2020-11-15 - Fighting slimes in the sewers.

August has a reason he doesn't eat food he didn't grow, raise, catch, and cook, and this is exactly it. The gut reaction, not the part where his toilet eats him, though he's going to add that to the list from here on out. 'The last time I ate food someone else made my toilet ate me and I wound up in the Veil's idea of a sewer.' That ought to shut everyone up on this topic for the rest of time.

The best thing he can say is, he has his pants back on. ...it's the only good thing he can say. He's smelled truly foul things before, so he just turns that sense off like he used to. The no-doubt broken ribs he now has? That's another story.

Slimes. Fuck. He remembers Finch, that first time he healed her--

They attack without much warning, and August, on instinct, tries to get Alexander shielded. Sure, he seems to have landed fine, but that won't mean anything if these slimes pile onto him and bury him.

Tacos are great. Delicious even. Especially when you're flying high. Until they come back to bite you.

Which apparently also means the toilet is out for revenge too! All that dancing and stuff doesn't prepare you for getting flushed down a Dream drain. So Dahlia tumbles down and it's just a very unpleasant trek all around. Falling down the waterfall into real sewers? G.R.O.S.S But...at least she's not alone. Of course she's not alone. She's falling on people and people are falling on her.

And DISGUSTING. Did she mention that yet? She gives a weird sort of shout that is all at once a shout and trying not to open her mouth either. She's definitely not trying to get hit by anything right now. So first instinct? Burn it with fire- obviously!

All that time obsessing over waffletacos has claimed its due. It's not really a surprise that Alexander's become obsessed with craving tacos, and is desperate and munchie-needing enough to just eat what's given to him. And now he regrets it.

The toilet eats him, and as he's sucked down into horrible places, he cries, "This isn't fair!"

But as the smell hits his nose, he twists around and hits the tile feet first, grabbing at his sweatpants and pulling them up. He still moons a couple of people. SORRY.

He pulls his pants up and looks around. "Wait, not the slimes aga--" and then he's staggering under balls of foul slimy matter from every side. "What? No! Stop! Why!" He flails his hands, which immediately start to spark.

There was no mistaking Abitha's entrance. It was loud, ear-piercing, interrupted only by needing to take in further gulped breaths between probably drownings as she shrieks in terror. It didn't matter how high she had been, this was probably one of the worst possible circumstances she could imagine. It also didn't matter what she landed on, the absolute first thing she was scrambling to do was drag her jeans back up into place, probably while also trying to scramble her way into the corner or against the wall, eyes wide open and darting around. It took a long time for her to understand the other half of her powers, and even then she used it without thinking, the same instintcual shield is dragged up into place protectively.

This is what Joey gets for living on Elm Street. This is also what he gets for telling his snoopy-buddy-neighbor Alexander 'hey maybe regular tacoes?'. Never. Again. he gives his fingers a flick pushing himself up "What the literal shit?" He turns to the globs of- let's not think too hard on this shall we? "This is why waffle tacos are infinitely better. yeah, asshole," speaking of which he makes sure his shorts are pulled up, "You heard me"

Abitha coughs as she takes one to the chest, one hand going there, clutching, then scraping at whatever hit her, looking horrified. "What the fuck!" she spits hoarsely, both from the hit and all the screaming. Eyes still wide with terror, one hand snaps up, green-nailed fingers curling into a claw and launching a lightning bolt at the thing that attacked her.

"EWWWW!" Dahlia all but screams. More than grossed out. Especially now that she's been HIT. What assholes. Getting hit may or may not have distracted her from noticing that the Greenslime didn't even get phased by her fire. So instead, she just tries again. But this time - towards the Cornslime that had hit her and is now coming closer.

Alexander instinctively fires his first bolt at the Cornslime, who pegged him HARD in the chest, but when his lightning is just absorbed with no visible effect, he frowns. "Not good!" Unfortunately, looking in THAT direction means that Greenslime's attack takes him by surprise. He staggers again as more foul blobby horror slams into his chest. It's eating right through his sweatshirt, and into the flesh underneath. "I hate this!" He's looking the worst for wear, swaying in place as he reorients to the Greenslime. "Stay back!" Lightning sparks again.

August tries to shove past Alexander's defenses so he can shore him up, and just can't seem to. He sighs, shakes his head. "Alright, suit yourself," he mutters. The green slime has its...whatevers on him, and he focuses on shielding himself instead. "Pretty sure reason's not in their vocabulary, Alexander." He shifts closer to Abitha, intending to help her next--she's not as strong in shaping, is she?

