio interjected.
"I could give a shit! She and her boss tortured us for months- " he shouted.
"You worthless bones! No point to torture! Bah!" Wrencher screeched as she apparently dodged an angry punch from Strazio. More bumping, more ruckus. The silver lining was that Elise was still high off of her recent blood meal, and her undead body was already beginning to mend. The vampire finally opened her eyes and sat up to see Luka driving in the front of the cab as Strazio and Wrencher wrestled viciously just behind the collapsed gun turret.
"Wrencher was only in it for the garage and free salvage! She didn't care about anything else - she's loyal to her truck!" Luka shouted over their bickering. Strazio apparently managed to grab some heavy tool and club the black, ragged little creature over the back of the head, whereupon she instantly poofed into a cloud of harmless vapors. Her black, gleaming core gem clattered to the floor of the truck. Elise snatched it with vampiric agility before Strazio could smash that too. He gave her a wounded look.
"I've had...really...enough murder for a while. Please." she said, just loud enough to be heard over the monstrous engine. Strazio fumed for a few more moments before wheeling around and joining Luka in the front of the truck's cab.
"Where we going?" he asked.
It had all worked out just fine in the end.
"Hey Rockwell, nice work on Azula in the tomb there. I saw the playback." Elise said with a forced smile. She sauntered up to him, and he turned slowly to look at her. There was an energy in his stare...something not entirely friendly. After seeing what he was truly capable of when the ghost was activated, even the vampire swallowed reflexively.
"...you okay dude?" she ventured. Strazio blew a sigh out through his nose.
"Guess so. You gonna take me home and poke around in my brain now?" he grumbled. Elise fiddled with the hem of her new black and silver cardigan; Greenstripes had purchase her a new outfit while waiting for her return. Yeah, that had kinda been the plan. But again, now that she had seen what this strange, paternal spirit was capable of, she wasn't sure she wanted to mess with it until they both knew more about it.
"Not...yet. We owe Luka a hand with her hidden temple thing and...anyway..." Elise said, glancing at an unimportant spot on the wall.
"...you're more than just a test subject, man. When you wanna figure this shit out, you let me know. Until then, I'm gonna just stay close. Deal?" she said quickly. Strazio picked up on the ground she was giving, and the amount of humility she was trying to express. Hotheaded and violent, yes, but Strazio was no less socially adept than any other psychopath stuck in the Crossroads. He decided to relent, just slightly, for now.
"...good enough. Let's get going." he breathed. Elise nodded and beckoned to Greenstripes, who launched himself off of a nearby chair and stuck to Elise's shoulders like a giant wad of gum. He slowly wormed his way into her travel bag like a cozy, gelatinous teddy bear as they walked towards the transport room. As they waited their turn at the transporter pads, Elise peeked her head over the Syntech operator to see who was ahead of them.
"Two for Markov. Energize." the red-headed worker chirped. Elise just barely managed to catch Izaneus' eye as he and Mustang evaporated into a swirl of quantum filaments. Interesting choice, baby wizard. The rival mage smirked and shook her head - straight out of the Academy, into the Abyss and over to the nearest war zone. Maybe the pale faced scrub had some moxy in him after all.
The transporter tech beckoned Strazio and Elise forward, and they took their places on the glassy pads. Elise glanced over at the albino magus, and noted that he was shifting uncomfortably. Muscles bulged in his neck as he rolled his head around, like a nervous horse. He caught her staring and shrugged.
"Just...never know when you're gonna get accidentally zapped to the wrong place." he chuckled. Elise nodded.
"Speaking from experience?" she pried. Strazio blinked.
"Uh...yeah? I think so. I don't...whatever." he trailed off. The tech cleared his throat.
"Where you headed?" he called, leaning over the console.
"Uruk." Elise said flatly. The worker gave her a similarly blank look for a moment. He'd watched a decent amount of the competition this year.
