_Essex_

"<Damn ...demons...!>"

Toshio stood straight, exposing the full nature of the transformation to the others. Wings lashing out to the sides, and his crimson eyes glowing defiantly, he took a drink of his flask.

"<They just won't give a guy a break, eh? Least my electricity seems more powerful.>" Seeing the mechas hesitate, he raised a hand. "<Don't worry, I ain't gonna attack you guys. I feel okay....You know....besides gettin' turned into some [censored] abberation.>"

Leaping into the air, he testingly flapped his wings, clenching his teeth at the pain - they had, after all, just torn from his back a few minutes prior.

"<....Let's go bust some heads.>"

((Waiting on you or Khell.))

...:~Prologue~:...

Long had they travelled through the fifth layer of Hell. The group's entire journey led up to this moment as the double doors of the throne room of Eglizred, the demon lord, creaked open in mock welcome. Tired, sweaty and bleeding, the adventurers stepped in cautiously.

All except for her.

The majestic woman, dressed in shining green armor, strode forth with determination in her shimmering emerald eyes. Her hair rippled down her back in tangerine curls, two vulpine black and red ears shyly poking out. In her hands she gripped a sword, glowing brilliantly with the power of her determination. Words were written upon the blade, carved deep within its metal; written in a perverse and cruel language. The sword was very nearly larger than the woman, as she was small of stature, but solid - her muscles firm and toned from years of battle.

Her eyes fell upon the demon, standing before them on a raised platform. A curtain was behind him to his right, and to his left was a canopy bed.

"Welcome...Chosen of the Goddesses...Lady Lieutenant of the Citadel, Nena Treval." he rasped tauntingly.

"We have come for the Champion." Nena said in a commanding tone. Her voice was high, betraying her youth, but her gaze was steady as she levelled her sword in Eglizred's direction. "Surrender her to us immediately."

"The Champion?" The demon laughed heartily at this. He was handsome, not grotesque like the others they had encountered in hell. His huge wings of skin and scales arced over his back like a canopy. "Haha, yes. Then I will show you the Champion of the Virgin Goddesses."

Stepping over to the bed, he reached down. A baby was cradled in his arms, sleeping peacefully.

"This..." he said quietly, "...is Yuberia. Your so-called 'Champion.'"

The adventurers gasped. Nena's sword lowered an inch, eyes widening in surprise. "That's...Yuberia?" she murmured. "But she's just a baby! The Goddesses said I had to come to hell to rescue the Champion!"

"Indeed, she is no Champion now." Eglizred said with a soft, sly grin, placing the babe back onto the bed. "But she will be. And as such, I will control her and keep her from becoming the thorn in our side that she is destined to become."

At that, the group scowled. Spells were readied. Arrows were nocked onto well-oiled bows. Nena gripped the hilt of her sword and narrowed her eyes.

"Not so fast, friends, not so fast." the demon taunted. "I have a proposition for you. You have a choice to make...Miss Treval."

With that, he turned towards the curtain, pulling it aside. Nena gasped. "Xenos...!?" she cried, her sword lowering.

The man that hung on the wall was in poor condition indeed. He was a dark elf, scarred from head to toe with wounds that far outlived most of the group. The glow of his crimson eyes was dim. Groaning in pain, he bled from scores of wounds, his head hung in a combination of delerium and semi-consciousness. "Nena..." he croaked. "N...Nena...."

"What did you do to him!?" she lashed her gaze to Eglizred, eyes burning with fury. "Release him this instant!!"

"I've done nothing worse to him than you did." he taunted. "Now a choice stands before you, my dear Miss Nena. Will you fulfill your duty to the Goddesses that have been so fickle with their affections, and save this would-be Champion that is of no use to you? ...Or, will you let me keep the child, and allow me to free this man: the object of your forbidden desires, to be with you, love you, for all eternity. You can make your home here, away from the world, and live in riches and decadence with all your needs accounted for. Your friends will live...no-one will have to die today. Give in, Nena. You know you have longed for this for a very long time. You deserve --"

"Shut up." Nena snarled, raising the sword again to Eglizred. "Xenos...It's true, I love him. I have always loved him, and I will always love him. But it is his deeds that have brought him here - my fault or not, I cannot abandon my duty. Give me the child!!"

A blinding flash of white filled the room with brilliance for a split second...

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

[NEXT TIME:]

...:~Chapter One - To See The World~:...

((OOC: This will be the story of one of my characters on Virtue, Nena Treval. Some of the other characters you will see in this story also exist in game, all on Virtue. When that occurs, I will highlight the name in yellow.

