Chapter 15 - Hitchhikers may be escaping convicts

[Jack]

(Jonash)
NRP: gennearlly I don't post just text. But the show must go on.... Besides it might be funny.

//Do we really need her for this? Can’t we kill this weakened queen without her?// Jonash asked of his master.

//We will need her soul to remake the world//

//And what of me? Won’t you need mine?//

//Don’t worry you will receive your reward//

//heh.. a chance to return to my world? Somehow, I am beginning to doubt.//

//Ah, so you do know//

//you haven’t answered my question//

//Always direct I like that about you//

//Indirect, I don’t like that about you//

//Witty, I think I will enjoy this most about you//

//You better be saying miss…//

//Or what? Last I checked I’m the only one that can send you back!// he paused sighing as he gained control of his annoyance //As I said before you wont need to worry So for now, we look for the woman… women… whatever//

\\heh\\ Lucifer’s alter ego chimed in

//quite you//

\\make me\\

//Why do you insist on annoying me??//

\\I was here first, if you don’t like it you can always leave\\

//not likely//

\\Oh and you might want to be more careful with how you lie//

//like you could give me pointers. What makes you think you’re a better ticker then me//

\\We’ll Jonash certainly doesn’t believe you\\

//Doesn’t matter, soon Thanatos will kill Jonash and absorb his soul//

\\you know, if he finds out, you will never be able to control him\\

//like I said, I don’t need your pointers//

\\you what?\\

he mentally sighed... //what?//

\\I got you monologing\\

//Damn it!//

\\too late\\

//........//

It had been only two hours but it had seemed like weeks. And even Haveti was beginning to loose interest in searching through the remains of the fallen adversaries. And he longed for more violence. And thanks to Jonash growing anxiety do to the massive number of souls he had stored in his horns, he too longed for anything to take his mind off the internal battles going on centimeters around his body.

[Jack]

(FEtt)
Echoes caressed the vacant hallways of Plutus' palace as Aurec blinked himself awake, his half-lidded gaze jolted suddenly by the face directly above him - a wide maw of razor sharp teeth twisted into an eerie grin. The relief of Plutus inset into the warren's ceiling looked down from him coldly from the ancient mural, the warm colors of a burning village painted behind. Aurec's leg ached dully as he sighed and set his head back down on the pelts, resting and healing while his allies in the Maledictory Wastelands were likely being slaughtered. I've spent too long here already.

The giant cyborg sat up and took a moment to inspect his leg, rolling up his pant leg and rolling his ankle slightly, thick metal hands checking the angle of the bone set. He gently pulled off the hastily-made splint and discarded it amid the bones that littered the edges of Plutus' private den with a clatter. His shiny new war-axe still made a suitable crutch, though Aurec slowly leaned it against the nearest wall and tested his healed foot, increasing the weight upon it until it was clear that it would hold his weight without complaint. Satisfied, he resumed the armor chestplate and shoulder bells he'd discovered the previous day and began his trip out of the palace. As he walked by the mounds of opulence within the castle halls, he swiped a small dagger that was sitting haphazardly from a golden urn, hacking away at his long hair and beard, trimming it roughly as he trekked, nothing fancy but shorter and far more managable. Rubbing his jaw none to gently with his metal palm, he tossed the blade aside, switching his war-axe to that hand and trudging past the halls of gold and the treasures of the dead and into the open air again.

He thought there was nothing left in Hell that would honestly surprise him, but was rendered speechless yet again as he stepped clear of the stone archway to Plutus' palace. A young girl of perhaps eight was marching determinedly by, raven hair askew and ragged dress filthy.

"Miss?" Aurec grumbled in his bassy voice as she strode by, breaking her of her reverie and somewhat startling her. The giant man once known as BioDiesel cut a fairly intimidating figure at nine feet tall, especially in the eyes of a four-foot three inch tall little girl. As her wide eyes turned to him, he noticed offhandedly that one of her eyes was hazel, and the other a startling shade of blue.

Molly was very frightened considering the circumstances, but at the same time felt a little better seeing another person, even a giant. Asher's first instructions had been to flee, that this man was a monster and would harm her, but Molly's own instincts bade otherwise. As a genesis she was no stranger to seeing hatred and ill-will towards her in another's eyes, and as she searched Aurec's she found none, just curiosity and kindness. She ignored the protests of the dark presence she'd began traveling with and held her ground. She calmed herself and conferred with Asher for a moment before speaking.

"My name is Molly. Can you help me get out of here?"

Aurec smiled and crouched down by the girl - though still dwarfing her in height. "You can call me Aurec, or BioDiesel, if you want. How did you get all the way down here?"

Rolling the two very strange names around in her head for a moment, she collected her thoughts, and told the enormous man about how the guards had killed her mother, and how after an enormous explosion she'd found herself here. Mention of her abilities, as well as her meeting Asher, was omitted. Things we would not have him know, ma petite.

"I am headed up," Aurec admitted with a grumble, "But it's a mess up there in the upper levels right now. You sure you want to try to get out now?"

"Yes," Asher answered in Molly's timid voice, sweeping the thought out of her head before she could even consider it.

