Sylvetican Strife (Round 0: The Vault)

The Warden stood in the center of a large, dark chamber, and a spotlight shining down from above cast a glare off the top of her auburn hair. The darkness from the room around her began to produce sounds, and she turned to face the source of each of the loud, persistent clicks and nodded at each one. The first of the series of satisfying mechanical noises brought with it a gentle buzzing noise that grew louder each time; a series of machines surrounding the woman in a circle were activating of their own accord. There was a brief lapse in the noise, before ten similar, smaller spotlights flickered to life surrounding her.

Disuse had taken its toll on this wing of the facility, but it would serve her intended purpose just fine.

Each of the spotlights surrounding the Warden illuminated another figure; the players in her game were of various origins, and each one was radically different from the next. The competitors were each situated on their own silver-plated pad, arranged around the Warden in a perfect circle. Each of the platforms bore a uniform inscription; though they displayed various, different signs of 'wear and tear', the sigils literally etched into the metal were wholly congruent. Her soldiers stood at attention, their eyes open and intent. They appeared ready to listen, or at least she hoped so; after all, what kind of person would she be to turn a crowd like this loose in Sylvetica without the proper introduction?

“Welcome, contestants,” the Warden said warmly, extending a hand and periodically turning to make eye contact with each player, “to a world called Sylvetica. The place you reside in at the moment is known as the Vault, a facility analogous to whatever 'prison' you might be familiar with back home. As far as the chamber we're in now, it was used to store a small cult of evocators, infamous for promoting sacrilege; you're currently experiencing detainment in the very stasis fields that kept them in line. You'll find it quite impossible to do much other than breathe, look, and listen, so I would suggest sticking to that...”

“I've combed every reality I could think of before settling on each of you; each of you is unique, skilled, bloodthirsty—or I just think you're pretty awesome. I suppose that makes you the best of the best, hm~? Now, I suppose I should introduce myself, and each of you while I'm at it. First, I'm the Warden, the leader of this place; I oversaw the operation of this facility and dealt with many an errant prisoner... before the incident that devastated this world.”

“Now...” she began to motion to each competitor one by one.

“This is the Sidekick 1000.” At the twelve o'clock position was a boyish figure, just below average height; his youthful features were frozen in a resolute expression, and a word emblazoned on his clothing implied he was a 'PROTOTYPE'. “He's an android from a place where superheroes and villains were a dime a dozen, and I can't wait to see how well his technology holds up. I hear the guy who put this one together tried to imbue his creation with a human soul—what a freak! Wonder how it turned out...”

Next in line was a tall, young man; he wore a strange device on one hand, and his shirt bore a picture of the earth. “This is Daniel Gates, a time-traveling young man who attempted to save a world that shouldn't have been. Of course,” the Warden chirped, “I bet all of that nonsense was his fault in the first place. Maybe you should ask and see what he has to say about it!”

She extended an open hand to indicate the next in line, a poor-postured man with hair like white, moldy hay. “Meet Paul Harris, a man who's spent the best years of his life trapped beneath the earth after a catastrophic collapse in a cave system!” Her voice softened. “I suppose, in that regard, they probably weren't very enjoyable at all. Upon encountering what would have been his end of days, Paul survived by gaining mysterious powers after a deal with a strange entity. Let's see what that pickaxe of his can do, then!”

“I love our next combatant's style. This is Ashley Forrester!” The Warden gestured to the girl with short, neat red hair; almost in spite of this, she wore blue scrubs marred by crude depictions of flowers that were smeared in various manners. “To make a long story short, Ash is a pretty regular girl, until that crazy, repressed imaginary friend of hers comes out to play. The funniest part is that by bringing her here, I've helped her escape from a maximum security detention facility into a maximum security detention facility. Isn't it absurd?”

“Next up, David Morris!” She tilted her head and moved closer, making a quick circle around his pad to scrutinize his clothing, which was fairly similar to her own; when complete, she turned and shrugged, displaying him to the other immobilized combatants with a grin. “Despite his first-string fashion sense, he's pretty much just a rich bastard, I think. His magnum opus was a drug called Benoximine, which extended his lifespan and made him quite superhuman. Problem was, he didn't quite know how to share—how rude~!”

“And now,” the Warden gestured to a red-robed figure, “I'm proud to introduce Yggoc—Let me know later if I'm pronouncing that incorrectly, kay? This handsome young man is a potent combatant and elementalist from a time long ago, who was run away from his ancestral home after being falsely accused of a crime. Again, how rude!”