"Bold choice. Alright, two for Uruk." he said with a shrug. Elise interjected loudly.
"Three!" she snapped. Greenstripes poked a few arms out of her knapsack and waved.
"Three for Uruk. Til next year!"
Everything went hazy and white for a few moments. Rainbow scintillation bounced in and out of forests of intangible light. Colors played and swirled in ways not meant to witnessed by souls dissected and flung across the yawning gulfs. She'd seen it all before.
In the next instant, the three souls materialized in the instantly hot, instantly bustling central plaza of Uruk. Elise dimly noted that it was day-time, and summarily burst into a pillar of flames.
"Fucking lord!" Strazio yelped, jumping back from the conflagration. Greenstripes immediately leapt into action and launched himself at a large banner that had been hung to welcome the return of King Gilgamesh from his successful campaign aboard Dante's Comet. Apparently they had gotten back before the golden ass had returned - which was both a blessing and a curse. The octopoid familiar tore down the banner with a swift, wrenching yank, causing the whole assembly to come crashing down on the small crowd that had gathered to see the commotion.
Humanoid shapes, shouts, and smoke all swirled around beneath the fallen tapestry as calls began to cry out through the plaza.
"It's the vampire!"
"Elise is here!"
"Traitor! Traitor to the King!"
"Get the tarp off! Kill it!"
Meanwhile, beneath the fallen banner, Elise was returning to her senses from the excruciating pain as a blind, panicked melee broke out in the darkness. God fucking dammit all to fucking shit. She could barely move her blackened fingers to cast any sort of spell.
"Strazio!" she shouted. She could hear his enraged shouts nearby. People were brawling blindly, but she could already feel others trying to rip the tapestry away. She had to think of something fast.
Luckily for them, the only friendly face in Uruk had been waiting for them nearby. Elise heard the roar of an immense engine and a familiar horn. Screeching wheels and more panicked shouts sent people scattering. The next thing she knew, the vampire had been grabbed and hauled into the back of Wrencher's personal truck. Elise opened her eyes just in time to see Strazio jumping into the opened tailgate before the rear door was shut and he fell on top of her.
The engine roared, wheels squealed, and Elise did her best to remain still. She could still hear, at least.
"It's never graceful with you two, is it?" chided the familiar voice of Luka. A foul, breathless chittering seemed to respond to her taunting.
"What the fuck is that thing doing here?!" Strazio shouted. Elise scrunched up her face as Greenstripes covered her like a giant, gooey weighted blanket. Could she just like, chill for a goddamn minute?
"No easy to killy a gem!" Wrencher's voice rasped out. She could hear stomping and angry fumbling before Luka screamed at both of them to simmer down.
"Relax! Fuck! Wrencher is a corrupted gem. She can't be killed by normal means- " Luka started before Strazio interjected.
"I could give a shit! She and her boss tortured us for months- " he shouted.
"You worthless bones! No point to torture! Bah!" Wrencher screeched as she apparently dodged an angry punch from Strazio. More bumping, more ruckus. The silver lining was that Elise was still high off of her recent blood meal, and her undead body was already beginning to mend. The vampire finally opened her eyes and sat up to see Luka driving in the front of the cab as Strazio and Wrencher wrestled viciously just behind the collapsed gun turret.
"Wrencher was only in it for the garage and free salvage! She didn't care about anything else - she's loyal to her truck!" Luka shouted over their bickering. Strazio apparently managed to grab some heavy tool and club the black, ragged little creature over the back of the head, whereupon she instantly poofed into a cloud of harmless vapors. Her black, gleaming core gem clattered to the floor of the truck. Elise snatched it with vampiric agility before Strazio could smash that too. He gave her a wounded look.
"I've had...really...enough murder for a while. Please." she said, just loud enough to be heard over the monstrous engine. Strazio fumed for a few more moments before wheeling around and joining Luka in the front of the truck's cab.
"Where we going?" he asked.