Shadow of Death (IC)

[Tyg3rW01f]

"Time to move!"
Steel? Would you assume Speed mode, please?

[Mytical]

Steel changes, becoming much more streamline and boosting Colt's agility and running speed to heights that normally would be impossible.

[Tyg3rW01f]

Colt raced forward, and grabbed the sword by the hilt.
What happened next, neither he nor the lich quite expected. What happened as a result, however, was not what Steel had intended at all.

Instead of being stopped by grabbing the blade's grip, as Colt expected, the field around the blade somehow increased Colt's forward momentum! The sword was ripped free of the stone, and came whipping around of it's own accord! The Lich was slashed in half, but as the blade came around, it managed to trip Steel and Colt up.
"YIIIIIPE!"Colt squeaked in surprise. He went head over heels eight times in comical fashion before painfully slamming, upside down and back first, into a basalt stalagmite.
"aow..." he whimpered in a tiny voice, then slid into a heap of pained human being. "...mommy..."

[Mytical]

Colt

If Steel had a face right now, he would have facepalmed hard enough for Valzar to have heard it. However, instead he takes control of Colt's hand, and grabs the sword. Steel places it's hilt against Colt, and Colt feels waves of healing course through his body. "Bossman, next time lets not do that and say we did"

[Tyg3rW01f]

Okay... not my best idea... actually, I can't think of an idea I had that ended out worse... On second thought; there was the one that got my niece killed. THAT was my worst idea ever. Colt thought. Gingerly, he stood. "Okay... next sword. Oy."

[Andrew B.]

Blaze thought, Alright, forget charging at them. I need to try something unconventional. He then got off his bike and drew his sword which started to burn with a green flame.

[Tyg3rW01f]

Colt walked into the ruins cautiously. "Okay... this place is officially creep-tastic... I'm guessing the sword we're looking for is Despair."
The place was a ruined cemetery, complete with crumbling walls and neglected grounds. The fencing had long-sing rusted or rotted away, and the gravestones were also in poor shape. The main mausoleum looked to be designed after a mansion, and it had suffered terribly from neglect.

Steel, I'll be honest... I'm scared, pal.

[Mytical]

Valzar

The remaining three try to stay out of melee range, trying to throw things like heavy rocks at you. Since you are very agile yourself, they are not having much luck. For large creatures, however, they seem very agile. You have no doubt Death augmented them so as to be a huge distraction, causing the IDP to spend a lot of time cornering these creatures to get rid of them.

Colt

Steel, being a machine, does not feel the effects of the weapon. Steel Hey, if things get dicey in here, just give me control of the body. Though I do have emotions, they are of the positive variety. The longer you are in the area the more hopeless the search seems. You are beginning to think that somehow the sword is active, and draining your will to do anything at all. You find the sword, drawn, in the hands of what appears to be a golem made of bone. Oddly enough the golem is just laying there, sword in hand, and can not seem to gather the will to protect the sword. Even with the glove, you keep hearing the voices "Give up", "Nobody can defeat death, why am I trying?". "We will never find all the swords.".

[Tyg3rW01f]

By the time Colt returns to IDP Headquarters, he is relying on Steel to be in control of his body.
As Steel's agility form dropped Despair on Strongarm's desk, Colt rasped, "Destroy this thing, Boss. Please."

[Andrew B.]

As Blaze was chasing the yetis, vines started to emerge from the ground. One caught a yeti by the leg, allowing him to finish it off.

Where did these things come from? Blaze wondered, Oh well, I can focus on that later.

[Ghel]

((Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I was gone on vacation. So this is happening just after Colt and Valzar leave Strongarm's office.))

Sapputiyok lags behind in Strongarm's office and says, "I am sorry, maybe you mentioned it before, but which dimension is the avatar of death from? And how do you know?"

[Mytical]

Sapputiyok

Strongarm leans back in his chair, and seems to be considering you. He sighs. "I guess it has to come to light eventually. What I am about to tell you goes no further, not even to your partners. At one point of time, Rutopia and Utopia had a single dimension.. and it was all to themselves. No other species or even worlds existed in this dimension. Just two planets, not even a sun, rotating around each other. I don't know what dimension number it was. Utopia and Rutopia were not always as they are now, for eons they did have death.. and wars. Eventually they evolved beyond death, the eldest becoming beings of energy instead of dying. That is where this Avatar of Death comes from."

He leans forward, and for the first time, you can see the years he has been alive weighing on him. He always looked so full of energy and much younger then his years, but not right now. He looks.. tired. "As for how I know all of this, it is because I was the first non Utopian or Rutopian to find their worlds. At the time the Rutopians were winning. The Utopians were not having enough births to keep the balance. I ... fixed that for them. So.. I was made an honorary Utopian.. and I had access to information not available to most." ((Keep in mind that Colt as Strongarm did this, but everybody else.. including Strongarm believes it to be Strongarm. Of course there is a paradox, because by fixing the time stream it also WAS Strongarm that did it.. don't you love time paradoxes?)) "Unfortunately even I do not know everything. Which is why I need somebody I can trust to find out the information. The best place to start looking would be in my home dimension.. with the Neptunians. Though they do not have ALL the information that the Utopians or Rutopians have, they will be much more forthcoming with the information they do have."

He lets out a deep sigh. "I would go myself to the Utopians, but this is a young persons job. I just don't have it in me." You notice he looks at the calender on his desk. "Not any more."

[Ghel]

A hint of concern (rarely heard) enters Sapputiyok's voice. "When your time comes, do you have a... plan? Someone to take over the IDP once you've gone?"

[Mytical]

Colt

The next sword on the list is tracked down. Pathfinder has tracked down the sword with the power to alter peoples minds. As Colt gets close, something just feels... off. The sword is just laying out in the open, on a stone slab that is in the middle of a stone ring. No obstacles, no enemies around, just .. laying there.

Valzar

With the swords vines, you make short work of the other yetis. Why death would use living creatures is another story. It wasn't even much of a distraction, one person easily handled it. Something just doesn't add up.

Sapputiyok

He looks at you. "I thought I had. Everything I've saw pointed to you. You've made it clear that you don't see yourself as a leader. I am proud of everybody. Colt.. he has a little too much temper. Valzar, he doesn't have the experience needed yet." He sits back. "It will probably be Goldie. Though she doesn't like the thought of leading either. Definitely won't be Electra." He chuckles. "He may have the most experience, but makes Colt look calm, rational, and grounded."

[Ghel]

Sapputiyok looks a bit nervous again as xe says, "No, I am not comfortable leading. I do not want that level of responsibility." Xe takes a deep breath to calm down, then continues. "But I would be honored to serve whoever you choose to follow you."

Sapputiyok heads to Strongarm's dimension, then to Neptune to consult with the Neptunians.