Archive Mutants & Masterminds: Legacy - Issue #2 - Hellgate Part 2 - The Mouth of Madness

[Joani]

Through the twisting nether the young heroes got teleported to an even more sinister and dark place than they just left behind.

The sky was overcast with dark greyish clouds and only glimpses of a salmon colored sky shot black rays of a black sun over the barren landscape. Fragile creatures barely recognisable as human stumble across the desert searching for a place to hide and something to eat. Their beaten bodies almost anorexic in appearance and yet they stand upright, crouched unable to rest or find some peace of mind.

Everything about this place feels odd and misplaced. Gravity is… off, perception is skewed. Nothing appears to be „normal“ especially your sense of self. You blink several times and shake your head to get rid of the cobwebs that seem to cloud your minds but it doesn’t help much.

Then you realize what is wrong…

(ooc: First – the „aura“ of despair is gone. You can use your powers freely and without any negative drawbacks except for those provided by the rules. Second – the Teleport has screwed up your bodies – i. e. Tessa is in MegaGirl’s body, MegaGirl is in Echo’s body, Echo is in Watchwoman’s body and Watchwoman is in Tessa’s body. Djane is immune to the effect and Hype… Hype looks like an exact twin of Djane. CC is missing and nowhere to be seen/found. You can’t use your own powers but you can use the powers of the „new“ body you’re in. This applies to both physical and mental powers. I’ll do the dice-rolling while you describe what you try to do based on what you know from your body. Enjoy yourselves!)

[MegaGirl]

Karra stumbled, her body not feeling right, her simple thoughts racing by so fast she couldn't keep track of them - she imagined that this was what feeling 'sick' was like, but she had never been sick before, so she didn't really know. She rubbed at her eyes, they didn't seem to be working right again, and she felt weaker and more vulnerable than she had ever been before - it was worst even than the orange-calcium.

Finally, Karra looked up and around, gasping at the towering figure that stood only ten steps away. She was standing right over there, which was impossible, since she was standing right here. Twenty-five steps later, she was standing right next to this person who looked just like here, and realized she was tiny, the top of her head didn't even reach her boobies.

As rising sense of panic was forming in her, but it didn't feel right either. With trepidation, she looked down at her weird feeling body, a soft moan escaping her at was she saw. Her muscles were gone, her boobies were were gone, and everything about her was so small, so soft. She looked around at the others, and they are seemed too big now. How do they live like this?

A fury was building in Karra. Since their first mission, everything was being taken away from her - her mother, her powers, and now, even her body. It's not fair!

"Give me me back, you," Karra roared - or meant to roar. It sounded more like a squeak to her ears. She lashed out with a fist, meaning to show the imposter - Hmmm, I've never used that word before - she meant business, punching high, aiming for her stomach.

To her utter shock, the thing that looked like her didn't even seem to notice. Worst, she looked down at her tiny, ineffective hand, seeing it swollen and red.

It hurt.

[Tesstarossa]

Tessa looked around wondering what the hell just happened. Her mind came to several realizations very fast. First, she was looking at things from at least three feet higher than normal, yet she could easily feel the ground beneath her feet. Second she looked at a rock, trying to move it and it didn't work. It was at that point that Echo came up and actually slugged her in the stomach. It didn't hurt at all, it never really had.

She wondered what happened and when she finally put it together she laughed. "You shouldn't do that, You'll break your hand." Her voice confirmed it, She was in Karra's body. Karra was in Echo's from what was said. That left her to wonder who was in hers.

"Musical bodies.... God I hate this place."

She looked down at "Echo" and smiled. Let's get the others and find out who's where. We can see about finding your mom after we've dealt with this."

[Rorx]

Hype cursed as he became aware of how sluggish he felt, a brief glance at himself was all that it took to realise his predicament. Damn, managed to avoid all the body change stuff in the last place only to get zapped by it on arrival here.

He watches 'Echo's' reaction and attempt to hit MegaGirl, then realises that the rest have been swapped around, while Djane seems to have remained the same.

"Well, I seem to have gotten a sex and costume change on arriving here. Hey where's the centurion guy?"

