The Demon Plot: DEATH OF GRINDING MADNESS [July Player Event]

[pillz]

Who: Ensemble production, all individuals who opted in to the plot
When: July 9-21
Where: Two inhabited planets around the Ingress
What: The demon plot kicks off, in which malevolent shadow beings, copies of existing characters, begin to materialize and harass the PCs across the worlds. Plotting post is here, and a network post will go up within the next 2 days from several PCs advising on how to end the plot.
Warnings: Violence, psychological themes, possibly past trauma, etc.

Death of Grinding Madness
The Demon Plot
(mild spoilers for The Raven Cycle)

On July 9, a demon begins to make its way through the Ingress, summoned through by a shitty teenager.

July 9-12
Harrying

It's innocuous in the beginning. A movement in the corner of your eye, a shadow through a curtain-- merely a tree. But then the shadow figures begin to emerge into full being. Black-eyed wraiths that look like enemies, friends with whom you've had past conflict, or even you yourself. At first, it's merely harrying, minor harassment. Threatening gestures, broken gestures, jump scares.

Pursue them, and they disappear-- you might even catch a glimpse of how. They melt down into black slime, racing away across floors, through sewer grates, up walls, impossible to follow. By now, the worst of the climate freeze is over, but residual ice does pose a needles extra obstacle.

July 12-15
The Violence Escalates

In the days that follow, the situation only gets worse.

Sporadic harassment turns into outright attacks. The targeting is unmistakable. The shadow beings who can speak tell cruel tales of animosity, spite, even hatred. They are as deadly with their hands or strange powers as their doppelgangers are, and worse, they're functionally indestructible. Rip off one's head and it merely reforms out of sticky black ink. Limbs regenerate just as easily. The being might dispell for a few hours, but no doubt— it'll be back, if not to hurt you then someone you know.

The Savrii begin to notice. It's hard not to. While there is hardly an epidemic of panic, the disruptions are hard to miss-- broken windows, screams, random violence. Soon, the authorities begin to open safehouse facilities at which characters can seek shelter.

July 15-18
The Golem

On July 17, something horrific begins to happen— several shadow beings merge to form a massive golem in Kauto R1. It is a grotesque, horrifying spectacle, of limbs and eyes and pulsating flesh. It reaches almost sixty feet in height. Combined together, this shadow creature is considerably less intelligent than the individual beings were. However, it is also immensely strong and regenerates just like the smaller ones did.

Within the mall, hundreds of daytime shoppers are trapped within. Luckily, they have food and climate control. Perhaps you're one of them-- or perhaps you're trying to get in to provide medical care.

In the meantime, the attacks from the individual shadow beings don't stop. Despite the intelligence exhibited by some, all of them seem mindlessly bent on tormenting their targets until they are killed.

July 18-21
The Sacrifice

On the 9th day, a network post goes up (link pending, will be OOCly forward-dated to July 10th latest) revealing how to remove the invincibility of the attackers.

And by the 21st, the remaining beings utterly vanish without explanation— unless you happen to bear witness to the events that take place at St. Monmouth.

Comments

[otiosity]

[The shadow shrugs, like someone trying to do an impression of Hawke's humored casualness but without the emotion behind it. It's both Hawke and yet disturbingly unlike her. Like looking in a mirror to a face that's familiar but distorted.]

I always knew you'd be the hardest. And not just because of the suit. She has a lot of faith in you. But you're going to disappoint her or... she's going to end up destroying you. I'm here to stop it.

[And there's a mass of freezing that explodes from the ground beneath his feet in an attempt to trap him and prevent him from flying off.]

[efficacy]

[ Pepper accepts the help all too willingly, clinging to metal arms mostly with her right hand; the left is probably sprained, minimum. ]

Just in time, as far as I'm concerned, [ she returns with a shaky huff of breath, falling back on banter herself even though she's still shaken to the core. The shadow's reappearance has her tensing up immediately, shifting slowly behind Tony even as he moves in front of her. The blast of ice from beneath has her yelping and clumsily springing away a couple of steps, her frown of unease shifting to that of annoyance as sudden indignation flares.

