Under the Hill - Third Circle: Gluttony

[Ragnar]

The Djinn flinched after got hit by the stone and got stunned for a few seconds, Luckily Annie aided them, and somehow provided a distraction, buying Ifrit some time to recover from the daze, "Im going to melt your face!" Ifrit snarled as it cloaks its body into flames. charging head on like a savage animal, just before the two behemoths collide, the fire beast nimbly leaps above the Giant's head, dodging Killer's sword thrust as it smother the Giant's face in midair with its fiery claws, ripping and burning a portion of its skin. Ifrit blitz off into safety as he prepares to strike once again.

Meanwhile Ixidor runs into safety and went to Rose's corner as his creation fought off the Giant.

Edited September 27, 2014 by typhlosionrulez

[Sutoratosu]

A breif tearing sound echoed throughout the area just as the meteor hit impact... and then another one, coming from just behind Edward.

"Your aim could use some work..." Longicus said. if Edward turned around, he'd find the roman and his black sphinx both sitting upside down on the ceiling nearby "But it's not totally your fault though... An impressive attack by the way, but you are still the fool; you can't win this... not fighting like you two seem to be fixed on." The Sphinx bounded forward toward Edward and unleashed another blast of hot, pitch black fire. Longicus simply stood and watched his pet prepare to destroy the young man, his face strangely calm. It was obvious the man wasn't even taking this seriously. He didn't think of either of these two numbskulls as actual threats... not like he would if it were Ethic he was fighting. but then again neither of them had drawn the blood of a Keeper, now had they? nor had they ever struck down one of his colleagues... struck down someone he had called 'friend'. so all in all, this mock apathy on his part was more than justified.

[CURIE]

"Your attacks are slow and easy to dodge. And if they hit me, they likley wouldn't do much" Edward said with his back turned, already out of the black fire's reach. "You think you're all high and mighty but your'e slower than me, you're weaker than me, and the only reason you're still alive is because of your cheating!" There was another reason actually: because Edward was quickly running out of energy. But he didn't want to say that out loud. "There HAS to be a way to kill you without you coming back, and when I find it, you won't stand a chance."

Until then, however, he honestly didn't know what to do... He wondered if retreat was an option at this point...

Edited September 27, 2014 by Eagleby18

[Sutoratosu]

The sphinx roared and again charged... until it stopped abruptly. Longicus held his hand up in a halting gesture.

"This isn't Cheating, one," he said, holding his index finger. his middle finger joined it soon after. "Two, everything you just said is a complete lie, I could damn well outspeed and crush you if I so desired. you have no idea, boy."

He walked up to his beast, scratching it under the chin like it liked.

"And three," he continued. "We want Ethic gone for a reason, now why do you think that is, Fool? think hard about it; neither of you has been able to hurt us even in the least bit since we've started this little glorified spar. We just brush off everything you throw at us."

[K_H]

Kenny chuckled to himself.

"Buddy, We haven't even begun to Play!"

Kenny then tried to put up a Barrier that completely encapsulated Monty. If it went up, Arcana couldn't go through it, but Aura would phase right through it.

Edited September 28, 2014 by K_H

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

With that Enya nodded politely and stood up. Wind seemed to blow as her eyes glowed a bright ice blue and a monochromatic tear opened up and a... a giant toy wind-up penguin waddled up to the door. Upon reaching the door, it went, "WENK" and exploded (the tear closed after), creating a hole big enough for the trio to fit through.

[CURIE]

Edward thought he understood now. This was like that part of an RPG where you had to fight a boss who could only be damaged by a certain party member, even though everyone else had good enough stats to take it down otherwise (The Iron Clefts in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door came to mind. Oh, and Spear Guy said he could crush Edward anytime, but he didn't believe that for a second). And whoever this "Ethic" guy is, he and Lucario man needed him to defeat this boss. Apparently Kenny didn't get this, as he still insisted on doing his... whatever that is he's doing. "Should I try to warn him? He doesn't exactly look like he's gonna be listening to reason anytime soon. Or maybe I shou-"

And then suddenly, Edward was gone, disappeared into thin air.

((Um, Quincy? You and the big ninja turtle reject are being attacked by a magic White Sphinx, don't just stand there XD)

[Notus]

Quincy

Well, now things had went crazy: a lot of newcomers, Ethnic dead (that Marcus guy surely didn't waste time), and a lot of thingys exploding.

