"Bringer of the Rains III: Grindstone" (Quest)

[David B.]

OOC:

1: ALL NEW QUESTERS: Please put here where your character is, who they are with (if anyone), and what they are doing. See number 2 below for link to post order! Once you have posted, you will be included in my next post! Thanks!

2: ALL CURRENT QUESTERS: You know the drill. Lets continue the ride. Post order is here! Please continue to stick to it!

3: I penned a letter, thanking you guys for making this awesome! Read it here!

4: BAH! Enough numbers! Get to Reading!



Kazuya Hikari:

As Kazuya headed down to the right, he might catch a glimpse of what was down that left path- Two doors, one in the wall at the end, the other in the wall on the right. But as the fire user started down this causeway, his eyes would begin to notice, down at the end, a sort of dark entrance, like an opening into a cave. As He walked through, he would find himself almost at home- in a roasting hot cave, with a large slab of circled stone in the middle. Stone spikes rose up around it, and in the center, would be a pedestal.

The pedastal was almost in a hole, with lava surrounding it, and would have a dagger sticking out of it, with a glittering handle, almost beckoning him to come and sieze it, to take control of a powerful, worthy object. There would be nothing in his way, to stop him from taking it.



Kyrie Barrial:

Kiyr would feel a hand grasp her ankle as she dove out- but too late. She was already swept in the upkeep of wind at the folds of her shadow wings, and the body of the man that held it would be pulled out the window with her. In shock, he released the ankle, a scream dully erupting from the mask as he fell, hitting the earth several seconds later, blood erupting from his head as his body folded in on itself.

Kiyr would be free.

For the moment.

Through the windows of the buildings that were marked “They are here” She would see hundreds of men lined up, bows drawn- and from a broken window a man would shout.

“LAND, MS.BARRIAL, OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!”



Delilah Black:

Kate’s eyes stared into the raven haired womans, and she would fold her hands in her lap after readjusting in her bed, wincing from being sore. She would lick her lips and take a deep breath.

“You all were our contingency plan.”

She took a deep breath.

“Several months ago, Myself and another man crossed over into this country. We brought with us over eighty thousand men, with more coming in constantly. Our purpose, at first, was to assess the desire of the population to be free. We originated in South America, right before the bombs fell. Made up mostly of gangs, mobs and cartels, we had inside knowledge of Barkers plans, and prepared for it. We told people, who didn’t listen, and waited. Those seeds sprouted after the bombs fell- because then, people trusted us, were on our side. We didn’t want to begin conquering towns and claiming territory as the others did- we wanted individual freedom of self. We needed to assess whether a city wanted to be free, and was willing to fight for it on their own without just bowing to the claims of a madman.”

She smiled.

“Moving places and taking over cities is all well and good, but true and lasting wars require true and lasting conviction. We would begin by first brining ourselves into gangs and the general populace, assessing whether the gangs were civil and if the people wanted to be free. Then, we would assist the people any way we could in forming governments and overthrowing their overlords. Our mistake was when we brought in a man name Zachary Davidson. He had rocketed through the ranks of our organization, to the point of being in the inner circle. To put it simply, he betrayed us. He has these friends- comrades, whom he brought in when he had established himself. They were all Qi users of a magnitude we had never seen- All of them were genetically manipulate and twisted, so that they could alter the dreams and realities of humanity. They decided that our way was too slow, too old fashioned. My partner, Vidar, was taken and imprisoned in the Regulation- That’s what they call it, you see.”

She looked down at her hands, then back up at Delilah, straight faced.

“These men decided to test gangs and people in a trial by fire scenario. They steal their bodies, unconscious and use their Qi to band together, invading the minds and connecting the consciousness of everyone who is currently put under. This reality they have created is called the “Regulation”. It sounds almost…bizarre but, I assure you, this place is very real. I…have been there.”

She shook her head, another deep breath.

“ That brings us to now. They take the most influential people, at random, and force them into this death trap. They claim that they want only to see who is worthy- but the truth is, they only care who dies. It’s like a massive arena, where everyone fights battles and solves these silly little puzzles to move on. Once they hit a sort of…checkpoint, they release the person to reflect on everything, and then take them again later. Sometimes the next day, sometimes in weeks. They introduce real monstrosities that Barker has created into the dreaming, for a sense of realism. Sometimes they make their own. The world inside is based off a basic reproduction of our own, but out of whack. Anything they want to do or say or dream, they can do. And they can do it well.”