[SalmonMax]

It took Echo a long moment to act. This was not because she didn't notice the changes. It was because she was used to having as much time to think as she wanted before action was necessary. Watchwoman's brain however, as fine a specimen as it might have been, lacked the parallel neural net that accelerated Echo's thoughts and stored her experiences in lifelike detail. Precious seconds ticked past as she explored the situation fully in her mind...then realized just how plodding her cogitation had become.

Belatedly she went to stop 'herself' from striking 'Mega-Girl' again. The strength and precision of Watchwoman's body were startling to her as she carefully took hold of 'her' arm.

"Stop doing that," she demanded.

[Djane]

Djane looked around, unsure of what to do. If I wish them back, it'll all go south... I'm sure of it...

Then her eyes fell on her twin, and she goggled, putting a hand to her mouth. "Oh. Oh my. Uh... Hype, right? Uh." Wow. "Nobody make any wishes. I dunno what'll happen if there's two of us."

[z-Watchwoman]

Watchwoman spoke subvocally, "Hudsy, scan." When nothing happened, she looked down to see if her armor had been stripped from her. When she saw the silvery hair, she had a sense of what had happened; when she saw her own body moving at another whims, she understood. Glancing down at her silver hair, she considered, then spoke. "Everyone, calm down."

Echo is me... she can do that. She choked back her panic and followed her own advice.

Tessa's voice sounded wrong in her own ears, and she fought for the calm she'd demanded of everyone else. "First, does anyone have any ideas for correction? Let's see if we can gather an immediate fix, before we attempt to find Centurion."

[SalmonMax]

Focus on the solution, not the problem, Echo tried to remind herself. It was very rare that her emotions spiraled out of control, but this was the worst it had ever been. Worse even than the last 'hell,' and that had been pretty bad. Watchwoman's body was completely unaugmented. Without her superior training and skills, Echo would be totally vulnerable! No repair nanocytes to heal from injury. No DRUID growing symbiotically from her right arm and hand to protect and guide her.

Solution! Solution!

"The gate," she gasped, yanking her hand away from her mouth. "Going through it once did this...going through it, or another one, might reverse it."

[MegaGirl]

Karra looked up at Serene, holding her arm, barely able to pull it from her grasp. She felt an oddly detached panic growing within her. Her mind raced wildly, but her body moved so slowly!

"Yes, Serene, we need to fix this!" Karra exclaimed in her new, tiny voice, twisting around, looking for the Gate. "I... I don't see the gooey-rainbow-ball-gate-thingy anywhere. Where'd it go? Anybody know?"

[Tesstarossa]

"Then we find another gate and get out of here, and probably take down another demon in the process."

She used the ring's power, not quite in tune with Karra's body to use her power, to levitate into the air about thirty feet and looked around, suprised at the visual acuity of Karra's eyes.

Click to reveal..

making a search check

[Rorx]

"So who has a suitable power or sense to find a gate now?"

Hype tries to tap into any odd magicky feelings he might be able to get now in a vague hope of feeling a concentration in a direction .

[Joani]

Karra’s acute perception let Tessa experience the world around her in wholly new way. Even her self-awareness had changed. She welt powerful, strong and unstoppable. As her eyes scanned the horizon she pivoted carefully floating under the rings power while she tentively flexed her muscles. The immediate response was intoxicating just how powerful is Karra? she wondered and had to smile because it was all hers now…

No, this is wrong!, she forced herself to focus on the task again but couldn’t suppress a smile that had been forming on her face. Even if it was only temporary it felt great being Karra.

Click to reveal..

Taking 10 for your search-check doesn’t reveal much. There is no gate or any structure that could hint at it. Oddly the black sun obscures the landscape with it’s rays instead of lighting it up. This place is very much twisted and upside down.

[SalmonMax]

"MegaGirl," Echo said with Serene's voice and mouth. "Look at me. I'm not Watchwoman, I'm Echo and you're in my body. You have sensors that can scan radio frequencies and search for radar contacts in your right arm. That might at least help us find the other League members, if they're still here."