Tony was right, magic fucking sucks. ]

That's a cheap trick!

[arcreact]

[ Tony feels vaguely nauseous just looking at her. Like Hawke, but with all the things that make Hawke herself stripped away. He should've sent her through the wall harder. ]

Okay? I disappoint everyone on a daily basis, I really don't see what's so noteworthy —

[ She cuts him off mid-quip, which is, frankly, fucking rude. He instinctively moves to take a step back, but realizes the armor's boots are frozen to the floor - he swivels to make sure Pepper is still on her feet as he feels her move away, panic flaring anew.

Get Pep out get Pep out get Pep out get Pep out-

He engages the repulsors on the boots, melting away the ice - except for how his left boot isn't, and hasn't been, working. ]

Pepper! Can you run?

[ If she can't, he'll get her out himself - it's as simple as that, no debate about it - but if she can flee by her own power, then he can at least keep the shadow off her tail. It seems intent on her, after all. ]

[otiosity]

[The shadow was intent on hurting Pepper but now there's new prey to be played with. Tony was always the end goal. The most powerful and someone that Hawke had put an usual amount of trust in. So he's the most dangerous.

The shadow slams the staff into the ground and rocks start to crawl from the ground and form around Pepper's legs. If's she's unable to escape, the rocks will hold her there, so the shadow can return to her. Though second by second, the crumble as the spell fades.

Then she twists to back to Tony and sends a massive swarm of rocks, almost shaped like a fist, right into his core.]

[efficacy]

[ Pepper is already moving before Tony gets the question out completely; she knows she's better off getting as far away from this rumble as possible. Not that she makes it far. In fact, she doesn't make it very far at all before the rocks close around her and effectively trap her where she is. ]

No! [ she cries out, uselessly trying to break free, not just because this is bullshit but because there's suddenly a giant hail of big rocks hurtling straight toward Tony. ]

[arcreact]

[ Shit. Tony finds himself needing to think fast - as usual.

His right boot has already melted free of the ice, but his left remains stuck - he can probably wrench it free from the force of taking off with the remaining repulsor, but doing so will put Pepper directly in the line of fire.

So, that's not happening.

He lifts both arms on instinct, the vambrances rattling unpleasantly as the rocks pummel into them, but nonetheless plants himself and takes the hit so that nothing gets through to Pepper behind him. It's fortunate, actually, that the left boot is still anchored - he might've gone flying right into her otherwise.

His eyes frantically scan the HUD as the rocks pound into him (ignoring the half a dozen warning lights blinking for his attention) and focuses in on one detail: trendy light fixture, vaguely above Nasty Hawke's head. Shame. He liked that light fixture.

He drops his guard long enough to send a blast into the lights above the Shadow's head, trusting that'll at least keep her distracted long enough for him to free Pepper. ]

[otiosity]

[The light fixture, that Hawke would often regard with curiosity and a desire to figure out what the hell was going on with to no avail, crashes down on the shadow with a crunch of bone and a shatter of broken glass.

The body is prone for a few seconds under the rubble before it slowly melts into the dark oil as it tries to reform itself. It's definitely enough time for Tony to go over to Pepper and allow her to escape. The attack seems to have disrupted the spell which makes it easier to clear the rocks that hold her still.

But of course, eventually the creature reforms again, unharmed, and unfazed.]

This is taking too long. I'm important, I have places to be you know.

[It thrusts the staff forward at Tony and a bolt of lighting explodes out of thin air, snaking across the distance in the room towards him, aiming straight for the arc reactor.

Hawke doesn't know what it actually does, only that the answers she gets about it are cagey and silly, which means that it's more important than he's willing to admit. So she doesn't pry. The shadow uses that trust to exploit his weakness.]

[efficacy]

[ Instinctively, Pepper shields her head with her arms and stoops down a little as if to duck for cover even though none of the rocks hit her with Tony taking the brunt of the attack, giving a short, sharp scream at the first rocks pummel him; intellectually she knows the suit protects him from the worst, but emotionally it's harder to see and hear it happening.