She would chuck up her chin.

“Before they took him, Vidar had a list of names outside our organization that might be able to help. He made sure those names were placed into the competition this year. He said that all of you would see this hold broken. They found out- but couldn’t stop the game once the names were drawn. They took him, and let me watch as they tortured him and sent him into the Regulation forever, as punishment. No checkpoints. No recovery. Just reliving his worst nightmares over and over until he goes mad. Which…he may h-have already.”

Her voice cracked a bit, and she looked down at her hands, lips shaking. She took and deep breath and turned her eyes to Delilah.

“That’ It. You know everything, now.”

There was no way to tell if she was lying, though she seemed honest.



Lucien Dechain:

The big man would stand- he was very tall, monstrously so, with muscles bulging all over his body. He didn’t seem threatening, however, and would roll his head and shoulders following his stance.

“Too much, Lucien. Too much.”

Before Lucien could question about how this man knew his name, a great cry when up in the distance, like the screaming of a bird of prey. The big man turned, just as a massive white animal tore out of the darkness, coming down out of the sky. It’s talons would clutch him and the arms and attempt to take off, but the fellow would turn in the air, ripping the monster out of it’s flight path and landing on top of it as it hit the snow about forty feet away. Lucien would be able to see the shine of a blade as the big guy cut the creatures throat, black blood bubbling up and over into the snow, staining it. He would turn and shout at Lucien.

“RUN FOR THE CAVES, BOY!”

From the sky above Lucien, he would hear more of those things screaming, though the snow blocked them from view.

Behind him and past where the man lay, holding the beast that was in the throes of death, he would see the mouth of the cave, silent and dark. It was quite a run, but Lucien may make it, if he tried hard.




Marcus Prasad:

The Crows would find their cold methodology in warfare to their advantage, as they would not scatter when met with the armies of the masked men, who came with the same practiced fluidity. They would avoid spears and dodge inwards, though one or two took a blade to the throat or gut. The Wolf pack would spear in, finding themselves taking on the big grinning madman alone, who would wait to see who came first.

Marcus, meanwhile, freed his right arm, and successfully removed the eyes of the one who held his other arm! More men moved in, teeth bared, and Curtis would wait for them to try and suppress the wolf again, watching the battle, feeling a bit uneasy at their chances.



Mitsuki Park:

The man gladly took her hand- before his spine stiffened from the shock .His body seized, jerking around a bit as his eyes went wide. He would collapse into a ball, holding himself, as she spoke. His how words would come through pained lips.

“We don’t want…ah…to be here either! Fucking aye, you say hello to…to…E-everyone this way!?”



OOC: Arael, please post in this thread your reaction to my last post in “Frozen Reach”, to which I will reply on my next post.

Guys! You got now FOUR days between posts to respond. After four days, if you haven’t posted, the person who comes after you has permission to post and you will be booted from this quest. You can definitely join the next one though!

[Kazuya Hikari]

As he was blind, Kazuya's eyes would not dart over to the left hallway as he passed it, unless there were heat signatures behind the two doors, one set in the wall, the other on the right, Kazuya's eyes would continue to face forward as he continued down the right hallway. He would however, notice the door before him, the heat emanating from it acting like a lighthouse beacon to him.

Stepping through and finding himself inside a roasting hot cave, while others would be sweating buckets and boiling, he on the other hand, was quite comfortable here. In fact, he quite enjoyed it. Stepping to the edge of the hole, the pedestal with the glittering dagger within, concentrating, he would accelerate the molecules surrounding his boots and expel fire at a continuous stream from the bottom of his feet, lifting him up into the air and would fly down into the hole, to try and grab the dagger by the hilt.

[Kyrie Blaze]

FREEDOM!

The blue-eyed woman didn't look to see the man fall, instead focusing on shooting higher through the use of drafts. It wasn't long before she saw men and adjusted her course...but the shout still reached her. A fierce smile pulled her lips back to bare her teeth and she arched her body to shoot higher, her internal voice snarling a vivid and powerful no!

Her response, eyes literally blazing with her refusal and gathering power, was clear.

