[Other FULL] Gunpowder (M) (IC)

Strange · Jan 17, 2016

Samson Silver

Bounty: $100
Level: 1
Earth

The pain he felt was unbearable, but then, it stopped. As suddenly as it had come, it was gone. He opened his eyes. Standing in front of him was a man, dark hair, green eyes, mischievous smile, almost perfectly clean clothes, this man screamed wealthy businessman.
"Who are you?"

"Oh come on! Where's the 'Thank you!' or 'You saved my life!'?

Samson thought for a moment, then replied.

"I'll thank you once you tell me what you did."

The man contemplated this for a moment, and then decided there was no harm in divulging his secrets.

"I just used a minor healing spell. Your wound wasn't even that deep. It did hit a few large blood vessels though, which is probably why there's so much blood everywhere."

He reached over to help Samson up, which was immediately met with a bite to his wrist.

"You little!" he screamed as he tried to stomp on Fen.

"Fen! Buddy!" Samson yelled, hopping up as best as he could and hobbling over to the now jumping fox.

"So, how'd you get yourself into this mess?" The man asked.

"Nothing much, are you going to introduce yourself?"

"Colt Gold, and you?"

"Samson Silver." he said blankly.

"Heh, how funny! It must be fate. I've always wanted a son you know." Colt stared at him. And affectionately tussled his hair.

"Umm, I've gotta go…"

"No! You can't!"

"And you're going to stop me?" he retorted.

Colt immediately snatched Samson's spellbook out of his hand and ran. "You'll have to follow me if you ever want to see this again!" he screamed.

"That no-good idot!" Samson practically screamed.

He ran as fast as he could, but Colt was definitely faster. He eventually came to a small shack. Colt was already inside waiting for him. He contemplated his choices. Fight? Or try to steal his book back and run? No, he had to be clever. He walked up to the door. He was going to have to play this man's games, it was dangerous to mess with a person as unstable as he was.

"So, you decided to come and visit! How unexpected!"

Samson rolled his eyes, and walked inside. It was pretty nice for a mad man's place. Everything was neat and tidy, he even had a bunch of ornate mirrors all over the place. Samson failed to notice the reflections in the mirrors, however. A mistake that might have saved him a lot of trouble in the long run.

"So, can I have my book back?" he questioned Colt.

"Haha, always so to the point!"

"You just met me! Stop talking like you know me!"

So much for playing his games, he thought.

"I do know you! It's fate! I told you!" He yelled.

Samson got impatient, as always, and ran for the book. Colt knew he would do this though, and had already planned ahead. He let Samson take the book and run, he knew he'd be back for the missing page. Colt picked up one of the mirrors, which held the reflection of a young woman. He chanted a few lines of an ancient language, and in a moment the man holding the mirror was no more, replaced by a thin woman in a tight dress.

"He'll never recognize me like this! I'll go into town and spend a few nights out. I'll make him learn his lesson, and then he'll be so overjoyed when I finally return!"

He dropped the mirror back into the pile, filled with countless other's reflections. He always captured their likeness before he killed them. Who knows when their face would come in handy?

Spoiler: Inventory

Ice1 · Jan 18, 2016

Elias Stork

Bodybuddies

It took an hour and a half to get the hut in sight. Normally it could've been done in 45 minutes, but Elias really didn't feel like going back there, and it was noticeable in his pace. The two barely said a word to each other as they walked. Quick introductions, that was all. Alex, was the name he got scoffed at him. Alex the bounty hunter. Elias sincerely hoped the guy would be more badass than his name was.

The heat made the air wave, and that combined with thirst made Elias feel as if he had a very bad hangover, while being incredibly drunk at the same time. Alex seemed less bothered by it. Or not bothered at all, really. In the back of his mind, Elias started to question himself about why he ever moved to the desert. 'The girls are hotter,' they told him, but once he arrived he quickly realized they were just doing some not-so-clever wordplay.

The wooden shack itself appeared almost unreal, the heatwave giving it a spectral appearance, and, it seemed steam was seeping through the crack of the wood, as if all water in the place was desperately trying to escape the shack.

"Here it is," Elias said, "curtains closed as always. No signs of life, but I'm telling you, man, no signs of death either."

"Pleasant looking place," Alex remarked dryly, noting the offputting way that wisps of steam seemed to be billowing out from a few places where the wood making up the small home was less than evenly nailed together.

Alex shrugged, more to himself than to Elias whom he was determined to ignore as much as possible. He figured that some odd clouds of steam were not so strange since the man he was meant to be killing was apparently unkillable. He walked over to the front of the shack, finding to his surprise the closer he got to the ramshackle building the cooler the air around him got. It was not a particularly huge difference considering the blistering desert sun, but it was enough to be noticeable to the bounty hunter.
"Well isn't that interesting," he murmured to himself as he reached the door, reaching out a hand and knocking.

"Is everything going alright?" Elias yelled from the distance

"It's hard for knocking on a damn door to go poorly," Alex responded

"Okay, just wanted to check, this guy's weird man just expect for something to go wrong at any given mom-"

It was at that particular instant that the door finally swung open, cutting off Elias' warning and revealing the form of a frail-looking old man who had little hair and even fewer teeth. Alex turned to look at him briefly before questioning him.
"Are you Elroy Jefferson?"
"That's me," The old man replied bluntly.
"Fantastic," Alex said, pulling his revolver from it's holster and without warning firing a single shot into the man's head, dropping him then and there at his own front door. Alex looked back over his shoulder with an expression as bored as it was irritable. "Un-fucking-killable huh?"

"Did you do it?" Elias yelled.

"What the hell did you think that noise was?"

"I don't know, some spellbooks can do some fucking strange shit, man. Anyway, check if he's dead. Maybe you missed."

"At point blank fu-" Alex began before stopping his sentence and aiming his revolver at the corpse at his feet. He pulled the trigger twice more, spatering blood across his boots and the door frame before turning back to Elias again. "Dead enough for you?!"

"Fuck, man. I just wanted you to check, not turn my fucking stomach over. Holy shit. But, I'm telling you, that fucking dude was the same amount of dead as he is now when I shot him. I don't wanna, you know, insult your game, but I'm a pretty good shot too, you know."

That was probably the straw that broke the camel's back for Alex, although to be fair he'd been resisiting shooting Elias since he'd met him anyway. He grabbed the collar of the now dead Elroy's shirt and dragged the corpse over to his irritating companion, pulling it upwards so that the short man was looking into Elroy's vacant, dead eyes.
"What do you think? Is he getting up any time soon? Maybe you fucking missed but I sure as hell didn't."

"Okay okay, holy shit man, calm the fuck down. I'm not saying you missed, I'm just saying this guy can come back. I'm giving it a good twenty minutes, and this old fuck will try to chew your throat out. Just, ehm, just wait next to his body for a while, and try to keep as far away from me as fucking possible, while I go get something inside, okay?" Elias didn't await an answer, and walked towards the shack as quickly as possible.

Alex dropped the corpse back into the dirt and took off after Elias at a brisk walk.
"Like hell am I letting you out of my sight," he called after the other man, hoping that he remembered he still had a gun in his hand before he tried to do something stupid like bail on him without paying.

"Then watch my fucking back, or something. I'm not planning on getting in your way, I'm just scared this fucking bonebag might sneek up on my and rip my heart out through my assh-" Elias slipped as he stepped inside, over a thin layer of ice that covered the ground. His face smacked straight into the ground, and he wouldn't need to check if his nose was broken or not.

"What's this all about?" Alex asked nobody in particular as he entered the house and noticed the floor and some of the furniture slick with a thin coating of ice and puddles of water that steamed in the heat of the Barren Lands (explaining the pillars of steam they'd seen before). He paid absolutely no heed to the fact Elias was lying face-down on the floor in a slowly growing pool of blood from his broken nose.

"Fuck man, you're not even going to help me up?" Elias said, as he raised himself slowly and with care, "I should've found a bounty hunter with better manners. Holy. Fucking. Shit, man."

"Shut up and put some pressure on that or you'll die of blood loss," Alex said, adding "You can't pay me if you're dead," soon after, just in case Elias missed the blunt and uncaring tone in his voice.

Elias just shook his head, as he walked through the hallway and searched through every room. While he was busy turning over matresses and frantically tearing bedside tables apart hoping to find something that he could turn over to Butch and Scotch. As this was happening, Alex just stood in the doorway, arms crossed and a facial expression of absolute dread. Elias took his time, and turned the rooms completely upside down. After an hour of searching, and suffering through some blunt and honestly quite hurtful comments from Alex, he had only one room to search through left.

"Just the kitchen," Elias said, not even waiting for an answer, or insult rather, from Alex. "If I don't find anything, I'll just pay you out, and put a bullet through my skull. Or, maybe I'll just go sit next to revenant dude for a while, and wait until he comes back to eat me."

He pushed open the kitchen door, and stepped inside, Alex following behind him. Elias stopped in his tracks immediately, as he saw a figure sipping from a cup of tea behind the table. A man with perfecly white hair, and skin as black as obsidian, wearing a beige poncho with blue stripes.

"Are you two the lolligaggers that shot my dear, dear, dear Elroy?" he said, with a voice that had the thickest layer of fake grief.

"What the fuck?" Alex said, blinking with surprise as he automatically reached for his gun.

ft. Gimmepie as Alex Rose.

Sephear · Jan 19, 2016

Kelmorr Kuvag
Bounty Hunter
Moderate Fire Sorcerer
Earnings: $3,000, $2,400 in major bounties, and $600 in petty bounties.

Janitorial Endeavors

Rapid footsteps, labored breathing, and the sound of the occasional upended piece of refuse being kicked cut through the air of an otherwise uncharacteristically quiet night in Larkin. He was exhausted, but at least he'd made it. No way that buffoon would be able to keep up with him now. What an idiot, trying to bring a horse into a town so full of of dense crowds and tight alleyways! Larkin had already practically been nothing more than a battleground of gang warfare for the past, so all the various criminals and even plenty of the regular evidence were more than ready to cut and run. The man let out a huge sigh of relief and slumped against a wall. "Bobby! Bobby Wilson is that you?!" Bobby practically jumped out of his skin and snapped his six-shooter to attention at the new arrival's head before he realized it was just his partner Jimmy Lincoln.

"Jimmy you almost scared the soul right out of my perfect body! You daft sum*****!" Bobby smiled and clapped Jimmy on the back. "I am glad to see you though, some idjit took a potshot at me and then fancied he'd chase me and try to finish the job. I woulda domed the moron right there but the street was too crowded, didn't want a bunch of his boys to show up and even the odds while I was on my own so I cut and bolted. Apparently everybody hasn't got the hint yet that Larkin belongs to the Dead Priests."

Jimmy smiled back and punched Bobby in the arm before leading the way out of the alley. "You still like to run your mouth a mile-a-minute I see Bobby." The two meandered on, keeping up their playful banter all along their randomized path back to the hideout. About halfway to their destination they cut through a block of the city that had been practically abandoned since some rich family had been murdered during some big swanky party. Apparently nobody had any wish to buy up the abandoned manner yet, and even the various gangs dotting the city didn't want it as an extra slice of territory. After walking peacefully for so long Bobby stopped on a dime at the chill that went up his spine and stumbled over a loose stone, catching himself on the wall of a closed store.

Jimmy raised an eyebrow and looked at his friend suspiciously. "You still jumpy? Come on you lily-livered dandy, get on with it, you weren't even gone all that long 'afore I found ya."

Bobby shook off his unease and straightened up. "Yeah, you're right, I guess with all the ****'s been goin' on lately I'm starting ta git tense. Let's get goin' before the boys concoct some cockamamie story about why-" Bobby's words were cut off by a loud CRACK! splitting through the air and he lost the cohesive thought necessary to finish his sentence when he saw the blank expression on Jimmy's face and the shredded exit wound in his forehead. Before Jimmy's body even crumpled to the ground Bobby was already sprinting away as if the hounds of hell themselves were chasing him so close he could feel their spittle splattering his back. Unfortunately for Bobby he was only allowed a few seconds of his panicked flight before a single footstep and a strange blur accompanied a powerful blow to his gut, then his chin, shooting his gaze to the stars, then his vision was swallowed by darkness.

"Ugh! This is so boring!" A voice echoed through the small side room of a large warehouse. The voice belonged to Joseph Lindhouse, a lieutenant in the Dark Horse, who was none to happy with being the one to interrogate the lump on the floor in front of his chair. "Who's the idiot that decided he'd be more likely to talk if we let him wake up on his own?" He was so frustrated at such a dull task after a day as rough as his that he continued to speak out loud while he complained.

Luckily for Joseph he didn't have to complain any longer, it was at that moment that the body on the floor convulsed and let out a violent, hacking cough, revealing the man was still alive. "Oh ho! Lookie who's finally awake!" Joseph stood up and knelt down closer to his prisoner, smiling all the wider as the look of recognition on the man's face became one of terror. "Don't worry Bobby, this'll be over as soon as I can convince you tellin' me what I need to know is the quickest and best choice you could make at this fork in the road."

A shriek of pain grated at the nerves of every man in the warehouse who wasn't a total sadist, especially one in particular. Travis "Geronimo" Williams, the leader of the Dark Horses shook his head at the sounds of 'questioning' from the back room and returned his attention to the man in front of him, who showed no signs of hearing the unpleasant noise and continued to regard him with a smirk of indifferent curiosity. "This is quite the pleasant gift." Geronimo spoke in a friendlier manner than any of his men had heard him use for a long time, and a few of them looked at each-other questioningly as he continued. "So, I assume you at least want something out of this, perhaps you'd like to join the gang?"

The man in the chair across from Geronimo shook his head, only sparing the men cleaning off the two Dead Priest patches to his right a quick, bored glance before answering. "No thanks, I was glad to do my civic duty. Anybody with a lick'o sense could see who it is that should really run this lovely town."

Geronimo squinted as he looked the man over, there was no way his guest could be stupid enough to think that sounded genuine, and yet he gave absolutely no sign of wanting anything beyond a bit of coin. "Well, at least let me send you home with a suitable reward." He said amiably, standing up and withdrawing a small pouch from his belt while he led the way to the warehouse's only unblocked side-door.

The man opened the pouch and poured the coins into his hand for a cursory inspection to keep the Dark Horses thinking he actually cared about the reward. Outwardly satisfied with the amount of money in his hand the man tipped the coins back into the pouch, pulled its drawstring taut, and stepped to the door's threshold. "This'll do just fine, thanks, it's been a pleasure doing business with you Travis." Kelmorr said, and just like that he was gone, leaving Geronimo frozen in place as one of his men closed the door to the warehouse and secured it.

A member of the Dark Horses couldn't take the curiosity anymore and stepped forward to ask the question that was on all of their minds. "Why'd you just pay that feller an' let 'im go boss? We coulda just taken the prisoner, the clothes we need to impersonate a couple of Dead Priests and then iced the dumbass."

Another moment's delay followed before their leader answered, the tone of his voice indicating something even more surprising and rare for him than the earlier friendliness and welcome: fear. "We're better off just waiting for someone else to get lucky and take care of him, that's the one that's been single-handedly picking apart the Dead Priests one-by-one. And he's been watching us too."

"Aw come on boss!" One of the men guffawed. "Those Dead Priests ain't nothing but bluster since Tess got taken out, that don't mean nothin! And we haven't had any signs of our men being tracked or-"

"He knew my real name." Geronimo interrupted quietly, and the entire warehouse was overtaken by silence while the assembled men contemplated the implications of the statement.

Foxrally · Jan 19, 2016

Sophia Hartmann

Status - Outlaw - Leader of Sangre Clan-----------------------Former member of Culebra Clan
Sorcery Level - 2
Element - Air
Bounty - 2200$

Spoiler: Current Sangre Clan

Barren Lands - near Silverston

A Fresh Start

"Fucking everything. I'm gonna go to their fucking base and tear every last of those moth-"

"Damage report, Abe?" Marzia sighed, interrupting Sophia's rant. The latter screamed in rage and pulled her pistol, firing a few rounds into the rotten wooden walls of the cabin.

The old outlaw rubbed the back of his head and sat on the floor. "Well, ah… Just as the boss eloquently put it I guess- fuckin' everything's gone. Ammo, guns, any stuff that wasn't within our shields."

"How the bloody hell'd they do that?" Tolkins asked, opening a few cupboards. "Nothing even blow up, the whole lot just… disappeared."

"Metal bombs." Abe replied. "Use to use 'em back in my minin' days. Basically get rid of any metal that ain't gold or silver to make mining easier. Got pretty powerful spells on 'em, don't last long though. Bastard you shot outside's probably the one who did it."

"I'm gonna fucking kill-" Sophia began, enraged.

"You already did, Soph." Abe noted, lighting his pipe.

"Boss." Marzia corrected. "No point in crying over it now. Our plan of making this shithole our new base was screwed over from the start. We need to think of something else.

Tolkins rubbed his chin. "Well, we could always join up with one of 'em bigger gangs. They can probably help us-"

"Fuck that." Sophia interjected. "You can go fucking around changing sides all you want, but there is no way in hell I'm letting the remains of Antonio's work go to waste under the rule of some fucker out there. We rebuild this shit from the start, however long it takes. If you wanna get out, grab a fucking rope and get back to Hangman's."

After a few seconds of silence, Marzia spoke. "I agree. The Culebra clan had many powerful associates and much its control still lingers after its downfall - we cannot let that go to waste. I propose we recapture all known remnants of the Culebras and reclaim them under the Sangre name."

"You said it, love- known remnants. Tell me which ones you fucking know of, eh?" Tolkins spat on the ground as he spoke. "Jack shit, eh?"

Casually stepping forward to stop Sophia's hand from reaching for her gun, Marzia continued. "If I remember correctly, Antonio kept maps of every Culebra hideout and enemy gang base we knew of inside his office. The place was locked last time we went there, and shouldn't be able to open without the tattoo. Using these maps, we can assemble whatever resources and men we have left and build back up on that."

"All while having the National Guard on our asses." Abe added, taking a puff from his pipe.

