Gods Among Us [Superhero] (IC/Open)

[Confederation of imperial states]

GateKeeper Azeal
Azeal walked in and approached Black Hand, "Azeal?" Black Hand asked as he stood up, "Leonard, I've been having visions of comign Darkness, Destruction, Terror, and Death. and worst of all is heaven has been leaving most of the Angels in the dark about it, i came yo u-" "Wait wait, slow down. first, Visions?" "Yes, me and many other angels have been experiencing Visions and Dreams forshadowing a coming.....well, Dark Times, i'm afraid it may be the end" "really? well then, next, Heaven is doing what?. "I can't sya for certain, but everytime we address it with the archangels or any other high ranking official they say it's 'under control'" "Well thats......concerning, wait, why come to me and not Atlas or Hussar?" "I don't actually know who either of those two are, besides, from what I've gathered you stopped a Dark Deity, you've got a pretty good skill against these kinds of things". "Well Atlas is the Dark Angel" Blakc Hand pointed to Atlas, Azeal turned to Atlas, "My apologies, i was unaware Dark Angel". Black Hand thought about what Azeal just said, "So Atlas, what do you think, considering the bit of exposition that was just given to us?".

"Your a bit... late, Azeal, me and Hussar have known for nearly 16 years, granted we didn't make sense of it until about a week ago, but 1 of the 8 protectors is already dead, and 2 others are being hunted down at the moment." The news channel started a segment on the war in Europe, "and considering Russia's invading most of europe isn't helping either."

Situation in Europe, No character just a summary.

• Russian forces have occupied Instanbul, and Turkey's northern coast.
• Russian forces are 8 miles from Riga, Latvia's capital.
• Korea is invaded by Russia.
• Sapporo, Japan is invaded.
• Poland/NATO forces invade the Kaliningrad Oblast.

Defcon: 2
Doomsday clock: 2 minutes to midnight
Public unrest: 20%

GateKeeper Azeal
"Your a bit... late, Azeal, me and Hussar have known for nearly 16 years, granted we didn't make sense of it until about a week ago, but 1 of the 8 protectors is already dead, and 2 others are being hunted down at the moment."
"it seems strangely me and th other angels have only recently recieved these 'visions'" Azeal was cut off by the status report on the War with russia. "and considering Russia's invading most of europe isn't helping either." "How in the HELL, Is russia steamrolling EVERYONE?!, seriously the fact that Japan and korea can't hold off the russian forces is just....abismole". Anna walked up to Azeal, "We haven't been introduced, I'm Anna, one of the people Nato is currently hunting down". Azeal lifted an eyebrow as he turned to Anna, "Nato is Hunting people down?" "Well actually the UN is, and only the people involved with killing the Dark Lord" "But....you helped them, shouldn't the last thing they do be huntign you down?" "well......people on earth are pretty devious Azeal" "well considering we're on the final step before Defcon 1, i say we're running out of time".

Slayer
Slayer crept through the airduct, beign careful to not get stuck or make any loud sounds. Slayer reached a grate leading down itno the main building, he forced the grate to fall open and dropped down onto the carpet padded floor of the Library. "An archives, perfect, there must be a terminal somewhere" Slayer said creeping around. Slayer walekd around the 2nd floor of the library until he reached the computer room, "Ah, terminals" Slayer opened the door and approached one of of the computers and pressed a button, it then needed a suername and password. "Blast, looks like I'll have to do this manually" Slayer sta down and began typing, he typed a fast and precise code of numbers and letters. Finally, after numerous minutes of typing, the Computer finally unlocked, "heh, primitive tech.." Azeal typed in the search bar of a program called "Google", he searched United Nations, "Let's see.......United Nations, founded after some kind of planmet wide civil war called 'world war 2', based in New York City, United States. Now, where am i?". Slayer clicked on maps, to show he was indeed in the "States of United" but he was far from new york. "Jet Packing will take a while, I need a faster solution". Slayer then heard someone from downstairs gettign through the front door, "Yes we'll see abotu this supposed break in guy, he can't be far". Slayer exited the computer room and peeked at the front door, they wore some kind of badge. "Blast, Local authorities"

[Anowa]

"Your a bit... late, Azeal, me and Hussar have known for nearly 16 years, granted we didn't make sense of it until about a week ago, but 1 of the 8 protectors is already dead, and 2 others are being hunted down at the moment." The news channel started a segment on the war in Europe, "and considering Russia's invading most of europe isn't helping either."

Situation in Europe, No character just a summary.

• Russian forces have occupied Instanbul, and Turkey's northern coast.
• Russian forces are 8 miles from Riga, Latvia's capital.
• Korea is invaded by Russia.
• Sapporo, Japan is invaded.
• Poland/NATO forces invade the Kaliningrad Oblast.

Defcon: 2
Doomsday clock: 2 minutes to midnight
Public unrest: 20%

GateKeeper Azeal
"Your a bit... late, Azeal, me and Hussar have known for nearly 16 years, granted we didn't make sense of it until about a week ago, but 1 of the 8 protectors is already dead, and 2 others are being hunted down at the moment."
"it seems strangely me and th other angels have only recently recieved these 'visions'" Azeal was cut off by the status report on the War with russia. "and considering Russia's invading most of europe isn't helping either." "How in the HELL, Is russia steamrolling EVERYONE?!, seriously the fact that Japan and korea can't hold off the russian forces is just....abismole". Anna walked up to Azeal, "We haven't been introduced, I'm Anna, one of the people Nato is currently hunting down". Azeal lifted an eyebrow as he turned to Anna, "Nato is Hunting people down?" "Well actually the UN is, and only the people involved with killing the Dark Lord" "But....you helped them, shouldn't the last thing they do be huntign you down?" "well......people on earth are pretty devious Azeal" "well considering we're on the final step before Defcon 1, i say we're running out of time".

