The Devil's Ball

[Elric Vlarintos]

Perhaps running had not been the best of decisions, but it seemed like the best idea at the time. The monstrous Boogie from before was hardly larger than Elric, but he was armed and Elric was not. That made what already seemed like a fairly obvious discrepancy between abilities even larger. Moving quickly or nimbly on his ankle was bothersome, and to make matters worse he was shot straight through the leg. How could anything aim like that in the dark?

Elric felt the sharp stabbing sensation, and was convinced that the bolt pierced into the back of his leg and out through the front of his leg once more. Worse, it was his good leg that had been shot. Elric stumbled to the ground and put his arms in front of him to held shield his fall. Maybe in a less panicked state he could have rolled a little bit with the fall, but that was not the case tonight. He jarred his arms and shoulders upon hitting the floor, but at least nothing else was broken.

It seemed odd as he considered that his leg did not hurt so much as he imagined int would. In fact, he could barely feel it at all, save for the awkward sensation of the bolt still sticking into his flesh. It would be better to leave that in for now than to risk removing it on the spot. Elric attempted to crawl away slowly since he was now unable to stand. A call to move to the center of the room from Naelona was heard. He had to obey, though it would be hard.

Mentally he tried to clear his thoughts and focus on nothing but moving forward. Every inch forward he moved he was surrendering another part of him to the ultimate goal. In the center he would likely be a bigger target, but in the center of the room is where there would be help.

There would also be fire.

[Shaehern Azhrarn]

Shaehern worked hard and built up a sweat in that heavy and well insulated dress of his. It was getting toilsome and bothersome the longer he worked at moving the rocks. Clearly he would have worn something lighter and without feathers if he had expected to be doing work this evening. Such was the price of a lack of foresight. The moment would seem to be over soon as Shaehern caught a glance of the body he assumed Jazz was seeking.

He worked at the rocks while she uncovered the boy's face. At least he could breathe and was alive. If Shaehern had been forced to work to uncover a dead body he probably would not have been pleased. Then again, there was hardly anything he could do or say to absolve himself of responsibility. That was why he was hear working to help Jasmine. Also, watching her slap the boy earned a smile, if not a laugh, from Shae.

Uncovering the boy seemed largely successful, but there was still the matter of a large pillar. It looked like the boy was caught underneath. The pillar was broken, but it was still large and heavy enough to pose a potential problem. One would not be able to move it along, and Shaehern wondered if two Boogies would have much more of a chance. A brute like the monster dealing death in the room might be able to move it on his own, but that was hardly an option right now.

"I like this dress," Shaehern said with a sigh as he tore the skirt and arms off of his body to free up more room to flex. Apparently, Shae was the type of person who went to every extreme when he crossdressed--he was wearing bloomers underneath the skirt of his dress.

Now was not the time to worry about that, however. Shaehern had been caught wearing less in public before, and this was for a good cause. Probably the best cause he had worked on in quite a while. Shaehern grasped at the pillar and lifted with Jasmine. At first the piece of rock didn't seem to want to move, but it suddenly lifted just a hair and Shaehern was able to move it ever so slightly. The chunk moved just enough that it started to roll away before stopping a foot or so from its original position.

Shaehern was breathing heavily as he set himself down on the floor. He needed to take a moment to catch his breath.

[Luther Verhulst]

Dodging projectiles was certainly a challenging thing, but it was easiest to dodge projectiles that were never aimed at you in the first place. A shadow zipped under one of Luther's shots, likely thinking it had dodged an attack that never had been meant for it in the first place. No skin off of Luther's teeth, since the first target was still struck firmly in the head and fell.

Moving about the ballroom was a bit of an endeavor in the dark and Luther had forcibly shoved more than a couple of bystanders who were either trying to escape or find someone to the ground. It was better to just assume everyone who refused to get away from him was potentially hostile and use excessive force on them. Luther thought he was exercising a great deal of restraint by not beating every last one of the people in his way senseless. Occasionally he even gave a loud roar to let them know he was coming through.

