Under the Hill - Fourth Circle: Greed [IC]

[K_H]

As Gestas headed out of the Room, Kenny lowered the Barrier holding Rose, Enya, and himself to the Floor before letting it dissapear, and then portaled out of the Room. just after Portaling, he got mildly dizzy, but recovered quickly and followed Gestas.

Edited November 20, 2014 by K_H

[anethia]

"Oui, je vais vous aider." She replied with a grin. "Basic French I actually listened to in school. It's a thing of the past now." She replied, dusting her hands and looking at the debris. "I'll help you." She replied, making a small bow before looking outside. "Where do we go now? I'm assuming we aren't alone in this plan."

[CURIE]

CRASH!

Well, now he had done it. Edward had been hanging out in this building for a while now, and to entertain himself he had been practicing kung fu-ish stuff. He was mostly trying to emulate what he had seen in video games and movies, occasionally coming up with his own stuff. But just now, one of his kicks went too far to the right, and now there's a big hole in the wall, exposing the house's interior to the alleyway next to it.

"We'll, that's my cue to move on" he said to himself. He picked picked up his backpack, slung it over his shoulder,and leapt through the hole. Waaaaait, what was that?

He leapt backwards, using his flight path-altering powers to replicate an exact backwards copy of the jump he just made. There was a metal bar sticking haphazardly out of the rubble. MELEE WEAPON!

He yanked it out of the concrete it was embedded in, straightened out a bend in it, and found it to be a bit too long for his taste. No problem, he just took an extra minute to "cut" it down to size. Now, he could use it like a bo staff, except stronger because it's heavier and harder.

The best part is, his backpack had an accommodation for things to long to fit in it. On both sides, it had adjustable straps for holding said long objects, and clips to keep them in place. After making sure the staff wouldn't fall off, and that he could yank it out on short notice, he finally set off again.

(A few minutes later)

He was almost there, and that wasn't just the Enya sense talking. He could see the white of the fancy building peeking between the ruined ones. At the very last building before the white house, he turned to the left and jumped into a third story window. From here, he'd scout out any security system and plan his entry.

[Notus]

Annie

Villon's eyes filled with surprise and delight at the sound of Annie speaking his mother tongue. "Oh, c'est magnifique! How lucky I am to find a beautiful, strong, and well educated lady in this literal hell hole! Oui mademoiselle, I feel that our partnership will be a most sweet and rewarding one."

After saying that, the frenchman walked towards the ruined door of the building and pulled the handle, holding it open and cerimoniously gesturing for Annie to go through. "Now you come with me so I can present you to our partners in crime, who will sure be delighted to make your acquaintance. And speaking of that, before we go, what should I have the pleasure of calling you?"

[Rielly987]

As the ice sheild comes down "Oh umm Reil is my name and I don't know about the ice... Um ... I've only been able to do it as soon as I entered this place" he wimmpers.

[Rosesong]

Edward

Just as Edward landed, a soft male voice reached his ears. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. The security guards can be rather brutal, and for a small guy like yourself, they'd kill you instantly, regardless of the powers that you have. There's an easier way though, seeing that you seem pretty desperate." The voice came closer, and Edward couldn't help but notice that the voice seemed to be on the same level that he was. "This bank is far too greedy; the rest of us deserve its riches as well, don't you think?"

Ixidor

Robin flew around the corner with Ixidor in tow. "You didn't think it was just me in the Slums, did you? Of course there's more of us! The bank can't just have one worker, now can it?" As he spoke, he suddenly stopped and looked up. "Well, well. Bonnie, Clyde, you found some strange folk to help us too, now did ya?" Tugging Ixidor out from behind him, Robin gave another toothy grin, flipping a small strand of dark hair back into place. "This here is... well darn, I didn't get his name, but he has one of these!" and took the opportunity to snatch the boy's drawing notebook. "He can do fancy things with it," he boasted, pleased with the partnership that he had made.

The Bank Gang

Rose let out an audible sigh of relief when the guns were recalled. Moving so that she could keep an eye on Marcus and this new guy, she continued to care for Enya, gently moving Ace away from her so that the precious stuffed animal wouldn't get damp as she continued to cool the child's face and neck. "Ethic," she murmured, "Please let Gestas know Enya and I will be along as soon as she wakes up. Also," she paused," make sure that those two go with you. I don't want Enya harmed." With that, she placed Ace into the girl's arms once again and gently stroked her hair, humming softly to the girl.

