Sutoratosu

as it is the Sub Armory of the base, the selection isn't as large, but here's a list of what is held in there currently Four hundred standard-issue Rifles (Like you all were given at the front gate battle), all of them assembled neatly into deployment Racks along the walls on the Armory Five RPGs and approximately six crates full of rockets for them (DON'T get an RPG... like the general said, can't risk any unnecessary damage to the building) in the back corner of the armory ten Crates filled with Approximately 100 Frag Grenades Each (Again, DON'T get grenades...) Ten crates filled with approximately 50 Flash-Bang Grenades Each (Flash Grenades are fine to use for this operation, just see to it that you don't set them off with Comrades nearby...) five crates filled with Approximately 20 Incendiary Grenades each (DON'T GET THESE. You WILL burn down the atrium and the building if you do) Two Hundred X-19 Assualt Rifles like Sid has right now. Lke the rifles, they are assembled neatly in Deployment Racks along the walls of the Armory. Ten MK-93 Heavy Anti-Infantry Machine guns like the General is carrying. they're assembled into a deployment rack along the back wall of the armory Two Hundred Beretta M11s, like Surge and McCarthy have on them as their side arms. they are assembled into a deployment rack beneath the one for the standard issue Rifles. All the Weapons in the armory are kept Un-loaded at all times for safety reasons, however, you will find the correct clips for each of them in various crates scattered throughout the Armory. all of the clips have been maintained and are fully loaded with bullets. simply pop them into the weapon and you're good to go. (All the weapons, with the exception of the RPG and Grenades, which I'm not even allowing you to get, have Safeties on them... before the weapon will fire, they will have to be switched off) and remember the rules of arming yourselves right now: No Frag Grenades No Incendiary Grenades No Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and on an unrelated note, here's a little something I found that would go nicely in this RP... http://casteelart.deviantart.com/art/Field-Guide-Pg-20-Torkoal-211349670 if Charles Darwin were alive in this story...

^that's the summary of a certain job class i have planned for Project Sky Slayer... anyways, if giving the players an actual challenge would be an issue if they roleplayed dragons... we could always make it so that there's some type of predator that's higher up in the food chain (I.E. maybe certain humans who've trained in the art of wrym slaying/ wield bane type weapons...) maybe have them as an endangered species of sorts, highly intelligent but yet lacking in advancement compared to man due to something such as the dragon's less urgent need to adapt to new environments by building(Or making machines or tools) seeing as how they seem to be able to pretty much survive anything by just tweaking some bodily aspect of theirs in some way (Ex. Dragons that fly and Dragons that are semi-aquatic... look at the Monster Hunter series to get what I'm talking about...) I just wanna point out, the only way in hell I'd even get behind an RP based on dragons is if... well if it wasn't specifically restricted to Dragons, but included all types of Wryms (Ex. Wyverns and Drakes and such)

Anver walked over to the table in silence, taking the profile in his hands and beginning to thumb through it... there was no point putting up any protest for now... he already knew he had no choice but to co-operate... he didn't really want to kill this "Bartender" fellow though... he felt a strange kinship with him... maybe it was the ability similarity... though Anver pushed that thought aside... the safety of his family on the line right now... and if he had to, Anver would've killed a bus-load of elderly folk in order to keep his family safe, no question about it. he placed the profile on the table, looking at the man who had brought him here, his name Alister, apparently, though judging from his reaction just now, Anver thought it best not to refer to the man by his name. "I have but one question." he stated simply "Do you want his death to be discreet or public?"

Ethic awoke in a familiar darkness...he again had no memory of what had happened or how he had gotten to this place... He attempted to stand, and like last time, was again forced back to his back as the wave of memories flooded into his mind, playing out like a first-person movie in his mind... he got up, and couldn't help but smile in triumph... He Killed two keepers in just a single night... well, a Keeper and a Keeper's apprentice, but still... and even better... He had offed that little Psycho-path named Scott... that was an added plus to the whole thing. He took a look around Rodric's domain.... no, correction, he took a look around what was technically now his domain... he reached out with his mind and could sense several things in this place... though he couldn't identify any of them.... he began walking idly in a single direction... and after a while realized he was getting nowhere. He focused his mind and willed the space to move around him... it obeyed, the shadows swirling as they dropped him onto a hard, stone paved ground... he looked around in surprise... realizing that this place was from his memory... he looked at the red moon above, and felt something recoil within him, though he didn't know what... he took a glance at the treetops, spotting himself and Lucian from the past there... he looked to the ground, and found what he expected to; Rodric, sprawled out on the stones, his throat with a long slit across it... but over Rodric's corpse, was something he hadn't seen before... he knew it hadn't been here when he finished of the keeper... standing over the body was a stone effigy of Rodric... his scythe, the actual weapon he'd used while fighting Ethic and Lucian, leaned against one of the Statue's shoulders... it's face was looking down at the body on the stones... Ethic looked and saw an expression of deep sorrow... as if this thing were mourning the being it was meant to represent... "Well..." Said Ethic, not really phased by this discovery of his "Guess Keeper's end up here when they die... and they get statues of them in their death scenes... or maybe that's just you." He talked emptily to the corpse, then looked up, wondering just how this place could be here if it was in his memories where he had killed Rodric... he looked out and saw the black space once again in all it's emptiness... he saw that this place had a border with it on all sides, forming a circular little island of existence in the middle of a sea of nothingness... then he cuaght a glimpse of another little island in this black sea... and he thought he knew what this must be... "This is some type of... hall or something... some type of place where the places where they die manifest themselves... like some type of memorial..." He willed the space to take him to the other Island he spotted, and in a few seconds, he was again on a stone paved ground with red moon light shining down...except that this time at his feet was Scott's dead body, The goth's own blade sticking out of the chest of it's former owner... Ethic looked up from the body, and found that here, too, a statue of the slain being in the scene had appeared... it was an exact likeness of Scott, as Rodric's statue had been an exact likeness of it's subject... it had a look of arrogance and amusement on it's face as it reached out with one hand at an unseen target, a stone sword stuck in eternal mid twirl in it's other hand... Ethic walked away from the island, crossing it's border with the darkness and looking behind him, seeing nothing but two small specks of color in the distance among blackness. he forced himself to look away. "Looks like my theory is correct..." he said at that point, he began to feel a familiar tugging sensation... in all directions at once, then it stopped and started once more, this time tugging... inward... it was like a previous time... then even this tugging stopped and Ethic found himself without vision, but could feel some type of wind rippling past him, as if he was travelling at a high speed towards something... ========================================= Lucian did as Mr.Taylor requested, taking a step back from where he had kneeled beside Ethic's body when he had fallen over and stopped respounding. he watched as the elderly man extended his hand, his body beginning to take on a green glow... it arced out and hit Ethic's body...it seemed to have not have an effect for a few moments.... but then Lucian could feel a strange type of presence enter the area... it felt like Rodric's, but at the same time it was different... he realized it was Ethic's... as the body on the ground began to move it's fingers... ========================================== the sensation of flying stopped... Ethic still saw nothing but blackness, but he could feel a hard surface on his back... he flexed his fingers reflexively...then he opened his eyes, expecting to be in the dark space, but surprised as he looked up and saw the light of the Scarlet moon... he got up, seeing Mr.Taylor standing before him, a green aura pulling away from Ethic's body and re-entering the older gentleman's hands... Ethic took a few seconds, glancing around at the others... then brought himself up to a sitting position, looking up at Mr.Taylor. "Thank you for that," he said simply, his eyes still adjusting to the light... he felt a little light headed, but it passed quickly... he checked his heart... it seemed to be beating normally, though he'd felt a sharp pain there as he had fallen down to the ground... he continued speaking "Didn't think your power could reverse death it-self, though..."

anyway, over confidence is no longer an issue... Everyone's been a little bit more humbled after walking by the casualties... Host's Orders. and as for Enyo, I was gonna wait a while longer, try and get a PM to her... but Maddies been gone for a while now... and by the time she would've gotten it, would've been too late, and with the story moving like it is, I either had the chance to throw her in somewhere now, or just leave her behind to become lost... and as evident with Ark's character, I don't let anyone's PCs get lost (Unless they specifically ask me to get rid of them) another note: No one else is to have their character notice Maddie in the Human Med Ward... As these soon to be Milktanks will explain to you all: You got me?

