[IC] TotM:DC "Terraria: A fresh start"

[Endlessblaze]

"Some dragon showed up, took an item we were in the middle of making, SAFELY and with precautions in place Ill add, And snapped his fingers. Boom, the area turned blue, and the grass caused pain on contact. Thankfully he was kind enough to contain it on request with the dryads flowers, so if we can find him we might be able to convince him to do a bit more to make absolutely sure its not a threat."

Snow starts projecting her avatar and points off in the direction of The Agony, she looks almost as disinterested as Leo. Probbly because of the aforementioned flowers.
"Its that way, the dryad and Lucile are already there. There dont seem to be any monsters there right now, so you should be ok to check it out." 

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Azgrurk

 

The final touches had finally been made for a true defensive vehicle, and in all honesty, Azgrurk did a fine job considering the materials. He had worked with a lot of finer metals before, but it was harder to work with what was given to him, and he still made a tank that would make the boys back home proud. Or, it would, if any of them were still alive, but that was besides the point. An armored, choppy, and daka-ey tank stood before him, ready to roll out and begin its job of showing those goblins who the REAL Ork was. 

 

Of course, Az's pride would be quickly interrupted by an announcement from one of the Humans, explaining something that, in all honesty, Az had a hard time getting. But, he managed to put together: "new, dangerous area appeared, and something about a dragon".

 

And in all honesty, that was all Az needed to toss his "tools" to the side, before lumbering off to the South (surprisingly, despite his lack of directions), a big grin on his face as he did so. 

[Powder Miner]

Satomi stared at Leo for a few moments, her face still turning red — there wasn’t anything he had said that she could nail him down for yet, though she was dead certain that Leo was at fault in some way, given his earlier unbounded enthusiasm about playing with Tainted forces he ought not. Still, eventually she just let out a ”Khhhhh!” and jabbed a finger to point in Leo’s direction. ”I’m going to deal with you later! But for now I’m dealing with that damned Taint!” Satomi, accordingly, glanced out the tower, squinted heavily to try and discern a landmark to remember the direction of the Taint by (or, in other words, trying to differentiate a unique-enough fuzzy blob of color), and then she sprinted down in as much of a hurry as she had sprinted up, making her way over to the “corruptive biome” as fast as she possibly could.

[Endlessblaze]

Leo watches her go for a moment, Then when shes out of earshot turns to glance at snow's projection
"She seems pissed."
Snow sighs reclines in the air. 
"Well considering shes apparently spent what I can only suppose is most of her life dealing with some sort of corruptive monster infested area, It makes sense. Even if its not as extreme as what shes used to, Its similar enough to get much the same reaction."
"Hmmmm...."
Leo tilts his head thinking about something, mumbling under his breath.
"Most of her life huh?"
He glances up at the sky for a moment, before returning to work. 
…Maybe she wasent all that diffrent from him.


 

Spoiler

       The sky was black with ash, and the air felt heavy. The after effects of that blast were still everywhere. Even after a week. 
He knew he had made the right choice avoiding that caravan, and pilfering what supplies he could. The rags that passed for clothes that had no longer been able to hold onto his body, had been replaced by ragged clothes that were actualy still wearable, Albeit a few sizes to big. Groups were a threat. A target.

That dident exactly help the current situation however. The beastal, tiger like, metallic form chasing after him would not be deterred by ragged cloth. The hunters weren't the worst things to have after him, but still. One good bite and He would be done. 

The child stepped deftly over the broken glass, as he ran from the beast. Eyes scanning the ruined grey buildings. Or rather, the piles of rubble and ruins that had once been buildings. Only a few could even be said to be useable as shelter. This area was old, very old. But he could still see a few blood stains and bones that looked....less old.

 

There.
A broken section of wall that still held up something vaguely approximating the remains of a second floor. Maybe with the bricks of an extra third floor laying on top.

He turns and dashes under the structure, deliberately slowing down a little to ensure the beast catches up at the right time. 
He passes under the floor and comes out the other side. Just as the beast moves under it.

Gripping the rusty old knife in his hands he swings his arm. Blue flowing off the knife, as a rough tendril of force mana slams into the remains of the wall. Crushing the beast as the wall collapses and drops heavy, dense stone on it. The half buried beast beings to push and claw its way out. Razor edges, digging deep into the stone.

