Eluding the Antagonist (Helen and Rufus sidequest)

[Vincent Valentine]

Another clear moonlit night upon this world, of a castle belonging to a cursed prince and his fellow cursed servants. A strong, cool breeze blew through, rattling the outside shutters against the windowed rooms, casting stretching and mis-shaped shadows from the windowpanes and eerie statues lining the halls. None of these inhabitants were in sight within the enormous castle, and perhaps this had been the reason Kadaj had hidden the captive founder of WRO within it's depths. Although every now and then there was a terrifying roar that echoed throughout the expanse of the castle walls, as often and as loud as thunder, giving the place a much haunted feel. Down in the depths of the Dungeon room they could be faintly heard, but this was where Rufus had been held for the most of his captivity, a room the civilians of this world had little or no interest to return to making it an excellent cell the ex-President could remain both secured and undiscovered.

Here is where Helen would start as well, having either followed the clues of the trail, or on a lucky hunch came across the President. Either way, the Turks would be jubilant their boss was alive and unharmed for the most part, but first they would have to get out of the castle. The strange thing was, between the time that Helen entered the world to coming across this room, there had not been a single soul in sight. Not even the Heartless, who were abundant on a daily basis to infiltrate the castle and try to steal the hearts of the occupants inside, having an easy time of it because of the many foreboding shadows within this frightening castle that scared off the French villagers nearby. But the roar resounded again, reminding them that somewhere within this castle was a beast, and a angry one at that, and whomever would come across it would not be very lucky indeed.

The Dungeon would be the starting point for Shinra and the Turk, and it was a small room that Rufus had a long time to become familiar with, unless Kadaj had been world-hopping with him after he had kidnapped him from the world of Spira. The room was evenly square about ten feet wide on all sides, lime-green brick making up the large walls, and a dull-grey brick ceiling and floor. There were no windows, and in the room were hardly any furniture, save for a small cot, a low table, a pile of hay and a inanimate mop and bucket. It seemed that the room served as a utility room before it had become a dungeon, or a room for storage, but Kadaj had not forgotten to also throw food into the room to keep the President alive for whatever use he had for him as a bargaining chip. The only exit in the room were the two large double-doors, that in the past Sora had unlocked after defeating the Possessor/Thresholder Heartless that had been guarding it, the prison doors that once held Beast's servants now unlocked and awaiting for them to explore the darkened castle beyond...

[LT:KHII Soundtrack - Waltz of the Damned]

[Helen Atalanta]

Out of sheer luck, Helen had avoided the beast that held residence in the Gothic, looming castle in which her boss had been held captive. The place was like something out of a faerie tale that had been warped into a nightmare; and in all honesty, for all the crazy, trying, and horrifying things she had ever done in her life, she was beginning to think this place was going to be the one that drove her crazy. With nearly silent footsteps, held breath and an abnormally pale complexion the Turk entered the umpteenth room, praying to whatever deity held sway over this world that this would be the room. If this was not it, she would simply have to collapse and cry until she came back to her senses.

Karma was on her side, it seemed, for she saw an empty pitcher that had once been full of water and a tarnished-looking figure in white. At first Helen didn’t believe it was him- she’d been looking for hours and was beginning to think she was on the wrong world after all.

And then he moved. She was across the room in what probably appeared to be a single bound and felt the anticipation and tension evaporate off of her shoulders.

“Rufus! Thank Gaia it’s you!! I swear if I would have had to look through ONE MORE ROOM I’d have ripped my hair out. Are you ok?”

The last part was something of an afterthought that she considered would make her previous comments seem more respectful. He was probably in a foul mood already and Helen wasn’t in the mood to be lectured. ”The Director’ll be real glad to hear you’re all in one piece. What was it Kadaj wanted you for anyway? Well, he wasn’t too smart in leaving you here alone. I should tell Tseng I found you.”

She was obviously happy to be done searching. She fumbled with her phone in the dim light of the dungeon and glowered as the screen beeped at her.

”No service. Well, maybe once I get you out of here I can send him the memo. Can you walk?”