"Nah, that's not fun. 'tis a battle, not a hunt..." the rat said, looking gloomy. He easily leapt up to avoid the flame shot from the Sphinx, and then proceeded to run out of the scene, hoping the big turtle guy would work as a nice diversion for him.

Turtle Giant

Just as Quincy hoped, the giant started towards the Sphinx, and right through the flames, at full throttle "STOP MAKING MORE THINGYS TO KILL!" he shouted, visibly angry at the multiple opponents now.

The fire didn't hurt the giant at all, and when the next thing the Sphinx saw was a huge fist making contact with its face. Red blood splattered on the wall, and the titan proceeded to kick the monster's body out of the way.

===============================================================

Enya, Ellaria & Morris

"Did it work? Thanks Enya!" Ellaria said after she heard the explosion. Maybe it was good that she couldn't see things like that, or she would probably have a hard time trying to understand what the heck just happened.

Getting up, she grabbed the girl's hand again and followed towards the place where the explosion had come from, assuming that Morris would follow.

==============================================================

Mr. Taylor & Phantom

Suddenly the duo heard a big explosion, which shook the whole room. When they next looked, there was a new hole in the place of the northern door, and through it passed Ellaria, Enya and Morris.

((Enya - professional door opener to the rescue XD))

[Sutoratosu]

As the Titan kicked the Beast's limp body to the side of the corridor, the thing's body began to gradually transmute into another form, becoming slimmer and smaller. By the time it hit and skided along the ground a second or two later, the Thing had transformed back into the Spear it had once been, a tip of silver and a shaft of bone white oak. Longicus felt his pet's sudden defeat rather than saw it as he tore open a door to the shining path and stepped through, reemerging seconds later... A few meters behind Kenny. no point in staying on the ceiling anymore, with the other overconfident fighter having disappeared without a trace. Monty was nowhere to be seen. But the Roman could still sense him and the other two in the area. they were choosing not to be visible at the moment... and they were moving all around the scene, spectating, looking for openings to step in if ordered.

"To me," He called out simply, holding his hand stretched out towards his white spear. the thing clattered and bounced around a little on the floor for a few seconds, then came flying back into his palm. He stroked the fur of the black Sphinx, the beast transmuting and turning back into a Spear as well, just as it's sister had. Longicus sheathed both weapons again across his back, looking at Kenny with ominous calm.

"This is Futile," he said. "Just stand down and walk away boy. You have no idea how merciful I'm being right now. But my patience is drawing to the end; this is your last chance. Refuse it, and neither me nor my hunting party will hold back any longer... you have been warned."

***

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4CmxftPLNs

"where the hell are we?" Ethic asked. all around him and Scott, thousands upon hundreds of thousands of Images flickered and zipped by them. The Blackness of Ethic's (Conquered) domain had faded to a bright white canvas of space, upon which these... well, Memories was the first word that came to his mind, had all started to circulate out from the orb Scott had given him. It was like watching a feature film as one browsed all the different tiny windows of color, all of them shot from the first person perspective, and all of them equip with full audio, if one simply wished to hear it. Scott again pulled out his I-phone, flicking his finger across it and scrolling through a few menus, of which Ethic had no idea what any of them were for. He did notice something he hadn't before though; the small, white apple on the white breast of Scott's shirt.

"Wait..." he said. "You were an employee at an Apple Store?"

"Right on the money," Scott said simply. he flicked through a few more options, and the landscape changed as one of the many memories was pulled from the chaos around them, floating down right in front of the two. "I was a lot of things back before I met that Lying bastard who goes by the name Maxwell..."

"I see..." Ethic said, gazing around at the moving images all around them. "So... Are you going to explain what this place is?"

"It's the inside of my Story Prism...or orb or whatever the hell you wanna call it; I'm dead, so I honestly don't much care about the name."

"And these are your...?"

"My memories," Scott sighed. he tucked the device back into his pocket after powering it off. "That's what a Story Sphere is, all the memories a Keeper has ever made in their span of existence. From birth, all the way throughout their natural lives, and then all the way through to their death and the beginning of their career as a Keeper. Literally everything you could ever want to know about the person is on here, and it all fits into a little orb just a bit bigger than a ping pong ball."

[SithBaker]

Morris just shrugged "what the heck..."

Clearly though, this out-of-place playfulness got them where they needed to be, and so he added.

