The Last Oddetsey

[kodster]

Of course. The creatures were drunk with power. "Pitiful fools," said Eudial aloud. "Well I suppose they are the real source of all this mayhem. And what's this about some place called the PTT Enterprises... ?"

But before any word could be spoken, Vengance's voice suddenly boomed into all their heads.

TESTING! TESTING! ONE! TWO! ONE! TWO! NO! NO, QUIETER, GEORGE! QUIEter. Ah, that's better.

Eudial screamed in frustration. Now HE was psychic?! She couldn't escape them no matter where she went! "AAAARGH!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!" she screamed, half-crying.

Vengeance to weirdoes, Vengeance to weirdoes. Come in, weirdoes.

"Nnnngh!! I'm NOT a weirdo!"

I have only three questions for you all:

"Anything to get you out of my head!!"

Number one: where is my hat?

Grimacing, Eudial plucked out the hat, fighting the mad desire to rip it into shreds again. "I have it here, you lunatic!"

Number two: do you want to pop aboard the flying castle of that guy we all hate right now?

Eudial froze. A castle? A FLYING castle?! What in blazes was going on?! How did he get a castle?! So THAT'S what he was doing during his long escapade?!? Acquiring more goods for himself and indulging in them?! That... th-that...!!! Eudial was so full of rage she was shaking. But she did want to have a few words with him... and maybe pull off a few of his limbs and roast them over a skillet while she was at it.

Number three: WHAT - is your favourite colour?

OK, OK, but honestly, how could I resist?

Over. KZZT.

"God damn it, FINE! I'll go to your castle, just leave my head alone already!!!" yelled the woman. But there was nothing more. Eudial, breathing harshly, turned and looked at the others. They were all staring at her. Great, now I look like more of a nutcase than before... That damn Professor...

[NWOWWE]

"I know not - they are clouded in shadow, a wielder of the rift energy. Whoever they are, they have given in to the power in a way that Doomforall never did, though the fact he is the one that is being used to breach this world suggests that this other is newly come to the power, and has not yet become so infused to it as to be vulnerable.

Their mind was clouded from me, but their infiltration to here suggests money, and large amounts of it. Even with my power I cannot sense those responsible, but I cannot sense into the walls of PTT Enterprises. Something in there is greatly amiss."

Gaunt sighed. PTT Enterprises? Money? He wasn't sure he liked the direction this was going. He was ready to get the other's opinion on what to do when a voice cut through his head once again.

TESTING! TESTING! ONE! TWO! ONE! TWO! NO! NO, QUIETER, GEORGE! QUIEter. Ah, that's better.

Vengeance to weirdoes, Vengeance to weirdoes. Come in, weirdoes.

Gaunt growled irritably. This has got to stop.

I have only three questions for you all:

Number one: where is my hat?

Well that was obvious enough. As a matter of fact Eudial had instantly produced it and was going through another one of her mood swings. Gaunt rolled his eyes as the voice of the Professor boomed on.

Number two: do you want to pop aboard the flying castle of that guy we all hate right now?

Flying castle? What was this absurdity? Then again not much else made sense here anyway. It was kind of funny in a way. Hadn't he himself just been talking about needing to reconnect with the others? And here was a perfect opportunity.

Number three: WHAT - is your favourite colour?

OK, OK, but honestly, how could I resist?

Over. KZZT.

Gaunt wanted to laugh, Vengeance really was an idiot he thought, but Eudial was starting to shout again and Gaunt gritted his teeth instead. These severe mood swings were going to be a severe determinant going forward. He wasn't exactly a fan of Vengeance himself, but she seemed ready to throttle the Professor the moment she saw his face again. Hell he was barely able to keep her from wanting to roast HIM most of the time anymore. He stared at her and blinked.

"Hey! Are you going to be able to keep it together? Because as amusing as seeing you flash-fry that clown the minute we meet up again would be, it's not going to help us much."

Gaunt then gave a twisted smile.

"We're not very good people are we? You... me... Vengeance... and who knows about some of the others. But there's a group of people out there who are trying to ruing things for the rest of us, and we can't have that can we?"

[kodster]

"Well we've been busting our asses off and he's been off having a pleasure cruise!!!" Eudial snarled at Gaunt, through gritted teeth. "Maybe if he wasn't GOOFING OFF in his little playplace, then maybe he would've helped us out, and we'd be getting somewhere!"

[NWOWWE]

"Yes... he's a rather lazy slug isn't he?" Gaunt said thoughtfully. "But think though, he hasn't had to escape from a psychic stronghold, or deal with giant mutant leeches has he? No, not at all. I'd hardly say we've gotten nowhere. He may have commandeered some flying castle, but I'd say we've been far more productive than him so far. He doesn't need to be the one calling all the shots."

[kodster]

For all her anger at Gaunt previously, he was definitely right about that. As indignant as she was at the Professor achieving diddly, Eudial knew that at least that they had discovered something for their efforts. And what had Vengeance done? Fly around in whatever pie-in-the-sky he commandeered.

Eudial went quiet, but continued to fidget. She wanted to know what would happen next. She didn't like being in the dark about things like this. She also didn't like being thought of as psychotic, and she had done a great deal of convincing of them previously. That wasn't her intention, but this world was turning her mind into a mess. And most of all...

"I hate being part of a team," said Eudial. "I hate it. I've been used to working on my own, with no trouble. When I'm along with the other Witches, however, we always get deterred... no matter what I do. It's sickening. I'm good at what I do, and I'm proud of it. But being part of a team has always brought me down. So, unstable as I seem to have portrayed myself, I hope you can understand my disdain for it.