Only for the child to run back and leap onto the top of its head, The beast thrashes as he drives a long blade of force deep into its metallic skull. Unable to properly escape and respond In time Its primary processing unit is heavily damaged. As it squirms in a vain attempt to escape and kill, the child begins to strip the metal plateing from its back and head.

Revealing the white flesh and various polymers and parts underneath. Cutting open completion fluid vessels.
The white goo begins to leak free. The machine was bleeding to death as its small prey skinned it alive. Striping away metals, muscles, and advanced synthetic substances, whos composition the child could not disconcern. 

Eventualy It gives a final roar and collapses.

Time to make dinner.
The child sits down on the stone, surrounded by lifeless earth, and the body of a machine that existed only to kill. 
Cutting away the only part of the beast useable to any person In the barren kingdom, he starts to press the completion fluid out of the muscles. 
Now, where did he put that ruby?

 

[Chevaleresse]

Kusuke was about near Satomi when she began her rant at Leo, as he'd been spending most of the time here either training or helping her out with the walls (with the occasional provision of a power source for a more esoteric creation) and looked roughly as pleased with him as the samurai was. "So, wait. You mean to tell me that you decided that screwing around with even more corrupted bullshit was a good idea? Didn't you almost make grey goo earlier? Why. . . Why are you so. . . you?" His voice wasn't enraged like Satomi's, but it held that sort of long-suffering frustration of somebody who had dealt with entirely too much of whatever the situation was. "Is your plan to just mix various kinds of obviously evil magic around until you make a new Black Beast that wipes us all out? What was the endgame here?"

[Endlessblaze]

"Im not certain what your referring to, but I assume the black beast is a really dangerous creature"
Leo takes a moment away from what ever It is hes doing, and looks back towards kusuke.
"I have a lot of plans, and goals. If I can learn something about a type of magic I'm unfamiliar with, and then I can apply that knowlage to help myself or others in any way, shape, or form, why wouldent I? Knowlage is power. And I'm going to need a lot of it to tear dysto out of the sky."

 

[StormLord]

[24]
When Satomi arrives at the Agony she doesn't find anyone else there, neither the Dryad or Lucille as Leo had specified.  Beyond the wall of sunflowers the leaves and grass are all bright cobalt blue and the bark of the trees has shifted to a solid black.
Something hangs down from one of the branches, it looks like it could've been a squirrel or bird at one point, perhaps it was both?  Whatever it was it's now got black leathery skin with the occasional tuff of bright cobalt fur or shredded feathers.  It quickly scurries along the branch and out of sight.

 

Not a minute later she turns around just as something big, green, and Orky comes crashing through the forest.

[Powder Miner]

"DAMN YOU, LEO!" Satomi shouted as she came across the "corruptive biome" -- Satomi had of course no way to be sure what exactly the effects of this particular Taint were, but she was not in the mood, needless to say, to be stalling and waiting around. There was a lot of Taint in front of her, she had something she could use to destroy Taint, and that very bluntly meant something: that she was going to be destroying the Taint as much as she could as soon as she could. Before stepping into the biome, Satomi placed one hand on the hilt of her katana --ready to perform an iaijutsu strike on anything that intended to ambush her-- and with the other hand drew purification powder, throwing a dusting of it onto the area she intended to walk onto and seeing what happened.

 

Her gaze was drawn by the very loud approach of the giant green ogre-like being... but Satomi was not about to be dissuaded. "I AM GOING TO DESTROY THIS PLACE! It ought not be, its very existence is an abomination wrought of likely foolhardiness, and I will see it removed from existence as quickly as I can!"

[Chevaleresse]

"The Black Beast was the greatest calamity that ever befell mankind. It annihilated nearly all life on Earth, and even now the only places humans can live are the Hierarchical Cities on mountains." He took a step closer to Leo, expression hardening. "And you know where it came from? People messing with things they didn't understand carelessly. I don't care how much of a vendetta you have, this is going to stop. Now. It was one thing when you were only endangering your own life, but this is what, the third time you've caused an ecological disaster on just this world?" He let out an angry and exasperated-sounding grunt. "This is fucking ridiculous. Stop. Or someone else is going to have to make you."

