Eclipse of the Gods

Blackfire

I have always have had an interest in science. I repaired an hyperdrive motor back when I had to escape from prision, but I am more of fighting person. We can complement each other quite well, call me if you ever need an extra muscle. " Blackfire replied to Eggman.

Blackfire simple rolled her eyes after hearing Greed. She was tired of the so called "evil masterminds" and their lack of actual leadership skills. At least Dio and Tesseract had given her something to do to calm her boredom.

Nearby Bar

Blackfire went to a bar that was close to the Starlabs meanwhile Eggman prepared the communicators. She danced with many and it didn't take long before many had taken interest in her dancing skills and exotic beauty. Blackfire flaunted her powers and flying skills and it didn't take long for her to be the center of attention. Some boys invited her some drinks and they had a drinking contest she won easily as the alcohol didn't seem to affect the Tamaranean as much as the humans in the party. The music was loud and everyone was having fun. Some where smoking,drinking or dancing but most were looking at Blackfire dance and fly in the dance floor.

"Hey babe, wouldn't you like to go somewhere private?, one of the boys asked.

"As a matter of fact I do" she replied. She then flew above everyone to get their attention and said "This party is starting to get boring, everyone let's go to my place!" she said as everyone was paying attention to the Tamarean. Many of them followed her outside the bar as she flew towards Dio's current location.

"As promised they are all yours" she told him. They were at least 14 people that had followed her and most of them were too drunk to have noticed anything odd happening and those that did only thought it was all part of the show.

"Greed was right in one thing though, they are mindless sheep". She thought with a smug smile.

edited 10th Aug '14 5:18:47 PM by RPGLegend

Greed spoke up then, temporarily interrupting his precious sulk to fidget with something sticky that'd taken a fondness to his fingers. That one was beginning to tire me, but it wasn't his demeanour or that eternal air of superiority - as I've already written, those things are almost a requirement for this kind of work. No, it was a simple as his outlook. With every passing moment, it seemed to me more and more that this Greed was a person entirely antithetical to the concept of work, lounging as he had almost from the moment he'd entered the room, but in a way that transcended mere laziness. Instead, above and beyond the call of duty, he didn't seem to understand the concept at all. He spoke seemingly only to hear the sound his own voice, to dismiss ideas as they arose and assure us all of how easy it would all be, as if anything could even possibly pose a challenge if he only had his way. I do not know if he is an 'inheritor', but it certainly wouldn't come as a surprise.

This time it was some drivel about over-complications and how humanity is a collective of mindless sheep unworthy of the effort, delivered with a furrowed brow and a pointed glare firmly in my direction. I couldn't help but smile at that challenge, even if only a little, a fractional upturn at the corners of my painted lips.

"Mindless sheep who outnumber us six billion to, what, forty?" I asked, holding that imperceptible smirk. "Fifty? I don't know if you've ever had to notice, but numbers are everything in a fight. Unless you'd prefer to challenge them all alone, in which case be my guest, we need to level the playing field. Do try to keep that in mind long enough to do your job."

I pulled a chair from an empty desk and languished on it in the centre of the room, facing him directly and open-legged, that jacket of mine oh-so-coincidentally parting to reveal the sculpted definition below.

"Anyway. We still have an hour before Eggman can have his transmitter ready, so it really doesn't matter if you're ready to go. Spend the time thinking. See if you can come up with a game-plan for once you're inside. I'm sure it won't kill you."

edited 10th Aug '14 1:31:35 PM by TheMalignancy

Once Dio sat down with open legs and proudly displaying his body, it didn't take long for Greed to do the same. Of course, he had the advantage of being a shapeshifter. He started thinking back to images of power. Bodies he could take so that he'd show this asshole where he belonged. And in that moment, an image came to his mind. Greed was not sure where he took that image from, but only that he associated it with the fulfillment of his objectives.

"Right. Well, whilst you were busy trying to come up with a decent plan, I used my time to develop my own plan as to what I'll do in there. I've been developing a new face for quite a while." Greed massaged his chin, displaying the face that belonged to Ling. "This one is an artifact. It's supposed to be, what, seventeen? Doesn't fit." He grinned, as red sparks started to cover his face. "No, it doesn't fit at all."

There was a bright light momentarily blinding the people in the room, and when it disappeared, there was a whole new person standing there. The lanky stature and long-sleeved jacket was replaced by a short-sleeved one, with white fur around the edges. Greed was now taller- at least as tall as Amon- and his body was much more defined- a lithe frame hiding behind a tight black shirt. But the biggest change was his face. Why, his face looked completely different now.◊

"You're right, Dio." Greed said, contemplating his new face on the Macintosh screen. "It doesn't kill to come up with a plan. Especially when you're unkillable.." He reached into his jacket, pulling out a pair of dark glasses, putting them on in one swift move. "Like me." Chuckling, Greed put his hands on his pockets and started making his way to the STAR Labs facility.

Tesseract - Office Floor
"...I believe he does not know that several of us are human. Including myself." Tesseract said, as he watched Greed go.

"Did he just run in?"
"Goddammit, Leeroy."

"Only a fool underestimates his opponents. Given that he entered the building with an unknown plan and no way of communicating with us, I believe that may be an apt description. This may soon become a rescue mission."

