Forum Thread

Ashen

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As if to answer Thalia's question, the building came to a sudden stop, again throwing all identities to the floor in an undignified heap. Ashen peeled himself from the top, muffling the groan that formed in his stomach for the sake of his pride. He coughed a little, clutching his torso as he leaned on a desk for support. He may have been enhanced, but even he couldn't have appeared from that fiasco without a scar. As his eyes scanned the Villains for any injuries, a shimmer outside caught his eye; a shimmer that had an invisible background, bathed in shadows.
The fact that made his eyes widen, though, was the lack of stars or a moon in this new setting. Almost as if their building had been directed into another building.
Slowly, his eyes searching for any hint of where they had been plotted, he hunched near the window, placing a heavy hand inbetween shards of glass. As he did so, the entire wall collapsed; the landing must have weakened it tremendously. Thus, it revealed their surroundings in a dusty billow - a steel warehouse, held up by various support beams, with a platform visible through the wall. A dark hallway lead to this platform, a hallway that nothing inside of was visible. Ashen froze. How had the classroom teleported here? The building wasn't magic - Ashen had made sure of that several times.
As he was going over every possible way of being traversed to this place, a tall, imposing figure crept from within the hallway; a figure that, at first, appeared to make no sound, to take no definite form. The only defining feature of it was the simple black tophat upon it's head, giving it a rich, proud demeanour. The way it moved also couldn't be identified; at times, it seemed to float, slither, fly, or walk as a human. So, in fact, this being seemed more beast than human to Ashen, who was staring with wide eyes, the scar on his back searing with untreated pain.
"Welcome, welcome!" The entity crowed, it's voice unrecognisable; at one point, it would be the rumble of a large man's voice; at others, the squeak of a young girl's. "I trust you arrived safely?" It asked, a hint of mockery sneaking into it's voice as it perched on the railing of the platform, it's 'legs' swinging over the side.

Callen let out another shout as the building abruptly stopped, being flung back down. He hissed as he collided with the ground. There was definitely some sort of damage, sitting up he grimaced. Small lines of red started to show up on his skin as blood slowly seeped out. Nothing much, but it definitely stung. It could have been worse, Callen thought as he pushed himself up to his feet. His heart stilled as he faced the strange creature. There was so much he wanted to ask but... he glanced over to Ashen. They seemed to he the one in charge, perhaps he should let him ask the questions.

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Yaku got up, having fallen from the sudden stop of the building, he held his arm shortly, then looked around. He eyed Ashen shortly, this didnt seem to be his Idea. Yaku was sure that this shouldnt have happened. He then looked around, noticing the change of Location. He pulled off his gloves and stuffed them back into his pocket, kinda getting ready to defend himself if anything were to attack him now.

Thalia’s scarf slowly unraveled off of the object she was clinging to. It wrapped back around her as she stood up. Her senses were slowly returning, and she could tell they were somewhere else now. She followed the sound of the wall collapsing and the ‘things voice’. She could sense it was one person, but not any ordinary person could change their voice like that. She kept her guard up.

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Goliath punched a fist through a chunk of ceiling that had fallen in top of him and tore it to bits as easily as if it were paper. The giant popped his neck and shoulders, then pushed on the ground and pulled himself from a small depression in the ground. "Whoever is responsible for this..." Throwing himself upright , Goliath quickly turned and reached out a hand. War appeared close to Ashen. "Will feel the combined power of everything unholy I control." Death now appeared as well. Both of the Horsemen were looking up though. Goliath sneered and followed their gaze.

Though Sen seemed quiet, she would talk when she could. She did stay silent, letting the group talk as she lifted her hood up and let out a sigh. She never was one to make friends. Let alone keep them if she ever did. She knew everyone was like her, turning villain after being a hero. She knew that but refused to accept it. She wanted to be a hero again.

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Ashen

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Quiet shouting could be heard from elsewhere in the compound as Ashen stared, still having not answered the question - he was waiting for someone else to reply. When nobody did, he realised that they were also waiting for him to answer; at the moment, they saw him as their leader of sorts, which he intended to at least try to be.
"What do you want," he tried to snarl, though it came out slightly shaky. Nothing like breaking down in front of the most wanted Villains in the world. He swallowed, trying to clear his head. Something about this being made him extremely on-edge, and, strangely, scared. If these people got injured, he's blame himself for bringing them here.
He had to get them out - alive, preferably.
The entity laughed; a loud, booming sound, which then changed into the giggling of a young girl, the hiss of a serpent, and, finally, the growl of an ancient beast. "Oh, Ashen, there's no need to rush. We'll get to that later." They hopped off the railing, landing perfectly, as if the five meters they had dropped were nothing. They moved closer to the building, becoming slightly more visible; their top hat gleamed, though there was no light, and their form was confusing, to say the least; usually it was unrecognisable, more like a shadow or thin air than a being, but occasionally it would resemble something living - it grew wings, at some points, a tail at others, and once a human mouth was defined upon it's shifting face.
They threw back their 'head' and let out a deafening cry, which continuously echoed through the empty prison, leaving a disturbing sound ringing in the group's ears. Shuffling could be heard from the direction of the hallway; another being, though it still couldn't be seen.

