Forward to the Past

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-<* Inferno's Wildfire *>-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

         A kobold pirates a ship through the waves.

         Channel: InfernoChan

         Add: addcom inc=InfernoChan

         Cheat Sheet: http://bit.ly/pnmTow

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Svarshan        Be a brightscale! Chomp a demon!                      0s   4d

Inferno         Insert witty remark here.                             49s  1h

Sandy           The HIPpest elf ever. Practically a HIPpy.            1m   2d

Myrana          Short young woman with coal-black braids.             14m  34m

Jareth          Tall young man with a strong build, wearing full plat 14s  1h

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Inferno's Generator

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Out <O>                   

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While going about your daily business, each of you receives a letter. The letter comes either from a messenger boy or as part of the daily mail delivery to wherever you make your home. The contents of these letters are identical.

"Dear friend!

It is I, Professor Hieronymous Fizzlefuse. But I am not the youthful, vigorous industrial titan with which you are no doubt familiar! No, I am writing you this letter... FROM THE FUTURE!" 'FROM THE FUTURE' has been written much larger for emphasis. "I write to you, Alexandria's greatest heroes of this age, to set right a terrible wrong. The hour is fast approaching when I will perfect my time traveling device and unlock the awesome power of free temporal movement! You must stop me from accomplishing this! This is a power gnomes were not meant to have, and the consequences will be disasterous! I cannot contact my past self directly for fear of destabilizing the time/space continumn even further! This task falls to you. I will make this breakthrough in my central laboratory in the Industrial District at precisely..."

A day and time is given. It's today. About two hours before any of you received this letters. "... Time is of the essence. You must not fail!

Sincerely,

Professor Fizzlefuse

FROM THE FUTURE!"

Upon arrival in the Industrial district, it is immediately apparent that something is very wrong indeed. The air wobbles and wiggles like a desert mirage. Street lamps pop unexpectedly. A faint ringing can be heard in the air. The few people on the street seem decidedly unnerved.

Svarshan reads the letter. He reads the letter again. And then he stands there, rooted into place and an expression of slow and inexorable horror over taking his features. By the time they get to the industrial district, his shaking hands have at least put the booze away.

Sandy suddenly appears in the Industrial District. Teleportation is win.

"All right. Who in the hells is Fizzlefuse exactly? I've heard the name a number of times but I guess I'll be meeting him. A... time travelling gnome sounds disastrous, though." It's directed at Svarshan. "You got the letter too, I'm guessing."

Upon sight of the chaos within the square, Jareth calls for all the people to start exiting the area from where he and the others arrived before asking a watchman to rally his comrades with his whistle, "Block the area, three blocks away, if you can!"

The letter arrives on Myrana's nightstand already opened and rather creased, but as it contained no money and most of the Oxleys are only theoretically literate, it actually makes it to her.

She arrives wearing a fine chocolate brown walking dress trimmed in black, her dark hair bound up with a wooden comb. She did not rush, because as she figures it, gnomes who mess with time travel are probably up to something she doesn't really want to be involved in anyhow. But anyhow, she shows up, so there's that. Rum rides on the top of her bustle like a snoring moss, face tucked into his own chest and tiny white oyster mushrooms growing in spots on his cat back.

"Hrmph," she says to the people she recognizes. "Is he asking for money or something?"

Svarshan's hand twitches to his side. That's where he had hid the booze. "Yes," is all he manages. It twitches again as Myrana arrives. For some, you know, unknown reason.

There's a horrible sound like a sheet of metal being ripped in half. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a massive tyrranosaurus rex with mottled reddish skin stands in the middle of the square. It towers above the buildings, looking angered and confused. It marches forward and lets out a terrible roar, looking about ready to smash something. Then the metal-ripping sound repeats, and the monstrous creature vanishes as abruptly and inexplicably as it appeared.

That can't bode well. The few remaining people on the streets hurry indoors.

Myrana's mug of coffee (she really didn't hurry) smashes on the street.

"...oh," says Sandy.

"Oh, /come on/." That's the response to the appearance of the massive dinosaur in the middle of the area. She puts a hand over her face. That really is all she can do for the moment. The smashing of Myrana's pewter mug has her turning towards her and breaking out into a smile. "Oh, /Myrana/. So good to see you. And Jareth! Well. Seems we're going to have an old fashioned party!"