The stories are based off of a D&D campaign that spanned three years and a total of 40 characters between at least 12 players. Please send comments or criticisms via PM, as I would like to reserve this thread for story content.))

"Ggh..."

Toshio's body shuddered. Something was happening to him, and he shook all over. He could feel the bite wound affecting him, and electricity crackled over him madly.

"<Stay...back!>" He turned, lashing his hand drunkenly back towards Laserblade. The man in the mecha noted a red glow coming from his eyes.

That soon wasn't the most noticeable change.

The sound of tearing flesh and cloth filled the area and blood stained the ground as two huge, demonic wings burst from Toshio's back. The man grunted in pain, and darkened smoke seemed to coalesce around him.

"<What the...hell is...h-happening!?>" he muttered to himself, suddenly exhausted. He could feel the wild, foreign energy latent within him...but the waters seemed to have calmed. For now.

((This post brought to you by the letters G and M. D: ))

Toshio smirked as he brought the demon down hard into the gravel.

"<All right, bucko...Time to go down for your nap!>"

Suddenly, it lunged at him, snapping with its cruel jaws, and catching the man firmly on the shoulder. Toshio snarled and tried to shake the demon off, but it still bit deeply into him.

Suddenly, he began to roar with an otherworldy pain.

"<Get... OFF ....ME!!">

Flinging the demon off and to the ground, Toshio huddled on the ground, holding his head. Something was happening to the man - but there was no time for that. The demon was disoriented...and there was a clear shot...

The demon's punch rocketed Toshio's head to the side a little, but he kept his grip on it. The demon's bat wings fluttered as it tried to stay airborne, but Toshio snaked one arm around its shoulders, using his other arm to take another swig of the flask that hung on his belt.

"<You're a lot uglier than most of the ladies I know.>" he drawled with a grin. With that, he hiccupped...and then pursed his lips.

Having the intrinsic power of electricity had its benefits. Sure, when he had been with the Tsoo, Toshio had been the odd man out of the other Green Ink Men. He'd gotten the tattoos just for show, really, as he didn't need the energy - he had his own. Combining with the alchohol, he summoned up a spark, and the hiccup provided the necessary oxygen...

Flames spewed forth from his lips, blowing right into the demon's gaping maw. At the same time, while the demon was no doubt disoriented, the arm around its shoulders reached for one of the batlike wings, hoping to snap it out of its joint and send them both tumbling to the ground.

Toshio would get this thing out of the air if it was the last thing he did, the drunken master resolved.

((Mecha plural. :P He's just trying to get the thing on the ground so he can pound it proper.))

"Temei..." Toshio growled as he dodged the red energy. He had to get this demon away from the mecha.

Laserblade's translators swirled with curses.

The drunken master's powerful arms suddenly closed in on the demon as he jump-charged him, attempting to knock him down to the gravelly ground. If he could get the demon on the ground, he could at least stop him from destroying more of the firepower. If successful, he immediately plunged a fist into the beast's face, energy first.

"<Put this in your damn pipe and smoke it.>"

"Ore no ban da zo." came Toshio's voice from near Laserblade's ankle. The words came up through the translator: "Now it's my turn."

The drunken master was pissed. The leader of the Akihabara base had out and out refused to speak with him, taking him for just a bum on the street. If he wanted help, he'd have to prove himself.

The ex-Tsoo charged forward, fists crackling with electricity. Leaping onto the mecha the demon was attacking, the drunken master showed amazing alacrity and dexterity as he tumbled and swarmed over the hapless mecha, chasing the humanoid shadow.

"Kisama...!" he swore at the demon, taking out his frustration on it. He swung his fists strongly and surely, his eyes narrowed to augment his accuracy a bit.

Bringing down his fists in a double-handed blow, he knew the demon would dodge away quickly, and it did. But this was expected. Toshio suddenly separated his fists and spun, seemingly crazily, knocking the shadow-man upside the head with a lightning-charged fist, right into his upturned knee.

Toshio's aim was to knock it off the mecha and brawl with it directly on the ground. One had to fight speed with speed and strength with strength, after all...

((Okay, hopefully I didn't get TOO lost on this one. ))

((My bad. :P))

((Post pending when I find my sanity. <.&lt)

Toshio looked up at the annoucement, and swore.

"Kuso...Sonna de mendoukusei na...." he grumbled, complaining to himself. The man knew that until this was taken care of, he would have no help.

