Jazz and Jessica ~In an airship.~

"In her line of work, you come out with some serious scars, and only a few are physical..." This repeated in his mind, he couldn't stop thinking about that.That's what happened to everyone. He knew that very well. It's everyone's excuse, and was one of the most obvious statements he's heard to date. Even though he knew that, he couldn't doubt that fact that Sylvanas had been through hard times. Some that even he wouldn't want to know. Being a woman would only make it worse, given some missions given only to the women.

"It's hard for anyone to imagine what someone had been through. No one could truly comprehend until they've witnessed themselves." Jazz turned his left arm away from the soldiers so neither he, nor Jessica could see it. He took off his arm glove letting it drop to the ground. Jazz sucked his arm into his jacket sleeve to and use his right hand to find the other glove.

She already looks like a gem, she just needs to be cleaned off is all. But cleaning a gem is easier than helping a troubled human Jessica smiled bitterly. It hard for anyone to fight in a war, it's never a pretty sight.

Jessica turned to Jazz who had been fiddling with something for some time. She punched Jazz's shoulder. What are you doing? She seemed slightly embarrassed.

"It was getting sort of gross in there. It was feeling bad, and nasty. Give me a break, I wore that for 2 months." He was whispering loudly. Jessica had no idea what it was like.

On an airship though?!

"Yes!" Jazz finally got the other glove on, picked up the old one and stuffed it in an unused pocket. He quickly walked past his sister, sitting on a near by chair.

The last comment he heard from the soldier was how Sylvanas was lost. He didn't know Sylvanas at all, but he was able to figure that much out.

_________________
I GOT 'DEM HUMPS.
Doctress Who:You can be my Brony bitch ;D
Droctress Who:Jas, would you like me to make you a sandwich?
JesusChrist: Well if you insist Jasthn I'll use it with you. Spread them cheeks
Tragedy_and_Comedy: Jas is about as dangerous as a kitten.
Blood Lord:I hit your dog with mah truck. :3
Lenore Celestalis:*jumps on your back* weee~
Come check out my story in the Literature Thread. Update? It is true!
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Commander Vaco.

High Command.

"We'll have to use the weather to our advantage then," he replied. "If I wanted them dead, however, the gunships wouldn't have purposely missed. Our mission is to capture them, the main target is the female. As for the male... secondary target; maybe useful, may not. Direct them to the road, at about this position." he continued, marking a position on the map near the main road. It was a empty parking lot. "The troops there will help ensure that they do not double back, nor try to leave. Therefore, they are under your command. Keep me notified of any changes, we'll be there soon."

The Lord-Commander walked to his desk, and pushed a button. A section in the wall slide aside, revealing a descending stair case into the hanger below. "Jace, are you familiar with Hover bikes?" he asked the new agent as he walked down the stairs. Within the hanger was the black drop-ship he had taken to Parsela, but also four hover bikes sitting in perfect condition. "I know the wind and anti-grav functions will give us some hell, but this is the fast way there. I have a light convoy that will meet us there as well."



BLACK HAND.

Black One laughed about Jessica's remarks about Sylvanas being a gem. "Yeah," he said, whipping away a tear. "You could say something like that about her."

"Anyways, enough small talk for now, we got a new mission," he said while adjusting his clothing. "The Commander is pursuing a couple of fugitives. We know that one guy is a known terrorist, big whoop. His interest is in the female elf that rescued the male, he suspects her of being one of the legendary Demi-Gods. We are a "type" of support. Basically, welcome to the Protectorate Remnants. Our job is to "save" her from Vaco's strike force... but I don't know what is going to happen to you after that. I know that the Captain will go finish her mission, but you... I just don't know."

The airship entered the blasting winds, and immediately set down. Wheels deployed from underneath, allowing the now truck, to roll down the side road to where the intervention will take place.


Captain Sylvanas.

The robotic medic had done its job well. The injury wasn't as bad as she had feared, but the running and extra movement had certainly done its damage. She lifted up the new chest piece and slide it over her head. There was a few small metallic clicks as the armor fastened into place and locked. She looked into the mirror at the job. Apart from the chest piece being devoid of any worn marks, it was a perfect fit. She slide a dark brown poncho with a red slash over her armor, and didn't put her helmet on. She looked again at the mirror. She'd gone from Imperial Captain, to a Rebel recruit.


501st Red Group.

Pursing Ivy.

"Got that MIR, we'll keep our distance," replied the Sargent. "All teams, I want a larger space between us, and them. Some heavy shit is going to start raining down on us, and I don't want anyone dead from friendly fire."

The Sargent leaped across a gap in between to buildings and kept running. the wind had also shoved him over to the left a few meters. "Also, I want everyone to go down into the buildings and alleyways and purse from there. A few scouts and sharp shooters will remain up top for as long as the weather holds. We still need some eyes up top to help out."

Red Group split, and only a few troopers remained running along the roofs.

But one unit scored lucky. The trooper Kaito went after had a few friends near by who quickly helped the struggling trooper escape from the choke hold. They grabbed Kaito and drooped him to the ground, two of the troopers were busy putting restraining locks on his hands and feet, One more held a gun to his head, the other radio the situation in, and the other two took up supporting positions to protect their fellow troopers.

But of course, Ivy was probably long gone by then...

"This is Red Group, Unit 4. We caught the male."

_________________
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Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.

Lady Ivy “Xantara” Swift ~ Gia Panta // Alleyways, In flight

Ivy heard the airships from above, as they flew on. She kept on flying, but then glanced around when she noticed Kaito had gone his own way.
He’s so going to get caught she thought with a sigh.
Huh? Wait, what? Tallis’ voice popped into her head. I can’t see anything in this bag, you know. ’You telling me he’s cleared off? After all our trouble to keep him safe?
Yeah. And I know. I messed up. Don’t you dare say ‘I told you so’.
I told you so, replied the cat’s voice smugly. Then her tone changed. But you are unbelievably stubborn. I told you this was a bad idea, but noOoo, you had to go play hero, and look where it’s got us! He’s gonna end up getting caught anyway, and Gaiana only knows what shit we’ve landed ourselves in…all because you had to do the noble thing and try and save him, didn’t you?!
What can I say? I like playing the hero. Being selfish is too addictive, plus it’s very distasteful. I like a challenge.
Oh yeah, well you certainly got a challenge alright! You do realise that the chances of us getting out scotch free are next to nothing, now? We now have a high risk of being caught, AND of blowing your cover, if you haven’t done that already, ‘little Miss so-called-tact’.

Ivy just shrugged. She was still making her way through the alleyways. The one she was on now appeared to be deserted, although to be honest she could barely see anything through the downpour. She was simply relying on her natural sixth sense to guide her. Should any Grims or persons be near her, she would feel it. Anyway, report?
Well, thanks to your little storm, all our air scouts have had to pull out, and several of our ground scouts have had to take shelter, replied the cat. It was obvious she was not pleased.
Oh Tallis… the elf began, but before she got any further there was another interruption.

Xantara, Jalent here. I’m still out in your area and have found cover, but there’s something you should know. I’ve just witnessed what could be an instrument in your area…it just this second disappeared into the rain. We don’t have access to echo-location right now – it could be anywhere. And I can see Grims. Looks like they’re moving into the alleys now.
Ivy looked concerned. Yes, I can sense the grims closing in…didn’t realise there was an instrument though (urgh, unnatural man-made machinery).Thanks for the information, Jalent. Keep a lookout, won’t you?
Will do, my Lady, although to be honest, I don’t like our chances. This storm is both a blessing and a curse. Even us beings with good eyesight and hearing, we’re having difficulty seeing or hearing anything through this. Do you think we could sneak a snake on watch and at least get some heat vision?
A snake? Are you sure the wind hasn’t got to you head Jalent? We can’t risk putting a snake out in the middle of the city, not when the situation is so delicate!
And what do you suggest?
Oh please, you two, give it a rest, replied Ivy, giving her head an unconscious rub. I can have over a thousand different organisms communicating with me all at once without any trouble, and yet you two arguing are enough to give me a headache.

The invisible elf flew cautiously now. She stopped for a moment, perching high up on the side of a building, underneath an over-hanging roof, giving her shelter so that the rain couldn’t give her away. Her feet and legs resting against the brickwork behind her like a swimmer in a pool. Her invisibility would be wearing off very soon…Ivy reached inside her cloak, pulling out the bottle of advanced invisibility, and took another sip before replacing it. She had no idea whether the grims still had sonar on her. However, there was always one way of finding out.
She waited there silently in the empty alley, ready to spring away should she be discovered. Hiding hadn’t worked the first time, but she was in the air now. There was no chance of her being ‘accidently’ spotted.

Let’s see whether they can find me.
Hmph, bet you they will.

