Golden Gate Empire: Dreams of Grandeur [IC | PG-16]

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

BGM:https://benprunty.bandcamp.com/track/66-6-st

 

The Jaguar was immediately frightened by the illusion that Hack and Slash had generated, allowing Jack to breath somewhat of a sigh of relief. She managed to avoid a fight, but what she just did was give away her position. Jack moved into the trees as swiftly as she could, commanding Hack and Slash to return above the canopy and see if they can detect anything. Their camera feeds moved through leaves and branches until breaking into open sky. Scanning the immediate vicinity, nothing moved beyond the animals that Jack could detect. Slash scanned and looked out towards the horizon. As usual there was nothing exceptional to be expected from the jungle, save a dust cloud floating lazily through the trees a few kilometers away.

 

"Company?" Jack muttered to herself, walking over to a part of the river where the animals were furthest from, filling a pouch in her suit that had a straw connected through her helmet. The water was likely swimming with some kind of parasite or disease, but she figured the hotel had them covered on the medical bill already. Not even one sip in and Jack noticed Hack turning around frantically. "What's going on with you?" Jack asked as she did a quick scan of its status to find no visible interference with its systems. Soon enough, Slash began to react in the same way. Could it be glitching out? No, she just had them rebuilt, and that girl was better at tech than this. On a hunch, Jack unmuted its microphone and could hear... flapping? The sound that came through sounded like wing-beats, but of something very large, and very close. But that was weird, there wasn't anything nearby... Jack checked Slash's audio feed and found the same thing.

 

An image of the Administrator flashed in Jack's mind, and a wave of panicked adrenaline surged through her body. Immediately she recalled both drones, each flying down into the trees quickly in different directions. They would soon converge at Jack's location, but for now she needed to throw off whatever was watching them as soon as she could. This didn't make any sense; the flapping didn't sound mechanical at all, what could it be? Whatever it was, Jack wasn't taking any chances, firing off her tethers into the trees and mounting a sturdy branch. Crouched down, she took out her bow and used its new technology to generate a string and pulled three arrows, each built with a hunter's arrow head, from her new forge. She didn't like being left in the dark, but she needed to be ready no matter what.

[Tesability Black]

The two Wingbolts gave a cheerful trill as Hack and Slash tried to flee, seeing the two odd things as interesting as they flew after them. Folding their wings in as needed, they were more than able to keep up with the two little flying things.

At one point, however, the Wingbolt flying after Slash left the range of invisibility, allowing the grey and white serpentine form to become visible...and it booped the little thing in curiosity with its muzzle before catching it with its wings, staying afloat with its gas bladders. As Slash struggled to get away, the young Wingbolt moved it about in its wings, rolling it over gently and treating it as if it was some sort of curious toy, almost purring as it did. It already could smell that there was nothing edible on it, but it looked and acted interesting...

~~~

~Rawal's POV~

Rawal's jaw was stuck hanging at what one of the Wingbolts was doing. Is...it...

Well, that creation has a curious streak, Talis-Eye psionically remarked. That could be a good or bad thing, depending on how you handle this.

There was just no escape from how things reminded him of the reason why he was here, was there?

Letting out a muted sigh, Rawal nodded to Talis-Eye under their shared invisibility, the Eyebeast using its Telepathy to trace the locations of the Wingbolts and float over to the one that had broken out of their range. Talis-Eye made no effort to recloak it. The creation becoming invisible while playing with its new toy would suggest an outside source and neither of them wanted that...

[Hälō]

"I'll take you up on that," Mango called out before moving forward. "I'd like some warmups myself."

 

Lace studied the other experiment as it dashed towards her. It seemed to be moving as if it were testing it's own body out for the first time. Finally reacting at the last minute, XIII quickly stepped into Mango's swing and drew her straight sword vertically to meet the creature's first strike, causing a metallic clang to resonate through the valley.

 

She was strong. Tightening her tiny jaw slightly as she gripped her blade to match Mango's strength, Lace watched as her opponent spun around to swing with her left claw as well. Using her speed, Lace broke away from the exchange the moment Mango turned for the second strike. Quickly leaping atop the God Stone, Lace crouched and began to carve at the air in front of her with her straight sword, releasing a salvo of razor sharp crescents towards Mango.

 

"Magnum Locust!" She'd send the crescents flying after Mango if the other girl tried to flee, but would stop her assault soon after it had begun. This was just a warm up after all...       

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

And. It's....gooooood!

 

Right between the goal post!

 

Bethany's aim was true and the hairy beast took a spear through the mouth and into the brain. It was...a grisly way to go but Bethany couldn't dwell very long on the guilt that welled up in her. She had to backpedal away from the falling carcass of the beast. And, worse than that, there were...

 

"Did I fall through the looking glass or something?" She muttered as she saw the three large cats hurtling through the air towards her. "Since when do cats fly?"

Except there was something odd about the creature's flight. It didn't look like they were in control of their own path. Something must have launched them...Did one of the other contestants have a cat launcher?

The kids would love that.

 

She directed her attention towards the catastrophe incoming and countered it the only way she could think of. She sent out her freezing wind towards the trio. The ice should slow them and make it child's play to prevent them from hitting her. After all it wasn't like they'd be able to intentionally go for her, even if they decided to try, so as long as she paid attention she should be safe from this volley.

 

Hopefully whoever it was didn't send a tiger next time.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Louis stayed on the plateau to watch from afar, to study the girl he would soon be murderizing.  She had quickly dispatched of the large gorilla with an icicle to the dome.  She had enough power to split the skull of a full grown silver back gorilla, an impressive feat to say the least, for such a fragile girl at least.  Not only was her spell casting quick, her reflexes were just as sharp, seeing as how she was able to sense oncoming danger in a fraction of a second.  His big cat trio was also thwarted in their attempts to pounce on her.  A wind of cold air blew over them, reaching to Louis himself.  It was a nice breeze that was greatly appreciated in this muggy heat of the forest.  Sadly, the trio decided to dip out of the situation.  With a gorilla corpse on the ground, and their manic manipulator behind him, it was understandable.  They all high tailed it out of the immediate area, and headed deep into the jungle.  

 

"A shame."  Louis muttered.  "If they had finished her off, this would have been a lot less painful for her."  He lay on the plateau with one leg crossed above the other.  In the ensuing chaos, Basabth had managed to dart across the treeline, and sneak into the higher branches, looking down on both Bethany and Louis alike.   "Keep an eye on her would you, Basabth.  Tell me if she gets a bit froggy."  

 

"You got it, Louis!"  

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

 

Jack paused for a moment. Hack floated over and hovered above Jack's shoulder, but she was frozen in place, staring at Slash's feed with a feeling she could only describe as a sickening mix of shock, surprise, and annoyance. Slash's feed was going haywire with warnings and alarms, the simple AI programmed into its computer going crazy during what Jack could only assume was the scariest day of it simple life. She let out a sigh and crept through the jungle towards its location. Whatever that thing was, another alien maybe, it must have been what had chased after her drones before. The reason for why it was visible now was the bigger question; either it was a predator (in both the literal and referential sense), or something else had something to do with it. The information Jack was given on this location didn't say anything about alien creatures prowling around, but then again she wouldn't put it past Golden Gate to withhold a tasty morsel of information like that. Either way, she needed her drone back, and if another contestant was involved with this creature she'd find out one way or another.

 

Soon enough Jack reached Slash's location and got a better look of the creature as it happily toyed with Jack's terrified robot. Staying hidden in the bushes, she sent a command to the robot to use its Arclight Projectors. A simple shape that should do the job. Slash complied, and tiny spines made of hard light quickly materialized just around the drone. The creature's wings and body touched the spines as they appeared, curious, but it recoiled at the sharp, slight pain and backed off. Slash flew off, and in that moment Jack let loose her arrow directly at the flying creature. Looks like she was going hunting after all.