I looked a bit at Black for a moment, "They aren't steamrolling really. Turkey's north coast is getting assaulted by the Russian navy in the Black Sea, Latvia's military is actually doing much better than expected, Unified Korea is still reeling from the end of the Norks, Russkies are assaulting Sapporo to use it as a beach head, and Kaliningrad is gonna get fucked and open up a route from Poland to the Baltic nations. Granted since they don't have anything to fear they're now double-fisting Ukraine, but nothing we can really do there." I thought for a moment, "So long as they don't start spamming nukes we should be fine for now."

[Confederation of imperial states]

Slayer
Slayer looked as the two cops looked around, their weapons holstered, they were on the floor below him. Slayer jumped from the bannister and landed on oen of the cops, he extended his Wrist blade and stabbed the cop in the back of the neck, severing his spine and killing him. Slayer stood up and unholstered his pistol, before he could aim it at the cops he was shot by the cop 3 times, all 3 bullets ricocheted off his armor, unable to pierce it. Slayer looekd up at the cop and aimed his blaster pistol at him, "What is the fastest way to get to the place called 'New York City'" the Cop dropped his gun, "y-you could go to the airport, btu you'd need money to buy a ticket and you wouldn't get past airport security with those weapons". "where is the location of this airport" "just south of here" "You're going to transport me there, and use your authority to get me to a private vessel" "...o-or what?" "Or I'll gut you" "jesus....fine, we'll take my patrol car". the Cop was followed by Slayer who continously aimed the pistol at him. the Cop drove him to the airport, using his badge and sheriff Authorization he was able to enter the Worker lanes of the facility to bypass the terminals. the cop stopped at a small private lier jet, "Here, this one should work, now can i go" "Thank you for your cooperation" SLayer said as he blasted the Cop at point blank range in the side of the head, killing him but making hardly any noise.

Slayer exited the Cop car and walked over to the Lier jet, the night time sky really set the mood as he walked. Slayer approached the plane and pulled what looked like a handle the plane door opened, he walked inside and pulled the door shut. "Strange this vessel is smaller than i imagined". as Slayer prepped to take off, he saw how the other Planes took off, needing a long strip of land to get a run up. "Simple enough" Slayer muttered as he flipped the vital switches and pulled the controls back to initiate take off. he then got a transmission from the radio, ["this is air traffic control, please state your ID and Code if you woudl like to take off"] Slayer looked around, [" this is.....Bradley Tanner, code is 6678940, requesting take off to New York CIty"] ["cleareance accepted Bradley, have a nice flight"]. Slayerbacked up onto the clear runway and pulled the controls back, the Plane started forward, gaining speed until it finally lifted and took off. "setting GPS Auto Pilot aaaaand, Done" Slayer said as he inputted the coordinates to the Auto Pilot which took control once he entered NYC.

"Soon United Nations...I will reach you, and once i do, I will claim the bounty on all of you"....

[Dyelli Beybi]

"So you can hear my heartbeat. Okay then. Let me peek through the portal just to see- Okay, we're going to be met by a wacky old scientist with robotic eyes. Well, I guess it's better than Warhammer units. Those are the name of the idiots hunting us." Alrick peeked slightly through the portal, letting only head appear and vaguely seeing the doctor before going back inside.

"So yeah, ready to be hunted by absolute retards and save the world again?" He extended his hand towards her in a gentlemanly manner despite his words.

"Of course." Laurel shrugged, "I still have some capabilities when outside of Elphame."

"Never underestimate the intelligence of your quarry." she gave a slight, disconnected smile, then stepped close and looped her arm through his, the smile spreading into a pleased grin, "And never assume that they will be the ones doing the hunting."

The car stopped in a small alleyway, and stepped outside. He approached a metal door, and slammed his fist against it. The door opened, and he held it open for Alice. "The old doctor is inside. Don't worry about him."

The old doctor walked with a cane. His eyes had been replaced with two robotic ones. He had a smile on his face when he saw Ulrich. "If it isn't my greatest achievement, walking through my door! How are you, Ulrich?"

Alice nodded emphatically, "Yes... so what, I just inject this and I'm out for half an hour? How fast is the onset? What happens when I wake up? How groggy will I be?"

That was important to know. Alice was next to helpless if she couldn't concentrate.

[Serah]

"So you can hear my heartbeat. Okay then. Let me peek through the portal just to see- Okay, we're going to be met by a wacky old scientist with robotic eyes. Well, I guess it's better than Warhammer units. Those are the name of the idiots hunting us." Alrick peeked slightly through the portal, letting only head appear and vaguely seeing the doctor before going back inside.

"So yeah, ready to be hunted by absolute retards and save the world again?" He extended his hand towards her in a gentlemanly manner despite his words.

"Of course." Laurel shrugged, "I still have some capabilities when outside of Elphame."

"Never underestimate the intelligence of your quarry." she gave a slight, disconnected smile, then stepped close and looped her arm through his, the smile spreading into a pleased grin, "And never assume that they will be the ones doing the hunting."

"Heh, I never underestimated them, I'm just describing them for their morality and the overall hypocrisy of their actions. Then again, I never said we wouldn't be the ones hunting as well." Alrick saw her disconnected smile form a pleased grin, something he returned the same way, a pleased grin replacing his usual smirk.

"By the way, what did you mean the laws of nature are way more lucid, fluid? I don't remember the word exactly, but what did you mean by that?" Entering the portal, they eventually saw Heamet waiting for them.

[Talion Union]

"So you can hear my heartbeat. Okay then. Let me peek through the portal just to see- Okay, we're going to be met by a wacky old scientist with robotic eyes. Well, I guess it's better than Warhammer units. Those are the name of the idiots hunting us." Alrick peeked slightly through the portal, letting only head appear and vaguely seeing the doctor before going back inside.

"So yeah, ready to be hunted by absolute retards and save the world again?" He extended his hand towards her in a gentlemanly manner despite his words.

"Of course." Laurel shrugged, "I still have some capabilities when outside of Elphame."

"Never underestimate the intelligence of your quarry." she gave a slight, disconnected smile, then stepped close and looped her arm through his, the smile spreading into a pleased grin, "And never assume that they will be the ones doing the hunting."

The car stopped in a small alleyway, and stepped outside. He approached a metal door, and slammed his fist against it. The door opened, and he held it open for Alice. "The old doctor is inside. Don't worry about him."

