Roleplex IC: Your Average Street Fight

Prussian smiled, and forgot about his hidden knife. "Thank you," he said to Vipera after he was greeted. He was going to add, "Sorry I'm late," but after seeing that Vipera didn't seem to care, he kept silent. He followed Vipera into her home, walking a little slower than her to admire it. Fancy, he thought to himself. A lot fancier than what I first remember.

Prussian's polite smile grew genuine when he saw the table. Ah, It's been a long time since I had something like this, he thought. He watched as Vipera removed the covers from the plates, and grew hungry. He didn't particularly like the leafy greens bit, but there was a Muscovy duck on the table, so he didn't care. "It looks delicious, Vipera," he said. Prussian edged closer to one of the seats, as if waiting for Vipera's permission.

Celo was in her room, thinking. She was laying on her stomach, staring at her textbook as if it were a test in class- in a way, it kind of was a test. Well, more of a planning paper. She was trying to figure out something- not the designs for Darkel's building (though she should get to those), but trying to cgi gyre out just why so many people ha been attacking him. She wanted Darkel safe, sure, but she didn't want any more of those people that attacked him killed.

Pencil in right hand, Celo began sketching. Someone might be employing them- hiring merccenaries. It would wxplain te sudden increase in assassination attpts, right? After all money is the best motovator. Who could she talk to about this? Who would have any idea on what to do?

Celo lifted her pencil off the paper and examined her work. A snake. Sketching did always help her think. Vipera could definitely help. Celo grabbed a telephone directory off her dresser and flipped through the pages until she foud Vipera's number. She typed in her number on her cell phone and began calling. Whether it was switched to voicemail or not, Celo began talking when the ringing ended.

"Hey, Vipera. This is Celo. I've been thinking about the crime and such going on. We need to talk."

Darkel was now walking down the road, approaching his building again as he had retuned. His hood was up and he was flanked by soldiers. It was by this time that the guards were gunned down. A tall creature with a machine gun approached. Though the guards were killed, Darkel still remained standing. A few people screamed, fearing for their leader. The president somehow flashed around, dodging... Bullets. He dodged bullets. He flailed forward, grabbed the man by the chin and somehow a huge lack blade formed at his arm. He ran the spike through the assassin's chin, going upwards through his skull. Then he lay dead. Darkel dragged the body with him inside the building. Then he took to a black door down a hallway isolated from the rest of the corridors. An enormous black door now stood in front of him. It had several signs on it.

"BASEMENT LEVELS"
"WARNING! EXTREME DANGER! DO NOT MOVE BEYOND THIS POINT! EXTREME DANGER!"

He opened the metal door and threw the body inside. There was a horrendous roar as he shut the door and the building rumbled. He began to walk away, hearing the basement's digestive echoes.

Yusuf watched from high above as Darkel slaughtered the assassin and dragged his body away. There was panic in the streets, and Yusuf liked panic. Panic was what kept the ignorant and uninformed out of his way, and panic made his job so much more fun. Like a wolf stalking a kill he watched Darkel carry off the corpse, readying a throwing knife for when he exited. Taking Darkel out would make it much easier for the outlaws to overtake Maxx and destroy Roleplex. He did this all in complete silence and invisibility. None below could see him, and his presence was completely masked. He was a ghost for all they knew, and as he let out an impish giggle, two workers turned their heads and looked about for the source. Yusuf laughed once more, and they decided it was best to leave the rooftop. Panic always saved the day.

Darkel by now had made it back up to the top of the building. He made it into a large room, not his office. It was a... Throne room? It was secret from the rest of the building, for reputation reasons. He now sat on a throne cushioned with enormous black feathers from monstrous birds. Black metal skeletons made up the structure of the chair and many snakes slithered onto Dark's lap.

"Sir, you need to be guarded at all times" said one of the guards.

"No. The culprits just need to be hacked off. So get to the bottom of this and kill everyone involved" he growled. The soldiers nodded.

Oh, Prussian remembered, the knife. His smile faltered a little bit, but it took barely an instant to regain his smile. Hopefully Vipera didn't notice it. Oh, maybe I should just 'fess up and take a second to put the knife back. No, it'll be awkward. I really wouldn't want it to happen. Just power through.

