Traitor Game L: Existential Crisis

[Cthulhudrew]

OOC: Sigh. Too much going on, and too much to read to get back in. So where IS everyone again and what's the situation?

OOC: Gammastorm and Clark are in the sky fighting Lancelot near the castle; most everyone else is back in the woods fighting the Black Knight and Squire Parquagh in the woods at the moment. There are a couple of people - Weaver and Dex-Starr (together) and Roy Lincoln- whose positions I'm not clear on. At least I think that's what's going on.

[Masterbasset]

Clark quickly says "Followmeeverybody!" and they would fly over a lush, green expanse of forest where the trees were as tall as skyscrapers, vibrant, deep lakes spotted all over and the mewling of various creatures that shouldn't be in a medieval setting, at least above water.

In a flash the group was on the move. The Weaver wasted no time. He Opened his way to the Web.

In one swift motion of a second, Clark would place Dex-Starr in the Weaver's...grasp, Roy behind him and fly toward Cyborg Sage, standing in front of her, arms crossed

.

He placed Dex-Starr at the base of his body and the shawl, with a ginger pat on the head.

...YES DEX-STARR FERVENT AND LOVABLE DO NOT RETRACT FEEL FREE TO CLEAVE WITH YOUR CLAWS YOU WILL BE SAFE CHIVALRY IS DUE IT IS BEFITTING THAT IT SHOULD BEFALL HERE ANYONE ELSE YES ANYONE HANG ON YOU WILL BE SAFE THOUGH I WOULD CLOSE YOUR EYES...

The Weaver scooped up anyone willing like children in a river, and then he began his Travel.

Those that didn't ride with Weaver felt an uncomfortable whispering in his wake that reverberated in their skulls and bones. But those that did...

It was very quick. If eyes opened whether in direct disobeyment of his warning or in accident they felt them itch and water as if a sandstorm was concentrated upon them. If left open too long, they threatened to burst. There was a crawling infinity of colors, it was the chaos of textures that went into each strand of the eternally complex tapestry that was the World's Web, his feet touching and making discordant resonances that told countless Stories...

And then a grounding sensation.

And then a deep Forest with plenty of stories all its own.

...DISMOUNT DISMOUNT WE HAVE COMPANY...

"Thou came from Castle Xanadu, yes?" he asked, his voice sounding like the gnashing of blades and the whistling of fire.

"You should know better than to try and gain entrance into Camelot with one of your 'creations' after what you tried with Arthur and his wife, sea-witch! SHAZAM!

"I'll make sure they don't get away Black Knight! So says Squire Parquagh!" he announced, firing webbing at each of the heroes.

The webbing shot at The Weaver.

...LITTLE SLINGER DEIGNS TO ENTANGLE ME THE ERRANT SQUIRE CHOOSES TO TEST METTLE WHERE HE NAY SHOULD MEDDLE THIS WALLCRAWLER THIS WEBWEAVER BOBS AND WEAVES FROM THE FALSE VESTIGIAL SPRAY...

Reflecting his words, space and light distorted oddly as The Weaver intercepted the web with an open hand, and a small *crackle* was heard as the webs burst into flame within them.

...THIS BREW THIS CONCOCTION INTERESTING RESOURCEFUL SHALL WE DANCE THE GOOD DANCE DUEL THE GOOD DUEL IN THIS LAND OF RIGID RULES...

Within the two sets of his shorter legs, orange machete-sized talons came into view. He sashayed with them and scratched gouges out of the dirt beneath him, an ostentatious display of murderous potential.

...YES SQUIRE SHALL WE SLING WITH GUNS OF WEAVE...

[Joe Acro]

An entry from Roy Lincoln's satellite journal

The whole team was deserving of praise. I had chosen well after all. All fought admirably.

Circe tried to use her diplomacy to appeal to The Black Knight. His replies drew his patience thin. To make matters worse, Squire Parquagh fired his web-like material at us.

