Threads of scarlet bind two individuals who have never directly sought the company of the other — across a battlefield of blood and ash, Gavin's gaze finds that of Locke Jamison and recognition sparks within.

But not malice.

Amber eyes trace the string that binds them, and in a bright flash he is TELEPORTED to Locke's side.

He draws his blade across his own palm, a test.

Would it hurt Locke Jamison, too?

Hot blood drips from his fingertips onto the sand.

"Mommet's an — effigy. Like a voodoo doll." Gavin presses his bleeding palm against his side to stem the flow. "Rubedo's an alchemy term."

But he doesn't know more than that.

"If you hurt us, you hurt yourself," he snarls in the direction of the Beast. "More of us than there is of you, though."

Can it understand? He hopes so. Let it hear the Hurricane's rage.

He glances to Locke.

"I'm with you. What do we need to do?"

_1SMMKIy +10

---

Gavin's Claydol TELEPORTS him to Locke Jamison.
Cuts his hand for science, to figure out if his link to Locke is a sympathetic one. (ie: will it hurt Locke, too)
He explains what he knows about 'mommets' and that Rubedo is something to do with alchemy.
Snaps at the monster b/c he's angry and in pain.
+10 for ?

Red Route Conclusion

RUN BOY RUN

"Hnrk-!"

A choked gasp, a splatter of blood and a slow exhale interrupted Locke Jamison's uncertain words.

Holding his own knife against his side, the captain vibrated in place in an unnatural manner, his head craned back as he breathed slow and deep.

As he let go of the weapon, it rattled in place before falling off on its own, thudding upon the sand as the young man brought his hands to his face, dragging his hair back and out of the way.

"I don't see no altar'ere..." He choked out as he stared tiredly at the beast. Somehow, even as it moved invisibly underneath murky waters, he knew exactly were it was.

Staying in place becomes harder by the second. A great need to hit the ground and run after the monster has filled his chest, even after he's poked a hole in it.

"Plenty o' 'mommets', though...!" He muttered before suddenly lurching forward, his vibrating growing faster as blood spurted out of his self-inflicted wound. "Hngh!"

Bits and pieces of pink dandruff began to break off his skin, but with clamped teeth and a hard breath, they seemed to be suckled back in with no effect.

---

k7ooGHNe+10 for ?

Gavin inhales, sharp, as pain blossoms in the same hand that Locke Jamison burns.

He also notices how the other had fussed over John Sullivan, and a sharp whistle draws the attention of Gavin's Lucario. Two clicks of the tongue from Rocket's underboss and his jackal of stalwart steel fires a HEAL PULSE toward their unlikely ally.

The more of them alive, the better chance they had against the monster.

"We can heal. It can't, can it?"

Gavin's words are growled through pain.

"If we've got to break a few eggs..."

Gavin can feel Lugia's blessing coursing through his veins and something more, an unnatural speed that surpasses even the boost granted by the SHADOW MIASMA that flows from him like morning fog.

"Do we know what'll happen if we attack it directly?"

He's going to find out.

With a running start, he leaps toward it with a violent slash of steel.

9K8Ipoau

---

Used 2 SALACS.
Lucario uses HEAL PULSE on John Sullivan.
Gavin decides to attack the monster directly to see what happens.
Rolling b/c Locke burning his hand via Eris would presumably also hurt Gavin.

··

Red Route Conclusion

RUN BOY RUN

"Don't bother." Doug muttered to Locke Jamison as he hunched down to grab his knife again, eyes gleaming violet as he breathed out slowly.

Yet, within the next few moments, his wound was sealed shut by one of Ki's friends. As the pain on his side subsided to nothing, the young man could almost feel by his connection to the beast how it relief filled it as well.

He could definitely not heal that thing.

"Cancer it is." Doug said suddenly and without offering any context, reaching down to roll off his glove once again.

For a brief moment, he could only stare at the horrific dark web stretching under his skin like a grim tattoo.

With so much venom freely moving about under his skin, it truly felt like his final moments were at hand.

... No. Chryssa and Hideo and Ruby and Cardamom... They were all still out there. He hoped. Eris and Ki were right there with him as well; he couldn't afford the luxury of dying.

"Y'all. Grab on." He told the group around him as his body began to vibrate yet again. "I'm going in."

They all had about 5 seconds to hold onto him, after which he suddenly broke into a mad dash towards the waters, his body blasting through the tar like it wasn't even there, legs pumping under him as if there was solid ground as he made a bee line for the beast.

He slammed into it shoulder first at high speeds, a booming clap echoing within the cavernous chamber as the accumulated force spread out like a shockwave, blasting the water apart.

"Awright, big, mean and ugly." The youth muttered at the monster as a large scar formed across his chest, his knife pushed deeply into the beast's flesh. "Let's see which one of us croaks first."

---

qqzDvNAA+10 for ?

Rocks pelt Chu-e and bruise him, break skin, spill blood. Kano Iyona's serpentine attack does not make him falter.

Chu-e opens his mouth to scream. His throat is full of crystal and all that comes out is the shriek of metal scraping against metal, high and sharp. More thin tentacles sprout and lash from his person, thin razors that tear into the claws. It had a hold of him, bites, but Chu-e does not want to be free.

He can not say something dramatic or cool but he will do things dramatic. His temperature rises, blinding white like the hottest part of lava, stinging and hurting even his own eyes. Something bestial sings in his veins, echoes in the back of his mind, a doldrums pulsing amplified by whatever demon had taken him. He's hungry and he will feed.

He sinks in claws formed from blacked blood, the tentacles stab like iron rods into it's body, shark-rows of crystal teeth trying to snap and bite and drain. Something feels like it pushes him deeper into it's hold. (Eris Halla) He will devour this creature even as it tries to do the same to him.

The Beast is the prey here, not Chu-e.

a0kttJG7
+10? can't technically fulfil the requirement so i dunno if it counts

tldr: chu-e's literally not in a human mindset and trying to eat the beast before it eats him

Red Route Conclusion

RUN BOY RUN

Agony is seared across his skin as Eris' flames burn into the monster's own.

As Ki's jaws tear off chunks from the beast.

As his knife is driven furiously, repeated into its flesh, gaining power and momentum with pull and push, until each ram makes the cavern's stalactites quake.

His own screaming is drowned out by the pain, words losing all meaning in the mind-rending madness of their shared suffering.

---

LimwVLYE