[Rufus ShinRa]

Rufus hadn't been active much in the past few months. Yet, he was still armored and dangerous. Kadaj hadn't seen a need to take the weapons or materia away. The remnant was much too overconfident and had this thought that Rufus wouldn't even think of attempting to escape or fight back. However, Kadaj was dead wrong.

While Kadaj was off attempting to claim the world and the castle as his own, Rufus thought it would be the ideal time to escape. But, at the same time, there was no way he could get out of the place on his own. So, he sort of began to give up hope of leaving. With a sigh, he calmly checked his cell phone. There was still no signal. Rufus began to settle back into the cell again, staring at the ceiling. Yet, when he started to fall asleep, he heard something. The President began to believe it was a heartless. That is, until he spotted a familiar face. "Helen?"

That's when the Helen rant began. Rufus humored her since he was not in the mood to confront her about talking too much. When her chatting about Tseng and the lack of cell reception dwindled, Rufus continued to stand watching her. "Yes, I can walk. Tseng can wait..." Rufus calmly flashed his cell phone. "If the phones had worked here, I would have called already."

"Let's just get out of here before Kadaj comes back. He will be a while since he's trying to claim this world as his castle." Rufus stated as he shifted from his original spot. "I would have left, but I know he won't just leave me here without securing the place to make sure I didn't leave. I am glad you showed up. Now, can we go? Or are you going so stand there and gawk?"

[Vincent Valentine]

(OOC: Erm, no-one tried to leave the room yet. So we're not stuck in this room for the entire thread and I'm describing the room over and over again, I'm going to move you two into the next room. Next round, just try to interact with things in the room to help give me something to respond to. ^^

Eventually, Helen would escort Rufus out to the room through the two large double-doors; and into the Undercroft, a room the same colors as the Dungeon, but with a lower level and a upper level. Both levels had a door which lead to two different parts of the castle; however, if one of them tried the door on the lower level which lead out to the West Hall, they would find it locked. It was possible Kadaj had rigged it so it locked itself on the inside. In any case, they would have to take the door on the upper level, which lead to the Secret Passageway. This route also lead to the West Hall, but it was a longer route rather than the one the shortcut through the lower level would have provided.

As if to enforce this choice, suddenly something burst out from the doors on the upper floor, and landed heavily on the ground before them. There was a sharp growl, and the beast rose to full height, standing on two legs as it towered over the two humans. The beast wasn't the cursed prince of the castle ironically enough, but was covered in fur with a mane, had a pair of horns and wearing tattered clothing all the same. It had large spikes on it's arms and chest accompanied with a crest, and on it's left arm and feet were plates of tarnished silver. The tattered loincloth it wore around it's waist was eerily familiar, tattered crimson with black belts with silver buckles... it couldn't possibly be...!? The beast would give them no humanity to answer, snarling a snout fall of sharp fangs, raising two large hands sporting claws as long as daggers and just as sharp. As a unnatural aura of darkness washed over the werewolf Galian Beast, it roared in severe pain and anguish, and looked just about ready to attack and maul the two in it's frenzied state.

They had two options now. Either they could move quickly and move past the Galian Beast up the crates stacked as stairs to the upper level to get to the unlocked door there and lock it after them, or they could fight the hairy behemoth and hope to defeat him for long enough after battle to force the locked door open somehow. Either way, they had to act quickly. The Galian Beast got down on all fours and leaned back on it's haunches, getting ready to leap. It was unlikely the two might even recognize Vincent Valentine in one of his monstrous forms being controlled by the darkness, but even if they did come to that conclusion, there looked like there was little they could do to stop the being from going berserk from it's powers and filling the recess in it's right shoulder where the Protomateria had gone missing.

---

Optional fight:

Galian Beast(click) Status: FINE/BERSERK (Only able to attack with it's powers, unable to use magic, items or switch back to human form.)

Scenario theme: Birth By Sleep OST - The Force In You

[Helen Atalanta]

”Now, can we go? Or are you going so stand there and gawk?”

