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  1. #2821

    Default

    In her Lab, Praxat goes through a list of names for her radiation when she finally settles on one. ( I got it I'll name it Luue Radiation or L-Rays for short,) Praxat thought. Praxat gets to work on developing her X-ray mod.

    She starts by developing and testing several prototype mods and googles. With each test she analysis the results and changes the design of the mod as need.

    This process takes several hours, and Praxat goes through several composite materials. ( I need to find the right composite materials for my modification that can harness the radiation, maybe if I had my hands on some of that Ultra Katchin?) Praxat thought.

    After a few more hours. Praxat begins to get tired and starts yawning. ( Okay it's getting late, I'll continue working on my modification for my goggles in the morning,) Praxat thought.
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  2. #2822
    This Isn't Home Yun Lao's Avatar
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    Default Signs of Life

    There was nothing.

    It hurts...

    Neither light nor darkness.

    It hurts...

    Neither sight nor sound.

    It hurts...

    Neither rage nor sorrow.

    It hurts...

    There was only pain.

    It hurts...

    Pain was the only sensation, the only defining feature of existence.

    It hurts...

    It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

    It hurts...

    Yet, there was something else besides the pain, something slipping from his grasp that he desperately sought to regain. He tried to remember what it was, to make sense of things, to push away the pain to regain some clarity of thought. It should have been easy, he was so accustomed to pain.

    Was he?

    Had there been something more to this existence other than pain? Was there something more to this?

    It hurts...

    He tried to remember.

    It hurts...

    Yet, he could only recall pain.

    It hurts...
    Last edited by Yun Lao; 10-02-2019 at 01:17 AM.

  3. #2823
    Voice of the Authorities Cleric of Hell’s Brigade's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sub-Zero MKA View Post
    Understandable. This was uncharted waters for the fallen goddess. So sure she had been in her actions, only to be proven so undeniably wrong by her own memories. The urge to repair what was in disarray was strong, but the path was unclear.

    In this, Asha'rah would be better served seeking advice and guidance from another. But Parsley did have one thing to say. "Perhaps the best thing to do is nothing. Ishtar has set about repairing what is damaged in the universe, setting things right and all that. Perhaps your best move is to leave it to her.

    "Either that or attempt to aid her. Though, I'm certain that bridge is now a pile of ash."
    A slightly bitter smile spreads across her mouth briefly.

    “Probably. She is....quite adamant. As to doing nothing.......that feels anathema to me. But then again, perhaps that means you’re correct. Thank you, Parsley. I...I appreciate your words.”

    She folds her arms and bows, then turns and heads back towards the Lookout, seeking to meditate and speak later with Eva.
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  4. #2824
    Voice of the Authorities Cleric of Hell’s Brigade's Avatar
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    Meagan and Azura land outside Morgana’s house, the psychic waiting for them.

    “You’re here for Cyanna then?”
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  5. #2825
    Lin Kuei Grandmaster Sub-Zero MKA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    A slightly bitter smile spreads across her mouth briefly.

    “Probably. She is....quite adamant. As to doing nothing.......that feels anathema to me. But then again, perhaps that means you’re correct. Thank you, Parsley. I...I appreciate your words.”

    She folds her arms and bows, then turns and heads back towards the Lookout, seeking to meditate and speak later with Eva.
    Parsley returned to the bow and watched the goddess depart.

    She believed in all honesty that Asha'rah could redeem herself for her mistakes. This reawakening and realization that things were not as she first thought instilled a necessary amount of humility in her. She was wrong and admitted as much.

    What she did and how she proceeded from there were both up to her. The likes of Parsley and others could only point her in the right direction; it was up to her to walk it, and it was hers to walk alone.

    She silently wished her good luck, then turned to look at Blizzar's hologram. It displayed the location of Alakazah's shrine. "I'm going to check out this shrine," she spoke loudly enough for the others to hear. "Follow it you want."