Under his only slightly ruffled demeanor, Tesseract was quite angry with Greed. He would be submitting a negative report of his actions to Tatu upon completion of the mission.

The Master quickly dodges and pulls out his laser screwdriver. "Favors indicate they'll be repaid. So either you're even dumber than you look or there is something your special gal is going to do for you." Regenerating despite no plant life nearby. Worrying, can't wear him down until we're out of plant life for him to use. Could burn him but can't risk burning the building down, the Enchantress would notice and attack Zeal on the spot. Need a Plan B...

He dodges once more. Then again, in battle plan B doesn't always have time to form. The Master then shoots Keep with the strongest blast his laser screwdriver can muster.

This post was thumped by the Merciless Hammer of Doom

Asgard

Medusa turned her head when she was approached by one of the men in the room. Despite the completely empty look he held, he could actually talk. All of them seemed to want her to leave the women to feast their lives away. Medusa wasn't one to usually listen to mindless thralls, but she took her foot of the the table and crossed her arms. She wasn't intimidated by their weapons, but maybe a little further observation could lead to something. Besides, it looks like the remaining soldiers were going to use more direct methods to solve this anyways. She just gave the army man a smirk and stepped back.

I received further lip service in response, of course, our both making every possible effort to seem entirely unconcerned with the show-boating of the other, but I was also rewarded with a subtle twisting of his body, a certain emphasising of the abdominal muscles and an almost unconscious thrusting outwards of the crotch. I drank that display in happily, if not thirstily, tasting it in sips as I would a fine wine.

In any case, as that mouth of his babbled on about his own secret plans, his own conveniently hidden capabilities, he changed once again before my eyes. The squabbling child became a full-fledged man. A man of a build not entirely dissimilar to my own, and though slightly shorter, though marginally less defined and powerful around the upper torso, no less exhibitionist. My fashion sense was mirrored here, if warped, in a clingy black shirt nigh identical to my own and a lavish fur collar. I'd roused him, even if our complicated dance of dismissal wouldn't allow him to show it. That was a good result, if not strictly aimed for. The sexual tension was palpable.

He threw on a pair of sunglasses on that older and more angular face before making his way out, completely assured in his own invincibility, and my eyes hovered over his body every step of the way. The smirk blossomed into a smile. Greed the fool, rushing in where angels feared to tread.

I wondered how he'd react, once he found out what effort really meant.

edited 10th Aug '14 5:39:08 PM by TheMalignancy

Cosmin's eyes glimmered when Ahriman displayed his abilities, prompting the other kids to stop running and look back, the youngest one, Gabi, actually walking towards Ahriman to get a closer look. "You're... like me." Cosmin blurted out, his eyes still staring at where the fire had swirled into a dragon not seconds ago. He looked at his hands, rubbing them together, producing a small fire on the palm of each hand.

But then, he waved his hands, putting the fire out, shaking his head. "I-I can't. This... thing that God gave me, I don't want to have it." He gritted his teeth, looking down. "You know what Doom does to people who were touched by the Devil. If I train these abilities... I'll put them in danger. You probably sacrificed a few loved ones to keep that Devil's gift a secret, didn't you?"

"You don't wear Doom's colors." The girl spoke up, holding Cosmin's shoulders. "Then what are you supposed to be? Where in Latveria are you from? Certainly not from Doomstadt, not with that outfit...."

"BE. QUIET!" The Mandarin yelled out, as the dust and ash floating around him stopped in mid-air, his body suddenly flying forwards, towards Kouen, at an amazing speed. He stopped right in front of Kouen, the air between them stopping, and before his enemy could react, purple energy collected itself around the right ring finger, before he punched the air in front of him, sending a powerful blast in the shape of a small line, which burned right through anything on its way towards Kouen, creating perfect holes in the cars behind Kouen, as if the material that had been disintegrated had never been there on the first place.

Amora yelped as her hands were suddenly held up, closing her eyes and turning her head as Zeal— or Lust— got closer to her, threatening her plan. But then, the Enchantress looked back, smiling at Lust. "Sorry about what's going to happen now, love. I really wanted to move forward with the plan. Such a shame to fight against one of my own..."

She leaned forward, and without a word, locked lips with Lust, pushing herself against her so she could kiss the homunculus. Of course, there was a reason for this. The moment her lip touched any part of Lust's skin, the homunculus would feel a chill travelling through her body, before she was hurled towards the wall, as if an invisible force pushed against her. Amora stood up, adjusting her bracelets.

"Now..." Amora continued, her bracelets opening up and floating towards Lust's wrists, trying to snap onto them and restrain her hands to the wall. "Oh, look! The situation has spun around. I'm in control now. And I think that I need a loyal slave as well, especially one as exquisite as you. I don't know what a homunculus is, dear, but I'd love to have one... or two. Or three!" She chuckled to herself, turning to her cabinet and opening it. "Will you wait for a moment, dear? I need to find something to make you subservient to me. Oh, and-" She snapped her fingers. "Let's take care of that."

The moment that Schala put on a magical lock on the food, the men sprung into action, dropping their bowls of food and pulling out swords, pistols, guns, whatever they had in hand. The samurai and war man immediately tried to grab Medusa, the former aiming to put her sword up to her neck. "Let go of them—" The war man began, but his demands were cut off by a loud snap.