[Tesability Black]

At first, the grey Wingbolt recoiled, pulling back its winged arms as the feelings of sudden spines appeared around its new toy. As soon as said toy was freed, a whine escaped the creation, looking clearly dejected at its loss, since the toy disappeared from its sight in those few seconds.

Then something flew past it, some sort of enlarged thorn that came a little too close for comfort. Pointing its reptilian head, small red eyes soon landed on something that was clashing with the green it was trying to hide under. It narrowed its eyes, about to give the thorn-thrower a piece of its tiny mind, but it soon felt the urge to pull away. At this pull, it gave an indignant growl before flying quickly out of sight, disappearing entirely into invisibility with the aid of another.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Rawal's POV~

It took everything Rawal had in regards to self-control to not groan audibly, let alone as loudly as he could.

Nor did he dare let himself loose with a psionic scream incase there was something else similar to Talis-Eye in ability on this utterly ass-backwards planet.

One stayed in invisibility range, and the other was too curious about the thing to not stop chasing...

Talis-Eye and Rawal had been nearby, the former using their illusions to make their approach silent, unseen and unnoticed, the other Wingbolt floating near them as well. As they moved through the various branches they could not avoid, they were given the impression that said branches had not moved at all instead.

So, when the curious Wingbolt had been nearly hit with an unusual arrow, the Shaper gave the silent command for the creation to pull back for now, heading towards a differing direction than towards them. As soon as it disappeared and before the shooter was detected to have moved, Talis-Eye was fast in resurrounding it with invisibility.

...at this rate, I'm gonna die from this 'tournament' from all the stupidity I'm seeing on this planet making my head explode, not from another person directly killing me, Rawal finally let free from his thoughts, faintly groaning in his head.

[Yui]

---

Whoever this girl was, she wasn't bad at all. She was able to hold her own against Mango's first attack, and even jumped out of the way when the second one was coming around. In her experiences leading up to the end of the tournament, most humans who were in that situation tried to do something stupid like block both of Mango's arms at once. This girl was smarter than that, whoever she was. She jumped up onto the stone in the center of the battlefield, and then...

 

"Magnum Locust!"

 

A projectile attack? That fired from her sword? Technology just gets better every day, doesn't it? Mango briefly wondered how high she could jump without the old sludge layer weighing her down. She was no master acrobat before, but she was able to at least jump and stuff. It would probably be easy now. And so, Mango crouched down, then pushed up with everything she had, aiming to jump over the attacks entirely. It didn't quite work out as she imagined it. A couple of the crescents from the attack clipped her legs, but nothing that would impair her in the short term. Mango looked down to the cuts on her legs. Her blood looked more like melted peanut butter. Probably the result of her sludge getting mixed into her blood with those pills. It wasn't the prettiest sight she'd ever seen.

 

"You'll have to teach me how to do that after we're done fighting," Mango called out. "I'd teach you something back, but I don't think there's anything I can teach you."

---

[Dad]

Sacrificial Lamb

 

CopyCat had been pacing in his cell for the last three hours.  What was keeping her?  And how was he meant to steal away Janey?  Her room was probably guarded.  And he had nothing in range to mimic.  Then, as if on cue, the lights outside his cell dimmed and flickered.  A bubbling black and purple ooze on the floor outside CopyCat's cell gave rise to her slender figure, and she materialized before him out of the sickening slime.  "I like my girl's nasty, but you take it a bit far," CopyCat mumbled.

 

She smirked at the man's quip, taking a few steps forward in her pointed black stilettos.  "I'm securing a location for you.  The old Helshire Bank in downtown.  Fifteen miles from here."

 

CopyCat blinked.  He wasn't sure what to make of this.  "I--is that where you need me?  What am I meant to do in an abandoned bank?"

 

She sighed rubbing her temple in annoyance.  "Never mind that, you imbecile.  You've already been given your assignment.  You're to secure the mad girl upstairs, and evacuate to the Helshire Bank's vaults.  I'll provide you with an escort and a vehicle.  Can you handle that?" she asked, as her eyes narrowed.

 

"Y-yes, ma'am.  B-b-but what about the guards?  Will Janey be protected?  I can't just walk up to--"

 

"The guards won't be a problem.  I'll have them taken care of before you're meant to walk out of here.  Oh, and one more thing," she said, her voice still masked behind a plethora of magic and shadow.  "I'll need you to create a distraction."

 

CopyCat raised a finger to argue, but she silenced him with a hand.

 

"Not now.  When you get to the vault.  I need you to do something.  Anything.  But I need a big distraction.  Make sure its broadcasted throughout the city.  The bigger the ruckus, the more I reward you," she said, taking a few steps backwards.

 

CopyCat began to grin.  "Then I've got a few ideas, m'lady.  I'm gonna pay back Janey.  She'll be all the distraction we need."

 

She rubbed her chin, but was satisfied.  "Good.  Just a few more hours.  Then, you'll be free."

 

She began to melt back into the bubbling ooze on the floor, disappearing from site as the ooze suddenly vanished on the cold tile.

 

"Bleh.  That's gross," CopyCat said aloud.

 

---

 

Sword in the Stone

 

Removing "black magic" was no easy task.  It was daunting, tiring, and it annoyed the angel.  Several dozen souls had to be escorted to heaven because of the adverse effects of whatever that sudden explosion of darkness was over the Western Region of the world.  When he had done that, Choros had to return to earth, to remove the blight that this "black magic" had left behind.  What could have done this?  Who could have done this?  Sorcerers were nearly extinct.  There was only one coven of magic users remaining, and Choros knew all of the occupants within that coven.  The demon lords were bound to shackles, deep within the bowels of hell.  Their chains were emblazoned with the souls of the four great ones, leaving no possible escape for the demon lords.  This meant that no darkness could arise from hell again.  But then, where did this come from?  This irritated Choros greatly.  But no sooner had he finished his task, did he sense another disturbance.

 

This one was slight, but there were three presences which surrounded a powerful magical artifact.  He should have known it would be discovered sooner or later.  "Humans," he said, picking up his sword.  "Always interfering in the affairs of that which they cannot understand."  

 

The Godstone shimmered in his eye, and Choros could see them.  Lace.  Mango.  Angelica.  Why were they here?  It didn't matter.  They were trespassing on holy ground.  They were fighting on holy ground.  That enough was cause for Choros to interfere.  By the Great Laws, he had no choice but to remove those who were too close to the Godstone.  

 

He stepped into the Sky Well, and dove from the heavens.  Thunder boomed below him, as the sky parted, and Choros made his way back towards Earth.

 

---

 

Bullet Time

 

Ife was out on foot first, approaching the northern side of the jungle with half of the convoy.  With him were three shamans, leaving the other two with the southern convoy.  "Bullet.  Lead.  We follow.  Kill anything dat moves."

 

Behind Ife, a large man in a heavy black trenchcoat got out of a jeep.  He was at least eight feet tall, yet the coat draped down to his knees.  He was a bald headed African man, whose eyes were pale white, and his lips had been sewn shut.  In lengthy black combat boots, he stomped over to the rear of the jeep, and pulled off its covering.  Mounted atop the jeep was a heavy, automatic mini-gun.  Bullet climbed atop the jeep, and with his own bare hands, stripped the mini-gun from its mount on the jeep, and took it in his hands towards General Ife.  Bullet marched into the Congo Basin, wielding the mini-gun as if it were lightly packed luggage.  