    With that, she lifted into the air and took off for the shrine.
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  6. #2826

    Default Reclaiming the Weapon of the Enemy

    Some time after he had awakened, Ochazuke had parted company from Aleka. He'd reached out to her and rest a hand on her shoulder - grateful, in his understated way - yet though his body had healed, the Acorian may have seen that it would take still more effort for his spirit to mend. As he walked off the ship and continued on to the Lookout, the harrowing experience of the twisted memory within his invaded dream left him shaken, and thus he had felt compelled to act.

    The pieces are already in motion, only we have been unable to see their course.

    It took a moment to settle himself back into the flow-state of Battle Meditation. Far from the familiarity of a dream, he knew well that a consummate awareness of sublime matters revealed about this world was as often a boon as it was accursed. In the examination of the moment, to find the truth of it in its totality was to be privy to any number of lingering presences that dwelt within them.

    Their collective had stopped the Doctor's mad ambitions and this universe would continue on as it always had. The planet beneath their feet turned to see a new tomorrow, set apart from the hideous machinations of one who stood outside of it. Yet he found no respite in the face of this knowledge. That which would threaten us all has at last been put down. What stands before us now are the enemies that stand amongst us.

    With all that remained to be done, his first action was to resume up where he left off. Immediately, Ochazuke surveyed the grounds for that corrosive, grey aura; but when he could not find the cold-blooded presence of Rex, that hardly put him at ease.

    Indeed, both Cthylla's intrusion into the private sphere of his mind and what she told him there of those things beyond the parted veil shook him deeply, and put him on guard.

    Many-angled entities roamed between the subtle spaces. The Eye of Auroc burned its gaze towards the Earth, even as his hand collapsed a nursery of stars. And then there's Alakazah... Together they had fought to secure the sight of one tomorrow, but against all the threats of the universe, of all those that still stalked upon his home and staked a claim over the lives of this world, for their sake he must continue to be vigilant.

    So it was with a dull sense of solidarity that he knew that there had been a select few who felt the same. Their own Guardian Evangeline, after all, was but the latest in a line of successors.

    Sequestered in the Lookout, far below the West Wing, there was an old shrine there. Uncharacteristically empty but for the hollows behind the pillars and the raised dais, there seemed to be as if platforms awaiting some player to cross its stage.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Falcon View Post
    Cowards. Asha'rah shook her head, clearing her head of darker thoughts. Courage was a prerequisite for the position of Guardian. What would make former Kamis cower in fear like whipped dogs? It was as if Arthur's last words came back in an echo.

    "Before he disappeared, Arthur spoke to me of a being he fought. One he died fighting, one who had killed Kamis from other worlds as well. He had just informed me of the Heaven's failure to appoint a replacement God of Destruction when he was interrupted."
    Quote Originally Posted by grampagen View Post
    Trailing the Guardian Evangeline as he descended further into the Lookout complex below the West Wing, his awareness was greeted with a familiar presence in Asha'rah. The Mechanical Bhikkhuni's call came in the midst of the training and it was enough to stir Kami's reaction.

    As the two convened, Ochazuke cast his gaze around the room. There was a resplendent energy, the same that ate at Evangeline from within, that permeated about the place, making a hallowed shrine of the ostensibly silent chamber. Immesurable potency of spirit seemed to ebb from it, but there was something more, the boiling energy there within Asha'rah's frame.

    Arthur. The one who turned the tide in days long past.

    This talk of ancient things and convening with spiritual incarnations was beyond him, but sensing the aura searching for something within the room, he would quietly assist if he could. Extending the field of his own energy, Ochazuke silently bore witness through the energy interactions, seeking through his waking meditation the state of things there in the shrine to the fallen Guardians.
    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    He senses what Eva said. The spirits seem...afraid.
    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    Silence reigns, weather shame or fear, they do not speak.
    Quote Originally Posted by grampagen View Post
    What was this now? One that walked among them would presume authority over the fallen Guardians of this world? Not only that, but would claim to be the very creator of the planet?

    Had Asha'rah gone mad? The most hyperbolic among them would cite the last four days as the breaking point, certainly, but her practice was derived in part among the Turtle Monks. Patience and insight, those were the virtues they purported.

    Beneath the steel skin shell of the walking Jizo were deeper mysteries still.

    As Asha'rah turned to walk out of the chamber, Ochazuke step forward to exchange a few words as she passed.

