World Tree MUSH

    The mountain looms in the distance, with the light from the crack in its side illuminating what looks like houses and cities on its slopes. Above, the twilight is showing the brightest stars of an unrecognizable sky.
    Aurelia looks around at the trees in the dim twilight. There's a lot of webbing. She hrms and pulls out crudely shaped knives from her magical pocket. "Hey Serrah, could you like, throw these while doing whatever time stop thing you do to clear us a path to the mountain? To cut the webs in our way, I mean. Hopefully it'll confuse the giant worms and we can run on by."
    She turns to Misaki. "It's pretty dark, so we'll need you to light our way in case there's webbing we missed."
    "Talia, can you handle any random worms that do decide to come for us with your... light blade? Zero, you help her, alright?"
    Aurelia looks at Benedicta. "I think you should scout ahead, in case there's surprises we don't know about. Take to the air so you're not hitting webs, okay?"

Misaki will never complain about being asked to make a light in the darkness. She does so, providing a bright pair of orbs that dance around her head. "We probably do have lots of unpleasant things to worry about, so let's be careful." She sticks close to the front, to provide as much light as she can.

"I think throwing knives, is a bit different from throwing baseballs..." Benedicta can't help to point out they have a different distribution of weight. "Then again I guess it's better than just leaving them up." Hearing Aurelia's suggestion, her rabbit legs vanish in a yellow aura and are replaced by a pair of feather wings as she takes to the sky avoiding the webs to look ahead of them. Hopefully, the spider people can't jump high enough to grab her.

    Talia helps add to the light by activating her lightsaber, using it like a makeshift torch. The webs being disturbed does stay her blade, otherwise she'd be cutting up webbing left and right like a big glowing machete in the thicket. "Understood." She nods to Aurelia when asked. "I imagine we'll have more and worse than just worms ahead of us soon." She says, keeping her senses alert in the darkness.

    Serrah ... is still looking fairly sleep deprived. She makes a face when Aurelia mentions her time-stop, but whatever, the secret's out. "Okay," she says, gingerly taking the knives. "Gonna ... take a few trips, probably." She blinks. "Oh wait I don't have to do everything all at once, huh. Can just ... keep going while things happen. I mean, while I do things."

    She shakes her head, and shrugs, turning to Benedicta. "Well, if they do give me trouble," she says, smiling faintly, "I can just grab 'em while they're frozen in time and try again." She shrugs again. "Stand back in case it does set off a worm, guys ..."

    She turns away, stops time --

    (And then a thought occurs to her. She rises off the ground, flies past the webs immediately ahead of the group, keeps going until she's hopefully out of worm-range of the group ... and then carefully starts throwing a couple of knives at the web.)

    -- and then, again with the abruptness of a video skipping ahead, she's instantaneously several some ways further ahead, and there are a couple of thrown knives flying towards the webs directly nearby her. As they pierce through the webs -- slightly awkwardly, she really hasn't thrown knives before -- she stares intently, waiting for any worm sign.

    There's worms, but they thrash about looking for victims before realizing there are none to be had. They seem to have fairly limited attention spans. There's some stray low-lying web strands that are illuminated by Misaki's light, allowing others to simply step over them. Talia and Zero have to deal with some weird spider people dropping out of the trees, but they seem... limited in capability.
    Benedicta can see shadow figures moving amid the roads between houses. Strangely, where the shadow of the webs fall, the house and road pattern is simply absent, like literal shadows on reality. These shadow figures resemble the hollow souls encountered some time ago. They appear to be miming every day life.

    Talia reaches out to push the spider-things back, barely even attempting to attack them with her lightsaber. There's no real point, they don't seem that dangerous. All it takes is just a bit of the Force to keep them at bay.

    She'd feel all kinds of guilty later if she did start hacking them up.

    "Weird. THat child did mention something about alternate worlds, maybe this is some sort of shadow universe?"

    Serrah nods, waiting for the worms to start retreating -- plenty of time for Stop the World's cooldown to end -- before stopping time again to pick up the knives and throw again.

