World War Burst: S3 (anything else would be a lie)

[17:27] * ChanServ sets mode: +o Oxford
[17:27] * Oxford changes topic to '-------------------------------------------'
[17:34] <@Oxford> Lies. The world that the entity emerges into is full of lies, right up to the brim. Full like a clogged toilet, and just as repulsive.
[17:38] <@Oxford> The entity towers over the trees, its mass almost eclipsing the toy-sized truck at its base, and the young girl beside it. She lays like a ragdoll, face-down and unmoving.
[17:39] <KidShuku> Lies, lies, and more lies. It twas born from a world full of them. Constructed by them. The fights are born from lies. The structure is born from lies. Lies of deception, lies that hurt, lies that confuse and distract. Disgusting. At once, it covers its fleshy being in a layer of  black crystal, a crystal that sees through the nature of the world and protects it from its filth. This should do as it orients itself. It's hard to see in such a disgusting environment, but it'll have to get used to that.
[17:42] <KidShuku> ...First, first. This size is just unwieldly. And there are bound to be those that will rise to protect this place. It's going to have to prepare itself for any eventuality. This girl...is the only living thing here. Does it lie? Does it not? Did it come from it? Such questions can be pondered on as it continues making black crystal, but seperate from the body. ...Two masses of crystal, imbued with will.
[17:46] <@Oxford> The girl - it lies! To others, but to itself most of all. Those lies are the worst, and the deepest.
[17:50] <KidShuku> ...There. The left and right hands, as it were. "Testing--whoa, we got audio!" One of the black crystals spoke! "Well, that's not fair--oh, I've got it too, this is nice. I can hear me now!" As does the other. "...Yes, yes, you win the bet, she lost control of herself, whatever you say." Good, they know. ...What did they know? Probably not important. The mind is foggy, but the wit is sharp. ...And the wit knows. It knows a liar when it sees one. It readies itself to...put her out of her misery.
[17:54] <KidShuku> "Hold, hold on a moment, please. Just a moment." "Before you kill off the one that let you come into being, which is really rude, you might want to know that she reached this point out of desperation to hold onto a fantasy that kept her sane." "Well, sane in a sense. To keep her human, as it were. We're aware it's a lie, but right now it's only got one thread clinging her to that. She knew not if it was a lie or not, so you came into being."
[17:58] <@Oxford> As the echoes try to explain, the being feels a countervailing force drawn out from its very being. A mental repulsion, even to look at the crumpled girl. Even thinking about that lifeless puppet makes the creature recoil, unwilling to even acknowledge the existence of it. And if what the crystals say is true...
[17:59] <KidShuku> "She values the truth, but is mired in lies. ...And she may or may not be tied to your consciousness, it's hard to say, we're not too linked right now, busy with you. But with your power, you can expose the truth. And if the one she loves--or at least attempts to love while walling herself up to avoid causing and recieving pain--is actually two-timing right now, to let her know this fact should make her cast aside her humanity and pretty much be your teammate. You know, if she ever wakes up. Still not sure about that consciousness thing."
[18:00] <KidShuku> "Or, if you keep feeling mentally ill and would rather not, let's just sort priorities: there might be a really, really big liar in that town over there. I call not it if we're carrying her."
[18:01] <KidShuku> "Maybe we can just get her in a seperate patch of your big ol' fortress body. Can you stomach that?"
[18:02] <KidShuku> "You just don't want to carry her." "Well, I don't. She's heavy."
[18:03] <KidShuku> The one of the blue (but still every bit as black) attempts to lift her. Hopefully it's not quite as vulnerable to that same gut reaction!
[18:04] <@Oxford> Its crystals make for awkward implements, and none too comfortable, but it scoops her up with a minimum of tearing.
[18:08] <KidShuku> "...And that's a no." "If you don't cover me when things escalate to firefights I am going to destroy you--god even now, you still think we talk to much. "We do, though." They do, though. ...They were saying something about a liar in that town? Well, it's a given. There's people there. But if it'll satisfy these things any, a test run. To eliminate all those that would pollute the world. ...And hurt some ragdoll's heart, apparently.
[18:10] <KidShuku> As the voices speak almost disarmingly, the lie-killer advances. To find... "Vladko! He'll rue the day he failed to acknowledge us. Jerk." "We'll just tell you when we see him, don't worry about it." Vladko, then.
[18:16] <@Oxford> The filthy little village is just ahead. Floating silently forward, the liars seem unaware of their impending demise. Then a small boy, sitting on the branch of a tree after lying to his mother about going to the well, sees the huge shadow it casts over the forest, and turns toward it. The disgusting whelp screams.
[18:21] <KidShuku> Well, there we have it. First one of the day. The black is still ever strong on this one...and so, without even the idea of mercy, a storm of tiny black, rectangular shards is materialized, and sent right at him. Let it scream. Let them know fear. Let them know retribution.
[18:27] <@Oxford> The disgusting creature instantly purified, leaving a pool of cleansing nectar at the base of the tree. But inside the house, the entity can see several more liars, rushing to see what the commotion is about. A woman that lied about how much its dress cost to a man who lied about where it was last night.