Suddenly, the three women would double over as an intense pain filled their stomachs. Their skin would ripple and bloat, as from every orifice on the upper half of their bodies, vines started to sprout, covering every inch of the women's bodies. The vines would start to burst through their skin, ripping it to pieces, as the other soldiers would see that the food had transformed their veins into vines.

Their body mass grew, and soon, the three soldiers would have been transformed into three vine monsters (similar to Keep◊), tall and bulky, each of them with glowing red eyes, an incessant loyalty to Amora (their new leader) and a hunger for the flesh of humans from the same sex- so now, there they were, surrounded by their prey...

... and hungry.

Keep's yell rang through the outside, as the Master burned a hole through his chest, the vines trying to regenerate but shriveling due to having been burned to a crisp. Covering his wound, Keep held out his hand, transforming it into various vine arrows, which flew off towards the Master, aiming to impale him. "Stand... stil... food!"

Teridax would find himself transported to a quiet American village◊, complete with streets filled with two or three cars driving past the sidewalks filled with people going to and from. The shops ranged from materials from lumberjacks to the occasional big supermarket, and the reason for this was clear when Teridax took a good look around him: he was surrounded by trees, nothing but trees, and on the distance, tree-covered mountains, the sun setting down behind them. That explained why every fourth car was a truck filled with logs, or why everyone seemed to wear checkered shirts.

The General had been transported to an alleyway right between a clothing shop for men and a costume shop◊- it seemed like Tatu had a sense of humor- but this alleyway also directed his attention towards a building on the other side of the street. A diner, the kind of diner that serves pancakes, that still listens to the radio... the kind of place one would want to visit to be alone with nothing but a meal.

It was the image of the quiet village, yet Teridax knew that if he was here, it was because Max Eisenhardt was around. The question was... where?

Amon quietly approached Desco, handing her a paper with a list of scribbled names. "Hey there." He said, softly, as he got on her eye-level. "Desco, when you're attacking the bank, and following the plan, I want you to memorize these names. Blackfire, she's from here. You're not. We need them to believe that you are, so as to not endanger our true identity." The list had names like 'Superman', 'Batman', 'Captain America', 'Iron Man', and seven more, along with rough drawings of what they looked like. He stood up, raising his voice. "The same goes for you, Dio." He was about to hand him his list when the entire ordeal with Greed occured.

"It seems that in his desire to put himself above you in the minds of others, you have pushed him towards fulfilling your plan faster than he would have done if not approached." He commented, before handing Dio the same list. "An interesting approach. Now, if you'll excuse me..." He nodded at the men Blackfire had brought in, and then looked at Blackfire herself. "May I speak to you in private?"

He motioned towards an odd corner of the room, one where they could talk in private. Luckily for Amon, this area was very small, so in order to achieve privacy, the two had to stay close together. "When I obtained all the knowledge regarding this world, I also found many reports regarding your history... Queen of the Tamaraneans." He smiled behind his mask. "But I would like to know the story that the newspapers did not tell me. What truly happened in your home planet?"

The way into STAR Labs was through a set of revolving dark glass doors which did not let anything through, not even natural light. As a result, the lights were still on inside the gigantic lobby of the building. There were several floating chandeliers spinning around in each other in a bizarre dance of lights, a giant STAR LABS sign above a screen displaying an endless loop of videos about the company's many achievements. Benches were spread around the left side of the lobby, next to the desk belonging to security, which handled accreditation so that people could access the building's many floors through the elevators and stairs on the right side of the lobby.

Greed would remember the words Amon had told him about the roster of workers and how he could use it to access the necessary area, but right now, the person working the security desk was Amanda Brown, a down on her luck woman on her 30's, who had been living in one of the downtrodden neighborhoods of Metropolis, partly because of her dark skin color and partly because out of fear of leaving her old mother behind all by herself. Lacking the money to buy a decent place for both of them, every night she talked over and over with anonymous people on the internet, sharing her woes with them, spending a lot of time talking with someone who went by the username 'gigaguga32', who was a consultant for a major studio in Hollywood ('a place where people make entertrainment') and who had talked a lot about using her story for a movie one of these days.

Amanda was, right now, logging the events of the day, as was the thing she usually did during the night. There was only one other person in the room, an out of shape man snoring on one of the waiting benches.

Asgard, Amora's Palace, Inner Quarters

Lust was surprised by the kiss and was hurled into a wall before the bracelets locked around her hands.

"Bondage... kinky," Lust snidely commented. "I did not figure you to be interesting in women as well as men."

Zeal should not have let herself get in that situation, though she was not exactly in the worst position for retaliation. After all, she still had the Ultimate Spear which could extend her fingertips into sharp, flexible, thin blades that could pierce through anything, which likely includes the Enchantress' bracelets. In fact, she was already working on freeing herself from the bracelets once Enchantress' back was turned, having folded her hands into a fist with the thumb covered and just letting her fingertips grow into blades long and thin enough to, not free herself right now, but to make it easier to break out of the bracelets at the right moment. Once Zeal was convinced the bracelets were weakened enough to break easily she'd have her fingers revert to normal length. However Zeal let the Enchantress think she has her in a hold for now as she waited for the right moment to pounce.