"Guess you can come with me, Molly. Just stick real close and I should be able to protect you some."

[Jack]

"The Evelyn must have fallen in battle," Haveti concluded abruptly. He itched for battle intensely, but all the enemies had been defeated or pushed back. The meat Jonash had been carrying was good and fresh, but the Sii`Rul also longed for some blood, which was never so sweet as when pouring forth from a body which still twitched and spasmed in pain. He'd come so close, too..

His armor hung loosely, shattered in some places, the glossy obsidian armor marred with dried blood. With a tug from his remaining arm and a wriggle he managed out of the broken upper-armor, leaving it behind him in the mud. He grunted, spinning on his heel and kicking up a puddle with a small splash. Haveti turned to Cynric, whose ashen wings were spread wide. "Shall we wait here for the woman, or continue on?" he barked, tensing his sword hand.

The teenaged icon of sin turned and scowled, his one eye sweeping across the the marshes of the maledictory wastelands, penetrating the sheets of rain and fallen legions of beasts who'd opposed him. Here a Hell hound still clung to life, eyes glowing dimly and whimpering guardedly, there a wolf was forgotten, eating the flesh of it's fallen comrades as a scavenger. The woman, one of the first he'd met on traveling through Hell, was nowhere to be found, her demon presence had vanished from him impossibly, he could sense neither the flickering of her mortal life nor the tranquility of her in death's repose. A cloud hung over his senses, and faint memory of one of the angels of old came to him.

"Vandriel," Cynric spat, his long hair blowing slightly and the fresh scars tracing across his eyes reddening. Consorting with Angels, are we, Evelyn?

"Master?" Jonash inquired, not privy to Cynric's thoughts at the moment.

"We leave her, she's useless to us now." the teen said, a fierce edge seeping into his voice. His eye was a tense beacon of mercilessness, and Jonash feared for a moment that the boy would lose control and lash out.

"Onizuka can't escape us, Thanatos will see to that. His little band lost it's bid for survival when you slew the BioDiesel creature, my General. Now it is time to put the insurrection to a final and just end. Our casualties have been insignificant. Valerius was expendable. The loss of the Elemeleon is as nothing, for here is another to replace him."

Villeria nearly pushed Kirimisa into the mud, whom she'd been trying to bring back to conciousness, in her surprise. "Tell me please, do you speak of Telamichious? You've seen him? Is he alright?!"

Cynric looked down at her, evaluating the expression on her face. "Serve me, Elemeleon.." he crouched beside her and caressed her cheek, "..and I will deliver him to you." The overwhelming power of the suggestion he planted into her mind forced her decision.

"I..I will. For Telamichious. Of course I will."

"Good." the teen pulled Kirimisa to his feet. "K, wake up. We need you." The man weakly stared into the boy's eyes, confused. For a moment the familiar face before him didn't seem like the boy he'd known at all, but someone else, someone..different. A twisting spiral of fear clenched Kirimisa's already pained gut, and the man's eyes squeezed shut in pain, his brow furrowing darkly.

"K, c'mon man, K!" Satan delved into the recesses of Cynric's mind, pulling out the boy's mannerisms while forcing the real persona back. A dab of convincing concern crossed Cynric's deceitful face, and in another moment he was just the boy Kirimisa remembered. "I- I can make it." Kirimisa rasped, trying to push away the teens hands so he could stand on his own. "What do you need me to do?"

"I need armor, K. That invisible rune stuff that keeps you so hale and hearty. Well..that normally keeps you well. Can you do it, man?" He stared earnestly into the eyes of his old friend. "Yeah, easy." K put his thumb to Cynric's chest and traced familiar lines, into a complex symbol, doubling back over itself several times. As he ran his finger he filled the rune with magic, trapping the energy to Cynric in an invisible sygil. He slowed before the finishing the last mark, noticing the odd look in Cynric's eye. The one he'd thought to have seen before. Something.. wrong.

"Finish it," Cynric demanded, his voice flooding with thinly veiled impatience.

The last mark, which K knew by heart to be a smooth crescent that met the original point of the rune and completed it, Kirimisa instead drew ragged, poorly, meeting lines it was never intended to touch. K never took his suspicious gaze from Cynric's face. "It's done. Your armor's done, Cyn," he said breathlessly, wondering why even looking at his old friend filled him with such unrational fear. Why the hell did I do that? That rune armor will snuff out like a candle as soon as he's hit with anything. Why the hell isn't that Cynric anymore?

The lord of the underworld spun to face Haveti and Jonash again. "It's time. The skies look inviting, so I see no need to be traveling by foot anymore," Cynric said, punctuating his words with a stretch of his mottled wingspan. Overhead the sky churned blackly, but none at the moment thought to dispute his words. Haveti allowed himself to once again be roughly taken by the arm and pulled into the air by Jonash, the last time having been hurled as a Sii`Rul bullet against foes pleasing the tattoed alien just fine. Villeria looked up at them thoughtfully for a moment before her dress and the air around flowed fluidly, her wind element picking her up gracefully and allowing her to swoop into the air behind the pair. Alone, Cyn turned back to face Kirimisa, taking him by the shoulders.