”Considering Kadaj is still here somewhere, what do you think the answer to that is?” Helen sighed, took Rufus’s wrist and pulled him to the once-locked and still open double doors.

She knew she should have been more alert to her surroundings, but at the same time she was in quite a rush to escape the haunted-looking castle and it’s unseen inhabitants (and a certain silver-haired young man who she frankly didn’t want to see- ever again, if at all possible).

With a short huff and a quick yank at the heavy door, they were in the next room.

The colour scheme here was no different from the previous room, but the floor was split into two levels.

Throwing caution to the wind, Helen jogged to the closer door and tried it, only to find that it was now locked.

“Well, then," she began. "Looks like we’ll have to go--”

There was a crash from the upper level and a thud. A giant, menacing mass of grey and red crouched before them suddenly, growling in such a way that the air seemed to ripple with it’s strength. As a primary instinct, the Turk took a few long strides back, and as a secondary response she pushed Rufus behind her. As the beast stood, a frightening shock of almost-recognition went through her. It seemed like she had seen it before- the silvery mane of tangled fur that poured down it’s back so keenly resembled it's original appearance, the torn leather and worn silver armour and what seemed to have once been clothing, and even to an extent the claws that it held so threateningly struck her as familiar.

But for whatever reason, the thing that frightened her the most was that mottled red fabric that belted around it’s lower torso. She had seen that red fabric recently, around the shoulders of someone she considered to be an ally.

Had this monster killed Vincent?

Or... even more frightening, was it Vincent?

She would have to worry about that later. The wolfish beast snarled in a threatening way, baring it’s very carnivorous teeth and it’s razor-sharp claws as it loomed before them. Something of a mix of pain and anger and sadness erupted from it’s chest in the form of a roar. Had Helen been anything but human, she would have fled at it’s display of power and anger.

”Rufus,” Helen began as the monster crouched and prepared to leap, absolute terror barely masked by urgency in her tone of voice. ”I want you to go to the upper level and go through that door it just came from. And make it fast.” Whispering a scant prayer to the universal powers that he would be out of there quickly enough and that the Lupine monster would have something of the mindset and reaction time of a bear, the Turk did what she was trained to do. Well, sort of, considering this particular situation was never covered in Training.

Helen puffed out her chest, stood on her toes and raised her arms in what she hoped wasn’t a pathetic mirror of the beast in an attempt to make herself look bigger, and attempted something of a snarling growl. She looked ridiculous and knew it. However, her aim was to draw his attention away from Rufus, not commit suicide. Adrenaline coursed through her veins like electricity, numbing her, and when she waited until the last possible second to move out of the thing’s way, she wasn’t certain if the werewolf had managed to land any sort of hit on her or not. She lashed out at the beast, aiming a powerful kick at his torso before sprinting for the exit. Whether she was beat there or not would all be up to luck.

[Rufus ShinRa]

Rufus walked into the next room with Helen. True, she was practically dragging him along at this point, but Rufus wasn't going to complain about it. It it got him to safety, then there was no reason to stop her from doing her job. His eyes scanned the layout of the next room. It all seemed rather simple and unkempt. It was disappointing to the President. Such a large place like this and no one to care for it. It was similar to the Shin-Ra Mansion in Nibelheim. Maybe he should have the place cleaned up for personal use again. It was an idea.

His thoughts were interrupted by a bang. Rufus instantly turned to see what made the noise and he frowned. Something had burst through the doors on the upper level and blocked off their path to the door on the lower level. The creature was like a blur until it landed in front of the Turk and himself. Rufus frowned a bit, recognizing the red cloak. It looked similar to Valentine's. Yet, Rufus didn't have the time to think on the topic. They were about to be attacked, and the intimidating growl was enough to prove his suspicions.