"Oh, Greed could make you into a homunculus like he did me," Zeal said to Enchantress. "In fact, I was in my forties before Greed changed me into the vision of Lust that I am."

"Imagine what that sort of transformation can do for a beauty such as yourself," Zeal noted to the Enchantress. "No one could resist you."

Asgard, Amora's Palace, Throne Room

When the three women doubled over in pain and their bodies began to ripple and bloat, the other seven women began moving away from the three as they transformed into plant creatures.

"Audrey! What has happened to you?!" The centermost of the seven remaining women yelled at the center plant creature.

"Feeeeeed me!" The centermost plantwoman, Audrey, yelled out as the three women used there vines to attempt to grab the other seven women... However, what the three did not expect was for the seven women to pull out their Dreamstone Guns and begin firing without prejudice at the three. Hopefully, all seven of them firing will be enough to put the plantwomen out of their misery.

Schala had pulled out her own Dreamstone Gun and began shooting the men who were confronting Medusa first, though it looked like she was panicking slightly, since she was not used to killing anyone. "We need to get out of here!"

edited 11th Aug '14 3:19:43 AM by GameGuruGG

Blackfire

"Blackfire was intrigued by the masked man calling her and decided to follow him.

She crossed he arms and said "human newspapers tend to be biased."

"I simply tried to get what was righfully mine and rule my planet, I saved the from but there was a duel and "my sister" and her friends stole the throne from me and gave it to a buffon, it's only a matte of time before I set things right. That was never published in the newspapers but that is hardly a secret, unless you want some favor?. What's your story? Are you looking to recover something lost too?"

Doomstadt, alongside the Rathauz

The Chaos Lord watched as the youths came toward him, their fear from a moment ago giving way to curiosity and intrigue. As they began to ask him questions, his smile grew wider. Truly, the mind of a child was a blessed thing—so bright, so full of wonder, so easily remolded. They were close now, so very close; now he just needed to reel them in…

“Ah, but you said it yourself, my child,” Ahriman said, kneeling down once more and touching a finger to the youth’s chest. “It was God who gave you this gift, not the daemons of Hell. Why should you be ashamed to have such a blessing? Learning to better use your God-given gifts will not put your loved ones in danger; it will give you the strength and the skill you need to protect them from those who would do them harm.”

The Chaos Lord inclined his head, and his tone grew somber. “And trust me, my boy, the day when you will have to do just that is not far off.” Here he stood up. “For you see, controlling fire is not all that I can do. I have the power to see into the future, centuries into the future… but I do not need to look quite so far to see that dark times lie ahead for us all.” With his free hand, the sorcerer pointed towards the heavens. “A storm is gathering on the horizon, a great evil that has set its sights upon this land. When it will come I cannot say, but it will not be long; I have seen that Doom will stand against it when it arrives… and I have seen that he will fail. And when he does, there will be nothing left to stop this evil from sweeping over Latveria.”

Lowering his arm, Ahriman looked down at his audience once more. “I tried to warn Doom, but he would not listen to me. He refuses to believe that he can be defeated, that what I have seen will come to pass. This is why I have sought you out,” he told them, “so that if the worst comes to worst and the dark future I have foreseen does come to pass, you will be able to protect yourselves and the ones you love.”

He fell silent for a moment.

“I understand that this will be a lot to take in,” he said softly. “You don’t have to tell me yes or no right away; take whatever time you need to think this over. If you refuse, I’ll understand; I will try to protect Latveria myself when the time comes, though even if Doom and I worked together I cannot be sure that we’ll be able to hold back the coming darkness.” Sighing, the Chaos Lord shook his head as if filled with regret. “Hopefully I will be able to find help elsewhere…”

The Master barely dodges the arrows meant to impale him. He suddenly screams in pain as he notices one entered his leg. Shouldn't be crippling but...won't be able to walk or run at 100% speed anytime soon. A few more volleys like that and I'm dead.

The Master aims and fires one more laser screwdriver shot aimed at the head of Keep. If this misses I'm probably dead. Can't beg him to take me to Amora, she probably doesn't care.

Greed stepped into STAR Labs, taking a moment to watch at least part of the video playing on the giant screen, wondering how such a thing was possible. Then again, he had seen a thousand impossible things ever since he was recruited by Tatu, yet... this was the one that took his attention.

He made his way to the security desk, putting on his best kind smile, making sure to not turn it into a grin so as to not reveal the sharp teeth he had. "Excuse me." Greed spoke softly to Amanda, keeping his glasses on- she could think the purple eyes were weird. "I'm sorry. This is going to seem weird, but... are you Amanda1982?"

Greed rubbed the back of his neck, trying to look meek. "I'm gigaguga32— I mean, that's not my real name, if you're not Amanda82 and all that— it's just that... well, I'm trying to look for the person that uses that nickname on the-" And here comes that bizarre word. "- internet. Amanda82. Is that you?"

Above the Earth

The road to Cavalry was an eternal slog. With each passing day he felt his cross tearing at his shoulder, the splinters digging into his flesh. The mire of life sloshed across his feet and stained his vestments with filth. On his right arm, like holy fire, burnt the marks of the heretic Magi.

