War of the Overdoms: Tower of Shadow and Flame

[Bookwyrm]

"Oh, I know. That bit with the mercenary bouncing painfully off of the bullet-proof glass was especially enjoyable. Pilot, you recorded that bit, right? But a skirmish sounds lovely. Perhaps on Valentine's Day? It would be decidedly ironic to revel in blood and gore on the day everyone is supposed to be spending their time in sappily romantic proceedings."

[Lady Arwen]

"I must say, I like that plan very much. Oh! I have a scathingly brilliant idea. Perhaps we could make sure to war through Lovers Lookout. T'will be such a great way to celebrate, with red and hearts and blood--lots of blood!--scattered everywhere." Lady A giggled. What fun!

[wolfloversk]

A raven flies over to ze tower window watching ze events unfold. Eventually he takes off again and heads for ze castle...

Hours later and a mysterious sound echos across ze land...

AAAHHHHOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lady Arwen]

After finishing watching the on-goings, eating more popcorn and playing a good game of dice, Lady A finally rose to go.

"It has been a pleasure seeing both of you," she said with a smile as she collected the used tea items. "I hope to see you both again for tea at my place when that new tearoom is finished."

And, with a few flickers, Lady A and her tea things vanished.

[Bookwyrm]

"Well, it seems the drama is finished in the throne room and our guest is gone for now, so you may teleport me downstairs whenever you're ready, Pilot."

The symbiotic lifeform didn't reply and the Grand High Dark Overlord glanced over at him and raised an eyebrow. Pilot was emptying the sugar cub container into his gaping mouth and tapping the bottom to make sure all of the cubes fell out.

"I'm sorry, sir. I couldn't help myself."

[Melian_Maia]

A small pigeon flys into the Tower of Shadow and Flame bearing a message...

Minions--

I regret to announce that I (Lia) am leaving your group to join the Castle. So sorry.

--Lia

[daughter of the King]

Dot decided to stay seated and out of the way while Izzy and Joe sorted out who had the better weapon and who was going to get the upper hand in this particular situation. Although she couldn't help but giggle when Joe hit his head. It was just so......anticlimactic?

She jumped up when she heard a wolf howling. Note to self: don't be so jumpy, Dot thought to herself. Also, get a magic staff ASAP to defend yourself with. Oh, and learn how to use it. Or would a grenade launcher be more effective?

[Lucy of Narnia]

Lu stalks into the square after being away for-ever. She looks around for Izzy and loudly yells for her.

"Izzy? Izzy? Don't make me use your full name!" When Izzy does not immediately appear, Lu throws back her head and howls.

"Izzyiodinoaslodibaella, where are you?"

Lu sits in the corner, wondering if that indeed is Izzy's full name and, if not, where that came from. She shrugs, then digs into a fifty pound box of chocolate, waiting. Suddenly she jumps up runs into the highest tower that she is allowed to enter without being terminated, then yells across in the general direction of the elves' namby pamby castle: "Try whatever you want, because I'M BACK, and you will NEVER SUCCEED!"

Thus winded, she settles down again to await further cause for excitement.

[Ithilwen]

While Lucy had been in the Tower looking for Izzy, Izzy had been outside looking for Lucy.

Yet, even from outside, as if by magic, she heard a name being called out into the night -- "Izzyiodinoaslodibaellaa". It wasn't her name, and yet... it sounded vaguely familiar. But she could figure that mystery out another time. Right now she was focused on the young girl in the tower -- Lucy.

She saw Lucy's head peer out as she yelled at the Elves (a nice touch, I might add), and Izzy called out to her. The voice was loud enough to reach even inside the Tower -- "Lucy! Come out! Come and help me fight for the Dark Lord!"


~Riella

[Lucy of Narnia]

Lu started; had she heard something? Yes, she had; someone was calling for her. And that someone was Izzy! Lu hopped up and ran outside.

"Hi, Izzy!" she squealed (in the most menacing way, of course ). "I'm ready when you are!" Lu wrapped up in her cape and strode out with Izzy.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they walked.

[daughter of the King]

(((Sorry for disappearing Lu, I've been suffering from the same illness as Booky. How I hate midterms!)))

Dot moaned as she came to. The explosion had knocked her off her feet and her head had hit the ground pretty hard, so she wasn't feeling all that great at the moment. She slowly sat up, trying to remember what had happened right before the explosion. There was that monster thing. Lady G got away. Lu....what had happened to Lu? Oh, right! We chased Lady G and Lu was beamed away with her. Dot picked herself up, and immediately wished she hadn't as the world started spinning. Reaching out for the wall, she managed to steady herself before wandering down the tunnel looking for the way out.

[Lucy of Narnia]

Lu was still knee-deep in water, unawares to the fact that the battle was now over. She could no longer run due to obvious reasons, so she was mucking about rather slowly, still trying to find her way out of the lower level.