The Weaver made quick work of him.

Within the two sets of his shorter legs, orange machete-sized talons came into view. He sashayed with them and scratched gouges out of the dirt beneath him, an ostentatious display of murderous potential.

Circe tried to remove him from the fight entirely.

"Oh, for-- I don't live *in* the sea, you childish fool. I live on an *island.* Perhaps if you were to pause and call upon your wisdom, you would see I'm clearly not the same being you assume I am. My heart belongs to Odysseus!" Waving her hands, she attempted to use her transmogrification magics on the squire to transform him into a harmless dove.

She knew her magics might act in strange ways. I could tell that whatever she had intended to happen had not come to fruition. The young Peter had been transformed into a large blue and red spider.

With the aid of her X-Legion Flight Belt and a quick burst of hyper-speed, Ultra Rogue was back in the brawl. She switched back to hyper-strength, and with all the built up momentum, tackled the Black Knight in the spine!

Meanwhile, Rogue herself set about occupying The Black Knight.

When Hummingbird pondered aloud,

Linda did not want to fight these knights. "I don't know who any of you are. For all we know, these knights could be the good guys. We shouldn't get in any senseless fights when the fate of the world is at stake."

"Maybe they know something about Castle Xanadu."

I agreed. "They are the good guys. The ones we told you about earlier. Hummingbird, perhaps you and I can rush to Camelot itself and explain the situation to King Arthur. They do know of Castle Xanadu. Surelythey can recognize we're something different."

Just then, Harbinger observed, "I sense more danger as we approach. The other Champions will come to defend their allies."

[Chris Lang]

I agreed. "They are the good guys. The ones we told you about earlier. Hummingbird, perhaps you and I can rush to Camelot itself and explain the situation to King Arthur. They do know of Castle Xanadu. Surelythey can recognize we're something different."

Just then, Harbinger observed, "I sense more danger as we approach. The other Champions will come to defend their allies."

"I'm still trying to work around this whole Atlantis thing." Linda said. "I mean, where I come from, Arthur was the king of England, not Atlantis. But yes ... let's rush to Camelot and explain things to King Arthur."

As she was not entirely sure just where Camelot was, she turned to Roy. "Lead the way."

[Nschornhorst]

An entry from Roy Lincoln's satellite journal

The whole team was deserving of praise. I had chosen well after all. All fought admirably.

Circe tried to use her diplomacy to appeal to The Black Knight. His replies drew his patience thin. To make matters worse, Squire Parquagh fired his web-like material at us.

The Weaver made quick work of him.



Circe tried to remove him from the fight entirely.

She knew her magics might act in strange ways. I could tell that whatever she had intended to happen had not come to fruition. The young Peter had been transformed into a large blue and red spider.

"...Huh. Well. Best not do that again."

[Masterbasset]

The young Peter had been transformed into a large blue and red spider.

The Weaver jigged and hopped as it sang its song of this surprising turn of events.

...WHAT GIFT WHAT TITHE WHAT THAUMATURGIC BOON THE HEX-WEAVER HATH SOWN IT SEEMS THIS TRULY IS MY FIGHT TO FIGHT THE MONITOR YIELDS JUICE FROM THIS BUSHEL HE HAS PICKED THE SQUIRE TURNED SPIDER LITTLE COUSIN LET US JOUST THE FANGÉD JOUST...

So caught up was he in the majesty of it all that he had forgotten if anyone still clung to his make-shift shawl, so far away was he in his sermon.

With a rush of wind, the Weaver entered the Web and was gone, appearing above his new foe. Using his talons, he severed a branch from one of the towering trees above, and it fell like scaffolding toward the former Squire.

[Froggy]

"Oh, for-- I don't live *in* the sea, you childish fool. I live on an *island.* Perhaps if you were to pause and call upon your wisdom, you would see I'm clearly not the same being you assume I am. My heart belongs to Odysseus!" Waving her hands, she attempted to use her transmogrification magics on the squire to transform him into a harmless dove.

