Empiricist Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Izumi Kurosawa, Outside Castle At first, she knew not what she saw. It was a corpse, big deal, she's seen plenty of corpses. Made plenty of them herself for that matter. It was sprawled on the rain-soaked streets, from the white poured red, and from the red poured black, impurity bleeding forth as if the world itself were wounded. It was a hound, one of their own, which was to say someone's night was about to get a whole lot worse. People would want to ask why, and to the tell the truth, they never will. There's just no nice and easy answer, nothing to neatly wrap it all up. They died because a bullet went through them. Several bullets, but who's counting? Well, who shot them? Probably a person, a yokai would've done far worse. Shouldn't take too long to find out. Why did they shoot them? Now that, that's going to be a week at least. That's where the next of kin will stop asking, if they haven't already. But for whoever's on the case, well, that's just where the rabbit hole begins, and no, they'll never see the end of it. Either you're lucky and it just continues until it's deep enough and good enough and you can finally sleep again, or... Or, you hit a wall. A wall you can't get through, or rather one they won't let you get through. Then, that's that isn't it? You'll just have to let go. Or, so they say, and "they" can go take their letting go bullshit and go shove it up there- A breath. A ragged, choking breath. It, looks up and- "Shit." it was her, wasn't it? Well, that's option three. You die. You go down the rabbit hole and the rabbit hole caves in on top of you. Then you're some other poor bastard's problem. She takes one last look at the fading phantasm, their eyes locking for the briefest of moments. She had to hand it to him, CivSec really knew his makeup. 51 minutes ago, Adamance Ascendant said: "Do you know why you are here?" "Because someone needs to die." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonRage Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Alexandria sees the grenade, and her optics go wide. At this distance there's no way to shield everyone with her hard-light barrier. So she does the only thing she can in the time availible. She grabs the bomb, shoves Kyle away, and wraps herself around it as best she can. There is a very loud bang. Alexandria straightens up, covered in scorch marks and scratches. A piece of shrapnel is embedded in one of her optical sensors, which no longer moves in sync with the undamaged one. She works her jaws, and spits out a few more bits of grenade casing. "Ow. Wait, something's not right here. Everything looks flat." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal Henderics Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) "You have a little pinch in the.." Mar points at his eye, gesturing a bit hilariously. Edited January 23, 2017 by Hal Henderics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S34N1C Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Theodore Upon landing back at the town, Theo would have started an impromptu celebration. He played some upbeat music, finished off the beer Solomonhad given him, and started dancing. Even if no one joined along, he would keep dancing as though he was in the middle of a massive party. As the drawbridge of the castle lowers, he would moonwalk alongside the others, turning around once he had reached the middle. When he does, he suddenly stops, accompanied by the sound of a record-scratch. He see's the giant of a man briefly, before getting an image of himself. He was in an alley behind a club of some sort. He could faintly hear the music from the party pulsating, the bass jacked all the way up. He had gone back there to void some of the alchohol in his system (via vomiting) when he was stabbed in the back by a mysterious figure. He tried to cry out, but the knife had pierced his lung, so all that came out was a whisper. The headphones were yanked off his head, and his wallet out of his pocket. The mugger then shoved him onto the ground, his lung already filling with blood. After the image faided, he was just left standing there, speechless. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kj1225 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Kyle stares at Alexandria in a mixture of shock and confusion, not to mention the already present anger. It's at this crossroads of emotion that he was left with two options. He could choose to try and forgive and forget. But that wouldn't be fitting for a person like him, would it? "I'll apologize for everything else! I'm sorry if I seemed like I was trying to press gang people into helping me. I'm sorry that I've ignorantly endangered allies through my actions. But I'm not going to fucking pretend that my life is worth as much as the lives of anyone else here except to a very small group of people, and I'm definitely not sorry for doing that too you after what you just said! You can fuck around with the pincushion there if you want, I'm going to back to my room." With that Kyle storms off into the castle, an angry glimmer of tears in his eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamitako Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 54 minutes ago, rustytengo said: Bridgett fallowed everyone out of the castle to be greeted by more people brought to them by Leon. But that wasn't all after a few moments after the villagers and whatnot left the area a large man clad in armor approached the group loudly. Looking the way of the man Bridgett saw a bright flash and then all was dark as she fell to the ground fainting from what ever vision she saw as Mornings Arrow called out to her "My Lady My Lady". NYAHIRO A grey and brown blur launched out of the group of newcomers, rocketing to catch the falling Bridgett. "Oh no, Bridgett-san has fallen!" Nyahiro exclaimed, "I must save her!" She looked away dramatically, as though the sight of the fainted girl was too much to look at. As she did