Thalia was now confident that this was an enemy, or someone who meant harm. Either way, they must insanely strong to do this against their whole group. She walked forward and stood next to Ashen, she stretched. “I’m not sure what it’s plan is, but it’s definitely not good” She said to Ashen.

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Goliath summoned the other two Horsemen, Famine and Pestilence. War and Death exited the building, followed by Famine and Pestilence a moment later. They became visible to the rest of the group then, bodies cloaked in colored strips of fabric. Their horses seemed to suffer from their riders, Famine's being skeletal and thin, Pestilence's being a sickly looking thing. War ride a horse stained red by blood, and Death rode a horse as black as midnight. Each rider had the handle of something by their side, but their cloaks covered the sheathed ends of the weapons, making it impossible to guess if they were swords, daggers, or otherwise. I'm unison, the Four Horsemen reached across their bodies and grasped the handles of their weapons. They did not draw them, however. Goliath stepped forwards, next to Ashen and a step in front. "Entity. Whether you mean us harm or help, we require you to state your business with us. We will not attack unless we feel you threaten us." Around Goliath, a wreath of ghostly hands had appeared. They framed his bulk with an ominous look, as if he were the devilish creation of some child.

Deimos Crane

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Deimos's ears were ringing painfully as the male collected himself from his heap on the ground, his palms chaffed by the dust on the ground. It took him a moment to adjust; the room was too bright, every voice seemed to settle too loudly in his ears. His senses were heightened, and fear-scent pooled itself in a noxious mass in his maw. He could hear ... everything, from distant crickets chirping to the heartbeat of his fellow 'villains.' It was like that for most wolf-shifters, and Deimos had, by no means, gotten the short end of the stick. A grating groan dragged from the floor as wickedly silver talons dragged over them, leaving gouges on stone as Deimos picked himself up, dusting himself off with swift strokes of his hand. It was difficult for him to recall when exactly he had shifted, given the relative chaos of the moment. Shifting was usually triggered by strong bursts of emotion, such as rage, passion or fear. Thus, it was not a man, but a half-wolf that strode forward with eldritch grace, pitch black talons clicking on the floor, black talons crowning his fingers, and canines bared. Raw adrenaline still hurtling through his veins, he analyzed the newcomer and his surroundings.

The ghoul that casually stood before him, leaning over the railing like night incarnate, was a mix of something out of a nightmare, a morbid fantasy. His voice was everything at once, at once high and low, young and old. Deimos watched his every movement, talons clicking at his side as he clenched and unclenched his fists. As far as he cared, he had already dubbed this male a threat. And he would rather go back into a dark miserable hole than bend over backwards with his tail between his legs. Two swift strides brought him to stand closer to Ashen, as he had introduced himself, and another male, retracting his canines slightly to allow for an ease in speech. Nonetheless, their pearly white glint were still visible, their threatening glint fully visible to the spectre as Deimos addressed him.

"Since you are obviously to be an audience to this new teams...antics." Deimos began, his pale jade eyes fixated on the stranger, his voice marvelously composed and authoritative, yet utterly bored given the circumstances. He kept a wary thread of his attention on the other outlaws, yet didn't shift his gaze an inch, "I find it surprising that you have not given us a formal introduction. What, exactly, shall we call you?"

