Character City

The musty air hung heavy in Selena’s lungs, and breathing seemed a chore. A million dusty particles floated in the space around her, disturbed by her passing and rendered visible by the flare’s bright illumination, silhouetted against the darkness.

As far as Selena could tell, this flare was the only source of illumination within the tunnel. The visible section ended a few meters out where the flare’s light petered out. Bright as it seemed, the flare’s crimson halo failed to pierce the oily veil.

A figure clad in the same fatigues as the others melted out of the black. He or she seemed to shed the darkness like a second skin, having made no noise on the approach. This one took Selena by the shoulder, more gently but still with a palpable air urgency, and pulled her into the darkness.

More hands bundled her along without a word. Selena had no idea how many of them there were or how they could navigate in pitch blackness so easily. She could hear the sound of muffled footsteps around her, and felt herself being pulled along at a fair clip, but otherwise there was no way to tell she was even moving. A few minutes pass like this.

They must have rounded a corner because a new source of light became suddenly visible. A portable work light had been erected, bathing the far end of the room in an almost painfully bright glow. A figure stood in the beam, dressed in the same black fatigues as his comrades, casting a shadow longer than he was tall.

The room they were in appeared to be a cistern. A canal bisected the space, a metal catwalk crossing it and bridging both sides. The water flowed slowly before falling off of a short drop. As such, the quiet noise of running water echoed pleasantly around the space, and some of the light from the work lamp reflected off of the water, casting shifting patterns of light onto the cistern's concrete ceiling. There was more than enough light to see by.

edited 20th Aug '13 10:59:05 PM by Gault

yey

[Bank ~ Basement]

Joe tightened his embrace slightly at Rachel's struggle, but to his relief, she gave it up quite quickly, and he was able to loosen up a bit, but only just a bit. They weren't moving particularly fast, and though it sounded right, he couldn't be sure that they were moving in the right direction. Alone, he probably would have lost it himself, but his responsibility to guide Rachel to safety gave him an anchor. It would take time, he knew, but they could make it to the voices. To safety, he hoped. Whatever it turned out to be, they would—

"Wha-whoa!!" he cried, as Rachel was removed from his grasp, and he himself was hoisted off of his feet, carried by the waist of his pants. "Hey- wait! No!" he hollered, swinging his arms and trying to make some sort of contact with his assailant "Stop, you can't do-" Clink! Joseph went silent as his claws hit something metal. Tentatively, he reached out again and tapped the metal thing again. Tink tink. He stared into the ceaseless dark, where he thought his savior might be. "Michael? Is that you?"

Before he could get a response—though he couldn't imagine who else it could possibly be—likely-to-be-Michael deposited him in the sudden brightness of a doorway and returned to the darkness of the basement. To Joseph's relief, when he clambered back to his feet, he found Rachel there as well. She looked no better than before, but she was safe for the time being. Squinting his eyes and peering back into the pitch black wall that they'd emerged from, he called out, "I... thanks!"

edited 20th Aug '13 11:49:14 PM by Ryuhza

this place needs me here

Joseph barely had time to call out thanks to Michael before a pair of black, grasping hands emerged from the doorway, gripping Joseph by the shoulders. He was hauled bodily up and through the open door, then roughly deposited down into the security office. A moment later, a different pair of hands gave his friend Rachel a similar treatment.

One of the figures turned to them and fixed them with what was probably a stern glare, though they had no way to tell under the closed helmets the soldiers were wearing. She indicated the hole in the floor, the flare still burning at its bottom. “Don’t stop.”

yey

Alice never got to tell me what the plan was, because she suddenly tensed up and looked ready for a fight. I thought it odd and thought about checking both my radar and the surroundings when a blackness slammed her against the wall. I really can't describe it any better than that. It was darkness incarnate and, though none of my equipment identified it, Nin sensed it too and began to swear.

"What the motherfucking ass hell?"

