OOC: *bangs head* Writer's block is killing me thanks to college...have patience while I try to think of someway to bang it out...

Alex sighed as the van once again rocked upon the unsteady ground. Usually the ground were even, perfect, but now it was uneven, unsteady. The group couldnt really make out why this was, although to the majority of them it didnt raise any attention signals since they hadnt been here before, but for Taffy and Hermes, one who had visited it regularly and one who had lived in there his whole life, it was strange and unsettling.

In truth, the ground was being practically destroyed before them by Ricardos path. The Chaos Emerald had warped him considerably the rampant energy coming off of him was devastating the ground and actually up heaving it slightly. But Ricardo wasnt remaining in the same spot to have a greater effect on the ground. He was only on those certain points for a split second, and thus there wasnt enough time to really devastate the ground as what was actually happening. Ricardo didnt even notice the effect he was having he was on a power high and had all his attention focused forward.

Alex continued staring at the ground, in a trance and feeling sorry for himself. The others had said they needed him, about needing all the hands they could get. Was that all he was then? A necessary statistic? He now understood what Eclipse had begun to be feeling in the brief time he had met him, this uncertainty and lack of confidence. But with Eclipse, Alex KNEW he was powerful. He had magic after all. Alex had what? A good jump? Good eye sight? Maybe some good hearing? Yeah, thatll get him far against Overlanders with guns.

He was in over his head. Nave. But then, that was expected of living his entire life in the forest. He had come to support friends such as Taffy, but felt like a burden now instead. The others having to help him, pamper him so he could survive in this harsh world.

Alex looked to his side, as the van once again rattled on the ruined ground. His quiver was lying beside him. Huh. I thought I left that back at the Dillers home. I had took it off me if only to give my shoulders some rest, and when those thugs came in I didnt have the time in the panic to take them. So I had to improvise. And failed miserably. I wonder though, even if I had the arrows would I still have been any better? Alexs emotionless face contorted to one of anger and frustration. And they still had to look after me by taking it with them whilst I was out cold!

Alex looked away from it and then to the ceiling of the van, angered with himself. What would happen at wherever they were going? Would the group have to save him again? Or would he finally not cheat death this time and get killed?

The van rocked once more and Riku hit her head against the wall.

Damn it! Cant you drive this thing properly?!! she shouted.

I could if the road wasnt all messed up like this! Zephron replied as he kept fighting against the road and chasing Ricardo in front of him, who still hadnt noticed the speeding van following him, absorbed in his power high still. The group couldnt clearly see him, the light and pure energy readiating off him making it difficult to discern.

Were still right behind it though. Keep going, Zephron. Hermes spoke formally, keeping a tight grip on the seats.

What the heck moves this fast, though?! Factor shouted as he frowned and tried to make out what Ricardo was. No vehicle can go that fast, surely?

Whatever, came a reply from behind them. Taffy. Just keep following it!

Sure thing! Zephron said, before swerving hard to miss a bit chunk of concrete which had ruptured from out of the ground before carrying on his normal route. This sudden turning had rocked the people in the back once again and more then a few people hit their heads.

Darnit! Drive straight! Riku shouted again.

Ricardos path was as wild and chaotic as always. Although he wa sin fact going in a straight line, the effect it was having on his surroundings was unbelievable. The ground was being ripped up, and as he passed a fire hydrant, it suddenly and without warning burst, water pouring out of it like an erupting volcano. The hero groups van raced through it moments later and was covered in water, which blanketed the windscreen and made it impossible to see through.

Ah! What the?! Zephrons words shouted out, and then a pot hole from the devastated ground threw the van off course and bumped it off the ground onto the pavement and into the side of the walls of buildings, where the van scraped along it, destroying parts of the buildings and more importantly the van. This kept rumbling the van and made its inhabitants panic.

Zeph! Karya desperately called out.

Im on it! Im on it! Zephron replied, pulling hard left away from the buildings and setting the windscreen wipers on to wash away the water, and keep back on track thanks to Hermes direction. In truth, the group wouldnt really need to see through the windshield, as Hermes could have directed them perfectly, but the sudden panic ness of it threw him off guard and forced Zephron to react for them.

theres a building right in front of us. A small, apartment flat that blocks the path before us. Hermes said, concentrating again on the energy signature of the Chaos Emerald and power enhanced Ricardo.

So? This Emerald splitting down a way? Factor asked, being as the group were coming towards a T junction.

No. Its going straight ahead! Hermes shouted.

What?! Taffy shouted. Brake then! We dont want to crash into the building!

N-no! Hermes shouted with reluctance to Taffys command. Keep going!

if you say so, dude. Zephron said, speeding up slightly.

Then, there was a sudden crashing and a boom, as the entire ground shook and a giant flash brightened up in the distance before them, leaving Factor and Zephron, who had the clearest view of before them in complete awe, as the building which was blocking theirs and Ricardos way was suddenly destroyed. The power enhanced Ricardo had ploughed right THROUGH it. Masonry fell everywhere to the sides, and a large hole was now going throughout it all.

Speed up. Hermes said. The upper floors wont stay upper for much longer with the supports out. Weve got to get through before it happens.

And potentially get crushed?! Bucky exclaimed.

We can make it. Hermes said confidently, although the others were visibly worried by this. Was he being serious? Did he actually know that they could make it, or was it false hope? Was he actually frightened on the inside?

Zephron pressed down on the accelerator, and the van began to pick up more and more speed, going as fast as it possibly could towards the hole. The van picked up and flew slightly as it shook from the rubble outside the hole and the van sailed through the hole, and not a second too soon, as the upper floors of the ruined apartment finally collapsed under the weak support.

The van came into contact with the ground again and span on the unsafe flooring, spinning in a circle before Zephron pressed hard on the brake, stopping the van, and leaving it in the direction of the road before them, and where the Chaos Emerald was heading too, and the large complex building that now loomed clear before them, and where Ricardo was heading to.

Everyone okay? Zephron asked, looking over his shoulder, to the rattled and mixed up group in the back that had been thrown all over everywhere.

what do you think, chana?! Bucky shouted back.

Good. Lets get cracking! Zephron shouted out, again driving the group forwards, after Ricardo.

Hermes frowned and looked intently through the wind screen at the large complex before him. He couldnt be sure why it fascinated him so much it seemed oddly familiar. Of course he had lived in the city so he probably recognised it from seeing it often before, but through his clouded mind, where a lot of the city he couldnt actually remember, this brought back something disturbing.

So guys, what kind of vehicle does that? Going at those speeds and rip a great big hole through a building? Alex said, sarcastically, reflecting on the fact that he didnt really know the world. His body hadnt really moved at all, he was still lying still, although throughout the tumble people had variously fallen on him and of course disturbed his wounds, but Alex showed no reaction to that. His tone had changed.

Max frowned in concentration too. He wasnt sure of any vehicles that could do that either and considered himself a bigger knowledge of vehicles then the rest of the people in the van. Nothing land based, that was for sure. Maybe an aircraft, but what aircraft could be that small, and what idiot pilot would fly it so low?

Up ahead, Ricardo was only beginning to get to his senses and realized that he had just made a hole through a building. A fricking building! Unbelievable! Ricardo then noticed what was before him the complex building he was aiming for! uh oh. He hadnt the experience to brake so soon, and

Ricardo crashed through the glass entrance way, splintering it all as he desperately tried to cancel some of the chaos energy which allowed him to reach those speeds. Ricardo had gone through the glass entrance way, but he hadnt actually touched any of it. In fact, in the split seconds when he was about to pass through, it was like the glass snapped and cracked before him FOR him. It was a result of the Chaos energy, but Ricardo hadnt the knowledge to do that, to destroy the glass before him so it wouldnt hurt him on entrance.

