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xp_logsAmanda, Jean, Topaz, Eva, Julian, and Molly enter Tandy's mind to find and bring her back.
"Ready?" Amanda asked Jean as she looked across at the doctor. "Because I'm having some serious deja-vu." The scene was very like the last time they'd done this. Tandy on a bed, warding spells scrawled on the floor and walls and ceiling surrounding her, Amanda and Jean readying themselves to enter the astral plane. Except this time, they were taking a back seat to the group of young people - Tandy's close friends - sitting on the floor with them.
"Yeah, but with reservations," Jean said quietly, eyeing the group. While many of the group had rudimentary astral training, it was just that---rudimentary. Some had no training at all and wound up getting sucked into the astral plane in the past by accident. There was a whole hell of a lot that could go wrong.
"I hope this works."
"That's the optimism I like to see." Perhaps it was the aftereffects of New Delhi, but Amanda was... well not enjoying herself exactly, but much less weighed down than previous weeks. Perhaps having the world no longer threatened with destruction was part of it. "Right, Hope, you're on point with Jean since you know the plane. Then Topaz, Julian and Molly. I'll take up the rear and watch your backs. Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times."
"Alright." Hope settled a like more securely, the roar of the waves already building in her mind. "Stay focused. Sometimes the plane can show you strange things. I will be able to track you, but I am not a fighter. Not even there." With that warning delivered, she closed her eyes and let the waves carry her to the astral plane.
Julian had been holding Tandy's hand, looking down at her with a mixture of hope and apprehension. They had her back, but not entirely- looking up at Jean he nodded, "I'll keep them safe. We're bringing her back." There was only the slightest break in his voice, as if he was trying to convince himself too. Shutting his eyes he felt the pull on the corner of his consciousness that had become, not familiar, but not altogether uncommon in his life over the past decade as he drifted away from his body.
Topaz' experiences with the astral plane were far from pleasant, and the thought of going there voluntarily made her cringe. But she closed her eyes, readying herself - she knew not to trust her vision, and in this case she was far more useful focusing on feeling and leaving sight to everyone else. She was already anticipating absolute chaos.
Molly fidgeted with her shirt. The last time she'd been in the Astral Plane it was by accident, and she didn't even know she was there because it was made up to look like an alternate universe. Also, she was hit by a building and there were dinosaurs.
"This will be fun," she said breathlessly, more to psych herself up than anything else. "Totally fun."
"All right then. Jean, take us in." Amanda closed her eyes as well, stretching out with her magical senses to feel the protective wards around them. Still holding.
With a simple nod Jean closed her eyes, her mind reaching out to envelop the group of people. It felt a bit like falling out of your chair, right before you actually hit the ground. The world fell away, and in it's place was darkness. A large, rundown theater loomed up in front of them. It appeared almost in the middle of nowhere, because it was. Dead grass sprung up between cracks in the concrete at their feet. The lights along the marquee were dirty and the metal frame was caked with rust.
A burst of soft light illuminated the area as a gas lantern appeared in Jean's hand. She offered it to Amanda. The moment it left her hands, another one appeared, and she passed it to Topaz, and so forth.
"When we go in, we need to stay quiet at first so you can slip into the theater unnoticed. Amanda and I will stay in the lobby and keep Dweller distracted," she said.
"Any trouble you let us know. I'll hear it. Any questions?"
"Yeah, does anyone else feel like they're walking through sludge?" Topaz grimaced, rubbing her temples. Everything was off kilter and chaos and almost felt like Tandy, but not quite. Like a bad clone.
Julian nodded in understanding and felt a strange pop at his wrist as he disconnected his left hand and let it float a few feet above his head, synchronizing its position. Looking down at his remaining hand, he noticed that it appeared to be real, rather than the mechanical replacements that had been crafted for him...oddly enough, they still separated just like the prosthesis did in the real world. Pushing the distraction away he pushed out with his powers and slowly drew the ornate door to the theater open for the party to pass through.
Molly blinked, her eyes widening as everything got switched over to creepyville. "Woah, trippy," she whispered. She couldn't feel herself sitting anymore. She felt like she was standing right there. Lifting up her hand, she noticed that it glowed a faint purple and seemed to have some transparent holes in it. Weird.
"So um--how do we let people know if something bad is going on? Charades?"