"Why are those guys after us anyway? There's bigger and badder fuckers to take care and we ain't done half of the shit they have." Sophia asked.

"Go figure. Well, there's no point in standing around here. We should head for Larkin while it's still daytime and we can see where we're going. Probably going to take a few days." Marzia suggested.

Sophia sighed and rubbed her temples. "Yeah, just-" she began. "Whatever, sure, fuck it. Let's get those maps and be done with this shit." she muttered, heading outside behind the cabin to ready the horses.

"She gon' be okay?" Abe asked, painfully getting up.

"Yes. You two get ready and grab anything that's left. As soon as the horses are saddled and supplies are packed, we leave." Marzia ordered, heading out to follow Sophia. "Hey, all good?" she asked, meeting her in the back.

The latter tightened the saddle of her horse. "Yeah, it's just… I'm gonna lose my shit there, Marzia. Last thing you want for the shitty excuse of the leader I am is for me to show some kind of weakness. The stuff that happened back in Wrench and the Flinders'… they don't know. I never even got to see the fucking place the first time."

"You'll be fine. Worse things have happened and it ain't a shitty tavern that's gonna break you down. Just try to forget it." Marzia put her hand on her shoulder and smiled. Just a little more until I will be free.

Sonata · Jan 19, 2016

A Phoenix Rises From The Ashes of a Dragon

Jebediah Sanders, Bounty Hunter
Level 2 Air user, $1320
Silverston

The stern look and moment of clarity faded, causing Jeb to fall back to the state he was in mere moments ago. "Look guys, I don't *hic* I don't really have the uh… mental… phys *hic* physical capacity to do this right now. Come back in *hic* like three or four hours."

The wall of men looked to each other and laughed before re-leveling their guns at the bounty hunter. The brother chuckled and took a few steps forward. "See Jeb, that's not how this works. You stupid. Piece. Of. Shit. Jedediah might have let you go as a learning experience, but we can't have you running around here fuckin' up all the good shit we got goin' on. So I'm sorry, but I've got to put you down. And that's why I brought the boys with me. See, most of them ain't even part of my crew. They're just people of this little town, lookin' to make a few extra bucks. I gave 'em a gun, they asked where to point it. Now being a bounty hunter I know it ain't really in your rights to be killin' innocents, so before you pull them guns out why don't you take a second and try to decide if you can make out who's who. Kill even one innocent, and you're just like any other outlaw." A devilish smile crossed the man's face, knowing that even being sober Jebediah could never tell the difference in his men.

The bounty hunter furrowed his brow and stared lazily at the twenty-something men who grew and reduced in number each time he blinked. Some of them even looked the same…. but that was all probably due to the dangerous amount of alcohol he had consumed. "Mmm… fuck it." Jeb pulled his pistols from their holsters and aimed them straight out in front of him. "I done killed so many innocents by now, it don't even fuckin' make a difference." He let loose a volley of bullets, but after completely emptying the weapons only two of the rounds made contact with the wall of soldiers though not in any life threatening positions. "Yer fuckin' shit me?" Jeb fell to his knees. "Come oooon maaaaaan. Reeeaaallllyyyy? The foot?" Jeb fell to the ground and broke down into tears over his failure.

The wall of guns laughed again and fired off into the sky a couple of times, causing Jeb to jump each time. The judge beside him turned over and curled up into a ball while mumbling something incomprehensible under his breath. The wall of guns eventually got over the sight of the two of them and leveled their barrels at Jeb's body once more. The bounty hunter rose from his position on the ground where he had tried to regain some of his composure. He was seeing straight now at least, and could tell there were only sixteen guns pointed at him, not counting the scarred brother. The other brother was nowhere in sight, most likely still back at the hideout. But if Jeb could just stay alert enough to use one spell… the bounty hunter held his breath and heard the breathing of the judge beside him slow to a complete stop.

He didn't have long. Jeb pulled the sword from its scabbard and rushed at the wall. Going down the line he cut off both hands of three people before he lost control over the spell. The three men screamed out in agony and the other fourteen quickly turned to face the bounty hunter.

"Shit."

It was all Jeb had the time to say before the men unleashed hell on him and filled his body with holes and lead. As his body fell to the ground and blood poured out of it, Jeb's thoughts rested on the father he had hated so much. He was the reason all this had started. If he had just convicted the murderer then Jeb would have never gone after Jedediah. He would be a judge by now himself. Perhaps even judging Jedediah if he was lucky enough.

The thoughts didn't last long. As soon as Jeb's body hit the ground, the wall of men moved in closer and unleashed the rest of their ammo into the bounty hunter's body. The blood pouring out onto the ground below and soaking up into their boots. Blood splattering onto their shirts and jeans with each new bullet. After a few minutes Jeb's body ceased to react to the bullets which continued to fly through him. His eyes were blank, his body was destroyed and his life was gone. Jebediah had passed on.

--------

Judge Rodriguez McLinnely woke up in a pool of his own vomit. The moon still shone overhead indicating that it was still too early for him to be awake. He opened his eyes just wide enough to realize that he was on the ground right outside the bar. It seemed that the barkeeper had finally thrown him and his friend out, though he couldn't really remember anything that had happened. He had a pounding headache and wished dearly that he had a spell specially made for curing hangovers. It would certainly make these binges more enjoyable. The man sat up and rubbed a generous welt on the side of his head. He felt like he'd been thrown to the ground or something... when he sobered up he'd have to give that barkeeper a stern talking to.

The judge looked around him, looking for the bounty hunter which he had befriended. Surely if he was thrown out, then his friend would be there too. He thought they had both been pretty fucked up, but he couldn't really remember all that well. He couldn't see anything from this position so he rolled over onto his stomach, still feeling too woozy to actually stand up. But from here he could see the body of his friend laying a short distance away.

"Heeeeeeeeeyyy! You awake buddy? Y'know, I had a reeeeaaaallllyyyy great time tonight and was thinking it wouldn't be too bad if we got together and did it again sometime y'know? Not trying to make a big deal out of it or anything... but you seem like a pretty fun guy and all and I just thought... well..." The judge crawled his way over to the bounty hunter as he spoke. He belly dragged across the ground and he felt like he was going to vomit again, but managed to hold it back in the end. He smelled disgusting after having spent about twenty or thirty minutes marinating in his own upchuck, but there was something far worse that assailed his nostrils the closer he got to Jeb. Something that smelled like... well... death.

The judge got to Jeb and then stuck his hand in something stuck before retracting it. "What the hell?" He pondered. He looked at the dark liquid on the palm of his hand and then back to where he had placed it. The entire area around Jeb's body was covered in a pool of the liquid which he had originally thought was the man's vomit. The smell and texture just wasn't right. Rodriguez had spent plenty of times rolling in his and others vomit pools that he had his own way of classifying and organizing different types of vomit. But this didn't fit into any of them. The Judge sniffed his hand once more and then gave it a slight lick before shuddering. As soon as it registered he shot upright. The metallic taste, the smell of death and the unresponsive body of his friend.

It was blood; Jeb's blood. The judge rolled the man over onto his back and stared into his empty eyes. He felt for a heartbeat or any kind of warmth, attempting to find some sign of life or at least the time of death. "No heartbeat... but the body is still warm... this wasn't done too long ago. Who did this to you Jeb?" McLinnely's heart grew heavy and he was filled with sorrow and regret. He wished he had met this man earlier in their lives. Perhaps he could have diverted him from traveling down whatever path it was that brought him to this end... he knew that the bounty hunter had told him and the bartender his story, but by that time he was already too drunk to keep a conversation going much less just sit and listen to someone else.

Slowly the sadness turned to anger, then back to sadness and finally to regret and helplessness. Even if he could find the ones who did this to his friend what could he do? He liked the guy, but did he know him enough to know if he really deserved to be avenged? And if he did deserve it, then to what degree should he be avenging him? Should he go around like a demon and tear the city apart trying to find his killers? Or should he just... talk to them? No, that's not acceptable. He knew better. Jeb had to be a good guy, because his father was a good man. He was the one that gave Rodriguez his big break and took him under his wing. If not for the honor of Jeb, then he had to avenge him for the honor of Supreme Kleutsch.

Tears began to roll down the judge's face as he rose from the corpse of the bounty hunter. He closed the man's eyes and then removed his jacket and laid it over his body. Once all this was over he would give the bounty hunter a proper burial. But for now, he had to take care of business. The judge wiped the tears from his eyes and looked down the street for any signs of activity. In the distance he heard gunshots and a light cheering. He didn't know of any bars in that direction... but it was as good a place to start as any.

Ice1 · Jan 20, 2016

Elias Stork & Alex Rose

Showtime

The gun fired, and blasted the chair the figure was just sitting in to pieces.

"I take that is a yes," the white-haired man said from the corner of the room.

Alex didn't respond, unless you count shooting at the strange-looking fellow as a response. He whirled to face the corner of the room, following the blinking man with his gun and pulling the trigger once more.

"I normally love this kind of stuff, but in all honesty, I can't say my body allows for too much action these days," the man said, as he now stood at the direct opposite side of where the bullet landed, "can't we just exchange a good laugh, tell a story?"

He blinked towards the table, and pulled back the chair, offering it to both Alex and Elias.

Alex sneered at the obsidian-skinned figure
"Forgive me for not caring about whatever happened to you and how it effects you. Instead of telling a story, I think I'll just kill you and tell Janet the story of how I killed the shit that caused all that trouble."

Alex blinked to be standing at the figure's head, pressing his gun to the side of his head and pulling it without waiting.

Again the bullet hit just wood, and the man now stood next to Elias.

"Oh, I don't wanna tell my story. I mean, it's an awful lot of fun, but it's not what's on my mind right now. What I wanna tell is the story of my friend Elroy. I'll call it: Elroy Jefferson and the Bullet to the Brain." He stroked Elias face, as the drunk just froze in place, being too afraid to move.
"And, before you shoot again, I don't see this face on any wanted posters, honey," the white-haired man said, and he framed his head with his hands.

"I don't think your friend was using his brain for anything special, and you won't be using yours much longer either. I'll sort out the details later." Alex realigned his revolver and took another shot, aiming towards the obsidian man's framed face - ignoring the fact he was standing shoulder to shoulder with Elias.

Alex could hear two sounds, one was the man's voice from the other side of the room, yelling "Blink", the other was Elias screaming, as the bullet had grazed his cheek.

"Holy fucking shit, man. I know this ain't the prettiest face, but that doesn't mean it needs to be mutilated even more. I personally quite like this face!" Elias said as he grabbed the grazing wound.

"Will you shut the fuck up for a minute?!" Alex shouted at Elias, pulling his sawed-off from under his coat with his left hand and pointing in the direction of his white-haired enemy before firing off two more shots.

"You're not going to hit him, just try to calm down and act rationaly. Also, why the fuck do we even need to down this asshole? Look, demonboy, we're just here to pick up some cash your friend owed us," Elias said, and he let out a deep sigh.

Using the revolver still in his right hand, Alex fired a warning shot just slightly over Elias' head.
"Did I not say shut the fuck up?"

"Am I not fucking paying you?"

"Am I being ignored now?" the voice was muffled, as it came from the other side of the door that had just slammed shut. Elias immediately turned around, and tried to pull it open.

"It's stuck, I think it's frozen shut. What the fuck man, I just want to get some money and not have to hang to myself."

The curtains that obscured the window suddenly were pulled apart, allowing the bright sunlight to enter. In the window were two hands, dressed up in socks with buttons on them.

"Welcome, welcome kids and creeps!" the man yelled out," welcome to the story of Elroy Jefferson, and the bullet to the-"
Alex had blinked to outside and launched another shotgun shot, but the obsidian man now said in the corner of the room.

"Brain," he continued, looking Elias straight in the eyes with a deadpan face, "now, I advice you'll just watch my show, and boy what a show it'll be, because man, I've got some a-ma-zing stuff planned. Two hours of mindnumbing entertain-

Alex blinked back into the room and dived for the man with the midnight skin, both his guns still in his grip. His target was gone in an instant, causing Alex to very nearly run into the wall instead.

"Anyway, I'll kill your moneyman, gunslinger, if you don't call down for just a mere minute, okay?"

Elias let out a frightful shreek, as he locked eyes with Alex and nervously shook his head with big eyes.

"Let's, let's just calm down fuck down, okay, no need for anyone, and with anyone I mean especially me, to get hurt." he said.

"Honestly I'm half a mind to just let you kill the bastard" Alex interjected with a sigh at Elias' cowardice.

"Not in it for the money, ay?" the man continued. He blinked to Elias, who let out another shreek, grabbed him and blinked away again, putting Elias down on a chair, and himself climbing up on the table.

"Oh well, let me continue, because as I said, I've got a delicious show planned out. I must say that it's all improvisational, but I have a grand vision, and you just have to execute in that case, you know."

He raised one sockpuppet up, put his head down, and started to speak from the corner of his mouth, moving his hand in sync, or in what he believed to be synchronized to his words.

"Muh muh muh muh muh muh muh muh my nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh name," he spoke, while he mimed with the sockpuppet. He looked up a bit, and gave Alex a playful glance," ih ih ih ih ih ih ih-"

Alex disappeared in a crackling of fire, suddenly reappearing in an explosive burst of flame on top of the table where the man had been standing only a moment before.
"God fucking damn it just die already!"

The hands popped up over the windowsill again, but the attention was drawn away from the puppeteering act, and towards the fire that was now burning the table.

Elias froze in place, his whole body seemed to lock down, as he tried to figure out what to do, until the only logical solution popped up in his mind: don't sit still next to a fucking fire.

"What the fuck man, setting the house on fire is not the way to fucking go!"

Alex jumped down from the now smouldering table as the fire begun to get even more intsense, leaping across to a bench and wall as the puppeteer's voice continued unperturbed.

"Elroy Jefferson," he said, "I'm also dropping the stutter, a housefire puts a bit of a time constraint on the act. Anyway. I'm poor, I'm senile, I'm alone! Oh, who's is this?"

He now raised his other sock puppet, ducking down as a bullet flew past his head before continuing.

"Oh yes, I'll take care of you! You're sick, you're dying. You need the help," he continued. "That's me!" he whispered very loudly to his unwilling audience.

"And time passed, as it always does, don't ask me why, and then there enters a third person into our compelling story." He blinked towards Elias, and grabbed him, as he again disappeared and reappeared very close to the flames that were slowly starting to engulf the kitchen.

"Mister smells-like-nasty-beer-and-old-eggs here came in, and drove a bullet straight through me," the Elroy puppet said, as Elias' face was pushed towards the flames

Even as the flames begun to swallow more of the tiny wooden house, Alex blinked to the side of his enemy and swung the shotgun into the side of his head, catching him by surpise and knocking him and by extention his hostage to the ground, the latter very nearly landing face first on the blazing pile of wood that was once the kitchen table.

"Ouch," the puppeteer said as he hit the ground. Elias just screamed, and threw up.

"Oh man, nasty. I'm not going to clean that up again!" the obsidian-skinned fellow said, before blinking away and continuing his story, "Anyway, dearest boozeboy there came in, and shot my caretaker and life-long friend."

He then blinked towards the window, leaning on the frame in a very casual manner.

"And then he smashed one of the windows, and just ran. And, I'm telling you Elroy," he looked at his handpuppet-

Alex once again interupted the mad puppet show, this time by dropping his revolver and grabbing Elias' collar with his free hand as the sickly man slowly got to his feet. Alex ran to the window, pulling a staggering Elias along with him before stopping abruptly and using Elias' continued momentum to throw him through the open window in the direction of the man with the white hair.

Like an adult-sized screaming bullet, Elias flew towards the open window, the storyteller just laughing as the man neared towards him. Just before impact, he disappeared, and Elias just not so delicately face planted on the wooden porch, his broken nose feeling like it snapped again.

Alex blinked after Elias, looking around for his target with his sawed-off at the ready.

The voice came from the roof now: "And it was at that moment that I, Emmett Holliday-" he raised his other puppet in the air "-came into to rescue the mistreated Elroy, with my magical abilities of healing! oh no"

A crack could be heard, and Emmett fell through the roof, as the flames started to engulf the roof, licking the wood and slowly weakening it.

With his shotgun aimed indiscriminately into the burning house through the window Alex fired shot after shot, using his reloading spell to keep a constant stream of bullets in the sawed-off. He couldnt see through the now thick smoke obscuring his vision, but he figured he had a decent enough chance of hitting Emmett with his barage of bullets.

"Ouch," he heard coming from the smoke, and then quickly after another from outside, until it became a barrage of ouches that started to get softer with every exclemation.

"He's getting away, dude," Elias yelled.

"Fuck!" Alex yelled, turning to see Emmett blinking away in the direction of the main town. Alex didn't give it a moment of thought before he vanished, giving chase to his enemy.

"I'll just stay here, you know!" Elias yelled, "no need to worry about me! I'll just take care of this burning house!" He kicked a rock that was lying on the ground, but the sudden body movement made him eerily aware of the pain his broken nose gave him

"I'm going to deduct this from your pay!"

ft. Gimmepie as Alex Rose.

Shak · Jan 20, 2016

-Achilles Nimbus
Allies - Coady Landis & Isaac Heaton

Status - Bounty Hunter? Level - 2

Element - Electricity

Money - $3200 ($27, 800 to go)​

Bound By Chains

"Y'know, ****ty as it is, I'm actually kinda starting to enjoy it down here." Isaac proposed what appeared to Achilles as a very forced stimulus of conversation. The shorter of the two men squinted. Isaac took a sip of his drink, killing a few more seconds. There was an elephant in the room, and it was only a matter of time before someone had to point out the trunk. "It was boring up north, y'know. Every day: go to work, fill out some paper work, go drinkin', find a nice chick, rinse and repeat. As much as I enjoyed that stuff, this is just…refreshing." He continued, deciding that now wasn't that time. Again, he noticed Achilles' gaze wandering - the bounty hunter making no effort to entertain his notions. "Don't tell me you're still mad about earlier. Look man, I was pissed off, and you can't deny Coady was spewin' some bull****."

