hadriel_logs | Monster's Brawl

Entry tags:

Monster's Brawl

Who: Michael, Leo, Harlan
What: the fragments' effects overcome Michael's tenuous resolve; ~~hilarity~~ attempted murder ensues
Where: outside Leo's place
When: Oct. 20, night
Warnings: Violence and maybe gore??? Definitely violence though.

[Michael's been hit hard by the crazy stuff happening this month. Not so much the monsters, and he got some good food out of the random items, but the mood swings, the hallucinations- it's knocked him off balance more than he'd care to admit.

Sometimes all he wants to do is cry all day, and other times it's like he's having a panic attack. Or a sudden burst of energy, the need to move and do something. He keeps forgetting what he's doing, though, sometimes at really inconvenient times. Like while talking to people, or treating patients at the clinic.

And then there's the hallucinations.

People following him, voices in the dark, phantom hands brushing against his arms and neck. This morning he opened his bedroom door to find that the rest of his apartment had been replaced by a steep drop into the ocean. It took a half hour for the mirage to fade enough for him to be able to step out. He feels like he's losing his mind. Which is, of course, nothing new.

In tandem to all of this, the Visitor has been close to unbearable. He's taking too long to let it take its target, and it's clearly not pleased. Between the headaches, the screaming, the insistent needy clawing at his thoughts, he hasn't slept much in days, and he's been pretty useless while awake. He told Harlan he didn't want to kill anyone this time, and he doesn't, not really, but sometimes, he sort of questions that sentiment.

And when the rage sets in, he questions it even more.

He still doesn't really want to kill Leo, or anybody, but the foreign emotion amplifies the hatred of the monster in his head. He deserves to die. It will be quick. Get him before he gets you. Before he gets someone else. Before he gets Harlan. After enough time, Michael isn't sure which of those thoughts are nudges from the Visitor, and which ones are his own. And that's always where the trouble starts.

He tries to distract himself, to go for a walk around the islands. But before he knows it, he's headed in the direction of that angry spot, the focal point of all the monster's attention. He knows he should turn back, he should try to fight this, but they're so close now, and the anger is strong, and he could be free of all this if he just-

Michael stops outside of Leo's building. He stands there for a while, trying to summon up enough willpower to leave. The Visitor is a heavy static shriek in his thoughts. He doesn't want to make this decision. Maybe if he stays here long enough, it'll make itself.]

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[He could probably say something like "don't say I didn't warn you" or "here let me show you", but he doesn't have the energy or patience (or flair for the dramatic) that any of those would require. Instead he stops, has just enough wherewithal to put his glasses in his jacket pocket, and then lets go. It's the Visitor's problem now, Michael's tapping out.

His eyes roll back into his head and he drops onto his side. Before he even hits the ground, the air around him seems to thicken, growing dark like a shadow. Out of that shadow, a pair of clawed, long-fingered hands reaches through, dragging at the street, pulling the rest of the beast in their wake. Its skull-like face emerges, jaws already snapping, eye sockets lit with blue flame. And then comes the rest, a skinny-limbed shape on all fours, wreathed in the darkness it only just appeared from.

The monster shakes itself, the blackness that makes up its body shivering like a thousand feathers, like the wings of a swarm of locusts. It fixes its hollow gaze on Leo, mouth dropping open to spit a single word in a broken voice.]

H̙͖̰͚̲̘̊͐ͧ̎̋e̱̩̙̺̠̞̗͎̎ͮ̌̈ͥ͒͂̃͢͢͞l̛͉̩͖̖̹ͪ̄̅́͋̾́͜l͕̏͂̆͆o̯̳̜͖̟͈͔̟̅̇͆̊̇́̚.͎̰̻̈́̿͡ͅ

[After which it shrieks, ear-piercingly loud, and throws itself forward into a charging run.]

Holy shit.

[Leo's not sure what to expect, but the guy going unconscious, and a giant thing emerging is definitely not what he had in mind. There's something extremely wrong when he looks directly at the creature, bits of it not looking quite right, almost like a computer glitching. When he looks at it, he realizes something. This thing has no soul. Even if he had one of his instruments with him, his usual methods to deal with a threat would be useless.

