The Collector is Coming

Jodie · #16

Emerald tilted her head then thaught 'some reasion I have a feeling I wont...'

She then looked at the mountain side curuisley and mumbled "what is that?" her tail waved from side to side as she was both Curius, nervius and a bit exited too

Emerald then said with a sigh "I wonder if Jade is ok being alone for the first time..."

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Jade was waiting in the burrow but then crawled to the entrence of the burrow and said nerviusley "Sister Emerald has been away for a long while..."

#17

"Mm?" said Swix, turning around to peer at the small creature in near disbelief "the... mountain?" she spoke, her voice reflecting the disbelief in her eyes "Haven't you ever seen a mountain before? It's pretty much a massive jagged lump of rock"
Swix stopped at the entrance and gave a mocking bow to Jade the Pwee before she went inside the gash in the mountain, disappearing from the creatures sight. "Come on Emerald" she called "it's the perfect place to watch a storm in here"

Jodie · #18

Emerald mumbled quietley "I knew what it was... I just um... Forgot..." then sighed. she then Saw Jade and squeaked "how!-"

Jade gulped then said "The burrow is very complex, but I followed your scent sis"

Emerald face-plamed then mumbled quietley to Jade "just go back in the burrow and stay out of truble..."

Jade nodded and crawled back into the burrow, Emerald then turned to the gash in the mountion and walked in curiusley and asked Swix "um, are you sure this is the best place?"

#19

A few snaps, and a thick looking tree branch rather alarmingly chooses that moment to crash right down diagonally across the cave mouth. More surprising however, is the odd sight of a yellow creature scrambling to hand on as said branch bounces with residual force...

CP hadn't exactly expected this to happen. When one was snooping around, typically they would like to avoid calling attention to themselves, but in this case, the branch he had chosen to watch from seemed to much rather greet visitors head on then shelter spies from them. Then again, a solid, Blackstarian tree would've never done anything to betray it's riders.

No matter though, the electric mouse reasoned, giving a sigh as soon as he stopped shaking. What happened happened, and he would have had to reveal himself to these two at some point. Plus, he couldn't have hoped for a more dramatic entrance, this one even hanging him at an appropriate eye level with the woman here.

"Why Hello, E-vil Swix! Whatch'a doin'?" he said in a singsong voice, hanging off the broken tree with a boyish grin.

#20

After Emerald entered the roofless gash in the mountain-after her little conversation with her sister, the Pwee would find Swix standing next to the twisted key shaped hole that had been carved into the rocky floor. This now contained a viscous black liquid that was mere millimetres away from overflowing into the symbol on the ground that it was connected to. In her hand was the same bottle as the one she had been carrying the silver liquid in earlier, now completely empty.

The humanoid regarded Emerald with something of a twisted smile on her face as she almost absently put the bottle back into her red bag before she spoke-only to be interrupted by a very rude natural occurrence and confronted by the yellow rodent himself, Coolpikaaa.

Evil Swix closed her mouth after the initial shock of his entrance had worn off, her hazel eyes darkening in the manner that had nothing to do with the absence of light. On the one hand, he could certainly make this more difficult-and she'd been preparing a whole monologue for this very point too! But on the other, she now had a spare.

"Yes my dear Emerald" she spoke, though not taking her eyes off the Pikachu "I am very sure this is the best place to watch the storm. See, I plan on making one right here, and you two will have front row seats"
Evil Swix smiled as two tendrils of darkness made themselves apparent, snaking out from her back where they were attached on either side of the woman. Since CP had put such an emphasis on her true nature she no longer saw any reason to hide them or it "just as soon as I get a small bit of blood from one of you"

The tendrils that had sprouted from the womans back were not quite thick, only the width of her arms, but they were nearly three times as long as she was tall. So their tips quite easily reached both CPs perch and close by the Pwee. They didn't stop there either-they whipped towards both potential targets with the intention of either grabbing hold or knocking at least one of them out.

Jodie · #21

Emerald thaught 'oh great, what no-' her thaughts where interupted when CP fell from the tree " what? A Pikachu?" she said curiusley

She then gulped and squeaked "SAY WHAT!?" and tried jump away from the tendrils but got caught and screamed "HEELLLPPP!" and started the struggle in attempt to get free.

Jade heard her sister scream and squeaked "Emerald!" then ran into the gash in the mountion and froze in place unsure how to react, She asked scardley "WHATS GOING ON, BIG SISTER!?"

Emerald shouted "JADE RUN NOW!, IT'S TOO DANGERUS!", Jade gulped scardly and whimperd "B... But... sis we made a promace to protect eachother foreve-"

Emerald roared "FORGET THE PROMACE AND RUUUUN!" and continued to struggle

Tav · #22

A great, scaled, dense man was sitting in meditation, watching a small flower close in preparation for the storm. Plant life here was very different than on the ice planet, he realized.

"HEELLLPPP!"

"WHATS GOING ON, BIG SISTER!?"

"JADE RUN NOW!, IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!"

"FORGET THE PROMISE AND RUUUUN!"

