ARC

"Hark!" Says Kuruth'Ondor. "Someone approaches." Though, given what I've witnessed in this place, it could be something entire unlike a person as well. "Thank you for your honestly, Magister, but for now, this calls us to action, and to see whether this new arrival be friend or foe." The hulking warrior orients himself in the direction of the nearest stairwell, ready -and even thirsting - for action should it come to that, but prepared to parlay.

The footsteps stop as Kuruth'Ondor's voice carries through the stairwell. There's complete silence for a few seconds; even the alarms have stopped by now. Taylor glances about nervously.

Finally, a response: "You're not supposed to be here." It's a surprisingly warm voice, and it sounds like it's coming from directly behind the party... but nobody's there.

JunJun's blood runs cold at the story told. What... no... no way. Could this effect... m-me?

She stares at her hand again. The red mist had passed through her... but there was still a likely possibility that some of it was inside of her, and she feels filthy. What's going to happen to me...

Then she looks at the rest of the party, and her expression hardens. They don't need to know about my stupid fears. They don't even care anyway.

"You're not supposed to be here."

JunJun is shaken out of her reverie by said voice. Without thinking she shouts "Yeah? Well you're right, we're not, and we'd appreciate it if we could get back home! Who are you?"

Saalima remarks quietly to Kuruth, taking care to make sure her voice carries softly in the silence "I wonder if zis is ze mist, wanting us to beat it up again?"

More foul magic, Kuruth'Ondor thinks. He controls his face, though. Do not let your enemy see your confusion. Yet, the veiled girl's next words confuse him. Is she attempting to taunt it? That seems unwise. Is she seeking camaraderie? That is not her way.

Kuruth'Ondor decides to respond anyway. "Surely the mist would not be so daft," he rumbles, raising both shields. Perhaps Ashilaistiran's warding spell will have some effect.

(Sorry about the delay. Midterms and emergency dental work and such. Bleh )

The voice returns... from above?

"You have so many voices, Doctor. But I know it's you. It's too late to hide yourself."

"Uh- what?" responds an extremely confused Taylor.

"The air currents in the area seem... distorted. Did you bring something particularly large with you?" The voice questions... perhaps from below? It's certainly not staying in one place.

"I... what the hell? I'm not alone, you know," Taylor explains. "What are you?"

"What I am is none of your concern, Doctor. Your attempt to deceive me is... charming. But the fact remains: you're not supposed to be h-UGH!" Something has smashed into one of Kuruth'Ondor's shields.

Everyone takes a look: a... is it a robot? Perhaps a cyborg of some sort? Whatever it is, it's definitely of humanoid shape, very much robotic in nature, and fallen on what would be its rear end.

Kuruth'Ondor presses both of his shields into the unexpected intruder with some force, but not enough to to cause any real damage...yet. He raises swords so that he can strike down all-but instantly should the need arise. "Who - what - are you," he snarls, "to speak so contemptuously? Explain yourself or face my steel!" It has been some time since I have consumed the power of a worthy foe. Is something like this - a construct of steel and magic - even edible?!

"What manner of witchcraft is this, Doctor?" the thing asks in mock terror.

Taylor is thoroughly confused. "Witchcraft? I... I have too many questions now."

"Don't lie, Doctor. You just love to lie, don't you?"

Kuruth'Ondor presses his shields a little harder.

"Oh, touchy, are you? Well, if you're so powerful, I suppose you wouldn't have any issue dealing with this on your own?" And with that remark, an additional seven of the robot-like being spontaneously appear in the stairwell: three on the stairs ahead, one on the flat balcony area the party is on, and three on the stairs behind.

Saalima rolls her eyes and sighs. she focuses her power in on one of the robots on the ledge, ripping its limbs and head from what one could call its body, then shoving those towards the other robots further up the stairs - all without really moving.

"Well if there are seven more of you, then I guess that makes you disposable," Kuruth'Ondor snorts. Battle has been opened. There is no other option now. With that, He brings both of his swords around and slices the head clear off of the strange being.

JunJun whips out the sword she procured from the armoured man, and forces herself to act as support, relying mostly on her agility to assist her allies... such as they are.

Saalima finds that the one she attacked is unexpectedly light, and the limbs come off extremely easily. As she throws the pieces up the stairs, they and the main body they came from seem to gradually fade out of existence, passing harmlessly through the two behind them.

Kuruth'Ondor finds similarly that his weapons don't have any noticeable impact with his opponent. The head comes off, but again, the pieces fade out.

A disturbing giggle echoes through the stairway.

"I'm not that much of a fool. You actually thought I'd just sit there and take that? You disappoint me, Doctor. I don't know how you managed to deviate this much from the time stream, but I will put you back where you belong!" Numerous copies of the robotic thing appear on the stairs going down.

"What the hell are you going on about?" Dr. Taylor roars in frustration. "And stop acting like I'm the only one here!"

"You can't expect me to believe you don't know exactly what you're doing, Doctor. But if you insist on lying to yourself, go right on ahead. It won't matter."

The lone robotic being on the platform with the party leaps backward, and the others begin to rush at the group.

<hr />
**BOSS FIGHT**

???
Strength: 8
Will: 8
Stamina: 6
Speed: 15
Intelligence: 10
Perception: 13

Abilities:
-Creates, controls, and swaps places with false copies of itself
-Possesses a limited degree of precognition
-Only adheres to physical laws loosely

<hr />
<div class='spoiler_toggle'>(a little chat I had as I was working on this, plus a hopefully helpful picture)</div><div class="spoiler" style="display:none;">Brad - Today at 1:34 AM
alright, im in paint trying to make a little diagram of the immediate area, trying to eliminate a little ambiguity in the environment
as it turns out, im total garbage in paint :v
so i might actually make things worse :v
urrrrg
Gabe - Today at 1:35 AM
use blender to do it

so here you go


Imagine some railings in there and you've got the immediate area.

So, you guys are right around the bottom of the frame here. There are two remaining... things... on the upward stairs, one on the opposite side of the platform, and quite a few of them on the downward stairs. Yes, the real one is in there somewhere.</div>

Saalima focuses on finding a heavier robot- perhaps that is indicative of this.... Thing actually inhabiting it, while also staying ready to knock back any that get past other members of the group

(Anyone else? It's been close to a month now )

Kuruth'Ondor is still not entirely sure if this strange being needed to be an enemy, but hostilities have been opened and there is no more time for thought. I must gain the high ground, he decides, and with a mighty leap, he ends up higher on the staircase, behind the host of metal men, and extremely close to the one that retreated. Immediately, he swings one of his swords, hoping, but not expecting that it will strike true. He already has a follow up strike prepared with the other should his opponent dodge the first.