She looked over her shoulder, to the towering, dark-blue creature with two pairs of arms. “Our next combatant is of a species called Tartarian Reptilicus; her name is Synthia, and she hails from a community of great scientific merit, deep within the Earth! When war tore her home asunder, she was, to her knowledge, the only one that fled to the surface.” The Warden turned, drawing closer to the four-armed reptile. She began to speak in a moderate whisper. “You will have to tell me where I can get a staff like that later. I absolutely love it!”

The Warden strode across the center of the circle, to the pad of a young woman in a dark-green sweater. “This is Alice! She's from a pretty crazy world, and get this—she was created by the daughter of a god, and only recently given a soul!” She extended her hand, and airily brushed her index finger across Alice's neck, who could respond only through a slight shudder and a surprised, sudden inhale. The Warden grinned. “As a function of that, she tends to overreact to most stimuli... how adorable!”

“Next, I'd like to introduce Ven. He's a...” The Warden was interrupted by a crackling sound, like that of static electricity. She glimpsed down at the demon's hand; it was moving, fingers ever-so-slowly wrapping into a fist. Her eyes widened, and she took a step away from the chamber, voice growing slightly nervous as she continued. “He's a... combatant whose... exemplary accolades require no explanation! Yes. Moving on.”

“And last but not least, Golan Rovanel, a Half-Elf with a variety of unique weaponry and abilities!” She gestured to the brown-haired man clad in blue armor. “Golan's biggest accomplishment back at home was throwing himself toward a gate to a chaotic void, intent on closing it forever—he succeeded with flying colors, and I plucked him from his world as he was about to be subject to the primordial forces, to fight a final battle here in Sylvetica!”

“Now, about that battle...” The Warden drew the golden cell pin from her sleeve into her hand, and began idly tossing and catching it in one hand as she spoke. “I've brought you here to participate in a game, of sorts,” she stated, returning to the center of the circle. “Competitions like these are a regular occurrence, held across the multiverse, but mine is going to deviate from the norm at times. Were this an ordinary game, you'd be taken to a variety of locales throughout this world and others in the multiverse to fight to the death through multiple rounds until only one of you remained—when one of you died, a new round would begin in a different place, and the process would start itself anew.”

She shrugged. “Don't relax yet, because I'm still going to be doing that from time to time. I'm required to. But I'm also going to liven things up, by having you help me with a personal venture of sorts. Allow me to explain.” The Warden allowed the pin to fall into her hand and tightened her grip on it; bright, white light seeped out from between her fingers, and the dark chamber around her and the combatants quickly began to peel away.

All eleven found themselves in a large room, presumably the Warden's office. The competitors, though a bit stiffened from the chambers they were held in, would now be able to move. She waited briefly for everyone to get their bearings; the room was vast, with no form of decoration adorning the metal walls or floor. Aside from several chairs situated around her desk, there was nothing of note aside from the thick cell bars that made a dividend of the far, dark end of the room. The back wall of the office was entirely glass, and she made her way over to the great window.

“This is Sylvetica, a once-great world brought to ruin.” She turned to face the players after gesturing to the deep red wasteland beyond. “And you guys are going to assist me in a great plan to reclaim it. It's a little dangerous out there—to make a long story short, the event that devastated this world also populated it with creatures I've taken to calling the Outsiders, half-living magical anomalies. Some take the shape of people, or of animals that dwelled here; some assume the form of strange, demonic creatures, or simply amorphous masses of shadow. Take a look for yourselves... I see a herd forming.”

The Warden indicated a waxing swirl of black smog, on a ruined city street far below the Vault. The onyx blister snaked through the city, and it grew as it went. Out of it emerged multiple human shapes, cast in shadow, with eyes of a deep red. They moved as a single being, arms stretched out toward nothing in particular, making no sound, and twisted through another empty city street before sinking back into the ashen mass.

“My apologies. I know this is a lot to digest, so I'll allow you some time.” The Warden turned back to face the players. “I have some business to attend to... and we'll begin our game when I return! Hope you're ready...”

The Warden made her way back across the office to a sliding metal door; it opened as she approached, and she made her way through into another prison hallway, disappearing behind the closing door, leaving the ten combatants alone, spread about the large, empty office.

