The Library of Fandom

[ProperGamer]

Rachael looked at the hand and shook her head. She wasnt about to give up her prize. She was far to determined, if not a bit stubborn.

"Sorry, like I said I worked to hard getting where I got this from and I have been working to hard to get out of here to give it up now. I will bring it back. But I need it for a job."

She said as she stood and began bouncing on the balls of her feet, readying herself for anything. Though she, unlike Z didnt understand the full ferocity that the library commanded. Though Z wasnt sure he even did. He stayed sitting, and it didnt take a mind reader to know that these three, the two Minotaurs and their companion, were here for the book that Rachael had taken.

He had to make a decision now. Help Rachael, or the library. Either choice was going to make his life miserable. One would make his life miserable now, the other in the long run.

Guess I have no choice...

With that, Z's eyes flared open and he began pulling book shelves down, toppling them over onto the minotaurs and their leader. Z didnt expect this to hurt them in anyway, but hopefully distract them long enough to give Rachael and himself a head start. Though the weight of the books and shelves he had just torn down would probably give him a big head ache tomorrow. The adrenalin coursing though him blocked that pain for the moment.

Z got up and began heading to the stairs. He yelled run telepathically to Rachael but remembered that she seemed to be blocking him from her mind. So he stopped short of the next flight of stairs and yelled it verbally.

"Run!"

Rachael didnt have to ask him to repeat himself as she began sprinting at an astonishing pace. She was fast, which was probably why she was so lean. Z turned and began to run but he was alot slower and he wasnt good with running down stairs. Neither of them looked back to see what the response of their, now probably, pursuers were. Z was terrified what he had just done, making an enemy of the Library.  

[Faulty Ambition]

The minotaurs were stunned, the brunt of the falling shelves slamming into their broad shoulders. It was not enough to knock them over or cause any real damage to them, but they were dumb beasts and momentarily shocked. Their bulk protected the suited sphinx perfectly, though. The human head reared back in a very feral motion and a shrieking cry much like an eagle's erupted from its throat. The bound book struggled, tugging as hard as it could back to the sphinx. There was a procedure to borrowing books and everyone seemed to have thrown that to the wayside. The Library would have none of that.

The large piles of matted fur appeared to be getting larger and more frequent the farther down the stairs the pair ran, but neither the minotaurs nor the sphinx had been particularly hairy. What monstrous beast would leave such massive sheddings? Whatever it was, it was very obviously right below them.  

[Fira the Phoenix]

Fira stopped at the sound of metal groaning behind them raising her head and the crest of feathers as she glanced back behind them. The phoenix froze for several moment her nerves treading on the edge. She then turned around leaping up and taking to the air now flying down the hallway though being rather careful about not running into any walls with the poor visibility.  

[JackieBugz]

Kokoro gripped her husband's hand tighter when she heard the groaning of the metal then watched after the phoenix as it flew away. She looked at Kasark frantically. "What should we do? Run after it or...?" She didn't know what any other choice would be... other than to stay and attempt to fight whatever it was causing that sound, knowing that they were probably no match for the unknown power of this library... if that was a proper name for it.

 

[Kasark_Tamaru]

"For now, run, if there's no other option, we'll try to hold our ground. Don't forget, I have a secret weapon." He says, looking back before his eyes fall to her. "Lets go!" He starts down the hallway, away from whatever was coming after them.  

[Faulty Ambition]

The silence returned as the light continued to dim. Now the light barely covered the three in the hall and it seemed almost sickly. All was still, the only sounds were their breathing and heartbeats, impossibly loud in their ears. Silence for a long moment, their running strides kicking up puffs of dust that lingered. The center of the hall was clear now, all the shelves in this portion appearing to have been thrown against the walls, creating hidey holes that were just out of their sight.

ba-dump
ba-dump
ba-dump
The beating of hearts, the gasping intake of running breath, and the soft poomph of footfalls on muffled carpet.

And then, the silence was shattered.
With a monstrous bang and a shriek, the elevator doors were ripped from where they stood, tumbling down the elevator shaft with ominous thuds.

The skittering noise sounded again from far too close to the lighted trio, but this time they did not sound like they were getting closer. They seemed to sound as if they were trying to get as far away from the center of the hall as they could.

The tremendous cacophony of the doors' removal was soon replaced by an outraged bellow that sounded all too familiar to those who had been in the elevator shaft with the bound beast.

This time, the monster sounded mighty hungry and mighty pissed.

Its heavy footfalls echoed down the hallway, pounding on the floor with enough force to shake it, picking up enough speed to approach like a freight train. This beast was not primed to stop and it was approaching far too quickly.

Its glowing eyes bore down on them as its gaping maw opened greedily.  

[Kasark_Tamaru]

Kas looks back at the shadow beast. He keeps sprinting forward, knowing the beast is still closing in on them. This library isn't holding back...I shouldn't either At that thought, he pulls out his book, still sprinting, the book floating in front of him...  