"Jean's a telepath - this is her stomping ground. She'll know," was Amanda's reply. As before, she was in her leather jacket and Docs, but she held a policeman's club and had a bullet-proof vest and a riot helmet on, ready for battle. "Or Hope can get us - she's got more than enough power on the astral plane."
"We will be fine." Hope's pearly form quickly reassured her, but mind were already focused on the threads she could perceive between the people present and Tandy. They varied in color, thickness and consistency, but they all pointed unerringly in the same direction. "I know where she is exactly. Let's go." She started moving towards the entrance, the astral plane around her coming up to cloak her. Only her head remained visible for the others to follow her.
Yup, that was the right way - the not-quite-right feeling just got stronger, although there was a glimmer of light underneath it all that was absolutely, unquestionably Tandy. Topaz had closed her eyes, trying to focus passed all the creepy and weird and using Molly's emotions and general position to lead her along. She had two strengths in this place - empathy and magic. For the moment, anything else was just a distraction.
The state of the theater was in-decline and was worse than the last time Amanda and Jean had visited. It seemed the final battle with Cul nearly took all of Tandy's light to make the killing blow possible. The walls were no longer visible from the fleshy slime that made up Dweller. The concession stand was barely visible, the lights from the popcorn maker flickered dimly in the darkness. It had been deathly quiet until the sounds of something or someone made an long sigh. Suddenly the entire place shook and a piece of the ceiling fell with a loud crash nearby. Any more tremors like that would see the entire place coming down. It stopped after several long seconds and all was quiet but just outside of the corners of their eyes, a darkness lurked.
Behind the doors that towards the only theater a light flickered under the door, it had a faint mixture of Tandy and a bit of Baldr. It would appear that the God of Light gift was the thing that saved Tandy from completely disappearing into the darkness forever, but barely. The light flickered again as the fleshy slime started to move to block it from being opened.
Looking to his companions for confirmation, Julian stepped up to the door; his detached hand pushing it open, forcing it to swing forward despite the resistance of the ooze holding it shut with what limited power his telekinesis afforded him in this realm. The interior of the auditorium was ruined; the chairs that should have been in tidy rows were pell-mell about the chamber. The sound baffling was torn, as if someone had stuck a blade into it and used it to slow their fall- the same putridness that covered the lobby was visible beneath the fabric.
The theater screen was gone- if it had indeed ever been there, the state made it difficult to tell- leaving behind something of an impromptu stage. In the center of the stage the unmistakable figure of Julian's love was holding her knees to her chest, seeming oblivious to their presence. He wanted nothing more than to rush to her and rescue her, but the cautions that Jean and Amanda had given them before they started this journey were fresh in his mind. Instead he muttered, "Found her," as the others filed in behind him. Julian's tone and general emotional demeanor didn't give Topaz much hope. She avoided replying to him, saying instead, She could worry later. "Right, so. This feels weirdly like that Slenderman world. That's encouraging." The dark sarcasm was obvious in her tone. She finally looked around, glaring at the slime on the walls. "And that is going to try and kill us. In case anyone was wondering." Sparks of energy flashed between her fingers, lips pressed thin, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. She should've stocked up on more energy.
"Easy, guys. We'll pull you out before anything happens to you," came Amanda's soothing words from behind them. "No-one's dying here." She was about say more, but caught a flicker of movement off to her left, where the ruined staircase led to the upper levels of seating. "Time to do this," she said abruptly, gesturing for the others to go inside. At the same time, she sent a flash of thought to Jean. "We've got company."
Giving a quick look around, Jean saw where their opponents were coming from, then gave Amanda a nod. Her X-Man uniform got harder to reveal more of an armor, and the faint orange aura around her seemed to shimmer like heat.
"This is a good sign. It means he's afraid," Jean said, lashing out with a wave of her hand as a telekinetic blast erupted from her to throw a smaller version of the Dweller backward as it came up from behind her. Manipulating the astral plane was her specialty but right now things were delicate. She had to be careful and use it strategically.
As they came closer, Hope's aura sight shifted from the bonds between the people present and Tandy to her full aura... at least as far as there was any of it. It was only the smallest bit of radiance directly around her body, lighting up in the deep yellow of terror and the mix of other colors that signaled despair. Even worse was that it seemed to be dimming as she observed it. "We have to hurry." Hope spoke urgently. "She's giving up as we speak."
Hope's head finally vanished too as the astral plane obeyed her call to cloak her fully and she rushed to Tandy's side.