This was the penance. It did not move him. Salvation was not what he sought at the top of Golgotha. For Kotomine Kirei, the man of God, knew that he would never be redeemed. He no longer sought answers from the Almighty. The Divine Presence was silent behind the torn veil and he stood outside, a man condemned. That much he had accepted.

The blood of Jesus did not cleanse him. It was the blood of sinners that stained his hands.

He knew that he was not like other men. His body was tempered steel, his life the work of God. To slay the heretic and the apostate was his sacred duty, the purpose that he clung onto to keep living. Yet even among his fellow Executors he was unclean, for inside him was a vast chasm like unto Sheol.

Kotomine Kirei knew, but he did not feel. He touched, but he did not love. All that was pure and righteous and holy was dead and numb to him, and only the Devil's lies could touch his heart and bring it to life. He had been made flawed.

Whenever he slew, he felt a great joy within. Whenever he killed he wanted to sing songs of praise. His father he had wished to kill, his wife he had wanted to choke to death. Both were taken before he could follow through, and the only thing he had felt was bitter disappointment. He knew he should have loved them. He despised himself. His conscience screamed at him and begged him to repent, to feel, to plead forgiveness.

But he could not. As hard as he tried he could not, and the hellish maw in his soul had swallowed all reason and purpose in his life. A wanderer on the Earth was he. The hand of every man was against him. He, Kotomine Kirei, had no purpose.

What was his purpose?

The boons of Tatu had not filled him. The Servants had not filled him. His Ascension had not filled him. All that was left for him to do was steep his hands in blood and drink his fill. Perhaps that would fill him.

He did not know. He was like a blind man, groping in the dark. But like Israel he had wrestled with God for his entire life, and the only thing he knew now was that he could not come away crippled.

Perhaps one day he would find something more.

Kotomine Kirei, stern face inscrutable as always, looked at the scintillating Earth below. He had no desire to conquer, nor did he have any wish for added power. Not one of the listed beings had caught his eye. Yet he knew that the utility gained from this mission might prove an asset in the future, if he wished to keep himself alive.

If he perished, then his search was over. And that would be both sublime relief and the bitterest of torments.

"Hey, Master? I don't want to bother you, but I think you should get a move on. I'm itching for some blood."

The bestial scent and the cocky note marked the speaker at once. Kirei turned to face him.

Cú Chulainn, the Hound of Ulster. Blue-haired, blue-clad, his steel pauldrons gleaming and his bodysuit lined with runes, the Heroic Spirit leaned against the wall and looked at him with fire in his wolfhound's eyes. Veins of silver ran across his second skin, as if to give the impression of armor. Kirei knew that he needed none. Powerful wards were in his markings, and even then, the great spear at his side would strike down any projectile in its path.

Gáe Bolg, the Barbed Spear that Pierces with Death. More of a pointed staff than a spear, easily seven feet long. The whole weapon was blood-red from tip to tip, and from the top a serrated, balanced knife-head protruded, seeming a seamless part of the shaft. Like a winding cord, a single strand of engraving ran around the length of the weapon, as if to secure the wielder's grip. Kirei did not care to test his Servant's Noble Phantasm against any of his fellow Overlords, but perhaps the time would come.

"I shall move when I wish and where I wish, Lancer. Patience," he replied in his solemn baritone.

The Celt laughed, and twirled his adorned lance with the ease of a god. The shaft came to rest on his back.

"Well, if you want. As long as I get a fair fight, that's fine by me. Of course, a clean kill would be nice, but you never know..."

And he gave his feral smirk again.

Deeming the matter settled, Kirei turned from his second Servant to face the empty air. Like a whisper, one of the shadowy forms of Hassan-i-Sabbah melted into existence.

"Assassin," Kirei instructed. "Follow Amon and his group in their infiltration and aid in every way you can. Offer your services and suggest what you deem to be the best course of action, but do not usurp their authority. You have knowledge of this planet, do you not?"

The masked figure bowed its head, and its voice rasped from unseen lips like the desert wind.

"It is similar to your Earth, Master. I doubt there will be many problems. What I do not know we shall learn."

Kirei took in this information.

"Very well, Assassin. You are to be my eyes and ears."

"Hassan-i-Sabbah hears and obeys."

And with that, the cloaked shadow was gone. Lancer curled his lip in disgust and spat.

"Can't stand those sneaky bastards," he muttered. Then, louder: "Where to, Master?"

If Kirei had heard the Servant's aside, he did not show it.

"We wait for Tatu's orders, Lancer. I have no desire to accomplish anything of my own. He may send me where he wishes."

"Heh. Not very ambitious, are we?"

There was no response to this.

Outside S.T.A.R. Labs; Dio, Amon and Friends

It is generally accepted that nothing can come ex nihilo - that is, out of nothing. But while (fortunately for every physicist in S.T.A.R. Labs) this universal axiom remained untouched, the impression was quite otherwise.

The woman appeared from nowhere. Even those Overlords gifted with the keenest of senses would have been hard-pressed to detect her - and with the active conversation, these chances dwindled to almost nil. Into plain view she stepped, a lean tall figure with a long purple ponytail and inky black skin. Her face lay hidden beneath a leering skull mask, and she wore little but crossing straps of fabric around her chest and legs and pelvis, displaying her defined abdominal muscles and lithe physique. Two knives were strapped to her side, and from her ears dangled two gleaming rings of silver.