Deep breath. Deep, slow breath. Svarshan looks over his shoulder and catches Jareth's eye. He jerks his muzzle towards Myrana. Not too far away, Srassha looks up. She'd been nuzzling some of the trash. Inspecting it, poking it. ...there's a few cans turned over.

When /that/ appears, though, she looks up. And...and...all but prances over to where they are. Her head comes up, her tail sways side to side, and her giant feet and princess-toes just wriggle.

Deep breath. Deeper breath. "I have a headache," Svarshan says, you know. Just in general.

Jareth draws his sword as the massive lizard appears. The blade erupts with a wreath of flames its whole length, leaving a fiery trail as he whirls the weapon overhead, hoping to distract the beast away from civilians before it suddenly blinks away as quickly as it appeared.

Serene has arrived.

The few intact streetlights remaining shatter in unison, spraying glass across the street. Cracks appear in the windows of a few nearby businesses. The shimmering quality in the air worsens, particularly around the building housing Fizzlefuse's laboratory.

Myrana recovers, but not smoothly. "Zounds!" She exclaims, because if there were ever a time for that sort of thing to pop out of a person's mouth, this would be it. Sandy's derision makes her blush though, and purse her lips in annoyance. "Sandy, dearest," she returns, brushing shards from her skirts and clearing her throat to repair her dignity somewhat. "It'd appear that troublesome gnome thinks we'll help clean up his mess." She clacks over to stand with the other sorceress, tossing her head. "What do you say we twist his nasty ears once we find him? I had a dozen things to take care of today, and giant lizards was not on the lis-AAH!" She jumps at the sparkling explosion of the streetlamps and then glares at the now-dark street, blue eyes flashing in annoyance.

"You know," says Sandy, "That soudns like a positively lovely idea. It's been forever since I had the chance to slap anyone who deserved it." By 'forever', she means at least a few hours. She's slap happy. Anyways, she's beginning to approach the LABORATORY. Because it's nto merely qa 'lab'. "FIZZLEFUSE," she yells. "I AM TOLD YOU ARE A VERY SILLY GNOME. How do you respond to these charges?" Because, you know, that should totally work.

Serene has chosen the airborne approach. Perhaps not the wisest but almost certainly the swiftest means of getting her here... and the temporal disturbances (not that she'd recognize them as such) seem to justify her choice. The silver winged griffon screeches... he does love his entrances, after all... and buffets a small area before him as his wings beat mightily to stall his dive. And then he settles down, and his paladin hops from the saddle to look at everyone else who has gathered. She looks grimmer than usual. And more disapproving, her lips tight. And all she says is, "Gnomes."

Svarshan jerks as the glass breaks and scatters all over the street. He grasps the saddle leathers, then after a second moment--swings up into them. The leather's creak has the sound of an old familiarity. Sort of like an old man's knee. After another moment...he grins at Myrana, then...his look turns odd. "She really iss. An Althean," he says underneath his breath, the words slow and not unlike someone who'd uncovered that the firearm was really a bazooka with a gnome at the other end of it. Then, taps Srassha forward until he's mildly, you know. In front of Sandy.

Svarshan looks back to Serene, and huffs. A sith's version of a grunt, to be sure. Serene speaks wisdom. Absolut. Truth.

"What's that now?" A window slides open on the second floor of the laboratory (not some mere 'lab') and Fizzlefuse pokes his head out. The gnome is wearing a white labcoat and a thick pair of goggles, and looks quite annoyed by this intrusion into his work. "I am in the middle of something /very important/ here, and I do not need any interruptions!"

Several windows shatter. The ground shakes ominously.

Jareth braces his feet beneath himself as he calls up to the Gnome, "Professor! Whatever it is you are doing, you must stop immediately!" before pointing his sword to all of the shattered streetlamps and windows.

"Yes, you do! YOu need interruption. You'r about to do something colossally gnomeike, I'm sure, and this can not be allowed." She's stepping out from behind Svarshan and heading /straight for the lab/. Seems she's intent on forcing her way in if she can!

Myrana puts her hands on her hips and leans forward, bristling with static electricity as the street around her intensifies in scariness. This is not the place to be! There's broken glass everywhere, and she has the feeling that the paving stones are about to split open into a great gaping maw and gobble them all up. Except for Serene. Who has a griffin. Damn her and her flair! "Is that something 'being a dimwitted clock-winding old buffoon'? There's nothing under your hat but hair! Stop it right this instant before you break any more windows!"

