NatronSpore

"The man is right. The death was no one's fault. And mine will be no one's fault." Ferro looked next at Alex. "R-remember how I lifted that girl onto the table when s-she sprained her ankle? Do the same thing with me when we go into that room." Ferro gave a quick glance down at his wound and made another grimace. "Ah- and let's do it quickly."

Ferro smiled at Alex. "Wear it with pride. Don't ever kill anyone with it. And use it to carry me into the next room." Ferro's eyes got a distant look. "I may not be able to do anything, but - but I'd like to see this through." Ferro turned to the girl who had slashed him. "I did mean to kill him. I c-can't lie about that." He grimaced with the pain of his side. "Let's g-go on ahead. Take down the portal, Alex. J-just think of it happening, and it will."

(You still can't go through the door. The portal is still there.) Ferro grasped Alex's right arm with surprising strength. He placed the D-ppendage over the arm and snapped it closed. "Take it. Have Rytt give you the boots when - when you get back to the ship."

Justice is served, Neko.

(Sooory, I had relatives over at my house. Family dinner and all.) Ferro looked down in amazement. The girl had managed to get behind his shield somehow. And now there was a gash. Rather a large one, too. Things looked bleak. Ferro slumped down by the table, his shield turning off. "A - Alex. Come h- here." Ferro pressed a button on the D-ppendage, and a holographic display came up. Unbind. The device split down the middle, revealing grey mottled skin.

Ferro's arm was up as soon as the girl started yelling at him, the portal shield flickering into existence. It gobbled up the flame like a hungry mouth, sending it to who-knows-where. Ferro kept the shield in place even after the attack was finished. "I don't want to kill you." he said to the girl. "But my safety is above the safety of other people on my priority list. That's just the way it is. Stop fighting so I won't have to do it."

I'm not carrying Derik. He is on the ground right now. And the portal won't kill anyone, it just sends them to the other portal. But it prevents anyone from going through the door. And only Ferro can remove it.

Ferro whirled on Derik. "You've stepped over the line too! The only reason I'm not going to kill you is because you are helpless and because I've had enough of killing! The only reason I killed that one is because I felt I had to do it." Ferro gave Derik a sour look, then turned back to the women who had spoken. "I respect you as a soldier and as a fellow last human. Both positions can be honorable. Both can also be evil."

"He's right. A splint will do you good. But it doesn't need to be that complicated." Ferro got the tools out of Derik's pocket. They were just like the ones they used in crafting the D-ppendage, although Ferro was more of a tester than a builder. But hey, it had been a small group, and they had all done some of everything. Ferro used the saw to cut a strip of metal off the table, then bonded it to the side of Seraphim's leg armor after straightening it. "When the sprain heals, we can simply cut the strip in half to free up your leg." Ferro returned the tools to Derik's pocket.

(He was at a disadvantage to start with. But whatever, if Sikota's cool with it, then we can stop talking about it. I WILL GIVE YOU A COMFORTING HUG AND A FRIENDLY STAB AT SCHOOL SIKOTA)

(I figured this would generate controversy. What am I supposed to do, grab his face, fire at point-blank range, and miss?)

Ferro didn't know what was happening until he had landed on his feet on top of Henko. Derik had flipped them both. Good thing, too. Ferro didn't know if could have made it in time without the extra motion. Ferro quickly pulled open Henko's face mask with his left hand and grasped his face with the D-ppendage claw. "You stepped over the line. Since you can control yourself, I have no choice." Ferro fired a single shot from the D-ppendage into Henko's face. True to the original prototype, it had an adverse affect on living matter. Henko's entire head was instantly transported to another dimension, killing him instantly. Ferro got up from the headless body, fired a shot to envelop Seraphim's suit, and lifted her gently onto the table. "Now you have an incentive not to fight me." he said to everyone in the room. (SORRY SIKOTA!)

(Your typo is also correct.)

(Oh dear.)