Erick looked to Nathan at his shoulder "Alright then..." He said "Let's get going... I may not have been able to kill one monster that deserved it..." He continued talking as he and Nathan began to move along behind the General and the others "But I'm sure as hell gonna take out this one..." =============================== As the Converstation on strategy wraps up, the group follows behind McCarthy, walking by the scene of the battle to hold the side entry ways, the group gets a glimpse at how bad things really could've been at the front gates, as soldiers comb through the deep snow, uncovering stiff bodies of their former comrades beneath, pulling desperately at them to try and dislodge the frozen corpses... only at times for the limb the were pulling on to shatter at the joint and come away in their hands... It was a grizzly image as the group walked by a pile that had formed, made entirely of those who had fallen to the frozen hell the battles for the side entry ways had been... Out of respect for those slain, the group silenced their talking and humbled their arrogant anticipation of killing the thing that was ultimately responsible for the attack on Fort Bexly... simply focusing themselves on completing their mission and avenging their comrades without becoming more casualties... McCarthy disappeared into the front doors of Command Central and into the front lobby of the building. The General took a turn around a corner, heading through another pair of double doors along a lengthy hall way as Fox1 squadron followed behind him closely. eventually, the group came to a large, semi circular room, the lights were on, several beds lined the walls, the Medical wing was a bustle of activity as Soldiers following McCarthy's previous orders to treat the wounded rushed about, gathering necessary supplies for medics who had begun making rounds about the bedsides... many Soldiers had no visible thing wrong with them... except that they had their eyes closed... what no one knew yet, however, was that most of these cases were in a comatose state from exposure to the cold... McCarthy stopped in front of another pair of double doors at the back of the Medical wing, palming them open and striding in... in these rooms was another Med. Ward, this one equip with various tables and cabinents with locks on them... in the center of the room was a large raised dias... on it sat two identical machines... this was the med. wing used for GAO injuries... Surge had been keeping up the back of the group, and was the last to enter into the GAO ward, as he headed through the door way, however, he was certain that in the previous ward he'd seen Enyo Greyjoy, a soldier from his squadron, lying on one of the beds, her eye's closed... but he said nothing as he walked by, knowing it was best not to preoccupy the team's minds with a dire mission like this one under way... Ray walked to a nearby cabinent, taking out a ring of keys and inspecting the jars their as the General began to speak. "Anyone who needs to Heal their GAOs, do it now... you have seven minutes..." He looked to Nathan Grey, who was still supported on one shoulder by Erick. "The Doctor will attend to you as soon as he collects what he needs, Grey." With that, he shroud back through to the human Med wing, turning to look back at the Squadron as the doors slid closed... "You have Seven minutes... I will retrieve you at that time and we will proceed to our objective on the roof... prepare for battle while your in here." He held out his hand on the wall... a blue outline of the General's hand appeared there, and a whirrrring sound could be heard as a panel of walling slid back in the GAO med wing, revealing a small, long room filled with various weaponry. "That what you see on the wall back there..." the general began "Is a hidden entry way into the sub armory of Fort Bexly. if you do not have a weapon, get one now... and no grenades... we can't risk any unnecessary damage." With that, the General took a step back into the Human med wing, and the doors slid shut, leaving the squadron to heal their partners and prepare...

that confidence displayed by some can be chalked up to the Cadet's over confidence seeing as how they've never been in a true combat situation before (Ex. This has happened to a lot of young soldiers throughout every war in the modern era... in almost every country involved...they go in thinking they're gonna kick a bunch of ass and take countless names, then they're faced with the reality of what war is...and things start to look a lot different...) also, just as a reference note, the casualties at the front gate actually were nothing compared to the battles to hold the side entry ports... (in fact, most of the soldiers defending the front, with the exception of surge and you all, were either just knocked unconscious or broke a few bones from the force of impact from being thrown by Gust) in fact, as you all are walking by the scene of those battles, I'm going to go to the point of pointing out many stiff, frozen solid bodies littering the snow. and that confidence?, it can also be chalked up to past personal experiences and personality of the character... like for Erick for example... he's a bit prudent right now, thinking they should have a plan and going along with others when they started to formulate one... he wasn't shitting his pants about going to face a monster like Articuno because... well, once you see a man get his throat torn out by a large animal, and then electrocuted as he got his throat torn out... a bit of seeing grown men and women tossed around by a gust of wind really isn't anything...

