[IC Board] All the World's a Game - Season II

[Kristia]

Metro Omelette House | Manhattan, NY

Gaige was enjoying her meal when she saw the soldier eating as if there was no tomorrow "And here se got a perfect example of how hunger beats manners" she spoke more to herself tan to her companion "Anyways, this tastes great, now I know where to have breakfast in the future"

Russia

"Then we got a good reason for them gathering around" Samus confirmed the redhead swordswoman´s guess "Phazon is a powerful element, but it also corrupts everything that is alive, be it a creature, plant, anything that can be categorized as alive, it supercharges the living cells to incredibe levels and can cause catastrophic destruction"

Xunantunich | Belize


The wanderer used her side sword to break the oncoming arrows "Every dungeon has poisoned arrows, and the pressure plates become obvious after you activate them" she grumbled while ducking from a lucky arrow, she even felt the wind on her hair as the projectile almost grazed her head. "But it also means I´m getting closer" she said to herself while moving to the deeper part of the ruins

Streets of London

Finishing her ice cream, Vala activated her communicator and waited for the receiver to respond, she was relaxed on the bench while the AI was doing god knows in her mind. Suddenly a voice was heard on the other end of the line "So what have you got?" the direct question didn´t surprise the blonde.

"We found the area where the doctor and some spartans work, but decided to make them come here by using what they may think as important information, better have a fair ground than going directly to their base" The brawler responded. The woman on the other side chuckled at that "Would you look at that, our little girl is waiting for the other team´s move"

Vala laughed knowing she did the right thing "Aw come on Nicole, give me some credit, these guys have been trained to b like yourold friends, I also need to be professional" she defended herself, but then again, she was speaking with her mentor "But a good advisse would be appreciated too"

The mature spartan pondered about what to say to her adopted daughter "Have fun, what I learned while training with the spartans was that we lost our humanity, so I´m sure these new soldiers will have some similar effects. If they come with seriousness, show them the joy of battle, just be you" and with that, the line went dead.

"Be me? pfft, then let´s have fun" the brawler grinned.

[S121]

(I am very sorry for not posting for such a long time. Kilelicus, your post is almost done, but after you pointed out to me that I haven't posted in the span of nearly a month, I understood the gravity of my actions. This is to keep this RP alive. Expect your post soon though.)
Firestorm Citadel

Takoizu watched as the demonic skull floated about, watching it slowly bob up and down as she thought about whether or not she should divulge The Higher Power and her mission to it. It

was personal experience that taught her that everyone had a goal at any given time and more often than not, there was a good chance there would be a conflict of interests between any

given two people. Of course on the other hand, there was a chance that this skull was merely curious, or even might help them through the citadel. Besides, at this point in time, Takoizu

doubted that this skull could fight and defeat both her and The Higher Power. With that in mind, Takoizu let out an inaudible sigh before coming to the decision to speak with the skull.

"Actually, we're here on other business. We're just passing through to see a foe that lies beyond the Firestorm Citadel.", Takoizu calmly explained to the

floating skull as she watched it float about.





Rooftops - Santa Cruz - California | Night

After Koishi told Isaac about how difficult it would be to confront Malthael, he simply remained silent as he tried to come up with an idea to give them an advantage over their enemy.

Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. The fact of the matter was that Malthael was definitely strong enough to easily kill Koishi, Shadow and Isaac off, and the undead didn't make things

any easier. if anything, the only thing they could do was waltz right into the lion's den.

"Well, could be worse.", Isaac remarked in a somewhat joking manner, despite the grim circumstances.





Streets of London

As Aisha took off with the others, Jack simply continued on his way down the road and towards the outskirts of the city. He knew that it would take a good long while before he would get

back to The Labs, but at the very least, he could at least try to enjoy the scenery, or meditate on what had happened recently. It didn't really matter which choice he made, he would have

plenty of time to do both.





Armor Technologies Lab - Sector 4 - Prometheus Labs - London

After Raven spoke, Lily turned her gaze over to him as a faint smile creeped along her face.

"Sure, but you might want to prepare yourself. I don't know all the specifics of the armor yet, but if the scientists are right, I'll be the equivalent of a small army.", Lily remarked as the

scientists completed their final diagnostics and stepped back.

"Ok, the armor should be good to go. Just go to testing bay five and we'll begin the trials.", the scientist said to Lily.





Sector 4 - Prometheus Labs - London

"Ahh...", Dr. Neuman said, trailing off at the end.

Dr. Neuman did feel a little bad about what he had put Raven through, but he also felt that Raven acted harshly as well. Perhaps later they could discuss it. For now, it was time to eat,

and right now Dr. Neuman was hungry. With the thoughts of eating a nice warm meal after a hard day's work in mind, Dr. Neuman made his way toward the Mess Hall with Chung, keeping

somewhat quiet as he thought about what had happened earlier with him and Raven.





Xunantunich | Belize

"Got it.", Max said as he did as Ellis requested.

Once the helicopter was in position, Max looked over to Ellis and decided to ask him about the ruins.

"Ok, so what's the plan? Is there anything to worry about in these ruins?"





Bench - Streets of London (Vala's Location)

As Vala wrapped up her conversation with her mentor, a faint glint in the distance from a heavily armored man could be seen in the distance, and from the looks of it, the man was heavily

armed... and walking towards her.

[Kristia]

Bench - Streets of London (Vala's Location)


Vala was enjoying the weather when she noticed someone walking towards her, said person was in fact an armored man with weaponry, even though the person looked menacing, the blonde wasn´t rattled at all, even more, she smiled "Looks like you got someone´s attention blondie and he looks ready to make some "talk" with you"" Her AI spoke, but she also wasn´t that worried for the brawler´s well being.

"Well then, my expectation ranged from a messenger to a whole squad, but this will do fine" Vala commented still smirking, she looked at the armored man and waved at him, smirk still glued on her face.