The old doctor walked with a cane. His eyes had been replaced with two robotic ones. He had a smile on his face when he saw Ulrich. "If it isn't my greatest achievement, walking through my door! How are you, Ulrich?"

Alice nodded emphatically, "Yes... so what, I just inject this and I'm out for half an hour? How fast is the onset? What happens when I wake up? How groggy will I be?"

That was important to know. Alice was next to helpless if she couldn't concentrate.

"It'll be like waking from a good night's sleep." He hobbled over to Alice, putting the metal case in her hands. "Don't drop it. Once you take this serum, you'll be out in 30 seconds." He put his hand on her shoulder and leaned in. "How did you meet Ulrich?" He whispered.

[Dyelli Beybi]

"Heh, I never underestimated them, I'm just describing them for their morality and the overall hypocrisy of their actions. Then again, I never said we wouldn't be the ones hunting as well." Alrick saw her disconnected smile form a pleased grin, something he returned the same way, a pleased grin replacing his usual smirk.

"By the way, what did you mean the laws of nature are way more lucid, fluid? I don't remember the word exactly, but what did you mean by that?" Entering the portal, they eventually saw Heamet waiting for them.

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." Laurel quoted, feeling quite pleased with herself at remembering that one. She just wished she'd been able to throw it down in front of Alice... the woman seemed to have an infinite memory for quotes, "Which is to say, my friend, that they might be monsters, or it could be us and we haven't realized. You did just summon one of the Faie, which is usually regarded as only slightly preferable to summoning a demon." she gave him a bright smile.

"Elphame is... well its a place full of old Gods and big Faie. Aes Sidhe, such as myself, and other powerful Faie can reshape the world, more or less at a whim. For instance, were this my forest, and were you to annoy me, I could have you transformed into a dog and cast such a spell upon you that you would thank me for the transformation. I have heard of some Unseelie Faie who have imprisoned a living human in ice, keeping them in perpetual torment for centuries, forbidding them to die though their lungs burn for lack of air and stomach aches for food. On top of that, things do not age and die in the same way that they do in this world - A sword can be left in the forest for millenia and it will still keep its edge. Time is different also. Centuries may pass in the blink of an eye, while sometimes seconds on earth will pass like hours. Then there are other things, if a creature gives you its word and it breaks it, then you will gain power over it. You may go North across a bridge, but end in a different place if you take the same bridge going south." She shrugged, "It is different from this world in too many ways to count. Think of it like living in a dream, or nightmare, depending upon what part you are in."

---

"We did a mission together." Alice said, keeping the description deliberately vague, "Some time ago now. I tried to protect him from others who sought him harm and didn't do a very good job."

She looked across at Ulrich and smiled, "He forgave me though. If we survive this mission... who knows where we'll end up."

[Serah]

"Heh, I never underestimated them, I'm just describing them for their morality and the overall hypocrisy of their actions. Then again, I never said we wouldn't be the ones hunting as well." Alrick saw her disconnected smile form a pleased grin, something he returned the same way, a pleased grin replacing his usual smirk.

"By the way, what did you mean the laws of nature are way more lucid, fluid? I don't remember the word exactly, but what did you mean by that?" Entering the portal, they eventually saw Heamet waiting for them.

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." Laurel quoted, feeling quite pleased with herself at remembering that one. She just wished she'd been able to throw it down in front of Alice... the woman seemed to have an infinite memory for quotes, "Which is to say, my friend, that they might be monsters, or it could be us and we haven't realized. You did just summon one of the Faie, which is usually regarded as only slightly preferable to summoning a demon." she gave him a bright smile.

"Elphame is... well its a place full of old Gods and big Faie. Aes Sidhe, such as myself, and other powerful Faie can reshape the world, more or less at a whim. For instance, were this my forest, and were you to annoy me, I could have you transformed into a dog and cast such a spell upon you that you would thank me for the transformation. I have heard of some Unseelie Faie who have imprisoned a living human in ice, keeping them in perpetual torment for centuries, forbidding them to die though their lungs burn for lack of air and stomach aches for food. On top of that, things do not age and die in the same way that they do in this world - A sword can be left in the forest for millenia and it will still keep its edge. Time is different also. Centuries may pass in the blink of an eye, while sometimes seconds on earth will pass like hours. Then there are other things, if a creature gives you its word and it breaks it, then you will gain power over it. You may go North across a bridge, but end in a different place if you take the same bridge going south." She shrugged, "It is different from this world in too many ways to count. Think of it like living in a dream, or nightmare, depending upon what part you are in."

"Seems like fun, So basically Cthulu and every sort of Lovecraftian horrors may live there but at the same time, also, you may be talking about Morgana, in Arthurian legends, the thing says that she imprisoned him in ice and forbade him to die, but he would still feel hunger, the need for air and other various human things, by the way, that guy was Merlin, a half demon if I recall. I think I met him in one of my past lives, I kept remembering something about being the king of the brits. Not like it matters anymore, though I should try to go and get Excalibur out of the stone one of these days, who knows? Might work. But I'm probably going to visit you one of these days, it'd be like Alice in Wonderland, with a twist." Alrick spoke, he looked like he was having genuine fun thinking about how it would be there.

"But the only real nightmare for me... Well it's cheesy but it's me, I'm immortal, it gets lonely after a while. I think I can understand Lios about that, being lonely because you're immortal doesn't really seem like it would be good fun."

[Dyelli Beybi]

"Seems like fun, So basically Cthulu and every sort of Lovecraftian horrors may live there but at the same time, also, you may be talking about Morgana, in Arthurian legends, the thing says that she imprisoned him in ice and forbade him to die, but he would still feel hunger, the need for air and other various human things, by the way, that guy was Merlin, a half demon if I recall. I think I met him in one of my past lives, I kept remembering something about being the king of the brits. Not like it matters anymore, though I should try to go and get Excalibur out of the stone one of these days, who knows? Might work. But I'm probably going to visit you one of these days, it'd be like Alice in Wonderland, with a twist." Alrick spoke, he looked like he was having genuine fun thinking about how it would be there.