The President analyzed the situation and was deciding on the best course of action now. Fighting the wild creature would probably lead to some serious injuries and Rufus was well aware that Kadaj must have placed more traps about. Wasting too much of their energy on one of the traps would cause them to lose. If Kadaj arrived in the middle of their escape, Helen was as good as dead. So, they were short on time and needed to escape this maze as quickly and efficiently as possible. They needed to get around the beast and escape. The lower doors would get them out of here fastest. Rufus knew this from wandering the castle a bit in Kadaj's absence. However, he didn't know the entire floor plan, simply the dungeon portion.

Helen instantly responded to the threat by shifting in front of the President and leading him backwards, away from the creature. She instantly barked an order and his eyes shot to the Turk. "The upper level? If we take the door in the lower level, it'll get us out of the castle much faster." The President muttered low, under his breath. But, he wasn't going to argue in the situation. Helen was trained in this aspect, Rufus was not. He'd just have to trust her judgement.

With Helen keeping the beast's attention, Rufus pulled his gun and ducked low and quickly darted past the beast, climbing the make-shift steps up to the upper level. When he had decided that it was safe, he took a few steps toward the ledge, near the door on the upper level. At this point, the creature seemed to have pounced at Helen and she had shifted around it. He was unaware of what had happened and who had been wounded, if anyone.

"Helen, move it!" His gun was aimed square at the beast's back. He fired a few rounds to distract the creature so Helen could make her way up the steps. "You know I'm not going to just abandon my Turk. I think I proved this in the Jungle. Now hurry it up!"

[Vincent Valentine]

With a nasty snarl and a forward lunge, Galian Beast came for Helen, but the nimble Turk was able to evade it after the intimidation attempt held the beast back for a few more seconds. As Rufus made his escape, the beast turned to ravage at the female Turk, but was stopped with a swift kick to the gut. A dog-like whine escaped the wolf’s throat as it stumbled back slightly, but only for a few more seconds, as it crouched and attempted to leap after Helen one more time. However, several bullets were shot into it’s back from Shinra’s gun, while Rufus provided cover-fire for Helen to escape being ripped to shreads. As both humans made for the door and threw it open, Galian Beast pursued them, but they managed to slam the door shut behind them in the face of the fiend who’s razor-sharp jaws were just inches away from their heels.

For a moment as they escaped the beast in the Secret Passage, one would have thought that the werewolf would have burst through the double doors behind them, but as they looked back the door instantly was sealed over with a white magical seal. They had triggered one of Kadaj’s traps, and while it had saved them from being pursued by the Galian Beast for the moment, a large shadow dropped down from the ceiling in front of the door. A new creature had been awoken from it’s sleep, and as it unfurled it’s body, one could hardly believe such a creature existed naturally in this world. It seemed at first like a large centipede, with thousands of legs holding up a giant shelled body, but the front of it looked like a humanoid demon with large horns and clawed hands. An insect-like hiss came from between the tusk-toothed mouth, the saytrpede that Kadaj had brought through the Corridors of Darkness from Gaia advancing on the two.

Now it seemed like the two had two choices. They could either fight the satyrpede here in the Secret passage, which was rather narrow and twisted in a snake-like pattern much like the centipede itself, except for the middle where the path bordered around a raised square platform where there was more room to fight. The downside besides the limited space to fight in the passage was the fact that they could hear Galian Beast banging on the door behind the magic seal, so it was uncertain how long the magic would last to keep the other beast at bay. The other option was to run like heck along the corridor, up the ramp around the square raised platform (or jump if they could jump that high), and make it to the far door that exited to the West Hall which miraculously was unlocked. The downside to this plan was they wouldn't know the door at the end was unlocked, and there was every real chance the monster could out-maneuver them before they could reach it. It seemed that Kadaj liked to torment his opponents with his traps, at least to keep them busy long enough until if they could survive, he could come at the end to finish their escapade.

---

Optional fight:

‘Satyrpede’ Status: FINE

Scenario theme: FFVII Crisis Core Soundtrack – Last Order (remix)

[Helen Atalanta]

She didn’t think they were going to make it. But they did. The slam of the door and a faint ringing sound as a magic seal formed told her such. For a moment, Helen watched the door’s edges glow faintly with each pounding attack from the were-being behind it. She wasted no time turning to grin at Rufus.

