The Thing that Should Not Be

[dooralwaysopen.livejournal.com]

Who: Ridcully, Thomas, Luc, Kyonko, Guybrush and a Thing from the Dungeon Dimension
What: Hunting down a thing from the Dungeon Dimension
Where: The grounds of CO
Warnings: The Dungeon Dimension is Gross

The Thing felt threatened and incomplete. In so much as it could think, it wondered where all the others were, and it felt hungry. There was magic everywhere here, but there never was very MUCH. The one decent magic source it had found had fled, and now it was starting to run low on fuel. Much more of this and it wouldn't be able to keep up it's disguise. The rabbit's form faded for a moment revealing something...unpleasant, but it solidified a moment later, and continued lurching awkwardly across the grounds, looking for a source of magic to keep it alive.

Elsewhere, Ridcully wandered in a dreamlike state across the ground. His eyes were closed as he reached for his magical senses and slowly homed in on the Thing. He trusted on Kyonko to make sure he didn't actually run into anything. At this rate, he would stumble across the Thing any minute.

Comments

Thomas and Luc

[masterofcastle.livejournal.com]

Thomas ran to the library, skipping steps and barreling past people with rushed 'excuse mes'. Soon as he entered, he rushed to where he knew most of the magic books were kept. "Luc? Luc!"

[kaze-no-tenkan.livejournal.com]

Luc wasn't in the library, but he wasn't far. From an open window, Thomas might feel a certain magical breeze floating in. If Thomas were to follow it, he'd find a convenient, out-of-the-way area that no one would ever seemingly find on its own, perfect for spellcasting you didn't want interrupted.

And passed out in the middle of the area was Luc.

[masterofcastle.livejournal.com]

Thomas kneels next to Luc, a hand on his throat to check for a pulse before he tried to shake him awake. "Luc! Wake up, this is serious!"

[kaze-no-tenkan.livejournal.com]

There's no response from Luc, but there seems to be a slight breeze constantly flowing around him.

[masterofcastle.livejournal.com]

A breeze... Thomas glanced around warily as he continued to try to rouse Luc.

[kaze-no-tenkan.livejournal.com]

It wasn't clear how aware the majority of True Runes were (with the exception of a certain noisy sword), but what was certain was that they had the ability to see both the past and the future, and it knew that Thomas meant it no harm.

Of course, it also didn't have enough power left to do anything either. Not having any way of speaking directly to Thomas, it flared the wind briefly to the best it could, and then let it die completely, hoping the boy understood.

[masterofcastle.livejournal.com]

Thomas checked Luc's hand for the rune when he realized that the other youth wasn't waking up anytime soon. The young man then gritted his teeth and goes to lift Luc to carry him to a safer place regardless of the results of his search.

Kyonko, Guybrush, the Thing

[kyonko-narrates.livejournal.com]

"Okay, so what's all this stuff we're collecting for again, anyway?"

This is Kyonko. She's about to be introduced to Adventure Game Logic. Specifically of the Guybrush Threepwood: Mighty Pirate ^TM variety. (Accept no imitations.)

[big-whoop.livejournal.com]

"Look, just trust me, all right? I've got a plan on how to do this. It'll be fine," Guybrush reassures her, stuffing yet another random item into his, uh, inventory. How that works without making his pants bulge is anybody's guess.

[kyonko-narrates.livejournal.com]

'I'm going to assume Pockets of Holding because I really don't want to bother on the logistics of Threepwood's pants.'

"I wouldn't be going along with this if I didn't trust you. You know that."

[big-whoop.livejournal.com]

"Of course, of course." It's an odd thing for him, actually. He's too used to people just writing off his methods. "Of course, the main thing we want to do is to make sure we know exactly where this thing is going so we know where to set stuff up."

[dooralwaysopen.livejournal.com]

"We're almost upon it. It should be around here somewhere..." Ridcully said, interrupting their conversation. "Keep an eye open for anything unusual."