"Do you trust me, K?"

"Of course I do, Cyn, it's just that..I mean, I don't.."

"You'll understand soon enough, K." Cynric said with grin. But if you try to stand against me, I'll rip out your throat. Maybe that will silence the mutterings of the boy that was Cynric.

"I'll get you out of here, ol' buddy. It's time to move on." Giving Kirimisa no warning, he tightened his grip on the man's shoulders and dragged him into the sky after him, where in no time at all they flew beside the others. No one deigned to speak to Cynric throughout their flight, which suited him just fine, as he was concentrating on the broken form of the fallen creature Tenia, filling it with an undead semblance of life. You knew you would serve me, beast. When I have time I'll find a fitting punishment for your rebellion. Right now, though, I have a task for you. The undead vulture lord listened carefully to his master's instructions, resistance and free thought torn away from him.

Yes, my lord. Find the will-drinker. Bring her before you, alive and unspoiled.

"My lord?" Jonash asked, breaking Cynric of his connection with Tenia. Just ahead of them the storm intensified severalfold, no longer the downpour of the Maledictory wastelands but the second level of Hell, where the lustful suffered. The winds buffered the sky-borne group, knocking them about wildly.

"To the ground," Cynric commanded. "We continue on by land." He swooped down, planting Kirmisa's feet on the ground and hanging onto him as an anchorpoint for a moment before his own feet found purchase of they dry soil. Villeria pushed against the whipping wind close enough to yell to Cynric, "I've been this way before, Telamichious isn--" She was cut off as the teen grabbed her by the throat. "Don't question me," he snarled. "I'll give you your Elemeleon prince."

(To be continued on in the 2nd level of Hell)

[Jack]

(Fett)
We may find safe passage hiding in the shadow of this beast, cherie.

The behemoth of a man paused as he crouched beside them, peering into the little girl's wide eyes. Her right eye flickered a maddening twilight blue for a moment before returning to the soothing deep ocean hue. Molly's mismatched eyes made him cautious, but her innocent gaze tossed aside his concerns with ease. She was, after all, just a girl, caught up somehow in this nightmare just like he was. The raven-haired doll before him was a startling contrast to Finch, despite the similar situations. The pale-haired Finch was a survivor, toughened by more then battles. This little girl seemed utterly lost and helpless, and he was frankly amazed that she'd survived this far on her own. BioDiesel ruffled her hair gently with his giant metal hand before standing, noting obliquely that his shadow eclipsed her tiny body.

"We should head on out, then." BioDiesel said in his deep rumble, tossing the war-axe back to sit across his shoulders. He started off, but his steps faltered as he felt a gentle weight on his hand. Molly was walking beside him clutching his enormous hand, as was natural for her. When walking with adults, you hold their hand. Aurec held his hand awkwardly as he walked, realizing that it was as high off the ground as her little head. Seeing that she was red-faced and teary-eyed, his heart melted and he scooped young Molly off the ground and carried her. As he thundered on she buried her face into his shoulder and cried.

Lord save me, Aurec thought. Am I to fight this war for you or protect this precious little girl? Heaven help me if I'm to do both at once.

For everything she'd been through, little Molly didn't make a sound as she cried, she just trembled softly as she sobbed, eventually drifting to sleep in BioDiesel's arms as he strode past the abandoned weights and furrows left in the ground by millenia of their passage. Where have all the prodigal dead gone to? I haven't seen a soul in ages.. The empty palace grounds unsettled him far more then they had when full of the dead in their fruitless labors, and BioDiesel realized that he felt a very real spike of fear slice through him, something he hadn't felt when not faced with an immediate danger. Vulnerable, he thought worriedly. Looking out for myself was one thing, that came naturally, but now I have a little girl with me. The cyborg, for all his supposed gruffness, had a big heart, and had become immediately attached to Molly.

Asher, just as attached to Molly though in a far more literal sense, pondered the casual existence of the hulking giant wandering around Plutus' domain so freely. What has happened in Hell that caused these changes? This entire ring of Hell seems to be inhabited by just this one man. Something is not at rights..

A raindrop spattered against BioDiesel's face as he walked, the first of many more to come. A humid mist flowed breezily from ahead, the defining line where the two levels of Hell met. As he walked through with his fitfully sleeping passenger, he found himself glad he'd taken the time to trim his hair, which would be less of a bother in the muggy weather of the Maledictory Wastelands. Molly's hair and dress turned damp as water began to sprinkle it's way through the mists, and before Aurec knew it, he was once again stomping through the mud beneath the heavy, unending, and all too familiar rainfall.

(Story will continue in the Maledictory Wastelands, though at a later date.)

