The Rise of the Windigo King

-With Lobber and Ragna-

Both zompony's stumble back from the blow, looking even more ragged than they did before. The second zompony looks up as Ragnarok comes for a landing in the battlefield and stares stupidly for a moment. "hrrk!" is the only warning you get before its cheeks swell up and it expells a spray of bile and slime with a smell strong enough to peel paint straight for your eyes with a loud "BLARG!!"

combat stats:

---

-with Dr. D-

"We asked first Mr. Evil Laugh..." the mare behind the counter responds as the other three join her from upstairs. "You seemed to be getting along pretty well with that guy." She notes suspiciously.

Looking towards the counter you notice the bottom floor looks like a restaurant, most likely a cafe. The counter featuring a glass display pane that shows a variety of different meals, mostly different kinds of pastries and sweets. The decor features a lot of red and white with hearts everywhere you look.

---

-With Moss & Torch-

"The shore I believe." Verana speaks up as she drifts down closer to both of you.

Torch gasps, then looks relieved. "Oh, hey Verana. You wouldn't happen to know how to get there, would you?" I wonder if all alicorns have telepathic abilities, but until I know, I'll have to be careful.

"These creatures are disgusting!" Ragnarok grabs onto the head of the Zompony that just vomited on her and
sends massive stream of electricity into it. Then a dark aura latches onto the other Zompony covering its eyes and constricting its legs.

combat:

-With Land Lobber and Ragnarok-
-Round 3-

The zompony shuffles around blindly, following its nose towards Land Lobber once again and swings its hoof in his direction with some effort but ends up swinging at empty air a few feet to his right. The aura seems to be absorbed into the zompony soon after and disappears.

combat stats:

---

-With Healing Torch-

Verana nods, floating up higher into the air for a moment and looking around before drifting back down and extending a hoof out to point. "Just keep heading south, that way, until you reach the water."

Mosstone is quiet as he tries to think of what to do now and stamps his hoof lightly on the ground. "I got it! You head back to the others, I have an idea I want to try!" He says excitedly before bolting away at a gallop and turns a corner once he reaches the town, quickly going out of sight. "If I'm not back in a few hours don't wait up!"

OOC:

"Don' be getting too close to 'em, their hooves got some force behind 'em."

Land Lobber's plans were somewhat reliant upon him being able to see by this point, but his view as he saw it was clear enough even at this stage. He gives one more wild pickaxe swing, and acknowledges the two clunks into the pick, his heavy swings whistling through the air even without time to build speed. He flips up his head in a victory crow and the goop flies right off. Huh. Clearly he wasn't trying nearly hard enough to get that off earlier.


[16 damage to both zombies. Land Lobber is no longer suffering from abnormal statuses]

Actions:

Torch watches as Mosstone walks away, then nods his head at Verana and begins walking south to reunite with the others.

The blow manages to take both the zomponies' heads off in one swing, a green light begins to drain out of the open neck like smoke. The two headless bodies stand around for a few moments and reach up with their hooves at where their heads used to be in confusion until the green light fades away and both bodies collapse and stop moving.

-Combat's over!-

"Hm interesting an unknown source of reanimation.." Ragnarok briefly washes herself off in the sea and then turns back to Landlobber. "It is no longer necessary for you to build a ship I have managed to procurer the services of what can only be described as a battleship."

Dr Blight wrote:-with Dr. D-

"We asked first Mr. Evil Laugh..." the mare behind the counter responds as the other three join her from upstairs. "You seemed to be getting along pretty well with that guy." She notes suspiciously.

Looking towards the counter you notice the bottom floor looks like a restaurant, most likely a cafe. The counter featuring a glass display pane that shows a variety of different meals, mostly different kinds of pastries and sweets. The decor features a lot of red and white with hearts everywhere you look.

Hm... This... this looks like quite the romantic little spot... Dr. Death Ray thought to himself as he finally took a good look at his surroundings, Maybe THIS is how so... so many Changelings... find the emotions to sustain themselves...?

Dr. D shrugged and turned his attention back to the mare behind the counter. "Well... yeeeeeeeah. True enough... You did... you did ask first... but then... but then I... uh..." The Doctor ran a hoof through his spiky mane, "I... thought. it. first..."

They can't hear your thoughts sir.

-I know that GREGG.