The shriek pierces right through his skull and he covers his ears as he tries to think of what to do.

Then it's coming at him and Leo has about three seconds to figure things out. There's only one real course of action. He lets go of his human form, a sensation that feels almost like falling without ever hitting the ground. For a moment, all the crosses on his left arm burn with a unholy light, bright and so hot they sizzle against the skin.

Then his human form disappears in a huge pillar of smoke and fire. What steps out of it looks like an eight-foot tall demon from Hell; with horns, bat wings, tail, and clawed feet. His form looks smokey and shadowy, not quite solid, with his outline completely rimmed in fire. There's no pupils or irises in his eyes, just solid fire, like that's what's lighting him up from within. His heart likewise lights up with a fiery light.

The hunger is a lot stronger in this form. He feels the need to feed, to find sinners, and take them all out. There's none of his usual reasoning or restraint in this form. He runs on pure instinct.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Michael's form light up with the red light of a sinner. Then the Visitor is nearly on top of him. He reaches out his clawed hands to grab at the bony form to keep him from getting mauled.]

Edited (HTML) 2018-11-02 04:51 (UTC)

[Fire. The Visitor knows fire. It knows that fire does not hurt it, and that's enough for its limited scope. The fire is no threat, and so it does not slow.

It hurls itself at this new shape, heedless of any danger but hungry for violence. The first attack it makes with its claws, pouncing up, but the other monster catches its bony hands. Still, the Visitor hits with the full weight and force of a living, meaty thing. It pushes against its prey, hissing like the static of a dead radio station.

Strong. This other thing is strong. But it is also food.

Though its claws may be its primary weapon, the Visitor also has teeth. Its head snaps forward, jaws wide, aiming to take the Sunai's entire face in its bite. An ambitious attempt, to be sure.]

[Despite being bones, this thing is strong, just about as strong as he is. He gets shoved backwards, smacking into a nearby wall hard enough to crack it. The Visitor also has no soul he realizes as he touches it, that familiar sensation of draining the red light out of someone not happening.

This thing is going to be a challenge. Too bad he can't just light it on fire and be done with it.

Leo's about to shove back when the Vistor's gaping maw snaps forward, trying to rip his face off. He pulls his head back to the side to dodge it. Then he snaps it forward again in a headbutt, something that's made a lot more painful when a creature has a set of hefty horns like he does.]

[Pain isn't something the Visitor knows. It feels impact, it feels the crack as the horns dislodge a few of its incisors, but pain? No.

Outrage, though, it's got a pretty good handle on.

It stumbles back and shrieks again, jerking its head side to side to toss the useless teeth from its jaw. They scatter to the pavement, dissolving into the black, twisting substance that makes up the creature's body. And then it drops to all fours, darting in low and slashing with one hand before the other.

Leo's too tall for its liking. Something should be done about that, which is why it aims for the legs.]

[He notices that the teeth dissolve when they're separated from his body. Through the fury, he starts wondering what will happen if he pulls this creature apart piece by piece. But his moment of distraction costs him as the Visitor aims for his legs.

There's a roar of fury as the razor-sharp claws slice into his leg. It's deep enough to immediately start dripping blood onto the earth, a thick, black oil-looking substance. A Sunai's blood is a lot thicker and different looking than a normal human being's. The blood splatters the ground. So, Sunai aren't invincible like Leo had claimed. Not in this form anyway.

Leo's mind focuses on his rage. Rage is good, it'll keep him focused. He charges the Visitor, grabbing at one of its forearms. His intent is to rip it clean off if he can.]

[It's not the normal look of blood, but it's blood all the same, and it seems to get the monster worked up. It's finally injured its prey.

Of course, said prey isn't taking this quietly, and reaches through the skittering blackness to grab the bones of the Visitor's arm. There isn't anything holding those bones together, not apart from magic and spite, and a good tug by a powerful creature certainly does the job of separating them.