I was already moving, dropping the rifle I knew would be useless and reaching for the Bear-King's dagger, but I had barely cleared the sheath and gone three metres when the darkness vanished, leaving a badly injured Alice behind.

Keeping Carnwenhau drawn, I finished making my way over to the injured woman and crouched down beside her to feel her pulse. It wasn't good. Nin, meanwhile, was listing everything that might be wrong with Alice.

"Diagnosis: probable internal hemorrhaging and spinal damage. Recommendation: immobilise patient and seek medical advice. If the patient must be moved, attempt to keep neck and back as level and supported as possible."

This I already knew, so I'd already worked out what I needed to do. I needed to make sure Alice knew to stay still, then put out a call for help and, most importantly, grab my rifle again. Who knew who else might have a score to settle with Alice?

"Nin, call for help, emergency..."

"Emergency and WARD channels only, got it."

I hadn't thought about WARD channels, mostly because the only other WARD people I knew were trapped under hundreds of tonnes of rubble,but it was possible someone back at base could be monitoring the transmissions and send us some help.

"Good."

I turned to Alice and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Can you understand me, ma'am? You need to lie still. You probably have internal bleeding, and might have spinal damage."

Cattle die, kinsmen die you yourself die; I know one thing which never dies: the fate of the honored dead.

[Outside Bank]

Alice was about to nod, but thought better of it. "Yeah," she said, "I hear ya. Indirect benefits of anti-magic training — I can stay coherent through a lotta shit." She groaned. "Shame that. It means I gotta think about how fucking much I hurt.""

[Bank]

As John made his way out towards the voices, the darkness vanished, having no further business with the mere mortals. Then the call from Starkad. He turned to Raphael. "Really glad you're here now. You can heal augmented people, right? My CO trying to play The Calvary and just got a beating for her trouble."

Finally, keeping his SMG at the ready, he called out. "Appreciate the rescue. But, not to sound ungrateful, you guys want to tell me who you are?"

Mary was surprised she was doing so well at keeping calm. Her training and time in Uel had hardened her more than she thought. Maybe I should take a year off, do missionary work. Most missions would love someone who could stay calm in this sort of mess, and it would probably be a vacation compared to what working for Western Amalgamated has put me through. She looked around, noting that many of the other civilians were spooked, but at least they weren't harmful. She'd have to help, but first to figure out what was going on.

[Restaurant]

"Well," Samyaza said, "here's the way I'm seeing it. There's a mall, not far from the Stadium. Which kinda has a few problems in it, but I'm pretty sure that, like the Song thing, is going to be dealt with very soon. So this mall." She grinned. "Totally evacuated. Nothing to stop us from enjoying a little five-fingered shopping spree. Anyone interested?"

[Coffee Shop]

Kkoabiel attempted to calm its temper. (It wasn't sure where said temper came from, despite having had it as long as it could remember. Had it picked that up from the humans? Or had that been a glitch in its system long before?) More calmly, it said, <Wilhelm. I apologize for my previous rudeness, since I now suspect you were unaware of the consequences of your actions. One of the cards in your deck was... corrupted. It released a being from outside time into this universe. A being of unspeakable evil and power. Now, please explain your business here — it is possible that we may be able to come to a mutually beneficial agreement, rather than wasting our resources fighting one another when our goals may be aligned.>

The unnatural darkness dissipated, and the three commandos immediately moved forward out of the security office with weapons at the ready. They fanned out, taking a quick scan of the room and it's occupants, before deeming the threat had gone and lowering their weapons. Two began directing the remaining civilians to their newly made exit, and the third- their lead- stepped forward to Mills.

She seemed to regard him for several moments, though of course Mills couldn't tell just what she might have been thinking due to her full-face helmet. After a few moments of this, she answered, "I could tell you, but it probably wouldn't mean much. So, I'll just say we're no one you ever heard of."