[Koishi]

Firestorm Citadel

---

"Oh, you're goin' after those things? I've heard it's been getting pretty rowdy in there, I was wondering if that stuff finally managed to get up. Might make getting through even worse." the skull replied. "Shame I can't really move much beyond here."

A crash against the gates ahead resounded as soon as the skull finished. "Seige Engines and all, you know."

---

Santa Cruz

---

"Well, yeah. He could be twenty stories tall and smell of rancid cheese." Koishi replied, a small chuckle escaping. The crater was almost right in front of them. It went down, and down, as undead climbed the walls, sometime knocking one another aside in their mad scramble to the surface. Large cracks oozing a hot blue liquid illuminated the entire crater, and at the bottom was a single form, seemingly collapsed on the ground.

[SUSTIC]

Russia

"Wow sounds really close to Dark El. Dark El also is something that's both dangerous and can grant power. It can come in many forms from what I saw. Too much exposure to Dark El can literally turn one into a physical demon hellbent on causing mayhem and destruction. The demons from where I come from must be going crazy over this Phazon stuff due to how similar it is to Dark El. Wouldn't be surprised now if the demons were wanting to go after the Dark El." Replied Elesis as she lifted her blade over her shoulder, cracking her neck a little before turning to Samus.

"You know now that I think about it, if these demons are after this Phazon stuff, I'm after the demons, and you are trying to stop this Phazon. Then mind if I join you? If my hunch is correct we might end up running into each other in the future. So maybe if we just join forces we could by chance deal with this threat far better than we could separately."


Rooftops - Santa Cruz - California | Night

Shadow just scowled as he managed to unsurprisingly thanks to his speed and agility, keep up with Koishi and Isaac. He wasn't going to say any snide or crude joking remark about the situation at hand. After all currently the current problem is far more dangerous than it seemed judging by how the duo he is with is talking, it seems that this guy is quite dangerous...

"Would you to try and be more focused on the task at hand?" Shadow replied in a rather harsh, yet calm tone of voice as he kept up with the others. "From what you guys are saying this being is a serious threat. One that should not be taken lightly, nor joked about. Now is there any possible weaknesses that could be exploited? I'd like to deal with this man before things get far too dangerous."



Armor Technologies Lab - Sector 4 - Prometheus Labs - London

Raven smirked and chuckled a bit as he began prepping his Nasod Arm for their upcoming sparring match.

"Please. I've been training for the past 3 months to get used to this arm. I may not be familiar with all the upgrades the guys in the lab gave it, but right now I feel ready for just about anything. Besides as an ex-member of the Crow Mercenaries, one has to be trained to be ready for anything. I'll be ready for a little sparring match once your done testing that new suit. Though I will be needing a sparring sword of sorts. I'll never fight without a weapon that I can't physically hold. So just give me a sword and I'll be ready." Raven said as he clenched the fist on his Nasod Arm, with the sound of something clicking coming from it could be audibly heard. It was the sounds of the inner mechanisms getting prepped and loaded for Raven's sparring match against Lily.

He then turned to the scientist and spoke up.


"By the way do you guys have a blade I could use for sparring purposes? I would really prefer to use one, and if so could it possibly not be some foam sword or something? At least something that could handle a fight against a spartan preferably."




Prometheus Labs - London

"Yeah... that is just like the one topic you don't want to mess with when it comes to Raven. He tends to sort of go into a 'Oh dear god I need to do something quick' mode like he has one of the biggest adrenaline rushes for someone of his caliber. Never really seen him react so violently though. Then again never really even seen anyone joke about that kind of stuff in front of Raven. Either way you now know not to mess with Raven. Next time it might be more than a kick to the groin... I'd hate to see what that Nasod Arm of his could do to the human body... sheesh..." Chung spoke as they walked side by side, trying to keep up a conversation as they approached the entrance to the Mess Hall.



Chris and Claire's Living Quarters - Prometheus Labs

It had been quite a bit of time by now as Chris and Six were waiting for Claire to get done wit her shower, and before Chris could even start a conversation Claire entered the room dressed in very comfortable clothes for the night, a towel around her neck, and her hair slightly damp. Aside from that Claire was looking awfully nervous and bashful, especially towards Six. For it seemed like she was trying to avoid eye contact with him.

"Okay I'm... I'm done... it's also time for my gift for you Six... it's going to be quite the surprise though... So be warned..." Claire spoke in an oddly quiet and shy tone of voice which is unlike her, and despite saying it's time for Six's present, she is lacking any material object in her hands at all.



Kawashiro Residency | Kappa Village, Gensokyo

Tails in a bit of a panic quick began to explain the situation.

"Okay... Uh... Me and Ms. Mitori were down trying to use her vehicle to try and lift my crashed plane so we could bring it here for repairs. However my plane was a little bit too heavy for it... so... well... we were wondering if the one known as Nitori could possibly help? Also things are really creepy down there. It's quiet. Like... too quiet. Normally there would be the sounds of birds or some sort of wildlife even in the Winter, but there seems to be not so much as a sound. We could hear our own breathing. Really creepy, and we are seriously wanting to know if Nitori could help us!"



Apartment Complex | Barcelona, Spain

Ciel was beginning to go into a panic as he tried to get his mistress to wake, yet everything he was doing was not working. Worried Ciel began checking her pulse which was fine, followed by her breathing which was also fine... just to make sure it wasn't something stupid like a fever that was causing her to remain unconscious, he took his hand and swept some of her hair away from her forehead. That was when he placed his forehead against her forehead to check for a fever or anything like that. However as his forehead touched Lu's, the Demon Lord's eyes shot open. At first Lu wasn't so sure as to what was happening but after seeing Ciel's face practically right up against hers, she immediately shot a death glare at Ciel. Said glare caused Ciel to immediately break into a nervous sweat as he began to try and back away from his mistress.

