(no subject)

[pleasereset]

Who: Asriel and you!
When: May 27th and the 29th
Where: Cargo Bay and later the Hold
What: Fire magic goes horribly wrong, and Asriel attempts to lock himself in the Hold after setting the Cargo Bay on fire
Warnings: Fire!!



Asriel didn't realize that when his horns started to grow in, his magic was starting to develop as well. It started off as an accidental discovery in his room, where a sneeze had lead to a tiny flame. From there, he kept trying to summon his fire magic. Sometimes it happened, sometimes it didn't. But when it did, it was no bigger than a lighter flame.

A few days after his discovery, Asriel kept practicing. Learning magic was an exciting time in a young monster's life after all, and for Asriel, it brought him even closer to his parents.

While practicing in the cargo bay, he finally has some success in making that tiny lighter flame a little bigger. His eyes light up in excitement, and he nearly loses it - so he concentrates harder. If he focuses hard enough, he can keep making the flame bigger...

Too big, as the slightly larger flame bursts into one twice its size. Asriel lets out a gasp as he flicks his hand back, unfortunately sending the flame directly towards the cargo bay wall.

"No no no!"

As the fire strikes the wall, a much, much larger flame appears in his hands, and Asriel tries to hold it carefully as he tries to think about how to get rid of it.

And it keeps getting bigger the longer he holds it.

He has no idea how to slow it down or stop it.

Comments

Stopping Asriel

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Anyone who comes to the cargo bay will see an alarming sight, smoke and fire spreading across a small portion of the cargo bay with a small monster child standing in the center of it all. Judging by the flames in his hands, he seems to be the one responsible for it.

He looks up, eyes wide with alarm.

"Don't come any closer, I can't control it-!"

[prayed]

The flames go ignored as Kyoko continues her approach. Those will be tkaen care of by somebody else. The more immediate concern is the bundle of magic wrapped up in the center of it; a familiar magical signature.

He really is always causing trouble.

"That's 'cause you're acting like it's the end of the world."

She waves her hand in a dismissive gesture towards the flames, as though to say that this much was inconsequential.

"Anyway, I've got things to do and I'm already running late, so quit freaking out already. Kid like you's not capable of doing much damage."

[pleasereset]

The flame in his hands is getting difficult to hold, and the voice he hears catches his attention immediately. He recognizes the girl from the lounge (the one he gave the slice of poisoned pie to), and he wants to step back. But he's too afraid that any movement he makes will cause more damage than he already has.

He shakes his head at her desperately.

"P-please, just stay back... I don't want to hurt anyone."

[prayed]

"Tch. Like I said, that weak magic of yours wouldn't even leave a scratch on me."

Kyoko bends her elbow, raising her palm to her chest before laying it flat before her. In it a red, egg shaped glow appears before scattering in a burst of sparks. What's left behind is a red jewel, shaped jewel with gold accents decorating it. Her Soul Gem. The faint glow is almost unnoticeable at first, but anticipation and the magic crackling in the air seems to energize it, leaving it emitting a brilliant red glow.

She lowers it to her stomach and takes another step forward, cocking her head to one side in consideration. The easiest way would probably just to be to wear him out, but...

"Hmm... What happens to your kind when you run out of magic to burn up and out anyway? You don't just like, drop dead, right?" Her tone is casual and unworried as ever, as though the wreckage around them were simply another one of the ship's quirks.

[skelepun]

Sans doesn't bother replying to the message. As soon as he sees it, hears the familiar voice, there's no room for asking where or why or what.

He takes a step, and suddenly he's there, flames licking up against the crates. Not normal flames, either -- fire magic. Powerful fire magic. Just like his mother.

There's no room for a mistake, not with his own fragile anatomy. Keeping his distance for now, Sans raises his voice to be heard over the crackle of flame.

"Asriel, I'm gonna need you to take a breath!"

[pleasereset]

At the sight of the short skeleton, Asriel freezes up. His fire magic though? That hasn't gone away, and several more flames appear in his hands, ready to go off like missiles.

It isn't out of fear of Sans that Asriel tries to put some distance between them. He doesn't want to end up burning him with out of control magic. At the moment, Sans' words don't quite reach him.

"Sans, please! Stay back!"

[skelepun]

"Fat chance, kid!"