    "Duty is suffered as long as the sacrifice can be afforded for such honours. Perhaps whatever was lost is beyond even their comprehension."
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Falcon View Post
    Asha'rah tried not to judge the spirits too harshly. Everyone was fallible in their own ways, be they mortals, ascended mortals or the gods themselves. Yet it was difficult to be lenient. It was difficult to see so many who had been judged worthy of guardianship cower from anything to the point of utter passivity. Whatever threatened them had to be great indeed, and she hoped at least a few were simply picking their battles carefully. Without more information, there was simply no way to know.

    "My apologies for my presumptuousness, Evangeline. To be stymied at this juncture is frustrating. But this island is your domain. I would give greater deference to your judgment were we to repeat what just happened."


    Ochazuke, of all people, was willing to grant the guardians the benefit of the doubt. Asha'rah felt her wrath temper in the face of his example.

    "Perhaps. I do not wish to be so quick to judge. Whatever the case, it appears my long vacation in exile must come to a close. Fife will be a great and terrible foe, and we must take care not to lose our focus. But he will not be my last."
    It had been quite some time since he laid eyes on this place. Two years ago he had deigned it immaterial to their struggles - Fife had fallen to hubris and a city vanished for it, and that had been enough. Today with all they knew, it seemed the conflict had grown far larger in scope, poised to prey upon so many other worlds besides the Earth. Having seen a fraction of this where the battles had maimed this world, Ochazuke could only feel increasingly powerless and small in the face of the greater cosmos.

    But here in the depths of the Guardians' chamber, he had only his own footsteps for company, and the divine silence when he stilled. It was them he drew a small object from his person, and stared at it where it rest in his palm.

    Arthur's Ring.

    This dubious prize he had wrest from Glacia. Perhaps it had been a gift from the Doctor to this chimeric daughter, considered little more than a fixed quanity of artificial augmentation like the Dreadnought Heart and the metal Ishtar forcefully twist from her bones. No more potential than what had been immediately apparent as a vector for magic. He thought about how the Doctor must have ripped it from the cold, dead hand of the Guardian in some other reality. Just another means to a forceful end.

    Certainly, there were differences between them, but like the relics of Zxu'ro he bore upon his person, there was a memory in the weight of these objects, and while he had little acquaintance with Arthur, it was a story he knew well.

    Expanding his dominion over this world as the King of Kings, the people below began calling him something else.

    God.

    Tracing the nascent energies where they remained within this hollow chamber, he placed the ring upon his finger and focused. Evangeline had told them long ago she had pulled their fates to this point. The scars upon his heart, the end of his old life, the death of Arjan Kaibyo, that had been proof enough that there was nothing divine about the fractured ambitions of humankind. But in the face of all that they had lost, of all they yet stood to lose, he was growing increasingly desperate to hear some answer.

    "You called yourselves Guardians. Where are you now?"

  7. #2827
    Voice of the Authorities Cleric of Hell’s Brigade's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grampagen View Post
    Some time after he had awakened, Ochazuke had parted company from Aleka. He'd reached out to her and rest a hand on her shoulder - grateful, in his understated way - yet though his body had healed, the Acorian may have seen that it would take still more effort for his spirit to mend. As he walked off the ship and continued on to the Lookout, the harrowing experience of the twisted memory within his invaded dream left him shaken, and thus he had felt compelled to act.

    The pieces are already in motion, only we have been unable to see their course.

    It took a moment to settle himself back into the flow-state of Battle Meditation. Far from the familiarity of a dream, he knew well that a consummate awareness of sublime matters revealed about this world was as often a boon as it was accursed. In the examination of the moment, to find the truth of it in its totality was to be privy to any number of lingering presences that dwelt within them.

    Their collective had stopped the Doctor's mad ambitions and this universe would continue on as it always had. The planet beneath their feet turned to see a new tomorrow, set apart from the hideous machinations of one who stood outside of it. Yet he found no respite in the face of this knowledge. That which would threaten us all has at last been put down. What stands before us now are the enemies that stand amongst us.