In the next moment her wingsuit shifted, extending to long Dragon wings that - instead of sprouting from her back - were tethered over her arms so she could move them like extensions of them. They were not nearly so detailed as when she first displayed them to David - function over fashion - but it was unmistakeable as to what they were all the same. Her qi was channeled through them, and she pushed her will and desire for freedom in to gain altitude in a large downward, simultaneous sweep. She'd never used the draconic wings to fly (aside from that one dream...where everyone even remotely important to her had disappeared), but momentum and that first initial sweeps of her wings should afford her some more room. She kept her eyes on them.

Waiting.

She felt daring and brave and maybe even a tiny bit reckless.

If they took the bait and fired, Kyrie would drop like a stone in a dive, her body the only thing coated in shadow until the wingsuit appeared as the volley went overhead until she spread her limbs - "Nngh!" - and the flaps of shadow filled with air to shoot her out from beneath. Of course, she expected not all of the archers would be so stupid to fire at once, so she kept checking on them. But, like a surfer in the tube of a wave: the overhead volley protected her from others as it arched over, and she used the new speed from her dive to race out and shoot further away, arching up a little again so she didn't come even the closest bit to crashing against the ground.

They would not catch her, and she would not die.

[Delilah A. Black]

"You all were our contingency plan."

Delilah sat forward, listening with quiet intent burning bright in her blue eyes. It was...a lot of information to take in, to say the least, but she managed to break it down into it's vital essence.

Kate and Vidar, two founding members of a group that originated in South America, migrated their way North to help free surviving cities from the tyrannical rule of Barker. There, their numbers of already roughly eighty-thousand grew, potentially to one hundred thousand if Delilah's estimates were correct. They overthrew, not only Barker in controlled areas (or so she assumed), but also 'overlords' of certain city states, something Delilah could only assume would be the tyrannical reign of an individual who decided he was the leader and everyone else was to serve his rule and obey his law.

...interesting. Freeing the people, and then leaving them to their own devices. Inevitably, the cycle would begat itself. It seemed like a cop out of responsibilities.

One of these newcomers was named Zachary Davidson and, after building himself up in the group and amassing loyal followers who had powerful Qi, made a coup upon the current leadership. The fact that she mentioned that these people were genetically altered and twisted rang alarm bells in the back of her mind. That smacked a bit too much of Barker for her tastes. Her partner was captured an put into 'Regulation', which Delilah discerned was the term for the dream/reality the master Qi users had created, simply because the old leadership wasn't working quickly enough. The way she described the 'Regulation', though...

It sounded like an alternate dimension.

As she explained why and how certain 'influential people' were getting involved, Delilah realized that there was no way she was the only one who was being targeted by this group. Her heart beat faster as she began to wonder how many of her friends were being pulled into the grasp of this group...and how they, she, was part of the contingency plan.

Who is worthy...and who dies...

So. People could die in the Regulation? Or just die in the dream and then be killed in the real world while their mind was elsewhere? And that was where Kate's partner was now, apparently. But this still left a lot of unanswered questions, whether or not Kate was telling the truth.

"I don't believe I do, actually,"

She laced her fingers in her lap, and lifted both of her eyebrows at the red-haired woman.

"How are people put into 'Regulation'? What names are on the roster this...Vidar put forward. What is the purpose of them taking influential members of a certain area, if all they care about is watching them inevitably die? How many of you are there now? What is the name of the organization? Does this 'Davidson' have any ties to Barker? What threat does this pose to the free people of Long Beach; your group honestly wouldn't have seen a need to be here as the Dragons, Gods and Crows are those fighting the tyranny in the area, so why come here of all places? What does he want?"

She sat back and quietly awaited her answers, repeating her questions again if necessary.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien started. "How do you know my na-"

Screaming. A bird...? A very big, angry bird. It ripped through the blanket of white, the wind carrying it right to them...!

Lucien watched the impressive display with a look of awe. The man was definitely injured from the talons bite, but he was resilient, and he bested the creature with a deftness that told of previous experience with them.

“RUN FOR THE CAVES, BOY!”

Lucien didn't question it. If he was able to find his Qi, he would desperately try to activate it now. Sprinting as fast as he could, not looking back, he ran for the opening. If the creature was closing the gap, he would try to zigzag slightly to make him a more difficult target, and finally diving for the cave's entrance the second he was close enough to reach the shelter.