Now that the chaos was over, Mills had a chance to look at his mysterious allies up-close. There was almost nothing separating the various operators in terms of visual appearance. They used the same equipment and there didn't seem to be any sort of unit patches or other identifying marks on their uniforms. The type of equipment they used was familiar enough- insofar as the materials and general design resembled modern warfighter gear- but the exact make and model of everything on them, from their weapons to protective gear, was like nothing he had ever seen before in his entire career.

yey

[Bank]

John sighed and said, "okay, listen, I'll trust you." He lowered his gun. "But at least give me a and some idea of what sorta outfit you are and what your stake in this city is. You guys PMCs? National spec ops? Corporate security like me? Multilateral organization? Heavily armed new religious movement?"

He frowned as he studied them. Unfamiliar weapons were to be expected, of course, so they probably weren't of Earth origin. Advanced enough to be Kykzavi, maybe, but devoid of the sharp, harsh accent associated with the rarely-encountered people. Still, they knew who he was, and he didn't know who they were. As far as he was concerned, until they started giving straight answers, they were as trustworthy as Tanis had been.

edited 21st Aug '13 7:22:51 AM by KillerClowns

[bank basement]

Raphael staggered away from Micheal, taking a second until his eyes finally adjusted to the light. John said something about an injured superior with... augmentation. Could be interesting.

He turned to Mary instead, letting John have his time with their rescuers. "So... this commanding officer of yours. Who do I look for?"

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."

[Bank - Interior]

The operator seemed again to stare at Mills, sizing him up. After a moment, she gave a short nod. "Our interest in this city is actually the same as yours. Mostly. Exploration, intelligence-gathering and, in the long-term, the use of this intelligence to execute antimagical operations." She waited a half-moment more, almost as if she were hesitating, before saying, "Tell me, John, have you heard of the Commonwealth?"

edited 21st Aug '13 9:27:52 AM by Gault

yey

[Coffee Shop]

Chloe bit her lower lip as she did knew that Linna did have a point...but at the same time, she was a pool entity and didn't understand the paranoia that kept her teammates alive through dozens of dangerous missions. The man was cornered and thus desperate, perhaps desperate enough to pull some magic bullshit that they couldn't effectively counter.

Chloe wasn't dumb and did take Linna's threat seriously...but she also knew that it was likely that they would be able to do some nice damage to her. High-powered rifle rounds at this close range could most likely punch through her armor despite her cocky claims. It certainly was true of the many armored enemies they have fought over the many varied missions. It would also be so satisfying to see the shocked look that nope, she wasn't invincible as she bled out.

Not to mention that Linna's assurances that Ralph and Simon were simply incapacitated. That wasn't true. An incapacitated agent made the situation both very dangerous both to the team and agent, along with drastically complicating the situation. Someone needed to carry and protect the victim, which mean much less firepower when shit hit the fan. It heavily crippled the effectiveness and survivial of the team, which was disasterous when the entire mission was already dangerous with high risk and a high death rate, with several friends already KIA'd via horrible, horrible ways in the past.

Loren had already made to the same conclusions, but was much more willing to negotiate and swallow her pride than the stubborn Korean agent.

"Stand down agents," she told Taggart, Simon and Chloe. They slowly lowered their weapons and pointed then to the floor, although Chloe did not holster her weapon nor did anyone flicked the safety back on their weapons.

Loren turned to the Kokabiel-core and said, "Despite what it may seem, we're not actually here to stir up trouble. Generally we come to places like this because someone or something needs help, which we provide." A slight distortion of truth, but it was true. It just wasn't true all the time.

Chloe didn't argue with that. She could see what Loren was doing to help put them in a better position that wouldn't end up with more agents compromised. "But before we get all friendly," She turned to Wilhelm and sharply said, "Why did you attempt to incapacitate my friends? It was unprovoked, so someone had sent you to take us out. Who was that person and what was it trying to achieve? Does it have anything to do with the core or us?"

edited 21st Aug '13 10:35:29 AM by Tehpillowstar

"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." - R. W. Raymond

[[Coffee Shop]]

Fuck everything.

"I didn't even think that card was going to work, honestly. So, uh... sorry?"