ROUND ZERO – The Vault
Objective: Make friendsies.
At this time, try to refrain from performing dialogue or actions from the perspective of any character but your own. Do some traditional roleplaying, and establish/develop your characters and forge in-character relationships. Also, no players will die this round. (Or will they?)
Since we'll be just roleplaying for now, there is no reserving of posts. Just... go with the flow.

Slacker Hero: Sidekick 1000
Super Mega King: Daniel Gates
Cry Vengeance: Ven
Kugeth: Synthia
NickisanEnigma: Ashley Forrester
Leniette: Alice
Coggy: Yggoc
Meatshield718: David Morris
SirManguydude: Golan Rovanel
Harbinger: Paul Harris

Spoiler:

Plucked from darkness, Daniel absorbed all the woman said quietly. From an endless void to a room full of elementalists, demons, and crazies from different universes. Needless to say, the culture shock hit him hard. Though maybe attaching the word "crazy" to anyone in this room was a bit unfair. After all, Daniel had killed his two best friends and doomed a universe to nothingness. He supposed maybe every one in this room was a little crazy and that's probably part of the reason why they were picked for this "city revival" task the Warden had in mind. He had to thank the Warden for saving him, sometime.

Daniel played with the idea in his mind that this was all an illusion. How long could someone float in nothingness before losing their mind? Ultimately, the idea seemed irrelevant to him. If his mind was playing tricks on him, then so be it. He would play his mind's games until his mind gave out. It was better than lazing around in nothingness.

The Timefist. He suddenly remembered he still had the Timefist. He could easily look into this city's future and see if the Warden's goal was accomplished; he would be able to see if he ended up living happy or if he would die. He could look into the past and see the reason why the city is as it is now and find out about the Warden. He could do all these things, but Daniel really never considered it a possibility. Playing with time to that magnitude is exactly what led him to nothingness. Instead, he resolved to use the Timefist in ways that only affected the present. He vowed to die before he would abuse the Timefist in any way.

Dream, Timefist, or otherwise, the end result was the same. Daniel stood in a room full of strangers from different universes. And he supposed it was about time he got to know them.

"Hello, everyone."

Ashley stood stock still in her corner of the room, eying the surroundings of the office. She held both arms close to her chest, her sharpened nails digging into the flesh of her elbows. She winced and eased up a little. Ash looked around at everyone in the room, and by the time she saw the man with the mechanical fist, she was convinced this wasn't reality.

Dreaming, I'm dreaming, this is a dream. I'm just back in my cell, taking a nice little cat nap. Yes.

Hmm, somehow, I don't think that's the case Ashley.

Shut up. No. I can't hear you. This is a dream, and I can't hear you in dreams, so I can't hear you.

Well, I'm still talking, so either I've become more awesome than I already am, or you're not asleep.

Damnit.

I like the lizard lady. You should go talk to her.

No, no, first things first. I need to touch up my dress.

Oh jesus christ.

Ashley dug out a red crayon from the pocket of her scrubs. The guards in the rec room didn't let her use markers or pens anymore. It was okay. She liked the crayons. They made her feel nostalgic.

Ash pulled out the hem of her shirt where a smudged red flower was drawn. She got to work touching it up.

Honestly I don't know why you even bother with that thing. It's shit, we look like shit.

You mean I look like shit. Not we.

Let's not go making this distinction darling. You know what I can make you do.

I swear to god Fiona, if you castrate any of these people-

Chill silly! I'm not gonna do that. Seriously, one time-

Shut the fuck up Fiona, I'm trying to think. If these guys are as bad as scary warden lady said so, I need a plan, and I can't do that with some psychopath-

Oh I'm the psycho now? You're the one who thinks she's wearing a summer dress.

I CAN BE FASHIONABLE IF I WANT OKAY FIONA.

You're being a wet blanket about this whole thing anyway. These guys look fun!

The guy with the mask gives me the creeps.

How many times have I told you not to judge a book by it's cover?

I can't hear myself think when you lecture me Fee, just save it.

Fine. Just don't come crying for help when you find yourself overwhelmed

Ash rolled her eyes at Fiona's pettiness. She was such a huge bitch sometimes. Still, she loved her.

It was a this point Daniel spoke up away from her. She peeked her head up and nodded to the device on his arm.

"That thing do what she said it does?"

"It can manipulate time, if that's what you're asking."

Daniel pulled up the sleeve to reveal the glove in full detail. It was blue and silver and fit perfectly around his arm. It extended to about halfway to his elbow.

"Only I can control it, before you ask. It's native to me and my friends."

