Masks of Madness Event Finale | Act IV: Madness

[Tefka]

Location: The Kwa artificial planet, Ash​

Discussion Thread: Link



ACT IV: MADNESS

You awaken on a unfamiliar alien planet in what seems to be a prison, surrounded by numerous familiar allies and enemies alike.

Several non-organic tendrils begin slowly slithering away from you, receding into the floor. A severe migraine takes over you for a fleeting moment as the memories of faraway places flood your mind. A jungle, filled with cartoonish beasts and villains. A desert, trapped in a seemingly endless and pointless time travelling loop. An apocalyptic vision of the future - was it real?

You begin feeling an absurd anger as you begin to realize that no - none of it was real. It seemed to be someone's playground for you, some sort of imaginary prison.

Mandalorians glance toward Echani. Ewoks growl at Rodians. Twi'leks raise eyebrows at Wookiees.

One prisoner shouts.

"LOOK!"

Everyone's eyes follow.

Signs above each prison cell.

"Act 1."

"Act 2."

"Act 3."

The rage boils even faster. Your mind, your senses, betrayed. You've been a puppet on a string, danced to the tune of another.

Jedi lock eyes with Sith through prison bars.

"They've karked up," someone says.

The prison roars.

Looks like it's time for a full scale riot.

---------------

Kursed

Members who are Kursed (possessed by Akala) or wish to be Kursed -

You awaken the same as the others, but still swear allegiance to Akala.

You hear but one sentence.

"Await my signal, and then murder them all."

 

[Adenn Gra'tua]

"Argh, the shab? Adenn looked up to see bars, of a prison cell, He quickly stood up before walking towards them "How did that happen?" he rubbed his head before stepping away from the bars "I was never near a prison, and no prison I've been to has looked like this, not that I know of." he slowly sat down on the cell's bed "seriously, what the shab happened."

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen groaned and sat up, looking around. "Ace!" a moment later the Ashlan wolf appeared on his shoulder, barking in attendance. "Good boy." Looking up at the flashing symbols the shadow quickly put the pieces together. "I am not a pawn. I am not a puppet. I am a shadow." Lifting to his feet, he felt a clawed hand grab his arm and looked down just in time to see a familiar furry head lift from the ground next to him. "Master!"

 

[Vulps]

"You're also young and spry. Help me up boy." Vulpesen obliged and helped his old master up. Finally getting a good stance with his cane in hand, Zarro waved the jedi off, smiling up at him. Both of them were well aware that Zarro was rather athletic in his own right, but Vulpesen preferred to humor the man who had raised him from a year of age. Besides, Zarro always believed that it was better to keep much of your abilities a secret. Underdogs could come on top if they properly managed themselves. "Now then, I can sense that you have an idea as to whats going on, so would you or someone else in here tell me whats going on?" Zarro had managed to miss out on the three acts and was thus fairly clueless as to what was going on. However, he was smart enough to tell that the others had experienced something to do with the mysterious words and this palce was quite strange, even for a traveling merchant such as himself.

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Zarro Verres"] @[member="Adenn Gra'tua"]
"Mental manipulation, I believe."
The droid said in answer to Zarro and Adenn's questions, as a clank was heard when he closed a maintenance hatch the tentacles used to put him into that world of illusion as with others.
He would look towards Zarro from his cell, coming closer to the bars as he smoothed over his cloak and made sure he still had his armor and equipment attached, unlike what happened in his vision of Act 3.
"Whoever did so is quite powerful and inventive, it is no easy to pull a droid into false reality without one noticing it, I believe my programming is still whole, however."

He would turn back to watch over others gathered in the cells, calling out to them,
"Everyone else is alright?! Do we have any wounded we need to look out after?"

 

[Vendir]

"How did this happen!?" Vendir yelled "Who the kark put me in here!" he walked towards the bars! looking out of them, he was in a prison "I wasn't here before, I wasn't here." he slammed his fist into a wall "Wait, keep your head, it was just a trick, none of that happened." he slowly knelt down to meditate, it would help him realize what had happened.

