Difference between revisions of "Cult of Ustream (Canon)/Season One"
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For a time, things quieted down; brief battles occur every so often and crazE and Starr manage to find the time to conceive their children- this results in a fight between the former and [[Shockwing]], during which crazE is injured and Shockwing is begrudgingly forced to treat him, upon Jason's order. Shadow's friendship with Fricai grows stronger, which proves vital in the climax of this arc. The Black Assassin soon makes its return, however, and certain members of the Cult manage to fight it off once again (though not before learning it has acquired Lord X-Giga-X's achlympery, resulting in an irate Espira telling him off the day after; he futilely tried to to fix the error by providing Jason with a map that allows him to track the locations of all achlymperists in Ustream). Jason manages to glean a small amount of information on the Black Assassin from crazE, but not enough to be very helpful. | For a time, things quieted down; brief battles occur every so often and crazE and Starr manage to find the time to conceive their children- this results in a fight between the former and [[Shockwing]], during which crazE is injured and Shockwing is begrudgingly forced to treat him, upon Jason's order. Shadow's friendship with Fricai grows stronger, which proves vital in the climax of this arc. The Black Assassin soon makes its return, however, and certain members of the Cult manage to fight it off once again (though not before learning it has acquired Lord X-Giga-X's achlympery, resulting in an irate Espira telling him off the day after; he futilely tried to to fix the error by providing Jason with a map that allows him to track the locations of all achlymperists in Ustream). Jason manages to glean a small amount of information on the Black Assassin from crazE, but not enough to be very helpful. | ||
| − | The next break the Cult manages to find (during which Jason and Lord-X-Giga-X have minor conflict) is broken by something entirely different; the being within crazE's mind, identified as Darkside, breaks free. While he is subdued relatively easily, the Cult finds itself with another problem- that of Jason's debt, apparently unresolved despite what the pink one had claimed. By holding Zephyr hostage, Death managed to trick Jason into offering his soul again, causing the Shapeshifter to panic and restart his four-year flight from the inevitability of death. He is finally cornered after he and Mimring cross part of the [[Mithril Sea]] to the west, and as Mimring makes the trek back to Headquarters. Nearly dying when he gets there, he is | + | The next break the Cult manages to find (during which Jason and Lord-X-Giga-X have minor conflict) is broken by something entirely different; the being within crazE's mind, identified as Darkside, breaks free. While he is subdued relatively easily, the Cult finds itself with another problem- that of Jason's debt, apparently unresolved despite what the pink one had claimed. By holding Zephyr hostage, Death managed to trick Jason into offering his soul again, causing the Shapeshifter to panic and restart his four-year flight from the inevitability of death. He is finally cornered after he and Mimring cross part of the [[Mithril Sea]] to the west, and as Mimring makes the trek back to Headquarters. Nearly dying when he gets there, he is sustained by receiving [[Kivorde]] from Ziolang while [[Jack Evans]] and Deathstorm travel to Hell in order to rescue Jason, with the help of the Pink Death. As Jack and Deathstorm distract Death, the pink one escorts Jason out of Hell, allowing him to rejoin his body and come back to life. Even when Death attempts to reap Jason's soul again, he finds that he cannot, and promptly vanishes. It is revealed that Pink Death sold her immortality for Jason's soul, turning her into a human by the name of Destiny. |
The day after after Jason returns to the land of the living, crazE, Shadow, Starr, Valerie, and Vale return from a "vacation" they had taken to the [[Euthorica Islands]], now with [[Darius]] tagging along. Almost immediately, the Black Assassin attacks again, in what proves to be the final battle: Darius, Jason, Mimring, Starr, and Lord X-Giga-X were all killed; Espira (although thought to have been killed), [[Grodisflare]], crazE, and Fricai were seriously injured, and ultimately Shadow was the one who destroyed the Black Assassin permanently, by destroying the visor. In the end, Shockwing managed to heal everyone, even using Starr's training to revive the dead. | The day after after Jason returns to the land of the living, crazE, Shadow, Starr, Valerie, and Vale return from a "vacation" they had taken to the [[Euthorica Islands]], now with [[Darius]] tagging along. Almost immediately, the Black Assassin attacks again, in what proves to be the final battle: Darius, Jason, Mimring, Starr, and Lord X-Giga-X were all killed; Espira (although thought to have been killed), [[Grodisflare]], crazE, and Fricai were seriously injured, and ultimately Shadow was the one who destroyed the Black Assassin permanently, by destroying the visor. In the end, Shockwing managed to heal everyone, even using Starr's training to revive the dead. | ||