Frowning, Dr. Death Ray looked at the Changeling mare, trying to mirror her accusing stare - he quickly lost his nerve though and decided to stare at the floor instead. He took a deep, exasperated breath whatever the case.

"Look," Dr. D began, still staring at the floor while directing his words at the mare, "FYI - but I wake up in... in..." Dr. D raises his hoof in an expansive gesture, "Changelingville... and nopony cares to tell me... tell me a buckin' thing... a buckin' thing, besides the fact that... that you picked me up off the street and... uh... and didn't eat me." Dr. D glanced up and smiled briefly, "-I really appreciate that BTW, I really do, buuuuuut..." -and the Doctor cleared his throat, going back to frowning and looking at the floor, "Next thing I know... everypony... everypony's sneaking around, and they've got some crazy... er... beatniks... beatniks in berets shaking down the place... and... and I think to myself-" as he'd continued talking, Death Ray had grown more and more righteously indignant with every word, and finally, gathering up his courage, he looked back up at the Changeling mare, raising his voice as he got swept up in the moment, "-OMD! IT APPEARS THAT THESE COMPLETE STRANGERS ARE HAVING SOME TROUBLE WITH SOME MORE COMPLETE STRANGERS! THEY HELPED ME - I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT THEY HELPED ME - SO MAYBE I CAN RETURN THE BUCKIN' FAVOR?! So I... so I go through all the trouble of building a... a tracking chip... and... and slipping it into a scratch-built business card - ON THE SPOT - and befriending the goon squad - ON THE SPOT - thoughtheyseemedtobeprettyokayguysallthingsconsidered- so that I could plant the buckin'... plant the buckin' thing on 'em before they got away -"

At this point, GREGG interjected with, "-So that we have a high probability of tracking them down and locating their hideout, in order to take care of them so that they stop shaking you down for protection money mam."

"Exactly!" Dr. D nods, patting his companion's shiny gold casing, "And do we get any thanks for our trouble?" - Death Ray turned back to the Changeling mare, "NEEEEEEEEEEEEIGH! Instead we get the buckin'... the buckin' third degree. Well, let me... let me tell you lady... let me tell... let me tell... you... um..."

The Doctor paused for a moment, panting. He took a deep breath, and all of a sudden - he felt very self conscious again.

"I'm..." He glanced around the room at the others, an awkward grin slowly spreading across his face. Slowly he added, "I'm... uh... Dr. Death. Ray aaaaaaaaaaand..." he nodded towards his little buddy, "This is GREGG..."

The Doctor raised a hoof, and waved, slowly, "Hi...? I... I. don't. think. we. introduced. ourselves... before now..."

The mare gets an annoyed look on her face and in her voice in response. Rearing up for a moment and stamping her front hooves on the counter top as she leans over.

"It's not like WE could've known any of that now could we? From where I'm standing, it seems like some pony we took in off the street is suddenly acting like old school friends with the griffon who's been making our lives a living hades for months now! Congratulating him on making death threats and even handing out business cards!"

She sighs before shaking her head slightly. Stepping down off the counter and taking a deep breath. When she speaks again she still sounds a little irritable but overall much calmer.

"Well thanks for that I guess. And hi. My name's Ditto, you've met Vespen, and those two behind him are Doppelganger and Double Goer."

"Umm..."

A voice awkwardly speaks up from over to Dr. D's right. Looking over you see a pair of stallions in very touristy clothing looking confused standing by the doorway. You assume the sudden appearance of these potential witnesses is probably what caused the griffon and his posse to leave.

"What's going on? ...Should we come back another time or...?"

The changelings in the room stare quietly at them for a few moments and blink before suddenly snapping into their roles. Doppel and Double running back upstairs for a moment followed soon after by several mares and stallions in similar uniforms to Ditto or chef uniforms descending and hurrying along to their jobs. A pair of mares greeting the pair enthusiastically with smiles, compliments, and not so subtle flirting as the guide them to their table. The sudden frenzy of activity reminds you, fittingly enough, of a swarm of bugs suddenly surprised by something for the few moments it lasts before falling into a quiet, steady routine.

Ditto remains behind the counter, though she has taken on a much more cheerful demeanor now that she's 'on the clock'.

A stallion in a uniform approaches you, recognizing him as Vespen only after he speaks having apparently switched disguises during the chaos.

"Considering what the landlady said and what you've just done...I guess we can trust you."

The way he says it gives you the feeling Vespen isn't too keen on trusting others.