Meanwhile, Gwyllgi stared at the boys, vaguely aware of the presence of another figure behind it in the dark. Given the particular angle the Black Dog must have been nearly invisible to him in the dim light. The beast growled lowly as it turned about to stare the masked man full in the face. This was a creature that could not be bothered by the lack of light in the area. Red eyes still glowing dimly in the night light.

Luther's ears twitched as he took a couple of shots at what looked to be retreating slaves. If Luther was right he had four more shots before reloading would become necessary. It was almost disappointing how little ammo he was using in this situation. Given that Naelona had shouted her command to report to the center Luther had seen it as justification to shoot anyone who still insisted on retreating.

But the twitching of his ears had been from hearing the growl of his dog over the panic of the crowd. Luther stood there for a moment pondering the best course of action. He could stand at the doorway and wait for people attempting to escape or he could go find Gwyllgi. Luther took one last shot at a retreating slave and ran towards the other side of the room where he had heard his dog.

Likely he would get there and his beast would be full.

[Jasmine Krisp]

Desperation showed clear in the physically-young Boogie's expression as she pushed at the pillar in vain, still awaiting Shaehern's help. Kyle was in pain the longer he was under this large roll of rock. And Kyle in pain put Jasmine in pain. The sound of ripping fabric caught her attention and Jazz turned her gaze, watching Shaehern tear his beautiful dress for room. Desperation switched to a gentle, awed smile...then to a surprised, fluttering laugh when she saw what was under that dress.

Just what she liked in a cross dresser: willing to wear women's undergarments for the sake of appearance. "You really go all out, don't you?" Jasmine's eyes were warm when said go-all-outer approached the column, "I'll make you a new one. With even more feathers."

Focusing back on freeing her dear human from the clasp on his leg, Jazz concentrated all her inhuman strength into lifting the damn rock up just that slight amount. Sight was enough, as it began to roll, stopping far from the danger-zone over Kyle's leg. Breathing hard from using so much of her little muscles, Jasmine turned back to watch as Shae sat down on the floor, then to Kyle still laying down, then back to the bloomer'd man. Hopping down to his side, she reached her collar-bone and gripped a small, black metal chain and pulled it up. On the chain were five vials, filed with what appeared to be regular water.

It was mostly water, but in it were a few drops of something strange and magic. Phoenix tears. Able to return strength and cure any wounds...at least so they were no longer lethal. Jazz undid one of the vials from her necklace and held it out to Shahern. "Drink this. It will help get your strength back," her eyes were still glowing, "Thank you so much..."

With another sharp spin, the plum woman had hopped up to Kyle's side again, beginning to untie another one of the vials. It wouldn't be able to heal his bones, but maybe that boink on his head. And it would ease the aches and pains for a while.

Never hurt to be prepared.

[Kristopher Roberts]

Oh crap. Oh fucking crap, this wasn't good at all! The beast of Luther was close at hand and Kristopher held his twin by the hand. He looked towards the masked person but didn't know who it was and that was probably for the better.

Turning his two colored gaze back at the beast, Kristopher took a deep breath and let it out. His red eye stared hard at the familiar. It wasn't a pleasant thing to look at, not at all.

He only had a few options here and sitting around to be dog food wasn't his idea of a great time. They had to move before the beast decided to munch on them. "Great." Kristopher said under his breath, "We can't stand here all day..." The blond bounced on his toes as he thought on what to do. His eyes looked up and then to his left and right, looking for something useful.

Finally, he saw something that appeared to be useful. It was a thick steel pipe with a sharp end, very sharp in fact. Picking it up slowly, he never took his eyes away from the beast.

"Hey Zeke, you're a fast runner right?" He asked slowly and spared a glance at the masked man, "You too, I hope." The blond held the pipe with his right hand and spun it between his fingers. The boy had always been dexterous and now he was going to try and use it to his advantage for now.

"As much as I hate violence, I think I can let it slid this time." he mused to himself. Then he nudged Zeke, letting go of his hand. Kristopher could see the beast best out of the three and he was going to use that advantage, as well as seriously piss off the familiar.

"I sure hope so," Kristopher stopped spinning the sharp pipe then, he held the object firmly in his hand. "Cuase this sure as hell might fail!" He told them and launched the pipe like a javolin at the beast, grabbed Zeke's hand and ran as hard and as fast as he could to dart past the beast. He hoped he nailed the creature, cause he threw right at the beast shoulder and he was certain it would distract it long enough to get past if it was in pain, like all animals, they have ADD.