"Huh? Sorry." Achilles seemed to click back into focus. His blank, wandering gaze, now intent on attempting to recall some of what Isaac had been saying.

"Wha-were you blanked out this whole time?" Isaac grumbled, dismissing the half-hearted apology of his companion. "You weren't having one of those black out things again, were ya?" He sighed.

"No, actually. I haven't had one of those since…" Achilles folded his arm, and stared intently at the ground. It didn't take much contemplation for him to remember the last time he'd had one of the visions. Even Isaac rolled his eyes in realisation. "Charlotte." He finished, flatly. After a moment of more contemplation, and ignoring Isaac's disgusted cursing, Achilles shuffled his hand around in his satchel and pulled out Anima's bounty poster.

"Maybe we should change the subject." Isaac sighed, grabbing the page out of Achilles' hands. He replaced it with the bounty poster of their new target: Sophia Hartmann. "A new subject, like why Coady's so enthusiastic about this particular bounty. He's never exactly took on this enthusiastic frame of mind before. Better yet, why are we in Larkin? The guy we talked to said that yeah, her old gang was based in Larkin, they haven't been sighted here in weeks…so why'd he bring us here?" His rant seemed to fall on deaf ears. Achilles again, left him with go response to go off of.

"Don't worry, I heard you that time. I was just…putting together the puzzle, so to speak." Achilles mumbled, seemingly deep in thought.

"Oh?" Isaac raised a brow.

"Nothing." Achilles shrugged. "So big?" He jumped at the chance to change the subject, as he noticed Coady strolling out the butcher's, holding an excessively large slab of meat. The flame sorcerer glanced at him, before nodding and continuing forward. "You're going to eat all that?" Achilles continued to probe for some sort of response.

"Probably." Coady grinned. Both of his companions glanced at each other in confusion. "You two should probably stay here, I just need to go get something. We can head out after the girl after."

He made himself scarce, ignoring anything the others may have added. Once out of sight, he quickly found himself at the old tavern. He almost didn't recognise it. Not that it mattered, it wasn't the first time he came down here since his return to the barren lands – it would however, be his last. He walked down the alley, and looked unmoved as he noticed the hole in the wall.

"Security's dropped since last time I came here." He joked. "So has the standard of hygiene, clearly." He winced at the immense smell of death that swallowed the room. "Recruit strength too." He sighed. As he ventured deeper, the amount of corpses he saw grew. Many of the faces, though older, were ones he recognised; old friends and fresh faces, all stained by Culebra blood. He rolled his eyes and continued. While he did want to stay and soak it in for a bit longer, the stench was pushing him out. He'd have to find what he was looking for as soon as possible, and he door to Antonio's office was the perfect place to start. He loosened his shoulders, and walked over to the door. It seemed to relax as he made his way through it.

The old place stunk of emptiness. The hell happened here? He thought to himself. He almost felt…scared. While he undoubtedly planned to clear the place out himself, whoever did it was just so callous, so merciless. Half of the faces that lay scraped of any empathy, were just strangers that associated themselves with something he hated. He shrugged off the creeping sympathy he felt for his old gang. This wasn't what he was here for. The old hag liked her secret passages. She'd definitely have Hugo locked in one.

"This is bull****." He groaned, throwing himself into Antonio's dusty old chair. He'd been searched the entire room; tossing every file, page, folder, book and key in search for some clue as to where Hugo would've been kept. All this was assuming the damn guy was even kept alive after all this time. It had been almost fourteen years. One place he hadn't checked, was Antonio's old chest. Bastard loved that thing. Magic seal. Only he could open it. Seemed like a great place to start, and the futility of breaking it was looking more and more like an illusion, as he looked back at the splattered corpses of the Culebras. He stood over the crate and summoned a large ball of rock to slam down and smash it. The crate remained unmoved.

"****." He sighed. He scrambled over to the mess of keys he'd tossed aside earlier, gathering as many as he could, and indiscriminately shoving them into the keyhole. Nothing. "****!" He bellowed in frustration. In his fury, he unleashed a flurry of punches, shotgun blasts and elemental bursts on the crate; each resulting in no more that bruised fists, wasted bullets and burned walls. His frustration grew, he grabbed onto the crate getting ready to hurl it at the wall. As he did so however, the floor beneath the crate opened up. "Last laugh, huh?" He groaned, talking directly to the deceased man and his mother. He tossed the crate aside and headed to the hole in the floor. As the crate left his grasp, the hole quickly slammed itself shut. "****. YOU. TOO." He huffed, retaining as much of his rage as possible. Upon lifting the crate again, multiple times, it was made aware to him that the hole wasn't going to open for him again. It was clear that he'd need someone else to do it.

After sitting there in defeat for a while, Coady came to a realisation. He sprung to his feet and used his summon familiar spell to materialise a small bear cub. The cub immediately got to work, lifting the crate for its master.

"Thank ****." Coady sighed, as the hole opened up again. "Take it with you, I don't want this **** screwing up again." He ordered. The cub sprung into an upright position and struggled to follow behind its master with the crate in its paws.

The basement was dark. It was pretty much what you'd expect from a basement's basement. Dark, damp, dirty; but somehow teeming with life. Something was down there. The sound of rattling chains came from the depths of the darkness. The sound began to grow louder. The cub familiar jumped backwards in fear. There was a loud clanking sound accompanied by the furious pattering of hard feet on the cold ground right in front of him. Coady grinned.

Deserted Culebra Base​

Sonata · Jan 27, 2016

Revenge

Rodriguez McLinnely, Judge
Level 4 Water, Electricity, Fire
Silverston

"I swear on your life... I will get revenge." The judge stood up from the body of the deceased bounty hunter and began to run off in the direction of the commotion. Every few steps he would stumble and fall over, the alcohol having yet to actually leave his body enough for him to have control over it. Even with all the stumbling and losing his sense of direction, Rodriguez managed to catch up with the group after about twenty minutes.

"Good job Buck on gettin' in the first shot! Never would'a expected you to be the type to jump the gun!" The men all burst out in laughter as the diminutive judge took the corner and nearly keeled over. Once he regained himself, the judge looked up at the group of people lounging about. The one who was apparently named Buck shyed away and didn't join in on their laughter, instead holding tightly onto his rifle until his knuckles had turned white. His eyes refused to make contact with the others, and he had no drink in his hands like them either.

After a few short moments of everyone patting him on the back and drinking heavily, the one named Buck stood up from his spot in the middle of the group and slung his rifle over his shoulder. "Sorry," he whispered.

"Eh? Wazzat?" The one who had been praising him motioned for the others to quiet down.

"Sorry," he began again, "I'm not really in the mood." The man's eyes remained fixed on the ground as he spoke. The others thought nothing of it and motioned for him to go ahead and go. "See you all tomorrow in the mines...." he mumbled as he left the merry little group to themselves.

After watching the rest of the people for a few more seconds, the judge sobered up a little more and made the conscious decision to not take out his vengeance on these people. These few at least seemed only to be average folks, likely only bringing up arms to make ends meet for the week after a long day in the mines. Instead, Rod pulled out a small notebook and sketched their faces. He'd put a name to them after he caught up with and got some answers out of Buck. He wouldn't resort to violence with these types, but they still deserved to be punished for taking another man's life. He'd see them fined a mighty price. If they continued down this road because of it then that'd be their own fault when another bounty hunter gunned them down. At least their blood wouldn't be on the judge's hands.

Rodriguez went back the way he'd came, not wanting to walk out and follow their friend in the open. That'd just be asking for trouble. Instead he took the long way around, went a few houses down and then turned back towards the open area which Buck had been heading. Luckily, the man was so lost in thought that he wasn't moving with much haste. He dragged his feet and had barely put any distance between himself and his friends, though they were out of an average talking distance. The judge continued to tail him until they'd put a little more space between them. He didn't want to take any chances.

Eventually Buck stopped and kneeled down. The man pulled the rifle from his back and placed the butt of it on the ground and began to stare at it intently. "What right do I have..." he whispered to himself and then gripped the barrel of the gun tightly. "What right did I have?" he shouted out in anger. The man began to cry as he stood up, readying to bash the gun against the ground into tiny pieces. "I had no right! No right! We had no reason to be there! Why did I have to pull the trigger? If I had only just let the man be..."

The gun remained motionless in midair above the man's head. Tears streamed down his face as it contorted into strange and pained positions. "I didn't mean... I didn't mean to kill him..." he whimpered as he dropped the gun and fell to his hands and knees. "I never asked for this... I wanted to be a doctor, but I had to grow up in this shit hole!" Buck slammed his fist against the ground in frustration and then let out a long anguished scream as he rocked back and forth.

He fell back and sat on his heels, staring up into the night sky. "What's the point anymore? The way things are now, I'll be turning to a life of crime soon anyways... I'll be damned... I'll be damned if I don't too. But if I have to be damned, I'd rather be damned now." The man pulled the rifle up off the ground and loaded it. Whispering a prayer and asking for forgiveness, he lifted the gun until the muzzle brushed against the scruff of his chin. "Forgive me father. Forgive me mother. Forgive me, everyone." Buck closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

But nothing happened. The judge who had been watching the whole thing stepped out in front of the man, tears falling from his own face. "When I woke and found my friend killed, I'd intended to take out my revenge on whoever I found first. I didn't care what trouble it would cause, or what life that person had led. But seeing you, I can only imagine the degree to which I would go through guilt after doing it. I can't... and I can't let you do this. You have to live with the choices that you've made tonight. Maybe in time you can redeem yourself... perhaps starting now..." The judge kneeled down in front of the man and moved the gun away from his frozen form.

Tears streamed down Buck's face as he looked into the eyes of the man he'd seen Jeb carrying out of the bar. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He repeated the phrase over and over, and each time the tears grew stronger rendering the phrase near inaudible. "Ib *sniff* ib dere's anyfin *sniff* I can do *sniff* to start repenting *snort* please!" As the mobility came back to the man's body he slammed his head against the ground and begged for mercy.

The judge lifted the man's head and stared into his eyes. "If you knew where the men who hired you worked from, then surely you'd be taking the first step down the righteous path."

Buck wiped the snot and tears from his face and stood up. "I don't know exactly where they are but, there is a cluster of mines that they're seen around quite often.... I could take you there. They're slightly isolated and not exactly the easiest to get to, but I'll do my best to redeem myself." Buck bowed his head, fighting between a frown or a smile.

"I'd appreciate it."

Foxrally · Feb 1, 2016

Sophia Hartmann

Status - Outlaw - Leader of Sangre Clan-----------------------Former member of Culebra Clan
Sorcery Level - 2
Element - Air
Bounty - 2200$

Spoiler: Current Sangre Clan

Larkin

No Snakes in the Grass

"Did I ever tell you 'bout this one time I found god?" Abe asked, scratching his chin.

"Nope." Sophia replied halfheartedly, too tired to actually care for what the old miner was saying.

"Happened back when I was a lad, 'bout 16 I think. Went out with my unca' to help 'em mine rock and whatnot in the mountains up north – shit gets real cold out there. We was minin' for a few weeks, shit job but I was a natural. Gathered almost twice as much as the rest of the boys, too. Unca' was real proud o' me, bein' a first-timer getting' so much. But ya see, the company that we was working for paid us per quota; y'know what that means, right?"

"Yeah, I ain't that fuckin' stupid."

"Right, right. So basically when the boys saw that I was getting' a shitton more than they did, bastards started stealin' right from my store. Lucky for me, had my unca' as leader of the trip, so they stopped when he realized. Shit wasn't goin' well for me back at camp either, basically takin' the shit end of everything those fuckers had."

"Shit, they'd be dead by now if it was me." Tolkins chuckled.

"Nah, I was a good lad. Didn't believe in killin', still don't. Anyway, you betch'ur ass I worked even harder after that. I coulda' practically made enough money to retire if it went on for enough. Assholes wouldn't have it though. Once we was up in a more remote, flat area of the mountains, me and three other guys, one of 'em was about my age too, forgot his name. Anyway, one of 'em faked to be 'hurt' - said some viper bit 'im, so I went to help 'im out. Before I realized fuckin' vipers don't live in the mountains, bastard shot me in the leg."

Sophia raised an eyebrow, now intrigued. "Shit. How'd you get outta there?"

"Did what any boy would do. Started screamin' for help. Fuckers didn't even bother killin' me, just took my stash and bolted. You can guess that didn't do shit. So I started crawlin'. No idea where, but I was movin'. Any other man would'a just laid down and died, but not me."

Abe paused, taking a moment to light his pipe.

"Three days. Spent three days crawlin' through the tundra. Half-blind, starved and crippled, I was ready to give up. And that's, when I found god."

He paused for a second. "Turns out, god's a squirrel. Big fat one, too. Ate the shit out of the fucker, guts and all." he chuckled. "That's how they found me the next day, delirious and squirrel hair in my mouth."

"And what happened to the assholes who left you?" Sophia asked, holding back her laughter.

"Ran off with the money. Two of 'em were found and hanged, nobody ever saw the third one – it was the kid, actually. Still wonder where that bastard is now."

The rest of the journey was mostly silent, until the group had reached the outskirts of Larkin. Sophia hopped off the horse she had stolen in Silverston. "Get rid of the horses. A group of people on horseback walking into town is too suspicious, and we ain't in a position to fight right now." she instructed. The rest of the Sangres reluctantly got off their mounts, and with a spark of electricity from Marzia, the horses set off.

----------

Beneath the hideout, Coady was facing the fierce rattling of contested chains. He resisted the urge to chuckle in the presence of the beast.

"Shut up!" He yelled. The monster took no note of the man's command. Instead, it snapped ferociously at it's visitor. Coady sighed. He lit a small flame over his hand, revealing the colossal crocodile before him. "Damn." He jumped back in shock. As a child, he'd always been larger than the reptile, at this stage he was barely half it's size. What should've been bright green scales were greying. He'd been down there for a while. By now, the small bear familiar, who paled in comparison to both of the room's other attendees, was cowering in the corner of the room. His master chuckled. "Long time no see... Hugo." Coady grinned.

Their brief reunion was cut short by the sound of footsteps and voices above them. "Oh my god..." one voice gasped. It seemed to be female.

"Tolkins, keep watch at the door. Soph and Abe can search the office, I'll look around the rest of the place. Watch out for any leftover snakes that could be hiding in the cracks in the walls." another called out, also female.

A few moments later, more footsteps could be heard just above Hugo's prison, as well as the sound of things being moved around. "How the fuck did anyone manage to open the door?" the first woman asked. This time, a man replied, his voice cracked with age. There was a sense of familiarity to it, but Coady couldn't make out exactly who it was.

"Must've been some raiders. Coulda' used some corpse to open it up. How they would'a known, though, no idea... Hey Soph, you ah- ah, shit."

The distinguishable sound of someone throwing up could be heard just above them. "Dammit." the man said. "You gon' be alright?"

"Yeah, just -cough- fuck off and search the office for the maps so we can get the -cough- fuck out." the woman replied shakily.

Coady scowled at what seemed to be the sound of people upstairs. The most telling sound was the meek and labored one that seemed to strike fear into the cougher's allies. The thought of them suffering against the intense smell of death amused him. Idiots. They'd obviously bitten of more than they could chew. With that thought, he glanced at the struggling crocodile.

"We're gonna have some fun." He grinned.

After a few minutes of looking around the office, finding only old paperwork and contracts that were of no use to them, Sophia and Abe had begun getting frustrated. "Open every damn scroll in here, one of 'em has got to be the map." Sophia instructed, flipping through the assortment of books on Antonio's bookshelves, tossing each useless book aside after she had been done with it.

"Yeah, yea- wait, what?" Abe began, but suddenly stopped as a book hit the floorboards. "Shit, is that...?" he muttered to himself, thumping the floor with his shovel and squinting. "Damn floor's hollow!"

"Wait, what? Why would he need an underground room?" Sophia asked.

Abe scratched his chin. "Ain't important. What matters is, there's an entrance to some hole down there. I'd bet my ass Tony would've hid his maps well, eh?"

Coady made his way up the stairs. With Hugo now free, he couldn't exactly turn around. He'd have to kill off whatever was upstairs. He had no objection to doing that, but it was a much more enjoyable task when he had the option. He drew his shotgun.

Bursting from the floorboards, the fire sorcerer held his weapon in one hand, and a ball of flame in the other. He squinted at the two figures that stood before him.

"Where're the rest of ya?" He scowled.

"What the-" Abe began. Sophia whirled around and pulled out her pistol. "Wait, don't!" he cried.

"Why the hell not?" Coady raised a brow, butting in before Sophia had a chance to respond. He glanced between the two: The old man, then the girl, then the old man again. "Old, Able, huh?" He squinted, trying to match the face in his memory with the similar, but greyer face he saw now.

"Time ain't too kind in the south, lad." Abe replied, still cautiously eyeing the two much younger former Culebras. "Now both o' y'all lower yer guns. Don't disgrace the home of a dead man."

Sophia spat on the ground. "Fuck that." She fired a round straight at Coady's face.

A wall of earth burrowed up through the ground, to block the bullets. Coady could hear the echoing sound of heavy feet be dragged through the tunnel. Time wasn't on his side.

"Abe, hows about you calm that bitch of yours down, so we can talk a minute!" He shouted through the wall.

"Soph, calm the fuck down!" Abe turned to his leader. "If you shoot, it'll alert every fucker in the area. He ain't-"

"Shut your fucking mouth, Abe. This piece of shit right there-" Sophia spat, putting away her pistol and taking out her shotgun, "-comes in here like a fucking tomb raider, a month after everyone's died, and you're telling me-" she fired the shotgun at the rock wall. "-to FUCKING-" she fired another, "CALM-" and another, "-DOWN?!" she shrieked, empowering the last bullet with an air blast, which left the rock wall cracked.

"Abe, I'm gonna give you one warning here! If you don't fix this shit, I'll have to!" Coady yelled, nervously checking his back with the sound of predatory hissing and growling behind him.