"If you want to talk with the landlady you'll want to drop by sometime in the afternoon, she walks Dream to school in the morning then spends most of the early day going from shop to shop to order stock."

Land Lobber looks at the 'griff suspiciously. "Ye be getting nay just a boat, but a proper ship for passage."

He raises an eyebrow and keeps on eye on her as he cleans off his pickaxe in the sand. "A battleship to a cursed island. Fully crewed too, I be betting. And at what be a reasonable fee at first glance."

He walks over to the ship parts, and picks up his flag, spare sail, and oar, adding the two cloth items to his makeshift sail pants. "A classic scheme, I be thinkin', you be alright, facin' them on like that. But takin' out a boatload o' pirates when they try to off us just offshore be a quicker route than buildin' a boat, you be right there, if a bit darin' even fer me. Well, we be needin' the rest o' the group then, hopefully they be ready, ye know where they be?"

As Torch jogs along, he recognizes the far off figures of Ragnarok and Lobber, and runs the remaining distance to get to them. As he nears, he blushes and says, "I hope you guys did better with your ship building stuff then I and Mossy, turns out, not only is there no sap anywhere, there's only pine trees! On a tropical island... who woulda thunk it?" He pauses and sighs, then continues. " So, what's the progress? And where's Doc and Halynn?"

RavenscroftRaven wrote:Land Lobber looks at the 'griff suspiciously. "Ye be getting nay just a boat, but a proper ship for passage."
He raises an eyebrow and keeps on eye on her as he cleans off his pickaxe in the sand. "A battleship to a cursed island. Fully crewed too, I be betting. And at what be a reasonable fee at first glance."
He walks over to the ship parts, and picks up his flag, spare sail, and oar, adding the two cloth items to his makeshift sail pants. "A classic scheme, I be thinkin', you be alright, facin' them on like that. But takin' out a boatload o' pirates when they try to off us just offshore be a quicker route than buildin' a boat, you be right there, if a bit darin' even fer me. Well, we be needin' the rest o' the group then, hopefully they be ready, ye know where they be?"

Ragnarok resists the urge to slam her claw into her face and responds. "For the most part you are correct but the crew is less than a skeleton crew if any thing it is a skull crew. Yes we do need the other but I have not even the faintest clue as to where they are."

Subjectz wrote: As Torch jogs along, he recognizes the far off figures of Ragnarok and Lobber, and runs the remaining distance to get to them.

"Except for Torch coming right at us."

Subjectz wrote:
As he nears, he blushes and says, "I hope you guys did better with your ship building stuff then I and Mossy, turns out, not only is there no sap anywhere, there's only pine trees! On a tropical island... who woulda thunk it?" He pauses and sighs, then continues. " So, what's the progress? And where's Doc and Halynn?"

Ragnarok turns to Torch. "I take it that this is the first time in the field for you? Or perhaps you have been wandering around in the sun all morning? I have managed to find a ship that would be willing to take us to the Maw. Less fortunately Doctor Ray and the Green Lantern are both missing. "

"Ye missed out little pony!" Land Lobber laughs. "There be zombies we be fightin' off, skulking undead monsters like yer vampony friend, but mer overtly evil. Came from the sea they did, these cultists be moving up in their schemes."

Back with the thing at the place...


Dr. Death Ray had been just about to say something else when the customers had spoken up instead - and then the whole place seemed to come to life all at once. Plopping himself down right in the middle of everything, the Doctor had glanced about dumbfounded for a second, thinking to himself - Why do I suddenly feel like I'm in the middle of a Disneigh musical?

Then Vespen had come up and told him about the landlady - and Dr. D's ears had flicked up.

"Right then," the Doctor sprung to his hooves, and as GREGG quickly zipped out of the way to avoid colliding with him, Death Ray turned to Vespen and nodded, "Errr... Thanks. Let her... uh... know I'll be..." he thought for a moment, then raised a hoof, "BiB." Then to GREGG Dr. D added - Set an internal alarm.

Yes sir, Dr. Death Ray sir! What time should I set it for sir?

Oh... uh... maybeeeeee… Sometime between 2 and 4 would be good I guess? With… with everything that’s been going on recently, I... uh... have a lot on my mind… I just don't want to forget that I need to meet with the landlady here and find out what the buck is goin' on.

Yes sir! I’ll set it to go off every hour from 2 until 4.

Sounds good.