What was that then? Hermes thought quietly to himself. Although the rest of the group couldnt see it, Hermes did through his sensory perception, actually seeing the glass buckle and shatter before him as a result of the Chaos energy. Was it just wild rampant energy that shattered it, or was it a potential emergency defence system? Whatever the fact was, Hermes had now managed to identify the owner of the energy, a hamster man, after he slowed down on the energy that propelled him to such speeds and which conversely, made Ricardo crash into the large grand stairs right on the other side of the large lobby due to the time it took to break. Ricardo was sprawled out (luckily he didnt plough straight through the complex, otherwise the boss would have been REALLY mad), slightly dazed before he started to regain his senses.

Hey, hey! Theres a building in front of us! Slow down! Factor shouted towards Zephron, who only managed to brake barely, but it wasnt in time, as the van burst through and shattered an even larger part of the glass through the gap Ricardo had begun to make, before stopping completely in the centre of the large lobby room.

Ricardo had finally gotten to his feet, and was completely surprised by what he saw before him. A van, just crashing through the entrance from out of nowhere? What the heck?!

Everyone okay? Zephron asked again, turning to look once more and again seeing the rest of the group sprawled out in the back all over each other, Riku once again with her head against the side where she no doubt banged it once again, Max having landed between Karyas legs, Bucky holding onto Eckli, and Taffy who over Alexs body, which was still lying down in the same, self-defeated pose. Hermes was the only one still standing after clutching onto the seats in front of him tightly.

what do you think, chana? Bucky sarcastically responded.

Great! Lets go find this Chaos Emerald then and be done with it in time for supper! Zephron said, rubbing his hands together.

Ready yourselves. Hermes spoke gravely.

Huh? What? Zephron responded, confused.

Look! Factor shouted, pointing through the cracked windscreen, to a hamster that was walking towards them, and who was oozing energy off from him. He was only a hamster, but his posture and stance as he walked forwards was intimidating, and even to men like Factor and Zephron, they could feel a sense of fear.

Thats the target. Thats the Chaos Emerald target. Hermes interjected.

OOC: Okay then, just clearing up the car chase scene and leading onto the lobby scene. ^^ I wanted to extend the car chase scene a lot longer, but again getting us to the lobby here. I got really involved with it though, so I hope its exciting enough for everyone. And like Terg said, to show how scary Ricardos power is.

And hopefully I raised a few smiles from some of the funnier scenes. Hope everyone was fine with my character portrayals.

And as for what the lobby looks like... unless anyone else had any ideas, I'm imagining it to be pretty big. Their are two guard/secretary entrance ways right by the door, and for the most part the room is quite empty and spacious, however around the entire perimeter, one side of it is mostly glass for the entrance way (although a lot of that was destroyed by the van and Ricardo, which could set off security alarms), and the otherside of the wall opposite it is a large staircase which leads up, then branches into two which turn around and go up to the next floor. The two other walls on either side are lined with numerous elevators to all the other rooms, whilst there are also a lot Matrix-esque columns along it to support the room and also give some hiding/dodging spaces as the group will need it.

I'm not sure whether we could have the cieling be the size of a standard ground floor one, or we could have it opened up to reach on to Floor 2, where Floor 2 mainly has ground which goes around the edge and perimeter of the room of it, to make it look a bit more posh and fancy, and give way to greater and bigger attacks down below. But that's just my interpretation of what the battle field could be.

OOC: I don't have the time to IC now, but lemme tell you Ash...that post left me giggling up a fit thar, lol. XD You played Zephron perfectly, and the chase was very well narrated. Kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time!

Everything else sounds good, and all in all, that was a fantastic post. Loved it! ^__^ Hopefully I'll be able to IC tomorrow night, as I'll be going to a concert Friday and wouldn't be able to post till Saturady at the latest.

OOC: From those that are in the other RP i am in, 'The Rise and Fall', you will know that i have been experiencing writer's block.

Good news, that is clearing up, i have some ideas.

Bad news, in this RP i haven't posted yet because i wanted Caine to have a scene beforehand. So in short, i'd like Bentleee to post first, but she seems busy and has been for while now, but i don't want to halt the section of the RP with Eclipse, as well as i don't want to place any kind of obligation onto Bentleee.

thus i am at a dead end. any suggestions anyone?

PS: Pachamac, that post was brilliant. utterly brilliant. I enjoyed every sentence of it. The mixture of action with a hint of hilarity was done so well, i pictured the whole scene as an episode of a cartoon. Not only that, but every character you used seemed to shine in perfect character respective to their creators, flawless, utterly flawless. Trust me, i could go on and on and on about how much i loved that entry, but overall i think this sums it up:

-"Awesome"-

Yes. quite nicely.

Before i go, just a reminder, any suggestions about my course of action in the RP? i already know how i can progress the scene, but i'm just wondering whether i should wait for Bentleee or just go ahead and post, or if even Tergonaut would like to post before me with Susie. Open to suggestions.

OOC: Thanks very much for the comments, Kim and James. I was a bit worried about whether or not I did control the characters well as I tend to be a bit worried about whether I used them well enough or not, or whether I had done something completely wrong in terms of their characters and whatnot but Im glad to see that isnt the case. 56 pages of an RP really does help you identify with the characters, eh? XD

Im surprised though that you guys liked the actual post itself. o.o I wasnt sure whether I had done it well or not and at the beginning of writing I didnt really had many ideas I knew we had to get them to the building but I didnt just want to ruin a potentially good car chase scene. Terg helped a little though, and when I started writing it just seemed to flow! I was a bit surprised with it as well. =O

OOC: Eclipse, I'd say it'd be all right to go ahead with something, unless you wanted me to post something from Susie's point of view again. Unless Ben gets the opportunity in the next week or so, we'll make do.

IC:
Taffy stood up, reaching with one black-furred hand to the back of Zephron's chair to steady herself as she looked out the cracked front window of the van. For the first time since the fateful chase had begun, she saw the one who they had been following. His golden fur, somewhat ratty-looking, was flared up around him as some invisible force swirled upward around him, seeming to center around the crimson gemstone that he clutched in his right hand, the red light gleaming off his grinning teeth and his eyes.

Then she felt her eyes lock onto the Emerald, and she realized in panic that she was about to have another episode as everything around her - the van, her friends, even her fleeting thoughts about worrying about whether she had made the right decision by coming along on this quest, or about Alex, they all faded away as she felt herself tumbling into darkness...

She opened her eyes, and she was floating along in a sea of red. Gravity didn't seem to be a factor here, and it was so very quiet and calm. The ethereal music of children's voices tinkled softly all around her, sounding far away out of sight.

But Taffy's words failed in the sea of red as it all vanished around her, falling back into darkness...

Taffy's eyes snapped open as soon as the vision cleared from her mind, and she propped herself up onto her arms, having fallen once again, this time onto the floor of the van. But the others had hardly noticed her, and she wondered why when suddenly the van shook around them, and from her angle she could barely see the head of the hamster outside the van as he pressed forward against the van. Her ears picked up the screeching crunch of metal collapsing under incredible pressure.

He's pushing in the front of the van! she thought in horror as the van jerked around them.

"Everyone, out of the van now!" barked Hermes as he went to the back of the van and kicked open the rear doors.

Taffy struggled up to her feet as the others piled out of the van, and she looked up to see Alex was still sitting where he had been all along throughout this fateful van trip, looking hopeless. His ears slumped down behind his back, and his eyes were half-closed, like he was waiting to fall asleep.

"Alex, what are you waiting for?! Let's go!" shouted Taffy as she scrambled for the tan rabbit, her sense of danger going off at an intense level from the direction of the front of the van. She had hardly detected this much danger before, and it was frightening her.

Alex did not respond, looking dully across the van floor with as much interest as watching paint peel. Taffy gritted her teeth and put her arms undernearth Alex's, grunting as she lifted his limp body up to his feet. "Darn it, you lop-eared bumpkin, I'm not letting you give up that easily! Come on!"

With tremendous effort, she lugged Alex onto her shoulder and dragged him out of the van just as the front caved in and the windshield shattered, scattering thousands of shards across the floor of the van and spilling out onto the floor of the lobby area. She was feeling very angry with Alex just now, recognizing the defeated look that he had on his face, and it didn't help to know that they were in the middle of very dangerous territory as the hamster relented from mutilating the van further. Taffy saw him float backwards as he sized up his new opponents.