she caught sight of the weird guy. And she saw herself, a fork made of some kind of super-alloy was embedded in her temple as her entire body stood still and drained to pure white. Disconcerted, she looked back to Bridgett. "Oh Bridgett-san, there is only one thing to be done." She laid Bridgett down and leaned over her, "I must give you... MOUTH! TO! MOUTH!" Katsuo Alone and dark, orbiting a long-dead planet. Katsuo floated there, alone. No Gwaedu, no brainless children to annoy him, no one. He just floated there, forever. He tried to escape, tried to send some part of him away. But he was trapped, truly trapped. He wasn't allowed to blink or scream. He simply stood an endless watch over the empty planet. He averted his gaze, both from the vision and from the others. Tears streamed down his face. Gwaedu was quivering on his ear, clearly she had seen something equally horrifying. "Scary." Gwaedu whispered, so quietly Katsuo wasn't sure it even happened. The tears flowed even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) Solomon D.R. Inside of the smithy It was exactly what he wanted, a long and razor sharp spear with an in hindsight quite gaudy golden pole, he wondered how Mar could have gotten the blade so sharp, or how the dark rock blended so seamlessly into the whole weapon, but he didn't really care at this point, it was a better weapon than his ring, and it would do quite well for now, if he had been paying any attention, he would have heard a voice saying "This is starting to feel like home isn't it Solomon" as he held the weapon in his hands, but let's face it, he was too busy thinking about how cool the whole thing was. He was getting ready to help out Mar again with another casting of a, certain spell when the entire castle started to slow down. Solomon walked out of the smithy and noted with amusement and barely contained horror as the vid actor decided to prove that his grenades wouldn't kill the entire group, and he made a note to not mention the whole incident to Alexandria, it uh, probably wasn't a good idea to reopen old wounds, well...at least not until she got her eye fixed, maybe he could talk to Edmond about that? Leon was here again, but that really wasn't a surprise, he wondered who the cigar smoking man was, or why we had so many new arrivals, "At this point we might as well give up and establish our own mercenary company, I mean, we have a fucking moving castle, who the fuck has that?" he said to no one in particular as he tried his best to remain unnoticed, anyone paying attention would have noticed him trying, and failing to hide the spear he had been carrying. But then he saw the battered man, and he wondered "Wait, what is this guy supposed to be?", but rather unfortunately, he may have paid a little too much attention.... (OOC: Oh please, like you actually want to read this) Trapped, trying to do my best to move, to punch, to cast a spell, to fly away, to not die, but those eyes, who the fuck thought it would be a good idea to give it those eyes? I mean, weren't the mouths good enough? or did they just have to go for the full horrifying predator set? Oh right, apex predator, meant to survive on literally anything, including the prey's fear..welp, there it goes, eating another one of my teammates, goodbye Johnny, it was nice knowing you, but you should have brought a bigger gun you bastard. Oh no there goes Marie, healing magic doesn't do much against an abomination doesn't it, and finally, with no real interruptions, it turned it's focus on me, and as it opened it's many mouths, I wondered which one I would enter. "I need a fucking drink" said Solomon to a suddenly much more disturbed looking group, he simply looked around the entire group, and walked towards the battered knight after the entity's question had been asked. "Because the world, the real world, is ending, and there is nothing I can do about that, so why don't I just give up and try to enjoy this fantasy while it lasts?: Edited January 23, 2017 by Cronos5010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnar Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Jesse Jesse yawns as steps out outside the mobile fortress, obviously the angel slept the entire trip towards their destination. He carries his rifle as he gets a move on with the others. while he was following the group, Kyle just suddenly do Kyle things and unpins one of his grenades, Threatening to blow some man who just shows up from out of nowhere. Lucky your friendly neighborhood A.I: Alexandria decided to intervene in the gangster's course of action. The sniper was quite alarmed by this as he pointed his rifle at the man as well. Can't be too careful now and lower his guard on this fresh face. As he stare's at the mysterious man's eyes, Jesse was quite surprised on what he saw on the other side. Jesse's acid trip: Spoiler A mirrored version of him was pointing the same rifle he is wielding, unflinching aiming at him as well. The two version of Jesse(s) were at a standoff, pointing guns at each other, finger on the trigger, anticipating each other's move. The tension was broken as altered figure slyly smiles at him and it puts its gun away. The figure continues to eerily smiles at Jesse and mumbles "You shouldn't have die, now they're coming for you.." multiple times in a form of a creepy whisper. Without warning, the figure snaps its rifle into to two with his bare hands and show it to Jesse. A gallop was heard from a distance as a horseman rush in and chop of the sniper's head with a cleaver, cutting it clean of his shoulder. The separated head immediately falls off and rolls into the ground. His headless body collapse into a pile of heap along with it. There was absolute silence...Jesse was stunned and started to sweat bullets on what he saw. after a brief moment, A grunt was heard from his lifeless body as a ghostly figure of him emerges from his headless meat suit like some butterfly slowly emerging from its cocoon. This version of him was not his celestial