[Jack]

(Haveti)
At the dim boundaries of his vision Haveti could percieve the Villeria woman slicing her way though the storm, protected by a shallow pocket of calm wind that pushed it's way through the raging sky in a maddeningly gentle way. Far beneath the Sii'Rul's dangling feet the morbid terrain of the Maledictory Wastelands had given way to a barren, windswept plain, with virtually no distinguishing features. He wasn't particularly fond of heights, as they typically meant he was far away enough from everything that his poor eyesight could see little, making the trip boring, despite the supposed expedience that travelling by flight afforded them. He itched for the ground again, to run and hack and bleed and scream. The spare moments being borne through the air by the Nephilim General gave Haveti time to ponder a name for his beloved sword, the gift from the Elemeleon man and the soul-master, both of which had dissappeared since. Though he couldn't explain why, nor did he really attempt to, Haveti felt compelled to name the sword for his father, a great Sii'Rul. The blade already having been plentifully christened with blood, he gave it the formal title 'Eveiri', translating very roughly to 'Inspiring self-mutilation in foes'. His father had once held that same title, and perhaps one day Haveti would earn it as well.

The ground rose up to meet Haveti so suddenly that there was no time to prepare for a landing. Gritting his teeth and reaffirming a death-grip on the hilt of his cherished Eveiri, Haveti tumbled free of Jonash's grip, managing a clumsily balanced roll that ended in a low crouch. No sooner then he'd completed his landing then the buffeting winds threatened to knock him down again, ripping and clawing at him with surprising force. Jonash walked with a steady ease past him, seemingly unfazed by the perpetual hurricane, earning a small scowl from Haveti. The fallen angel grinned.

The one armed warrior followed Jonash blindly through the tearing winds, shortly stumbling upon a downcast Villeria, who was rubbing her neck distractedly as her oddly-colored hair blew about wildly. Beside her a hollow-eyed Kirimisa stared blankly at Cynric, who seemed the most at ease of the group. "Before we had some fights, but this will be a battle. We fight as a team. Haveti, Jonash, you remember taking down Plutus. Me and Jonash will sweep, you three will clean. Miss Elemeleon, you come in behind us firing off your magic, K and Haveti, you keep anything from rushing her while she's doing that. Simple, right?" Affirming nods were had by all, and their seemingly youthful leader pivoted on his heel and ducked away into the storm. Jonash dissappeared from view as well and the somewhat startled other three burst into motion after them.

[Jack]

(Kyi\\Finch)
Being the light sleeper that she was, faint voices traveled through Kyi’s ears, causing her to twitch slightly in her sleep. Choosing to turn over onto her left side, as to avert her ears away from the voices, Kyi’s head bumped into the trunk of the tree, and she bounced backwards off of it. She mumbled to herself, then sat up and yawned. This was one of the better incidents that she had had during her sleep. The time she tried to step from her bed to a stool in her bedroom, while still being asleep, turned out terribly. She had woken up with blood around her nose.

The voices had disappeared now that Kyi was awake, and she assumed that they had been a seemingly loud part of her dream. Until she heard footsteps.

Finch was awake as well, her hounds and wolves sniffing the air curiously in several directions. Clumsily, Kyi walked over to where Finch was sitting and tapped her shoulder gently. Completely not startled, Finch faced her with a questioning look. “Did you hear it too?” Kyi was too tired to full-out explain what she meant, but, thankfully, Finch knew what she meant anyway, approving this with a nod. She turned her head away, facing where she had entered into this level from the third. The footsteps could barely be picked out, despite the winds being mostly quiet. “I can try to stop the winds, if that’ll help. Then our vision would clear, wouldn’t it?” Finch didn’t respond.

One of the wolves’ throats began rumbling into a low growl, then continued on with bass-like barks. The other wolf and hounds gathered around it, imitating it with their own different vocal cords. Kyi wiggled her fingers nervously and walked over to the canines. They didn’t bother to look at her, and she didn’t bother to look at them. Words swirled out of Kyi’s mouth, most of them sounding more like noises of the wind rather than actual words. The wind seemed to copy her voice, and as her voice quieted the wind vanished almost entirely. An image of one person came through first, hazily. Kyi put her hand over her eyes, trying to see the person clearer. Another person came into view, this one with wings. “Alright then,” she patted one of the hounds on the head, “Everybody wake up, dammit!” Mithos, being the closest (other than Finch) perked up slowly.

“What? Who.. is that?” Mithos’ eyes fluttered open and closed as he staggered onto his feet and over to the area of Finch.

“Dunno,” Kyi tilted her head just slightly to the side and smiled as cheerily as she could.

Thanatos, who had looked like he was sleeping the entire time, was suddenly standing behind Finch. Finch glanced up at him, scoffed quietly and almost lazily walked over to her group of canines and Kyi.

The image brought itself closer, making each of the wolves take a few steps near it, while the hounds rose their barks.

Onizuka groaned quietly, “I’ll wake up in a bit.” He said, though it was hardly heard.

“No you won’t,” Kyi inched over to Oni, half-whispering and speaking like a mother trying to wake up her child—nicely—for school. “You’re gonna help us, okay Oni? ‘Cause somebody’s comin’ and even though I haven’t been here, I bet it’s not somebody who wants to be nice to us. How are you feelin’, Oni?”

“Little drowsy,” he sat up slowly, holding his stomach in a painful way. Kyi placed her hand on his back and helped him stand and walk over to the rest of the group. “Who’s that?” Oni asked, catching a glance of the figure coming towards them while his head was facing downward.

“That’s the somebody who might not want to be nice to us.” Kyi repeated, blinking.