Ethic couldn't hear Kenny as he spoke to him... All he was focused on was Scott... The young man walked a bit closer to the goth, who fell back on his arse and tried to scramble away before managing to pull himself together. he stood up, looking at Ethic. "How...how the hell are you still here?" He asked, backing away Ethic chuckled "Oh, surprised to see me, Scott?" He asked menacingly as he picked up Scott's weapon from the ground, glancing at the blade. "I'll tell you how it is I'm still here," He began as he advanced even more, scott backed up to find himself up against an invisible wall of some sort... he looked behind him, then to Ethic as the enraged man continued speaking, drawing ever closer... "After you burned my ass like I was the Black-Version of Joan of Arc, I met your little friend, Rodric...." Ethic said, spinning Scott's sword in his hand, the black metal catching the red moon light and casting it in eerie shafts along the stones of the ground. "Rodric came at me and Lucian... But I used his own powers against im and then Slit his throat." Ethic was almost upon Scott now "And then I took his Power as Keeper of the Arcana of death.... then I came back from the dead, so that I could get rid of you." He spun the sword quickly before bringing it to a stop, holding the blade gingerly in his hand and offering the hilt to Scott, at the same time sheathing his knife and mentally preparing himself. "Go on," he said simply "Arm yourself, or else this won't be honorable." Scott took the hilt, snatching it out of Ethic's hand, almost cutting the latter in the process, though he managed to pull his arm back in time to avoid it ====================================== Lucian looked to Kenny "No," He said "It's better that you all hear the story of what happened straight from Ethic instead of me... I was just a witness for the most part..." with that he returned his focus to the fight that was about to break out... ======================================== Ethic backed away from the Goth slowly, he could feel unbridled anger and fury just waiting to be unleashed in his soul, and Ethic intended to for once give these emotions a chance to actively manifest themselves. he pivoted as he reached the other side of the arena kenny had constructed out of a barrier, he could sense the outer boundaries of it, though he didn't know how... but that didn't matter right now... He had Vengeance to take care of... Ethic looked over at Scott on the other side, the young man's eye's filled with the fury he'd been keepng in since spotting the bastard when he got back from his little trip to Rodric's Realm. He called out "You ready, you festering pile of shit?" Scott seemed to be irritated by that... he brought up his sword in an aggresive stance, his eye's flaring yellow as black hell fire cloaked his body. silently, he dashing across the field with incredible speed, closing in fast on Ethic, he brought up his sword over his head as he approached, preparing to strike, letting out an inhuman shriek.... As the goth went in to attack, Ethic took a step back, and focused his mind on searching for the essence of the Death Arcana... he felt it instantly... and when he found it, he knew it's effects... He focused his body,glowing with white as he began drawing up the energy he used for Invocation and focused it into a chain, casting it out and willing it to form a link with the Death Arcana... it caught hold, and Ethic began to feel a change in himself... he couldn't describe it, but he could feel a strange tingling in his palms, like static was there... in the back of his mind, he became aware of... some kind of limit... though what for he knew naught. The Goth was right in front of him now, his sword coming down for an attack. Ethic acted, going down into a lower stance. he called up the power he felt within him... and channeled every single once of anger into it... as Scott's blade whistled through the Air, Ethic's palms pulsed in an eerie multi-colored glow. he thrust out his hands into Scott's Chest, screaming out so loud that even his own ears rang a little after. "YOU OBVIOUSLY... DO NOT KNOW... WHO YOU ARE F*CKING WITH!!!!" as he screamed, a multi colored blast erupted from his palms,a sonic boom echoing out as it engulfed Scott and sent the Goth flying all the way to the other side of the field, where he collided with an audible crack against the barrier forming their little fight arena... ========================== Scott watched in surprise as a burst of strange light hit him as he went in to cut Ethic's jugular... then he felt as if a he'd been hit in the torso with a sludge hammer countless times, each blow worse than the last... he blacked out for a moment... awaking seconds later to feel as his body collided against a hard surface and several of his ribs broke... he could also feel a tearing pain all throughout his chest... he felt something in his throat and coughed, noticing a burst of red along with spittle... he looked down at Ethic, now realizing that he hadn't been lying about Rodric... he could feel the ex keeper's presence even more intensely in Ethic now... he lay there, smashed against the wall as an un familiar emotion began to come over him... it was fear... pure, and utter fear. =========================== Ethic felt something in the back of his mind... it was the limit thing... he could sense that whatever it was for, he had just moved closer to it by quite a leap... he couldn't tell exactly how much though, as he tore across the field, trailing behind scott as he flew into the wall of the barrier. He sprang up into the air, channeling power and beginning to glow in rain-bow light, he closed in and willed the energy to flare out before him, another burst echoed out of Ethic's body, even stronger than the last, it hit scott like a wave of turbulance, blowing his clothing and hair with huge force as it hit him in gust like a sandstorm... the goth tried to put up his hands to protect his face, only to feel as something snapped in his wrist and both palms went limb. withing moments of being unleashed, the Blast cuased a section of the barrier to shatter like tissue paper, sending Scott flying through the air once again as he felt even more agony spread throughout his body, his sword falling to the ground by Ethic as he was sent away, the Goth landed several meters away, bouncing along the stones a few times before skitting to a stop... Ethic laughed... but he could sense the limit with even more urgency in his mind... he knew that what he had just done had pushed him to a dangerously close point to it.... but he didn't care... the hate was in control now... his hatred for Scott for the horrible death he'd suffered at his hands... hatred for the Keepers... hatred for the fact that he had ever been willing to forgive anyone... He looked at Scott, lying still on the ground. What you did to me... the horror... the burning, unending horror... I can still smell the scent of my own burning flesh... Ethic began to make his way over to scott, finding himself breathing heavily and having trouble walking... something was going on with his heart... Eventually, though, he hobbled over to where Scott lay. he looked down at the goth's face, seeing tears in his eyes. he let out a harsh, merciless laugh "Why you cryin',Scott?" He asked maliciously "I didn't see no tears when you lit me up, and watched me scream as I was dyin" Scott shook his head frantically, terrified at the power his adversary had used against him. he tried to get away, but was meet with a tearing pain in his wrist and legs. Ethic bent down and picked up the Black sword Scott had dropped. "Yeah, that's right... you burned me like a heretic... And I'm pretty sure you were laughing while it happened..." Ethic began to intentionally raised his voice so that everyone could hear... it was obvious now that he was rhyming certain words on purpose... like this was some type of rapp song... "And that's the part that made me sick... What the hell's wrong with you?... that you can do that to another person and then laugh as they slowly die; doesn't that bother you... And then to make it even worse, you couldn't just let me die, no, you trapped me in a valley of shadows, with a deranged man in a cloak to keep me company..." He spat in Scott's face before continuing on "Maybe you don't realize how much hell fire burns, Scott. Maybe you don't know what it's like to go off to feed the worms, to rot and decay when it's not on your own terms." He brought up the blade, it began flashing with a strange multi colored energy... he spoke again, this time regularly, his voice barely above a whisper however... "you shouldn't have wronged me... this is what happens when you do." He raised the blade over his head, spots began to appear along his vision and he became a little light headed... he continued on though. "When you see Rodric in whatever place you invokers go to after you die, tell him how you were slain by the Lord of Arcana, just as he was..." The blade took on a harsh glow as Ethic chanelled more power into it, becoming choked for air in the process, he knew that this had to end NOW he brought down the sword in an arc, aimed towards Scott's neck, when the Goth cried out... his fear palpable "MERCY, PLEASE, MERCY, ETHIC!!" Ethic paused mid stroke, and struggled to stand erect as he looked down at the goth, a smirk spreading on his face. "Alright, then... Scott..." He said as he turned and acted as if he was going to Hobble away. Scott let out an inaudible sigh of relief... but then Ethic turned, his eyes alight with thoughts wholly unholy. "That's what I would say..." He began, now panting... his heart beat was getting more and more out of control as he struggled to keep power running through the black sword. He limped back over to the Goth.. Ethic could feel his body beginning to fail now... he didn't know what was wrong with him... then he realized exactly what was going on as he spoke. he yelled at Scott "BUT I DON'T F*CKING KNOW MERCY! NOT FOR A KEEPER OR A KEEPER'S LAP DOG!" With that, he put his last shred of bodily strength into raising the sword above his head and driving it down into Scott's chest, willing the energy he put into the blade to pulse outwards and amplify the strike, the force of which cleaving the stone beneath Scott's body despite the actual blade stopping when it hit his spinal cord... Scott let out an inhuman scream and then started to gurgle as he chocked on his own blood, paralyzed from the kill blow he'd been dealt. And Ethic let out a laugh as he felt the limit in his mind being far exceeded... and he laughed even more as his sight went black and he fell backwards through the air, his heart bursting in his chest before he hit the stones... The last words he said was this... "My Life for power..." Lucian screamed out his name and ran over as Ethic lay on the Ground, the body steadily cooling now... having died for the second time in just an hour...

Well, looks like Ethic's gonna have a very long Hit list from here on out... nineteen names on it... he's decided to take over... and he ain't gonna let the Council stand in his way... Rodric's own power... used against him so easily...what a shame... I actually like him for some reason... oh well... now then... Scott and Ethic are going to have a rematch... that means... The unveiling of the powers of the Arcana of Death... I'm gonna put it up here to see if anyone thinks it too powerfull or overboard... there is an effect for each Arcana Ethic takes dominion over: The Effect for #13, Death: "My life for Power" The Invoker becomes able for a temporary period to turn their life energy into a tangible, destructive force and becomes able to wield it as a weapon... The draw back of which is: it draws upon the invokers life force... with every strike and attack they make with it, more and more is drained away. if they use more life force than they currently have, then Cardiac arrhythmia occurs followed by death. this effect will always result in some varying degree of fatigue, which will increase in direct correlation to the life force expended (Unless they go over their personal reserves, which results in death as said before). Life force regenerates slowly over time, but will not begin regenerating until after the Invoker has broken the link to the Death Arcana (IE wont begin to regenerate until they stop invoking it) so, anyone have any objections to this? (Specifically, does Notus have any objections to this?)