Revision as of 08:55, 14 April 2015
Overview
Summary
Diclonius
After a brief two-week break, during which Lord X-Giga-X began to rebuild his destroyed lab, a disturbance shook the immediate area as Shadow Version 27 and Espira Xirro appeared seemingly out of nowhere- the former injured, the latter dead. The cult took immediate action in treating Shadow's wounds and attempting to revive Espira; however, before Shadow could check on his friend, Ziolang Hirasu stopped and challenged him on the grounds that the Diclonius was weak. Two one-sided battles, the Cult's general protest, one kidnapping, and one escape later, Shadow finally managed to see Espira, fully healed (thanks to Starr), as she interfered with Ziolang's second attempt to take Shadow away (this time to train him in Deveron). The Demon still did not back down, but conceded Shadow's stay in Ustream for one day, which would supposedly be extended on the condition that Shadow show improvement combat-wise during that timeframe. The Cult pitched in as one to help Shadow train, and by his next battle with Ziolang, the boy showed enough improvement by the Demon's standards to stay with the Cult.
A Brief Respite
General developments and relationships formed before the next major event. While at the Cult, Shadow quickly began to fit into its daily lifestyle, even forming a friendship with a previously unapproachable crippled dragon named Fricai. CrazE began to show disturbing signs of another being inhabiting his mind; a clone of Jason turned up in Ustream before promptly being chased out of the Headquarters' basement by Fricai. Jason obtained an egg that would later hatch into Zephyrus, before he and Shadow had a conflict with Starr regarding her experimenting, ultimately ending in Jason revealing a debt he had with Death and the reason he always sheltered the injured. Brief scuffles and battles were had here and there; Starr briefly leaves the cult for a time before returning to open arms. More people begin to learn of Jason's debt as it starts to become more immediately relevant, culminating in a pink-robed, feminine version of Death. Stephanie Roseasilmillään, also known as "Gaga", was introduced during this time, along with Emma Isokoski ("Four") and Valen Scarletburn ("Five"). Zephyr hatched; Pink Death joined the Cult; Valerie Knight, crazE's cousin, was introduced and soon punched Shadow out of a third-story window (later actually becoming friends with him).
Black Assassin and the Debt
This (relatively) quiet period was soon shattered with the arrival of the Black Assassin. This robotic adversary was sent to kill crazE and any blood relatives of his- including Valerie and his as-of-yet unhatched offspring with Starr, Rye and Ringo Knight. Espira- and quickly Vale- fought the Black Assassin after it attacked Valerie and crazE (and Shadow after he tried to interfere). They defeated it after a long struggle, and it appeared to have been destroyed. A brief period of rest followed, during which Espira had Lord X-Giga-X "analyze" a sample of fabric the Black Assassin wore, along with its decapitated visor, with little result other than the fabric "absorbing" a glove.
For a time, things quieted down; brief battles occur every so often and crazE and Starr manage to find the time to conceive their children- this results in a fight between the former and Shockwing, during which crazE is injured and Shockwing is begrudgingly forced to treat him, upon Jason's order. Shadow's friendship with Fricai grows stronger, which proves vital in the climax of this arc. The Black Assassin soon makes its return, however, and certain members of the Cult manage to fight it off once again (though not before learning it has acquired Lord X-Giga-X's achlympery, resulting in an irate Espira telling him off the day after; he futilely tried to to fix the error by providing Jason with a map that allows him to track the locations of all achlymperists in Ustream). Jason manages to glean a small amount of information on the Black Assassin from crazE, but not enough to be very helpful.