    This time, she makes a point of timestop-throwing all the knives, covering a longer line in their path and doing a more thorough job of getting rid of the webs, and ends up still further ahead of the group than she had before.

"There's people up ahead, but I can't quite make what or who they are. I'm guessing more spider people though, this place is weird." That was understatement. "Everyone seems to be going their own business though." It didn't look like they were threat to them. "I have to wonder if the worms are giving them trouble..." That would explain all the webs present.

Misaki follows along quietly, paying attention to her surroundings and making sure not to step on any of the webs. She summons Joyous just in case, but doesn't point the weapon at anyone or anything yet, focusing on keeping the way lit.

    "It's more like a pocket world." Aurelia explains to Talia. "It'll suck you right in if you let it."
    With teamwork and persistance, the investigation team is able to arrive at the mountain slope with little trouble, the light from the gap strong here. Where it spills, cozy homes and streets are seen. Where a web would shadow the light, there is a distinct absence cutting through the houses and roads. There are faded shadow people, miming the actions of every day life. Sweeping porches, having conversations over fences with neighbors, riding non-existent bicycles, hanging clothes up to dry, etc. There are no webs along the ground, but plenty amid the more real trees, seeming to radiate from the mountain's gap.
    Aurelia keeps her sword in hand, clearly spooked. "This is a lot like the neighborhood I got trapped in. ...Anyone else smell apple pie?"
    Zero keeps pace with the front of the group, keeping an eye out for trouble at ground level.

"Wait, is this what's left of Never Neverland?" Benedicta can't help but to wonder now that now. "Or did we stumble someone's incredibly messed up childhood? Maybe Baroness Spider's? Did she even have a childhood?" She can't help but to wonder now. That would explain the webs and the spider people but not the worms. She continues to fly overhead in case there's any signs of trouble.

    Serrah lands next to Aurelia, and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. She remembers how badly this place got the metal magical girl, last time around. "... Dunno," she answers both Aurelia and Benedicta, frowning. "I'm not seeing my family's apartment building around."

    She looks around. "Maybe Mina could've handled the knives better," she murmurs. "If they were kitchen knives ... Aur, want these back yet?"

"I guess you're talking about some past events?" Misaki asks, staying right behind the front. She takes a look around, but her attention returns to the mountain's gap, "I think we need to head that way?"

    Sniff sniff. Talia nods. "I think so." She says, stowing her lightsaber after they make it to the bizarre shadow neighborhood. "Hmmm." She begins to head higher, climbing up the side of a house and taking to the high road, so to speak.

    The trip through the town is unremarkable otherwise, no matter how it is traversed. The gap in the mountain is bright, and the way narrow. The webs are different here, more structural. They pulse in time with the subtle shifts of intensity in the light. There are weird grubs crawling along the webs, fat with the light. Every so often, one simply... bursts like a water balloon, motes of light simply disappating into the air after a moment.
    Eventually the investigators reach the caldera of light. It is simply covered in an intricate spider web and rife with flying 'fireflies', all seeming to be building something at the center, where a column of light erupts from a pool of radiance. Two people, only visible by the shadows they cast, are standing near the center of the web. One is a sort of hunched figure, while the other seems to be taller and of a more lithe build. They seem to be discussing something, not noticing the group that has entered this space.
    Zero sniffs the air, then cautions the others. "The light is strange here."

    Talia scales across the rooftops like a ninja, effortlessly making jumps that'd be impossible for normal people. Through the Force, many things are possible. Gracefully sprinting across another rooftop, she finds herself coming close to the caldera of light, inspecting it curiously. Something about this feels off, a disturbance in the Force regarding this structure.

    Serrah nods briefly to Misaki. "This ain't our first rodeo here," she says, "but there weren't any monsters or crap like that. It was, like ... a paradise." She gestures vaguely. "The kind of place you don't want to leave, if you went along with the dream it made you."

    When they reach the caldera, she frowns down at the pair, furrowing her brow. "... I'm gonna go check ahead," she says. She takes a step forward --

    -- and then, one timestop later, she's floating back up to the group. To the extent that she already looked sleep-deprived, her expression and entire demeanor are now exhausted and exasperated.