Scott ground his teeth as Rose slammed the butt of her spear against his head... he blinked away the stars in his vision as he continued to try to move... but was still frozen "All right..." the young man began, his Eye's flaring yellow in his anger "Guess I have no choice... I'll talk" He looked to the Women with the spear, thinking to himself Damn it... I didn't think this moon would have an effect on me... but looks like it still does... makes it so that these Roaches can actually hit me with stuff that shouldn't be able to touch me... He smiled, deciding to begin to co-operate with this little interogation "My name is Scott Mirran," he said "I work for Lord Waite, High Keeper of the Arcana..." ______________________________ ______________________________ The scenery changed completely as Ethic molded it to his demands... in an instant, All three of them were standing in the Gardens of the Second Circle. The moon was out, it's eerie red glow on the landscape. Ethic looked off in the distance, seeing versions of himself and Lucian in one of the tree tops, staring up at the moon and talking to each other. He looked at Lucian, who grinned at him "Very clever... Taking us to a memory from just before Scott showed up in the Garden and killed you and did... did something to me..." Ethic nodded "I was hoping this red moon theory would play out, even in a memory..." He glanced over at Rodric, who was now kneeling on the Ground, Breathing Heavily, his Scythe leaning against his shoulder. He looked back to Lucian "Well, My Friend..." He began, taking out Man Without Honor from the sheath that had he had willed to materialize on his belt at the beginning of the current memory... it was his mind after all... "It looks like this moon has the same effect no matter how a Keeper's exposed to it" He walked towards Rodric, all motion of the Ethic and Lucian from the Memory stopped, as if a pause button had been hit... Ethic had done it... he intended for this memory to be Rodric's ironic final resting place. He walked over to the cloaked man, he brought his foot up and kicked Rodric Over onto his back. the Scythe clattered away on the stones as the Keeper fell, landing out of his reach. The man looked up at Ethic, a mixture of Fear and Hate in his Eyes... "You enjoying this, Rody?" he asked mockingly "You feel the glow of that scarlet moon? I'm intensifying this memory of mine, just for you, ain't you special?" "You are a clever one... I will give you that, Vermin..." Ethic spun Man Without Honor in his hand, playing with the blade like it was a toy. he held all the power in this situation now... and he liked it that way... when it was such a powerful adversary at his feet... an adversary that had proven itself to be as inhuman as it was sinister "Go peddle your last words somewhere else..." Ethic said in response "Because Me and Lucian Ain't buyin'" he began walking towards Rodric... _______________________________ _______________________________ Scott continued to answer his interrogators questions "No," he said "I am not a staff member, not here..." He perked up as he answered the questions directly concerning Ethic "Why was I after him, You ask?... I was following Orders this time... High Keeper Waite sent out the kill order for Ethic after the Council found him un-fit to continue as an evoker of the Arcana... We already met once... in the library you all came through... I was sent to take him to stand before the concils judgement following the Arcana Deck in his possession was destroyed... it's a criminal offense to them..." As he spoke, he could feel the binds of Rose's spell beginning to loosen... _____________________ _____________________ Ethic stood over Rodrick, smirking as he towered over the Keeper. He began speaking, his voice highly amused "You know... it's funny in a way..." He began "You end up getting killed by someone using your own ability against you..." He circled around Rodric as he lay on his back... he spotted the keeper's arm shoot out and try to grab Ethic by the Ankle, but the young man was expecting for good ol' Rody to try something, and intensified the memory of the moon's glow at this time even more, causing Rodric to recoil and curl into a ball, whimpering like a babe. He stopped circling the pathetic being. Griping his knife in his hand as he spoke to Lucian "It's time for me to End this... Isn't it?" Lucian nodded "Guess so..." he said relunctantly "Even if our enemies are cruel to us... doesn't make it right for us to do the same to them..." Part of Ethic's mind agreed with that... but a larger part thought that Lucian was crazy for saying such a thing... but he pushed both sides away for now, there was a job to do. He knelt down beside Rodric, reached to his side with his knife, and silently slit the Keepers throat, a torrent of blood spouting fourth as he man gurgled on the ground for a few minutes before going still and silent, the body already cold, as if it had never even belonged to a living man... and now that Ethic thought about it, there was a chance that Rodric had never been alive... He stood, noticing that the scenery was beginning to change again even though he hadn't willed it to cycle to another memory of his... the memory faded away into darkness, and Ethic and Lucian found themselves standing on a circle of light, Rodric's body in between them... a light burst above them, and the two looked up to see a giant version of the Arcana card of Death. Ethic looked to Lucian "Where are we?" He asked Lucian shook his head as he answered "I don't know... This looks like it's somewhere on the Path... but I've never seen this place before... and now that I'm not a Keeper anymore, I can't just go off and figure it out..." The former mage walked up to Rodric's body, as he did, a voice resonated in both their minds "And so it has finally happened... The day when a Keeper is slain by the hands of an Invoker..." They both looked around in puzzlement "Who is this?" lucian asked "You need not know this... nor what you even comprehend if I were to tell you..." The voice seemed to focus on Ethic now, resonating throughout the space "Ethic Ytilarom... You are the First Invoker in history to have successfully killed a keeper... But it was always the fate of the keepers to die at the hands of invokers... it is in their very names" Ethic looked up, not comprehending what the voice was getting at. "I can tell you do not understand", It said next "Allow for some Ellaboration; the Keepers are merely as their namesakes suggest, temporary Watchers over the Arcana." "Alright," Ethic said "I get that...go on..." "Very Well... The thing that the keepers are waiting for is an invoker to come along and relinquish them of dominion over the arcana... but they themselves do not even know this... they have forgotten over time... there have been several Keepers over time who have realized this fact, however, and sought to relinquish the keepers of their power... but every time, they were found un-fit to be invokers for various reasons... and then they were hunted down and killed... many died at the hands of the Former keeper now laying dead at your feet..." Ethic glanced down at the corpse of the disciple of death, Rodric... "So what does this all mean then?" he asked "It means that like others before you Ethic, you have begun to head down the path to challenging the Keepers in open warfare... in rebellion of their continued reign over the Arcana... there is a name for Invokers such as yourself, they are called "Lords of the Arcana" though, technically, that title only belongs to the Invoker who manages to not only challenge the Keepers, but to kill them all and take their power by force..." "Wait, hold up a minute," Ethic called out to the voice "All these 'others' you've talked about, all of them have done this whole 'Open warfare' thing intentionally, right? Well I didn't do this intentionally... I was found Un-fit for a reason unrelated to how you said the Others were found to be for...So can't I just have the Keepers stop trying to kill me?" "No, Ethic." It Replied "You did not go seeking this, but it does not matter... you're actions in entering this hill drew the attention of the council... they deemed you fit... then the incident occured and they found you unfit...but fit or unfit, there is but one invoker at a time in the world. it does not matter that you didn't go out seeking to rebel, they will still hunt you and kill you so that the position is open for another they deem fit to occupy it. so you see, you've no choice... it is either this, to fight back against them and take their powers and become Lord of the Arcana... or you may do nothing and simply wait for them to come for you again, and they will wipe you off the face of the earth... the choice is yours." Ethic blurted out without hesitation "Screw it, I choose to fight them... I choose to kill them all and take their power by force." The platform glowed fiercely as a small stair case of light appeared, leading up to the face of the Death Arcana. "Go forth then." The voice said "you have already done the hard part. now you need only take this Arcana's dominion for yourself. step up to the face and extend thine palm." Ethic did as the voice said, and walked the stair case and extended his palm as Lucian watched silently. the voice echoed out. "Do you, Ethic Mason, who hath shunned thine father's name and taken thine maiden name of thine mother, accept Dominion over the 13th Arcana, Death and the powers that come with it, as well as vow to be responsible for all that you may use these powers for?" Ethic closed his eyes... and answered "Yes, I hereby accept dominion over the Arcana of Death and all responsibility for whatever I may use it's powers for." "Very well then" The arcana card and the platform disappeared, leaving Ethic and Lucian in darkness, the only glow was an object in Ethic's pants pocket, he looked down as the Tarrot deck flew out around him, the card for Death glowing in a golden light, then the card shot up into the air, disappearing in the darkness above... Ethic wanted to cry out at first, having anything else happen to the cards of his Mother's deck seemed to be unbearable to him... but he stopped himself, and shook his head... He was done with holding on with that part of the past... he didn't know how he'd come to the decision...maybe going inside his own memories had something to do with it... He looked up to where the card had dissappeared into the air as the deck reassembled itself and flew back into his pocket... "No..." He said "I'm done holding on so hard..." He looked to Lucian "Even though she isn't alive still... even though she wasn't able to be there when I was a kid...she's still with me...she always has been." He walked over to Lucian, who listened in silence "Her blood circulates in my veins... I'll always have my mother with me... as her son, I always will..." Lucian simply nodded "Looks like you've changed a little, Ethic...must be this whole encounter with Rodric...and what just happened." Lucian grinned at his friend, but Ethic could see a bit of Fear in his eyes, though he didn't know what Lucian was afraid of... The Ex-Magus said nothing... simply smiled with that bit of fear in his eyes Ethic was worried what it meant. then he noticed as a rift opened in the darkness... red light seeped through it... knowing it to be the way out of here, Ethic walked up to it, followed by Lucian, and stepped through and into the crimson night of the Gardens of the Second circle... ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Scott had nearly broken free of roses spell, his eye's flashed yellow as he struggled, breaking out at last and regaining movement, He dove low for his sword, only to stop as he sensed a presence nearby...it felt like Rodric... but yet it was different... From the Behind where the group had been interrogating Scott, the Goth noticed Ethic Walk up, Lucian following behind; It was Ethic's presence whom Scott had felt... but that made no sense... part of his presence had the feeling of Rodric as well... "Hey there," Ethic called to the others, pulling out man without Honor from it's sheath as he laid eye's on his old adversary, Scott. "Looks like you've got my murderer trapped... Thanks for that Guys... but I'm afraid HIS life is at MY mercy now..." Ethic walked around the group and up to where Scott was being interrogated at spear point... the Goth had a look of surprise on his face as he saw how Ethic stood... so authoritative... like at his feet was a piece of vermin... and Scott hated this... how Ethic now looked down at him with a mix of fury and boredom... his eyes glowed yellow once more as he looked up at Ethic "go ahead," Ethic Said simply, a very, very dangerous edge in his voice... "Give me that look while you still can." "Becuase I'm going to make you pay a thousand times over what you did to me a while ago."