"Well, think we'll be off th-"

Dr. Death Ray paused, his forehoof going for his stomache.

GREGG?

Yes sir, Dr. Death Ray sir?

I just realized... I haven't ate a thing since I got off the cruise ship, have I...?

Affirmative sir.

I. am. STARVING!

Trotting outside, the Doctor looked up and read the shop sign - "Sweet Heart's... Cafe..."

Galloping back in, the Doctor tried to skid to a halt - but ended up going so fast he couldn't stop, instead crashing into the side of the cafe counter with a dull thud.

After a long moment, the Doctor finally groaned an - "I'm okay...", and dragging himself back onto his hooves, he steadied himself with the countertop while rubbing his aching head. He looked up at Ditto and grinned awkwardly, "Uh... yeah... Hi again..." He gave a quick laugh. "Sorry about that, but... uh...I just realized - I haven't eaten anything since yesterday... so... uh... you sell doughnuts I assume? Oh - and... and how about prench toast? I'll take some of that too if you have any... And coffee - maybe with some milk... And BTW, you wouldn't happen to know where I could find a good electronics store around here by any chance...? I need to stock up on some supplies..."

Spoiler:

tygerburningbright wrote:

Subjectz wrote:
As he nears, he blushes and says, "I hope you guys did better with your ship building stuff then I and Mossy, turns out, not only is there no sap anywhere, there's only pine trees! On a tropical island... who woulda thunk it?" He pauses and sighs, then continues. " So, what's the progress? And where's Doc and Halynn?"

Ragnarok turns to Torch. "I take it that this is the first time in the field for you? Or perhaps you have been wandering around in the sun all morning? I have managed to find a ship that would be willing to take us to the Maw. Less fortunately Doctor Ray and the Green Lantern are both missing. "

Healing Torch frowned and said, "Hey, we were just unlucky, Mosstone ended up going spazzy and getting us committed for the night. Plus, once we finally managed to get to the forest, we ran into some weird guarded place, and we got kicked out. That's good news about the ship, though. Missing? They were supposed to meet you at the hotel! I hope they're ok..."

RavenscroftRaven wrote:"Ye missed out little pony!" Land Lobber laughs. "There be zombies we be fightin' off, skulking undead monsters like yer vampony friend, but mer overtly evil. Came from the sea they did, these cultists be moving up in their schemes."

Healing Torch turns with a start and says, "Wait, what?! zomponies?! What in the everloving buck? Verana, do you know if the cultists or the Windigo King might have had something to do with this?"

-with Dr. D-

"You alr-...uh...well okay then." Ditto says awkwardly when the doctor crashes into her counter and gets back up. She nods in response to the order, jotting it all down on a little notepad before tearing the sheet out and passing it back through a window behind her. "That'll be 15 bits. As for an electronics shop? Yeah there's probably a few shops that sell them in the shopping district. Stable Depot and supermarkets and little specialty stores." She flicks an ear at a ding behind her and set of carryout boxes levitate out through the window encased in a green aura. She plucks it out of the air and sets it on the counter, opening the boxes quickly to show him the food inside before closing them and holding out a hoof for the payment.

---

-with everypony else-

Verana blinks once and tilts her head. "Perhaps. Necromancy was one of his most used powers but... without actually seeing the risen dead I can't be certain if its his work or any number of other possible curses." She stops and looks away towards a storm covering the horizon as the sound of thunder before she turns looks around for a moment, floating over to the two corpses and inspecting them. She looks up again and tilts her head. "Pardon me Sir Lobber, why are you carrying a trident?"

Land Lobber looks at the trident, and shrugs at the undead abomination.

"Me pick be good for smashing open armour, but the dragon golem we be shutting down, it did nae seem to do much, a tiny attack point be good for armour or ponies, but nae fer bone." He runs a finger along the tip of his pickaxe to illustrate the point.

"So when I be finding this, it be metal along the whole length. If I be hitting a fossil with the wood of me pick, it'd fall to pieces faster 'n a seapony at a rock farm. But this shaft seem tae be good fer smackin'. Blocking too. Seemed to me like a logical choice, and built tall enough fer me ta use, rare in pony lands."

Torch turns to Lobber and asks, "So where are the... re-corpses?"

The minotaur shrugs, and gives a vague wave of his pick to the two bodies none too far from them. "Ye can see they be waterlogged an' dead fer a while."

Torch turns and jogs over to the bodies, then says, "So, Verana, what do you think?"