"Fuckin-" Abe muttered. "What was yer name, lad? C-Colt? Co.. Coady, was it? The pesky lad with the-"

"Abe, SHUT THE FUCK UP! We can talk later. For now, calm this bitch down!" Coady shouted again, with sweat running down his face. The Croc burst forward, forcing Coady to create an earth wall behind him, causing the one protecting him from the young Culebra to crumble. "Don't fire another shot." He glared sternly at Sophia, with his own gun raised.

"Up your-" Sophia began and pulled the trigger, but nothing came out. The gun appeared to be clogged with rocks.

"When I say stop, I mean it, lass." Abe said. "There's a goddamn monster on the other side of that wall and the one person who can control it is that guy. And I can tell this wall ain't holding for long."

Sophia threw her gun on the ground, muttering a curse. They heard the crocodile snarl in response. "The fuck do we do now?"

"You're assuming a lot there, Abe. I never claimed I could control the bastard. It's been fifteen years." Coady sighed, putting away his shotgun. I'm assuming the idiot kid you're with has only made things harder, by pissin' him off."

"Damn, 15 years? I'd reckon it was- Marzia, no!" Abe shouted, looking at the empty spot behind Coady. "He ain't dangerous!"

A voice could be heard sighing, as Marzia uncloaked herself and the invisibility spell wore off. "Men are even less dangerous when they are dead." she spoke calmly. "Who is he? I can see his tattoo."

"Don't tell me this is what's left of the Culebras." Coady sighed, glancing at the woman behind him. "Antonio got soft in his old age, huh?"

Marzia took no notice of the insult. "Why are you here? If you've come for money, Antonio had none here. I presume you were not a Culebra when we still existed, so give us - or me, at least - a reason to spare you." she pulled out her knife.

"I came here to see an old friend. Surely you can understand me wanting a nostalgic reunion." He chuckled, hiding his nerves. He was just starting to realize how much energy he'd wasted on that stupid box, and retaining all these barriers was really doing a number on him. He was in no place to be cocky.

Marzia briefly recoiled, the mention of partner reminding her of her deceased snake companion. "...acceptable." she said, brushing off a poisonous frog that had hopped onto her shoulder. "Boss, I've found what we need. Now we must-"

She was cut off by the sound of Sophia hurling again in the corner, the smell of the vomit worsening the stench of the multiple corpses, venomous animals and other unholy substances in the hideout. She had not been taking it well. "Let's... just... get out..." she stammered, sniffling and leaning against the wall.

"So, what exactly happened here?" Coady inquired, finally feeling somewhat safe.

"Rex Flinders happened." Abe spat on the ground and scratched his chin. "Reckon ya heard what happened to him, right?"

"Can't say I do. I'm not caught up in the barren land gossip club. Care to fill me in?" He glanced at Sophia, before returning his attention to Abe.

"Yer tellin' me ya haven't heard of that monster crashing through the north? Vera, Verwhatshisname."

"Vereyls." Marzia corrected. "The demon killed Rex and most of his gang soon after he wrecked Antonio and the Culebras. Destroyed a whole town too, on the side."

"You got the domino effect thing goin' on down here, huh?" Coady responded flatly, and looking at no one in particular. "So what happens to me when I kill that thing then?"

Sophia turned around at the mention of Veralice. "You... -cough- shut your fucking mouth..." she coughed.

"Ya get ripped to pieces by an eleven year old or ya gets torn to shreds by a god-knows-year-old demon." Abe replied.

"Eleven year old, or god; which am I supposed to fear most?" He responded sarcastically with furrowed brows. Again, he glanced at Sophia. "Or maybe I should be asking what it is I said to piss off sicky over here."

Marzia sighed softly. "Nevermind that. We are leav-"

She was cut off my the sound a scream and the sound of a body dropping on the floor.

A joint post of Foxrally and Shak

Sonata · Feb 2, 2016

Revenge?

Rodriguez McLinnely, Judge
Level 4 Water, Electricity, Fire
Silverston

"As bad as I feel for what I've done... this is as far as I can take you... please, forgive me." The man dropped to his knees and planted his face on the ground.

Rodriguez nodded and pressed his hand against the man's back. "I wish you only the best sir. Thank you. I forgive you."

Buck began to shake as the judge spoke. Quiet grunts and sniffs were heard as he rose to his feet and turned his back towards the mine. The man took a few steps forward and then broke out into a sprint, tossing aside the weapon soon after he started.

The judge turned his attention back towards the mine. He could feel several people's magic within. And he was sure that they could feel him. They were waiting, ready to strike. Rodriguez took a moment to gather himself, questioning if he should really go through with this. Then the conversation he had had with Jeb began to come back in bits and pieces. And at some point in the night, the two had made vows on the life of Supreme Kleutsch. They were going to change this country together. That was, until these outlaw ****s took his best friend's life.

The judge had made up his mind. He had no choice but to go through with this. He would do what he went through all that schooling for. All those years of studying under corrupt judges only to come out and surpass them. The tutelage that the Supreme had give him. Even with all that, it paled in comparison to all that the bounty hunter had been through and given to fulfill his dream. Rod owed him this much at least.

Rodriguez walked through the cavernous mine. Numerous twists and turns which often brought him back to the same spot, a handful of dead-ends, large veins of silver, but no outlaws. The deeper he went into the mine, the less he could feel their magic. It seemed the mine was lined with something which interfered with it, but above ground it had no effect. The judge continued to walk the tunnels until he found himself at the entrance once more.

The man grit his teeth and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. He dabbed the sweat at his forehead and then turned back around. He had missed something. They were in this mine, and he wasn't going to give up until he found them. He continued back down into the cave until he hit the first intersection again. Three paths, the middle and left were connected and looped back around to each other, and the right path led deeper into the mine. He took the left path just to be sure he hadn't missed anything. But when he got around to the end of it, he saw the entrance of the mine again without having ever looped back or hitting the intersection like he had before.

Something was wrong here, but his mind was still too fuzzy to really understand it. A fine mist began to condense on the ceiling and drip down onto his head as he turned back around to try again. He made his way back to the same intersection and this time took the right passage, knowing that it led deeper into the mine. But after a few moments of walking down that path, he found himself right back in the same spot staring at the entrance to the mine. Meanwhile, the mist continued to condense and dripped down onto his head more frequently.

The judge began to get irritated, and then looked up to the ceiling where a dense pink mist clung. Several lizards crawled across the ceiling as well, sucking the mist in with large breaths until the lizards themselves became inflated. Then they would release it in large drops, causing it to fall onto the man and the ground around him before changing back to a mist and rising to the top once more. After each lizard had taken two or three large gulps of the mist it would sit motionless before curling up and falling to the ground.

The judge picked up one of the lizards from the ground beside him. The creature's eyes were glossy and slowly hazed over with a similar pink color. It moved slowly in his hands, opening its mouth wide and inflating its body as if it were still clinging to the ceiling, only the reaction was reduced drastically. Its eyes darted about rapidly even though they were now completely covered with the pink color. The judge laid the lizard back on the ground and then turned away from the entrance. There was a slight pain behind both of his eyes, but he was still determined to find these outlaws. Though it seemed even though he took so many steps he still ended up back at the same place.

After several more minutes of walking and having lizards spit and then fall over on top him, the judge began to laugh. Everything slowly started to take on a pink-ish hue the longer he stayed in the caves. He pulled a flask from his breast pocket and attempted several times to take a drink. Each time his hand or body swayed just slightly out of the way, causing him to spill it across the ground or over himself. But he would only giggle at it all.

The judge sat on the ground as his giggling intensified into a loud hardy laughter. He clutched at his stomach as he struggled to breathe. He began to choke on his own laughter, struggling to do anything as tears streamed down his face. Three figures appeared around him, two of which looked oddly similar and the third being completely out of place. All he could see were their faces as the last bit of his vision faded and was replaced with the same pink color.

"Good work Rieve."

---------

"Kid, time to wake up. Kid, wake up. I won't ask again."

The sight began to come back in the eyes of the judge and he was met with the face of a young looking woman. Well, the eye and mouth of one at least. She wore a mask which covered her nose and right eye, and then was clothed with a rather bulky black hooded robe. Her dirty blond hair hung over the top of the mask in short, messy curls.

"Kid, I don't know why you came here. But you really goofed up."

Her voice was like honey, high pitched and sweet, but yet still coming off as condescending. Her hazel eye lazily scanned over his face as he came to and the pink dispersed. The girl took a step back and then looked to the chains which were binding the man and then nodded her head before turning her back on him.

"Thomas, Law, the boy's awake." The girl looked over her shoulder and then stepped down from the platform. As she left, the two brothers came into sight at a table below, directly across from where the judge was suspended.

"Good, thank you Rieve." Law lifted his hand to the girl.

Rieve looked at the man's hand and then back to him. "If you don't want another scar, I'd put that hand away."

Law looked to be taken back as he lowered his hand back to his side. He stared at the girl as she walked past him and then bit his lip. "I look forward to working with you again ma'am," he called over his shoulder.

"I wouldn't count on it," she responded coldly as she pulled a green poncho from a jagged part of the wall and left the room..

"Tch, don't even waste yer time brother. She ain't worth it. You know he'd 'ave our heads if he ever found out." Thomas squeezed his brother's shoulder.

"I know, I know. It's just... anyways. We've got to take care of this'n for now."

"You two... are you the ones that killed my friend?" The judge broke the two's moment up, not really sure of what was going on.

Law smiled and took a few steps forward, "Yea, that'd be me buddy-boy. You that piece'a **** Jeb's friend eh? Shame 'bout that. Good lil boy like you shouldn't be hangin' 'round his kind now. Might make for some troubling rumors if someone up north found out eh?"

The judge smiled, ignoring the man's remarks. "So it was you then... what about your brother there? And that girl?"

Law grit his teeth and rushed up to the podium, pulling a small hammer out of his coat and bashing it against the judge's knee. The man screamed out in pain and the outlaw smirked. "Don't you ever think about that girl again. And as for my brother? He didn't have any reason to stay around there. That piece'a **** was too weak to bother the both of us. Thomas never even had to get his hands dirty. ****, if I'd known how drunk the ****er was I'd 've just done him in myself. But the way Jed always talked the **** up, I didn't really think we should take any chances."

That's right. Rodriguez began to remember more about the whole conversation he and Jeb had had at the bar. Everything was becoming more clear the more this man spoke. Jed was the whole reason that Jeb had turned down this dark path in the first place. He was supposed to grow up and be a Supreme, just like his father and his father before him. But Jed... his wife and daughter... the judge clenched his fist. "Do you even know why Jebediah was a bounty hunter to begin with," he whispered.

"Wazzat? The hell would I care why the ****er turned to huntin' good ol' folks like us? Only thing I'm concerned about is pickin' up that cash reward for his head from Jed next time we meet. Really, with how weak he was I can't believe it wasn't taken sooner."

The judge smiled and then began to laugh lightly. "You have no idea what he's been through... and yet you felt you had the right to just take it all away from him? For some menial sum of cash?"

Law looked back to his brother and then back to the judge. His face contorted and scrunched up from a combination of confusion and disgust. "The **** you on about? Money is money. That's the whole ****in' deal of bein' a ****in' outlaw. No rules. Do whatever you can. Make the biggest name for yourself as possible, and kill anyone tryin' to get in yer way. It's not that complex. Yer a judge ain't ye? You should be used to the 'confessions' of the condemned. Hell, I bet not one of them has ever even apologized for what they done." The outlaw lifted the hammer back into the air and then brought it down hard onto the judge's shoulder.

Rodriguez caught a glimpse of a golden inscription on the steel bands of the hammer as it bounced off of his shoulder. Judge Rodriguez McLinnely. They were using his own hammer to beat him to death. His eyes darted around the room and then rested back on the man in front of him. He didn't see his spellbook anywhere. He concentrated hard, trying to use one of his spells on the man in front of him but to no avail. The judge lowered his head, unsure of what to do. At the moment, he was completely helpless.

Law grinned as he let the man's situation sink in. "Yeah, that's right. We're not so dumb as to keep yer book within yer range. We've dealt with our fair share of magicals before. Yer not goin' anywhere boy." The man let out a little laugh and then turned his back before going back over to the table to put the hammer down. The other brother stood up and walked over beside Law and began to whisper something in his ear. All the while, Rodriguez thought hard, his mind raced as he attempted to think of any way out of this situation.

The cold metal of a gun pressed itself up against the back of the judge's neck. "I heard everything." The same woman's voice from before. "You are friends with the Mr. Jebediah? Nod once for yes. Make a sound and I'll kill you."

The judge turned his head slightly until the girl's eye was just within his peripherals. He nodded once.

"And he's been killed?"

The judge nodded again.

"Would you do anything to bring him back again?"

The judge nodded once more.

"I understand.... wait for me a moment."

The feeling of the gun against his back disappeared and the single eye in the darkness with it. The judge turned his head back to the front as the two brothers began to laugh and make their way back over to him.

"We've made a decision then," Thomas said as he leaned into the judge's face.

"A decision?"

The brothers shook their heads in union. "Yes, a decision. Since you're so adamant about your friendship with Jebediah, we've decided to let you join him. But, not too fast. We still want to have our fun with you. I hope you're ready for what we have in store." The two brought out an assortment of knives and hammers, including the judge's own hammer. The two began to laugh as they stared down the helplessly weak northerner. The judge looked to the ceiling, not wanting to see what they were doing and he noticed a familiar mist hanging around.

The familiar cold of a gun pressed itself against his back once more. A fingernail traced itself across his bare back, spelling out a message. 'Avenge him. Jedediah isn't happy with your loss.' The gun disappeared from his back and was replaced by a quick stinging sensation and the feeling of having something injected into his body. A light thud and echoed through the cave behind him as something was laid a short distance away. The judge's eyes remained stuck to the ceiling as the whole thing went down, watching the mist grow ever thicker. As it did so, the lizards began to make their way towards it from all directions. They went about their usual ritual of inhaling and spitting around the outlaws.

The outlaws laughed wildly as they lashed out at and tore pieces and chunks from the body of the restrained judge. The ceiling began to rain down on them, but they never took notice. Even as their eyes began to glaze over and the judge teleported out of his bindings they continued to lash out at the air in front of them. The judge stumbled over to the two brothers, his body severely damaged and on the verge of passing out from bloodloss. Whatever the woman had injected him with had granted him an immunity to the mist, but it seemed that now that wouldn't even be what would do him in.

The judge placed crawled up the stairs to the platform he had been restrained on. Law fell to the ground, choking, crying and laughing simultaneously as Rodriguez placed his hand on the man's chest. The wounds on the judge's body disappeared as Law's body aged rapidly. His face wrinkled and greyed until it sunk in and began to decay. Thomas turned to his brother, tears streaming furiously down his face. He pulled a small vial from his pocket and slammed it into his own chest.

After a few seconds the man's laughter stopped. Rodriguez stood and was met by a firm boot to the chest. "Get the hell away from my brother you monster!" Thomas screamed out as he knelt down over the irrecognizable corpse of his brother. "What did you do to him? What did you do! Why does he look so old? What kind of power... demon!" Thomas laid his brother's head on the floor, what remained of the skin flaked off with the slight movement. Thomas' hand remained clenched firmly around a small tuft of greyish-white hair as his other began to cackle with electricity. "I swear... I swear to God I'll kill you!"

Thomas rushed at the judge who stood in front of him, having apparently not taken a single bit of damage through all the time he had been restrained. "Please don't do this." The judge pleaded as his hammer floated over to his hand from the platform. The brother continued to rush at him and then threw his hand forward, causing a bright bolt of electricity to fly out with only mere feet between the two.

The judge turned, enveloping himself with a shield of his own lightning. "Please, don't do this." Rod pleaded again as the shield expanded outwards, sending the outlaw flying back up to the platform. "I don't want to do this. I need you."

"Go to hell!" Thomas screamed out as both of his arms were engulfed in powerful sparks.

The judge shook his head and frowned. "I'm sorry." Thomas lunged at the judge and then stopped. The brother was left floating in midair with only slightly more distance between the two than there had been on his first attack. The hammer in the judge's hand drifted out of it and then enlarged itself until it was nearly ten times its initial size. The judge lifted his hand to the ceiling and the hammer followed until it brushed against the top. Thomas remained helplessly frozen in the air as the hammer smashed down on both of his legs, completely shattering them.

"I'm sorry. I told you. I need you." The judge walked over to the man as the hammer slipped into his coat pocket. "But I don't believe I need you in prime condition. Now," the judge pressed his finger against Thomas' forehead, "experience hell."

The brother's pupils expanded until they covered his entire eye and his mouth dropped open. A low moan began to emit itself from within as Rodriguez lifted Law's skeletal figure onto his shoulder and began to push Thomas out of the tunnel behind the platform he'd been restrained on.

"Don't worry Jeb... I remember the pact we made..." the judge took a deep breath and continued down the path until he could see the light of the sun rising. "We'll avenge them all together. We'll change the world. I promise you."

The judge left the cave and blinked a couple of times until he was within distance of the bar where Jeb had been gunned down. Some of the residents of the town had surrounded him and were calling for help. The judge rushed over, not wanting to waste any more time. He threw the two brothers to the ground and placed his left hand over the chest of Jeb and his right against the chest of Thomas.

The judge concentrated hard and the town went silent as the body of Thomas began to age rapidly before their eyes. Meanwhile, the bullets within Jeb's body pushed themselves out and the wounds healed, sealing shut. But even with all the life that Thomas had left, there was nothing more that could be done. Jeb's body remained lifeless and cold. His heart wasn't beating, and his eyes were empty. Rodriguez pounded on his friend's chest and began to tear up.

"Don't give up. Isn't there still more that you can do?"

The judge lifted his head and wiped his face before turning to the woman behind him. The masked girl looked down at him, her eye was bloodshot and her lips were pursed tightly. "You're not really doing all that you can are you? I thought you were going to bring him back no matter what the cost. He still has so much to do right?"

Rodriguez stared at the girl and then nodded his head. "I'm sorry. I won't hold back this time." With the life of the two brothers used up, there remained only one option. The judge rolled his sleeves up, pressed his right hand against his chest and his left against Jeb's. The judge bowed his head and concentrated.

gimmepie · Feb 3, 2016

Alex Rose

Amongst Onlookers: The Hunt Continues

Alex rushed through the gates, past Ironhaven's imense and ancient walls in pursuit of Emmett, he and his prey drawing startled glances from the small number of people commuting in and out of the small city.