Like I once said, Certain species will be getting substantial increases in power and proportion in this thing... Now then, I'm not the best in math...and I'm no biologist, so this may be a bit offish sounding... But in this RP, Articuno's size has been increased to a standing height of twenty five feet, and a wing span of approximately twenty feet... and a weight of... I don't know the weight... anyways,I pretty much took the proportions from this image right here: I don't know... just seem that it's supposed to be big... though maybe my size interpretation of the image is wrong... not like we can really find out, as there's no object in there for scale... any who, just go ahead and disregard what Erick said if you want, it's pretty much just filler dialog that I felt someone would probably interject with in that situation. (the main point of which being that your onix probably would not be able to physically consume Articuno) But hey, you all have to hand it to me... At least I'm doing better than GameFreak's logic though, if someone who's excellent in math and biology wants to go and calculate out an appropriate size for this beast, go right ahead and bring us back your conclusion. (It should be big enough so that it's a reasonable thing for an entire Army base to deem a "Major Threat")

well... looks like this whole battle against Rodric is going better than I planed... was racking my mind as for how Ethic could possibly kill this monster of a being... When reasoning for it in this case hit me; if Death is the be all and end all of things... that must mean it has someway of perpetuating itself... and how can it do that? The answer I come up with for Ethic's situation: It lurks in the memories of people... latching like a leech... it gains power off of people's fear of it... and so this took on it's own scenario: If someone's screwing around inside your head, your memories, then shouldn't you be able to do something about it? ... to say no? The cast out an intruder into your own sanctum? My answer: Hell yes... you should... Who thinks they know which memory Ethic's cooking up?

Scott reeled backwards as the crimson lightning struck his blade, sending a jolt up his arm and forcing him to drop the weapon to the ground. he felt his body seize up suddenly, unable to move any further... he looked over to see another young woman with a spear in her hand... Damn it... He thought to himself, tearing open a rift behind him onto the path... but he hadn't taken into account the fact that he would have to be able to walk through it in order to get away... in frustration, he closed the Rift, eyeing the young woman... "Well... "he said, black sparks starting to appear on his finger tips "Looks like Ethic had stronger friends than I thought..." __________________ __________________ The High Keeper watched on as the situation of Scott's mission deteriorated. Longicus stood beside him, looking on as well. "Should we get him?" the soldier asked simply "No..." the Elder Keeper responded "He disobeyed a direct order... for his punishment, I will leave him at their mercy." __________________ __________________ Ethic finally realized what this place was... The Library section of the family Store... he took a few steps more away from Rodric. who now stood down one of the Aisles. Lucian came around the corner and tapped Ethic on the shoulder "This is a memory, Ethic... It's his specialty..." Lucian glared at Rodric, continuing to explain "It's a horrible power... He can twist and corrupt them... like death does to a lot of things..." Ethic looked at Rodric "So you took me into my own memory... to erase me?" the Keeper replied simply "That's how it works when I'm the one carrying out the sentence. You are wiped from your own memories...then you are wiped from all other's memories... and then I tear you apart and cast what's left of you into the River Styx." the keeper disappeared, and a young child's scream could be heard close by... Ethic and Lucian ran, in time to see Rodric Close his hand around the neck of a young boy... he looked like a younger version of Ethic... Rodric twisted the boy's head with his other hand, dropping him to the floor where he went limb. Ethic didn't know what he felt right now... Anger, Sadness? It was hard to tell what you might feel if you saw the Child version of yourself brutally murdered... Ethic took a few tentative steps over to the boy's body... and he knew it was indeed him... he tried to bring back the memory of what he had been doing this day, all those years ago... but just as it came up in his mind, it faded into nothingness... Ethic could feel a hollow area in his mind... like something was missing... empty... He looked at Rodric, realizing just now what this all meant... he was going to be killed by Rodric... in every single memory Ethic had in his mind... Then once there were no memories left in his mind, Ethic would become a husk of a person, not knowing who he was...and once that had happened, Rodric probably wouldn't have any problem tearing him apart like he said he was going to... Ethic looked around as the scenery again changed... it was outdoors now... in a park... on the shore of a lake... Ethic could spot himself standng by a tree, in the shade... talking to a few friends... Rodric walked over to the group, passing right through the others around Ethic, and brought up his Scythe, then tore a ragged arc through the air... cutting the Teens throat... this version of Ethic fell to the ground limb as well... Rodric turned to Ethic, smiling, his teeth pitch black... "Two down," he said "Many more to Go..." the scenary began to again change, and Ethic burst out of the Shock from what was happening, realizing if he didn't try to put up resistance, to advocate for himself, then he would cease to be. "Stop!" He demanded. Rodric looked at him puzzled as the scenery actually obeyed Ethic, stopping mid swirl... Lucian spoke beside him... "Ethic..." He said "If these are your memories we're cycling through... and the scenery is responding to you like this... that must mean that we're not in his domain anymore..." Ethic looked at Lucian, puzzled "And your point is?" he asked "We must be inside your psyche... which means you ultimately hold dominion here. it's your mind... Rodric is only able to do this because You think that he's able to do this... you weren't raising any resistance to him... most people who've suffered from his power never do... and so he's been able to do as he pleases even though it's your head we're in." a small smirk appeared on the former keeper's face as he finished "but now that you've spoken up... and this has happened... his hold here is gone... You're in control again." Ethic returned Lucian's smirk "Well... if that's the case... How about we go back to a very recent memory of mine...?" He looked to Rodric, who began advancing towards Ethic "Damn... you couldn't just sit back and shut up, Could you? just had to speak up and break my power...Fine, we'll do this the hard way." The Keeper began running towards Ethic, as the Young man began to step into the driver's seat of his memory, and the Scenery of his mind began shifting to how he dictated it would.