[Endlessblaze]

"Again, I'm not responsible for this. The new biome was the dilibrate creation of a third party. They interrupted an ongoing experiment, Which again WAS SAFELY CONTAINED, stole the metal we were useing, and transmuted the area. If I leave a plasma cannon on a table at say, A park, and some kid runs by and uses it to blow somehting up, thats on me. If I'm actively working on a weapon, or any other dangerous device in a secluded place, under an obvious protective barrier, and someone runs in and snatches it out of my hand to blow somehting up, thats on them." 
His increasing annoyance and exasperation, begin to approach anger as he stands up. His movements becoming more and more animated. 

"Also vendetta? HAH! You have it backwards. Dysto wants ME and EVERYONE else in the barren kingdom dead! You know why is called that? Because it was destroyed hundreds of years ago, and dysto is STILL out to kill everything there! Theres no plant life, not even a blade of grass! And its not like you can just LEAVE, oh no. Dysto has its monsters everywhere, And the closer to the borders you get, The more and more of them there are. Even now its still trying to kill me."

"When was the first time you had to fight for your life, because ill tell you one thing I know for absolute certain!, I was fighting before you were. In a way ive been fighting death since I was born. It just became more direct at what I can only assume was my parents death. I dont know how old I was. Only that my oldest clear memories are of Genocidal death robots trying to kill me! Even if my parents walked by me right now, I wouldent know! I cant even remember there faces! And its not like I could count on others!"

He throws his arms into the Air. He seems to have become quite agitated.
"Pepole couldn't be trusted. Even the ones who wouldent sell you out or exploit you for all your worth, would just make you a target! Pepole would gather togther in groups, sometimes they Actualy got to the point you thought they might be strong enough to do something, ANYTHING. Only for dysto to sear them off the face of the earth in an instant. I found old books, pilfered the occasional magical tool. And you know what? That got me out."

He looks down at his hands, making a sort of clawing motion with his upturned hands, as If clawing at some invisible metallic carcass.
"I learned to turn Dysto's own matrials, rigged and DRM ridden as they were, against it. For the longest time the only thing of worth I could pull from the corpses of those things were the bio muscles, the only food source I ever knew. But soon I was striping metals and Machinery.  Building my own machines of death."

His anger suddenly seems to become much greater, and bares his teeth for a moment, practically snarling. His pupils dilate into the thinnest possible slits, and his eyes almost spark with light.
"When I was ten, a group of bandits took intrest in my skills and tried to force me to work for them. I was there for a week before they all died. The idiots couldent make heads or tails of what I was doing, only threaten me with death if I tried anyhting funny. I wonder, was killing everyone in the band with the matrials THEY gave me funny enough?! Was it funny when my machines stomped there heads like grapes? Cut them down like the worthless scum they were!?"

He looks up at the sky, and seems to calm down a little. His eyes water.
"Thats when I realized I could do it. That I could finaly escape that place.
I remember when I saw grass for the first time. Heard the birds chirping in the air. When I saw the sun among green leaves and white clouds. When I met pepole that could be trusted and children that could run and laugh. I remember all those first.  I remember learning about so many things. I went places I never imagined existed, made friends for the first time, learned to talk with others. I gained access to the internet, working libraries. I went out to eat, and watched movies. And for the first time in my life I could help someone other then myself."

"But dysto kept comeing. If it couldent kill me in the barren kingdom then It would send its minions after me.
 I fight and fight and fight and fight and fight.  And every time I find somehting new, I learn what I can, and turn that into power."

His arm is wrapped in an intense icy blue and teal, as he raises his first, Staring at it.

"I decided a long time ago, there is NOTHING on this earth, nothing on ANY earth, that will prevent me from stopping that mindless machine! I wont stop until me, and everyone else, is free from it! AND YOU THINK YOU CAN TELL ME SOMETHING THAT THE PEPOLE OF THIS WORLD ALREADY HAVE IN CHECK IS TO DANGEROUS TO IMPLOY AGIANST OUR ENEMIES, AND THE ANCIENT SUPER WEAPON THAT MADE MY LIFE A LIVING HELL!?"
If he had not been on the verge of tears before, he was now. His teeth were clenched, and his slit pupils quivered in rage. 