She jumps on another cry when Tony drops the light fixture on top of the Shadow, startled and grossed out by the terrible noises that follow. ] Oh! God! [ Distress had drawn her voice tight and shrill, upset not only by the personal attacks and getting injured but also the destruction of their house. Thankfully, the moment the Shadow is knocked out, the spell holding Pepper trapped seems to lose its potency and the rocks about her crumble with little effort, some even dissolving on their own. ]

Oh my god... Tony, be care-- [ OH LOOK WHO'S BACK and escalating into lightning bolts jfc. This is so where Pepper makes herself scarce, barely managing to dive behind the nearest couch for cover. ]

i kept this icon around for a reason

[arcreact]

[ Tony watches the chandelier crush the shadow with a grim kind of satisfaction, even if it fills him with a primal horror all the while. This isn't Hawke - he's encountered enough of these doubles to know that, but that doesn't change how disturbing it is to see something with Hawke's face go down like that.

But he doesn't watch for long.

As soon as he's sure the creature is down, he whips around to make sure Pepper has a clear path of escape. ]

Get out of here, Pep!

[ A moot point - Pepper's no fool, she's already bolting - but her warning prompts him to wheel back around as the creature re-assembles itself behind him. Lightning is hard to dodge, he knows from experience, and it's almost comical that this isn't the first time he's been in this situation.

The difference now is that the whole suit is already beat to hell, and a full-system shock doesn't help. There's a terrible whine and hiss, an explosion of sparks, and then the lights in the helmet and reactor go dark.

Time for him to start formulating a plan B. ]

[otiosity]

[Oh well... That's disappointing. The shadow was hoping for some kind of fight. or something a little more satisfying than this. Too bad someone else clearly got to have all of the fun before her.

She approaches the dead suit with a look on her face that's similar to Hawke's look of idle amusement anytime Tony starts talking about his suit or other technological things about the house.]

Hmm, maybe she wasn't actually joking when she said that thing was stupid.

[And it moves again, prepping another lightning bolt attack straight at him.]

[arcreact]

[ Tony weighs his options. The suit's more or less down for the count, since he seriously doubts their guest will give him time to whip out his tools and do some electrical work. His opponent is armed with absolute bullshit that he doesn't remotely understand, and he's armed with a heavy metal bludgeoning weapon, at best. Strategizing must follow accordingly.

He decides to do what always seems to work out in situations like this: stupid, reckless shit.

Timing is key - he waits until she's approached close enough, until she has her electric attack poised, and then all at once the seemingly-dead armor is moving; it opens like a maw releasing its prey, Tony leaping toward her just as she's launching her lightning. She can attack the arc reactor if she wants, but at this proximity, overloading it is absolutely gonna roast her too.

Get fucked Lame Hawke. ]

[otiosity]

[When he leaps at her, the shadow feints with inhumanly fast reflexes, probably because it isn't one, try to move the blade of its staff towards a killing blow into his chest instead of the arc reactor. It knows that damage to the arc reactor will kill him, it wins either way. But self sacrifice? That's just not satisfying.

But then something grabs the end of Lame Hawke's staff preventing it from redirecting away from the reactor. It's Cool Hawke here to save the day. Well, not really because she has no weapons and no time to summon any sort of spell. The Fade is too far here for what should come naturally. So what she did to stop Lame Hawke from avoiding hitting the reactor was to throw herself in between Tony and the blade. She knew she couldn't stop it. She knows that blade and she knows it's strength, so the best she can do is make sure Tony hits his target.

The blade catches her through her stomach, slicing through her torso as though she were a piece of meat. It doesn't matter. She's endured worse. Her hands wrap tightly around the shaft of the staff to prevent Lame Hawke from pulling away. She's like a wire between the two.

It's what she does, she connects people. Too bad there's no time for a quip before there's an explosion. Probably.]

[arcreact]

[ It all happens almost too fast to register - things are going according to plan, and then they're not, and then they are again, but - When did Hawke get here? Why is she doing stupid shit? That's his thing. He has time to wonder about the extent of her stupidity before everything is white and hot and - briefly - nothing at all. This part is familiar too, and no less unpleasant. He wishes they didn't have to keep dispatching enemies this way.