[MegaGirl]

Karra looked at 'Watchwoman' with a curious tilt to her head. She had heard what the others had said, and it seemed rather obvious to her who was who: Tessa was in her body, she was in Echo's, Echo's in Serene, Serene in Tessa's, Djane was still herself, and (she couldn't quite conceal a smirk), Hyperion seemed to be identical to Djane. The Celestial Centurion was apparently separated from the group.

"I'm quite cognizant of that fact, Echo. However, as I lack experience with any body other than my own, I'm not fully certain how to utilize your capabilities." Echo watched her brow furrow, an expression she knew well from Karra flashing across her face. That's weird, I know what I was saying, but half those words sound made-up.

Shaking her head, dispelling that odd thought, Karra continued. "I will endeavor to do as you have suggested, Echo." She cracked her knuckles, then tried to let her mind go blank and her awareness expand, as she did while using her super-luminary flight, searching for contact with other League rings, or radio frequencies being emitted from another gate - she assumed Echo had taken a reading of the one they had just used.

It was distractingly difficult to clear her mind, as more and more thoughts tried to fill up the void.

[SalmonMax]

Echo frowned at Kara's newfound eloquence. It took a second for her to realize what was going on; she still felt as if her brain had been filled with molasses that each thought had to swim through to get to her. Of course...the neural net. It's helping -her- now.

"I can help you," she promised. "Since you're new at this you should let the neural net handle most of the process. Just think to yourself the following series of commands..."

She rattled off a series of words so abbreviated and artificially conjoined that it was absolute gibberish.

"That'll configure the DRUID to use the net for interpolation, and export just the cleaned up results to your awareness. It should make the data a lot easier to understand until you get the feel for it."

[MegaGirl]

Karra narrowed her eyes, absorbing Echo's string of gibberish with disturbing ease, adding it the flow of information racing along her neural pathways. Her own powers worked intuitively and didn't require command sequences to activate. She also didn't like being just about the smallest one here. She felt like she was made of glass and wet cardboard.

"Thank-you Echo, the command sequence has been inputted... I - Oh, I see - " Karra felt her right arm tingle, then looked down at it, as is began to shift and distort into a new configuration. "Oh, no! By the Shytari Sun! What is happening to my arm?! That is so gross!"

[Joani]

As Karra's consciousness connected with the stream of Data her awareness expanded into yet unknown realms. It was different to her supervision - more broadband than focused and yet it provided her with so many details she feared her mind would blow up. But instead she adjusted to the flow of information - as if time had slowed down to give her a chance to evaluate all data she got and make some sense out of it.

Meanwhile her DRUID had completely configured itself for the task and was now scanning for any trace of the Legacysignatures of their missing parents. As odd and strange this felt to Karra it was a good feeling doing something that actually helped instead of feeling useless like she did a few moments ago. She sensed a faint tingling in the back of her mind and the readouts of the DRUID were difficult to interpret but her intuition told her she had picked up something and it was of Legacy origin.

Her eyes wandered to the horizon - somewhere there their parents must've been taken.

Hype's world had turned upside down. It was hard to pinpoint all the changes he felt but this was absolutely mindbogling. For a short moment he had the feeling as if he could everything he wanted and then felt an odd restriction - or rather a compulsion. Someone had to issue a wish in order to give his powers form and freedom. Someone from the others except Djane. Still trying to acclimate to the changes Hype didn't want to bother much about his "costume" and mostly exposed body. Djane was sure nice to look at... but being her was different

Click to reveal..

You can't sense anything in particular except that the whole place is magical/magically enhanced. It is extremely difficult to pinpoint a source for this. It seems as if the entire plane you're in is made of magic

[MegaGirl]

Eyes lacking the visual acuity of her native ones scanned the horizon, trying to perceive the LegacySignatures she had detected, mind flooded with new ways of observing reality. She stood straight, shoulders squared, portraying a confident demeanor, but it didn't have the impact she was used to - she lack the powerful shoulders, the impressive bust, and the towering stature. Surprisingly, it didn't bother her as much as she would have expected.

Did the same thing that is happening to us, happen to our parents, or are the effects of this dimension completely random?

"Though the results are somewhat incongruous, and I'm still learning to decipher the DRUID system, I have detected Legacy Signatures in that direction." Karra pointed. "As yet, I have been unable to determine a definite distance or determining who the signatures belong to. They are fading, but they were here very recently."