Following closely, Alex chased the outlaw into a throng of busy people. Irritated, he realised it would be impossible to take a shot in the crowd so he continued after Emmett with his weapon at the ready but now unusable.

Out of the crowd came erupted high pitched screams, and Emmett's voice yelling: "mine". It created an audible trail for Alex to follow, but he quickly figured out what Emmett had been taking, and it would make finding him considerably harder. The boy's poncho was laying on the ground. Of course his obsidian black skin would be an advantage, but he could be wearing anything. He certainly didn't seem to be the type that found himself above a dress.

"My parents died the day I was born, did you know that?" Emmett said, but his voice seemed to change location every three words or so.

"No, and I don't particularly care." Alex replied, certain that Emmett wouldn't move too far away and as such that he would hear him even though he did not raise his voice much. He moved more slowly through the crowd now, knowing that Emmett wouldn't run too far now that he'd found somewhere to play his game that put Alex to a disadvantage.

Occassionally Alex caught a glimpse of the outlaw's midnight skin, often followed by a scream.
"You know, I'm not so fond of hide and seek. I was always more of a tag kid. So why don't you come out and we can play a different game."

"This isn't hide and seek, boy," Emmett giggled, "it's theatre. And the show playing tonight is mine, an adaption of my story, written by me, played by me, experienced by me. Or maybe thought up by me, I haven't decided yet."

"I don't like theatre either." Alex remarked dryly, catching a glimpse of Emmett, garved in women's clothing, wandering through the crowd. He blinked to be infront of the outlaw, swinging his shotgun at him like a club.

Emmett pulled two passerbies towards him, pressing their faces against his. They screamed, but as soon as the screeches left their lips, Emmett was gone.

"I was found in a cabin by a bear and a wolf. Desert bears, don't ask."

"I still don't care." Alex called back, ignoring the shrieks and following obsnities of the two people he'd nearly clubbed over the head.

"And I," Emmett reacted, in an almost singing tone, "don't care that you don't. And neither would papa bear, you know. He never muched cared for me. He never listened, he used to hit me, all the good stuff. The stuff that makes boys men."

"Why didn't it work on you?" Alex replied, blinking onto a roof to try and get a better view of the crowded street. "You're more of annoying child than a grown man, and the dresses aren't helping that image."

No answer, but that was expected. Yelling towards a roof would be quite the giveaway. There didn't seem to be any trace of white hair or dark skin in the crowd, though. After a minute or so, it seemed a perculair figure had entered the crowd. Peculiar meaning it was clearly Emmett wearing a hat, a lot of scarfs and a not very well put on fancy jacket, buttoned up in a way that would make the lousiest of aristocrats cringe at the sight of it. As soon as their eyes met, the figure disappeared and suddenly stood next to Alex on the roof.

"What a beautiful sce-"

Alex smirked, blinking not to be infront or behind Emmett but appearing above him. Gravity pulling him down hard Alex swung his shotgun down towards Emmett's head. His target wouldn't have the chance to see the tell tale red flash of Alex's blink with the arial attack.

Emmett was knocked of the side of the roof, bleeding from his head. He had no control over his fall, as he just tumbled in ways gravity liked him to. He landed on his shoulder, and a nice, loud snap could be heard. The crowd, which had been staring from the moment the two had appeared on the roof, let out a loud gasp. People started to murmer and mumble as Emmett got up, and tried to run away, his hand glowing on his broken shoulder, slowly healing the wound. He left the hat and scarf behind, revealing his black skin, and white hair.

"Demon! Demon!" people exclaimed, "It's a Veralys!"

"A Veralys?"

"You know what I mean, just get him!"

The crowd started to bundle around Emmett, and grasping at him, trying to pull him back.

Alex jumped from the single story roof, landing behind the crowd, and proceded to push his way through them.
"It's not Veralice, if it was you'd all be dead by now. Now get out of my way so I can shoot the fucker!"

People stepped aside, allowing the bounty hunter to take aim, but part of the crowd ignored Alex completely, still trying to tear him apart. One of them turned around, and stared down Alex.

"The boy still wears Veralys skin, he's spawned from the same hell!"

"Even better reason to let me put a bullet in him dumbass." Alex said exasperatedly. The bounty hunter walked over to the person still hanging off of Emmett and tossed him aside. He then preceeded to kick Emmett hard in the ribs before aiming his gun at him, cautious considering Emmett's tendency to blink.

The boy started coughing, and black smoke streamed out his mouth. He grabbed his head, with both hands, covering his mouth as if he had to puke. The black smoke still came out, escaping through his fingers. He coughed again, and with the last puff of black smoke, the stream stopped. He tried to raise himself off the ground, but immediately dropped.

"If you don't put a bullet in my head, I'll tell you where Veralys is currently hiding. These common dumbos are quicker to make connections then you are, Alie."

Alex delivered another sharp kick to Emmett's side
"The name's Alex and I suggest you don't mess with it again. In fact, why don't you just call me sir." the bounty hunter stated, punctuating the sentence with yet another vicious kick. "Now, I don't really believe you so here's what we'll do, you'll come with me and I'll see you locked in a nice cell. After that you can tell me what you know and I might decide you can live afterall. Got it?"

"Hey, I'm not complaining. Let's get me to jail. I'll have such a bad time, and oooh, you'll get so much money, won't you, sir Alie?"

Alex pulled Emmett to his feet by his collar,
"Yes, yes I will." he then proceeded to slam his shotgun into the outlaw's head again, dropping him instantly and knocking him out cold.

It was as if Emmett had slept for days, and received brain damage in the process. His eyes opened in the same way that a wall does, which wasn't. He really had to force himself to come to conscious.

The cell was empty, and probably not any form of purgatory, so he was at two for two. Through the bars he could see Alex talking to the local sherrif, and receiving his pay for the outlaw he had just captured. There seemed to be a fourth figure present, sitting in the corner, and staring at Emmett.

"I'll take over the kid from here, Serge. He's going to have to stand for a jury in Southbridge."

Emmett heard what was being said, but words seem to lack meaning to him. It felt as if reality was written in another language. He'd blink out of the jail cell with ease, normally, but he wasn't able to get himself together.

Alex, noticing that Emmett was now concious, immediately stopped talking to the droll sheriff that had paid him and walked purposefully over to the cell.
"So, you had some information for me. Right?" Alex asked, the last part of his sentence somewhat forceful.

Emmett just stared back dizzely, like a dog reacting to the sounds his owner makes, but not comprehending the words.

"It's lookin' a lot like you want to get shot." Alex taunted, unholstering his sawed-off for effect.

The man in the corner stood up.

"I get that you're pissed off, kid, but the boy is needed alive. Trials and all. Can't risk him bleeding out on the way back."

"He's wanted dead or alive, what difference does it make to a trial that hasn't been scheduled yet if he doesn't show up?"

"He's wanted alive on the more recent posters. It takes a good while to have the older ones reflect that. Shooting him now puts a bounty on your head. Especially considering he's already been paid for."

Alex sighed
"Have it your way. I much prefer being the hunter than the hunted. If you let him escape though I will not be happy." With that Alex holstered his gun and turned to walk out of the building.

"You'll get first notice, buddy. You seem to have the right handle on him," the man said, with a smile that almost seemed genuine.

ft. Ice as Emmett Holliday

Sonata · Feb 3, 2016

???

Jebediah 'Sanders' Kleutsch
???
???

"Jeb. Jeb. Jeb. Jeb. Jeb. Jeb." The words continued to echo through the darkness that Jebediah was floating in. The voice seemed to be all around him, but yet still so far away. All feeling had left his body. He was weightless, motionless, and completely empty. He felt nothing, thought nothing, did nothing and questioned nothing. All that was around him was as it was. All that wasn't around him was as it should be. And Jeb was an intruder on it. His eyes were opened, his mouth was lax and he simply was. He shared in the synergy that nothing and everything had together.

"Daddy!" The voice of his daughter pierced through the darkness. A layer of energy shed off of him, and he stepped out from the void and into the light like a cicada in molt. The voices stopped and he was alone. Instead of feeling everything and nothing simultaneously, now there was only nothing. An infinite sea of white, and a single man with no memory of the life he had once lived. Jeb looked around him and after assuring that there was nothing in his vicinity, he began to walk.

The man continued to walk for an indefinite amount of time. Seconds felt like days, days felt like months and months felt like seconds. Each step that he took made him feel more and more distant. Nothing happened. Nothing appeared. Nobody else came. The voices had gone and this is all that there was. Finally he came to a stop, realizing that this was truly all there was to this world. He looked up and he looked down. In every direction only the same whiteness appeared.

"Jebediah." An older male's voice. Jeb's heart skipped a beat, but he wasn't sure why. He hadn't thought he'd ever heard the voice before, but it apparently knew him. What was he missing that was so important? He felt like a stranger to his own self. He knew nothing, but as time went on he began to feel more and more uneasy with the emptiness inside of him. A tear streamed down his face as he clutched at his chest. His lower lip quivered as he said, "I want to remember."

As Jeb spoke, a door appeared before him; fading in from perceived nothingness. Five words were etched into it in a language he couldn't place. Yet even without being able to read or comprehend their construction, he understood what they stood for. Belief. Understanding. Absolution. Deliverance. Acceptance. Jeb pressed on each on symbol and then pulled on the handle of the door. As he did, all of the light in the world around him vanished and was sucked through the opening. The vacuum pulled on his body and soul, tearing the two from each other as he came through the door.

On the other side were two small and identical shacks, and another version of his own self. The two stared at each other for several minutes, taking in each and every feature of the other's character before turning away. The shacks stood directly in front of the two Jebs, and each had a line of six other people with duplicates of themselves beside them. The line moved surprisingly quick, and soon the two Jebs were met by identical rotting men. The bounty hunter looked at himself, then at the other's rotting man before looking back to his own.

"I've not seen you before. First time in -" the man's voice was raspy, and he had a painful drawl which trailed off to a whisper as the man's jaw slowly drooped too low for it to connect the words. The man pulled his jaw back up, holding it there with his left hand as he eyed Jeb over. "Sorry. Resident or visitor?" The two Jebs stared blankly at the man and then shrugged their shoulders. "Can't decide eh? Well, if you don't register as a resident you won't be allowed back. But if you're just visiting from elsewhere…" the man looked Jeb over one more time, poking and prodding at the bounty hunter's face and body with the end of his bony finger, "nevermind then… I'll just put you down as resident."

Meanwhile, the Jeb on the right had already registered and was making his way to the other side of the shack. He holstered the gun which he had used to expedite the service given by the decaying man, and was already on his way. Whereas the Jeb from the left was only just being registered. After several more minutes the man had finally finished writing the name-tag for Jeb, and gave him his ticket. The Jeb from the left reunited with the Jeb from the right on the other side of the two shacks and then both began to walk forward into the dark abyss.

After a few hundred steps, a faint glow came into sight. As they grew nearer they saw a rather large sized ship with hundreds of other passengers already seated on it and a line leading up a steep ramp into its side. Two figures in black cloaks stood to each side at the bottom of the ramp, handing lanterns to each passenger as they took their tickets. As the Jebs approached, they could make out that the robed figures were not human at all. Where their faces should be there was instead a large tuft of rather large black hairs. And when they got close enough to be face to hair with them, they realized that the cloaks were not cloaks, but in actuality their bodies. The two figures took the Jebs' tickets and handed them each a lantern before ushering them onto the boat as the final passengers for this particular trip.

The ship took off, and the two figures joined the captain at the helm. The captain held out its two skeletal arms which were a blinding golden color and grabbed on to the two figures cuasing their bodies to twist and contort, changing into the shape of oars. The captain dipped them down into the water and rowed the ship in this way until the vessel was caught on something. Everything around them was dark, and the Jebs were filled with the feeling of everything which they had felt back before they had shed their first layer.

"The lanterns. You who are damned; you who are blessed; those chosen to ride my ship, spread your flame over the water. Let your souls ignite our path." The passengers of the ship moved autonomously, as if they had done this many times before. Each dropped their lantern, one after the other, and each shattered across the surface of the water as if it were thick ice. Slowly the translucent flames spread, moving away from the ship they covered the water for as far as the eye could see. And what lay down below the water sent chills through the soul of Jeb.

machomuu · Feb 4, 2016

Amelia Caddaway and Joseph

"Lemme see…Veralice, huh? Cute, she'd make a nice playmate for Joseph." Joseph's vision blurred as his eyelids began to part. "30,000 big ones, though?" Amelia whistled. "Spicy little vixen, ain'tcha? A bit too expensive for the Fallen Angels." She crumbled up a piece of paper and threw it next to the pillow Joseph was resting on. Joseph, lethargic, blinked a few times and shuffled in his covers. Amelia peeked behind her for only a moment before looking back at the papers in hand. "Go back to sleep, hon. You took quite a dive."

"Don't call me 'hon', sweetheart." The boy gave Amelia a sharp look and made to sit up.

"Don't call 'sweetheart', asshole." Amelia sneered at Joseph, who chuckled in response. The laughter was short-lived, however, as he quickly lost strength and slid back down to a lying position, quickly reeling from a throbbing headache. Returning her attention to the various flyers in her hand. "Felix, huh. Handsome and likes to get physical. My type of guy." She turned the flyer over to its opposite side. "A little expensive, but there's only room for one of us in this wasteland." She folded the flyer and put it in her pocket. "Worth taking a look into." She mumbled, once again shuffling through her papers.

Joseph, pushing himself up against the wall with what took a surprising amount of effort, sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "…What are you doing?" He asked. Upon realizing what he'd just done, he surveyed the area. The two seemed to be in a small room filled with pieces of crumbled up paper and a single bed. Candles dotted the walls, providing moderate lighting considering the narrowness of the space. The bed itself was wooden and rather homey, if a bit cheap for his liking, and the pillow had a distinct smell to it that was hard for the child to describe. "And, for that matter, where are we? And how did we get here?"

Amelia sat at the foot of the bed and crossed her legs, not taking her eyes off of what she was reading. "We'll get to that later." Joseph's eyes narrowed with annoyance. "First, you have two hearts." Joseph began to ask how but found himself at a loss for words. The mere idea seemed so ridiculous that it almost didn't warrant the effort. "Yeah, with a much stronger beat than the other." From that moment, a long pause found its place in the room. The idea was ridiculous and, considering Amelia wasn't even giving him much attention and only casually mentioned it, he would have normally thought the idea absolutely ridiculous.

Joseph removed his sheets and examined his chest which had a scar on it but certainly not one large or fresh enough to have been done while he was out. He looked back up at his partner in crime and, hesitating, asked, "…How do you know?"

"The boss took a look at you. He's a sleazy bastard, apparently, but he's damn smart and I'd trust him with my life." A particular flyer caught her eye. "Wohoah, nice!" She grinned wide and showed the flyer to Joseph, who didn't seem to be sharing the same enthusiasm. "She's a really cutie, right? You wouldn't mind if we brought her home with us, would you?" Joseph instead kept a stone-eyed glance on Amelia and refused to respond. The excited rogue clicked her tongue and pulled the flyer away, saying, "Fine, you wanna know what's up? Alright, then. You lost control and used The Angel and I pushed you down a flight of stairs. Same result as last time, except this time you have a big lump on the back of your head. We're here because you didn't wake up for a good day and a half. Had to force feed you to keep you running. Also your dad's building's gone, but that doesn't matter."

Joseph's eyes shot open, and his mouth as well, inadvertently. "Wait…so I-"

"Not you. You were just the trigger." Amelia stood up and began to stretch. "Something else caused it to…disappear. Again, doesn't really matter." Joseph's expression relaxed, and Amelia continued. "Anyways, since we have a bounty now, the Fallen Angels are a group of do-gooders now."

"Group? It's just us. It's always been us. Also, if we're trying to escape the other bounty hunters, wouldn't having a name be just as bad for us?"

"No." She rose up from a crunch and picked up a flyer from the bed. "Bounty Hunters rarely get the exposure that outlaws do. Having a name won't matter much 'less we earn a reputation for ourselves. Which is why we won't go after bounties higher than our own." She showed the flyer- which panned out to be several flyers, to the bedridden child. "And here's our first target: Sophia Hartmann, leader of the Sangre Clan!"

"Mhm." Joseph said halfheartedly, picking up a piece of bread from the table next to him and biting into it. "Yeah, well she's the head of a gang. They are a gang, and I'm pretty sure they don't mess around. Granted, I'd be fine, but you'd probably die." He took a sip of water from a wooden bowl nearby. "Then again, it'd kind of suck if you died. You're like the personal servant I never had." He put the bowl back on the table and raised the cover over any exposed skin. "Plus, you take injuries like nobody's business. Heck, even I wouldn't want to be in the ring with a freak like you."

"Thanks, Flame-Shield." Amelia said with a smirk, folding the various wanted posters in her hand and placing them in her vacant pocket. "This'll be nothing, they aren't much fuller than us. We'll just pick 'em off one by one. And by we," She turned around and headed towards the door. "I mean 'I'. Get some rest, I'll be back in a few weeks. See ya." She waved and started to close the door.

"Wha-" Joseph almost jumped to react, but that small surge of energy was enough to make him dizzy, prompting him to slump back into his bed.

"Don't worry, I'm only joking. I'm just going out to gather some info and, with luck, catch a glimpse of our adorable prey. I'll be back later, the boss' gonna take care of you." With that, Amelia promptly closed the door, hoping to avoid further protest from the child that was already overwhelmed. She sighed, seemingly out of exhaustion, and said to herself under her breath, "Looks like the hunt is on."

Sonata · Feb 4, 2016

???

Jebediah 'Sanders' Kleutsch
???
???

