The Masters of Raven Obelisks (or M.R.O.) was ready to have another secret meeting. The perfect location had been chosen, the best weapons and armor that gold can buy had been prepared (or made), and the last selection of the prize had been decided. For the past week, the group had been readying themselves for the grandest and most greatest adventure that they would ever have! And now…the day had finally come.

M.R.O. was a Monsters and Mazes roleplaying group; a gather of four teenagers and twenty-somethings who all had a deep love of their favorite table top roleplaying game. Each of them had been friends for years and had meetings like this before. But this time was different. While normally they spend their time playing in basements or dark bedrooms, these days, they discovered a whole different way to play. They each discovered that they were mutants.

While each of their powers is unimportant to identify at the moment, the most important thing to note is that together, the four of them can combine their powers to make their wildest dreams come true. Yes, by gathering, they catching create a pocket world, a world in which they get to live out their Monsters and Mazes quests. Monsters come to life, their home made armor is suddenly real, and their magic is just as powerful. Together they pretty much got to warp reality.

Normally, though, they’ve hidden these exploits. They have driven out to abandoned warehouses or secluded beaches to run their little adventures. But…they want a far deeper reality and experience now. They would play their game in the middle of a populace, use the captured humans as their monsters and background characters.

Today they would extend their world beyond just the four of them. And the perfect place had been chosen…

***

Grand Central Station…

“Come on Daryll!”

“Dammit, I said my name Maze Master name is Dark Grey!”

“Whatever! We’re going to be late!”

One short, very round young woman wearing cardboard, Amazonian armor trudged through the bustling Grand Central Station as she tried to make her way to the designated meeting place. Behind her, a tall, lanky boy in a black robe and broken glasses, hurried long behind her, carrying his books and maps tucked underneath his arm. Compared to everyone that were hustling around them, these two obviously stood out. Some snickered and laughed at them, others watched them with oddity. But these two just didn’t care right now. This was going to be an exciting day.

The Dark Grey sighed as he huffed and wheezed when the two of them finally came to a stop. He loved being the Maze Master but right now he was exhausted and wanted to rest. As much as he wanted to get into the game, he didn’t want to die in order to get there. Still though, would be rather stupid to come to this game late, especially since he was leading it.

The round woman sighed as she thwaped him on the back of the head.

“You had to stop for that stupid smoothie, didn’t you? Now we’re going to be late! I don’t even remember where Featherbow said to meet him.”

Dark Grey sighed and shook his head in annoyance.

“Relax, Bombardia,” he said. “He works here and he picked the best spot. Come on. He said it would be the second electrician’s entrance. And it is…” he paused for a second and then pointed ahead, down the furthest hall. “There! Come on. Featherbow and Orik are already there! Let’s go!”

The two dashed away…into a police officer.

Jorge blinked as he looked down at the two oddly dress young adults. He was busy talking to a witness of a petty theft. Apparently some mutant who looked like a frog had snatched a woman’s purse with his tongue. Jorge was there, trying to gather as much information as possible. Quickly he apologized to the woman and turned to the two young people, arching a brow.

“You two alright?” he asked suspiciously.

Immediately Bombardia saw the badge on his belt and muttered a quick apology from her lips.

“S-Sorry sir! We didn’t mean to run into you!”

“Y-Yeah!” Dark Grey said and nodded vigorously as he ducked down to pick up his books and maps.

Jorge eyed the book of monsters and spells the boy was carrying. That, mixed with his costume (was he a monk?), made the detective grin a little. He didn’t know what they were up to but he hoped it was just innocent fun. He shook his head that it was okay and nodded for them to continue on.

“It’s fine. Just, you know, watch where you’re going,” he said as he turned his back to them. Already they were racing off. He shook his head, hiding a small smile and turned back to his witness. You meet some strange people all over New York…

New York was full of many genres of beauty, from the natural to the manmade. Grand Central Station was a marvel of architecture in its own right, but the real amazement came from the nature of the building. The coming and going of thousands of people a day, and the goodbyes and reunions could be felt in the air.

Nate wanted to capture that feeling on a canvas. He was on the upper level sitting and looking out at the vast terminal. The security in the area had been informed of his presence, so he felt less awkward about how blatantly he stood out.