[Fira the Phoenix]

Fira looked back as it was clear the creature from the elevator shaft was now sprinting down the hallway towards them. She turned her head forward and opened her break dropping the orb of light and it hit the floor and shattered like glass just behind her but with a quick flicker the pieces dissipated and the phoenix was engulfed in darkness… for a moment.

Within the darkness the phoenix suddenly arched back turning down the other direction of the hallway just as a small trail of light began to flicker around her body. She flipped upright in the air and soared back above Kokoro and Kasark and back towards the beast as she gave out an ear shattering and eagle like cry. There was a spark of light before the birds body was engulfed in flames that fought against the darkness that was slowly attempting to swallow them. The fire created a thin sort of shield covering her from her beak to a tail of fire streaming behind her as began beating her wings up and down taking her as fast as she could go.

Just before she came face to face with the beast she pulled up stalling her flight to hover in the air for just a moment as she threw out her wings to the sides and a flash of fire erupted from every inch of her body and was pushed outwards until the flames were throwing into the surrounding walls, ceiling and floor. For a few moments the wall of fire created a blinding light within all of the darkness and searing heat in that part of the hallway then finally began to die down as the phoenix began to flap her wings to stay in the air.  

[JackieBugz]

Kokoro stared at the beast in total terror. She watched the phoenix attack with an element of her own, wondering if that could possibly be enough. Quickly, she looked to Kasark who had his book out already. If he was resorting to that this quickly, then they were all really in for it. Kokoro summoned as much energy as she could to herself, preparing to use fire in a way that she had never used before.

 

[Faulty Ambition]

The beast was just moving far too quickly. It approached the pheonix with far too much speed to stop, and in the burst of flame, it did what all shadows do when the light gets stronger.

It burst into sharp relief, every edge sharper and stronger as the darkness behind it was immediately dissolved for a second. The bright flash of light was enough to blind the others, though, their limited night vision ruined. The beast's back paw caught the small bird, knocking it into a stack of shelves off to the side of the hall as it continued to hurtle forward, emerging from the flames, bigger, angrier, and more powerful than ever.

More broken shelves lined the walls, forming small hidey holes, just out of the beast's path, and far too small for it to fit inside.  

[ProperGamer]

The tugging on Rachael's pants was groing annyoing, but she blocked it from her mind as best she could. Rachael came to a halt and turned around looking up the stairs.

Eighty-nine...

She whispered to herself. She was alittle disppared to that fact. She had hoped to cover more ground then that. And Z was only going to slow her down. But she couldnt leave him now. He had helped her and whatever he had done to pull those shelves down had given the chance to run.

Z came down the last flight of stairs and looked at Rachael, waving her to keep going. He knew that those three people that were one floor up werent following them, yet. But he knew something else was waiting. Maybe not for them, but it was waiting none the less.

Z only hoped it wasnt the terrible Trebbils. Those endlessly multiplying furballs... What was he thinking, those were only in the tv show Star Trek.

"Go... Keep moving!"

He said gasping for air. Rachael didnt need to hear him twice, so she turned and kept jogging so Z could keep up with her.  

[Fira the Phoenix]

Fira began to chirp but had the air quickly knocked out of her as she was first hit by the paw then slammed into a case of shelving, one shelf gave way for she hit hard enough to break the old and slightly rotting wood before she landed on the next shelf down limply. The lighting around her went out as she laid there with her wings sprawled out and her chest moving rapidly as she attempted to get her breath back.  

[Kasark_Tamaru]

Kasark watches the beast coming to him, and quickly he performs the summoning spell for Ragnorok, his Deabound Lightning Dragon. As it appears, inside the library, it coils around Kokoro and Kasark, protecting them from the inevitable collision with the shadow beast. Its large maw wide open, and energy forming just outside its jaw, ready to blast the beast when it gets closer.  

[JackieBugz]

Kokoro watches, still horrified, noticing that the creature only grew stronger. This thing was still going to be a difficult match for Ragnorok, and Kokoro could only hope that they would be protected. The energy radiating in the room from both beasts as well as from herself and her husband made the room feel full of adrenaline. She prepared herself to release her own energy and feed off of the energy in the room.

 

[Faulty Ambition]

The shadow beast hurtled past impossibly quickly, its form far clearer in the lesser darkness. It smacked through the lightning dragon, paying it no more heed than a slight obstacle to blast through. The summoning did not even seem to slow it down as it knocked the pair protected by it into the shelving broken against the side. It continued past, not even making a motion to turn back for them, continuing down the hallway.

A giant pile of fur blocked Rachel and Z's downward path. It did not seem immediately threatening, but it certainly was not helping them escape the pursuing minotaurs and sphinx. The book in her pocket seemed to be more busy now attempting to throw off her balance rather than simply pull away, and it seemed to be quite good at it.