The Battle That Ended The Century

[cityship]

People say that war is hell. This looked it.

Buildings and cars and bodies are scattered like broken toys as far as the eye can see, stretching out toward a dirty horizon. Even the clouds seems streaked with mud and blood, and they're taking it out on everyone below with a constant stream of cold, soaking rain.

The sounds of fighting seem to come from all directions, but at this moment, there's no one else in sight.

A breather. The calm before the storm.

[[OOC: This is for everyone who was involved with "The Lurking Fear". Questions go to Milo or Kaylin.]]

Comments

[itsaboutaction.livejournal.com]

Clark looked out over the strange battlefield. For the most part, it did look like hell. For the moment, though, he put it behind him. He needed to focus on the task at hand - finding others and aiding them as well. Kon was safe for now. Others needed his help now.

As he double checked the weapons he had gotten from the earlier dream, he let out a sigh.

"I really wish I had my powers right now... but, no time for what if..." he uttered.

Locked and loaded, he continued on.

Right now? This looked like a job for Superman.

[youngsoldat.livejournal.com]

A young man clad in partial German uniform comes around the corner cautiously, rifle raised. He came to a halt as he spotted the rather large, handsome man wielding his own weapon.

"...who are you?"

He wasn't lowering the weapon, though.

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

…So perhaps this wasn’t as safe a plan as Dustin had hoped.

The genius in him would’ve seen this battlefield and immediately recognized it for what it was: a time-captured representation of your classic World War Two battlefield, Nightmare King-created and controlled, fear-inspired and fear-inspiring. Calm right now, yes, but it was about to get a lot worse.

With the genius (and his subsequent knowledge of how to work his own weapons) suppressed, however, this was a new landscape with all sorts of new opportunities for Dustin’s paranoia to raise its ugly head and scream at his static-filled brain OH MY GOD WAS THAT A BOMBER PLANE THOSE RATS HAVE BEEN IN DEAD BODIES AND EAT CATS THERE IS SHRAPNEL EVERYWHERE THAT BUILDING IS SO NOT STRUCTURALLY STABLE…

He was crippled, he was—a crippled man forced to use his defective parts. And good lord did it hurt. Every complex notion served to increase his pounding headache to nigh bursting. Quite honestly, Dustin was starting to welcome that thought. The only things keeping him running were the image of Codi, crumpled, naked, dead by her pod, almost begging for revenge against the one who did this; and the pink-haired Yoshimi following close by, whose injuries were serious enough that Dustin was obligated not to complain. Surely, if she could continue to fight, then so could he.

In the meanwhile, they needed cover and they needed cover quickly. Though he never strayed too far from Samus and the others that she’d picked up, he figured that they could defend themselves, perhaps even supplying a barricade between any oncoming forces and the wounded few that needed to rest.

A nearby, vacated shack seemed fit to provide for these needs. Dustin stopped to the side of it, planting himself by the makeshift wall and rummaging through his backpack. Spare cloth, spare cloth…What the hell are all these computer parts doing in here? Spare cloth…

[slainrobots.livejournal.com]

Yoshimi really isn't digging this experience. At all.

Ominous battlefields, fingers sticky with blood, discombobulated Dustins, disseminated crews - none of these are cool with her. Unfortunately for her (and everyone else involved), what she thinks doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Her discomfort is just one blip on the radar, both in her own brain and the joint mind of the entire crew. You know, because as far as she knows, everyone else is just as S.O.L. as she and the little clump of people around her are.

She blinks, wondering rather distantly where the hell Dustin slipped off too. Her woozy disorientation is evidence that if she keeps bleeding, pink-haired Yoshimi won't be on her feet much longer, much as she rues this fact. At least she's broken out of her nightmare...

"Well, that's just &*#$ing spiffy, that is," she mutters, not feeling up to much more than detached swearing.

Breaking The Spell

[morphitudinous]

What's that?

Why, that's a giant T-Rex with an evil Blue Ranger riding atop it. If the mouthpiece of his helmet could move, it would absolutely be smirking with villainous delight. Patting his noble steed fondly, the evil Ranger gracefully flips off his mount, grinning evilly beneath the mask as he sends Rex on his way. This is it---his last chance to redeem himself and do his master's bidding.

For you see, the evil Blue Ranger has just been given the boot by his overlord. If he can't silence the weakling scientist with one last influx of energy, then he's on his own. And that...would be bad.

Because Billy Cranston is incensed and not willing to allow this shadow to enslave his body anymore. Pleas and strikes from his friends have woken him up and cleared the fog from his eyes, and now it's up to him to put the King's vassal away for good.