Unfortunately he was too late, for Lu had quickly got onto her feet and summoned one of her weapons. A large demonic gauntlet that is surging with a strange blue energy. Then with one swift angered punch to the gut, Ciel was sent flying through the apartment, past Kongou, and out onto the balcony. He continued to fly through the air until he struck the railing on the balcony. Hitting the balcony caused him to break out into a wild spin as he flew through the air and into a lamp post just outside the apartment with a loud crack coming from Ciel's body as he impacted the steel lamp post outside.



Xunantunich | Belize

As Volnutt was waiting for the others to drop down with a smile on his face, something caught his attention. Out of the corner of his eye he could have swore he saw a small... about 3 ft tall, bipedal... thing dart out from behind one rock and further into the darkness with the sound of very small metal footsteps echoing faintly throughout the cave clearing. Despite Volnutt's urge to go see what that little... thing was, the sound of the Scout yelling from the Helicopter broke him out of his trance.


"Hey could you hurry it up! I'm dyin' to get down and explore those damn caves already!" He yelled obviously tired of having to wait in the Helicopter for so long, he was really getting bored of just doing practically nothing for the past few hours...


((Okay re-posting this AGAIN!!!))
Voile

And just like Patchouli said, Kirby was not killed by the volt of electricity he took head on.

After a few seconds of twitching, the blackened - due to being burned by electricity - Kirby sat back up. Still a little dazed by the electrical volt he experienced just now, he tried to look around but only say blurry blobs around him. That is when Kirby literally shook the char off his body before standing back up.

Noticing that Marx and Magolor escaped Kirby looked a little upset. Turning around to face Koakuma and Patchouli he began to try and question them about what happened to Marx and Magolor.

"Ah! Poyo!?" He spoke in a child-like manner as he began gesturing to the location he last saw the two villains from his world at.

[Koishi]

Santa Cruz

---

"Man? Angels have no gender, let alone an archangel of death." Koishi replied. "Also, you're a killjoy, fella. Tryin' to make this sound like less of a one-sided fight."

Koishi looked down the hole, peering down with her youkai level of vision. " I think I see 'em. He looks... knocked out cold?"

[Kristia]

Russia

Samus couldn´t argue with the possible connection "Figures, Ridley would use anything to reach his goals, that creature isn´t just muscles, but brains too" she spoke more to herself than to the other two as her ship was now landing close to them. The commander looked at the redhead and simply nodded "The more, the merrier. From what I have gathered, we are going to face quite a stronghold, the phazon will surely be a key factor against us because of its power leveling. The best tactic is to aim for their cores". She spoke while the bounty hunter opened the hatch for the three of them to enter.

Xunantunich | Belize


Finally seeing some light, the wanderer was relieved to be out of the deep zone, she had some stash for her quota and had almost no problem with the traps, just burn marks and one or two holes on her clothing would prove that something happened while being inside. She was trying to pinpoint her current location when she heard someone yelling about wanting to explore the place too ("Tourist maybe? but a helicopter isn´t cheap either") she thought walking towards the source of the sounds.

[S121]

(This post is for Kilel. I'll make a second post for everyone else.)

Lima Tuberculosis Hospital - Lima, Ohio


https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...795d2cbb9a.jpg

It was a relatively quiet day at the abandoned tuberculosis hospital in Lima, Ohio. There was a chill in the air cold enough to chill straight to the bone, but not cold enough for it to snow. The only thing that could be heard amongst the broken-down and dilapidated ruins was the whistling of the wind through its barren halls, the rustling of the tall grass, and the footsteps of a lone armored Character, The Hero of Kvatch, approaching the entrance. As the Hero's metal boots faintly scraped against the beaten path to the hospital, he pulled out a note, the one that he had received from an anonymous person that only referred to themselves as "FATE", and carefully read the instructions on the paper. Just as it had directed, The Hero of Kvatch was now at this long-forgotten ruin in search of this person that agreed to meet him there, this "FATE" who made promises within the note to give him the location to a secret trove of powerful relics created after the Horizon Incident. If the Hero of Kvatch was lucky, he just might find something of use among the trove.

As the Hero of Kvatch walked up the cracked steps leading to the entrance, he silently put the note away before walking up to the door and reached for the door handle. To the hero's surprise, his attempt to twist the door handle was met with the sound of the knob jerking to a stop. Unfortunately for the hero, a locked door blocked his path, meaning he would have to find another way in. The hero merely grunted softly before pointing his finger at the lock, and a green mist seeped from his fingertip and into the lock before the soft clunk of the door unlocking could be heard. Soon after that, the Hero pushed open the door, eliciting a loud high-pitched screech as the hinges of the door grinded together. The Hero lightly winced at the noise, but quickly shrugged it off as he looked into the decimated room. Pieces of the ceiling and walls were missing and scattered all across the floor, buried underneath the countless years of dust that had settled. It was clear to the Hero that this place had been abandoned quite some time ago, and was perhaps the reason why FATE chose this place for a meeting. with a faint sigh, the Hero carefully treaded through the room, taking care not to trip over any of the debris and began his search for FATE.

"Hello?", the Hero of Kvatch called out as he entered the room, passing over the remnants of what used to be the door. So far it had been a quarter of an hour, and the Hero still had yet to see any indications that FATE was here. In fact, it seemed as if nobody was even at the abandoned ruins. It seemed to the Hero that this entire adventure was little more than a waste of time. The Hero was not late to this meeting, so it was either that his informant had gotten lost, or didn't show up. If that was the case, then there was little else for the Hero to do but leave and go home. Feeling somewhat disappointed and defeated, the Hero began to walk out the door, but just as soon as he had crossed the threshold of the door, a small red dot glinted against his metal cuirass and lightly shook and danced against his chest as he tried to make sense of what this strange occurrence was.