"For goodness sakes, everyone! Stop yelling!" Ferro exclaimed. And just so no one would leave the room, Ferro repositioned his portal onto the door to the central lab. "Nobody is going in there until we get the antidote for Derik and talk this out. And it's in your best interest to keep me alive, considering that that portal won't go away without my telling it to do so. None of you can use this weapon." he said, gesturing to his D-ppendage. "It is coded to my DNA, and if I die, all effects will be locked in place until an anti-rift device is moved into the area. I'm assuming none of you have this device." Ferro gave a wry smile to everybody. He had forced them into an dead end. "Now, we need a table for this discussion." Ferro fired at a clean table, lifted it up remotely, and set it down in the center of the room.

A quick scan of the room showed there were four people on one side. The door to the Genesys machine was off to the other side. Ferro quickly set Derik on the ground and stepped in front of him. "I doubt whatever contamination you have is catching. Otherwise, I would be incapacitated just like you." Ferro prepped an escape portal in case he needed a quick getaway. "Alex, see if you can find any antidote for Derik. I'll handle these guys." Ferro called out to the other group: "Why do you feel you have to fight us? Can't we talk first?"

The characters for the dragging in of Neko: Also, Ferro's Semblance: astrality. Ferro can partially shift himself onto the astral plane, rendering his body able to pass through solid objects. The benefit also extends temporarily to objects he touches. Sustaining this ability requires a very large amount of aura, and so Ferro doesn't use it very often.

"Let's ditch it, then." Ferro scooped up Derik again and proceeded through the room to the other side, careful not to go too near any chemical spills. Reaching the door on the far side, Ferro opened it. He hoped the next room had the antidote for Derik, but he could survive for a good amount of time still. Past the door was. . .

(We can flood the place with chemicals! More Portal!) Ferro, still carrying Derik, jogged through the hallway and into the chemical lab. After setting him down on a clear patch of floor, Ferro approached the console. Repay kindness with nothing, or repay kindness with injury. Not very nice options, but there had to be a better one. "What do you think, guys?" he said to Derik and Alex.

(I'm gonna pull you in with some new characters, don't worry. Just give me some time to enact them.)

(I was thinking on it, but the result is the same. But now that I think about it, being inside its eye is a much better idea.) The ground and sky split, the Grimmlen screamed, the world flew apart before their eyes. When they opened them again, they were back in the forest. The body of the Grimmlen was dissolving in front of them. Its mental assault was slowly fading from their minds. The only sound was the rustling of the leaves. (Grimmlen transport you somewhere on or in their bodies. Attacking the ground or sky during a Grimmlen attack doesn't always work though. It depends on where in the Grimmlen you are. Nasty creatures.)

The earth Joshua had dumped on the Grimmlen mass began to be absorbed into the ground. As it did, it took on the grey hue of the rest of the soil. Suddenly, the Grimmlen appeared again, and blinked again. The sky went dark, and when it unshuttered, the two were standing on it. They were also standing on the grey earth. And the Grimmlen was there, its stomach fixed in a ghastly grin as it tried to break their minds.

The flaming bodies of the Grimmlens were thrown backward by the blast, but as the flew, they collected into a massive flaming mass. The mass rose up into a pillar of flame. Two searing arms extended from the pillar and blasted fire at the pair. That unnerving sound came back, this time with an edge of crackling flame to it. "Ehecheeechcehehh!"

Suddenly, a form materialized in front if them, blown in on a wind that didn't exist. It was the Grimmlen, or at least, it appeared to be the Grimmlen. It stood before them, staring at them with its huge sun-like eyes. And then it blinked. And as it blinked, the whole sky went dark and then went red, as if momentarily shuttered. Like the Grimmlen's eyes had been shuttered. And when the sky had returned, there wasn't a Grimmlen in front of them anymore. There were twenty. And they were moving toward the pair of youngsters. With arms outstretched. With a ravenous light in their eyes. With the mouths on their stomachs opened wide.

(I beat you to the punch. But maybe you weren't thinking of Portal at the time.)