The next break the Cult manages to find (during which Jason and Lord-X-Giga-X have minor conflict) is broken by something entirely different; the being within crazE's mind, identified as Darkside, breaks free. While he is subdued relatively easily, the Cult finds itself with another problem- that of Jason's debt, apparently unresolved despite what the pink one had claimed. By holding Zephyr hostage, Death managed to trick Jason into offering his soul again, causing the Shapeshifter to panic and restart his four-year flight from the inevitability of death. He is finally cornered after he and Mimring cross part of the Mithril Sea to the west, and as Mimring makes the trek back to Headquarters. Nearly dying when he gets there, he is sustained by receiving Kivorde from Ziolang while Jack Evans and Deathstorm travel to Hell in order to rescue Jason, with the help of the Pink Death. As Jack and Deathstorm distract Death, the pink one escorts Jason out of Hell, allowing him to rejoin his body and come back to life. Even when Death attempts to reap Jason's soul again, he finds that he cannot, and promptly vanishes. It is revealed that Pink Death sold her immortality for Jason's soul, turning her into a human by the name of Destiny.
The day after after Jason returns to the land of the living, crazE, Shadow, Starr, Valerie, and Vale return from a "vacation" they had taken to the Euthorica Islands, now with Darius tagging along. Almost immediately, the Black Assassin attacks again, in what proves to be the final battle: Darius, Jason, Mimring, Starr, and Lord X-Giga-X were all killed; Espira (although thought to have been killed), Grodisflare, crazE, and Fricai were seriously injured, and ultimately Shadow was the one who destroyed the Black Assassin permanently, by destroying the visor. In the end, Shockwing managed to heal everyone, even using Starr's training to revive the dead.
Euthorica Islands Sideplot
While Jason and Mimring were fleeing from Death, and later when Jason was being rescued, crazE, Starr, Shadow, Valerie, and Vale took a brief break from the Cult, going to Azuma Island to have a sort of vacation away from the stress. This sideplot was primarily for character development, during which Shadow destroyed a rollercoaster in panic and Vale was the one imprisoned for it. The group also picked up Darius along the way, bringing him back to the Cult just in time for the final battle against the Black Assassin.
The Station of Seotara
After finally defeating the Black Assassin, the Cult earns a well-deserved break, during which repairs are made to Headquarters and Kyton Haryn joins the Cult. This extremely brief period of downtime vanishes when a new group, known as the Station of Seotara (a military group sent to keep an eye on Durasken's southern border), finds itself in Cult territory. The small recon group involved consists of Slash, Ayana, Reika Aerixai, and Zaiek Kierrmi. Jason smells the group- namely the other Shapeshifter, Slash- and instinct causes him to abandon his would-be confrontation with Lord X-Giga-X regarding a dragon in favor of driving away the intruder to his territory. He is promptly defeated once Slash shifts into his Banether form. Jason retreats with Mimring's help, and the group approaches Lord X-Giga-X's laboratory to raid it, destroying it in the process.
Immediate action cannot be taken as Jason is badly wounded with the Banether's taint, but after he recovers it is decided that the Cult will keep an eye out for the Station, and wait and see rather than automatically retaliating against it. It is also during this time that they realize at one offworlder (Slash) is among the group, as the Banether is a Phantasian monster.
The Seal Arc
A break is still not to be had; the Cult quickly finds itself drawn into an alarmingly large-scale dilemma, one of five seals scattered throughout Ustream. A lone woman, Azænia, is destroying these seals for an unknown reason, her first target being one contained in a shipwreck a short distance south of Cassiel's cavern. A short and one-sided battle ends with Cassiel injured and the Cult retreating to assess the situation, and Cassiel and Deathstorm reveal that all three Shadow Drakes guard- or guarded- three of Ustream's seals. None of them know what the seals are restraining, but they all agree that it would be very bad to release it.
The Cult resolves to find the seals before Azænia does and assure their safety, but Stormshaper finds the Station of Seotara base before they set out. Interested in the possibility of recon, Jason has Lord X-Giga-X lead an investigation team to the other building before he, Mimring, Deathstorm, Dark, Shadow, and Gaga depart for the southern seal, in Deathstorm's old territory. There they find it- a tower with smaller towers floating around it- completely unharmed, but before they can do much more than comment on the fact, a gigantic Stormcloud Firedrake confronts them: Skyking Súndávr, the Familiar of Koth Grimseeker, a man who had tried to take over Euthora 700 years prior by controlling all of its dragons, before Skyking Shyr defeated and sealed him away. In attempting to reason with Súndávr, they both assure the seal's (temporary) safety and learn that the Stormcloud is still in contact with his master. After a violent farewell from the dragon, the group heads north to assist Lord X-Giga-X in the investigation team.