Svarshan starts to say a thing, then--lurches forward and grasps Sandy's shirt. "Rock," he manages. "Sssomeone get a rock." He's great with words, with explanations. Things like that.

"We have no time for this," Serene declares. Perhaps somewhat oddly... she's never disagreed with diplomacy before. But the evidence, to her, is all around. "We must take him. Apologize later. We should fly to the window. I can drop a rope for anyone who cannot get up there quickly."

"Look, I've done extensive safety testing." Fizzlefuse assures in an extremely dismissive tone. "Just clear the area and wait it out. I'm on the verge of a breakth-" The ripping metallic sound repeats, only much, much louder than before. Everything goes swimmy and wobbly. It's similar to teleportation, but the disorientation that comes with it is much, much worse.

When things clear up, you're all someplace entirely different. Someplace dimly lit, full of the sound of machinery at work. It stinks of oil and smoke.

Srassha lifts her feet. Delicately. A moment later, she begins to hover a few inches off the air, and when she does? She gives a disdainful SNIFF. Her rider's still grasping the back of Sandy's shirt (if he'd ever managed). ...except now he has the most flummoxed expression on his features that ever a sith did...have.

"Oh /damn it/," says Sandy as they are suddenly somewhee else. "Well, /this/ isn't good. Where are we? Where did he take us?" A pause. "The question isn't 'when' did he take us, is it? Please don't be when."

Sandy eyes Svarshan. /Eyes/ him.

Serene's feet slide apart slightly to brace herself... even as the terrain starts to wobble and wiggle, she's prepared for the worse. Gauntlet gripping Silver's reins. And even prepared, when all is said and done, she's down on one knee. Her face is stone. "Gnomes," she repeats. And her voice, if it's only the slightest bit unsteady, is even darker now. She hauls herself up, takes stock of the new surroundings. And draws a sword.

Jareth was about to charge the door when everything suddenly shifts. Coughing at the smell of oil and smoke, his face breaks into a scowl beneath the half-visor of his helm, "Not where." and then a sigh, "When. The little bastard changed when we are."

Svarshan looks over at Sandy. He lets go of the shirt. Then he looks slowly around them at the wreckage. The... There are very few words. He uses the sith's word for: hell. "...doesss. Anyone recognize. Thiss?"

As the fuzziness fades and your senses return, more of the immediate surroundings becomes clear. You're in some sort of factory. Artifice of all kinds surround you. They're assembling something. Armor? If it's armor, it's too massive to be for anyone but some kind of giantkin. Massive plates of steel and iron are welded together with showers of sparks, forming vaguely humanoid shapes.

Myrana picks herself up off the ground, coughing and looking like she might be a little ill. She doesn't say anything, though. Its pretty well known how much the bar owner hates teleportations. Nothing good ever has come out of them. Not ever. She looks up at the huge suit of armor and scowls, taking shallow breaths to recover.

"Hush!" Serene demands, not quite commands, releasing her griffon's reins to hold a gauntleted hand, palm up. Not that anyone was actually talking. She cocks her head, then her gaze slides up, up, seeking something.

Svarshan stills as the fuzziness clears away and the images of the armored beasts begin to fill it. "..." he starts to say, and chokes on the word. He heels Srassha sideways and then in a slow circle, the two of them getting a slow look at the place. Her feet hover off the ground.

Myrana clears her throat and pushes her hair out of her face, glowering. Her comb has become lost, but she doesn't go looking for it in the murk. "It's a g-" then Serene holds up her hand and she shuts her mouth.

The source of Serene's concern becomes obvious shortly. A flickering light cuts through the darkness up above, two figures who look human walking on a catwalk above the production floor you've fallen onto. One is short, stocky, masculine, wearing metal armor. The other is tall, feminine, pale, wearing a flowing red robe. They seem to be talking, though it is difficult to hear them over the din of the machinery.

Svarshan's shoulders slump for just a moment. And then he makes a sign with his claws. Forming the words in the hand-sign: Who?

"..oh... oh /shit/," says Sandy.

