smashrising | ɪɴᴠᴀsɪᴏɴ

Current Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp0dRkCIBqY

ɪɴᴠᴀsɪᴏɴ

Who: YOU and the beast.
What: Nothing good, probably.
Where: You were just in the wrong place... (The Ultra Wormholes could appear anywhere.)
When: At the wrong time. (Any point in February)
Warnings: Potential parasitism/mind control

[ The academy and Final Destination City... It had known many troubles in its time, yet with their total destruction seemed to come a more peaceful time.

Of course, there were still new arrivals now and then. Space and time would rend themselves to let a lost soul in, now and again. Some stayed, and those that did settled in nicely, making themselves at home. None with ill intentions had set foot on the floating island in a very long time.

But all good things must come to an end.

The space in front of you seems to crack open. Portals from another world may not be anything new to the mansion's inhabitants. This one carries with it a strange energy... and not long after, a strange lifeform appears in front of you.

It doesn't speak or communicate-- at least, not in any recognizable way. Two of its... limbs rub together, as if trying to warm itself.

Proceed with caution, as whatever sentience or emotion it lacks, it can tell when it is in danger... ]

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[Mewtwo had a sense for when things were awry, and early in the month outside the mansion grounds, he felt something VERY wrong happening. It tore through his head like a bolt, almost like the sudden and violent appearance of a crack in the sky. And the life form that emerged from it... It was a consciousness unlike anything he'd felt or seen before. It looked like a jellyfish, but it radiated a power that made even Mewtwo wary. But was it a foe?]

[Mewtwo kept his distance, trying not to reveal himself right away. He was content to observe and analyze for the moment.]

[ It's a mystery as to whether or not the beast can see in the traditional sense of the word, but it demonstrates awareness of its surroundings, to an extent. Sure, there's another lifeform not completely dissimilar to itself over there, but it would much rather find its way back into Ultra Space. Home.

... But as it turns to go back, the wormhole closes. It's stranded.

Emitting a distressed tone, he beast's "limbs" rise up and touch the rim of its "hat", as though it's a little girl pulling it down over her eyes. ]

[Mewtwo didn't need his psychic powers to tell the creature was in distress. It felt like a Pokemon, and yet not... It was difficult to describe. Just a feeling he had. Hm.]

[Given the creature's evident fear, Mewtwo chose to approach, cautiously. He reached out with his mind to try and make contact with it.]

Be calm. You are not in danger. What are you? Where do you come from?

[ The beast didn't understand the words, but the good thing about psychic messages is that they can convey something, at least, and so it can reply in its own, abstract manner.

It replays what it knows. What appears to be a cave-like structure, with dark, glittering rock structures and others like itself floating around. There were flashes of other, increasingly bizarre looking beasts; a stick-thin beast vaguely resembling a feminine human moving at blinding speed, a large-mouthed being with four eyes devouring anything in its path...

The memory flashes back over to the cave full of its own kind. There are two of what Mewtwo will recognize as humans, a white-haired man in black and a blonde woman in white. The man is further back, but the woman has approached one of the beast's kind, and while the setting is not clear, a snippet of the woman's speech can be heard: "my darling beast." That memory ends when she throws a strange-looking Poke Ball at the beast, which disappears inside it, presumably successfully caught.

The sensation of time passing goes by, and the humans are gone. The beasts drift around with no particular direction, when the dimensions rend themselves and the scene becomes the island.

There is a sense of longing for the cave. ]

[Mewtwo felt a twinge of disgust as the images flashed into his mind. The meaning of the images was plain for the Pokemon, and it sickened him to think about. Humans, not content with enslaving the Pokemon of their own world, seek out OTHER worlds to harvest from. He continued to address the creature with telepathy, sending it images of his own interspersed with his words to try and convey his own message. Whatever else was true, whatever strange form it took, this was a Pokemon, and needed to be protected.]

The humans have done your kind harm... But you are safe here. I will help you find your way back to your cave.

[ The beast's response was presented in the form of a question, with accompanying imagery of two impressive-looking Pokemon: One resembling a lion with blue eyes, and another resembling a bat with red eyes. It understood that either of these beasts were capable of bringing the humans into its domain, and was just as capable as removing them back to its world.

