Nightshade shook her head. "Up to you. But right now? I'm pissed off. I came here to find something fantastic. We all did. My friend just died for it. And I'll be DAMNED if I'm gonna let these godsforsaken monsters chase me away!" She snarled, her scars becoming visible as her illusion magic flickered. "Maybe you should go, actually. Get Dawn out of here, and get Galahad's body to the ship. I'll keep going on my own! I'll kill EVERY LAST ONE OF THESE BASTARDS! And I WILL find something that will be worth what it cost to get it!"
Navaja blinked. "Nightshade. Listen to yourself." "Something worth this?" Azrael snarled. "A friend just died. What material object is worth his life?" He finished suckling out Galahad's soul and held up the gem. "And what about this? What if this breaks while we're here?" ~~~~~~ "Hear that?" Raven asked. "What could be blocking the signal?"
*After a few static crackles, the signal sounds a little clearer, but not by much, "Yes....can hear.....Something....the..North Pole of......planet....blocking.....signal"*
"Screw this... Blacky. I'mma need some help." Maya tilted her head. "Help with what?" Raven chuckled. "We're going to space."
"Uhh..." Maya tilted her head. "I mean. You were raised by me, I know you'll be fine. Just be back soon. From your... space rescue mission." Raven gave Maya a big hug. "Love you! Just put Asmo on the bar!" She then grabbed onto Blackened and took him right into the Nexus, which he probably remembers fairly well.
Nightshade sighed. "Damn it. You're right. I know you are." She lifted Galahad's body onto her back. "Let's just go. While we still can."
"Indeed." Azrael turned to start walking down and exit the tower. Navaja followed closely. "We should talk to whoever gave you the job. Talk with a blade, that is."
"We kill him, we don't get paid. And there's no way he knew what we'd run into." Nightshade was angry and upset, but she was also a professional. Mercs that attacked their clients ended up blacklisted or worse.
Raven actually teleported him into the Nexus, which it seemed Blackened didn't remember. It was a huge chamber, with walk-in portals lining the walls by the floor all the way around. All the walls were hard stone, and the floor was white glass. High above, candles floated by the ceiling, lighting the whole chamber. Raven pointed to a portal directly to the left of them. "There. That's where we wanna go. Please don't puke from the teleport."
It was a short, somber trip back down the tower. Gaston said nothing as they explained what had happened in the tower, and remained silent as he took the elevator up to the ship, alone, to place his brother's body in the hold alongside the treasures they had gathered together. Nova shook her head as she watched him go. "He's not going to be okay, is he? I know they fought a lot, but they were as close as brothers could be. I always thought they'd go out together when the time came." *************************************************************************** Cannonball rubbed his forehead, trying in vain to stop the headache that was coming. This mission had gone sideways fast. One of his crew was dead, and he'd somehow managed to collect a corpse-eating diamond dog and a half-amnesiac former monster. "So now what? We've got what we came for. We leave now, we're all set for the next few years. We stay, we fill the hold, and we're all set for life. It's a hell of a risk, but..."
As they made it to the Nexus, he took a moment to look around, not remembering the place. "I don't recall this place..." He then moved over to the portal. "Well, everything's worth a shot, I suppose."
"We leave," Azrael said sternly. "One of your crew is already dead. We have an injured rescue. More will surely die if we continue without help. We're 'set' enough to come back at a later date, better prepared. Hell, I'll fund the next one myself if I have to. But now, I don't advise we continue." ~~~~~~~~~~ Raven walked alongside him. "Hope they let us use their space stuff."
Cannonball sighed. "You're not wrong, but..." He looked at the others. "Let's take a vote. Who wants to keep going?" Rose, Flair, Olga, and Nightshade all nodded. "Leave?" Rain and Cannonball nodded. Gaston was clearly on the 'leave' side as well. "Alright, Navaja and Az. We're four to three in favor of staying. What're your votes?"