 

[Odxon Raziel]

You'd think that someone who had been alive for over seven hundred years would have some idea what was going on in a situation like this. Alas, Odxon was thoroughly puzzled. When she awoke she found herself sitting in a dirty corner, hungry for blood. It seems that she had had not drank any of the crimson liquid for quite some time. That was not a good thing. Unless she quenched that thirst soon, she could get very cranky. And a cranky Garhoon was about as bad as a pissed-off Wookiee. So the woman began to look around the prison, eying every inhabitant as if they were merely chunks of meat. Moments later a voice echoed in her head, instructing her.​

​

"Await my signal, then murder them all."​

Those were orders she wouldn't mind following. With a grin she stood up, running her tongue over her fangs. Who would become her prey? The muttering Mandalorian? The furry beast and his companion? Or one of the countless others? There were so many possibilities... so many to feed upon. For now Xon kept quiet. None of this made any sense to her. Perhaps eavesdropping on the others would enlighten her. Oh, but waiting was dreadfully boring. Couldn't she just leap at the men, bite down on their necks and rip them apart?... No, that would not do. Patience was a virtue indeed.​

If only she was a virtuous woman.
​

 

[Lief]

The Hatchery

In the shadows, far from their sight and outside of their cell, she stood and she watched... For how could she not? Within those walls so much potential was housed, so many wondrous beauties and malleable souls. She twitched slightly as a few of them began to awaken, her eyes flitting from left to right, and then her lips pursed. All that company, yet none for her. None for Nyx. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right! They were the prisoners, not she... How dare they have more than I do! Was this some trick posed by her fellows? They can't be smarter than I am, can they? Nyx bristled slightly at the thought. Why did the prisoners get all the fun? Hmph.

For now she did not move, instead she simply observed. There in the shadows she had the perfect view, and if anyone stepped outside of her line of sight? Well that didn't matter, she'd see them anyway. Watch them stand in my way she thought, suppressing an uptight laugh. There are far better than they in the Galaxy, especially here... Especially on Ash. But if that were so then why did her stomach tighten so much when watching them, she was practically green at this point - yet she wasn't sick, oh no... They answer to Akala, the little beasties and soon the rest too... And everyone else here. What makes her so special, why does Akala reign and not m--- No, no, mustn't think that... But it was sooooo difficult not to.

@[member="Zarro Verres"] @[member='Vulpesen'] @[member='Adenn Gra'tua'] @[member="Akala"] @[member='HK-36'] @[member='Vendir'] @[member='Odxon Raziel']

 

[Bluejay Ungolfen]

Bluejay had a massive headache.
Okay. Everybody's waking up in the cells. And I shall - wait? Yes, wait for a signal. I must wait for the signal, and then I will kill them. 'Kill' was easier for her than 'murder' - especially where the Dread Guard traitors happened to be concerned.

I will kill all of them.
The thought nearly brought a smile to her face before she reigned in her facial muscles. No. Wait. Pretend if you must. Her eyes scanned the cells, looking for any familiar faces.

 

[Duggan]

"I was never there, I was never there," Kallion repeated, he had just realized that he'd never done anything involving mandalore "Wait! No I was, just in my mind!" He jumped up and looked at the other prison cells. He was starting to sound crazy, not as crazy as the kursed he had heard speaking before though "Kark you!" he yelled to no one in sight "Whoever you are."

@[member="HK-36"]
@[member="Zarro Verres"]
@[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Revenchent]

Oh by the force, what was this about?


The first thing Calico noticed was the anxiety stabbing at his phyce. Someone was looking at him, or something. The urge to shoot unto his feet and yell about--well, whatever was happening was quite strong, but the calm that had even drilled into him took hold. That was the point of drilling after all, being calm and collected when other beings fell apart.

The soldier pushed himself up and noted that his cell was damp. It didn't seem well maintained, then again, that could have been his imagination.

Where in Corellia's Nine Hells is this? Weren't we fighting a dragon? Where are my boys? Where's Galaar? Where is Kira?

He grumbled something unintelligible and set his weight up against the damp wall, setting up against it to gain some proper balance. He could discern a few beings here and there: generally chatting, panicking, or sitting in their corners. He shook his head to keep his sense sharp, and tested the bars. They held firm.

"This...this osik right here." He motioned all around their room. "Needs to stop happening. Getting a bit tired of having my shebs warped, or whatever happened."

The soldier perked up slightly at HKs voice. At least someone seemed concerned. "All green here bud. No clue where my boys are but..." He paused as something in the corner of the cell caught his eyes "I figure we should be careful about what we say. A smart man would bug the cells. I'm Calico, everyone else?" He reached down, noting that his katarn kit was all together--even the burns were gone, and scooped up his helmet.

