Chapter 1: The Menace [Completed]

[Linwelin]

Viktor was panting, still recovering from his ability strain. "You're...welcome..." Finally he was able to gather himself to his feet, and slowly moved himself over to the weakened ally on the ground. He nudged her a bit, seeing how conscious she was.

"Hey...are you alright? What happened? Seeing that she was not responding, or at least not yet, he turned around. "Sigil, what happened here?" He could tell it was some sort of mental attack, but found it hard to believe that just the wall would do that. Something strange occurred. Not that he was too surprised considering where they were.

[Mysticsage]

"I have absolutely no clue." Seth said propping himself up slightly with his elbow "I think whatever's controling this place tried to hack into her mind and I somehow spliced my way in by accident."


Was this all still part of the test? If so they were failing badly Seth had no doubt. Who ever made and was maintaining this tower had incredible resources at there disposal. Rivaling if not surpassing his family's own. Seth found it unsettling how uncomfortable that thought made him. This whole experience was not going well in a matter of hours things had managed to go from bad to worse as they all bumbled around like blind rats in a maze. They needed something anything to get the upper hand even for a moment to get their bearings otherwise they could make no progress.

He wasn't to fond of the idea of dieing here having made nothing of himself and never being able to see his family again.

"We have to do something to figure out where to go and what to do next simply blindly stumbling into trap after trap will only succeed in getting us killed that much faster. I'm sick and tired of us failing at everything."

That was when Seth noticed "Hey kid weren't you following another guy ahead of us? Where is he?" Seth wasn't sure he could manage attempting something like he just a head again espeically with no rest. But they needed every able mind they had if they were going to get out alive.

[Linwelin]

Book Keeper's eyes widened, "Oh no, I left him behind when I heard the scream!" He says in realization. "You'll need to hold down here and make sure she's alright, I have to catch back up to him!"

With that, Book Keeper began teleporting short distances back to Spectre, knowing the wind mage might need his help. I hope he didn't get hurt!

[spoiler]
CURRENT STATUS:

[DAMAGE]

SCT	NONE
DMG	HEALTHY
ERT	HEALTHY

[/spoiler]

[Mysticsage]

"No wait!-" Book keeper was gone to fast.

This is exactly what he didn't want to happen there was strength on numbers and now they were greatly weakened. Seth wasn't even willing to attempt to stand at this point. Looking over at the girl going by the name of MindSense something caught his eye a stone in her hand that he was almost certain had not been there before.

[Hasabushi]

[spoiler]Mind  Sense can respond now as your awake and aware of your current surroundings.[/spoiler]

[Throndir]

It took awhile for Mindsense to overcome the dizziness and the blur of her vision. It was as if she was waking up from a heavy deep slumber. Though, not just any sort of slumber, it felt more akin to swimming up from the surface of whatever mental assault that had pervaded her. The visions she had seen were confusing, not to mention the myriad and swirling amount of emotions that were running through her during the episode. She remembered the words that the lady spoke to her. Was she another one of them? People with powers? Or something her mind had created to help shield her from the onslaught of terrors, pain, and fire that had assaulted her before the meeting.

In either way, she couldn't think clearly on the situation as she heard some of her companions talking. Only when she noticed the person looking over her did she gain a better sense of her consciousness. Megella felt his familiar presense and it reminded her of the same one she had felt back in her vision, if she could call it that. Sigil, she believed that was what the Assesors had called him.

"You're the one who helped?" Mindsense said as her eyes fluttered open. "Thanks... for what its worth. Sigil right?" As she began to sit up, she realized a black crystal clutched in her hand engraved with a curious symbol. She wasn't sure what it meant, nor did the symbol seem familiar to her.

"A rock? You wouldn't happen to know what the symbol is? Your name does sound like it's supposed to be related to symbols." She was already being sharp and sarcastic again as she was before the mental assault, though her voice had just slightly quivered. To Megella it was more of a defense-mechanism than anything else. In truth the whole events of another power holding control of her mind was frightening and disturbing, and the sights she had seen was something she would have preferred not to experience again. She was shaken, but she wouldn't let the others know. She didn't want to seem like a weak and pathetic fifteen year old.

Mindsense gritted her teeth and presented the crystal to Sigil, in case he knew what it was.

[Mysticsage]

Seth was surprised to hear her use his name, he had thought he would go relatively unknown in comparison to some of the other people that had been tested by the Assessors. Hopefully she didn't try to grab it from his mind, he did not like the idea of people digging around his psyche for all his secrets, especially after what he just saw.  "Right, and forget about it its what heroes are supposed to do right. I'm sure I'll need to be saved  Although I do like the idea that we beat this stupid building at something." As Mindsense moved to show him the stone in more detail he scanned it over quickly. He tried to think about his readings on mystical writings and mineral properties if he could bring anything to the forefront of his mind.

Seth smirked at the next comment "It's good to see that your feeling good enough to wisecrack. You had me worried when you did not wake up right away." To be honest he was happy to be out of that nightmare. He was pretty well shaken from the whole experience to top it all off hiding his disability was not what his body wanted him to be doing at this moment. He had to wonder what Leon or his master would do if they saw this whole thing.