But he'll need some help getting jarred loose first, because these new bonds are somewhat tricky. Guys? You're against Blue Ranger on your own for now. And he's coming for you.

[This is it! One last bout of pompousness for Evil Blue, and then a very emotionally damaged Billy will finally be awake. Any characters are welcome, whether they knew him or not (though people who have emotional links to Billy will obviously have more sway in breaking the spell). And then I'll be helping in others' subthreads, promise.]

Re: Breaking The Spell

[magictrkswwater.livejournal.com]

How did she get separated from the rest of the group? That's what Irma wanted to know. At the moment, though, she was busy trying not to limp - her running around had aggravated her sprained ankle. Worse? The entire time, she couldn't fly.

"Mmrgh... stupid... what's the point of the wings if we can't fly? They're decorations!" Irma griped. She didn't take notice of her location until she staggered back after nearly being ran over by the T-Rex. "HOLY...! Just... where the heck am I?"

Standing up, she noticed the other figure in blue and gawked. "Boy... and her I thought we wore goofy outfits."

Re: Breaking The Spell

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

He knew battlefields -- he'd been in plenty of them.

All of them were in some nation or other that never moved and never made it beyond a few years before that nation simply faded away. He'd known many kinds of battlefields and along with it, many kinds of battles. Some compatriots had fallen. Others had become voluntary turncoats, forsaking all that they once held. And still, some others simply walked off.

Renne came onto a new kind of battlefield today.

He felt the resonant pain but didn't move. Quietly, he crawled forward and did his best to avoid touching the dead or the dying for too long. Unless one cried out in some way (any way) and that he could help.
One scent however, soon stood out from the others and this one, he couldn't -- wouldn't -- ignore.
Renne turned once, then again, and proceeded further.
He shut himself down against the resonant pain cascading around him and with each pace forward, he began to whisper a song.

It was the anthem and it gave him focus.

A mellow blue/gold/silver existence resided within himself and he cherished it. He centered in on it and remembered the craziness of its beginning.
Green thrummed and shone beside it like a quiet mentor.

One was gone. The other was not.

The other's existence gave him strength and he sought to return it. So, came the anthem.

These mist-covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be...

[thunder-ace.livejournal.com]

It was a dream. It was a dream. A dream made reality, but still a dream. Which meant that sooner or later, it would fade away.

That was what was running through Fate's head as she surveyed the destroyed landscape. Dream-made-real or not, it still deeply unsettled her. As an Enforcer, it was her job to make sure this exact thing didn't happen, on any world. So seeing the results of what would happen if she failed...

Shaking her head to banish the thought(as well as to sweep her rainsoaked bangs out of her eyes), Fate proceeded through the ruined city, grip steady on Bardiche. She didn't mean to get separated from her group, and she was worried about them... but she couldn't backtrack now.

[just-like-daddy.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile, Russel was trying to find somewhere that looked safe, secure, and stable enough to take cover in until those that were more capable of dealing with this did their thing. By a stroke of luck, Fletcher had made it this far as well, and they were able to track each other down via the commrings. So now, he led Fletcher through these war-torn streets, around the rubble. If only he hadn't broken his arm, he wouldn't have to run away like this.

It was then he came across Fate, at first suspicious of if she were really a member of the crew or something he's dreamed up somehow. She didn't look like anyone he knew. "Hey, are there any decent buildings back that way?" he called to her over the storm.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

The waterbender stared out at the city and its destruction, taking everything in. She could see this was the Nightmare King beginning his attempt to break free and throw the whole ship into his depraved nightmare. This was not a time to b full of woe for getting Aang trapped or pained to see all of these hurt people: the Spice, it seemed, had a way of continuing to teach Katara even in her memory. A part of her recalled that feeling of oneness in the universe, and in this case Stacy was precisely that. The Nightmare king wanted to destroy the ship much like the Ohm had destroyed her world.

If she fell to fear, hysterics or bemoaned her situation, she would be playing into his hands. This was the latest gift her Bene Gesserit teacher had given her: clarity. There was no mistaking motives or arguments to have now, not when there was a monster that wanted to kill them all. Of course she wanted to catch her breath and worry about all of her friends and family. Of COURSE she was scared for Sokka and Zuko and all of the people from her world. But right now, she needed to believe they didn't need her worrying, they needed her focused. And that was exactly what she was going to be.

She sat cross legged a moment, taking in the war torn environment. She rose now, and felt something like a net around her, attuning herself to her environment so she might notice the slightest change.

[telekinetic_badass]

"I don't think this is the time," his voice strained as he limped over, and leaned against the wall, "--to try and attain spiritual enlightenment."