form, no, it was something else, it was entity made of pure blackness the same size as he is. A voided version of him emerges with fractured angel wings. His surroundings completely warps around him like he was in an acid trip and changes into something crimson, like it was inside of a molten core of an active volcano, If he wasn't mistaken, the angel was transported into the Purgatory, A place where celestial beings are stored when they die and was tortured for all eternity. He was tied down and binded with mystical fiery chains on all his limbs so he wouldn't escape as stands under trial by the old gods for intervening with the mortal realm. "Well that was trippy.." Jesse shakes off the mental image of his head and reluctantly put his gun away. He sighed and retain his composure like nothing happen, He standby, waiting for an explanation from the mysterious man who welcome them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empiricist Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Dimitri Kutznetsov, Town The world fades. He could see it now, towering above him, towering above all, all that is, all that will be. The reaper had come. The infinite expanse of the godless heavens, were but a thread along its cloak, a cloak a color darker than black, and emptier than oblivion itself. Its body was of pale clockwork, and each gear in it was a concept, a concept all once knew, but now forgotten to all. Forgotten and unthinkable, erased beyond erasure, destroyed beyond destruction. In its hand was a scythe, a scythe larger than the universe, swung eternities before the universe even existed, and only now finding its mark. He could feel its blade, it was in his throat, through his throat, separating his head from his shoulders. Looks like he still had time, not a lot of time, but time nonetheless. Light was streaming through his windows, tears down his grandchildren's face. No, it's okay. He's, fine. He's just, sleeping. He's been awfully tried as of late, and well, he might be asleep for a while. What's that? Oh, yes, they'll be tucking him into bed, soon enough, right next the wife actually. No, it's okay, he's too old for bedtime stories, too old, too weary. As his thoughts faded away, one by one, he remembered the stories he used to tell, of strange worlds unlike their own, of warp drives and dyson spheres, thinking golems and ships among the stars... and of that lie he had always said, that one day, he would visit a world like that, a world he had once known better than his own... Was it worth it? Was this the path he should have taken? He faded before he could answer. Far above, a message flickered in the reaper's eyes. Remuneration for its duty, payment, for that whose smallest movements took entire eternities. The reason for which its kind did what they had done, that which allowed them to transcend above all else. 1 EXP A pale fissure tore across its countenance forming something resembling a smile. Farming, was its own reward. He pauses, his steely gaze keeping his thoughts to himself, and himself alone. He smiles. "I do not, and you do not look like the kind of man to mince words. Enlighten us. And, you can do away with the theatrics, being dragged here is arresting enough, without having to frighten the kids." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElfCollaborator Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) Sachi She'd come out to see what was going on, along with everyone else. Upon laying her eyes upon the newcomer, she realised a second too late that this was a mistake- ------- She found herself in the Jukai again. Amagi-senpai and Takeba-senpai were behind her, the sweet scent of Takeba-senpai's holy incense filling her nostrils. Amagi-senpai was hurling bursts of glowing petals at the- Cancer Vertex. She could see Mio, her fists almost a blur as she rained down punch after punch against it. She, too, was looking tired and pretty scratched up, but her will carried on. Sachi was flying, moving towards the Vertex to help her finish it off. A deep throbbing pain pulsed through her; it had been a long fight, and everyone was tired and hurt. She twirled her lance in her hand and stabbed at it and didn't notice the other Vertex's arm flying towards her from behind; whether out of fatigue or ignorance, she really couldn't say- and Mio was yelling and- ------- Back in the real world, Sachi barely makes it to a nearby wall and supports herself on it before throwing up, a choking noise coming from her throat. Her eyes watered, as much caused by grief as by the burning in her throat. Edited January 23, 2017 by ElfCollaborator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurorix Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Jade O'Duffle Jade came out to join the rest of the group after his brief rest. Then he gazed upon this mysterious newcomer, well multiple newcomers though the one impaled through the chest stood out the most. After starring at the man concerned his vision grew blurry for a moment and when it came back he saw himself only he was the one impaled. A kantana whose blade glowed an orange red, almost like the sun, was impaled into his chest. Bullet wounds as well as gashes and claw marks from wild animals cover his body. To add to this a vulture was feasting on his corps as to pillage his remains after his uncanny demise. He was stunned for a moment but the brought his hat over his eyes covering the horrendous sight before him. Once he gained the will power to look back the everything was back to normal or as normal as it could be in this situation. Jade said nothing as he assumed he was just imagining things though in all honesty this is probably an omen for things to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raindrop Valkyrie Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Snow, The Lady Ashford. The Horrors that Snow Saw. Her conversation cut short with the now confirmed reaper, Snow was relatively upset to some degree. She had wanted to assure the woman that