"But the only real nightmare for me... Well it's cheesy but it's me, I'm immortal, it gets lonely after a while. I think I can understand Lios about that, being lonely because you're immortal doesn't really seem like it would be good fun."

Laurel paused before they stepped through the portal, turning to Alrick, "Two things my friend." she said, "Firstly, everything dies in the end. There is a whisper what might be coming is the Götterdämmerung. In that case, if this world falls, Elphame will as well. For all the power of its inhabitants, we cannot stand against creatures such as Gog or the Lord of Flies."

"Secondly..." unexpectedly her face creased in a big smile, "I was a child when the Athenians did the unthinkable at Marathon and charged, which was not a very Greek thing to do at all. In all that time I have never been lonely and I have never failed to find interesting people to spend my time with."

[Talion Union]

"Heh, I never underestimated them, I'm just describing them for their morality and the overall hypocrisy of their actions. Then again, I never said we wouldn't be the ones hunting as well." Alrick saw her disconnected smile form a pleased grin, something he returned the same way, a pleased grin replacing his usual smirk.

"By the way, what did you mean the laws of nature are way more lucid, fluid? I don't remember the word exactly, but what did you mean by that?" Entering the portal, they eventually saw Heamet waiting for them.

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." Laurel quoted, feeling quite pleased with herself at remembering that one. She just wished she'd been able to throw it down in front of Alice... the woman seemed to have an infinite memory for quotes, "Which is to say, my friend, that they might be monsters, or it could be us and we haven't realized. You did just summon one of the Faie, which is usually regarded as only slightly preferable to summoning a demon." she gave him a bright smile.

"Elphame is... well its a place full of old Gods and big Faie. Aes Sidhe, such as myself, and other powerful Faie can reshape the world, more or less at a whim. For instance, were this my forest, and were you to annoy me, I could have you transformed into a dog and cast such a spell upon you that you would thank me for the transformation. I have heard of some Unseelie Faie who have imprisoned a living human in ice, keeping them in perpetual torment for centuries, forbidding them to die though their lungs burn for lack of air and stomach aches for food. On top of that, things do not age and die in the same way that they do in this world - A sword can be left in the forest for millenia and it will still keep its edge. Time is different also. Centuries may pass in the blink of an eye, while sometimes seconds on earth will pass like hours. Then there are other things, if a creature gives you its word and it breaks it, then you will gain power over it. You may go North across a bridge, but end in a different place if you take the same bridge going south." She shrugged, "It is different from this world in too many ways to count. Think of it like living in a dream, or nightmare, depending upon what part you are in."

---

"We did a mission together." Alice said, keeping the description deliberately vague, "Some time ago now. I tried to protect him from others who sought him harm and didn't do a very good job."

She looked across at Ulrich and smiled, "He forgave me though. If we survive this mission... who knows where we'll end up."

"I'm sure you'll both be fine. I rebuilt him to last, you know." There was a banging from the rear of the building. "Oh, seems their getting restless! Excuse me a moment." He walked out of the room, mumbling under his breath. "Darned Nanites...always causing a fuss." He entered the back room. Ulrich stood up. "Docs always done right by me. Fixed up a broken fugitive. Good man, he is. Just a bit eccentric."

[Dyelli Beybi]

"I'm sure you'll both be fine. I rebuilt him to last, you know." There was a banging from the rear of the building. "Oh, seems their getting restless! Excuse me a moment." He walked out of the room, mumbling under his breath. "Darned Nanites...always causing a fuss." He entered the back room. Ulrich stood up. "Docs always done right by me. Fixed up a broken fugitive. Good man, he is. Just a bit eccentric."

"Nanites..." Alice said, wondering for a moment, then shook her head, she needed to focus.

"Okay. We have the magic brew and I have a plan. We'll need a safe-house and you'll need to phone a friend from NATO." Alice said.

"This is how I see things happening." she said, "You call your NATO contact and act frightened for your people. You tell them that if they'll give you proof of life you'll go back on the job to get Atlas and kill me as a display of good faith."

"They'll obviously want to be sure you actually do it, so say one of them can come and confirm. Make sure its only one, because you need to have some cards in your hand for the second part to work." she continued, "While they're arriving we need to transfer this death juice into a plastic tube I can easily crack with my teeth and also rig some extremely discrete cameras in the room as Hussar said this needs to become public knowledge. Then you restrain me with the funny gauntlets that cut off my powers."

"When the guy arrives you let them have a chat to me, confirm I'm really me, not an actor or some unfortunate look alike." she said, "Then, when he's convinced, you 'kill' me with a blood choke. Obviously don't actually compress my arteries. I'll crack the magic juice, swallow it, then 'die'. The NATO guy will want to confirm I'm dead, he will. That should be mission accomplished, but there is always a chance he'll want to give me a coup de grâce or take the body, either of which would be catastrophically bad, for obvious reasons."

"That is why we need only one NATO guy, because if there is one you can get intimidate them into standing down. Give them some angry speech about how you killed a friend and you're going to bury her properly, not let them desecrate the body... be creative! They should decide at that point that messing with you isn't worth it as they've already had a chance to confirm identity and death." Alice paused, "So, what do you think?"

[Serah]

"Seems like fun, So basically Cthulu and every sort of Lovecraftian horrors may live there but at the same time, also, you may be talking about Morgana, in Arthurian legends, the thing says that she imprisoned him in ice and forbade him to die, but he would still feel hunger, the need for air and other various human things, by the way, that guy was Merlin, a half demon if I recall. I think I met him in one of my past lives, I kept remembering something about being the king of the brits. Not like it matters anymore, though I should try to go and get Excalibur out of the stone one of these days, who knows? Might work. But I'm probably going to visit you one of these days, it'd be like Alice in Wonderland, with a twist." Alrick spoke, he looked like he was having genuine fun thinking about how it would be there.

"But the only real nightmare for me... Well it's cheesy but it's me, I'm immortal, it gets lonely after a while. I think I can understand Lios about that, being lonely because you're immortal doesn't really seem like it would be good fun."