Come on, get me some POV icons." He grumbled as he set the helmet on his head. It was working perfectly, the HUD icons popping up in a welcoming, relieving way that only the RCs of the former GAR could really understand.

He blinked twice and groaned. Comms weren't working and it seemed no other active helmets were in the area. The Commando sighed, turning to look across all of the cells, the eerie blue light of his visor casting in every way that he looked. "Jay? That you?"


@[member="Kallion"] @[member="CC-935 Bluejay"] @[member="Vendir"] @[member="HK-36"] @[member="Zarro Verres"] @[member="Vulpesen"] @[member="Adenn Gra'tua"]

 

[Rusken Shaxx]

Zius awoke in a daze, muffled rubbish bombarding his ears as he pulled himself together and stood up only to realize what the one prisoner had been shouting about the whole time. No... this was a joke? One big sick joke? Someone's going to pay dearly. His head ached something fierce, had they been victorious from the battle prior?

Not quite.

Act III. A mere figure in the collection of some mastermind whom was far more than just intent on having fun, it was to see who came out the victor. For what purpose this all was didn't matter anymore, none of it did. Zius felt as if he were to be on his own in this just to save himself from falling for what appeared to be "true". He looked around at the other prisoners and slowly reached inside of his coat for his lightsaber, pulling it free and flicking the activation on. How dare anyone pull such an elaborate guise over reality and then sprinkle a false victory over it? Ludicrous. Blasphemous.

Irritating...

Time to see who comes out alive.

@HK-36
@Zarro Verres
@Vulpesen
@[member="Kallion"]

@[member="CC-935 Bluejay"]

@[member="Nyx"]

@[member="Odxon Raziel"]

@[member="Adenn Gra'tua"]

 

[Lief]

Good, good... Everyone was confused, frantic, it made her feel somewhat satisfied. They were having a worse time than she was, despite all that company... Oh golly gosh Force how much she wanted to have some company right now. It wasn't fair that they had company and she didn't. Resisting the urge to grumble she remained hidden in the shadows, watching and waiting. She wanted more of them to wake up, more! The sight of a Kursed made her somewhat angry, though, reminding her yet again of Akala. I could be just as great as Akala... Why does she get the spotlight all of the time?

And some of the people in the cells... They were so pretty, with their fancy, shining armour and their metal bodies. Even the fleshy ones... So beautiful. They won't be beautiful when I'm through with them, then I'll be the prettiest... Not even Akala could outmatch m--- No, no Nyx, stop it... She'll hear... But it was so difficult not to let her mind wander.

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member='Kallion'] @[member='CC-935 Bluejay'] @Zarro Verres @Vulpesen @Adenn Gra'tua @Akala @HK-36 @Vendir @Odxon Raziel @[member='Zius Aurus']

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Adenn Gra'tua"] @[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Kallion"] @[member="Nyx"] @[member="Zarro Verres"] @[member="CC-935 Bluejay"] @[member="Odxon Raziel"]
"They call me the Iron Knight of Protectorate nowadays, old designation was HK-36, one of the Pyre's relics you could say."
He answered to Calico's introduction and question, the droid didn't notice Nyx, he didn't took time to really look around. What good was looking about if you were still stuck behind the bars after all?
He faintly nodded to Calico's suggestion on the place might be bugged,
"Well let us just keep in mind to not reveal any dark secrets of our governments."

The droid said as he had a closer look at the bars that kept them in the cells, scanning them for any electrical currents running through them, trying to determine what kind of metal they were made of as his helmet closed mechanically over his droid head.
We will not be trapped in here forever, that would be boring after all.
He thought to himself, keeping with the theme whoever put them there seems to enjoy toying with them for their own amusement.

If the bars were safe to touch, HK would reach to them slowly, his hands closing on them and metal claws on fingers extending just slightly as he began rubbing their edge back and forth on the bars sneakily, trying to see if filing through the bars was one of the choices for them right now.

 

[Bluejay Ungolfen]

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"]

"Yes sir." She said in distant monotone - rather like a low-intelligence droid really - as she responded automatically to the query. She had a vague feeling like she should apologize for something, couldn't decide what, and shrugged it off. Feth it. If it was important, I would have remembered.

The Dread Sister didn't move a muscle, just sat cross-legged in the corner of the cell, eyes dull and uncaring, her helmet on the ground next to her. To an observer, she might appear drugged or sleeping with her eyes open - or something along those lines. Droid-efied, no offense to HK-36 intended. But she was simply waiting for the order to attack. It would come, and she would follow it.