“We survived that thing...” her expression then sobered up. “Did you see the thing it was wearing? Wasn’t that Vincent’s cloak? You don’t think that thing killed him, do you?”

And then there was another thump. This one didn’t sound as nice as the last had. In fact, it did just that- made the other sound nice.

The raspy hiss that wormed it’s way to the pit of Helen’s stomach almost froze her. So much for safety. They were free from one disaster and caught up in another. While the werewolf was now trapped behind a locked door, it was also very noisy. Because it was noisy, it woke up something that did not need to be woken up. Something out of any girl's worst nightmare- a giant bug with the upper body of a man. For a moment, Helen thought she was going to squeak out a very girlish yelp. She ran instead, with a firm grip on Rufus’s sleeve and feet that moved at the speed of light.

She could hear the thing behind them, on it’s thousands of legs, and she could practically smell it’s acidic earthy scent. She was afraid to speak for fear of sounding like she’d inhaled helium, so she simply gestured to the wider, leveled section of the hall as they approached.

It wasn’t like she was afraid of bugs or something, but... it was a bug... person.... with a billion and one legs.

Which is just creepy.

As the escaping pair finally approached the wider area, Helen prepared for the thing to attack.

“D... Do you see the way out? Cause if you see a door, YOU get to see if it’s unlocked. So make it fast!”

With that, she summoned the power of her Fire materia and sent a flaming attack toward the monster. As it was rather close at the time, she took the opportunity to try and test it’s weakness against physical attacks. As the Humanoid part of it’s body seemed to be made of softer external flesh, she kicked at the thing’s abdomen, then quickly chained the attack to an uppercut at the thing’s ugly maw and then a jab at it’s neck with the side of her open hand.

[Rufus ShinRa]

The two were relaxed when they made it through the door. Helen even paused to smile at the president. Rufus nodded in return, a hint of relief on his face. "I noticed it as well. But I highly doubt that it killed Valentine."

The conversation was cut off on the arrival of a new beast. A quiet hiss would have sent a chill up Rufus's spine if he hadn't been looking down the hall as it appeared. Helen made a girly squeak at the arrival of the half centipede, half human creature. The president had done a quick survey of the room and even he was aware that if they fought it here, it would give the creature the advantage. There was also the strong chance that the were-beast on the other side of the door might break through. "If we make it down the hall, we can probably fight it o-" Rufus was cut off by the Turk.

Helen had a grip on his sleeve and darted off down the hallway before he could finish talking. The president was a bit surprised at the fact she took of running. When they made it to the wider area, Helen let go and stuttered something at the president.

"Yes, I see one. Though, I am pretty sure that Kadaj has this room rigged that we're trapped until the fiend is destroyed...." Rufus paused, re-drawing his shotgun. "Also, if we simply run, there is a chance we would have to fight the wolf and this fiend at the same time. We would have a slim opportunity of winning."

While he was speaking, Helen took the advantage of starting to fight. Rufus made his way to the higher platform. He could give a bit more support from a higher position. With a skilled hand, he raised the shotgun and fired it at the fiend. Rufus was careful to avoid Helen.

[Vincent Valentine]

(OOC: Helen, I'll consider that the kick, uppercut and jab were all part of a combo. Like raids, please try to keep all your offensive actions to two, okay?)

The thumping on the other side of the door that had been Galian Beast had seized for the time being. Only to be replaced by the sound of the satyrpede clicking it's many thousands of legs across the floor, scuttling after the two humans as they turned to flee. A raspy hiss escaped it's lips, it's arms wide open as if anticipating to grab or maul at them with it's humanoid half. Once they had reached the point in the path where it wrapped around then raised up to the square platform, the satyrpede coiled it's body over the corner of the path were it would lead to the doorway beyond. The two of them could still leap quickly over the low body of the monster to attempt to reach the door, however.

