http://jesushasayak.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] jesushasayak.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] trans_92010-03-14 11:47 pm

The Other Gods -- The World Spirit

The effects of the Nightmare King have faded, the battlefield is gone. Stacy is rebooting her systems, and will be online again soon. It's over, it's finally over at last. They've won. They're all alive!

Except that it's not over.

Through the city, a wave of destruction spreads out from where a teenage boy rockets out of what's left of Escherville and floats in the air. A shockwave of air shatters the glass in nearby buildings; the stone foundation that serves as the overlay of Stacy's flesh that most of the city rests on cracks where he passes over it. Eyes and tattoos glowing, long hair whipped around by the winds he's creating, Aang is a force to be reckoned with--and not one to be reasoned with.

This is the Avatar in his full fury, angrier than his comrades have ever seen him, nearly thoughtlessly so.

He's overwhelmed by such senseless rage, the world breaks down around him--at the whims of the elemental forces under his control--stone cracking, water condensing out of the air and freezing over surfaces, wind whipping rubble around in a deadly, gouging tumult, fire crackling through the air.

Aang's voice is many voices, old and young, thousands of them all intermingled, as he cries out:

"WHERE ARE THEY, STACY? WHERE IS THE CREW? ANSWER ME!"

Stacy tries to reason with him. Some of her systems are damaged, she is awake and aware, but her security measures are not back up yet. And even when they are, what then? She can't hold him down forever. In this state, he needs to be calmed, and the AI knows that's something she is incapable of.

So she tries reason. ||Avatar Aang, the original crew is dead. Only refugees from podsleep are awake--||

A building is swallowed up by a sinkhole that appears in the stone.

"YOU'RE LYING!"

He doesn't remember what Leon and the others told him in the dreams, about the original crew being dead. His consciousness had been separated from his body for a very long time, and to have it snap back so suddenly to a physical form at the height of an adrenaline surge, that had been trapped in the Avatar State for more than a year...

A whole year trapped as he had been is enough to unsettle his mind, to make him angry. Now that he's free, everything contained over that time--kept stuffed inside so that he could maintain composure--is bursting free in a frenzied maelstrom of emotion and destruction.

Not that most of the crew will know this--for all they know, if they didn't hear his words, he could be the Nightmare King.

"THEY'RE NOT DEAD! THEY ABANDONED US! THEY LEFT US TO HIM! WHERE ARE THEY?!"

||They are dead. Avatar Aang, you must calm yourself. You have been forced to endure a tremendous physiological and psychological strain--||

She isn't answering the way he wants. She isn't telling him where they are, so Aang reacts by destroying her city. A wave of his arms and there's a blast of air that destroys a temple. He's going to continue until he finds them, finds someone to direct his rage at, or until something manages to calm him down first. The latter is entirely possible, given some time--but at what cost?
bonnypiperlad: (solemn)

[personal profile] bonnypiperlad 2010-03-16 05:01 am (UTC)(link)
Jamie hadn't bothered checking the walls. It looks pretty stable and he's confident he'll have enough advance warning one way or another if the structure shifts. Instead, he's brushing the glass off of his arm, occasionally plucking out a small piece that's slightly embedded in the skin. Mostly it's just small scratches, and he's not bothered by that.

He doesn't say anything for a moment while he does that, then finally looks up at Billy. "Aye, I know. It wasna you that hurt me. It was the Nightmare King." There's a pause as he debates adding something else, then he gestures. "Ye have some glass in your hair."
morphitudinous: (Are you reading that correctly?)

[personal profile] morphitudinous 2010-03-16 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
It was the Nightmare King aided by my complacency, he wants to say, but he's not much in the mood for starting an argument right now. He lets his face do the talking, still looking gloomy---but relieved that Jamie's not hurt more seriously than he already is.

Then, he listens to Jamie's next comment and his attention is drawn to a few throbbing spots on his head. Carefully leaning to the side to avoid flinging anything on Jamie, he brushes the finer shards out, making a complete mess of his hair. But the throbbing spots still throb, so he removes his gloves and pluck carefully. Sure, there's some blood trailing on his hands when he pulls them away, but he's not too worried about himself.

Once he's sure that most of the glass is gone, he focuses back on Jamie. "Can I do anything for you while we're here?"
bonnypiperlad: (hmm)

[personal profile] bonnypiperlad 2010-03-16 05:41 am (UTC)(link)
Jamie sighs, but isn't really sure what more he can say at the moment. Until Billy can believe that it really wasn't his fault, it would just be like talking to a brick wall. Or the Doctor in one of his moods. He lets the subject drop for now.

"Aye, well," he says after a moment, looking thoughtful. "Ye can tell me if ye do that flash of light thing every time you...uh...change? I don't remember seeing that when ye showed me the armor in the Sensoriums."
morphitudinous: (It's morphin' time!)

[personal profile] morphitudinous 2010-03-16 05:50 am (UTC)(link)
"Right," he confirms. "Morphing has several effects. First, it triggers the release of adrenaline in the body to boost our energy. Once morphed, you can't be tired anymore---it's time to go fight. It also releases the molecules that fuse together to make up the uniform. They're designed to remove whatever the wielder is wearing, store it for later retrieval, and then put the uniform in place. That's the white flash you see---the clothing disappearing and the uniform appearing. The process is reversed when we power down."

To conserve power, he first checks that they're safe here and demonstrates by touching the morpher. One white flash and instantaneous clothing change later, he's back in his drenched and ripped outfit. "...I think I liked being dry better," he says dryly.
bonnypiperlad: (looking)

[personal profile] bonnypiperlad 2010-03-16 07:06 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't blame ye," Jamie comments. "I wouldna mind being dry right now. Or not tired." Or not in the middle of the destruction of the city. Any of those would be just grand.

He finishes getting the last little bits of glass off of his arm, and reaches up to tentatively comb through his hair. The motions are slower and slower as the adrenaline from having boulders flung at him is starting to wear off. There's still the noise, though, and it doesn't seem to be immediately lessening. Jamie glances outside of the shelter, frowning slightly.

"Do ye think we should try and get up there and see if we can help?"
morphitudinous: (Back of a head)

[personal profile] morphitudinous 2010-03-16 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Billy is concerned by how sluggishly Jamie moves, but he knows the fierce determination to help. He feels it too, just as strongly.

"Right. There may be people trapped out there, and I'm not letting them suffer alone," Billy decides, slamming his fist into a palm. He peeks outside, then turns back to Jamie and frowns.

"But I think I should go."
Edited 2010-03-16 20:02 (UTC)
bonnypiperlad: (not happy)

[personal profile] bonnypiperlad 2010-03-17 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
Jamie rubs at his forehead tiredly. He wants to go, too, badly, but really has to consider if he would actually make it in his condition. And...he doesn't think he would. "I'm not going to be much help to ye," he admits finally.

He looks down at his leg with an unhappy expression on his face, then back up at Billy. He's been in this position before, and hates it. They need Billy out there, however. A determined look appears, replacing the unhappy one. "Go. Help them."