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Aelin Spade

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One had to understand that if Aelin had never been given the brutal training she had in the Dolomites, she might never have landed gracefully on her feet, unscathed and nearly unwinded by the entire incident, though her insides had been thoroughly jarred like fruit in a blender. All of her senses were being overloaded, and there was a deep pounding coming from somewhere that sent a forboeding aura through her skull. The dust that stained the floor of the warehouse had settled on her coat, which she dusted off as she rose to her feet. That movement alone sent pain like a lance through her spine, the pain tracing an old scar on her back that one of Vega's assassins had given her through training. Aelin gritted her teeth, and vouched to leave her russet overcoat off, leaving herself dressed in pitch black from head to toe as she took in the stranger.
Wip

Ashen

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A whisper of wind slithered throughout the dusty shack; a sign that there was some sort of open doorway nearby, which Ashen noted with a sliver of hope. To Thalia's comment, he nodded, having guessed that already; this dude had 'evil' writted all over him, as he saw it. For a moment, he allowed his eyes to slip to the two on horse, which were promptly galloping away from the group - he was sure that they hadn't been in the building. He didn't have long to inspect them, though, as Goliath pushed in front of him, speaking to the strange being that was keeping them captives.
As a response to Goliath, the thing simply laughed, yet again, and said a similar thing to what it had scolded Ashen with; "There's no need to rush, Goliath. Let me introduce my allies, first." If it had gained a permanent mouth, it would've smirked, for it knew that he would rather be called 'Presence', but decided to completely ignore this information.
Then, yet another question, from whom Ashen believed to be a werewolf; a question that the entity found amusing, judging by the squint if their eyes and the curl of their lip. "All in good time, Deimos," It sang.
Something came forth from the hallway; a something that was so fast it could not be seen. It scaled the wall above the path with ease, before disappearing into the darkness of the roof. The shifter cast it's eyes to the ceiling, as if waiting for something to come down, before returning it's gaze to the group. For just a moment, two, white pupils were visible, before melting into the ever-changing mass of the being. It grinned, as someone who knew something dangerous might.
A sound like a wire being stretched sounded through the eerie silence of the building, as well as continuous, fast, scuttling noises. A single, black leg became visible. It was covered with spikes shaped like fish-hooks; the leg of a spider.

Goliath bristled as the being responded, his real name echoing in the back of his mind. The wreath of hands around him flared into full existence, their fingers curling as if ready to gouge at flesh. The four horses that had pulled themselves into a guard became restless and aggressive, rearing back as the Horsemen prepared to draw their blades. In perfect unison, each rider drew a sword of a different kind. After a moment, the blades became cloaked in an Essence, different for each rider. Death held a dark blade, curved many times over to better be drawn along flesh, the long blade cloaked in writhing shadows. War held a double edged sword, longer than most of the same design. The gladius was wrapped in a liquid-gas that seemed as motionless as it was moving. The Essence gave off an eerie red glow, illuminating both the Horseman and his steed. Pestilence held a scimitar that surrounded itself with a ballooning green vapor, known among few as an Omega-Pestilence, something to rend flesh from bone in mere seconds. And Famine held a thin, slightly curved blade, a katana by the looks of it, which glowed a pale grey, the sharp edge of the blade igniting to a bright white glare. Presence spoke. "You are incorrect. There is need to rush. And patience is not one of my virtues, so I suggest you quicken the oh so dramatic reveal of your arachnae." His voice had gained a steely force, the hands of the Sins seemingly quivering at it.

Thalia stood still, trying to get a feel of the layout of the room. She didn’t plan to take her blindfold off here, so she just needed to know the room. It was really big, so it was a daunting task. The sounds echoing off the walls helped her though. “Goliath, calm down. We don’t know what they have planned. Don’t be reckless and endanger everyone else” Thalia said to him while watching the entity.

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Callen

Callen stared at the creature, still shifting in front of his eyes. With a low growl, he took a hesitant step forward. He would try and avoid any confrontation, but at this point it seemed near impossible. He clenched and unclenched his fists, it was the only thing keeping him distracted. He could swear he heard something else in the area with them, and his eyes kept glancing around the clearing. Were they on the strange creatures side, or "Ashen's" (he supposed that must've been their name). He glanced over at Ashen, trying to see if he noticed the sound. He stayed tense, ready to fight at any given moment.

Stephen

Stephen had arrived at the place of the meeting, only to notice nothing was there. With a scowl he sat down on the ground, pulling out a piece of chalk. He supposed he would have to find them, and if they had been here. Yes, they had, though they seemed to have moved. Finally as he completed the runes they gave off a soft glow before fading out of existence. He had a trail, all he had to do was follow it. He started to run, the location of the building clear in his mind. It was inside another building, but he supposed it wasn't the strangest thing he'd seen.

With a puff of air, he reached the walls of the prison. Digging his hands into the sides he slowly started to climb up in attempt to get in. How ridiculous, most people try to break out of prison, he was trying to break in. Finally he saw it, the building inside the building. There were people out and it looked like a confrontation had started. With another gulp of air he took a running start, leaping off the top of the building and falling down below. With the momentum he had gathered he swung his foot out, giving a harsh kick to the first one he saw. He gave a rather confident smirk as he looked back up, only to realise he was staring at Ashen.