NRP: That somebody would be Cyn, of course. Who should be followed by Jonash. Then K and Haveti. And Villeria would be in the back. From what I know. Just.. so everyone knows, in case my post screwed that up.

[Jack]

(Onizuka)
A twisting lance of pain preforated Onizuka's gut as he shook free the dull nightmares like cobwebs, running his hands over his face. What he saw made the dark dreams he'd slept through seem laughable. Cynric was here.

"It's him," he said coldly.

Other shapes became visible through the storm, but before anyone could bother to point them out, a gale force wind knocked them off their feet and pinned them to the ground. The hurricane force didn't relent, Villeria drawing deep into her wind abilities to draw power from the eternal storm and hurl it against the group of creatures defying Cynric. The possessed teen rode the wind directly to where his enemies were trapped, sliding blade free of sheath as Villeria's powers carried him to Onizuka. Just as quickly a wall of opposing air pressure billowed up to meet him, slamming into and pushing him back.

The powers of wind were incredibly strong in the second level of hell, more power then Kyi could hope to harness. As she opened herself to the natural element, it spread throughout her and spilled out, virtually uncontrollable. Had she been a full blooded elemental perhaps it would have been in her grasp, but as it was she had to force some of the element away and only draw on it in small increments. The hurricane force wind that had pinned them to the ground was pushed back slowly, Kyi trembling under the stress of pushing against another element-user. Villeria withheld a gasp and nearly stepped back, the ability of a half-elemental equal to that of an Elemeleon. Mithos and Finch pulled themselves quickly to their feet, Onizuka lurching up much more slowly and painfully. There was one last push against push, and then Kyi and Villeria conceded, both dropping their opposing winds.

As soon as the leaded curtain of pressure was lifted, the blur of wings and armor that was Jonash arrowed towards Mithos, stopping short as it was intercepted by a dark blur of shadow and finely tailored clothing. Thanatos slipped Jonash a sinister grin before the two melted into speedy blurs again, removing themselves from the battle to conduct their business privately. Kyi rolled to her feet, drawing two pistols from the front pockets of her jacket and issuing hot lead to roil through the wind like angry incandescent insects towards the distant Villeria, Kirimisa, and Haveti. The muffled cracks of the gunshots were eclipsed just as suddenly by Villeria's twisting and writhing lightning bolt which passed close enough to the recovering Cynric to singe his hairs. The lightning strike snapped into Kyi, tossing her on her back. Her left arm was shaking and had a long, black burn on it that was still smoking. The twitching fingers of that hand had lost that gun, although at the moment it was the least of her concerns. She kicked to her feet, hugging her burned arm across her stomach gently. Her mechanical wing unfolded from her back lifelessly as she took aim with her remaining gun. The muzzle flare briefly lit her position as greasy thunder rolled out the barrel in a staccato series of cracks, zipping closely over Finch and Mithos as they met Haveti and Kirimisa.

Eveiri met Aenior in a shriek of metal and sparks that flashed across Kirimisa as he spun, glancing Finch's throwing star away with the handle of his scythe even as he ducked beneath the girl's kick. K continued the spin, a slice that would have cut Finch down hadn't Mithos leaned to the right and stalled the blade on his own, extending his left wing as hard as he could into Haveti's face, the less-limbed Sii'Rul having no extra appendages to block with and thrown back with a bloodied nose. The shuriken looped around Mithos and back at Kirimisa, who managed to clear it with a deft jump. Behind them, a Hell Hound howled before promptly exploding messily as Villeria lashed out at the beasts swarming her with lightning strikes.

Kyi was fumbling through her jacket for one of the .45 clips when she saw the dark shape hurtling towards her. Her hand slipped to the dagger at her side, but the girl hesitated as she saw what it was. She wasn't able to dodge out of the way as Onizuka slammed into her and sent them both sprawling across the ground. The one-time lord of the Styx coughed blood and swore angrily. Cynric, having thrown him into her, advanced on them both with a perturbing sense of calm. "Where do you keep finding these little friends, Onizuka? How many of them did you sentence to death when you began this insurrection?"

The half-elemental girl slipped out from under Onizuka and rolled her right wrist, flicking a knife at Cynric so fast it was difficult to see. The sinister teen's half-unsheathed blade deflected it with a smooth ease, and his katana was fully sheathed again nearly before she realized her attack hadn't hit. "This one's charming, though," Cynric said with a grin that bled malice. Ignoring the biting pain in his abdomen, Onizuka pushed up and tried to stand, but was immediately encased in ice as the Gourein's wings froze the air about him. "You see this, Onizuka?" Cynric traced his hand along the deep scar tissue that crossed over his unseeing eye, "Here I can return what you've given me, many, many times over. Down here the pain doesn't stop after death."

[Jack]

(Jonash)
Once again, Thanatos found his blade at locked with another pseudo ally. Fighting, again, another mock battle.

"So Thanatos how are we going to do this?" Jonash whispered.

"To the death?" Thanatos asked coldly with a slight smirk.

"Not quite yet, but we do need to make it look real..."Jonash responded showing the same grin.