He probably needed to stop, needed to rest. His injuries, individually, weren't severe, but the sheer number of them piled up to inflict a lot of damage and cost him a lot of blood. Not to mention they were all poorly treated. He couldn't stop, though, because if he did then he'd just mentally watch Kon die all over again.

[sexygman.livejournal.com]

He knows it's a nightmare, but right now, he's trapped in it. He's been in places like this before, and it never gets any easier. He is looking all around, hearing the sounds of the fight, but there are no bullets coming at him for the moment. Booth cannot rest though. He is still on alert, all of his sniper's senses ready for action. He is seared by this experience, physically and mentally. He just wants a way out now. But one is not forthcoming.

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

They say that if you're a veteran of war, you get used to it.

That may be so, but this little almost-veteran hates war, plain and simple. The good news is, he understand what he and others are up against. And oddly, he has a wee bit of a smile on his odd, elongated face. Bee. He is here, he is whole. Such thoughts generate a few things -- a thin double-streak of blue across his skin and a literally tangible moment of serenity.
But soon enough, business-at-hand takes the beastie's mind.

As such, the strange little thing crawl-bumbles (don't call him Stitch) toward the scent of this new life-form.

"Eeee. Yeu wahn-t hell-p?"

Chirp.

[thewunderkind]

She was used to this. War was hell, but Lash had lived most of her life embracing it. Pushed some of the bodies away like no care in the world, trying to see if some of them had weapons or ammunition she could use. Terrible, but necessary.

Right now she was tired, annoyed and just planned angry with whoever had caused all of this. No one made Lash feel uncomfortable in wartimes! No one! She pulled away at one of the fallen rocks and threw it in the air, feeling the weight. It could make a good throwing stone. A primitive weapon, yes, but it was better than nothing.

Screaming wasn't the smartest of options. But she was ready if someone wanted to attack her. Let them come. What she wanted was other voices of allies. Working alone wasn't her forte. She was terrible lonely.

"HEY! ANYONE OUT THERE WHO CAN HEAR ME?"

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

“Good lord, you don’t have to yell.”

Dustin wasn’t far behind her. Not that he’d been following this odd little lady—she just happened to be heading in the direction of the piled bodies and, therefore, spare weapons and munitions. True, Dustin had his backpack full of futuristic, self-created devices that could probably wipe out legions of…well, almost anything that came at them. Unfortunately he couldn’t remember how to work them. Among other things I mean.

He just wanted to be able to protect Yoshimi. She might not have needed the support (or she might vehemently deny requiring it), but it was the least he could do for her. Not that he would admit that to anyone of course. As far as the others were concerned, Dustin was just as crass as usual, if not even more so due to his loss of advanced cognitive functions and consequent spike in paranoia.

At current, he was rummaging through a corpse several dozen yards behind this other crewmember. He was perhaps disturbingly more excited to find the man holding two casings of small arms ammunition than he was to come across a body that still had all its limbs. This is not the point, naturally. The point is that Dustin had company now, so he almost casually remarked:

“Any luck? I looks like all the good weapons have been taken.”

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

Brenda steps her way slowly down the street, pounded by the rain, seeing some buildings she recognizes and some she doesn't. She hasn't let go of Brainy's hand for more than a few minutes since the got a hold of each other again. Her nightmare has left her head but it's still clawing at her heart, and so is the fear it came bundled with.

"What is this, just... waiting for the other shoe to drop?"

[ghost-bait.livejournal.com]

"Maybe," Miku murmurs quietly behind Brenda. She's wet and shivering, but hasn't strayed too terribly far from Steve's side. Not when he looks as ill as he does. Her voice is a little bit raspier. "I hope no one gets sick from being soaked." Because she has to find something small to worry about atop all this... illogical messiness.

"Are you okay?"

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

Toph had been scared. Nightwing had been great, though, and for the moment, everything had been... well, not normal, but okay.

And now... this.

The rain makes everything glow in her earthbending vision, and the mud makes it all blurry again.

She hangs her head. "Crap."

[fiercerhyena.livejournal.com]

Grim Eyes walked lightly, moving swift as she could when her whole body ached like she'd been through a stampede. Her left arm dangled useless at her side, the bitten, slightly lacerated hand wrapped tight. Her shoulder was on fire, throbbing every time she moved, but she had lost sight of everyone when the scene changed.

She crouched behind a hunk of twisted metal, her ears tilted uncertainly back at the loud, sharp sounds of gunfire. She didn't recognize the noise - it sounded like a bark of thunder, and Grim Eyes didn't trust it.