It was disconcerting to see his companion vanish before his eyes, but Julian chalked it up to the strangeness of this place and glanced over his shoulders at the lobby doors where Jean and Amanda were playing a psychic version of whack-a-mole with the dweller's minions. Hope's warning that Tandy's will was waning caused a momentary surge of panic to grip him- the plane reacted by sticking his foot to the floor in a large wad of gum that hadn't been there before. Unable to immediately free himself, he looked for Molly, "Bruiser!" he thought back to the mission files that he'd read over when he'd wanted to be an X-Man Trainee, "want a lift up to the stage?"
Molly nodded at Julian, "Yes please!" she said. She wasn't sure if leaping over there would cause damage. It was good if it was damage to Dweller, but bad if it was to Tandy. Everything looked hella gross, though. It was like walking around in someone's mouth. If they'd swallowed a theater.
"Eugh," Topaz muttered, stepping back and creating a shield around her feet. The goop lashed at the invisible barriers, held off for now, and she used the shield to push her way forward, like a plow in snow. "You," she added under her breath in Tandy's direction, "are not allowed to die."
Her mind began scanning the area, seeking the familiar emotions out in the midst of chaos - even without her signature glow, Tandy was still a beacon to the empath. She jabbed sharply at Tandy's mind, the equivalent of "if you die I'll kill you", if such words could be translated into emotions.
The familiar pull of a certain individual as Tandy lifted her head, "Topaz?" She whispered, but it was loud and seemed to echo off the walls. Her own astral form, which would normally be shining brightly was fading in and out of darkness. The only thing that was holding its light was light placed over her heart, where Baldr was keeping her from going out completely. Dweller's flesh moved as Tandy also felt the commotion hat was going out in the Lobby. Amanda and Jean had kept their word but seeing a group of individuals. It was then that Tandy saw the individuals out in the pews. She tried to stand up but she only ended up falling to her hands and knees, too weak - too tired. Help had come, but she could only hope they had a plan. She couldn't keep this up for much longer.
Still safely cloaked by the astral plane, the goop ignored Hope as she made her way to the stage. She didn't shimmer into visibility again until she was kneeling next to Tandy, one hand tightly wrapped in her own. "Tandy, please, you have to keep fighting. We have already lost so many friends... I do not want to lose you too." She gave a firm squeeze before continuing. "If you decide to get out of here, know I will find a way to cross over and I will drag you back kicking and screaming."
Sinking into the muck to his knees, Julian reached out and began to levitate Molly off the ground- struggling to maintain his focus as the goop began to sting a little bit. "Incoming!" he shouted to the people who'd made it to the stage already, and propelled his younger companion to the front of the auditorium, doing his best to stabilize her flight and landing.
"Hope." Tandy let out a small chuckle, how ironic that she was about to give up on hope and Hope actually comes to her. "I am just so..tired." She whispered. "And I can't seem to leave my own mind." Tandy slowly stood up and held her side as if she was doing battle herself inside. "He is not asleep and I can no longer do it alone. My light...it is the only thing that is keeping me alive." Hearing Julian voice made Tandy look back in the audience but instead she saw a flying Molly coming towards her.
Suddenly the ground started to quake again, larger than the last one they experienced. A large portion of the roof, cracked and then crumbled down. Tandy winced in pain as she held onto her own head. There was a loud rumble which sounded like someone was yelling at them. "He is coming."
The room in the air went still and then pounding against the walls, as they cracked and fractured from top to bottom, as if someone was squeezing a juice box. The flesh started to pull away from the group to form an actual astral version of Dweller. He really looked like the stuff that nightmares was made out of. He was scared because he knew what they were planning on doing, but if he destroyed them here - they would die.
"It is not real. Whatever he going to make you see, remember it is not real!" Tandy yelled out.
Topaz let out an annoyed huff, turning to look over the thing forming in front of them. "I am really going to enjoy locking you up," she informed the projection stonily, magic crackling between her fingers.
Hope rose to her feet as she let Tandy's hand go and stood behind Topaz. "I cannot fight much. But I can cloak you and we can surprise this bastard that he does not know where we are coming from." With those words, she dropped her hand on Topaz' shoulder and called on the astral plane to cloak them.
"Love it," Topaz said, shooting a grim smile over her shoulder before casting her mind out to focus on the lobby. They needed some coordination here to make the spell work; she didn't want to start too early.
