thewizardguy

The Blood Compact

[You certainly have spirit. Although your attitude is yet to be tempered by experience, you have the makings of a warrior. A murderer's heart burns in your chest, doesn't it?]

For the first time in an eternity, Kami no Kage offered up a small chuckle. It had been a long time since he had been faced by one who did not fear him. Detailed microphones detected the subtle beating of a heart, heightened but not rapid. calm and collected excitement, a tinge of fear, but controlled. The fear of one who knew their life would be determined by the actions to come, and yet the determination of one who knew they would not hesitate to make their choice.

[The actions of one person will change the world, for better or for worse. The course of history is written in the blood of the innocent, as the old is burned away by those prepared to do it. Think on that.]

Beneath his mask, Kami no Kage smiled. He turned away, turning his back on his opponent knowingly. Blade at his side, he walked back the way he came, treading over a path of corpses, lined with decapitated heads. White armour stained in blood, the slight hum of engines built into the suit the only sound as he left, somehow moving not a single hair on the bodies he passed.

[And if you do, perhaps you should consider your more immediate choices as well. After all, vampires can see in the dark.]

With a click that could not be heard outside the helmet, the visor switched out of infrared vision, revealing the hallway in all it's bloody glory, in 70 shades of red.

The Blood Compact

"Well isn't this just PEACHY?"

Sighing, Gabriel placed his bottle on the armrest of Bedhivere's throne, which he was now sitting in. Meanwhile, the image of Gabriel standing in the hall faded away like an oddly coloured cloud. Nothing more than a figment of the imagination. Gabriel shook his head in a disapproving fashion as he placed a hand on Bedhivere's shoulder.

"Isn't it terrible, all these people interrupting? Don't worry, I'm with ya buddy. There's no need to get angry, we'll sort it all out, nothing to worry about."

The series of colourful characters that had entered the scene were, of course, a source of great amusement to Gabriel. Whilst some might not notice their true identities, nothing was hidden from Gabriel's eyes. Taliesin, looking up at this most ancient of beings, knew instantly that the facade of her appearance would not hold up, and yet a mischievous twinkle equally told her that if anyone were to unveil her, it would not be Gabriel. Martin was equally aware of Gabriel's knowledge of the situation, although rather than intuition he called upon his knowledge. There was no way to lie to Gabriel, for if you knew it, so did he.

"Now, seeing as how everyone has quite arrived, I think we can arrive to the more important matters. Unless any of the gathered apes would like to interrupt, of course." Taking on a pose of bored vanity, Gabriel lolled his head back and forth while his eyes seemed to flicker, making one wonder whether his drunken tirade had indeed been entirely an act, or whether he was truly intoxicated.

With Gabriel, there was no way to know.

The Blood Compact

Explaining Gabriel's trick:

he created an illusion of the floor within the person's perception that was significantly higher than the actual floor, causing the vampire to crash to the ground when attempting to get up from his chair.

And yes, I created an NPC. The sire-kings are all bigshots, so I presumed a Mayan God would not be out of place.

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

Even as Drac charged forward, the Dragon Emperor turned, smiling. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" Laughing, he held up on hand, blocking a punch that would have shattered cities, obsidian and cinders cracking beneath his feet as he slowly slid backwards. "Come on, is this all the force you can muster? You must know why I'm here, after all. Because after your little group decided to destroy my palace, my servants, and the basis of my power..." Stepping forward, he started equalling Drac's strength, off hand grabbing off hand as he attempted to wrestle Drac to the ground. "I lost everything I'd built up for a thousand years. So let me do you the same favour, right? Allow me to free you from your earthly connections."

Cosmos grinned, as he stepped back. "Alright. I'm done. Go crazy."

5 didn't smile. There was no need to. This had, after all, been predetermined from the very start. He would destroy all who opposed the path - how could he not? Those who swum against the stream of time could only hope to delay the inevitable end. But as the power of a thousand tortured souls filled him, he allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction.

Lightning crackled around him, as he held up both hands. The Dark Side of the force swirled around the battlefield, gathering around this new centerpoint, focused and given form as great swirling winds and arcs of lightning. An immense pressure, as if the very air was attempting to crush those who now resided in this dimension with it's mere weight. Leeroy stood before his opponent, knowing that he now faced someone potentially on-level with Darkside. 5, at maximum power, overflowing with energy.

"An now, we end this little charade."

5 held up one hand in an almost majestic gesture, as if he were passing judgement upon the lower class. Immense forces clashed in the space between him and his opponent as Drac stared, helpless to escape from the lock the Dragon Emperor had him in. Eruka lay, as Lisa stood over Eruka's still form.

And with that, Lisa was wreathed in light. And then in black.

And then there was nothing.

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

@supertinyking

Blazing fire streaked down from the heavens, beams of light focused for an instant as the thundering roar of rapidly expanding heated air echoed over the forest. Leaves burst into flame, as the air grew thick with water vapour from the swampy ground and thick pools of muddy water. And yet, as the light show faded, Alucard still stood, simply smiling. It was as if none of the attacks had even touched him, and Logar could tell that this person had used some mysterious magic to shield himself.