Toshio pounded his fists together and followed the mecha, allowing electricity to fizzle up his arms, tossing back another heavy drink from his flask.

Things were about to get fun.

Actually, if someone sends me a tell, I would be more than happy to teleport people from Yellow Line. My global on Test is @Essex, simple enough.

And I can't wait to see Blightlord's new costume. Tee hee hee...

XD

Whatever, Rosalind's like level six. XP

((Is it? Oo *scrolls up* Well, he's got other things on his mind right now anyway...))

The beast ran full tilt towards Akabane, its jaws open and ready to take her in one large bite.

An eyelid flickered.

Instantly flames blazed from the woman, a blindingly hot wall of flame erupting around the creature. Suddenly disoriented by the heat, it was further disrupted as Hajime released a concentrated psychic blast at it from a secondary position.

Stunned, its steps wavered.

Shuriken peppered it from either side as Wei-li and Na-li took open season on the hideous abomination of nature.

The Water Mage soon found himself regenerating, as Da-wei teleported beside him and uttered some arcane words, filling him with healing energy with a scornful look.

The Tsoo felt they had it under control as the already weakened creature roared, further weakened by the heat in its face and the psychic disruptions, blood pouring out of the shuriken wounds.

Toshio leapt off Laserblade with a nod of the head.

"<Thank you.>" he said. The man shook his head. He was sobering up...that's not good.

He walked through the base with a quick step, his face serious, looking for someone, anyone who looked like they knew what they were doing...

Expect me there!

....

.......Also, for your amusement - I misread the post and thought it was tonight. I read it at 8:15, so was puzzled to see why nobody else was there. XD; It seems my GPS AND my internal clock are buggy..

Toshio nodded, upon Laserblade's introduction. When the gaijin continued in Japanese, Toshio lapsed into his native language.

"<Yeah, my memories of Paragon aren't the fondest either. And if you're going to the base, I'd like a lift. Those demons have something I need, and I don't think I can get it back alone.>"

With that, Toshio climbed up onto the Mecha, taking another swig of his flask. Just another day in Tokyo, he mused.

"Go. Now!" Akabane hissed.

As the doors clicked open and the safeties unlocked, with the turrets occupied, the Tsoo dashed forward into the secured room.

Then the hiss caught their attention.

"Ike!"

Na-li's sword swung out of her sheath and Wei-li's claws extended. Hajime took secondary behind Akabane, who took point, and Dawei stood behind and to the right, dark energy crackling around his fingertips.

They were ready.

Akabane, now alone with the Circle mages, glanced to the side in mild distaste.

"Abunai'n da yo..." she thought to herself, backing up. If they were going to screw with the door and set off the security alarms, she was not going to stand there and take the repercussions with them. This was their dishwashing liquid. They could soak in it.

Toshio straightened with a slight smirk, nodding his head to Laserblade. He spoke in English back to him, his voice gruff as the electricity dissapated from his fists.

"My name is Fujii Toshio. You are from Paragon?" Upon hearing himself being called a 'hero,' he laughed humorlessly.

"Not a hero." he said, shaking his head. "Just a man who wants peace for once. But they used to call me Pygmalion."

Hajime inspected the security protocols on the elevator with a frown. The Yellow Ink Man turned to his superiors, the two Lieutenants scowling down at him in secondary positions with Akabane's coldly neutral gaze appraising him in the center, as always.

"...It would be ill-advised to attempt to breach this elevator right now." he said cautiously. "I recommend searching the barracks for any corpses of victims found resting. All the information should become available if that is the case."

"Good." Akabane said. "Dawei, take Wei-li and Hajime to the barracks. Lord Haoxiang and Na-li, examine the armory. Take anything that will be of use."

The squad uttered a collective acknowledgement and scattered.

"Hmph." Akabane merely said. Her eyes flickered to the rest of her squad.

Instantly they had resumed their positions. Dawei at a secondary position just behind and beside Akabane. Hajime scouting ahead down the center of the corridor. Haoxiang scouting ahead of Hajime, invisible. Na-li and Wei-li taking up positions in the shadows to the sides.

The Sorcerer looked at Tarxus with a neutral frown. "Just do not get in our way." Dawei murmured.

With that, the company began forward again...

The Tsoo glanced between each other neutrally.

"...No." Akabane stated. "We will not tell you why you are here. It is you who offered your alliance. But here are our terms."

The Far Fire stepped forward, keeping her eye on the head Magus.

"...If you help us to secure this place, we will help you acquire the sapling."