Bodies. Bodies as far as you could see. After it spread across the surface, the fire dripped down into the water like a hot wax. Each body lay frozen in place until the fire touched it, and then as if a switch was flipped they shot to life. Writhing and screaming in pain. Each clawed at its own skin, tearing away layers until bone was visible only to have it grow back. Jeb continued to stare down at them even after the boat began to move again. The bodies closest to the top swam up to the surface, seeking to escape the eternal flames. They clawed at the sides of the ship, trying their best to climb out but the decayed and molten flesh of their hands and fingers only smeared across its hull. Through their vein efforts, the boat was propelled towards a large tower in the distance.

In the distance Jeb could tell that the flames continued to travel. The tower lit up as the fire crawled up one part of the helix and then down the other. The flames on the surface of the water began to grow and dance, sparking and creating ghostly afterimages of the people most important to those aboard the ship. Memories played out on the water, and the relative passengers began to weep. Some of their doubles hit them, others embraced and coddled them; shielding their eyes and ears from what went on around them as they both came to terms with where they were at.

Jeb watched out over the water as images of his own life appeared. Jebediah the first time that he met Jedediah, Jeb the first time he met Sophia, the first time he met Alice and Scarlet, Marzia, Bear, Scrig, Janet, Cosma and Rex. Everyone was there. They all played their parts. They danced and shot at each other, fell over and curled up. The flames vanishing with the life of each one of them. And then finally Judge Rodriguea McLinnely appeared. The judge and Jeb's flames slapped each other playfully and knocked back drinks. Then they left the bar only to see a large wall of people. Jeb disappeared, and then when he reappeared the flame of his life began to flicker. It faded slowly, fighting to stay alive it would kick back up every other second. But in the end, the flame was gone.

Tears began to stream violently down his face as all the memories came back to him. Every second of his life rushed through his head, the tears growing ever more steady with each passing second. Jeb curled over, grasping violently at his chest and stomach, curling into a ball and fighting back the urge to scream as his tears splattered across the wood of the ship floor. The other Jeb pressed his fingertips against his head and craned his neck, wincing in pain as the memories also rushed back to his mind. His face flushed with anger as he remembered every little moment, all of the failed opportunities, every bounty that got away, every person who had bested him, every friend he'd ever made. Each and every memory only caused him to grow more and more angry. He grit his teeth and cursed, spewing saliva from the cracks between the blackened denticles.

As the memories finished, the two Jebs composed themselves. The one wiping the tears from his face while the other looked on in disgust, the color slowly fading back to normal. As they continued on, more and more of the passengers began to go through the same remembrance that they had. Once they realized where they were, some leapt from the sides to the water below in an attempt to escape. Doing anything to put off the inevitable for only a moment longer. But instead they joined the legion below of other souls too afraid to come to terms with their own death. Most had finally realized the error of their ways and sank to the bottom, hoping that the distance between themselves and the fire would let them burn the least. But it was not the case... The captain of the ship continued on the course towards the helix which had been lit before. Those that jumped over aided in the push, trying their best to reclaim their safety they clawed at and dug their fingers into the hull of the vessel. But as with all the others, the harder they pulled the further they pushed.

The flames condensed just ahead of the ship and formed two large pillars which connected into an arch. The flames died out, leaving only a marble entryway with an inscription kept by the slightest of embers.

There is no religion, higher than truth.

The words echoed through the bounty hunter's mind. Voices of various people from his past whispered them inside his head, and the captain of the ship turned to face his cargo. The man lowered his hood, revealing a golden skeleton with the head of a ram. "There is no religion, higher than Truth. Each in life must pay a toll to learn of its mysteries, and each in death must reclaim that toll to find absolution." The man strode to the back of the ship and looked out over the various deceased which he had ferried. He bowed his head as it slowly turned to that of a hawk, and then turned to ash as the ship bumped against the shore.

As the passengers turned back to face the shore which they had washed up on, the sighted a large figure in the distance. In uncertainty, they stepped off from the ship and onto the shore. Bones cracked underfoot as they left the first leg of their journey and stepped onto the beach, littered with the corpses who had been turned away from judgement. The passengers walked until the large figure in the distance became a gigantuan figure standing guard over a doorway seemingly leading to nowhere. All around people wandered. Lost souls who had been turned away by the gatekeeper. Denied their judgement and without hope, they simply walked, waiting for the flesh to rot from their bones and leave them helpless on the shore to be tread on as all the others before them.

A mob formed in front of the guardian. Thousands of souls awaiting their chance for judgement at the hands of the divine being. The gatekeeper, whose body was that of a large chalk-white man with five crimson wings and three heads. The center head was that of a human with an eagle's beak and a tiered crown upon his head, and was accompanied by the head of a dragon and the head of a dog which let out a continuous low-pitched growl. The large man waved his hand at a number of the people in front of him, pushing them aside and denying them their trials.

"There is no religion higher than truth," The eagle head boomed.
"Uncertainty and the fear of the unknown," The dog head growled.
"To overcome these and accept your own limitations..." The dragon head began, "would you undertake the task?"

The bones beneath the Jebs shook, their spirits restless and hearing the guardian speak for the first time in ages.

"Would you undertake the task?" The eagle head repeated as it stared out over the crowd. Many of the people that had been on the ship before cowered in front of the being and skulked away to join the rest of the damned. "Would you undertake the task?" The dog head repeated, drool dripping heavily from its mouth as it growled at any who approached it. "Would you... undertake the task?" The dragon head repeated once more in a more calm voice. Almost as if it were begging for someone to approach it.

One of the two Jebs' mouth twitched at the corner. He pulled his guns from their holsters and moved through the crowd towards the guardian. As the people saw the death in his eyes and felt the coldness within him they parted and slowly began to disperse, accepting the fact that they were not suited for the same trials as a man such as this. The twitch on Jeb's face began to spread, until it was replaced by a fully formed smile. His black teeth shone through his parched lips and his eyes burned wild as he stared down the monster in front of him. "I would undertake your challenge." The other Jeb stood back, in fear of his clone's malice and the power of the guardian ahead. As the braver of the two Jebs settled in front of the monster and replied to its question, the quieter of the two began to make his way forward, not wanting to be left behind.

The three heads craned and stared down at the man in front of them. They stared into his eyes and breathed in his aura before looking to the other Jeb who was slowly making his approach. The heads shifted back and forth, eyeing over the two, blinking, sniffing and snorting furiously. "You too would undertake the task then?" The two Jebs nodded, the more aggressive of the two cocking his guns in excitement. The guardian nodded its three heads in acceptance. "Then enter. And prove yourselves worthy. Reclaim that which you each had lost; Kleutsch and Sanders." The guardian stepped to the side and allowed the two men to approach the door.

As they grew closer, five symbols appeared on the door. Belief. Understanding. Absolution. Deliverance. Acceptance. The last of the words began to glow a fiery red and then pulled itself free from the door. It floated in front of the men before turning to ash and falling to the bones below. The two Jebs placed their hands on the door, causing the other four words to glow. The doors buckled and swiveled open, revealing an entire world on the other side. This journey had only just begun.

Sonata · Feb 13, 2016

???

Jebediah Sanders
???
???

The gatekeeper appeared on the other side of the door between the two Jebs. His appearance had changed, and he had split into three separate forms. The dog, hawk and the dragon - each with similarly masculin human bodies, four wings and their respective heads. The dog moved over and stood next to the more reserved Jeb, while the hawk took the more aggressive Jeb's side. The dragon stood his ground in the middle, and lifted his arm to the sky.

"You have chosen to undertake the task and claim that which was once yours. To aid you, we have split ourselves to those with which we deemed would best support you in this quest. Kleutsch and Sanders.... make use of our gift to you, and find me at the end of your journey. There, you should find that which once was yours, that which you truly desire. I shall be waiting for both of your successes." The dragon raised his hand in a farewell gesture, and then sunk into the ground.

"Shall we go master Sanders?" The hawk man turned his head and stared at Jeb.

The bounty hunter grinned widely, pulling Rey and his sword from their holsters. "You fuckin' know it birdie. Let's see what happens when shit really hits the fan."

The hawk nodded, picking up the bounty hunter in its talons and taking to the sky. Sanders looked back at Kleutsch, his smile growing wider and his eyes wilder. 'I can't wait to see them.' He mouthed. They were almost out of sight, he had only just barely been able to read Jeb's lips but Kleutsch knew just what he had meant. His... no, their family. Somewhere in this place they were waiting for them. But which one would reach them first?

"Best not to think of it." The dog grumbled, wiping the drool from his own face. "They'll surely make it first. That's just the nature of it all. Regardless, we should be moving. Can't keep them too long. We've a long road ahead."

----------------------------------

The hawk dropped dropped Jeb onto the ground below. The man stared up into the sky and his jaw hung slightly ajar. "How the hell...?"

"Should I really explain it to you?" The hawk replied as it picked at its feathers.

"Much as I really don't care, I can't help but be intrigued. This looks exactly the same as the place we just were, but I know we moved. I have to know."

"Well, I suppose we can wait. We'll reach the end first regardless, and it's not as if you'll really take the time to listen once we start anyways."

"Damn right. Suppose I should take a seat then? Gonna be one of those kinds of explanations?"

The hawk shrugged, "doesn't matter to me either way. I shouldn't take too long." Jeb nodded and kneeled down before motioning for the man to continue. The hawk looked up to the sky which they had just come from and pointed. "This world is the same as the other, because we are a mirror image of each other. These worlds that we go through when we die, are constructs of our imagination. Some things are a given constant, such as the gatekeepers and the ticketmaster... though I should say, our heads are not always that of dog and hawk. We, just as this world around us both change to that which best suits the chosen. Only a select few are given the ability, the right to this honor. Most others as you've seen, are forced to live a life of eternal suffering. Made to live out their afterlife in someone else's personal hell. All those that you've seen, and all those that you will see will hate you. They'll despise you, and do all that they can to see you fail and suffer in the same ways that they do every day. They are trapped and bound here. Their wills too weak to create worlds of their own, they populate the hells of the powerful. Such is the nature of this world."

"Now, since we'll likely breeze through these trials, I suppose I could draw attention to some of the finer details of your world. Again, in all worlds there are given constants. Another of those constants is the splitting of the personality. The light and the dark must define themselves and walk their own paths. They must confront their enemies, their nightmares and their worst fears before meeting back at the end. There they shall come to terms and accept each other for who they are. The light should rule the paradise, and the dark half - those such as yourself will be given the right to rule your own paradise. Meaning, you will be left behind in this hell to rule for eternity. Such is not always the case though. At times, the darkness in peoples hearts are too weak or too powerful, and one or the other ends up not seeing eye to eye with their light, or are even left behind by the goodness of their soul. In cases such as these, well, you've already met some of these haven't you?"

"I have?" Jeb questioned, racking his mind to find the answer. He couldn't seem to remember ever meeting dead people, though the idea intrigued him. If they could escape their death, then what was there to stop himself from also escaping this hell?

"Yes, Vereryl and the ones who tore through the sky. They are not of your world, nor any other world of the living. They are the darkness in mens heart embodied. Some are amalgamations of thousands, others are singular souls with such powerful wills that they can bend others to meet their own ideals. These beings were sealed away as are all others whos darkness are too powerful. But eventually there grew to be too many of them and too few powerful beings of pure goodness to keep them in check. They broke free and took the young Vereryl, one who was on the path to become yet another lock on their cage. Together they tainted his heart and shared with him their powers before putting him back into the living world where he ruled with a cold iron fist. Still they run around left uncheck. The seal of their door broken, and many of the pure slain. Few powerful divines remain, but we must always have hope."

"So then," Jeb began as he tilted his hat back with the barrel of Rey, "if I end up at the end and he doesn't make it, then I would...?"

"As I said, if your darkness is strong enough and his kindness too weak and unable to cope with that which you will experience, then you will become the dominant form and rule over this world, eventually possibly even devouring and absorbing the wills of those who suffer and changing into that which you saw before."

"In that case wouldn't you try to stop me from leaving? I know you said you're a constant, but where does that place you? Which are you? Divine or demon?"

"We are neither. We are the medium, the ones who guide you, build and watch over this world as we await your arrival. We strain the souls which pour forth and divide them amongst the different levels of this world. Those purest of heart are taken immediately to the gate nearest paradise where they await their king and family to join them. Others of varying righteousness are placed throughout the other six worlds all the way to those of pure evil in this first area."

"Then what about those who are left outside the doors?"

"They are the most unlucky. We the guardians never truly know who to expect to rule this world until they arrive. Had you two taken any different direction, you'd have been lost forever in the hell outside until you too turned to bone, and eventually to dust. All those outside the doors are the viable. Until you arrived, we judged them and saw them most fitting for the position of rulers of this world. But when comparing them to all the other hundreds and thousands we picked before them we find there to be nothing truly special about them. And without opening the door, we have not the power to put them in their true rankings. They are left to wait for the true kings to arrive and make their own judgements."

"Right then... I suppose I've heard enough then." Jeb stood up and brushed off his pants. "I'm ready to move on."

The hawk nodded, not having expected him to listen even this long. The two looked over to the helix in the far distance. It seemed to be growing ever further away, but it only made Jeb all the more determined. The smile returned to his face as he began to run off straight ahead. This was a very literal test, and the reward was godhood. If he could succeed and his counterpart fail, then he could return to life more powerful than ever. Nothing was going to stop him now.

Strange · Feb 15, 2016

Samson Silver

Bounty: $100
Level: 1
Earth

Samson was in tears. He couldn't help it. His only friend in the entire world was missing, and he couldn't figure out why.

"FEN!" he sobbed.

"Where are you?" he cried, in between sobs.

No matter how many times he tried to summon Fen the little fox refused to come. He was devastated.

"What did I do wrong? Do you want me to be good again? I can stop misbehaving! I, just want you back!"

"Hello?" he burst into tears again.

Samson was never one to be so emotional. At least, he hasn't been like this since his mother's death. He just sat there, sobbing, until he literally cried himself to sleep. When he woke, the ground was wet from tears, and his eyes stung. He wiped them with his sleeve, slowly wobbling as he stood up.

"I can do this. I'm not going to cry about losing someone who obviously never loved me" he squeaked out, before bursting into tears again. This much water loss had to be unnatural. He was clearly dehydrated and unstable. But, fortunately for him, he accidentally triggered his confidence boost spell, causing him to regain his composure enough to stop crying and forget his problems.

"I should go do something to calm myself."

He began to walk in the direction of what he thought was a camp, it had smoke billowing up from it so what else would it be. He pulled out his pen, twirling it around his finger. He started to run when he realized the confidence spell was wearing off, but by the time he got just about half way, he broke down into tears again.

"Why?" he muttered.

"WHY?" he screamed into the sky.

Obviously he wasn't getting anything productive done anytime soon. He just sat there, pouting, all day long until the sun began to set. By that point he was starting to hallucinate from the lack of water.

"Fen?" he asked his bag.

"I love you!" he muttered, hugging his bag tightly.

"Why is the sky eating the rain? I love cactus bubble cat!" he started to mutter, clearly starting to go insane.

"blurgle boof! Ploot!" he continued, probably saying things that made sense in his head.

This continued for about an hour, before he started wandering around in this state. He spotted something nearby, but it ran away when he looked at it.

"Fen?!" he half questioned, half stated.

He ran after it, running like a madman.

"Fen! Fa fa fa FEEEEEN!" Samson yelled, and then started singing his name.

Eventually the beast stopped, turning to Samson and barring it's considerable fangs. The brown-furred animal growled deeply. Had Samson been in a fit state, he'd have realised that this creature was far larger that his fox familiar and a different shade of brown too. As he was however, he continued stumbling forwards towards the wolf, oblvious to the danger he was now in.

As Samson continued to babble, several other wolves - all different shades of brown and grey - emerged from around the camp he was standing in the middle of followed by men and women dressed in leathers, furs and feathers with tanned skin and sharp cheekbones.
"Well now," a deep, booming voice stated, oozing maliciousness "What do we have here? Looks like we've got a little white boy who's wandered too far from home."

Foxrally · Feb 15, 2016

Sophia Hartmann
Status - Outlaw - Leader of Sangre Clan-----------------------Former member of Culebra Clan
Sorcery Level - 2
Element - Air
Bounty - 2200$

Achilles Nimbus
Status - Bounty Hunter
Sorcery Level - 2
Element - Electricity
Money - $3200 ($27, 800 to go)

Kelmorr Kuvag
Status - Bounty Hunter
Sorcery Level - 2
Element - Fire
Money - $3,000

Larkin

Eye for an Eye

A moment of actual relative quiet compared to Larkin's recent commotion was disturbed by group of men in crisp, if very dusty and slightly worn uniforms stomping through the town's main entrance. Between the stars they bore and the out-of-place caps adorning their heads instead of hats that could actually protect one's face from the sun, anybody with a lick of sense could identify the soldiers of the National Guard making their way into the gangwar-torn city. For the few regular people brave enough, stupid enough, or with no option other than to remain in such a chaotic place, the sight of the soldiers was a massive relief. Hopefully while they were around some of the criminals would slink back into the shadows, and the rest would be shot, but anybody truly perceptive or well-informed knew better. The way the patrol of government-sanctioned guardians immediately turned down one of the city's main streets and went on for a while as if they knew exactly where they were going before they all stopped and began to inspect their surroundings showed they were there for a specific purpose. This was no peacekeeping mission. It was one man's curiosity about their suspicious actions that led to the soldiers being followed.

Kelmorr had already noticed three strange men entering the city earlier that weren't affiliated with any of the gangs currently vying for control for Larkin, at least as far as he could tell. He was sure at least one of them was a bounty hunter, he wasn't sure what was up with the other two, and he didn't have time to follow them around and find out. After a short stint of sitting in a bar and listening to what few tidbits were spoken of about the newcomers, he left again, and it was after that he happened upon the National Guard soldiers. The only snippets of conversation between the soldiers that could be heard were vague and uninteresting until Kel caught the word "Culebras".