[Sutoratosu]

The sound of a Zippo Lighter being flicked open echoed from the ceiling as Ethic Lowered himself using the Batman Method, recalling his blade once he had gotten low enough and dropping down to the floor. He flicked his wrist to and throw in a manner meant to be intimidating, as if it were a Switchblade rather than a lighter. His other hand was in his pocket as he walked like a stereotypical mafioso and looked at the Killer and the... again, was that taylor? there was some basic semblance in the way the facial structure was... he had the same color eyes and all... just looked a hell of a lot younger. Whatever, if it wasn't him, then Ethic would just deal with the stranger later on.

"You hear that, Mudersalot?" he chided, walking towards Rose and Enya but positioning himself to remain facing the Killer at all times. "Looks like we get to use the Buddy system for a while, sounds fun, doesn't it?" He stopped flicking the lighter's cap, the flame burning brightly. "But let's make one thing very fucking clear here and now; I heard you call us all 'comrades' just now with the banker guy. Yeah...no, absolutely not. I'm sorry, but after the shit you've pulled, there is no way in hell or heaven that I'm ever going to fight alongside you, all buddy-buddy like. But I don't have any choice in the matter, none of us do... you see this?" he nodded to the lighter and the flame.

"You try something, anything at all that I think is suspicious, and I'll torch you, just like our first little bout." He put the thing away, smirking behind his Aviators. "But...I'm sure we won't have any issue with that, now will we? given that we've all been threatened with being locked in a vault for eternity if we kill each other right now..."

[CURIE]

"I'm not exactly 'desperate', but I'm interested, go on."

Edward didn't need to be all like "who's there?" With that voice, he knew what it was. Okay, he didn't actually know WHO it was, but he was pretty sure from the way it talked that it was a lost soul. He didn't like the idea of allying himself with them, as he knew it was impossible for them to do anything for their eternal situation, but what the heck, he'll roll with this and see how far it goes. He was in this for the adventure, after all.

[Supernovae]

"Now gosh darn, what in the sam hell are you all babbling about," Mr. Taylor let out. "Now I don't know what happened between you folks, that there is your business. But, what I do know is that being locked in a bank vault for the rest of eternity isn't my idea of a party. So can't you all just put your differences aside for a lil' while?"

[Ragnar]

Ixidor steps forth behind Robin's shadow. "hello! I'm Ixidor." the boy happily introduce himself. "Not only that i can also erase objects as well, observe" He grab one of the charismatic archer's arrow and works his magic, the arrow begins to glow brightly as soonly vanishes plain sight. the painter then followed his little demonstration with a smile.

[Notus]

Reil, Phantom & Ixidor

While Reil explained himself, Bonnie and Phantom appeared from a hole in the right side building's wall. The woman waved an animated "hi" towards the shivering boy while Clyde quickly gave him a briefing about where he was, explaining what the Fourth Circle looked like much as Bonnie did to Phantom.

When the man finished his speech though, they heard a voice calling out as Robin Hood and Ixidor appeared around the corner. " 'Sup Robin. Yeah, these weird guys have been appearing like flies around a piece of... meat." Clyde said. "Jeez, it's just like you, forgetting to ask the poor boy's name..." Bonnie started teasing the archer, when she realized she had done the same with the masked man. "... by the way, what's your name again?" she whispered to him praying that Robin wouldn't hear it.

In that, she was helped by Clyde, who soon kept talking with a grin on his face after Ixidor's little show. "Riight, that's indeed fancy. Welp, so adding eraser-boy with invisible-guy and snow flakes here, I'd say we got hella lucky this time around. I'm still not much sure how the heck they do these things, but whatever..." He then turned to Reil again. "By the way Reil, as you can see we have quite the team starting here. What do you say, will you help us overthrow the Bank?"

[Rielly987]

Reil looks at the floor. "I...uh... Sure. I guess I can help."

[Rosesong]

Edward

If Edward had turned around, he would have seen a massive, shirtless man with gentle eyes staring straight at him on the third story. What was unusual about this man besides his height, though, was the hideous scarring on his stomach. "Friend, there are easier ways to get into that bank than what you're thinking of doing," the man went on softly. "I have some acquaintances that can help you gain what you seek; you'll have to be a little patient is all." Allowing his words to sink in for a moment, the titan-like man continued. "We can easily find what you seek by working together, if you'd like. My name is Prometheus, and yours is?"

