Thread: The Quest (Story)

He took the weapon and put it on his belt . He noticed that out of the corner of his eye a guard ran inside the tower and suddenly a loud noise that sounded like a High pitched howl. "I think they know we are here. I don't think we have time to wait, we have to hurry," he said as he led them toward the open door of the tower.

Tinklington secured his goggles in place, holding his rod at the ready. He hated the idea of killing anything. In his mind true heroes didn't do that- true heroes could win without killing. It wasn't chivalrous. On the other hand, Chivalry demanded that he protect Kiylo and to do that it might involve having to kill- or at least seriously incapacitate attackers. He stepped in front of her and smiled, "Stay by my side, I will protect you."

Like the Knight he wanted to be (and knew he wasn't), Tink patted Kiylo's back in a reassuring manner as they walked toward the door. "Just take a deep breath and think positively. If you get too afraid, use the belt and hide, alright? It is okay to hide if you are afraid. You can still shoot things if you are hidden." He followed Kitori, his Stunning Rod at the ready, trying to keep Kiylo by his side so he could at least buy her time to activate the belt and escape should things go wrong. "Into the Maw we go..."

Inside the tower there was a map hung on the wall, Kitori took it down and looked it over. "Okay," he said, "We are on the bottom floor, we need to get to the Sixth Floor. This map has icons on it that show traps so Tink look at the map and memorize the places where they are. I have a feeling you can tell us where they are by recalling from memory. Here is the map, when you have memorized it and call recall where the traps are tell me and we can continue,"
He saw an unlit candle on the wall on a dish and took dish and candle. He then got out his only thing that reminded him of his dad, his lighter. He used it to light the candle which lit up the rest of the hall.

Kiylo nodded sharply, her head now rushing with adrenaline once more. She took in a shaky breath and pulled her lower lip under her teeth, keeping an eye on her surroundings.

"Thank you." she said quietly to Tink, her voice small, wavering and very not confidant. Her eyes reflected the fear in her heart, and her hands quaked as if she hadn't slept in days. Walking was something she had to think through, step-by-step. Without her current state of mind or Tink's reassuring comments, she'd probably be frozen outside still.

With Kotori in the lead, and Tink by her side, they walked into the tower that she feared so much. The place where they had entered was dark and it made her skin crawl. It was a place of nightmares to her.

Tink snorted slightly. People always assumed that if you were smart you must have some sort of photographic memory. What a crock. He was simply smart- he understood things deeply, he didn't memorize them. He knew how to apply knowledge, understood what it meant. Certainly he had to memorize some things, but once you understand something, memorization is unnecessary.

"I'm smart, not eidetic. Why do people assume they are the same thing? I'm not a savant or anything. It takes me just as long as anyone else to memorize pictures." He reached up and simply pulled the map from the wall. "This is faster and easier...it's not like we're planning on anyone else needing it again are we?" That is what smart is about- finding a solution to the problem.

He looked at Kiylo, noticing her shaking hands. He offered his own out to her, "It's okay to be scared. It takes a great amount of courage to overcome that fear and be here anyway. You should be proud." He looked to Kitori, "Shall we then?"

"Ok, I understand. Follow me, according to the map we have to get to the fifth floor to reach Hegoror. The map says this hallway has no traps and is just a straight forward. So lets go," he said as he led them to the stairs at the end of the hallway up to the second floor. The second floor was darker than the first floor, the floor was hard to see and it looked like there were spikes in blank spots of the floor. "Follow me, I have the candle. As long as you can see the floor you are okay. Watch your step. Kiylo, if you want help getting across get on my back. I can carry you," he said. He knew she would be awkward under pressure as she has been so, she would have awkward walking.

Kiylo took Tink's hand, confidence slowly coming back to her. Walking was a bit difficult for her, her steps falling un-rhythmically against he stone floor. In other circumstances, she would be blushing or socially awkward, but she was more freaked out then insane.

The tower's stairs seemed to go on for an eternity, for each good step she took, there was a trip or a stumble that equaled it out. She had no coordination in the dark, but just barely enough to make sure that she didn't bring Tink down with her.

When they got to the second floor, it was even darker. Her stomach tightened and forced the contents into her throat. She was getting really freaked out, and it was hard to think straight now. Her breathing was even more uneven then it was just moments ago.

"I... I can't see..." she said quietly, her voice squeaking very much like a mouse's.

"Tink you got anything that can make this place brighter? We can barely see!" he said. Even his candle wasn't doing much, and didn't feel like dying today.