she held no ill harbor towards her. That if anyone understood her existence it was her. A reaper was no different than her, at least in a sense. The Ones who traversed the veil of death and life, they were much akin to the Divine Knights themselves. Only they served Mortimo, the Eternal Judge, the keeper of the sands of time. They were the arms of his into the mortal realm. The shepherds who ferried and guided souls to the afterlife. They were more agreeable than... some of the other knights that was for sure... even if they couldn't truly be known as knights. Having taken the journey, having died many times, Snow was no longer afraid of death. She was in fact... friends with the Maiden in Silver. She who heralds heroes on wings of gold, with a crown of silver. So, in the glimpse of time Snow didn't see her death. She saw something... much worse. She saw a familiar shape. One of a human male, infused with a beard of slimy wet tentacles. He wore a broad jacket of the gaudiest sapphire blue so bright you could swear you saw it from the orbit of the planet. A giant anchor rested on his back, in his hands he held a harpoon. It was Unmistakable. It was the Dread Lord Ignacio himself, standing before her. "Aelia's Tits... why are you here? Get bored without me around kicking your ass?" The squidman smirked, a wide smile, full of rotten teeth. The amount of madness that poured from those lips cracked them bloody. The bloody wounds glistened with unsettling crimson. The true mark of the mad. So vile the words and magic that passed through those ripped the body rebelled until it could rebel no more. It destroyed itself, rather than be subject to the foulness that passed them. Snow was standing there wishing his stupid head would explode. All the sickening emotion from seeing that bastard in but a moment. She wished she still had a stomach... then she could at least purge the foul feeling from her gut. But the flash didn't stop there. He spoke. "Sorry, no sweet cheeks~" *gag* his terrible rotten voice that smelled of spoiled grog and... other unmentionable smells. "I wish, but no. I'm here to inform you I'll be taking over your position with Aelia. She feels sad that ye abandoned 'er, so instead she be taking me as her new 'umble knight. I be the new KNIGHT OF WIND, DARRRRRRRLIN'!!!" He said posing as sexily as he could. He clicked his heels together three times and suddenly his terrible pirate garb began to shine with a bright silver light. When it passed suddenly he was in a skin tight silver dress. He flexed his muscles as the dress underneath it groaned as if it were about to rip into shreds. He tapped his newly gained silver high heels on the ground and swayed his hips from side to side so much Snow thought she'd be sea sick. "Arrr, So, wit me bein' the new knight n' all ye can slide back into that cushy and totally 100% fight free afterrrrlife ye so fond of~" After... that Nightmare. Yeesh... *shudders* Snow was felt so sick to her stomach she felt nearly human again. It was only the fact that she couldn't expel the vileness that laid in her 'stomach' that left her know she was still in her divine body. The feeling was so intense she couldn't even pay attention to the goings on. She hadn't even noticed the man take his true form. She could just see... Ignacio's... STUPID... FACE. GODS BE DAMNED I'M GOING TO PUNCH THAT BASTARD THE NEXT TIME I SEE HIM JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WASN'T REAL. I feel... so violated right now. Why in the name of all things holy was he WEARING A DRESS?! Snow was visibly shaken. A rare sight indeed. After all... she saw the only thing that would ever scare her. Her "death" as it were. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Code: PIRULUK Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 When the fight had ended Kagari had largely secluded herself away from the rest, finding an empty room in which she could slowly rebuild her body. This was accompanied by a long session of speaking to Apocalypse Collider, where they had argued for quite some time about various topics. She wanted to improve their working relationship, but it seemed like the microphone was still unwilling to forgive her for what she had done - not that she had any other recourse at the time. When the castle ground to a halt, she decided to leave the room and join the others. The first thing she noted was that their numbers had swelled considerably. Mostly humans, but also a couple of non-humans in the mix. The second thing she saw was the large man with weapons stuck in his chest. Big mistake. At first she felt pity for this inhuman yet humanlike figure who was thus injured. But quickly, her pity turned to shock, then to horror, as she saw herself instead. Not in her human form, but in her slime form, her natural, true form - gelatinous, amorphous, bright pink. No limbs, no features, no face. The backdrop was a little rural village, of the kind that was a rarity to find in these days. She saw the half-digested body parts of humans suspended within her form as she attacked people, sparing no concern for woman or child. She saw an army of slimes behind her, swarming the village as they attacked. Finally, she saw ten, twenty, thirty men, all with swords, all with armor and swords and shields and boots, saw them desperately attacking her, some of them shielding the cowering figures of a young child. They slashed, and stabbed, and cut, and each swing of the sword drew along with it parts of her body, slowly, painfully reducing her to nothingness. Then another man, holding a staff of some kind, snapped his fingers and set her on fire. As she slowly burned away, the vision came to a close, replacing itself with the figure of the pierced man. Kagari staggered backwards and dropped to her knees, clutching her head and shaking in terror. Nononononononononono She never wanted to go back to those days again, those days of mindlessness, of savagery, those days before she had met Kagari, before she had learned to love. Never - not again. She didn't want to, she refused to! As the confusion overwhelmed her, she felt something bubbling from within her, her true self, her inner self. She tried to keep it in, but she couldn't - she was far too shaken to focus. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!" With an explosive shout, her body abruptly lost its form, causing her to collapse to the ground as a gelatinous, amorphous, featureless pink slime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) Venus Venus caught sight of the one figure whose chest was impaled as the newcomers made their introductory entrance. Weapons hacked mercilessly into his flesh, it was a gauche scene for the artist, unfazed as he was by the sudden, unorthodox display. He first saw the poor, eviscerated thing, and then he saw himself. Venus had always been exposed to himself; he saw himself in the mirror. He saw himself in theatrical posters and on the front page of the news. In the underworld of his folk in which he consorted in, he could even see himself, disguised and unknown, in wanted posters of him. But this was different -- Venus saw himself move, and speak, and act. For once, Venus was granted the enchanting privilege to see himself in the eyes of a spectator. But he didn't see himself perform and appease the crowd that he always did. He didn't see himself conducting the acts, making his puppets brim to life as they sang and danced. He instead saw himself writhe in the field of flowers as they bloomed. He heard himself laugh, manically, lunatically, unlike any other time he had remembered himself doing so. It mattered not that he was the one in the spotlight, the one centred amidst the field of his blossoms bursting into bloom; excitement and anticipation surpassed subtle hints of surprise and fear as he concentrated on the scene given before him. The grenades were not set in unison; one by one they burst in a magnificent flurry of art, one exploding immediately after a previous had detonated. Venus knew not how long it passed before they stopped – in a reveal after the smoke cleared, nothing but splatters of his paint and blood remained, along with various scraps of his finest garbs – nothing so much as hair that belonged to Venus, otherwise, had been left behind. It was a beautiful scene. Venus knew not if the depiction of his death before him would be the best way he were to lose his life, if his soul was to leave his body and surrender to death’s door. It was a belike outcome – much time had passed since Venus had entertained the thoughts of his own death in the ugly world, knowing the death itself need not be as disgusting even if the cold, harsh reality seemingly dictated it so. If he were to die, he would die beautifully – he would not see himself spread-eagled in a dull, plain setting. His death would be no less than a masterpiece, and, if he were denied that chance, he would not die at the hands of another, as well. A scene that many a timorous soul would find blood-curdling and disgusting, Venus instead found fascinating, feeling a simper rise to his lips. He knew not, however, that if his smile was one out of resignation, lamentation, joy, or excitement. The only ones that should fire are the ones that are ready to be fired at, he remembered reminding himself. Long agone had Venus’ fate and life, in spite of his profession as a flamboyant and famous artiste and icon, been bound to the cruel mistress that was death. May it come sooner or later, Venus did not trepid in the face of death nor fear the day it would come to claim him. He had lost so much from it as a result – and had been the cause of far too much of it, as well. It was natural that death, whom had draped his artistic brutality in the shadows, would come to and claim her due in a day only she herself knew. Maybe she was expecting him in whatever place she was now, might like another certain someone whom she cherished, whom too had lost herself to death earlier than he did. Venus did not know of his thoughts on the afterlife or whether heaven or hell existed; perhaps death would enable him to see her again, but Venus certainly didn’t have the luxury of departing in the peaceful heavens for his actions -- the person whom he wanted to reach, on the other hand, had passed too innocently to be subdued to the darklands. Venus had little to entertain on the prospect of what would happen after his death, but he knew that he would not let his death end so unsightly, however it may come. The image soon began to fade as Venus returned to reality, disturbed by the array of coughing and writhing noises of several of his teammates on the floor. Venus could have assumed wrongly – but the fact remained that he alone did not take as harsh an impact as they did. He presumed that they too, had managed to witness glimpses their deaths akin to his own experience. Mild contempt entered him as he surmised on their vulnerable forms; the lot of these people feared death, albeit understandably so, for death was perhaps manifestation of their biggest fears and horrors, in ways where the treasure of life would fade, perhaps in ways in their own idiosyncratic, unimaginable mirages. One would find it to be normal for one to fear death, but Venus had been bound to it for too long too much to feel even the faintest dread. Edited January 23, 2017 by Noir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S34N1C Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) 7 hours ago, Cronos5010 said: "I need a fucking drink" he said to no one in particular. "I-I think I'll join you for that. . . " For once, Theo didn't want to party. He just wanted a stiff drink. Or 6. Edited January 23, 2017 by S34N1C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutoratosu Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Aurora As she followed the fleshbag out, still yet to actually be told what exactly he wanted as part of this "favor" he needed of her, she paused at the sight of the large congregation already assembled. More