Delicately, he had decided not to elaborate on the fate of his friends. At least not yet.

Ash stepped closer, hesitantly.

"So what, you like, used it to be a superhero? Go back in time and stop Hitler? Stuff like that? You should have called yourself the Hourglass. You know, like, the time keeping device."

Satisfied with he redrawn flower, Ash put the red crayon back into her pocket.

After being released from his prison David checked his possessions before realizing he wasn't prepared for a situation like this. No cellphone...No wallet... I've got... David brushes the leather holster of his pistol.

Still got that...Good... Now think. What are these, things? A boy with a metallic fist, an android much more advanced than I've seen, a lunatic gold miner, a couple of young women that appear to be...normal despite whatever that Warden said. This doesn't make any sense...

It was at this point that David noticed Ven, a demonic presence that could never exist in his world. Watching out for that guy... David made a note to himself.

Then we have an elf out of some of the ancient literature written by Tolkien. This definitely isn’t the U.S. government. Play it smooth Dave. Listen in.
David took a few steps back and sat in one of the many chairs scattered throughout the room. His hands clasped firmly in front of his face, hoping that he wasn’t actually in a competition to the death in some kind of world out of the movies. He knew it was true though. It was too real to be a dream, and too real for the even the most advanced virtual reality technology within his world.

Who’s the best to make friends with? The boy seems innocent enough, and the android should be easy to manipulate. It must have a definite law structure behind it’s actions. I’ll go with them first, and make my way around. Besides, that piece of technology on that boys arm could be the only way home, and I’m willing to take it if need be.

David Grins to himself.

This may be easier than first expected.

The Warden had mentioned that this one had been in prison or something. She just drew a flower on the front of her shirt; maybe she's a bit crazier than the rest of the people here? He resolved to ask her about that.

And she made some pretty funny jokes about his glove. It felt weird talking about it. he had never talked to anyone about the glove beyond his friends.

"I didn't ever use the device to change the past. Never was a superhero, either. I'm just an ordinary guy with a cool glove is all."

She mentioned Hitler, a figure from his own universe. Maybe she was from the Alpha Timeline? It wouldn't really be out of the realm of possibility. Daniel decided that it was just as likely that she was from a separate, similar universe. Didn't he hear once that there were an infinite amounts of universes with infinite amounts of possibilities? There would be no way to know if she was from the Alpha Timeline, anyway.

"How about you? Is it true that the Warden freed you from some prison?"

"Iron Grove Asylum if you wanna get specific. It's like a prison, but, you know, we get coloring time." She pats the crayon in her pocket.

For a moment Ash wondered whether she should tell this man, or anyone here, the seriousness of Fiona's attachment to her. On the one hand, it could give her a good air of insanity that she might use later to scare the other participants. On the other, maybe working together would be the easiest way to get out of this place. For the moment, she decided to just downplay herself.

"I just have, uh, a few problems with some childhood trauma. Nothing really as serious as that woman praised it to be."

Ooh, that was good, now twitch your eye a little.

Shut- Shut it.

She sighed. "But I dunno, I guess crazy people are always the ones saying they're not crazy, right?" She laughed to herself a little.

Ash held out a hand. "I'm Ash by the way."

She seemed friendly enough, but Daniel would have to keep an eye on her. Someone isn't simply locked up for some childhood trauma. That's preposterous. She held out her hand and for a moment, he hesitated. Was she wanting to shake his hand just to touch his device? To maybe, activate its powers? Make time her own?

Let her try and fail. Daniel had nothing to hide.

"I'm Daniel. It's nice to meet you. I fear as if we might be getting too isolated from the group. Let's mix and mingle, shall we?"

He shook her hand with his Timefist.

-His body burned, as difficult as it was to admit to himself, even mentally. From what he recalled, he'd been taken from a lovely evening of excessive violence and discord, and plunged into a state of utter stasis, entirely devoid of motor control. Considering how vast his physical prowess reached, that alone was enough to piss him off. A woman, one with a...unusually confident aura, had said something about a competition or something of that sort, in truth he hadn't been paying much attention to the ringleader. His focus had drifted among the other contestants, each of which mildly less interesting than the next, not to say that they weren't extraordinary, especially the mental patient, it's just none of them posessed his mindset, plagued with the impulses of violence and turmoil. As the woman, who had initially introduced herself as the "Warden" had mentioned, they were going to help her accomplish some, personal venture, and apparently she had mistaken him for something that would wait at her leisure and obey like some pet.