Wilhelm was also legitimately surprised that Armor Lady's words were heeded. He decided that Armor Lady was officially... okay. "Sorry, can't do that, guys. I'm a soldier. They don't tell me shit. I just follow orders. 'Go do something about those armed men and women,' they said. And I said okay, because I have to. And I'm actually really glad I did, because wow you guys are assholes. If Armor Lady weren't here I'd be red paste on the floor, wouldn't I? Anyway, yeah, I try to be a good soldier. Least I owe them for letting me stick to my principles and never intentionally kill any of my targets. So I don't know what's going on with the core and I don't know what any of you have to do with it, but I'm going to do my fucking job."

It looked like no one noticed the cards in his sleeve.

Twenty-seven seconds. Twenty-seven seconds to reach into his coat for another dart, and jam the darts into the second guy that he had managed to get. He had enough time to go to the first guy and get another one in him. Then he stuck three into the woman next to him before running out the back door. The door clicked shut behind him right after his time was up.

So at best, two were completely incapacitated; another was getting pretty woozy and could be incapacitated soon. It might take a while for the chemicals to work into their system and make them useless, but it was going to happen. Hopefully. Hiding next to the nearby dumpster wasn't great for catching his breath—it smelled like vomit—but he could do it. He would have liked to run further, but he couldn't take it. He really couldn't.

---

[[Commercial District Restaurant]]

"Hm." Jonathan scratched his chin. "I think I need to go look for Wilhelm. Idiot's probably gotten himself lost chasing a stray cat or something. Then again, I don't know this city any better than he does. But I think it's safe to assume he'd be trying to come back here. Who else is looking to stay?"

edited 21st Aug '13 2:06:43 PM by SnowyFoxes

The last battle's curtains will open on stage!

[Coffee Shop]

"Shame you had to say that." Linna was disappointed. But still cheerful. "I did so want to believe you were a frightened local. It justified leaving you alive."

She raised her arms again, and the fingers uncurled to reveal the laser muzzles. "Well. Correcting the mistake. You were...pretty."

[Basement]

Ah, the sketchy black ops group. Just like home. "Sounds nice. At least until some of my other friends show up." Micheal waved an arm. "I assume I'm not going to fit out your escape route?"

edited 21st Aug '13 12:21:03 PM by Night

Nous restons ici.

The lead turned to Michael briefly. After a brief tilt if the head as she took in the suit's full dimensions, she said, "You might have to go sideways."

yey

[???] I'm just assuming Gault's cgaracters also got the other characters out

Ok, good; they were alive and out. The hands were a bit of a surprise, but now they were out of that basement, hopefully for good.

"Whew!" Nick said, wiping the sweat off his face, "For a minute I thought we would be trapped down there."

"Don't celebrate, yet." Jackson said, "We have to find Selena, Rachel, and Joseph. Hopefully by this point, poor Rachel got her sanity back."

"Yeah, poor girl." Nick nodded, walking along Jackson, "We should also see if others came with us."

Adam was still silent, but followed his friends.

edited 21st Aug '13 2:45:15 PM by Masterofchaos

[Bank ~ Security Office]

Joseph rubbed his head, unsteady as he felt after the the disorienting string of events that had led him there; shirtless, covered in specks and patches of dust, and one wobbly step away from falling over completely.

He didn't exactly like the look of the black clad special-forces-secret-agent-military-commandos that—it seemed—were saving them, nor the cold curtness of their commands, but as Joe climbed to his feet proper, he had no inclination to disobey them. He still felt a little confused, glancing from the commando telling him not to stop, to the passage indicated, and then—as she was deposited shortly after him—Rachel. He had to say something.

Joseph held up his hands and said, "Wait- wait! My friend," he pointed wildly at Rachel, "she's not fully 'there' in the head right now. I- I- I- uh, I don't think it's a good idea for her to go even further underground."