accurately though, it was the tall, armor clad fleshbag with numerous implements sticking out of him like a pincushion. And from the varied echoes of shock and pure terror that several of the other's gave, it was obvious that whatever hallucinations they were experiencing, they weren't pleasant. Only as her own gaze continued to focus on him however, did it began to set in personally... eyes of silver melting away into a shining, startling green as the vision slowly took hold, and with it, the briefest yet clearest moment of lucidity she'd known in years... stunned in silence, completely taken in by the trance and all it's grim detail Spoiler Darkness, shrouded and thick, the cover of night. A cover she cannot penetrate despite her natural sight. There, moving within, shapes, forms, emerging, the faces of men, some pure in their blood, the others constantly shifting to and fro from human and beast- conflict. Turmoil. All things she senses from the traitors. Priests, yes, priests, bearing robes of exquisite white and gold, holding their smiters. Knights of the realm, bedecked in full plate, shining with the radiance of miniature suns, sporting blades of similar quality. Hundreds of the them, thousands, tens of thousands...then even more common soldiers behind them, picked from the rabblery, nothing to her, but still a threat with their numbers regardless. Angels, celestials. Each of them, bearing the six winged sigil of their god, the all-encompassing eye of the defender, all of them, alight in flames of contrasting ebony and alabaster. And even more of them, bearing the sigils of countless other gods, countless other armies standing before them, prepared to strike down the infidels before them. A sea of the sons of men, each of them, far too varied and diverse, sons of men who in times of peace would've just as easily been at each other's own throats, sons of men who alone posed nothing in challenge, only together in such massive swaths. And then, the darkness recedes. And she sees the true threat on the horizon; Gods themselves... each, larger than the lives of any nation of men, towering, monolithic beings standing in testament to primordial power... 9, 10, 11, nay, 12 she counts. A full pantheon, each over the children of their own nation. But as the darkness fades, she sees that despite the isolation she has felt among their number, she is not alone. a small army of Ten Thousand at her back, Monsters... monsters of all assorted races, monsters of all walks of existence... Beastmen, Weres, mystic beasts, fellow Arachnoids, Draconids, Primal Spirits, Demons, Celestials, Golems and Artifices even... and there at the head of their congregation of might... a figure of pure flame, radiating wrath like a dying sun. Even more figures in the distance, even from here, she can tell their physique is nothing if not hulking, skins tinted a myriad of mottled browns and bronzes and pale greens, weapons the like of which many other beings lack the strength of both body and will to carry, clutched tightly against their chest... perfect formation... yet they are not willing to take the field directly- she knows, she sees this in their eyes. Wait. Wait, yes, they would prefer to wait, they would prefer to fight alone, separate from their Damned brethren, to die alone. Agitation. Vendetta. She wanted their heads, to see them fall for their folly, but fall they did not, for their ranks were too perfect, their file the paragon of disciplined yet unrelentingly savage destruction. But though they would not stand with them, there were those who would, those who yet still emerged from the shadows. Some of them, faces she knew, or felt she had known. Some of them, strangers... among them, her people... all of those remaining... all of those who'd avoided their fate, but the scars left in their hearts, the eternal mark of their attempted destruction, and each and every last one of the Arachni for the blood of the sons and daughters of men and all those who would dare consort themselves with the swine who are the befouled, craven race known as Humanity, that race that only knows true strength when they are in numbers the likes of which in and of themselves are pathetic in the sheer implication of their individual weakness, that they must gather so many to compensate for so little... But yet still, more emerge. The wolf, the squid... nay, naay, she knows their names, she has always known their names, even if the Vixen stole all else. Sylvi. Ajax. And with them, the assembly of the companions... and among them, only stands out, for she knows his name too... even longer than the wolf and squid... the hulking Ettercap, eyes of pure crimson and carapace darker than night, fangs a razor glint of slick silver... the Ettercap... Choppa. There are no more allies to emerge from the dark. But yet, there come more and more men. Younger faces, every time their armies expand. Faces that begin to resemble those she's already seen. And once they have to several million, there emerges even more. Faces she knows she has seen, faces she knows she has personally torn off their bodies, faces upon which, all other faces of the enemy derive their own features. The Original Army of the Free Races, there in spirit, if not physical form. The foes she faced, so long ago, before the gates of that old keep had formed the doors of her prison, and the prison of so many others behind her. But yet, her focus was drawn back to the Gods themselves. Of their own force, only three she saw... perhaps more, but the shapes of some, far too unfocused to know. But regardless of the exact count, still nowhere near enough to combat the pantheon of the Free. Not even as she realizes, she is the forth concrete figure among their side... And there among the races of men and the cohorts of men, emerges from the twelve heavenly rulers standing so tall a single matriarch, bedecked in armor of the purest, celestial gold, shining not unlike the radiance of her knights and priests, and fiery