"This is /so not good/. Okay, first? WE're in the past. Second? We're in the past. /Third? Gods /damn/ it, Fizzlefuse. These are Altima's golems. They used to produce them in uge quantities in Alexandria during the Sorceess Wars. We've been dropped /right into the middle of Altima' reign'. The height of her power, I'd wager. And that's her /right there/." She gestures at the woman in the red robes. "We need to go. We can't risk doing *anything* that might change history until we can figure out how to get back."

Svarshan shuts his muzzle, then looks around. If there's a good place for hiding, or escaping, he'll take it.

At the tap from her rider, Srassha begins moving towards That Hiding Spot. She lifts her huge legs in an exaggerated fashion that declares: THE PRINCESS IS SNEAKING.

Serene's grip on her sword tightens. Altima. The chance... but, like times before, she defers to Sandy's judgement on matters that are far, far beyond her own understanding. So she doesn't immediate join with Silver to fly up to the catwalk. She doesn't call out to get the pair's attention. And she does try to move out of view. Her and a big, horse sized lion-bird. Not that it seems like it would make much difference. "Getting out without being seen will be quite the trick, Sandy," she says, her voice low.

Altima, the woman in the fine red robes, scowls as she steps forward to the railing of the catwalk. Her cold eyes scan the dark factory floor, and her lips twist down into a scowl. "Intruders." She hisses in a thick, archaic accent, glaring at the man beside her. "You told me you'd secured this facility. "Milday, I-" "Silence. Activate the golems. Destroy them. Show me these 'perfect soldiers' of yours." The man in the armor shouts out a series of phrases that sound Kulthian.

Four of the completed armored creatures suddenly lurch to life. The space where their eyes should be glows with a fiery light. They stagger to terrifying heights, raising fists of heavy steel. This does not bode well.

Inferno dropped Inferno's Timestop!

ATTENTION!!!

Inferno has dropped a Timestop. Please +init, then cease all roleplay and actions immediately and wait for Inferno to instruct you further. For additional in-combat commands, please type: +thelp.

Karelin has arrived.

Just as all this madness is happening, Karelin (who also received one of Fizzlefuse's letters) is arriving at Fizzlefuse's laboratory in present day Alexandria. Almost immediately upon said arrival, everything goes strange and swimmy. Now he's in some sort of dimly lit factory where a red-robed woman is yelling at the other adventurers and a bunch of massive iron golems are advancing menacingly. What's going on? Who knows! Doesn't seem good, at any rate.

The failure at stealth almost seems to... please Serene. No, please is the wrong word. But does seem almost satisfied. A small, slim rod is wielded.. with it, the paladin fires off a pair of prayers, then slides into Silver's saddle, sword still in hand. "Time to fly, my friend."

Karelin's response to danger? Draw his sword! What could go wrong?,

Myrana's mouth pops open into a silent startled 'oh!' and she reaches out automatically to grab Jareth's elbow, meaning to pull him behind one of the great bellows to hide. But the woman in red above sees the great gawping group of them, and so instead she swears, and instead of tugging, slaps his pauldron with a flash of purple lightning that smells of sulphur before drawing back from the onrushing golems. "How bad would killing everyone be?" She calls to Sandy, horrified.

winces as the group is spotted, just as Myrana was trying to pull him into concealment. Feeling the rush of the enchantment she casts, the warrior pulls a vial from his belt and downs the potion in short order.

Jareth winces as the group is spotted, just as Myrana was trying to pull him into concealment. Feeling the rush of the enchantment she casts, the warrior pulls a vial from his belt and downs the potion in short order.

"Milady..." The man in armor on the catwalks speaks up again. "... shall I instruct the golems to capture one of them? Interrogate them as to their purpose here?" "No." The woman in the red robes replies coldly. "Suffer not a single one of them to live." She utters magic and waves her hand, and she vanishes from sight. Teleported? Invisible? Hard to say. "... As you wish." The armored man says before shouting more command words.

The golems advance. They emit a terrible choking black smoke as they move, which quickly fills the lower level. It becomes difficult to breathe, although the group weathers it well enough. Their fists strike targets seemingly at random, displaying an incredible strength and a surprising speed considering their metal construction. One takes advantage of Karelin's confusion and gives him the worst of it, a metal punch to the face that would instantly kill any average man.

