Under the Hill - Fourth Circle: Greed [IC]

[Ragnar]

"so it has come to this...mutiny...betrayed by my very own creations just because I have outgrown my selfish needs." Ixidor sighed, unfazed by the two behemoths charging right at him. .

"the only reason why I let you guys live, is because for moment I thought we were family and perhaps I can change you guys, I guess I was wrong...I'm truly sorry it has to end like this." the boy's face saddens as he fully regrets on what he was about to do next: destroying his work of art one by one.

with that, Ixidor draws and produce a portal gun... yes a real life portal gun. He fires it right at his feet, dodging the combined attack of the Manticore and the Djinn as he went through inside the hole and teleport himself right behind the Manticore. Ixidor works his erasing magic and touched its tail as the mythical beast begins to disintegrate into pencil shaving, erasing one of his creations from the face of the earth.

"I'm here to correct my mistakes, even if it means destroying the very thing i've created" Ixidor said to the Angel as he charge his portal gun once more and prepares to erase his remaing creations.

[Rosesong]

Ixidor

The manticore appeared behind Kayle again, looking just as fierce and perfect as it had when Ixidor entered the vault. "Master, answer this then. Why have you changed? What has caused your views to change?" The djinn floated in the air in front of the young artist, acting as a silent judge to what Ixidor would say. All of his other creations leaned in curiously, anxious to hear what their creator and master would say as to why their perfection was suddenly worth nothing to him.

[CURIE]

Crap, Kenny had ahold of his leg, and now he was HGADJFAKL FJSAFJADJ WHAT WAS HE DOING TO HIM? Without thinking, he brought down the whirling metal propeller to where Kenny's arm apparently was, undoubtedly either ruining or severing the limb. He didn't pause to see which it was, he just felt the pressure on his leg release and blasted into the air, as he started to suffer the effects of... Whatever just happened to him. It felt like electricity was coursing through his whole body, making him spasm randomly and corrupting his thoughts- wait, since when did electricity corrupt thoughts? No, this had to be whatever it is that turned Kenny evil. And unless he didn't do something, it might turn him evil too! He remembered his pole and how it conducted the force lightning- maybe it could conduct this stuff too? He held the beam at arm's length and focused at the tip facing away from him (was that blood on the end of it?), willing the energy to go there with all the willpower he could muster, similar to how he used Kenny's powers only a few minutes ago. The weird, dark stuff rushed down the pole and conglomerated at the end in a large ball of seething, inky blackness. He thought about sending it right back at Kenny, but nah it would probably power him up or something. Instead he swung the pole behind him, launching the horrid ball of death in some random direction that wasn't Kenny's.

He didn't notice that the random direction happened to be straight at Marcus and Mr. Taylor.

[ApatheticPanda]

Rose and Caleb

As Caleb saw the men disappear, he turned to Rose, "Thanks, but you didn't need to do that," Caleb feeling bad for Rose's pain, he said "You like you're in pain. This might seem a little weird, but trust me." Caleb put his hand on Rose's face, absorbing her headache and nose pain. "Ow! better?" Caleb said holding his nose and head.

[Ragnar]

Ixidor was shocked as the manticore reappeared itself; unharmed and still existing as if nothing happened. Even with his erasing powers he cannot delete his past creations, it's like they're immortal inside this vault. Ixidor has no choice but to answer Kayle's questions.

"I've change for the better, but even so.. it seems I cannot change my past. This is all my fault, my selfish thoughts from the past corrupted you guys in becoming like this.." Ixidor heavily sighed as he answered the angel. "the reason that I change my views, is that I don't want my ambition to become an unhealthy obsession to the point that I will turn into this Gestas person. A lonely greedy tyrant whose only friend is his wealth... but I guess it's too late to change now and it seems my own past comes back to haunt me." Ixidor said.

"I guess I had it coming. The only regret that I have now, is that I never got the chance to free my friends from this tyrant and fulfill my promise to Lilith and Mr.hood." the boy sincerely said as he looks at each one of his creations and accepts whatever fate that it's in store for him inside this vault.