Keeping her eyes on the shouldered Roy, Rogue muttered under her breath.

"No, Clark, you really don't."

If that man had any of his father's senses, he'd still have heard it.

Standing at the epicenter of the mystically elemental blast knocked Ultra Rogue clean off her feet and yards away. Her body almost dug a trench into the earth beneath them as she careened through a few thick tree trunks before coming to a stop. She barely had the time to switch to hyper-invulnerability-- it was a good thing thunder has as noisy a tell as any attack.

"That settles it! When ah'm done with you that armor won't be fit for carryin' sardines."

With the aid of her X-Legion Flight Belt and a quick burst of hyper-speed, Ultra Rogue was back in the brawl. She switched back to hyper-strength, and with all the built up momentum, tackled the Black Knight in the spine!

"You deign to question my wisdom you haURMPH!" Black Knight said as he was tackled to the ground. He quickly recovered and socked Ultra Rogue off of him

"Off, skunk woman!"

"'Red solar energy?'" Gammastorm seemed hesitant. "I'm not sure I can do that? Doc?" he queried the disembodied consciousness he shared a physical form with in his heroic guise.

Red solar radiation. Curious, Doctor Banner mused. 'Red' radiation would just be visible light in the longer red wavelength spectrum, but it would still be the same part of the electromagnetic spectrum as the rest of the energy being emitted by the sun. So I'm not sure it would be correct to term it...

A pained expression crossed Gammastorm's face. Aw, for cryin' out loud- I don't have time for one of your lectures, Doc! His right fist began to glow with waves of gamma energy as he charged up.



"How about I dub him "Sir Down for the Count" with my royal fist, instead?" Gammastorm quipped as he slammed his hypercharged fist into Lancelot's gut.

concentrated blow was enough to depower Sir Lancelot, having no knowledge or experience with red sun radiation, feeling his great strength sap him. Bypassing the vestiges of durability, Clark put his hand on Lancelot's forehead and 'sparked' something in him.

"Good work. Quick, precise and efficient. If I wasn't in the state I am I would be afflicted as well with power loss. Now, let's rejoin the others" he said, flying down with them as Ultra Rogue, Weaver and Circe scramble with the other two knights. Clark's ears perked up, and he could hear on the bridge of Camelot that reinforcements were to come.

"We need to resolve this quickly, talk things out with the knights" he told Gammastorm.

In a flash the group was on the move. The Weaver wasted no time. He Opened his way to the Web.

The webbing shot at The Weaver.

...LITTLE SLINGER DEIGNS TO ENTANGLE ME THE ERRANT SQUIRE CHOOSES TO TEST METTLE WHERE HE NAY SHOULD MEDDLE THIS WALLCRAWLER THIS WEBWEAVER BOBS AND WEAVES FROM THE FALSE VESTIGIAL SPRAY...

Reflecting his words, space and light distorted oddly as The Weaver intercepted the web with an open hand, and a small *crackle* was heard as the webs burst into flame within them.

...THIS BREW THIS CONCOCTION INTERESTING RESOURCEFUL SHALL WE DANCE THE GOOD DANCE DUEL THE GOOD DUEL IN THIS LAND OF RIGID RULES...

Within the two sets of his shorter legs, orange machete-sized talons came into view. He sashayed with them and scratched gouges out of the dirt beneath him, an ostentatious display of murderous potential.

...YES SQUIRE SHALL WE SLING WITH GUNS OF WEAVE...

"Uh yes! Let us fight beast! Have at th... the terrified Squire Parquagh, having seen the apparition he did when his uncle died, found the Weaver to be larger. Much larger. Circe's spell had transmogrified him into a spider. He was now the man who had become a spider and all he had to say was

"Ee?" as he scuttled out from under his garb and weapons. Despite his fear, he jumped on Weaver, poking harmlessly (but he didn't think so) at the beings torso. Clark had floated down with Lancelot over his shoulder, electricity running over the man's body as Rogue fought Black Knight. He looked at Roy, Weaver, Hummingbird and the others, then sat his father down against a tree. Clark stuck out his hand and Lancelot's armor came to him, eyes snapping wide open.