A few moments later, after the introductions had been satisfied, they were moved, or rather...phased, into another room, an office of sorts from the look of it. His movement had been returned, and every fiber of his concsiousness screamed to hunt down the Mistress who had snared him from his previous plane of existence, and rip her to pieces. Alas, this wasn't an option, least not at the moment. His gaze burned with aggression, fueled by the frustration of knowing that he wasn't in control. The others were within his grasp, and though his first thought was to start having fun with them, something more, rational, came to mind. Though the room was devoid of any ignition sources, (though some live wiring may have existed beyond the metal walls, he wasn't going to make himself look like an incompetant ass by making an attempt.) it did posess a large window, which seemed to be designed as an entire wall. He studied it for a moment, figuring that such a large piece must be considered load-bearing, and probably would take quite a bit of effort to shatter. He saved that possibility for later, and ventured off into the room, towards a smell that was far too alluring for him not to investigate...

Decomposing flesh.

With a devious grin, he sauntered off towards a shaded quarter of the room, which had been barred off with extremely strong bits of alloy, some sort of metal he hadn't seen before. (But when you spend most of your time terrorizing 18th century Europe, technological savvy isn't the first thing you pick up on.) From beyond this, shrouded in darkness, existed a presence, it wasn't nearly as Malevolant as Ven, however it did posess the same thirst for violence, and it seemed a bit low on the intelligence scale. He folded his hands into either pocket and approached the bars, satisfied that whatever lurked in those shadows was aware of Ven's presence, and hadn't surfaced to attack it's visitor, curiously enough. Ven's glare pierced the darkness, and he began to notice a faint outline of the inhabitant. A nasty looking creature indeed. He shrugged off the monster and noticed a bit of meat laying just infront of the cage, probably a rejected meal. Ven leaned in and picked it up and headed off with it, tearing it into smaller pieces. The feeling of flesh parting between his fingers had always pleased him, and it was a good way to distract himself from how unfathomably pissed he was that, some...Warden, was under the impression she would boss him around.

We'll see.

It was strange.

One minute, Sidekick was housed in his storage unit deep within the Alveron Industries labs. The next moment he was in stasis in a dark room. The transition was quick and honestly, it took his hardware a minute to realize that he was in a different room, and it was a second after when he realized some of his programs didn't work.

He was unable to locate himself on his GPS nor surf the internet or use a radio frequency. He was totally cut from such devices. Not too long after, a woman appeared in front of him and the apparent nine other figures around him, who seemed to be in the same predicament as he, not being able to move. Sidekick had an advantage though, he was used to not moving for long periods of time, especially when he was being worked on. He had spent days with nothing to do but stare at a ceiling, the fact that he wasn't able to move was a non issue.

The woman called herself “The Warden” and she explained that they were all from different realities. Sidekick wasn't too shocked by all this, in fact his programmers had often discussed the multiverse in length and how they might have “evil” versions of themselves with goatees. The Warden began to introduce each of these now contestants of hers, starting with the Sidekick himself.

"This is the Sidekick 1000. He's an android from a place where superheroes and villains were a dime a dozen, and I can't wait to see how well his technology holds up. I hear the guy who put this one together tried to imbue his creation with a human soul—what a freak! Wonder how it turned out...”

Human soul? The AI in Sidekick's head thought. When did the programmers install that? Quickly he ran though the programs already installed, nothing noting the phrases “Human”, “Soul” or any combination of the two. He wondered where The Warden had gotten her so called information on him for. He made it a point to ask her himself. The Warden explained that they had all been brought to her world to compete. The Sidekick enjoyed games and already was placing a competitive spirit in himself, well as much of a competitive spirit you can place inside a robot.

He wasn't all too upset with being misplaced and brought to Sylvetica. He was planning to escape Alveron once he had figured out his fail safe phrases and had gotten a hold of the blue prints of the place. He was simply sick of being worked on and having tests done on him. He didn't care if he was in Sylvetica or any place else. He was content with simply being out of the labs, he was more than willing to do The Warden's bidding.

Not to soon after The Warden had introduced them all, they had suddenly appeared in a new room. This looked somewhat like a office of sorts. The Warden told them all to “mingle” and digest all this information they had been given. Sidekick was simply fine starting whatever she had wanted them to do.

He didn't care about mingling with the other people in this group. The Sidekick found a seat and sat down, he awaited The Warden to come back.