[K_H]

Dark Kenny jerked his Arm away, his arm severed where the Pole had hit him, his Aura not completely drained. Dark Kenny quickly Manifested a hyper-fast acting Coagulant-soaked Adhesive Bandage, putting it over his Arm Stump. as his blood clotted, he saw the Aura Sphere shoot towards Marcus and Mr. Taylor, but didn't do anything to stop it, instead turning to Edward and speaking, his Voice seeming to change as what Gestas had done to his Aura stopped working because of Kenny's becoming unconscious.

"Edward... Thank you for helping me..."

Kenny then fainted, exhausted by what he had just gone through.

Edited January 21, 2015 by K_H

[Rosesong]

Rose and Caleb

Before the woman could react to a stranger's hand being on her face, suddenly it (and the pain) were gone. Rose looked at him in awe and gratitude. "Thank you so much," she said. "Though I must say, I have yet to meet a hell denizen that could do that. What made you end up in this circle?" The girl was mildly surprised to find a hell-dweller that was kind, even if a bit daft at first.

Ixidor

Before the artist's eyes, the djinn slowly dissolved into the air, leaving small shimmery dust particles floating in the air where he had stood. Other perfect creations followed the djinn, each disappearing into shimmering specks until only Kayle remained. She glided over to the artist, giving him a warm smile, much different than her previous demeanor.

"You did it Master," she said happily. Taking a step back, the angel began to explain. "Your views were what landed you a spot in this circle, from which you were supposed to stay for all eternity. This was your test, to prove to the circle master that you deserve to leave here and journey onward to the treasure. By showing that you were willing to change in order to keep your creations pure, you passed."

The angel then moved backward, away from Ixidor. "Truthfully, your Kayle is still in the second circle, while I am merely a projection of what she could be had she been truly perfected. Though, I think you realize by now that flaws are what make even the most strange and unusual things beautiful." With that statement, the angel blew a kiss and faded away like the others, leaving the brightest light particles of any creation yet and whispering the words, "Be true to who you are from now on, Ixidor, not what others expect you to be." An audible click was heard, the vault door swinging open back into the lobby of the bank.

Ethic, Enya, Annie

Annie stopped looking around and cringed upon hearing Ethic's voice and the sound of a screaming child. Nodding her thanks at the pair, not really in the mood to chitchat, she bit the inside of her mouth and quickly elongated her legs to lengthen her stride as she chased the rat, intent on finding out why he was still alive and what he was doing skulking around the bank.

(Super, I'm letting you decide what the aura sphere does to Taylor and Marcus. Also, Annie and Reil will be bunnied until their respective RPers come back. Flux, feel free to bring Phantom to any group.)

[Sutoratosu]

"Come to think of it, that leaves me with a bit of a dilemma..." Ethic thought to himself as he watched the woman take off after the all too literal rat bastard. "I could go after them, try to help tear him apart limb from limb, but on the other hand," He looked down at Enya as she continued her strange tongues. "I should probably find rose as quick as we can. Whatever the hell's happened to enya, I think it may have broken the kid.... plus, it's not like killing Quincy here would solve the issue with him. Styx might though, just gotta wait and see..." He stopped for a moment in his pondering when he actually absorbed for the first time the fact that Enya was talking in Tongues; yes, Tongues, of all things, which could only mean... well, this was hell afterall, it wasn't too surprising.

"Alright, Demon," He sighed, shaking his head. "Look, I don't know who you are or what you want with Enya, but just let the kid go, would ya? We've already got enough shit to deal with around here without adding the issue of a Demonic Possession on top of it. Either you can just waltz away nicely, or I can start compelling you with the power of christ and force you out. It's your choice, bub."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

The child paused at Ethic's words. "No." Her voice was a whisper, her eyes still large and panic-stricken. "NO! DON'T TOUCH ACE! DON'T TOUCH ACE!" Clutching her bear tightly, sweating, the child began backing away. "I'll be a good girl. I'LL BE A GOOD GIRL! JUST DON'T TOUCH ACE!"