 

"You three," Ife said, pointing to his shaman.  "Keep us warded.  Shut down our enemies."  The shaman remained silent, as they walked among General Ife, Bullet Time, and the twenty armed men of the African Death Forces who were tagging along.  The shaman spread themselves out, covering three points around General Ife and his soldiers.  These shaman were walking magical wards.  Magic of any kind, no matter its origin, would be unable to penetrate the defenses of the shaman without physical contact.  In addition, these shaman were also attuned to the ways of nature, making their own magic much more powerful.  "Clear da way," Ife commanded, patting Bullet Time on the back.

 

If one were to notice the mini-gun Bullet Time was wielding, they would see a distinct lack of bullets.  That was of course, because, Bullet Time didn't need them.  Spinning up the barrel on the mini-gun, Bullet Time held the mini-gun with both hands, and out of it exploded hundreds of rounds at a time.  Trees were felled in an instant, and bird life scattered into the wind.  Shrub was turned to dust, and Bullet Time and General Ife marched on the northern jungle, making their presence known.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Bethany took a deep breath. Sometimes she was grateful she lived in a place that meant she had to be on the lookout for projectiles at all times. Granted it make her hella twitchy during the Fourth of July.

 

That was neither here nor there, whatever that meant, as she now had to be on the lookout for whoever had attacked her with cats. Several moments passed without anything happening but Bethany couldn't relax her guard. The cats had come from...that way, so that meant she had to keep her back at the opposite direction.

She didn't notice much stirring which either meant the opponent wasn't moving or it was doing so stealthily. In the case of the former all she had to do was keep watch in the direction that the cats came from.

If it was the latter...well all she had to do was watch in that direction anyway. If she couldn't hear nor see any sign of her opponent then there wasn't much she could do to avoid that.

 

The sudden gunfire made her jump a bit. "Son of a bi....llabong." She said. Billabong?

 

She could hear the sounds of extremely heavy gunfire and...trees falling, towards the...south? Just great. Maybe the gorillas had firepower now. With having battled a snake goddess last time she wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.

Whatever it was it seemed to be coming this way. And she wasn't exactly bulletproof.

 

However she was fairly certain the other one wouldn't be either. "Hey." She called out. "Catmandu. I dunno which one you are. Or if you're even any of them. But there's something coming this way and I for one don't think we should be wailing on each other just to get shot. How about we put this off until this area is less....bullet-y."

In truth she was feeling more nervous by the second. Her first encounter in this place had been some really pissed off wildlife and now there was even more obstacles. She didn't even know if she could win the fights with the contestants and now there was all this craziness alongside it?

She was going to need a vacation after this.

...Yeah that wasn't happening.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Er...you two, don't you feel something strange was happening?"

For once, Angelica was the one that didn't get caught in the heat of the moment and stopped herself from joining into the brawl as her sensors felt an unnatural change in the atmosphere. It was as if a storm was brewing, but rather than storm clouds congregating into one spot, what happened was instead they seemed to be...parted? She wasn't sure about what was happening, but it was clear that this was the signal of arrival of the mandatory third party of this arena.

 

"Seems like our little mating dance had attracted something into this place. Would he be a god since this is Godstone Valley?

 

Ought to be fun. Say, should we try breaking the stone now? Just out of curiosity - it might do something interesting."

 

---

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Without any info coming from Basabth, Louis still lay on the plateau.  His thoughts wandered off to what Dirk had said prior.  Wasn't he supposed to be finding out about some crazy top secret info about F.A.L.L. here?  That detective wasn't good for anything.  If he had been a contestant in this tournament, Louis would kill him for feeding the agent false information.  

 

"World's greatest detective my ass."  He huffed.

 

As Bethany's head perked up a bit, so too did Basabth's.  Listening closely, the little shadow demon could hear the sound of whizzing bullets through the air, a noise he was pretty familiar with by now considering Louis' line of work.  Basabth intruded on Louis' thoughts, confirming the information with him.  Louis, given the info, couldn't be anymore happier.  

 

"Hey. Catmandu. I dunno which one you are. Or if you're even any of them. But there's something coming this way and I for one don't think we should be wailing on each other just to get shot. How about we put this off until this area is less....bullet-y."

 

It irked him that this girl already knew that one of the three was after her.  Flinging Jaguars through the air must've given her the clue.  He scratched his head, maybe it wasn't the best way to give off his intentions.  From the treetops, Basabth snickered.  He opened his mouth, only to have Louis' voice project from the top of the forest skyline.  The voice sounded a bit reverberated, as to mask Louis' voice a little.  

 

"Well...I hope you can deal with whatever's coming your way, and me at the same time.  After all, the faster you die, the faster I get to go back to the hotel."  Louis yawned, the yawn still projecting through Basabth like a megaphone.  "So uh...good luck with that."  Basabth closed his mouth, still keeping a close eye on the girl.  If it wasn't so hot, Louis might have taken a nap.  From his side, a shadow like straw rose up, and into his mouth.  Louis started to slurp the water he had gathered in the beginning, quenching the thirst he had gathered from just lazing around.  

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Well...I hope you can deal with whatever's coming your way, and me at the same time.  After all, the faster you die, the faster I get to go back to the hotel. So uh...good luck with that."

 

Well that was definitely not Jack. Probably not the old man either. There was a strange tone to the voice but Bethany had hung around those other two long enough to at least recognized that much. Though she still knew relatively nothing about her opponent.

 

Seemed he was that kind of guy though. Probably one of those online gamer types. She was fully prepared for when he called her a noob.

 

Though it was certainly frustrating. This guy was planning on letting whatever was coming get to her, and, from his first statement, intended to help them take her down. She'd be facing whoever it was had that gun and one of the contestants at the same time. "You realize there's two others besides me right? This isn't some game where you beat the boss an continue to the next level. I die and then whoever kills me goes for you right after."

 

If this was the one Bethany thought it was he had fought...the ooze monster right? It wasn't much information but maybe it meant that the man was best at fighting at a distance. It would explain the cat-launcher from before.

 

Either case she knew what she had to do. She just wasn't sure she really wanted to do it.

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

 

The creature that had attacked Jack's drone had flown away, after her arrow had missed, and disappeared promptly. Jack lowered her bow, keeping perfectly still to listen for any signs of movement in the area. Whatever it was that had gone after he drone might have something to do with one of Jack's opponents, and if that was the case then so did the mysterious invisibility. Jack kept her bow out, knocking another arrow at the ready in case she encountered anything else, and continued to move through the jungle. At this point, Jack was cursing at herself for not requesting any sort of thermal or even X-ray imaging on her visor; at least then she might be able to detect any of these enemies that wanted to remain unseen.

 

Moving through the jungle, there was a dull roar that echoed over the trees and a flock of birds accompanying it. The roar sounded like nothing natural, yet it was very familiar.

 

"Gunfire," Jack muttered to herself. It sounded very distant; possibly near the other contestants. No way could it have to do with any of the other contestants; the roar sounded like a heavy machine gun or Gatling weapon; nothing of the sort that the other contestants would have been carrying into the arena. So long as it wasn't Jack's problem she was okay with that, but the real problem was the distance between her and these assailants. If she wanted these fighters on her side, she needed to find them before they found anyone else; but it seemed like that plan was going down the drain already. Still, so long as they were shooting at her competition and not herself it was a win/win situation.

 

Either way, Jack still had her mission: Get to the high ground, and from there, locate her opponents and assess the situation. But if one of her opponents had found her already, as that creature may have suggested, then her goal was now remaining as unseen as she could before she located her enemy. If you could see the enemy and they can't see you, then that was the ideal situation. If it's the other way around, then Jack had a serious problem to work out.

[Hälō]

Watching Mango spring up to dodge her attack, Lace sent two more crescents in pursuit before returning her blade to it's scabbard. 

 

"You'll have to teach me how to do that after we're done fighting," Mango called out. "I'd teach you something back, but I don't think there's anything I can teach you."