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

{Krimlo}

Gabriel smiled wide and watched the girl slip to the floor. He quickly pulled Shekoga up and spun it in the air with a short toss, catching the hilt and holding onto it for a second. His eyes closed and a glowing aura rose around him for the briefest second. His eyes opened to gaze down to Mystara, his left hand moving down. He grasped her orange jumpsuit in his fist and lifted her up, turning to look at the surgical station. Gabe swung her forward, sending her skidding across the floor, through the ring, and into the room free of bacterial hindrances. He placed Shekoga against the wall once more, returning again to removing his armor.

The doctors paused a moment, still frozen by the fact a fight had just broken out. But then they quickly returned their focus, lifting Mystara up onto the table. Gabriel watched, sliding off his pauldrons and cuirass. She put up more of a fight than some would have... Her natural speed made that entertaining. Anyone else would have been slow enough to easily lay to rest... Then again, I didn't have much room to move around. The Undead thought as he finished removing the last of his armor. He stood in the tight, hunter green material that constantly covered his body in most every area. He quickly tossed on a white coat and slipped on a pair of thin gloves from the box held aloft on the wall.

Gabriel soon walked up to the table as the others pulled down the zipper on the front of the jumpsuit she had been forced to wear. Gabe tied his surgical mask behind his head, a thick plastic cap starting at his brow that kept his hair out of the way for the surgery. The man paused to observe this moment, lifting a hand to stop the other. He finished removing her jumpsuit himself, getting a full view of her before they...got to work. His apple iris' scanning slowly up and down over her nude form. He quickly registered it to memory and nodded for them to proceed.

The first half hour went smoothly. They examined her internal systems, checking her over properly for anything that machines wouldn't later on pick up. Gabriel leading the team in their studious examination of the young Gato. One of the doctors had to step away after some time. Walking out of the cleansing ring in the hallway, he tore away his mask and began sharply gasping as he felt sweat bead down his face. He closed his eyes and clasped a hand over his mouth to hold back his lunch he had so enjoyed earlier on. But the surgery wasn't what got to him. He had years of practice and experience as a medical surgeon. ... I... He actually reveled in it... That monster was enjoying it all... Even after we cut her open, he was...touching her like that!

~~"I! Was born into a curse... An outlaw straight from birth! My momma danced around the fire and pulled me from the dirt!"~~

The doctor started to walk away, moving to the intersection. Two of Gabriel's elite troops stood their, watching him come forward. "Heeyyyyyyyy... What's up, Doc?" One stated with an eerie laugh as the other stepped forward from behind He pulled out a large dagger, the edge of the blade flickering to life similar to a chainsaw. A quick slice diagonally sent the jolting blade tearing through the would-be deserter, splitting his body apart.

~~"I live out in the woods! I'm not misunderstood..."~~

The men laughed as the doctor's body twitched and spasmed while collapsing to the floor, blood spurting all over them and the walls. The doctor's in the room looked back and forth quickly from the hallway and to Gabriel. The Undead stared at them, his mask stretched as he grinned wide. "... Don't lose your stomachs now, doctors..." His bloodied hands trailed the form of Mystara's open body, tickling at her red flesh and bones. Fingers stroking over her waist and down her flesh, leaving red trails that stretched down between her thighs.

~~"Maybe you're thinking that I won't, I'm thinking that I would!"~~

The next hour after the surgery consisted of running Mystara's body through a series of machines. Testing her mind to gauge her mental capabilities. Examining the threshold that connected her flesh to the ethereal, showing the limits of her magical skills, if she could ever have any. Meanwhile, Gabriel wandered out on his own, heading into the deepest depths of Krimlo. None of his personnel were allowed to ever enter. None even knew what existed in the large vault.

Gabriel stepped up to a single control station in the center of the secured room. Once the large vault was once more closed, he pressed a switch for the lights. An echo of clicks and pangs rang out as the large bulbs over the room began turning on in rows through the center, leading from Gabriel and straight to a body hanging in the air.

~~"That's why I'm dressed in black! Ain't ever coming back!"~~

Faus moved forward, tossing his helmet down as he quickly jogged up to the girl hanging limply from tubes and wires that came down from the ceiling. He yanked away the gauntlet that plated his fingers in metal, exposing his raw flesh. He crossed his fingertips up and down her cold, pale flesh. "Honey... My sweetest pride... I'm sorry that daddy was away so long." He lifted his other hand, holding a small object in his palm. It moved and stretched its limbs, moving similar to a metallic crab that was stuck on its back. His bare fingers reached back, parting the back of his hair to expose the back of his muscular neck. "... I'm almost ready to be what I once was."

Gabriel slapped the miniature machine into his flesh as it then tore into him, embedding itself under his flesh in a frantic fury. It moved down, digging into his spine and becoming part of his body. It then began to shape around his bones, forming into them to fully merge with its host. Immediately, it began relaying signals, rushing real emotions and senses into his brain as he felt his first realization of what he was doing. He began to laugh from the pure joy, thoroughly happy as he hugged the lifeless, nude body of his hanging daughter.

~~"Cause I'm the black sheep of the familyyy!"~~

~~{Black Sheep: Saliva}~~

_________________

Jace & MIR




MIR stared intently at the girl trough his sonar. It seemed she has stopped moving. After doing some basic measurements MIR arrived upon a proper firing time and fuse for the HE rounds. It'd work even better now that she was in an alley, the force of the explosion would be more focused then. Of course MIR was firing not to kill, he was not aiming directly at her. The round was supposed to explode a safe-enough distance away that it wouldn't kill. But it, being a large bomb, could incapacitate the target, if only for a few seconds.


"This is unit MIRAGE. I advise all others units stay away from the target's alley for now. Firing trajectory is traced and I'll be firing within the span of 20 seconds. Firing to incapacitate, of course."
the large robot said. Meanwhile Jace had arrived, via Commander Vaco's hover-bike. True to the commanders word, it had been a bit of a rough ride, but thanks to the over-cropping buildings and the lowness of the road, they had been saved the majority of grief the air-ships had to go through.



"I must meet at the point I've discussed with MIR sir, we've both already set up plan. But I'm quit sure we could use that hostage. . ." Jace said, to Vaco as he walked off down an alley.


"I'll be in touch via the radio." Came Jace's voice.


The boy maneuvered the various alley's, his own armor blinking into invisibility. The target was attempting to hide, how nice. Jace arrived, and took cover behind a wall.

"5. . . .4. . . .3. . . .2. . .

Jace braced himself as he heard the last two seconds. He would be closer to the blast then the soldiers would be, but Jace could handle it.

.1. . . .FIRING!"


There was a spark of electricity at the end of MIR's rail-gun. The spark eventually turned to a huge arcing bolt, on the entire barrel. This all happened in the span of half a second. There was a familiar sound as it fired. Like a crack of lightening, with light almost equal to the great energy itself. For a second everything in MIR's area was briefly lit up, including MIR. But this flash lasted less then a second. As Ivy would have sat still she may have become aware of the strange hallow bang from earlier. It would have sounded like lightening, but not quite. Then a sound came out of the distance. a high-pitched screaming. Slowly growing larger in the milliseconds of it's firing. Ivy would have, had only 2 seconds to brace for it before it exploded, directly behind her some 27 feet away. Comparable to a huge bomb going off, the surrounding area was washed in a temporary orange glow from the fire and light of the explosion.



The first thing Ivy may have felt would have been the brain-jarring wave of pressure and force from the resulting explosion, akin to getting hit bodily by a large wall. Followed closely by face-burning sensation of heat, for that was all HE rounds were. Pressure and fire, more emphasis on the pressure and force though. However, if she had some trick up her sleeve that was none of MIR's business, he had simply fired. This is what happens to one in a normal explosion, but Ivy was no normal. That is why MIR had used this as an opportunity to ambush the terrorist. That and the time from the shooting to the explosion had happened in the span of just under 3 seconds.





The other soldiers in the area would have no doubt felt the heat and the small shock-wave the large blast created, although comparatively less to what Ivy would have gone through. Meanwhile Jace had also sat through the blast. Thankfully due to his position most of the force had hit the wall he wall hiding behind. Jace quickly moved out, his gun and knife in hand, to where Ivy had been. Hopefully she was out and they were done. . .hopefully. . .

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Lady Ivy “Xantara” Swift ~ Gia Panta // Alleyways, In flight

Ivy’s immaculate hearing quickly alerted her to what was headed her way.