Looking up from his canvas and out to the floor, he noticed two oddly dressed youths bumping into a police officer. The armor and robe choice was a bizarre one, and Nate could not shake a bad feeling after seeing them. The two ran off and out of site, and Nate did his best to shake the moment off and return to his craft.

Bombardia and Dark Grey ran until finally they turned a corner and spotted the door that they were supposed to enter. They finally slowed their speedy escape from the police officer and entered the door with a grin and breath of relief. They had made it. They could hear the chanting within so they knew that they were just in time to take part in the quest with their group. This was going to be their greatest adventure ever.

“Dark Grey, Bombardia,” a voice called out from the dark. “You made it!”

The two walked further into the room to see a hidden away little corner of the supply closet alit with candles. They smirked as they found a trio of people already sitting there: Stormwind--the redhaired weather wizard, and Lighthammer—the paladiness. They all seemed to look at them with relief, thankful that their party had finally arrived. Honestly there was no way that they were going to pull this off without them, they knew that.

Stormwind, the one who worked for Grand Central Station, sighed as he looked at his Naruto watch on his wrist. “Come on, you two, let’s get started! I don’t want to waste anymore time.”

“Relax, Stormwind,” Dark Grey said as he took his spot at the head of the group. Bombardia sat to his left, while Lighthammer was on his right. Stormwind sat across and nodded his head respectfully. “Okay, are we ready for our greatest quest yet? To transverse the dungeon of Sarlaac?”

There was a nod between them all. The four closed their eyes, bowed their heads, and linked hands. The chanting started low, between them all, as they started the mutter themselves. Slowly they could feel it creeping up, the tickling of their spines, the lightness in their heads, the warmth and energy in their hands. Dark Grey opened his eyes, flashing silver and molten yellow as he looked down at the Monsters and Mazes book before him, reading over the quest that they were going to partake in.

It was going to be…awesome…

***

Jorge nodded and thanked the woman he had taken the statement from. It seemed like a pretty open and shut case but he doubted how lucky he would be to actually catch the perp. As much as he hated for someone to commit these crimes to get away, he honestly doubted he was going to take an toad mutant today, much less retrieve any of the items that the woman lost from her purse. There was a good chance that, though, that with this description, they could at least keep an eye out for his return.

One less criminal off the streets.

He sighed as he slipped his notepad into his coat pocket. The detective had had a long day and really wanted to just go home. Obviously he was on the job and needed to keep focused, but with the shifting changes in his life, he was beginning to get worn down. He would be happy the second that he found his balance.

Shaking his head he turned and headed towards the exit when suddenly someone screamed.

He blinked and spun around, senses raised to be on the alert for danger—it didn’t take him long to notice it. He blinked as suddenly he noticed the walls and floor of station shifting all around him. It was as if someone was turning off (or on) a hologram and his surroundings were being taken over by something completely different. Hard, dark granite began to appear everywhere, some walls were line with torches, windows disappeared, any sense of normalcy was evaporating, leaving people terrified and running for doors that were swiftly disappearing.

Jorge could only watch, in shock, unsure of what was happening…

Disoriented did not begin to cover the feeling Nate was experiencing. His perch atop the second level of the station was quickly becoming a perch atop a craggy corner of what was apparently a large chasm, or possibly even a dungeon.

It was hard to determine where they had been taken to, or if they had actually been "taken" anywhere. With the weird events New York was known for, nothing was off the table, and it was very possible that their location was still somehow Grand Central.

As a secondary disappointment, it was going to be very hard to continue painting a train station that he was no longer in, (seemingly.) He could always start painting the transition from the station into a dungeon, but it was probably more appropriate to find a way to remedy the new unfortunate circumstances.

Looking down to the now dimly torch-lit lower area, Nate had a bird's eye-view of people watching their world change in terror or beginning descents into panic. Thankfully, he also spotted the Policeman, who was still there, and looking on in shock, which was appropriate and better than full-on fear.