As Helen shot off her Fire Materia, the creature curved it's body to raise up it's bug half to block the spell with cartilage. Although burn marks still remained on the shell, and the fiend hissed as if in pain. As Rufus shot shotgun shells to spray into the abomination, bullets scattered into the upper humanoid half, some missing and some piercing into the side of the lower abdomen. The screech of pain from before was added to the fact the Turk now performed a martial arts combo into it, kicked abruptly into it's chest. The uppercut hit the bottom of it's jaw and sent it stumbling back, and the jab as the finisher sent the creature flying backwards from the exertion of force towards the door. Already easily unlocked, the secret lever of what looked like normal wall raised up to reveal the exit.

This exit lead into the West Hall. The fiend staggered back at the top of the steps, as the fight spilled out into the larger hallway. Regaining it's senses, the satyrpede began with twitching it's antennae and shot back a Thundaga spell at Helen. Next it used Claw, attempting a basic cross-slash at Rufus. It didn't target the two long though, as suddenly from the door on the other side of the corridor lunged Galian Beast as it slashed into the new monster. The werewolf drapped in Vincent's tattered clothing looked like it was targeting the biggest threat for now, so either the humans could wait around to fight the survivor of the battle of the beasts or make a run around the corner towards the Entrance Hall.

---

Thundaga: Three posts.

Claw: One post.

[Helen Atalanta]

(OOC: D8 it totally was a Haste combo thingy and I never put that in there! And I totally forgot it was my turn... I'm sorry ><)

Thank Gaia he's a great shot...

Helen was acutely and uncomfortably aware of the sudden introduction of Rufus's shotgun though she did not make it obvious. Not that she was nervous that he would hit her or anything... not at all...

Luckily her Haste combo had done some damage to tack onto what Rufus had already done, and the creature had actually been forced to move away from the door. Not that Helen didn't trust her boss, but for some reason she doubted that Kadaj would expect them to be able to pass the were-creature, let alone this... bug. If she could signal Rufus to move ahead the movement on into the next room would be much easier, and if they were lucky they might could block the creepy critter in. And then the wall lifted into the ceiling. The wall. Lifted. Into the ceiling.

"BOSS! I'll distract it, you mo-"

Helen found herself overbalancing the next moment as she tried to regain composure from the Thundaga that had just been sent her way. Narrowly avoiding a head on collision with the floor, which would have inevitably lead to a headache, the martial artist found herself prepping for another attack.

Until the werebeing showed up. It was obviously preoccupied with fighting the bug, so the Turk took her chances with Running for the exit into the next hall. She scanned the area and found no more doors to hide behind. Which was a good thing right? She hadn't remembered many rooms near the front entrance of the castle, so luckily this would lead to their escape.

"Boss! Hurry up!! I think this might be our way out!"

[Rufus ShinRa]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][cs=2][atrb=style, background: url(http://bwscrapbooking.com/shop/images/thumb_bwsWS_megaDots-gray-lt-gray.jpg); width: 450px; border: 2px groove #9b9fa2, bTable] Buddy you’re a young man, hard man Shoutin’ in the street, gonna take on the world some day.
[atrb=style, width: 100px; vertical-align: top;]	[atrb=style, background: #383838; padding: 5px; border-top: 0px solid #525657; border-bottom: 0px solid #525657; opacity: 0.8] The shotgun shells hit the fiend dead on. The creature screeched in pain and it seemed to falter for a moment before it knocked into something, opening a exit for the two. Maybe it was a good thing they had stopped to fight the monster instead of trying to run off. It was then that the fiend shifted back up and decided to counter their attacks. Rufus was forced to take a good few steps back as the fiend advanced. His eyes shot briefly to check on the Turk to make sure that she was alright after it cast thunder at her. It seemed she had been trying to say something to him... But, while he was looking, he was sadly hit by the Claw. The pain radiated from the wound on his right arm. The President cringed as he moved his left hand to check how serious it was. Thankfully, it wasn't bad enough that he couldn't still use his shot gun. The only change is that he would need to use both hands to position the weapon now. That's when he noticed that were-beast come out of nowhere and decide to attack the fiend they were fighting. Well, that would save them the effort of fighting two monsters. His eyes darted back to see where Helen was now as she told him this was their chance to move. "I'm coming..." He stated, shotgun in his wounded right arm, left hand holding pressure above the cuts to slow the blood flow. "Do you know where we are going now? Because I haven't a clue..."
[atrb=style, background: #383838; width: 100px; vertical-align: top;][cs=2] Comments: NONE
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][cs=2] See, today isn't "back in the day" anymore. I know a little more than I did before.