Joey tries to get over to get to Mac and Alexander. "Roen, Dahlia you okay?" He's about to ask Max but she just hadoken'd that damn thing. "Remember if you are gonna scream do it with your mouth shut!" The sweatshirt loss is noted. "Right those that are good a blocking try to hide those that ain't." That said he tries to get between Clayton and that mad mass. "Man why's taking shit so gross?"

Dahlia might have answered Joey, if all the slimes weren't deciding she was the most delicious looking human! She gets the brunt of a particularly vicious hit and stumbles back. But she's still up! If just barely. On the bright side, at least she looks angry! That fireball flares out against the cornslime again. Maybe it'll do something this time.

"I HATE LIVING ON ELM," Alexander proclaims to the world in general as foul goo drips down his chest. There's already scars there, thanks, he doesn't need more. But at least it focuses him thoroughly on Greenslime, but his attempt to dance around only means that the lightning sparks and disperses through the water without doing anything but tickling the slime. Tickle, tickle! So, he stops dancing around and tries to get right up in the slimes...wobbly...face...bits, electricity hissing and spitting like a sack of angry snakes.

Joey is supre really going to regret this later. Fishing around in the sewage he looks for something solid he cna wrench free. "Man there are few things that make me miss prison, holy shit. Clayton DO. Not. Die. on me. I'm not explaining this to your woman why you're in kibbly bi-" and the impact hits like a small truck winding the boxer a minute. "Batter up!" That's warning to stay out of the splatter zone.

"I DON'T EVEN LIVE ON ELM!" August shouts at Alexander. "THIS ISN'T ABOUT ELM IT'S ABOUT THIS WHOLE FUCKING PLACE." It's hard for him to think, in this moment, that dodging excrement is any less critical than dodging a bullet, but here they are. Abitha's not immediately under threat, that he can tell, so he opts to make her stronger instead. "Make the next shot count," he says, and gives her Glimmer a nice solid shove.

Seemingly out of the firing line for now, Abitha reorients, scrambling to her feet, arguably making herself a better target, but the solid footing giving her the focus to launch another lightning bolt at the foul goop. Was she taking tactical advice from Joey? Probably not. Sometimes she was a bit of a tunnel vision DPS. But the boost definitely got her attention, a savage grin on her face as her emerald hair frizzes up in the backflow from the charged release. "TEE WHYYYYY." CRRRRRACK

There's a look of...savage satisfaction almost as the cornslime is engulfed by Dahlia's flame. But it's abruptly over as Dahlia herself gets absolutely stomped by the group of slimes.

Alexander thrusts his fists forward as the Greenslime comes on. They collide as it basically covers him from the waste up in horrific, burning goo, and at the same time, a torrent of electricity explodes the thing into horrible bits. "Yes! Take that!" And then an appalled, "ohgodishinmymoufptooptoohfuck!"

he staggers around as slimes go up in stinky, burning, battered deaths. "Fine, it's the whole damned town! And I'm not gonna die. None of us are gonna--" oh, Dahlia's down. That's not great. "Is she okay?"

August's satisfaction at the slimes getting smashed is heady and brief. He makes a strangled sort of sound when Dahlia collapses, tries to navigate the muck to get to her without falling over. "Not here, Evergreen. Not here." He snags the weak thread of her life and her shoulders at the same time. "Come on. Get up."

Breathing hard, Abitha is a bit wild eyed as she absolutely melts her target. She aims that grin at August for a moment until she realizes the breathing was just making the smell worse. She half-gags, grimaces, clamps her mouth shut, also moving her hands to try to dab and wipe at the liquid that had burned her midsection, trying to relieve the stinging a bit, a look of frustration and disgust at the sweater that had now become a crop top. One hand was now dedicated to pulling the fabric down, hiding the slightly reddened skin beneath.

"Okay, fucks all around, tell me there's a way outta this shit?" Literally.

Joey splats the thing to the four winds in a spray that would make a hippo proud. "Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaak it stings." Desperately he triesto clear his face with his bicep cause his hands are messy and busy. "Yeah. Maybe. Wake up or.... find the other end of the drain. Everything goes... somewhere." Looking to August he frowns, "Hey... Dahl gonna be alright? You got it?" Because medic trumps coach. he doesn't know what the fuck he did in the military, he only knows August is too old for this shit.

"There's usually a way out. Last time, there was a ladder, and the sewers," Alexander mutters, while trying to find some part of his clothing that isn't befouled so that he can wipe his damned face while the slimes retreat...or so he thinks. He gingerly cleans his lips and mouth...oh, but he should have covered his eyes. "What. The. Fuck." He's seen a lot of horror in his life, but this?

He'll have nightmares about that. "Fuck, fuck, get ready--" and then it's lobbing at August, and he shouts, "Hey! Not the healer!" Lightning starts to spark again, although it's fitful and...well, everything smells, okay.