servants. Holding high the Shield and Lance of the faith of so many billions. And Aurora knows, as she steps forward... that there is no hope for any of them. She does not have to see the final clash of armies take place. She does not have to see the final confrontation of the gods of the Free and the Damned. She does not have to see herself dueling the Matriarch of Celestial Gold and Fiery servants to know, there is nothing left for any of them. She does not have to see herself die... or any of those assembled behind her die. For they've been dead since the moment their fight began. Death had simply been merciful enough to let them enjoy the delusion of life. Of choice. Of resistance. This was a tide that could not be stopped. This was a tide that would not stop. She knew it. she sees the camps, the massive pits of flame and pitch, incinerating the bodies of the slain, vivisected corpses that had run through the gauntlet of their torture prepared to be discarded... yes, yes... for, them? Those assembled with her? They were nothing but the ones who were willing and able to fight. Once they were gone... there'd be no one to stop them. No one to save the rest. The era of the Damned was at an end. The only question was... had it ever truly began in the first place? "No.... no...." Her voice, a rasp as she finally speaks, the curse inflicted upon her tongue burning like the fiercest hell fire. Even as she protest however, she knows the futility of it all. And she feels her lucidity fading more with every encroaching moment. Soon, she will not even be able to feel the anguish of it all... soon it will all be a mere memory... a clouded fog of phantom. The phantoms of those she could not save. But something still refused, some base part of her soul... something from long ago, something belonging to another being, long since lost to her knowledge... Tesla The mechanic had stayed mostly silent as she'd followed the motley group, after being found on the ground by the man with the revolver blade... Alll she could remember of the moment before she'd found herself was Everford's initiation of the detonation sequence, setting fire to the facility and destroying the terminals right along with everything else. The green haired bastard, sneering at her with mixed contempt, and satisfaction knowing the fate of her, and the young void walker's the fucker and his subordinates had been creating.... yes, yes... Everford... She should've killed him when they were both still Children. Tesla knew that now... she'd known it for years. She should've ignored David's orders to stand down that they, when the strange conjurer appeared. She should've bashed the boy's head in, left him to bleed out, brains on the stones. It would've saved so much conflict down the line. But she hadn't. She'd been too weak, too naive. She let her beating go unfinished. And now, god knows how many others had paid the price. Everford had grown into an even worse demon than the ones she'd been cut up, shocked, branded and abandoned by in her own youth... a demon she could not kill, even at her full might with all the determined malice she could muster. But as she pondered on the fates of the youths she failed to extract and the whereabouts of both herself and her nemesis, there from the blue had emerged the stranger... the dead man walking. Almost immediately, Tesla saw her limp body, crushed, contorted and torn by the savage gales of the Wind Caller, that old foe she'd once been so easily able to put down. She saw him, in his mech, the winds howling, no expression, no emotion other than the hatred that quite literally kept his broken body functioning as if it were stable, that same hatred, flaring in full force, being the very thing that made him such a threat that not even she could hope to simply mow him down and be done with it... but yet, she knew this was not how it had occurred. She had managed to defeat him... if not directly, than by the destruction of his goal, the assets he valued most in his endeavor at that facility... she had won that round, for just a few brief moments before he sent everything to hell in a handbasket and left them all there to die. But it didn't matter. The scene of her execution at his hands played out regardless. She grit her teeth. It was uncomfortable and bitter, thinking of how much the tables had turned. Her ability, at the base of its functioning, still should've served as a trump card to the functions of his. But Wallace had what she could not attain. Contempt, for all. Decades of it, building up, even when he was so mute and pathetic so long ago. And that contempt, how perfectly he'd learned to harness it, to motivate himself with it and keep going, is precisely what gave him the edge of Superior Favor to her... infact, she doubted any but a very select few beings in Tempest could actually stop him... with how bad she'd allowed it to get before finally acting... the only issue was, they have to even know about him, and then find him first... and as well as Everford knew how to stay beneath a radar... that was bloody unlikely. The sociopath was smart, far too smart. And she knew full well, that regardless of wherever the hell she was now... if she ever made it back to Tempest and fought him again... her death would be almost assured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetaark Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Ritsu "This certainly isn't the mansion, though I suppose the castle could almost be passable. Almost," Ritsu muttered to herself as she looked around the group of people she had ended up with. Her gaze briefly went on to the man who had seemed to be impaled with a host of weapons. After some time however, he began to look less like himself, and more like her. The main difference was that she saw herself sliced in half, circuts severed and sparking at random, and the Oracle Core, her main source of energy, slashed in two. Ritsu shook her head a bit, then looked towards the man, who again looked like his normal