 

Lace studied the experiment for a moment. Like all of her techniques, the Magnum Locust was a weaponization of her soul, which in her case was her very being. Having not been designed in the same manner, did Mango even have a soul to begin with? She toyed with the question for a moment before finally responding.

 

"Perhaps not about combat," Lace said calmly as she stood atop the God Stone. "But I'm sure theres something you can teach me."  

 

"Er...you two, don't you feel something strange was happening?"Angelica's voice caused Lace to glance over to the other girl's direction. Following Angelica's gaze upwards, Lace sudden felt a chill run down her spine. Something was in fact coming...

 

"Seems like our little mating dance had attracted something into this place. Would he be a god since this is Godstone Valley? Ought to be fun. Say, should we try breaking the stone now? Just out of curiosity - it might do something interesting."

 

Scoffing at the android's usual carefree attitude, Lace leaped from the atop the stone with a skillful flip. Landing at Angelica's side, she rolled her shoulder and allowed a slight smirk to appear on her tiny lips. "Go right ahead. I'd rather break whatever's coming..." She knew the rules of the game now. A strong opponent would appear, one in the same league of the snake demon she had been pitted against in the last round. She was designed for this, and despite her demeanor, Lace could feel her excitement rising at the prospect of slaying another god. 

 

 

[Tesability Black]

If you could see the enemy and they can't see you, then that was the ideal situation. If it's the other way around, then Jack had a serious problem to work out.

 

This was indeed the problem Jack had to deal with, though, the ones presenting this problem weren't moving just yet. Rawal turned his head towards the sounds of distant thunder, confusion on his face as he turned towards its direction underneath the cloak of invisibility.

 

There did not seem to be a single storm cloud in the sky, yet that sound carried too well.

 

"Those can't be those unusual Thorn Batons," Rawal found himself muttering under his breath in his native non-Earthen tongue, forgetting to keep his words in his head for a moment. Shaking his head after the realization that he said them aloud, he mentally motioned for Talis-Eye to move him to behind the momentary prey that was Jack...

 

...long enough for a black bolt of lightning to errupt from Rawal's hands to Wrack the fellow contestant's nerves with overwhelming pain, sensitizing them for future pain.

 

As soon as the lightning left Rawal's hands, any indicator that the invisibility had dropped would re-envelop the Shaper before Talis-Eye moved him out of his previous location.

[Dad]

Southern Rumble in the Jungle

 

"Boss want them alive," one of the Shaman said, standing just out of earshot of Jack.  

 

"You see them?" asked the second of the Shaman.

 

"No.  But I will," replied the first Shaman.  In his hands, he clutched a handful of a purple, powdery substance.  With a deep inhale, he snorted the purple powder, and rubbed it into his eyes.  His eyes began to sting, and water.  His veins pulsated, and his skin itched.  There were many unnatural things around them.  The Shaman's eyes bulged, as he carefully observed the Congo.  He could sense many things.  He could feel the uncertainty of the hippopotamus' nearby.  He could sense the patience of the snakes in deep grass.  And then, he could sense something. . .unusual.  Something he had never sensed before.  "They bring something wicked here.  It no animal.  Not from earth."

 

The second Shaman took a sharp stone from his brethren, and cut into the palm of his own hand.  The Shaman then sprayed his own blood in an arch around himself, and the twenty armed men with them.  He began to chant in an unintelligible tongue.  Opening his palm, the second Shaman could see his blood encircling the stone he carried, now creating a powerful barrier out of the arch of blood sprayed around his companions.  "You go," the second Shaman pointed to the first.  "I stay."

 

The first Shaman nodded, signaling for fifteen of the twenty armed men to follow him.

 

"Dario," said the second Shaman.

 

The first Shaman turned around, saying nothing.

 

"The skies," said the second Shaman.

 

Dario, the first Shaman, nodded.  "We do not fail, Cain."  Dario marched forwards, out into the clearing, just as a crack of black lightning streaked past him, just as Cain warned.  "You get girl," Dario ordered of the gun toting men behind him.  "I get that one."  His eyes still pulsating, Dario focused his vision on his palms, as he pressed them against his chest.  In a similar tongue to that of Cain's, he chanted, and a fluid, pale white energy began to emerge from his chest like a wisp of smoke.  The wisp slowly became solid in his hands, forming a bloodied stone pike, with unidentifiable engravings in it.  He shoved the pike into the ground, and from the pike, a wave of white energy washed over a fifteen meter radius.  It encompassed Jack, Dario, Cain, the armed men, every animal and everything above the forest in the same vicinity.

 

This accomplished two things.  First, this energy pulse reveals the life presence of everything it touches.  And then, if it reaches anything magical, the entity is identified for the Shaman who cast the spell.  This "Natural Order Blood and Pike" was also a ward, preventing any new magic that was not produced by a Shaman from being used within its presence.  And as Dario turned his head, he could feel the life presence of the "unnatural thing".

 

"Got you," he declared softly to himself.  With a raise of his hands, Dario produced great pillars of stone from the earth, ten feet long, and twenty inches thick.  He hurled two of them skywards, spinning them horizontally, and directing them into the path of the creature's heartbeat.  Whether or not he hit the target was irrelevant.  Dario simply needed a reply from whatever it was that was there.

 

Dario's men, however, had no such power.  Instead, they slowly began to surround Jack, guns raised and trained on her.  They began to slowly encircle her, and a gunman nearest Jack's left arm, was prepared to tackle and pin her to the ground.

 

---

 

Hailstorm

 

Cutting a swath through the jungle, Bullet Time ceased his firing.  General Ife ordered Bullet Time and his three Shaman forwards, their warded areas drastically increased in size compared to that of Dario, on the other side of the jungle.  Not far ahead of them, a large animal lie on the ground, impaled.  It was a silverback Gorilla, killed with an icicle.  General Ife patted Bullet Time on the back, then, with two fingers in the air, rotated his fist.  His men began to spread out, and circle around a clearing in front of the gorilla.  As they got closer, they could hear a voice.  It was feminine for sure, but they couldn't hear any other voices besides the female's.  Who was she talking to?

 

General Ife and his men stumbled directly onto Bethany, a trespasser in the Congo Basin and the ADF's territory.  As they crunched over fallen tree limbs, grass, and shrubbery,  General Ife ordered his men to stop where they were.  Bethany had since stopped speaking, and as General Ife rounded her left side, he could hear her audibly gulp.  The General smiled, almost laughing to himself as he ordered a single one of his armed gunmen to step forwards.

 

"What is wrong with this picture?" Ife asked, with a thick accent.

 

"She. . . she white, General, sir," spoke the gunman.

 

"No.  There plenty white people in Africa, idiot.  She pretty," Ife said examining Bethany's face.  "And I always know pretty face.  Tell me, girl.  Who are you?  Why are you here?  Because you're not from Africa."  The General removed his hat, and waved a hand at the armed men.  They came rushing to him with a canteen of water, and he hungrily took four full gulps.  He wiped his mouth, with a satisfied sigh, and asked Bethany again.  "Tell me.  Who are you?  And how do you want to die?"

 

---

 

When Angels Fall

 

There were three entities below, standing among the Godstone.  As Choros fell, the valley around the Godstone rumbled, causing many boulders to begin rolling towards the ground.  The Godstone shined more brightly as Choros neared it, and sunlight reflected his shadow onto the ground below.  He slowed his descent by opening his wings, causing his shadow to expand greatly, and eclipse Godstone valley.  Since his return to the High Heavens, Choros had changed his appearance drastically.  The simple tattered leather cloak and chaps had been replaced by a glistening white and gold line holy armor breastplate and leggings.  If he was to be the last standing of his kind, he had to represent them.  His feet perched upon the Godstone now, it responded to his every breath, reverberating with light.