As Logar charged, Alucard calmly stepped forward to meet him. And yet, even as Logar sliced downwards, his blade hit nothing but air. In the time he had swung, Alucard had moved around him, completely ignoring the attack.

"I would love to fight you, but right now I need to save my boss."

As the dropship prepared to take off, Alucard simply extended on hand. At enormous speeds, his hand started stretching out, the rate of expansion nearly causing it to break the Sound Barrier. Fingers like spiked tentacles groped the ship, as each sprouted arms of it's own, grasping the exterior of the ship like a giant rapidly growing black fungus. Thick veins pumped foul liquid through the growth that had so rapidly spread, all still connected to Alucard's arm.

Then, with one great swing, he smashed the ship back into the ground, shattering the hall and inflicting critical damage to all complex systems on board. The remains began to sink into the swamp as Alucard turned around, satisfied that Genocide, as well as Bloodseeker and his allies, would sink into the bog after the impact.

"Now, shall we continue?"

The great growth seemed to detach, leaving a fully intact arm. It had formed it's own organism, leeching life from the environment like a giant parasite, draining the earth of it's natural energies. Not just the physical nutrients, but the very souls of the creatures in this swamp were being absorbed as this infections started spreading by itself. Through this simply, nonchalant action, already this planet had been doomed to be reduced to nothing but an empty husk.

The Blood Compact

And it was all inspired by you!

Gabriel drunk, in a room with some of the most powerful beings on the planet!

There is no way this can go wrong....

The Blood Compact

Kami no Kage moved through the base like a shadow, soundlessly passing from corner to corner. SOLDIER agents encountered had barely a moment to registed his presence before their necks were snapped. He was shadow, he was death, he was judgement. And as he moved through the base, foes fell before him like wheat before a scythe, his allies blockading the exits so as to ensure there would be no escape. All had sinned, all would perish.

A simple nylon-wire trap had been rigged up in one of the hallways. It was surprisingly intricate for something so clearly placed down on the fly, and betrayed a certain degree of skill. It wouldn't be an Elite - SOLDIER didn't trust it's vampiric agents enough to grant them access to the base. As such, it would be a human, most likely one of the lower-ranking agents of SOLDIER.

It would do well to give a demonstration of who he was.

Stepping forward, the armour-clad figure seemed to look straight ahead, face invisible behind a reflecting visor. Then, he quite carefully and intentionally stepped on the wire. With a pang, highly pressurized air was released inside of a cartridge attached to a metal-reinforced wooden stake. A twisting ridge created a spin, vastly increasing the accuracy of the tiny wooden spear as it soared through the air at immense speeds. A modern high-speed crossbow, capable of firing multiple round rapidly after one another at long range with good accuracy. A weapon expertly designed to hunt vampires.

Time seemed to slow down, as Kami simply applied the trajectory and force application calculations he had formulated before stepping on the wire. He knew how the weapon worked - the force it generated as well as it's projectile speed and accuracy. He already knew where the bolt would hit, as well as why. When his hands moved, it was according to a plan that was set in motion before the projectile had ever left the barrel, with only tiny alterations based on the observations made during the stake's flight.

Inches from Kami no Kage's chest, the stake stopped, the 10 cm dart caught in his hand. Moments later, it was crushed through the application of brute force, metal bending to match the imprint of Kami no Kage's armour-clad fingers.

[Those who repent may be spared judgement. Undoubtedly, you have a reason to fight. However, would it not be a shame if you were to die right now?

.....

You stand before a choice. You may attempt to oppose me. Run, fight me, hide, it doesn't matter. In the end, judgement will find all those who oppose the righteous path. Or you may choose to reveal yourself. If I deem you repentant, your life will be spared, should you release the mantel of the warrior. This is my offer of mercy.

Accept it at your own discretion.]

The Blood Compact

The meeting, of course, was in full swing. Guests from all over the world had arrived, gathered here in order to maintain their spiteful hatreds towards one another, forced to coexist only by the precarious balance of power. Vultures and fools, with all the power in the world and yet no clue how to use it. Arrogant beings for whom the gift of immortality was a given, those who would look down at 'lesser' beings from atop their pile of corpses and lies. Not a council, for a council would imply some form of cooperation. A war meeting, an overdrawn stalemate that had lasted for hundreds of years.

Gabriel had a headache. What HAD been in that wine?

Staggering slightly, he marched into the room. An inhumanly tall figure clad in black and gold, the red glow of a pair of eyes emanating unsteadily from beneath the brim of a top hat. A row of shark-like teeth twisted into a grimace. All eyes turned to Gabriel, the unexpected guest who had not attended a meeting such as this in 2.000 years. The first and last time Gabriel had joined at a table like this had been before the time of many of the Oldbloods now seated at this table. Potentially the oldest vampire alive, or perhaps the world's greatest charlatan, often known as the First.