Oh shit!
Without any time to think about her actions, the Demi-god reacted by instinct. She pushed herself from the wall at top speed, launching herself in the opposite direction from the impact. In midair she rolled herself into a protective ball (quite an impressive feat, considering the equipment she was carrying), hurtling through the air to get as much distance between her and the explosion. A thin layer of ice formed itself behind her, not providing full protection from the blast, but easing the effects of it. Ivy winced, moving forward by momentum alone until she could recover, pinging off the walls and bouncing around corners like something made of elastic or rubber. If there were any grims nearby, she would have just bounced and zoomed right past them. By this point, the speed at which she had moved meant that she was now some considerable distance from her hiding place – Jace would have found nothing.

Fuuuuuuuck my ears! Tallis cried with a high-pitched yowl. Ivy had her teeth gritted, racing away down the alleyways now. She hadn’t even noticed Jace – she was long gone by the time he’d moved out. That was Demi-god speed and reaction time for you…

Screw going at human pace, there’s no going back now! she thought, flying down the alleyways at close-to-full-Demi-God-speed, laughing out loud.
What are you doing?! Tallis cried. Xantara you lunatic!…You…ah…oh fuck it I give up…I just give up.

Ivy giggled. Well at least we know they must be tracking us. And we’ve given them something to puzzle over.
You make that sound like it’s a good thing, the feline muttered, as Ivy bounced her way down yet another alleyway.
Why don’t you just shout out I’M A DEMI-GOD with flashing neon lights and be done with it already? You might as well, the rate you’re going!

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

-+-Jace & MIR-+-



Jace sucked his lip at the sight of Ivy flying down the hall-even after the explosion, the dust barely floating through the sky.



"To survive an explosion like that. . ." Jace thought. "What the hell is this girl? She should be rolling around on the floor in pain, and yet she just. . . .just flew off like that?" Jace examined the damage the shell had done. The roofs of the two buildings on either side were dented in, like some giant had come along and smashed both down. A trashcan had also been compacted into a neat little dish, further evidence of the power.


Jace shook his head. Well if she could try running so could he. The strength of a Parnex combined with the agility of a Gato. Jace first jumped onto the roof, after which he began following the elf at much the same speed. It wouldn't be long till he caught up with her.


"Don't worry MIR, I've got this one, just don't fire while I'm following her, got it?"
"Right boss"



_________
Grims


As for the soldiers. . .the group were busy going down the alley's when the explosion had cause them to brace themselves. The dust made it's way down the small alley's after it had done what it was designed to do. "Did we get'em. . .?" one of the soldiers asked. He was quickly answered by the indication that the elf was now head straight for them. The 6 or so soldiers immediately readied their guns. They also heard the sound of her feet as she jumped wall to wall. "Wait wait, use flashbangs, that way we can grab her!" their leader said. Each soldier fiddled with their grenade launchers on their rifles, taking out the default grenade round and replacing it instead with a flash-bang.


The soldiers were ready for Ivy as soon as she appeared. All 6 fired the disorientating flash-bang almost directly into Ivy's face, they had programmed into their guns where and at what height to explode, thanks to MIR's data they could do that. They did not wait to see if their grenades had worked, instead rushing into the spot where Ivy would have fallen. Each had their gun out, pointed at the spot, ready to fire. If she tried to attack them they'd all open up. . .but of course, even they did not know what to expect. . .

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

-Half an hour before current events in Gia Panta-

Ashley and Chris walked down the busy street together, both wearing their usual clothes and attracting quite a few glances because of it. A fancily dressed hybrid with a cloak and a pale emo elf with claw-like hands, antennae and various black clothing and odd clothing. They certainly attracted a lot of attention but Chris and Ashley had learnt the universal lesson that if you walk around with the air of someone who has every right to be there, most people will just go along with it. They stopped at Stapler Street, one of the busiest and more expensive areas of the city and looked around.

Yes, I think this will do Chris said as he stepped into an abandoned side alley and studied the width. This should be wide enough to set up. He dropped his bags on the ground and crouched then to open them. Ashley walked over and joined him with his own bags. We shouldn’t be doing this Chris, it’s wrong and don’t try skirting around that fact. Oh, come on. It’s not like the people around here are going to miss it, they’re all a bunch of toffs who only carry petty cash around here. If it’s petty cash, why are you trying to take it, you’re rich, remember? Well yes, I am fabulously rich, but I meant that I’m robbing these people because if I robbed anyone else it would actually make a huge difference. The only thing that these people will lose is their pride, and frankly, most of them have too much of it.

He stood up with two white sticks under his arms and stuck them at the entrance to the alley. It’s still wrong. Ashley said disapprovingly as he set up another two poles further back from the entrance, creating a square. Chris pulled out another thicker stick and placed it in the middle of the square. Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah, I get it. If it’s so wrong, then why are you helping me? I get lonely during the day without you. Ashley said as he started to sulk. He pushed a small button on the middle of the centre pole, causing the pole and the others to suddenly shoot up in length, the middle one expanding to 3 metres in height, the others about 2 and a half. You seem to get lonely during the night as well. Chris muttered as he began to unfold a box-like object. I’m sorry, what was that? Ashley said icily as he pulled out a big purple ball of fabric and turned to focus on Chris. Nothing, nothing. He quickly replied as the unfolded the legs of the table and placed it outside the square. Damn right, nothing Ashley said loudly, smirking as he threw the ball of fabric over the poles.

-fifteen minutes later-

A small crowd had gather outside the purple stall. There was a plain table with a black sparkly cloth hanging over it, there was nothing on it apart from a small plain wooden bowl with a little note that said “tips” but people weren’t noticing that. Behind the table was a dark purple shelter, the top corners of the roof were covered in sequins and ribbons which were in turn covered with stars and moons and glitter and the like. The pointed top of the shelter had a picture stuck on the top of it of a 2-D top hat with coloured lines spraying from behind it and a rabbit sticking its head out the top. The entrance to the shelter was nearly closed; there was a tiny, tiny, little line between the entrance-ways which little lines of changing colour could be seen through.

The movement behind the closed curtains suddenly stopped, after a few seconds the crowd started to lean forward to try and get a better look from the sides. With strained ears they began to hear muttering in hushed tones from inside the stall. As one, they turned their heads to the side to try and get a better hear. There seemed to be an argument going on inside but the words couldn’t be deciphered. The two voices spoke rapidly to each other, sometimes overlapping, until they began to rise to a climax, hushing loudly before the sudden silence.

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN boomed a voice from the shelter, jerking back the crowd. BOYS AND GIRLS OF ALL AGES, PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE SHOW OF A LIFETIME, SCENES THAT WILL AMAZE AND ASTOUND YOUR SIMPLE MORTAL MINDS, WELCOME, TO the MAGICAL MISTOFFELEE’S MAGIC SHOW. Chris yelled as he slid out of the tent with a microphone to his lips, tipping his hat to the crowd. You keep the money rolling, we keep the tricks acoming. Finished Ashley as he came out in his [url=http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k311/ ... 48e7c0.jpg]dress[url] smiling innocently at the crowd, as he flicked some hair out of his eyes, blushing with apparent embarrassment. He’d added some hair extensions and had his hair down to a bit below his shoulders now; the dress fell down to just above the ground, easily hiding the worn doc martens beneath.


That’s right folks, we’ll just take in a quick deposit before we get the show on the way. Chris said as he somersaulted over the table and held out his hat to a group of young ladies, grinning rakishly at them as they quickly handed in some silvers. Ashley slowly walked around the table to pick up the bowl and walked to another group of young men. He held out his arm from his body, faking shyness as he turned away from them and giving them a timid little smile after they dropped in some coins before quickly moving on.

Right, right, right. Muttered Chris as he walked back to the table with Ashley, their backs to their crowd. Chris quickly poured in the coins, notes, and jewellery into Ashley’s bowl before sweeping it on to face the crowd as Ashley quickly ran into the crowd with the misbegotten spoils. One sec folks. He said cheerfully as Ashley carefully returned with a three empty black cups and a small grey ball. He gave the crowd another quick grin before hiding behind his fringe and turning to the side again as he fiddled with his hands and the small grey ball. Ok, I seem to have all my magic potions. Chris said dramatically as he wiggled his hands over the vials and at the crowd. You sir, the bald fellow, would you care to come here please? Chris asked to a fat man in a dark green suit. The man slowly wobbled over to Chris and was pulled around to the back of the table.

Now sir, please check up my sleeves for anything odd. Chris stretched out his arms towards the man who stuck his hand up Chris’s first sleeve and pulled out a wand, a yellow potion, a green potion and a magazine of scantily-clad woman. Woops. Chris yelled as he snatched away the magazine. Hehehe, a little mistake there. He chuckled nervously before having his face suddenly banged into the table by a wrathful, vengeful and angry Ashley who pulled the magazine out of Chris’s hand, chucked it into the crowd and dragged Chris, kicking and screaming, into the tent by his hair. The fat man stood there and grinned slightly at the crowd before he looked worryingly at the tent along with the rest of the crowd who leaned in again to listen to the screaming and pleading, the men had a sympathetic look on their face, the woman were nodding with agreement and smirking smugly and the children were either wondering what the problem was or trying to get a look at the violence in the tent.