"yeah... you know, just in case they manage to get away again," Thanatos said completing the Nephilim's sentence.

"oh of course!"

The gravity of the area around them increased as Jonash broke the sword lock and charged Thanatos to the ground. Jonash, raising a sword above his head to impale his adversary explained, "So let’s start this!"

NRP: I realize its short but only because its been a while and I am a bit rusty.

[Jack]

(Mithos)
Mithos had quickly scanned the battlefield. Thanatos and Jonash had vanished in their haste to fight one another. Cynric had Onizuka and Kyi pinned down, and Finch and himself were fighting the one know as K and Haveti, while Villeria was left free to cast her magics, with the exception of the hell hounds disturbing her. Having knocked down Haveti with his wing, he lunged at him with his blade over his head. Haveti rolled across the ground, rising to his feet in time to recoil from another lunge. He sped forward, Haveti raising his blade preparing to parry another attack, but instead spread his wings and glided over the Sii'Rul's head. Landing, then twisting, his blade dug across Haveti's back. However, the imperfect landing caused Mithos to stumble after the blow, and fall. Haveti released a bellow of rage, as he turned and began a furious assault on the Angel.

"I was hoping that I had seen the last of you back there." Mithos spoke, striving to hinder the Sii'Rul's furious strikes until he could make his own strike. Haveti's reply was another slice across his right leg, joining multiple other ones that he had been given in their last battle. Mithos conceded that a few more strikes in his legs and he wouldn't be able to stand. The Angel spun, attempting to slash Haveti, but found a scythe defecting his attack.

Finch had taken that chance, embedded a shurikan in K's back, making him draw back to his own opponant. Mithos was about to look beyond Haveti to see if the hell hounds were holding Villeria, but dove sideways when he heard a crackle, and saw a blinding light, where he had just been standing. Haveti rushed forward while the Angel was laying on the ground, bringing his blade down to where he was. The Sii'Rul's blade was met by the Angel's, and Mithos lashed his leg out at Haveti, sweeping him. Having only one arm, the unbalanced being fell quickly to the ground, allowing Mithos the time he needed. The Angel rolled backwards, getting to his feet. He looked sideways, seeing Cyn drawing closer to Oni, who was trapped in ice.

Mithos let the tip of the majestic great sword drag along the ground as he rushed in towards the recovering Haveti. He swept his blade up with great force, forcing Haveti's arm upward with his sword, and allowing Mithos the time to strike Haveti with a powerful kick in the ribs. The Angel and the Sii'Rul stumbled backwards. Mithos looked down at his legs, which were severely cut and bleeding. He looked back up at Haveti, seeing that he was still off balance, and flew a short distance into the air, spun, and struck Haveti again across the chest. Haveti returned with a sweep at ankle height, but was too quick and swept the blade below him before he touched the ground. Mithos spread his wings, and dove towards the right side of Haveti, then took off in a blur of speed as he glided towards Villeria. Blindly casted bolts of lightning struck around him, but were not enough to delay his charge. She summoned a poweful gust of wind to blow the Angel back, but not before he laid a minor strike across her hand. With the strike unfinished, he was blown far backwards, stumbling to recover himself before the Sii'Rul had the chance to strike him. Seeing how Haveti was still far enough away, he felt safe for the moment.

NRP/OOC: It's rather short and quite boring, but I don't have too much to post about at the moment.

[Jack]

(Thanatos)
Nephilim steel clashed against mithril and sending sparks cascading over the battlefield like some kind of strange fireworks over the battlefield below. The flying combatants struck at each other with a fervor and passion unwarranted in a “mock” battle. The Nephilim found himself dodging faster and faster and more and more powerful strikes.

As Thanatos’ blade made contact with the half-breed’s arm, leaving a deep gouge just above his wrist, Jonash backed off slightly. “Do you need to be so enthusiastic? Isn’t this just a show?” he whispered.

“You blind, naïve fool. Whatever made you think I don’t mean to kill you?”

The wind pulled dark shadows off of Thanatos’ clothing, forming a wave of fast-moving darkness that slammed into the Nephilim before he could react. The two became visible to mortals below as the general embedded himself into the ground, forming a crater several feet deep. Thanatos hung in the air above, and as the few good souls of Destiny who looked up at him felt cold shudders run down their spines.

A cloud of darkness was streaming off of him, and whips of it lashed about freely in the wind, but the hungry expression on his face was clearly visible. His bright eyes were filled with the tint of madness and his mouth was twisted into a wicked sneer.

“Come now, Shiliun!” his mocking voice shouted above the winds, “You know it not, but I have faced you before Jonash. I have crushed your bones to dust, and fed your flesh to the vultures. Come again, and see if you can avoid the same fate!”

Jonash struggled to stand as Thanatos cackled with laughter. The shadows surrounding him were flowing like liquid, mixing with the dirt, and turning it to a blackish mud. It grabbed at him, pulling him downward and seeking to crush him in its embrace. Fear never crossed his mind, but he was highly offended that someone would try to kill someone so adept with the earth element as he.