The others were looking at, listening intently to what she had to say, rather than with what now seemed to her like merely tolerant smiles. Do the others believe I am stupid? Now, I am so much more... aware... of everything. I am surely missing my natural capabilities, the sheer physical power, but without the insight to direct it efficiently, it is meaningless. Is that how the others, Serene, really see me? Just a witless beast of burden to be directed as they wish? Karra looked up Tessa, now looming over her in her body, a considering cast to her gaze.

She shook her head vehemently at the thought - it was this place, twisting their thoughts. She turned to addressed all her companions once more. "I do not believe we should remain here for any length of time, at all! I... I think this place is manipulating our psychological profiles, forcing us to adapt to our new... situation by thrusting us into the danger of losing who we truly are."

"Tessa," Karra said to the woman inhabiting her body, "I have inputted the direction to the signatures into your wrist communicator. In my body, and without Hyperion's own being available, you now possess the greatest speed and the strength to carry us all. Just be careful not to accelerate too quickly, or we may be hurt or unable to maintain our grip."

Karra looked down at the barren ground, then at the twin genies. "Perhaps, if your magical capabilities are not skewed from the ambiance of this plana, Djane, Hype, you could construct a simple conveyance for Tessa to carry. Or I may be able to, if I can configure Echo's Nanocytes properly."

[Djane]

"Uh? Oh. Right. I think you need to put the words 'I wish' in there somewhere."

Hell. If Hype's really like me now, maybe... maybe Hype'll be the one stuck in the zippo? God, I hope so. ... that's a terrible thing to think, Djane...

[SalmonMax]

Echo stepped forward and put a hand on Djane's shoulder. A suspicion was occurring to her...more slowly than she was used to, but she realized that Serene was no slouch intellectually either.

"Everyone stay calm," she said. "Our personalities and memories were transferred, but it's inevitable that we'll encounter some mental changes too. Some things about us are in our actual brain, in the pattern of connections of cells. There will be some...leakage, I guess you could call it. Stay focused on the task."

With a nod at 'echo," she said to Djane, "I wish we had a simple container large enough to hold all of us safely, securely and comfortably, of a design that MegaGirl's body can carry easily while traveling quickly."

[Tesstarossa]

Tessa Felt slower. She knew Kara was faster, bt it was like her conscious thoughts were either overexagerated. She nodded to "Echo" and turned her gaze in the direction she indicated. "Then we need to go."

She managed to force a smile. "Not being able to lift things without touching them may take a little getting used to."

She picked up a rock, and promptly smashed it to dust. "Ok, let's try that again."

A few tries later she was able to hold it, and had a grasp of Kara's physical strength.

[Rorx]

Hype hesistantly started to speak, taking a couple of hlaf words to get used to how his voice sounded coming from a Djane-form body.

"I've tried to get some idea of where another portal or gate might be, but just get the feeling this place is awash in magic."

He/she turned to Djane, "You've got more experience with these senses, can you detect a way out of here?"

[Djane]

"Yeah, about half a day's more experience, hell of a as you wish, master." Djane snapped her fingers and a giant platform appeared, accented in gold and teal and with handrails for everyone.

She nudged it with her foot. "Looks solid. No, this whole place... it's like trying to find hay in a haystack. One special strand of hay. So hey, let's try Echo's - Megagirl's - WHOEVER'S method first. And you need to change your hair color or something or we'll get mixed up." She waved at Hype.

[Rorx]

Hype shrugs, "Half a day, is still half a day, and I don't have a clue as to how to change my hair colour. If you do, then I suggest you do it."

He then turns to examine the transport she has materialised, trying to work out how she did it.

[MegaGirl]

"This seems more than adequate, for my - our needs. Thank-you, Djane." Karra strode onto the platform, taking a station towards the front. Surreptitiously, she tightened her hand around the rail, disappointed not to feel the metal distend beneath her strength.

With a mildly annoyed look on her face, Karra turned to the twinned genies and pointed at the one that had spoken last. "I wish your hair was black."