"Detective! Nate called out, basing the assumed rank on the man's appearance and uniform. He was going to say more, but the screaming from some of the bystanders had awoken the appropriate denizens of the new arena. Large bat-like creatures emerged from the tunnels and caverns behind Nate, flapping around him and bumping into him. The creatures were large enough to push Nate forward, and more unfortunately, off his rocky platform.

"Help!" He shouted, not sure who might actually be able to provide it as he fell toward the lower level.

Jorge watched the world around him shift into a set of surroundings that he not only didn’t recognize, but was completely wrong for where they were. They were supposed into be in Grand Central Station, a beautiful feat of architecture with many works of art and bustling with people of all shapes and sizes! Instead, the world was being replaced, taken over by another plane of existence. Gone was ever semblance of the modern world Jorge knew and recognized; instead it was replaced by a setting that was far different.

Fine marble and stone was replaced by sharp, pointed rocks and tunnels that seemed to lead and twist on forever. Torches flickered and sparked along the walls and the grunts of unholy beast echoed out of hidden caverns. Truly, Jorge couldn’t make heads or tails of the scene.

>> "Detective!”[/color]

He blinked and looked up. There he saw a man, frantic and calling for help. He was obviously startled by something, but whatever it was, he didn’t know. But just as he turned and made ready to try to tell the man that everything would be okay, there was a suddenly rush of activity. Before the detective knew it, the man cringed and flailed away from something that leapt out and startled him.

Of course, his actions led him to nearly falling off of his perch.

>> "Help!"[/color]

“Crap,” the detective muttered as he looked around. There had to be something that he could use to help the man!

His thoughts were frantic before he began to feel that familiar tug and pull in his gut. That told him that there was a viable source of water nearby. He turned spied what he could only consider a underground river that was flowing through the caverns forming all around him. Obviously that was not there before! He could have sworn that that was a newsstand…

But, no matter. If he could feel the water then it had to be useful.

His hands shot out and immediately he seized control over the water. A twitch of his wrists and the cool, green water splashed out of the river and swirled up closer to him. And just in the nick of time too! Just as the water drew closer to him, Jorge turned to see that the man was falling now. In a second he would be nothing more than a smear on the jagged rocks that erupted from the ground like a bushel of ancient swords and daggers.

So the detective had to move fast. He spun, hard and sent the wave of green water surging forward, crashing into the ground and swirling up into a wall of water that would catch and slide the man down safely onto the ground. He only hoped that he could be quick enough to save the man...

Nate did not scream because there was no point in wasting his energy shouting at the fast-approaching ground. His mutation was useless unless he was on the ground, so his two fates were to either be saved or to be paste on the ground, and screaming would change neither of those.

Nate did involuntarily flinch as he was almost at the ground, closing his eyes as a reflex. Fortunately for him, the sensation that followed was not the tearing of sharp rocks, but rather the cool and forceful sensation of a fount of water strong enough to keep him from clashing with the rocks.

Nate opened his eyes as the water lowered him quickly to flat ground, where he tumbled until he was able to get to his knees. It did not take much effort to figure out that the Detective was his savior.

Nate got to his feet, still dripping from his saving grace. "Thank you. I'd thank you, but I get the vibe that we're not done saving each other yet."

Nate scanned the chasm, getting a handle on his surroundings. He pulled his wet grey t-shirt over his head, doing his best to wring it out. "So... I have some weird happenstances to report?" It was his flat attempt at humor in an uneasy situation.

As Nate was counting the tunnels branching out of what was most likely a main room of the dungeon, he felt a tension in his stomach similar to how he felt when his surroundings warped. "Wha--?"

This time, the change was not of the room, but on Nate. As if a hologram was coming into focus around him, a new garb came into creation, and after a few moments of intangibility, he could feel the leather of a new outfit against his skin, along with the hood from a newly developed cloak resting behind his neck.

It took a moment for Nate to register what happened to him, but if he had to take a shot in the dark, the wardrobe change seemed almost... video game-esque? "Yeah, maybe more than one report," he added, turning to face the Detective once more.

Thankfully Jorge had been able to move fast enough to manipulate the water to save the man. He watched as the wave of liquid undulated and swirled, carefully carrying the man back down to the safety of the ground. He sighed in relief; at least he would be able to save this one person before everything absolutely went to hell.