The dark muddy bubble that had formed over him burst as he exploded into the air. “You are a fool, Thanatos!” the Nephilim roared, “My master will destroy you for this insolence!” Not wasting time he reached his hand out as he spoke, targeting the place where Thanatos’ blade had touched him.

Thanatos chuckled his body passing into ethereality to avoid the unwelcome effects of a singularity suddenly spawning on the end of his weapon as it fell downward, all of the wind and combatants below being pulled towards it suddenly. “If you know your master half as well as I do, Jade, then you know that you are entirely expendable.”

He didn’t know if the others below could hear him or not, but he was beginning to care less and less. His fight was with Jonash. If he succeeded in gaining the Nephilim’s strength and speed, he would have little need of the others. If he failed, then he could retreat or die. Part of him thought it strange that the prospect of death didn’t bother him much more than the prospect of skipping breakfast that morning had. As his body shifted back to the kind of solid form from which he and his magic could actually harm the Nephilim, it hardly bothered him that the shift seemed to be a little bit harder. He dimly remembered a time when finding he could do that at all had bothered him a great deal, but he brushed it out of his head quickly as the Nephilim charged him again.

Daggers flashed into his hands, countering the Nephilim’s blow smoothly. Despite his outward appearance and the rage and hatred on his face that there was no need to fake, he was doing a fairly good job at keeping his mind clear and calm. Jonash he wasn’t so sure about, but it had been his experience with the other Jonash’s / Jade Moon’s whom he had met that getting them angry had a tendency to cause them to have sloppier technique and leave more openings than they would otherwise. This one was probably the most unique of all – the horns being a feature none of the others had borne – but it would be unlikely that using the same strategy would hurt anything.

OOC: Sorry I've been away so long... Blame it on the dude who convinced me to buy City of Heroes (that would be Cynric). I also apologize for the crappy RP quality, but I too am rusty and have had a crapload of writer's block recently.

[Jack]

(Jonash)
NRP: as I recall I'm partially responsible for you recent purcase myself. Speaking of which we need to figure out when you and everyone else can come back up here.

Also, The following post is rated PG 13 for intense violance. (Sorry but I'm rusty I try for the coviteted NC 17 sometime but for now its on withesow)



RP: Thanatos went for a right-handed backhand to Jonash’s head. Jonash blocked with his left forearm but instead of deflecting the blow, he went with the blow, and used its momentum to thrust him into a clockwise roundhouse. Thanatos reacted true to form, and jumped back narrowly dodging the blow. Landing on his hands, he then kicked forward connecting with Jonash’s gut as the Nephilim began his descend from the roundhouse. Unable to adjust, Jonash fell straight to the ground hard with Thanatos standing on his chest.

“you know there is something I neglected to mention.” Jonash stated as calmly as he could, considering he had about two hundred pounds on his Adam’s apple. “In my dimension…. I kill you…. on a regular basis!” Jonash then grabbed the dimensional traveler’s foot and raised his leg up and in front of Thanatos and forced him to the ground using a leg takedown that ended with Jonash on top letting his punches fly as fast he could.

After a few attempts of Thanatos kicking Jonash where it hurt, Jonash finally relented and punched his opponent in a simi-uppercut that sent Thanatos skidding across the ground thirty feet. Thanatos scraped his hand in front of his head as he skid, forcing him to flip up to his feet. Before Jonash could even stand, a crescent kick to the back of Jonash’s head sent him to the ground, face first.

Jonash’s muffled voice exclaimed soberly, “That’s it.”

He slammed his palms to the ground letting fire launch him it to the air. Drawing a bow, he readied a few gravity arrows on his accent. On his decent, he fired ten arrows towards Thanatos before drawing a whip. When he landed, he flung the whip around Thanatos’s neck and launched into the air. In mid air, Jonash swung Thanatos around like a rag doll before launching him into the wind, which forced him back down to the ground.


NRP: Um... I am not as familiar with everyone's powers as I should but atleast everyone's still coming out swinging!

Jonash has a few brused ribs from the kick and presure, and is a little disoreinted due to the blows to his neck and back of his head. I'll let Thanatos decide what has happened to his character.

[Jack]

(Cyn)
The darkness that tainted his soul made emo kids envious. Cynric's grin could not be hidden. The power Satan had displayed at his reawakening was awkward, mostly serving the purpose of bringing life to his atrophied abilities. Now, he was completely free, and he had his target within reach.

"You will be quite surprised at the competence of the enemies you are making." Onizuka said the words like an omen before spatting some blood.

"I doubt I'll be surprised, but I may at some point be impressed. I surely hope so. I'd hate to feel that my goals should be handed to me and not earned."

Somehow, Kyi understood Oni even though he said nothing to her. She understood not to move yet. Any attempt now would merely cause the man before them, a man only in the sense of gender, to cause them unnecessary injury before he chose to extricate their lives from their bodies. She remained still. She was anxious to make a move, but wisdom beat anxiety.

"So how shall this be done? I feel it is fair to give you a swift, honorable death, despite my bias towards torturing you. We all know that is not my department, though. My minions do the torturing. Anyone around me who finds themselves in pain only bring it upon themselves." His malicious curled lips signified his desire to end this moment quickly, but he could not bring himself to lose it so fast. "And I certainly wouldn't want to kill you in too terribly a gruesome manner, what with a lady present." Cyn's own morals somehow still clung to life in that nearly dead brain.

