maskormenacelogs | And never mind that noise you heard

WHO: Everyone who wants
WHERE: A charming De Chima Park
WHEN: September 2-9th
WHAT: The tale of the Gibbering Mouther and you
WARNINGS: NPC (possibly PC) death, body horror

De Chima, city of technology, of medical advancements, and of.. horrible gibbering monstrosities of madness and mayhem? That’s right, for this week only, the beautiful face below has taken up residence under the bridges of a local De Chima park, only a few minutes drive from downtown.

Yeah. Heroes are seriously needed.

Those, imPorts and natives alike, that come within a quarter of a mile of the beast will begin hearing maddening whispers, a cacophony of voices and guttural sounds from the mass of mouths. These whispers can have a few initial effects: the person simply freezes, standing still and becoming entranced with the noise until someone helps them; moving in a random direction in utter confusion; or attacking the nearest person in their distress. Finally, though, the creature will compel them to come closer, closer. Once people come too close, the monster will absorb them into its wriggling mass, killing them and adding another horrible mouth to the whispering creature.

Those strong of mind or will can resist simply being absorbed, but will have to contend with the many bites the monster can inflict, as well as blinding spittle — that’s right, all of the creature’s mouths can spit globs of nasty up to a distance of 15 feet that explode like a flash grenade and blind anyone looking at that moment. For any imPort that does get eaten, the mouther will find the nanites too much for it and will spit the body out (after a light, lethal gnawing. but at least you aren't part of the horror and can do your on respawn). Also, the ground around the mouther is incredibly hard to walk through. We're suggesting range attacks, but follow your heart.

On the bright side, you’re heroes! You can fight this, you can win. It’s a tough monster, but with enough effort imPorts can kill it. When the creature vanishes it will leave behind all the loot (wallets, watches, all other non-biological items) that people absorbed into it were carrying. Curiously, these items also include some (strictly non-magical) items that seem out of time — gold coins, maces, quarterstaffs and other fantasy medieval paraphernalia.

On the downside, the monster came in with re-spawn. An hour after being killed, another one will ooze its way into the universe under a nearby bridge. Some tag-team monster hunter shifts may be needed until this dimensional instability ends.

Have fun, and ask any questions on the OOC post here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Kirk!" He barks, worried now that this isn't just a case of Kirk being distracted. Apollo hands uncertainly in the air like a miniature golden sun and watches as Kirk moves with inexorable surety towards... well, Apollo isn't sure.

Fuck it. He dives, swooping low and makes a bright beeline towards him.

"Kirk, snap out of it!"

At first Kirk doesn't respond, or even seem like he's going to respond, but after a moment or two the faraway look in his eye fades and he shakes his head lightly. Seeing Apollo so close, he blinks a few times as he takes in his surroundings.

"How did I get over here?" He says more to himself than anything. "I thought I heard a voice, and then..."

Then what? Nothing.

"You walked yourself here!" He yells as he zooms past, veering away at the last moment from the intercept course he'd been heading on in his plan to sweep Kirk into the air and carry him away from danger. "Move, for fuck's sake! Before you --"

Apollo's words are cut off, stolen voicelessly from his mouth as he hears it - the whisper, foul and intelligent, filling his brain and overwhelming his senses. The roar of blood and sunlight in his ears is replaced with a sibilant, insistent hiss - ordering, commanding, overriding every thought and impulse...

Hanging in the air, still and silent under the command of the whispers, Apollo turns his face towards Kirk with eye lit up like burning suns, preparing to unleash a volley of solar energy in his direction.

Well shit. Kirk's in motion before the man's eyes fully light up, fighting back a thought of how the sight reminds him of Hernan, faster than a normal man has any right to be. At all times he's aware of where both Apollo and the monster are in relation to one another, and to him, as he tries to think of ways to come on top.

Careful to stay on the move, he dwindles his options down to a potential two, though he doesn't feel any more confident for it. One he knows is his teammates weakness, but he's not sure how to go about utilizing it to his advantage with what little he has on hand, the other... well, they've never discussed Apollo's skin before. He'll just have to find out.

Kirk quickly slips into the canopy of several thick trees nearby, and hopes to not get fried.

The twin bolts of laser-concentrated solar energy scorch a path from where Kirk had been to where he's hiding, cutting through concrete and severing a lamp post and most of the tree branches. The lamp post tumbles to the ground in a scream of metal and the pruned tree goes up in flames, but at least Apollo doesn't hit Kirk.

And as soon as the whispers have taken hold, suddenly they're gone. Apollo starts, flinching as he regains control of his mind and his senses, and he stares at the damage in horror.

"Holy shit! Kirk?"

Hopefully he's still alive.

Thankfully, Kirk is still alive. Years of living with an alien with his own brand of laser vision has taught the living vampire to move quickly. The fact that Apollo's brand of laser vision is possibly more powerful than Hernan's was potentially horrifying, but it was something to square away to think about later.

When he's not in danger of dying.

Slowly he pokes his head out when he realizes Apollo isn't going to kill him anymore.

"I think the creature knows if it told me to attack you I'd just hurt myself, so it told me to walk away instead."

Apollo can guess only too well what would have happened. He swoops over to the tree, hand outstretched in a silent offer to carry Kirk out of close proximity to the monster - the longer they linger here, the more chance there is of a whisper working its way into their mind again.

"We should back off and get out of range of those whispers," He suggests, glancing over his shoulder. "Long-distance attacks only. We can't risk either of us attacking other people..."

Kirk takes it, but only because he's worried that at the rate they're going, one of them is going to lose their mind again, and despite it being antithetical to initial belief, he feels it'll be better to be up close if that happens.

"I think you already forgot the part where I said I was useless at long range," Kirk replies dryly. "Superman was the long distance fighter of the three of us. Wonder Woman was the powerhouse. I punched people in the kidneys then bit them."

Okay, a bit of an exaggeration. He also can punch holes through people's chests. But he doesn't want to brag.

Besides, it does them no good here.

"You can be my spotter then," Apollo suggests as he grasps Kirk by the forearm and sweeps him out of the tree, carrying him further away from the malicious whispers.

"I'm carving chunks out of the bastard but can't seem to get a kill shot. Do horrifying blobs have weak spots?"

He opens his mouth to object to being a "spotter" when Apollo asks his question. Intelligence. Yeah, he can do that. Releasing himself from Apollo's grip so he can fly under his suit's power, he flies in a circle a safe distance away from the beast, taking it all in. He wishes he had his computer from the Hall of Justice, as it might pick up something he missed, but he feels a bit more confident about this monstrosity after taking a look.

"Each pair of eyes and its accompanying mouth are capable of moving separately from the rest of the blob. Most of them tried to watch me the entire time I circled them. I almost heard some more of their nonsense, but the wind carried it off." Thankfully. "The way it followed me, I got the impression it was protecting something in it's center--the 'faces', for lack of a better word, were always protecting their center from me."

And never mind that noise you heard

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