[log] Event: Metamorphosis, Part Three

[snowblindmods]

Characters: everyone
Location: all around town; note location in subject line
Date: Night 415 onward; note time in subject line
Summary: They break out and they wake up.
Warnings: extreme body horror, unreality, eldritch horror, absolutely definitely 100% include warnings in subject lines/before your comment if the subject line isn't long enough

Comments

[devoutish]

[And is Alfie going to stop her? Haha, what a funny joke. Without taking his eyes completely off of the anomaly, he angles his head towards the real Ecks, giving her a nod of approval. He puts an arm around Royce's shoulders, holding him up as well as he can, and just waits. Ecks can take care of this - and if it turns out that she actually can't, she'll have back-up.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce scowls at the anomaly - it's not Ecks. It can't be. ]

You're the one trying to steal. [ Royce says, taking a step forward. He lets Alfie support him, but he's aiming to distract, so that the real Ecks, the not anomaly one, can actually rush the thing with her hatchet. He's not sure how good he'll be in a fight, but he'll try, if he needs to. ]

[ecks]

[This close to her, the dizziness is bound to set in. She leans toward the two men, head tilting. They're wrong. They're filthy and uneven and imperfect and she is pained by it because they were defined as 'friend' and she sees more and more clearly that they fit none of the necessary criteria for that designation.]

That does not make sense. Your face does not make sense. You do not make sense and you are incorrect. I will correct this now.

[She shifts, taking another step closer as the living, breathing Ecks plunges her hand between the stuffed animals packed in her duffel, reaching for the hatchet buried among them. There is a moment, just a brief moment, before the two Eckses act.]

[devoutish]

[Alfie reels, trying to steady both Royce and himself, and at the same time trying to keep abreast of what's happening. Ecks - the normal Ecks, the real Ecks - is attacking, and she'll be dizzy too; she'll need backup. Grabbing his backpack by the strap, he casts around clumsily for a weapon. He'll probably be too late.]

[bywolves]

[ Oh, the dizziness - he's not expecting it, and it hits him like a truck. He reaches up to hold his head, staggering back a step, and stubbornly wipes the blood from his nose before dropping down to search for his own weapon.

He doesn't know if they can hurt it, but he's going to try. Or - well, he's going to defend himself, and the real Ecks. The anomaly looks like her, could be her, but it isn't, dammit. It isn't. ]

cw violence; gore

[ecks]

[Neither Ecks shares in any uncertainty as to which is the real one. Stuffed animals go flying as Ecks leaps to her feet, hurling the duffel off from the hatchet as she charges the too-perfect creature. Perfect means she knows perfectly where to place the blow, throwing her body weight behind the blow, the blade cleaving deep into the anomaly's flesh. The other Ecks screams a scream that sounds entirely too like her living self and clutches at her counterpart, trying to grab hold of her, wanting, needing to set those crooked lines straight.]

cw violence; gore

[devoutish]

[Alfie is just... not good for physical fighting right now. It's been a long time since he's been able to hold his own. But he has plenty of weapons and weapon-like things, and so he staggers to his feet, whipping a fruit knife out of his coat pocket and holding it firmly in his hand. He doesn't advance yet, but if it looks like Ecks is having trouble or losing the fight, he won't hesitate.]

cw violence; gore

[bywolves]

[ Royce has his straight razor, and he's ready to back Ecks up. When she throws herself forward, Royce groans and pulls himself up to go after her. If he can find an opening, he doesn't bother waiting to see if Ecks is having trouble, he just attacks - the anomaly needs to go, and he's determined to protect everybody in this room from the mess of a copy. ]

cw violence; gore

[ecks]

[This close to her counterpart, Ecks's nose begins to bleed. She yanks at the handle of the hatchet, but she's buried it so deep in the anomaly's side that she pulls both of them off balance, the anomaly taking advantage by toppling over on top of her, grasping at Ecks's face and neck. Ecks shrieks -- there's something happening to her face, the crooked lines of stitches seeming to writhe. The Ecks on top, she of the gradient, is utterly fixated though her teeth are clenched in pain. She will make it right, make it straight --

Ecks is definitely having trouble. Royce definitely has an opening.]