    With all that remained to be done, his first action was to resume up where he left off. Immediately, Ochazuke surveyed the grounds for that corrosive, grey aura; but when he could not find the cold-blooded presence of Rex, that hardly put him at ease.

    Indeed, both Cthylla's intrusion into the private sphere of his mind and what she told him there of those things beyond the parted veil shook him deeply, and put him on guard.

    Many-angled entities roamed between the subtle spaces. The Eye of Auroc burned its gaze towards the Earth, even as his hand collapsed a nursery of stars. And then there's Alakazah... Together they had fought to secure the sight of one tomorrow, but against all the threats of the universe, of all those that still stalked upon his home and staked a claim over the lives of this world, for their sake he must continue to be vigilant.

    So it was with a dull sense of solidarity that he knew that there had been a select few who felt the same. Their own Guardian Evangeline, after all, was but the latest in a line of successors.

    Sequestered in the Lookout, far below the West Wing, there was an old shrine there. Uncharacteristically empty but for the hollows behind the pillars and the raised dais, there seemed to be as if platforms awaiting some player to cross its stage.













    It had been quite some time since he laid eyes on this place. Two years ago he had deigned it immaterial to their struggles - Fife had fallen to hubris and a city vanished for it, and that had been enough. Today with all they knew, it seemed the conflict had grown far larger in scope, poised to prey upon so many other worlds besides the Earth. Having seen a fraction of this where the battles had maimed this world, Ochazuke could only feel increasingly powerless and small in the face of the greater cosmos.

    But here in the depths of the Guardians' chamber, he had only his own footsteps for company, and the divine silence when he stilled. It was them he drew a small object from his person, and stared at it where it rest in his palm.

    Arthur's Ring.

    This dubious prize he had wrest from Glacia. Perhaps it had been a gift from the Doctor to this chimeric daughter, considered little more than a fixed quanity of artificial augmentation like the Dreadnought Heart and the metal Ishtar forcefully twist from her bones. No more potential than what had been immediately apparent as a vector for magic. He thought about how the Doctor must have ripped it from the cold, dead hand of the Guardian in some other reality. Just another means to a forceful end.

    Certainly, there were differences between them, but like the relics of Zxu'ro he bore upon his person, there was a memory in the weight of these objects, and while he had little acquaintance with Arthur, it was a story he knew well.

    Expanding his dominion over this world as the King of Kings, the people below began calling him something else.

    God.

    Tracing the nascent energies where they remained within this hollow chamber, he placed the ring upon his finger and focused. Evangeline had told them long ago she had pulled their fates to this point. The scars upon his heart, the end of his old life, the death of Arjan Kaibyo, that had been proof enough that there was nothing divine about the fractured ambitions of humankind. But in the face of all that they had lost, of all they yet stood to lose, he was growing increasingly desperate to hear some answer.

    "You called yourselves Guardians. Where are you now?"
    A light flares from the Ring and suddenly, a form stand before him. Male, tall, distinguished. A faint beard lay upon his face, his clothes not robes like many Kami but more soldier like.

    He nods.

    “You have questions.”

    Eva walks up behind Ochazuke, seeing the spirit.

    “Arthur. You’ve returned.”
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  8. #2828
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    Meagan and Azura land outside Morgana’s house, the psychic waiting for them.

    “You’re here for Cyanna then?”
    Meagan walks up to her, "That depends if she wishes to go. Mostly I am here to see how she is doing, I understand that she didn't take the news about her close friend very well."
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  9. #2829
    Voice of the Authorities Cleric of Hell’s Brigade's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    Meagan walks up to her, "That depends if she wishes to go. Mostly I am here to see how she is doing, I understand that she didn't take the news about her close friend very well."
    Morgana shake sher head.

    “She did not. She was placed in a psychic coma but has since been awoken. The effort of it all exhausted her and she sleeps fretfully.”

    She takes them inside, Azura watching everything with hyper intelligent eyes.

    Cyanna lay sleeping on a couch, tear stains on her cheeks.
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  10. #2830
    This Isn't Home Yun Lao's Avatar
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    Default Signs of Life

    It hurts...