Did he attack the wrong person? At first he supposed the strange creature had been the one to send the strange message. It just made sense. Though now at second glance... Yep, probably the wrong person. Well it was his fault Stephen decided, shouldn't have looked so menacing.

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Goliath bristled again, his voice becoming low and harsh. "Presence, girl. Did I give you permission to call me by my given name?" A single pair of hands freed itself from the decorative assortment and drifted slowly around Thalia. A hand brushed against her, then rejoined the rest. The hand had been cold and clammy, leaving a lasting feeling. "I didn't think so." The Horsemen turned their horses diagonally, preparing to flank whatever was soon to appear and slay it if needed. A mental message passed between Presence and the rest of the presences with him, and the hands started to stir. With shrieks, they flew in all directions from his and took up positions around the room, simply floating in the air. As one, the hideous creatures, Horsemen and Sins alike, turned completely invisible, their bodies only revealed on the Eighth Plane of Existence.

Yaku seemed surprised as he saw Stephen kick Ashen. Yaku made some water circle around the fingers of his left hand and readied himself to attack whatever would be the enemy. He had killed a lot of Villains and Heroes so.. He just didnt care if he had to kill another one.. Or maybe one of these creatures?
Surely he had enough water on him and maybe there was enough water around him to fight for quite some time?
The whole Situation kinda confused him tho, he had just wanted to go to a meeting. This was.. unexpected. He stared at the black leg, ´inspecting´ the spikes from afar. He decided to wait until Ashen would tell them to attack or not.

Thalia was about to respond to Goliath before Stephen kicked Ashen. She was taken by surprise, she wasn’t able to sense Stephen until now. He could be troublesome if he was an enemy. She jumped back from where she was standing which happened to be right next to Ashen. “Are you with them?” She calmly asked.

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With his Sins and Horsemen separated from his body, Goliath couldn't have noticed the newcomer with his surprising attack. His Sins would have whispered to him, and he'd have reached out to catch the flying kick. But he was prepared for attack. His senses were dampened, but his movements were still strong, brutal... Violent. With a small grunt, he tore the remains of his shirt away for better mobility, whipping around to face and attack- another human? Goliath froze, his enormous body poised for a strike worthy of a god. He'd been prepared to crush the skeleton of anything that dared to attack him second four feet into the earth. But now he hesitated. Another human? Or, it seemed that way. Silently, Goliath raised his closed fist a millimeter higher, still poised to kill the offender.

Stephen

Stephen could tell he had startled quite the number o people. Ashen, for one, whom he had kicked and currently had no intentions of apologizing to. A quick glance to his sid he spotted someone with water around their hand. Showing off your powers before a possible battle, not the brightest idea. His ears picked up some noise and he turned to Thalia. "Don't know." He simply grunted in response, and it was somewhat true. He still didn't know who had sent him the message, and he certainly didn't know if he trusted them. He was about to turn and face the strange creature when he stopped. He stared at Goliath, though he wasn't quite focused on the fist threatening to strike. The man wasn't wearing a shirt. Stephen looked up at Goliath, an eyebrow raised. After a half second of silence he finally spoke. "Sorry, but I think this is moving a little too fast. I mean, I just met you." Was his cheeky response, a rather stupid grin on his face.

Callen

Callen had watched in shock as aman fell from above, killing Ashen. His eyes grew more wide when the man showed no signs of apologizing. He clamped his jaw shut when he realised it had been wide open like a fish. He watched carefully as the newcomer seemed to inspect them. He tried to keep his focus divided between the two threats. He couldn't help it though. At the man's words towards Goliath, laughter ripped through his mouth. Well, more of quiet giggling, but for one who hadn't laughed in a long time...

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Goliath's fist tightened, popped. His jaw tensed and his eyes flared, a fist slowly reaching out. Stopping a few inches from Stephen, he spoke. "You'll learn to regret being witty around me. In exactly five seconds, you'll lose feeling in your right arm. You may do as you wish to prevent the nerve attack from advancing by holding your right arm at a ninety-degree angle, hand facing downwards." Two fingers jutted forwards, struck the other man in the chest lightly. Goliath turned, the back of his neck glistening in the low light. The Sins' separation from him made him anxious, vulnerable as a man could be. Part of his mind wondered if teh dynamic attacker had believed what had been said about needing to stop the nerve attack. The most the hit could do was numb your arm for ten seconds. Goliath hoped the other man didn't know that, though.

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