---------------

"That's right, this man is a true king of the game." Isaac laughed, causing the small crowd of women he'd gathered up to applaud and cheer. Achilles glared away, blushing. The more charismatic of the duo grabbed his bottle, taking another big sip of the expensive beer he'd purchased. His partner sighed. Sure they'd been waiting a while, but that didn't justify his getting drunk already. They did have a mission to go on. Being sober, Achilles was able to notice the members of the national guard. Scumbags. He scowled. Those assholes were never a good sign. The expression of relief he could see spreading across the patrons of the bar was cause for concern as well. They'd been brainwashed into respecting these plebeians who hid behind a uniform.

"You must be pretty strong if you can take out alllll of those evil outlaws." A voice teased playfully behind him. He turned to face the woman that the voice came from. She didn't seem to be clamoring over him or Isaac. In fact, she hardly seemed impressed by Isaac's exaggerated tale at all. Instead, she stood at a distance, grinning. He shook his head, he shouldn't have actually been considering...No. He turned his attention back to the...guards?

"Sorry, I'll be a minute." He nodded to the woman, before heading deeper into the tavern.

---------------

Looking down on the National Guardsmen from a rooftop, they really weren't all that impressive. The revolvers they all had were very well-maintained and of high quality, and two of them had scoped Winchester rifles but other than that they were just men in uniforms. They didn't seem completely comfortable in the Barren Lands either, Kel wagered they spent most of their time doing pushups and drills on a nice safe base when they didn't have missions. It wasn't a surprise, bounty hunters like himself were much more a force of law and order around those parts than any government men, and half of the hunters didn't even give a damn for the law themselves, or have much of a sense of morality. Still they did move with purpose, and they seemed to know where they were going. The way Kel saw it there were only a few possibilities for them being there, and he didn't like either of the two at the forefront of his mind.

Chances seemed good that either something very serious had happened in Larkin that Kel somehow hadn't had a whiff of despite all his nosing about and trying to act like he was marshal of the trash-heap that had once been a city, or it had something to do with one of Larkin's newcomers. Which put those three men that had rolled in the center of suspicion, but they didn't seem like outlaws, at least he didn't remember seeing "WANTED" next to any of their faces before. That left that small group of outlaws that had ventured into town, but out of them the only one Kel had recognized was that "Sophia" gal. He tried not to picture her face too vividly, he wasn't in the mood for those kinds of memories at the moment, but he did remember her bounty wasn't exactly huge. She was around the same as that Cynthia broad he took out after he first got back into the saddle...and miss Steele hadn't exactly had the National Guard after her so what had Sophia done to draw their ire? Then the only interesting thing he'd heard the guards say flashed through his mind again. "Culebras...." Wait didn't they used to be some sort of clan of sneaky snakes or somethin'? And then something happened when that big occult monstergirl thing went out of control...What a mess, the more things change, the more the stay the same, and the worse my headaches get.

When he thought about, the odds of Sophia being involved in all the nonsense seemed the best...in fact, hadn't she been one of the Culebras? That must be it.

Back in the Tavern, Achilles had ended up tracking one of the guards into a back room. He struggled to make out exactly what was being said, but given the dominance that one side had, it very much resembled an interrogetion of sorts. With so many guards standing around, it would be pretty hard to get any closer without being obvious. He'd need some sort of distraction. It was a harsh decision, but he did have a perfectly placed drunk man at his disposal.

He returned to his seat, now sure of what he wanted to do. Whatever the national guard were up to, it couldnt be good, and Achilles had to find out what it was. Getting Isaac into a little bit of trouble would be a small price to pay.

"Hey, Isaac." Achilles whispered. "I think that guy over there was sizing you up. Thinks he can take you on." After finishing, he took a quick glance around, making sure it wasn't too obvious that he'd instigated the situation. The only person he noticed watching, was the woman from earlier, who casually waved when their eyes met. Achilles shook his head, and quickly broke eye contact. Already, his drunk companion had began heading towards the man, to start the distraction Achilles needed. Too easy. Achilles grinned. With that, Isaac and the unfortunate target had caused a sufficient distraction. The guards who were watching the door had gone over to take care of the situation, and Achilles seized his opportunity.

"I-I...I d-don't know, man. A big guy walked in there. The old abandoned tavern...just downtown." The man that spoke breathed heavily. "He went there alone...and was there for a while. He came out with some kid wearin' a poncho, another big guy and an old lady. When I saw the big lizard, I ducked it the fuck outta there." The man blurted.

"No sign of the girl?" Another responded, this voice much more composed than the other.

"Neither of' 'em. I aint seen no Jebed-"

"Hey!" Achilles was jolted by the jarring sound of one of the officers calling out. The shock caused him to stumble forwards, nudging the door open. He'd been spotted. After a quick glance back, it became obvious that there was no easy way out of this. "This area is off limits. Get back to the bar." The guard continued. Achilles sighed, and began walking away, before being called again.

"How much did you hear?" It was clear the man was trying to seem as dismissive of the matter as possible. Achilles chuckled.

"Of what? I was just looking for a coin I dropped." Achilles responded flatly, with a grin. Without looking back, he headed straight out of the tavern to see a drunk Isaac scrapping pathetically with the man he'd set him after before. With a sigh, the young bounty hunter managed to pry the two men away from each other, taking the younger of the two with him. After finally calming down the two aggravated drunks, Achilles began in direction of the tavern he'd heard the interrogated man talk about.

Meanwhile back on the city streets Kelmorr had abandoned shadowing the National Guards and began to follow the trail led by the outlaws himself, trusting his own skills much more than any government namby pambies. By all accounts from what he'd been able to gather, the outlaws led by that Sophia lady had gone to some old abandoned inn. Most people had little to say about the tavern aside from the fact that it always seemed suspicious, it wasn't too farfetched to assume that it had some sort of tie with the Culebras back when they were still around. He was drawing closer to the now-worn building where he was sure his quarry must be either hiding or digging for something. He approached the dilapidated tavern from an angle that kept him out of the front door's sight in case there were any guards. He was glad there were still no sign of the soldiers he'd seen earlier, he didn't want them getting in the way. Then a loud crack rang out through the air, shattering the silence like a glass bead under a sledgehammer. "Ah, hell."

"Do the D-A-N-C-E, One two th-" Tolkins' melodical hum was cut short by the echoing sound of the gunshot below him. "Oh for fuck's sake..." he muttered, getting back to his business and trying to finish up quickly before anyone got to him.

It didn't take more than a minute after the gunshot for the National Guardsmen to rush over as fast as they could. Now that they had a direction to go in and a goal, nothing could distract them from their mission...until one of them heard the telltale pittling noise of a vulnerable man from a nearby alley. No man makes a better source of information than one caught with his pants down after all. They wasted no time rushing in and surrounding the man, three with revolvers at the ready and the fourth and fifth backed up to cover him with their lever-action rifles. The one in charge of the patrol made sure not to give the man a chance to button-up before he started in on him. "So, you look a lot like one of the gentlemen described to me by one of the townies I spoke to earlier. I'm gonna give you one chance to make this easy for both of us. Who's your boss, and what are you doing in Larkin?" They were pretty plain questions, and he was fairly certain he already knew their answers at least partially, but it was an important starting point regardless.

"Can't a man take a bloody leak around here without having to worry about guns, god!" Tolkins slowly turned around with his arms raised, his pants still around his ankles. "I know we're in the south, but you could at least be gentlemen and let me cover up, aye?"

"Ha, worry?" One of the other guards exclaimed. "You're lucky it was us and not a couple of gang boys, right about now they'd be likely to have just shot you and hung you up by your pecker without even letting you finish your business first. Lately it's been a fuckin' playground for them."

"Yeah." One of the others jumped in. "Only one who might help you is some moron who fancies himself-"

"That's enough, you lot!" The captain interrupted before regarding Tolkins again. "Feel free to finish up as you see fit, but try to use it as an excuse to stop talking and you'll be hitting the ground before you even realize you're about to die on your own piss-stains. So get gabbing."

"Right, right." Tolkins turned back around and continued as lowly as he could, thinking of a way to get out of the pickle that he had found himself in. Signalling the others would be suicide, and his guns were either at his ankles, or behind his back - which were both fully exposed to the guards. "I, ah- kinda new to this place, came in with a bunch a' travelers from outside the country. You can tell from the accent, can't you?" he forced a smiled and nervously chuckled. "I'm kind of new to your, ah, language too. We don't speak English back where I'm from."

The leader seemed unconvinced. "And those people you were with? Where have they gone?" he asked again, his hand hovering over his gun.

"Just a bunch of travelers like I, sir - came from all around the world just to see this great nation! We got separated when we came here, and I don't plan on seeing them again. If they were dangerous, I could give you their descriptions. Now if you'll allow me to lift my pants, we could talk in a more civilized mann-"

"Get to it and hurry up. We haven't got all day." the leader of the guards ordered. As Tolkins lifted up his pants and buttoned them up, a small item fell out of one of the pockets - a small, slightly bent silver badge with the National Guard symbol. The leader picked it up before Tolkins had time to take it back. "And can you explain this insignia?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I, ah... could you repeat that last word?" Tolkins bumbled, slowly reaching behind his back. "I- ah, hell." He pulled out the first gun he could reach and fired as many shots as he could into one of the goons in front of him.

The guards was pretty fast, but with Tolkin's surprisingly snappy draw he already had two rounds in him before he got off any of his own. He managed to fire twice before he went down but both of his flew wide thanks to the shock of the hits Tolkins had already scored. As soon as the first man fell the alleyway completely lit up with gunfire. The two guards holding rifles took center stage, firing relentlessly in Tolkin's direction, with the outlaw barely finding himself time to find cover. The final man grabbed his injured ally and somehow found his way to safety amongst the mess of flying bullets.

As soon as the first gun had run out of ammo, Tolkins pulled out a second one and began emptying that one too, hitting one of the Men who were carrying the wounded guard in the foot. The sound of pained cursing disappearing round the corner brought a smile to his face. "Come at me motherf- AAARGH!" he screamed in pain as a bullet hit him under the belt. There was a short pause as it sunk in to the guards just where their target had been hit, and two of them snickered. Nobody was left any time to gawk at the scene though, as a blur shot down from a nearby roof and before any of the guards even realized what was happening the surprise visitor had a gun to the back of Tolkins head. "I'm getting just a touch impatient, so I'm gonna try to be the nice guy here and repeat the cap's first question. Who's yer boss, and why're ya here?"

"Down-" Tolkins croaked, before letting out his last breath. His eyes rolled over to the back of his head and his gun dropped to the ground.

"Ah hell." Kelmorr said for the second time in what felt like less than five minutes. Despite his aid, the armed guards hesitated to lower their weapons, and kept them aimed straight at the bounty hunter.

"The h-" One of the guards called out before being interrupted by the outstretched hand of his commanding officer.

"Who the hell are you, and what are you doing on this property?" The captain glared at Kel behind the iron sights of his rifle.

Kelmorr shook his head and didn't even bother to reach for any of his own weapons. "I'm here to wrangle some outlaws, something you chuckleheads don't seem too good at, despite your shiny badges."

The guards waited for their captain's signal before lowering their weapons.

"We appreciate your help here, but you can leave now, we'll handle the rest." The captain responded, with no definite sincerity in his voice. "You can ge-" He begun, before hearing indistinct voices. He couldn't be sure, but it sounded like there were more than he expected, and with one of his men down, he couldn't really afford to turn down help. If one had caused him this much trouble...

"You couldn't stop me if ya tried." Kel said dismissively as he stepped past the captain and crouched down. "You government boys are gonna get paid just for bein' out here right? I don't know what kinda system ya got for bonuses and all that, but I don't get 'participation bounties' or consolation prizes. I'm in it for the long haul. And besides, I've been workin' on cleanin' this town up a bit since way before ya'll even showed up. You must have heard what it's been like here, the fact that you haven't had to wade through a sea of petty gangers should vet me on that one." And without waiting for any approval he started to creep towards the tavern, every sense alert for danger.

"Well you can be a crazy vigilante for as long as you like, but we need the rest of them back alive, so you can help us with that." The captain sighed, finally lowering his weapon. With that, he followed the outlaw into the tunnel, and somehow managed to ignore the overarching stench of death. Before they managed to make their way completely down the stairway, they were confronted by a set of outlaws. The set of outlaws. "Sophia Hartmann. Am I correct in assuming?"

A joint post of Foxrally, Shak and Sephear

Ice1 · Feb 15, 2016

Emmett Holliday
Status - Outlaw – Bound – Not really into it
Sorcery Level - 2
Element - Water
Bounty - 2000$

The Cowboy, Pt.1

Jonah Lionel was on his way to Gilded Brooks, the captive he was transporting on the back of his horse. He had bound him with rope, to make sure he wouldn't get away, and he had gagged him, to make sure he wouldn't get on his nerves. Usually spell slingers that could blink where incredibly difficult to keep captive, but Jonah had solved that problem ages ago. The rope he had bound Emmett Holiday with was his trademark spell, a rope that would only let go of his target if Jonah wanted to, and in most cases, he didn't want to.

Emmett tried to speak behind him, but the gag muffled and morphed the sound. It was bound so tightly that he was sure it would hurt the kid if he tried to say anything. He heard the frustrated sounds of Emmett trying to get the gag out, or make the knot loosen up, but to no avail. Jonah gave a condescending glance backwards, and saw the boy struggling. Emmett blinked away, but Jonah just kept on riding, as the rope slowly reeled in Emmett back to the horse.

"No such luck, lil' man," Jonah said, without paying attention to what was happening behind him, "I'm very well equipped to dealing with kids like you. Kids who think they're clever."

His enchanted rope did not stop Emmett from trying however. After every blink, Jonah nicely reeled him back in.

"Kid, this ride is gonna take me six hours, and I'm not feeling great about you not lying still. Let's keep it down before I'm going to have to start being creative on you."

Despite Jonah's words, it continued for another hour. Just a long and winding process of having Emmett blink away, and slowly reeling in his rope. Emmett slowly wore himself down, and it was visible. The rope was slowly etching its way into his flesh, and the ground was grinding his skin away as he was reeled back. Emmett knew it was worth it.

"Are we there yet, Cowboy?" he asked, without any sign of a gag in his mouth.

Jonah turned around immediately, and swung his arm towards Emmett, knocking him off the back of the horse, and onto the ground. He quickly tried to grab his knife, but it was missing. Emmett had already start running, still bound by the rope. The problem was that Jonah's end was severed, making him lose any control over the rope.

"That shit cut my rope!" he yelled out, as he nudged his horse to turn around and started to chase Emmett.

The rope wasn't loosening, and Emmett quickly realized the knife he grabbed from cowboy's pocket wouldn't help him get out. It had taken him half an hour to just get his hand through the rope, and his hand was bleeding heavily because of it. The cutting of the rope itself felt like it took even longer. It was incredible dense and thick, and the knife clearly wasn't meant for cutting rope.

Sonata · Feb 18, 2016

???

Jebediah Kleutsch
???
???

"You know, a man sits here long enough in this hell and he gets to thinking. What good is it all anyway? I know that I have the power to make my killer suffer, and yet, none of it really seems to matter anymore." Ricky the ricochet was sitting with his legs crossed in the middle of a bridge that was suspended above the lake of fire that the two Jeb's had crossed. They seemed to be hundreds of miles up, as the men couldn't make out anything down below. Just the ominous redish-green glow radiating through the glass bridge they stood on.

"What do you want Ricky?"

The man stood up and dusted himself off, chips of bone falling to the ground. "I remember everything, and I've been watching you for a while Jeb. Found out that you never actually killed your father, and that you were actually just a frightened little kid running after someone out of your league because he stole your girlfriend. Tsk tsk." The man pulled Mr. Truth from his own jacket pocket. "Now Jebediah, I want to play a little game..."

"Jebediah..." The dog-headed man looked over to the poor excuse for a man, "what are you going to do?"

Jeb stared at the dog as drool hung down from his jaw in a big glob, only just barely hanging on to the dog's mouth before the creature's tongue swept it back up into his mouth. Jeb looked over at the man he had once spent months trailing for any hope of getting a lead on Jedediah. Where had those times gone? The past few months had just been him running across the country killing anything that moved. Had he really changed so much? What had happened to those days?

"Ricky please... don't..." a sweet innocent voice came up from beneath the bridge as a young girl clawed her way up onto the platform. "You said it yourself... what good is it anyway? You're both dead now. He got what he deserved."

"No he didn't! This motherfucker right here is on his way to becoming some kind of god! And you want to tell me he's got what he deserved? Bullshit. This piece of shit will never make it to the other side, and I'm going to make sure of that. He shot me and you both in cold blood Scarlet. Just so that his secrets wouldn't get out. He killed dozens of others and even unleashed a monster onto the world of the living! And you think he deserves to just be let go after all that? Just because he fucked up and got himself killed? Bull. Shit. It's a few hundred years too early to let it all go just because of that."

Jeb took a step back, and as he did the dog-man took a step forward towards the outlaw and young girl. "Ricky... what about us? We came here together and helped each other through all the trials... if Jeb hadn't killed us then who knows where we'd be? We never would have met... and I never would have... well... I'm almost thankful to the man. Even if it was wrong of him at the time, this doesn't feel like the same person who did that to us." Miss Pore walked up to Jeb and brushed the back of her hand against the man's cheek. "He doesn't even have a hint of malice in his eyes. If you'd shot him now, what good would it do? He'd go down without a fight, without ever questioning it. I believe he'd accept it as his righteous punishment..."

Jeb stared into the young girl's eyes and then put his hands over hers before falling to his knees. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." The man leaned in and kissed the back of Scarlet's hand before bowing completely over in front of the two. "If you hate me, despise me, believe me to be deserving of punishment or whatever else... then please. Act upon it. I will not fight you. I deserve whatever you feel you must put upon me."

Ricky snickered and then stepped forward, pushing the gun into the back of Jeb's neck. "You're damn right I believe you deserve to be punished." The man pulled the hammer back on the pistol until it clicked. "But not like this. This you isn't the one I desire to punish." Ricky put the gun back into his coat and looked over to the dog-man. "Hey mutt, where's the real Jebediah?"

"Hmph. That is the real Jebediah."

"Bull shit. The real Jebediah would never lay down and beg like this. He would never give himself up so easily without a smile on his face, ready to turn the tables and fill you up with holes instead. So I'll ask again, where the fuck is the real Jebediah?"