    The pain did not subside, but rather his mind had grown bored of it. The only agony that still stung was the knowledge that had been forgotten, yet teased him right outside his reach. What had he forgotten, why was it important? It was enough to plague his thoughts, to keep him from succumbing to the pain and falling deeper into the abyss. What was he missing? What was taunting him so?

    What was it?!

    Rage in frustration stirred up memories, dislodging them from their hiding places and bringing them into the light.

    He recalled the vast expanse of blue beneath his head, the lush green verdant beneath his feet, and taste of blood as he devoured another human. Another? Had there been more? Yes, that's right. Many humans had declared themselves champions of their kind, seeking to overthrow him, and each time, he reduced them to mewling children before he ate them.

    No matter how many times he sent this message, they continued to defy him. How could they not understand that this was for their own good?!

    He had seen their potential and how it corrupted them. They were not fit to rule and a threat to those around them.

    He would have to alter the course of their destiny.

    He would... no... wait...
    That was not him.

    Who was he?

    Uncertainty still plagued him, but he knew, without doubt, those memories were not his.

    Where were his memories?

    Who was he?

    It hurts...
    Last edited by Yun Lao; 10-02-2019 at 03:02 PM.

  11. #2831

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of HellÂ’s Brigade View Post
    A light flares from the Ring and suddenly, a form stand before him. Male, tall, distinguished. A faint beard lay upon his face, his clothes not robes like many Kami but more soldier like.

    He nods.

    “You have questions.”

    Eva walks up behind Ochazuke, seeing the spirit.

    “Arthur. You’ve returned.”
    Unbeknownst to him, Evangeline had joined him in the chamber. That even after all this time she had caught him off-guard was disconcerting and his eyes widened.

    Still, he was setting foot in a rather unfamiliar realm, and if anybody could bridge the gap, it would be her. It struck him plainly, then, that about all he shared with the two was a common home. This matter of divine successions, however, was an entirely different matter.

    The Ring resonated with the chamber as he theorized, and was held alit with and yet it was only fodder for the first of many questions.

    "This ring was not his," he stated plainly, "Can the same be said of this spirit?"

    Concentrating upon the ethereal image with Kyokushin Keihatsu, he surveyed the unearthly remains of the Guardian's spirit intently.

    "Is this your final dwelling then? Shall a Guardian find no rest even when his crown passes down the line of succession?"

    But these inquiries were more to sate his own curiosity than anything. There were more battles to fight in the coming days, caught up in a war they had inherited from the Creator herself.

    "Rather burdensome station, the seat of Kami. I have seen the results when it has been preyed upon." They would be remiss to forget Fife's possession. "But you chose it anyway. I want to know why."

  12. #2832
    Voice of the Authorities Cleric of Hell’s Brigade's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grampagen View Post
    Unbeknownst to him, Evangeline had joined him in the chamber. That even after all this time she had caught him off-guard was disconcerting and his eyes widened.

    Still, he was setting foot in a rather unfamiliar realm, and if anybody could bridge the gap, it would be her. It struck him plainly, then, that about all he shared with the two was a common home. This matter of divine successions, however, was an entirely different matter.

    The Ring resonated with the chamber as he theorized, and was held alit with and yet it was only fodder for the first of many questions.

    "This ring was not his," he stated plainly, "Can the same be said of this spirit?"

    Concentrating upon the ethereal image with Kyokushin Keihatsu, he surveyed the unearthly remains of the Guardian's spirit intently.

    "Is this your final dwelling then? Shall a Guardian find no rest even when his crown passes down the line of succession?"

    But these inquiries were more to sate his own curiosity than anything. There were more battles to fight in the coming days, caught up in a war they had inherited from the Creator herself.

    "Rather burdensome station, the seat of Kami. I have seen the results when it has been preyed upon." They would be remiss to forget Fife's possession. "But you chose it anyway. I want to know why."
    “It’s not my ring, but it still resonates. I am the Arthur of this place.”

    The spirit moves and sits upon a conjured chair. Its energy seems...no longer afraid. Or bound down.

    Arthur shakes his head.