[Zeke Suzushima]

Much like his twin, Zeke was utterly terrified of the giant Black Dog staring them down like they were prime rib. He'd never heard of Luther or the dogs, though he did know about the labyrinth (who didn't?)...but not knowing they history behind them didn't make the monster any less scary. What's worse, Zeke could swear he heard somebody approaching the hall-way. Worst case scenario told him it was the Black Dog's master. Hand tightening on Kris' grip, blue orbs went from the dog, to Kris, to the masked man so near. For a moment he wondered who he was.

Screw curiosity. Bigger problems right now.

Zeke blinked when his hand was released for a moment and the silhouette-known-as-Kris reached for something he couldn't see in all the shadows. Then he was asked how fast he was. Was he not watching the fight before? "I can run fast," the older blond said quietly, "but what are you--" Before he had time to ask, Kris had lunged the sharp something straight at the dog before he grabbed Zeke's wrist and, again, pulled him into a run for their lives.

Holy shit.

"K-Kris, what the he--?!" the blond yelped as he ran with Kristopher past the dog and the masked man. Since when had his little twin resorted to violence? It wasn't like him at all. But, hey, it had gotten them out of the imminent danger. And hopefully Kris knew where they were running so they weren't heading straight for the center.

Or worse, the demon with the crossbow.

[Augusta Davingoun]

The man in the mask was going fine until he heard a faint growling. Then the growling volume increased and he looked over. He was looking at a pair of bright red eyes in a canvas of darkness. Oh dear, it seems that a familiar has found them. Damn, and Augusta thought he was going to make it out easy. Too bad his plans never seemed to go his way. He looked over at Zeke and Kris. It was easy to tell who was Kris and who wasn't. And Augy would probably be the one of the very, very few who would be able to tell the differences between them, even with Zeke wearing contacts (or vise versa). That didn't mean that the similarity between the two still didn't creep Augusta out a bit.

"Hey Zeke, you're a fast runner right? You too, I hope."

Wait... WAIT! What was Kris thinking!? Had he gone psychotic!? He took a step towards Kris but it was too late, he wanted to yell, scream, do something. But doing that would risk everything. If he let Kris or anyone know who he was his cover would be blown. They would use Kristopher or Piper to get to him and they'd stop the rebellion in it's tracks. And Augy couldn't let that happen. He saw the piper fly through the air and he watched as it headed for it's target. Damn Kristopher had always had good aim.

That's my fiance right there! Look at that throw! Brilliant! Is what he would have thought if he wasn't in a situation were he needed to run like Hellfire on a bad day. What he really thought was something that involved the word 'run' and a string of vivid vulgar words. But at the time his body thought faster than his mind and so he pulled out the long katana from his back and took a few quick steps backward. He let the blonds get a few steps ahead and then he ran behind them. he glanced back quickly to make sure the familiar was distracted and not following them. And if it was...

Augusta would have to fight a scary familiar to protect his Krissy. Oh goodie.

[Kyle Roberts]

Never before had he realized just how wonderful it was to breathe fresh air, to be out in the open. It took being trapped beneath all those tons of rocks to make him realize just how lucky he was simply to be alive and relatively free. To lungs that had been breathing in dust and the same stagnant air for who knows how long, the fresh air that was rushing into what had almost become his tomb was nothing short of ambrosia. He realized in that moment that he never wanted to be trapped like that, unable to move or breathe; not ever again.

Jasmine's face, her voice, it all made him feel better. For some reason he felt safe when she was around him, even though at the moment he was in a good bit of danger. As he felt the soft skin of her ran touch his cut and dirtied face, he instinctively leaned into it. Her warmth and touch were somehow reassuring even in light of his present circumstances. Then of course she went and smacked at him, and it took a good deal of willpower not to flinch. Even though it had been a light blow, the pain in his body immediately surged as her hand connected.

When she moved away his eyes followed her, a bit desperately though he would certainly never admit it. He would admit, however, that he didn't want her to leave; he wanted, no, needed, her to stay with him; especially since he had absolutely no idea where anyone else might be. Though generally he was more comfortable without a crowd, he could sense that something had been done to him while he was entombed. He knew it would be some time before he would be comfortable being on his own again.