If it could find either of those Pokemon, it could go home. Did Mewtwo know where to find them? ]

[From the images he could see, he recognized them as Pokemon. But he was unfamiliar with their identities... They must not have been from any region he'd been to, which was possible. There were plenty of regions in the world. For them to have the power to rend dimensions meant they were clearly strong indeed. Under other circumstances, he would have very much enjoyed testing his mettle against them.]

I do not know where to find either of these Pokemon. They are not in this world.

[ The beast projected a feeling akin to disappointment. Well, if he couldn't find the legendary Pokemon, could he at least find food? It's not strictly carnivorous. ~~Who knows what those Poke Beans are made of.~~ ]

[~~Come on, Mohn, you jump dimensions, come share your beans with us.~~ Although Mewtwo was loath to admit it, the fastest place to obtain food was definitely the mansion. He tried to keep his presence there to a minimum, but this creature's needs were more immediate. His own pride could be set aside momentarily.]

I am sorry. But I do know where you can find food. I will show you the way.

[A big energy disturbance on the mansion grounds was definitely worth investigating, especially because it was NOT generated by one of the mansion's four resident engineers/mad scientists. Rock had never seen something like this before. The energy readings it was giving off were entirely foreign, but the disturbance just... felt familiar. Like how it was before the moon landed on the old academy.]

[Fully suited up, Rock came face to face with this floating... um... what? What is this thing? it didn't SEEM hostile, but it defied all analysis he attempted to make.]

[ He had the shape of one of those powerless hosts. It sensed energy, but not life. It had witnessed the hosts in its domain before-- even took hold of one briefly-- and the creatures they had with them all had life force, no matter how dissimilar they appeared.

So Rock was an anomaly in the beast's view, just as it was in his.

It emits a light tone, waiting to see what sort of response it would get. It did not understand language, but perhaps it could determine whether or not the robot posed a threat. ]

[Rock didn't raise his buster. He could be ready to attack at any moment if it made a move against him, but for the moment he was just working on trying to ascertain what it was he was looking at. He stared curiously, optics working overtime to try and give him information about it. And all he could determine was that it was a total unknown.]

Ah... I'm Rock... What's your name...?

[He tried to address it, unsure if it even understood language, let alone could replicate it. But the sound it made didn't SEEM hostile, at least not at the moment.]

[ Even if it understood spoken language OR could respond at all, it had no answer to that question. With no humans to give it a classification or even designation, it did not have a name. Or much of a sense of identity at all.

It gave off another chime, and drifted closer, no survival instinct kicking in just yet. ]

Edited 2017-02-06 03:02 (UTC)

[Rock wasn't ready to power his suit down just yet. But he wasn't taking an aggressive stance, and he wasn't making any attempt to ready for an attack. Nothing about it suggested hostility, so he didn't stop it, or make any gesture to suggest it should stop.]

Easy there... I won't hurt you...

[ The beast gets close enough to reach out with one of its tentacles and touch Rock, which it does.

It touches metal, reminiscent of the blade and blaster beasts. It has enough sense to understand that means its poison would have no effect on him.

Withdrawing the tentacle, it makes a slightly upset-sounding noise. Neither potential prey nor host. What a disappointment. ]

[Rock may not have been poisoned by the touch, but his sensors knew that the tentacle was highly toxic. If he HAD been alive, that would have been a severe injury. Hearing the upset sound when Rock DIDN'T collapse in pain, however, made him question the creature's motives for the first time. He stepped back.]

Just what ARE you anyway...?

[ Now now, Rock, it's just a nonlethal (to humans) dose of neurotoxin. Worst it would have done is paralyze you. It would have been painful, sure, but it's not a killer!

Yet.

The beast continues to provide no intelligible answer, and instead starts to drift away. It doesn't have a conscious direction, but if it keeps going in this direction, it will arrive at the greenhouse.

Follow? ]

[Well, the fact that this thing was capable of administering a powerful paralytic, and seemed to be disappointed that it didn't in fact paralyze Rock on contact, put up several red flags for him. He followed the creature, waiting to see what it would do next. But he was getting more and more wary by the second here.]

Before he saw it, Cyrus FELT it. Something was wrong, utterly and totally so.

The pressure in his very core nearly drove him to his knees. It couldn't be Giratina again, the lack of anger proved that. But it was unmistakably the feel of the Distortion World.

He had to find the source, and deal with it immediately. He wasn't going to be taken again.

The pressure was only increasing. It wasn't even a physical sensation, and it was one he was certain would be impossible to describe.