"So, Garos called in backup from other parts of the city, did he?" asked the hamster haughtily as he grinned at the group. "You can't handle me one-on-one, so you gotta gang up on me? Fine! It's always been me against the world, so why should now be any different?"

I was seeing HIS memories! thought Taffy in a flash of realization. He's had a rough life, and now he's trying to get revenge for all the pain he's gone through!

Even as she saw her friends arraying themselves to fight for their lives, Taffy could not help but feel sorry for Ricardo.

"Hey wait...!" Caine called out, trying to deter the leaving of Cipher, but found himself slowly lowering his hand as his call was to no avail. He sighed as he reflected all he was told, with a sense of sadness and regret.
So, now he knew a bit more than he had done before. His worries and reluctance tending towards confirming he was a bioweapon was true. He was created by 'the Combine'. And they wanted the Chaos Emeralds to conquer the world.
It was a considerable amount to take in, though he was somewhat exhausted to react adversely.
He didn't stop to question as to what Cipher had said was true. He had heard from enough people that there was truth in what he didn't want to inevitably believe.
How selfish that he had been created for a cause that he didn't believe in.
Or did he?
As of yet, he still didn't have a true recollection of what he was like or any knowledge of his past before waking up one day, finding himself stranded in the middle of the forest and everything that had happened thereafter.
And if he was indeed, created a long with Wraith, is he, or was he like Wraith in his personality, temperament and will to dominate?
He slowly turned to look at Eclipse and Susie and noted how what noble, nice and trustworthy mobians they were- without a trace of bad. Though he felt he did fit in with their kind, the 'good guys' as it were, was he one?
"Are you okay Caine?" Eclipse asked, noting that he had seemed silent for quite a while since Cipher had left "I hope Cipher didn't say anything to upset you... but erm..." Eclipse trailed off, concious of the fact that maybe trying to reassure him would force him to bring up the 'bioweapon' concept which may upset him.
"Nah, he didn't," Caine replied "I was just thinking of whether I'm real.."
"Well, yeah! Course you are!" said Susie, strolling up to him and poking him on the arm "see! Now you know."
Caine stepped back a bit a bit startled, before straightening up again.
"That's not what I meant. I mean... since I lost my memory, and since I was created along with Wraith, intended for the Combine's plans... do you think before, maybe I was bad... maybe different to how I am now- that maybe if I do recover my memory... I might change?"
Susie and Eclipse blinked simualtaneously- with Susie raising a finger, as she suddenly recalled that although it was all fine and well they were reunited, that Cipher had warned them that Wraith might be close by and that the riddle involving a bleeding tree, some stag and a maiden would have to be solved.

OOC: Going to write a couple of other posts laterz...

Great to have you back Bentleee, was just about to message you soon!

Well, seeing as posts with Caine have resumed, i think it's safe to say i can continue. But, another night. it's 5:00AM over here because i became RP addicted and made a whopping huge post for another RP i'm in. will update this probably tomorrow.

'Good morning everyone'

XD

IC:

Riku glared at the hamster man and brushed her hair back. She looked at her hand as she summoned a sphere of lightning. She looked up at him. "Let's see how tough you really are." She said. She flung the sphere up into the air and concentrated all the lightning into one bolt. She called down the bolt, right at the hamster man.

The lightning bolt shot down from the second level ceiling and crashed down, moving through the large gap in the two floors and aiming straight for the hamster, Ricardo. It moved down with incredible speed and should have hit him easily and knocked him back, but the lightning bolt was instead deflected, as Ricardo gripped both hands together in a fist and swung his arms in a large curve, smacking the lightning bolt just as it was about to hit him away and into the underside of the first floor ceiling that extended around the perimeter of the first floor which was supported by thick columns as if the lightning bolt was a baseball. The lightning bolt crashed into the first floor ceiling in a large explosion and threw debris everywhere, almost hitting Lena and Max who had sheltered near that particular area, but who were fortunate enough not to be hit by any of the rubble.

Most of the group had taken shelter (or, as much shelter as possible given the situation) in the limited cover of behind the various columns around the perimeter of the room. Riku was one of the only ones outside of any cover.

Broad, ydont wanna mess with me! Ricardo shouted out as his anger increased. Riku instead frowned back and gritted her teeth, and commanded a sphere of lightning in her hand again. Ricardo expected Riku to do the same move as before and throw the sphere into the air and summon a lightning bolt, but this time, Riku simply threw the concentrated ball of lightning forwards, pitching it right towards the hamster. Ricardo shot out a loud growl of anger as he turned and picked up the fender of the broken and crushed van and held it determinedly. The lightning ball was much slower then the bolt of lightning, and Ricardos increased speed as per the Chaos Emerald increased his reaction speed quickly. Just as it neared him, Ricardo used the fender like a baseball bat as he did his arms earlier, and as it connected with the lightning sphere, the energy was disrupted, and charged back towards Riku, this time some of it was enhanced with Ricardos own chaotic power.

The lightning sphere was returned to Riku at an incredible pace and struck her squarely in the chest, throwing her off balance and in a case of shock, as the electrocution and Ricardos power proved too much for her to handle. Her whole body was shocked incredibly and her hair spiked up on end, creating a brilliant light show that shocked the rest of her group who could only watch in horror. After a few seconds, the energy died down, and Rikus body landed back on the ground after it was uplifted momentarily, her whole upper body sagging forwards. Her whole body was black and charred, and her expression was unreadable. Instead, smoke poured off her body as it virtually singed.

Riku! Lena called out, revealing her position until Max pulled her back out of Ricardos view behind the column, not wanting to be the crazed hamsters next target.

Whats the matter, babe? Ricardo called out in a more smug manner, as the power that coursed through his veins made him more confident after watching the effects of it. Wont be prancing with your hair now, will you?

Taffy squinted her eyes at the words Ricardo was saying as she hid behind a different column next to Alex. She understood his past, but was confused by the words he was saying. His past was tragic, so what was this? An act to make himself look far more powerful? She couldnt be quite sure, but at the current moment she was more concerned with Riku. Although the Terran was insanely powerful, that blast she took was insane. Around Riku, the ground itself was scorched and Riku was now barely standing in a large crater of where the rest of the energy from the lightning sphere was distributed. Although Riku was powerful, she wasnt invincible, and so Taffy hoped the lightning attack hadnt caused any permanent damage.

B-b Riku stuttered, as her lips slowly began to move, but with it more pain danced through her body.

I wouldnt be surprised that the power of it from the girl wouldnt really hurt her as shed probably be able to absorb it but the power from the hamster himself might be too much! Hermes whispered as he knelt behind a column alone, to no one in particular besides himself. Rushing in headstrong like that wont work. Hopefully she lives to realize her mistake Hermes stopped completely as his ears pricked up to the rest of the conversation between Riku and Ricardo.

uk ooh Rikus words escaped from her mouth, as she finally collapsed into the crater, releasing a waft of smoke and dust which raised up after her body hit the ground.

Ricardo paused slightly, as he looked open eyed at the fallen large Terran, at a loss on how to react. Finally, his perplexed expression turned to one of a large, broad smile, and a low chuckle soon expanded to a loud laugh.

Ahahahahaha! Pathetic weaklings! I took down an idiot that could throw lightning in one hit?! Ahaha! Which one of you is next?! Ricardo shouted out, triumphantly. Riku was down, but her attack had done something. The fender that Ricardo held to bat the lightning sphere away was melted into nothing but a pool of molten metal, but any physical damage on Ricardo himself was nowhere to be seen. Any energy which might have hit Ricardo was probably absorbed straight into him, given the chaotic nature of lightning. Ricardo was fortunate enough to hold a Chaos Emerald to help control the level of it, affording him a greater capacity and limit. Riku, unfortunately, was not.