"I am Aakiyah," the woman said in her dusky voice, "part of Hassan-i-Sabbah. We have been sent by our Master Kotomine Kirei to aid you in this mission."

She spoke curtly, and without flourish. For now, her role was that of envoy.

"I shall outline our abilities as such. We, Hassan-i-Sabbah, are a Heroic Spirit, an ascended spiritual entity summoned by Kotomine Kirei in the role of Servant Assassin. We consist of up to eighty bodies of any size and shape and age and ability. The one thing that binds us is that we cannot be detected by the human eye against our will, and that all knowledge learnt by one is gained by all. At infiltration we excel far beyond any human limits."

She lowered her hand, making a brief indication of the knife at her side.

"Should you wish us to kill, we can do so. Should you wish us to sacrifice ourselves and our Master allows it, we can also do so. The death of several will have little impact on Hassan-i-Sabbah."

Aakiyah stepped back and surveyed the group dispassionately.

"We await your orders."

edited 12th Aug '14 11:27:30 PM by troydenite

Teridax

The Makuta blinked once and took in the scene in front of him. A forested area, habitat to the indigenous species in charge of the processing of trees. Not a very well populated society and reclusive by the variation in the humans themselves. Not the place he would have preferred to start with but alas, one must play with the cards dealt to them.

Luckily, he was confident he could do just that.

Reaching back, Teridax took his staff of shadows and cast it into a nearby alley way. It did not matter if some vagrant should stumble across his weapons, what was important was that he would not be caught with it. Here, he must never be the aggressor, at least not till the time came. For now, he must simply be another mutant. Briefly, he wondered if the xenophobic atmosphere of the major cities was also true of this conservative little town. If so, then he was in luck.

His first objective then, was to cause trouble without being an initiator. His second objective which was closely tied to the first: Be in need of defense. Magneto was here, he knew that much- a shining defender of mutant kind.

Scanning the area, Teridax spotted the diner. Unfortunately it was not a bar which would have been preferred. Still, it was a place where the humans congregated for extended periods of time. It would be a start.

Slowly, Teridax made his way towards the diners. It was the right time of the day and the shadows stretched long in front of him.

Kouen was a man who was unorthodox to say the least. He was meek in the past and of lesser nobility, and had a lot less power than what he had now. But he was creative- or crazy enough, to become head of one of the most powerful armies around in the span of just a decade. To say he was a rising star would not do him justice, he was like the sun itself, glaring brightly in all its power and glory. He had bested dungeons on just wit and skill alone even before he grabbed his Djinn, surmounting terrain where only one in a hundred thousand could survive. And he thrived. He was the only person in his world to attain more than three Djinn, no small feat. So when he was faced with what looked like a really strong First Magic and not wielding the form that could absorb energy? He simply attained full Djinn Equip.

Fully giving himself over to Agares, the tall commander shrank down in size to that of a small if somewhat muscular child adorned in gold accessories and tattoos. A third eye opened itself upon the Flame Emperor's forehead, like all those who equipped their Djinn got. Only his beastly arm was of different size, it being easily as long as the main body was tall. Still, he achieved what he aimed for. The sudden shrinkage resulted in him losing a few hairs off the top of his head due to the beam, but nothing else. Had he not been used to fighting those who used such beams, he would have been sheared in half himself. As it was, that close call was enough to instill within him a fighting spirit that one could only describe as "blood knight".

"Ahaha... AHAHAHAHA!" The child-sized container of destruction and devastation laughed aloud, his mirthful peal resounding across the battlefield. With Agares equipped, the earth itself did not harm him due to his mastery over the element. The dust, debris, and shrapnel simply swerved away from him as though repulsed by an invisible field.

"You... I definitely want you all the more now..." The pseudo-child barked out with a gleeful tone as he activated an incantation. "Aug Al-Hazard!" The statue they were standing on then rumbled threateningly as a dark magic circle sprang to life under their feet before a literal forest of earthen spikes sprouted up from the rubble via a form of alchemy to impale or hinder his opponent's way. It was a magic that weaponized the very ground people walked upon, and could even strike things that are flying high up in the sky like birds or airborne magicians with sheer speed and power in the form of a giant pike of earth. Since the Mandarin had been upon the statue itself, he was definitely within the range of the potent and accurate spell.

edited 15th Aug '14 10:07:28 AM by GreyStar

Desco looked at the drawings and the thought hadn't really hit her before. These guys were obviously heroes, superheroes. Desco trembled a little as she realized that these were Desco's true enemy. But she was only ready to fight heroes. Fear crept into her voice. "So these are Superheroes. Desco has never even fought a final battle with a Hero before. She doesn't know if she can fight a superhero."

Asgard - Throne Room

Medusa was not surprised when everything sprung into battle. She let out a chuckle as she noticed the two men trying to grab her. With a fluid motion she ducked down and slid backwards between the two of them and avoiding their grasps. She held her arms forward as the tattoos on her arms started moving and slithering around on her skin. As they slid down to her hands the ink actually started to leave her arms and fall to the floor. As the snakes left her arms, they started to expand and gain more and more detail as hey grew. Two large, human sized snakes rose up around Medusa, their bodies made out inky dots despite their accurate snake-like◊ heads. She smiled as she jumped away from the men as her snakes hissed and lashed out at the with their tails.