After a couple of smashs, screams of pain and a couple of possible insults possibly involving someone’s ancestors or offspring, Chris bounded out again with the same grin he’d had at the start of the show except now with a growing black eye, a bleeding lip and a limp, followed by a glaring Ashley who gave a quick, empty smile to the crowd before poking Chris in the back and motioning at him to get started. Chris winced as he stepped forward, grinned embarrassingly at the fat man and began to mix up the chemicals in the three black cups. He checked a pocket and seemed to have misplaced something, he walked into the crown and began to pull out flowers, birds, small change from people’s ears, pockets handbags as he bumped and jostled around the people before eventually, after a quiet, but very clear and forceful cough from Ashley, pulling out a purple ball from a man’s nose.

He quickly ran from the confused man back to the table and dropped the ball into, the now, orange-filled cup and threw the cup into the fat man’s face. The man bellowed in angry surprise and the crowd systematically leaned away and towards the mad, trying to get to a safe distance and for a better look at the same time. The man stepped towards a slightly puzzled and growingly alarmed Chris before he also stopped with a confused look on his face. He scratched his head, and gripped the growing hairs on top of his head. The crowd surged forwards again as the black hair began to really spread from the previously bald man’s head. The crowd clapped and whopped loudly as the man joyfully embraced Chris before letting him pull away and walk back into the shelter.

The man walked back into the crowd with his arms raised, laughing with joy and pride as the crowd tried to feel his hair and get past him towards the table where the miracle hair-restoring formula was. The crowd fought ferociously, but carefully, over the vial as the man said to the people around him. “The amazing thing is that my hair used to be blond before, I must repay this man, I’ll just…just…where’s my wallet?”

- about five minutes now before current events-

Chris and Ashley legged it down the alley as the small grey ball Ashley had left in the shelter began to emit smoke that quickly filled the alley behind them. How long do you think we’ve got until they realise they’re missing their money? A yell of rage bellowed from behind them, quickly followed by another couple of angry shouts and yells and a few calls of “thief” and some other various words that made Chris and Ashley blush as the crowd pushed into the shelter and tripped over the sticks and boxes and their fallen comrades in the smoke. About five seconds ago. Replied Ashley as he pulled up the front of his skirt and jogged after Chris awkwardly, pulling the hair extensions out with his free hand.

At least we don’t have to worry about fatty coming after us. Chris said optimisticly as he skidded ahead round a corner. At least until his hair goes on fire. It’s a minor blip in the reaction, it only happens 80% of the time, I’ll have it fixed by the end of the week. Chris quickly replied holding onto his hat as he sped up. That’s what you said to the last guy you tried it on last month. Ashley said critically as he grabbed the bottom of the dress with both hands and hitched them up. Hey, we gave him compensation. He sued. Yeah, a little. It’s starting to rain now as well. At least now tubby's hair won’t be so bad. The rain will stop it from lighting up? Well…no, but at least there’ll be water around to put it out. Ashley growled as it started to pour down.

Great, I’m running through the back-end of the street with a magician from an angry mob while I’m in a pretty pink dress in the pouring rain and now my hair is getting in my eyes and I’m generally starting to look terrible. Yeah, but we probably won’t meet anyone around here, we’ll be fine, it’s not like the Grim’s are after us. They definitely aren’t after us? Ashley asked as he glared suspiciously at Chris again. I’m telling you, they have no reason to be after me. You sure? Yessss, I promise, again. How come whenever we go out it always ends up like this? What, being chased by an angry mod down the street in the pouring rain while wearing ridiculous costumes? I meant badly, but that also seems to happen a lot now that you mention it…apart from the rain. Yeah, it hardly ever seems to rain when we go out. That is quite nice. Yeah.

Chris looked back at Ashley and ran his eyes up and down him as he splashed through the puddles. Wow, you do look stupid in that pink dress and the doc martens. Shut up. Very pretty though. Ashley scowled instinctively at Chris again, before brightening up slightly. Really, you think I look pretty? Yeah, very cute. Ashley grinned happily and straightened up as he ran. Thanks. He said quietly after a few seconds. You’re welcome. Chris said smugly as they ran on through the streets and the storm began to pick up.

_________________
“One day you wake up and realize the world can be conquered.”

Commander Vaco.

Somewhere in Gia Panta.

He'd parked the hover-bike inside a small warehouse to keep it out of the rain. Vaco was at best... distracted. A moral deliema had sneaked up on him and caused him tofeel unsure about what to do. He hadn't felt this way in decades. Vaco looked down to his right hand, at the golden chain and heart wrapped around it. He gently began to rub it absently with his thumb, memories that were long thought to be suppressed now threatened to break free. His eyes began to sting and his vision was blurry as he fought back the heart ache.

Luckily, a shifting noise broke him from his trap. Faster than eyes could track, his massive revolver was out and pointing to the location of the disturbance. "Whose there,?" he demanded. There was a softer rustling noise again as he began to move towards it. It sounded again from a couple of boxes on a table. The Lord-Commander replaced the revolver back into it's holster and shifted the boxes around. What he found made him pause.

It was a small kitten, hiding in a empty box it was attempting to use for shelter It was shivering from the cold, and its fur was still fairly wet from the rain. It shifted itself into the corner furthest from him and curled up into a ball. The kitten looked up at him with wide eyes, blanketed with fear, misery, and trace amount of hope. Vaco hesitated at first, but reached into the box for the kitten. It didn't seem possible to him, but somehow the kitten shrank back even further from his hand. The little thing didn't make a sound as he gently scooped it up in his hand, he felt its tiny claws try to vainly keep a hold of its box.

The kitten was just a little larger than his hand. He could feel and see it trembling, but couldn't say if it was from fear or the cold. With his other hand, he reached down and took a handful of his robes and gently dried the kitten off. When he was done, the kitten was a poofy little ball of fur. A warm smile began to grow on his face as he say the little thing blink around and look back up at him. He gathered a armful of his robes this time and made a little bed for the thing in his arm. Gently, he drooped the kitten into the makeshift bed, and covered it a little.

"You know," he said to the kitten. "You're in the same situation as the person I'm chasing is in, although with a few changes. I could kill you right now, with just a quick squeeze I could end your life in a bloody little balloon. Your an innocent little thing that did the most logical, right thing to do. But you could be guilty of something, or will do something terrible later on." The kitten looked up to him and meowed softly. He reached out with an armored gauntlet and gently began to pet it. "Or I could turn you into the proper authorities, the animal pound. There you might get adopted by a loving family, and allowed to leave. But you could also stay imprisoned there until you die; sunlight and fresh air fading into memories. Or I could take you with me, and protect you as best as I can from all the dangers of the world, but you would also be my prisoner; your family, friends, loved ones, and everything you know would disappear. Or I could allow you to escape me, to be free," he scratched the kitten behind its ears, and a little bit under its chin. It closed its eyes, and began to purr. "But what would you do then? Would the Animal Pound catch you, and it would be too late for me to help you? Would some other force accidentally or purposely kill you? Would you just find your way back into my grip?"

Vaco stopped petting the kitten, and it looked up at him in trust and curiosity. It meowed at him. He reached down into his belt and pulled out a stick of jerky. He tore a little bit of it into tiny pieces and dropped it into the makeshift bed. The kitten hungrily attacked the small bits of food.

"You might have family as well, and my actions today have separated you from them... or destroyed your home," he bitterly added. "This person I am after faces the same four choices, and is in the same grip you are in. She is innocent and has committed no crime that I know of, save helping a man she did not know. She is one of your world's Demi-Gods. I've known for a while, but I've kept it to myself," in watched in curiosity as he saw the kittens ears flicked slightly at the last statement. "She is a threat to my government, leader of a rebellion that will only cause more harm and suffering. But she has done nothing wrong. Only... being who she is, and doing what is right. There is always the possibility of her doing great harm, but we all have that. Is it justice to declare damnation on her for doing the right when I've... What should I do?

But... Why the hell am I talking to a kitten about this? You probably can't understand a word that I've been saying."

The kitten looked up at Vaco and gave him a happy meow.

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.

Lady Ivy “Xantara” Swift ~ Gia Panta // Alleyways

Ivy Xantara could sense the Grims before she had turned the corner, and braced herself, ready to dodge.
However although she could detect the grims, she could not detect where exactly they were, or what weapons they were using until she saw them…and by that time, it was too late. The most Ivy had time for was to fling an arm across her face before she was bombarded. As expected, she fell. Her head was ringing…she could hear Tallis faintly over the buzz, shouting and swearing again.

