The Forest

[dont_turn_around]

The woods are lovely spooky, dark and deep...

The mist has not lifted.

The trees are still.

There's not so much as a bird singing or a fox trundling through the undergrowth.

Even the paths seem to lie in waiting.


Deep in the forest is The Tree.


If you think you know where it is...you don't.

Comments

[ami_imperfect]

Dani moves with Enzo, flanking him, ready to trigger the blade of her ecto-saber.

[mnt_mike]

Something races past them, leaving the mist to spiral in its wake.
You're a failure!
Something on silent feet.
You're the least of us!
Something with knives that cut through the air like a whisper, and embed in flesh like a kiss.
I never want to see you again!

[flip_the_lights]

Something just barely catches the edge of Olivia's hearing. She reacts without thinking, spinning toward the noise with her gun raised.

That turns out to be the only thing that saves her from a throwing star to the gut.

It strikes the neck of the canister instead, spitting out a loud hiss as the contents start to depressurize. Instantly, she moves again: "Get down!" she yells -- if someone already knows they're here, stealth won't accomplish anything anymore -- and starts a mad sprint for the tree.

[will_scarlett]

He hears the metal before Olivia's yell and blocks with his sword.

It deflects the star from his chest to his arm and then he's at Olivia's back to block what he can.

She needs to get that onto the tree. He can still move his sword and that's what counts at this point.

[a1enzo]

Enzo's forcefield (thank you, Jordan) stops another star in midair. He follows the others, keeping off to the left to cover more angles of approach. "Dani, you go right!"

[ami_imperfect]

It's a good thing Dani can go intangible, otherwise the star that passes through her would have hit its mark.

"Got it!" She moves right at Enzo's direction, lighting up the blade of her ecto-saber.

[mnt_mike]

Off in the distance the tree is a dark shape that looms.
When the blade of the ecto-saber lights something in that tree glints.
I'll never forgive you for what you've done!
Then what appear to be dark branches begin to slowly move.
There's something in the tree. Something dressed in black Something climbing in a way that would make Spider-man envious. Something that growls low and deep, a warning
You bring nothing but shame to our family!
And that something is poised to strike.

[flip_the_lights]

Olivia keeps running.

The glimmer writhes like curdling milk, or like tentacles unwinding themselves from the tree branches. She drives down a shudder and tries to focus on where the glimmer isn't shining: a human-shaped silhouette further up.

With one hand, she unhooks the canister.

With the other, she aims for (what she hopes is) the person's kneecap and fires.

[will_scarlett]

Will's close behind her and braces himself near where that human-shape is.

If it falls, then it will meet his sword, "Dump it! I'll cover ye!"

[a1enzo]

Enzo closes in on the left and, with his off hand, grips his stun rod.

[ami_imperfect]

And Dani comes in from the right, ecto-saber in both hands.

[mnt_mike]

He moves faster than any human ought to, which is frightening enough, but even more so when one considers that he's not yet back to peak performance.
You never think!
The bullet strikes the tree with a dead thunk as Mike is already on the move.
How can I ever trust you again?
He leaps out at the ones advancing on the tree. Arms wide, made wider by the broad spinning of the nunchucks in his hand.

[flip_the_lights]

Oh, hell.

Olivia pulls up short fast enough to stumble a step, darting to the side in an effort to keep clear. For an instant, she glimpses the man's face -- oh, hell -- and has a moment, as she bites back a curse, to be glad her instincts to try a non-lethal shot first were on the money.

"Mike!" she shouts, already fairly certain it won't do anything.

Which is why she's already lined up a second shot and pulled the trigger -- this time, aiming for his shoulder.

(In her other hand, the canister continues to hiss.)

[will_scarlett]

He knows the general principle of nunchucks and curses as Mike descends.

Quickly he gets his sword out of the way of the spinning wood and tries to slice Mike's tendon. They're running out of time.

[a1enzo]

Enzo swears and fires a stun-beam at Mike. Better if they can take him down without injury, or at least slow him down.

[ami_imperfect]

Realizing that her saber's not going to be very effective in this instance, Dani powers it down. She then lobs an ecto-blast in Mike's direction.

[dont_turn_around]

Perhaps it's the wind of his passing that causes it.

There is no wind.

Or it might have been an illusion; depth is hard to perceive when the mist is smothering drowning stealing hiding enshrouding everything.

The loud CREAK is the only warning the would-be heroes have before two of the tree's branches crash down in thunderous fury on each side of its dark child, deflecting the brightness of beams and blasts from their intended target.

[mnt_mike]

Mike is half way through his arc when Olivia's bullet catches him. The recoil is what keeps him from being struck by the branches as they fall.
USELESS! You serve no purpose and we're better off without you!
He growls through the pain.
And then he is on them. He has been trained to deal with swords, and this is not the first time he's been on the wrong end of a blade. Tendons may sever, but it takes more than a firm stance to split bone.
I hate you! And I never want to see you again!

[flip_the_lights]

Olivia falls with a grunt. There's no time to think, only to act: in a swift one-two of movement, she rams her knee up to try and catch Mike between the legs, then swings the butt of her gun toward his head.

Nothing you do will work --

[will_scarlett]

As Olivia and Mike fall, Will moves towards the canister.

He doesn't know if there's anything left in it but at this point he should be able to reach it. Jack will find a way, he's holding onto that thought through everything, because if he thinks more, he might give up.

[a1enzo]

Enzo leaps clear of the falling branch, then hacks away some of the smaller sticks so he can try for another shot.

[ami_imperfect]

Dani turns intangible even as she flies out of the way; as it is, part of the branch ends up passing through her as she evades.

The moment she's clear, though, Dani's back to shooting off ecto-blasts.

[mnt_mike]

The kick to the groin doubles him over, but he moves with the gun which lessens its impact to his head.
Just stay down! Stay down and die
He's just grabbing for the gun when one of the blasts skims the skin of his back and he howls with rage.
Die and let us be rid of you once and for all!
He makes as to grapple Olivia for a throw towards the blasts.

[flip_the_lights]

Shit --

She meets the grapple, but not quickly enough; as Mike hurls her into the air, all Olivia can do is try to shift her weight and throw off his trajectory.

It works, but barely. A blast misses her by inches just before she hits the ground, and, breath knocked out of her, she can't do anything but cough, and cough, and keep coughing.

Somehow, she pulls up the words like someone dredging sludge from a lakebed. "Throw the -- canister -- " she wheezes.

[will_scarlett]

He grabs the canister before jumping over the fallen branches and tossing it deep into the heart of the tree.