"Good work kid." and he petted the little girs head.

"I think thats what people do when they want to praise those little rascals..."

He of course followed Enya and Ellaria through the hole, his Browning at the ready.

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Enya smiled whilst staring at Mister Morris with the big blue eyes as they both praised her. She skipped alongside them, hugging Ace tightly.

[anethia]

Annie shouted in suprise, but managed to narrowly jump out the way, rolling and skidding on her knees. Standing up, she shielded her eyes from the barrage of wind and dust coming from the titan rolling.

[K_H]

"So, You Were Holding Back, Huh? I Thought It Was A Bit Too Easy..."

Kenny then headed over to Ethic's Remains. When he spoke next, his Voice was even more Corrupted than before due to his proximity to one of the sources of Interference.

"But That Is No More, I See. Anyways, I Simply Have To Outlast You Until Ethic Gets Back. You, On The Other Hand, Are Forced To Try To Defeat Me Before Ethic Recovers. And I'm Not Going To Go Down Without A Fight!"

As he said this, he put up a Spherical Barrier around himself and Ethic's Remains.

Edited September 28, 2014 by K_H

[Sutoratosu]

The Memory before them had just begun to play when Ethic got that familiar tugging feeling. Scott glanced over at him, noticing the white glow.

"It's almost time for you to come back," he said. "Eh... we can just continue this next time."

"Wait," Ethic interjected. "You said all of you have these right? so that means rodric does too, right?" The other man's face simply darkened. he pushed his glasses back up the ridge of his nose, a glare forming on the lenses, obscuring his hazel eyes.

"Rodric... is not bound by the same laws as other keepers," he confessed. "Obtaining his Story Orb will be an entirely different scenario in itself..." something vibrated in his pocket. he pulled his phone out, seeing a reminder pop up on the screen. "Oh, and one more thing," he continued. "Two more, actually; Don't ever Trust Maxwell, accept his help if he offers it, but you watch your own back every step along the way. Second thing: That Keeper you met earlier, Monty? the one in charge of the Arcana of the Hermit? yeah, his bane is, of all the things it could be, it's slang terms... I'll leave you to figure out how to exploit that."

"Why the hell are you helping me?" Ethic questioned, suspicion lacing his voice. "You were on their side, weren't you?"

"Wrong, I was never on their side," Scott retorted. "All I ever wanted was the chance to save someone that I was too petty and selfish to save when I had the chance... I didn't want to be a Keeper; I got tricked into the job, and then forced to continue when I tried to get out of it. But that's something to discuss later..." Ethic opened his mouth to say something in response, but before he could voice anything else, he began rising upwards towards the darkness. And then his vision faded to nothing.

***

"Then we shall now consider this an act of open war" Longicus snarled. He brought his spears back out, glaring at Kenny with more ferocity than Ethic could've ever mustered. "YOU WERE FUCKING WARNED BOY, REMEMBER THAT! YOU WERE GIVEN A CHANCE OUT!!!!" He turned to glance over his shoulder. Monty and the others had all rendered themselves visible, awaiting his command. "TEAR HIM APART! AND LEAVE ETHIC TO ME WHEN HE RETURNS!"

"You just threw your entire life away, boy," one of them said to kenny. His entire body was hidden within a gray cloak swathed with black, making seeing any of his features impossible. the same thing went for the other keeper who spoke after him.

"It seems it's time for the fool to prove himself. Your stupidity is beyond imagination for doing this."

"Indeed it is..." Longicus snarled in agreement. He vanished a second later, becoming a mere blur as he closed in on Kenny's barrier and unleashed a hellish assualt, thrusting and slashing with his spears thousands of times in just a few seconds, inflicting such a beating that there was no way the shield could withstand it. The thing began to cave in, then by the three second mark, completely shattered around Kenny...and only kenny... Because Ethic's body was now gone. Longicus advanced on the lone young man, his weapons and body glowing with monochromatic light. "As I said, you have seen nothing of what I am capable of." He said. "But you will not receive a quick death from my hands. I'm going to drag it out with every method of torture I ever learned fighting for the Empire..."