The commando hadn't even responded, yet Joe's heart was pounding. He took a chance to look away, back to the hole leading downward, then asked, "How far does that passage go, anyway?"

this place needs me here

[Restaurant]

She had barely sat down to take a bite of her pizza, when the people she had been sitting with started talking about leaving. And one of them even mentioned stealing from the mall. So much for making friends...

"Uh, well," She began, looking over at Jonathan. "It's hard to explain... I've been bringing him around with me for as long as I've had him. No-one's given me much trouble before, really, though sometimes I do have to leave him outside..." She pets the furry creature, who is currently on the edge of the table, nibbling away at her salad. "I try not to leave him alone for long, though. He gets lonely. And besides, he's very well behaved, so most places around here let us in."

She paused briefly, watching her rabbit chew on the leafy greens as she took another bite of her pizza. "Oh!" She said, looking around at the others. "Uh, my name is Mika, by the way... In case anyone cares..." Nobody had asked her to introduce herself yet, and she didn't know anyone's name, so she felt very self-conscious when she spoke up. She wondered if she should introduce her rabbit as well, but figured she would wait and see if anyone cared about her first, or if they were all just going to get up and leave.

Not entirely dead.

[Basement]

"Then I'll see you on the surface my own way, I think. Had to break the stairs to get down here anyways." Micheal replied, turning the suit back to the wall he'd shot before and beginning a slow sequence of laserfire at it, one shot per two seconds, alternating arms.

Nous restons ici.

???

Selena would have much preferred to move on her own accord, but again she didn't see the point in arguing with anyone helping her along the underground path. Furthermore, without them she'd probably be stumbling anyway because it was just as dark here was it was back in the bank's basement anyway, though thankfully the darkness this time felt more or less natural.

Go with the flow; go with the flow; go with the flow.... she kept telling herself.

Before too long, she arrived at the room at the end. There wasn't anyone telling her to keep moving now, and the only obvious exit was the one she came in through, so here was a good a place as any to pause and wait for everyone else. As such, she moved off to the side as to not hinder the others before turning back towards the entrance. She kept her ears open in the event the rescue crew decided they didn't approve of this plan of action.

---

Bank (Basement)

Rachel's situation was apparently improving considering that her reaction to being grabbed and dragged through the door was simply an attempt to keep her face covered rather than flailing, flinching, or otherwise attempting to resist. The voices around her were getting clearer; she at least made out someone telling her "don't stop." Presumably, that meant keep moving.

She would have been happy to oblige, but on top of her not being able to get her own body to cooperate she also was completely unaware of her surroundings beyond the voices and people touching her. Outwardly, she kept on doing the same thing she had been doing; standing there with her face covered muttering nonsense.

---

Stadium (Interior)

"All that I ask of you," Uffern responded, "Is that you keep your focus on the entity and not oppose me. Regretfully, this means that the demon is to be left alone, but I assure you that it will remain here in this arena as it has no reason to leave and wreck further havoc. You'll have your hands full with the entity and its minions as it is, yes?"

Waiting for Anah for a little while longer before posting as the knight again.

edited 21st Aug '13 8:55:19 PM by Yomegami

Icon by Civvi the Civilian!

[restaurant]

"Yes, I'm definitely going to leave and commit petty crimes for the hell of it. Sounds brilliant." Vince finished straightening all the stacks of menus, centering them perfectly on the shelf. Like he didn't have enough shit from the last few centuries or so in storage to keep track of.

He heard the girl introduce herself and headed towards the table, taking a seat next to Helen. "Hi. Nice to meet you. Sorry, we were a bit... preoccupied."

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."

[Coffee Shop]

Fucking. Wizards.

Loren grabbed the darts embedded in her shoulder and arm, but she was rapidly feeling doozy. In her fading vision, she saw a dart in Ralph and she tried to pull it out with much success. Ralph already passed out, and Simon, with two new darts materialized in him, was rapidly slipping away, although he did manage to pull them out.

