pirates of the promenade - Part Five

[rubyrubyruby]

Maaaa-gic, fabulous maaaa-gic! Wynter's magic works super duper well. At least, what she's attempting gets a boost. Like adding a bit of gasoline on the BBQ. It doesn't harm, just leaps into being when called for. Goes over and above what's needed. The panorama totally shows your position from above, but a lot of land has been covered since leaving the cliff, and the jungle canopy is thicc. There's the plateau of monowheels there's the edge of the army, lots of craters, junkywards, jungle, trails blazed that thread through. Fan-tastic maaaa-gic! WoooooAAAaaaaaah.
The manifestation makes Jan and Chiara's heads whip around in shock and awe. Hiccuping gasps of surprise and their vehicle is gunned to life. Goggles hurriedly yanked down.

Jan is shaken, but has the sense of self to answer the question at least. "It rests along the coast. To the north! It is a challenging route, but these are fast. Every year a storm or great tide tries to sweep over it. It is an idiot whomever built it so close to the sea!"

The sisters still with the group angle their wheel around with some fancy footwork and barely bring their feet in before tearing the plateau a new one. "If you want speed, we'll have to run the bowl!" Chiara has her goggles yanked down and a kerchief pulled up over her mouth. Jan peers back towards the the army encampment and presumably the direction they last saw Nailah. Her eyes widen and instead of peering down-ish...turn up-ish towards the sky with a helpful lift of her chin. "We have to go fast. We have to go very fast!"

Wynter gives a violent shake of her head to Merri's question and stalks over to the machine Lhasa drives. The fire framed window follows along with her as she climbs aboard and signals to the other woman she's ready. With two more words she's adjusting the view, looking to the north and getting a clear view of the lay of the land. Talk of bowls and fast meaning nothing to her at the moment as she focuses in on finding Ruby and the babe.

Susan stays glued to her spyglass as the horn is sounding, if anything staring even more intently through it to study the activity about the gathering as that is happening. With the activity and noise increasing around her, especially that of monowheels powering up, she slaps the spyglass back to the compacted form and spins around. A confused look forms immediately, what with a sister missing, and then she's hustling tentatively over to Sharkie to fire it up. The engine gets a few revs and she's still looking around trying to piece together what she had zoned out on. "The bowl? That don't sound pretty." The engine gets revved twice, then she drops it into gear with a boot still planted firmly. The wheel spins like mad, sending debris flying back over the edge as it slides around to the side. As it comes to face back down, the wheel finally grabs traction and off she goes!

"No flying," Lhasa admonishes gently to Wynter, as she straps in. Her eyes follow the sisters', frowning as that gaze goes /up/, then turning to look beyond to see if she can catch a glimpse of this bowl. "Looks like we'll need to build momentum if we're going to make the jump they're talking about," she says grimly. Once Susan wheels off, she does the same. The Snailmobile squeals as it turns on the plateau, and once they're facing again in the right direction, Lhasa guns it.

Tucked in with Maggie now, Merri takes notes from the cozy situation of the sisters' double-riding, and perches her feet on a stability bar beneath the curved seat, knees pushed up and hugging Maggie's waist. Her arms are long enough to bracket Maggie's and rest on the handgrips, to help steer while her mate works the throttle. "You heard the gal, Hotstuff, let's buzz!" She also takes the moment to look up and around for what prompted Jan's speed directive, but then the sky becomes shrub and rock as the struts let go and the vehicle twists in an angle, churning ground. With an angry roar, the wheel leaps from the groovy mess and follows the rest in a race to beat what lies behind and meet what waits ahead.

What can be spied within the army staging area is a partial disruption of mustering. Around the megabone there's a lot of gesticulating and gathering of officer types. And unless they have their own monowheels, there's a possibly bad conclusion that could be drawn by the sight of one parking at the periphery way over there.
Up in the sky, the shapes soaring on the thermals are breaking off and dropping in altitude. Still specks, but they seem swift as they tuck in their wings.

The way down the plateau is very expedient. The grade really helps to accelerate if someone wants to take advantage. Ahead is that other route that bypassed the viewing plateau, and Chiara is steering onto that with a bump and a bounce, but only briefly. A hard lean and she's choosing a branching path that suggests it may curl like a cheetos towards a helluva big crater. That unnatural disfiguration of the earth is visible in all its enormous glory before the treeline tries to obscure it with the descent from the plateau. The jungle is thick and there's room for possibly two Wheels abreast. It grows more challenging with humpy bumpity stumps marring the path. Chiara is definitely putting on some speed, and there's a rise coming up. Jan is gripping her sister tightly around the waist while trying to peer back to those that follow. The goggles hide some, but her when the kerchief around her mouth flaps a certain way, her mouth is round and trying to shout over the din.

Wynter moves the window of fire off to one side so that both herself and Lhasa can see it. A strange form of natural gps for the driver. The window showing the big bowl ahead as well as a honest to goodness amusement park on the coastline just beyond the bowl. The rides are cordened off from one another and some look to be beyond repair. Of note is the rather large fence between the crater-bowl and the amusement park grounds. "Best be ready for a big jump! Or a crash through a fence!"