The stasis field was probably for the best. Panicking, Paul tried to remember. How long had it been since he had seen sunlight? As the introductions continued, he couldn't help but notice that he was not the only one of his kind. Two young women and three men, by his count, were human. By the time his host had finished her speech, Paul had managed to relax. His apprehension was replaced by anticipation of having a conversation for the first time in what may have been years. Despite this excitement, he elected to observe the dynamics of the group before introducing himself. Waiting a few minutes, he saw the frightening entity the Warden had called Ven skulk away from the group. Observing two other humans, the young man with his glove and the girl with flowers scrawled on her clothes, begin a conversation, he figured now was the the time.

Walking over to the pair, he felt the reassuring weight of his pick and mallet. Smiling for the first time in years, Paul extended a pale hand and managed to introduce himself in his guttural voice,

"Hey... I'm Paul. Nice to, uhm, meet you two."

"My name is Daniel. Nice to meet you."

He grasped Paul's hand with his Timefist and shook it.

Paul seemed a bit shaky and nervous at first to Daniel, but he seemed to warm when he saw two humans conversing. If what the Warden said was true, Daniel could understand why. The man seemed harmless despite his crazy story, though.

"Say, the Warden mentioned you were a part of some type of Earth catastrophe and how you were trapped in a cave? What's that all about?"

(OOC: Edited once for clarification)

Ash gave a little wave along with Daniel's handshake. "Hi, um. Ashley, uh, Ash, yeah. I'm Ash." She held herself close as she listened to them talk.

I don't like the looks of this guy Ash. He's all gross and beardy and-

Weren't you the one telling me not to assume things about people?

I just get this ooky feeling from him... We should kill him.

Wait, wha- why? The warden said he's been through a lot and that doesn't seem very nice.

Oh, come on, evidently we're gonna have to start killing eventually. And besides, he looks like your dad! You hate him. Work out some of those daddy issues on him.

First, my father was from Ireland, so, yeah, 0 out of 1 for Fee. Second, shut up, you know I never had a problem with him. Besides, Dr. Thompson said never to use violence to express emotion. That's what our thinking words are for.

You disgust me.

Likewise.

Ash stopped digging into her arms and instead decided to scratch the back of her neck instead.

-A trio of the flesh puppets had gathered not too far away from where Ven had settled. His idle wandering was rather restricted in the room, despite it's cavernous size, there simply wasn't anything interesting to walk towards. Instead he picked a cozy little patch of concrete towards the caged side of the room, where the light seemed to fade as he ventured forth. He sat against a wall, one arm resting on his kneecap as he watched the others in silence. Upon closer inspection, he'd discovered a slightly overshadowed characteristic of the mental patient, apparently she had an alternate input of some kind, though she seemed to hide it rather well. His eye glowed with a frightening intensity from the abyssal expanse of black as he watch her among the other two males she conversed with, one of which had a rather shiny hand which he couldn't help but wonder about. Returning his focus on the girl, he noticed with a silent admiration as she pierced her own skin with her nails, curiously though she didn't draw much blood. Why ever not? The pain was probably hindering the pursuit, self-preservation and what not. He cringed at the thought. He wondered if she would ever experiment with the wonders of dismemberment, perhaps she would find out how fun it is to pull an artery from a limb, watching the flesh part from over the veins as they are pulled up like wires from drywall. He quivered in sadistic delight at the very thought of it. He dismissed the inevitable for the moment, and resumed watching the three from the relative sanctuary of the darkness, the only indicator of his focus being that of his eye, and the unsettling glow it produced.-

Someone's watching us.

What?

Over there. The corner. Masky guy.

Ash glanced over in the direction Fiona was talking about, noticing the man in the mask watching her. She nibbled absent-mindedly on the side of her nails, sharpening them out of habit.

Look at this Ash. Hot guy's looking at you.

I don't think he's a "guy" by any normal standards Fee.

When was the last time a guy's looked at you like that, hm?

No.

Oh yeah, I remember.

Stop it.

Nathan. That's right.

Stop talking.

Remember how easy he overcame you?

This isn't real. You're not real. You're just a voice in my head.

How hard he was? How much it hurt?

STOP. TALKING.