[Vincent Valentine]

[atrb=cellSpacing,20,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 440px; background: url(http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs18/f/2007/150/0/a/background_by_cottencandydioxide.jpg); border: 1px dashed #FF0000, b Table] High is the moon bright in starlight CHILL IN THE AIR COLD AS STEEL TONIGHT We shift, call of the wild FEAR IN YOUR EYES, IT"S LATER THAN YOU REALISED

[atrb=style, font-family: Tahoma; word-spacing: 1px; text-align: justify; background: #000000 ; border: 1px dashed #FF0000; color: 2f405e; opacity: 0.9; padding: 10px;] Savage claws ripped into the satyrpede as Galian Beast leaped out of nowhere, unleashing Berserk Dance as it rendered razor claws into the flesh of it's upper torso. The fiend responded by grabbing onto Galian Beast before it threatened to sink it's needle-sharp teeth into it's throat, and heftily slammed the transformed creature into the ground with a brutal Quake attack which shot up spires of earth into the werewolf before disappearing. On it's back after a sickening crack had been heard, Galian Beast flipped backwards and followed up hastily with Beast Flare,, shooting multiple fireballs conjured from it's clawed hands. The scorching orbs seared into the flesh of the opposing monster, and the smell of burnt hair and disgusting odor of insect blood burning could be smelled. The beast surged forward and countered as it lurched up it's body like a scorpion tail and stung with Whip Tail, and the reverberation of a whine from the monstrous canine was felt in the air as it hit it's mark. That was probably the last the two staff of Shinra saw of the battle, as they moved forth around the corner from the West Hall and into the Entrance Hall. Down the stairs and off to their right-hand side, the large front doors of the castle's front entrance could be seen. A large seal of light sealed the entrance to the Ballroom, and sounds of a struggle could be heard faintly from beyond. But like the entrances to the East Hall and the smaller rooms that lead to the Parlour, they weren't as important as the recognizeable entrance itself. The door didn't seem booby-trapped... had Kadaj really made it this easy? There was only one way to find out, but they wouldn't find out just yet. Charging through from behind them, the satyrpede skittered across the wall and ceiling in a shortcut to the door before them. Upon reaching the door it coiled it's centipede body up and the pincers on it's tail rattled in a threatening manner, cutting off the two from their only escape. A low howl cut through the chilling air in the castle, indicating Galian Beast had been incapacitated and severely hurt in some way. There was no other accessible escape - it looked like now it was a final showdown with this grotesque abomination that had been stalking them. Fortunately, it seemed like it's struggle with the Galian Beast had lowered it's health points, as one of it's claws had been broken off and was now dripping acidic black liquid as it burned into the floor. More poison spat forth from it's exposed wound as it shot Liquid Poison at Rufus, black corroding acid shot it's way. It followed up with twitching it's antennae, thrumming forth a exploding ice crystal of Blizzaga within close proximity of Helen. --- Liquid Poison: Inflicts the status condition Poison for one turn. Once this thread. Blizzaga: Once this thread. Fixed boss battle: ‘Satyrpede’ Status: WOUNDED (1/3 of health remaining) Other conditions: Cannot Flee/run from this battle. Boss Theme: Controlling the Iron Beast

[atrb=style, font-family: Garamond; word-spacing: 1px; text-align: justify; background: #000000 ; border: 1px groove #FF0000; color: 2f405e; opacity: 0.9; padding: 10px;]WORD COUNT: =P TAGGED: Helen Atalanta, Rufus Shinra. MUSIC: Of Wolf and Man by Metallica NOTES: Introducing, Vincent's new black and red posting table! Like? CREDIT GOES TO: Hana of OTE AND BS + Jawn's tutorial

