limacharlie | [public channel] D100

[It takes a bit before Gon answers. There is actually a number of Almost Broadcasts that sound like coughs, or cut off words, all of them most likely due to Gon realizing he shouldn't respond with the first thing on his mind.

Nor the first five things, truly.

When he does speak his voice is tight and restrained, as if even the one word he has are difficult to form.]

Where?

Uh.

[Sans freezes, coming to a sort of damning realization.]

I... I don't know. I don't remember. It was... around the bath house, but...

[He never actually absorbed that information. He feels incredibly stupid.]

Edited 2018-09-25 20:26 (UTC)

[Is this making Gongenzaka feel even more tense? Yes.

...But something about Sans' tone has him hold his tongue, and with a deep breath he forces himself to stay calm.

It probably helps that he's been meditating on and off the last little while.] That much is still a start. I, the man Gongenzaka shall be able to track him from that location!

[It also helps that he's not 'alone'-] Regardless of if you knew or not, we wouldn't be able to get there immediately; having a general idea lets us hone in on a location to head towards, and that's far more than nothing, Sans!

[Sans opts not to say 'yeah, you could, because I could teleport you there if I knew.' But he decides not to make this worse for himself.]

Look, I don't know if you guys can do anything at this point. It was bad enough for me, and... I got lucky.

[Sounds of some sort of verbal argument are barely making their way onto the radio- from the tone, it's most likely Marishi trying REALLY hard to keep her partner calm.

It's probably why she's the one who speaks, actually.]

If you didn't think there was a point, why did you ask for ideas, Sans? The least we can do is try to look into this!

[It doesn't really occur to them that Sans might have literally meant just THEM, as opposed to Completely giving up on Yuuya, but they're already pretty personally invested so those blinders are Firmly in place.]

Becuase I meant from someone who's better at this than me, and you're not that!

[It comes out fast. It's not really intended as an insult, though maybe that doesn't make a difference in this situation. He just doesn't see how Gon could match her.]

[Wow.

That cuts, Sans.]

...Aauh...I see. [He eventually replies- his voice as distant and flat as he can possibly manage.]

...So that is what you meant then.

[...Gongenzaka doesn't say anything else.

He's probably not going to simply sit in the Tower now, however.]

Hit her with enough magic as hard and fast as we can?

[ Strange honestly doesn't know either. More than anything else, he sounds tired. ]

I can scry for your location. Give me a few minutes and I can meet you there.

Don't scry for me, scry for the kid. I lost him. I don't know what I was doing.

[He sounds pretty pretty shell shocked about the whole thing.]

Ya can't... she's poison, like the Prince. If she even touches you... I could sense it, but the only reason it didn't get me is because she touched the stone part of my tail. Y'know? The, uh... the Princely part.

Or consider this: I scry for you both.

[ And the sound of water sloshing around in the background is a pretty good indicator that the scrying has started. ]

Around a quarter of my body is composed of mirrors and I can turn into smoke. I'll be fine.

Fine, I'll stay put.

[But, he growls.]

Don't count on that stopping it. The only reason her poison didn't work was 'cause of the rock on my tail... it already came from poison. Must have canceled it out.

She can shoot it at stuff too, so good luck having it just hit your glass parts.

I've still got to try anyway.

[ because Strange knows if he stops moving to actually think about what he's done, that murder guilt will set it. ]

My smoke is a leftover from Nightshade. It might be poisonous enough to count.

Oh... yeah... maybe...

[How many people have been poisoned by fae around here? Geez.]

Guess I'll see you in a bit.

[ Strange finds Sans in about five or so minutes, thanks to some creepy scrying magic. When he shows up, it's obvious he's been knocked around a bit. Aside from the general messiness of chaotic situations, there's dried blood on his arm and ankle. He also looks damn silly as he's wearing his fire protection cape from when he was enthralled by Ignatius over top of his looser spa clothes...but considering that Strange's main strategy has been 'burn it', aesthetics shall be sacrificed for not being set on fire.

He walks up to Sans and gives him a little nod. And then, Strange just launches RIGHT into business. Yuya's kidnapped and possibly dead and if Strange even pauses to let this sink in, he knows he'll become a bit of a wreck. ]

You said that faerie could poison people. What else could she do?