A loud crack! sounded near her, and she moved purely out of reflex to the pain that hit her, letting out a pained yelp that sounded more like a snarl and throwing herself out into the street.

She didn't see the person she ran into until the last possible moment and let out another surprised bark. "Move, dammit!"

[governorkang]

This was what Kang had been created for, what he had spent the first ten or so years of his life involved in. The weapons and opponents may have been different, but war tactics never changed. He could hear screams and gunshots, and far off in the distance, the roar of something very large and angry; it didn't sound quite right to be any type of dragon he was used to, though. He wasn't sure he wanted to find out what it was.

The sight of corpses was nothing new to him, and keeping a wary eye on his surroundings, he leaned down next to a human soldier that had died from what appeared to be a bullet to the stomach and pried a rifle from its hands. "Can't be too difficult to use one of these things, can it? Where the hell is the - ah, there." He found several box magazines on that body and the surrounding ones as well, and put those into the webbing of his armor; a knife was stuffed into his belt to replace the one he'd let Russel borrow. The bozak had handed his flamberge over to Apollo earlier as well, but there was no way he was letting anyone else use his battle-axe. Sentimental value.

"They can't use these anymore. We shouldn't let them go to waste. ...I don't suppose anyone can show me how to shoot this bloody thing?" He sincerely hoped so, and made a mental note to ask Master Chief to teach him how to use various types of guns if they managed to survive this mess.

[ford-sawyer-815.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, point and shoot," Sawyer replied, picking up an M-1 off the body of a dead American soldier, as he approached the talking reptile. "But what's the point? Looks like everyone's already dead," he added, nodding at all the corpses that littered the ground.

But after all that screaming at Mal to stop jinxing 'em, Sawyer really shouldn't be so quick to speak. Especially now.

As if in answer to his comment, the ground beneath them began to shake and vibrate and a rumbling sound began to grow in the distance. Scowling, Sawyer climbed up a hill that was--thanks to the battle and the rain--little more than mud. He felt his feet sinking as he climbed up, having to fight to take each step. But as he reached the top, he wished he'd just stayed where he was.

"Oh F*@K!!!" he shouted, whipping around and running back the way he came, slipping in the mud and falling on his a$$, sliding the rest of the bottom. He struggled to get back to his feet before grabbing on to Kang and tugging him in the opposite direction. "Move it, Geico!" he barked at the horned reptile.

On the other side of the mound, a massive line of Panzers were charging forward, heading right for them.

[smartnass.livejournal.com]

Lyle frowns at the scene, mostly at the illusionary bodies. They might be masking actual wounded. Of course, any wounded might just disappear from sight. It was so hard to trust anything now.

With his powers gone and his back on fire, Lyle has little else to do but look around for wounded, though. The tiny first aid kit on his belt might not be much, but it's something.

Assuming they even have the luxury of stopping to pull themselves together ...

[staturity]

Cassie was still recovering from her nightmare. It had been so close to her life before she came on board the meatship. It practically was her life before. Why did it affect her so badly? Was she really that weak?

She noticed the floor change and she looked up. "Oh @#$%." She knew this wasn't going to be that easy.

[playsin-traffic.livejournal.com]

"You can say that again," Plays retorts as they find themselves on a broken, battered battlefield. "...looks like we're in the shit."

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

That last nightmare really was a problem, but she wasn't going to let it get to her. She couldn't. Had to keep going.

Still by the looks of things why did she have the scary feeling they were extremely over their heads and screwed?

[voiceofserenity.livejournal.com]

It was a lot harder to work with a bum arm, but at least the wound wasn't hurting as badly as it had been before. Granted, if Kaylee shifted wrong or pulled on it too much it was right back to square one with the pain. The fact that she was working on putting a gorram tank back together probably wasn't the best of ideas when avoiding strenuous activity. It hadn't been too badly damaged to start with, but there were still plenty of bits and pieces that had needed some form of replacement and repair. Enough to keep her mind off of other things, in any case.

She had her right arm shoved down in the engine now, her left having finally given up on her altogether. It was frustrating, trying to wire something with only one hand, and attempting to keep the pouring rain from flooding the engine at the same time. The mechanic turned away from her work for a moment, and called out to the nearest person. "Hey, mind givin' me a hand real quick here?"

[morphitudinous]

"Hang on," Billy called when he saw Kaylee working, scrambling across the slippery ground and watching out for attacks. He barely dodged some more rifle fire, tossing a grenade when he saw no crew members were there.

Upon reaching her, he noticed her injured arm, nodded gravely, and peeked inside the engine, careful to pull his dripping hair out of the way. It didn't take long for him to see a problem or three. "Classic gorram tank, right?"