"I'm not sure which world I hate more now; this one, or the one I came from. But at the very least you seem more competent than my previous accomplices, even if you are a little... unusual. That said, this Professor has made a fool of us all and I quite demand an explanation for all this. Otherwise, well..." Eudial glanced down at the hat with an airy expression.

She wasn't going to tell Gaunt, or any of the others, about the Witches 5, or her mission, in any capacity. She didn't quite trust anyone yet, and most certainly not that megalomaniacal slacker.

[NWOWWE]

Good. She was back to seeing reason. And it seemed he was at least able to keep her distrust and negative emotions focused mostly on Vengeance and not as much on him. That bit about her companions now, very interesting. He wondered if they were as temperamental as she was.

"Yes, I completely agree. It's so much better to do things your own way. The stories I could tell you about when someone with their own ideas gets in your way..." Gaunt trailed off with a sneer. The memory of that interfering busybody Sheriff Alan Pangborn surfaced in his mind.

"I don't expect we'll get much from Vengeance. No doubt he'll try to keep the most important information to himself so he can think he holds all the cards."

Gaunt paused and looked thoughtfully at the hat.

"With that in mind, I'd be careful with that hat. Right now it's a good bargaining chip you have over him, but I'd also be wary. Odd that he would give that to person he probably viewed as the biggest direct threat to him wouldn't you say? Was it just a matter of giving it to the person he thought would be able to keep it safest? But why leave it at all? I think there may be something very unsafe about that hat."

[steven_mcg]

KZZT.

Look, it's a very simple question, everyone! Yes, it is true that I have been known on occasion to be a massive git, but I am currently a massive git with the heavily fortified levitating estate of the one man who is supposed to be the key to saving the entirety of the multiverse.

It might be a touch handy is what I'm saying.

Listen. I think we've established that I don't give a monkey's whether you like me or not - I'm a supervillain, for God's sake, not an Avon representative - so maybe instead of debating that particular issue again for a few more excrutiating hours, we can pool our resources, pluck that rift-wrecking rabble-rouser from his intergalactic hentai prison and make him fix this bloody mess properly so we can all go back to our respective universes just in time for tea! OK?

No, but seriously, hat. Gimme. Over.

KZZT.

[kodster]

Look, it's a very simple question, everyone! Yes, it is true that I have been known on occasion to be a massive git, but I am currently a massive git with the heavily fortified levitating estate of the one man who is supposed to be the key to saving the entirety of the multiverse.

Wait a second... that castle belonged to this Doomforall guy??? "How the hell did you manage to... to... oh never mind..." grumbled Eudial. "But that only makes this deal more suspicious."

Listen. I think we've established that I don't give a monkey's whether you like me or not - I'm a supervillain, for God's sake, not an Avon representative - so maybe instead of debating that particular issue again for a few more excrutiating hours, we can pool our resources, pluck that rift-wrecking rabble-rouser from his intergalactic hentai prison and make him fix this bloody mess properly so we can all go back to our respective universes just in time for tea! OK?

Well, Eudial would have retorted in like fashion, but clearly the others thought she was insane, and she didn't want that either. Clearly Eudial did care what the others thought of her... a thought that made her sick. So Eudial made no response. It did quite irritate her that this utterly annoying fool was far, far more powerful than her. Why were the silly ones more potent?!? By proxy, Mimet - No, don't think about that ditzy bitch... Eudial groaned.

No, but seriously, hat. Gimme. Over.

"If you want your hat so much, why don't you come down and get it? Or if you so wish, 'Beam me up, Scotty'," sniffed the Witch. "But if nothing else, you'll be pleased to know that nothing of consequence happened to it. Of course, floods, murderous psychics, and giant slugs don't exactly help matters."

[alex_holt]

EUDIAL

George, perhaps a little overzealous in his new duties, teleports Eudial to Doomforall's castle, as what had appeared to be some vintage wooden panelling slides down to reveal the Witch standing on a teleport pad a few meters from where Vengeance is standing. She looks like she wants to be sick again.

[majinb]

headachy... not making a fancy post now, maybe editing it in later...

anyway Aurelia joins Vengeance and sees if Doomforall has got information on how to best fight Doomforall... the man seems crazy prepared and I'm just SURE he has prepared himself for "having to fight myself"-scenario's

[alex_holt]

AURELIA, PLAYZOOKI, EPSILON, MARISA, TWITCH

With a few flicks of buttons, Aurelia sets course to dock with the castle. Aboard the fortress George operates the hangar controls and suddenly great swathes of vines and creepers are swept back as a chasm of a hangar opens in the side and the ship docks almost silently, and closes behind them.

Once disembarked onto the tasteful wood and stone platform a holomagic interface appears before them, appearing to each of the group as a translucent pink pixelated version of themselves.

"Welcome to The Castle. Please state request."

The holomagic then proceeds to give directions to major locations within the castle includign sleeping quarters, the library, the mess hall, where Vengeance and Eudial are currently stationed and any other basic function rooms that you currently have access to.

[majinb]

"Interface, inform me of your purpose please."

[alex_holt]

"I am a holomagic interface, capable of any computational functionalities you may wish including but not limited to: providing information, carrying out requests related to the operation of the castle and its contents, recording and processing data and providing tactical situational analysis."

[majinb]

"Interface, tell me, has Doomforall ever prepared himself to fight himself if it ever comes to that?"

[alex_holt]

"Not directly, he has never specifically prepared to fight himself. However, in anticipation of the current situation he provided a complete profile of himself to be unlocked in the event of Professor Vengeance arriving here after Doomforall himself succumbed to the rift."

While there is a tediously long amount of information, often fairly rambling, there are sections on Powers, Tactics and Weaknesses."