Hopefully, hopefully. If he made it in time, he would land in a roll, and, once a safe distance inside the mouth of the cave, would twist around to see if the man was following him to safety.

[Your Mom~]

[OOC: LALALALA~!]

Olesya's day was chock full of meetings, more meetings, evaluations, mettings, and more leadership stuff. She had gotten used to the pace, but it was beginning to wear on her. There were circles under her eyes, an ever so slight puffiness to her cheeks from lack of sleep. Responsiblity was dragging on her, but she still pushed through. Delilah's words echoed in her head from their conversation a couple days prior:

"If I don't do it, no one else will."

Breaking for lunch, Olesya returned to her quiet house. Maddie was in school and Youichi was tending to her own business. The quiet was a nice change of pace. She breathed a sight of relief, making herself a sandwich and a glass of water to revel in the few precious moments she had in peace and silence before the strenuous day resumed.

[Daruma Doll~]

Today was a day just like any other for Chihiro...espionage, reconnaissance, assassination. You know, the usual. A rogue faction had started causing trouble to the Dragons: intercepting supply shipments, mugging scouts and beating up civilians that find themselves on the other side of the wall. They were a nusiance and needed to be stopped.

Today, Chihiro had snuck in and poisoned their water supply. They wouldn't be bothering the Dragons anymore.

Chihiro returned from her mission, dropping off her poison kit at one of her various hideyholes within Dragon Territory, aiming for the Dragon Fang for an after-mission 'nightcap.'

[Marcus Prasad]

The Big man. The one who survived a full explosive punch was just standing there. As the other men tried to rush him again, Marcus used his now free hands to grab hold of the men who rushed them and pull them down and pin them below him, giving him leverage to then push down and tighten his core muscles to pull his hips up and out of the scrum.

As he did so, he took a moment to assess the battle.

The Masked soldiers who managed to breach the spear wall would find themselves in a mosh pit of grabbing hands as they were jostled, thrown to the ground and trampled under the Anaheim soldiers feet. The spears weren’t quite as long as the pikes from ages old and luckily were short enough to still be useful in close quarters fighting. These were Military soliders the masked men were fighting. Men and women who had trained for years with each other in the defense of their home.

During the early training months Marcus had made the men and women read up on Medieval techniques. If they were forced to use old fashioned weapons then they would have to learn the tactics that went with them.

The wolves for their part would bypass the Madman completely, splitting up into two five man teams and keeping a hopefully safe distance from him as they continued to Harass the Masked soldiers from the sides and rear. If they could free up the Anaheim soldiers, THEN they would turn thier attention to the enemy commander.

Blood ran in droves. Like a great roman painting depicting a fierce battle. Men and women with bellies spilled crying in pain.
It was glorious.

It was Horrifying.

Gloriously Horrifying.

"YOU'RE FUCKED MATE!”
Marcus Roared at the one named Curtis.
“MAYBE I SHOULD TELL THEM ABOUT THE BODIES INSIDE AND GET THEM REALLY MAD?!”
Marcus knew his own men and women would be dying soon. The thought made him nearly rabid as he redoubled his efforts to free himself, Desperately wanting to join the fight as he became savage, Biting and stabbing and punched and clawing at anything still breathing around him as he tried to wiggle and squirm himself free.

[Mitsuki Park]

"Circumstances do not permit for normal interactions," she mused quietly, watching as he held himself on the ground. It wasn't that she enjoyed causing others pain- in fact, it went against her medical ethics of primum non nocere- aka, do no harm. He should have known that welcoming anyone to a place where they had been kidnapped to wasn't the best of ideas. So now, with that out there- "Choose your words carefully."

Because if he gave her any reason to distrust him, she would be gone in an instant.

[Arael Hiroshi]

Ari walked deeper and deeper into the dark cave. After walking for what seemed the her to be forever, but in reality wasn't all that long, she heard a quiet trickling of water. A faint light shone up ahead. She was finally able to see her surroundings! She turned the last corner and came into a small cave with a hole in the ceiling to let in light. The floor of the cave was a lake, colored the most brilliant blue she had ever seen. By the edge of the lake was a dock with a boat moored alongside it.