[18:30] <KidShuku> "Runs in the family tree!" "12No, the family tree is sort of free from this whole business. It has no one to lie to!" ...More of them. They need not even deserve an explanation--though apparently, they wouldn't actually understand it anyway. If not because of how those that lie are good at doing so to themselves, or just plain ignorance, then it would be the language barrier that does it. ...That, and time constraints. Busy busy. The man dies first. A large shard, one that would impale the heart, so that he might know what he was doing for a few moments.
[18:33] <KidShuku> "Oh, we have to help." The echo realizes it has a job, and so helps out by giving a good and proper shard storm of its own. She'll look like her kid. Family resemblence!
[18:33] <@Oxford> It falls to its knees, and its wife rushes over to it. They look into each other's eyes. At least they weren't lying this time.
[18:35] <KidShuku> They might have loved each other, but they failed to show any respect for it. The storm is let out.
[18:37] <@Oxford> The house has been cleansed, though their lingering falsehoods still permeate the walls and rooms. From the next street over, more shouting, as the enormous shadow enters the village's center ahead of the crystalline being.
[18:40] <KidShuku> In time, these things will fade. ...But only if it all comes crashing down. Otherwise, new people will come in, and new people will lie anew. ...While the future is quite bright, it must forge it personally. Those that are stained black shall die.
[18:41] <KidShuku> ...The two others, understanding that they're all here for a reason, still join regardless...but keep an eye out for the one they're actually looking for.
[18:43] * KidShuku is now known as Alathea
[18:47] <@Oxford> Two others, wearing uniforms and carrying short batons, rush out from a nearby building. They stare in amazement for a moment before one of them begins blowing a whistle. The whistling one lied to its boss about why it couldn't buy the next round last night. The other lies each time it tells the fleeing townsfolk they'll be safe inside.
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[18:52] <Alathea> By denying them of knowing their finality, they may not get their last words in. The chance that there is a pure one fearing for it's life that may not die is there, but to deny it the peace of mind to say that which needs to be said? Certainly cannot have that. ...And the other one is just a cheat. Even at its base, there is nothing worth saving here. The non-lifter shoots at the one with the more reasonable yet deeper offense with the simplistic storm of shards, and the main continues to be creative by producing a large yet thin one, one that should chop the bastard in half.
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[19:06] <@Oxford> The two constables are converted to their perfect forms almost simultaneously. The upper half of the second lands with a cheerful squelch next to its still-standing legs.
[19:08] <Alathea> What a lovely red. Their red certainly beats the black that their hearts would have otherwise been pumping. "Brutal. "And macabre. Guess the art skills transferred."
[19:08] <@Oxford> Then, Red Echo sees their target! Two small figures, crouched beside a truck, are doing something to its fuel tank using a black rubber hose and a jerry can.
[19:12] <Alathea> "They're certainly distracted. Hey, over here, mission objective!" "Maybe they're using this as a distraction, which is honestly a good idea if the plan is to get out anyway. In a world where everything you say is a death sentence, will they speak?" ...Apparently, it found them. ...If they're stained by black, they die. These voice's lingering attachments don't mean much in the face of this absolute fact. Tis just in good manners to see exactly why.
[19:14] <Alathea> It approaches them, quite possibly with blood splatters, in a sight that they might never forget, except perhaps in the grave. The voices wait for them to take notice, and ready words accordingly.
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[19:21] <@Oxford> Vladko looks up as the massive bulk of the entity blocks out the sun. Liar! It lied for weeks about its true loyalty to Novgoraad. Behind it, Marupol continues working frantically to siphon off fuel. Liar! It lied when it told Vladko it was happy for them.
[19:30] <Alathea> "...Oh, I guess that technically does count, doesn't it. Even if you lie to liars, it's still lying." "Well, so much for that. HEY VLADKO! You tried--hell, so did we--but you made a fatal mistake in the end, so before you go: were you unaware of Cille's paranoia, and how this would make it worse? And were you unaware of Marupol's affections for you?" It does not stop to wait for those questions to be answered. These things...it doesn't like liars, but these, these make it made for something else...these are why the girl lies to herself. Start with the girl. Instead of aiming to cut, let's go for a small boulder. Shoot it at the head. Lie about your emotions? Then lose the face that you would commonly express them with. Let something more beautiful take its place, and if it can be called an expression, it would certainly be a truthful one. 'My face is a crater.'
[19:41] <@Oxford> From the angle the entity is firing at, the pair are sandwiched between the truck and a large brick building. Vladko is standing closer, blocking Marupol, and so when the shot is fired the man interdicts it, taking the full force of the attack to its stomach. A geyser of purifying blood sprays across the surprised woman through the gaping exit wound.
[19:44] <@Oxford> Marupol blinks, its eyes huge and round on the deep red background of her face. She moves in a flash, ducking out of sight between the truck and the building.
[19:47] <Alathea> "Oh." "Is he going to deny us our final words, even to his death?" "The absolute worst, I say. ...Oh gods, it's bleeding on us." "You mean Vladko, literally, or number three, in our minds?" "YES."