Guardian tilted his head, and scratched at one of his scars. He sat there for a moment, thinking. There are at least two people in earshot. One is in danger, and is trying to protect the other. If running is such a important thing to do, then the danger is mobile. At least three people. From the sound of the voices, they were young, female, and related. And weak. Someone who needed protecting. He got to his feet, his arms and legs cracking. Then he walked in a deliberate, controlled manner, towards where the voices had come from, squeezing himself through the trees, which barely had enough room for his frame.

"Greetings, Coolpikaaa. It is nice to see you once again." He said, nodding to the yellow rodent, once he had gotten there. He noticed that the black tendrils writhing around was probably the danger they were all facing, but that was not a reason to be impolite. He turned his head to the one who had hidden in the mountain. "Listen to your sister." He said. "I'll take care of this."

Then, finally, he turned to Evil Swix. "I suppose you won't listen to diplomacy?" He asked. "I much prefer speaking to fighting."

#23

Coolpikaaa watched the woman's darkening gaze, the sense of joy that only came from disrupting evil doers plans starting to well up inside him. Yet, what he assumed was basic annoyance (a common reaction, it seemed), was unfortunately something else far more sinister. So, he continued...

"Blood? That's kinda dark, even for you Swixy." he said continuing the taunting tone while staring at his former hiding tree. "Hey! Did ya suddenly turned to Vamprism, perhaps? You know, if that's the case, it's probably not best for your complexion to be out in the day..." Coolpikaaa smiled, giving the grown woman a mock look as if she was simply being scolded.

It faded oh so fast when he saw the tendrils, though.

With one strike, the snake of darkness knocked CP straight off his wooden "stage" and into the rocky wall with impressive force. Stars flew in front of his eyes, yet he quickly attempted to recover. Experience taught him if he stuck around too long, another blow would soon find him.

It did.

Now bruised, battered and bleeding slightly, Coolpikaaa pushed himself against the rock outcrop, trying to shake away is disorientation. He hadn't expected an attack out of the blue.... what could possibly be her motive here?

"That was.... just a joke there Swix." he said, hoping idle banter would distract her from hitting him again. Luckily, as he quickly noticed, someone else had stepped in to save the day. The electric mouse gave a brief wave of thanks to the Guardian as he stood weakly, hoping that this pause in battle would yield answers.

#24

'Cute' Swix thought, her eyes drawn to Emerald as she screamed at her wayward sister to leave. She hated that kind of cute-it made her nauseous.

"Well now, there's really no need to shout" she rather calmly and patronizingly told the Pwee, before turning her attention back to Coolpikaaa "Don't you ever call me Swixy" she told CP-although it was a fair bet he probably knew she hated that and was doing it on purpose, she still felt it needed saying anyway "Although I would normally relish our little... chats, Darkness is-"

She didn't get very far though, as it was then that the strange, very bulky looking creature came and started talking to her. "You know, I was right in the middle of organising a private party, but as I now have two gatecrashers, may as well make it an open invitation" she said absently, and deliberately rudely left him waiting for an answer since he was showing all the signs of overpoliteness. "Diplomacy is it? Okay, how about I try using the situation to my advantage and you try to talk me into giving it up for nothing?" she said with a lopsided grin, drawing the tendril holding Emerald closer to her, but not too close "Come any closer and the squirming lizard gets it. How I'll leave up to your imagination"

Emeralds struggles were making quite an impression on Evil Swix, although despite the loosening coils around the Pwee, she'd already proven she could pack a powerful punch with her abilities. One only had to look at CP standing across the symbol on the floor from her to see that. "And you Coolpikaaa, why don't you join this kniight in shining armour in doing so?"

Jodie · #25

Jade whimperd scardly then said "I made the promace with my suster, and I would never abandon my big sister no matter what, and she did the same!"

She then growled angrily at Swix

Emerald gulped and thaught 'I wish I didn't make that promace now...' then said angrily to Jade "Don't worry about me!, Just go!"

Jade backed away sadly and whimperd "b...bi... big... sis...ter..." her eyes waterd and Jade ran off.

Emerald mumbled "Jade..." then gulped and squeaked "I don't even want to Imagen!" then growled angrily and took in a deep breath as she was preparing to breath fire

Tav · #26

Guardian thought for a moment. "So, then, you have no goals at all, is that it?" He asked, noticing something was happening with the Pwee. She was inhaling for something. Something was going to happen, and happen fast. The dracon continued talking, ready to cross the space between him and the girl. "I strongly doubt that. You wouldn't have much strength if you wasted it on causing terror. What is it, exactly, that you want?"

First order is to assume that the young one would get free of her own volition. He had learned a little about the Pwee, they could breathe quite a bit of fire; It should burn away the black wire holding her. Otherwise, she would get crushed to death. Second order is to consider a target. The tendrils should be taken care of, but they're obviously of magical origin. He tried not to let his irritation show; His race had no skill in magic. "Money, supplies? I have more than enough to give you, if it'll secure the freedom of the little ones." He would have to dodge past the tendrils, or blast through, to get to the source. Third order, aim for the head. She appeared human; He'd learned about the various points of human physiology, and their consciousness could be abruptly interrupted with a quick bash to the head. Hypothetically, that should disengage the spell that keep the tendrils active. By that point, CP should be back up to par. Guardian hadn't learned much about CP's physiology, nor his personality, but the lightning rodent's reputation made him suppose that he'd assist the young one.