Ari quickly backed back into the gloom of the tunnel, wary of others. She watched vigilantly for a minute or two, but saw no movement, except for the snow drifting in from the ceiling hole. She cautiously crept out of the tunnel, still watching for the men who had kidnapped her. She drifted over to the dock to inspect the boat. She saw that inside the boat was a lifejacket and a paddle. The lifejacket looked to be about her size. She glanced up through the roof, and saw the sides of some very large trees ringing the hole, and above them was a dark sky. A snowflake from outside landed on her face and quickly melted, causing her to shiver.

Glancing around once more, Ari saw that unless she got in the boat, she could go no further. She peered into the gloom the try and see the other side of the lake, and saw nothing but darkness. She deliberated with herself. I could stay here... No, I'd feel like a sitting duck. I could go back. She shuddered at the thought of going back through the black tunnel. Or... I could cross to the other side with the boat. Deciding quickly, she reached into the boat to grab the lifejacket. She fastened it while on the dock, and then dropped down into the boat. She grabbed the paddle, and started towards the other side of the lake.

[David B.]

SPOILER: Click to show

Theme

Kazuya Hikari:

Kazuya would easily grip the handle, pulling the blade from the slot. No click, no hum.

The blade was in a sheath, and didn’t seem affected by the heat. The handle was cold in Kazuya’s hand, and the blade shone with a cruel light. As Kazuya came out of the hole, he would be able to see, surrounding the circle, dozens of creatures, with more coming out of the fire and lava around them.

They sat, staring with empty eyes, waiting, it seemed, for something. The moment Kazuya attacked or even moved a muscle, they would crawl forward, letting out a high pitched, unearthy wail with teeth sharp as spikes. Kazuya would note the door he came in through was gone, though another was in the side of the dome, high up. The laval and pedastal behind him also began to sink into the ground, opening an avenue of escape should he wish to take it.

40+ Monsters' stats:

Str: 71
Dex: 115
Con: 50
Int: 44
Wis: 88
Cha: 5


Kyrie Barrial:

Kiyr would indeed see a flurry of arrows heading for her, but her sudden dive would dodge them, her updraft avoiding the arrows again. As she flew, the buildings would become distant....As Kiyr flew in solace, she would suddenly get hit from the side by a large mass of humanity at break-neck speeds. They would smash into the roof of a house, blasting right through it. Hitting the earth would knock the wind from her, and when she regained her senses, would notice a man standing across the room. He was shirtless, with Dark red hair, and a smirk on his face.

He was covered in blood.

"Hello pretty girl."

The man flexed his muscles and would wait for Kiyr to come to her feet. As she did so, the man put both hands behind his head and stretched.

"Come, girl. Lets make this easy. Submit."

Ryzicks stats:

Str: 63
Dex: 52
Con: 55
Int: 40
Wis: 80
Cha: 55


Delilah Black:

Kate pushed the covers back, then moved her legs over the side of the bed, letting her feet touch the floor.

"I don't mind answering your questions. Just know that while we talk, your friends are inside the regulation."

He winced, reaching up with her left hand to rub her right shoulder, letting out a little groan.

"They are knocked out and strapped with a sort of...helmet like device. Remember before the bombs fell, those hair dryers at salons that came down over your head? Like that. They are all hooked up to one big machine that twenty five Qi users are linked to. they control the regulation. I don't know all the names, just a few. You, Marcus Prasad, Kiyr Barrial, Mitsuki Park. Those are all I've got. But there are plenty more. Their purpose is to kill those of importance to themselves, and to Barker- which answers your other question. Yes, they work for Barker as well."

He would stand, if Delilah let her, and try to stretch.

"There are a little over two hundred thousand of us now, or at least there were when I left, spread out across the United states. Zachary probably brought in a lot more from Barker. Forty thousand are here in California, as most of the powerful, key players are here. The organization didn't really have a name, before Zachary. We called ourselves Callers, because we tried to call the people together. He calls them "Regulators", for obvious reasons. As for my group...before Zachary, we cared about freedom. You must understand- we didn't just drop in, notice gangs, and drop out. All over the world, people are suffering at the hands of Barker and gangs alike. We help the people obtain freedom, set up a government, and provide men temporarily for protection. Once they can stand, we leave. We're re-advancing the modern world. We came here to do the same. Zachary and his men work for Barker...and therefore, has Barkers goals. To see you dead."

She would resit, curling her toes against the floor, waiting a moment before.

"They will come for me, you know. They can always find the masks."