[19:50] <Alathea> ...The vermin, under the cover of a liar, seeks to get away with the affront of being marked for death, shot at, and still not die for it when scheduled. That shall not be easily forgiven! All three attempt to surround as much of the perimeter as they can get away with. The moment she's spotted, it's curtains. The blue opts to move the least, due to the baggage.
[19:58] <@Oxford> The large brick building appears to be some kind of municipal building, and is larger and newer than the others in the village. The truck is parked in the front, and there's an area of woodland not too far behind it. The right edge of the building points approximately towards the town square.
[20:06] <@Oxford> The entity's gaze pierces the walls of the brick building, but the images within are unclear. Something seems to be blocking its ability to sense the liar within, despite its keen sight. The two echos scan the building from two other sides, but see nothing.
[20:10] <Alathea> "You'd think we'd have it, but we don't." "And since we don't? "That mea--fine, fine, not now, whatever." Wears on you after a while. They looked well, but found nothing. ...And for some reason, it can't see within? ...Does this structure serve to obstruct the truth? Such is no better than a liar. Collapse.
[20:24] <Alathea> Against a place like this, cutting isn't as effective as it could be. Slicing and piercing are for things with delicate insides, but this is just a structure, and those are best crushed. The echoes temporarily enlargen their crystal masses (Blue taking care to cover Cille up so the building doesn't collapse on her all of a sudden) and give the place a firm SLAM. The main body, rather large and spiky, opts to simply create a mass of it, and just force it through as much walls as the force is willing to let it go through.
[20:27] <@Oxford> The walls on the north, south, and western faces of the building collapse inward, leaving three stories of offices and industrial equipment exposed. Choking dust fills the air as the walls crumble to ruins, but there's still a few spaces toward the back wall where their quarry, if it hasn't been crushed already, could be hiding.
[20:32] <Alathea> Twould choke them more if they had a mouth to expose. Instead, it just obscures. ...A few more places left for them to hide? While they could poke around inside, the building itself is a target now, too. And if they're crushed, all the better. The blue backs away a bit, in case someone's feeling jumpy (and to not endanger the cargo, which in hindside wasn't the brightest idea, and opens fire much like the main body does, as the red circles around to tackle the last from a direction other than inside!
[20:39] <@Oxford> With a roar of disintegrating masonry, the last remains of the brick building collapse, sending another cloud of gray-white dust skyward. While there is some slight chance a liar inside could survive trapped beneath the rubble, the chance is miniscule. It would take a miracle for anyone to have survived the direct assault of the three beings.
[20:46] <Alathea> "RIP?" "...You know, it's times like these that they aren't dead." "Well, I dunno. What's she got to live for?" "REVENGE, doofus." "Oooooh, right, yeah, that makes sense. We ain't got the time to loiter, though. How's about we make a beeline to the nearest important looking city?" "How about you sit around and pound bricks while we find a servicable map? Maybe she's under there~!" "...Maybe I should have carried her." "Maybe you should have."
[20:48] <Alathea> The red sits around and checks for signs of life (to expunge), as the blue is escorted by the youma itself. As the youma has the priority of taking care of its own business, the blue works on finding that map. ...Eventually, they're bound to find one, and their next destination...would be the closest major city in the direction of their capital. ...A map shouldn't be too hard to decipher, other language or not.
[21:02] <@Oxford> The red echo spends some time crushing down the remains of the building, until it's satisfied that not even a miracle could have saved those inside. The blue echo's crystal shards are clumsy implements ill-suited to comparatively tiny pieces of paper, but it finds a large sign at the crossroads with arrows pointing different directions, and the names of cities followed by numbers carved into each.
[21:04] <@Oxford> The smallest number on the sign is '56.7', pointing roughly south and west. The large entity is already moving that direction, drawn forward by the gravity of the lies that gather there.
[21:08] <Alathea> "Not the clearest thing ever. ...Oh come on! Don't leave without us!" What need is direction, again? It can just feel their sickness. It comes naturally. The two echoes hastily rejoin the self proclaimed savior of the world...or at least, the one that wishes to remove of one of its rather terrible elements. The element on which this sick world is built. And sickness...sickness must be purged.
[21:14] <@Oxford> As the trio of crystalline orbs floats off down the road, Marupol lets out a long breath. She counts slowly to one-hundred, and then squirms out from underneath the truck she and Vladko had been siphoning. Its cab and engine block are both crushed, and the bed of the truck is filled with broken bits of brick and tile from the building collapse, but overall it escaped the worst of the damage.
[21:18] <@Oxford> The thick white dust in the air is plastered to her, everywhere that Vladko's blood had covered her. She looks back to where his body fell, but it's buried under a small pile of rubble.
[21:19] <@Oxford> Marupol tells herself she is strong, forces herself to look away from the grave of the man she loved, the man who died to save her. Forces herself to go back to the military truck and look for Cille, to tell her what happened, and maybe to ask her why she didn't do anything to stop it.
[21:19] <@Oxford> /session