Medusa just gave Schala a disapproving look and said "You can run. I doubt your mother would be happy if you did though." Anyone observant would have been able to see how Schala felt about Zeal when the young girl though she wasn't looking. Hopefully Medusa could spur her on. This was far from hopeless, they just needed to take down the one behind this all. Speaking of, the witch turned to look to the hall that Zeal and the Enchantress left through before. As this was taking longer than expected, the queen might b in need to aid. Medusa turned and dashed to the hall, avoiding any of the men that tried to bar her path.

Asgard, Throne Room

Schala frowned as Medusa had hit a particular sore spot. She did not particularly like who her mother became because of Lavos' influence, but she didn't want to disobey mother.

"Hold them off while we go check on my mother," Schala told the seven soldiers still on their side. "While I am confident she has the situation under control, we should check to make sure."

Schala began dashing after Medusa, towards where Zeal and Enchantress had gone.

edited 17th Aug '14 12:19:40 AM by GameGuruGG

"What great evil?" Cosmin asked, deeply interested on Ahriman's story. "Where will it come from? Just how powerful it'll be?... if Doom can't stop it, how can I possibly survive it?... how can you look into the future, i-is that something I can do to?"

The teen's barrage of questions was interrupted when Gabi, the young boy, grabbed his arm. He looked down, biting his lower lip and closing his eyes before looking back up at Ahriman. "Can we help you defeat this great evil before it defeats us?... I know others, others like me. They could assist you, if you assist us. As they say in foreign lands, you pat my back, I pat yours. But, if there's one question of all the ones I just asked that you must answer, it's..."

"How can they trust you? We have been touched by the De— b-by God." Cosmin said, shivering at the word. "But they have not. Why should they come along?"

The Mandarin's head snapped down, and he flew out of the range of the spikes, dodging one, dodging two, barely dodging a third and groaning as a third managed to stab his leg. The ring on his right thumb glowed as the spikes that got close enough to him suddenly became flat and soft, turning into sand before they could reach him. "You display interesting powers..." He smiled back. "Perhaps it is you who will come to serve me!"

He pointed his left hand at Kouen, the left thumb shining as a bright light came down from the skies. The small child would feel an invisible force making a sudden push against his body, trying to pin him to the floor with ever-growing strength. But the Mandarin's intent wasn't to pin Kouen down, but rather, distract him. Once he was tangling with the force, the Mandarin flew out of range from the spikes once more, hovering just above Kouen.

The Mandarin raised his hands to the skies, his eyes suddenly glowing an ethereal blue as clouds of lightning gathered above him, and with a murderous smile, he brought his hand down several times, the ring on his left middle finger glowing as the force disappeared, just before lightning strike after lightning strike came flying down, trying to hit the demonic child on the ground.

"In this business of mine, at one point, you'll get bored of just men." Amora chuckled at her own response, before going back to searching through her items. She stopped when she heard Zeal's offer to turn her into a homunculus. "If this proccess has enhanced you as you say... then perhaps it is wisest for me to go directly to this Greed. I'll keep you here in case things don't go as planned. According to my calculations, your soldiers should be mine by now..." She moved forward to pluck one hair from Zeal's head.

The Dreamstone guns would burn through the bodies of the plantwomen, but unless they hit specific locations such as their joints or their head, the plantwomen would be able to continue as if nothing had happened, free to quench their hunger for flesh. The men, however, were resorting for a more hands on approach. Those not focused on Medusa would try to gang up on the women as they were distracted with the plantwomen, trying to force them to get just a bite of the delicious food.

The army man and samurai fell to the floor thanks to the snake's lashing, but were unfazed by it, even though they now had wounds on their legs. From the floor, the samurai started crawling towards Medusa, whilst the army man attempted to fire a few shots at her.

The shot burns right through Keep's head, leaving behind a rather sizable hole which takes up one eye and part of the other. The monster falls to his knees, clutching his head, bellowing out painful screams. The Master would be able to hear chit chatter coming from afar, possibly from people hearing the sounds of a scuffle.

The moment Teridax stepped into the diner, all eyes fell on him. Not because people thought he was a mutant, but because he was a very tall robot that looked anything but human. The customers started moving to the booths the farthest away from Teridax, whilst all of the waiters gave him mean looks. Not because they thought he was a mutant, but because he was a very tall robot that was blocking the way.

"What the heck are you?!" An old man yelled from behind the counter, a rifle mounted on the wall beneath him. "Some abandoned science project? Do you have one of those cameras in your head?... whatever you are, get out of the way in, you're gonna scare off my customers!"

"I just wanted to know." Amon replied. "I obtained this information from a rather personal source, so you understand my desire to get a secondary view so as to avoid tipping the scales towards one side of the 'conflict', if you can call it that. As for my story, well, that is something I simply do not share. I believe that if you want to find out, you'll have to waste a wish on it... and that'd be a shame."

Amanda didn't even bother to look up when Greed approached her desk, but when he mentioned her nickname and his nickname, she suddenly looked up with newfound interest. "Gigaguga32? Is... is that you?" She asked, her mouth hanging slightly open as she leaned forward. "I-I-I don't believe it. I really don't! You're real!" She rubbed her cheek. "I mean, you're clearly real, it's just... I thought you were some prank a mean kid decided to play on me! I never thought you... you would actually show up!"