Before Ricardo could move on, a new object sailed through the air towards his head. Ricardo had just enough time to turn around and see it; an arrow, coming right between his eyes, but even though he did nothing to move away, or attempt to grab, the arrow still done him no harm. Before the arrow could connect, it was disintegrated by Ricardos aura, his energy around his body itself destroying it before it could get harmfully close. This alone helped to increase the hamsters mad satisfaction with his power, and with it he laughed some more.

So, you want to die, eh? Ricardo said with a smirk, as he looked towards the source of the attack; Bucky, who had one half of her body out in the open, her other behind a column. A bead of sweat dropped from the deers face as she braced herself for what would happen next.

Ricardo had shot forwards, and before she could react Ricardo was upon her. Even Ricardo couldnt brake properly, and so crashed through the column itself, although this dealt him no harm, instead, although it was unexpected, it simply blocked Buckys vision of Ricardo some more and made it harder for her to see him properly, before it was too late. Ricardos body spun around and his hand grabbed her throat, picking her up and pushing her against the wall, as the rest of the rubble landed by their feet.

You think an arrow is going to stop me?! Ricardo shouted, as Bucky struggled to get free.

Bucky! Karya called, peering around a column that she and Eckli had hid behind, moving forwards to try and help her new friend.

Bucky?

Alexs eyes shot open at the sound of the desperation and pleading voice, the name that was called out in such desperate fear. The name of someone so kind, who had helped him to survive, to BE him. All of who he was, he owed to her, and the pleading voice from Karya had shocked him into realizing that someone he cared about most was in trouble. Alex automatically shot up from his lying position, and as he landed on his feet, his knees quivered. He had still lost a lot of blood and wasnt up for moving much. Taffy saw the sudden movement and automatically turned around in fear and supported Alex before he almost fell over.

Alex! Dont move so suddenly! You still havent rested properly from your earlier wound Taffy began to shout out, desperate to see him hurt, and given the hopeless condition he was within a moment before, afraid to see him do any potentially rash action.

Bucky! Alex shouted, pulling an arrow out of the quiver supported on his back. He had no bow since it was destroyed by Carrion earlier, and so had to rely on his hands. He didnt know of the little effect an arrow had on Ricardo as he paid no attention to the battle earlier, but nevertheless he threw the arrow with startling precision towards Ricardo. It was a rash move. Again, Alex had been acting before thinking, throwing himself into trouble when he should have analysed the situation before rushing into it. It seemed that the rabbit never really learned, but the impulse of his emotion, of that someone he deeply cared about was being hurt, almost killed made him act. And as the arrow disintegrated by Ricardos aura, and the hamster finally turned away from Bucky to see Alex, Alex mentally scolded himself as he realized he involved Taffy in it now.

He had no problem with bringing to himself, saving the others by throwing himself into danger alone. But Taffy was right next to him. Ricardo smiled with an ounce of glee, dropping the oxygen starved deer onto the ground, before making his way towards his new victims

OOC: What the?? Did you like kill Riku or what?

EDIT: Deleted post. Will figure out another one...

OOC: Riku's not dead, just unconscious.

And wow. 1111 replies. Cool!

OOC: Ich weisst gar nicht's mehr

IC:

Wraith continued his mad bolt in his persistant wanting to relocate his targets, giving off icey sparks as he rounded every corner and dashed through every tree.
It infuriated to believe that he had lost track slightly of things, all because of the fact that a pack of wolves, a bat, a cat, and the two studges Bean and Bark got in the way. As for Nack, he was simply the biggest waste of time!
He almost hoped to bump into the bounty hunters so that he could take off that edge of anger that was gnawing on his mind- that fury of smites within a raging sea in his mind. An anger against an unyielding crag on storm-swept shore. A thorn that dug in and accentuated an inflamed aversion.
He purely hated people who kept them from his goal! And it happened all the time. His heart, filled with hate, would beat against a past carved in stone during enraged times like this.
He would teach them all. All of them. Once and for all, NEVER to push it with him!
"WRAITH!"
The icey hedgehog suddenly skidded to a halt, kicking up dust and a causing a batch of leaves and twigs to kick up in the air from the momentum of the extreme arrest of speed.
"You should have found them by now. There's no WAY they could have got away that far.. and you've covered enough ground to have spotted them!" Roody explained "something's not right..."
Wraith took a deep breath, before lowering a pair of fists as he slowly tilted his head amongst his surroundings.
He then brought a hand to his chin as he contemplated what the Chao had just said.
It made a lot of sense. He couldn't seem to pick up any traces of Caine either. Though he could have done so for miles and unless they had chaos controlled out the woods, which he highly doubted, he should have been able to track them down.
So what was wrong?!
The hedgehog lowered his hand and turned his head to stare at a batch of trees towards the side of him.
He simply held his stare, despite noticing, a somewhat relaxed, white figure with an eye patch over one eye. He sat down, leaning his back against the tree with his hands folded behind his head and chewed on a bit of wheet casually.
It was Cipher.
Wraith exchanged glances with Roody, before walking over to the mouse, keeping his stared directly on him.
Cipher hardly flinched. He looked up slightly to notice the approaching hedgehog, but then recast his gaze over the forest horizon.
As Wraith stopped, he folded his arms as he stared down at the figure coldly.
"You!" he said pointing a finger at him "why don't you cut out the casual act and tell me what it is you're doing!?"
Roody was a bit confused at the statement. He hadn't suspected this mouse individual to be relevant to anything in particular.
Was his superior going mad?

______

Bucky weakly lifted up her head and opened her lethargic eyes. Her felt like lead. In addition, she could hardly see straight. She first experienced a bout of black and red dots appearing before her eyes, before it split up into a double vision.
Wasn't looking good.
On top of that, the audible voices in the background were starting to become distorted.
"Bucky... BUCKY!" Karya cried, immediatly bending down to pick her up, and support her on her good shoulder.
To Bucky though, it just sounded like murmurs, as she gradually felt herself slip out of conciousness.
Eckli bounded up towards the girls, an extremely worried expression on his face.
"Bucky... don't fade out... you can't... you..."
"What... I...? No just let me go..." she uttered, spaced out.
"You can't go out now. I need you to stay with me..."
Bucky's eyelids gradually rested shut, however.
"STAY AWAKE DAMNIT!" Karya screamed.
Bucky's eyes eventually opened, much to Karya's relief. However, the deer was still in a dazed and confused state.
"Karya, get her somewhere safe!" Zephron called out, as he skidded to a halt next to the group "this freak is an exploding atomic bomb! Arrows and other such convetional weapons are of no use here..."
Karya nodded frantically, about to run off with Bucky and Eckli.
"What about Alex and the others?" she said, daring to cast a glance at an unpromising situation between the rabbit and hamster.
"Alex!" a cry was heard from Taffy.
"Just get going! We can handle it...!" Zephron said, winking slightly in a feeble attempt at reinforcing some confidence.
Karya sighed gravely, before taking off straight away towards a hidden building whilst supporting Bucky and having Eckli follow after them.

(OOC: Sorry for my disapearance all )

Karya, with much effort, finally managed to get Bucky out of the building and across the street and into a shady alleyway. Thankfully not one of the many gathered around the building had much noticed their departure, and if so didn't much care. Kari had managed to prop Bucky against the wall, while she stopped to take a breather herself. Eckli had placed his head and front paws on the deer's lap, looking worriedly at her lowered eyes and bruised throat. The pup couldn't bear to to see a friend of his hurt or ill, and it troubled him. It also made him angry with that bully of a hamster.

A loud crash sounded from the battlefield across the street, causing the three furries to wince. The vixen clenched her fists, hoping that no one had gotten hurt.

"Ah man...I need ta help 'em......but I cahn't leave Bucky," She muttered, staring crossly at her boots.

Eckli just growled, as if by doing so Ricardo would hear him and know to stay away from his friends. The pup wasn't stupid and knew that the hamster could not hear him from this distance, but it made him feel good about himself and the situation. It gave him confidence in his and the others' abilities.....