First, Sandy is where she /was/. Then she's up in the air, hovering, surrounded by water. A circle of water that just envelops her. She's still casting spells. Moreover, suddenly, /a number of demons/ appear near the golems. Yes, that's right. /Demons/. Glabrezus. You know, the ones with the big pincer hands and so on? Right near the golems.

"Forgive me, friends," intones Sandy, "but I really don't want to call a bunch of celestials from whatever they're doing right now. These things are just expendable. Kill 'em yourself if you want. Please. Sort of hate the buggers." Her fingertips are looking noticably claw like at the moment with smoke curling off their tips.

"Attention stupid demons: go fight the golems."

The demons /do not look happy/. IN fact, they're all glaring at Sandy rather murderously, but they do as they are told.

Karelin has reconnected.

Twitch. STARE.

"SSSAAAA--YOU!" he remembers at the last instant. He settles on that horrible, inexorable: YOU. "YOU JUSSST EARNED A VISSIT WITH THE. HIGH. FATHER!!!"

That explains what he does with the golem. The shaman-gifted weapon cleaves into the armor, leaving wreckage behind. Even Srassha gets into it, snarling and snapping. She grabs a mouthful of golem and spits it at Sandy.

OH YES YOU JUST DID, that look says.

The horrible metal ripping sound is heard again. And that's in addition to the sound of Svarshan and his mount violently dismantling one of the golems. The air is starting to take on some of that swimmy quality it had back in present day Alexandria. The golem master looks confused and alarmed, though that may just be him reacting to the destruction of his creation.

Karelin has partially disconnected.

A flash of briefly disturbs Serene's visage as Altima disappears, but she doesn't dwell on it. Another spell and her sword is bathed in light and gold.. then another weapon is drawn, a dark metalled warhammer.

Karelin has reconnected.

Karelin has partially disconnected.

Karelin profoundly objects to the golem's face punch. Wings sprout from his heels and he springs into the air, rising out of the smoke. His sword's runes scribe lines in the vision as he swings, blade punching through one elbow, then the other, leaving limbs dangling. Then he drives his sword through the golem's face, mostly out of spite, then caves in it's chest cavity before shearing off the head entirely. A flick of the wrist flips a gear from the tip of his sword.

Coughing and choking on the noxious breath of the golems, Myrana backs away and opens the flap of her magic leather satchel. Out of it comes a broom. Then, with a garbled word, she dissapears in a snap of brackish purple.

Weathering the golem's horrendous blow as best he can, Jareth pivots himself inside its reach. His weapon causes sparks to fly with each blow, whittling away pieces of the automaton. But it's when he slams his shield into it. The sound of the impact rebounds of all the steel in the place, and he actually manages to shove the hulking construct back a full stride of its gait.

The golem master, panicked, shouts more command words. At the far end of the factory floor another pair of massive golems come to life. These ones appear similar to their brethern, but instead of metal fists they appear to have small cannons for arms. Small functional cannons, evidently, which they swiftly fire upon Karelin and Svarshan. Fortunately, their armor shields them from the worst of the blast. Their surviving brethern have more success, approaching the same targets and raining down on them with furious fists of iron.

Meanwhile, in the air above the floor, four balls of glowing red hot magical power suddenly appear from nothing. They zoom down at the floor, aiming at Jareth, Karelin, and Svarshan. While Jareth dives out of the way, the other two collide with their targets and explode in a terrible blast of flame that engulfs much of the battlefield. The fourth sphere zooms at Sandy, but suddenly reverses course and flies back where it came, detonating seemingly harmlessly.

The grinding metal sound grows worse. The air shimmers and warps. And suddenly, BOOM! There's the T-rex again. The same gigantic red tyrannosaurus that was rampaging through the Industrial Square earlier. It has to hunch to fit in this space, and looks confused and angry. As does the golem master. "WHAT IS GOING ON?"

"Demons! Go be useful and die!" Sandy points at the cannon wielding creatures.

Then the T-rex appears. She turns towards it. She stares at it.

"You know, this day just gets worse. And worse."

And her form begins to twist, balloon, grow scaled. There is now a silver dragon in Sandy's place.

"Yeeees. I don't get to do that anywher nearly often enough. How great am I?"

"Up, Silver," Serene says quietly, then the two fly up to the catwalks, landing almost on top of the Golem Master. Her shining blade bites, and Silver's beak gashes, but the fellow remains standing.