... Which has now become a raid. This group, originally consisting of Lord X-Giga-X, Grodisflare, Erahvs, Jack, Kyton, and Stormshaper, in response to being noticed before actually reaching the building, begins to attack the Station, presumably in revenge for the Station's own raid against the Cult. Shortly, the group who had investigated the seal, as well as Judas Numidius, arrive to support the raid (although Jason isn't particularly happy that it resulted in a fight), and soon Kyton, Jason, and Lord X-Giga-X fight against Slash and Mya Vertgrand in the basement sector of the building (Kyton slips away during the fight). They are soundly defeated, and forced to retreat when Charos's seal is suddenly destroyed, resulting in a noticeable pillar of light and magic in the western sky. During this time, Grodisflare and Erahvs are captured, and Kyton is captured when he tries to escape later, after gathering information. A rescue attempt by Espira, Lord X-Giga-X, and Xibu Uif G succeeds without much incident, although the Station now knows of the seals.
False Reality
After another brief respite, the Cult breaks up a fight between Ganso Turris, a Shapeshifter Jason knows as his adoptive brother, and Careodry, a melanistic Voidwalker with obscure morals. After Ganso recovers from the battle, Careodry approaches the Cult, challenging them to a game, despite a Soul Harvester arriving and attempting to get Careodry to leave the Cult alone. The Cult refuses, but Careodry forces them to place his game anyway, and drags Jason, Mirming Shadow, Lord X-Giga-X, Starr and Shockwing into his void. They are told to view a simulated world and make changes based on what they see. This does not go over well- even Careodry grows bored with it. In the end, the dragon challenges them to something more interesting- their own timeline will be branched off into a very real scenario, where they will all be placed. Only one of them will be aware that they are in the game, and will be able to make changes mostly on their own (via communication with Careodry through his Voidcore). It is at this point that Dark is pulled into the game.
It is decided that Shadow will be the one to make the changes. He finds himself in Tarik, the capital city of Durasken, where he eventually meets nearly all members of the Cult who were in the game, and a few who weren't. He finds Jason under the restraint of Tarik's guards, violent and nearly feral; Lord X-Giga-X wanders the city under a cloak, searching for books on dracoimpery with the help of a man named Nit Toi; Dark follows Jack and Jude on the latter's journey for musical inspiration; and Shockwing and his sister Scena rescue Starr from a prison elsewhere in the city. The only one absent is Mimring, who would not logically be anywhere near the city. Shadow is even more pressured to find the dragon and bring the Cultists together when the reality almost seems to break, stopping time and showing an ominous, borderline macabre landscape, and both Careodry and the Soul Harvester urge Shadow to hurry. Eventually Shadow finds Mimring- along with Starlight and Icelake Thunderscale- off the coast of the island Tarik rests on, and after reaching the island once again, the Cult is forcibly pulled out.
They find themselves back in Careodry's void, with all memories from both timelines intact. However, they also find themselves surrounded by Soul Harvesters, one of them Crux, who informs them that there is a problem with the branched timeline. The branch will be deleted, and the Cultists will have their memories of it erased. Surprisingly, all of them agree to it, not wanting to remember some of the harder memories anyway. However, when Shadow is the last to have his memories erased, Crux stops the Soul Harvesters. Careodry then explains that as Shadow was placed into the timeline without any context or memories, he only remembers what he had experienced- with no conflicting memories. He is sent back to Ustream with the rest of the Cult, still in possession of Careodry's Voidcore.
Death of a Knight
With most of the Cult's memories of the second half of Careodry's game erased, it seems as if there has been very little incident in the past several days. This illusion is, once again, broken when Darius and Valerie suddenly reappear in Ustream after having been missing since shortly after Kyton's arrival. A brief, post-traumatic misunderstanding results in Darius trying to fight off a very confused Cult before the matter is resolved fairly quickly, and both of them are taken to the infirmary to recover. Valerie wakes up, has a similar but less intense reaction than Darius, and reveals that they were taken to a place called the Dark Zone and that crazE stayed behind, sacrificing himself to save them.