But the Visitor isn't going to take this quietly, either. As the Sunai tears at its forearm, the monster opens wide, snapping to catch Leo's arm as well. Limb for a limb, or at least that's what it's going for.]

[There's a keening shriek of pain that lasts a long time as the other monster snaps down, puncturing right into his arm. Despite looking like he's made out of smoke and shadow, his form is very solid. There's a wild moment of panic, his foot talons scraping long gouges into the ground as he tries to figure out what to do.

If he pulls away now, he'll lose his entire arm. Despite the instinctive urge to, he doesn't. Instead, he grabs the Visitor's jaws with the arm that is still free, trying to pry his jaws open so that his arm can be released.

He's starting to regret getting into a fight with this thing. It's powerful and most of Leo's usual abilities aren't very effective against it.]

[As its severed arm fades into shifting ash, the Visitor tries to retain its grip on the other monster's limb. But it's tough going with that other hand prying at its teeth, and it can't use its remaining hand to help, since it's currently using that to remain standing.

So it just keeps trying to bite down, until finally it loses the reverse tug-o-war and its front fangs lift out of the Sunai's flesh. It hisses its static hiss and jerks away, hopping back on its three legs. And then, out of frustration, it just sort of strikes out with the upper half of its broken arm, using the bone as a club.]

[Leo tries to move to the side, but his hurt leg buckles, and he gets thwacked silly with the broken arm. He stumbles, almost falling, before catching himself, tail allowing him to balance himself back out. His bat wings, kept close to his sides during this conflict, snap outwards with a decisive air.

It appears that the Sunai has finally remembered he can fly in this form. The wings beat once, twice, sparks of fire and smoke going everywhere as he flies upwards, further and further, until he's just a speck.

Then, like a hunting hawk, he comes zooming back down at top speed, intending on slamming right into the Visitor's back with his taloned feet.]

[The Visitor lunges, but misses as its prey lifts off the ground. At first it seems he might be running, but no, his presence is still close, like a buzzing insect that needs to be smashed.

The monster dances in place like an excited dog waiting for a treat, keeping its eyes (or eye equivalents) on the sky. It snaps furiously as its target descends, but the Sunai is much too fast for the Visitor to catch him.

The creature shrieks as Leo comes down hard on its spine, ribs splintering as its body is driven to the ground, its backbones cracking. But it isn't done yet, extending its long neck unnaturally back over its shoulder, opening its jaws wide and chomping at center mass. If it's going to be torn apart, it's not going alone.]

[There's a moment of great satisfaction as Leo hears the ribs start snapping. He's going to rip this thing apart piece by piece until there's nothing left. He reaches down with one hand, snapping off one of the rib pieces that are still intact, and tosses it to the side to dissolve.

Then the great maw opens wide and snaps at him. The leg that the Visitor slashed earlier is too weakened now for him to be able to move fast. He jerks to the side, trying to avoid the jaws, but he can't quite make it in time. Instead of chomping down on his midsection, it catches the thigh of the leg it had already injured.

A great keening sound of pain and anger mixed together comes from the Sunai's mouth. It seems this is destined to go on forever, the two of them locked in a battle that will only end when one of them dies.]

[Harlan has already burned through a substantial chunk of his magic when he finally finds Michael. It's been a long time since he's had to exert himself to this degree, and his body is not happy that he's pushing it this hard after taking it easy since the Null invasion. It doesn't help that all the Teleports and Commune with Citys have happened rapidfire within the span of a few minutes, either.

He stumbles as he appears a few feet from Michael's body, the landing rougher than intended, and—oh, god.

He expected this as soon as Michael sent him that text and didn't respond to Telepathy. Of course Michael had gone after Leo, and of course Leo had changed forms to defend himself, but he hadn't had time to process what that truly meant until now. Michael's triggered something that could end up costing more lives than just his own. Leo told Harlan what would happen if he ever had to take this form.

A flash of anger rips through him, but no, he can't get caught up in that right now.