"August!" Abitha shouts, the name could have been a warning or a cry of despair, given the timing. Her hand leaves her sweater, putting both wrists together as she centers her mind. The crackle of lightning runs down her arms as another crackling bolt discharges toward the creature, a wordless growl of anger flying from her lips.

What August was doing in the Army was jumping out of planes, dodging mortars, and this: handling injured people. Not as a medic, that's Devlin's thing; he was protecting hospitals. So this isn't too far off the mark.

And too bad for the Megaslime, August is fast when he needs to be. Like right now, when he's trying to help a severely wounded Dahlia to her feet. "Fuck," he growls, slipping and stumbling clear of...well, he's not going to think about whatever that was. "Get this thing off me," he says to the rest of them, though it's Joey he looks at. Come on, Coach: swing for the stands.

There is a lot said for proper form. A lead pipe in Joey's hands in a dark place under the city is jsut a bad time for everyone. Usually. Today it is making a hole so people can get back to the ladder aforementioned, right over there. Will Joey relish beating the shit out of this turd? Absolutely. The splatters start coming apart into the faraday cage of lightening Abitha's setting up and it's ...cathartic really. Gina's missing this. Of all the people he'd love to drag around for 'adventure' she's missing on something super legit to grouse about. Irony, Gray Harbor by thy name,

Alexander's lightning hisses and sparkles around the edges of the Megaslime, but when Joey hauls off and just tears into it with a led pipe, Alexander lets out a whoop of encouragement. "Tear it up, Kelly!" And Abitha's torrent of electricity takes him aback and he stumbles back a couple of steps, throwing up an arm to shield his arms. "Wow!"

The last crackles of burning energy dying away, Abitha's hands lower again, a brief, appreciative look aimed Joey's way, and a proud grin sent Alexander's before she's back at the previous problem. Breath hard through nose? Nope, that's even worse, the gamer discovers, her face a mask of discomfort and absolute suffering at the smell. She is glancing around now, though, hands still hanging loose, ready to bring energy back to bear at anything besides the other Harborites moved down here. As an afterthought, one palm unfurls upwards, her mind focusing to pop a glowing mote into existence as she'd try to slosh over closer to August and check on him. "You ok?" Her look goes from him to Dahlia, her free hand palm out, like she were willing to help, not really thinking about it.

August's bit of healing bring Dahlia 'round some. "Damn right...n...ot here..." She mumbles and, with a little assistance, will stumble back up to her feet. A thousand showers with 30 different antiseptics won't make this better later but...it will be a start. For now? Dahlia tries to hurl fire! It misses. So? She tries again! Or starts to...but then she realizes that it's over and she looks to Abitha when she asks if the dancer is okay. "Not even a little bit." Dahlia deadpans.

August ducks everyone not himself and Dahlia pours power into the slime, shielding Dahlia as best he can. Then it...explodes. Ugh, he's never eating tacos again. He smiles at Dahlia as she comes round, nods at Abitha. "Yeah. A little banged up but nothing a soak in a gallo n of bleach can't handle." He swallows, feeling everyone else's injuries, sways a little. It's a hell of a trip down memory lane to healing Finch.

Dahlia stares at the mass that was Megaslime. It looks like she might pass out again. She definitely does wander a little off to the side and vomit up whatever tacos she'd eaten but then stumbles back to the group. "Somebody kill me now please." Though she manages to focus on August long enough to add, "Thanks for the save."

Alexander peers at Dahlia, nods with satisfaction as she starts moving. His face is streaked with...let's not think about it. "Death or this shit? It's a close call," he admits with a rusty laugh. "Definitely no tac--wait, did we all have fucking tacos?" He's moving towards the ladder. No freaking out and fleeing into the Dream sewers this time, it seems.

Joey plods through there and gives a slow appreciating nod back to Mac. "Damn fine form, woman. Let's get our asses up that damn ladder." Eyes go to August, then Dahlia. "Dahl, you hanging in there? No, I'm not killing you or i'd have to kill my own ass." Joey backs toward the ladder. He has no intention of staying down here than he has to, but right now is about making sure Red Mage August can get out, and the others with him. That lead pipe is gripped in hand **waiting* for a motherfucker to roll up on him because he is in a Mood(tm) right now. "Ask when we're out."

"Bet." is Abitha's confirmation to both responses to her question and Joey's admiration. Alexander's gets a look, realization and horror playing across her face. Then thoughtfulness. She was still high afterall, "I mean... Not good ones." Her green eyes now have time to eye her surroundings, spotting the ladder her light revealed... Well... Made more obvious, "Now can we get the fuck out of here?" she asks, jerking her thumb toward the exit, already taking one step back and starting to turn toward it. She was muttering to herself, "So... many... fucking... baths..."