Any sense of time he had was shot after entering that dream like state what could have seemed like minutes could very well been seconds in the real world. "I wonder if my cell works in this place?" he thought aloud to himself as he went to dig in his pockets for it. it was a cheap flip phone that forwarded his calls and texts from the more high end cell sitting on his nightstand back at home. At a click of a button the entire thing could fry itself, a necessity he thought when he had bought it before he began really using his powers.

He would also gave to try to stand eventually he could not just lay half way slumped on the floor for ever. Whatever that kid had done to rip them out of that space did seem to give him some of his energy back, in fact it was the most amount of energy he had all night long, so it was worth giving it a shot.

[spoiler]
Seth attempts to use his powers to stand
[dice]Rolled 1d20 : 10, total 10[/dice]

Seth racks his brain for knowledge that would be useful in understanding the stone and its possible uses

[dice]Rolled 1d20 : 15, total 15[/dice]

[/spoiler]

[Hasabushi]

Some Hours Later:

Seth brushed the remnants of what had happened from his mind, he needed to focus on the stone he held in his hand. His eyes lit up as he recited various incantations to attempt to unlock the secrets of the 'artifact' as it had been dubbed by the group.  Bookkeeper had returned finding no evidence of what had happened to Specter, his main focus now was attempting to revive the now non-functioning Odie unit. But none of his power words were working, he sighed briefly, taking a rest from his endeavors.

Mindsense sat studying a computer they found further into the tower. she stared at it keeping in mind what had happened to Odie, reluctant to try anything  rather than simply observe the information that populated the screen. Not far from her sat Nao, his mind filled with the horrors that might lay ahead, other than that he felt particularly 'stabby'.

As the group sat preoccupied. lights suddenly started to flash around them. The walls lit up as a pulsating pattern moved away from them further into a unknown explored area just ahead...

The panel that Mindsense was studying suddenly turned a bright red, as a distorted face appeared on the screen, the audio was even more distorted as it spoke one word..."RUN!" 

[Mysticsage]

Seth cursed loudly at the new development lights flashing brightly. He did not want to see to see what new surprises this fun house had in store for them all next two of them already seemed to be out of commission for the moment he didn't want to lose anyone or anything else.

He was ferreting away the artifact in one of his costumes hidden pockets when they heard the distorted voice over the computers speakers. He did not have to be told twice.

"We need to move, now!" He yelled looking down all sides of the hall for attackers. If only they had some kind of guidance or map to tell them where the hell they were supposed to be going.

Now wasn't  the time to complain however, "Hey kid, Book keeper right? Do you think you could miniaturize our sleeping giant to something more pocket sized? I don't want him found and stripped for parts!"

"Mind sense do you think you can figure out a way to boost the connection while we get out of here if someone knows we're here and wants to help we could use anything we want to give! We need to be running people so act fast!"


Sigil then went about helping the younger mage with the spell. While whatever the kid was using seemed powerful it also seemed wild and unwieldy. Perhaps he could act as a channeling conduit something to help direct and tame the energy into only doing what they wanted it to. Acting fast he grabbed the boy lightly by the shoulders attempting to summon his powers once more.

Action
[spoiler]
Using link and falcon's cry to increase Bk's spell success rate and make the spell more controlled.
[dice]Rolled 1d20 : 1, total 1[/dice][/spoiler]

[Linwelin]

OOC:
[spoiler]Dat Nat 1 o.o You're rolling like I do there >.>[/spoiler]

Book Keeper looked up at Sigil and nodded. He was still frustrated that he could seemingly do nothing to revive their robotic friend. But the least he could do was make it easier to get him out of here. Still, he was worried. "I have never tried shrinking anything but small, inanimate objects...I'm not sure if this will work, because I've never tried anything like it. After saying that, he turned back toward Odie, focusing and sharpening his will. Sure, I'm untrained in this, but worst case it doesn't work, just like the other words I tried. And anything this will do can be undone with my 'restore' command...I think.

With a deep breath, and the reassuring hand of Sigil on his shoulder, Book Keeper retrieved and opened his book to the word. He held his hand out toward Odie, reading it authoritatively.

"SHRINK!"

[Throndir]

Mindsense had only ever used her powers to alter someone's senses on opponents and enemies, never in the fashion of attempting to help someone. Whenever she ventured into someone's mind, to her it was always represented as wires and cables, and with the correct application of her psionic abilities, she would be able to temporarily blind, disable, or fool an individual. She had always rewired senses to befuddle her victim, but would it be possible to rewire them in such a way to help an individual's own powers? Similar to how the nanites in her own body help help facilitate and awaken her dormant psionic abilities.

"Rewiring the connections in someone's head isn't as easy as it looks!" Her voice was complaining, but she knew the urgency of the situation, as she focused her mind ignoring the flashing lights. She focused her thoughts towards Book Keeper, entering his mind. Immediately she was greeted with the representation of wires and cables. Instead of rewiring them in such a way to 'stun' Book Keeper, identifying the link that helped produce his powers Mindsense pulled more wires and cables together, strengthening the connection and bond.