She leaned over the desk, looking at him from heads to toe. "You look kinda weird." She commented, raising an eyebrow.

Standing just right on the edge of Kirei's line of sight was the Clown Prince of Crime himself, wearing a dapper new purple suit with green vest, waving a white glove to Kirei as the priest looked over the planet Earth. "Yoohoo, lover boy!" The Joker yelled out in a mock girly voice, before walking over to Kirei's side in large steps, slinging his arm around the priest's shoulder. "You know, I love this view just as much as you, my friend, but don't you think we could be doing so much more than just standing around having amusing inner monologues?"

He spun Kirei around, raising his hand for all to see. "In fact, I extend this question to all in this room! Our compatriots are down there, having the time of their life, and we're here just watching! I'm a big fan of reality TV as much as anyone else here, but come on!" The Joker tapped Kirei on the chest. "Which is why we're doing something special, all of us. Tatu wants us to take over organizations, well, I found the most fantastic organization in the world!" He hopped over to the console, tapping a few buttons and displaying a log of information on the Hand.

"Ninjas!" Joker turned around, waving his hands. "Which, between you and me, are so last decade! But ooooh, I so want them! Can you imagine how powerful I could be with ninjas?! No one loves a stealth pun more than me..." He chuckled.

Blackfire

"I don't need to, the way you speak and the way you move tell me a lot more about you than any wish could do. They way you speak and how the others follow you. you are a natural leader. But in the end our past matter little compared to what we will accomplish. Call me if you need something I believe we can get benefit from working together" Blackfire said with a smile as she left him.

Blackfire then took one of the wallets of the humans she brought and flew to a place unknown in order to do a secret plan of her own. She would be back when the communicators were ready.

edited 17th Aug '14 9:51:26 AM by RPGLegend

Asgard, Throne Room

"..." Seeing the chaos ensuing along the battlefield, Schala stopped following Medusa and turned back to face the room. She knew she had to do something

"...Fire," Schala did not want to do so, but in the current situation, there was no choice. It was the most basic Fire spell, and not near as powerful as the fire magic that her mother or Dalton knew since as Schala preferred using less harmful magic, but it would still serve to burn the samurai and the army man if they did not dodge or weren't powerful enough to resist it.

"Use your fire magic!" Schala commanded the soldiers. The men as they tried to grapple the women would find themselves blasted with ice magic by one of the women, water magic by another, and lightning magic by a third. The remaining four meanwhile used fire magic upon the heads of the three plant creatures, even as one of them screamed as she had her arm ripped off and eaten by Audrey, though she cauterized her wound with her fire magic and returned to trying to burn the three plant creatures.

Not wanting to witness any more carnage, Schala would soon return to dashing after Medusa to save Zeal.

Asgard, Inner Quarters

Zeal then used all her strength as a homunculus to try to break out of the weakened bonds and attempt to give Amora a nice right hook to the face to hopefully send her flying into the items she was looking through. Zeal frowned slightly at having to do such a rough method of an attack or to possibly harm Enchantress' beauty, but her life was more important than a possible slave.

edited 17th Aug '14 3:58:40 PM by GameGuruGG

Teridax

A quick scan of the minds around him as he stepped through the door quickly destroyed one of his assumptions: He was not going to be recognized as a mutant, at least, not immediately. However, at least it proved that the people in this community had the capacity to feel fear against the unnatural.

Reaching out with his mind, he felt the emotions of the old diner owner and weighed them carefully. Anger, frustration, a decent dose of fear, a rifle mounted on the wall behind him....good, he could work with this. This situation needed salvaging and a new plan must be formed, though that last part was already half done. Now, he needed to act- the mask of shadows had already been activated.

Teridax froze when the man started shouting at him. A few whirls and clicks could be heard from him as he glanced nervously side to side before looking at diner owner with frightened eyes. As soon as he made eye contact, the bar owner would feel and urge to turn around and grab that rifle mounted on the wall behind him. Yes, he needed a weapon didn't he? To protect himself against this metallic abomination; any ranged weapon that should implant a good piece of lead was what he needed. Meanwhile Teridax, after lingering for a few uncertain moment began to slowly back out the door. His steps were uncertain and even as he was about to exit, he managed to hit his head against the door frame.

What terrible luck.

By now, the diner owner would find himself fairly convinced that a rifle was what he needed and that a couple of rounds was what this unwelcome visitor deserved.

Meanwhile, Teridax's mind was not idle. While his mask of shadows fueled his attempt to get himself shot, he directed his energy towards sifting through the populace around him. He was looking for the image of a man- grim faced, shaven, silent. Names were being looked for too: Magneto, Max, Mystique. Anything that might lead him to his quarry. Blanks were also being looked out for- if Magneto was wearing his helmet then he would be impervious mental assaults and would display itself like a blank spot of white in a painting.

He had to be after all.

-Anub'arak turns towards the interruption. The mad human continues to babble incessantly, but among his logorrhea some interesting information is to be found. It has been some time since Anub'arak has proven his might to his subjects, and this "Hand" looks an appropriate challenge. The human made of insects will wait, his fate is sealed nonetheless.-

This is acceptable. They will fall before the might of Nerub.