Verana blinks once and nods at the answer before going back to inspecting the corpses. "It's strange. I can feel some of his magic in them but I feel it has more to do with how they died than why they rose. Traces of it along their wounds... It feels like something else mixed with it to animate them... But most of the magical energy in them is gone now." She says before finally backing away from the two corpses.

Flash-Forward an Uncertain and Irrelevant Amount of Time...


After paying the 15 bits for breakfast at the Sweet Hearts Cafe, Dr. Death Ray and GREGG had bid the Changelings farewell for the time being and gone on to make a quick detour through the shopping district. Stable Depot had proved sufficient for Death Ray's needs, and he'd spent a total of 50 more bits on enough parts to make at least three more good, solid contraptions. Normally, the Doctor would've considered just holding up the store and taking all their parts without paying, but he was on vacation (as GREGG continued to constantly remind him) and besides - he wasn't really in the mood...

It was a beautiful day (if you excluded those ominous-looking clouds off in the distance - but then, they just gave the day more character), the Doctor had a hot meal (tasty too), the pockets of his red lab coat were full of spare parts, and he'd only just begun his vacation on the picturesque island of Juna - the possibilities were endless, but in truth, the Doctor couldn't enjoy any of it. True - the events at the cafe had been a nice distraction, but once he'd left the Changeling posse, his thoughts had inevitably turned back to what happened the night before...

With Halynn...

He'd been turning it over and over again in his head, trying to understand what he could've done to upset her, to make her react how she did... And every time he thought about it, all he could think of was how he'd failed her... Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He should've told her the truth, the whole truth - the truth about everything... what she had really done and how he really felt... But now it might be too late... He might never see her again... He might never be able to tell her...

The Doctor realized he'd only known her a day... and yet... they'd shared a special connection... an audible connection... and that was something the Doctor'd never had with Sweet Dreams... before Major Mane came along, that was - Blah...

Should he be forever cursed to a life of isolation and solitude, forever lost and alone?!

-Maybe it wasn't too late to change his name to Lone Wolf? He could buy a nice timber wolf pack maybe... and all his henchponies could be feral Diamond Dogs perhaps... Didn't sound like a bad theme...

But then, maybe the Doctor was just overreacting? That thought had crossed his mind too.

Maybe Halynn had just had an anxiety attack?

Yeah... an anxiety attack... and why not?

-The Doctor had them all the time.

Sure.

Maybe the Lantern had just needed some air and gone out to get some...

-For 12 hours...

Well, okay, so maybe she hadn't been getting some air... maybe she'd just been trying to escape... escape from... him...

-If there was any thought that would send the Doctor into the depths of depression, that was it...

But then Death Ray had remembered the meeting spot. Hadn't they all agreed the night before to reconvene on the beach in the morning? Halynn might have flown the coup the night before, but surely... surely she would've gone back to the beach to meet with the others today? Right? Right?

Clinging to this last shred of hope, the Doctor and his little buddy had galloped to the beach as fast as the Doctor's hooves could carry him - hoping that he'd find the Lantern there so he could have a second chance, a second chance to finally draw up the courage so he could tell her once and for all - everything.

-When he got to the beach and spotted the others, he didn't waste time trying to make out who was or wasn't there - he just made a final mad dash, tripping up over his own hooves and coming to an unceremonious, skidding halt across the sands. As the Doctor lay on the ground panting and trying to catch his breath (while spitting out a couple mouthfuls of sand), GREGG - who'd been keeping pace alongside his creator - flashed his red eye, "Dr. Death Ray sir? You should really try to be more careful sir..."

The robot then turned his gaze on Ragna, Lobber, and Torch, and nodding with his gold-plated, tennis-ball sized frame, "Greetings." At the same time, Death Ray raised a hoof from the sands, muttering a weary, "Hay..."

Spoiler:

Ragnarok briefly looks rather pleadingly at both Land Lobber and Torch and then lets out a sigh. "Doctor Ray... I-We are sorry. It appears that the Green Lantern has disappeared. At this point we can only assume the worst..." Ragnarok trails off and attempts to avoid the doctor's gaze.

Land Lobber checks his pouches. "She ain't here, but I be doubting tha' Nihilist's words, she be off doing employer things, probly. An' she owes me half tha payment still, so I be huntin' her down once the job be done. But the job be fer completion, nae fer her to help in it."