    "They're building some kind of key or something," she says flatly. "Uh ..." Snarky ways of dancing around the matter fail her. "It's Doctor Worm and Baroness Spider."

"Let's just say that we've been here before. It was a lot nicer last though and didn't have killer worms." Benedicta explains to Misaki. She looks grossed out as the grubs suddenly burst. As they grow closer Benedicta tries to listen in on the conversation without be noticed, but her hearing is sharper in other form. Her attenton then turns towards Serrah, "I wonder if I should transform, but I'm not even sure if my other half can reach this place..." Then again they might need the extra force if those two are present.

"So uh... can you give me the short version on those two?" Misaki asks after Serrah finishes her scouting, "And uh, miss Delany, please don't overdo it."

    Aurelia explains briefly for Misaki. "A magical mad scientist and a sadistic spider-woman. They do whatever they want to humans, like turning them into animal-human hybrids."
    Benedicta can briefly hear mentions of needing to find Mephistopheles to complete the key.
    Talia can sense nostalgia and memories coming from the radiant pool, as well as what seems to be a naked manifestation of the Force.
    Zero asks Serrah to describe the key to him, shaking his head in confusion afterwards, confessing that Aurelia's mentor Orania would know better.
    The figure that's more Baroness Spider in shape finally notices the shadows of the group below. "Finally! Something other than empty calories!" One can see the shadow that is presumably Doctor Worm facepalm and shake his head as the spider-woman hybrid begins expertly navigating the web towards the very alive investigation team.

    Talia shudders as she feels those memories, experiencing nostalgia. She thinks of her master, Furiel, her friends Serissa, Runs-With-The-Wind, Gavan, Sol...

    A tear runs down Talia's cheek, overcome by these feelings. She steadies herself, but the tears don't stop as she sniffles and jumps down with her lightsaber in hand.

    "You'll find we...excuse me." Sniff. She even blows her nose with her cloak and dabs her eyes. "Okay. There. You'll find we're not an easy meal!"

    She says, turning her lightsaber on.

"Got it." Misaki manifests Marvelous and begins charging her attacks, though she doesn't point the guns at Baroness Spider yet. "Ma'am." She calls out, "I'd really appreciate if you realized and accepted that you are outnumbered and outgunned and just gave up what you are doing, because I promise you a fight is just a waste of your time and is going to hurt a lot, so just don't. It's better that way."

The short version? They're both members of a group called the Obsidian Cabal. Dr.Worm is a magical scientist with powers like mine. Only he uses them to turn people into animals. Baroness Spider is a half-spider woman who is in charge of the Oakland branch of the Cabal and is currently taking over the San Francisco one as well. She controls wind and spiders.

They're both pretty horrible people so don't feel bad about beating the crap out of them if we have to." She expands a bit on what Aurelia says.

"Hey Baroness, Heartbreaker says hi. Don't worry we have plenty of room for you to join her.""

    Serrah smiles faintly to Misaki. "Hey, I'll be fine," she says. "This place never got me that bad." She immediately yawns.

    She shrugs to Zero. "I 'unno, just ... sort of a key?" she says. "I was kind of distracted by Doctor and Baroness Jerkface over there." She nods along with Aurelia and Benedicta's explanations, though it looks like she has slight difficulty with Benedicta's description of the Cabal's disparate parts; the inter-group politics of this world has always been ever-so-slightly beyond her.

    And then Baroness Spider shows up. "..." Serrah rolls her eyes, and then ... disappears! Where did she go?

    ... Mere inches behind Doctor Worm, looks like. "Hey, Doc," she growls in a low voice, her voice ... hitting a more androgynous note again. "What's cooking?"

    Doctor Worm looks surprised at Serrah's sudden appearance behind him. He turns his head to confirm somebody is there. Then, rather than fight her or even respond verbally, the doctor suddenly discorporates into countless worms that attempt to scatter every which way. Aurelia and Benedicta have probably told Serrah that this is Doctor Worm's MO if the half-vampire hasn't seen it herself before.
    Baroness Spider waves a three-fingered hand, a sudden gale of wind aimed at knocking Misaki and Talia off their feet. "Oh please, as if I have a /choice/ about fighting. I'd rather be soaking in a jacuzzi sipping bags of blood." 
    To Benedicta, she says "DAH-ling, there's never enough room for Heartbreaker and I in the same building."
    Aurelia figures if the two are making something they'll want it, and clambers up a web. "We should grab the key!"
    Zero attempts to help Talia and Misaki stay put by providing his heavy metal body for them to grab hold of if necessary, lunging forward into the gale.

