The Last Oddetsey

[NWOWWE]

Gaunt shook his head irritably as Eudial got back to her feet. She was going off into her own little world again and not paying attention.

Still feeling rather ill, she turned back to the others. "Well, I guess we won this battle," said Eudial faintly, using care to emphasize that word. "But we now have another problem..."

"Quite." Gaunt said. "Hopefully you're done eating strange foods because I think we're in serious s*** now. I believe it's time we tried to find some of the others of our group again. We were probably extremely lucky to survive this little encounter, we'll probably need all the help we can get from now on. I'm not much of a 'hand's on' guy and I'm certainly no spring chicken anymore. Whatever needs to be done, I have a feeling we'll need greater numbers to do it."

[kodster]

That struck a major chord. Working with the others? Eudial turned slowly on the spot. Her eyes flashed red.

"In case you didn't notice," Eudial growled. "I am NOT a team player, and I have never been one. Don't mistake teamwork for desiring my own survival. I am only taking part in this quest because it is forced on me. If... if I didn't appreciate the magnitude of the situation, you... !" She refrained from continuing... she didn't know what it was but Gaunt was really beginning to piss her off now, however it would hardly be wise to anger him in turn. And at any rate Prof. Vengeance still had a "claim" on her (the hat) so she couldn't ditch now, though she really wished to.

Her arms itched again, and turning away from Gaunt she absent-mindedly took out the bloody knife again and examined it. Yeah, well done you god damn idiot. Would've been useful in the battle, had you remembered it. Eudial again cursed her own stupidity.

[playzooki]

(okay wut. why do they argue.)
Playzooki decides to stay wherehe is, as he doesnt want to anger Eudial

[NWOWWE]

Gaunt looked down, rubbing his eyes.

"The point I am trying to make," he said as patiently as he could. "Is that I very much doubt that our group was culled together completely randomly. This isn't about 'Rah-Rah Teamwork!' or 'The power of friendship!' or whatever goodie-goodie cliche. You're angry about having to work with others? I'll have you know this hasn't been much to my liking either. I'm sick of nearly drowning. I'm sick of everyone we meet speaking in vague f***ing riddles!"

He pulled the now ruined magazines out of his pocket and began shredding them somewhat violently and threw the pieces on the ground.

"I'm sick of nearly everything I try to salvage getting almost instantly ruined! I'm sick of. Everything. Trying. To. Kill. Me." He finished through gritted teeth.

He paused for a moment took a few deep breaths. He put every bit of his supernatural charm into his words and continued on much more calmly. As cathartic as this was, he HAD to placate her somehow.

"However... I am now convinced that it's going to take the combined effort of all of our group, or at least most of them. This battle here now. I doubt very much it would have went well for any of us alone and even with our small group it was an uphill struggle."

Gaunt gestured to where she was keeping Professor Vengeance's hat.

"And I don't think you're as unagreeable as you'd like to make yourself out to be. As low as your opinion of Mr. Vengeance seems to be, you haven't discarded that or tried to pass it off to someone else. You realize there are more important things going on right now than personal comfort. That's why you didn't fly off solo at the first opportunity. That's why you'll hold onto that hat until Vengeance comes to claim it. That's why you didn't leave me to rot in that psychic stronghold."

Gaunt pointed at the face of his countdown watch.

"We only have to keep things together long enough to figure things out before this counts down to zero. If we can figure this out and stop this Armageddon from happening then we actually have a chance of getting back to our normal existences. The time isn't very long. It's a small price to pay all things considered, wouldn't you say?"

Gaunt smiled blandly.

"Now you'll do what you want, I know I certainly can't stop you. But if you insist on letting your personal feelings rule your actions, then you may as well take my harpoon or your knife, pick a spot, and start carving, because at that point I know it's the end of the ride anyway."

[kodster]

Eudial had no retort. She was barely hanging on to her sanity as it was, and any more of Gaunt's flapping mouth would just drive her over the edge entirely. "Sure, whatever," she said airily. "I suppose I forgot I was part of a team before I even arrived in this inane world, as it was."

Wrong thing to say. As soon as she said that word, the other Witches' faces manifested in her mind, leering at her. Her face contorted. "I... I HATE them... !!!" she yelled, cupping a hand to her forehead. She couldn't help it. God damn it, WHY?!?

Gaunt stared at her... feeling his eyes on the back of her head, Eudial removed her hand and cast one of the most distasteful glances she'd ever worn in his direction. It wasn't directed at him, per se (though it probably would have a few minutes ago), but more towards what was going on in her mind.

"If you knew about my history, perhaps you would know some of the hell I've been through, and why I don't appreciate working in a group..." muttered the fire woman. There was no real denying it; she was whining. But her own words had brought back horrible memories. "But I guess you wouldn't understand even if I told you... demon.

"I'll concede this: you speak the truth, so I'll carry on. But you could say I've got a lot to live up to, so you'll pardon me if I don't necessarily take things to heart at times... that is..." Suddenly Eudial smiled cruelly, "...if I had one."

[andrewj]

As Leland helped Cleo out of the pool she felt strangely agitated by the clarity of her thoughts.