Molly stared up silently at the love child of a demogorgon and a vat of tar as he started to form. Cracking her neck, she raised her left hand. The only sound in the room was the Dweller himself. Or at least, until a series of crashes were heard. Someone exclaimed from inside the theater lobby as something burst through the theater doors, shooting across the room and landing in Molly's hand: a hammer. No, the hammer. Mjolnir. The air crackled with energy as Molly's eyes glowed yellow and purple.
"Let there be light," she said as brilliant golden rays erupted from the hammer.
The creature finished forming and landed on all four legs and then roared, the walls trembled. The light hurt as it took a step back and the smell of burned flesh filled the air. and all around where the light touched, the darkness give way. Tandy was welcoming the light as she stepped forward to soak in the rays as each one of the people in the room were given armor made of light. How the tables had turned.
There was a commotion at the door as Amanda and Jean burst in, following Mjolnir’s path. They were covered in sticky black slime and had the look of two people who had just been fighting for their lives.
Amanda blinked as she took in the scene. Molly with Thor’s hammer, Tandy with her glow on, everyone in light-beam armour. And the Dweller, screeching and cowering as the light from each point hit it.
“So… you lot don’t need help?”
"I don't know. This is all new. Like I am not sure if I should angry or happy that there is an Asgardian Hammer in my head but you know...Is Molly another Worthy?" Finally coming to her senses after the light revived much of Tandy. "Is this fine. This was part of your guys plan?"
"How about we finish the blob thing first before talking?" Hope called out as she shifted her stance and reached out for her own connection with the astral plane. Maybe she could pull some extra energy from there? What was usually just a faint pearly glow surrounding her astral form, became luminescent and the light attacking Dweller intensified just as much.
"I won't say no to a hand with sealing this thing up," Topaz added, grimacing against the light. Okay, maybe she did need to get out more. She held up her hands, a ball of energy forming between them. "Ya know, before we're all kicked back to square one and have to start over."
"Right, let's get this sorted. Molly, when I say, do Thor's 'smash the hammer on the ground thing'. Jules, you and Jean get to anchor the rest of us. Things are going to get a bit explosive in here. Everyone, focus all of your concentration on the hammer - we're going to add our will power to it to push this fucker into a cage he can't get out of." Amanda looked around, saw everyone was ready to do what she said, and continued. "Okay, Mols, count of three. One, two...THREE!"
Molly lifted up the hammer high as light seemed to be sucked into it, then she brought it down, slamming into the ground. A crater formed, as the black fleshy goo around it seemed to recoil.
Dweller roared at Molly and knew this was a losing battle. A tentacle grew out to his side and started to lash out to the others, while another slammed against the building. He was going to bring the house down.
As the building shook, Julian felt Jean reach out so their abilities could combine to protect their friends from the falling rubble from above. The roar gave way to a shriek, terrible and haunting- the kind that Julian was certain he'd have nightmares about in the years to come. The muck that had him sunk up to his waist started to reverse and spit him out until he was able to push off the ground and focus exclusively at the task at hand.
One tentacle, then another, was halted in midair as Topaz split her focus between trying to hold the damn thing still and sealing it away. "Okay, I'm done with this ride," she said through gritted teeth, backing up toward the door, still holding Dweller in place. The magic in her other hand started to shift shapes, wrapping around into ruins. "Time to get out before he turns us into smashed pieces."
"One...last...thing." The channelling spell on Amanda's back was glowing through the clothes her astral form 'wore', and witch was gritting her teeth. "We need to make sure he can't get loose in Tandy's head again." Focusing on the others, she pulled all the magical energy in the room into herself, hands and fingers twisting as she wove the final stages of the spell together. Beams of light wrapped around the Dweller, thicker and thicker, until it couldn't be seen any more. Then a final starburst which temporarily blinded everyone in the room - when it cleared, the Dweller was gone.
Already the theater started to heal in some places, the rot that was the Dweller was slowly lifting. Eventually all the slimy muck was gone, the debris that had fallen had disappeared only to reappear in the ceiling where it was supposed to go. The place was still a mess but it would heal in time. Tandy stood on the stage for a moment looking at the location where Dweller had been before jumping down the stage. Her astral form had stopped fading but it held at a slightly brighter color than it was moments before. "He is..." Tandy then started to walk up the aisle and then out to the front lobby where a statue of Dweller had replaced one of the movie signs. "Fucking finally." Tandy turned around to see all her friends before running to hug Julian and then pulling them all close to her in a group hug. "Thank you. I owe you."