There's a note of humor in his voice, or what little of it isn't swallowed up by the crackle of flames. A series of bones wipe through from nowhere, beating the flames back around Sans. It's an ineffective gesture, but the magic in those bones seems to be achieving something to keep the fire at bay.

"Take a breath!" He repeats, voice stretched as high as he can over the smokeless fire. "Just one breath, Asriel, that's all I'm askin'."

[pleasereset]

Asriel swallows, gulping down air painfully and trying to calm the sheer panic growing in his chest. He closes his eyes, his breath coming out in short, shallow huffs. It doesn't really seem to do much at first - but after a few seconds, the flames in his hands seem to be getting smaller.

[skelepun]

There's a beat, and suddenly Sans' perpetual smile is a little more genuine than before.

"That's it, kiddo. Another breath." Sans matches the request with another step forward, slowly closing the distance between them. "Just keep breathing, pal. You're gonna get through this and we'll fix everything."

[pleasereset]

It's hard to concentrate on the smaller things, simple things like just breathing when there's fire around you. Another breath, short and mixed with a shaky sob. The flames in his hands are smaller now, easier to put out. With a little more effort, he could get them back to the lighter-sized ones he used to summon up.

But he doesn't dare do anything other than what he's told to do. He's too scared.

"S-Sans... I didn't - I don't want to hurt anyone-"

His voice is high, pleading and a little desperate.

[skelepun]

"Yeah, I know." Sans agrees quickly, voice aching with a kindness and sympathy rarely heard through the man's persistent, even drawl. He's close now, close enough to grab for Asriel, but he doesn't.

Not yet.

"You're almost there, bud. I've nearly gotcha."

Putting out the fire

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Once Asriel is stopped, the fire and smoke is still spreading through the cargo bay. If it isn't put out soon, it could burn up everything inside...

aahh i hope this is okay!

[isdronning]

Having seen the network post, Elsa had been fast to run down to the cargo bay as quickly as she could. She hadn't even bothered to respond to the broadcast, simply started rushing. If there's one person on this ship who understands losing control, it's her, and she wants to do what she can to help. That, and her own magic should prove quite useful against flames.

Arriving in the cargo bay, she catches sight of the child who must have been the one to make the audio broadcast, though she doesn't stop to say hello just yet. Instead, her attention quickly turns to and settles on the fire burning along the wall. With no hesitation, something of a first in using her own powers on the ship, she quickly sends a burst of ice from her outstretched hands, aimed squarely at the growing flames.

"Are you all right?" She asks finally, casting a very brief glance over her shoulder at Asriel. Putting the fire out is important, yes, but so is making sure the child is okay after this whole thing. She knows it can be...traumatizing, to cause so much trouble without meaning to.

Re: Putting out the fire

[heartscold]

Ice and fire are direct opposites, so Len figures he can at least slow things down with his cold gun. He's had to use it on occasion to calm down the flames when Mick (aka Heatwave) got out of control and decided to burn a few extra things on whatever heist they were pulling.

Still, the gun doesn't quite work like an extinguisher, and the best he can do is freeze everything that's currently burning, dropping the temperature down below what would ignite. "You doing okay, kid?"

The Hold - May 29th

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[After the fire in the cargo bay is calmed, anyone who saw Asriel during that mess probably hasn't heard or seen him in a couple of days. If someone ends up in the Hold looking for him, or they're just there for someone else, they'll come across a strange sight. A small, fuzzy white figure inside one of the cells, curled up against one of the walls and not looking at anyone who walks in.

There was no word of a trial, but it's hard to say for sure. But the look of misery is apparent on his face.]

[inruins]

Asriel, please come out. [Toriel has been searching for her son for the past day and wonders if she should be surprised to see the small monster locking himself up. If anything she knows her son is feeling more than guilty.]

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[It shouldn't come as a surprise that Toriel would eventually find him down here. But her voice makes him want to curl in on himself even more. He doesn't want to see how disappointed she is in him.]

I can't. If I come out... I'll just end up hurting more people.

[inruins]

[Toriel simply opens the door, walking into the cell to settle down on the floor next to her son. She isn't giving her son much in the way of options now.] Asriel, you've made a mistake, yes, but you are still learning.

Every monster struggles with their magic at your age.

[notglitching]

[It takes Rinzler a while to find Asriel—not least of all because this isn't anywhere he'd wanted to look. While reports after the fact were scattered, it didn't seem like anyone had died, or any concentrated security response generated. Nothing that guaranteed incarceration. Still, when Rinzler does check in the hold... well, he's less surprised than he could have been.