He listened to Vipera's question about her farm. He thought for a minute, while chewing his food. It certainly was delicious; Vipera must have taken much care in making this. He then swallowed, and replied to Vipera. "Well, I'm no expert... Camels require a little less resources, but maybe yaks provide a little more wool. Maybe, with the camels, you can make a quick buck off of tourists who have never seen one in their life." Prussian paused before continuing, "But, I know you're the type who prefers a privacy, so it might not work out."

Yusuf knew the shadow being was there. In his years of training, he had gained quite remarkable senses. He didn't want to turn at first, but Darkel seemed to be taking his time, and so Yusuf turned towards the towering shadow in behind him. He lowered his invisibility and appeared to the creature, barely coming to the middle of its chest. This shadowy being intrigued Yusuf; it spoke with telepathy and had the menace of any storybook monster. And what was best is that the beast didn't seem human at all. Yusuf could work with it. He had to test its courage first, for not every shadowy beast lurking around every dark corner is a serial killer.

"I am the Alpha." Yusuf said in a little-used Turkish accent "and I am the Omega, the one who is and the one who was and who is to come, the almighty." Yusuf waited with knife in hand, seeing if this monster was worth keeping alive.

---

Maxx entered the city in a copper-colored 1966 Chevy Chevelle Malibu, driving faster than a bat out of Hell. Other cars simply moved out of his way as if instinctually knowing his reckless speed. He certainly didn't seem to be a very safe driver, but he was a man on a mission. One of his men was dead. He had changed out of his armor and was now wearing a tie-less black suit with a black trench coat. His hair was well-combed and neat, and a pair of black oil rig glasses were on his face. The glasses had been made by a friend of his in the city, a Googlian by the name of Shen, and they functioned like a Google Glass. Right now it was feeding him directions to a crime scene where one of his men lay dead.

He swerved down an alley, his car fishtailing as he charged down at full speed through a police line, which stepped aside to allow him entrance. He stopped halfway down the alley and got out, slamming the door loudly behind him. At his left hip was a holster in which he kept his banpistol, and in his right hand was a magnifying glass. He walked up to the mutilated body and gasped as he saw the dead man's head hanging from the spike. Maxx loved his men very much, and seeing them so brutalized broke his heart. He bent down and examined what was left of the body while officers meandered around the alley like cats, trying to get as far away from the brutal murder as possible.

"Can we be of any assistance, moderator?" one of them asked.

"Gather the moderators." Maxx said solemnly "I want Darkel and Vipera here as quick as you can. This isn't the first murder of this sort, and it certainly will not be the last."

"As you wish, moderator." the officer vanished and Maxx looked back at the dead Hussar. If these murders continue we may have to bring Operator back from the asylum Maxx thought to himself.

The officer and one of his colleagues appeared to Vipera and Darkel. Wherever they were, they appeared. Both of them wore black suits with ties and black sunglasses. In their ears were bluetooths and at the hips were pistols.

"Moderator Maxx requests that you meet him in the alley behind the Capitol building." both of them said "There has been a rather brutal murder and he requires your assistance."

There were many different people in Roleplex, of all shapes, sizes, and sorts. One might not have paid attention to a passing cloaked man, had he had not been wearing the mask. People passed by him, some not saying anything to him, and some denouncing him on the spot. The man, Taiyo, paid no attention to them. He has seen worse reactions to his presence.

Taiyo worked for a not-so-secret group of vigilantes, known publicly as Anonymous. Anonymous was well known for fighting censorship of information in the internet, and... giving bad people what they deserved. Therefore, when people saw a member of Anonymous on the streets of Roleplex, they knew that he had business to attend to. In Taiyo's mind, it was to cleanse the city.

Of what?

In the eyes of Anonymous, Roleplex was an ugly city, full of crime. Not too different from 4chan or Reddit, but Roleplex had an... excessive amount of it, for its size. Now, in the daytime, the city was peaceful. However, with the coming of night, it was a changed land. You wouldn't want to end up in Roleplex at night. Taiyo stopped walking, an sporting an ambivalent expression under his ever-smiling mask. He had stopped at the mouth of an alleyway, covered in shadow by the surrounding buildings.