"You won't kill me until you fail. My spirit will not die until you are done."

A wind passed by, a loud wind accompanied by a whining clash. Thanatos and Jonash, imperceptible if you weren't looking, tore between Lucipher and his prey, then onward, only long enough to blanket his laugh. "Then I suppose I should want to suppress your soul, no?" He stepped closer, right next to Kyi and Oni, and leaned right into his target's face. "We shall see how long your will holds out."

Cynric stretched his right arm out to his side, hand turned backwards. In nearly the same moment, he caught a bloodied Haveti from a throw on Mithos' part. "Careful, warmonger. Death in battle is honorable, but I'd appreciate it if you make it their death, not yours." The Sii'Rul nodded and added the momentum of Cyn's shove into his next offensive. Cynric laughed, turning back to Oni. "Oh boy. Kids these days."

He turned to a forty five calibur barrel at the bridge of his nose. Kyi didn't even realize she could move that quietly, but somehow her desperation, along with what she was, had let her existense slip from Cyn's perception for the moment she needed. "I'm sure you won't give me a straight answer, but I feel the need to ask anyway. Will lead work on you?"

The faint look of shock in his face faded into amazement. "That was... impressive." He didn't move an inch save his mouth. It seemed even his hair resisted the blowing of the winds. "Very, very impressive." His gaze locked onto hers. "Surely it will hurt, but what have I yet done to you to provoke such a move? You are not the one who removed my eye so forcefully."

"Surely you realize how cunning you believe you are." Her eyes narrowed. "And how easily I should fall for your words."

King of all that is evil or not, it hurt, just like he said it would. Before he could realize that she had resisted his influence so directly, they were both on their feet, though Kyi's sudden shift caused a groan from Oni as he rolled out of the way. "Yet another spectacular display of will... and spunk. Might I know the name of my unnecessary opponent?"

"Nobdy," she replied with a grin, a grin she had to fight to show.

"How wrong you are," Satan laughed back. "Because of everyone in existense, Nobdy can beat me."

She nodded, both guns in hand. "So you got the joke, but you still had to kick in a crack for your overconfidence. It'd be cliché to say that that will be your downfall, but... well, it will."

The ground below her went from mud to frozen dirt in a moment, her form barely flipping backwards to avoid the deadly wind. The Devil's unfurled wing slid back. "The same could be said for your confidence, especially when standing toe to toe with myself." Cynric, the real Cynric, somehow took momentary control of his vocal chords. "So... I guess I won't be getting a name... or a number?"

Kyi looked at him in the same manner a deer would look at an oncoming car if the vehicle suddenly transformed into Lassie and played dead instead of plowing through. Satan might have given Cyn the same look had they not shared a face. Well, c'mon, Lucy. She's kinda cute. Satan sighed.

Then he grinned. "Well, you chose a problematic manuever, nonetheless." Only then did Kyi realize that she was now much farther from Oni than he was. In fact, Onizuka was moving towards Cynric.

"You have your reason to kill her now," Oni spoke. "You always bring about that reason. I die for an eye. She dies for a gunshot. Yet you never die for your actions." He stood, using up the last of his strength to reach out and grip Satan by the front of his shirt. "I only hope that I have eyes to see your face the day you do."

Satan cackled. "Then you're in luck. Considering that not only were you strong enough to hurt me, of which I am impressed, plus the fact that up until recently you were loyally under my employ, I will grant you your last wish." He gripped Oni's throat. "I will keep your eyes with me, so they will never be lost."

"No!" Kyi fired almost blindly at Cynric, somehow able to surprise him yet again, as if some part of him was forcibly supressing his senses from seeing her. A bullet grazed his cheeck, leaving a trail of blood along the cut. He struck out with a burst of electricity from his free right hand, throwing her to the mud and her guns away from her to either side.

He then drew his katana. "Goodbye, Onizuka, and thank you for the hospitality."

Kyi watched, and she saw... more than what was there. A pause, a pause in Cynric's swing. And she saw it. They were fairly translucent, but in the strike of a lightning bolt and the force they were emitting, they were visible to her. Small hands were sliding out from his upper body, gripping the immediately viewable hands and holding them back. Something within Cynric was fighting the strike, fighting the finishing blow that was about to be.

Alas, the pause was only momentary. The shine in his eyes, the true Cynric, dissipated in a faded, and the weapon fell. Moments later, so did Onizuka.

Now there was a much greater problem for Satan. Cynric receded. He receded very far. That small display of power he had shown was disturbing. With Cyn so far away now, he could not read him correctly, but he had to keep constant watch. Lucipher had to consider how strong the Meta-Gourein's will was. If he lost control, or his control wavered and Cyn was capable of taking some small amount of control, would he destroy Satan's plans entirely?

If given the opportunity, for the greater good, would he kill himself?

Was this the safest body to be inhabiting at this point?

Should I try for her number again? The fading voice of Cynric continued to baffle the minds of normal people everywhere.