First: Separate them. Harlan shoots out a Lightning Lure, the crackling electricity looping around Leo's middle to yank him off of the Visitor. He knows how fast the Visitor is, and he knows the thing gets caught up in tunnel vision. He drops a Forcecage on Leo, too. A second on the Visitor would safer, yes, but it's not likely to go running off while Leo is contained. It's after its mark, and no one else. Neither of them should be able to break through the cage. Can Leo teleport in this form? Harlan's not sure, but it doesn't seem likely. The cage should hold. In theory, then, he has an hour.

Unless the Visitor manages to figure out that it's Harlan that's keeping it from killing its target. He doubts the thing will remember working alongside him during the Null attack, and even if it does, it doesn't seem like a creature with much loyalty. He wouldn't be surprised if it came after him because he's standing in the way, and he's not sure how smart it is, but it does share memories with Michael. It may have seen him cast this spell before.

He could fight the Visitor outright, then. He's seen it die before. He could kill it, and probably without too much effort, except that he's running on empty as-is and there's still Leo to deal with. Truth be told, Harlan's not sure that he could take him.

It's better, then, to wake Michael up. If he calls the Visitor off himself, there's a chance they could salvage this without anymore fighting. Maybe. Maybe. It's a long shot, but Michael needs to learn to control the thing. The stakes have never been higher.

Harlan takes a breath, and then another. He needs to calm down. Casting Dream takes focus. He's only ever done it a few times, but Michael should let him in willingly, right?

Harlan keeps the setting simple: They're back in Michael's apartment, and a light rain is pattering against the window. It's evening, and they're sitting on the couch. They've just cleaned up after dinner. Harlan made that makeshift curry again. It's one of Michael's favorites.

This will be a good place to talk.]

Hey. Do you know what's happening?

[The Visitor does indeed stay where it is, but partially because it can't walk very well with its back slightly broken. It manages to hobble over to where Leo is- except it can't quite get there. Something is blocking it. The creature attempts to bite through whatever invisible barrier holds it back from its prey, but of course, this doesn't accomplish much.

At least it's distracted for now.]

[Leo's so focused on taking the Visitor apart that he doesn't even notice when Michael arrives. Not until he's suddenly being thrown off the Visitor. Furious, he gets back up, ready to continue his attack, but there's something in the way now, an invisible shield he can't get around.

He runs one long claw down the edges of it, looking for any weakness. When he finds none, he waits patiently to see what will happen next, the tail lashing back and forth behind him the only sign he's eager for the fight to continue. The problem is that he's hurt right now, blood still eking out from the wounds the Visitor inflicted upon him. That's not good. If he could just find a soul to take, that would clear everything up.

That's when he notices Harlan's soul glowing in addition to Michael. There's only one thought on his mind now. More food. He turns his attention from the Visitor towards the two men. If he's lucky, he can move fast enough take both their souls before he has to deal with this skeletal pest again.]

[With his awareness split between the dream and reality, Harlan is vaguely aware that Leo's attention has shifted. Great. Just what he needs. At least the Visitor hasn't changed course, though, and neither of them is doing much to break through the barrier. They wouldn't be able to anyway, he doesn't think, but he doesn't exactly know what he's dealing with here. Maybe Leo has some unexpected tricks up his sleeve.

In any case, there's not much Harlan can do about it now.]

[The skeletal pest continues to keep its sights on Leo, now batting at the cage with its remaining hand and biting the clear barrier with its remaining teeth. It attempts to crack it open as it did with a previous target, but that doesn't seem to be working here.

Disappointing.

But, as it isn't very intelligent, the creature continues this fool's errand for now.]

[Leo continues to wait for any sign that the barrier is going to disappear or weaken. He runs his claws along the surface again, as if hoping that will cause gouges along the surface. He spares the Visitor a glance, but the foolish thing keeps trying to reach him despite everything else.

There's a deep growl of frustration from Leo. He's at an impasse of what to do. Eventually, either the barrier will fade or he'll bleed out from his wounds. That doesn't seem like a very comforting thought.]

[The Visitor continues its fool's errand until suddenly it stops. It takes a few steps back, then tosses its head like it's trying to dislodge a bug. It makes a low rumbling sound, a bass crackle, and then it abruptly turns and limps back toward its host.