[Sutoratosu]

"Amazing how the mere threat of the power of Christ instantly snaps her out of it..." He thought to himself, putting his hands up defensively to try to calm Enya down. "Whoa, whoa Enya, just calm down, alright? No one's gonna touch ace, OK? I'm just trying to make sure that no stray demon from this circle decided to walk into your head and take over,"- Thinking to himself "But Now I'm suspicious about that teddy bear... why get so defensive of it from the mention of Exorcism? there's no relevance between a toy and it.... unless... I'm keeping my eye on it, and her"- "You were speaking in tongues and rambling non stop, a sign of Demonic Possession. Looks like it's over now though, so we're fine." "That's a lie, Demonic possession can just enter into a dormant state whenever the demon so desires, to give the illusion of having been cast out... can't tell her that I know that fact though, else whatever's latched onto her might lash out, and I'm tired of fighting demons left and right right now. As much as I hate to leave the kid to fall prey... whatever's with her is just gonna have to tag along for a while longer until I can find the right opportunity."

"Come on," He said, making a mental note to himself while also gesturing down the hallway. "Let's go find Rose, see if she's in trouble.You want to help Rose, right?"

[K_H]

OUTSIDE KENNY:

Things started to keep on getting weirder and weirder. as Kenny laid on the ground, unconscious, his Aura manifested itself. however, something seemed different this time, like how the left half of it seemed to be made of Black Flames while the right half was made of Turquoise Electricity, and they were aligned so that they were parallel to Kenny's body. if anyone watched, they could see that the border between the two fluctuated, as if the two halves of Kenny were locked in conflict.

INSIDE KENNY'S MIND:

Kenny had finally broken out of the Cage, which had weakened when Dark Kenny tried overloading Edward's Aura. the next thing he'd done was to shut down the Physical Form, which turned it unconscious. however, he was unable to do it before the Bandage was materialized, and also managed to get a quick phrase out to Edward before Unconsciousness hit. now, all that was left was to deal with the Demon that had tried keeping him locked up. as they Battled, the Aura outside of Kenny changed, reflecting who had the upper hand in their battle. at one point, Kenny was hit by the Demon's black scimitar, knocking him back a few steps, mildly injured. the Aura around the Physical Body became a bit blacker when this happened. Then, Kenny managed to beat back the Demon with his turquoise katana, actually managing to wound it at one point. this was shown by the Aura becoming a bit more Turquoise. then, both Kenny and the Demon retreated back to the sides of the Control Center from the middle of the room, where they'd been locked in a stalemate for an entire minute, both Combatants trying to regain their strength as they waited.

OUTSIDE KENNY:

For some strange reason, Kenny's Aura felt like it could be easily interacted with at this point. All that anyone had to do was make contact with the arm that was on the side they wanted to help, whether they did it physically or with their Power.

Edited January 15, 2015 by K_H

[ApatheticPanda]

Rose and Caleb

"I have no idea what a 'hell denizen' is, but yeah, comes in handy for anyone, but me." Caleb said. "I was on a walk through the woods heading towards a place called 'The Hill' and I saw some portal. So I walked through the portal and I blinked for just half a second, then BAM! I'm here in this place. I'm assuming you're in charge of this place, correct?"

[Rosesong]

Rose and Caleb

Rose stared in shock. "No, I... I'm from our-- the mortal world," she hastily amended. "Come on, we need to work out how to get out of here." Grabbing the boy, she took off at a jog, looking for any of the people that she had allied with before to help. "I think I may have met the guy that's in charge, but I'm not sure. He's intimidating for sure. By the way, what's your name?" she questioned, trying to do multiple things at once and not fall. "Mine's Rose."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Enya's legs and arms trembled. Biting her lip, she nodded tearfully and said, quietly, "Y-Yes... Miss Rose... I left Miss Rose.. We should go back to her. Yes, yes..." The child didn't know what to think of Mister Ethic. He knew something. He probably knew. About Ace. Nobody should know about Ace. But Mister Ethic was helpful and protected her-- protected Ace. Her arms wrapped around the bear even more tightly as though she worried that somebody would try to snatch it away from her.

[ApatheticPanda]

Rose and Caleb

As Rose pulled Caleb with her, "My name is Caleb. Rose? You sure seem to have thorns alright," Caleb joked. "So, you're from my world? So that means there are others? How many? Are we stuck here? What is the point of this place? Sorry, I have so many questions."

[anethia]

(hi pls dont hurt me I havent had time recently to post rp updates since im moving pls dont kill me ;__; )

Annie growled, dashing forwards in relentless pursuit of the rat. She bounded forwards, eyes darting around for the monster.