"Ready?" Amanda asked Jean as she looked across at the doctor. "Because I'm having some serious deja-vu." The scene was very like the last time they'd done this. Tandy on a bed, warding spells scrawled on the floor and walls and ceiling surrounding her, Amanda and Jean readying themselves to enter the astral plane. Except this time, they were taking a back seat to the group of young people - Tandy's close friends - sitting on the floor with them.
"Yeah, but with reservations," Jean said quietly, eyeing the group. While many of the group had rudimentary astral training, it was just that---rudimentary. Some had no training at all and wound up getting sucked into the astral plane in the past by accident. There was a whole hell of a lot that could go wrong.
"I hope this works."
"That's the optimism I like to see." Perhaps it was the aftereffects of New Delhi, but Amanda was... well not enjoying herself exactly, but much less weighed down than previous weeks. Perhaps having the world no longer threatened with destruction was part of it. "Right, Hope, you're on point with Jean since you know the plane. Then Topaz, Julian and Molly. I'll take up the rear and watch your backs. Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times."
"Alright." Hope settled a like more securely, the roar of the waves already building in her mind. "Stay focused. Sometimes the plane can show you strange things. I will be able to track you, but I am not a fighter. Not even there." With that warning delivered, she closed her eyes and let the waves carry her to the astral plane.
Julian had been holding Tandy's hand, looking down at her with a mixture of hope and apprehension. They had her back, but not entirely- looking up at Jean he nodded, "I'll keep them safe. We're bringing her back." There was only the slightest break in his voice, as if he was trying to convince himself too. Shutting his eyes he felt the pull on the corner of his consciousness that had become, not familiar, but not altogether uncommon in his life over the past decade as he drifted away from his body.
Topaz' experiences with the astral plane were far from pleasant, and the thought of going there voluntarily made her cringe. But she closed her eyes, readying herself - she knew not to trust her vision, and in this case she was far more useful focusing on feeling and leaving sight to everyone else. She was already anticipating absolute chaos.
Molly fidgeted with her shirt. The last time she'd been in the Astral Plane it was by accident, and she didn't even know she was there because it was made up to look like an alternate universe. Also, she was hit by a building and there were dinosaurs.
"This will be fun," she said breathlessly, more to psych herself up than anything else. "Totally fun."
"All right then. Jean, take us in." Amanda closed her eyes as well, stretching out with her magical senses to feel the protective wards around them. Still holding.
With a simple nod Jean closed her eyes, her mind reaching out to envelop the group of people. It felt a bit like falling out of your chair, right before you actually hit the ground. The world fell away, and in it's place was darkness. A large, rundown theater loomed up in front of them. It appeared almost in the middle of nowhere, because it was. Dead grass sprung up between cracks in the concrete at their feet. The lights along the marquee were dirty and the metal frame was caked with rust.
A burst of soft light illuminated the area as a gas lantern appeared in Jean's hand. She offered it to Amanda. The moment it left her hands, another one appeared, and she passed it to Topaz, and so forth.
"When we go in, we need to stay quiet at first so you can slip into the theater unnoticed. Amanda and I will stay in the lobby and keep Dweller distracted," she said.
"Any trouble you let us know. I'll hear it. Any questions?"
"Yeah, does anyone else feel like they're walking through sludge?" Topaz grimaced, rubbing her temples. Everything was off kilter and chaos and almost felt like Tandy, but not quite. Like a bad clone.
Julian nodded in understanding and felt a strange pop at his wrist as he disconnected his left hand and let it float a few feet above his head, synchronizing its position. Looking down at his remaining hand, he noticed that it appeared to be real, rather than the mechanical replacements that had been crafted for him...oddly enough, they still separated just like the prosthesis did in the real world. Pushing the distraction away he pushed out with his powers and slowly drew the ornate door to the theater open for the party to pass through.
Molly blinked, her eyes widening as everything got switched over to creepyville. "Woah, trippy," she whispered. She couldn't feel herself sitting anymore. She felt like she was standing right there. Lifting up her hand, she noticed that it glowed a faint purple and seemed to have some transparent holes in it. Weird.
"So um--how do we let people know if something bad is going on? Charades?"
"Jean's a telepath - this is her stomping ground. She'll know," was Amanda's reply. As before, she was in her leather jacket and Docs, but she held a policeman's club and had a bullet-proof vest and a riot helmet on, ready for battle. "Or Hope can get us - she's got more than enough power on the astral plane."