 

"You.  Humans--wait.  No.  I sense. . . none of you are human," he said, taking a look around to Angelica, Lace, and Mango respectively.  "And only two of you have a soul," Choros remarked.  "How strange.  Perhaps not as strange as your presence in this holy place, but strange nonetheless."  Choros stepped down from the Godstone, no weapon visible on his person.

 

Having learned from his prior engagement with magical creatures, Choros attempted a slow start with the enemies he was surrounded by.  "You stand on holy ground," he said slowly.  "This place was not meant for mortal eyes.  Please, for your own sake, leave quietly.  I will harbor this place in new magics, and hide it away from the world once more.  But you," he said with his back to the Godstone.  "You must leave.  I can make this offer but once.  Lest I be forced to abide by holy law, and remove you from this place to protect the stone."

 

---

 

Boom Goes the Dynamite

 

CopyCat, alone in his cell with no nearby guards, suddenly bolted upright when his cell door slammed open, nearly coming off its hinges.  Not one to question the miraculous events, Copycat darted out of his cell, and raced to the elevator of the Eastern Tower.  As he rounded the corridor and turned into the next, he noticed three guards lying on the floor.  Out of sheer curiosity, he checked their pulses.

 

"Hmph.  Ruthless jabroni, aren't you?" he thought aloud.  Each guard was dead, with no sign of external injury.  Their limbs and bones all appeared to be in order, and their necks appeared normal.  What did she do them?

 

CopyCat snatched an electronic key card from one of the guard's belt loops, and swiped it into a scanner to gain access to the elevator.  Before departing, he plucked a strand of hair from one of the guards' heads.  Then, he snatched the guard's uniform.  Swallowing the strand of hair with regret, CopyCat's body slowly morphed to match the physique of the deceased guard.  With the uniform, he would have an easy time escaping.  He quickly slipped inside of the elevator, and pressed a dimly lit button that read '1F'.  CopyCat was now on his way to the ground level of the Eastern Tower.  He would have to cross two towers to reach Janey.  That meant possibly running into Geno, or his men.  And that damn dog.  But then again, CopyCat was told the guard's wouldn't be a problem.  How could this woman assure him of these things?  Not that she hadn't already proven herself, opening a door with no key and killing three guards without a weapon or puncture wound.  

 

When the elevator doors opened, CopyCat was greeted by two more dead guards inside of a secure but short hallway.  Like the last, no wounds, no sign of broken bones or sabotage.  But they had no pulse.  He stepped quietly over their bodies, and walked calmly over to the exit, and then, to the front door of the Eastern Tower.  He could make a run for it now.  All he had to do was steal a car!  "sheet," he groaned softly.  He'd almost forgotten about Janey.  Why was she so important!?

 

CopyCat motioned towards the Western Tower, but was instantaneously stopped by a fellow guard.

 

"You all done for the night, Briggs?" asked the guard, who stretched out a hand.

 

CopyCat shook the man's hand.  "Shift's over.  Gonna get home and catch some shut-eye," he said in Jason Brigg's gruff voice.

 

"Alright man, take it easy," replied the other guard.

 

"Yeah, you too," CopyCat replied.  As the other guard walked out of range and into the Eastern Tower, CopyCat sprinted away, charging desperately towards the Western Tower.  He was just out of sight of the Eastern Tower entrance, when he heard an alarm go off.  The other guard, had just found the bodies of his deceased coworkers.  That meant CopyCat didn't have much time.  He charged into the Western Tower, and ran at towards the staircase on the West side of the tower.  "sheet!  I forgot to ask what floor she was on!"

 

But as CopyCat entered the stairwell, a black haired shadow poked its head out of the wall.  It was the mistress.  "Christ!" CopyCat exclaimed.  "Lady, you have got to stop doing that!"

 

"Third floor.  Room 331E.  Be quick, you imbecile.  They're coming for you," she said, her voice still masked.  She disappeared back into the wall, and CopyCat dashed up the stairs.

 

"This better be worth it," he snarled, bursting into the hall of the third floor.  "331E, 331E.  Where the funk is it!?" CopyCat cried out.  He rounded a hallway and ended up turning into more dead guards.  There was a very good chance that Janey was behind the door in which the guards had fallen.  CopyCat took a pistol from a holster on his stolen uniform, and fired at the lock on door 331E.  He heard screams on the other side of the door, but he didn't hesitate.  Then, kicking it open, he saw a now shocked Janey sprawled across her bed, half naked, beneath several blankets.  She had been engaged in a television series.  How oblivious was this woman?

 

"You," CopyCat said.  "You're comin' with me."

 

CopyCat stormed into the room and snatched Janey by her arm, dragging her out of bed.  She clutched onto the blanket above her tightly, and pointed a finger at the back of the head of the man who was trying to hurt her.  "Let me go before I turn your brain into a fine pink paste," she demanded.

 

"You don't wanna do that, Janey.  Besides.  This is under the boss's orders," Copycat said.

 

"Copy.  I should have known," Janey said, biting her lip.  "Where are you taking me?" she asked, as CopyCat pulled open the doors to the stairwell.

 

"It's a surprise.  Now let's go!" CopyCat demanded.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Before the mysterious voice could respond to her statement, if indeed he was going to respond at all, she heard crunching sounds of people approaching. Looking over she noticed...hm. Well this must be who was making the racket.

 

The man, who was apparently some sort of leader, was speaking about her. Saying she wasn't supposed to be here. Saying she was pretty. Which was never a good sign with these types. It was always a good idea to look like crap when you were dealing with thugs.

Apparently Bethany needed to work on her unattractive game.

 

"Tell me, girl.  Who are you?  Why are you here?  Because you're not from Africa." Oh, gee, you think? Bethany had thought she blended in oh so well. With the winter coat in the middle of the African Congo.

"Tell me.  Who are you?  And how do you want to die?"

 

"...Yo." Was the first words out of Bethany's mouth. It wouldn't do to appear nervous. To live this she would have to, god this pun was too easy to make, be chill. "I'm Bethany. I'm here uhh....Well you see it all started when I got an offer to fight for money. Then I killed a Snake Goddess and beat up a superhero cyborg. Now I'm in this place having wild animals literally thrown at me. Honestly it's all a bit of a snafu. If I had the choice I'd like to die in my sleep in old age. Something tells me you're not wanting to wait that long. So I guess that kind of depends on you doesn't it? What's it going to be boss-man? Gonna just shoot with those guns of yours? It'd be easy. Course where I'm from a leader doesn't get much cred for gunning down some chick but maybe it works differently here."

 

She was rambling. Throwing out words in the hopes that something stuck. If his plan was to just kill her and get on with it she was doomed no matter what. But maybe if she spoke enough something would strike a cord.

It was that or lay down and die.

And the floor was really dirty.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"My, my, my, my, my, my, my, how interesting!"

 

Angelica couldn't hide her grin anymore. Basking with open arms in the sunlight that shone through the hole the entity that descended before her, she watched the entity unfurled its wings. The thought of having to compete with the other two passed her mind for a moment. She never really thought she would be facing a divine entity in this tournament of all places, but to see what might perhaps be the source of inspiration for her and her sisters was quite an exhillrating experience - the thought of of overcoming such a being even more so.

 

"You must leave.  I can make this offer but once.  Lest I be forced to abide by holy law, and remove you from this place to protect the stone."

 

"I'm afraid that leaving this place is not an option for any of us. Place any complaints to the organizer of the tournament, please and thank you.

 

Granted, if you're going to remove us from this place forcibly, then might as well we settle things here instead. I don't really understand the business with a sacred place like here see. Was almost going to break the stone before you descended and all, even.

 

Maybe I should try doing that again?"