    "Nice work, Sakai-san." Talia says with a smile as the girl's persuasion check rolls successfully. The Worm doctor absolutely bails, and the Jedi doesn't waste effort trying to stop those worms from slithering off.

    She aims her lightsaber at the spider. "You on the other hand won't get so lucky!" Talia says, before leaping at Zero to cling to him, grunting as the gale hits them.

While Baroness is distracted with Talia and Misaki, Benedicta takes advantage of her wings and attempts to divekick her off of the web. "While, I hate the fact that Sybil will benefit from it, I still have to bring you in. And I doubt Mephy is here, he's even bigger coward than Dr.Worm is." It could take years for them to track down the monkey.

    Serrah blinks as Doctor Worm up and disappears. "Well, that worked," she says dryly.

    She watches as the fight begins from the distance she's gotten. And Aurelia says to get the key. "On it, coach!" she calls back. She reaches towards the key ... then hesitates.

    A couple of baseballs are suddenly flying towards Baroness Spider's head from ... halfway between the key and the rest of the group? (Serrah flew down halfway to throw them.) And Serrah is in the middle of flying back up. Without any further hesitation, she grabs the key and attempts to lift it up.

"You always have a choice, ma'am." Misaki answers, struggling against the wind until Zero helps steady her. "Of course choices have consequences, but I encourage you to consider the ramifications of your present course, and whether or not you wish to stay upon it." And to make her point, she shoots two charged up beams at Baroness Spider, aiming for the upper body. She's putting a lot of magic into those.

    "I literally have no-" And mid-sentence she's hit by baseballs and a flying kick. Misaki's beams sever the silken thread that the Baroness had shot out to catch herself, and so the malign maho lands in the pool of radiance with a splash of light motes.
    Serrah has to force her hand (or hands?) into the beam of light and use her more than human strength to rip the strange key from an invisible scaffold. When she does, it dissolves into a lace of light then reforms as fist-sized diamond with an odd series of internal flaws that sparkle in the eternal light. With Serrah having done this, the beam of light ceases to shoot upward and the luminence of the caldera dims to comfortable levels. More the light of a full moon than the noon sun now.
    A woman crawls out from the pool, coughing and sputtering, long dark hair hanging down. "Oh finally, the nightmare's over."

"What the hell just happened?" Benedicta looks completely confused as she lands on the ground and looks at the woman. "And did Baroness Spider really eat everyone?" What was she doing her if that was the case. "I need a drink of carrot juice after all of this. And we're going to have to track down Dr.Worm again before he can get to Mephy and create an uber-monkey or whatever he has planned."

    Gripping onto Zero, Talia eventually hops off of him before she leaps to scramble her way up the webbing, trying to keep out of range of that gale attack again. Serrah however seems to have cut the fight short, so to speak. Her lightsaber switches off and is stowed, and Talia leaps down to the pool to greet the woman. "Are you alright?"

Misaki looks at the pool Baroness Spider fell into, looks at the woman who crawls out. "Baroness Spider, I presume?" She asks, guns still manifested, though holstered so she can help the others help the woman out of the pool.

    Serrah winces as she forces her hand in and lifts up the key ... then blinks a few times, catching the diamond in her hand, and stares as Baroness Spider simply falls. "Uhhh ...???" She swoops down, but it's in the cooldown of Stop the World, she doesn't even get a quarter of the way down ...

    She comes to a stop, and stares at the woman. "... huh." She looks at the woman, then at the diamond in her hand, then at the woman again.

    "... I ... think they were doing something ..." Her voice trails off as she realizes she was just stating the obvious followed by an I-don't-know. "... Yeah, I got nothin'."