Then he felt her trying to move the column, and realized that she was trying to free him. Craning his head as far as he could without too much pain, he watched as she tried in vain to lift it. A few moments later and there was a ripping sound, a mound of peacock feathers dropping to the ground next to him before a man in women's underwear waltzed past. It didn't take much thought to realize that this was the man who had made the rather spectacular entrance earlier. Why he was here Kyle had no idea, the only time he'd ever seen the man was in the company of his mistress; and they never seemed to get along.

His thoughts were rather abruptly cut short however, when the massive pillar of stone actually began to move. All at once the pain seared up his leg and through his body like white fire. Along the way it forced the air from his lungs and caused his heart to literally skip a beat.; and when it reached his brain his vision went black, and it took every ounce of willpower he'd ever been able to muster to keep from screaming and falling unconscious once more. His fists clenched until they were white, crimson streams running from them as his nails dug into his palms. He buried his face into the shattered rock beneath him, tears streaming down his face so forcibly that he couldn't even begin to stop them.

It seemed like an eternity before the pain stopped and his body relaxed, but something told him that it hadn't even been a minute. His hands unclenched slowly, nails removing themselves from his flesh and allowing his palms to bleed more freely. There was something beside him but he had no idea who or what; his mind was still recovering from the massive surge that had almost shut it down completely. Several minutes passed before he could bring himself to look up, small portions of dust and debris sticking to his face from the tears that were still flowing. His eyes fell on Jasmine's pale face, but there was no reassurance; all his mind could do was silently beg her to make it all go away.

[Luther Verhulst]

There was a great deal of advice when dealing with a threat of the canine variety. Unfortunately, most people who were not involved in raising dogs would miss most of the little nuances about what was perceived as a challenge and what things were generally considered bad ideas. One of the worst things you could do to a dog that felt threatened or was trying to establish its position as top dog was run away. The second worst thing you could do was make eye contact with the beast and then break it off. Both of these things were signs of surrendering authority to the beast.

Throwing a sharp piece of metal was, of course, not as bad of a choice as his previous actions, but the effect would likely not be as well received as Kristopher anticipated. Instinctively the beast began to move before the piece of metal had even left the boy's hand. It bounded to the side and leaped up against a wall where it seemed to hang there for just a moment. The metal clattered harmlessly against the floor at that particular moment in time. Then with equal agility the beast pushed off of the wall and now was behind the three. The three who were running away from a challenge.

Luther had two shots left in his crossbow and three targets from which to choose. Such decisions were normally difficult, but there were a couple factors that made his decision easier. First of all, two of his targets seemed closer. Secondly, they both looked like the boy that had been in the cage just moments before the chaos broke loose. The resemblance was uncanny, but it was at that particular moment that something occurred to Luther. Something earlier made a little more sense.

He stopped and took aim. Then in less than 4 seconds he had shot at both of them from the darkness. The shot was aimed for the nonessential right shoulder. Perhaps he did feel a little poetic, since he aimed at the same shoulder for each of them.

There wouldn't be enough time to reload before the third target was potentially in striking range. That one was even armed with a weapon. How... quaint.

Luther let loose another roar as he advanced rapidly on their position. The group was now caught between the slavering, horrid and bloodthirsty monster and a Black Dog.

[Shaehern Azhrarn]

Going to rest immediately after exerting his muscles so furiously without even giving them a chance to warm up or stretch beforehand was terrible. Sitting there on the floor he could feel his muscles twitching in protest now that there was nothing for them to do. Temptation to strike his arm and yell at the disobeying and erratic muscles rose, but Shaehern resisted that temptation. It would not do him any good now.

The promise of a new dress with more feathers before he had lifted the pillar was in his mind and it brought a smile to his face. Really, it was only fabric and feathers. That was why the sacrifice had been acceptable. Well, he might have also been able to argue that he sacrificed his dignity, but after his entrance into the ballroom earlier in the evening it was clear that dignity did not have much value to him anyways.