"Or do you have some other goal in mind?" He asked, not having stopped talking in a calm, diplomatic manner. "Are the little ones the children of someone who you have something against?" He was lucky that his facial expressions didn't correlate with his emotions the same way they did for humans; Otherwise, his target would quickly realize that Guardian was not, in fact, being diplomatic at all. He raised an arm and scratched at one of his scars, using the movement to mask that he was tensing up. "In that case, let them go, and hire me to capture your rival and bring them to you. I am a mercenary, after all."

#27

Coolpikaaa watched as the two went back and forth, trying to piece together exactly what what was going on in the situation. Unfortunatly, he seemed to be drawing the same conclusions as Guardian. What was Swix's motive here? It didn't make sense that she be suddenly so hostile.

Either way, taking a hostage was the line. With the little Pwee at the woman's mercy, Cp had his hands tied.

"Alright.... we can co operate here." The electric mouse said, calmly stepping forward with arms held to the sides. "What do you need? No one needs to get hurt..."

...well, anymore than they already had. Swix's surprise attack had got him quite well... and being cut by rocks and shadow tendrils was not exactly fun. He could only feel for the small lizard. Hopefully though, with both Guardian and himself here, the dark woman could be made somewhat peaceful...

#28

Evil Swix tilted her head slightly, staring at Guardian as he just kept on talking, amusement playing over her eyes. She didn't notice the Pwee inhaling of course, she was far too tense right now to notice that, what with one potential threat in front of her and the second potential one to the side she was fairly sure she'd created when taking the little creature as a hostage. Still, she thought this'd be amusing, and she was oh so right about that.

"Money, supplies?" she said, not quite able to help the grin from spreading across her face "Hire YOU to go get someone for me? Hah! Hah! Hahahahah" the woman shook her head at Guardian "No... see, if I wanted revenge on a rival, I would do it myself. far more personal that way. Though I'm not averse to bribes, that won't help anyone now. No, my motives, you will find out soon enough"

Of course, the electric mouse now wanted to help, stepping in and asking what she needed so that noone need get hurt. Swix's hazel glanced at him, and suddenly her eyes showed less of the amusement and more of a dark type of joy. "Why my dear Coolpikaaa" she said, abruptly releasing the Pwee as a single droplet of CPs blood dripped from his injuries directly onto the symbol she had carved into the stone floor "you've just given me exactly what I wanted. Just. One. Little. Drop"

Mere moments after the blood touched the symbol, the entirety of it up until it reached the twisted key shape began to glow the very same colour as the blood itself, even giving the impression that the symbol was now filled with that the liquid. Swix was lucky that she hadn't needed much from the living-just a drop was all that was required to activate the spell.

Seconds after the disturbing glow the liquid flowed into the twisted key shape that contained the potion, causing it to overflow into the single, simple line on the other. And as thought the very world they were on sensed what was happening, a bolt of lightning shot from the stormclouds above close by them, and thunder rattled the walls of the mountain.

The dark woman turned to the line and held her arms up to the sky as a bolt of light shot up from the middle of the straight line directly into the heart of the storm. A light that seemed like it was mocking the real light of the planets sun that surrounded them, and said as loud as she she could, words of magic: "Daruikisn Hetah Evailles"

"And now you're all too late" she told them with her back to them, a very vulnerable position certainly but even so, even if they did manage to take her down, this process had now reached past the point of no return. They could not stop it. So, she started laughing, quite madly, as the same darkness of which her tendrils were made of covered her entire body, making her look like nothing more than a solid shadow made flesh herself.

Even as she laughed, the doorway, the light, began to start widening along the line drawn on the ground. Opening to let something that pervaded the very air with this sense of wrongness through. And all the while Swix laughed.

Jodie · #29

Emerald was just about to blow fire then sqeaked as she was dropped and was forced to swallow the fire, apart from glowing for a second there was no physical probolems.

She gulped nerviusley then squeaked "Wh- what on Ana is going on!?"
She wanted to run away and hide, Yet she also wanted to stand and fight, and also find out what the heck was happening here too.

Jade waited inside the Burrow then thaught 'this is realy bad, I hope big sister is ok, That lightning looked scary' she closed her eyes then whimperd "Big sister, Emerald... Please be ok big sis..."

Tav · #30

Protect the little ones.
"Go hide with your sister." Guardian said to Emerald, pointing to a small burrow in the rocks. "She's in there. Both of you go north, and don't stop."
Close whatever the hell that is.
The burly dracon turned to Coolpikaaa. "You can use magic, right? Work on locking whatever it was that was unlocked." He said.
Take down the human.
Guardian knelt slightly, bracing his body for impact, and then pushed off the ground, charging towards Evil Swix, the ground cracking beneath his feet. He reached for the back of her head with one taloned hand, and attempted to dash her head against the stone.