I’m not going to be beaten yet was the only clear thought in her head. Everything else was still swimming.

Whilst their attention was focused on her was the best time to act. They wouldn’t be paying attention to the weather, or the skies. Concentrating as much as she could, she focused on sending a bolt of lightning crackling down from the clouds above. It tore its way down, Ivy guiding it down through the torrential downpour to strike at the ground, only metres behind the grims. Some of the lightning branched off, missing the alleyway and hitting the rooftops instead, but Ivy got lucky, most of the lightning managing to strike down towards the alleyway floor.

As soon as the lightning hit the water-covered ground, everywhere the water touched became charged with electricity. The entire alleyway crackled with lightning, only for the briefest of seconds, but it would have done the trick. With the Grims drenched with water, the lighting would have struck each and every one of them. Ivy made sure of it.

The only thing left untouched from the ground strike in that alleyway, was Ivy and Tallis. Ivy staggered to her feet, her expression grim. She wasn’t sure how bad that blast had been, or how severe the damage was, but she hadn’t had the time to be picky. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly to the fallen bodies, as she took off again, stumbling and veering off course slightly as she tried to regain her senses. She was running on the ground now, but she was ready to take to the sky at a moments noticed if need be. She shook her head, trying to stop the stars that were dancing in front of her eyes, as she pushed herself on. Tallis was still swearing inside her head, but it was all background noise to Ivy as she tried to focus.

However her judgement was still a little off, and as she approached the intersection of a ‘T’ junction and turned the corner, she slammed headlong into two people running along the straight, sending all three of them flying. Ivy immediately bounced back to her feet, staggering slightly. She quickly registered them as a guy who looked part-gato, and a…Ivy blinked…ok, and what looked like a elf boy in a dress, although she wasn’t entirely sure. However, now really wasn’t the time to ask.

“Sorry,” the Demi-God said to them above the howl of the wind, the urgency clear in her voice. What seemed to be an invisible force pulled the both of them back up on their feet – although it was really just Ivy, the effects of the invisibility potion still active. The only thing that gave away her position was the irregularity in the torrential rain, appearing to hit something in midair before trickling or dripping off. “Really sorry – but I’ve got a load of grims and the 501st on my tail, so I suggest you two get out of here now...unless you fancy getting chased by them too.” She set off again in the direction both of them had been heading for, hoping they had taken the hint.

____________________________________________

Mune ~ Gia Panta

The thing about talking to animals is, you can never be certain how much they can understand. Just like you can never be quite certain whether that particular animal happens to be an ally of a certain Demi-god.

Mune, was one of Ivy’s younger scouts, and was still trying to get to grips with it all. She hadn’t been helping Xantara for very long…and to discover herself being scooped up by Commander Vaco on her very first day on the job, the kitten was a little more than terrified at first. But that soon changed when the tiny feline realised the Commander apparently had no idea of her connections to Ivy. As long as he was oblivious to the fact he was talking to one of Ivy’s animal extensions, Mune was quite happy with the attention, and relaxed. She simply acted natural, just the same as any other kitten in her situation. But everything the kitten was hearing, Ivy could hear too…the Commander might as well have been talking directly to the Demi-god as she ran down the narrow alleyways…

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

--MIR--




MIR sat on the roof, the rain pelting his armor even while invisible. Of course MIR saw the unfortunate Grim soldiers who had managed to stun the strange girl. But a bolt of lightening had come down and struck the area behind them.




To say all the soldiers were dead was an understatement. One soldier's boots had been blown right off his feet, while another lay in a corner, his cloths burning. Of course all had died as soon as soon as the bolt struck.



Cardiac arrest, electricity had a tendency of stopping one's heart. Which is had had happened to the Grims. If MIR had a head, he'd be shaking it right then. Burns, burning flesh, fire, heart attacks, fleshy beings sure did have it hard. And yet. . .the strange girl had someone survived. MIR had also been watching the previous feed on her from before and found it quite perplexing. He made a note to bring it up with Lord Frostheim later.



But she was still quite within MIR's range of sonar, so MIR decided not to move and let Jace handle it. Of course if Jace needed, MIR would fire off another round, and this time he wouldn't be so merciful with his aiming.

_____________________

++Jace++


As the two Ivy ran into may have been thinking, something flew straight over their heads. The two couldn't see it, but they could have certainly felt the wind from it as it flew past. Ivy, would have, of course, sensed it. She also may have sensed how "familiar" this one biological signature was.


still.



Jace had been keeping up to pace with Ivy, and upon seeing what she had done to the Grim soldiers, had increased his speed in an effort to catch her. Using the element of surprise, Jace rocketed off the roof of one of the buildings, flying straight at Ivy.

His arms out, he attempted to tackle her from behind.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Jace screamed, still unaware of just who he was trying to catch. And also unaware of the two Ivy had bumped into. Jace was still focused on his mission after-all.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Dan Slate, Gia Panta

A shot ripped through the air as it pierced the head of another unaware grim soldier. As the man fell dead Dan picked up a rock and scratched a line into the ground next to two others indicating he was keeping score. He when back into cover and placed a helmet which he found earlier on top of the chest high wall he was just behind as a decoy just incase. "That makes three." Dan said with a smirk. His gaze sifted around for any sign of movement. "Good thing this strom came when it did, the thunder and lighting makes a good covere for my shots." As soon as he was sure it was clear Dan removed the helmet from it's place, rested his sniper on top of the wall and went back into aim mode.

He quickly scanned the surrounding area he knew he wouldn't be able to stay put much longer, he would have to change location soon, that or be found by what ever just shot that HE round not to long ago. Giving one last look over the area somthing caught Dan's eye. A squad of men not like the Grims at all they were very well equipped and wore some pretty high spec armor. "So this is the 501 st, that or the Grims just had a sudden budget rise. They look more like a bunch of wet nosed goons hidden behind some fancy armor thats all. But giving that there are more of them than me i'll try to avoid confronting them" Not wanting to over stay his welcome Dan got up, strapped his sniper to his back and before he left put the helmet back on the wall he was sniping from and placed a flash bang near it. "This should get there attention." He srapped it down and strung string around the pin. Turning to leave the building with the other end of the string in hand he walked out of the building and pulled the string as soon as he was sure he was far enough away.
"Nothing to big but I do like to piss about."

Rusty, Gia Panta

Happily strolling along Rusty was covered in blood, his paws were soaked as was his mouth. Not knowing how bad the situation had gotten he gleefully walked along the path with his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging from side to side. The rain was starting to get on the huskys nerves and so he dicided to wait it out, stopping just short of a small warehouse he dicided to use it as a pit stop just until the storm had calmed down. Walking up to the door and pushing it open with his head Rusty was completely oblivious as to who or what was just beyond that door.

_________________

After mounths of rigorous trials and conducted research I have finally come to the conclusion that Modern Warfare 2 can go SUCK IT.

---MIR---



MIR had been keeping tabs on the individual's in the area as usual. He'd been too busy focusing on the Elf-girl's to bother with anything else. But a quick indicator alerted him that there was yet another development.


"Strange. . .I should I have noticed him earlier. . .must be those damn bugs in the side cameras. . .stupid things. . ." MIR said as he split his attention on the two subjects while simultaneously notifying both the Grims and the 501'st. He was a robot, multitasking was his forty.


"This is MIRAGE, I've spotted an enemy sniper. Can't identify him in all this rain but I can show you guys his position, don't mind that flash-bang it set it off to distract us. . ."


Based on the various feeds of different soldiers MIR also saw a dog attacking. "A dog. . .?" MIR thought. Why would a stray attack soldiers? And just how? Going through MIR's own memory sonar feed MIR saw that both the dog and the sniper had been closer together at one point. MIR then quickly ran through the Empire's reports of a sniper with a dog as partner. From there the sniper's identity was identified. Of course, this is but a small representation of the massive calculations going through MIR's head at the time. Hundreds of thousands of processes going through various circuits all to identify this man. One could say, in a way, MIR was like a giant mobile command center. A very excellent reconnaissance unit, and by the day the scientists back at HQ were thinking much them same thing. In fact MIR had heard they were busy making a E3CX model MIR.



"Ahh I see, it seems we've got ourselves a wanted mercenary on our hands. Various crimes, mostly related to hit-type jobs, usually gov't officials, goes by the name of. . .Dan Slate. This guy's no more an assassin then an Indolentia soldier. And he calls himself a merc! HA!"

MIR said through the radio chatter.

Not want to waste anymore Railgun-ammo MIR fired the 10mm rapid-fire cannons he had for arms. These would shred straight through any medium to thin protective walls the sniper was hiding behind and thanks to the angle MIR was at the shots wouldn't have to go through large amount of concrete. The range for an Apache helicopter's cannon to be accurate is a little over a 4 miles. MIR was not even that far.