*BANG*

All it took was a single instant for the Hero of Kvatch to hear an ear-piercing gunshot echo throughout the room as he was sent straight to his back, a single instant to realize that the small red dot from before belonged to a sniper. As the Hero slammed against the concrete ground, a five-man squad of soldiers suddenly began to close in from where the sniper fired, quickly descending on the Hero with high-powered rifles as they tried to kill him. Of course, what the squad wasn't expecting was to be suddenly and violently thrown back, for in that moment, a giant fiery explosion blasted out from the Hero and scorched the solders and the walls around him. Wasting no time at all, the Hero of Kvatch quickly flipped over to his stomach and pushed himself up from the ground before pulling out his Madness longsword and shield, ready for the sudden ambush.

Meanwhile, the soldiers that had been blasted back by the magically powered explosion were still trying to regain their composure. Three of the men that were closest to the explosion had been killed from the shockwave and temperature of such a powerful blast, slowly roasting in their now burning armor, while the other two were badly burned, yet still strong enough to pat the fires on their armor out before focusing on the Hero once again. Unfortunately, one of the soldiers were not so lucky as before he could react, a fifty pound blade cleaved his helmet and skull in two as the Hero came down upon the soldier with all his might. The last man in the squad took aim and fired at the Hero, but the bullets simply crashed against his armor and either mushroomed against the breastplate or bounced off as the hero rushed towards the panicking soldier. Once he was in range, the Hero bashed the man with his shield, sending the soldier to the ground. The soldier hastily scrambled to his hands and knees, but was decapitated with a two-handed swing of the Hero's blade, causing a cascade of blood to spurt from the wound as the head rolled away.

Meanwhile, the sniper from before had packed up his gear and had retreated down the hall and around a corner of the crumbling hallway in an attempt to put some distance between him and the Hero. Of course, the Hero knew that the sniper was still around, and cast Detect Life upon himself, bathing himself in a purple light as he sprinted after the sniper. Once the spell took affect, the Hero was able to see the glowing purple aura of the sniper through a wall and increased his speed. The sniper only managed to outrun the Hero for a brief moment before he was struck in his lower back by a large icicle. A loud crash echoed through the hall as the icicle pierced straight through the armor and into the sniper's spine, sending him to the ground. The Hero quickly caught up to the now helpless sniper and made short work of him with a large burst of lightning that erupted from his armored hand. The smell of burning flesh seared the Hero's nose as he watched the smoke billow off of the dead sniper, quickly trying to figure out who these people were that had attacked him. Although the man was still lightly smoking, the Hero decided to inspect the man's armor and knelt down beside the body. From what he could see, the sniper wore a black modern military uniform underneath his reactive MR fluid body armor, and on the back collar of the vest was an insignia of some kind, a white sword resting atop a grey shield with a white trim. Around the sword and shield was what appeared to be a white olive branch, and around that were two rings, the outer ring taking the appearance of a half circle. Other than that, there were no real identifying markers on the man.

As The Hero of Kvatch stood back up, he could hear the faint pitter-patter of feet against concrete in the distance. It was now clear to the Hero that he had been tricked. This was an ambush. Still having his Detect Life spell active, the Hero sprinted all the way down the hall and towards one of the stairways of the abandoned building and reached the second floor. As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, he sharply turned to the right and held his shield in a guarding position as he began to charge after another squad of soldiers. As he closed half the distance to them, the Hero quickly raised his sword arm up into the air as he cast a summon spell to the squad's left flank, causing a bright light to flash on the targeted area before it faded to reveal a Gloom Wraith with a deep sunken face, sickly green skin, and a black shroud covering it's incorporeal body. All the six-man squad heard was a terrible high-pitched screech and felt an icy chill burrow itself down into their bones before a 367 pound man in armor slammed straight through them with a shield, knocking them all to the ground in a feat of brute strength. Four of the soldiers quickly rushed to their feet and took aim at the Hero, while one soldier struggled to regain his composure and one called for backup while laying on the ground.

"This is Fire Team Delta, we have contact on the second floor, west side!!", the solder shouted into the communicator in his helmet as he took aim at the Hero. Gunfire ripped through the air as the Gloom Wraith screeched once more before frost began to form along the soldiers' armor. As two of the soldiers fired at the Hero, three of the others quickly switched targets over to the Gloom Wraith and opened fire, but the bullets simply passed through the wraith, leaving the apparition unharmed. Meanwhile, the large-caliber rounds slammed against the Hero's shield, piercing the air with the sounds of metal crashing against metal, sending small sparks as the bullets ricochet off the shield and lightly dented the metal. Although his armor was protecting him from being riddled with holes from the bullets, it was not able to keep him from being pushed by the force of the rounds. The Hero grunted as he endured against the force of each shot, keeping his footing as he pushed against the full-auto gunfire.

With one final grunt of exertion, the Hero pushed forward and rushed through the gunfire, slamming against one of the soldiers and pushing them to the ground. Without hesitation, the Hero then took his sword and stabbed down into the man's neck, shredding and piercing straight through the nanofiber uniform covering the soldier's neck and traveled all the way through to the other side, striking the aged tiles on the ground. The soldier gurgled as blood spurt from his mouth before growing still, although the Hero didn't stay to observe. Instead, he charged after the other soldier firing at him and punched at him with his shield arm. His fist didn't make contact with the soldier's head, but the shield did. The soldier's visor shattered as the shield broke straight through and ripped into the soldier's face. Inside the helmet, there was nothing visible but the crimson blood as the shield crashed against the soldier's nose and continued travelling until it hit the very corners of the helmet's visor, resulting in the soldier's demise. Just then, the soldier that had been trying to regain his composure from before sprang into action and pulled out his combat knife before lunging and clasping onto the Hero's back.