Laurel paused before they stepped through the portal, turning to Alrick, "Two things my friend." she said, "Firstly, everything dies in the end. There is a whisper what might be coming is the Götterdämmerung. In that case, if this world falls, Elphame will as well. For all the power of its inhabitants, we cannot stand against creatures such as Gog or the Lord of Flies."

"Secondly..." unexpectedly her face creased in a big smile, "I was a child when the Athenians did the unthinkable at Marathon and charged, which was not a very Greek thing to do at all. In all that time I have never been lonely and I have never failed to find interesting people to spend my time with."

"Well, I haven't been able to understand that yet, but I can already see that I haven't grown at all physically, everything in my body just paused and just seeing how Alice and her acquaintances grew, I've started to feel... Sorrowful, that's how I'd put it. Knowing that they will eventually finish their lifespans and I will outlive most of them, unless they become Hussars or something, then I may not be able to outlive them for a while. In all seriousness though, I've handled my own against eldritch horrors by myself such as Ctuhlu a good dozen times already, I'm not really human anymore, I'm just a wraith anchor, a shadow of what I was before. But, promise me, if I am mortally wounded, just finish me off, speak your last words to me and cut my head off if I can't regenerate and most of all, don't mourn my death, I don't deserve it. I've been way too much of an asshole to everybody on this god forsaken planet to be worthy of mourning. And before you say anything, no, I'm not depressive, I'm realistic. Although I'm not too sure what is reality now. Hehe. I've already seen what this world has to offer, so how about you show yours after I've shown you what you haven't seen yet? You know, just the two of us, Heamet already has plans to do various stuff without me, so once it's over, you'll show me around alright?"
Alrick smiled, a genuine one, something he hadn't done in years and laughed as genuinely as his smile was, he knew that the moments after his passage through the portal would be one of the most important of his life, standing up to fight every odds, he felt every moment like it was the very last, finally living some moments of his life to the fullest.

"I'll have to tell you something too, although I don't know if you think the same way. Simple hypothesis. But not now."

[Talion Union]

"I'm sure you'll both be fine. I rebuilt him to last, you know." There was a banging from the rear of the building. "Oh, seems their getting restless! Excuse me a moment." He walked out of the room, mumbling under his breath. "Darned Nanites...always causing a fuss." He entered the back room. Ulrich stood up. "Docs always done right by me. Fixed up a broken fugitive. Good man, he is. Just a bit eccentric."

"Nanites..." Alice said, wondering for a moment, then shook her head, she needed to focus.

"Okay. We have the magic brew and I have a plan. We'll need a safe-house and you'll need to phone a friend from NATO." Alice said.

"This is how I see things happening." she said, "You call your NATO contact and act frightened for your people. You tell them that if they'll give you proof of life you'll go back on the job to get Atlas and kill me as a display of good faith."

"They'll obviously want to be sure you actually do it, so say one of them can come and confirm. Make sure its only one, because you need to have some cards in your hand for the second part to work." she continued, "While they're arriving we need to transfer this death juice into a plastic tube I can easily crack with my teeth and also rig some extremely discrete cameras in the room as Hussar said this needs to become public knowledge. Then you restrain me with the funny gauntlets that cut off my powers."

"When the guy arrives you let them have a chat to me, confirm I'm really me, not an actor or some unfortunate look alike." she said, "Then, when he's convinced, you 'kill' me with a blood choke. Obviously don't actually compress my arteries. I'll crack the magic juice, swallow it, then 'die'. The NATO guy will want to confirm I'm dead, he will. That should be mission accomplished, but there is always a chance he'll want to give me a coup de grâce or take the body, either of which would be catastrophically bad, for obvious reasons."

"That is why we need only one NATO guy, because if there is one you can get intimidate them into standing down. Give them some angry speech about how you killed a friend and you're going to bury her properly, not let them desecrate the body... be creative! They should decide at that point that messing with you isn't worth it as they've already had a chance to confirm identity and death." Alice paused, "So, what do you think?"

"I........I still have objections. This is asking a lot from me, even for an assassin." He already watched the first woman he ever lived did right in front of him, now he's being asked to kill Alice. "I don't want to do this.....what if this goes wrong? What if you don't wake up? What am I going to do?"

[Anowa]

"Nanites..." Alice said, wondering for a moment, then shook her head, she needed to focus.

"Okay. We have the magic brew and I have a plan. We'll need a safe-house and you'll need to phone a friend from NATO." Alice said.

"This is how I see things happening." she said, "You call your NATO contact and act frightened for your people. You tell them that if they'll give you proof of life you'll go back on the job to get Atlas and kill me as a display of good faith."

"They'll obviously want to be sure you actually do it, so say one of them can come and confirm. Make sure its only one, because you need to have some cards in your hand for the second part to work." she continued, "While they're arriving we need to transfer this death juice into a plastic tube I can easily crack with my teeth and also rig some extremely discrete cameras in the room as Hussar said this needs to become public knowledge. Then you restrain me with the funny gauntlets that cut off my powers."

"When the guy arrives you let them have a chat to me, confirm I'm really me, not an actor or some unfortunate look alike." she said, "Then, when he's convinced, you 'kill' me with a blood choke. Obviously don't actually compress my arteries. I'll crack the magic juice, swallow it, then 'die'. The NATO guy will want to confirm I'm dead, he will. That should be mission accomplished, but there is always a chance he'll want to give me a coup de grâce or take the body, either of which would be catastrophically bad, for obvious reasons."

"That is why we need only one NATO guy, because if there is one you can get intimidate them into standing down. Give them some angry speech about how you killed a friend and you're going to bury her properly, not let them desecrate the body... be creative! They should decide at that point that messing with you isn't worth it as they've already had a chance to confirm identity and death." Alice paused, "So, what do you think?"

"I........I still have objections. This is asking a lot from me, even for an assassin." He already watched the first woman he ever lived did right in front of him, now he's being asked to kill Alice. "I don't want to do this.....what if this goes wrong? What if you don't wake up? What am I going to do?"

Hussar
I chuckled as I came back into view, ethereal, transparent form phasing into existence, I sat down on one of the rooms chairs (Although it was unneeded), "Trust me Ulysses she'll wake up, I'll make sure of that."