When he comes to, at least several feet away from where this all took place and most definitely flat on the floor, it's still not clear what exactly happened. The arc reactor, always visible even through black shirts, is flickering treacherously, and everything within four feet might be smoking a little, but he's alive. For now. One step at a time.

He gestures weakly in the direction of whatever's left of Lame Hawke at the moment, though it's more like vaguely jerking his arm while he hopes his heart doesn't do something really stupid, like decide to have a heart attack when he's got better things to do. ]

That's for wrecking Pep's favorite chandelier.

[ There's always time for a quip. Git gud. ]

[otiosity]

[Hawke was expecting an explosion. Probably. Things tend to explode around her and Tony. It's like their thing. They have explosive personalities.

So when she's flung forward into her shadow and they both tumbling across the floor and rubble, she somewhat expects it. Enough for her to try and throw a hand out to catch herself. Unfortunately, her body is weak and not really up to taking her weight so she just goes sprawling instead. For a few seconds the world is dark, then her vision comes back and her ears are ringing and she's trying to force herself onto her feet. Her torso feels unpleasantly wet and sticky but she has to get to her feet before the shadow does even though she knows that doesn't matter and she can't kill it.

"Just go. Just... leave them alone."

"You're just going to lose them, like you lose everyone else. It's what you do," The shadow replies in a low voice. An almost sad voice. "It's going to hurt."

"I know," She replies without much thought. Her voice and her head seem disconnected at the moment. "But right now I want to pretend it won't. Just for once. They're my family here."

And then it's gone. And she realizes that she's just in the living room where she spends every day but now it's ruined and that somehow feels worse than the hole in her stomach.

And then Tony's talking, she glances up at him with vision that's still blurry.]

It's too late. It's gone. ...Like the chandelier. Window missed.

[If she makes jokes she'll feel less shitty right.]

[arcreact]

[ Tony drags himself into a sitting position, but it takes a great effort. He casts his eyes first to the couch, where he know Pepper disappeared - it looks unscathed (unlike just about everything in the kitchen), which bodes well. He'll somehow figure out how to operate his legs and go find her, but first, the most pressing issue is -

Is -

Taken care of, apparently, as he watches the shadow melt away to nothing beneath Hawke, the threat dispelled just like that. It's a few moments of bleary staring before he can accept he didn't just hallucinate this. Which leaves... ]

Say something only the non-shitty Hawke would say.

[ He's entitled to his paranoia. One quip isn't enough. ]

[otiosity]

[Hawke doesn't move at first. She's suddenly really taken with the fact that her arm hurts. She moves her hand to grip the hole where she yanked a bolt out with a hiss. It fucking hurts. The fact that there's a gaping hole in her stomach doesn't even seem to register.

Then Tony's talking and it sounds far away, like he's speaking underwater. But after a few seconds her brain clicks to the words he said and she looks at him. Even if she can't offer any words, the difference is in her eyes. The shadow's eyes were dark, like pools of oil, this Hawke's eyes are bright blue but wide and her pupils dilated like she's in shock.]

I'm not shitty Hawke? So... what you're saying is you admit you adore me and think I'm wonderful. I'm fluent in Tony Stark by now.

[She's making a distinct effort to be cheerful, like this didn't hurt, like she wasn't afraid, and is putting on a pretty good show.]

[arcreact]

[ Well, he doesn't deny it. ]

Whatever. Good enough.

[ With the immediate threat to Pepper, himself - and Hawke - now dispensed, the adrenaline is draining out of him fast. There's an unpleasant tightness building in his chest and Hawke doesn't look much better off; they should probably get Hawke to a hospital, and he'll... deal with his own shit.

Still, his priorities are what they are, which means he's trying to drag himself up using the back of the couch. ]

Pep. [ He didn't have the time to assess how badly she was hurt before - if she's seriously injured, he'll revive the damn shadow and murder it a second time if he has to. ] You with me?