As it reaches Michael, it begins to sort of sink into the air around him, dissolving into the inky blackness from which it came. Michael, for his part, doesn't stir, even when it's entirely gone.]

[Suddenly Harlan's tossed out of the dream, and he's just in time to see the last of the Visitor dissipate into shadow. Holy shit, it worked. Michael did it.

Harlan is tempted to just grab Michael and teleport home—his magic is all but spent anyway—but then what happens to Leo? No one else needs to get hurt tonight, and the cage won't hold him for long.

Exhausted, he makes his way over to the cage. He has no idea if Leo can even understand him in this form, but it's worth a shot. If Leo's hellbent on destruction, Harlan can always call for backup. He has a little bit of time.]

The Visitor's gone. No one's going to come after you if you chill the fuck out. Can you change back?

[Leo for is part is both annoyed he won't get a chance to rip that thing into more pieces and relieved it isn't going to rip him into more pieces. They'd been quite evenly matched.

When Harlan approaches, he cocks his head, listening intently. There's a very large part of him that doesn't want to agree. The hunger is strong and present now. He knows he needs to feed off someone to heal and there's two sinners right in front of him. But he's outmatched between the two of them and what if Michael summons the Visitor again?

Slowly, he nods. There's a column of fire and smoke again that obscures everything for a moment. When it fades away, Leo's human form staggers back out, his left arm wiped clean of the cross marks. The problem is that when he changes back, all the accumulated injuries the Visitor had wreaked upon him are still present. He's bleeding heavily, a thick, black substance that resembles oil more than blood.]

[On the one hand, it's a relief that Leo relents without further need for persuasion or force. That makes Harlan's life a hell of a lot easier, especially since he doubts he has the energy for much of either. Speaking of, he cancels the cage spell.

On the other, fuck. Leo's in bad shape. Harlan's not sure why he assumed his monster form would function like the Visitor in that it would leave Leo unscathed after the transformation, but he's surprised that the injuries have carried over. Maybe it's fatigue messing with his brain. In any case, his healing spell isn't going to do much for this.

But, christ, Harlan can't just leave him here.]

Can the clinic help with something like this? I can get you there.

[Barely, and he's not looking forward to stretching his magic even thinner by making two stops, but he can.]

[How Leo is even still upright at this point in time is a question for the ages. Mostly, he's running on sheer willpower and stubbornness. He puts his hand on the stab wound on his leg, pressing down to put pressure on it. Hopefully, that will help stop the bleeding until he can get this fixed.

He sways for a moment, looking like he might collapse, before managing to pull himself together, albeit temporarily.]

No. They can't help. Can you get me to Hope's temple?

[If he feeds off a soul substance, he'll be able to heal his injuries.]

[Harlan nods. Hope's temple will be better than the clinic, anyway. Hope's temple means Hope can deal with it instead of dumping Leo on someone else in town. There's a better chance of keeping all of this on the downlow that way, too.

Shit, the aftermath of this could be bad. Here's hoping that Leo isn't interested in a witch hunt, even though one might be justified. What the fuck was Michael thinking? This is going to be a disaster, but Harlan doesn't have the energy to plan ahead for that right now. He'll worry about it in the morning.

He motions for Leo to follow him to close the short distance between them and Michael, who hasn't shown any signs of waking up anytime soon. Harlan's too tired to try to carry him, and teleporting will be easier if everyone's in close proximity. He needs easy if he's going to pull this off.]

Give me a minute.

[He closes his eyes, trying to focus on where the fuck Hope's temple is. He's got a pretty good mental map of the city, but he needs to be as precise as possible, and that's going to be tricky in this state with two other people tagging along on the spell. Michael will be easier to move given that he's unconscious, so there's that, at least. But still. This is a big ask.