As he drew closer, he brought out a pokeball. It had taken a while but he had finally gotten Houndoom back.

But this creature he saw...what was it? This wasn't Giratina, so why did it send off the same sensation?

Edited 2017-02-04 03:52 (UTC)

[ Another fleshy being. This one, though... had been through a portal at some point, just like the beast had.

And being a Faller, unfortunately, made Cyrus and company extra juicy targets.

It had witnessed one of those spheres being used to capture one of its kind before. The beast knew what was coming, and prepared for a fight.

Its aura flared to life! Sp. Def rose!

Good thing it isn't overly speedy. ]

If he hadn't been slowly sliding back to his prior mindset, he would have retreated. He recognized that this thing was dangerous, especially with the sheer wrongness of its very presence. But with the reawakening of his past self, his refusal to take any resistance kept him in place. This was akin to Giratina and he would defeat it, he HAD to defeat it.

"Houndoom, Will-O-Wisp."

[ Luck isn't on the beast's side today, as the burning move lands. It has just enough consciousness to twitch in response to the pain. A pity that this beast doesn't have any attack-based moves.

Rock shards materialize around the beast, and launch themselves at Houndoom. An experienced trainer would recognize the move as Power Gem. ]

The attack struck, and Houndoom bayed in pain but remained standing. With a nod from Cyrus, it reared and began a Flamethrower.

The attack lands, but... It's not very effective...

The beast's first attack had been effective, so it launches another Power Gem at the doggo.

This creature was perhaps a water-type after all. More experimentation would have to be done. "Houndoom, return." Quickly, it was replaced by a monsterously large crow that let out a loud cry. "Wing Attack."

The bird hopped into the air and soared towards the beast.

Rene had taken it upon herself to shovel part of the courtyard, and when the wormhole opened up, she was almost immediately underneath it.

The heck did she get that rocket launcher from? Who knows! Rene barely understood the concept herself.

But upon seeing the creature emerge, she put it away. Was this related to those...human squids from in the woods? "Hey, are you looking for anyone?" she called out.

It didn't understand human speech. But as it happens, it was looking for someone: a new host. And the fleshy beings like this Rene appeared to be would do juuuuuuust fine.

It drifts toward her, reaching out with a pair of tentacle-like limbs.

Rene took a step back. "H-hey, it's ok. I'll help you out, but you've gotta promise not to sting me." She had never actually been around a jellyfish, but she had heard horror stories about stinging welts and intense pain, and wasn't about to take any chances.

The fleshy host was retreating. Does she understand her situation? That could be good or bad, depending on whether or not she would cooperate, or strike back...

Undeterred, the beast continued its approach. Just a little bit closer...

"Do you...want me to guide you?" Rene hesitantly held out a hand. Maybe it was lost.

Cartoons and video games typically depict jellies as having an electric charge, which causes the sting. This is not the case. Within the tentacles designed to sting are thousands of cells called cnidoblasts, which in turn house harpoon-like threads called nematocysts. Upon contact with a tentacle, the pressure causes the nematocysts to dart out at 10000 times the speed of gravity. The threads penetrate the victim and release neurotoxin, which paralyzes smaller prey and causes pain to larger victims.

That's in a normal, real-world jelly. And if the beast is anything like that (it is), imagine how much neurotoxin is in the tentacle that makes a dash to wrap itself around Rene's wrist.

It wasn't as though Rene knew, and it wasn't as though Rene would really care about the difference between neurotoxin and electric shocks if she did. All she knew was that this thing was potentially lost. "Now, tell me where you need to--"

That hurt. That hurt a LOT.

And then it didn't, and Rene found herself falling over, a good half her body numb.

All too easy. The beast chimed and shuddered with anticipation. If it couldn't go home, it was going to make the best of its situation.

Drifting over Rene, it lowered itself onto her head...

Staggering, Rene grabbed for her lance with her good arm. This thing was strong, and for some reason she thought of Juliana. Unsteadily, she took aim at the beast and prepared to fire.

If she could.

Edited 2017-02-07 01:14 (UTC)

Subduing a fleshy host has a different set of rules in play than it does battling monsters and other beasts. For one, the beast doesn't have to just stand there and take it.

Seeing its prey take aim, it takes evasive action by... disappearing.

And shortly thereafter, reappears

right

behind

her.