[efficacy]

[ Pepper has stayed hidden behind the couch, slumped behind the piece of furniture and struggling with her absolute horror at what's going on as well as the increasing pain especially around her ribs as the adrenaline in her veins slowly dissipates. Experimentally she runs her fingers along the bones through her clothing, unable to feel any bumps or other indications of broken ribs-- she's pretty sure she would have realized it far earlier if she had, adrenaline rush or not. They must be just bruised; getting compressed into the floor by the magical equivalent of a hydraulic press probably does that to a person, her whole body feeling like a mass of aches and twinges of varying degree now. Her left wrist hurts and is tender to touch, and she hopes it's just badly sprained instead of broken. But those seem to be the worst of her injuries, a myriad of small glass cuts, scrapes and soon-to-be-darkening bruises the least of her concerns now. ]

I think-- so. [ There's a shaky, breathless wobble to her voice, vying to calm down her racing pulse and erratic breathing since it hurts to draw in breaths as deep as her lungs would like her to do. Get a hold of yourself, Potts, she tells herself, digging up that willpower to act even when everything is falling apart around her. Pushing off against the couch, she can't quite stifle a small cry of discomfort as her body protests her movements, biting her teeth through the worst of it as she struggles to find her feet again. ] Are you okay? Is Hawke okay?

[otiosity]

[The wobble in Pep's voice cuts like a knife.

This is her fault. This is her fault as usual and everyone knows it. She should have known better... been faster...

If Hawke ever allowed herself the vulnerability to cry, she'd be fighting back tears at the moment. But she doesn't. Instead she just feels disconnected, distant from it all, her eyes taking in the ruin of their home, Tony in some kind of distress, Pepper trying to keep it together and it all gets jumbled on the way back to her head. She doesn't know what to do or to say or to even feel.]

I'm fine. It's just... my arm hurts.

[Her mouth says the words before she can think them and her hand moves to grip her right shoulder. It does hurt from the bolt Varric's shadow shot through it but the pain from the hole in her middle doesn't even seem to register at the moment.]

[arcreact]

[ Tony reaches out immediately when Pepper cries out in pain, one hand going to her shoulder in a completely ineffectual attempt to help ease some of her discomfort. Industrial strength painkillers and proper medical attention are the only things that can really do that, he's pretty sure. He looks her up and down anxiously, but concedes she wouldn't lie either way - there's no visibly bleeding wounds, beyond the expected cuts and scrapes.

A few minutes later and it could've been much worse. He briefly thinks about Elena's death and Nate's hunched over form and decides to indulge in panic about that later. He gives her shoulder a weak squeeze and feels like he's either going to hyperventilate or barf, which must be how Hawke feels almost always.

Hawke-

Tony tears his attention away when she answers Pepper's question, an objecting forming before he even has time to think about it. ]

No — [ Bullshit she's fine. He looks at her, really looks at her, and feels some of the cold panic return. ] You're bleeding.

[ Bleeding an unacceptable amount, a much-more-than-usual amount. He ignores the renewed twinge of pain in his chest in light of the giant hole in Hawke's middle. ]

[efficacy]

Oh, god-- [ Her words taper off with a sharp intake of breath. That's too much blood; Pepper's own runs cold. Hawke must be going into a shock to not feel it. She's seen enough movies to realize a stomach wound like that spells a painful, drawn-out death -- whether that's actually true or not, she doesn't know, but she does know they need to make getting Hawke to a hospital a priority number one. Something in Pepper snaps into place, her own pains and discomfort forgotten as urgency overshadows everything else, hbic CEO Potts taking over. ]

We need to get her to the hospital right now. [ She addresses Tony -- what Hawke wants is irrelevant at the moment, to be honest, and she'll just have to Deal With It. But Pepper isn't happy with how pale and borderline ill Tony looks himself, knowing he isn't as fine himself as he's making it out to be. And the suit looks good and busted, anyway. ] Get in the car, both of you. I'm driving.

[ Pepper hurries to collect a couple of kitchen towels out of the shambles of their ruined kitchen, shaking shards of glass off of them and folding them into a square before handing it to Hawke, her free hand gently pressing against the other woman's back to get her to move. ] Here. Press this against the wound to staunch the bleeding. Come on, let's go.