"Ricky I told you, and I do not lie. This is the real Jebediah. But if you seek the darkness that once lived within him, then I shall allow you to follow us. Though I should warn you, even if you meet him you won't be able to harm him. He is and always was beyond your reach. There is no hope for your revenge. You should just stay here with your woman. Be content with your afterlife. Do not search for something even further beyond; it will only lead you to more regret."

"Tch. Scarlet, do you mind me leaving for a bit?"

The young girl pursed her lips, eyes darting between the three men before her. "If you believe its something you have to do... then I will not stop you. But I believe the dog is smarter than you would like to believe... maybe you should heed its advice?"

Ricky grunted and his nose wrinkled as he looked over at the stupid, slober covered face of the dog-man who had led Jeb to him. "Fine. But Jeb... no, whoever you are. Take this gun. When you do see the real Jebediah, give him a message." The man pulled a single bullet from his breast pocket and put it into one of the six barrels of the empty gun before turning away and leaping off the side of the bridge together with Scarlet.

"Are you ready then Jebediah? To seriously take on this task that is?"

Jeb looked at the gun in his hands, it felt like a stranger, foreign to his hands. But he knew it was indeed Mr. Truth. It couldn't just be a coincidence though. Ever since he'd got here he could just barely hear a whisper echoing around him. 'There is no religion higher than truth.' And here he was now, holding onto the gun which he had dubbed Mr. Truth the night he ran away from home.

That night... he had taken the gun from its drawer and stood over his father's body for several minutes. Staring blankly at the back of his head with an empty gun in his hands. Finally he loaded the gun and pressed it against the man's neck, even going so far as pulling the hammer back til it clicked. He tried so hard to pull the trigger, but never actually managed to. All of his rage boiled up inside of him, but never managed to escape. He never ended up actually pulling the trigger until he caught up with Jedediah's gang where he shot the man who had murdered his wife and daughter. And then soon after he fire the gun for a second time when he tried to take on Jedediah Rush.

It all seemed so long ago now. Almost like a dream. Many things had changed since then, and Jeb was a completely different person. Or at least, his other half was. Jeb put the gun into his jacket and then began to walk across the remainder of the bridge. "So then what's next?"

The dog snorted, "it's not my place to tell you that. Hell, I don't even truly know to be honest with you. I think we were told at some point, but its been so long ago now since this world was created. You've both gone through too many changes, and I hardly even recognize the surroundings. I can't tell you anything, we've just got to keep moving until you figure it out. After all, how will you find your truth if you only follow others'?"

"Well then... what is the truth that I'm looking for?"

"You're not a very good listener are you? I just told you I can't tell you. Figure it out yourself."

"Well then what the hell are you here for?"

"To make sure you actually make it to the truth. And that when you do, you don't fall victim to its power."

Shak · Mar 8, 2016

Sophia Hartmann
Status - Outlaw - Leader of Sangre Clan-----------------------Former member of Culebra Clan
Sorcery Level - 2
Element - Air
Bounty - 2200$

Achilles Nimbus
Status - Bounty Hunter
Sorcery Level - 2
Element - Electricity
Money - $3200 ($27, 800 to go)

Kelmorr Kuvag
Status - Bounty Hunter
Sorcery Level - 2
Element - Fire
Money - $3,000

Near Larkin - National Guard Provisional Base

Jeimas Hold'em

"You bastards better back off." Coady interrupted with a faltering calmness about him. He wasn't sure whether the men were the most pressing of the two problems those in the the Culebra base faced; but the time he had to weigh his options was only as long as he, Hugo or the National Guards allowed it to be. There were far too many variables in that equation for his liking. He raised his shotgun, aiming to towards the understandably flustered officers.

"Please." A man in a uniform stepped from behind the guards and waved his hand. The shotgun flew out of Coady's hands and slammed into the nearby wall, before dropping to the ground. "We don't appreciate this sort of language in our country." Sophia wiped the vomit off her mouth, the lingering nausea blurring her vision. Instinctively drawing her pistol, she shakily aimed it at the man. With another swipe of his hand, her gun was thrown against the wall too. "Allow me to repeat: Sophia Hartmann?"

Sophia held her hand to her head and spat at the ground. "What do you want?" she hissed. "If you're thinking of inviting us to whatever sorry ass little gang you've got, then you can get my gun over there and fire it right up your ass."

"Oh, no. Au contraire, I've been helping prevent just that." the man replied.

One of the henchmen poked his head from behind him. "Uh, sir? Do you mean the gangs, guns firing up your-"

"Quiet, soldier. We come from the national guard. You goons are now under arrest for murder, property damage and assisting the outlaw known as Veralice." he said, uttering the word 'goons' as if he were disgusted it had come out of his mouth. The guards spread out, forming a semicircle in front of the group with their guns raised.

Kelmorr stood next to the captain, conspicuously positioning himself slightly closer to the outlaws than the leader of the patrol so he didn't appear to be one of them. Wisdom and Mercy were both drawn in his right and left hands respectively, ready to fire at a moment's notice and glinting even in the dim light those gathered were subject to. He said nothing and simply watched how the guards would handle things before he intervened, so they couldn't gripe about him interfering later.

"What?" Coady mused in halfhearted protest. "I've never met the stupid thing in my life! And as for property damage..." He glanced back to where the the croc would come from, should it break through the wall. It wasn't like his wall would hold anyway. "I'll make sure to pay whoever owns you assholes back at full price." With a grin growing on his face, he created an earth wall, blocking the guards that had surrounded him and the other Sangre members. A small boulder flew out of the wall in each position that Coady could remember a guard standing. With that, he spat on the ground, and smirked triumphantly at the members of the Sangre gang. He allowed the wall to crumble, revealing that not one of the guards had been taken out by the attack.

"That sure was one hell of an introduction." Kelmorr said with a chuckle while he spun his peacemakers in his hands then pointed them both straight at the outlaw. "Now might I interest you in an option that doesn't end up with you dead, like giving up maybe?"

"Alright, everyone just simmer down. We can talk this 'un out." Abe slowly lowered his shovel to the ground and raised his arms. "The lady ain't feeling too well, so let's not do anything harsh now. We'll all surrender." he said calmly. It was at this moment that he realized one of them was missing - Marzia. Keeping his mouth shut however, he simply looked at Sophia and motioned downwards for her to drop her dagger to the ground.

"If you ain't noticed, we ain't exactly concer-" One of the guards blurted out, getting frustrated and slightly anxious with the situation at hand. With one of his colleagues having just been taken out by a single outlaw, he wasn't too enthusiastic about what could happen if this standoff broke out into gunfire. Needless to say; He panicked. The introduction of the man with the hat only served to confuse the situation even more. It still wasn't clear where his allegiances lay.

"QUIET, SOLDIER!" The leader interrupted, annoyed by yet another uncalculated outburst by his subordinate. This was no time for insubordination, and this soldier had made a second reckless decision. After calming the soldier, he turned to back to Abe. "You're right. There's no need for all this stress. You come with us and we can get you to a doctor once we reach HQ." He nodded, eyeing each outlaw carefully. He took a glance back at the bounty hunter as well.

Sophia opened her mouth to protest, but quickly shut it again as she felt more acid attempting to make its way out of her stomach. Before she even had the chance to take a step forward, a guard walked over and reluctantly slammed the butt of his gun against her head. Kelmorr's face was overtaken by a mask of pure loathing for a moment while he watched her hit the floor, before he changed back to his unreadable expression and followed the guardsmen.

-----------

Shadowy figures darted in and out of Sophia's vision, laughing hysterically. She could feel them getting closer, surrounding her, preventing her from moving. The darkness the creatures were using as a hideout kept alternating between bloodshot red and void black - as well the figures themselves.
"You did this." one of them cackled.
"All this death is your fault."
"You created a demon."

Sophia struggled to even move any of her muscles, but to no avail. All she could do was watch. Watch as a particularly familiar silhouette floated towards her.

"I l-loved you, F-Fia... Y-you left me to d-die..."

The figure was followed by even more silhouettes, each recognizable by Sophia.

"You are too much of a failure to save any of us."
"You led us to death."
"Ungrateful scum." the last one added. With an excruciating amount of effort, Sophia managed to lift her head and look at the speaker's face. "You killed me." Antonio Culebra spat as he rammed a dagger into her heart.

"I said get up dammit!" An angered guard yelled, punching Sophia into consciousness. He seemed to be visibly tiring, as though it wasn't his first swing. The room as a whole summed up Sophia's situation. It was shit. The ceiling carried a soulless death brown complexion, and the walls and cell weren't exactly much brighter. It really was shit. She wasn't really sure which was worse: This hellhole, or the fucked up dream she was having before it. Either way, she wanted out of both. With Sophia now awake, the guard locked the cell and left the room. Abe and Coady had had their rude awakenings already. Each sitting in their own secluded cell, it was Abe who was first to overcome the demoralizing state of oppression that their enclosure brought upon them.

"You doin' better, Soph?" the old miner asked. His voice was barely audible through the bars - probably a sealing charm.

"Yeah, yeah..." Sophia groaned as she leaned against the wall to get up. "Who else did they drag down here?" A groggy and frustrated groan came from the neighboring cell, just loud enough for both Sangre members to hear.

"The bastards just got the three of us. The hooded bitch got away somehow, and you lizard thing got away too." Coady responded monotonously.

Sophia's mind raced as she tried to think of how Marzia and Nico had gotten away. She'd been so sick in the hideout, she could barely remember the events that had occurred. "Wait, so... Tolkins... God fucking dammit!" Sophia slammed her fist against the wall of her cell. Her expression turned into an enraged scowl as she attempted to find the source of Coady's voice. "You! This is all your fucking fault! If you hadn't been fucking messing with Antonio's sh-" she began screaming at him.

"Alright, Soph, calm down." Abe instructed.

"If you're dumb enough to think you weren't gonna get caught anyway..." Coady began before being interrupted.

"Watch what ya say 'round here, boy - walls probably got ears, literally." Abe added, turning to Coady.

"We're pretty much dead already anyway. Fuckers are after you guys for whatever the hell you did, and I'm here for association. I don't look so good right now, and I cant exactly claim to be unassociated considering I knew about the damn cave in the first place." Coady sighed.

-----------

"Alright bounty hunter, what exactly are you getting from being here? We're getting a hell of a lot more than you for bringing these cretins in, so we'd prefer you didn't attempt to kill our captives, you hear what I'm saying?" The Guard captain sat in his chair, with his feet lodged comfortably on his desk. He smirked, resisting the urge to laugh in the face of the bounty hunter he'd just condescendingly addressed.

"I'm a bounty hunter, not an assassin. You ever heard of dead OR alive? I'm here for the bounties, and to take another step towards cleaning up the hellhole Larkin's become." Kelmorr grunted.

"Larkin? I'm talkin' about the entire south. The whole place is a sack of shit, along with everythin' in it." The captain raised his nose in disgust.

"Like ya'll would even know, with your ugly uniforms and your sparkling badges." Kel said, rolling his eyes. "Me and all the other scruffy profiteers you prissy little stuffed-shirts must look so far down your knobby noses at are a hell of a lot closer to law an' order than any of you buffoons. Got anything else clever to say so you can feel impressive? Or are you ready to officiate that I helped in the capture of these criminals, so I can get my bounties without getting in the way of you're big special government salaries?"

"H-helped in the capture?" The Guard stuttered with laughter. "Now, I'm no expert on the traditions you southerners hold, but you can be damn sure we don't classify standin' around as helpin' with capture. You want a shiny little certificate, I can write one right up. If you think your little prize is cutting into my winnings, you got another thing coming." By now the guard had made it to his feet and was still letting out whatever lingering laughter he had left. "You wanna make yourself useful? Go get any information about this Veralice creature that you can. Then we might give you some credit." With that, the captain sat back down, and returned to his paperwork.

The bounty hunter continued to look at the guard with his normal friendly, yet disinterested expression for a few more seconds before he burst out in laughter as well. When he finally caught his breath he was staring at a specific spot on one of the guard's papers, then he stood up. "Two..... Silly me! What was I thinkin'?! Clearing out half of this city's riffraff and getting a nice path all set up for you boys so you didn't have to wade through a sea of reprehensible types that'd love nothing more than to rip your authoritative throats out couldn't possibly have helped you track down a small group, shoot a man's privates off, and then capture a musclehead who can't aim, an old miner, and a sick woman vomiting up her own intestines. How could you have done all that with anything less than your pure skills and tenacity!? I'll get right on that interrogation!" He strolled towards the door of the captain's office and called out behind him "Enjoy the rest of your day!" And headed down to where the prisoners were being kept, hoping to get a hold of some information that would at least be useful to him, he doubted he could count on the captain being willing to shell out any sort of reward regardless of what he accomplished.

With the arrival of the bounty hunter, all three prisoners faced the newcomer expectantly, waiting for him to do or say something. None of them knew anything about this man. He wore no uniform like the others. He wore no badge or symbol. For all they knew he had betrayed the men he rode in with and had come to save them; though it was unlikely.

"Howdy there gentlemen, and lady." Kelmorr said in a friendly and welcoming manner, tipping his hat to the criminals as he spoke. "How'd you fine folks like to have a chat with a nice fella?"

"Fuck you, fuck your friends and fuck off." Sophia reciprocated in an appropriately not-so-friendly and not-so-welcoming manner, flipping off the newcomer. Coady gave a response of a similar manner, dismissing the friendly man from his initial welcome, and facing the other way.

"Alrighty, no ladies and a maximum possibility of one gentleman. How about you mister miner?" Kel said. "May I ask your name? 'Miner' seems a bit rude."

Abe grunted, weary of the man's friendliness. "Abraham Jones. Abe if I know yer mug." he replied, scratching his chin. "Sent ya out here to finish us off, lad? Got guts to be doin' somethin' like this."

Kel shook his head, scanning the room, resting his eyes on the big burly man in one of the cells, then pointedly avoiding looking at Sophia before he looked back at ol' Abe. "No sir, killing in cold blood don't sit right with me, especially for any o'them government boys, in fact that captain up there don't seem to think much more of me than your friend with the pretty hair. I'm just here to talk. I won't pretend it ain't technically an interrogation, you aren't a gaggle of braindead brats after all. But I don't intend to torture you or beat you like some of them guards might either."

"Oh, well aren't you a righteous soul?" Coady mocked rubbing the bruising spot on his face. "Unfortunately don't get that down here. You're either one of us: killing low life shits no worse than us for money or because they stepped on our side of the road; or you're one of them: killing any lowlife shit they want, because 'they're criminals', thugs, and everything in between. I don't know if any of you have been up north, but they're just as stupid and hell bent up there as we are down here. They're just a lot more satisfied with what they got." Coady ended his rant with a deep sigh. "If you're one of us, you die now. If you're one of them, you die in five or six years when you either you get too big for your boots, or shit goes wrong and you gotta go fix it because one of those fuckin' bigwigs told you to. So don't make the stupid decision." Beginning to feel a shred of comfort after getting it all off his chest, Coady nuzzled against the cold stone wall he'd been leaning on.

"Funny." Kel said calmly. "I don't remember claiming to be anywhere close to the righteous sort. No, friend, you make some good points but I think there's a lot more to the world than black or white." He tapped his chin thoughtfully while he spoke, staring at the wall all the while. You're definitely right about me not bein' any better than you though, my comeuppance just ain't ready to hit me yet, but they will. I know. So, long as we're talkin'... What exactly is up with that whole demonic-monster-little-girl thing? I ain't all that in the loop in that area."

"Hey experts, I think he's talkin to you!" Coady called out, passing the question on to Sophia or Abe.

Abe turned to Sophia for an answer. The young outlaw had barely been paying attention to what the others were saying, and had reverted to a sitting position with her back leaned against the wall. "There's nothing to say about h- it. No fucking thing." she muttered.

"Haha, you're just trying to get us killed, aren't ya?" Coady laughed. He was honestly starting to question how much longer he could maintain his sanity, and couldn't give half a shit what kind of sentiment the outlaw held towards the demon child.

"I see..." Kel remarked, remaining quiet for a minute or so before he bothered speaking again. "I don't know how much you all can hold up to torture, if it's enough, then I suppose there's not really any point to me trying to save you the trouble. But still, I should at least tell you I don't think there's much point to keeping anything about this dark being a secret. You don't get anything from it, and you don't really lose anything from it getting taken down so you may as well tell me what you know, I can't imagine there's even all that much to tell is there?"

"We can change that." a voice came from behind the bounty hunter. Behind him stood the leader of the guards, and a giant, burly man at his side, who neither him nor the outlaws had seen before. The hulking creature grinned sadistically and cracked his knuckles. From his appearance, it was easy to tell he was of native Jeimasian origin. "This guy right here, bounty boy, is Paul'uk. Trained interrogation assistant. Forgot to send him in with you, but he can help you out if you're having trouble getting answers from our... guests." the leader said, chuckling. The appearance of the behemoth caught Coady's attention. The fact they felt they needed a guy like that didn't bode well for him and his associates. Upon introducing the bounty hunter to his new partner, and possibly the prisoners to their new assailant, the guard captained turned and headed back to the door he came from. As he reached the door, he turned to add one more thing. "If you hooligans play your cards right, paul'uk here wont have much work to do."

Kel looked up at his gargantuan new partner and offered to shake his hand. "Nice to meet'cha fella, looks like we'll be working together for a bit."

The man chuckled and shook - or rather crushed and flung around - Kel's hand. "Got trouble making them talk?" he asked, in a gravelly, threatening voice, his accent fairly noticeable.

"That's a good question." Kel asked, looking back at the prisoners, especially Sophia and raising an eyebrow. "Do I?" The outlaw replied with a rather obscene gesture, a variation of the regular bird meant to signify something much more... offensive.

The interrogator did not take kindly to the gesture. "We will make them talk. One way or another. They always do." he said smiling and cracking his knuckles.

A joint post of Foxrally, Shak and Sephear

[Other FULL] Gunpowder (M) (IC)

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