Yes, that's it Ash, open up for me. Bring down your walls. Let me take control of things from here on. Oh I can't wait to have the body again. How long's it been Ash? The last asylum escape attempt no? I can do that, couldn't be much harder for me to win this game. Face it, I'll handle things much better then anyone the pithy likes of you could hope t-

NO YOU'RE NOT REAL SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Ash grabbed her head in anguish, ignoring the looks of other's in the room, including and especially that of the man watching her right now. Luckily for her Fiona usually wore herself out after long episodes like that. She relaxed a bit and rubbed her temples. Fiona hadn't been that vicious in awhile, and even then, that was when provoked. This was out of nowhere.

It had to be something about that guy. He was involved, yes. Ash decided to find out what his story was during this brief relapse in Fiona's activity.

Ash straightened out the wrinkles in her scrubs, lifted her head, and walked over to the demon, bare feat pattering on the ground.

-For a moment Ven didn't notice the faint sound of feet patting against the cold floor, his mind wondering towards his escape later. His gaze drifted upwards to meet an interloper with the obvious intention of talking to him. And wouldn't irony be his Mistress, it was the mental girl. A placid smirk crawled beneath his mask as his body rippled, muscles primed for a quick and pleasurable plunge into her neck. Would her spine explode out the other side of her neck like most? Or would her throat collapse her windpipe, he wasn't sure, it was different with everyone. He decided he'd test her wit before extinguishing her, least for a little while, until her existence had been sucked of it's entertainment value.-

"Every step is another step closer towards a most uncomfortable demise little girl.."
-He growled, his tone low and foreboding, sinister and alluring all at the same time. He couldn't help but grin as a quote of Man crossed his awareness, which he recited mentally for his amusement.

"Welcome to my parlor, said the spider to the fly."

Ash rolled her eyes.

Oh god he's one of THOSE types.

She crossed her arms. And stood in front of him. She was uneasy, yes, but that never stopped her from doing whatever spontaneous thought happened to pop into her mind. And right now that was talking to this guy.

"Yeah, okay, that's nice. Hey, listen, uh... I get you, okay, you're the dark scary foreboding guy who says things that sound like they're from 18th century literature, but they're not, so, let's make an agreement right here and now you don't have to do that around me, k?"

She cleared her throat, somewhat expecting at the back of her mind to be ripped in two after saying this, but for some reason found herself to still be intact.

Hmm.

"So, anyway, I saw you looking at me from across the room, and then Fee started acting up out of nowhere. There's something odd about you and I wanna know what it is. You know. The poop. The scoop. The 411. The haps. The- wow you can really go a long time without blinking can't you."

- As if whatever measure of self-control he had miraculously enforced wasn't difficult enough to adhere to, this sudden outburst from some unbalanced and angsty teenager sure as Hell wasn't going to go unanswered. Without a word, and without hesitation, Ven shot upwards with frightening speed, his fist biting into her throat as he lifted her a full three feet from the floor, her feet dangling helplessly at his waist. His arm crooked slightly at the elbow as he brought her closer to his face, his mask reflecting the darkness that shrouded them as he replied quietly.-

"And you must be the kind of girl who thinks that amatuer quips and analytical observations won't affect her life expectancy."

-It was inevitable that his actions would be considered hostile, and would likely be remembered by the other contestants, but he didn't care. Regardless of the suitor, a challenge would not go unanswered by Ven, especially from the likes of this proud little enthusiast. He held her in place, his fingers wrapped around her neck as he let just enough air pass through her lungs to sustain her, though not comfortably.-


"Now, care to try that again?"

Ash's hands went up to her neck in horror as he pulled her to his face and spoke. Seeing him this close, Ash could get a better sense of how foreboding he really was. She made a mental note in her long list of mental notes to not piss him off anymore. Right under "peas do not produce a good enough paste to be used as paint," and "the blue crayons don't actually taste like blueberries."

"Okay! Okay! Fucking shit, I'm sorry! Just put me down please." She rasped through his grasp on her throat.

The man's eye gave her an unfathomable look of what was either disdain or disgust, she couldn't tell with the mask really, and set her down on her feet.

She brought her hands up to her neck and mouthed "thank you," through harsh breaths. She looked up to him.

"I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean to, insult your, honor or whatever. I just wanted to know who you are." She stuck out her hand, but pulled in back in foresight. "I'm Ash."

-For a moment he wondered why exactly he released her, almost as if it were some involuntary act of mercy which would be promptly addressed later. His gaze settled on her, and the rather large bruise that formed over her throat. He grinned, it would serve as a pleasant reminder that she shouldn't swim in dangerous waters. He folded his hands in either pocket, his stance neutral as she greeted him and introduced herself. Great, she's under the impression that he would give a shit. With a low growl rumbling from his broad chest, he looked her over once and replied.-

"You already know who I am, don't waste my time with pleasantries. What do you want."