[SalmonMax]

Echo, in Watchwoman's body, boarded the platform then looked curiously at Djane. "What exactly constitutes a 'wish'?" she asks. "Is any offhand statement involving the word wish something you are compelled to grant, or does it need to be addressed specifically to you?"

"How careful do we need to be about figures of speech and so on?"

[Djane]

"I don't... know. I'm new to this. Put it this way, I'd be careful if I were you. When I hear the words from Watchwoman or one of her allies I just... it's like moving your knee when the doctor taps it." Djane hops on the platform. "Reflex."

[Tesstarossa]

Deep down there was so many issues Teletha had. Controlling Kara's body wasnimmensely different than her own. She looked to the others and waited for "Serene" to move onto the platform before taking off with it.

[Joani]

The team quickly assembled themselves on the conjured plattform which oddly hat reversed colors. Whatever rules of physics applied to this place they were totally off the scale. Even Echo's (Karra) simple wish of turning Hype's hair black somehow... missfired.

It didn't only change her hair... it seemed to invert her totally. Hype's formerly white skin turned black, his dark eyes became whitish bright. It was as if Hype had become the photonegative of Djane instead of just having his hair turned black.

Tessa waited until everyone was aboard and then gently lifted the platform up which felt like a feather in her strong arms. It was odd using physical force instead of using the powers of her mind to move things... but this had an odd... almost thrilling quality. Her sharp eyes scanned for the horizon trying to make something out that would make sense flying to.

"According to my readout you should had to 336° relative to our position...", then she realized that without having some kind of instrument it would be impossible to tell where to. "I mean that direction.", she added quickly and watched Tessa lift them off the ground. That should be me..., she thought as a slight pang of jealousy crossed her heart.

Tessa acknowledged the directions and slowly picked up speed. After a few miles she started to see something in the distance... a familiar object.

"I think I can see something... it's a... a pyramid.", Tessa proclaimed automatically slowing down as she refocused her eyes to see if there were any demons nearby - but she couldn't see any.

"It's deserted... it seems.", she flew a few miles closer until the others could make it out, too and then slowed down putting the platform gently on the ground.

"Now what?", Tessa asked looking expectantly at her friends.

Karra immediately started a new scan as she reconfigured the DRUID.

Djane and Hype instantly felt an itching on their skins - as if something was truly odd about this place. It felt like it came directly from the pyramid which wasn't a good thing... as if Magic would be twisted even more the closer you got to the building.

Click to reveal..

ooc: Time to make plans I suppose. The Pyramid ahead is roughly half the size of the former. This one looks more like a ziggurat and the entrance seems to be on the midlevel instead of the top. There are absolutely no demons around here but the ground about half mile radius around it looks ashen and bones of all kinds and shapes reach out - just like the ground you saw around the first gate you passed through. The more time elapses the less alien your new body feels like and the more difficult it gets to remember who you supposedly are...

[Djane]

"We need to be careful," said Djane, apparently oblivious to the problems faced by the others. "Magic feels like a funhouse mirror here. All warped and weird."

[Tesstarossa]

"Well we made a plan last time and it got kinda messed up, I'm all for trying the direct approach." To that End Tessa set down the makeshift flying carpet and began heading towards the pyramid.

[MegaGirl]

Echo Karra watched Tessa in her body walk towards the ziggurat with strides more than twice as long as hers, a slight frown on her face. Then the arched an eyebrow at the rest of her companions.

"By nature, this dimension seems to be the definition of chaos. That stated, it would appear to be a losing proposition to try to plan for the inherently unpredictable." Karra nodded at the towering Tessa. "As impulsive as MegaGirl is being, it may not be a disastrous course of action. We will have to be alert to our changing environement, and react decisively and accordingly to it. And I will continue scanning various spectrums with the DRUID, in the event that I can get a clear, reasonable reading that may inform us to the nature of our quandary."

Karra? Karra dropped her head, and whispered, "I wish to leave this demesne as expediently as possible."

[SalmonMax]

"I agree," Echo replied with Serene's lips. "Head straight for the top. I think I'm starting to get this."