"Thanks for your help... Is everyone okay?"

There was no response. Between the rapidly increasing noise levels outside and the argument between Eudial and Gaunt, she became increasingly agitated.

"STOP!!!" she screamed into the minds of the pyromancer and the demon.

"We need to hear what The Sucker has to say, and then we should try to find the others. Whether you want to work as a team or not, we have to stick together."

Cleo turned to The Sucker, in awe of the abilities of the giant catfish.

"Who else might be involved with the void, and where can we find them?"

[kodster]

"STOP!!!"

"Wh-WHAT?!" Eudial stared around wildly for the source. She hadn't felt something like that since the encounter with Seben. Then she realized who was speaking in her mind.

"We need to hear what The Sucker has to say, and then we should try to find the others. Whether you want to work as a team or not, we have to stick together."

"Don't... do that..." Eudial grumbled. "I've already met enough psychic beings to last me an eternity..."

Honestly, all these bastards trying to lecture me... they don't have a clue... And of course, having learned of what happened, Cleo was the "glory hog", as Eudial thought, but she wouldn't have minded if at least Eudial herself was useful. Great... Once again this shitty world takes whatever pride I have and crinkles it up like tinfoil...

Desiring nothing more now than to get away from them, Eudial strode some distance away from both Gaunt and Cleo and then turned to hear whatever the Sucker had to say, though appearing outwardly uninterested, only to hide her true feelings of imminent depression.

[NWOWWE]

Gaunt continued staring at Eudial until Cleo's voice boomed in his head like a cannon. Ugh... This was getting extremely annoying. The cat was only repeating was only repeating what Gaunt had been saying, but in a far more passive-aggressive way. Eudial began walking away and Gaunt leered unpleasantly after her.

Women. He was used to the pathetically malleable housewives that would practically throw themselves at him. So easy to manipulate. This bipolar b**** though... Not that Gaunt particularly cared about the prospect of pyromancer f***ing (even at the best of times that held little interest for him), but he tended to avoid anyone that wasn't as susceptible to his powers of suggestion and right now she was the best ally he had available! There was no choice! At the very least he could claim the high road if and when they ran into the others.

Gaunt turned his attention back to the cat and was absolutely pleasant once again.

"Such a troubled mind isn't she? She may yet come around. Let us listen to what The Sucker has to say."

[majinb]

Aurelia doesn't go to Eudial.

[kodster]

Aurelia doesn't go to Eudial.

(okay)

[majinb]

Aurelia instead lowers the spaceship to see if Marisa wants to enter.

[NFX]

Twitch thought he understood what all the buttons in front of him did, when the spaceship began lowering to the ground. His initial thought was "Oh no, the engines have failed", but he then remembered there were two other pilots alongside him, one of which was giving the commands for the craft to drop slightly. That was perhaps going to be a little unusual if three of them all had a steering wheel. But then maybe his controls weren't to do with steering the ship.

They seemed to be waiting for another to board, so Twitch was content to stand there on his perch for the moment, looking around the ship. It looked in reasonable nick, though why there were vending machines he wasn't sure. Perhaps that was what they used their currency for, he still had all of his inside the bag of holding alongside his control panel. It was then he noticed something just underneath the many buttons, toggles and dials on his control panel - a small slot that looked like it had a flap just inside it.

The size of the slot seemed familiar to him, and he dipped his head back into the bag to see if it was still there...it was! Twitch pulled out that cassette he had been carrying around, and - with a couple of tries - inserted it into the slot. Maybe now he'd find out what the Abba Gold person sounded like.

[majinb]

Aurelia sees Playzooki and Marisa already boarded and stops lowering the ship and confusing the bird :P

[alex_holt]

TWITCH

Finally manages to put the cassette on and the sound of "Super Trouper" boom throughout the entire ship. It appears that the ship has copied all the music to its permanent memory banks.

AURELIA

Reading through her book of Metapenguin Philosophy she comes across a brief section which mentions Doomforall

"Truely Perry was a Paragon of the metapenguin people, almost as if he was the exact mould in which our entire species was cast from. In the second great rift crisis, he was at all times the epitomy of a metapenguin, even when confronted with threats such as shadow swarms and Lord Doomforall"

AURELIA, MARISA, TWITCH, PLAYZOOKI and EPSILON

The ship is now ready to go up and approach Doomforall. The adaptive interface brings up communication buttons to talk to Vengeance in his nearby flying castle.

CLEO, EUDIAL and LELAND

The Sucker turns its attention to the party.

"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."

[steven_mcg]

George quickly locates all of the others, and gains teleporter locks - including the ability to teleport the newly aquirred spaceship directly into the hangar built into the side of the mountain. As an option, he also has a communication lock with the ship too if he merely wanted to co-ordinate rather than kidnap.

Hmm, I did leave rather unexpectedly, George. Kidnapping might not put me back in their good books right away. Lower communications barrier.

Ahem.

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

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

I have only three questions for you all:

Number one: where is my hat?
Number two: do you want to pop aboard the flying castle of that guy we all hate right now?
Number three: WHAT - is your favourite colour?

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

Over. KZZT.