What was calling him here? Taiyo was wondering the same thing. There was a certain... unnaturalness eradiating from the alley, something that your average everyday citizen couldn't detect. He reached for one of his two swords suspended on his back, as if making sure that they were still there. Let's see what this alley is hiding, he thought. Slowly, he started walking, unsure of what to expect.

It could be nothing, of course, but you could never be too sure.

Here you go sonny" said the receptionist as she handed the I.D and licence to the newcomer "and have a nice day Mr.HalfThere". The receptionist thought that was an odd name though it suited this odd individual. She noted that he had a Spourm emblem stitched to his left sleeve. oh a Spourmer like the others she thought. But it was the head of the person in question that really made her head turn. His head appeared to be completely concealed under a white cloud. A thick pair of metal glasses
could be seen however.

"Thank you and have a nice day"was HalfThere's response as he turned and headed out the door. He breathed in the fresh new air of the city and he smiled. He had arrived on a bus just yesterday. He had journeyed to the new forum from the Sporum. He was tired of roaming a mostly empty city
where it took a few hours just to get a response back from someone.

This city was smaller than the Sporum, but for what it lacked in size in made up for in population. He couldn't wait to get started here but first however he thought it might be a good idea to find a place to stay until morning. He thought and considered his options as he thought he paced back and forth.He was greeted by a few odd looks by some passers by. At last he came to the conclusion that he would need to find a place to sleep and recuperate. But he was absolutely not going to travel into the unknown streets without any means of protection. With a sigh he reached into the cloud mass around his head...

"OW! Dangit Dralen! I told you not to light my fingers on fire!"

Then he raised his other hand and with both hands reached into the cloud mass and pulled out one
short, squat Drowl named Dralen. The Drowl in question swiveled his head towards his at his creator and glared at him. HalfThere gave a glare back but it was lost on Dralen because no one could see HalfThere's face through the cloud.

"Who?" questioned Dralen. Halfthere placed Dralen on his arm then spoke.

"I need to find a place to stay and I need you help protect me from crooks okay?"

"Hoo" was Drelan's response. So the two set of venturing around the city until they reached what appeared to be a small motel. Suddenly Drelan Hissed at the alley they were closest to and he furrowed his scales.
HalfThere noticed Drelan's discomfort mostly because when Drelan hissed he dug his large and sharp talons into HalfThere's arm.

"OW DANGET!" Then without any warning Drelan flew off into the alley.

"GET BACK HERE YOU STUPID BIRD THING!" HalfThere considered just leaving Drelan but then he thought what would happen if Drelan did any damage to the inhabitants or property. He shuddered at the thought of what the mods would do to him.

So against his better judgement HalfThere ran into the alley where he found Drowlan fluttering around and squawking at nothing. He jumped several times to grab onto the flying beast soon enough he managed to grab the foot and then drag Drelan back towards his head. He then shoved Drelan back into the clouds which returned Drelan to HalfThere's imagination.

"Whew glad that's over" he thought aloud, and then at that moment he noticed the a man in the alley wearing a mask. HalfThere realized with sudden clarity that he was in danger and he had just put his only weapon away. He slowly began to back his way out of the alley.

Celo felt herself calm down. They already knew. Duh. When Vipera finished talking, Celo was unsure what to say. "Um, you know what? Never mind. I was just thinking of something. Talk to you later- bye Prussian!" She hung up a bit too quickly. Celo did a facepalm as she put her cell phone back in her bag. "I'm such an idiot..." She mumbled. Though she didn't get the professional part. If a professional was hired then don't they normally respond to money? It would only make sense that if you were paid to kill an enemy, bu that enemy offered you a larger sum of money, that you would listen to that enemy. Then there was the two people who had snuck into Darkel's building today were onions ly not professionals- the second one was too freaked out to be one. They could have easily questioned him with how freaked the guy was. Oh frog, that was morbid. Best not to think that way.

Celo sighed, walking out of the house with some pencils, her wallet, and cellphone hastily shoved into her purse and her sketchbook in her left hand. She really needed some fresh air.