>> "Thank you. I'd thank you, but I get the vibe that we're not done saving each other yet."[/color]

“I’d say you’re right, sir,” Jorge said as he spun on his heel and looked out over the rest of his surroundings.

It seemed as if any semblance of Grand Central Station had completely changed. There was nothing left of the world that he had just left behind and instead all he saw was strange visage of rock and stone. How was this possible? The few people he saw running had either vanished into tunnels or, to his surprise, he found had completely changed their appearance. Many were dressed in the tatters of clothing, making them look like peasants or something, while many others…well…monstrous. That was the only way he could describe them before they too disappeared into the many tunnels.

Left alone with the man, Jorge lowered his head and sighed. Why could things just never be normal? It always had to descend into some type of insanity…and always right before he had his coffee.

>> "So... I have some weird happenstances to report? Wha--?”[/color]

Jorge smirked. Well apparently whoever this man was, he did look familiar, had a sense of humor. The detective shook his head and turned to face him when suddenly he saw the same wave of energy that had changed the room also began to encase and shape around the man. The two of them looked confused for a moment as reality warped and shifted before reforming itself.

Once it did, Jorge blinked in surprise. Had he not been there to witness, he never would have believed it.

>> "Yeah, maybe more than one report,"[/color]

Jorge eyed the dark cloak, the leathery armor, and the small daggers that were situated throughout. If Jorge hadn’t known any better, he might have assumed that this man belonged to that pair of kids he saw running by earlier. He shook his head, trying to wrap his head around what was happening. Why did the man suddenly look like an assassin from some cheesy fantasy mov—

The detective nearly jumped as suddenly he saw the same waverings of reality encircling himself. He shook his head as he tried to step away from it but it was soon too late. Jorge felt the pressure of energy coursing through him before finally he gasped in relief when it stopped. When it did, he opened his eyes cautiously…and found himself encased in armor.

The bulky metal offered him full protection but it was made of such a material that it didn’t seem overly heavy either. His range of motion was slightly lessened, but he also didn’t feel too weighed down. The armor gleamed with white and gold colored metal and was made of such elegance that he looked almost holy wearing it. Reaching down for his gun, the detective was surprised to find that instead of that, there was massive sword sheathed. He touched the hilt and shook his head. He really had no idea what was going on now.

He looked up at his equally strangely dressed comrade.

“Yeah, I’m thinking of filing one myself,” he said in mentioning the reports. But just as he turned, to try and make a decision as to what to do—

“AHHHH!!! HELP!!!!” he blinked as he turned to one of the dark corridors he thought the voice came from. Yeah…he already wasn’t liking this…

Nate looked on as the detective went through a process similar to Nate's own transformation, except the man of the law did not done leather armor, but rather a large, shining suit of armor. Whatever was controlling their world at the moment had a firm handle on context and irony: a cop and a criminal became a paladin and a rogue.

>> “Yeah, I’m thinking of filing one myself.”

It was nice to know that the policeman had a sense of humor, since sarcasm and mockery were two of Nate's favorite mechanisms to cope with danger and absurdity. "I'm Nate," the thief introduced himself before anything went--

“AHHHH!!! HELP!!!!”

Yes, that was what they had to anticipate, really. Nate ran toward the tunnel, glad his costume allowed him his full range of agility and flexibility.

Nate made it in to the room and prayed the cop was close behind once he saw what they were up against. There was a large golem made of what looked like mud and magma standing between the entryway and two unfortunate hostages. "I hope you're part of the MRC," he muttered. This was going to be difficult unless his partner was a mutant or maybe a master swordsman.

>> "I'm Nate,"[/color]

“Detective Jorge Cervantes,” he began to respond.

The detective nodded while he stood in the gleaming, shining armor. It was funny how the armor still managed to shine, even in this obvious place of darkness. Jorge didn’t know what was going on, but the armor almost reminded him of his favorite epic poem, Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. In the first book there is a knight, the Redcrosse Knight, who is supposed to be the embodiment of virtue. He shown through the darkness.

Jorge was surprising beginning to feel just like that. But he wondered why his clothes changed the way he did? The idea of his clothes shifting into that of a knight’s, while he held the occupation of a police officer, was just too much of a coincidence to pass it off. It seemed almost as if there was something to that.