 

---

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

 

Jack made her way through the forest, sending Hack and Slash out on a wider angle to scan her surroundings; see if she can get a bead on anything else that's hiding in the forest or in the sky. She made her way through the jungle safe so far, so it wasn't out of the question that whatever was hiding from plain sight wasn't of any danger to Jack or her-

 

And that's when it hit like a bolt of lightening. Pain raced through Jack's entire her body, her nerves on fire from some invisible impact. Jack fell down to one knee, taken aback by the suddenness of the pain, but not set back as the attacker may of hoped. This kind of pain wasn't alien to Jack; it was something that she had come to live with now and then. While normally she would expect this kind of pain to be from the systems hooking her up to her suit, there was no way that could be the case now. The suit was sealed tight; the elements of the jungle weren't getting in to dirty anything up, there had been no damage thus far, and the suit was regularly repaired and maintained, especially after the recent refit. No, there was no way this could be a glitch.

 

However, while Jack herself wasn't set back by the pain, her tech was thoroughly disrupted from such a sudden disruption. What Jack didn't know was the psychic nature of the attack interfering with how her suit operated; everything glitched out for a moment, Hack and Slash falling to the ground in soft thuds for a brief moment. Once the pain subsided her systems returned to normal and Hack and Slash lazily drifted upwards once again.

 

Of course, that's when she heard the sounds of shifting gear. Slowly standing up, Jack saw various soldiers circling around her, guns drawn.

 

"Ah, just the gentlemen I wanted to see," Jack spoke, her suit's voice filter granting an intimidating air to her demeanor that would help greatly. One of the soldiers, to Jack's left, began to inch closer, each eyeing her with an intensity. She had a way out, but she needed to play it cool. Very slowly, Jack raised her hands, feigning surrender, making sure that her tethers were pointed at a thick branch above. She had her smoke, and she had her tethers for a fast getaway. "Now now, there's no need for this. I only want to make a deal; I think we could help each other out quite well." In the meantime, Hack and Slash were both on the outskirts of the soldiers, giving Jack two better angles to see what each soldier was doing, even in her blind spots. Jack turned her helmet slowly, giving each in front of her the impression she was looking them directly in the eye. "Of course, if you knew who I was you would know I'm not an enemy you want. So if you'd like to keep your fight simple, I suggest you listen to what I have to say."

 

 

Golden Gate Hotel - Bar

 

The bar was hopping at this particular time. The match was just kicking off, and surrounding each screen were tight groups of patrons all wanting to soak in as much as the action as they could. At the entrance of the bar, a new patron just entered; an older asian man with short-cut, yet messy hair; a fine, and clearly very expensive suit; and dark circles complimented by well worn worry lines married to his eyes. The man walked to the bar and took a seat, ordering an expensive drink, and looking up at the screen. Despite his appearance, his eyes stared at the screen with a vigorous attention.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Louis didn't want to respond to that brat.  He had talked to her longer than he needed to anyways.  Instead, he looked up to the sky.  The view from laying on his back was pretty nice.  He hadn't been sent a place this jungley in a long time.  Not since the last time he had a hit in the Amazon.  

 

"Louis!  Those guys are here."  

 

"What guys?"  Louis raised an eyebrow.    "How many?"

 

"The one's cutting a swathe through the brush!  And I think four!  They've got the girl at gunpoint!"  

 

Louis couldn't help but snicker.  He had to fight some sort of Frankenstein Stretch Armstrong zombie in the last round.  The fact that this little girl couldn't even deal with glorified thugs.  What Basabth said next though, intrigued him.

 

"Something about the other guys...not the one's with the guns...the one's without.  They're making me feel...kind of off."  In all of Louis' years with Basabth, he had never felt 'kind of off'.  It was strange.  Some of these thugs must have leveled up from their usual thuggery.  Its not as if he wanted to change the course of Bethany's fate, rather that he would stay away from the guys that Basabth was getting a strange feeling from.  "So are we going to save the girl?"  Louis groaned.  

 

"What did I tell you Basabth?  We're not here to stabilize the conflicting forces residing in the Congo.  Plus, they're all going to die anyway.  You need a band-aid for that bleeding heart of yours?"

 

"I don't have a heart Louis!"

 

"I'd beg to differ."  

[Hälō]

Lace rolled her shoulders and drew Beowulf from her back whilst Angelica addressed the new combatant in her usual manner. An angel, huh? She twirled the large blade in her grasp as she thought about the situation. They certainly couldn't just leave, and from what she knew, opposing such an entity wouldn't put the world in danger or throw off the balance of the universe...

 

This was just another fight. His agenda vs theirs, and the consequences would be limited to those who participated. "No," Lace addressed Angelica before stepping forward. "I call first, you can take your turn after..." She smirked. Lace's tone held subtle traces of childlike competitiveness that lingered from the time the girls had spent only a few hours prior.  

 

It made her entire doll-like presence seem notably more... real than usual.

 

"We're not leaving, but by all means try to remove us..."  XIII's lavender gaze hung on the angel for a moment before she suddenly slammed Beowulf into the ground at her side, causing rubble to fly high into the air from the force. "We came here to fight after all," In that moment her image flickered, leaving her larger blade driven in the ground in the hands of an afterimage that soon faded. 

 

Reappearing between the Angel and the God stone with her body arched in preparation to draw her straight sword, Lace quickly swung her arm over her head in a massive downwards slash to carve through the angel straight down the middle.  

 

 

 

[Yui]

---

"Perhaps not about combat, but I'm sure theres something you can teach me."

 

"Er...you two, don't you feel something strange was happening? Seems like our little mating dance had attracted something into this place. Would he be a god since this is Godstone Valley? Ought to be fun. Say, should we try breaking the stone now? Just out of curiosity - it might do something interesting."

 

"Go right ahead. I'd rather break whatever's coming..."

 

Something was absolutely coming. Mango didn't have much time to think about it before it arrived on the scene. It made the fighters an offer. To either leave, or be forcibly removed by holy law or something like that. Mango, being a creature of science, never really cared much for what was holy or not. However, one religious phrase she was very much on-board with was "Thou shalt not kill". She joined this tournament to win, which she didn't, but even with a chance at getting into the finals by winning the losers bracket, Mango had a year or two, maybe three, left in her. She didn't want to spend them fighting, much unlike her fellow fighters it seemed. Neither of them thought leaving was a viable option. Was everyone in the tournament bloodthirsty except her?

 

"I'm afraid that leaving this place is not an option for any of us. Place any complaints to the organizer of the tournament, please and thank you. Granted, if you're going to remove us from this place forcibly, then might as well we settle things here instead. I don't really understand the business with a sacred place like here see. Was almost going to break the stone before you descended and all, even. Maybe I should try doing that again?"

 

"We're not leaving, but by all means try to remove us... We came here to fight after all."

 

"Is leaving really such a bad idea?" Mango inquired. Putting her bladed hands up, she continued "We can get out of here without any bloodshed, and maybe ask Mr. Nikolaev to send us someplace that doesn't have gods or creepy dead guys or anything else that wants to kill us. I'd be in favor of that; just the three of us fighting it out like a normal tournament." Then again, this tournament has been anything BUT normal so far...

 

Mango was by all means ready to fight if she had to - talking reasonably hadn't gotten her very far with this tournament after all - but she'd definitely prefer a peaceful outcome at least once if she could help it.

---

[Tesability Black]

~Rawal's POV~

Talis-Eye was already pulling back away from the flying earth before Rawal could even think for them to do so as he felt the wash of the strange energy over himself and all of the creations, hearing the Wingbolts cry out in fury before rushing towards the figure near the bloodied pike. As he was pulled away from the scene that approached them, feeling the fear that the Eyebeast unintentionally projected, he found himself regretting his earlier choice of trying to disable his opponent, finding that deadlier ones have approached.