Snows projection leans over him, she moves as though rubbing his shoulder, Even if he can't feel it. Her voice is softer then her usual tone.
"Leo, you need to calm down"

Leo is breathing heavily, but he seems to have ended his rant, and begun the process of cooling off.
Clearly kusuke, struck a nerve. Likely helped along by Satomi. 

[Chevaleresse]

"I don't care how long you've been fighting. I don't care how many murder machines you've destroyed, or how many you've fucking built in their place. You want to talk to me about fighting a long war? I've been chasing someone for longer than I can remember. someone who was twisted enough to put his daughter's soul into one of those damned weapons just to fucking see what would happen. You have no idea what I've given up in that fight. I can't even remember. He's not endangering my hometown, or a country, he's endangering an entire fucking world! But I'm not wantonly playing with fire and acting surprised whenever it burns me because of it!" Kusuke's voice had ratcheted up in volume to match Leo's. "You think that your trauma somehow gives you a free pass to just ruin things wherever you go? So you can, what, learn to build stronger death machines? What are you leaving behind you? Your fucking revenge is not worth this world, it's not worth anywhere we go."

 

Kusuke's fists clenched, but the time traveler went from shouting to speaking in barely a whisper. "It's so fucking stupid. Everyone always says the same thing. 'I'm doing it because I have to, because the devastation I leave behind me is less than what this next weapon will wreak on my enemies.' Until the entire world is drowned in fire and death. I'm not going to allow you to do that here, or anywhere."

[kj1225]

Arminius looks up from his spot waiting in the Inn at the announcement. He considers getting up for a moment. He could go find Leo, and give him a proper scolding for messing with powers beyond his control... But then, this could be a boon. An artificial corruption could be modified and controlled. If it could be made to be deployed in enemy territory, and to automatically die off after about a month... yes, their enemies would be wholly unprepared for it and then they could walk in after with minimal resistance to claim it. He takes a sip of his water and smiles before turning to the goblin at his table.

"Sounds like things have just gotten a lot more interesting, ey Nort?"

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Azgrurk

 

Once Az made it into the clearing, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the entire... Well, chaotic land he was looking at. It was far different from anything he had seen before, which considering his history of conquests, was saying something, but it was enough to actually make him pause. Thankfully, his pause only lasted long enough for the small, girl human to start yelling again, causing him to stomp forward until he was next to her, "YOU'Z GOT EXPERIENCE WITH DIS PLACE DEN? CUZ I'VE NEVA SEEN ANYTHING LIKE DIS" he stated, scanning the area before grunting, "I EXPECTED A LOT MORE THINGS TO CLOBBA, BUT ALL I SEE IS TREEZ AND... STUFF."

[Powder Miner]

It took Satomi a moment to respond to Azgrurk -- this place was infuriating. She would step somewhere, and jump back yelping as a horrific stinging came from the grass brushing against her calf. She would be about to throw a handful of the purification powder and then suddenly one of the strange bird things would swoop down and require her to attempt to wave it off with her sword -- and there were vines and thorns everywhere to trip her up. "Bah! Damn this place. Anyway... Captain Azgrurk, was it? I don't have experience with this accursed place in particular, but I have experience with things like it and I know that even containing them is a process measured in blood. This place must be eradicated while we still have the ability to do so, and if I am going to make progress on that front, I will need your help -- these bird things and those beetles are a distraction that will keep me from doing anything but batting them aside. Would you crush them for me?"

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Azgrurk

 

On instinct, Azgrurk opened his mouth to correct her on his full title, only to be interrupted by himself when another Skull Cracker swooped down to try and get the smaller woman, only to be caught by Azgrurk's giant, mechanical hand as it suddenly jutted out, wrapping its claws around the tiny body and retracting while it struggled, "WELL, DAT'Z WHAT I'M HERE FOR. PLACE GAVE ME DA CREEPZ ANYWAY" he stated, before lifting his mechanical hand and, with one loud 'wrrr', crushed the squirrel-bird to half past, then tossing it to the side, "LEAVE DA CRUSHIN' TO ME!"