Doooooown they go! The Selkie takes full advantage of the downward slope to try and pick up a bit of ground on the pair of sisters before braking by downshifting and using the conventional brakes on the wheel. Leaning into the turn, Susan rounds the corner for the path not taken earlier on and gooses the throttle to get back up to speed! This lasts until the stumps start to complicate matters and then she lets off enough to be able to do some bobbing and weaving. With the rise coming up, she starts to try and pick up the speed a bit to get ready.

Lhasa squints up at the sky, at the shapes growing larger above. She grimaces. "Oh, so that's why we're going to have to go fast?" she says in a way that makes it easy for Wynter and the rest of their group to hear her. Them Magic Whispers! She squints back to the road ahead and its humps and bumps, and the advance view kindly provided by the Pathi. "Grab on tight!" she calls to Wynter, as the wheelie bobs and weaves and then accelerates to take up that rise.

The Honey Bee takes the steep slope in a controlled coast at first, letting acceleration happen naturally and concentrating on maneuvering into position to take the lesser-used fork in the course. Merri whispers encouragement and they both lean into the deep curve of crater while Maggie guns the throttle, barreling along with the aid of centripetal force to keep them grounded despite the bumps and humps of the terrain. This group is capable of both Magic *and* Science, thank you v. much! With the canopy overhang adding to the challenge of gauging the positions of their pursuers, Merri points as Chiarah makes for leveled land and trusts Maggie's eyes can pick out the best access points.

RPG: Lhasa challenges a difficulty of 9. Lhasa chooses Grace and the gifts SKL-SC, STY-PI, and STY-SW. Lhasa succeeds.

RPG: Maggie challenges a difficulty of 9. Maggie chooses Resolve and the gifts SKL-OB and STY-PI. Maggie succeeds.

RPG: Clive challenges a difficulty of 9. Clive chooses Wits and the gifts SKL-SC, STY-PI, and STY-SW. Clive succeeds.

Shooting Merri a grin when she joins her on the Honeybee, Maggie soon focuses on the terrain ahead. Trusting har co-pilot, she leans when it is called for and gives the bee the gas when the road allow for ut. They gain speed and momentum efficiently and quickly. Soon the wind is whipping past Maggie's face and ears, nearly blocking the communication attempts of the others. Whizzing past stumps and debris, the honeybee uses only as much torque as necessary to avoid them. Maggie nods when MerriSoliel points, adjusting their trajectory to zip after Chiara.

The route that people are hauling ass on has the beginnings of a rise again that's not as drastic as the plateau, but a bit more lengthy. Could be forgiven for thinking this was a wide volcano, but is in fact a super old impact crater. Chiara goes right over the edge, gets some air, and arcs down to the natural incline with heart-stopping bounces of instability while her wheel tries to find traction and smashes through some old debris. She fights hard to regain control.
The crater interior isn't exactly as smooth as a Skater park. There's obstacles scattered haphazardly in their final doom: Humanoid shapes constructed of metal twice the size of a normal human, covered in rust and on all fours locked in mid crawl. Unnatural vegetation has tried to find some purchase on them with weird fungal nodes and stalks. All facing inwards, the metal armored bodies or automatons look like figures dying of thirst and struggling towards an oasis. A religiously inclined soul might see them differently, like they're just praying towards ground zero at the middle of the crater. There, an icky pit that looks like simmering tar gives off a heat and stink that's rings the bell of any self-preservation gifts.

Wynter grips hold to anything she can as they launch and then grunts as they land. Her eyes trip back and forth from the over head view to the real view at all the obsticals in their way. She calls out sugjested path turns to Lhasa as they go. "Angle left! Then back right! Keep right! LEFT!" For some reason this is so much more stressful then flying. Why is that? Her hands toneintue to hold on for dear life in white-knuckled fashion. "Get ready to punch it on the far rim!"

Susan is giving it everything ole' Sharkie can muster and the monowheel is roaring under the pressure on the way up the steady incline. She does her level best to plot a path that gives her a good straight line leading up to the final moments before takeoff. This time around, she holds onto the handlebars to be sure she doesn't go hitting her head. Mid air, her legs pop out on either side to keep her wheelie stable, then tucks them back in just before touching down. The wheel makes solid contact, bouncing a couple of times. As this happens, her boots each snap out to get a touch here or there to help with stabilizing before she can get back on the throttle again to keep moving. She doesn't overdo it, with eyes widened at what greets here inside, she opts for maneuverability. "What the!" Right. Don't fall off here... No pressure.

The Snailwheelie makes it over the rise with little fuss, just a little wobbliness on the rougher bits and bobs. Lhasa herself is struggling to keep her attention on the pertinent parts of the road: the debris in the bowl, the direction Chiara and her sister are taking, maintaining and increasing speed, and Wynter's directions. Her mouth stretches into a grimace and her teeth clench. That tar pit in the middle is making her especially nervous, not to mention the burned out bodies??!