The Hero began to flail around madly as he tried to shake the soldier off of his back, but to no avail. In a desperate attempt to kill the Hero, the soldier pulled out his combat knife and slammed the blade into the padded neck portion of the armor, but was met with failure as the blade glanced off the back of the Hero's neck, sending a spark as metal grinded against metal. The Hero grunted in anger when he realized that the soldier was trying to stab through his armor. Finally, the Hero backpedaled as hard as he could straight into as nearby wall, slamming the soldier straight into the wall and slightly through. The soldier coughed in pain from the impact, but continued to hold on for dear life as he reached forward with his knife and attempted to stab the Hero through his visor. The knife blade jammed itself into the eye slit of the visor, but unfortunately wasn't thin enough to fully penetrate the helmet. Just then, the Hero grabbed the soldier's knife hand with his shield arm and pulled away from the wall, tossing the soldier over his shoulder as he did so. As soon as the soldier made contacty with the ground, he was met with a blade through the chest, ending his life only moments later.

After the Hero had killed the soldier, he quickly darted his head over to where the other three soldiers were, only to find that his Gloom Wraith had frozen them all from the inside out. The Hero of Kvatch gave a somewhat relieved smile of victory, but it was short-lived. The sound of a faint beeping preceded a large explosion as a powerful shaped charge exploded through wall the soldier had been embedded in only moments ago and throwing the Hero out of the second floor window.




http://static1.opacity.us/images/db/...s_hospital.jpg

The Hero landed with a hard thud as he landed face-first into the grassy field of the courtyard. His vision was blurred and a ringing flooded his ears as he tried to make sense of where he was. After a moment, the Hero rolled over to his back and looked up from where he fell. At first he couldn't tell if his eyes were deceiving him or not, but if they weren't then there was a white figure looking down from the blown out second floor window. Another moment later, the Hero's vision cleared enough to plainly see that there was indeed an armored man looking down at him. Reacting quickly, the Hero raised his hand up at the man and cast a powerful fireball. The fireball crashed into the hall where the man stood and exploded into a raging inferno, destroying the entire hall and filling the remnants of the area with fire and smoke. The Hero then quickly rose to his feet and darted away from the blown-out hallway, hoping to put some distance between himself and it, to observe the aftermath from a safe distance. The Hero expected to find a body laying on the ground after such a blast, but as the smoke cleared, the armored man could be seen staring down at him. Even more to the Hero's surprise, it seemed as if his fireball had caused only minor damage to the man.



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As the burning cinders rolled off the armor and blew away in the wind, the white armored man disengaged the gravity modules in his boots and activated the communicator inside his helmet. "Initiate Phase 3-B. Mortar units four through six, roll in and stand by for coordinates.", the man calmly and coldly said into his communicator. All of a sudden, soldiers carrying Barret .50 sniper rifles emerged from the second floor windows on east, north, and west sides of the building, each one taking aim at the Hero. The Hero sharply inhaled as he realized that he was now in the middle of all the enemy's forces, and that death was a very likely outcome. The Hero reacted and moved as quickly as he could, but even then, some of the shots fired by the snipers connected with him, heavily denting the upper-left corner of his shield, chipping off one of the spikes on his right pauldron, and leaving a deep scratch on his torso. The shot that connected with his chest knocked him off his feet and onto his back, but not before he let loose another spell, this time a fireball infused with lightning. As the Hero hit the ground, the ball of fire and lightning struck the very center of the north side of the building. The spell exploded into a blast of fire and electric plasma as it melted concrete and blasted it to pieces, leaving a large hole in the north side of the building. Many of the snipers in the north side were killed by the blast, while a few were heavily injured by either the burns they received or the flying debris.

Meanwhile, 3 three-man mortar teams armed with Soltam K6's approached from the south, east, and west and set up 700 meters away from the fight. Now all that was left was to wait for the order from their leader to engage the enemy. Back in the courtyard, the Hero rose to a stand, but was immediately shot at with a second wave of .50 BMG rounds. Again, he had managed to dodge most of them, but one managed to strike his torso, and unlike all the other rounds from before, this one managed to pierce the armor. If the Hero were human, the bullet would have torn him in half inside his armor, but such an injury was not critically damaging to a Madgod, instead embedding itself into his chest and knocking him over to his hands and knees. Up above on the second floor of the west side, the armored man received a message from his mortar teams, each one broadcasting a green light to the man's HUD.

"Sending coordinates. Stand by for Pattern Delta", the man said as he pulled out a laser designator and aimed it at the Hero, "Fire." Just then, a faint popping noise could be heard in the distance, though the Hero was too preoccupied with the snipers to notice. As the Hero of Kvatch tried to rise to a stand, three XM395 Precision Guided Mortar munitions landed around him in a triangular pattern and violently exploded, sending the Hero 40 feet into the air and shredding off pieces of armor. Time seemed to slow down for the Hero as he helplessly tumbled through the air and finally landed on the ground with a painful thud. So much was going on around him, but the only thing he could think about was how much his body hurt. Everything sounded muffled, he could barely see, and perhaps worst of all, he tried to rise back up to a stand, but couldn't.

"Hold your fire.", the armored man said to his team over his communicator. After that, the armored man hopped out of the second floor window and gracefully landed on his feet. He then walked over to the debilitated hero and stared down at him. The Hero could barely make out who was in front of him, only being capable of seeing a blurry outline with a blotch of white in the center of it. In response to seeing the white armored man in front of him, the Hero raised his right arm to cast an "Absorb Health" spell, but nothing seemed to happen. In fact, it hurt just to move his arm. The hero turned his gaze over to his right arm and saw the sickening sight of it no longer being present. His right arm had been blown off at the elbow from the explosion, the only thing hiding what was left was the ruined and bloody chainmail. The Hero made a weak gasp and coughed as he felt blood beginning to pool up in his lungs, making it harder and harder to breathe.