Tink looked at Kitori through his goggles, suddenly remembering that just because he could see, didn't mean everyone else could. "Yeah, I got things to help you see." he shrugged, "Sorry, didn't think about it since I'm not having trouble."

He pulled out his pocket watch again and turned the winder a few times. Pressing it down the back opened up and he retrieved two pairs of goggles. They were different from his own- not nearly as fancy. "You should be able to see with these and they will keep your hands free." He handed a pair to each of them. "I also have some Chem-Lights. Really interesting blend of chemicals that produces a phosphorescent glow. I made them by accident one day while reading on the chemical properties of ...well, never mind, not important. The goggles are far more interesting. Special film I developed on the lenses."

Kiylo reached out blindly for the goggles he spoke of. When her fingers touched something cold and metal, she was sure she had her grip on them. Slowly lifting them to her face, she was able to see once again. A relieved sigh passed by her lips and she was fine again.

"Luminol and Hydrogen peroxide? To make it glow?" she asked, her voice starting to stop wavering. She remembered reading about this in her studies. With something else to focus on, she calmed even more, being able to navigate the room even better then she was a while ago.

"Something like that. I found- well brewed- a lovely flourophor that reacts with the hydrogen in simple water to glow. It would work with hydrogen peroxide as well obviously...but I figured I didn't need the extra oxides hanging around. I started off using zinc sulfide and a caboxyl group- but those needed sugars, so I derived something that reacted with hydrogen instead of sugar. Works much better." Tink smiled at Kiylo. "You have studied chemistry? I have studied many books on the subject. I find it helpful in my inventions. It was how I made some of those lovely glass marbles for your your weapon."

Tink offered his hand back to Kiylo, scanning the area for guards and traps, his other hand ready with his Stun Rod.

Kiylo nodded sharply, her goggles sliding down her face. She gasped quietly and pulled them back up, now able to see once again. Taking hold of the hand that he had offered for her, she walked closely with Tink.

"They call a kitchen a science lab... Its chemical reactions for hungry people." she explained quietly, keeping her voice down. She was almost back to her normal self, but adrenaline still rushed furiously through her veins.

"What is over there?" she whispered, pointing off at a figure. It was hunched over, as if it were sleeping. Kiylo stiffened and her open hand went over the weapon that was attached to her shoulder bag.

He took the goggles and put them on and then, threw the candle into the pit of spikes. "Don't touch the man," he said. He walked through the path and went over to him. "He is chained up and he is dead. He has a key on him. I think we will need it later," he said as he took the key on the dead mans body.

Tink reached up in an attempt to help Kiylo tighten her goggles a bit so they wouldn't slip. "Just pull the straps here..."

"This all seems rather too convenient. Keys on corpses, a nice map with the traps labeled. It's like they want us to get to the top." Tink frowned, looking around, then glancing to the map again. "I do not relish the thought of what is waiting for us."

Kiylo let Tink fix her goggles, the leather straps tightening around her head comfortably. She kept an eye on the corpse, a bit frightened by it. Watching Kotori take the key made her want to be sick to her stomach. Taking things from the dead was very disrespectful to her and it made her upset. But there was no inner rage, no bile racing up her throat, or the will to just turn around. She knew she had to continue through the tower. But Tink's comment didn't help the tension that was growing in her shoulders.

"Well, I do not think it will be easy when we get there but, it will be worth it once we get Hegoror. Now come across, I will go up ahead and check to make sure that there are no guards," he said as he started up the stairs to the third floor. He got to the top and saw no guards but, what looked like a lot of different switches. Some were turnable, some were like on and off, some were push and pull. "Oh shit. We have to solve a puzzle. It is a switch puzzle and there are about thirty different switches. God, I hate this tower. Tink, you see anything on the map that shows how to solve it?" he asked.

Tink looked at the map, tapping his lips for a moment as he muttered to himself. "Hmm..Half and half began...over, under, through and back again."

He looked back to the switches, examining them for another moment. Then, he reached out and started turning and flipping the knobs. After about two minutes, he looked at them again. With a smack to his forehead, he laughed. Reaching out, he pulled one more switch and it was done.

"That should be it." He looked to Kotori and Kiylo, "Think that is correct?"

"Yes, because the door is now open!" he said as he opened the door. They climbed up the the stairs to the fourth floor where they saw about five guards. "Get down!" he quietly told the two. "Okay, I have a plan. Kiylo, you use your ball gun thing to get one of them and Tink you paralyze the other four, at the same time, so Kiylo has time to get them with her gun thing," he said. He thought this made since, at least it wasn't just rush in and fight.