Too late now.

His eyes widen upon seeing the pointed earth that flew towards both him and Talis-Eye, flying right at the both of them.

Can't you do anything about them, Talis-Eye?!

Not until I'm out of whatever that was's range!

With the path that Talis-Eye was cutting through the trees, the stone pillars were forced to clip various trees, causing them to break up little by little with each impact. As Rawal saw them inch closer, he began trying to do what he could to try to stop the shards from coming any closer. However, as he muttered uner his breath for any spell that could manage to manifest, he felt something constantly keeping his magic suppressed.

Fortunately, Rawal never gave up trying to cast anything that would work. And it was because of this that he ended up surviving the two pointed stones piercing both his chest, barely missing his vital organs, and through his right hip, due to how it lined up between the second stone and Talis-Eye.

The Shapers had long learned how to make temporary flesh using essense that can stay while the real flesh heals either naturally or by accelerated means.

"Lord Rawal," he barely registered as he felt his awareness fade between solid black and the world around him. As if unbidden, he felt his hands raise as he muttered words he could not focus on saying himself, like another had been taking control of him to do what he was doing.

He could feel the false flesh within him rapidly forming as the two stone javelins were pulled out of him by an unseen force before seeing Talis-Eye enter his view. From what he could tell, the Eyebeast was trying to say something, but he heard nothing.

He just wanted to sleep away the pain he felt...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Talis-Eye's POV~

"Lord Rawal, don't pass out on me! You can't lose this yet," the Eyebeast stated in a panic, forgetting that they were speaking in one of the Earthen languages instead of the one that Rawal understood.

I can't afford to have you lose, they thought to themselves as all eleven eyes began to glow with different colors. They forced the elder to stay awake, to make him cast the Heal spell they knew full well he knew in addition to the Regeneration Aura to heal him over a period of time incase the Essense Infusion spell the Shaper managed to cast failed somehow.

Rawal was tearing up from the massive pain he radiated, even trying to cry out in pain to the stars further above the clouds, but he was silenced before he could scream...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Both of the Wingbolts felt the wave that washed over them, feeling an instinctive fear and need to remove the source. Growling emerged from the invisibility before they flew forward. One of them flew towards the Shaman with the unusual pike, firing down balls of energy at him without abandon.

The other Wingbolt...flew up towards and above the figure that approached, recognizing Slash and cheerily chirped before trying to play tag with it...

[Dad]

Congo Line

 

"I'm Bethany. I'm here uhh....Well, you see it all started when I got an offer to fight for money. Then I killed a Snake Goddess and beat up a superhero cyborg. Now I'm in this place having wild animals literally thrown at me. Honestly, it's all a bit of a snafu. If I had the choice I'd like to die in my sleep in old age. Something tells me you're not wanting to wait that long. So I guess that kind of depends on you, doesn't it? What's it going to be boss-man? Gonna just shoot me with those guns of yours? It'd be easy. Course, where I'm from, a leader doesn't get much cred for gunning down some chick but maybe it works differently here."

 

The General smiled.  She was cute and snippy.  He liked her.  "I could kill you, yes, Ms. Bethany," General Ife said, taking a few steps closer to Bethany.  Without hesitation, he grabbed her by her chin, and closely examined her face.  "But I'm starting to have second thoughts.  See, you're a pretty white girl.  I could turn you into a prized whore.  Maybe I give you to my men and let them pass you around until you can't stand.  Or," he said in his thick accent, holding her chin high and examining the curvature of Bethany's neck.  "Maybe I keep you for myself.  You see, my wife, she's okay.  But she's nothing like you.  Maybe I make you my own.  You can take care of me and live a rich lifestyle.  All you would have to do in return is cook and spread your legs.  You seem ripe," Ife said.  He got in extremely close to Bethany, so that she could feel his breath on her neck.  He sniffed her hair and licked her ear as his men laughed.  

 

"Killing you seems like a waste.  I'm sure you would give birth to very healthy children."  General Ife motioned for two of his men to come forth.  "Take her to the convoy.  And if anyone lays a hand on her, I'll feed you to the dogs."

 

Bethany was about to be forcefully dragged away against her will.  And with her magic be dulled, she could rely on two things:  her wit and her pistol.  She had a third option, but Louis' stakes in the Secret Cup were too high for him to want to save a fellow contestant.  Or were they?  The Shaman were just barely in reach of Louis, and the full strength of their magical warding only grazed him.  Still, Basabth could feel the Shaman.  There were ways for Louis to get around the ward, of course.  They prevented new magics from forming inside them.  But what about from outside of their range?

 

---

 

Jack in the Box

 

"Now now, there's no need for this. I only want to make a deal; I think we could help each other out quite well." 

 

"You make deal with General.  Not us," Dario's men replied.  "We take you to him.  Alive.  If you not stupid."  Unfortunately, General Ife's men were used to doing combat with other soldiers.  Jack was a different kind of soldier entirely, and they had ignorantly begun to underestimate her.  With their guns still aimed at Jack, the militiaman nearest her left arm approached Jack's back and was about to take her by the arms and restrain her.  

 

Meanwhile, Dario was dealing with a different threat.  Though he had potentially dealt with a larger foe, energy bolts rained down on him, causing Dario to dive and roll onto the ground as he fled the unseen enemy.  He could not see his foe, but he could still feel its life force.  With similar hand motions to before, Dario raised the earth beneath his feet again.  This time, he formed hundreds of shards of stone in the air by crashing two enormous pillars together.  He cast them upwards, and the shards froze in the air like rain droplets.  Dario waited for the enemy to take another pass at him.  When they did, his trap would trigger, and the shards would plummet to the ground.

 

---

 

My Demons

 

"We're not leaving, but by all means try to remove us... We came here to fight after all."

 

"I'm afraid that leaving this place is not an option for any of us. Place any complaints to the organizer of the tournament, please and thank you. Granted, if you're going to remove us from this place forcibly, then might as well we settle things here instead. I don't really understand the business with a sacred place like here see. Was almost going to break the stone before you descended and all, even. Maybe I should try doing that again?"

 

"Is leaving really such a bad idea? We can get out of here without any bloodshed, and maybe ask Mr. Nikolaev to send us someplace that doesn't have gods or creepy dead guys or anything else that wants to kill us. I'd be in favor of that; just the three of us fighting it out like a normal tournament."

 

 

As Lace struck out at Choros, he held up a hand and caught her weapon without flinching.  He repelled Lace with a wave of holy magic, but it would only displace her.  Lace would find herself back at her starting position, against her will.  And to her surprise, not a scratch on Choros' gauntlets would form.

 

"You.  Man-made creature," Choros said, now looking at Mango.  "Your intelligence supersedes that of your allies.  I will kill you last if you are present when your comrades die."  Choros stretched a hand to the sky, and it rumbled as he did so.  "You have failed to heed my warning," he said, directing his words to Angelica and Lace.  "May mercy be upon your souls."

 

A flash of lightning tore across the sky and struck Choros' hand.  The impact caused a blinding, deafening explosion that rocked the arena.  As the smoke cleared and the dust settled, Choros could be seen with steam rising from his hand.  Now a holy sword imbued with magic radiated in his hand.  Choros then approached the stone and, as though it were water, stepped through it.  On the opposite side of the stone, a second and third replica of Choros emerged.  One stood before Mango, its sword implanted in the ground and its hands resting on the sword's hilt.  The others stood before Angelica and Lace, their swords raised and ready.

 

In silence, they raised their blades in unison.  Then, without moving, they brought their blades down in a one-handed swing.  After-images of either Choros appeared to stretch forth from the ones who brought down their swords, dashing across the arena at impossible speeds.  With unrelenting force, the after-images struck at Angelica and Lace.  Their physical properties were very real, and any damage Lace or Angelica took would be visible and felt.  But these after-images would disappear once their attack was complete and Choros would wait.