HalfThere shuttered as a increasing cold feeling was clamped onto his shoulder he turned around in slight fear to see what it was coming from.With a light surprise he saw that the feeling was coming from another person ,a woman apparently with a tattered purple dress and bleach white skin.He was slightly unnerved by that fact that she was hovering over him.

She asked him where he was going. "Um. I uh was going to go home now I think I left my sink on and I don't want it burning down the house". He stammered.

then the woman addressed the man in the mask saying something about how Roleplex couldn't be saved.Saved from what?Or who? he thought and then she said something about how she could probably kill him right now if she wanted to.wait WHAT! Day two on Roleplex and already his life was being threatened. He pretended to put his hand to cover his mouth in shock but in reality he was looking for something to help him.Then like a magician pulling a bat out of a hat he pulled out what appeared to be a thick metal pole with two metal bands on the side with metal string on the top connecting it to some blunt object. He swung it towards the two.
"STAY BACK I KNOW HOW TO USE THIS THING!" in reality it wasn't a weapon at all it was an escape device

He had thought it up a while ago he had made it as an extreme to avoid awkward conversations.
He latched the two bands over his left arm so that he was connected to it. then he pressed a button on the side of the pole.Two red lights went on in the blunt object and it was revealed to be a rocket. "See you two later i'd love to hang around but I've got a flight to catch!"

The small rocket shot up dragging HalfThere into the sky. Then the rocket abruptly changed directed and flew into the alley wall slamming HalfThere into it then it spun around in a circle. Then it regained order and flew out of the alley and into the open air.HalfThere was happy for about 5 seconds.

........then however he realized that he had not created this thing with a stop or landing program. as he flew higher and higher he became desperate trying to unclasp himself from the device. He thought up a large pair of tough metal scissors and took them out cutting desperately at the straps finally he was free!

Then he looked down he had gone a considerable distance up about fifty feet or so.
Gravity took effect and he plunged like a stone. He tried to think of thinks that would break or slow his fall Giant marshmallows,a swarm of flying catfish,a rubber octopus!

all these things were however to big he was about 3 feet when he thought of something Force Nullification Device! he pulled it out of his head and threw it at the ground where he was about to land.

He closed his eyes thinking he was to meet his gross splattery fate. but after a few moments he realized he was still alive! He looked down at the small device he had created it was a small metal box with a large conical opening on top being transferred from the cone was rays of kinetic energy keeping him from hitting the ground making him hover a bit then the machine beeped three times.and it displaced the energy that it had collected from Halfthere and transferred it into the ground it was sitting on.

The thick cement cracked and shattered from the force that was suddenly displaced to it.
Halfthere looked around he had fallen in a more public place and people were staring at him.
He quickly reached down and deactivated the device causing him to land in a heap on the ground.
"ow" he picked up his Machine and shoved it back into his cloud.

That is it I have got to stop attracting so much attention to my self the only way mods can get you is if you're in the spot light he thought. He suddenly realized he was very tired for all the stress of late he had burned through his energy reserves. So he walked over to a bench and laid down almost instantly falling asleep.

Prussian looked down at his food, briefly wondering if it would be impolite to eat while Vipera was away. He listened to Vipera telling Celo the same thing that she's told him, then heard Celo hang up. Okay, he thought, I can see that she's confused.

_____________


Taiyo watched with surprise as Veriska seemingly came out of nowhere and slight annoyance as she started to hold the citizen hostage. He was about to make a comeback to her insult when the citizen suddenly pulled a weapon seemingly out of nowhere. Again, he watched in amazement as the citizen used a rocket to escape from the alley. His mask, of course, hid his confusion.

The instant he recovered, Taiyo grabbed both of his swords and charged Veriska, trying to hit her neck with the sword in his right hand.

Prussian looked down at his food, then at Vipera's seat, as if he expected her to be there. He sighed. At least he was the only one there to see the awkwardness of the situation. What was he to do? Finish his meal, maybe. Then... watch television? Play Minecraft? He was pretty sure that Vipera still had Minecraft. No, that would be rude. He rubbed his temples while picking at his food.

May as well finish the food.