    “I choose to come here when I am asked, but I do not reside here. For a time, recently, Sakin had me trapped the others cowering, but now....now we are free again to come here if we are needed.”

    It is Eva who answers next.

    “We take up the mantle because it is necessary, Ochazuke. Because the greater good requires it and we would see it used for good, not I’ll. In the past some have tried to claim the mantle with less than noble goals in mind.”
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  13. #2833
    This Isn't Home Yun Lao's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MrSandman View Post
    The journey, specifically for one of his speed and power, was a relatively short one....at least theory.

    Eons had come and gone since those days so very long ago, the lands had shifted, cracked, reformed....again and again. Scarred and disfigured by cataclysms too early to be remembered by humans. The paths had long since vanished, leaving only the vaguest sense of where his goal now lay.

    To the north, far far to the north. When his brethren held dominion over what remained of the world, the human parasites had saught the hard, barren wastelands as there last refuge. Across the ocean....where none wished to look for them. A cold, harsh tundra of ice and frozen earth. This had been where they chosen to die....alone and freezing, over their fate against his brethren....Or so he had first thought.

    Here, somewhere in this land of ice and snow, lay buried one of the greatest testaments to his superiority.....and it was long overdue for the victors triumphant return.

    ----

    Close behind him, Jack followed....keeping pace over hundreds of miles. Soon it became apparently that his destination was somewhere deep in the heart of the northern wastes.

    A chill feel over jacks soul.....not an unexpected condition, if but for his present state. One with death, this biting cold was a sign of something far deeper and darker......

    On the horizon the sky seemed to darken. Rex was flying straight towards it without slowing....but Jack, now closer to the boundary between worlds, would be given pause. Something hungry lay in that direction. Something beyond him, maybe even beyond Rex.....he could not tell.

    Beyond here, there were only monsters.....and if left alone they would consume each other, and perhaps awaken a far worse monster as a result.
    It had been some time since his mind had thought of these lands, but then again, did one often contemplate over the blades of grass trampled beneath their feet? Nature had sought to reclaim the battle-scarred wastes, yet he saw only barren ice and misery.

    To think, these tundras were once home to a grand civilization that had flourished far beyond his watchful eye.

    The biting cold, something far beyond the natural, reminded him that they had broken one of the taboos of the natural world. This civilization had sought to harness power they were not yet meant to control and it had corrupted them in his eyes. Death had clung to these lands long after he had purged them from this world, but it appeared that much like the Hexlands, the infection of their actions had buried itself deep into the lands. It would explain where the pathetic Gris-Gris had gotten their foolish ideas from, believing themselves superior in a once-proven fool's errand.

    Thinking about it made him irritable and as much as he wanted to scour these lands to the bedrock to start again, he was here for a reason.

    This blight upon the Earth was saturated with the memories of the dead and lingered with ancient power. As he had foreseen the future, his past self had given him a fine-aged meal and he intended to feast to his fill.

  14. #2834
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    ~~~ Two Weeks Prior to Events ~~~

    The distinctive pop, the hiss of escaping fizz, and the smell....so distinct, so refreshing.

    After a long day of teaching, nothing hit the spot quite like an ice cold bottle of non alcoholic root beer in a beer bottle(TM).

    It had been a few weeks since his business had gotten off the ground, very eventful weeks in fact. Seemed as if the last several years had seen a rise in the epidemic of big population centers exploding...or aliens invading....or whatever was the night terror of the week. With it, had come a desire by those who wished to learn how to live a more...way of the land type of existence, just in case the next spontaneous detonation blows civilization back to the stone age or the like. Surviving in the wild, hunting, foraging....there had been an explosion in the market for wilderness survival.

    Clients paid top dollars to be taught, even if less then half stayed at it long enough to learn anything.....business was good, bills were paid, life...if a bit boring....had returned to some form of normality.

    The man set aside his bottle and sighed. His face was rugged, lined with stress from many an unseen trial. It was a rugged sort of handsome you'd fine on a woodsman or a hunter. At a glance he was quite the brick, not freakishly muscular...but definately looked the part of a man who lived a life in the wild(present conditions excluded). It was....rather strange, when compared to a photo of himself from only a few years prior. Most of his life he had been but a humble courier for his small city postage service. The worst he had ever dealt with was breaking down in the middle of the country and being chased by bats for half an hour.