"Like hell you will!" Ethic shouted. a moment later two gruff voices cried out in pain as he cut through the hamstrings of the two cloaked Keepers, sending them both down to one knee, unable to stand. This little surprise attack had been easy, given the fact that he had realized that he could decide where he came back after he died, so long as it was around the same area. These two kneeling before him had been the easiest and most preoccupied targets, had never even suspected him of being right behind them. "Your fight is with me, Longicus, not Kenny!" His blade glowed brighter as he spoke. he moved over to one of the wounded men as he spoke, grabbing him by the hood, getting a good handful of his beneath it as well. he yanked back, putting his Life Saber to the individuals throat.

"Back away from him and fight me like a man!" he shouted. "Or they both die!"

"You wouldn't fucking dare..." The Roman snarled. "Do it, and I'll hunt down everyone you've ever cared about. I will take everything from you."

"I won't say it again!!" Ethic roared. he wasn't phased in the least bit by Longicus's threat. because he knew that the soldier wasn't going to leave here alive, not if Ethic could help it. "Make your decision... you have to the count of five. One..." Longicus became a blur and moved in on Kenny, taking the blunt ends of his weapons and slamming them both into Kenny's Ribcage, with more than enough force to cause some internal damage. it was so fast that there had been no way for him to have predicted it and evaded... The second immediately following the savage blow, the Roman was a mere blur again, then he was right back where he stood before, hoisting his spears in preparation to impale Ethic. His eyes held a silent fury.

"I will not negotiate with you, Ghalen." he said simply. "You have crossed the Rubicon as Ceaser did. You've courage, I'll give you that, but I have far more power at my command than you ever wi-"

"FIVE!" Ethic shouted, skipping right over the other numbers leading up to it. He maneuvered himself inbetween the injured opponents, a second saber extending from his left palm. He swung both arms in harrowing arcs, slashing their throats, the blades so powerful that he nearly decapitated them on the spot. The two gurgled for a few seconds as wisp of steam issued forth from the wounds, followed by a frothing black liquid. They fell face first to the floor, clutching at their necks and trying to stop the bleeding. a moment later Longicus had lobed both his spears at the Black man, the two of them homing in like missiles on Ethic. he slashed through the air with his blades, increasing the intensity, putting every once of Life he had into them. They deflected the Spears just in the nick of time, sending them both of course and impaling the walls beside him instead of Ethic. Two Tarot cards suddenly flashed across his vision; Temperance and Justice, along with a familiar voice.

So you've killed two more... that was unusually easy; you might have a real knack for this. Moving on to business; Do you, Ethic, Lord of the Arcana, hereby accept full dominion over the power of Temperance and Justice, which you have conquered from the grasp of you foemen?

"I do!" Ethic called. The cards vanished from his vision in a flash of light. From his pocket, the physical cards of Temperance and Jutice flew out, then shot off towards the cavern ceiling. He felt something surge within his mind; two new links to call upon...though unlike for death, he had no idea what either of them did, even when he focused in on them. He redirected his attention to Kenny though, having seen Longicus pull that cheap shot a moment ago. It had looked and sounded like it had done a shit ton of damage...

"Kenny!" He called. "You alright man?" Longicus was charging towards Kenny now, drawing his gladius and preparing to take out Kenny's jugular. he was moving noticeably slower than the last time... strange... one would think he would keep up the same pace of attack... or rather, not strange. there was a slight look of fear on his face, probably from watching the Fugitive take out two of his men so easily.. and it seems that fear put a damper on his physical movement.

[K_H]

Kenny responded to Ethic's question.

"I'm Fine."

Kenny then looked at Longicus. As Longicus got closer and closer to him, the amount of Interference in the Room increased exponentially, changing Kenny's Aura Color to Turquoise, and Corrupting his Voice quite a bit.

"It Looks Like Longicus Is Still After The Wrong Target. How Utterly Foolish Of Him."

Kenny then Materialized a Turquoise-colored Katana, and prepared to swing it at an extremely high speed just before Longicus would pass him, aiming for the Keeper's throat.

Edited September 28, 2014 by K_H

[Sutoratosu]

"Thats quite impressive..." Lucian said.

"I know, isn't it?" Mawell replied. the two of them stood upside down on the ceiling not far from the fighting. Maxwell released his hold over Longicus, allowing the Keeper to have full control over his own body again. "As I said before; I'm far more powerful down here than any of you... My little jedi mind tricks could even effect you, Lucian, If I wanted, that is..."

"Well...Either way." the magician said. "Should we...step in?" Maxwell glanced at him, smirking.