Of course, as a consequence to his shooting MIR's full silhouette was show in the stormy sky. Reigning fire from above.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Commander Vaco.

Somewhere in Gia Panta.

"But while we're at it, did I ever tell you that I actually learned a great deal about Demi-Gods," he said looking down at the kitten and gently petting it again. "The thing about Gatos, they keep excellent notes. I also hate spies and one way telephones. I don't exactly know why about the phones though..."

He walked to the hover bike, and the kitten meowed in confusion. Vaco rummaged around for a bit until he found a big enough pouch for the little ball of fuzz. He slide over the pouch for his magnum rounds and put the new pouch in place. "I think I'll take you with me," he said as he carefully put the kitten in the bag. The pouch was fairly nice, made out of cured leather and had fuzzy material inside. He clipped it shut to make sure the kitten would be safe and not escape. He heard it meow again in response. He popped open the lid and gave the little creature a few more strips of jerky, which it once again hungrily attacked. "I wouldn't want something to happen to you, say some random dog coming through the door and killing you..."

At that moment Vaco heard the door creak, he spun around, magnum flashing up in his hand at Rusty. "See?" he said to the little kitten that poked its head out an then back in. "I told you."



501st Red Group.

"God dammit," yelled the Sargent as he cleared another roof and onto another one. He and his men were barely keeping pace. He heard the report of the sniper and felt pleased that he moved most of his men to the bottom levels. But the recent developments put hell on his men though. Still, the little power that the armor provided did give his men a few quick burst of speed that they needed to still keep within range of the fleeing elf. But the elements had taken a turn for the worst as a gust of wind nearly through him off the roof. "This is Red Leader," he said over the COM. "We're doing the best we can hear, but the roof support is taking a hell of a beating. We're going to have to go down in a few minutes, or risk falling behind."

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.

{Krimlo, Gabriel}

The Undead Lord turned away and smirked wide to himself. The transmission cut out, the Heirarchy vanishing after announcing his verdict. Heh... I still get what I wanted. I could care less about one sword. Especially one that seemed so picky and felt outright pure of essence. Likely the blade had an attitude of self-proclaimed divinity or some such line of thought. Judging by its design and the way it had felt when near him, Faus figured it would not be useful to him in any situation.

But one look to Shekoga later and he reminded himself that he needed no other enchanted blade anyway. He hefted the large blade over his right shoulder and took on a more proud stride while walking out into the hallways. He lifted his left forearm and flicked his wrist down twice, activating the lock on the small pad hidden under the thin hood of black metal that had been its case. He gazed over the digital watch near the keypad, seeing that it had been over two hours since he had ordered the test on Mystara. While he knew they could take some time, especially when he wasn't personally overseeing them -- the recent business with Frostheim had interfered there. But even the staff personnel worked fast enough to have finished by this time under their own judgement.

This has taken a little too long... Something must have gone wrong. Faus inwardly told himself, quickening his walk back to the laboratory wing of the lower floor.

Upon arrival, much to his displeasure, he was indeed right. Something was awry with the testing. He held out Shekoga, one of his soldiers hurriedly stepping up and moving to one knee, taking on the new role of acting sheath while his master wanted use of both hands. Faus stepped forward, shoving a coated doctor aside who had been just standing there, his glasses askew while holding a clipboard. The man was supposed to have been keeping the girl in healthy condition during the processing.

"You!" Gabriel's voice quickly brought him back to the waking world. "..... What were you just doing?" His voice crawled down from its deep boom and seemed to whisper out in a dark hush, easily warning that the wrong answer was going to be the last he'd ever get to say.

"Ummm- I..." He stammered, freezking up as he drew to the sudden conclusion that he had just said the wrong things.

The lifted hand that quickly crushed his skull like a soft fruit was the biggest give-away to that realization, however. Gabriel, turning to look at the other two attendants, gave no word nor warning should they fail his short patience in a similar fashion. One turned and began typing away frantically. The other stood up, taking on his sudden unspoken prmotion with earnest resolve. "My lord!" Already, he still lived. So, it wasn't going to turn out to be a bad day after all. "We tried to create an introspective analysis by submerging her body within an ethereal polarity discharge. The earlier scans had shown that, despite her natural faults, she had been gifted by trace amounts of radiating magical essence brought upon by the prior link to the sword she was found with." Gabriel tilted his head, his eyes no longer serpentine and stalking his words like field mice unaware of the emminent doom they would soon be swallowed within. A slight nod gestured him to proceed.

"As was ruled the best protocol by your own methods, we attempted to fluctuate the field with a balancing aura. It was a," he paused, almost freezing like a deer in the headlights of what might as well have been a tank, his nearby fellow attendant handing him the data sheet, "ah, yes... The field was a Type 17-"

"What?!" Gabriel's hand was in the air before anyone could even notice the start of the blur. "You...put a Gato in a Type 17 ether field...? Heheh..." He slowly lowered his hand when the man pointed to his dead, former superior who had actually called to have it done. "... I see... Well, why are you still proceeding...?" He leaned forward, tilting his head so his left ear was directed at the man. He reallllly wanted to hear this one.

"We...felt it was the correct procedure. As your reports on the field have shown that the effects would cause latent magical talent to subconsciously react..."

Gabriel nodded a bit, straightening his stance. "Yes, it does do that... It's what I designed the field to do." He said while looking around, nodding further in mock appreciation of the doctor's knowledge. "... But if you had read ALL of the report, then you would have seen that the Type 17 exhibits irradiated energy in an effort to draw out naturally latent talent... The main word being 'irradiated'... A body that can't naturally account for the magic will just treat the energy as if it were some defunct old nuclear byproduct!" He suddenly yelled, stepping closer to the doctor. "Now, when used on a Gato -- whom naturally are weaker at ethereal arts than most others -- when the subject in question hasn't even been alive long enough to fully mature the body... How do you think it would react?!"

Without further delay, Gabriel reached forward, hitting the emergency shutdown for the field generator. Mystara's body, which had been softly levitated off the bolted, stationary table within the sealed chamber, quickly fell limp upon the cold slab. Faus stared at her body for a few seconds before her index finger on her right hand twitched. He couldn't risk checking her directly for the chance of causing further trauma in the case the energy may have altered her physically. And the shutdown switch had cut off all the equipment in use, leaving the heart monitor offline for the next few seconds, along with all other methods of scanning her life signs. Gabriel sighed with some relief as she showed life in that one movement. Or at least, her body showed enough hint that she could be saved if she was in trouble.

Faus turned, watching the monitor as the systems restarted themselves. The soft beeping showed she was, in fact, still alive. ... From now on, I'll have to place a standing rule that a Type 17 never be used without myself being present... It's obviously too much for these little monkeys to grasp right now.

Gabriel took his time finishing the procedures, ensuring that nothing else had occured to mistakenly alter Mystara. Another hour went by before he finally pushed the unconscious girl into the dark vault he had visited earlier today. Again he waited until the large door was sealed shut behind him before turning on the lights.

=======
{Gia Panta}

A small crew arrived shortly after Faus and Frostheim had conducted their conversation with the heirarchy. The men were serious and strict to their movements, carrying a large case in the arms of one man, who seemed to be a uniformed officer. They proceeded to carry the gift wrapped sword into the facility of the other Undead Lord.

_________________

“Well, all I know is that I was told to escort Sylvanas to where she was supposed to go. After that, Vaco would give me some pay for doing that. Until I get paid for all this and ensure Sylvanas’s safe return, I think I’ll be with her.” His voice trailed off. Vaco out and after someone himself must have been somewhat rare. Going after a demi-god was what caught his attention the most though.

Vaco did say he would give us some pay for this, so I’d hate to run off now and not bbe given our reward. Especially after being dragged out of a meeting for a new job.

“Not too mention I’d like to meet Vaco. Would be a change in pace, meeting the infamous man who hauled the empire quite a bit to what it is today.” He laughed childishly. He was telling the truth though; he did want to meet Vaco face-to-face not only for the money, but to talk some as well.

“You didn’t make much of an impression on him though Jazz. After all, Sylvanas knocked the wind out of you in one punch right in front of Vaco. That and well, you were acting kind of stupid..”

“Hey, I acted stupid because I thought it would be some-what funny. Sylvanas knocking my ass on the ground was because of my chest and it being injured.” He sat on the chair relaxed. He was slouching, his legs were droopily laying there with his arms dangling from his sides.