Chloe, in utter shock, screamed in fury as Taggart gritted his teeth and clenched his rifle so tightly that his kunckles were white. He twitched in anger, and when both agents heard the soft click of the back door, they both pounced in action, before Chloe stopped before the door and held up a hand. She slowly opened the door and both agents, still seething in fury, snuck out of the back door, with the female agent having much more success in it than Taggart was having.

They both spotted Wilhelm, trying to catch his breath. Chloe took initiative, flying towards him like a demon, then pistol-whipping his jaw with the strength of her murderous anger and her fear for her friends, predictably shattering his jaw, which generally is what happens when someone smashes a heavy, pointy metal object against one's jaw.

Taggart closed the distance and aimed with his scoped rifle, still twitching from his fury. He aimed at Wilhelm's head.

"Don't kill this guy yet. I want to see him suffer." Chloe snarled as she unsheathed her machete with her left hand. She stepped out of the way so Taggart could shoot him anyway. He didn't look at her but he filed away her words for later. This they would have to talk about. However, in constrast to her words, he prepared to shoot him before he could pull any funny business.

He aimed, ready pour himself into dumping the entire magazine of 7.62×51mm NATO rounds at close range.

I'm going to give you a chance to post as Wilhelm before Taggart kills him. Mind that it's gonna be a very short window of time, because Taggart is not going to fuck around before killing Wilhelm.

edited 21st Aug '13 11:57:44 PM by Tehpillowstar

"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." - R. W. Raymond

[[Coffee Shop]]

The last thought Wilhelm had before the pain took over his thought processes was Why didn't I keep running?

He saw her coming and tried to put up a barrier, but he was just a bit too late. His jaw was definitely broken. He didn't know how badly, but it was broken. Jack would have to speak for him.

A ghostly jack-in-the-box with a grinning clown head floated over Wilhelm as he lay on the ground. "You don't know what you're doing, don't you." It was not one voice, but thousands—men and women, young and old, but Wilhelm's was the most prominent.

Wilhelm desperately hoped that the sudden appearance of the jack-in-the-box might buy him time. While he surrounded himself with another invisible shield, he clutched his pocketknife and tried to get himself off the ground so his face wouldn't be lying in a pool of blood. And so he could summon more cards, provided that they didn't shoot.

He couldn't help but think that they were kind of overreacting. They were fucking tranquilizer darts, after all. After that, his body would literally burn up.

You're out of clockwork rose petals. If you channel my energy for too long, you'll burn up. Are you sure you want to keep that shield going?

For as long as I can, yes.

Judging by the fact that he was beginning to get very warm in his coat, Wilhelm was only going to be able to keep it going for another minute. After that, he'd need another minute to cool down before he could use any serious magic again. He really, really hoped they weren't going to shoot.

---

[[Commercial District Restaurant]]

"Oh, sorry, Mika. My name's Jonathan. Nice to meet you."

Wilhelm, what the fuck are you doing?

"I'm dreadfully sorry, but I really should go looking for my friend. In case you're left with no one to talk to, though—" He took the mirror out of his pocket and laid it on the table next to Mika. "Stare into it for a few seconds and you'll have another conversation partner. When you have to leave, uh, give the mirror to a staff member and tell them to give it to me when I'm back."

Jonathan said goodbye to everyone and left the restaurant.

edited 22nd Aug '13 12:23:01 AM by SnowyFoxes

The last battle's curtains will open on stage!

[Coffee Shop]

Loren groaned. She desperately hoped that Chloe and Taggart weren't going to do something stupid, before she lost consciousness.

"If I had a dollar every time some condescending skip told me that, I'd retire by now," Chloe murmured in response to Jack.

Taggart however, was not fazed by the sudden appearance of the clown head. He had seen things much more weirder and horrifying than a ghostly jack-in-the-box. He had been a superhero, a token human, and stared into the depths of the Void*

, it could be reasonably said that he had done it all, and more. He pulled the trigger and let loose on Wilhelm, each shot focused on a small area over his chest.

edited 22nd Aug '13 12:39:06 AM by Tehpillowstar

"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." - R. W. Raymond

[[Coffee Shop]]

The shield could only last for another thirty seconds.

