[color=slategray][center][img]http://txt-dynamic.cdn.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjU0LmZmOTIwNS5RMkZ6YzJsMWN3LCwuMAAA/jmh-arkham.regular.png[/img][/center][/color][center]_____________________________________________________________[/center][hr] [center][b]. . . A Short While Ago. . .[/b][/center] Cassius frowned. He wasn't sure he liked this side of Katherine he was seeing. It wasn't the first time, but it seemed more... extreme. She seemed so determined to beat this random guy up. He supposed she was upset her sister was dating a Mephisto's student, so maybe her malicious intent was justified? Maybe that wasn't his problem at all. Maybe he was just still a little miffed that Kath had taken her frustration out on him. He was broken out of his musings by a rattling noise behind him. He turned around and saw it seemed to be coming from a broom closet. A Mephisto's ambush perhaps? More monsters? He had to investigate! He couldn't let them be taken from behind! He walked over, whipped the door open, and- [i]CLANK![/i] A bucket dropped over his head, followed by something wrapping around his neck and dragging him into the closet, the door slamming shut behind him. He clawed at the bucket, but it didn't seem to want to come free. He had to use one hand to keep himself from being strangled. Finally he got the bucket free, and saw that he was in a fairly spacious maintenance closet with an imp and a ghost. The imp had been using it's psychic powers to pull the bucket down over him and shut the door, but it was too weak to stop Cassius from fighting free. The ghost, however, was wrapping some sort of rope or cord around his neck and trying to choke the life out of him! The bucket gone, the imp leapt at him, aiming to stab him with a rusty... butter knife? Butter-focused or not, it was still a knife. Cassius grabbed the imps arm, wincing as it dug it's claws into his chest, clinging to him as it tried to drive the knife into his heart. He had no choice. He pulled his hand from the rope and grabbed the imp, his hand igniting and then blasting the imp into the wall, leaving it quite dead. And of course, he heard lots of banging and crashing coming from Kath's fight at that very moment. No one would notice the commotion in the closet over that. His vision began to fade as the rope tightened around his neck unhindered... [center][b]. . . Present. . .[/b][/center] Cassius's eyes blinked open. His neck was killing him, but he was... alive? Yes? Yes, he was. The ghost still held the rope around his neck, but it seemed... dormant? Maybe without the imp to guide it, it had forgotten what it was doing. Regardless, he didn't care to ponder the intricacies of ghost behavior. He lit up. [i]KA-BOOM![/i] He unleashed fire from his entire body, tearing the rope, the ghost, and the closet apart. The door flew to cinders and splinters and he tumbled back into the hall. He coughed and hacked, clutching his throat and sucking in air. [color=slategray]"Guys?"[/color] he called out weakly, stumbling to his feet. Why was the hallway so... steamy? [color=slategray]"Kath!?"[/color] he managed to call out a little louder. He heard a horrifying noise and saw [i]something[/i] big and glowy coming down the hallway toward him. Nope, he'd be having none of that. He needed a way out. Right! The last he'd seen of Andreim, he'd been making a hole in the ceiling! He should have been right under it, though it was hard to say exactly where it was with all the steam. Lighting up his feet, he leapt. [i]CRASH![/i] He'd... almost had it. He'd hit the edge of the hole, smacked his head, but still... he'd made it. Ow. [color=slategray]"Gah... son of a..."[/color] he hissed, clutching his head. [color=slategray]"Bad day... bad day..."[/color] he whispered to himself. He once more climbed to his feet and heard quite the commotion down the hall. He supposed he should check that out. ". . . prisoner. . . Kath. . . of us. . .?" As he drew close, he heard snippets of a conversation. One he didn't like the sound of. His hands ignited and he ran over to a hole that had been put through a wall. Indeed, he saw Katherine surrounded by people, a few of which he recognized as enemies. [color=slategray]"Kath! Hey, back off or els-"[/color] [i]BLAM![/i] And suddenly he was thrown back out of sight. [center][h2][color=CFD3C6]Rurik Alexeev[/color][/h2][/center] [center][@Hammerman] [@6slyboy6] [@Gentlemanvaultboy][/center] [hr] It couldn't have been done by anyone other than Rurik, and indeed his hand was raised and aimed at the hole where Cassius had been standing. [color=CFD3C6]"What? He was gonna attack us,"[/color] Rurik shrugged. [color=slategray]"H-hang on... Kath... I got you!"[/color] Cassius could be heard from out in the hallway. He rushed back into view only to once more be sent flying by another blast. [color=CFD3C6]"Persistent..."[/color] Rurik mused. [color=CFD3C6]"I can do this all day!"[/color] he called out. [color=slategray]"S-so can I!"[/color] Cassius replied as he once more hauled himself to his feet. At that moment, the glow of fire reached the room they were in... but it seemed to come from the wrong direction. [color=CFD3C6]"Wait, wait, wait!"[/color] Rurik shouted, bringing things to a screeching halt. [color=CFD3C6]"If you two fire idiots are here, who's lighting the roof on fire?"[/color] From his position still atop the pile of rubble, he had a good view of the orange glow that was coming down the hole Bak had made, easily visible against the dark night sky. [color=slategray]"Huh?"[/color] Cassius once more made to enter the room, much more calmly this time, ignoring the group as he walked over to look at what Rurik was seeing, [color=slategray]"Excuse me,"[/color] he even said politely as he moved past Bak. [color=slategray]"Oh yeah... it is kinda on fire."[/color] Rurik glanced down at him and frowned, [color=CFD3C6]"Did I say you could come in?"[/color] [color=slategray]"You didn't say I couldn't."[/color] Cassius frowned back. The tension was beginning to grow again. [color=CFD3C6]"Are you still gonna try to fight us?"[/color] Rurik raised an eyebrow. [color=slategray]"I dunno, are you still gonna take Kath prisoner?"[/color] Cassius challenged, clenching his fists, ready to go. Rurik just leaned to the side to look past him, not looking all that concerned, [color=CFD3C6]"Hey Kath, are [i]you[/i] gonna try to fight us? 'Cause I'm willing to call a truce if you don't."[/color] Kath was a big enough pain in the ass on her own... and now there were two of them. He really didn't want to deal with that kind of nonsense.