“Sir…” Jazz focused his attention to the soldier next to Jessica. “I hope you don’t mind, but I think I’ll be sticking around for a while”

_________________
I GOT 'DEM HUMPS.
Doctress Who:You can be my Brony bitch ;D
Droctress Who:Jas, would you like me to make you a sandwich?
JesusChrist: Well if you insist Jasthn I'll use it with you. Spread them cheeks
Tragedy_and_Comedy: Jas is about as dangerous as a kitten.
Blood Lord:I hit your dog with mah truck. :3
Lenore Celestalis:*jumps on your back* weee~
Come check out my story in the Literature Thread. Update? It is true!
I also doodle quite a lot. Check out my art thread here!

Lady Ivy “Xantara” Swift ~ Gia Panta // Alleyway

Ivy could sense Jace, even before she heard him. At the last possible moment she rolled and bounced out of the way, springing up halfway up one of the alleyway walls.

“Next time when you try to catch me by surprise, I suggest you try and make a little less noise and use a lot more tact,” The Demi-God called out to the other cloaked individual. “But I’ll give you full marks for effort. I like spontaneous people.” Invisibly she cocked her head to the side, frowning. “You seem familiar. Have we met before?”



Mune ~ Gia Panta // With Vaco

The kitten huddled up inside the pouch. Xantara…are you getting all this? H-how much do you think he knows about us?
Yes, I’m getting every word. And I don’t know…But I don’t like it. It’s amazing how close he is…it makes me wonder…
What should we do?
Just sit tight, Mune. I can summon you out of there if need be, but for now just relax and stay with him. See if he can give us any more information. And if you can, try and take note of where you are going. That way I can try and avoid him.

There’s a big scary dog outside. He thinks he’s protecting me from it.
Ah, but he doesn’t know what we know now, does he? Otherwise he would let you go and face that dog. That’s his problem. He means well, but he’s going about it in the wrong way.
I could easily take on that dog. With help.
Ivy telepathically smiled. I know you could. If that dog was smart and wise enough, it would realise who we were and what we stood for, and it wouldn’t dare touch us. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if that dog is just another poor misunderstood creature, trying to make sense of a world it can never truly understand. Most of us are.

…He appears to mean well. But if he really wanted to help us, he’d let us go.
But will he do that? If this is a hint of what is to come, then…
…We’ll think of something. If he thinks he can just shove me into a pouch and take me away, he’s got another thing coming. Death I can handle, but imprisonment is something I will never accept, no matter how ‘safe’ or well-intentioned it is. But I think we’ll just play it by ear for now. See what happens. In the meantime, keep an eye on him.
Ok. I…I’ll do my best, my Lady.

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

++Jace++





Jace slammed into the wall ivy had sprinted up. The force of his tackle became evident in that the wall cracked under the force of Jace's dive. He didn't look it, but it seemed Jace could kill a man with just his bare hands. "Damn, I missed!' Jace hissed out as he quickly did a back-flip off the wall, landing right between the two both Ivy and Jace had bumped into. Jace paid them no mind, of course. He was focused on this girl, and it seemed she had senses Jace's attacked even before he made it. That and Jace was still also invisible, so all they would have "seen" is a large impact on a wall next to them and hear a voice coming from what looked like nowhere.


"That voice. . ." Jace thought as a a long lost memory streaked through his head like the lightening in the sky, Jace was silent for a moment as he thought. Jace vaguely remembered that voice. Once more Jace opened the window to his past life. It was a bit cloudy, and for the life of him he couldn't remember her face. All that floated up to the surface at that moment was a name "Ivy. . ." and a memory, a memory that a certain someone had once visited Jace's house annually. It was cloudy, and of course, it didn't seem like Jace's own memory, all thanks to his turning no doubt. Jace supposed that the revival process was good at seperating people from their past lives.

Jace's stance relaxed a bit as he brought forth her name, his claws were still out of course, evidence that he had not fully abandoned his will to fight. He still couldn't see who this person was, so he couldn't trust her, plus she was an enemy.



Jace hostile manner vanished, instead replaced by cautiousness.

"Maybe. . ." Jace answered Ivy, still not quite sure what to make of her and his own memories, he was trained in military stuff after-all, not letting your guard down was one thing everyone knew.


"But, I can't really tell, if you're still invisible you know. . .heh heh heh." Jace chuckled.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Commander Vaco

Somewhere in Gia Panta.

The Commander had gotten out of there before Rusty really had a chance to do anything. In some kindness, he did leave the remain jerky with the dog. He was somewhat unaware of what the dog had just done, or who he belonged to. If Vaco knew, the dog would have been dead on the spot.

The Commander knew what he had to do now. Just doing it was going to be a little tricky, even worse now that MIR and Jace were so close. He'd have to plan this perfectly, and on the fly. It would have been a lot easier had the gunships still been able to be here, then his original plane with the Black Hand would have worked, despite MIR and Jace's involvement. What he needed was fire power, his troops here could provide what he needed at most but...

"Field artillery," he muttered to himself as he positioned the Hover bike towards a parked air-truck-ship thing. "That might work... but I don't think I would survive it, let alone her."

Vaco revved the engine up and drooped the clutch in the bike, throwing it into a wheelie. The small kitten meowed in fear and disappeared back into the bag as it looked out of the pouch. The hover bike, still in a wheelie, hit the front of the truck, but the anti-gravity pods on it flared up and prevent a direct collision. Carefully manipulating the anti-grav pods, and the accelerator, Vaco had managed to get the bike up onto the roof of a warehouse. "That wasn't so bad," he said to himself and his little passenger. "You should of seen the one on Dante 5."

He maneuvered the bike and headed in the demi-god's general direction.

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.

Lady Ivy “Xantara” Swift ~ Gia Panta // Alleyway

“Same could be said for you,” Ivy remarked. She leant her feet up against the wall, in a similar manner to the way she had before MIR had shot at her. She seemed relaxed in her behaviour, but she was poised, ready to move at the slightest sign of danger.

“But alright, fine,” she said, a smile on her lips. “It’s not as if this invisibility was helping much anyway.” There was the sound of a small clink as she retrieved a bottle from her bag, took a sip and replaced it.

Slowly, Ivy Swift began to fade into view. A slender elf with pale radiant skin, curly brown hair and a pair of fashionable sunglasses, and dressed in an emerald green cloak and boots. The hood of the cloak was up, and dripping with water. However her clothes were nowhere near as soaked as they should have been. There was somewhat an energised look about her, and although she was physically older than when Jace would have last seen her, she seemed, if possible…younger. But apart from that (and the sunglasses), she looked much the same as she had the last time she visited Pasarela.

“Now if you’d be as considerate as to show yourself…?”

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

Dan Slate, Gia Panta

All around Dan could hear troops closing in and to add fule to the fire that massive robot like thing was dropping a shit storm on him. "Aw hell talk about choosing the wrong side." Even in tight spot Dan trided to pop a snide or witty remark. But sadly no matter how snide or witty he may be it would not keep the enemy at bay. His thought were brought to an abrupt end when more fire came from abouve crashing all around him "Christ! Hey You!" Dan yelled pointing at the in the direction of the hugh silhoutette. "Stop fucking firing at me or I WILL make you regret it!" Of course He wasin't actually planning on taking that thing on, but it was making things harder. Continuing down an alleyway Dan was supprised at the sight before him.

There in the alleyway was a single Grim blissfully whistling to him self as he emptied his bladder. "Ha you have got to be kidding me." Dan quietly said to himself "This has got to be the dumbest Grim ever. Oh what ever easy picking." Slowly he crept up on the unnawhere Grim, his knife in hand and as soon as he came within grabbing distance he kicked the man in the back of the knee causing the man to fall to his knees, Dan then grabbed his head and pulled it back so the neck was exposed, and then before he could say anything shoved the knife straight through his neck. Dan let the man fall as he choked on his own blood and then die. As he looked at the corps a smile crept up on Dans face as an idea formed in his head.

Dan stuck his head out of the alleyway and looked both ways to make sure it was clear he then put on the Grim soldiers helmet and stepped out now in the late Grims armor, He gave one last look back at the body of the man he had just killed now stripped down to his underwear. "Thanks friend."

Rusty, Gia Panta

Rusty tillted his head to the side as the man who just a second ago pointed a gun at him had gone before he could do anything. Rusty walked up to where he had left the jerky and gave it a quitck inspection, after a minute or two he decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and dug into the treat that the man had left. Although he could not quite shake the feeling he got from that cat, it was an odd one to say the least.

_________________

After mounths of rigorous trials and conducted research I have finally come to the conclusion that Modern Warfare 2 can go SUCK IT.

---MIR---




MIR stopped firing as soon as Slate fellow had maneuvered his way close enough to a line of Grim troops, he was stupid, and it wasn't like Dan could go anywhere any time soon.