----

Zehpron ground his teeth with uneasiness as he watched Ricardo approach Alex and Taffy, his bounty hunter's mind trying desperately to think of a plan. But nothing seemed possible. The loon has a chaos emerald! he thought, frowning uncertainly. They had tried lightning and arrows, but...look at Riku and Bucky, he said. The bat shook his head, knowing that he would have to take the time think this through.

"Dammit..we don't have the time!" He hissed, more to himself than to the assassin next to him. Hermes had an unreadable look on his face, and Zephron was hoping that the Overlander was trying to think of a strategy as well.

"What the-!"

Zephron and Hermes immediately jerked their heads around the pillar the were using as shelter, both cursing as they spotted Ricardo. Taffy and Alex had been forced out from behind their hiding place by the power-crazy hamster. The bat stared in horror at Ricardo's face as it dawned on him....

Taffy still had the other chaos emerald.

(OOC: Hope that's alright...been a while)

OOC: *sigh* i'm sorry once again for such a long abscence, it's got nothing to do with the developments of the RP, as i find it all to be very interesting indeed, it's just that today was my first day back at school, and adjusting back into the routine is a little hectic, especially after being told we only have 4 weeks before exams... already. on the brighter note, it means that my end of year holidays starts 4 weeks earlier this year, so my end of year holidays will last for a grand total of 2 months and 2 weeks! That doesn't mean we'll be waiting weeks for me to post, i WILL be posting as soon as i can, but right now i have many other things to do. dreafully sorry everyone.

OOC: Still here, but I have to catch up with the RP's progress. Maybe if Pach's lazy butt can get on MSN he can tell me. XP

OOC: Shadow Lady: glad to have you back! And actually, you just brought up an idea in your post that is brilliant, definitely works out. I already talked with you in IM about it.

Ben: glad to see you in action again as well, my German isn't so good (my prime vocabulary being dumkopf and vunderbar) so I didn't understand that part but I'm not sure who it's being addressed to anyway so now I'm just being silly and self-assuming.

James: No probs, post when you can but of course don't sacrifice your health/schoolwork just for the RP. I don't need to say that, but we care about ya. Thanks for the explanation.

Torn: Hope you can post soon, Lena is still in action here. Glad to have you back.

Mike: Haven't seen you around in a while! Good times.

Everyone: well, it looks like things are kicking back into activity now, don't know what created that huge lag for a while there. I imagine it was schoolwork and routines being resettled and such, as well as illnesses now that we have the changing of the seasons going on (I got sick myself in the past week, nasty cold plus throat problems that made it hard to talk for a while, but I'm over most of it now), but it's good to see people posting again with such quality!

IC:
(-in the edges of the Great Forest-)

Cipher's relaxed smile didn't change as the one-eyed mouse looked up at the dark-colored hedgehog, and he reached up to the wheat stalk in his mouth and pulled it out. "Hmm, impressive. Even with my limited magic, I wasn't expecting you to notice anything wrong for at least another five minutes."

"So you have something to do with this," stated Wraith coldly as he leaned forward and gripped the mouse by his coat's collar, lifting him up into the air.

"I believe we haven't been introduced," said Cipher, his voice a little strained but still conversational in tone. "I am Cipher. What's your name?"

"No. You don't ask me questions, old man. And you'll stop whatever it is you're doing that is keeping me from finding that other hedgehog, or else-"

"Or else what? You'll kill me? It's a good thing I already know what your name is, with those manners I'd be hard-pressed to find out that you are Wraith, code-name Project Chaos Catalyst 01."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" shouted Wraith, sudden intense anger in his voice as he reached his fingers around Cipher's throat and gave a tight squeeze. But just when the pressure seemed ready to burst the mouse's windpipe, Wraith's fingers passed through the disappearing neck and the hedgehog found himself grasping empty air.

"So, the 'Ultimate Life Form' doesn't like his origins, does he?" asked Cipher calmly from his position leaning against a tree nearby. "But of course you don't. After what the Combine has done to achieve their goals, it's no wonder that you are angry."

Wraith's cold eyes focused onto the mouse, and they narrowed as they glowed blue. "Illusions," he muttered, looking around the forest glade to find several more Ciphers scattered about, some in tree branches, some lying on the grass, some standing alone and some standing near trees or rocks. "You're a fool to think you can deceive me for long, old man."

"Old? Hardly, though compared to you I suppose that's the case. But shouldn't you be more curious as to why the Combine created you, why you have been programmed to seek after the Servers? I think that's a very good question you should pursue, rather than those three children you're going after."

"No one tells me what to do," said Wraith coldly and precisely as he looked at each illusion carefully. "You can't hide for long, and then I'll remove you as an obstacle and be on my way."

"Maybe you shall. But if I can buy them enough time, they'll be well on their way to the next Server and you'll reach them only after they've found it," explained Cipher, hs voice seeming to come from each individual copy surrounding Wraith and Roody. "And what I'm interested in, is seeing whether you really are free-willed, or whether you're still inadvertently dooming us all to destruction by your mere existence."

Cipher - all of them - smiled. "Now that that's been said, care to guess which one of us is the real one?"

Wraith knew that this was all a distraction, and now he could feel the magical forces at work that were keeping him from sensing Caine, but he instinctively knew that the magic wouldn't keep working if the caster was incapacitated. How frustrating when he was so close!

Taffy was scared. She had never felt so much danger coming from a person before, and the sensation at the back of her neck was tremendous. Besides that, she had a brush with Ricardo's mind and knew what kinds of revenge he had planned against those who had tortured him in the past. And as she looked into his eyes, she could see that he was ready to fulfill that tainted dream.

"Stay back!" Taffy shouted angrily, her fear pushing her to the edge as she deliberately stepped in front of Alex, putting herself between him and Ricardo. She looked up defiantly at the hamster, who was hovering a few inches off the ground. "Maybe you've had a rough life, but that doesn't give you the right to take out your frustration on other people!"

"How do you know what I feel?!" bellowed Ricardo, who came toward them slowly, his face twisted in anger. "You have no idea what I've been through! The years of humiliation, of being treated as less than dirt, that time is now over! You don't know just how good it finally feels to get some payback!"

"Back off, you nitwit, I'm not going to let you hurt my friends!" snarled Taffy.

"Like you're going to stop me?" laughed Ricardo, and then he reached forward for her, clearly enjoying the power he was encapsulated in. "It's only going to hurt a little, babe..."

Taffy braced herself, but before Ricardo got close enough to touch her, there was a blur of movement between them and something flew between them - a rock, baseball sized, that clanked against the side of the empty broken van. Ricardo whirled to face the direction the rock had been thrown from, and Taffy looked as well to see Hermes standing there. The bare-chested human stood in a ready, relaxed stance, his scythe carefully balanced behind his back by one arm as he pulled the throwing arm back in toward his body. Though she had seen him earlier without the psychotic grin on his face, it seemed like Taffy was looking at a new person in Hermes, who was focused in his neutral expression, his eyes locked on Ricardo. He appeared to be the very opposite of the crazed, frightening man who had nearly killed them all during that fateful night when she had first met her friends. And though she still wasn't sure how much they should trust him, she trusted whatever it was that he was doing right now, even if it seemed insane.

"You just don't get it, do you?!" spat Ricardo as he changed direction suddenly and rammed at Hermes, but the muscular human rolled out of the way easily, and Taffy could see that he had been prepared for just such an event.

But what in the heck is he doing?! Even when he was a psycho, he wasn't that powerful! What does he-

"We don't have much time, Taff, Hermes can't hold him off forever," said Zephron quickly as he ran out from his place behind another pillar, coming over to Taffy and Alex. "We can't let that maniac get his hands on the other Emerald!"

Taffy felt shivers run down her spine at the mention of that. If he's that powerful with just one...!

"We've got to keep it safe!" exclaimed Taffy, understanding immediately. "But where can we put it? We can't throw it away!"

"I'm sure Eckli could keep it safe," said Zephron as Mike and Lena came up and joined them. "In any case, we'd better regroup and figure out how to stop this rampant rodent from ripping us all to shreds."