__________________________


Taiyo nearly tripped on the ice, and missed this target. However, he also managed to avoid her blade. He got to a part of the ground that wasn't iced over, and stopped moving. He'd let her come to him. Taiyo gave a confident smirk under his mask, responding to  Veriska, "Yes, straight to business." He shrugged, "I was planning on waiting until tonight to hunt, but why not do it now when given the opportunity?"

Celo had only walked a couple of blocks when she saw some guy fall after going into the sky with- was that a rocket? As she watched, she choked in a scream. No- she couldn't see another death. She had seen enough death for the day- no, for her life. Death- while it was probably going to become common now that she worked in Darkel's building- was probably something Celo will never get used to seeing. No one ever should get used to seeing it. Everyone who worked for Darkel, however, was.

The thought sent chills down Celo's spine for a moment before she spaced back into the current situation. Now wasn't a time to space out! Not when a guy was falling! She took out her sketchbook and tried to think of something to draw to save te guy. Ugh, she was thinking too slow. Celo dropped her sketchbook and began running forward. "Someone stop-" he landed safely after throwing some device down that came... From his head. "-him?"

Celo hadn't realized that there were tears forming in her eyes. She had almost seen another death. How was she supposed to get used to it? She turned around and walked to where she previously was to retrieve her sketchbook. Celo bent down, picking up the sketchbook and sighing. A couple of the pages had been ripped. Oh well. She dusted off the book and tucked it under her arm before turning around. She would need to check on the guy who fell.

Celo looked around before fusing him asleep on a bench. About 22- kind of scrawny. She looked him over. He seemed fine. Though he really shouldn't be asleep with all the crime going on. Celo shook his shoulder. "Hey- sorry. Are you okay?"

"Ehhhhh" HalfThere groaned as someone shook his shoulder he blearily opened his eyes and sat up.
He pushed his glasses up so he would look more presentable (not that it matters cause no one can see his face)
and then he addressed the person she appeared to be 16 and wearing a frilly, sleeveless white dress shirt and a pair of light blue jeans she looked with concern upon her face as she asked if he was ok.

"Oh right you must have seen me fall! Don't worry I was able to stop myself with this" he then pulled out the Force Nullification Device from his cloud mass,but then HalfThere noticed there were streaks of tears across her face dang it he hated it when he ruined other people's days
"I'm terribly sorry about that did it frighten you? It wasn't intentional I just really need to get out of somewhere fast and I hadn't exactly planned my escape plan well".

Then he stood up "Where are my manners? I'm HalfThere I'm new here and I really am sorry if I made you cry".
He then held out his hand for a handshake.

Celo watched as the man sat up. She saw him reach up to his face- though she couldn't tell what he was doing with that cloud aroun it. The expression, "Head in the clouds" was literal in this case. The people in this town keep on getting more and more unusual. Just like the people she has ran into when going to deviantart or google.

Then the man pulled out the device- the one that had saved him. Celo examined it curiously then looked back up at the man. He had pulled the device out of... His head? Was it his head or the cloud around his head? Oh frog, this was confuzzling. She smiled at the man, "it's good to see you had that device, then."

The man then introduced as HalfThere and apologized for if he had made her cry. "Eh? Cry? No- I didn't almost cry," Celo laughed nervously. She was a terrible liar. "Anyways, nice to meet you. I'm Celo," she said, reaching out her free hand that wasn't holding her sketchbook and accepting HalfThere's hand for a handshake. "Anyways, I was going to tell you it's not a good idea to sleep outside on a bench in this town," Celo warned. "Crime-rate isn't the best here."

Taiyo was barely expecting it, but knew what to do. Time seemed to flow more slowly. The sword in his left hand rose quickly to deflect the projectile, while he began to lean back for good measure. The sword just managed to shatter the icicle. However, it was still flying. The remainder of the icicle, now no longer lethal, collided with his porcelain mask in the area where his right eyebrow would be, just chipping the paint. If he hadn't been wearing a mask, he would have gotten a cut, and had he been a bit slower, he would have lost an eye.

Taiyo rose to his full height once more, looking Veriska in the eyes, though she couldn't see his. He planned his next move perfectly in his head. A second later, he was charging -- carefully -- across the ice. He planned to stab her in the abdomen with the sword in his right hand. He lifted his left sword to cover his neck, just in case she tried to parry.