[img=http://i.imgur.com/ussbXCw.jpg] 

[b][ Two and Half Hours Pre-Corruption ][/b]

Gluttony made himself at home on one of the couches in the living room. Sloth's orders still vibrated around his head with a surprising intensity; it was one of those occasions when Gluttony decided to slow down his thought processes and analyse everything he could. The mission was simple; leave in two and a half hours, assist the Damned with a raid on some warehouse, and then leave knowing they'd gained a powerful ally. The young man carelessly slung his legs over the opposite arm rest, lying back on the couch. Closing his eyes, he pretended to sleep, retreating to a far off place deep within his mind, saturated with all his secrets and memories. It was the best place to think, and thinking was what Gluttony was best at. Or so he told himself.

He wondered about the Damned; a notorious gang with impressive manpower, the one element that the Sinners appeared to lack. They technically had everything else in terms of weaponry, technology and certain connections in the police network that the authorities hadn't caught onto yet. It was an odd coincidence that for such advantages, only seven Sinners were here to exploit them. Allying with the Damned would give the Sinners a comfortable kick-start up the criminal ladder, so he supposed that it was okay for them to be so few in number. [i]"Power is sweetest in the hands of the few,"[/i] he thought. But what price would he have to pay for such power? His mind wandered to the uncomfortable topic of the planned fight. Whilst Gluttony was a decent shot and not altogether a coward, he was still concerned for how much he had to gain. He didn't particularly care about imprisonment, since his power within the North family was high enough to bribe a judge within a court case or, in the worst case scenario, hire a lawyer good enough to de-buckle the prosecution. No, imprisonment wasn't an issue. Death, however, was. There was no amount of money that Gluttony could throw at Death's gatekeeper. Perhaps Sloth could... Reconsider? Albeit the fact that Gluttony was a steady source of income for the Sinners, he had to admit that not all the money he stole from his family was going to the gang. Some of it went into his personal account, safe for when disaster struck. [i]"Is this a disaster?"[/i]

He dropped his pretence, dull brown eyes gazing at the tie which rested on his chest.Such formal wear for a barbaric gang fight. He almost managed a small chuckle as he recalled some of the weapons the other Sinner's used; Wrath with his knife, Sloth with her nightstick, Pride with his hands and practically anything else he decided to use. Gluttony's eyes wandered upwards to stare at the hand he held in the air, fingers arranged to resemble a gun. He had a good weapon of his own to use. It was a shame he couldn't share it with the others, though. To be honest, he somewhat expected them to have the common sense not to 'bring a knife to a gunfight'. He sighed exhaustively as his hand dropped to cover his now closed eyes, aware of the fact he would have to put in some more work at the fight itself to deal with anybody who had a gun. It simply wouldn't do to let a Sinner die before his own aspirations were complete.

He opened an eye slightly, catching glances at the occasional Sinner passing by his idle form. Lust, Envy, Pride, Greed... Gluttony briefly considered delving deeper into his mind on what to think of them before he thought better of it; he'd make up his mind after the fight. 

[b][ Two and a Half Hours Later: Corruption ][/b]

Gluttony checked how much ammo he had in his magazine. Lucky 7, plus one in the barrel for security. He raised the M1911 handgun up to eye level, clicking his tongue in satisfaction as he checked the iron sight. Spinning the gun loosely in his hand, Gluttony surveyed the other Sinners around him; men and women ready for battle, a look of complete and utter confidence in eyes barely old enough to hit 23 years. He marvelled at such bravery, his grip tightening on the pistol as he held it ready.

The sound of footsteps became clearer and clearer until one of them stopped completely as Sloth struck the first enemy down. "Alright boys and girls, eat 'em up," she said, quickly joining the fray. Cocking his gun, Gluttony sighed in frustration as he raised his arm and swiftly destroyed a young man's shoulder with a speeding bullet. [i]"This is just disgusting,"[/i] he thought as he quickly ducked behind cover, taking another shot at an unseen gunman about to fire at Envy. Gluttony could feel his frustration welling up inside him. Bloodthirst was good, yes, but logic was fundamental for survival. The sheer lack of it he saw offended him, driving him into a righteous anger. Never mind the Sinners, even the other gangs were fighting without grace. He popped his head above a large crate he crouched behind, ducking just in time for a bullet to whiz above where his ear would have been. Gluttony pinched his ear as if to check that it was indeed still there. Looking up at the dark ceiling for a brief moment, Gluttony took a deep breath. "Fuck this," he proclaimed as he vaulted over the crate and shot two men dead.