[Endlessblaze]

"Ruin things!? RUIN THINGS?! IVE HELPED UNCOUNTED NUMBERS OF PEPOLE! YOU THINK ALL I CAN DO IS KILL AND DYSTROY?! HAVE YOU EVEN BEEN PAYING ATTENTION!?"
He violently shakes his head. Trying to clear off some of his anger. Though his emotions still bled into his rebuttal.  

"The mineing golems have given this village and ourselves more metal then we know what to do with! I'm not even sure how much stone we have been bringing in as a result! The constructor golems could have built all sorts of things if they hadn't broken from the strain of Satomi's demands. And there replacements should be more then capable! In fact, I was just about to build messenger birds, in absence of time to build a more convenient and advanced system!"

"I manipulate matter at the molecular level, can enchant even atoms, And turn all manner of substances into magical machines and computers. Can you even IMAGINE what I could do to help this village, If we weren't in the middle of dealing with an army out to tear this place apart!? What have YOU been doing this whole time? Aside from your help on the dark alloy, I have scarcely seen you around. So forgive me If I'm not aware of whatever GREAT things you've done for the past few days!"

 

[Chevaleresse]

"I've been working day and night to help Satomi build fortifications so this place doesn't get torn to shreds, you blind idiot. I'm sorry you forgot to take a break from putting your hand into bonfires and getting confused about the burns to notice. All of those improvements you mentioned? They mean nothing. Zilch. Nada. Absolutely fuckall if one of your moronic experiments ends the fucking world. Are you that dense that you can't see that? Stop playing with shit that wants to kill us all. That's it. That's all I'm telling you to do. Is it that hard?" Kusuke sighed deeply, but continued speaking in a somewhat calmer tone before Leo had a chance to offer another retort. "And what about when you finally off yourself with one of these experiments? What happens with your Dysto then? You're going to do its job for it, and possibly cause another apocalypse in the process."

[Endlessblaze]

Something about that argument sends leo into what sounds like genuine laughter. Like Its so far out there its not even there any more. His anger cooling and melding with it into something resembling....haughtiness? Or....It was a little hard to place. 

"Dystroy the? HA. WHAT ARE YOU EVEN ON? HAHAhhahhaha….ahhhhh. No really, did you take a break from your work and have a little to much to drink?" 
"Thats not possible" He states it plainly. Like a statement on the color of the sky.

"Look, I didn't even have a first grade, or any grade, education. And I know this. The mere idea that a person can 'Accidently' dystroy the world is completely absurd. 

Take one of my most aggressive mana types for instance. The first time I got access to wax, To icefire, was because dysto sent a big metal bee queen thing after me.  It splashed icefire all over the woods before I killed it. The whole place was frozen over, but not once did its flames pass the Elemental Delineation Line. After a few days the whole place was reborn as a winter wonderland. There were these little lizards that loved people, and warm places. Lazy little things. The kids from the area started comeing over to play. And skate on the frozen lake, and the glow from the plants ensured the place was always pleasantly lit. "

[Chevaleresse]

"What the fuck are you talking about? That's not how it works. One person accidentally destroying the world is exactly what happened in mine. Are you calling me a liar, or are you just that stupid? Because I don't know where you're from, but on Earth there's no mystical field protecting you or anyone else from your fuckups. I don't care what cutesy little stories you have about what happened back home, that's not how it works here or anywhere else that I know of." Kusuke fixed Leo with a hard glare. "Let me make this very clear. You're going to change your behavior, or it's going to be changed for you." After a moment, he added, "And if you laugh at the deaths of nearly the entire population of the entire planet again, I don't think I'm going to be able to stay nice."

[Endlessblaze]

Leo sighs. 

"No, I'm calling you wrong. Look, I dont mean any harm. I'm sure a lot of pepole died, and thats tragic. But I can ABSOLUTELY assure you, Regardless of whatever this one dude might have been doing, SOMEONE, perhaps this black beast itself, had to take some serious deliberate action to bring about your end of the world event. If a world DIDENT have Elemental Delineation, It would die completely, likely before society even got off the ground, and you wouldn't be here to tell the tale of it. Destroying a world is possible, but it takes a lot more then a few lab hiccups.  

He seems absolutely sure of himself, speaking with absolute certainty.