[Helen Atalanta]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][cs=2][atrb=style, background: url(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b235/Aeris10102/FF/Turks/beautiful-pattern-3.jpg); width: 450px; border: 10px groove #003031, bTable] She's not bleeding on the Ballroom floor Just.for.the.Attention
[atrb=style, background: #003031; padding: 5px; border-top: 3px solid #E32636; border-bottom: 3px solid #E32636; opacity: 0.8] Helen was quite sure that somewhere in the Turk's code was something along the lines of "Do everything in your power to prevent injury from coming to the President." Maybe it was one of those memories, like the science department once claimed when someone tried to sue for some crazy reason or another(like it wasn't a valid reason whenever the Science Department was involved anyway), that the human mind creates on it's own, based on fears and paranoia. But she was pretty sure that if she were actively in the Turks, including being paid, that she would have had a pay deduction and paperwork duty for weeks for letting the mutant centipede land a hit on Rufus. She wasn't about to let it happen again. For a moment, she thought they were gonna get out before one of those monsters caught up again... but she found herself cursing Lady Luck or Karma or whatever it was that had let the bug win against the werewolf. The thing was missing a claw and stood with a weaker posture than before... and hopefully it would prove an easy opponent. But before Helen could even think of attacking it, it sent a spray of poisonous, acidic, black... bug blood... at Rufus. Maybe she was crazy, maybe Turk instincts were kicking in, maybe... Well, the best explanation is that she was crazy. But without a second thought, Helen jumped to cover Rufus from the attack. In a burst of good luck, this caused the Blizzaga to soar past her. But that was the last of her luck. At first, a burning sensation seemed to be all that resulted in her, if she were to say so, heroic action. Heavy emphasis on "at first." Shortly after she found herself overcome by a wave of nausea, and a splitting headache threatened to melt her brain, or something slow and painful like that. In fact, she was so thoroughly distracted by the combination of assaults on her senses that she didn't even realize that she had dropped to her knees. Rufus owed her for this.	[atrb=style, width: 100px; vertical-align: top;]
[atrb=style, background: #003031; width: 100px; vertical-align: top;][cs=2] Comments: I do like it, Vinnie It's cool how the dotted lines around the boxes move with you ^^
[atrb=border,0,true,][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][cs=2] Because that would be ridiculous.... ly odd

[Rufus ShinRa]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][cs=2][atrb=style, background: url(http://bwscrapbooking.com/shop/images/thumb_bwsWS_megaDots-gray-lt-gray.jpg); width: 450px; border: 2px groove #9b9fa2, bTable] Buddy you’re a young man, hard man Shoutin’ in the street, gonna take on the world some day.
[atrb=style, width: 100px; vertical-align: top;]	[atrb=style, background: #383838; padding: 5px; border-top: 0px solid #525657; border-bottom: 0px solid #525657; opacity: 0.8] Rufus kept walking through the castle right on Helen's trail, trying to keep up. It was taking them a while to get out of this damned place and every corner they turned was another surprised. They managed to hit a bit of luck when the beast and the bug began to fight. The two made it a bit down the hall when the glorified-centipede caught up with them and cut their only exit off. Before the President could react, the creature had shot some sort of slime in his direction. There really wasn't much of a way to dodge the attack. However, he was surprised to see Helen take the attack. She had jumped in front of him, dodging the blizzard that had been aimed at her and took his attack. With his only defense disabled, it was up to him to finish the creature and get them out of there safely. This required him to use his only summon materia. Shiva. She would attack the creature with ice and hopefully injure the creature a bit further. He couldn't leave Helen helpless and there was no way he was getting out of here alive without her.
[atrb=style, background: #383838; width: 100px; vertical-align: top;][cs=2] Comments: Sorry it's taking me alot to post. I totally have zero Rufus muse. Also, it's a neat table, Vinnie! I like it! Hehe!
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][cs=2] See, today isn't "back in the day" anymore. I know a little more than I did before.