Lucien Dechain:

Lucien would be able to activate his qi easily, turning invisible! This would help him heavily, as the beasts could smell him but not see him. Large puffs of snow would spring from the left, from the right, as the monsters hit the ground, trying to get lucky and land on him. The masked man was blocked from view by more monsters as Lucien dove into the cave. The flying mutants clawed at the entrance a moment out two, before turning back to fly away.

Silence.

After several moments, more beasts outside could be heard crying out, but through the flurries, Lucien could see nothing. Through the entrance, the large mans shadow would come into view. He had a long cut on his left bicep, the knife clutched and bloody in the left hand. In his right, he held the severed head of one of the beasts, along with some neck. Meat was hanging off the end, and the man would look down at Lucien, holding the head up.

"Dinner."

He started toward the back of the cave, the beasts outside still calling out for more blood.

Should Lucien follow, they would spend a minute or two walking before coming out in the open. They would see a small boat, carrying a girl, out in the middle of the lake and heading toward the darkness on the other side.


Olesya Van Deboggart:

Olesya hears a knock at the door. When opened, she sees a small boy standing there.

"Are you Ms. Van Debogart?"

If Olesya said yes, tons of men would rush into the room, grabbing at her. they all wore comfortable black suits, and gas masks. The boy ran off, and Olesya would find herself getting pinned by several men, her Qi cut off. One forced a cloth over her mouth...and soon, Olesya would feel groggy and pass out.

Once Olesya woke up, she would hear the sound of the ocean. She was laying on a beach, and behind her was a large forest. On a hill in the distance, she could just make out a house resting above a waterfall.

She would find all her items on her, and she could now touch her Qi.

Stats of men: 90 all

Amuri Chihiro:

As Chihiro was on her way to get herself a nightcap, she would see a little girl standing in the middle of the street after chihiro rounded a corner. The girl was staring at her. Once the woman noticed, the little girl would point to the roof of the building behind Chihioro.

Atop the building were several gas-masked men. More were popping up on several buildings around her, all staring at her. When Chihiro looked back to the girl, the child was gone.

The masked men she pointed at jumped down, about five of them, and would take off running at Chihiro.

Stats of men: 60 all.


Marcus Prasad:

Curtis scowled.

"You ignorant little shit!"

Men would grab Marcus' arms and legs, holding him in place, and Curtis would tackle the man around the middle, spearing him backward...into a hole that opened out of nowhere. Once they landed, Curtis rolled off and away, standing. Now that's thinking in portals!

When Marcus stood, he would be in a large field, surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of these men. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere- and definitely not in California. Curtis tossed down a rag at Marcus' feet.

"Breath that in, boy, or your going to die."

Curtis' Stats: 75 all


Mitsuki Park:

The man took several deep breaths, now a little pale, before speaking.

"Miss...I've been trapped here for over three weeks. I...was excited to see another face. The man behind you is Dylan and I'm Peter. We're just...trying to find answers and get out of here."

He seemed genuine, and Dylan seemed unmoved by the jolt and Mitsuki's actions.


Arael Hiroshi:

Arael would make it into the boat safely, now on her way across the lake! Once she was about halfway there, if she looked back, would notice a massively muscular man standing there, with a gas mask on. At his side was a smaller man, Lucien Dechain, though unless Arael had met him before would not know that.

If she kept going, she would reach the other side of the lake, where a small came was. there was a sleeping pad, a pillow, a small fire burning low, and clothes hanging out to dry. They looked large enough to easily fit the man who she had seen. There was also a large sword and a small knife, both in their sheaths, leaning up against the wall. In the side of the wall was two large entrances, leading off toward who knows where. The one on the left seemed to go down a bit, while the one on the right seemed to move straight ahead without turning, though both were difficult to see in, and dark.

[Kazuya Hikari]

Picking the dagger up from the slot it was held in, holding it in his hand, as Kazuya began to fly up out of the hole, Kazuya's eyes would narrow as he was surrounded on all sides, by dozens of creatures, and more pouring out of the lava around them. Fire suddenly appearing and swirling around him, his entire body engulfed in fire and his hair spiking straight up from the sudden burst of power, he would rocket himself upwards out of the hole as the creatures crawled forward, letting out a high pitched, unearthy wail and revealing their sharp as spikes teeth, sending a chill running down his spine and raising the hair on the back of his neck.