Uh.. well, Kenny, it's not really the type of place where anyone can go to... It's supposed to be the Area where Rodric has trapped Ethic in order to finish him off... And I have a plan to end Rodric and send Scott running away like a child... It's probably just best to not have Kenny burst into flames

Scott's little speech was interrupted as a gunshot rang out, he turned around, flinching as he saw a bullet tear through the air and phase right through his forehead... The flinch was an old force of habit... that and the fact the Scott had actually had a bullet hurtling towards his face once before... long ago... given what just happened...He decided it was best not to even let these crazies see him right now. His form shimmered for a few seconds... but before he vanish, the blonde women soared up to him, a feat he had thought impossible at this altitude... He stood there, expecting the kick to go right through him like a cloud of smoke... But he reeled back in surprise as he felt the Kick collide with the side of his face, sending him flying through the air and into a nearby treetop... Scott looked up at Annie, blood pooling in his mouth and nostrils, though he didn't care about the pain from such an injury... it was still nothing compared to the slash in his ribs... You little Bitch... He thought to himself as he opened another rift and stepped back to the path, tearing open another rift hovering a few feet above the ground in front of the group... he wiggled his tongue around in his, noticing hard objects there... he spat on the ground, wiping his mouth as Blood and Teeth and a little bit of gum tissue flew out onto the stones below... He raised himself back into the Air as he cast away the qualms he had about breaking his order not to use lethal force "You know..." He said simply, his pupils again taking on a yellow glow "I was trying not to kill you all... That's why I've been trying to not fight... It's against my orders..." his body fell through the air and landed on the ground as his eye's shone even brighter and his black sword materialized in his hand. he was not going to tolerate this anymore... he held his sword in a ready stance, beginning to circle around the group, trying to find a good weak point to go in... _____________________________________________ Lucian Awoke to the sound of Ethic's voice... he looked around, seeing aught but darkness... then he spotted Ethic running towards him, The Keeper of the Death Arcana, Rodric, Flying after him menacingly... Lucian knew this wasn't good at all. he looked down in his hands, his staff was there, in one piece... he looked back up at Ethic, who was getting closer with every single step. "Ethic," He called, "Duck!" Ethic knew that when Lucian said to duck, it was a good idea to duck... he flung himself to the ground as Rodric's weapon was swung in an arc through the air, missing Ethic by an inch. the strike had left Rodric open, and Lucian took advantage of this, focusing his power and lobbing a sphere of Ethereal fire at the other Keeper, finding no difficulty now... Rodric simply blocked the sphere with his hand, however, the thing dying down to a mere ember there before going out completely... "Oh, Lucian..." he said as the Magus and Fugitive stood side by side, facing him "You think that's going to help?" He chuckled before looking off in the distance and calling out "Now!" the moment he said that, the flame atop Lucian's staff died. Ethic looked at it, concerned... "What happened... What he do?" Lucian didn't respond, simply thrust out his hand towards Rodric, a spark appearing there, then dying out to nothing... he tried once more, and got no result this time... "I don't... know..." Lucian said to Ethic... his robes dissapeared, leaving him standing in a pair of jeans and a red tye-died shirt... His staff faded away. Rodric spoke up "You thought you could retain your power after abdicating, didn't you..." He chuckled menacingly "well, you were right for a while... but then you made a bargain with Maxwell...Do you remember that you touched his hand?" "What are you..." Then Lucian stoped mid sentence, thinking back to a few hours ago... he remembered what Maxwell had said to him when he offered his hand to Lucian... "We're in hell. I'm far stronger here than any of you all who are gonna be running around trying to exterminate young Ethic here. if I really wanted to take your power, I could do it to you without physical contact... Lucian cursed under his breath, realizing exactly what had happened... "Bastard took my power just now, didn't he?" Rodric Nodded as he walked closer to Ethic and Lucian "That he did." He raised his scythe, bringing it down in an arc towards Lucian, who managed to stumble out of the path of the attack and then ran off past Ethic, calling out "Run!" Ethic took his advice, heading off after him as another scream sounded from Rodric...unbeknownst to him however, the landscape of the inky black space began to change... Ethic stopped running after a while, as did Lucian, both of them gazed around, looking for Rodric... but they couldn't spot him... until a laugh came from up above them, and they both looked in unison to seem him droping towards them, scythe going in for a deadly arc. they dove to the ground in opposite directions, Rodric landing in-between them. He chuckled as he spread his arms out "Do you see this, Ethic? does this place look familiar to you?" Ethic looked around as he sprang to his feet and backed away from the Keeper, he couldn't make out anything in the shifting scenery around him...but gradually, it took shape.

Scott knew that this was not going well, he leaned backwards, narrowly dodging the blows Annie sent his way... out of his peripheral vision, Scott could see two others coming in to attack him, one with a glowing cane sword and another firing off rounds at him... God Lucifer...he thought to himself as he hastily tore open a rift and backed onto the path... Ethic had a lot of friends for being such a pathetic little pansy... he took a deep breath of relief as he appeared back on the illuminated pathway... it's not like something like gunshots or something like that would hurt him, but he didn't like the way that Rat thing's sword had glowed... it looked like Ethic's knife had... But damn, was that close... he thought to himself as he tore another rift open from the path, stepping through it and this time appearing upside down in the middle of the air, his hair dangling down into his face... he was confident they would have a much harder time attacking him up here... he was beginning to think he should maybe just retreat and come back later on when they left, in order to check to see if Ethic's remains had vanished... He called down to them. "It was nothing personal." He grinned "That's a lie, it was personal and I took a lot of pleasure in killing him like that, but that's beside the point." He began pacing upside down in the air, back and forth, like a professor giving a speech "But even if I hadn't have done it, he still would've ended up dead as door-nail.... You see, Ethic is kinda a wanted man... I was just following my Orders. to kill him so that he could then be erased... Even if I hadn't have done it, another would've come and killed him instead of me killing him." He stopped pacing, eying the charred corpse on the ground far below and thinking to himself What the hell's taking Rodric so long... I already did the hardest (and funnest) part of the task... all he has to do is finish him... __________________ __________________ Ethic took a step back wards as the writhing mass took form before him... The Cloacked man, Rodric, apparently... Spoke to Ethic as he held out his hand, an old farming scythe appearing there. "You have been deemed unfit to continue on in this world, or the next... You may not enter Neither Heaven nor the Hell which you are travelling through..." Rodric began spinning his weapon around, taking steps towards Ethic as he wielded it as if it were a bo staff. "you shall be ended here and now. This is the final sentence of the story of your existence, Ethic." Rodric stopped spinning the Scythe and crouched low to the ground, as if preparing to pounce like a lion... Ethic turned tail and ran as fast as he could towards the orange flame, which he could still see in the distance... Behind him, he could hear an inhuman scream and the sound of wind whistling, he looked behind him to see Rodric soaring through the air behind him, Scythe outstreched and waiting to come down in a deadly arc once the Keeper could finally catch up and surpass Ethic's speed. Ethic looked to the Flame, Tears welling up in his eyes Why me? he asked himself mentally Why the hell did all this shit have to happen to me? all I ever wanted was to save the family business so that my grandpa's legacy wouldn't die along with him... And I get this instead... He pushed the thoughts aside as he got closer to the flame... he suddenly knew what it was... The fire he would light on his staff... Ethic called out desperately as Rodric steadily gained on him, screeching like a banshee "LUCIAN!!!!"

Erick looked over to Clint "Encase you didn't notice, my Friend..." He looked up at Command Central, eyeing the roof "That thing is bigger than any GAO any of us has every seen..." He looked back to his fellow cadets "no offense or anything, but I'm not really sure if Pimparella can actually wrap herself around that thing, let alone eat it..."

Scott felt as Kenny's portal opened behind him. he stood perfectly still as the young man fired of a sphere of some sort at him, he tore open a door to the path and exited through another one in quick succession, now standing by Ethic's body. "Now, now..." He began "You really should make a better effort than that if you want to avenge ol Ethic here..." He nudged the corpses head with his foot. "Ethic didn't tell any of you, did he?" the Goth asked, intending to distract them so that he wouldn't have to fight... this wound Ethic had left him was quite irritating, and right now, he knew he wouldn't be able to follow the High Keeper's orders about not using lethal force... not in his current mind set... He shook his head, making a 'Tsk, Tsk' sound and staring down at Ethic's charred remains "You really shoudl've told them about all this, Ethic, so that they wouldn't be so upset right now..." His tone was laced in sarcasm as he looked at Kenny and Annie, hoping they'd get curious as to what he was talking about and begin asking questions instead of trying to fight him.