    But nothing....nothing compared to the years he spent in hell. Not metaphorical hell, not some abstract fictional hell, not some emotional self engineered hell.

    Actual. literal, hell.



    A rhythmic series of knocks sounded on the door, shaking the man back to his senses. "Uhh....yea, Im ere."

    The door clicks, then opens. A young woman steps inside, draped in a heavy cloak with the hood pulled over her head. The man was sure it was like hot as hell outside, and the middle of the day.....so her choice of clothes were about as questionable as his taste in drinks.

    "Is this, Cornelius Cohbs Survival School?"

    Putting aside her clothes with a skeptical but interested expression, Cornelius flashed the woman a smile. "Yep, that's ma name.....What can ah do for ye....."

    The girl let her hood fall to her shoulders, then unclasped her cloak and let it float aside.



    Cornelius Cohb had many question, top of his list being how was she not dead with that much clothing on a hot day like today. After swiftly studying him however, the woman wasted no time in asking her own. "Cornelius Cohb, I presume? I represent a party interested in obtaining your skills.....as we are aware you serve as a extreme environment survivalist and guide?"

    "I.....well yeh, wha kinda work are ye lookin fer?"

    "Guide....we're in need of an experienced survivalist to compliment an expedition, we've already reviewed your information and believe you are the correct person for our needs."

    "Ah mean.....ah not even sure wat yur tryin to.."

    "I'm authorized to offer you 5 million zeni upfront, double upon completion with hazard pay included."

    "YER HIRED!" Cohb blurted out. "...Ah mean I'm hired......er..........I'm available, i guess." With a sudden blush, he scratched the back of his head. This, at the very least, seemed to elect a quiet chuckle from his guest...who had kept her cool until then.

    "Very good mister cohb, the one I represent will be pleased......and please..." Her eyes sparkled behind her thick glasses. "...call my Morgan."

  15. #2835
    This Isn't Home Yun Lao's Avatar
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    Apr 2014
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    Default Signs of Life

    It hurts...

    Or did it?

    He had long forgotten about the pain, although he suspected it was still there, gnawing desperately for attention in some dark corner of his mind. Thoughts had tumbled over and through broken shards of memories, most of which he instinctively knew were not his. In the end, he had forgotten... something.

    When the rage, frustration, and misery subsided, he had simply forgotten that he had forgotten something important. Instead, he simply waited now. For what? He wasn't sure, but he had little choice but to wait.

    After some time, he grew irritated once more as he found his thoughts were being disturbed by something.

    It was a sound!

    Sound? What sound?

    It... sounded like the sound of a crackling fire.

    The recognition alone was enough for his sightless eyes to suddenly see the light of a nearby bonfire and his nose to take in the comforting smells of burning wood. As though by giving definition to this void, the laws of reality were reimposed on him as he felt gravity pressing his body into scratchy grass. It was then he realized he had a body and with that, he stood up.

    "It's him!"

    Looking around, he saw no one, yet he realized it was the shadows that spoke to him. They took shape, forming rough humanoid silhouettes.

    "We've been waiting for you!"

    "It's time to celebrate!"

    It was if he was slowly waking up from a dream as he suddenly heard music and the sounds of people laughing, cheering, and talking amongst themselves as if they had always been. Clapping and stomping in time to a beat, the shadows danced around the fire and encouraged him to do the same.

    He danced with the shadows and celebrated, though he knew not why he celebrated. The confusion proved unprepared to stand up against the happiness he felt and soon he had forgotten about the confusion, the frustration, the pain, and the knowledge that he had forgotten that he forgot something important.

    "You did good, kid!" One of the shadows said, "We'll have an even bigger celebration when you get back!"

    Get back?

    What?

    Darkness consumed him once more, this time in the grips of crushing deep waters. Squirming in panicking, he tossed and turned, diving him deeper into its depths.

    A light caught his eye and looking up, towards the surface, he saw a hand plunging down towards him.

    Reaching up, he took it.

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