"Do you feel that warm sensation in your chest, that feeling spreading? That's the feeling of blood pooling up in your lungs after they ruptured from the mortars' shockwaves. That means you don't have much longer before you die from exsanguination or suffocation. Of course, you will be gone long before that.", the white armored man calmly said to the Hero before grabbing the Barrett XM500 strapped to his back and holding it in his hands. The only thing the Hero could do was look up at the man, and asked in a weak forced voice, "Wh..o are.. you?" "Reaper, but you know me by another name: FATE.", Reaper said to the Hero as he loaded a Raufoss Mk 211 HEIAP round into the chamber of his weapon. The Hero gasped for another breath of air mixed with his own blood as he tried to ask another question, but he could not force the words out, but right as Reaper aimed his gun at the Hero's head, the Hero barely managed to croak one last question. "Why?"

Reaper was about to shoot the Hero, but upon hearing him feebly try to ask his question, he suddenly paused before easing his finger off the trigger and lowering his gun to answer. "Why? Because perhaps fate has ordained that we meet and that you fall. I don't have time to explain to a dead man why this is happening or all that will happen, but I will give you a hint. You are a pawn in a much larger game, one that looks black and white on the surface, but beneath all the politics, is all a web of motives and false loyalties, people vying for power, control, and survival.", Reaper said to the Hero, "Goodbye."

After speaking, Reaper decided that enough time had been wasted. Right before the Hero could utter another word, Reaper aimed his Barrett XM500 at the Hero's head and fired. The shot rang out and echoed into the distance, scaring off the birds in the forest near the building. The caws and flapping wings of the birds faded into silence, leaving Reaper and his team alone in the ruined hospital. Their work was done here, and now it was time to leave.

[Kilelicus]

Lima Tuberculosis Hospital Exterior | Lima, Ohio
BGM: BlazBlue OST: Yuuki Terumi's Theme: Endless Despair II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJGH8RzJMy4

---

As Reaper turned away from the Hero's corpse, a dark void appeared before him, and a tall, slim man, clad in a dark grey suit, overcoat, and fedora approached from within. His eyes seeming to be glued shut, he wore a devilish grin upon his face, appearing to be nothing more than a harmless onlooker. The secrets within, however, were far more frightening than one could ever imagine. Holding onto his hat, he examined the soldiers surrounding Reaper. His expression turned to stoicism as he observed the damage caused to the TB Hospital. Soon after his analysis, however, his grin returned to his face and he looked to Reaper.

"My, my, my! Very well done, Mister Commander Jericho Adams! Or perhaps I should address you as 'Reaper?' It doesn't really matter to me. Ah, but where are my manners? We've not yet met before!" the thin man said, taking off his hat and sinking into a deep, flourishing bow, "My name is Hazama, of the Novis Orbus Librarium's Intelligence Department. My rank is.... uh... Captain, I think. I'm the one who spoke with your employers about this... Hero of Kvatch. See, he has something that I want..."

With those words, another void appeared before Hazama, and he stood up, returned his hat to his head, and threw his right arm out to his side, "Come forth, Ouroboros!" On command, a pair of knives that resembled a snake's head appeared from the void, glancing around for its target. Suddenly the snake's head shot off, revealing its chain body. As it twisted and turned through the air, it began racing around the hospital until it found its prey. In a backroom, quivering underneath a desk, was the Hero of Kvatch's Adoring Fan.

""I found you..." Hazama said, still wearing his devilish grin. Chuckling softly, he opened his left eye, revealing his yellow iris and slit pupil. He commanded Ouroboros to snag the Fan by his collar and drag him back into the open. As the seeking chains retracted, the Adoring Fan's cries of fear could be heard echoing throughout the hospital. "There's no running from me now!' Hazama shouted as he hoisted the Adoring Fan high into the air. He looked to Reaper once more. "Do you see this sniveling creature, Mister Reaper? Of course, you must know who he is. This is 'The Adoring Fan.' Quite possibly one of the most annoying Characters in existence. And people hate him. More so than even myself. And we can't have that, now can we Mr. Adoring Fan?"

Hazama quickly yanked the Adoring Fan back down to eye level and directed Ouroboros to the Corpse of the Hero. "Lookie here, Mr. Adoring Fan. Your beloved Grand Champion is dead. And there's nothing you could do to stop it! You're so pathetic! So worthless and weak!" Hazama shouted as he began to cackle evilly. He was suddenly silent, closed his left eye once more, and dragged the Adoring Fan over to him. "Do you hate me?" He asked, his devilish grin no longer able to hide his terrible demeanor. As the Adoring Fan trembled in Ouroboros's grasp, Hazama began to cackle once more, before lifting the Adoring Fan back into the air, a green haze beginning to surround Hazama's body. "Hungry Darkness of a Thousand Souls! In the name of Susano'o I command you… Awaken, Nox Nyctores… Ouroboros! Devour this pest with thine jaws and rid this world of his presence!"


(For reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uglUDaFSXVk)
Suddenly, One Thousand snakes materialize upon the ground, rising violently into the air. They twist and combine into one enormous snake and consume the Adoring Fan's body as Hazama cackles on the ground below. After it is finished feasting, the giant snake vanishes into thin air, followed by the chain Hazama had summoned earlier.

"And that finishes that messy little business. Tch... I got some of his blood on my favorite suit..." Hazama complained as he pulled a pure white handkerchief from his pocket. He quickly wiped off the blood and looked back to Reaper. "So, buddy, We have much to discuss, because like it or not... we're working together from now on. And for the foreseeable future. Oh, and don't waste too much time trying to figure out how you can control me or kill me. It won't work. I know exactly how you operate. I wouldn't be much good as an Intelligence Officer if I didn't know the Modus Operandi for everyone who might want to kill me, now would I?"