Scott Looked as a young women leap down from the tree, calling out how she would kill him for what he had done. He scoffed arrogantly, Black Fire again erupting around his form as his eye's took on that eerie yellow glow once more. he turned to face her. "Oh... Well aren't you a pretty one..." He said mockingly, his voice resonating with some strange power the fire around him died down, and he held up his arms to his side, palms facing forward. "Alright then, You wanna try and avenge Ethic? Fine then, take your best shot at me" He said, glancing over as Rose approached the dead body his Adversary. "Oh, no need to check if he's gone," Scott cried out again, mockingly even more than before "I made sure to fry that bastard extra crispy." He let out a chuckle before turning back to Annie "So go on, try and 'End' Me. whatever method you want. But it won't bring him back... even as we speak, he's being wiped out of existence by my friend Rodric...But come on, and maybe I'll show you the power of hell-fire just like I did Ethic just now" But even as he spoke, he heard the High Keeper's voice in his mind "You shall not engage them with lethal force, do you understand? You're mission is to ensure that Ethic dies and is then wiped from existence. Ethic ytilarom is your only target here, once he is gone, you are to come back and report." Scott scoffed... he kinda wanted to disobey his orders just now and kill them all... but he knew he'd never escape the punishment for not doing as he'd been told... so he dialed back the power he was using at the moment... to a below normal level... no need to be sorry rather than safe, Right? He spoke once again, his eye's losing their Yellow glow as the pupils reverted back to their usual pitch black. he began pacing in front of Annie, and said the same thing he had said to Ethic when they first fought... "Let's Dance, Shall we?" ___________________ ___________________ Ethic ran across the ground of the black space, getting closer to the flame... he pushed harder and harder, noticing how he didn't get tired... finally, he was just a good two dozen yards from the flame. But as he accelerated even more, the formless landscape swirled around him, blinding his vision. after a few moments, his sight cleared, and he was back where he had started in this place... like he had just been standing here the whole time... He looked around, calling out "What the hell is this place?" he was answered by a chuckle. "Oh this..." It called out "this is my realm, Ethic... the Realm of the Arcana of Death, the ever lasting..." Ethic turned around, trying to spot who was speaking "Who's there!?" he called all he got in reply was another chuckle... then the voice spoke again. "You are going to cease to exist soon anyway... it makes no matter that you know my name; I am Rodric Phalton, Keeper of the Arcana of Death and Disciple of the Reaper." Ethic still could not spot who the voice belonged to... but in the corner of his eye, he noticed the darkness there beginning to swirl and take shape...

Ethic listened as Annie called out advice about how to take Scott down using his own power as a weapon against him, and narrowly missed getting his neck slashed by Scott's next attack, thankfully Lucian was able to knock the blade off it's course and save Ethic. The mage looked to him, Eye's focused and intense "Focus, Ethic!" He demanded as he blocked another blow from Scott, a crack sounded as his staff was split in half by the blow. "Damn it..." He said as he tossed the two halves to the ground, pulling the slim rapier sword that hung at his side. "You know how to use that thing?" Ethic asked, noting how he had never seen Lucian use it in battle before. "Of course... Any idiot can wield a sword..." Scott interrupted "Yes, but it takes a smart idiot to wield it well." he went in for another strike, but Ethic was ready for it and spun to the side quickly, bringing up his knife in a brutal slashing motion and watching as Man Without Honor's blade glowed with a harsh Scarlet light as it tore away at the flesh along Scott's rips, the Goth's momentum causing the wound to become even worse as he tripped and fell the ground after his strike missed Ethic entirely. Ethic sprang upward, pivoting to face Scott as he got up from the ground, a large wound in the goth's side bleeding heavily. Ethic spun his knife in his hand, holding it backwards as he rushed towards Scott silently the only sound his Sneakers against the earth. he brought his arm around, intending to slash open the other man's Windpipe, only to stumble to a stop as Scott disappeared. he regained his balance and looked around, trying to find the individual who had just gone from being his hunter to being his prey... His anger began to take over now, warping the person who he truly was... how he really felt... "Come on out, Scott..." He said playfully "Or are you scared that I can hurt you just as badly as you can hurt me now?" Scott's enraged Voice echoed through the air, loud enough for everyone in the area to hear it. "Fuck this." He said he continued talking as his voice grew louder and louder, reaching a crescendo "I was just toying with you... like a cat to a mouse... but it's obvious you aren't playing around... This gash you gave me burns more than pure hellfire..." Ethic looked around, trying to locate where he was... when he heard Lucian cry out "ETHIC, BEHIND YOU!" He looked behind him to see Scott appearing in a burst of dark flames, his sword was replaced in his hand now by a sphere of darkness much like the ones Ethic and Lucian had dodged earlier. he rushed towards Ethic with incredible speed, his eye's a sulfurous yellow as he screamed out in fury and Hate "BUT IF YOU'RE NOT PLAYING, THAN WHY SHOULD I!?" He closed in on Ethic in an instant, thrusting his arm into the young man's chest, pushing the sphere of Darkness up against his sternum... Scott let out another cry, this one sounded like it was completely inhuman as he screeched out the words. "NO MORE HOLDING BACK!" with that, Ethic felt a pulsing sensation in his chest as Scott became cloaked in pure darkness, the next thing Ethic knew, a blast erupted around him... He could feel his body flying through the air... he could feel burning... horrible, un-ending burning in his chest... he somehow managed to look at his body, seeing it engulfed in black fire... he could feel bones breaking as he landed on the ground.. he could hear Lucian screaming his name... followed another explosion... and he could feel the impact wave as Lucian flew through the air and landed a dozen feet away from him... then the only thing he could feel, the only thing that existed in the world for him, was the pain... the pain all over his body as the black fire spread to cover him completely... All he could was scream... scream as loud as he could for as long as he could... it was so loud, it could probably be heard all the way across to the other side of he gardens... But after a few minutes, even the screaming was impossible as the fire destroyed his lungs and Trachea tissue... And so he just lay there, flailing in pain on the ground... It took five minutes for the blast of Pure Hell fire Scott had shot him with to kill him... and in those five minutes, he experienced more physical pain than in all his nineteen years of life put together and multiplied by then... when it was done, the was nothing left but a charred husk slightly resembling a human being... Lucian's body was no where to be found. ______________________ ______________________ Ethic...awoke in a black space... it was familiar... his head was foggy for a minute... he couldn't remember what had happened...or how he had gotten here... all he knew was that a few moments ago... he was in more pain than he had ever been in his entire life... but he felt no pain now... and he felt no heart beat in his chest... Ethic's memory came crashing back like a tidal wave when he attempted to stand up, causing him to tumble to his back again. he lay there, stunned as he recalled Everything that had happened... how Lucian had made him duck, saving him twice... how Scott had appeared... how they had started fighting... how he slashed the Goth across the rib cage, severly injuring him... and how he turned around, seeing Scott's glowing eyes as he rushed in on him... and after that, he remembered the fire... the smell of sulphor and burnt flesh... He shook his head, pushing the flood of memories away as he again stood up. he looked around the space... and he saw nothing....he took a few steps forward, and heard nothing... he held out his hand in front of his face... and was able to see it glowing dimly against the black space. he put it back down to his side... He knew that he was dead... but right now, he didn't feel quite certain he'd be able to come back like Mr.Taylor had... He looked of in the distance, and saw a flickering orange flame... it looked so familiar to him... with nothing else to do in this land of death and darkness, he began running over to the flame.