At this point, Lord X-Giga-X begins laughing, much to everyone's shock and annoyance. When Shadow pins Lord X-Giga-X to the infirmary wall with a vector, Jason attempts to break up the growing fight, later telling Shadow that while he doesn't condone Lord X-Giga-X's response, Shadow needs to take Valerie's feelings on the matter into consideration as well.
Darkside suddenly appears shortly after this point, demanding to see Darius and Valerie to make sure they are unharmed, confirming crazE's death in the process. After some trepidation, Jason allows it, then catches up with Lord X-Giga-X to talk to him about Deathstorm's potential freedom. It is at this time that Jason also learns of the death of David Shaver, a young Shapeshifter he'd taken in after the Cult formed, who had died defending Charos's seal.
A funeral is held for crazE shortly, while Jason opts not to reveal the fact that David is also dead, not wanting to pile on top of the grief.
Freedom
A training session in achlympery with Deathstorm and Lord X-Giga-X reveals that Jason's manipulation of darkness, gained from his Darkwing Firedrake form, is based purely on emotion and is therefore untrainable. At this point, Lord X-Giga-X is contacted by one of his dragons that his new experiment, Hexidos Urso, is awakening, and abruptly leaves, leaving Jason to question Deathstorm why. The dragon tells him despite an order not to, and Jason rushes to interrupt and potentially kill the experiment. This proves to not work in his favor, and a short, irritated conversation with his Second-in-Command leads Jason to free Deathstorm and rebind him as a Familiar the next day.
Lord X-Giga-X is furious, but does not actually confront Jason, to the Shapeshifter's mild disappointment.
Third Seal
The third seal, at Kuro's castle, is destroyed at this exact point. The Station of Seotara responds first, due to proximity, and after getting Quasma Eleko out of the way, manage to hold their own fairly well against The Sealbreakers- Azænia as usual, as well as Faryn Zyhrai and Ymohmi. The Sealbreakers, however, are forced to retreat when the Cult arrives to help the Station. A meeting between the Cult and the Station is held after everyone has had the chance to recover, and a coalition is formed: both factions will work together to protect the seals. At this point Hobekitsu Gecar notices Shadow's Voidcore; the gemstone is perfect for this situation, as Jason or Lord X-Giga-X can station a dragon at the fourth seal, and the dragon can contact its master if the seal is attacked, allowing a fast response and arrival via the Voidcore.
The Cult arrives at the fourth seal before the Station does and is immediately met with a very hostile, dark green female Shadow Drake, to everyone's surprise. The Shadow Drake, named Vergari, believes the Cult to be with the Sealbreakers, and it takes a fair amount of convincing to get her to not attack them. Surprisingly, however, she knows nothing of the seals; she is merely defending her territory, which seems to just happen to overlap with a seal. It is also revealed that her friend was injured badly in the battle against the Sealbreakers. When the Cult goes to check the dragon and treat him, they are astounded to find that the dragon in question is none other than Volant. The Station arrives soon after, and Mya sets up a magical circle around the seal.
Shadow ends up asking Careodry for a new Voidcore, so he won't lose the only one he has, and is given a brilliant red version of the jewel. At the same time, Lord X-Giga-X makes a deal with Starlight Thunderscale, offering him food and strength in return for the dragon submitting to dracoimpery. The dragon accepts out of desperation. A Crysian pod crashes outside of Headquarters, revealing Kayera Vriam, who then joins the Cult.
Foul Play
Lord X-Giga-X kills Stormshaper as revenge for Jason freeing Deathstorm, and kidnaps Zephyr as leverage against Jason, so that the Shapeshifter will find another dragon for him. Jason is furious and kills Erahvs for getting in his way confronting Lord X-Giga-X, but seend not to care as he goes to finally confront the man. Lord X-Giga-X is demoted at this point. An attempt to rescue Zephyr from the lab (while stalling Grodisflare and Lord X-Giga-X) goes over badly, and Xibu teleports away with Starlight and Zephyr. Jason orders the destruction of the lab, and when Lord X-Giga-X goes back to salvage some of his stuff before it's too late, he has a short confrontation with Shadow. It is now that Shadow realizes the full extent of the man's Lawful Evil personality, and resolves that when he is strong enough, he will stop him. Lord X-Giga-X simply chuckles at this and teleports away.