A cold chill shot down Rene's back and for a moment it occurred to her that she would rather fight a V2 than this thing. With her body numb, she could barely turn around, much less aim. A blind shot would have to do, and hope and pray that it didn't phase behind her again.

[Alphys is in the middle of rolling for a five star hero in the hot new app, Flame Amulet: Heroes, and isn't looking up when the portal appears.

She feels it, however, like a chill up her spine. Usually she'd be ecstatic to witness a portal in time and space, but something about this, and the being that appears, feels... wrong.]

H-h-h-hello...?

[Alphys holds her phone to her face like a shield, peering over the top. Maybe it's friendly....?]

[ This being... is not one of the fleshy hosts. Nor is she a beast like itself. But it does have a life force. It's just... somehow different. The beast isn't certain that this would be a suitable host.

But you never know until you try, right? It reaches out one of its appendages towards Alphys.

*This probably isn't going to be a high-five. ]

[Tentacle monster from another dimension? Alphys has seen enough anime to know where this is going.]

H-hey, I've got an idea! Why d-don't you just stay there and I'll go... over here and we can stay out of reach of each other?

[As she speaks, Alphys is slowly backing away]

[ Doesn't it look kind of like one of those girls with the poofy hats from the bullet hell games?

But the beast can't have its prey running away, now can it? With a chime, it drifts closer. ]

[It is, indeed, rather kawaii. Or it would be, if it weren't approaching her ominously.

Alphys continues to back away, until she backs up against the wall. uh oh.]

U-um, you know, you're, uh, k-kinda getting in my personal bubble, and, uhh, uhhhh...

[And she devolves into nothing but "uhhhhhhhs"]

[ Its prey is cornered. The beast writhes, and...

fades away, disappearing from view.

Uhhhhh? ]

Edited 2017-02-11 00:38 (UTC)

[Knit one, purl two. Knit one, purl two.

Sable is currently busying herself with yet another project, this time, some nice wool mittens. It's still pretty cold outside, after all, and she's worried that some of the residents here wouldn't have anything to keep their hands warm.

Nearby her, she notices a flash of light. As she turns, she notices the portal, the strange jellyfish-like creature peering out from it, then the portal closing again.

If Sable had seen something like this before working at the academy, she would've gotten up in a shock and sprinted in the other direction yelling.

However, so much weird events that has happened throughout the years pretty much desensitized Sable from the weird and bizarre. So, instead, she simply looks up, give the weird jellyfish creature a wave, then looks back down into her project. Knit one, purl two, knit one, purl two...]

[ Unidentified lifeform. Neither human nor monster. And... she barely even acknowledged it.

If it had the mind to do so, it might be offended.

Instead, the beast starts drifting towards the hedgehog. Maybe she was focusing on food. ]

[Sable could still feel a presence watching her. Once again, she looked up from her project to see the jellyfish-like creature...watching her? Possibly? It was hard to tell with that creature not having any eyes. One thing's for sure though, it sure was coming towards her.

Well...maybe it was lost, or it had a question. No need to be rude, after all.]

Can I help you?

[ The beast's only noticeable response is to chime. It also starts reaching out with one of its tentacles.

Sable probably shouldn't touch that. ]

[Oh, how mysterious. The way this creature was holding up one of their tentacles...it looked like it needed something.

Sable looks down at her knitting project. Perhaps it was interested in what she was sewing?

She maintains her distance, but also holds up her project to the creature.]

Ah, I'm making some mittens, you see. It's still very cold out here, after all. Are...you cold, perhaps? Would you like me to make you some mittens?

[Articuno was startled by the sudden appearance of the portal. Could it be Giratina opening a portal to the Distortion World once again...?

No. It wasn't Giratina. It was... She didn't recognize the beast, but she could sense it was still a pokemon, nonetheless. A very strange pokemon.

Articuno lifted off of her perch atop the mansion's roof and glided over to the opening of the portal. She'd decided to attempt to speak to it in the universal human language before her native pokemon tongue.]

Hello? Is this portal your doing?

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ɪɴᴠᴀsɪᴏɴ

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biology lesson in this tag because no one can stop me

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if you know what's about to happen, are you okay with that?

Oh goodness

things i didn't think i'd have to google: "what happens if you stab a jellyfish"

It gets better. Her "lance" is a rocket launcher. For some reason it's called a lance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb8E8NQCErg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCn6zAgIFTM

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Hello would you like a Sable

sable no.

Sable yes.

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