The Bank Gang

Hearing the strange person speak again, Rose stopped humming and looked up. "You're right, we don't need trouble," she said, a dangerous glint in her eye. "I suggest you follow Kenny after Gestas then so we can keep the peace and I can take care of my friend; you could also tell us who you are. The choice is yours." The young woman took a deep breath, reminding herself that Enya needed her more than some stranger with questions and an affinity for pointing out the obvious.

[CURIE]

"Prometheus? But that's supposed to be a Titan" Edward said as he turned to the giant, and consequentially fell out the window he was perched on out of suprise. He caught himself halfway down and flew back up. "YOU'RE in greed? What gives? I thought your whole 'bringing fire to man' thing was a selfLESS act!"

"Well anyway, I don't mind waiting, I'm like, the only patient person I know anyway. Name's Edward by the way. Huge fan of the whole fire thing." He instinctively held out his left hand for a handshake (yeah , scouts do that with their left hand. Long story involving ancient traditions and Native Americans), but remembered the obvious and withdrew it. "So uh, would your friends happen to include a blonde girl with a machine gun? Because if so then I've met her before... kinda."

[Flux]

Phantom turned to Bonnie as the others explained the plan to Reil.

"My name..." he muttered thoughtfully. He seemed to be asked for a name quite a lot down here, but he had nothing to give besides the word written on the inside of his mask. What was a name? What would it feel like to have a name, a sense of identity? It was a foreign thing to him, so he answered Bonnie with the usual.

"Phantom..."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

At last the little girl's eyes fluttered open-- weakly. "Miss... Rose...?" Enya sniffled, her nose red from the momentary flu, arms tight around her beloved teddy bear, Ace. "Ace... Ace doesn't feel well... using lots 'n lots of power... drowned bad dog... make us sick..." Then the girl squeezed her eyes shut as if she were dizzy from talking, though it seemed that she had more to say. "... War... friends... careful who to trust..." she murmured, almost incoherently, other words smothered out. Then she ceased speaking and yawned, as though she would fall asleep again.

[Supernovae]

Mr. Taylor looked around the room sporadically trying to figure out what was going on. He knew he'd have to take control of the situation. If Marcus and Ethic killed each other, well that would be about the last thing that would let Mr. Taylor reach his goal. No instead the old man in a not so old body would continue his charade, but he'd add a little pizzazz to it. Years in the military had awarded Mr. Taylor with a particular yelling voice, one he would have no problem employing in his now more fitting body.

Mr. Taylor stood up straight, placed his hands behind his back and started to speak in a stern manner, all the while maintaining his southern draw "Now I don't know what the deal is between you folks, but I can tell you one thing. I am not going to be stuck in a bank vault for the remainder of ever. No sir. So how about you two meatballs put aside the muscle flexing contest for the time being. I could care less if you go ahead and rip each others heads off of your necks after this whole little incident is done, but I will not pay for you two chicken-shits mistakes. Now let me repeat that for you both in case you're brain dead. YOU. WILL NOT. FIGHT. EACH. OTHER. Is that understood?"

[Rosesong]

Edward

"Come then friend, we must hurry. It sounds like you ran into Bonnie... She can be a rather strong personality is all." Prometheus turned with a chuckle and began to tread through the Slums carefully. "As for what I did being selfless... Theft was still theft, even though the means were justified in the end. We are not given leniency for what we do, we are just judged on our actions." Considering his next words carefully, the titan asked, "Why are you so eager to get into the bank?"

The Bank Gang

Laying the rag on the girl's face gently, Rose stormed over to the stranger, fury etched on her face. "Look, I'm going to make myself very clear. There is a sick child over there who is trying to rest. Raise your voice one more time and see what it gets you, do I make myself clear?" she said lowly, resisting the urge to slap the insolent man. "I've already told you to introduce yourself or get a move on. Next time I won't be so kind. Who are you? I want an answer, and now."

Without waiting for a response, she whirled around and stormed back to Enya, gently checking the girl's vitals before looking at Marcus. "I may be forced to work with you right now, but let's make something clear. You and I are not on the same team; we are not allies, especially after you killed me. You try anything around me and I won't hesitate to make you light up like a Christmas tree." Thinking on what Enya said, she added, "All three of you had better be careful. Enya says that there's a war coming," deliberately leaving out the fact that they couldn't trust anyone.

[Supernovae]

Mr. Taylor staggered back at Rose's outburst. Clearly hell had changed even the kindest of souls. "Sorry about all that little lady. Captain Terry Miles at your service," he said as he extended a hand, "I can't say I know what in the hell is going on or how in the hell I got here, but I can assure you I'll do my damnedest to get us out."