He's quiet for a few long moments, and he's able to muster as much concentration as he's going to get. He casts the spell, and a split second later he realizes he maybe should've warned Leo, but it's over too quickly for it to matter. When he opens his eyes again, they're standing near Hope's temple. It wasn't a perfect cast—he was aiming for inside and ended up about thirty feet away from the back of the temple—but it'll do. Better yet, he thinks he still has enough magic for one more cast. That's pushing it, for sure, but he's pretty sure he can do it.]

Can you make it from here?

[From looking at Leo, sources say no, but the guy has already proved to be more resilient than he looks.]

[Michael feels stuck between two places, but he isn't sure why or where. His head hurts, and he's tired, and he's angry and scared. Which doesn't make any sense, because he's just sitting in his apartment with Harlan after dinner.

It's a nice night. So why does he feel like he's on the verge of a panic attack?

Do you know what's happening?]

No. I'm just- Wait. I- I think I did something. Fuck, what did I do? I'm sorry.

[Now he doesn't just feel like he's about to panic, he sounds like it.]

[A very unkind part of Harlan wants to let Michael spiral. He's done something monumentally stupid and has dug this grave for the both of them, so yeah, he should be freaking out about that. If Michael would have just told him he was struggling—

But, no, they don't have time for that. They can dissect the layers of Michael's fuck-up later. He reaches for Michael's hand.]

Hey, calm down and look at me. Breathe. Everything's fine here. This is a dream. I have a spell that lets me vacation in your head while you're asleep.

[He smiles, trying to take his own advice and calm down. It's difficult given that he's still aware of what's going on in the waking world—Leo and the Visitor are not happy about the Forcecage development—but he tries. He's good at pretending when he needs to.]

You're unconscious because you sent the Visitor after Leo. They're fighting now. Do you remember that?

[A spell? Right, Harlan has a lot of spells that let him mess with peoples' heads, and he'd never use them on Michael. He promised. But this one isn't like that, not really. It's just a dream.

And yet something's tugging at him, like some invisible thread that ties him to the waking world. He's eerily aware of... something. Something other, something outside himself.

You sent the Visitor after Leo.

Oh. Right.]

Fuck. I'm sorry. I don't-

[He's struggling to remember. Why did he do that? He sort of recalls being angry, and all those hallucinations. Shit, did he really do this? Of course he did. He fucks up everything eventually.]

I remember. But... why are you in here?

[This isn't where Harlan should be if he wants to stop this, and Michael figures that's what he wants.]

[He nods. Good. This will be easier if Michael remembers what's going on. Or—not easier, but it can be a step forward. If Michael can pull this off knowing why he chose to unleash the Visitor in the first place, maybe he'll have more control in the future. If he didn't remember, asking him to wake up would have no context. Harlan may as well just dump a bucket of cold water on him.]

Because I want you to wake up. You need to call this off on your own. I've got Leo in a cage and the Visitor's distracted, but that'll only hold for an hour at most. That's the best I could do.

Wake up?

[He says it like it's a foreign concept.]

I can't. I don't know how.

[If he could wake up on command, he'd never have one of those nightmares again. Granted, he never realizes that he's in a nightmare, but this is different. It's something... suppressing him. How is he supposed to fight the Visitor and win?]

Yes, you can. You threw me out of your head when I used Geas on you. Reining the Visitor back in will be easier than that.

[He's... not entirely sure that it's true, but Michael needs to believe that it is.]

I didn't throw you out, I just... I don't know, I just knew it was happening. And only kind of.

[He runs a hand through his hair.]

This is different. It's been in here so long. I've never been able to stop it before.

Give yourself more credit. I didn't go easy on you. You shouldn't have been able to break through the spell, but you did. Just because you've never done something doesn't mean you can't.

[It's odd, trying to make himself sound hopeful. It's not something that comes naturally. He believes in Michael, he does, but he also knows this is a big ask. He's not even sure if it's possible to call the Visitor off like this. It has to be though, right?]

If you can't call it off, I don't know that I can stop it. I burned too much magic trying to get to you.

[Give himself more credit? Did you forget who you were talking to, Harlan?

Michael bites his lip and kind of chews on it until he draws blood. Even in the dream, the knowledge of that taste is enough to make it seem real. It doesn't help.]