"Better to not do anything halfway," he said with a smile in between breaths. It had been in response to his new-found friend's comment in regards to his bloomers. Just then Jasmine Krisp, the token lesbian, moved over to him and offered him a vial. The offer seemed peculiar and oddly placed, considering the injured slave she had worked so hard to unearth. Shaehern was fatigued and a little scraped up, but hardly injured. Still, a gracious offer of something that would make him feel better was hardly too much to pass up. He took the vial and drank it with a grateful smile.

The feeling the spread through him was peculiar. He was not certain whether or not to describe it as a coolness or a fire spreading through his body, but in just a short moment he was feeling significantly better than he had before. A few of his cuts and scrapes from earlier seemed to heal over too. That was a miraculous feeling.

He got up to his feet with something half-resembling a leap. One should not be sitting when they felt this good.

[Zeke Suzushima]

Zeke still was running with Kris when he heard the snarls not so far behind them. Shit, Kris' little spear-move hadn't hurt the Black Dog at all! And now it was angry. And heading for them. "Lovely!" the older blond groaned as he ran, glancing back again to the now katana-wielding masked stranger, "That things gonna kill us!" Turning back to face forward, and hopefully a doorway if they were in the right direction, Zeke's 'quick' reflex started to kick in and he managed to catch up to Kris despite the slowness of his initial surprise. Running side-by-side (he could run faster but the damn belts slowed him down) the twins ran, trying to outrun whatever danger was trying or about to catch them.

Sadly, some things you just can't out run. Like an arrow to your shoulder.

Kami-sama hates me.

Zeke felt that sharp, cold as ice projectile as it struck into the back of his right arm, right into the friggen bone. Blue orbs wider than humanly possible he cried out in pain...the sharp little spear didn't stop when it hit his bone. Zeke was a skinny bugger. The fucking arrow went right through his shoulder, and out through the bone on the other side, though muscle and skin and FUCKING HELL did it hurt. But, odd enough, there was something that almost immediately numbed the pain as soon as it hit. Which was good...

Except the arrow was still sticking him like a needle in a pin-cushion.

And there was blood. Hoo boy was there blood.

"Aah..." the older blond skipped a few steps from the impact of the arrow. He didn't look to Kris, though he assumed something had happened to him too, but he was staring at the blood. Blood was really bad for Zeke. Really, really bad. Hemophobia really bad. The white shirt of his wasn't helping conceal any of that red, nor did the mask hide that shade of green Zeke was turning.

"...holy sh-shi..."

The snarls were coming from two directions now.

[Kristopher Roberts]

"Lovely!" He heard his twin exclaim and Kris rolled his eyes, "Better running then cornered!" He exclaimed right back, huffing and puffing. The blond wasn't out of shape, but simply his body wasn't able to handle such extreme moments of running for his life. Raising a hand to his lips, he coughed into it but didn't stop running.

"That things gonna kill us!"

"Not if we can stay ahead of it!" His steps quickened, he was running as hard as he could which was pretty fast as he was able to keep instep with his twin. But his his pace was starting to become forced.

He bowed his head to keep going but kept an eye out in front of him. "We need---to get somewhere--to the center---or outsi--" He simply didn't get to finish his sentence, his breath was taken from him. He hadn't thought of Luther or any boogie for that matter being armed with a crossbow and so to be shot was surprising.

He too felt the sharp stab of a bolt rushing through him, in the same place of where Zeke had been shot. It also, did the same amount of damage and unlike his twin, Kristopher hit the ground when he stumpled. Kristopher cried out in pain and rolled onto his side, his back towards Luther and his familiar. His pale hands held his arm to his body and curled into a fetal position.

"Ah, fucking hell!" The wound burned, his blood was rapidly seeping through his shirt, vest, and coat. Kristopher personaly wanted to lay there and hold his arm, but the sudden snarls he heard and the choking on his coughing fit sit him back into reality.

Getting to his feet, he scramped over to Zeke and grabbed him by the uninjured arm. He noticed the change immediately. "AH fuck, move Zeke!" He all but screamed at the older blond and dragged him into a half run, half fast walk. Kristophers right arm wasn't moving nor would he even try to move it right now as he tired to pull Zeke along.

Looking back every so often.