Unusual like the six foot tall rabbit staring at the wizard like it planned to stick a straw in his ear and suck everything out of his head. With his eyes closed, Ridcully could not see it.

[kyonko-narrates.livejournal.com]

What? Kyonko's gotten used to this place, what can she say?

But of course when Ridcully points out they need to keep an eye for anything unusual, well....

"I think it's about thirty feet in front of us."

'How can it be this easy?'

[big-whoop.livejournal.com]

"Which... probably means we should start heading about sixty feet in the OTHER direction... now." Cruuuuuuuuuuud.

[dooralwaysopen.livejournal.com]

Ridcully opened his eyes, then blinked as he stared at the rabbit. "Yes...that's it. It looks hungry. As long as we can keep it distracted for a while, it should collapse back into it's true form and then we can finish it off."

The Cutrabbit was starting to approach.

[kyonko-narrates.livejournal.com]

Kyonko glanced up at Ridcully as they started to back away from it. "You up for being our bait?"

Because since neither her nor Guybrush have an ounce of magical power in them, well....

[big-whoop.livejournal.com]

"Iiii'm not really sure he's got an option at this point," Guybrush replies. He mentally thinks about the places they've passed. This is the sort of on-his-feet thinking that's saved his life -- or others, when he didn't have a life left to save anymore -- many, many times.

It'd better work today, too.

[dooralwaysopen.livejournal.com]

"Don't worry, I came prepared and it doesn't really have anything you could call a mind."

Ridcully reached in a direction that the other two couldn't quite perceive and pulled out a broom and a crossbow. He mounted the broom like a bicycle, pushed off from the ground and flew into the air. "I'll keep it distracted!"

[kyonko-narrates.livejournal.com]

"Okay," she said, trying to step closer to Guybrush, "what now?"

[big-whoop.livejournal.com]

Guybrush is following Ridcully. "Okay, remember that rake? We put it down here, like so, and apply a little grease on either side of it, like so... now RUN!"

[dooralwaysopen.livejournal.com]

The Rabbit chased after Ridcully, mostly ignoring Guybrush and Kyonko, up to the bit where it slipped in the grease, tried to catch itself with it's eleventh leg (which currently did not exist) and as a result stepped on the tines of the rake and get a wooden pole smack in the face. At this point it briefly broke it's attention on Ridcully to glare at Guybrush.

Then it flickered, like an image from a TV station with bad reception. For just a second there was something else that looks like what the waste disposal of a taxidermist shop has nightmares about, then the Rabbit was back.

[kyonko-narrates.livejournal.com]

Kyonko's not paying attention as she's too busy running after Guybrush and Ridcully and trying to make sure it doesn't wind up finding something else to snack on.

[big-whoop.livejournal.com]

Guybrush pulls out the bag of marbles he'd managed to find somewhere along the way. Where'd he get them? Who knows? "Bombs away!" he shouts, scattering them behind them.

[dooralwaysopen.livejournal.com]

The rabbit mindlessly charged after Guybrush in irritation but instead of crushing the annoying creature to a pulp, it found itself spinning out of control as if the ground had suddenly become frictionless thanks to a carpet of marbles. As it slowly regained it's balance, a crossbow bolt shot through its ear from above. Ridcully awkwardly started steering the broomstick away with his knees while reloading his crossbow. There was no blood, but again the rabbit flickered.

After a second or two that was no where near long enough to take in the horrible mess of pulsating flesh that took it's place, the rabbit reappeared, but this time it seemed incredibly unreal. It did no more to hide the nature of what was underneath then a paper mask could to make a wolf seem like a sheep. It once again focused on Ridcully, as long stringy tentacles that have NO PLACE on a rabbit started reaching upwards towards the distracted wizard.

[kyonko-narrates.livejournal.com]

Kyonko decided right then to try some of the logic Guybrush was employing. Hey, if it was going to work for him then she should give it a try. Seeing a fire extinguisher pinned to the wall nearby--('Why do we need those things in a place like this? Outdated safety regulations?')--she pulled it off, unscrewed the pin, and

The thing about fire extinguishers is they're nothing like in movies or cartoons. It's not a gas or a foam they release, but a powder to smother the flames, and the blast only lasts two seconds, if that. Enough for a small fire, but nothing more.