[Dyelli Beybi]

"I........I still have objections. This is asking a lot from me, even for an assassin." He already watched the first woman he ever lived did right in front of him, now he's being asked to kill Alice. "I don't want to do this.....what if this goes wrong? What if you don't wake up? What am I going to do?"

Hussar
I chuckled as I came back into view, ethereal, transparent form phasing into existence, I sat down on one of the rooms chairs (Although it was unneeded), "Trust me Ulysses she'll wake up, I'll make sure of that."

"I know." Alice nodded, then, aware that Hussar was watching, stretched up on her toes to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"It's a risk." she admitted, "But you said you trust the good Doctor. That is good enough for me to trust that his serum won't kill me, and I'm sure you know how to do a blood choke that doesn't actually choke me. And I have an angel watching over me. Not many people can say that!"

"This is the best way to keep your people alive while we figure out how to extract them and it will keep me safe." she pointed out, "And if the unthinkable happens and I don't wake up again... Scatter my ashes in the wind, trust that I'm in a better place and live your life to the full. Don't blame yourself or anyone else - I wouldn't."

Suddenly her eyes went wide as the constantly turning cogs in her head hit upon something, "Ah Hussar. You said there were four people who needed not to die right? Four is a rather significant number with an incoming Apocalypse. I guess I just want to know... do I get a horse?"

"Well, I haven't been able to understand that yet, but I can already see that I haven't grown at all physically, everything in my body just paused and just seeing how Alice and her acquaintances grew, I've started to feel... Sorrowful, that's how I'd put it. Knowing that they will eventually finish their lifespans and I will outlive most of them, unless they become Hussars or something, then I may not be able to outlive them for a while. In all seriousness though, I've handled my own against eldritch horrors by myself such as Ctuhlu a good dozen times already, I'm not really human anymore, I'm just a wraith anchor, a shadow of what I was before. But, promise me, if I am mortally wounded, just finish me off, speak your last words to me and cut my head off if I can't regenerate and most of all, don't mourn my death, I don't deserve it. I've been way too much of an asshole to everybody on this god forsaken planet to be worthy of mourning. And before you say anything, no, I'm not depressive, I'm realistic. Although I'm not too sure what is reality now. Hehe. I've already seen what this world has to offer, so how about you show yours after I've shown you what you haven't seen yet? You know, just the two of us, Heamet already has plans to do various stuff without me, so once it's over, you'll show me around alright?"
Alrick smiled, a genuine one, something he hadn't done in years and laughed as genuinely as his smile was, he knew that the moments after his passage through the portal would be one of the most important of his life, standing up to fight every odds, he felt every moment like it was the very last, finally living some moments of his life to the fullest.

"I'll have to tell you something too, although I don't know if you think the same way. Simple hypothesis. But not now."

"Don't be so maudlin!" Laurel grinned, then shook her head, "Of course Alice and the others will die. Probably long before either of us. But a rose in a garden withers and dies and the next year there is another, just as beautiful, albeit different. Alice is a special kind of person - she'll keep on loving humanity and trying to protect it until her efforts get her killed. I'm actually surprised she's survived this long... but anyway, my point is, when she dies another wonderfully interesting person will be born and they will start living a beautiful, exciting life full of triumphs and failures. The players come and go, but the story carries on forever. It is the way of the world... provided we can prevent Götterdämmerung."

"Keep on treating me nicely and I might take you back to Elphame." she motioned towards the portal, "In any case, the Apocalypse awaits."

[Anowa]

"I........I still have objections. This is asking a lot from me, even for an assassin." He already watched the first woman he ever lived did right in front of him, now he's being asked to kill Alice. "I don't want to do this.....what if this goes wrong? What if you don't wake up? What am I going to do?"

Hussar
I chuckled as I came back into view, ethereal, transparent form phasing into existence, I sat down on one of the rooms chairs (Although it was unneeded), "Trust me Ulysses she'll wake up, I'll make sure of that."

"I know." Alice nodded, then, aware that Hussar was watching, stretched up on her toes to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"It's a risk." she admitted, "But you said you trust the good Doctor. That is good enough for me to trust that his serum won't kill me, and I'm sure you know how to do a blood choke that doesn't actually choke me. And I have an angel watching over me. Not many people can say that!"

"This is the best way to keep your people alive while we figure out how to extract them and it will keep me safe." she pointed out, "And if the unthinkable happens and I don't wake up again... Scatter my ashes in the wind, trust that I'm in a better place and live your life to the full. Don't blame yourself or anyone else - I wouldn't."

Suddenly her eyes went wide as the constantly turning cogs in her head hit upon something, "Ah Hussar. You said there were four people who needed not to die right? Four is a rather significant number with an incoming Apocalypse. I guess I just want to know... do I get a horse?"

I shook my head, "Well three vital ones who just plain old aren't allowed to die and 5.. er 4 now that are... optional but still needed, so no, no horses. anyway, we should probably get on with this, we don't have all day. Ulysses, call your contact."

[Dyelli Beybi]

"I know." Alice nodded, then, aware that Hussar was watching, stretched up on her toes to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"It's a risk." she admitted, "But you said you trust the good Doctor. That is good enough for me to trust that his serum won't kill me, and I'm sure you know how to do a blood choke that doesn't actually choke me. And I have an angel watching over me. Not many people can say that!"

"This is the best way to keep your people alive while we figure out how to extract them and it will keep me safe." she pointed out, "And if the unthinkable happens and I don't wake up again... Scatter my ashes in the wind, trust that I'm in a better place and live your life to the full. Don't blame yourself or anyone else - I wouldn't."

Suddenly her eyes went wide as the constantly turning cogs in her head hit upon something, "Ah Hussar. You said there were four people who needed not to die right? Four is a rather significant number with an incoming Apocalypse. I guess I just want to know... do I get a horse?"

I shook my head, "Well three vital ones who just plain old aren't allowed to die and 5.. er 4 now that are... optional but still needed, so no, no horses. anyway, we should probably get on with this, we don't have all day. Ulysses, call your contact."