[devoutish]

[And Alfie's going to take it along with him. He lurches forward, knife at the ready, and aims to sink it into the false Ecks's arm, reaching to roughly pull the real Ecks back at the same time.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce dives forward, not seeming to care how dizzy he is or how much his nose bleeds. Alfie pulls the real Ecks back, and Royce rams into the fake one, knocking the anomaly off of the real Ecks with a roar. Her shriek echoes in his head as he sinks his razor into the straight, steady lines of the anomaly and rips through them. ]

cw gore

[ecks]

[Underneath the perfect lines of her skin are perfect lines of muscle that part for their blades. The anomaly screams in pain, scrabbling at Royce's head, her fingers slippery with blood. Where she gets her hands on him it will feel like his skin and skull are trying to yank themselves into a new alignment. Her grip is weak, though; there's no strength to match her fury.

Ecks clings to Alfie, an amateur mistake in a fight.]

We need a door! It needs to be on the other side of a door!

[devoutish]

No!

[He lunches for Royce and the anomaly, panicked, torn between wanting to fend her off and pull him back. Ecks's grip on him hampers this, somewhat; he doesn't get close enough to grab either of them, no matter how hard he tries.]

[bywolves]

[ Oh, wow, he super doesn't like that. Royce lets out an almost yowl of pain, yanking the razor out and then stabbing it right back in, aiming to tear as much as he can, and then he stumbles back as blood drips down his forehead. Door. It needs to be where there's a door.

Panting, Royce lunges forward again, grabbing at his razor and trying to drag the anomaly with him towards the bathroom of the house, stumbling and slipping on all sorts of blood. ]

Open it! [ Royce roars, trying to focus on not falling to the floor. ]

[ecks]

[The first mistakes wounds are already closing, flesh coming back into alignment with itself, but it's too much too fast. The anomaly's screams are Ecks's screams.

Ecks, for her part, regains her head and dashes ahead of Royce to open the bathroom door.]

I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry!

[devoutish]

[Alfie is hot on Royce's heels - Ecks can handle the door, and he can deal with that anomaly, trying to shove it in and keep it away from Royce. He's not at all physically imposing right now, and is in fact pretty incapable of moving fast, but he's going to try as hard as he can.]

[bywolves]

[ The screams are going to haunt him for a while. Right now his adrenaline is rushing so hard that he can't even begin to think about the future. Instead, he yanks his razor out (he's not leaving it behind, thanks) and with Alfie's help, shoves the damn thing through the bathroom door, moving to help the real Ecks slam the door closed. ]

[ecks]

[Blood drips from Ecks's face as she helps shove the door shut on her counterpart, scrabbling for a lock -- none on this side. That is logical but unfortunate.]

We need to barricade it inside!

[From the other side of the door come inhuman shrieks. "Liars! Liars and thieves!"]

[devoutish]

Furniture--

[He casts around wildly for something that they can push - or rather, something that two of them can push, while the third makes sure the door stays shut. The couch, maybe?]

[bywolves]

[ The couch works. Royce is already racing towards it, trying his best to push it quickly. ]

Hold the door, Ecks, we're coming -- [ Royce says, loudly. If the couch on its own doesn't work, there's a bookcase they can shove in there as well. ]

[ecks]

[It slams against the door from the other side, but the Eckses' strength is equally matched and the one on their side has the advantage of leverage. This close she's dizzy again, nose bleeding freely, but she will hold the door as long as it takes.]

I am holding it! Hurry!

Please hurry!

[devoutish]

[With the two of them working on the couch, they manage to get it over to the door quickly - or as quickly as can be expected from two weak, emaciated men running purely on adrenaline, anyway. Once they have it in place, Alfie steps back, wanting to see if it looks like the door alone will be able to hold the anomaly in.]

[bywolves]

[ Alfie steps back, and Royce immediately goes for any other furniture in the room, attempting to push that against the door as well. He's not taking any chances. ]

[ecks]

[Ecks steps back as well, watching the door as the anomaly slams into it from the other side over and over. "Liars! Liars! Liars!" it's shouting with each blow of its body against the barrier, regular as a metronome. The couch seems to be holding it, but Ecks goes to help Royce move all the other furniture over there as well.]

[devoutish]

[Once they've done as much as they can, Alfie steps back from the door and the furniture pile-up, breathing heavily. Just that amount of exertion has taken a lot out of him.]

-- All right?