It's Dante's Inferno, she thought to herself. These pyramids are the doors to the next 'ring.' Eventually, in theory, we'll get to the top one, and then get out. The question REALLY is...how did it come to this in the first place? What the hell is a door to Hell doing on Pluto?

[Djane]

Djane gripped the railing carefully as they flew, hoping that it wouldn't turn into peanut butter or plutonium when it hit magical flux.

[Tesstarossa]

Tessa nodded. "I want outa here too."

[Rorx]

What now thought Hype as Karra wished his hair black, and he was distressed t feel a tingle all over. Looking down he saw that he had been turned into a negative version of Djane, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Well it could have been much worse I guess.

He joined the others on the platform and continued on to the pyramid/ziggurat when they landed.

[Joani]

In the meantime…

The room was dark and cold – no, it wasn’t just dark, it was the absence of light.

Herak blinked several times and then tried to reach out to the light within but nothing happened. What in Helios’ name… – a sharp pain just behind his eyes made him twitch the moment he thought Helios’ name.

Practically blind he got up – he was lying on something soft, maybe a bed of some kind and carefully found his way to the edge. Still unable to make out any shapes Herak made insecure steps forward with his arms extended hoping to find a wall and not a hole in the floor he would fall into. His hands found something solid only a few steps away about 5 feet from the bed he left behind.

Why can’t I reach Helios? he asked himself again followed by a painful stab, this time in his spine. His knees buckled and he stumbled forward knocking down part of the wall he was trying to lean against to stop his fall.

What? The…, he heard a heavy shattering sound and coughed several times until the dust had settled. He just broke through a concrete wall as if it was made of loose beachsand. As he stood up he noticed some other ‘changes’. His body felt oddly large and bulky. He slowly reached with his arms to examine his body feeling large muscles and veins covering his torso and arms. His hands had long nails, almost like claws and something was itching on his back but he couldn’t reach it.

What is happening to me?, he stumbled backwards and hunched back forward again to keep him from falling. “What is happening to me?!” he yelled his voice not his own. It was a deep beast like below that echoed through the darkness of the room…

Silence answered him.

Click to reveal..

OOC: CC - yes, that's you.

[Celestial Centurion]

Herak felt confused and angry. Alone in this incessant darkness he reached out to his powers, to the solar power that had suffused his being since the day Hælious had made Herak his herald. Now, wrapped in darkness, his body twisted and warped into something monstrous, Herak found that the light was not there, the heat, the life giving solar power was beyond his reach. Fear crept into his mind for the first time in years, and its very presence, the raw fact that he could feel fear made his fear deepen and grow. Temporarily overcome Herak sunk to the ground, the floor, whatever it was, wherever he was, and despaired.

[z-Watchwoman]

Serene had been quiet, considering things as the platform moved toward the pyramid. She had a bit of bone in her hand; she practiced getting it to rise and follow precise, intricate patterns in the air. She needed to have a minimal mastery in Tessa's powers in case of combat.

But deeper inside, she felt relief. Relief that the burden was someone else's; that she didn't have to worry about losing her moral compass for that second it would take to mess everything up. She felt relief that Tessa's body had no surprises waiting for her.

Covertly, she watched Echo - herself, whatever - sit on the platform, wondering if she even knew, or if not knowing was the key. Maybe if you didn't have the temptation, you didn't sin.

It was a pleasant thought. And a tempting one, to find a way to stay out of her body, to not have those dark desires.

The platform began to lower and Serene dropped the bone with pale fingers. When it was on the ground, she stepped off and stared up at the Pyramid. "Let's stay close to one another," she said, glancing at Echo/herself. "I don't want to lose anyone else."

[Joani]

Just as Watchwoman finished her sentence Echo felt a strange sensation spreading over her body. It was something she had been struggling with ever since she got on the platform but tried to discard it as anxiety. Now that she stepped of and took a few steps to get her bearings the feeling increased. It was under her skin, tempting, speaking to her in a seductive voice.

Her heart beat faster and her breathing increased as the whispers got louder and louder. Just before it was too much a dreadful sense of desperation swept over her. Oddly enough it came in waves from the Pyramid and after a few seconds she could differentiate between her own emotions and the waves she got aware of. Someone was breaking down inside that Pyramid, someone who needed help.