high_seas | To go with your crew...

Who: Everyone who is fighting in the battle to kill the witch.
Where: The Black Fortress in the East
When: Jan 24th-25th
What: The grand battle to get back what you have lost, get revenge for what was taken, and avert disaster.
Warnings: Language. Death. Victory. Defeat. True love. Miracles.
Style: Text or prose
Status: Open to all

The black fortress ripples with shimmering iridescent energy, the piles of black coral heaped on roped together barges around it, bobbing in the waves. On the largest barge stands a slender man with a copper belt, wearing a face mask, orange red hair flecked with black from ash or dust. As the dawn slowly folds over the ocean, he'll look up, as if hearing some hidden voice.

At the top of the fortress, a figure climbs into vision, a woman, dressed in gray, features obscured by a hood with impenetrable darkness behind it. She staggers a moment as if she is weary, then straightens to her full height. As she speaks, her voice comes out of the journals, echoing over the water, low but clear.

"This is no small task ye do. She that rots within'll do anythin' ta stop ye. Don't hesitate to kill what ye find. If they were human once, they hain't no more. Watch out for her golems, too, or they'll drain ye dry quicker'n a wink. But if ye can get rid of 'em, it'll weaken her." She hesitates, cants her head to the side. "And if ye lot aren't as much of a bunch'a idiots as usual, ye might come out alive through this."

That said, she raises her hands. After a moment so does the man on the barge. For a moment, nothing seems to happen and then iridescent light shimmers over the coral, seeming to match that which surrounds the fortress. It crackles and dances like a fire, and then without warning bursts into a furious life, slamming against the energy of the fortress. There is the sound like thunder and light snaps and crackles, zipping with energy. Then with a woosh the light flies upward, taking the figure with it. The man on the barge lets out a cry like a seagull and dives into the water as if intending to swim after her.

For the boats that remain, a part of the fortress will crumble away into the sea, revealing a small harbor and an open doorway. Enter all ye who dare.

[If things become too crowded, feel free to make another thread outside of these. Just put where you are in the header.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It was probably inevitable that these two would run into each other. Alpha Dave has been rushing through the fortress as quickly as he can, but he can't avoid the undead. They don't slow him down much. His katana slices through them with precision and he keeps moving. Compared to the Mirthful Executives these guys are child's play.

For the most part he ignores the other people fighting alongside him, but when younger Dave shows up he gives a shout-out.]

Yo, what's up?

Hey. [He flash-stepped from point to point in the hall, undead falling to pieces as his sword-play went unseen to most.

He had been out of practice when he arrived on those seas, but in a short amount of time it came back like riding a bike. If anything, Dave was worried it was a bit too quick.

As if Jade's little prophecy was likely to come true.]

Tell me this shit ain't gonna be a regular thing.

Dude, you're asking me? I haven't been here that long. I have no fuckin' clue.

[He stops to slice through a couple more zombies. That should do it for now. at least, until more come shambling around the bend.]

First it was the Navy now it's these motherfuckers. Non-stop battles ever since I got here. It's like someone told them we were handing out asses and they've had nothing but years of bitter ass famine.

[Dave threw his sword--watching as it stabbed through three or four zombies and made them explode into dust.

Oh, right, legendary sword. Whatever. He pulled the Scarlet Ribbitar from his strife specibus and held it up.]

Did you know that it's a fucking relief to talk to myself without it being a time copy?

Not knowing what I'm going to say makes this conversation seem less narcissistic in some ways, but makes it a hundred times more narcissistic in even more ways.

Never talked to my time clones much. I sparred with them, used them to defeat imperial drones, pulled a bunch of SBAHJ shenanigans, sucked my own dick...

[At first Alpha Dave didn't take his time powers seriously. He used them for trivial reasons and did a lot of fucking around, both literally and figuratively, but mostly ironically because that's the best way to do anything.]

I only lost a few. Never used them in a major battle. Took care of the Mirthful Executives solo. If I had used them against the Batterwitch it wouldn't have changed anything. It only would've meant more bodies. I can't think of anything more tragic than a pile of dead Daves. I could almost shed a tear for all their handsome hypothetical corpses.

I think it's easier to use 'em here, anyway. In a regular timeline, consequence is a hell of a lot more serious and how far in time we can go is pretty limitless, barring bridges into other universes.

[Boring sci-fi crap.]

All I ever did with my time clones was exploit in-game economies and break 'em for my own benefit. The great thing about SBURB was there was no concept of inflation affecting the price of anything we had to actually buy.

LOHAC fuckin' fell at my feet like a broken despot.

[Dave spun the Scarlet Ribbitar on his fingers and stabbed it into the wall, letting one clumsy zombie clothesline its own head off on the blade.]

But, yeah, I get you. Predestined acts make the whole time-travel thing meaningless. Part of actually using it effectively means we don't even need to bullshit around with it. It's all a part of being a zen master, I guess.

Wish it were limitless. Then I could've gone into the future to hang out with my bro. That was a no-go right from the start. Way too far to travel and I didn't even have my passport. Don't think I could've gone any farther than my own lifetime.

[That he actually tried says a lot about how much he wanted to be there for Dirk, but even time powers have their limits. Alpha Dave leans against a wall. He'll just let his younger self take care of the encroaching zombies because he can't throw his sword without shattering it. He'll pick off any if they get close enough, but he doesn't expect them to.]

Before we get dick-deep into a discussion of time shenanigans I've got a question. Where have you been already? No sense in covering the same ground twice. Or however many times you've already covered it. Have you seen the prison yet?

[Dave didn't bother explaining. He ran through a few programs with his iShades, the interface briefly lighting up on their surface. He reached over to tap the frames once before a light shot out from the frames and projected a glowing drawing of a map of the fortress over on the wall.

He shrugged.]

I dunno. All of me updated it, but I'm not really using it.

Everybody's outta the dungeon now, by the way.

Sweet.

[Alpha Dave takes a good long look at the map. Damn, younger him has been all over the place. It's good to know everyone's out of the dungeon. One less thing for him to worry about.]

Gonna assume that includes your Captain. How about Dirk, have you seen him?

[He doubts it, but it never hurts to ask.]

I've never actually seen him at all.

[Technically. Bro didn't count. It wouldn't be fair if he counted Bro, especially how Bro had a sword in his torso.]

How about you?

Saw him once, right after I got here. Nothing since then. Been hanging out with his crew for the last week. They said he's been gone for awhile.

[It doesn't bode well. He was hoping Dirk would show up after people were done being possessed.]

Told them I'd stick around until he gets back, but I didn't count on being a full-time babysitter.

To go with your crew...

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