The clown face grinned. "Death's Handmaid will come looking for you. When she comes, don't expect mercy."

His hand was on the card deck when the effort of channeling the energy overcame his weak connection to the Threads of his world that allowed him to use magic. Wilhelm died as countless mages had before him, trying to gamble with his strength when there was little hope left. At the moment of his death, the jack-in-the-box vanished, leaving a chilling laugh in the air.

---

[[Elsewhere]]

From the moment they made the contract, she could feel the presence of his soul. It was linked to hers, and whenever he used magic, it had to go through first the Threads, then her soul.

There was a lot of magic flowing to him. She wondered what he was doing.

Then, it stopped. She strained her senses to see if the energy given off by his soul was still there. But it had been released to the other realm.

Bianca Rona gazed coolly at the jack-in-the-box floating before her. Now that she had confirmed its story, there was only one thing left to do. "And how do I find this city?"

She'll arrive in my next post.

edited 22nd Aug '13 2:08:12 AM by SnowyFoxes

The last battle's curtains will open on stage!

[[Coffee Shop]]

Linna shook her head. "Well, that was great. Next time I'm just shooting everyone." She examined one of the spent casings. "Good old NATO. If you all were packing Fabrique Nationale I'd be right at home." It also confirmed her hardsuit was functionally inviolate. She'd been sprayed with FAL fire...she wasn't sure, but it was well over a hundred times if she went back to the Mark I Hardsuit's days.

Nous restons ici.

[Coffee Shop]

Wilhelm was dead. This was a problem, partially because it had intended to take to Jack alive, and partially because it had a certain fondness for the fool. Why hadn't he run when he'd had the chance?

Then it had an idea. It reached out, finding what it had sensed earlier. <Amu.> It spoke to none other.

<Betrayer.>

<You sent this fool? He's dead. You failed to save him. He died for you, like so many others. Remember Okul?> It let the words settle and sting. <But you can undo this.>

No response from Amu.

Kokabiel continujed. <I offer... a truce. I have some power to spare. Take it. Bring Wilhelm to your current location. Shatter the bonds of time and return his life.>

<Your price?>

<A god of his world. But I will pay in advance.>

The very fabric of space where Wilhelm had died was briefly shrouded in shining darkness.

[Mall]

Amu had fortified himself in an empty mall between the stadium grounds and the tower he knew his foe would need. He'd presently secured himself a place in a men's bathroom that was due a cleaning some time in the near future.

As soon as the piece of reality that had once housed Wilhelm arrived, he went to work. Time reversed. His body was rebuilt. His very life essence prevented from ever leaving the world of the living. Once more, Amu mocked the "laws" of life and death, leaving Wilhelm with the new memories of his death, but otherwise as he was before the fatal fight began.

"I suspect we need a new plan," he said.

Because the resurrection spell partially alters time to Retgone the death, Wilhelm will remember nothing of the afterlife, having technically never made it there.

[Bank Basement —> Escape]

"I've heard of a lot of commonwealths," John said as he made his way out. "But something tells me I don't know yours." He glanced at the apparent leader of the group. "Also, names and ranks would be nice."

To Raphael, he said, "my commander's Alice. You can't miss her. Tiny little woman, looks like a child at a distance and might be pretending to be one. Freak pale, greasy black hair, brown eyes, usually wears the old jeans and skirt combo."

[restaurant]

"Jeez," Samyaza said to Vince. "You need to chill out. I mean, c'mon, haven't you always wanted to just have run of a mall? Seriously, like, ever seen Dawn Of The Dead?" She laughed. "Most of those stores are just robbing their customers anyways. We're like karma. We take from the rich and give to the poor. Which, y'know, happens to be us, unless you're feeling generous. As for me?" She grinned. "I am totally looking forward to finding out if all those overpriced tech store gadgets are worth the sticker shock."

edited 22nd Aug '13 12:17:45 PM by KillerClowns