Kiylo bit down so hard on her lower lip that she drew blood. She was now in a situation where she would have to hurt someone, and she absolutely didn't want to be there. She whimpered and pulled the weapon off of her bag, her hands shaking wildly.

She took aim, and for a girl with trembling hands, she did okay. The little glass balls exploded at the feet of her target and she heard them cry out in agony. They were just as much human as she was and she had hurt them. She wanted to barf, to just curl up into a ball away from the rest of the world and disappear. She didn't feel worthy enough to be human.

"I-... I can't do this..." she said quietly.

As he bled out the other guards went to attack the others. "Come on men!" one of them said.
"Shit!" Kotori said, "Then, I have to get them," In a majestic motion he jumped up from the stairs and drew his sword. He stabbed the guy closest to the stairs in the stomache; took his weapon threw it at the second guy which stuck him to the wall; ran into the third guy, using the first as a shield, and had the first and third guy on his blade; pulled his sword out of the two dead bodies just barely fast enough to block the fourth guy kick him in the knee and then, slice his head off. What seemed like half an hour to him was only two minutes. He was panting at the feat he just done. He saw the key to the fifth floor on the guy Kiylo shot and took it off him and stabbed him in the heart to end his pain. "Now.... We..... Can..... Go.... To... The.... Top...." he said trying to catch his breath. He unlocked the door and went up the stairs. Finally at the top most floor, There was a huge cell containing Hegoror. "Are you guys ready?" he whispered trying not to raise suspicion. (OOC BOSS BATTLE WHEN EVERYONE IS READY!)

Tears flooded Kiylo's vision as she shook her head violently. She choked back horrible screams that wanted to rise from her throat. She didn't want to do this- she just couldn't harm anyone else. She gingerly placed the weapon on the ground and shook her head even more.

Taking a few careful steps backwards, she held her face in her hands, tears going through the gaps between her fingers.

"No... No... I ca-can't..." she sobbed. She felt her back press against the wall and she slid down helplessly, not having any energy to go on.

"Use the non-lethal balls. That is why I gave them to you. Stunners, freezers and corrosives. Don't kill if you are uncomfortable with it. I am not, that is why I have stun weapons and such." He held out his stun weapon and fired, the guards stunned for a couple of minutes. He looked green and sick as Kitori killed them. He took a step back, closer to Kiylo.

"You can just..." he paused, looking away from the violence, "just disable them." Tink cleared his throat, taking a deep breath. He looked completely sick by the whole thing, blood everywhere from the severed head, gutted guard and other wise dismembered limbs.

"Wait, he is in a cell? Why not just use the hypnoball on him while he is stuck in there?" He looked at Kiylo, "If he gets out, you freeze his feet. Remember, we don't want to kill him, apparently."

Why we aren't killinng the cannibalistic monster and everything else I don't know, but whatever. he though dubiously.

But I can't see the colors of the balls I am picking up! I can't remember what colors are for what! I am a girl who can't bring herself to kill and shouldn't of had been given a weapon in the first place. she thought furiously was tears came streaming out of her eyes.

I can't hurt people... I can only heal them. she closed her eyes and curled up against the wall, trying to block out all that was going around her. A voice tried to speak to her, trying to get her attention. She listened, but she felt as if she was out of her own head, as if her whole body was vacant.

She looked up at Tink with wide, frightened eyes, still very much freaked out. "O...okay..." she whispered, feeling as if she were being controlled. She reached out into the area where she had put down the weapon and wrapped her fingers around it before pulling into her lap.

She took a glass ball, one for freezing and loaded it into the firing mechanism, and aimed it at the cage. She left like she was not herself, that someone else had taken control of her body.

"I wish I could, but while you guys are down there arguing with each other, I am kinda busy fighting off the whole towns worth of guards." Kotori said.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWR" Hegoror said. He broke through the chains grabbed Kotori and threw him to the ceiling where there were chains that immediately held him in place there.

"OH SHIT HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPP!" Kotori said. He tried to wigle free but, it was no use the chains were too tight. He couldn't give them the orb, due to it being in his back pocket.

Seeing Hegoror grab Kitori (as Kitori got a wee bit too close), Tink flipped on Kiylo's unseeing belt, pressing the button before she could argue. "Stay here and keep out of sight. Shoot the blue for freezing or the red for sleeping. You can do it, I believe in you. You will find your courage to keep us safe." With that, he turned and went into the fray.