"Why, we just did..." he said. "I just forced old Longicus to take an incredibly stupid Strategic decision; attacking Ethic's friend instead of Ethic himself. All we have to do is hope that he'll see an opportunity and kill Longicus just like he did for Joseph and Cromsly..."

***

"shit..." Longicus cursed. he backed himself away from Kenny's attack, leaping back a few feet. "Why the hell did I just go after you instead of Ethic? doesn't matter..." He glanced over his shoulder... and His prey was nowhere to be found. But sight didn't matter; he could easily sense him around here somewhere... well, he could sense the three Tarots under his command, rather.

"Looking for someone?" His voice called out. It seemed to be echoing from everywhere at once. Longicus found that he couldn't sense him anymore.

"Wasn't it you who said 'fight me like a man?' he asked ironically. "Why don't you do the same now?" He got his answer in the form of a tiny bullet crafted of life force barreling through the air towards him, lodging itself deep into his right shoulder. "MotherFuc-" his cry of pain was interrupted by another one lodging deep into his left thigh. "So this is you fucking tactic!" he yelled in frustration. "Your just going to hide in the darkness and shoot!?"

Up high above the heads of Kenny and Longicus, Ethic hung from the ceiling of the space. His fingers each had claws of his life force protruding from them, anchoring him to the stone surface like a gecko. He lowered his other hand, still glowing from the bolts he had just fired. He could feel the limit in his mind, silently urging to be mindful. but the shots had been small, he would be able to continue for a good while longer at this rate before he croaked.

"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist, man!" he called. the acoustics of the architecture allowed for him to echo his voice all around the cavern; something which he was gonna exploit the hell out of by making his shots all take angled paths so that Longicus would never be able to home in on him by following trajectories to where they originated in the darkness above... but he had no idea what had happened to Monty. "But I got an even nastier surprise for ya, Longy!" he taunted. "Tell me, you like being blown to bits?"

"No..." a familiar voice called from behind him. Ethic strained his neck, knowing who he'd find there. None other than the Hermit. "But we have surprises for you as well... are you familiar with the legend of Solomon?" As the old man asked the question, a pentacle of salmon colored light appeared around where Ethic hung from his arm. "Because if not, that's too bad... Because it would've surely helped you right now!"

"I know it..." Ethic smirked. "And I also know that I'm going to kill you next, Monty ol buddy ol pal." With that he withdrew the spikes on his fingers, falling from the ceiling towards the ground below, positioning himself into a spread eagle stance. then he flipped himself around to face the old man as he plummeted, flinging one of his hands out in an arc and shooting and whip blade at him, cutting through the man's cloak before he could react and wrapping it around his left calf.

"Wait...no..." he said, surprised by His prey's actions. the glowing shards he controlled trailed behind him as Ethic's velocity pulled him off the ceiling, sending him tumbling towards the ground many meters below. "You clever little wretch!" he roared... though, he seemed to genuinely be a little impressed by this new tactic. "Well... At least it's something more than those two imbeciles from earlier were trying..."

"Quiet, Dawg!" Ethic shouted, recalling Scott's last minute words about Monty's bane. "This ain't a game, yo, I fight to win!" Monty's face went pale when he processed those words.

"You...damn you..." he said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "But how....?"

"a certain someone told me and easy way to 86 you!" Ethic shouted in response. Good to see that Scott hadn't been lying, this strategy was working like a charm from what he could see. "His name was Scott, by the way!" With that, he reeled the whip blade back in like a tap measurer, recalling it to his reservoir and in turn drawing Monty closer and closer until he crashed right into Ethic in the air. the shock of the impact had stunned him, but Ethic was ready, having braced himself. Monty began to panic, knowing that his invulnerability to physical harm had been negated by the uneducated, atrociously vulgar slang that Ethic had begun spouting... God, how he hated when people did that, talking as if they hadn't been in an academic facility a day in their lives. Such Folly!

"Release me, Immediately!" he demanded. He began struggling against his hold, but Ethic made sure to keep strong, using all his might to keep the Keeper from breaking free... but he was beginning to slip. "You can not outmatch me in physical strength, Ghalen!"