[spoiler]For whatever Mindsense did:
[dice]Rolled 1d20 : 18, total 18[/dice][/spoiler]

[Hasabushi]

Book Keeper focused his energies on the task at hand, asking... no demanding that the universe obey his commands. He knew the power at his command sometimes he reveled in it, but mostly he feared it. Feared he would speak a word that would bring harm, or even worse death. It was this fear that kept him on the edge of control. He could always see the possibility of loosing that control, he dared not look over the edge or even acknowledge its existence, but it did restrain him, he knew that. It kept him from his full potential, the total power that he commanded if unleashed could be devastating. Even for his young age, he was wiser than most gave him credit for.

That's why he never quite believed in himself, till now...

The feeling was intense, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Confidence surged through his being as his eyes began to glow green with the power he was feeling.  A flow of pure unadulterated energy flowed through his being, he felt the universe at his beck and call. HE FELT LIKE A GOD!! As he spoke the word 'Shrink' he could see the strands of energy that flowed to the non-functioning android, he could see the translucent energy as he shifted and compressed the very molecules with his own thinking.

'No...Something is wrong', the young boy gasped his eyes flickering with the power he felt. Something was different he could feel it. He watched in horror as the energies took on a life of their own, circling outward from the android, it now stretched out wrapping itself around the room, shaking the foundations of reality. He could see Sigil being enveloped by the swirling vortex. Then all went black....

-------------------
You awaken to the face of a perplexed Sigil, he stares at you indignantly with a hit of concern on his face. Mindsense stands nearby her eyes apparently scanning you.

'All scans are normal', she says looking at Sigil.
Sigil nods
'You were out for a bit..there', he says helping you to your feet.

You open your eyes and stand shakily to your feet, you view the area around you. A single campfire sits in the middle of what appears to be a rather sparse forest, the ground is hard and grey and the smell of burning wood assaults your senses.

The first thing you notice is unconscious forms of three of your party. Odie, Specter & Nao around them a bluish energy field radiates around the three... 


--------

The entire party has no clue what has happened.  Each of you awakened to the same imagery (Book Keeper being last), and have no clue what the energy field is that radiates around the the other three, it appears to be a force field, as any access to the other companions seems impossible. It is currently dusk and the fire seems to be the only source of light and heat.

[Mysticsage]

Seth breathed a sigh of relief as the young boy awoke. From there forced nap. He was the first to wake up in the strange forest seeing three of the others in some kind of force field. Looking around he tried to bottle down the pure exasperation he was feeling. He was not enjoying being tossed around from one place to another be it do to magic or someone?s idea of fun. He tried to figure out if this place was simply an illusion like the testing room they were in before or if they had truly been warped to a different place due to the magic and who had built the fire in the first place. He was also attempting how best to free the other half of their small group from their apparent prisons.

The day just seemed to be getting worse and worse every moment that went by he could only take solace in the fact that eventually things would have to hit bottom and he could work his way up from there. With that in mind he was not about to let this night beat him no matter how tired or weak he felt he was no where close to giving the universe the satisfaction of besting him, Pulling out the burner cellphone while Bookkeeper warmed himself by the dying embers he tested for a signal he didn?t know what help his butler would be but perhaps he could contact his master to come and find them. They could use some help right about now.

Glancing over at the other two he said to no one in particular, ?So any idea what happened or where we are? Besides in the woods.?

Without waiting for an answer he sat cross-legged facing the three force fields trying to sense the type of energy and manipulate it to freeing them.
[spoiler]Knowledge on type of energy
[dice]Rolled 1d20 : 9, total 9[/dice]

Manipulate energy
[dice]Rolled 1d20 : 20, total 20[/dice][/spoiler]

[Linwelin]

Book Keeper stod up with the help of his allies, but his mind was elsewhere. He'd never felt that sensation before, and never been so afraid. The feedback from and wild use of his power left him exhausted. He wasn't sure how he was even standing.


Did I cause this shift in reality? My powers reacted to something. But still, something is off. There's no reason for those three to be in a barrier like this...And if I did teleport it would only be to someplace familiar...do I know this place?

Book Keeper then began to look around, seeing if the forest was someplace he knew. I'll know what to do next if I can figure out whether or not I was the cause for the unconsciousness and change.

"What happened? Did I cause this?"

[Throndir]

"Ever since those 'hero scouts', boring bunch of people, found us, everything's going to hell. I'm absolutely loving how things are turning out." Mindsense said sarcastically. "Does anyone else find it strange that an entire building full of super-powered people, with near-invincible Assessors lounging around are letting all this chaos happen? They're either a lot more incompetent than I previously thought or whatever power there is doing this is playing one really sick joke." She sighed as she moved her eyes away from Book Keeper, finishing up her own sensory scans of the young kid satisfied that she didn't see anything wrong with him. "I wouldn't be surprised if all this was just an elaborate test of some sort!" She really didn't believe that however, only making conversation to help alleviate the tense situation that they found themselves in.

"Personally though. I'm leaning towards the former. Never did like the Assessors anyways."