... I don't know how. What do I do? Just think at it? It's out there and I'm stuck in here, and-

[And there's that sort of tether, that presence of it, that faint knowledge that it's out there somewhere, existing. Attacking Leo. Or trying to.]

I can feel it. But that's it. I don't know where to start.

I don't know, either. You're the expert.

[He tries not to say that like it's a bad thing. It's not, really, even if it's frustrating for Harlan. This would be easier if he could talk Michael through it, but he can't. The thing doesn't live in his head.]

But I'm not unconscious. I can see what's happening in the real world. I'll tell you if anything has an effect on it.

[It's not much, but it's about the best he can do other than making the space for Michael to try this.]

Start with how it feels. Focus on that, and see if you can change what it's doing.

[Start with how it feels. Right.

Michael tries to focus on that presence, that knowledge that the Visitor is there. He's gotten so used to it that he doesn't even think about it anymore, but it's all he has now. He tries to make it the only thing he's thinking about, tries to follow it back to the source like a thread. Maybe if he can visualize it that way, he can reel it in.

But unfortunately, all visualization gets thrown out the window as he suddenly finds himself at the end of the thread. It's like the visions he gets after the monster is done, but it's in real time. He's seeing what it sees.

Which, right now, is another monster it can't get to, a demonic being behind a wall of invisible glass. He can feel the Visitor's frustration, its rage as it throws what's left of itself against the magic barrier. Everything looks strange, like it's filtered through night vision goggles, the range of sight larger than it has any right to be. It's overwhelming, and for a second, Michael just freezes.]

I'm... I think I'm in its head.

[Which is... pretty nuts? What is this, some kind of reverse possession? This is crazy.]

[Oh, shit. Honestly, Harlan wasn't expecting that to work so quickly. He can't see through the Visitor's eyes himself (which he's glad for; two perspectives to focus on is more than enough), but something about the dream does shift just before Michael announces his success. It's like when your ears pop and suddenly everything sounds different.]

There you go. Try doing what it does to you. Bitch at it until it listens.

[Well, it's worth a shot.]

Hey, stop it!

[Yeah he's not... very good at shouting. Plus, the monster doesn't seem to acknowledge the voice at all. Does it even hear him?]

I said stop, damn it!

[Still nothing. As much as he'd love to get revenge and just scream until it can't stand it anymore, he doesn't think he has that kind of time. Its tolerance is probably higher than his.]

I don't think this is working. I'm not even sure if it can hear me, it's still just... [Trying to chew on Harlan's spell, like a dumbass.] It's still trying to attack him.

[Worth a shot, yes, but also not exactly what Harlan had in mind. He does his very best to bite back a smile, and then he's annoyed with himself. This is serious, and he shouldn't be laughing.

But also that was kind of funny.

More importantly, though, it's not working.]

Try treating it like a spell. Like you're casting Message.

[Treat it like a spell. Right, that... makes an odd amount of sense. More sense than shouting, anyway. Michael closes his eyes, tries to focus on that weird connection between himself and the monster. He tries to send his thoughts along the tether, like he's aiming them at a person.

Stop. I'm commanding you to stop. As if he has any power over it. Predictably, this has no effect. Which is pissing him off.

God, what if he did have power over it? He's the one who decides, after all. It needs his permission, it can't just do what it wants. It can't just do what it wants. He chooses.

He's not even really thinking about it, sort of like when he first got into its head, but he reaches out along that tether again and just kind of... pulls on it. That's what it feels like, a pull, or more like a hard yank, like he's trying to ring a church bell with his mind. Or more accurately, to pull back a bolting dog.

I choose. You can't just do what you want. I'm the one who decides.

It doesn't feel like the pulling or the Message are getting anywhere, it doesn't feel like anything is happening, and the lack of results is making him angrier. Before he knows it, he's throwing all his concentration into hauling back the monster and then the dream around him is collapsing.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Monster's Brawl

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this one is for the three way thread

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skipping mipps at her request

continues to fuck up the thread order, it's fine

we needed a little anarchy around here

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this one is for harlan and the dream spell

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