"No argument here, let's bolt outside!"

And so the small group ran outside into the street, with Hermes inside focusing on evading the maniacal Ricardo who was tearing through anything that got into his path.

Outside, Eckli ran up to them immediately when he saw them, which was probably the best thing that Taffy could think of happening as she took off her backpack and reached in for the Chaos Emerald. "Eckli, we've got to keep this Emerald safe at all costs, so we're giving it to you," explained Taffy as she pulled out the Emerald and held it out to Eckli. "We're counting on you!"

The curious wolfpup sniffed the yellow glinting Emerald, then those mysterious vines grew out of his shoulder again, slowly, and they wrapped around the Emerald. But no sooner had he done so than he let out a yip of surprise as the Emerald began to glow, and the air around Eckli grew tight with power as the pup was lifted into the air, a yellowish aura snapping into place around him.

Taffy drew back amidst cries of exclamation from the others. It's just like Ricardo! What on Mobius is going on here?!

Lena gasped at the appearance of the wolf pup but she began to walk over to the pup, against her better judgement. She had tried to heal Riku but now all she could do was wait and try and help the others. She didn't know what effect the emerald was having but she was willing to bet, it could be bad and they couldn't let the wolf pup become like Ricardo.

Quote:

---

OOC: Still here, but I have to catch up with the RP's progress. Maybe if Pach's lazy butt can get on MSN he can tell me. XP

---

More like busy. Or at least I think so... I can't remember the last few days very well at all. o.o

And yeah, I might as well mention this now, but I'm going to be away on a Geography fieldtrip (to study coasts and rivers, yay!) from the 10th to the 15th, so don't expect any input from me in those 5 days. =/

Hermes continued to try and dodge and distract Ricardo as best he could, now that the hamsters attention was focused on him and the others had managed to leave the building to safely put away the Chaos Emerald. Hermes only dodged, moving side to side and out of the way from Ricardos attacks as he knew it was impossible to try and truly fight the crazed hamster. As it was, Hermes couldnt defeat him at all; Ricardo was simply too powerful, and in this enraged, out of control state, he knew that actually registering pain on Ricardo would be difficult. He knew that because he had experienced it before numerous times. A crazed, Berserker rage much more worse then what Ricardo was experiencing, but the state in which the hamster was in was enough to make him practically invulnerable. It surprised Hermes then that this Ricardo seemed to be in more of a half state, at least half way in-between the states Hermes had been before. Not totally sane as he was now, but not as crazed as Hermes had been in such as when he fought the Eclipse/Lucent team. Which made him wonder even now, where was that blue bat?

Ricardo was moving ever closer as he launched yet another swing of a fist in an arc just in front of Hermes, inches away from his face. His speed was incredible and as such, Hermes wouldnt be able to hold on for much longer until Ricardo managed to get one shot in, which case after that the chances of Hermes succeeding would diminish a heck of a lot. Ricardo was relentless in trying to hit him, and it wouldnt be long now.

Hermes kept moving around the wreckage of the van, trying to use what little cover there was to his advantage. He had considered using his aura perception sense to better detect Ricardos fast attacks, but thought against it, as it wouldnt help too much. Ricardos aura overall was tremendous, alike that Wraith figure, and so the aura from his body would blend in with the ones in his hand and feet, making it difficult to feel properly where the attacks would be coming. It also would take a lot of concentration and Hermes couldnt spare it and the mental effort it would take to maintain the aura perception. He would just have to go on plain eyesight, always backing away and moving around the van. It wasnt easy, but so far he was succeeding.

Unfortunately, it wouldnt last.

Ricardos anger got the better of him and he was sick of playing the cat and mouse game. Hermes had managed to evade Ricardo enough to get on the other side of the wreckage of the van, and Ricardo then used this time to begin charging forwards, straight towards the van! At first, Hermes was confused with what was going on since he couldnt see Ricardo appearing from either side of the van, when he suddenly realised what was going on. But by then it was too late, and Hermes wished he had already begun using his aura perception sense moments earlier. Ricardo smashed right through what was left of the van and kept charging forwards straight towards Hermes with incredible speed. Hermes could just barely lift his arms in front of his face as Ricardo once again swung his fist, crashing into Hermes meagre defence, and sending the Overlander flying back, through a column and straight into the wall behind it, falling groggily down to the ground.

Ugh he muttered, trying to regain his jumbled and confused senses as he slowly opened his dazed eyes and tried to concentrate once again on the situation before him. He didnt have the time or luxury to spend as long as he wanted until he was perfect again, as Ricardo was once again upon him, this time his arm and shoulder pulled right back to deliver a Chaos Emerald charged punch straight to Hermes head. At this time, a blurred figure dashed out from the column next to where Hermes had smashed through, racing forwards towards the pair of Hermes and Ricardo.

Once Ricardo had gotten the proper amount of power he desired in his fist, he finally let it loose, in another swing that came down, aiming towards Hermes head. Suddenly, there was a loud sound of released energy, and the area there was engulfed in white and confusion.

The bright light gradually died down, as Ricardos sneering smile and senses finally came to realise what had happened, and his face automatically transformed to one pleased of his progress to one of great surprise. His punch hadnt managed to hit Hermes and was instead intercepted by a blade that blocked Hermes face from the path of the punch. Hermes blinked, confused by the lack of presence of pain, before he too saw the blade before him with confusion. He then looked along it, to see that it was in fact a sword, and the holder of it; an Echidna; Factor.

What the heck is this sapossed to be?! Why didnt I destroy even a little teensy sword like that?! Ricardo shouted with anger.

This isnt a mere sword, Factor said with anger at Ricardos ignorance.

Do you think I care?! Ricardo followed that through, and swung his arm that once aimed for Hermes head and backhanded Factors face, sending him flying down the rest of the side before he crashed into the wall of the adjoining corner. Now, where was I?

Ricardos speech was cut short as he was blown backwards a short distance from a two handed punch to his stomach by Hermes, who had used the opportunity of Factors distraction to create some distance between them. As soon as Ricardo was moved backwards, Hermes jumped back up to his feet properly, glaring at the hamster, as the hamster righted himself, surprised by the blow. It wasnt particularly powerful, but it was a shock that he felt anything at all. Without taking his eyes off Ricardo, Hermes addressed Factor.

Are you okay? he asked.

To Ricardos perspective, he couldnt see Factor, who was behind and covered by another column that remained un-destroyed so far. The Echidna, was dazed, nodded weakly. He hadnt succumbed to unconsciousness yet due to the attack merely being a backhand and not something as powerful as what happened to Riku, but for now he needed rest to regain his senses somewhat.

Hermes had a small smile raised upon his lips, to the knowledge that Factor was okay but Ricardo didnt know it. It would be a benefit to them for another potential rescue like that, especially giving that Factors sword couldnt be destroyed by him, at least, destroyed very easily. Why that was intrigued Hermes, but this was neither the time nor place to truly wonder about it.

For that, Im going to take you down 10x harder then the rest of those fools! Ricardo shouted.

Hermes tensed up. Just how much longer could he last?

Before Eckli had been gifted with the Chaos Emerald and the strange powers that suddenly awakened in him, Alexs mind had been drifting away from what was immediately important, that of the Chaos Emeralds protection. Instead, he looked towards Buckys still form, his eyes wide with horror. Karya caught the expression and spoke up.

Dont worry, shes okay fa now. Karya spoke, and this helped to relax Alex for a time, but the fact that she was hurt as badly as she was still hurt him inside. Suddenly, the bright light next to him shocked him into averting his eyes away from the deer and towards Eckli, and with it, his eyes widened even more.

What the? he trailed off towards Ecklis new sudden surge and the yellow glow that surrounded him.

Karya gasped, her eyes wide as she stared at her companion. Eckli was floating a few inches above the ground, his blue eyes sparking from the power of the emerald. The pup's black and white fur stood on end; if this had not been so serious, the vixen would have laughed at how strange her friend looked. Instead, Kari slowly approached Eckli, not daring to reach out to him with either hand. The pup gazed questioningly at her, before letting out a startled yelp when the aura of the chaos emerald began to glow brighter.