Tink pointed his Stun Rod at Hegoror and pressed the button, an arc of electricity shooting from it. He kept out of arm's reach of the monster (he could hardly be called a man, men don't eat people). He flicked another button on the rod and a bright, blinding light emerged from the rod- one that Kitori and Kiylo are now immune to thanks to the goggles Tink provided to them.

Hoping this would buy him some time, Tink pulled out his watch, looking for something to free Kitori from the tangle of chains on the ceiling. Finally finding an high powered Electro-Magnet, he attempted to turn it on and untangle the mass of chains by forcing them to reach for the magnet and straighten out.

Kiylo did nothing to stop Tink as he activated her belt. She listened to his pep talk before, nodded slowly. Her eyes were narrowed, and a thin line replaced the calm smile that once tinted her lips. She was not herself right now, but in survival mode.

She did as told loading up blue and red glass balls and sending them flying at Hegoror. Watching them break, her goggles had begun to fog up. She disregarded it as a blinding light made the room bright for only just a moment. Her eyes were uneffected, so she took a good look around the room.

Kotori was hanging from the ceiling by chains and Tink was helping him down, the chains being pulled by the magnet. She observed this with very little concern as she stayed where she was at, still obeying Tink's orders.

The stun of the rod did nothing but, the light blinded him,so he curled up into a ball and started rolling in every direction till he could see. He missed Tink all the time and never made it over to where Kiylo was.
Fail, the chains did not move much. It was not a tangled mess but, an imprisonment. But, the chains loosened so Kotori was able to get his hands free and grab the hypno-orb. He waited for the perfect chance to slip his legs out and hypnotize Hegoror. He found a blue ball in his pocket that went to Kiylos gun thing and so when he knew that if he could freeze Hegoror in just the right spot, he would throw it. And it wasn't long before he found the chance, because, after he was able to see the rolling made him dizzy and so Kotori threw the ball at his chest, so he could not break through. So, he slipped his legs out quickly and went to his face and showed him the orb.
Hegoror tried to resist looking at the orb but, he couldn't and soon he was hypnotized and was apart of the team. "Wha- where am I how did I get here?" the giant crab said, "Last thing I remember was Devilculitus making me one of his respected guards. Who are you three and why am I frozen? I am so cold,"
"It is okay," Kotori said, "We are saving you and we want you to join our team. We are going to end deviculituses reign forever. For, if you do not know, he has basically ruined most everyones lives,"
"Oh, well I guess I can join. I mean it isn't like I have a home to go to. But, can you unfreeze me?" he asked.

Tink did not like the idea of being on a team with a man who was a monster. Or at least did monstrous things. Truly monstrous. He could unfreeze the man, but, he decided that he deserved to suffer for a while for what he had done. He had some serious atoning to do.

"Hmm." He looked at the ice and shrugged. "Maybe I have something. But, I must admit, I don't rightly trust you much yet. How can we know you're not bluffing? We could free you and you may turn around and eat us. I am quite adverse to the idea of being eaten. I can think of numerous better ways to finish off my day." Of course, Kitori had control of him with the orb...or should anyway. Hopefully Kitori had the strength of mind to keep him hypnotized and give decent orders. It was just a mesmerism aid after all.

Kiylo stepped up to where Tink stood and still aimed the weapon at Hegoror, waiting for the order to shoot. With one hand, she undid the setting Tink had set on her belt and began to fade back into where they were. She looked over at the ingenious young man beside her and then back at the monstrosity before them.

"Will I need to hit him again...?" she asked quietly, her voice barely a whisper. She sounded almost monotonous, like a robot within human skin. She heard herself sigh quietly, but she was unsure as to why she did so. What was wrong with her?

There was a strange feeling of life tugging at the back of her mind, and suddenly it was as if she were fighting back for her mind. Survival had its share of time today, and now, it was just enough. She wanted control of her body again, to be able to heal whomever she wanted and think her own thoughts. To not have to harm others.

It felt like a headache coming on, but it was only a dull feeling, as if someone was poking the back of her neck for a long time. The pain slowly emerged, but it never got too bad. She knew she still had to hold the weapon up and wait for orders, so she couldn't let herself freak out as she had done only so long ago. She put a stop to the fight for now, but it would only continue later.

"You realize that the ice has melted enough I could just break free? But, what good would that do to your trust? I hate the things I have done as well, I did not want to do the things I did, I was controlled by a weird machine that could do multiple things. I never got a good look at it but, it was scary and was evil. I will not and will never try to hurt you guys. Where my people came from we take care of the people who help us. We were a very unliked race for the same reason that you do not like me. But, it is a long and painful story and I do not feel like saying it. Will you just set me free?" The crab man said.