"We will be fine." Hope's pearly form quickly reassured her, but mind were already focused on the threads she could perceive between the people present and Tandy. They varied in color, thickness and consistency, but they all pointed unerringly in the same direction. "I know where she is exactly. Let's go." She started moving towards the entrance, the astral plane around her coming up to cloak her. Only her head remained visible for the others to follow her.
Yup, that was the right way - the not-quite-right feeling just got stronger, although there was a glimmer of light underneath it all that was absolutely, unquestionably Tandy. Topaz had closed her eyes, trying to focus passed all the creepy and weird and using Molly's emotions and general position to lead her along. She had two strengths in this place - empathy and magic. For the moment, anything else was just a distraction.
The state of the theater was in-decline and was worse than the last time Amanda and Jean had visited. It seemed the final battle with Cul nearly took all of Tandy's light to make the killing blow possible. The walls were no longer visible from the fleshy slime that made up Dweller. The concession stand was barely visible, the lights from the popcorn maker flickered dimly in the darkness. It had been deathly quiet until the sounds of something or someone made an long sigh. Suddenly the entire place shook and a piece of the ceiling fell with a loud crash nearby. Any more tremors like that would see the entire place coming down. It stopped after several long seconds and all was quiet but just outside of the corners of their eyes, a darkness lurked.
Behind the doors that towards the only theater a light flickered under the door, it had a faint mixture of Tandy and a bit of Baldr. It would appear that the God of Light gift was the thing that saved Tandy from completely disappearing into the darkness forever, but barely. The light flickered again as the fleshy slime started to move to block it from being opened.
Looking to his companions for confirmation, Julian stepped up to the door; his detached hand pushing it open, forcing it to swing forward despite the resistance of the ooze holding it shut with what limited power his telekinesis afforded him in this realm. The interior of the auditorium was ruined; the chairs that should have been in tidy rows were pell-mell about the chamber. The sound baffling was torn, as if someone had stuck a blade into it and used it to slow their fall- the same putridness that covered the lobby was visible beneath the fabric.
The theater screen was gone- if it had indeed ever been there, the state made it difficult to tell- leaving behind something of an impromptu stage. In the center of the stage the unmistakable figure of Julian's love was holding her knees to her chest, seeming oblivious to their presence. He wanted nothing more than to rush to her and rescue her, but the cautions that Jean and Amanda had given them before they started this journey were fresh in his mind. Instead he muttered, "Found her," as the others filed in behind him. Julian's tone and general emotional demeanor didn't give Topaz much hope. She avoided replying to him, saying instead, She could worry later. "Right, so. This feels weirdly like that Slenderman world. That's encouraging." The dark sarcasm was obvious in her tone. She finally looked around, glaring at the slime on the walls. "And that is going to try and kill us. In case anyone was wondering." Sparks of energy flashed between her fingers, lips pressed thin, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. She should've stocked up on more energy.
"Easy, guys. We'll pull you out before anything happens to you," came Amanda's soothing words from behind them. "No-one's dying here." She was about say more, but caught a flicker of movement off to her left, where the ruined staircase led to the upper levels of seating. "Time to do this," she said abruptly, gesturing for the others to go inside. At the same time, she sent a flash of thought to Jean. "We've got company."
Giving a quick look around, Jean saw where their opponents were coming from, then gave Amanda a nod. Her X-Man uniform got harder to reveal more of an armor, and the faint orange aura around her seemed to shimmer like heat.
"This is a good sign. It means he's afraid," Jean said, lashing out with a wave of her hand as a telekinetic blast erupted from her to throw a smaller version of the Dweller backward as it came up from behind her. Manipulating the astral plane was her specialty but right now things were delicate. She had to be careful and use it strategically.
As they came closer, Hope's aura sight shifted from the bonds between the people present and Tandy to her full aura... at least as far as there was any of it. It was only the smallest bit of radiance directly around her body, lighting up in the deep yellow of terror and the mix of other colors that signaled despair. Even worse was that it seemed to be dimming as she observed it. "We have to hurry." Hope spoke urgently. "She's giving up as we speak."
Hope's head finally vanished too as the astral plane obeyed her call to cloak her fully and she rushed to Tandy's side.