"Karya, what's going on?" Taffy asked, not taking her eyes off the pup.

"I...I dunno....."

Eckli, meanwhile, could feel the power coursing through his veins, could feel the warmth of the emerald so close to his tired limbs. Electricity surged through his body, and he felt alight with a new energy. The vines that held the emerald hungrily drank as if the power from the chaos emerald was a nice, wet rain after a long drought. They wrapped themselves around the jewel like an anaconda constricting its prey, until only the top of the emerald was visible to viewers.

The vines, now being tied in a loop, positioned the chaos emerald in front of Eckli's chest, as if he wore a grand cape. Eckli looked on in wonder as all this took place, a curving smile on his white-furred muzzle. He had almost forgotten Ricardo and their predicament...

...that is, until he spotted Bucky.

Anger flared in his eyes, fueled by the power that surged through him. All gentleness was replaced by a fierce protectiveness he harbored for his friends. And the chaos emerald only made it worse; after all, he was still a young pup, and had not yet grown into his powers. Eckli had no control over how he felt, and therefore had no control over his desire to punish the one who had dared to hurt his friends.

Taffy's eyes widened when she saw all peacefulness vanish from the pup's stance, and she instantly knew what was happening. She cried out, "Eckli! Don't even think about it...!"

The words died on her lips as Eckli turned his head to stare at her. Once again, a flash back hit her....but this time she knew it was related to his past.......

A blurred picture of a warm, white-furred mass appeared in her mind, and two smaller masses; one white as well, and the other a golden brown. A warm feeling replaced everything. There was also a big, black figure nearby, watching.....and then there was freezing cold and a feeling of no hope. Those feelings blurred into relief and happiness, contentment and a long-legged brown figure Taffy guessed was Karya.......

As Taffy came back to reality, she found that Eckli was gone, and managed to catch a blur of black and yellow entering the building across the street. Karya was standing next to her, a worried yet puzzled look on her face. Zephron walked up and promptly coughed.

"Um...yeah. Anyone care to tell me what's going on?" He asked, raising an eyebrow to observe Eckli.

Kari managed to snap out of her trance, "Why don'cha look, smaht one?? That chaos emerahld is doin' wonky things to me bud..."

"I figured it would."

Both Taffy and Karya wheeled around, startling the bat into putting his hands up in front of himself and saying, "Whoah, whoah, calm down ladies...."

Taffy growled, pointing to the complex, "If you knew that, then why did you suggest I give it to Eckli? For all we know, we could have an even bigger disaster on our hands than when it was just Ricardo!"

The vixen beside her was just glaring. Zephron cast her an apologetic look, before explaining himself to Taffy.

"Taff, believe it or not, there is a good reason I had you give the emerald to Eckli." He grinned somewhat.

Taffy crossed her arms and said, "What?"

"You saw Eckli before, when he was fighting that tin can, right? Right. I don't see any normal wolf pup going around growing vines from their shoulders, so obviously he had some sorta magic stuff goin' on."

She nodded at this point. He continued. "I bet your wondering what the heck that has to do with the emerald and our current situation. Well, I figured that we could fight fire with fire," At this Zephron shrugged, "Ain't nothin' else I could think of at the moment Taff. And if you didn't notice, all previous attempts to attack that loon failed."

"It's a good idea," Taffy admitted reluctantly, "But how can be sure Eckli won't go crazy like Ricardo did? He's so young...."

Karya just stood there, staring in disbelief. How DARE Zeph use her closest companion to fight some crazy critter with a power-lust....what if he got hurt? She would never forgive the bounty hunter for his actions if that occured.

Central Complex: Ground Floor

Meanwhile, while Taffy had been receiving Eckli's memories, said pup had rushed into the building hoping to have a go at the hamster. He surprised Ricardo just as much as Hermes and Factor when he cam hurtling through the doorway (which might as well not be there anymore) and crashing into Ricardo's side. The hamster let out a yell of surprise as they tumbled over the rubble-littered ground

"What the..." Factor murmured.

Hermes frowned as he identified the second chaos emerald and the user. "...that wolf pup? But....is that what Zehpron had in mind?"

"I'll teach you to hurt my friends, you bully!" Eckli growled, pinning Ricardo down. The hamster stared, before shoving the pup off. Eckli skidded a few feet before sinking his claws into the tile, making an eerie screaching sound.

"Those your friends, huh? Well, they're pretty pathetic. Hear me? Pathetic. Now, I don't care who the heck you are or why you have that emerald..." Ricardo grinned evilly at this, "But I WILL have it."

(OOC: Write more tomorrow...hope this was alright)

EDIT:OOC: Edit, as what was said was taken care of and everything to do with that particular piece was solved. Leaving it there just leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Ending on a positive note though, that was some fantastic writing, Kim, particularly the description of Eckli being empowered and his vines covering the Chaos Emerald. I could really feel the emotion all the characters felt there.

OOC: I'm not in the greatest mood to discuss things...but I'm going to say that I do not care for that much liberty to be taken with my character. But eh whatever...I'm going to remove Riku from the story and put Lena in a reduced role because I just need to limit my activities online now.

OOC: Although Riku had become overly powerful then she doesnt need to be removed from the story, as her character and personality is fantastic. Shes an interesting unique individual considering her stubbornness and one track mind, something a bit more different from the rest of the team. If anything, all she really needs is to have a bit more limit on her abilities, thats all.

My apologies with controlling your character like that, I only wanted to demonstrate just how powerful Ricardo could actually be and given how Riku was the first person to attack him and the most powerful, she seemed like a good character to use. Sorry if I used her too far though. And I hope that whatever situation is going on in RL (given your DA journal) that things brighten up for you.

EDIT: Just as an add-on, when I was helping Mike catch up with the story and where his chars were, we thought a diagram could be handy. Okay, I'll admit this isn't exactly a master peice and it's pretty crude since it was rushed and in MS Paint, a program I don't often use, but I think it works okay enough. At any rate this is what my imagination shows it as, unless anyone else disagrees?

img171.imageshack.us/my.p...ide6go.jpg

OOC: I'll rethink it perhaps...once I can just cool down and relax...

(OOC: Thanks very much Ash. Glad you liked it. ^^ )

Eckli snarled at that remark and bared his pearly white teeth. The aura from the chaos emerald reflected off the pup's small canines, making Ricardo hesitate. But only for a second. With an anger-filled warcry, the hamster charged at his opponent whilst gripping the red emerald tightly in his hand. Eckli crouched, his muscles tensing as Ricardo approached.

Within moments he sprang up out of his crouch, surprising the charging hamster by barreling him over with his claws outstretched. Ricardo yelled once again in surprise as the pup swung a massive paw toward his face. Eckli managed to nick his enemy's ear before being tossed off much like the first time. He lost control, however, and slid across the smooth tile and into the wall. Taking advantage of the pup's down-time the power-crazy Ricardo charged once again, but this time he uttered no cry. Eckli yelped as the hamster's foot came into contact with his ribcage, sending the pup skidding and sprawling across the floor once again.

This time it was Hermes who let out a startled yell as he leaped out of the way of Eckli. With the fire in his eyes burning moer strongly than ever, Eckli picked himself up just in time to dodge Ricardo's hands grabbing for the emerald held in front of his chest. Teeth flashing, the pup darted out of the way quick as a bullet (literally), leaving his opponent to stare blankly at the spot where he'd been. But then Ricardo realized his mistake a little too late, for Eckli had come up behind the hamster and hurled himself at his back. Ricardo screamed with fury as the canine latched onto his right arm, pain shooting through his limb when the emerald should have prevented it.

But once again, the hamster felt he was at his wit's end. He was beginning to lose all patience he had scrounged up in the first place. Just what the hell was this little squirt of a mutt doing getting the better of Ricardo?? Ricardo, the one with the chaos emerald! However, as he wrenched his arm out of Eckli's mouth his crazed gaze rested on the yellow emerald. Even as the two fighters separated themselves to gather their barings and recover, the hamster's gaze was still drawn to that emerald.