"We got to go, we gotta go, now!"

[Jasmine Krisp]

The expression on Kyle's face was utterly heartbreaking to the young-looking Boogie woman. Kyle was her dear friend, somebody she'd save a million times if she had to (it wasn't unlikely she would reach a million someday). Seeing him injured was one thing. He was the kind to put on a mask and reassure you that he was fine so you wouldn't worry. But seeing the mask gone, and the tears flowing down his face...Jasmine's heart snapped in two, and her eyes reflected the pain in her chest. Her Kyle was in agony. "Oh, my dear one...I'm so sorry...it will be better soon..."

The little vial made a clinking noise as Jazz undid the top and stuck her little pale finger into the liquid-healer. Instantly she moved to run it over the wound on Kyle's head. It would stop the bleeding. She took the time to fix a few more bad cuts on his face and shoulders before looking to his leg and arm. ...oh boy. This time when she held the vial to him, she pressed it against his lips, begging and demanding her take a sip. The tears would heal them quicker and ease the pain, but those bones needed to be in the right place to heal. And they weren't.

"Shit." The little woman stood again, vial still in hand, and hopped over so she was leaning over his wrecked arm. Again her gaze turned to him, pained, but stern at the same time.

"This will hurt."

With her little hands, she reached down and felt around his arm. No bone broke the skin. Thank God. But there were two definite cracks that cut through his funny bone. "Count of three. One, two..." with a sharp motion, she'd pulled the bone back so they were in their proper line, rather than a broken mess. Then she looked to the leg...that was going to be impossible in this lighting. Jasmine knew the pain would be bearable by now, thanks to the water, but still...

I'm sorry my Kyle...

Next time they were together, she'd have to put a goddamn leash on the boy to stop him from getting into trouble. He was a magnet.

[Elric Vlarintos]

Just a few more feet, he told himself. It had never occurred to him how far and how quickly he could move on his feet now that he was forced to pull his heavy body forward a few inches at a time. Shards of glass on the floor made him grateful for the coat to protect his arms, but that hardly kept them from cutting at his pant legs. The pain was just one more thing he had to shove away into a corner of his mind where his thoughts would not reach. It was the same place where he kept dangerous thoughts that would get him in trouble.

Elric was a thinker. He had always been a thinker. However, his father had expected Elric to be a doer. Nothing had changed from one world to the next, except that here he was free to enjoy his thoughts every once in a while without interruption.

Now was one of those times that required action instead of thoughts. The darkness that surrounded him made it easy to just cast everything else aside. Elric Vlarintos was a body--flesh, blood and nerves. For this moment in time there was nothing else. Physical and emotional injuries had no place in this crawl for survival. Concerns of the future and of the past were gone. He could only live in the moment. Every moment was dedicated to pulling his body just a little further along the floor.

A moment ago he had tried using his only responsive leg to push him forward, but a sharp pain had shot up from his ankle. He would not get far doing that.

He was finally within spitting distance of the center of the room, where both of his masters presumably awaited him. Just a little further and he would have to wait on the floor for his Mistress to find him. God help him if Anolean noticed him first.

[Augusta Davingoun]

The man in the black mask was not one to be angered. Sure he was only human after all. But a sharp wit and a heavy temper could do damage. He turned swiftly and stared the black dog down as it headed toward them. His katana was held in his dominate right hand and his left was still useless beneath his coat. His gazed flickered from Boogies to dog, and the familiar was closing in. And suddenly the noticeable sound of arrows and the chink of a crossbow. But Augusta felt no pain, so it must not have been him who was the target. But then who...?

The two cries of pain were his answer.

Oh god... He knew that voice, that sound. It was all too familiar. He felt the world nearly stop when he turned around and saw the sight he knew was behind him. A knot climbed up into his throat, lodged itself there and refused to let Augusta breath. It only gave Augy a few precious moments to compose himself and do the only thing he could. Protect Kristopher. He couldn't scream his love's name or go to his side. He had to fight off Luther. It was the only thing he could do to help.

So he ran over and got right into Luther's path and stood his ground. He was in a fighting position, his katana was ready and he was ready. He would fight just long enough for Kris and Zeke to get out. Or he would die trying.