 

---

 

A Meeting with God

 

"Mr. Nikolaev?" came a voice over intercom.

 

"Has it been handled?" Sergei replied.

 

"Yessir.  Their families will be notified immediately.  Services will be arranged and Ghost and his team are reviewing all footage of the last twenty-four hours.  But sir, there's someone here to see you."

 

"Hmm?  Who is it?" Sergei asked.

 

"A Mr. . . . Dillinger?  He says it's urgent and he won't take no for an answer."

 

"Christ," Sergei mumbled to himself.  "Send him down.  I'll talk to him."

 

"Right away sir."

 

Sergei sighed, as the lighting came on in his office.  Of all people, he wasn't expecting to see Gerald.  Not now, and not ever.  What on earth could he want?

 

Sergei's doors were opened rather loudly as the squealing man demanded that security let him through.  "Get out of my way!  I'll have your jobs if you don't get--"

 

"It's alright, it's alright.  Let him through.  Thank you all," Sergei said, waving Gerald through.

 

"Sergei," Gerald said nonchalantly.  Gerald was wearing a large brown over coat over a gaudy pinstripe suit and bowtie with suede shoes.

 

"Gerald," Sergei replied, annoyed.  "To what unholy reason do I owe the pleasure?"

 

"Look, I don't have much time," Gerald said, his palms sweaty.  "It's obvious F.A.L.L. came to see you.  Who was it?  Actually, that doesn't matter."  Gerald took a thumb-drive from his breast-pocket and put it on Sergei's desk.  "All of my assets have been frozen.  You know what this means, Sergei."

 

Sergei looked to the thumb-drive, then back to Gerald.  "They're close."

 

"I believe they're on the cusp.  I was given some information I shouldn't have been given.  Some would-be detective said there were some deep sea exploration contracts taken by some unusual companies over the past year.  I did some digging.  He was right.  And now, those same companies are all converging in Africa.  Sergei, I'm sure of it.  They've found the Atlas."

 

Sergei fell into his chair, letting out a heavy sigh.  He swore under his breath in Russian.  "Do you know what they intend to do with it?"

 

"God only knows," Gerald said.  "Look.  I'm going to be dead soon.  Likely within the next two or three days.  So don't be surprised.  But that's everything.  Every bit of their history, every financial extraction, every deal made.  Every account, and every password.  Sergei, you're in a lot of danger."

 

Sergei nodded.  

 

"You're not listening.  You, your family, your friends, your guests, and your contestants.  You are in serious trouble.  If F.A.L.L. comes knocking in full force--"

 

"I know, Gerald!  I know!" Sergei barked.  "My little Melissa.  All of my hard work.  The people of this hotel.  There has to be something I can do.  Some sort of help I can enlist.  Geno's men can't handle this sort of event.  They don't have the equipment or the ability.  I never thought I'd say that in all my time here," Sergei mumbled.

 

"There is one thing you can do," Gerald said, straightening his coat.  "I came across a sort of hotline for things like this.  They're an unusual sort, but I'm sure if you explain the situation and pay them, they'll take the job."

 

Sergei's eyes glimmered with faint hope.  "How do I reach them?  Who do I ask for?  What do I say?" he asked quickly.

 

Gerald began inching towards Sergei's door.  "You're going to have to be direct with them.  No code words.  And you're going to ask for a woman named Koko."

 

"Koko?  Okay.  Alright, but how do I reach them?" Sergei asked frantically.

 

"Everything's in the thumb-drive Sergei.  Look for the folder marked MHU.  And if you get Morgan instead of Koko, make sure you express how dire the situation is.  Or she won't take you seriously."  Sweating profusely, Gerald left Sergei's office in a huff.

 

Sergei had the thumb-drive in his hand now, and he plugged it into his computer.  It was blocked by a four pin passcode.  Just as Sergei was about to get up and bolt after Gerald, Gerald popped his head back in.

 

"Six, two, nine, five.  Sorry, I almost forgot.  Good luck Sergei," Gerald said.

 

"Thank you, Gerald," Sergei said, as his door was closed again.

 

The MHU folder was at the top of the list, along with over twenty-five other folders.  Sergei would have to reach out to whomever these people were first.  MHU was a strange handle, but Sergei didn't have time to wonder what it meant.  He found their information in a simple unencrypted notepad file.  There was a phone number, a private website, and a list of names that Sergei had never heard of before.  And at the bottom was their handle explained.  "Magical Handling Unit," Sergei mumbled to himself.

 

He picked up his cell phone and dialed the phone number.  He immediately got feedback as a distorted heavy metal song played in the background.  "What on earth?" he asked aloud taking his phone from his ear.

 

"MHU, this is Morgan,  Whatcha got?" said a feminine voice on the other side of his phone, rather suddenly.

 

"Oh, erm, yes.  Yes, I need to speak with Koko, please.  It's urgent," Sergei said.

 

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that before.  Whatcha got dude?  Escaped magical pet?  A spell gone wrong?  Did you ingest any magical mushrooms?  We usually advise people to just take some general meds, but--"

 

"Morgan, listen to me.  The Atlas has been found.  And a lot of people are going to get hurt," Sergei said desperately.

 

Morgan was silent for a moment.  "Stay on the line.  I'll put the director on."  Sergei could hear Morgan stepping away from the phone, and her screaming at someone in the background.

 

"Saul!  Get your gear!  Get everyone and everything!  We've got a problem!" Morgan could be heard saying.

 

---

 

The Ninth Wonder of the World

 

"Bring it up, bring it up.  Easy, easy now.  That's it.  We've got 'em.  Get that sub on board and let's bring it home.  We're about to be filthy fuckin' rich!" said a bearded seaman aboard a large vessel.  "I'm gonna get our handler on the line.  Let 'em know we found the damn thing.  I wanna get a look at it myself, tell ya the truth," he said, moving excitedly towards a satellite phone.

 

As he punched in a series of numbers, the phone buzzed.  "Sir.  We've found it.  We have the Atlas.  Whoa, whoa, hang on.  Slow dow--sir?  Wait, what do you mean put it back?"

 

"You idiots!"  said an angry male voice on the other line.  "That thing is swarming with magical energy!  If you take it out of the water, something is bound to chase it!"

 

"But-but, sir, we encountered zero resistance.  All teams were cooperative, and we found the damn thing.  There's nothin' chasin' us at--"

 

Suddenly the giant ship rocked.  There was a groaning coming from below deck, and then a violent plume of water cut straight through the center of the ship.  "Holy sheet!" exclaimed the seaman.  "Sir!  Sir, what do we do!"

 

"All you had to do was find it.  I never told you to remove it.  God help you."  The line went dead, and the seaman dropped the phone.  Outside, in the middle of the ship, the water funnel began to shape itself.  It twisted and turned until it created a giant head.  Magical energy held it together in what appeared to be the head of a dragon.  The dragon roared over the ship, as its occupants began to abandon it.  It smashed the submarine on the starboard side and loosened it from its chains.  The sub plummeted back into the ocean, only to be devoured by the dragon's head seconds later.  It could be seen being dragged to southern Africa.  But with the ship going down and no way to track the dragon, the Atlas would disappear.  For now.

 

The dragon would take its prize deep into the innards of Africa.  There was a cove it once called home, deep within the Congo Basin.  That was where it would go.  The dragon took the sub in its maw, and crushed it, killing the single seaman inside.  As the sub broke into pieces, the Atlas floated out in front of the dragon, and it devoured its prize.  It would keep the Atlas safe in the Cove.  For nothing could pry the Atlas from its jaws.