Karelin twists in the air, shifting and twisting in the air, sword dancing glittering in the air. His sword disassembles another golem, neat pieces falling to the ground in a rain of newly inanimate iron.

There is a ripple in the air above the battle near the metal walkway, and then Myrana reappears, hovering some ways up in the air on her broom.

Seizing the edge as the golem lumbers to attack Svarshan, Jareth slices into its knee joint before continuing a horrible assault into its leg and hip, finally causing the construct to topple over and lock up as its spark dies out.

"Dragon! Bring down the dragon!" The golem master shouts, wincing as he draws a massive hammer from his back and begins swinging at Serene. The man is clearly a skilled and seasoned warrior, his skill evident as he strikes at her with great strength and lightning speed. The surviving golems obey his command, raising their arms and firing another volley of cannon fire at Sandy-dragon. One cannonball hits her solidly.

Meanwhile, another eight spheres of red-hot energy appear above the floor, zooming down below. Svarshan and Karelin are both pelted with numerous powerful explosives which detonate immediately. Jareth is caught in the blast, but he quickly has even worse problems when the t-rex roars, leans in, and chomps down on him before lifting him into the air.

The Golems are still a threat, and the four Glabrezu are busily striking away at it. In the meantime, Sandy the Dragon (are her hips huge in this form also?) is casting more magic.

SUddenly, /more/ things appear faster than seems possible. Tall, lithe women with great wings.

They take one look at DragonSandy and turn and look at each other and at about the same time utter, "You have GOT to be kidding me. You can't have us AND them," with regards to the demons.

"Shh. Just... do as asked. We're not even supposed to be here today, or are we? I'm not sure. Anyways, my friend over there are good people and possibly dying. Help them."

BOth of the trumpet archons proceed to invoke healing magics, bolstering the heroes and soothing their accumulated wounds.

Karelin has disconnected.

Karelin has connected.

"Hey," Svarshan says. The sound of leather wings hits the air, and a warm glow settles over the Jareth's shoulders. Srassha shoulders sideways, slamming into the greater reptile. As she does, her rider shifts gears, bringing his axe down in the opening she creates.

HOly blade in one hand, adamantine hammer in the other... the 'duel' is less about finess and showmanship than it is brute force, trading blow for.. well, a rain of blows. There isn't much room to maneuver, after all, what with the paladin being on a griffon's back on the catwalk.

As Serene strikes the golem master again and again, she has him on the verge of death. The next blow will all but certainly be a fatal one. But as she goes in for that final blow, something stops her at the last moment. An impossibly strong force. Everything seems to freeze in place for a second.

Then, the sound comes again. That horrible metallic ripping, a ringing that fills everyone's ears. The air shimmers, and the swimmy, disorienting teleportation takes hold again.

When the fog clears, you're back in slightly more familiar surroundings. More familiar to some of you, anyways. It's the laboratory (not lab) of Professor Fizzlefuse. The golems, their master, the invisible Altima, and dead t-rex are gone. It's a mess, like usual. But almost everything seems to have been cleared out for one massive contraption of artifice, a collection of crystals and clockwork that stretches across the massive space. The gnome, still in his labcoat and goggles, barely looks up from tinkering with the machine. "Visitors? And a dragon?" He adjusts his goggles. "... You'll have to come back later. I am /very/ busy."

Timestop: Inferno's Wildfire has left.

No doubt there are a lot of screaming people because OH SHIT DRAGON.

Sandy pauses. SHe stares down at Fizzlefuse andsays, "No. Just no. You are not busy. In fact, you're going to not finish this or I am going to EAT YOU. You have no idea how much trouble you just caused." She points a finger at Fizzlefuse and begins to chant, "We can talk AFTER you come back from the other dimension."

Jareth has disconnected.

When she can move again, Serene actually snarls. It's a soft, almost private thing... and almost reluctantly, she puts her sword and hammer away. And, perhaps notably, does not make any attempt at all to chide Sandy for her threat. Or make any attempt at all to prevent the dragon from banishing the gnome. She doesn't speak at all... probably trying to contain the rage she feels and not let it spill over on to anyone under five feet of height.

Karelin slams his sword back into it's scabbard, dropping back down into a normal stance. A non-killing-you-now kind of place. It's always pretty jarring, after all. Then there's a pause, as he looks around. "That rat bastard."