[S121]

Firestorm Citadel

As the floating skull talked, Takoizu could hear a crash against the gates in the distance, only adding to the mystery of what the skull was saying. "Siege engines" brought many images of towering constructs designed to destroy entire complexes to Takoizu's mind. If they were going to go through the gates, then Takoizu would have to gather more information about what they would encounter ahead. After all, she may be powerful, but Takoizu knew it was unwise to go in blind.

"Siege engines?", Takoizu quizzically asked as the sound of the gate crashing echoed and faded into the smoldering red sky.



Rooftops - Santa Cruz - California | Night

"Knocked out?", Isaac mumbled just loud enough for Koishi and Shadow to hear as he struggled to see the Angel of Death. After a moment of struggling with his naked eyes, Isaac used his visor's zoom function to get a closer look at Malthael, and although the zoom function was somewhat limited, he could make out the details of the angel in the rubble. Just as Koishi had said, it looked like Malthael was not conscious.

"Huh... Maybe the landing knocked him out cold. If he's out, then we can use that to our advantage...", Isaac said to Shadow and Koishi as he turned off his zoom and looked over to them, but trailed off as he suddenly realized one crucial detail about their current situation. If Malthael was incapacitated from the impact with Earth, then surely he couldn't have raised the dead... right? Then again, he was an Angel of Death, meaning that he had full and absolute power over death itself. Could it be that he inadvertently caused the dead to rise, simply by being unconscious?

"Wait. If Malthael was knocked unconscious from the fall, then where did these monsters come from? Did he indirectly cause this?", Isaac asked in a confused tone as he looked back at the crater.



Chris and Claire's Living Quarters - Prometheus Labs - London

Six was a little confused about how Claire was acting and didn't really know what to make of her behavior. Six could only guess what Claire had in store for him, and her being empty handed only added to his anticipation and silent speculations.

"Be warned? How big of a surprise are we talking about?", Six asked Claire as a barely visible smile appeared on his face.

Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London | 1:00 PM

"Eh.. I suppose.", Dr. Neuman sheepishly said to Chung as the two entered into the Mess Hall.

As Chung and Dr. Neuman entered the Mess Hall, the smell of freshly made food drifted through the air as the SPARTANs stood at the food materializers, waiting as the machine's advanced lasers created their food. It seemed that many of the personnel thought that now was a good time to get food as well, meaning Chung and Dr. Neuman would have to wait in line.



Armor Technologies Lab - Sector 4 - Prometheus Labs - London

Lily simply smiled at Raven's response before grabbing her helmet and walking towards the testing chamber. She knew the scientists would handle Raven's request, so she thought it best that she simply get on with the test so that the two of them could spar soon. Meanwhile, one of the scientists looked over to Raven and answered his question.

"Sure. Just give us a sec, and we'll get you one of the carbon fiber training swords.", the scientist said before turning back to his datapad and quickly filing the remainder of the diagnostics report.

"In the meantime, why don't you come over and watch? This will surely be a spectacle worth seeing.", the head scientist called over to Raven from the door leading to the observation deck.


Test Chamber 5 - Armor Technologies Lab - Sector 4 - Prometheus Labs - London

As Lily entered the testing chamber, she pulled out her MA5C assault rifle and patiently waited for the program to begin.




Xunantunich | Belize

Upon hearing the Scout's impatient complaining, Max turned around in his seat to face him and spoke.

"Well if you're that impatient, you could always jump.", Max said to Scout in a somewhat snide manner as the helicopter hovered against the treetops, the foot rails just barely touching the trees below.

"Okay, toss the rope and slide down everyone. I'll try to find a safe spot to land and meet up with you guys later.", Max said to the rest of the group.



Bench - Streets of London (Vala's Location)

The armored man didn't really know what to make of Vala's seemingly out-of-place smile and wave. Perhaps she was expecting him, considering how she was simply sitting on a steel park bench and greeted him in such a friendly manner. Perhaps she wanted to be found?

After a few moments, the SPARTAN was within ten feet of Vala, close enough to see that the man was wearing a suit of red armor that looked strikingly similar to her own, albeit without the wrist modifications she had. After looking at Vala and observing her behavior, the SPARTAN finally spoke.

"You wanted us to find you, didn't you?", the SPARTAN asked Vala, more telling her than asking her.



Lima Tuberculosis Hospital - Lima, Ohio

Reaper stood silent and unmoving as he quickly digested all that had just happened. To be honest, he was not expecting a Character to appear out of nowhere, wanting to cooperate, and even found it somewhat unusual that PALADIN would cooperate with a Character to begin with. The only thing that he could guess was that either this guy was lying, or PALADIN was making compromises to their policy. He wasn't bothered about the thought of working with a Character, but Reaper did feel a tinge of annoyance about the possibility of him having to share a leadership role. After remaining like a statue for a brief moment, Reaper finally spoke, albeit in a rather cold, unfeeling manner.

"...I was not aware PALADIN made deals with Characters. You will have to allow me to verify this with my employers."

[Koishi]

Firestorm Citadel

---

"Lord Vanaduke has many traps and defenses leading up to his throne room. Spikes, rotating walls of fire, seige engines, boiling oil, all kinds of things meant to keep people like you and me out." HP replied.

"The lord cut no cost with his defenses leading up to the fall. Automatic seige engines, all lined up to cover the whole of the bridge. Constantly send down big spiked wooden wheels tumbling down the bridge, infused with magic to add some extra oomph. I should know, I used to operate those things before they put all the automatic mechanisms and stuff. The engines are pretty much impervious from the front with the armor plating. Try for the sides, no plating there." The skull recommended. "Also, the wheels aren't synchronized, i've seen some knights dodge and weave between barrages."

---

Santa Cruz

---

"Well, could've been the energy from the fall. Mixed with his power over death, and the catacombs..." Koishi replied, rubbing her chin. "I guess we've gotta wake him up to get him to stop all this. Anyone got a stick? Maybe one with a badger attached? Oo, oo, maybe even a crocodile!"