The water continued to rise, and Lu's progress was slower, slower, slower...now she was fighting to keep her head above water. The 'shower-heads' were gushing now and before she knew it, she was forced to swim. She swam and swam until she felt her arms would break, but the combination of exhaustion, darkness and disorientation, Lu had barely a chance of finding the elevators. Besides that, the water was rising her high, high above the floor, doors and anything else recognizable.

Suddenly Lu realized that the high, moldy ceiling was just above her head. Now her head was pressed against it, turning her hair green. Now she had to close her mouth to keep the water out. She quickly inhaled through her nose, then plugged it, just before the water level splashed into her eyes. She was under water. All of her. Even her head, which was still pressed against the ceiling, She had no clue where she was, her arms felt like they were on fire and she was running out of breath. For one fleeting moment, Lu considered diving down and trying to find her way to one of the doors from the 'ocean' bottom. But she quickly dismissed that thought; she had nowhere near enough breath. She would drown.

But she was drowning anyway. What should she...?

My hair Lu thought. My hair feels...weird. Dry? No. Cold? Yes... Lu froze. She must be losing all sense of reason along with oxygen, if she was worrying about where her hair felt 'cold' or whatever when she was about to die.

Oh well, at least I had a lot of fun being a minion with Izzy. I just never thought it'd end this way...

By now the 'cold' feeling was half-way down her forehead. Now it covered her nose. But something had also uncovered her nose as well...

Lu couldn't hold back any longer. She took a breath, filling her lungs with-

"Air!" Lu gasped, drinking more in. The 'cold' feeling had been that of her wet head being free of the warm water and cold, damp air blasting in her face. Air from several high-powered fans, which were now drying everything off after the water drained away. Lu noted with some pleasure that the ceiling was no longer moldy.

Aha, so that's how it works...

Surely the dust would be gone now. Lu tried to float as the water level dropped. Before she knew it, her feet were touching something solid and the water was only up to her chin. It continued draining; now it was to her chest, now her hips, now her knees, now it was merely puddling around her ankles...

As the last of the water slipped down the enormous drain in the middle of the room (That's what that's for! thought Lu), she wrung out her cloak and sighed in relief. She was shivering uncontrollably, but she was alive. She was safe. She was alright.

"I'm back! I'm safe! I'm alright!" she yelled into the echoing corridor, just for the thrill of yelling, being alive and able to yell.

She wrung her clothes and hair out the best she could, then began walking slowly down the squeaky-clean corridor, wishing she had dry clothes and a nice, soft place to sit down. Looking rather like a wet kitten, Lu headed towards her Personal Minion Suite, wondering if the corridor was minion-y enough, being so clean now.

[MountainFireflower]

A lone figure crept up to the outskirts of the tower, watching the horizon for any sign of life. It appeared mostly empty, but then again, looks could be deceiving.

Mountie yanked her hood above her head, every nerve in her body on edge. This mission was imperative. If she failed, well... She didn't want to think about that. Then again, accepting this mission in the first place was just as dangerous.

She pulled a walkie-talkie from her Jedi-style belt and held it to her mouth. "3.1 and 3.2, do you read me?"

[Melian_Maia]

Not far behind Mountie, Lia was creeping along silently. It had been a long time since any of the Castle inhabitants had heard from the Minions, but they were probably somewhere inside the Tower.

She pulled out her walkie-talkie as it buzzed, hoping that none of the Minions were within earshot, and heard Mountie's voice.

"3.2 here. I can read you loud and clear, 2," she whispered in reply. Hopefully 3.1 was close by and had heard her walkie-talkie.

[Bookwyrm]

The Grand High Dark Overlord returned to his tower in an explosion of flame and shadow, of course. He had been far away, attending to other, more pressing matters. The halls of his tower were strangely empty, his minions scattered and vanished. But there were the signs of enemies creeping toward his tower. Sweeping majestically through the halls, he summoned the ranks of his Terminator security guards and sent them off to hunt down the intruders. And if the enemies made it past the cyborgs, they would find him, waiting.

[Lady Courage]

One dark shadow flitted behind a large, craggy rock, it's edges blurred by the chilly mist blanketing the seemingly deserted castle. The pulsating fires that normally kept all cold at bay were still. The previously vibrant Tower was now lifeless and as cold as the weather surrounding it.

Lady C adjusted her dark grey wool cloak closer around her shoulders and squinted thoughtfully at the black Tower looming ahead through the swirling mists. A soft chiming vibrated in her ear and immediately afterward #2 and #3.2's voices came through.

"Affirmative, #2!" she replied softly.

"Affirmative!" repeated another voice that buzzed through the comlink.

Lady C reached up and tapped the over-ear comlink, turning off one of the channels. "Pippin, she can't hear you."

"I can hear her!"

"She can't hear you. Only I can hear you. Your comlink is on a different wavelength."

"She can hear you, right?"

"Not now; I'm talking to you." Lady C frowned at the "empty" space behind her. Somewhere back there, Pippin was hovering. His "invisibility" shield was working like a charm.

Some sounds came through the channel that indicated Pippin was grumbling. Ignoring him, Lady C turned the team's channel back on. "In location LG2H now, #2. Permission to proceed with 'Operation Negligent: Part A'?"