You seemed surprised that I did that... It was intended to show that these aren't the little games we all play in pokemon... they don't just faint. it was meant to portray how this is the Near future, Real World version of pokemon... where the laws of nature dictate that all things must eventually die, including those Pokemon that are pushed too far or are too severely injured in battle

Ethic and Lucian stood on the branch, staring at the moon... when Lucian's attention was drawn by something in the distance. the Magus turned his head, looking with more than just his sense of sight... He could sense the presence off in the distance, it was familiar... because of all the issues it had caused... He felt as power began flaring around this strange presence off in the distance, the actual figure unseeable, but yet still there. he felt as the power condensed itself around the figure... and a bolt of energy was fired off soundlessly. Lucian sprang up onto the branch, Grabbing Ethic and yanking his head downward, forcing his body down as well, crying out "DUCK!" Ethic had no idea what was going on, but he didn't put up any resistance as Lucian forced him down, he looked up above to see a sphere of what seemed to be pure darkness fly through the air where his head had been a few seconds ago. the sphere continued it's flight, hitting a far off tree across the way and leaving a large black mark on the trunk as several branches could be seen snapping and falling down from the force of the blast. He looked to Lucian. who lay on the tree branch beside him "What the hell was that!?" "It's that little Bastard, Scott..." "Wait, like the guy that Maxwell called his 'Apprentice'? How could he manage to get here, let alone fire that thing at me if this whole red moon theory of yours is true!?" "I don't know..." Lucian Replied, looking around in the distance, apparently tracking something "Though... He IS the Apprentice to the Devil Arcana... and we're in the middle of hell... You heard what Maxwell said to me, Right? How he was stronger down here than any of us fellow keepers... that same rule probably applies to scott as well, as his Apprentice..." "So wait..." Ethic said, a bit Nervous about where this was heading "Does that mean he isn't affected by this red moon crap?" Lucian stopped scanning the horizon, locking his gaze on a specific point in the distance "Seeing as how he's here now and is trying to kill us with shots of darkness, I think the answer to that to be an obvious 'yes'." at that moment, Lucian could feel another shot being charged up... he pushed himself up off the branch, falling down to the ground below and dragging Ethic with him across his shoulders like a rag doll, the Young man falling to the stones as Lucian landed, and another sphere of darkness took out the branch they had been on a few moments ago. Ethic got up and looked at his friend "Thanks for saving me... twice..." Lucian spoke as he continued Eyeing a specific place in the distance "No problem... But we're gonna have to face him... there's no way we can get away now... he'll just follow us." Ethic got up to his feet from the cold stones of the ground, glancing back up to the tree where the others were still conversing. "Can they see any of this?" Lucian glanced up to them as well "I suspect that some of them with certain abilities can, but probably have no idea what's happening... not like it matters whether or not they can see it though... not one of them can help us right now..." Ethic looked away from the Group in time to see another sphere headed towards his head, he dropped to the ground, barely dodging the thing as it wizzed by over head and dissipated into the night. Ethic sprang back up, his anger rising now... This guy... he's the one that whooped me and then dragged me like I was a sack of flour or something... He tore Man Without Honor from the sheath at his belt, the blade beginning to pulse with a red light. he called out to his attacker "COME OUT HERE, YOU COWARD!" He began pacing back and forth where he was as white energy began flaring off him.... though, not like it would be any use in this fight... "Fight us like a man instead of sitting back in the dark taking pop shots at me and Lucian!" That was apparently enough to draw the assailant out of hiding, as a mass of writhing darkness appeared before Ethic and Lucian... a head rose out of it, followed by shoulders and a torso, then arms and legs and feet... Standing before them was a familiar young man with black hair and all black clothing... He looked at the Magus and the Arcane Fugitive, smirking "All right, Ethic," He said "since you're gonna bitch and moan about me doing this the easy way, we'll settle this with Close quarters combat." He flung out his left arm, a sword of Black metal materializing there. He spun it in his hand before taking an aggressive stance with the thing angled downward above his head, the tip pointing towards Ethic. He spoke up again "Well, BlackyMcGee, any last words?" Ethic ground his teeth at that... He was absolutely certain that was meant to be a Racist insult... but it was Lucian who spoke out "A Dick and a Racist..." He began, sarcastically "Well, Scott, aren't you just a charming bag of filth and hate?" Lucian smirked at his own counter to what had been said Scott simply shook his head, letting out what seemed to be a sigh of dissapointment "No, no... You see, that's the issue with folks these days... Their always willing to jump to the conclusion that something is 'Racist' or Ethnically insulting..." Even as Scott spoke, he began to circle around the two of them... Ethic could tell from the Goth's Eyes that he was looking for an opening. "I didn't call you that to be Racist." he said simply "I called you it because, in case you haven't noticed, you're decked out head to toe in Black clothing." Lucian scoffed at this pathetic defense "Bullshit." He called "That's the best you can come up with for the defense of your statement? I've hear-" Ethic held up his hand to the side of his face in a "halt" gesture to Lucian. He watched as Scott continued to circle around them like a lion stalking prey... he knew what he was doing... it was what Ethic would do as well if he was on the offensive against someone "Stop talking, Lucian..." He began, making sure to turn constantly so that he'd always be facing Scott "This guy doesn't care about Race or Ethnicity or any of that type of stuff.... He's completely apathetic to it; he doesn't give a damn... I can see it in his eyes..." He glanced to the Magus "and at the Same time, nothing is sacred to him... he didn't say what he said for Either of those reasons, he said it because he knew that His enemy had a weak point for such statements... He said something similar to me last time... that's probably how he figured out that saying something along the same pretext would work against me again..." He returned his attention to Scott "the Sole reason he said that was because he knew it would distract his enemy and give himself time to set up to attack..." Ethic let out a slight chuckle "It was a nice try, Scott... It would've worked if I didn't know what you were doing...but I can see it all in your eyes... you don't know how to hide anything in your body language, Do you?" Scott let out a chuckle as well as he continued circling. "Well done Ethic...That's what I would say... If you hadn't seen from my body language specifically what I wanted you to see..." he crouched a little to the ground as he moved "Oh, Ethic... there's that Arrogance again... thinking you fucking know everyone... You're not Ender Wiggin, my friend... In Fact, I believe you disowned you Father's surname and ran away because of the very type of Arrogance you saw in him, which you yourself are displaying now." Ethic could feel his anger rising a little higher, but prevented himself from acting on it... that's what this bastard wanted just for him to do right now, but he was determined not to rise to the bait. "Are you done?" he asked Scott "Because if you aren't, I'll have to cut your tongue out of your mouth." Scott seemed to grow a little angry at this... he finally made his strike, rushing forward and making a sweep for Ethic's abdomen, which he managed to barely parry with his knife, his arm ringing with pain from absorbing the excess force of the blow Scott had made. Lucian rushed at the Goth, bringing his staff down in an arc, Scott broke contact between his black sword and Ethic's Red knife, leaping backwards through the air, dodging Lucian's staff and beginning to circle again, this time his blade was held in what seemed to be a fencing poise... "Oh, you were right Ethic," He said with a cruel smile "This is going to be much more fun than killing you from a distance..."

^ Either that or Thundershock, which can also paralyze. or hell, maybe we'll use both.

Erick looked on as Nathan's leg was being bandaged by Logan and Kenny asked for suggestions for the plan to take the bird out once they got into the Atrium. He looked down at his belt, remembering the shock attack he had ordered his beldum to use during the evaluation battles. with the arm that wasn't supporting Nathan's wieght, he reached down and took out the GAOs capsule, sending it out in a burst of light. it hovered in the air silently as it stared at Erick, completely unaffected by the cold temperature out here. "Yeah," Erick said as he glanced over to Kenny "I think I got something that can both restrict it and counter it; me and Beldum here developed a certain electric attack a few months ago... Clint saw it during our battle. If we can hit that Bird with it, maybe we can shock it's nervous system to the point where it's muscles will freeze up; IE, maybe we can paralyze it... that'll stop it from not only getting around, but from being able to launch off those attacks of it's as well..."

I don't see anything evident of Mental Insanity in him right now, so let's just go with Yes, there is actually an asylum in the deepest parts of the Bases subterranean levels, though it's completely empty of any occupants...