"Damn... and I was looking forward to a green horse." Alice grinned broadly, "I'll speak to the Doctor and get this repackaged... but first I wanted to apologize for resisting. You're an angel - I will do as you ask and complain less. To be in the service of Heaven is an honor."

With that she bolted after the Doctor, "Doctor! This serum, can you repackage it into a plastic container that would be safe to swallow? Is the serum suitable for oral consumption? Otherwise I assume it would absorb sublingually."

[Serah]

"Well, I haven't been able to understand that yet, but I can already see that I haven't grown at all physically, everything in my body just paused and just seeing how Alice and her acquaintances grew, I've started to feel... Sorrowful, that's how I'd put it. Knowing that they will eventually finish their lifespans and I will outlive most of them, unless they become Hussars or something, then I may not be able to outlive them for a while. In all seriousness though, I've handled my own against eldritch horrors by myself such as Ctuhlu a good dozen times already, I'm not really human anymore, I'm just a wraith anchor, a shadow of what I was before. But, promise me, if I am mortally wounded, just finish me off, speak your last words to me and cut my head off if I can't regenerate and most of all, don't mourn my death, I don't deserve it. I've been way too much of an asshole to everybody on this god forsaken planet to be worthy of mourning. And before you say anything, no, I'm not depressive, I'm realistic. Although I'm not too sure what is reality now. Hehe. I've already seen what this world has to offer, so how about you show yours after I've shown you what you haven't seen yet? You know, just the two of us, Heamet already has plans to do various stuff without me, so once it's over, you'll show me around alright?"
Alrick smiled, a genuine one, something he hadn't done in years and laughed as genuinely as his smile was, he knew that the moments after his passage through the portal would be one of the most important of his life, standing up to fight every odds, he felt every moment like it was the very last, finally living some moments of his life to the fullest.

"I'll have to tell you something too, although I don't know if you think the same way. Simple hypothesis. But not now."

"Don't be so maudlin!" Laurel grinned, then shook her head, "Of course Alice and the others will die. Probably long before either of us. But a rose in a garden withers and dies and the next year there is another, just as beautiful, albeit different. Alice is a special kind of person - she'll keep on loving humanity and trying to protect it until her efforts get her killed. I'm actually surprised she's survived this long... but anyway, my point is, when she dies another wonderfully interesting person will be born and they will start living a beautiful, exciting life full of triumphs and failures. The players come and go, but the story carries on forever. It is the way of the world... provided we can prevent Götterdämmerung."

"Keep on treating me nicely and I might take you back to Elphame." she motioned towards the portal, "In any case, the Apocalypse awaits."

Grinning ear to ear, he went through the portal, he felt his existence had taken a whole new meaning with just her speech.
"There is no way Ragnarok is going to come under my watch, those idiots don't realize it, but I'm going to stop the apocalypse from happening, just like I did with Edge Lord! Because even if they try to stop us, it's USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS! Oh, wait, I need to summon something else, war, famine, blight and death. The four horses of the apocalypse! Why? Because it's fun dammit!"

Alrick was hyped, he was only going to summon two one for him and the other for Alice, she would likely get War and him blight. He never really felt like famine was great and the rest were just too edgy. He either preferred to kill off his enemies slowly or extremely fast in an extreme bloodbath. but this once, he chose to kill them slowly.

Opening the door, he heard Hussar say they weren't going to get horses.
"Rectification, we ARE getting horses! And not simple ones mind you, the originals! War, famine, blight and death! Although I've merely summoned two."

[Anowa]

"Don't be so maudlin!" Laurel grinned, then shook her head, "Of course Alice and the others will die. Probably long before either of us. But a rose in a garden withers and dies and the next year there is another, just as beautiful, albeit different. Alice is a special kind of person - she'll keep on loving humanity and trying to protect it until her efforts get her killed. I'm actually surprised she's survived this long... but anyway, my point is, when she dies another wonderfully interesting person will be born and they will start living a beautiful, exciting life full of triumphs and failures. The players come and go, but the story carries on forever. It is the way of the world... provided we can prevent Götterdämmerung."

"Keep on treating me nicely and I might take you back to Elphame." she motioned towards the portal, "In any case, the Apocalypse awaits."

Grinning ear to ear, he went through the portal, he felt his existence had taken a whole new meaning with just her speech.
"There is no way Ragnarok is going to come under my watch, those idiots don't realize it, but I'm going to stop the apocalypse from happening, just like I did with Edge Lord! Because even if they try to stop us, it's USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS! Oh, wait, I need to summon something else, war, famine, blight and death. The four horses of the apocalypse! Why? Because it's fun dammit!"

Alrick was hyped, he was only going to summon two one for him and the other for Alice, she would likely get War and him blight. He never really felt like famine was great and the rest were just too edgy. He either preferred to kill off his enemies slowly or extremely fast in an extreme bloodbath. but this once, he chose to kill them slowly.

Opening the door, he heard Hussar say they weren't going to get horses.
"Rectification, we ARE getting horses! And not simple ones mind you, the originals! War, famine, blight and death! Although I've merely summoned two."

Hussar
I walked over to Alrick and grabbed both sides of his head and picked him up, a surprising feat considering I was intangible, "YOU FUCKING WHAT!?"

[Serah]

Grinning ear to ear, he went through the portal, he felt his existence had taken a whole new meaning with just her speech.
"There is no way Ragnarok is going to come under my watch, those idiots don't realize it, but I'm going to stop the apocalypse from happening, just like I did with Edge Lord! Because even if they try to stop us, it's USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS! Oh, wait, I need to summon something else, war, famine, blight and death. The four horses of the apocalypse! Why? Because it's fun dammit!"

Alrick was hyped, he was only going to summon two one for him and the other for Alice, she would likely get War and him blight. He never really felt like famine was great and the rest were just too edgy. He either preferred to kill off his enemies slowly or extremely fast in an extreme bloodbath. but this once, he chose to kill them slowly.

Opening the door, he heard Hussar say they weren't going to get horses.
"Rectification, we ARE getting horses! And not simple ones mind you, the originals! War, famine, blight and death! Although I've merely summoned two."