But the scream for help quickly pulled him out of his musings. Nate ran, his cloak bellowing around him, and Jorge chased after. His armored boots clanked hard and heavy on the ground, yet surprisingly the material was not overly heavy. Normally someone would look at a suit of armor like this and think instantly that it would be heavy as hell. But Jorge actually found the range of motion not that inhibiting. Sure there was still weight, but it was manageable. It was almost…almost like there was some kind of magic to this.

But that was silly right? Magic isn’t real? If anything it had to be the workings of some mutant. Speaking of which…

>> "I hope you're part of the MRC,"[/color]

Jorge ground to a halt as he paused. He looked out over the craggy landscape, he held his breath when he noticed at there were a couple of people being beset upon by a creature he couldn’t describe. It looked as if it were made of living rock and magma. The beast was looming over his prey, spattering molten rock as it growled and snapped it’s jaws at them.

As time passed, Jorge was growing more sure that this was some fantasy being induced upon the world by a mutation. But what? And by who? He’d have to think about that later.

“MRC, two years now,” he confirmed as he pulled his sword from its sheath. It sang, ringing into the musty air around them. He didn’t know why the first thing he went for was his sword but it just seemed more natural to him. As if some voice in his head, a force, was telling him it was the right move. He shook his head as he glanced to Nate. “I could use some help, if you’re willing.” The detective said. “Think you can steer those people to safety while I distract that thing?”

As he said this, he raised his sword and pointed it at the magma monster. Surprisingly, though, the sword responded by vibrating tighter in Jorge’s grasp. As it did so, Jorge turned to see water seeping from the edges of its blade and began to wrap around the length of it. The detective blinked in surprise.

“Huh…well…that’s helpful…”

>> “MRC, two years now.”

It was comforting to know that his partner did have his own highly-trained power and skills to contribute in their fight to, what? Correct a corruption of reality? Beat up a giant golem? Most likely the latter first and the former later.

>> “I could use some help, if you’re willing.”

Nate rolled his eyes. "No, I'll just watch," he muttered, before realizing he was being rude. "Sorry, I get sarcastic when I might die, apparently."

>> “Think you can steer those people to safety while I distract that thing?”

Nate nodded; the task seemed simple enough, even if "safety" was a subjective term in a dungeon. He looked on in surprised as Jorge took up his sword and it began leaking water, which Jorge had already proven would be useful. Nate looked down at the daggers on his belt and wondered if they would respond to his abilities.

Nate took a dagger into each hand, surprised by how natural the blades felt in his hand. One side of the blade was naturally in shadow, but it was a shadow Nate could feel. On instinct, Nate tossed the daggers simultaneously, and with precision, the blades dug into the wall on both sides of the hostages.

Still feeling bound to the shadows on the daggers, he manipulated them as if they were his own. A bubble of shadow formed around the hostages, and Nate saw his own shadow shrinking at his feet, sharing itself with the dagger-shadows.

The bubble formed, and Nate knew it was porous enough for the hostages to breath, (and scream, but that would have to be endured until they realized they were safe.) "They're safe in there. Let's take care of this thing, aqua-man." Nate pulled two more daggers and prepared himself, knowing he was at a disadvantage with his shadow shortened.

>> "No, I'll just watch…Sorry, I get sarcastic when I might die, apparently."[/color]

Jorge rolled his eyes. No really was not the time for levity. But, thankfully, the man seemed to understand this and quickly apologized. Jorge nodded to him that it was okay. He definitely did understand. Sometimes the best way to deal with a terrifying situation was with wit and sarcasm (hence the reason why he bantered a lot with his own opponents). But they would need to reign it in for right now.

The detective watched in silence as Nate pulled daggers from his belt. He hurled them and they stuck to the wall. For a moment he wondered if maybe the man had simply the worst aim in the world. But he watched in awe as the shadows erupted from the blades that seemed to wrap around the pair of screaming civilians.

It seemed like maybe those people were now in even more danger. But just as he thought that, he noticed that the shadowy barrier that was covering them looked to be far stronger, like some kind of shield. Maybe this man was going to be far more useful than the detective originally thought…

>> "They're safe in there. Let's take care of this thing, aqua-man."[/color]

He arched a brow.