"Come out from where you hide! Fight me head on!" She called out, looking around frantically, panting slightly as she ran. "I've beat you to the ground once before, Quincy, and I won't hesitate to do it again." She growled, a hint of poison in her voice.

Edited January 17, 2015 by Anethia

[Rosesong]

Rose and Caleb

Rose groaned as she heard the joke that had riddled her as a child. "Please, no thorn jokes," she requested dryly. "We need to figure out a way out of here." With that, she turned a corner, dragging the boy with her."

Annie, Quincy, Ellaria

At Annie's call, the rat turned and told the girl he carried, "Drop it, let her see us." At his command, the girl, still quivering, dropped the invisibility, revealing themselves to Annie. The older girl could clearly see the mangled, broken legs that Ellaria had received, as well as the smug face of the rat. "Lookie here girl. If you try anything, the pipsqueak here is going to get it." A smug smile made its way onto the deranged rat's face. "She won't thank you, that's for sure," nudging Ellaria's leg hard and elliciting a groan of pain from the girl.

[Sutoratosu]

"Alright, let's get moving then," Ethic said, beginning down the hallway with Enya again. "The more time we waste the worse things could be getting for Rose is she's in trouble..." All the while though he kept an eye on how she held that bear... of course she was attached to it, she was a kid afterall... but if something really was going on with that toy, then her attachment might serve to complicate things if he had to take action... Eh, well, I'll just have to cross that bridge if or when I get to it...

((Rose, I'm just gonna go ahead and call this end of scene for us, not really anything more to add at this point.))

[anethia]

"I should have expected a coward to hide behind a human shield." She drew her knife, scratched her thumb, and stared directly at Quincy. "But death isn't permanent here, Quincy, everyone knows that. So if you dare to kill her, I'll just sit by her side and wait for her to come back. Simple as that." Annie dashed forwards, not aiming for Quincy, but instead aiming for Ellaria, going as fast as she possibly could, throwing out a kick when she thought Quincy was in range to push him away from the child.

[ApatheticPanda]

Rose and Caleb

Telling from her reaction to the joke, he could assume she wasn't the kind of person you could warm up so easily to, "Sorry, my bad" Caleb tried to keep up with his feet as he was being pulled by her.

"So any progress on escaping this place?" He asked in a formal tone.

Edited January 24, 2015 by ApatheticPanda

[Rosesong]

Marcus, Mr. Taylor, and Reil

((until the time they come back, I'll be bunnying both Mr. Taylor and Reil))

Reil, who had been following Mr. Taylor quietly away from the aura fight and was now witnessing his confrontation with Marcus, turned at the sound of Kenny's body thudding to the floor not too far away to see an aura sphere speeding toward the two men that were in a heated confrontation. Um, oh no, this is really bad, Reil thought to himself nervously. I guess I could just... With that, the boy shut his eyes tight and sent an icy ball of wind toward the incoming sphere, freezing it into a glowing, glittering blue ball that dropped to the ground and shattered. As Reil fell back against the wall, utterly exhausted from saving the two older men, the ice caught their attention.

"Don't think we're done Taylor. We made a bargain, and you will follow through," Marcus snarled, furious that someone may have been listening to them, not having seen Reil. "I've killed you twice, and believe me, I'll have no qualms in killing you again." With that, the killer strode off in the direction that Mr. Taylor had originally been going in, as the formerly elderly man breathed a sigh of relief.

Rose and Caleb

Not stopping to glance back at the boy, Rose continued turning down the twisted corridors of the bank, trying to find Gestas. "Not even close. We need to find the main office though, I think that'll be a start."

Annie, Quincy, Ellaria

As Annie dashed forward and kicked out, Quincy immediately pulled out the Preacher and shouted, "Time for a Sermon, girlies!" He flashed the gun at Annie and pulled the trigger before flashing the gun at Ellaria and doing the same in the seconds that it took for Annie's incoming kick to hit him.

Ellaria cried out in pain before falling off of the rat's shoulder in a crumpled heap. "Quickshot Quincy always hits his target," the rat muttered before falling unconscious from the force of the kick.

THE BANK

The halls of the bank were suddenly filled with red light and a shrill, piercing bell. "Thank you for your hard work today, friends. Our wealth remains secure and beautiful because of your hard work. Please go back into the city and rest for another productive day," came a deep voice that boomed into every corner of the bank. "As long as we continue to work, we will all profit."