Up and over, the honeybee zooms. Maggie leans, then straightens following cues from Merri'. She trusts his calculations and her eyes. Yet, the sights that greet them within the bowl are achingly heart wrenching. Fighting the temptation to stop and see if anything can be done for the beings is made only slightly easier as the tar pit yanks on every alarm she has. Hackles effectuvely raised, she sets her mouth to a grim line and guns the honeybee, stearing a path that follows the others despite a fierce desire to get as far away from here as fast as possible.

Chiara and Jan try to skirt the middle of the bubbling yuck. The heat and scent driving them away and taking a curving course to the far side. Their vehicle suffered some damage from the earlier collision and makes bad sounds. Chiara can still coax some speed out of it though, and makes for the far edge.

Behind the group, there's a drake that has managed to crest the rise that everyone has left behind. Its wings flap hard to keep it aloft and give chase. It angles to swoop in very low, nap-of-the-earth style.

RPG: Maggie challenges a difficulty of 9. Maggie chooses Grace and the gifts SKL-OB and STY-SW. Maggie succeeds.

RPG: Lhasa challenges a difficulty of 9. Lhasa chooses Grace and the gifts SKL-OB, SKL-SC, STY-PI, and STY-SW. Lhasa succeeds.

RPG: Clive challenges a difficulty of 9. Clive chooses Wits and the gifts SKL-DS, SKL-TD, STY-PI, and STY-SW. Clive succeeds.

RPG: Wynter challenges a difficulty of 8. Wynter chooses Grace and the gifts FGT-MM, SKL-AR, and SKL-MK. Wynter succeeds.

Wynter gives out a yelp as the drake appears in the mystic view she has from above. In her concentration of directions she missed it's approach. The Pathian starts to turn about in her seat and then grips the seat with her legs as she shouts out to Lhasa. "DRAKE at Dix o'clock behind us! I'm leaning to your right! Don't get too close to anything!" And the silver metal bow pulls easily off her back as she leans fall off to the right side and pulls a normal arrow from the hip quiver nocks and pulls as the magic viewing window fades away.
She waits, trying anticipate all the varriables. The drake's movement. The snail's over the ground. She exhales and lets loose. Then jerks herself back into the snail, gripping hold tightly for the jump.

MerriSoleil studies the tableau around the crater sidelong, a naturalist's neutrality in her expression. She leans back along the stationary inner rim and grabs the sides of the seat instead, when the Bee climbs and launches from the crater. The whizzing rotation of the wheel is smooth and deadly only several inches from any given appendage, adjacent metals as hot through her clothing as against her bare skin. Sighting the flying reptile swooping low along the landscape, she reaches up behind her to slide the harpoon out from its harness while watching to see how Wynter's arrow fares against the critter.

Susan lines herself up for a few seconds of free and clear riding, then whips her head around to check on all of the others for a head count. All present and accounted for! Plus one? She does a quick double-take and her eyes widen at the sight of a drake now looming in the sky. "Ah, yeah. That's *just* what we needed..." Aroooound the middle she goes, slowly working up some speed for the climb back out. The engine starts to roar louder and louder the further along she goes, eventually changing to a high pitched whine as she goes up into the air and the wheel loses contact with the ground!

Lhasa's blood pressure is through the roof, now! Her yelled out "Bloody aaaye!" sounds more like a cursed-out complaint than an acknowledgement, though she clearly understands, as she does list a bit to the left to compensate for Wynter's lean on their increasingly faster turn up the bowl. The Snailwheelie accelerates, roars, and Lhasa trusts that Wynter knows to let loose that arrow before their hang time begins. She lets out another shout of warning to signal they're speeding over the lip of the bowl, and they're airborne!

The race past the tar and into the upward growl takes Maggie's concentration. They must nit lose speed. And then, just as the rim is cleared and she feels MerriSoliel's lean, Maggie feels a short-lived relief. There was a shout back there. Something about a drake and now Wynter is firing at something behind them and she can feel her mate ready the harpoon. Refraining from glancing back, she works to keep them centered and angled for as smooth a landing as she can manage. Up, up and away!

The arrow takes the flying reptile in the eye. The arrow bursts it and the juices streak back along the serpentine head like custard. The drake gives a great shriek, whipping its head back and forth at the end of a long neck. It flails on after the group as they go airborne, wingtips scraping the crater surface and hindquarters kicking. It roars, and flaps up and amongst the skyborn monowheels with enraged gnashing of teeth. The pain blinding it to skillful counter attacks just now.

Chiara and Jan are up and away like the rest. The latter nearly swallowing her bandana as they're chased by a damn dragon. With the crater falling away behind everyone, there's air time enough to spot the amusement park up ahead. Overgrown and in poor maintenance, but built so tough to stand as a monument to ye olde times. A rusted ferris wheel is almost directly ahead and turns so very slowly. And there is a set of roller coaster tracks that offer a ridiculous new pathway of hills and valleys.