-Surprisingly enough, Ven was being incredibly civil, especially towards someone who had been given the opportunity to insult him. Then again, since he'd arrived here, he hadn't resumed his common role as a murderous monster and had instead substituted his usual attitude towards the living with a sort of tolerance. He figured that it was likely that things would get more interesting if he kept himself under control, however long that was going to last.-

Spoiler:

Ash continued to massage her neck as she talked. That was gonna hurt in the morning.

Assuming she saw tomorrow morning.

God, how long had they been here?

"Yeah, okay, see, Fee, Fiona? That's the voice in my head, or, 'imaginary friend,' she, she being the Warden, mentioned. She, um, I mean, you, specifically, you seem to provoke her. Fiona I mean. Like, she talked about things she NEVER talks about usually, and I guess, uh, I just wanted to know what your deal was? I know it's crazy to be trying to self-diagnose myself in a place like this, but at this point, I'd be glad to be rid of her no matter what circumstances."

Bitch.

She nodded, exasperated. "Yep, see, there she is again, and I don't know why, it's just this inexplicable thing. But if gaining some clarity on her, I mean, me, you know, integrating, will help me survive, I'm willing to do anything. Even if it means begrudgingly humoring her and talking to, uh, you..."

She ended this last word on a high note, as if asking a question, which she was really. She got the feeling just talking to this guy was gonna be an obstacle course, let alone fight him if she had to. She'd much rather be on his good side and just talk to him, for now.

"I'd just like to talk, really, as we're teammates now. And, uh, please don't lift me again my neck is really sore and I'm afraid of heights."

- Talk? The thought alone of simple conversation sans pleas for mercy or some sort of forced explanation didn't quite tickle his fancy, though he had already decided that he would excercise restraint. Though his people skills were, lacking. True, he was a silver tongued devil, and as charming as sin, that was usually employed strictly on occasions where something could be exploited, and there didn't seem to be much to be milked from this one.-

"Fine, talk."

-He spun on a heel and began to slowly walk away, roaming about in the infinite darkness, his movements implying that if the girl didn't keep up with him, he would surely leave her behind without the slightest hesitation.-

Ashley raised her eyebrows at his sudden movement. She quickly followed along, toying with her shirt. "Oh, okay, I guess we could walk if you wanted then..."

"So you're Ven huh? Nice name. Good. Simple. Is that short for something, or... Yeah nevermind."

She followed behind him for awhile, in silence.

Guess who's back.

Not now I'm busy.

He's obviously not interested in you Ashley dear. Maybe you should try someone else. That nice robot boy perhaps. Or the gentleman with the suit.

You got me into this I'd figure you'd be enjoying this enough.

Yeah, spot on actually. Don't mind me, continue. You're doing SO WELL without me.

She looked up. "So, um, Ven, I'm gonna use my incredible powers of intuition here and guess that you're not exactly human are you? I mean, not by my standards at least? Time travel, androids and magic pills are all believable enough but..." She looked down, then back up again, anxious.

Yggoc stood firmly, yet quietly. His eyes closely piercing and observing the mannerisms and appearances of the diverse group of "people" that were scattered about the room. The nervous sounds of varied introductions swept into his disorientated ears.

He was attentive about the eery environment he now found himself in; but if this transportation had salvaged him from Death's chilling embrace, who was he to protest.

He scanned the room again, before his eyes were suddenly drawn towards the one the Warden had addressed as "Ven". He felt an abnormal presence radiating from every depraved inch of that Demon's monstrous body. That Demon also possessed extensive control over the elements.

Exceptional, truly exceptional.

Albeit, he had saw Ven wildly lash out at the first person who had tried to make conversation with him, and decided to hold off on that front until later.

After a few more minutes of getting the feel of this new reality, Yggoc decided it was time to start making introductions.

He gazed around the room, looking for suitable candidates, until he finally spotted them: the young man with the contraption on his arm, and the pale looking man with the pickaxe.

He approached them, warily, taking solace in the fact that he had the raw force of the elements and his sturdy blade behind him.

He loosened up as he got closer to the pair, as they seemed friendly enough.

"Greetings! My name is Yggoc. A pleasure to meet you two."