Darius, Kayera, Jude, Espira, and Vale chase Lord X-Giga-X down, and there is a short battle, before Darius and Kayera break away to pursue Xibu, who still has Zephyr. Deathstorm also arrives at the main battle, trying to tell Jude to have Darius and Kayera stand down, but Lord X-Giga-X unexpectedly tells Xibu to hand Zephyr over- the reason being that Zephyr's achlympery is already sealed with Tragedy Lock. Zephyr is taken back to Headquarters.
The Corrupted Edge of Justice
As the Cult begins to relax once again, a planned trip to the nearby shrine to Vol en-ait Rae goes awry as Oikeus, previously sealed within Vale, kills Cuwind and is released. Only Jude fully realizes the magnitude of this; the others don't know what to do other than retreat, while Mimring attempts to fight Oikeus alone, taking in electricity and involuntarily discharging it just as often as he weaponizes it. Headquarters is unsafe as Oikeus sits on it; Jude makes sure everyone gets out safely while the rest of the Cult regroups at the wreckage of Lord X-Giga-X's lab. They decide that the only viable place to regroup for now is the Station of Seotara base.
They arrive there and quickly explain what's happening, and are almost automatically granted permission to stay in the basement of the building. As Mimring is still discharging electricity, he stays outside and Jason stays near him as if for comfort. The area is blanketed in unnaturally thick darkness and a heavy storm; neither of them see Lord X-Giga-X direct a large concentration of attacks at Mimring's shoulder, crippling his ability to fly and magically infecting the wound. One death threat later, Jason is forced to lead his enemy to Durasken to find a new dragon. In the process, Nit Toi is reintroduced- this time in the real timeline- and joins Lord X-Giga-X's group.
The unnatural darkness forces the temperature to drop, and the storm morphs into a blizzard. Everyone is ordered to stay inside, until strange nightmares shake the building and a small group ventures outside to fight and kill a creature they believe is causing it. The creature, an Oriphyrin, is slain with ease, and the group returns to base rather than going out to kill more, as it is not necessary to seek out and engage more Oriphyrins and would instead be a waste of energy.
The next morning, Vale resolves to right the wrongs that Oikeus forced him to do, before the god in question causes an earthquake and sends a telepathic challenge to the Cult and Station. Soon after, an arc of light penetrates through the skies of Ustream. These two events combined prompt another meeting between the two groups to discuss these events and possible courses of action. It is then that they learn that the arc of light is the result of Oikeus attempting to use the manacle in Seotara to return to Syelsumoia. They decide that the best chance they have is to distract Oikeus to prevent further use of the manacle.
However, as the meeting goes underway, Kayera and Valerie slip away from the groups to attempt to retrieve the former's pod. Shadow chases the two of them out of the room in an attempt to stop them, but ultimately fails and ends up joining them on their venture.
Soon, the two groups decide upon dividing into two groups heading on their mission: one group to distract Oikeus, and another to infiltrate the Cult's Headquarters. However, an argument sparks between Gaga, Espira, and Vale in response to Gaga volunteering herself for the distraction team, causing her to leave the room in anger. After this, the absence of Kayera, Valerie, and Shadow is eventually noticed. Under the assumption that the three of them had headed out to attempt something that could jeopardize their mission, they immediately set out.
Team Peanuts
After the meeting adjourns, the coalition between the Cult and the Station is split into three primary groups: the one formed between Shadow, Valerie, and Kayera, the one tunneling to HQ to gain a surprise angle on Oikeus, and a more directly confrontational group that would serve to distract and tire out Oikeus until help could arrive. The formermost reaches HQ via Kayera's portal, under cover of a barrier from the harsh wind and only having to deal with the cold. They head in the direction of HQ after some hesitation and turn out not to be far from it, and quickly find that the wrecked building is overrun with red ice. The group finds Kayera's pod undamaged among this ice, and cautiously, Shadow extends a vector to touch it.