"Your right!" Ethic shouted over the drone of the wind passing them by. "Luckily I don't have to!!" he spun his and Monty's bodies around in the air, almost at the ground now. he gripped the Hermit by the Lapels, looking into his eyes as he lined up his shot and prepared his legs. "GOOD BYE!" he shouted. he forced himself backwards in mid fall, pulling Monty up Vertically. A second later, he launched both his feet into the man's body, sending twin burst of life force as he did so. The poor recluse was sent flying through the air like a rag-doll, slamming directly into Longicus's chest and sending him flying too as Ethic landed roughly on the ground, breathing heavily. He had gone a little overboard... damn...now really wasn't the time to have to take a break to rest. He broke off the Death Link, hoping that doing so would help with recuperation like it had several times before.

Meanwhile, both Keepers shouted various profanities at him as they each hurtled through the air...right towards Kenny and his aura bladed katana.

[K_H]

Kenny grinned as the Keepers fell towards him.

"This Is Going To Be Fun! Farewell, Monty And Longicus!"

He then jumped up into the Air, using his Aura to Boost himself further than he normally could. as he reached the two Keepers, he matched his Velocity with theirs, and then sliced at both of them with his Katana in one swift stroke, as if to sever their bodies in two.

Edited September 28, 2014 by K_H

[CURIE]

Lucario man was prepared to slice them both open, but he never got the chance. Because before the tangled ball of bad guys reached Kenny, they experienced something they never expected to- especially down here in Hell: Getting struck by a meteor.

"I warned you that you wouldn't stand a chance" Edward said, back still turned, as the Caesar wannabe lay bleeding out, his bones practically rearranged and sticking out all over the place in a grotesque mockery of the shape they were in just a moment ago.

Edward's "disappearing act" a minute ago was a combination of a trick he learned in Boy Scouts and a trick he saw on Dragon Ball Z. He had taken off at such speed that it looked to most people like he had simply vanished. Longicus, however, might have been able to notice if the trick wasn't as psychological as it was visual.

You see, if you were to fight an opponent one-on-one, and suddenly dissapear, your enemy would be like "Wha? Where'd he go?" and would look around for you. But if you were fighting alongside one or more allies, and then vanished, then 9 times out of 10, the foe would be like "Um... okay then, time to deal with this other guy." The spot Edward was hiding in wasn't that hard to find- just a corner of the room up near the ceiling. If Longicus had bothered to look a bit more closley, he probably would have been spotted. But as it was, Edward had time to regroup his stamina AND wait for just the right moment to sneak attack. And he had found that moment.

Monty was starting to regenerate a few feet away from Edward's left. He lifted his hand. "Nope, I'm onto you too." A gigantic, bright blue light engulfed that half of the room as the crystally things vaporised. Monty could not defend himself from an energy attack while he was still forming back into existance.

"Hey, Ethic right? Can you handle those other guys? Cause I'm done for today" Edward said just before falling to the floor unconscious.

Edited September 28, 2014 by Eagleby18

[Sutoratosu]

Ethic got up from ground slowly, sore all over from the rather rough landing. But the toll from that burst had gone away a little bit... he'd still need some time to recover before he could get back into top fighting shape, but...oh...nevermind then...

"Um...alright then," He said, looking at Edward as the other young man fell to the ground unconscious. "Thanks, randomly appearing guy." He turned his attention on the two Keepers. Longicus was getting up, snapping his limbs back into place and slowly forcing his body to regenerate. Monty reformed not far from him, albeit looking like complete hell. He seemed to have somehow found a last minute way to avoid Edward's final attack... but only the upper half of his body was intact. The hermit gazed up at him, defeat in his eyes..

"Damn it..." he snarled. "We would've won this damn fight and been done with you if He had just followed my damn plans!" he slammed his fist against the ground, grinding his teeth. "You win this day, Ethic! But don't don't think this is over! not by a long shot!" A rift was torn open behind him, the light of the Shinning Path spilling out. Ethic re-established the death link one more time, summoning his saber to life.

"You're so damn wrong...dawg..." he smirked. Monty again went a little pale. "This is over... the first two slipped, but you and Longy here didn't bother to watch your step..." The blade began to extend in length. Ethic put all the concentration he could muster into it, sending it lashing out; running Monty right through the heart. The old fool was knocked over by the blow, laying dead on the stones. Ethic retracted the blade, turning quickly and doing the same thing to Longicus. He broke off the link again, letting himself collapse to the ground in a sitting postition... yeah, he'd defintely gone overboard with that burst... but the strategy had worked out, and that's really all that mattered in the end. the same voice from before popped up in his head as he sat there, along with visions of the Chariot and Hermit Arcana.