“Aquaman?” he grumbed. “Sounds like you expect me to talk to fish or something.”

He shook his head but decided to let the statement drop. The man wanted to work with him, so be it. Jorge didn’t want to tackle this creature on his own and so long as the civilians were safe then he had nothing to worry about. A second glance at his sword and he noticed that the blade itself was beginning to shimmer out of existence with every step towards the magma monster and, in its place, was a blade made of water. The detective, obviously confused and yet impressed, could only shrug his shoulders.

This place obviously didn’t follow his rules of what was and wasn’t plausible. Shaking his head he swipes the blade across the empty air and watched a shimmering wake of water cutting into the air itself. So, it wasn’t just for show, this weapon could be quite deadly. Good. He had a feeling that he was going to need it in this upcoming fight…

The sword in his partner's hand underwent a transformation from a leaking blade into a weapon made entirely of water. In certain instances, Nate would question the effectiveness of water as a weapon, but considering the nature of their opponent, Jorge might have lucked into a golden scenario.

Nate analyzed the situation. "So I think it is safe to say you might be our ace in the hole if this thing is made of magma or fire or something." Come to think of it, the logic was almost taken right from a video game or some other role play game world.

What Nate had not pieced together was that the two men had taken their "turns;" Jorge had spent his transforming his sword, and Nate had used his creating a shadow bubble. This now meant it was the golem's turn to act, and the beast was aware of the fact.

The creature lifted a muddy arm into the air. When he brought it downward, the arm extended far enough to put Nate in the collision area. Thinking quickly, Nate tried dodging out of the way. The rogue leapt to the left, narrowly avoiding the slamming forawm, but the splatter effect of hot mud radiated from the contact, hitting Nate for a small amount of damage.

It felt as though luck was on Nate's side; he was not normally the most agile of men, but somehow it just made sense-- a rogue was always the best at dodging, right?

Yes, something about the scenario was familiar, and now it was Jorge's "turn."

>> "So I think it is safe to say you might be our ace in the hole if this thing is made of magma or fire or something."[/color]

“I hope you’re right,” Jorge started to say.

Unfortunately he didn’t get to say much. Before he knew it, the beast had turned its attention on them. With lumbering, heavy steps, it charged towards the interlopers and lashed out with a ferocity that Jorge did not thing could be back. The detective stumbled away but apparently he was not the main target of the crazed attack. It was Nate.

Jorge turned to yell out for the man to watch out, but he seemed to catch the drift the situation rather quickly. With deft steps he leapt away, narrowed avoiding a meeting with that fiery fist. Jorge was impressed by the man’s swift movements. Obviously this was something that was he was well versed in, or was it just the type of character he embodied?

Whatever it was that happened to Grand Central Station seemed to be affecting people in more ways than just altering their clothes. There seemed to be a change, deep in their core, something inside them all was being amplified to near insane levels…

“RAAWWWWRRR!!”[/b]

The beast let out a gurgling, magma spew roar. Jorge turned just in time to see the beast rearing its ugly head towards him. For whatever reason, it seemed to be paused, as if it contemplated what to do next. Jorge decided to use that pause to his advantage.

Watery blade held at his side Jorge suddenly felt a flood of information coursing into his head. He winced as he tried to keep it out but soon it seemed like something he could no longer ignore. With bared teeth he suddenly raised his blade and glared fiery eyes at the beast that dared to step up to him.

“With this blade, imbued with the blessing of Deep Sashlas, I strike at you!!” He shouted a mighty war cry and slashed the sword through the air in front of him. Suddenly the watery blade stretched out like a wave of water, cutting through the air. Massive and yet still sharp looking, it rumbled through the air and struck the magma beast hard and fast.

HIIISSSSSS!!![/b]

Steam bellowed out at the creature roared in absolute pain and agony. With a thrash, the beast stepped back, holding onto the stump that had once been its left arm. Magma seeped out from the hardening stump before finally closing completely. Apparently the water cooled the wound quickly enough to close it up without giving the monster a chance to heal or re-grow it.