[Rosesong]

Rose curtly shook Terry's hand. "It's a pleasure. I'm sorry for getting angry, I'm just worried about her." With that, the young woman carefully took off her jacket and stuffed it under Enya's head, pouring more water on her rag in order to keep the girl cool.

[Supernovae]

"No, no, I believe I should be the one apologizing." Mr. Taylor said as he couldn't help but glance over at Ace, the enigma of a teddy bear. "It sure is kind of you, ma'am. Taking care of a sick girl in the depths of hell, if that is where we really are. I don't know what you did to deserve being down here, but I can't imagine it being all too bad." The man's face turned to a genuine caring smile and his eyes peered directly at Rose.

[Rosesong]

Continuing to care for Enya, Rose completely missed the new person's glances. "I actually haven't done anything; Minos, the guy who sentenced us, said that I wasn't to be sentenced to a circle. Rather, because I came here seeking to fulfill a wish, I had to go through the circles as punishment to go back to the world." Ringing out her cloth, she pressed it against Enya's neck. "I've realized there are more important things in life though, so I'm just concerned with getting out of here."

[CURIE]

Huh, Edward never really thought about that. Why DID he want to get into the white house? Well first of all, it's pretty obvious that the entrance to the fifth circle was in there. But he wasnt going to tell Prometheus that, he didn't want to give the big guy false hope of escape.

Secondly, and least importantly, he was interested in what was being held in the bank. He guessed it housed all the money and stuff that greedy people have hoarded over the years, so that means it has currencies from all throughout history. A gold coin from, say, Ancient Egypt, or a precious gemstone would make an AWESOME souvenir for the circle. Heck, he might pick up two or three, one to be his keepsake and the others to make him rich. He didn't want to tell Prometheus that, either, because it would make him out to be a greedy jerk that he really wasn't. So he went with just telling him the Enya reason. "There's a girl I like in there, and considering how well it's guarded I think she might be in trouble." It wasn't a lie.

[Rielly987]

While listening briefing from Clyde, Reil peaks at the man with the mask. Was he another person that has made their way through the circles or just someone whose been stuck here. Either way it looked like Reil was in for it if he crossed his path. Everything just keeps getting more threatening.

[Notus]

The Alleyway Gang

Soon after Reils's answer another pair of people appeared in the alleyway: Villon and Annie. The frenchman stepped near the group and bowed theatrically to all of them. "Bonsoir, my friends! It's good to see everyone already here, not to mention some interesting new faces! I myself am a little late, I know, and for that I apologize, BUT! I also have brought to you the fairest - no offense, Bonnie dear - fighting maiden in Hell, who is willing to help us with ou-"

"Ok, ok Francis we got it. You also found someone cool who does fancy things tonight eh?" Clyde interrupted him with an annoyed look. He then looked to Annie. "Nice to meet you miss. I'm Clyde Barrow, those are my girl Bonnie Parker and our friend Robin Hood, plus the boy over there who is Reil and Phantom, the weird mask guy. Although I'd love to spend some time with chit-chat to know you guys better, It is almost dawn and we better start discussing our next movements."

"Oh, mon dieu, I already told a various times it is François, not Francis! Really, you british never learn how to properly speak the french language..." Villon protested, only to be interrupted again by Clyde. "Aaand I already told it's all the same damn thing! AND that we are AMERICANS for God's sake !" Villon shook his head at this. "Whatever: ce est la même chose! Now, the pronnounc-"

Before the squabble could keep going, a shot was heard, making both of the men duck for cover instintevely and look towards the sound. There, facing them, was a pretty pissed off looking Bonnie, smoke coming out of her machine gun after the upwards round she had just shot.

"Oh, really? Ok boys, you stop this now and focus on something productive OK?" She then sighed and smiled at the newcomers. "Weell, it's nice to meet you all. I'm assuming all of you already know our goal, so let's jump straight to the planning ok?"

"Our objective is to disable the bank security and allow everyone to get in and take the things that are in there, so what we need to do is pretty straight forward. We only have to kill the guy who controls all of it: a baldy named Gestas. During day it is virtually impossible, since he is always in guard, but at night... Well, normally it would be impossible for us to get in the Bank too, but with you guys it is an entirely different matter. So, the plan is: tomorrow you'll work like everyone to check out the bank and get your bearings, and then at night we break in, kill Gestas and unlock the doors for everyone. Sounds good?"