[Kilelicus]

Lima Tuberculosis Hospital Exterior | Lima, Ohio

---

Hazama placed his right hand upon his hat, holding it down as he peered at Reaper from below the brim, his grin peeking out from the shadows. "Oh that isn't necessary. I think the phrase... Crusader's Lance... will suffice. Though if you really think you need to call PALADIN, then by all means!"

Phenom turned on his heel and walked over to the Hero of Kvatch's corpse while Reaper decided what to do.

"Humph... what a shame... to have lived such a grandiose life in your game... and now you're just more food for the crows. Kinda funny when you think about it!" He said. Hazama then stood up and kicked the Hero's corpse. "Whatever... when this is all over, the Crows should have plenty to eat!"

[Kristia]

Bench - Streets of London (Vala's Location)


"Hello there soldier" Vala greeted the spartan still relaxed "I actually wanted to meet the so famous Halsey, but I guess it would be too dangerous for her to come outside, but anyways" she looked at the sky for a moment "If you guys saw what I sent you, then you can guess many thinks and what ifs like "Will the station fire?" or "Our secrets are in danger?" or other stuff like that"

"But I only wish to see the Doctor, while I wish to use a two by four for personal reasons, I got more important things to ask instead of damaging her brain, so here is the deal, you let me have a free talk with her and I will not cause any trouble in terms of hostility, unless someone pulls a trick that the ONI would do" the brawler offered to the spartan.

In her mind, Melissa was actually surprised with how calm her partner was, but kept her professionalism while revealing only her voice through the helmet´s speakers "Also don´t try to hack or use technological hardware, it will be unnecessary for both parties"

[SUSTIC]

((Done for now. I know there are other places to post for, but right now I can't think of what to post for those places.))

Rooftops - Santa Cruz - California | Night

"I am not worried as to how he had gotten unconscious, but if he is the one who had caused this mayhem. I simply desire to end this chaos that has fallen upon this city." Shadow spoke as he began thinking of a course of action... despite getting slightly annoyed and distracted by the seemingly carefree personality that Koishi has.




Chris and Claire's Living Quarters - Prometheus Labs - London

Before answering Six's question she almost cautiously looked over at her brother Chris, of whom was looking quite... confused as well. To be honest he isn't sure as to what kind of surprise Claire has up her sleeve either. So he's in the dark as to what Claire has planned as well... Seeing Chris confused and almost curious expression, she thought it was a good enough time to inform them of the news...

"Well you see... I'm... oh how should I say this...?" Claire spoke to herself as she quickly turned to face away from Chris and Six. It was obvious that she was quite nervous about telling them the news...

"I... um... I'm pregnant Six... and since you're the only one I've been with... well... I guess what I'm going to say is that you're going to be a daddy." Claire finally answered as she turned to face both him and her brother. It was obvious by the look on Chris's face that he was still trying to process what she just said... as indicated by his confused, and shocked expression... However she was more worried about Six's reaction...



Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London | 1:00 PM

Chung simply patted Neuman on the back in an attempt to make Neuman feel a bit better over what happened between Raven and Neuman earlier.

"Just don't worry about it okay? If it makes you feel any better, Elsword once did something similar. The result was an unconscious swordsman on the ground and Raven walking away angrily. If anything you got off kinda easy. We had to get some medical treatment for Elsword. You? Oh all you will need is some ice and a good bit of rest right?" Chung replied to Neuman as they both entered the Mess Hall. Upon seeing the line in the Mess Hall, Chung's expression and demeanor turned a little sour.

"Well crap looks like we chose a pretty bad time to come here huh?"



Armor Technologies Lab - Sector 4 - Prometheus Labs - London

It pleased Raven to hear that he will be given a blade for his sparring match against Lily, in fact it made him a bit more eager to confront Lily in a fighting scenario for once. Mostly because he never really had the chance to fight or spar against a Spartan before. Yeah he's heard of what they are capable of, and seen some footage of the various Spartan types in action. But he himself had never gotten experience or see a Spartan in true action first hand before... well except for a small bit during the attack on Prometheus Labs that happened a few months ago, however he still didn't see much of what a Spartan could truly do. Hence his eagerness to fight against Lily.

While he was thinking about how the upcoming sparring match will go, he found his thoughts interrupted by one of the scientists who asked him if he'd like to watch Lily test her armor. Well with nothing else to do, and with this being a good enough time to watch Lily in action, he proceeded to walk over to the Observation Deck to watch the tests Lily will be put through.

[WriggleRid3r]

Lu and Ciel's Apartment | Barcelona, Spain

---

"WHOA!" Kongou shouted in a manner of surprise as that... meanie... butthead... was sent flying by the little girl who was knocked out just a second ago. Based on how he fell, it must've hurt; a lot. Ordinary person would've been killed by that impact, and as evident from passerby reactions, this wasn't good. "That was uncalled for! Hey! I thought he was your friend!"

---

Voile Library

---

"Yes, they left already." Patchouli rolled her eyes as she closed the book she was reading and began ascending slowly, her eyes fixed on a particular door.

"Will you be going to bed, milady?" Koakuma asked Patchouli, who nodded.

"Yes. This whole workshop thing was a stupid idea." Patchouli condescendingly sighed as she gained altitude and speed. "Make sure that pink... thing... doesn't make any ruckus. If need be, just send it to sleep with Meiling. That's where all the loud stuff goes, anyway."

"Yes, milady." Koakuma bowed as Patchouli disappeared into an open door, which swung shut.

---

Sana's Studio | Manhattan, NY

---

After the meal, I invited the party to stay at my apartment. It seemed most, if not all, the members of the party were homeless one way or another, and the apartment room was way too large to fill up by myself, so...

"So I thought it would be great if you all can move in here." I said to them. It was very lonely for the past few months of being in the real world, and I needed companionship... until I find her comrades that saved her on that fateful day, anyway. "Well, what do you say?"