In shock Jorge held up the sword and saw that it had returned to normal size. Well…that was interesting…

>> “With this blade, imbued with the blessing of Deep Sashlas, I strike at you!!”

With the system making more and more sense to Nate, he was able to watch as Jorge landed a fierce blow on the creature they were opposing, not only knocking the beast back and inflicting great pain upon it, but lobbing an entire arm off to boot.

Nate looked over at Jorge, cocking an eyebrow. "Deep Sashla?" The thief tried his best to brush off some of the mud from his sleeves. "I'm gonna go on a limb and guess you have no idea where that came from?" The rules were peculiar, but if he was seeing them in the right context, they could possibly play with the odds in their favor.

The beast was staggering, but remained in place, respecting the rules as well, as was its nature. Nate took four agile leaping steps, positioning himself behind the creature. Pushing hard from the ground, Nate jumped into the air, daggers in hand, striking the beast in the back, first with a slash, followed by a stab.

Nate landed softly on the ground to watch the creature scream in pain; not displaying the agony of Jorge's strike, but the twin-hits clearly left more of an impression than they should have. Nate spoke quickly, knowing time and turns were not in their favor. "I think I've got a vague idea of how this is working, and I'll explain it soon, but it's about to be that thing's 'turn,' and then it's on you. Good luck," he added, watching the golem to watch what it decided to do next.

>> "Deep Sashla? I'm gonna go on a limb and guess you have no idea where that came from?"[/color]

“Shocking, swearing by the ‘blade of Deep Salsa,’ or whatever that was, is not in my usual vocabulary.” he confirmed.

Jorge really had no idea where those words or that voice came from. It was as if something deep inside of himself had finally found a way out and decided to make its presence known at the most inopportune of times. The detective was at a loss as to what it was, but whatever it happened to be, he knew that it was the reason he was able to activate the sword’s special abilities. It seemed that more was changed than just the world around him.

He paused though as he watched the thief leap through the air like an acrobat and strike the beast himself. The magma monster screeched but not as badly as it did when it lost a limb. Still, though, it at least proved that the creature could be defeated.

Jorge held his ground as Nate landed next to him. He flicked his sword and held it off to the side as he eyed the massive monster.

>> "I think I've got a vague idea of how this is working, and I'll explain it soon, but it's about to be that thing's 'turn,' and then it's on you. Good luck,"[/color]

Jorge arched a brow.

“Turns?” he asked.

As if in answer, the magma golem lumbered up to them, bowed down and opened its gapping maw. All they could see down its throat was a glowing, white hot furnace of fire that churned and bubbled deep in its belly. But quickly that glowing brightened as it flew up the throat and crept closer and closer to the opening of the mouth.

It was then that Jorge immediately saw what was coming. One hand on Nate’s shoulder, he shoved him as far away as he could and leapt in the opposite direction (and not a second too soon). Before they knew it, magma spewed out and soaked the ground, melting the very spot that they had once been standing in. Jorge groaned as he moved onto his knees and glared daggers at the monster.

A steady hiss drew his attention to one of his shoulder pieces of armor—it was melting as some of the lava had splattered onto his protective gear. A piece of it melted away but it cooled before it could sink lower and touch his flesh. He then turned back to the monster.

“No one vomits on me!” he growled.

Standing upright, Jorge stalked towards the monster, sword held out at his side. He had no idea what he was going to do but they couldn’t just stand around dancing with this monster all day. It was time to end it. A flick of his wrist and sword sang again, churning with bubbling water. The monster turned to face him, but before it could really recognize what was about to happen, Jorge attacked.

A growl from his throat and the detective charged forward and struck out in a stabbing motion towards the beast. Suddenly the water of the blade churned and shot out! The expanding blade crossed the distance between the combatants and a hiss exploded into the air as the blade pierced into the very center of the beast.

Its roar shook the very foundations around them as it thrashed and howled. But Jorge did not retract the sword. Instead he kept it there, piercing the creature’s heart as the water from his sword cooled down the furnace within.

As the monster thrashed, Jorge turned and shouted to Nate.

“Now Nate! The head! Go for the head!” he shouted as he held his ground against the flailing creature…