It was disconcerting to see his companion vanish before his eyes, but Julian chalked it up to the strangeness of this place and glanced over his shoulders at the lobby doors where Jean and Amanda were playing a psychic version of whack-a-mole with the dweller's minions. Hope's warning that Tandy's will was waning caused a momentary surge of panic to grip him- the plane reacted by sticking his foot to the floor in a large wad of gum that hadn't been there before. Unable to immediately free himself, he looked for Molly, "Bruiser!" he thought back to the mission files that he'd read over when he'd wanted to be an X-Man Trainee, "want a lift up to the stage?"
Molly nodded at Julian, "Yes please!" she said. She wasn't sure if leaping over there would cause damage. It was good if it was damage to Dweller, but bad if it was to Tandy. Everything looked hella gross, though. It was like walking around in someone's mouth. If they'd swallowed a theater.
"Eugh," Topaz muttered, stepping back and creating a shield around her feet. The goop lashed at the invisible barriers, held off for now, and she used the shield to push her way forward, like a plow in snow. "You," she added under her breath in Tandy's direction, "are not allowed to die."
Her mind began scanning the area, seeking the familiar emotions out in the midst of chaos - even without her signature glow, Tandy was still a beacon to the empath. She jabbed sharply at Tandy's mind, the equivalent of "if you die I'll kill you", if such words could be translated into emotions.
The familiar pull of a certain individual as Tandy lifted her head, "Topaz?" She whispered, but it was loud and seemed to echo off the walls. Her own astral form, which would normally be shining brightly was fading in and out of darkness. The only thing that was holding its light was light placed over her heart, where Baldr was keeping her from going out completely. Dweller's flesh moved as Tandy also felt the commotion hat was going out in the Lobby. Amanda and Jean had kept their word but seeing a group of individuals. It was then that Tandy saw the individuals out in the pews. She tried to stand up but she only ended up falling to her hands and knees, too weak - too tired. Help had come, but she could only hope they had a plan. She couldn't keep this up for much longer.
Still safely cloaked by the astral plane, the goop ignored Hope as she made her way to the stage. She didn't shimmer into visibility again until she was kneeling next to Tandy, one hand tightly wrapped in her own. "Tandy, please, you have to keep fighting. We have already lost so many friends... I do not want to lose you too." She gave a firm squeeze before continuing. "If you decide to get out of here, know I will find a way to cross over and I will drag you back kicking and screaming."
Sinking into the muck to his knees, Julian reached out and began to levitate Molly off the ground- struggling to maintain his focus as the goop began to sting a little bit. "Incoming!" he shouted to the people who'd made it to the stage already, and propelled his younger companion to the front of the auditorium, doing his best to stabilize her flight and landing.
"Hope." Tandy let out a small chuckle, how ironic that she was about to give up on hope and Hope actually comes to her. "I am just so..tired." She whispered. "And I can't seem to leave my own mind." Tandy slowly stood up and held her side as if she was doing battle herself inside. "He is not asleep and I can no longer do it alone. My light...it is the only thing that is keeping me alive." Hearing Julian voice made Tandy look back in the audience but instead she saw a flying Molly coming towards her.
Suddenly the ground started to quake again, larger than the last one they experienced. A large portion of the roof, cracked and then crumbled down. Tandy winced in pain as she held onto her own head. There was a loud rumble which sounded like someone was yelling at them. "He is coming."
The room in the air went still and then pounding against the walls, as they cracked and fractured from top to bottom, as if someone was squeezing a juice box. The flesh started to pull away from the group to form an actual astral version of Dweller. He really looked like the stuff that nightmares was made out of. He was scared because he knew what they were planning on doing, but if he destroyed them here - they would die.
"It is not real. Whatever he going to make you see, remember it is not real!" Tandy yelled out.
Topaz let out an annoyed huff, turning to look over the thing forming in front of them. "I am really going to enjoy locking you up," she informed the projection stonily, magic crackling between her fingers.
Hope rose to her feet as she let Tandy's hand go and stood behind Topaz. "I cannot fight much. But I can cloak you and we can surprise this bastard that he does not know where we are coming from." With those words, she dropped her hand on Topaz' shoulder and called on the astral plane to cloak them.
"Love it," Topaz said, shooting a grim smile over her shoulder before casting her mind out to focus on the lobby. They needed some coordination here to make the spell work; she didn't want to start too early.