[a-fist-of-iron.livejournal.com]

Danny could feel the tension surrounding him and everyone else. Something big was about to go down. He takes a deep breath and sits down near a large chunk of rubble. There's not much he can do now to prepare, except wait and meditate.

[mrsarcastic003]

Tim paused next to him, glancing down. He remembered him--Danny--from the Gotham "blowing off steam with ninjas" Sensorium program. "Okay?" he asked.

[bonnypiperlad]

Jamie hunkered down beside the shell of a blown-up car, trying to catch his breath. The rain continued to beat down, plastering his hair to his head. His clothes were long ago drenched, and the cold was beginning to seep in.

It was an effort to keep his teeth from chattering, but the pain in his leg did help somewhat in that respect. Mentally, though, he cursed the Nightmare King. He had already gotten separated from the others because of his injury and wasn't sure he was going to be able to catch up.

He scanned the area, clutching his rifle and ready to bring it to bear. He knew he couldn't stay here for long - the car was poor shelter. But there was a large stretch of open ground between it and the next area of cover, and he knew if he wasn't able to cover it quickly he'd be in real trouble.

It would be better, he figured, if he'd took a precious few moments longer to gather his energy first. Then he'd try and make the push across.

[voiceofserenity.livejournal.com]

It had taken some convincing on her part, but Kaylee had finally assured Billy that she and the tank would be alright without him for at least a little while. There were other things he could be doing besides hovering over her, and she wasn't about to let him worry so much when his energy could be going elsewhere.

Of course, that didn't stop Kaylee from continuing to move about in the tank, seeking out anyone who might need the shelter for a little while.

She almost missed Jamie behind the car, and it was only chance that she looked through one of the back panels of the tank to spot him. Whether it was Jamie or not, she didn't know--the Nightmare King was throwing all sorts of things at them--but she wasn't about to just let him sit out in the rain if it was.

Cautiously, she pulled up, not too far away, and opened the hatch. "Jamie, it's Kaylee in here, alright? Don't be alarmed when I stick my head out, I'd like to keep it attached."

[madeofwyn.livejournal.com]

Wyn takes a deep, shuddering breath, leaning against a battered, fragmented corner of a building in exhaustion. She stares up at the sky around her, scanning for something-- then quickly dives behind the wall as a laser hits where her head was a fraction of a second ago.

About two hundred feet above Wyn's hiding place, another Wyn sits on the back of what looks like an extremely large dragon. While the first Wyn is clearly unarmed, the new arrival has a sleek brushed aluminum raygun and absolutely no problem with using it to shoot at her doppelganger (or anyone else, for that matter).

[ooc: There are currently two Wyns hanging around the battlefield. They should be pretty easy to tell apart (one's trying to kill you all and the other isn't), but for clarification's sake I'll try to use forthewyn for evil!Wyn and this account for regular Wyn. There might be some crossover between them, but I'll try to make it really obvious who is who.]

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

"Wyn!" Samus jogs up to her about as quickly as she can manage, which ain't too fast considering the injuries she's collected during this entire mess (she couldn't even use her suit well enough to fight in it). But it's good to see that the other woman made it. Even if there was it's own battle going on here, Samus took comfort in the crew staying relatively safe.

She's startled when Wyn dives behind the wall. She honestly didn't see it before. Samus' face drops. She thought she had made it through this whole Nightmare business. For God's sake, did he really have to show up now?

Monsternator

[shroudedintent]

'Vadum paused a moment by the broken shell of a large building, taking stock of this new situation. Taking in the rain soaked battlefield quickly, the sounds of combat clear in the distance. His usually shining armour, scuffed, scratched and scorched in places from the last nightmare.

A new weapon in each hand, energy rifles that had belonged to the machines they had last fought, from the nightmare they had just left. His blades, low on power and secure attached to his thighs. Free from threat at the moment the Sangheili looked over those of the group that remained with him, others having split off in the last fight.

The peace lasted only briefly as the ground shook from the footsteps of something vast. 'Vadum bringing his weapons up as he turned to face the new threat, a vast construct towering over the other side of the building.

((OOC: Anyone from group 15 feel free to tag in here, or anyone at all to fight a massive darn Terminator!))

Re: Monsternator

[mrsarcastic003]

Tim glanced up. And up. And up. Then he looked down at his batarangs. "Man, I could really use some bigger batarangs," he muttered. Not that he was looking for a giant boomerang or anything (not. ever.), but a HUGE EXPLODING BATARANG would be really helpful right now. He raced back toward 'Vadum and the... big monster thing.

"What can I do?"