However, it seemed Dan thought MIR and the entire Empire's battle-net was stupid, as the man did the worst thing he could have done. Kill a Grim and attempt to disguise himself in his armor. Of course, MIR did not know that Dan had disguised himself, as he couldn't see through buildings and sonar/radar only detected objects and not details. MIR watched with the robotic equivalent of a face-palm as the soldier's vital signs died. However, MIR was still tracking Dan's position, so the chase being lead by the other Grims was still on.



As per protocol, MIR immediately notified that Grim squad of the unfortunate death of one of their members, MIR also advised them that the target was near (considering Dan had just killed someone out for a piss-break) In response the soldiers immediately rushed the target. Who knows, they may hesitate if they see the armor Dan is wearing, but they're still going to shoot.



+++Jace+++



Jace stood, staring at Ivy for a long time, his mind working to make sure he had it right. It was the woman alright. She hadn't changed a bit since he had last seen her as a child. Some strange magic was at work, if the weird power of nature she had wasn't already an indicator.

After a bit Jace shrugged "Ehh, what's the worst that could happen. . ." Jace thought. He slowly took of his helmet, his armor become visible the second it opened. Jace welcomed the feeling of the rain pelting his head. Jace would have, of course, looked older to Ivy, older as in he physically looked that way and older as in. . . he was emitting some strange aura. Jace was tainted by the void, so anyone connected to the spiritual would no doubt sense that he was in some way connected to the great cosmic energy. Of what process or why she would have no idea.

Jace was still at unease a bit, considering, *he* didn't know her, but his memories certainly did. Jace quickly thought of how to react. he could take this conversation many ways if he wanted to. All based on how he would react to Ivy. A game of calculations. Which option was the best? If he wanted to he could be friendly and lure her into a false sense of security (for a few moments) or he could start it off bad by calling her "rebel scum" (for she was) or he could be neutral and simply reaffirm his belief that she was who she said she was (again, more to steer the conversation then anything)

Jace chose the neutral option.

"Ivy. . .right?" He said with a nervous smile on his face. Jace didn't smile much these days.


~~Zackariah Frostheim~~


Frost had been busy, deep inside the inner-lab of the city. An extremely secret place that only those with high enough credentials could enter. Mostly full of scientists, this was where the major experimentation for the Empire went down. From halls adorned with grotesque experiments in test-tubes, to large half-made instruments hanging from pulleys in long industrial hallways. This was also where some the heaviest lab equipment were kept. A vast scientific complex beneath the cities exterior.

Frost was busy in a instrument-production garage. About the size of a hangar, sparks came out from various points on a hulking figure in the center, various personnel stood around the object. Frost stood a few feet away going over the data with some of the supervisors.


"The data is progressing excellently, we have E2CX to thank for the amazing amount of field data we've received so far. I've never seen something quite like it! And to think, no atrophy! A working A.I. that learns as it grows. All thanks to your personal work, lord" One of the scientist said.


"No need to thank me gentlemen, I just took you gifted mind's work and simply edited and tweaked it, it you who should be thanking yourselves for this master-piece"


The scientists nodded in admiration.

"So how is the new unit doing?"
"Excellent my lord, we've gotten the new armor in place'
"Good, good, continue working, I want an updates mailed to my terminal. . ."
And aid walked up behind Zack. "Sir, we've received the sword, we haven't touched it yet as you requested."
"Well I guess I'll have to push my analysis of the Mortuss project back a bit. . . " Zack thought as he left the scientist to their work.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Commander Vaco.

Vaco had been watching the reports coming in. He frowned at the sloppy intel and at the situation. His men where moving in as fast as they could, but still keeping distance ever since that lighting strike. The sniper disappeared, and a few Grim patrols have been attacked. He redirected Sylvnas to take out Dan Slate, and moved the BLACK HAND to battle ready status and placed a rally point at where he thought would be where this ended up. The targets, as far as he could tell had stopped moving, and the male prisoner they had captured had been given to Grim PD for transport back to base.

Nothing terrible, but barely any good news at all. The only good thing he could see is that none of his men were dead yet.

"MIR, I need some good news for a change," he said into the COM.


Captain Sylvanas and BLACK HAND.

"I don't mind at all," replied Black One. "But just as a heads up, Sylvanas' assassination mission was scrapped and moved up for tonight... you could still go with her then if you want, but I wouldn't."

The man known as Black One moved his hand to his ear and looked like he was listening to something. He moved to the systems unit and pulled up a map. "You can stay with us if you want, but it looks like Sylvanas is now being ordered to take out a merc known as "Dan Slate". We're going to hide this somewhere else in case we need it, and move towards Vaco's main target."

"Hey, Sylvanas," he said knocking on the Med Door. "Time to come out, the Commander wants you to go take out a sniper."

"I'm coming," she said. Sylvanas walked out of the Med Bay with a look of annoyance on her face. Her armor was still covered by the poncho, but her helmet was in hand.

"Here, you going to need these," said Black One as he handed her twin SMG's, a short single bladed sword, and a pair of knives. "It's going to be close quarters in there. So keep you pistol, but forget about the Sniper Rifle. You'll have to fall back to the Safe House when you'll done, and take out your targets tonight."

"Can't I just kill him after this," she whined slightly. "I hate these fucking night missions."

Black One had a sheepish grim on his face. "Oh come now Captain. You wouldn't want to miss your date. And besides, isn't he expecting you."

"Yeah... but he has no idea how to treat a lady," she said in a defeated tone. For a moment she looked normal as she crossed over and got on the three-man hover bike, but that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "What about them, are they coming?" she asked, pointing at Jazz and Jessica.

"I dunno yet. I've let them decide what to do."

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.

Lady Ivy “Xantara” Swift ~ Gia Panta // Alleyway

For a moment Ivy just stared at Jace, too stunned to speak. Of all the people she had expected, this Gato had not been one of them. This was not was she had expected at all. It can’t be…
You know him?
Back before I became a Demi-God. Back when I really was just a travelling young mortal.

Her demeanour changed slightly. As if her Demi-God psyche went offline for a moment, and she was back to thinking like mortal Ivy Evvette Swift. However outwardly, the change was barely noticeable…it just appeared for a moment as if she lost a little of her confidence. That was the problem of being a Demi-God. You had the knowledge of the gods, but your old mortal morals and habits were still present too. It tended to mess with your head…particularly if something from your old mortal past was then dragged up.

“…Jace Hallow?” she stared in disbelief. “Yes, yes I’m Ivy. Ivy Swift. I used to visit your family.” Ivy took a moment to process this information herself.
Then, after a considerable pause, she asked quietly, “The rest of the Hallows…did they survive the Purge?”

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

“Dan Slate? Never heard of him before.” Jazz shrugged his shoulders giving a clueless posture. “I don’t ever have time to talk to people in this town anyway, so I guess it’s pretty natural.”

Sylvanas came out from the med. Bay with a poncho on. He smiled a bit, seeing that she was okay, mostly just because she was wearing the poncho though. His smile only got bigger when she complained about the night mission she was given, saying that she hates them. He was going to say something, but rather let it go by. Jazz decided to stay quite, just this once.



“Of course we are. Who would want to miss out on this? It’s quite fun if you ask me.” Jazz stood up with a smile raising his hands into the air. “Don’t forget I’m getting paid to help you. Even if I didn’t want the money, I couldn’t just leave a lady like you to die, now could I? What kind of a man would I be then?” He had a tint of seriousness to his voice.

Almost a dead man… Jessica whispered to herself. She recalled a bad memory about her brother. He helped her, just as he is Sylvanas. Jessica stood still, emotionless, pondering the memory.

“Jessy, are you coming?” Before Jessica could realize, Jazz was already on the bike, second seat back directly behind Sylvanas. All she could do was look down and shake her head. A rather sad attempt to forget about what she was thinking, looked up, and walked toward the bike with some grace.

Sorry Jazz. Were the first words out of her mouth when she jumped onto the bike. Her face was with mixed emotions. Some sadness with some happiness on her face, it seemed to be more sad though. I was just day dreaming a bit. Maybe I’m just a little tired. Jessy wrapped her arms around his waist.

“It’s okay.” Jazz turned around to pat her head. He was confused. Jessica didn’t do something like this very often, she is a strong girl. Perhaps the thought was really something that bad. Jazz directed his attention to Sylvanas. “Let’s go.”

_________________
I GOT 'DEM HUMPS.
Doctress Who:You can be my Brony bitch ;D
Droctress Who:Jas, would you like me to make you a sandwich?
JesusChrist: Well if you insist Jasthn I'll use it with you. Spread them cheeks
Tragedy_and_Comedy: Jas is about as dangerous as a kitten.
Blood Lord:I hit your dog with mah truck. :3
Lenore Celestalis:*jumps on your back* weee~
Come check out my story in the Literature Thread. Update? It is true!
I also doodle quite a lot. Check out my art thread here!