"We come from a different realm knight. I wear this insignia because I am from the same house in that realm. These people, beings with me are my compatriots. We are in need of items you possess and promise to return them to you intact. Now, from one to another, will you help us?" Clark asked. The others could say there piece to the bewildered Lancelot of Kent.

"I'm still trying to work around this whole Atlantis thing." Linda said. "I mean, where I come from, Arthur was the king of England, not Atlantis. But yes ... let's rush to Camelot and explain things to King Arthur."

As she was not entirely sure just where Camelot was, she turned to Roy. "Lead the way."

"If you wish to have court with King Arthur, then we must tell my comrades to stand down. I am sorry we attacked you all and it is only by your nature that I live. If what you say is true, then Merlin the Strange can verify such a thing" Lancelot told Hummingbird

"...Huh. Well. Best not do that again."

Parquagh shouted things at her, expletives and harsh remarks. They sounded like static at his tiny size while he continued to valiantly bat at Weaver, who had disappeared from sight...

The Weaver jigged and hopped as it sang its song of this surprising turn of events.

...WHAT GIFT WHAT TITHE WHAT THAUMATURGIC BOON THE HEX-WEAVER HATH SOWN IT SEEMS THIS TRULY IS MY FIGHT TO FIGHT THE MONITOR YIELDS JUICE FROM THIS BUSHEL HE HAS PICKED THE SQUIRE TURNED SPIDER LITTLE COUSIN LET US JOUST THE FANGÉD JOUST...

So caught up was he in the majesty of it all that he had forgotten if anyone still clung to his make-shift shawl, so far away was he in his sermon.

With a rush of wind, the Weaver entered the Web and was gone, appearing above his new foe. Using his talons, he severed a branch from one of the towering trees above, and it fell like scaffolding toward the former Squire.

and the squire deftly dodged, a ball of red and blue hopping out of the way. Between him and Ultra Rogue wrestling the mightily irascible Black Knight, Clark got worried.

"Roy, Linda, Circe you three talk with Lancelot. I'll get the others to stop for the sake of our mission" he said, splitting into two and running off towards Weaver and Ultra Rogue.

[Anodyne]

Jumping out of the Weaver's lap, Dex-Starr approached the Black Knight. "Why you hurrrtuss? I good kitty. We good guysss. We hunt bad dogsss. Like thessse," he hissed, conjuring up an image of a hypertime hound as he imagined it might look.


"Ssstop fighting usss! Join usss! Fight bad guysss! Or Dex-Starr ssscrrratch!"

[The Purple Skull]

Earlier...

She shrugged. "Y'ain't got cops on Thanagar? Lawmen, things a' that sort? You'd make a regular Buford Pusser with how y'hate the way your turf's gone crooked around ya."

"...This one's speech is even more peculiar than that of the Earth toady."

Clark looked over Hawkman. He took note of the tone in the Thanagarian's voice, the bravado, the determination. He respected it, but had also seen the bad ways that could turn out.

"I understand and respect that, Hawkman. However, make sure that in you're fight to free your people, you don't become like your enemy. Keep hold of who you are and while changing the world" he said, putting his hand on Hawkman's shoulder

"I seek only to liberate the oppressed people of Thanagar. I do not, nor do I ever wish to become some sort of monarch."

GLORIOUS EXPOSITION

"Katar preserve us, I have grown tired of your non-answers and half truths! Now you say there are wolves among fold?! The Multiverse is on the brink of destruction, yet here we are on some scavenger hunt! This is madness! The boy, though for the most part insignificant, his blood is on your hands! Whatever happens from here on out is on your conscience!"