Users were put in danger, after all. Even without derezz, they've locked him up for that before.

The program stops just outside, noise ticking out quietly as he examines the beta. No damage he can see. The heat is familiarly oppressive, and shoulders hunch in a little tighter as he feels his own processes start to lag and fault. Still, he types a line into his MID and waits. He'll give Asriel a few minutes to look over, and if the monster's still ignoring him, ping the line directly to his MID.]

Status?

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[While Asriel is here of his own accord, staying inside of one of the cells is a much harsher experience than just visiting. His fur is almost completely drenched, and it's not as if where he was currently staying was exactly comfortable.

Still, this is where he needed to be, right?

It takes a few seconds longer for Asriel to answer Rinzler's question.]

... 'm fine.

[notglitching]

[There's an audible static skip to the enforcer's sound. Asriel might not be able to see the look getting directed his way, but some things aren't difficult to infer.]

Lie.

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[It's a obvious lie, and Asriel isn't surprised when Rinzler sees right through it. His next answer is a little more honest.]

I lost control of my fire magic... people got really hurt because of it.

[He glances up at Rinzler.]

This is... this where you're supposed to go when you hurt people, isn't it?

[notglitching]

[The helmet tilts a little in acknowledgement. Known. The enforcer might doubt Asriel's assessment of severity, but it was true, certainly, that damage had been done. Still, that second line gives the program pause. Supposed to?

An orange-lit hand raises and Rinzler reaches out to try the door. It swings open freely, no lock or barrier, and the enforcer steps in, closing the distance. And if there's a momentary lag as he crosses the threshold (struggling to break the door until he felt the damage to his side split and fracture, glass-fragile code scattering across the ground), the program doesn't stop.

A few paces across the room, shoulders hunching in closer as the heat builds. The door stays open. And Rinzler sits down beside Asriel, mask angling in silent question. The data request isn't specific, but he doubts it needs to be. If the beta wants to talk, he will.]

[pleasereset]

[The cell door creaking open earns a sharp head tilt upwards as Asriel watches Rinzler enters. He nearly opens his mouth to say that he doesn't have to come in, that he doesn't really have to stay - Asriel's sure Rinzler probably doesn't want to be here by choice.

But as Rinzler sits next to him, Asriel thinks there's no other company he'd rather have right now.]

... I got scared.

I couldn't control myself at all, and it just keep getting worse! Sans helped calm me down enough to stop me, and there was a lady who had some ice magic who took care of the rest - but I'm scared of what'll happen if they're not there next time. That's why I decided to stay in here, I...

[A brief memory passes through his mind - Asriel struggling to keep his body from lashing out at a villager pointing a spear at him. He shuts his eyes as a shiver runs up his spine.

Not one. I don't want to kill a single one.]

I can't - I can't lose control of myself.

[notglitching]

[Decided. Rinzler notes the confirmation, overwriting his earlier assumptions, if not without a little regret. The system bias on the ship was a known factor, one with predictable consequences to endure. But if Asriel's quarantine was self-inflicted... that was much less easily resolved. If it even should be. Certainly a system hazard would be kept quarantined at home—or deleted, if it served no use worth rectifying. But this system worked by different rules, and if the beta had damaged anything irreplaceable, he hadn't heard of it. They're not on the Grid.

That too is Asriel's doing, and it's not a favor Rinzler can return. He can't fight this threat, or extract the beta from his situation. The acknowledgement is as frustrating as it is familiar of late—he'd been just as useless when Washington crashed. Rinzler is written for fighting, made to hunt and kill, not reassure. But in this place, execution of his function is neither wanted nor enough. By Asriel's own account, Sans has already been more use than the enforcer ever could.

He can listen, though. That much, Rinzler has always had, and if it's not sufficient, that doesn't excuse a failure to try. The enforcer's sound rumbles out as muted accompaniment, helmet tipping sideways to track the shudders and small twitches. Control. The significance is impossible to miss, even if the reason remains unclear. Or maybe not. Rinzler had seen the projections in Del Pascia.

Blood and dust.

Rinzler's noise skips quietly, and when Asriel opens his eyes, he'll find the faceless mask slanted more directly to the side. Open question, direct response. Why?]