Molly stared up silently at the love child of a demogorgon and a vat of tar as he started to form. Cracking her neck, she raised her left hand. The only sound in the room was the Dweller himself. Or at least, until a series of crashes were heard. Someone exclaimed from inside the theater lobby as something burst through the theater doors, shooting across the room and landing in Molly's hand: a hammer. No, the hammer. Mjolnir. The air crackled with energy as Molly's eyes glowed yellow and purple.
"Let there be light," she said as brilliant golden rays erupted from the hammer.
The creature finished forming and landed on all four legs and then roared, the walls trembled. The light hurt as it took a step back and the smell of burned flesh filled the air. and all around where the light touched, the darkness give way. Tandy was welcoming the light as she stepped forward to soak in the rays as each one of the people in the room were given armor made of light. How the tables had turned.
There was a commotion at the door as Amanda and Jean burst in, following Mjolnir’s path. They were covered in sticky black slime and had the look of two people who had just been fighting for their lives.
Amanda blinked as she took in the scene. Molly with Thor’s hammer, Tandy with her glow on, everyone in light-beam armour. And the Dweller, screeching and cowering as the light from each point hit it.
“So… you lot don’t need help?”
"I don't know. This is all new. Like I am not sure if I should angry or happy that there is an Asgardian Hammer in my head but you know...Is Molly another Worthy?" Finally coming to her senses after the light revived much of Tandy. "Is this fine. This was part of your guys plan?"
"How about we finish the blob thing first before talking?" Hope called out as she shifted her stance and reached out for her own connection with the astral plane. Maybe she could pull some extra energy from there? What was usually just a faint pearly glow surrounding her astral form, became luminescent and the light attacking Dweller intensified just as much.
"I won't say no to a hand with sealing this thing up," Topaz added, grimacing against the light. Okay, maybe she did need to get out more. She held up her hands, a ball of energy forming between them. "Ya know, before we're all kicked back to square one and have to start over."
"Right, let's get this sorted. Molly, when I say, do Thor's 'smash the hammer on the ground thing'. Jules, you and Jean get to anchor the rest of us. Things are going to get a bit explosive in here. Everyone, focus all of your concentration on the hammer - we're going to add our will power to it to push this fucker into a cage he can't get out of." Amanda looked around, saw everyone was ready to do what she said, and continued. "Okay, Mols, count of three. One, two...THREE!"
Molly lifted up the hammer high as light seemed to be sucked into it, then she brought it down, slamming into the ground. A crater formed, as the black fleshy goo around it seemed to recoil.
Dweller roared at Molly and knew this was a losing battle. A tentacle grew out to his side and started to lash out to the others, while another slammed against the building. He was going to bring the house down.
As the building shook, Julian felt Jean reach out so their abilities could combine to protect their friends from the falling rubble from above. The roar gave way to a shriek, terrible and haunting- the kind that Julian was certain he'd have nightmares about in the years to come. The muck that had him sunk up to his waist started to reverse and spit him out until he was able to push off the ground and focus exclusively at the task at hand.
One tentacle, then another, was halted in midair as Topaz split her focus between trying to hold the damn thing still and sealing it away. "Okay, I'm done with this ride," she said through gritted teeth, backing up toward the door, still holding Dweller in place. The magic in her other hand started to shift shapes, wrapping around into ruins. "Time to get out before he turns us into smashed pieces."
"One...last...thing." The channelling spell on Amanda's back was glowing through the clothes her astral form 'wore', and witch was gritting her teeth. "We need to make sure he can't get loose in Tandy's head again." Focusing on the others, she pulled all the magical energy in the room into herself, hands and fingers twisting as she wove the final stages of the spell together. Beams of light wrapped around the Dweller, thicker and thicker, until it couldn't be seen any more. Then a final starburst which temporarily blinded everyone in the room - when it cleared, the Dweller was gone.
Already the theater started to heal in some places, the rot that was the Dweller was slowly lifting. Eventually all the slimy muck was gone, the debris that had fallen had disappeared only to reappear in the ceiling where it was supposed to go. The place was still a mess but it would heal in time. Tandy stood on the stage for a moment looking at the location where Dweller had been before jumping down the stage. Her astral form had stopped fading but it held at a slightly brighter color than it was moments before. "He is..." Tandy then started to walk up the aisle and then out to the front lobby where a statue of Dweller had replaced one of the movie signs. "Fucking finally." Tandy turned around to see all her friends before running to hug Julian and then pulling them all close to her in a group hug. "Thank you. I owe you."