Good lord... you handled this as if they were nothing... Am I correct in assuming that you accept Dominion over these as well?

"Naaaah," Ethic said sarcastically. "I just killed them both so that some other guy could come along and take them..." There was silence in response to these words. Ethic began to get a little scared about that... "I accept, alright," He admitted. "That was just sarcasm...jesus, man..."

I know it was sarcasm... that's not the issue. Someone just stole them both....

"Hold up, did I just fucking hear you correctly? Someone stole them?"

Yes...that is how it seems. He was watching the entire battle and then swooped in just now... he was gone before I could even notice him...

"who was he...?" Ethic sighed. after all this shit, he had to deal with this now? "when I find him..."

I can not tell for certain... but he has...or rather, he had a strong connection to this place... that is all I was able to gleam about him in the few seconds I was aware...

He had nothing to say in response to that. because he had a feeling of exactly who had done it... there was only one individual he knew that would know anything about the Arcana and fit that criteria... coupled with the guy's strange behavior back in the second circle...

"Maxwell..." he finally snarled. "Scott was completely right about everything... that motherfucker just the Hermit an the Chariot right out from under my nose!" He got up, furious at himself for being sarcastic earlier and not just shouting out 'I accept' the moment the question was asked. God! of course it was fucking Maxwell... where was that damn Business card he had gotten...? Oh, that's right, in his pocket... Ethic scoffed as he read the text more carefully this time.

Maxwell Cunningway, P.H.D. in Deceit and Treachery

Lawyer extraordinaire

Keeper of The Devil Arcana

Head Clerk and manager of 'Devil's Bargains R us' Inc.

can be contacted at:

660-000-0006

Between the hours of Midnight and 3:33AM

"DAMN IT!" He shouted. "How could I have been so damn gullible!" It was pretty embarrassing now that he thought about it; The guy's frickin business card said that he held a doctorate in Deceit and Treachery... and here Ethic had gone, actually trusting that anything the guy did was to help him. That reason for assisting him that he had given Ethic when they first met had probably been Kuso too... he was probably in with the Head Keeper... sent to reclaim any members of the Tarot that Ethic might so happen to beat... after all of this, just to have it swiped away...

"Look..." He sighed in frustration. "Is he still around here?" there was no response.

"Hello?" he called. Again, nothing. "Oh... you're just gonna up and leave now, aren't you!? You fucking responsible for this Fiasco too, ya Know!" There was again no response. He could feel his anger rising, but not like before... it was different now; it wasn't all consuming. It was like something a normal person would feel in a similar situation; Being absolutely pissed off about getting robbed.

"KENNY!!!" He roared. He honestly was too off his rocker right now to bother monitoring the tone of his voice. "We just got ourselves a huge Issue! get over here! NOW!"

***

"What the hell was that?" Lucian asked.

"That was me putting my plan into action..." Max grinned. A strange sight, given the fact that half of his face was gone from the self inflicted Gun shot wound. "Hopefully it'll work just like a charm..."

"That's not what I fucking asked..." Lucian snarled. "Why exactly did you just put a bullet into your own head!? And what did you just do down there with Ethic?" Maxwell looked at him, smirking mischievously. he pulled out a glock with a silencer on the end.

"Ooooh...That?" He asked, waving the gun in the air. "Well, that was me committing suicide and technically claiming complete dominion over my own Arcana." Lucian only raised an Eyebrow at this. "I see you don't comprehend..." Max continued.

"Enlighten me..."

"You remember when I said I used to know the Keeper who came before Ethic?"

"Yes..." Lucian said. The next thing he knew, however, Maxwell had leveled the gun at his chest and fired. The mage fell to the ground...or the ceiling in this case, clutching the wound as blood began to pour out. He glared up at Maxwell with Contempt.

"Yeaaaaah...." Max began. "That was more of a metaphor... I did know him very well... because I WAS him." Before the Magician could react, Maxwell popped another round into him, right between the eyes. A moment later a Tarot card emerged from the man's cooling body, which Maxwell promptly snatched up in one of his hands, crushing it into shards and taking full dominion over the Magician Arcana. He glanced down at Ethic, who had just noticed his little robbery.