GAMMASTORM, THE NUCLEAR MAN suddenly stood among the assembled heroes.

"I am sorry. For I could not hear what you were blabbering about due to your attire being too loud."

[Chris Lang]

"If you wish to have court with King Arthur, then we must tell my comrades to stand down. I am sorry we attacked you all and it is only by your nature that I live. If what you say is true, then Merlin the Strange can verify such a thing" Lancelot told Hummingbird

"So you are Sir Lancelot? Then you know King Arthur. It is vitally important that we meet with him." Hummingbird said. "The fate of countless worlds depends on it."

[Masterbasset]

And the squire deftly dodged, a ball of red and blue hopping out of the way.

With predatory precision, the Weaver entered the Web and apparated in the trajectory of the Squire's dodge, ready to strike.

But something grabbed his attention, and he stopped his advance, choosing to ignore the impact or next strike the Squire would likely make.

"Roy, Linda, Circe you three talk with Lancelot. I'll get the others to stop for the sake of our mission" he said, splitting into two and running off towards Weaver and Ultra Rogue.

The bright blue Superman's clone zipped nearby, and The Weaver's fingers danced in a greeting wave.

...CLARK SPARKS COMRADE IN ARMS YOU WAR-TIME HAN-BLUE HERMESIAN HAVE YOU NEWS FROM THE NORTHERN FRONT A MESSAGE TO BARE HAVE YOU SLAIN MANY AND ALL WHO STAND IN THE WAY OF THE TOME WE SEEK...

[The Purple Skull]

[B]"If you wish to have court with King Arthur, then we must tell my comrades to stand down. I am sorry we attacked you all and it is only by your nature that I live. If what you say is true, then Merlin the Strange can verify such a thing" Lancelot told Hummingbird

After tossing a random knight out a nearby open window, Hawkman approaches Lancelot.

"It would be wise not stall any further. Bring out the mage or I may not be able to restrain myself for what may happen next. And you would not like it if I cannot restrain myself."

[Chris Lang]

After tossing a random knight out a nearby open window, Hawkman approaches Lancelot.

"It would be wise not stall any further. Bring out the mage or I may not be able to restrain myself for what may happen next. And you would not like it if I cannot restrain myself."

Hummingbird turned to the Hawkman. "Calm down. These people aren't our enemies. Any fight we may have had with them is all a misunderstanding. Save your aggression for the real enemies when we find them."

[Joe Acro]

"I'm still trying to work around this whole Atlantis thing." Linda said. "I mean, where I come from, Arthur was the king of England, not Atlantis. But yes ... let's rush to Camelot and explain things to King Arthur."

As she was not entirely sure just where Camelot was, she turned to Roy. "Lead the way."

"Roy, Linda, Circe you three talk with Lancelot. I'll get the others to stop for the sake of our mission" he said, splitting into two and running off towards Weaver and Ultra Rogue.

Hummingbird turned to the Hawkman. "Calm down. These people aren't our enemies. Any fight we may have had with them is all a misunderstanding. Save your aggression for the real enemies when we find them."

An entry from Roy Lincoln's Satellite Journal

With Lancelot now on our side, it seemed as if our chances for finding the artifacts had increased greatly.

"Rushing to Camelot now seems to be the wrong course of action. Since Lancelot now seems to have his wits about him, we should follow him to Camelot. Our arrival should go much smoother if he leads the way and introduces us."

[Chris Lang]

An entry from Roy Lincoln's Satellite Journal

With Lancelot now on our side, it seemed as if our chances for finding the artifacts had increased greatly.

"Rushing to Camelot now seems to be the wrong course of action. Since Lancelot now seems to have his wits about him, we should follow him to Camelot. Our arrival should go much smoother if he leads the way and introduces us."

"It should." Linda said. She tactfully avoided mentioning certain versions of Arthurian lore she heard involving Lancelot's illicit tryst with Queen Guinevere. They didn't need to deal with such complications here.