[Sans is in his giant skeleton wolf form, sitting on his haunches and looking sort of awkward. He doesn't have any visible wounds, besides some conspicuous hand shaped acid burns streaking across the stone of his stinger. It doesn't look nice, but it could have been a lot worse.]

Mostly the poisoning thing - any touch seems to be enough to do it. She did this just by grabbing my tail.

[He indicates the acid burns.]

[ Strange looks over at the acid burns and winces a little. Yep, that's not good. ]

If it was an enchantment, I could break it. I can't do anything about burns. [ there's an awkward pause before Strange asks, ] Was Yuya already taken when you found him?

[Sans shakes himself a little, like a dog shaking off something stuck their fur. He's obvious uncomfortable, which isn't always that common for Sans.]

When I found him, she had her hand around his wrist - he was already hitting the floor the moment I got there. I don't know what she did exactly, but I could sense that his death was coming, which is how I found him in the first place.

He collapsed and didn't get up the entire time I was trying to fight her off. Nothing I could do was working, and I couldn't seem to get a lock on him for teleportation... so.

I left. Didn't know what else to do.

[ Strange's hair briefly flares up, flames burning bright and intense with anger, before he digs his fingernails in the palm of his hand and tries to calm down. A part of him knows that leaving Yuya was the best choice. But Strange runs almost solely on emotions and it's a little hard to accept that all of the options were shitty ones. ]

If I go to fight that fae, will you come with me?

[ Strange also runs almost solely on bad ideas. And his expression plainly states he knows this idea SUCKS ASS. But, well, here we are anyway ]

[Sans avoids Strange with all seven of his eyes.]

Uh...

[There is clear hesitation, like something about the situation, is haunting him. It's hard for him to describe, even inside of his own head.]

...Yeah... uh, sure...

[Which is definitely not a thing to be agreed to with such light phrasing, but there's nothing light about Sans's actual delivery.]

I dunno what I can do, but... yeah. I guess I gotta.

[ Strange looks at Sans with a look of confusion mixed with a little annoyance. Raging egotism & arrogance isn't here for this wishy-washy self-defeating bullshit. ]

You're a powerful wizard. Use your actual magic instead of charging at her in that form and I'm certain you can do something.

[Sans growls at him, but it's not particularly energetic.]

I was doing both, thanks.

Then do it again with me at your side. We don't need to defeat that faerie. We just need to hold her off long enough in order to retrieve Yuya or— [ and here Strange briefly chokes up a bit but he plows through out of stubborn determination and a strong goal of not utterly falling to pieces ] —or his body.

[ just gonna KEEP TALKING in an attempt to stave off the inevitable breakdown. ]

Iron isn't the only thing that can wound a faerie. Hit them with enough magic and it can hurt. I doubt either of us could do this by ourselves, but if we work together, we might have a chance.

Edited 2018-09-26 03:29 (UTC)

[Sans tilts is head a little, absorbing that. The stakes here are a lot more personal for Strange, aren't there? Even if the consequences feel extremely familiar to Sans.]

...Right.

[The admittance is slow, but genuine. He starts to get up.]

I guess I called for backup for a reason...

You did, [ Strange reminds Sans, with an awkward little smile. ] Shall we go try and save someone?

You don't know? [ He sounds incredulous about that. ] Did she take off with him or not?

He was with her when I left... but... he wasn't movin'. My death sense didn't ping, but...

[He trails off, not sure what else to say.]

I'll check my birds. They're still scattered around the city... What did the faerie look like?

You remember the bicorn from the Manor? Pale skin, white hair, hooves in human form. Last I saw her, though, she was like some kind of creepy barbed unicorn.

Alright. I see what I can find.

[Carly doesn't answer initially, just listening in. She's got her hands plenty full playing offensive defense for others, so unfortunately someone else is going to have to handle this stuff. But she's catching that there might be something...off.]

Sans?

Where are you right now?

Waiting for Strange to scry me and get his ass over here.

[His tone is a little dismissive, like he's trying to settle into his usual cadence, but he's still obviously shaken from the tension in his words.]

I did hear him get you to agree to that... [She seems to be attempting some humor- but her tone can't quite get there, and it's not just because of the breathlessness caused by flying around so much.]

...How are you faring, otherwise?

[Careful word choice, that. She doesn't feel he'd appreciate being asked if he's alright on public radio- 'faring' at least caries the idea of...physical status, injuries, etc. And it's talking.