"Yes... That's right Ethic..." He said. "Get pissed... there are two Lords of Arcana now... and you're going to help me become the one and the only... keep up the good work, I just took these three to give you a little more motivation." Then he vanished from sight, merging into the shadows. Lucian's body fell from the ceiling and plummeted down to the floor below lag a sack of flour... right beside where Kenny was standing.

[K_H]

Kenny saw Lucian fall from the Ceiling, noticed that the man was missing the Aura that everything that was living had, and Portaled himself and Lucian's body over to Ethic's Location.

"Ethic, We've Got Another Problem To Add To That List."

Edited September 28, 2014 by K_H

[Sutoratosu]

"What are you..." Ethic trailed off as he saw what Kenny as talking about. "Jesus fucking christ! You have got to be kidding me right now!" He rushed over, examining Lucian's corpse. it was still warm. But he knew for a fact that the Keeper was gone the moment he spotted the bullet hole inbetween his eyes. But he didn't care so much that Lucian was dead, not as much as whether or not he still had the Arcana under his dominion... if he did, Ethic should be able to harves-

"DAMNIT!" He Roared. The Magician had been Pilfered from Lucian. He could sense it's residual, but the actual power this man once had was gone now. And Ethic had a pretty certain hunch about who had done this. He looked at Kenny, getting up from the ground. "Kenny, man..." he began. "We have to find a guy with slicked back hair and whose wearing a business suit! and we gotta do it soon! Come on, I'll explain on the way!" With that he took off at a slow run down the corridor, still a little tired, though his anger seemed to be giving him a little strength right now; only to remember the unconscious guy on the ground.

"Grab that Unconscious guy over there, Kenny!" he called back behind him. "Let's take him with us!" with that he resumed his run down the corridor, grinding his teeth. Maxwell...that son of a bitch... Stealing his Arcana, his rightful power. Oh hellllllls no... no, this was not going to stand. Ethic was going to find that suit wearing demon, and when he did... God, the things he was gonna do to him! Up until now, he had thought of the bastard as a potential ally among foes; But after he goes and does this; after he goes and pilfers what Ethic rightfully won in combat? No...no...NO!! THIS. MEANT. FUCKING. WAAAAAAAAAR!!!

((Kenny, he's headed towards the Area that Mr.Taylor and Phantom are... the one with the big door.))

[K_H]

Kenny lifted Edward over his Shoulder, and then headed after Ethic, using a Barrier to glide along at the same speed as Ethic.

Edited September 28, 2014 by K_H

[CURIE]

"Ugh, no Janet, I don't want to see that movie" Edward mumbled as Kenny picked him up. He was having bad flashbacks to when his little sister made him wake up to go to the midnight release of one of the Twilight movies with her.

Then he remembered what was going on, snapped his eyes open, exclaimed "What about Gamera!?", and "teleported" from where he was to in front of the turtle titan's sternum.

The giant roared something along the lines of "ME EAT PEOPLE" and swung at him, but he was obviously much too fast. He shot forward and slammed his shoulder into the giant's chest. Not with enough force to pierce the armor, of course, that would take WAY too much energy, but enough to do what he had been wanting to for a while now: flip the thing over on it's back.

"Okay, NOW let's go!"

(("Gamera" is the name of a giant turtle-like kaiju who was invented to compete with Godzilla's popularity, he's pretty much the Sonic to Godzilla's Mario.)

Edited September 28, 2014 by Eagleby18

[Notus]

Rose, Ix, Annie & Panik

Killer got up again, looking at his foes with his right eye while covering his face with a hand. Steam raised from the wounds inflicted by Ifrit and Annie, signaling that he was already recovering.

"Tsk, so you really are different than the other little ones. Whatever, it's not a really big deal."

It took it's hand out, showing that his face was already brand new, and took a fighting stance with both fists raised near head level, waiting for the oponnents to make the next move.

((Oops, you're right Rose XD))

[Rosesong]

(Enya and Ellaria are with Morris, Mr. Taylor, and Phantom?)

Pain. That was the only thing Rose felt as she slowly opened her eyes and eased her way into a sitting stance. She couldn't really remember what had happened to her, but decided that wasn't important as she saw with horror the newest giant to face them. It seemed as though Annie had found them, but didn't really notice that they were there, as she kept fighting the giant. Glancing around, she noticed Ix near her. "Why are there so many giants?" she whispered, unsure if he could hear her. Using the wall for balance, she slowly stood, watching and waiting to see what would happen next.