 

[Marek S'hadar]

Kill them all. Kill them. Kill. Kill. Kill. Words ran amuck in Marek's head, all with a common theme; killing. Something was clouding his mind, controlling him. He didn't like it, he wanted it out, he could kill on his own. No, he was better, bey-but she had control, she ruled his mind, and she said to kill. Eyes snapped open, the blue fading away and being replaced with yellow, rage coursing through his veins again filling him with a strength he hadn't had in so long.

Marek sat, legs crossed, eyes wide and blank as he awaited orders. Lying at his feet was an all to familiar mask, and without looking at it in the slightest, he picked it up and slid it on. Predatory eyes gazed through the visor as he scanned the cages around him, soon they would die.

@[member="Zius Aurus"] @[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Kallion"] @[member="CC-935 Bluejay"] @[member="Nyx"] @[member="Odxon Raziel"] @[member="Vendir"] @[member="Zarro Verres"] @[member="Vulpesen"] @[member="Adenn Gra'tua"]

 

[Odxon Raziel]

Pathetic. That's what some of them were. Fools skittering around, awaiting something to save them. Xon wasn't like that. Not even close. She was a full-blood predator. And they were mindless prey. When the time came, she would kill every last one of them. Chaos would ensue. The strong would feed off the weak until there was no food left. When that happened, they would be full until more came along. That was the way of existence. But the raven-haired woman had a plan... when the weak were gone, she would rise up and destroy the strong until only she remained.​

She would be a goddess.​

 

[Adenn Gra'tua]

Adenn thought on who else was here 'Teroch couldn't be here, he wasn't at the masquerade, unless he was somewhere else...' he highly doubted that though. A few people were cursing at whoever had locked them up in here, it was then when Adenn realized, he still had his armor, and it was clean, clean of all blood, all dents, and whatever else had gotten on it "Somthing is messing with my osik" he looked around for his helmet, finding it under the bed "Ah, good old helmet." he quickly slid it onto his head, there was a short hiss, then silence. His HUD started booting up, projecting light onto his face before he heard one man called Calico's question "I'm Adenn Gra'tua, Mandalorian and bounty hunter and hand to hand combat is my thing... Just not for a long time." after that he heard Calico say that the place might be bugged 'shab, shouldn't have said that.' he looked at his hands, noticing he still had his vibro blades, which might come in handy later.

@[member="Zius Aurus"] @[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="CC-935 Bluejay"] @[member="Nyx"] @[member="Odxon Raziel"] @[member="Zarro Verres"] @[member="Vulpesen"] @[member="Marek S'hadar"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen's eyes scanned the room, taking in the feelings and words from the others. The force was his ally and through it he could sense quite a few disturbances among them. He would keep an eye on the problem but until then, he knew t heir best bet was to get out. Walking to the bars, Vulpesen stuck his hand out, allowing Ace to drop off and onto the floor ahead of him. Keep a lookout. After watching Ace scamper off with his silent command, Vulpesen brought out his saber and leaned agaisnt the bars, looking at the other occupants. "So, who cares to get out. I see a mix of capable warriors and if we play our cards right, it'll be hard as hell to stick us back inside these cells."

@Commander Calico CC-247 @Kallion @CC-935 Bluejay @Adenn Gra'tua @Akala @HK-36 @Vendir @Odxon Raziel @Zius Aurus

 

[Onrai]

There was one issue with regards to Circe's being here.

There were three Circes. One was a past Circe, one was present Circe, and the other was a future Circe. All of them kept their glares at one another, their eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"Hey, I remember this!"

"So do I!"

"Wait, so I'll have to do this three times? Joy."

"Hey, relax. It could be worse."

"Have I gone insane yet?"

"Maybe."

"Nope, not yet."

The three Circes turned to one another.

"If I go through this multiple times, doesn't that mean I already know what I need to do?"

"Not necessarily. I don't remember any of this."

"Me neither."

"Great, Stuck with a pair of blonde idiots who just said they remember, but don't."

"That's Vinithi to you, Circe."

"Go feth yourself, Circe."

"I guess I can with you here."

Such joy. Much happiness.

@Commander Calico CC-247 @Kallion @CC-935 Bluejay @Adenn Gra'tua @Akala @HK-36 @Vendir @Odxon Raziel @Zius Aurus @[member="Vulpesen"]