The powder, however, is also incredibly slippery when stepped on, especially if condensed in a large puddle on the ground and one runs right over it with no flame for it to cake on. And the tank? Still a very solid thing when hurled at the tentacles reaching for Councilor Ridcully. "Look out!"

[big-whoop.livejournal.com]

The great irony, of course, is that if it WERE used by Guybrush, it probably would have worked EXACTLY like in the cartoons or in the movies. Call it a hidden talent. Or something.

Guybrush's solution to the tentacle issue is a little different -- he pulls out a rubber ball, pulls out some industrial strength superglue, applies liberally, and then chucks it over to the thing. "Hey, catch!"

[dooralwaysopen.livejournal.com]

Ridcully yelps when he notices the tentacles and drops his crossbow, which falls to the ground below and breaks.

The fire extinguisher spray is not effective in the way Kyonko would have hoped, as the legs (and there are more than four now. They are still white and furry like a rabbit's, but that's not really a comfort at this point.) have all grown massive claws that are digging directly into the ground to help its footing. However a huge blast of the spray got into all the eyes down it's right flank, causing it to writhe in surprise and agony. The superball missed the tentacles entirely and just stuck to its head.

Er, you think that's its head. Its getting hard to tell.

[kyonko-narrates.livejournal.com]

'Not really caring about the number of legs or where the head is here!'

"What now?" Kyonko cries, trying to keep up with the others. It wasn't how she thought it'd work, but at least it's something!

[big-whoop.livejournal.com]

Okay, so that didn't work exactly as he indicated. But Guybrush is nothing if not infinitely adaptable. And if the ball had stuck to the thing's head, that means the OTHER side of the ball...

"Hey Ridcully! Try flying higher! See if you can get this ugly thing to jump!" he shouts.

[dooralwaysopen.livejournal.com]

"Right!"

Ridcully circles higher leaving behind a trail of glittering sparks behind him. A trail of magical bread crumbs that draws the Thing's attention upwards as they slowly settle downwards.

The Thing that wasn't a rabbit abruptly changed. Parts of it sloughed off to cut down on weight and dissolved into smoke while others erupted outwards and formed a horrific collection of wildly different kinds of wings. A seagull wing, a fly's, a dragon's, and other less immediately obvious kinds could be seen in the mess. It bunched its many legs and leaped into the air, all of the mismatched wings flapping with no respect for acting in unison. The result was not flight, but it did let the Thing stay in the air for a few seconds longer than it should have been able to.

It crashed into the ground with a sound like firing a catapult full of entrails at a cow and lost all signs of being a rabbit with the impact.

[kyonko-narrates.livejournal.com]

'....Yeah, I'm just going to go with. Wow, I must be awesome if I haven't gone insane right about now. The normal tentacle monsters roaming the place look cuddly compared to this Thing.'

"Keep going!" she encourages Ridcully, shoving Guybrush in the side to get out of the way of the trail it would no doubt jump towards to follow the sparkles.

[big-whoop.livejournal.com]

"Keep doing that! We need it to jump higher!" he shouts. Man, that's ugly, and he's SEEN ugly before. They've gotta keep running, though.

[dooralwaysopen.livejournal.com]

Ridcully buzzed low to make sure it was still after him, then flew directly at the wall of a nearby building. The thing sorted out its wings (This time they were actually in pairs!) and leapt up into the air after the wizard. Ridcully braking and then shot straight upwards, taking advantage of the broomstick's agility. The Thing was no where near so agile, and so it smacked directly into the wall.

And then it didn't fall. Or leave. Though it was flailing about and growing new limbs constantly as it tore at the wall, it didn't seem to be able to leave. Whatever glue it was Guybrush had used on the ball stuck to its head was strong enough to affix the entire thing to the wall by what had once been the rabbit's forehead.