self. Well, as normal as one like him could be anyways. "I should run a systems diagnostic later. That was...very strange," Ritsu muttered to herself, disturbed at the unusual vision. Eon Having left the castle, there seemed to be even more newcomers that have arrived. One of them happened to be someone who probably could have seen better days, as he had been impaled with a whole host of weapons. Looking for a while, Eon saw himself, not as the dragon that he is now, but rather a cloud of stardust and heat, with what appeared to be a beam of photon going through it. Eon was rather amused at the sight rather then terrified, since he had seen similar visions through eldrichs that he ran into from time to time, and was surprised to see someone less like one do something similar. That being said, the question he asked was one that he wouldn't mind having answered. "Not particularly, but I'd imagine that you're here to explain why we are all gathered here?" he asked the man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 The man nods at Eon's question, but frowns. "The condition is worse than I had thought. . . Very well. I did not ask for clever answers. The fact that you do not know is an ill omen. I will tell you. You are here because the multiverse is dying." He pauses for a moment, as if for dramatic effect; however, a close observer would see that he was simply taking a breath, slowly. "Creatures, known as Trespassers, have been escaping into creation and devouring it. Gorging on reality. Growing stronger, too strong. You were gathered to stop them. She should have told you this. . ." He shakes his head once. "There are hundreds of worlds afflicted with them as we speak. You must stop them. I know of one world that is nearly destroyed by them, but you are not strong enough. Not prepared. You must take your sacred duty seriously." He glares at Kyle again, before staring at Solomon. "Gather your strength. Travel to other worlds less corrupt and rid them of the ones responsible, and grow stronger. Then, I will show you the way." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetaark Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) Eon "She? Was there someone else who should have been here with us?" Eon inquired, catching the detail and noting that there has not been another person who had mentioned these "Trespassers". Edited January 23, 2017 by Zetaark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endlessblaze Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) Argent sees Kigari collapse and looks at her gelatinous form with concern and surprise. But mostly concern. Moveing to kneel next to her. "Hey you ok?" The he looked back at the figure "So, why us, and why did we not get told about this before now?" (A better question is why they dident involve your mother) Edited January 23, 2017 by Endlessblaze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kj1225 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Kyle stops. Well, actually he had full on stopped and turned around when the slime girl screamed. But he stiffens with the Giant's gaze. "... Could you have really not sent a letter or something? Or any oth3r method that doesn't involve traumatizing us with your dead body thing? Hell, you could have called my phone." He rubs his temples before sighing. "If this is the quality of the Multiverse's massaging service, I believe you." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElfCollaborator Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) Sachi breathes deeply, staring at the man as she props herself up on the wall, wiping her mouth of some of the vomit still remaining. The hallucination and remaining wave of nausea made her physically ill; a rare feeling, considering Heroes never really felt that ill, though perhaps her emotions had gotten the better of her this time. The monsters eating other worlds? Trespassers? She felt as if she'd heard all those words before. ....So, they're just sending me to fight bigger Vertex. I......okay. She stayed silent for a bit, trying to shake the images from her head -They're not real they happened years ago it's okay- trying to process what was going on. You can do this, Sachi. You can do this. Mio could do it, if she was here. You just have to be strong like her. Edited January 23, 2017 by ElfCollaborator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 The man actually looks. . . confused? by the mention of the "dead body thing." "I do not know of what you mean, but if the mere sight of me is enough to break your resolve, then the multiverse is destined to be a meal. No, there is no one else that should have been with you. . . there is no time. . ." With that incredibly helpful answer, the man turns around, and begins to plod away, drawing a massive blade from his side after a few moments - one thrust through a loop in his belt, that scraped along the ground slightly as he walked with it in hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) Edmond listened carefully, but could think of nothing to ask. Most questions that appeared in his mind would hopefully be answered in time. So...I was called here... He was still not comfortable, not certain why he in particular had been chosen. He glanced around uncomfortably as the man departed. Almost everyone appeared to be shaken, and...Did someone just turn into a puddle?! Edmond turned away, utterly bewildered, and noticed Sachi leaning against the wall, retching. He reached into his bag, and shoved around until he found the canteen he had received in town. "You saw yourself..." He trailed off, and grimaced. "Do you need a drink?" He proffered the full canteen of water. Edited January 23, 2017 by Strider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S34N1C Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Theodore "So, we need to fight these "Trespasser" things? Where do we go to find them?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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