Hussar
I walked over to Alrick and grabbed both sides of his head and picked him up, a surprising feat considering I was intangible, "YOU FUCKING WHAT!?"

He still grinned even after getting sacked by Hussar in an intangible form.
"Yep you heard it colonel stuck-up, I did that, not like they're really aggressive, actually, the horsemen of the apocalypse are pretty cool. They've lent me their horses for awesomeness."

[Confederation of imperial states]

Rooftop opposite of the UN HQ

Slayer peers at the United Nations HeadQuarters with his compact survelliance (space binoculars), he sees that there is considerably low defense at the HQ. "they're either dumb or suicidal" he said putting his binoculars away. Slayer grabbed his rifle and stepped onto the edge of the rooftop he was on, he ativated his jetpack and began flying twoards the HQ accross the dusk sky. Once he landed on the HQ rooftop, he peered around and activated his enhanced vision in his helmet, no heat signatures. Slayer walked over to a nearby ventilation shaft and used one of his wrist blades to pry it open. SLayer crawled inside and began using his enhanced heat trackign to try and spot the UN members. Slayer continued to creep through the ventilation shaft to attempt to find their meeting room.

[Anowa]

Hussar
I walked over to Alrick and grabbed both sides of his head and picked him up, a surprising feat considering I was intangible, "YOU FUCKING WHAT!?"

He still grinned even after getting sacked by Hussar in an intangible form.
"Yep you heard it colonel stuck-up, I did that, not like they're really aggressive, actually, the horsemen of the apocalypse are pretty cool. They've lent me their horses for awesomeness."

The ground rumbled a bit, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?" the ground rumbled a bit more.


Defcon: 2
Doomsday clock: 2 minutes to midnight
Public unrest: 20%
Time til zero hour: 51 hours
(see rule 2..)

[Dyelli Beybi]

Laurel chose the moment to make herself somewhat scarce, slinking into the background like a nervous cat. The horsemen were... well she couldn't imagine in what universe that was a good idea.

Alice also hadn't missed what was going on, "Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder, ‘Come!’" she mumbled. Apparently she had found religion at some point in the last few years (or more accurately her restored memories had reminded her that she was a Lutheran), "I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, ‘Come!’ And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another; and he was given a great sword."

She paused, "Is that about where we're up to?"

[Anowa]

Laurel chose the moment to make herself somewhat scarce, slinking into the background like a nervous cat. The horsemen were... well she couldn't imagine in what universe that was a good idea.

Alice also hadn't missed what was going on, "Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder, ‘Come!’" she mumbled. Apparently she had found religion at some point in the last few years (or more accurately her restored memories had reminded her that she was a Lutheran), "I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, ‘Come!’ And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another; and he was given a great sword."

She paused, "Is that about where we're up to?"

Hussar
Without looking away from Alrick's eyes I spoke, "This little shit cut our total time into quarters, we have, at most, 2 days until we get vaporized. After this, Alrick, I don't care what you do I'm banishing you to hell."

[Serah]

He still grinned even after getting sacked by Hussar in an intangible form.
"Yep you heard it colonel stuck-up, I did that, not like they're really aggressive, actually, the horsemen of the apocalypse are pretty cool. They've lent me their horses for awesomeness."

The ground rumbled a bit, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?" the ground rumbled a bit more.


Defcon: 2
Doomsday clock: 2 minutes to midnight
Public unrest: 20%
Time til zero hour: 51 hours
(see rule 2..)

"What? They let me borrow them, what's the deal? They aren't running around yet, but once we're out, we're getting the horses out, and they're ready to run." Alrick knew the ground what trembling, but thought nothing of it, after all, what could go wrong?

"Alrick. Grandpa. What happened is that the ground is trembling because you are about to summon both of those fearsome beasts, you know why they are fearsome? Not only by power but because THEY ARE HANDLING OUR VERY EARTH TOGETHER YOU ABSOLUTE FUCKTARD!" Heamet explained, losing his cool at the end.

"Oh. Oh. Fuuuuuuuuck. Well, I've done it now, oh I'm the bad guy boo fucking hoo. We still have more than two days to stop the whole planet from collapsing, that's a boost in confidence. Plus, those warhammer guys won't attack people on apocalypse horses, we can flip the bird at them while we're passing and wreck some of their units, not like they were useful anyway." Alrick continued, still keeping his usual personality.
"Now's not the time for fucking pity anyway, we have a world to save apocalypse or not."

Laurel chose the moment to make herself somewhat scarce, slinking into the background like a nervous cat. The horsemen were... well she couldn't imagine in what universe that was a good idea.

Alice also hadn't missed what was going on, "Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder, ‘Come!’" she mumbled. Apparently she had found religion at some point in the last few years (or more accurately her restored memories had reminded her that she was a Lutheran), "I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, ‘Come!’ And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another; and he was given a great sword."

She paused, "Is that about where we're up to?"

"Again, WE ARE NOT SUMMONING THE HORSEMEN. SIMPLY THE HORSE DAMMIT. HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED DARKSIDERS ONE OR TWO FOR FUCK'S SAKE?! THEY WERE GOING TO COME ANYWAY! WHO THE FUCK CARES?! WE'RE THE ONES ON THE HORSES NOW! TIME TO ROCK!" Alrick yelled, pushing off Hussar that was still maintaining him in a headlock.

Laurel chose the moment to make herself somewhat scarce, slinking into the background like a nervous cat. The horsemen were... well she couldn't imagine in what universe that was a good idea.

Alice also hadn't missed what was going on, "Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder, ‘Come!’" she mumbled. Apparently she had found religion at some point in the last few years (or more accurately her restored memories had reminded her that she was a Lutheran), "I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, ‘Come!’ And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another; and he was given a great sword."

She paused, "Is that about where we're up to?"

Hussar
Without looking away from Alrick's eyes I spoke, "This little shit cut our total time into quarters, we have, at most, 2 days until we get vaporized. After this, Alrick, I don't care what you do I'm banishing you to hell."

"You know, I've already been there right? It's a bit hot though, you sure you don't want to get me to a colder place? I handle cold better."