He would try to barrel his way straight up through the creatures that inevitably would pour down on him, the temperature of his fire raised to the highest and hottest possible, hopefully burning the creatures to ashes instantly. He'd even fire a stream of fire from his left hand to get through them if he had to. If he was successful, he'd rocket upwards as fast as he possibly could towards the door set high up on the side of the dome, and just charge through the door, to get away as quickly as possible.

[Kyrie Blaze]

As she flew, the blonde scanned for landmarks or anything that looked important. Rivers, bodies of water, large rock formations, strands of trees. She checked around herself as she flew, riding the air currents with her wingsuit despite unmistakably descending. She didn't push herself higher by shifting to the dragon wings to gain altitude again--

"AUGH!"

The mid-air interception collapsed half of her wingsuit before the body impacted against her side, which was already curling in a cave-in from the force of the body careening into hers. Her cry was hoarse, already the wind partially knocked out of her. It was really all she could do to cushion herself with a thick layer of qi before they smashed into the roof and down into the bottom floor of the house.

She didn't know how long she lay there, dazed and in pain, but she finally caught her breath and self-awareness to slowly twist so she lay in a more comfortable position and then craned her head to look at whomever or whatever crashed into her and took her from the sky. Her vision warped for a moment until she focused and slowly pushed herself to her knees, and then her feet. Some of the things he said acted like trigger words. 'Pretty girl'. 'Submit'. She paled somewhat more than she already was, but levelled her gaze.

"I would suppose you are with them. So, you know of me, quite likely. Do you honestly think I would submit?" An almost imperious eyebrow was arched, her nose wrinkling the slightest bit from the metallic smell that was permeating the space because of the blood coating this man.

It was probably worth a shot on his end...but it didn't work.

[Delilah A. Black]

"I don't mind answering your questions. Just know that while we talk, your friends are inside the regulation. They are knocked out and strapped with a sort of...helmet like device. Remember before the bombs fell, those hair dryers at salons that came down over your head? Like that. They are all hooked up to one big machine that twenty five Qi users are linked to. they control the regulation. I don't know all the names, just a few. You, Marcus Prasad, Kiyr Barrial, Mitsuki Park. Those are all I've got. But there are plenty more. Their purpose is to kill those of importance to themselves, and to Barker- which answers your other question. Yes, they work for Barker as well."

The details seemed to get worse and worse. There was roughly a quarter million in their ranks (which seemed extravagant to the mechanic, considering how few people were left; it made sense if the majority of these were from latin America, or even Africa, [Delilah thought privately that these places were probably not bombed thoroughly] but how they got here was a mystery...), forty thousand here in California. This man was working with Barker; this, combined with the fact that her friends had been kidnapped and put into 'Regulation' made her skin crawl. This man, these people, were guilty by association. And she would stop at nothing to get her comrades back from this...alternative world.

"They will come for me, you know. They can always find the masks."

Delilah's sharp blue eyes snapped to Kate's again, a small, mirthless smirk tweaking her lips. "They'll have a hell of a time getting in here. I have this place rigged twelve ways to Sunday. If someone tries to enter, we, and more importantly, THEY will know about it."

The mechanic got to her feet, the false smile dropping from her lips. She folded her arms across her chest and lifted an eyebrow at the red haired woman.

"You put yourselves in this position, and what's more, you brought a new ally for Barker and an enemy that has already started fucking us over. I'm not sure you understand the gravity of the situation here; we are the first line of defense against Barker. What you've done, just by coming here, good intentions or not, has compromised the majority of our strongest forces. So far, you've done us no favours.

"So, here's where you start making it up to us. Get me into the building so I can free my friends and, hopefully, kill these qi users. I help you take back your honourable cause from Barker, I get my friends out, and you get the hell out of my town. Sound like a plan?"

[Lucien DeChain]

After a moment of uncertainty, Lucien saw the man emerge from the horde, holding a bloody decapitated head. As he approached, Lucien stared, wondering why - how - the man was still standing.

"Hey.. Wait! You're bleeding. Are you sure you're okay?" He said, following the man. As he walked through the cave, he felt it getting significantly warmer...

As they emerged in to the new area, Lucien once again was awestruck. Baffled at how this could be, after only just walked a few hundred yards...

The woman on the boat caught his attention. She was heading away from them, into some new black unknown.

"...What is this place..."