"I would love to continue this delightful chat, but I have work to do. The enemy will be arriving today, and we need to prepare as much as possible. So If you dont mind, I'm going to take my leave. Later, if you still aren't convinced, ill prove it to you. We can go find a nice secluded area, maybe even an uninhabited world if it makes you happy, and ill set some of that goo loose." 

With that, he turns and starts walking away. Frostbrute following behind and carrying some things for him.
As he goes, the eye on his sword turns back to look at kusuke, who may or may not sense that someone did not take kindly to his threats.

[Chevaleresse]

"That's. . . what?" Kusuke followed after Leo, not allowing the golemancer to escape that easily. "You can't cite some principle that doesn't exist in any other world and then pretend that makes your point for you. I can assure you, there's no such thing as 'elemental delineation' here. I should know, I'm. . . well studied on the matter." A bit early to let that one slip, especially since I can barely remember what it implies. "There's no law of nature or magic that protects you from your mistakes spiraling out of control. . . and I'm sure as hell not going to ask you to demonstrate another apocalypse tactic as 'proof.' And society developed just fine without it, for the record. Enough to have nuclear power and space flight."

[Endlessblaze]

Leo keeps walking, but at least responds
"Righttttt. Look Lets ASSUME your world got by without Elemental Delineation, Proving it's possible. Wouldn't it be just as inane to assume that things here work like things in your world, as it supposedly is for me to assume it works like my world. If your so well studied on the matter, why don't you explain further, and why are you so sure it works here, the same way it does back in home"

 

[Chevaleresse]

"Nothing that has happened yet has indicated that this world has some kind of magical safety net for experiments gone wrong. Sure, you're right, I can't assume that this world works exactly like mine. But it works just as well going the other way: why on Earth would you think that your rules applied here? You're experimenting with magics that seem to already be in the process of ending this world if not for that Dryad doing her best to contain things. Speaking of her, did you ever think to confirm with her that your delineation law actually exists in this universe, or did you just decide to throw chaotic magic around constantly and hope it didn't kill anyone?"

[Powder Miner]

Satomi grinned as Azgrurk caught one of the bird-things out of the air and crushed it into a paste with his hand. "Ohoho, I think I can most definitely leave the crushing to you. Let's deal with this damned Taint, then!" And so Satomi advanced into the Agony, backed up with a very large, very strong Ork more than capable of slaughtering the blighted, infuriating things trying to break Satomi's skull -- though she had a helmet and would have been mostly fine, he would keep the things from distracting her and from dicing her up. Between the two of them, Satomi figured that they would be able to make some serious progress.

---

Several minutes later, Satomi stormed out of the Agony, her face a rictus of rage and irritation. Despite her best efforts, she'd expended all of her purification powder and not managed more than a couple hundred yards of purification of this damned place -- everything was out to trip her up, sting her, distract her, irritate her, and-- "URGH! This isn't enough, damn it all! Azgrurk, I'm going to head back, I can't make headway with this place taking every opportunity to jab and frustrate me -- I'm going to go get more purification powder and make something for myself to make this place more bearable. If you'd like to continue smashing things, though, well, I don't think this place will be running out any time soon. Damned Taint."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Azgrurk

 

For the most part, Azgrurk simply grinned himself as they went to work, sticking next to Satomi and dealing with any Skull Crackers that tried to divebomb the duo... Most of the time simply grabbing them with his hands and crushing them with is pure strength. Other times smacking them out of the air with an audible crack as the tumbled to the ground. All the while, while Satomi was struggling to deal with the Agony halting her progress, Azgrurk barely even noticed, his armored suit protecting him from any of the stinging grass, and any attempts to trip him up were rendered null as his feet simply tore through anything that tried. So, overall, Azgrurk was having fun, slaughtering the creatures that were trying to protect their new home, and failing spectacularly... At least, up until Satomi stormed out, causing Azgrurk to pause and look back at her, "EH? GUESS THAT'Z FAIR. GIVE ME A HOLLA IF DEM GOBLINZ ARE COMIN'. DON'T WANNA MISS OUT ON ALL DA BIG FIGHTIN'!" Azgrurk shouted after her, before turning back to the Agony, continuing the mindless fun of crushing/slaughtering the inhabitants of the land.