Svarshan puts the axe away. He stares at the spot where Fizzlefuse had been standing. Then he looks up, up, up at the silver dragon. Opens his mouth.

Closes it.

"Bwwaaaa..." That's the sound Fizzlefuse makes in the short time before he is banished to another dimension. A dimension full of mazes.

Sandy turns back to herself, slowly shrinking. "Okay. When he gets back, we need to tell him that he's caused an /utter disaster/. Which he will. And to write the letters. He should be back really soon. Everyone on the story? Great."

Karelin pauses. "Can we punch him?"

The horrible contraption, presumably Fizzlefuse's time machine in progress, continues to beep and whirr in the absence of its creator.

Svarshan is making a gurgling sound. And then he goes over. And takes it out on the damn contraption.

Serene frowns at the clock, then at the machine.. then at the empty space where the gnome once stood. Then at the machine again. An eye twitches, her fists clench. And then.... "Do we smash it? Or wait for him to return to turn it off?"

And then the Sith goes to smash things. The other paladin takes a deep, measured breath. Fingers brush the head of her hammer. Then she shrugs, draws it, and lends a little bit more adamantine metal to the cause.

Myrana watches Svarshan do this, still sitting on her broom halfway up to the cieling of the laboratory. Straightening her back, she lowers her hands to grip the broom, knuckles turning white... and then lets out a breath, and floats down to the floor. She steps off and looks around. If she sees the schematics, she grabs them up and rolls them tightly into a tube.

Karelin pauses. "You know, how do we go back if the machine can't send us?"

It's a nice axe. Midway through, Svarshan lifts the blade up to admire it. Only it's just between smashings. A lot of smashings. And then he looks over at Karelin. And hits the machine. Again.

Fizzlefuse, for all his insanity, is still a genius in his own way. Especially when it comes to logical problem solving. So he actually seems to solve the maze fairly quickly, compared to most. After a little time has passed, he's back in the lab. "And another thing, I..." He eyes his bashed machine, and is immediately distraught. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

Sandy lunges at Fishbelly and says, "YOU'VE BEEN TO THE FUTURE! And the FUTURE, thanks to YOUR machine, has been transformed into a..into a TWISTY MAZE of PASSAGES that are ALL ALIKE. WE are damned souls, Fizzlefuse! DAMNED SOULS! You must warn our past selves! We've not much time before the paradox consumes us! Save the future, Fizzlefuse! This experiment can not be allowed to proceed or REALITY UNRAVELS!"

"I feel better," Svarshan says. And then he looks over at the gnome. Scowls at him, really. And... "You...hurt. A lot of people." And then more solemnly. "You kicked a puppy." He feels so much better. But Sandy says it so much better.

Fizzlefuse is clearly anguished at the loss of his masterpiece. It seems to take a while for Sandy's ramblings to sink in, but they do eventually. "... I see. I have flown too close to the sun, and my wings have melted. Like they did that first time I tested the personal gnome flight device, before I perfected the heat-resistant wax." He sighs heavily, tears in his eyes. "... The temporal transportalizer must be shut down. For the good of the maze-filled future."

"..." And...it's back to not speaking. Again. Svarshan stares at Fizzlefuse for a while. A very long while. His hand sort of, you know, twitches. He reaches up to scratch at Srassha's neck. ...who seems to thoughtfully be sorting through bits of the wreckage on her own.

Karelin pauses, then opens his mouth, then closes his mouth. He shrugs and smiles at Svarshan beatifically. "Good for you."

Myrana tucks the rolled up plans into the front of her coat with a dry crinkle of papers. "Quite," she says to Fizzlefuse.

Every once in a while there is a crossroads in life. On the one hand, it's hardly common practice for Serene to support a lie of any sort. There is character in honest.

On the other hand....

Serene's lips remain closed, her hammer goes away, and she folds her arms.

"The future has been changed! THe paradox will consume us. YOU MUST WARN HEROES, FIzzlefuse! So that they can change the future and undo the damage that may have already been done! You must try for all our sakes! If things seem okay tomorrow, it surely would've worked. Farewell, brave gnome. Do what you must do."

And then she teleports them away with a flash of light. The PARADOX ATE THEM.

Karelin has disconnected.

Myrana goes OOC.

Myrana has left.