[otiosity]

I've had worse. And that's not even a glib joke. I've truly had much worse.

[Though it helped that she'd pretty much collapsed unconscious after the fight with the Arishok. Now she has to try to stumble to her feet, with Pepper's hand at her back, and try to walk like nothing is wrong. She runs a hand over the wound, trying to reach out to the Fade and cast a healing spell but the green light fizzles quickly every time she manages to summon it and didn't do much beyond buy her some time. ]

What about Tony? He looks bad too...

[She stops near the broken suit to point accusingly at Tony who looks like she looks every time she has to get in a car.

Except that's quickly undercut by her doubling over and vomiting blood over the ground and splattering the poor dead Iron Man suit. RIP sweet child. Hawke chokes, seemingly a bit surprised herself that happened.]

Okay, maybe it's a bit worse than I thought.

[arcreact]

[ In Tony's opinion, "I've truly had much worse" from somebody who's dead back home probably shouldn't even qualify as a retort. Not that he says so, but he's thinking it. Aggressively. As she barfs all over a very expensive piece of equipment that's gonna need a lot of work. ]

Did you really have to - [ No. Okay. Fine. Priorities. ] Y'know what, forget it.

[ WHATEVER, HAWKE!!

Normally he'd object to the hospital, but Hawke's giant stomach hole and blood vomiting is a bit beyond household first aid, and Pepper could very well have some broken ribs and bones of her own. So, sure, what the hell. Group field trip to the hospital. Except the reactor in his chest is on its last legs, and there's no quick fix for that, unless- ]

Just gimme a second —

[ He makes his way unsteadily toward the workshop, which, fortunately, is also where the vehicles are. He shoves some things off a work bench and pockets a handful of wires and a tool kit. Seemingly satisfied with that, he makes his way to the car and yanks open a door for them to shove Hawke into.

To Hawke, on that note: ]

C'mon, tough guy, ride's here.

[ He'd make a Monty Python "flesh wound" joke, but his brilliance would be lost on Hawke and Pepper would just disapprove. ]

[efficacy]

[ Fun fact: "I've had much worse" while possibly true doesn't really help make Pepper feel any better. And trust her, she's pretty painfully aware how terrible Tony looks (sorry bae) at the moment, which is doing little to keep the cold sweat from breaking out over her brow and back. She opens her mouth to speak, but all that comes out is another shrill cry when Hawke suddenly doubles over and vomits freaking blood over the short-circuiting suit. ]

God!

[ Shaking off her fright, Pepper forces herself into moving despite the cold fist that's squeezing her heart, scooping Hawke's arm up and throwing it across her shoulders as she supports the other woman about the waist with her free arm though it makes pain bloom across her side. ]

Tony— [ It's thready and desperate, but he's already wobbling toward the garage/workshop. Pepper follows with Hawke, finding it hard to say whether the shortness of breath she's experiencing is due to rib damage or just her freaking the fuck out, albeit in a mostly contained manner. Gingerly, Hawke gets deposited in the backseat though the process isn't entirely simple and definitely not painless for anyone.

To Tony, she goes on like two minutes later even as she's already circling the car to take the driver's seat: ]

—Are you sure you'll be okay? [ Pointless question really because they can't not go asap, but she can't drive and help him!! ]

[otiosity]

[Hawke flinches when Pepper grabs her and she at first tries to struggle away from the unexpected grip. But after her currently addled mind connects it to a familiar person she still tries to resist. Thankfully, she doesn't have the strength to.]

No, you'll get your clothes dirty. And I haven't the money to clean them.

[But that's all she manages to get out before she's shoved into the car. It's painful but everything hurts so it's almost like nothing hurts at all. There's no place to pin point the pain. Or at least physically.

As she lays there, blood seeping into the seat of the car despite her making some attempt to heal herself, her eyes move to the house. The entire front of the kitchen and living room has been ripped open. Something in the kitchen is on fire. Pepper's favorite chandelier is shattered into a thousand pieces across scorched wood floors.]

...Our house is ruined. [Their house. Their home. She stares at it numbly for a few seconds before looking at Tony. Who looks like dogshit.]

You're not going to die, are you?