Gabriel had arrived.

"Yer all schtoopid!" Slurring his words, Gabriel leaned against a wall, an empty bottle with a label decayed by age held in his off hand as he swayed unsteadily on his feet. He glared around the room, as he used the bottle to point at each vampire in turn.

"Yer a whore"

"Yer mother's a whore"

"Yer a manwhore"

"Yer an attenschun whore!"

It was a rather odd break, in which the vast majority of the attending oldbloods simply sat back and stared, the only sound in the impossibly silent room the repeated insults. Slowly, anger and disgust replaced astonishment, and yet even as one of the gathered Oldbloods stood to interrupt he promptly and unceremoniously crashed face-first into the floor, breaking his nose. Had he been a human, it would have seemed like an act of extreme clumsiness. However, the figure who now was now picking themselves up off the ground was Ach Tikkeh, a 2.400 year old Mayan God.

When he next got up, he knew better than to press the issue. There were too many present who would be glad to utilize the excuse to kill him and take his lands, as well as his 'flock'.

Lastly, Gabriel turned to Lady Mo. "Yer sitting on mah chair. Dun worry though, ye can sit on ma lap.

The Blood Compact

The caravan of trucks arrived at SOLDIER. Large vehicles designed for carrying troops and gear equally. They parked themselves in the large building that served as one of 2 entrances to the SOLDIER base Blackadder Point, lining up beside one another. Several people in grey uniforms marched up, preparing to begin the unloading process. The soldiers would surrender their gear and move towards the barracks or the medical facility. Many of them would, at a later date, visit the on-site psychiatrist to prevent post-traumatic stress from forming - facing off against vampires was a mind-numbingly terrifying task.

With a bang, the doors of one of the trucks slammed open before it had even stopped moving. Kami no Kage marched out, a grenade in each hand, the pins already pulled, as the cameras on his helmet gave him a 360 view of the battlefield. Mentally, he marked the position of every one of his foes, knowing what trucks contained soldiers through the sheer power of memorisation.

Judgement was due.

The two grenades were thrown - or rather launched - beneath two of the trucks. The timing was perfect, as they exploded the moment they approached the gas tank. the shrapnel tore through the unarmoured bottom of the vehicle, even as the now superheated gas compartment exploded. Screams formed briefly, as two of the trucks went up in flames, those within either dead or dying. In each hand Kami no Kage now held a pistol, which had been magnetically attached to his hip mere moments ago. 40 men were down, there were about that many left to deal with as he turned.

The doors to the other vehicles opened as men rushed out, alarmed at the sound of explosions and screams. The loading personnel fled, unarmed and not trained for battle. Kami simply sniped his opponents as they left the vehicle, bullets striking eyes and necks, each shot perfectly timed and perfectly aimed. Several got a shot off as Kami no Kage slowly walked forward, but they never hit anything more than air. They had been dodged before the shot had ever been fired.

Out of bullets, Kami rushed forward, clearing the remaining distance in mere instants. Each pistol had contained 12 bullets, 24 shots and 24 kills. That left about 16 men, most of whom were at this point fleeing from the seemingly unstoppable enemy that was moving towards them at superhuman speeds. Calculating trajectories, Kami no Kage dodged the bursts of bullets that were sent his way, appearing next to his targets and killing them with a single blow.

Now he had a gun again.

Within moments, the entire garage was covered in corpses, in the centre of which stood Kami no Kage. Utilizing superhuman strength, he ripped open the doors to the truck in which the Purge had been held prisoner, as his 10 allies streamed out of the truck. Each quickly unlocked themselves and geared up, as Kami no Kage picked up one of his opponent's communications devices.

All channels were open. Kami no Kage's robotic, monotone voice could be heard by every SOLDIER remaining in Blackadder Point, including Katya.

[You have slaughtered my men. You have befouled our peace. You are heathens, heretics, and fools. Did you truly believe that you would go unnoticed? That you would escape reprisal? Make peace with the Lord. For Judgement Day hath come.]

Dropping the device, Kami no Kage retrieved his sword.

[Make ready. We shall slaughter them all.]

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

@ShadowVentus
((Sorry for missing this. Our posting record here sucks XP))

Mia smiles, as she observes from above. An evil copy, that was simple enough. It would be a useful tool in her future endaevours, and Ven himself might prove a useful asset as well. She would utilize this occasion to attempt to figure out how these keyblades worked, as they were clearly linked to the Soul. If at all possible, she would apply the technology to her own ships and mainframes, further bonding them to her person.

With the exertion of a mental muscle, she opened Micheal's containment area. The original came sputtering out, green liquid soon draining down the grills placed around the room at regular intervals, even as the many tubes that had been implanted into his back sprung loose. It would be amusing to get his input on the matter. And, of course, she had to see the results of her work. She was a professional after all, and a dip in quality would not be allowed.