By the end of the initial bloodbath Gluttony had a murderous look in his eyes, his tie loosened by the motions of battle. Holding his gun limply by his side, a drop of sweat hanging off the side of his head, he quietly swore under his breath as he made his way back to the other Sinners. They were more or less okay, either shaken by the violence or enthralled by the energies it had instilled upon them. Gluttony, on the other hand, was merely irritated.

"Come on, lets get inside and check out what's going on." Gluttony reluctantly followed his boss, grumbling about something to do with children and knives. His steps were slow and measured, as if he was unsure where he was. They came out into another section of the warehouse which appeared darker than the first. "I don't understand, what is supposed to be here-"

[i][b]BOOM.[/i][/b]

Gluttony could feel the ground shake beneath him. He focused his eyes just as he saw his fellow Sinners being enveloped by a black gas. He watched as Sloth recoiled from the gas, the strange substance working its way into her mouth and skin. He watched as Envy was carried away by the force of the explosion, the gas clutching at his helpless body as he slammed into a wall. He watched as the malevolent cloud approached him.

[i]3 seconds.[/i]

Now alert, Gluttony immediately focused on the nature of the cloud. It was thick and bulgy, clearly some kind of compressed gaseous substance which had escaped into the air. 

[i]2 seconds.[/i]

He instinctively took a step backward, his body flexing to get him out of there as fast as possible. But the explosion was too quick. Still his mind worked faster; was it some kind of nerve-agent? It had to be that, why else would Sloth writhe like her soul was being ripped out of her?

[i]1 second.[/i]

Knowing he couldn't escape, Gluttony raised his gun just as the cloud touched his lips. The dark gas swallowed the muzzle flash as if it was a tasty treat, working its way over his tongue. Overcome by the bitter taste, Gluttony fought as hard as possible to stay away. He knew he had merely hundredths of a second before it began to work on his body's innermost mechanisms. The last thing he felt was his brain being consumed by an immense heat, almost as if a volcanic eruption was destroying him from the inside out.

[i]0.[/i]

[b][ Present, After Corruption ][/b]

Harold felt a small hand shaking him by the front of his shirt. "Gluttony, wake up. Come on, wake up!" Gluttony inhaled sharply as Sloth pounded the air out of his lungs, quickly leaving him to wake the other Sinners. Something had happened. He raised himself up uneasily, feeling strangely detached from the sensations his body was giving him. It was like he was there, shivering and sweating in cold terror at the same time as being somewhere else, somewhere distant and dark from which he felt nothing. He looked at his shaking hand, feeling his numb fingers as if this was his first time feeling such a thing. "Sl-Sloth, what the hell happened?" He looked at his leader with desperate eyes, unaware of how pitiful he must have looked. "I don't know," she said, crouching down. "Envy, hurry up. We need to get the fuck out of here. NOW!"

Lifting himself up, Gluttony stretched out his arms to regain his sense of balance. Everything felt wrong, as if his entire understanding of the world had shifted a few decimal points to the right. The solid concrete underneath him felt as if it had the density and texture of wood; the dusty air he breathed travelled down his lungs with a chill that could have only come from another point in his life. Worse of all, when he looked at the Sinners lying on the floor, he no longer felt the safe and distant detachment he held towards them. Instead, he felt the urge to learn, to extract, to exploit, to harvest... To consume.

Shaking his head, Gluttony quickly followed the others back to their base. At one point or another he felt a hand on his shoulder, unsure who it belonged to. Regardless it felt like any other thing lost in the wind. For the first time in his life, Harold North was truly unsure of what would happen next.