Talking seems like something that will help until Strange gets to him, if at least to keep Sans grounded.]

Got my tail a little bit melted, I guess...

[That part is relatively easy to talk about.]

But... guess I'm feeling a bit sheepish. Really seems like... I should have been able to do more than this.

[That's putting it lightly.]

That's a feeling I know a little too well..! [She laughs- a little too easily, perhaps.] I have all this magic, but it feels like a lot of the time, I haven't made much of a difference...

[The levity in her tone fades.] ...You went against something unexpected, didn't you? ...That's pretty much an ambush on its own.

...It's different from when you have an idea of what's ahead. When you know what's there, you can at least think about how to even the odds, right?

Yuya was taken...!? Damn it!

You're sure it was a Wyld Fae?

It's more like a pretty solid, magical hunch. Some part of her essence was extremely similar to the Prince we all know and loathe.

Do Wyld Fae sleep?

[He asks, bright and curious and unaffected by anything going on.]

Uh...

[Oh shit, it's one of the Papyruses. They're still separate aren't they? Shit-]

Well, the Ringmaster does, so maybe...?

Hey, you should come back to the group and... uh... rejoin your other half. Like, pronto.

Umm... No?

[He considers for a second, or at least pretends to.]

No. I'm quite content as I am.

But if you're regrouping to try getting Yuya back, I can offer some of my sleeping powder. You can attest to its potency!

[The frustrating part is that Sans already knows there is probably no reasoning with this part of Papyrus.]

Uh, yeah, I can. But I don't need that right now.

What I really need... is for you to be one person.

[It's harder to convince someone who's confident, happy, and inherently unshadowed by fears or regrets, true enough. Appeals to emotions like guilt fly right by. But it's not impossible, especially if they have any inkling of the permanent danger that comes of half being killed.

Papyrus sighs, audibly, before answering.]

...I'll bite. Sans, why do you need that? It sounds like this is very important to you, but, this is better for me? I'm not distracted by all those unhappy things, the way you're sounding... And I'm in two places at once!

It's not twice as productive, but I'm sure he's doing something vaguely useful in all this panic.

[Sans has inklings of the danger of losing your other half - he spoke to the Ringmaster about the possibilities, but it's not exactly anything either of them had practical experience with. The danger is a theory, even if it's a likely one.

Unfortunately, Sans isn't in the state of mind to use slow and patient reasoning. He wants Papyrus to be there, and this isn't it.]

...Because you're not my brother.

The bad parts aren't optional. My bad parts aren't optional. Neither are yours.

[The other side of the call goes silent as Papyrus reels from that answer. Whatever he expected to hear, that wasn't it, and...

It hurts. Hearing his brother reject him like that, it's easily the worst feeling he's had while like this.]

Wow, that's such... an unkind thing to say. You really mean that?

Your other half isn't him either! Do you really think the bad stuff isn't a part of what makes a person? Or the good stuff? It's everything we are... Neither of you... neither of you are the same at all.

[It's a much more emotional admittance than Sans would usually give, were he not in the middle of a panic attack. He wants comfort that just isn't there, with Papyrus split.]

I just need my bro here right now, okay? Please.

[Ever since the split, he hasn't felt much in the way of guilt. A tiny bit, pushing Sistina to stick with his alterego so neither would be alone in their worrywarting. A little bit more, after his retreat from half of Sans' dismal mood.

But it's uncomfortable to listen to this heartfelt plea.]

I didn't know you felt so strongly about this...

[Papyrus wants to be helpful and agreeable, but he doesn't want that. What a conundrum.]

Clearly, you've recombined yourself... And you're recommending it on others... Ugh. Will it make you feel better if I come over to the group, and talk to him? I cannot promise more than talking, because it sounds hideous and I hate the very idea, but I will try that much. For your sake.

[And, mostly, so Sans doesn't keep yelling at him to do so. He can't just shut the radio off in an emergency situation like this.]

[Hey guys, so the rescue attempt is going great.]

Strange is messed up, watch out for fire. Fae is still-

[Aaaaaand there's a cut, don't worry about it. It's fine. They're fine.]

[They're not fine.]

[public channel] D100

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bonus marishi i guess

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action!

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bc sans needs some attention himself tbqh

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Some time later