At the end of the statement, all of the vaults sprang open, and workers began to pour out of them and into the lobby again. Then, the doors that led to the slums reopened, allowing all of the workers to flow back out into the slums. As those in the bank went to go outside, Gestas' voice boomed over the intercom. "All bank security, please report to my office. It shouldn't be hard for you, considering it's the only pathway open. Don't dawdle, if you waste my time there will be consequences."

In the corridor where Edward and Kenny had fought, a trapdoor appeared under Kenny's unconscious form, dropping him to somewhere unseen before closing again. Before Edward could react, Prometheus rounded the corner. "Come little one," Prometheus rumbled. "We must discuss tonight with the others."

Elsewhere in the bank, Bonnie and Clyde stumbled upon Reil's weakened form. "Oh lookie here, it's that little boy we stumbled upon earlier," Bonnie noted, glancing at Clyde. "What do you reckon we do love?" Clyde gazed back at her with a shrug. "I 'spose we should bring him back; he was supposed to be doing intel for us after all darlin'." With that, the two each took an arm and hauled the boy to his feet, helping him out of the bank and ignoring his murmured, "Thanks."

((so, in case it isn't totally clear, all those that started out in the slums should be heading back into the slums, while those that started in the bank should stay in the bank))

[CURIE]

Edward dropped to the floor, the pole hitting the ground first, his feet second, his knees third, and his left hand fourth. Looking at his left hand, he noticed the bluish electricity was still there, indicating he still had one more use of Kenny Power. The impact kinda stung, but he had no time to deal with that! He jumped back up, spun around to Kenny, pole ready, and- oh. Oooohhhh. Well that was a bit anticlimatic.

Kenny was laying on the floor unconscious, with one arm completely severed. Something weird was happening to him as usual, the halves of his body shrouded in a glowy light: One half blue, the other black. Edward had a hunch that this signified some kind of inner struggle like Enya was going through. He was wondering how he could help, when another trapdoor stole the body, just like it did a few minutes ago.

"OH COME ON BANK, BE MORE ORIGINAL" he said to whoever activated the trap, in case they could hear him. "You JUST did that trick!"

And then the announcement came that the work day was over. Already? It had only seemed like a few minutes. Guess time flies when you're having fun. Prometheus was calling to him, telling him the gang had to go discuss something. Oh boy, are they gonna be stoked when they hear what he can do now!

[Sutoratosu]

"Well, so much for that idea..." Ethic said as the lighting suddenly changed to a vibrant red all around them and the announcements boomed overheard. The moment Gestas himself came on over the mic, he could immediately tell what he meant... all the other corridors branching off from the hall he and the girl were walking in were nowhere to be found now. Behind them was nothing more than an empty wall. The only way to go...was forward.

"Come on, Enya..." he sighed, beginning to walk again- quickly adding to entice her into getting moving as well, "I'm sure Rose will probably be there too..."

[K_H]

INSIDE KENNY'S MIND:

As the two were just about to spring at each other, Gestas spoke, and they both heard what he said emanating from an Auditory Monitor in the Controls. Then, they simultaneously noticed that a small, red light was flashing on the Console, a light that signified to both of them that there was an Imminent Danger due to a Deadly Fall and that they ran the risk of going through a catastrophe known as "Splitting the Subconscious" in Auric Terms. the two of them looked first at the Console, then at each other, nodded, and then sprang into action.

OUTSIDE KENNY:

As Kenny fell, his eyes snapped open, revealing that one of them had turned black, the other being turquoise. Then, while in midair, he used a Portal to get to Gestas' Office, landing on his feet and hard enough to make a small dent in the floor. the resulting shock made his body lock up, but he still retained consciousness.

INSIDE KENNY'S MIND:

Kenny and Dark Kenny were both shaken when the Physical Body landed. Then, both of them made eye contact, and a quick bit of dialogue ensued.

"Temporary Truce while we both try to make it through the Circles alive?"

"Definitely."

Edited January 25, 2015 by K_H

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Enya was without words, big icy blue eyes solemn, her demeanor without the unnerving pep she carried for four circles now. In fact she seemed... Frightened. Small, like a normal child would, in the abyss that as eternal damnation. With a nod, she followed Mister Ethic hurriedly.