If I could only get that stupid mutt to let it go, I could take it! Then I'd be all-powerful..... An insane grin flitted across his face, and he turned to look at the bite on his arm.

It was bleeding, but with the power of his emerald it was nothing Ricardo couldn't handle. Nothing at all. Ricardo chuckled in a dark fashion, before addressing Eckli...

"Pretty good, mutt. Not bad for a mangy pile'a fur like you." Eckli growled deep in his throat. Ricardo just grinned even more. "But not bad ain't gonna cut it against moi. Heh heh. I'll teach you to think you can beat me, even with another chaos emerald!"

And with that, the two enemies rushed at each other again, eyes burning and tempers flaring, being driven on by their exposure to the unbalanced affects of the emeralds....

OOC: Nice one Terg XD If you want to be more popular, I'd use 'Wunderbar' more than 'Dumkopf' when telling people how they are
I said I dont know anymore- or something like that XD. The context sounds more valid in German itself. Some sayings youll never be able to fully translate or appreciate the meaning of unless you can speak or have spoken the language before.
I can't even remember why said that... I think some of the OOC comments confused me or something XD

Anyway, yes I do apologise for my long absence and that I didn't announce it properly. I felt it necessary to cut myself off the net for starters as a lot people pressurise me to come on MSN and I tend to need a lot of Ben time you know? I also needed to revise. So then I got a bit of emotional blackmail here and there from people
That resit period was the worst time of my life... I'm serious. But I figured I'd be feeling the other extreme of what I feeling then if I did succeed... and I was right!

I was also without net at my brother's house but now he has broadband which means there's unlimited net access... no phone bills or anything but for a monthly 15 quid ^^.
So yeah, I'm good. Just Uni is going to be from 9-5 more or less from now on. The good news is that my next major exam is next year November. So, provided I attend sufficiently enough, I'm in 3rd year already XD

Hang in there James! As nagging and as a 'goody two shoes' I sound, you can't replace a good education!

Excellent handling on Wraith Tergonaut, and also an accurate account of his anger. You got it spot on! J

IC:

Wraith momentarily held a deceptively reposed expression, as he strained to think how he would handle this situation. After he opened his eyes fully and cast his gaze amongst each individual, illus ional copy of Cipher- all granted one was the real one- breathed out in frustration.
With constrained forewarning, the cerulean furred hedgehog swiftly turned around and aimed an upper kick, hitting Cipher squarely in the jaw who was behind him.
Except.
It wasnt Cipher.
As the foot passed through the apparition clone of Cipher, Wraith had no choice but to readopt a stern, but angered stance as he realised his failure at spotting the real white mouse individual.
I can help you, Catalyst 01, Cipher spoke, causing Wraith to snap his gaze in a particular direction, as he once again, strenuously pushed his sight and his mind to try to identify the official Cipher.
Wraith spontaneously tilted his head to the side and shot a couple of ice beams which cut through the air sharply at a screeching rate. On meeting the target, however, again the ice beams simply passed through yet another insubstantial form of Cipher and froze the tree behind him.
if you let me help you.
Wraith threw back his head slightly, scoffing and rolling his eyes at the same time.
Just what is your game old man?!? Wraith snarled ferociously, as his eyes darted rapidly, covering all angles of the perimeter he was standing in his perimeter I WILL find you!
With that, Wraith took off faster than the blink of an eye, charging like wildfire at every Cipher replica he laid his eyes on. He kept a hard determined stare as he found himself skimming through the hologram like duplicates- which simply disintergrated in thin air on contact- like ash after a fire.
Over there Wraith! Get him! Roody called out, pointing towards a lot of replicas that would spontaneously fade in and fade out, throughout the branches of the trees, the rocky contours and the veld.
The icey hedgehog made a sharp turn as he adhered to the Chaos pinpointing. He leapt rapidly, covering every branch, rock patch and area where an illusion once stood within nanoseconds- but to no avail of executing the real Cipher.
Wraith sheered to a screaming halt, a bead of cold sweat dripping off his eyebrow, dismayed and entangled in a sense of frustration and aversion.
Wow, you really are your own worst enemy arent you? Cata- the familiar voice sounded from an unknown direction.
Wraith! the hedgehog was quick to answer.
Well, now, if only you had told me earlier, I would gladly have referred you as
Shut it! Or els
Or else what? I believe I heard that one before and
Why are you so cowardly as to not revealing your true self anyway?! Wraith shouted, twisting around and pointing at a random replica.
Cowardly? Cypher asked impassively is it cowardly that I am staying put, around one with a sense of selfish brute and strength like yourself? For the sake of protecting those three kids?
Well its hardly courageous that your true self chooses to blend into the shadows whilst I fight all these other damn, forsaken, ethereal copies!!! Wraith called out as he held his palms out, supplementing his irritation with a contorted expression.
Wraith, courage is the quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear. Its not a measure of how much you brutalize your adversary.
Bloody hell! Cease your preach and prattle old man and reveal yourself NOW!!! Wraith practically screamed- repossessing his mad and speedy frenzy on dashing and slicing through the replicas with his rapid motion.
There was a sudden silence as the hedgehog, once again, skid to a halt- unsuccessful in having taken down his foe. As the manic streak once again dissipated for a while from the hedgehogs troubled mind, he shut his eyes as he leaned his forehead into one of his hands.
Where are you getting with all of this Wraith? Cipher asked all that power. That was given to the Ultimate lifeform. On a silver plate. The eyepatch donning mouse explained, speaking from an anonymous simulation and yet no will to direct or tune it
Wraith turned his head over his shoulder, and focused his cold eyes on a cloned imitation of the mouse that was only a few arms breadths away, leaning against a tree.
What a waste. He concluded his statement in a quieter but more serious tone, lifting his head as he stared at the hedgehog through the one eye.
You know NOTHING of me, nor my powers! Wraith hissed, digging his nails into the palms of his hands until it bled. He continued to stare at the mock-up mouse, in contrast to him, casually leaning against the tree despite the fact that Wraith fully well knew it wasnt the character he was talking to.
Oh but I do. Cipher corrected him face it, how was it that I knew your codename- or true name as it were? Or your origins?
Wraith maintained a cold stare at the mouse- disgusted and feeling tainted within himself for being in this situation which suffocated his ego.
In spite of the involuntary deed you were enrolled for- you dont have to be allow yourself to be bound down to such hate and malice.
Helplessness...Life's Feeble excuses. Transform the lies. Inflicts past abuses. Predoomed
Postdommed. Face the inevitable. Change is futile
Wraith? Roody asked, interrupting his thoughts.
Wraith shook his head as he snapped back to reality.
Okay, Wraith spoke precisely; standing up straight and putting his hands on his hips as he smirked at all replicas whilst casting his gaze why not tell me more about the Combine old man?
Wraith frowned, as he put a hand to his chin and adopted a reflective look.
I cant seem to quite remember the schematics of their motives, or my purpose as clearly as I had hoped
The hedgehog removed his hand, looking up and staring at one of the replicas attentively with a smirk of interest.
And while that idiot wastes his times preaching to me Ill catch him out and make him regret EVER being born the damn forsaken fool! he thought.

A cough.

His purple colored eyes dimmed as he snarled from his posistion. "Dirty little..punk." he mutters under his breath as he looks down and retrieves his sword- which in truth had only fallen. He looked at it and took a second to catch his breath. The echidna did not like being backhanded like he had just been. His eyes narrowed, and he bared his teeth. With this approaching anger he swung his sword harshly at the column before him.

The column cracked and broke.

He snorted in reaction, and apparently did not notice that the sword that he held in his hands- its blade was glowing neon green. It had only really glowed at the tip at night previousily, but perhaps his agression fueled it.

"Nobody. Nobody backhands Factor Echidna." he sneered as he jumped over the remains of the column and walked slowly for the up and comming battle.

"Hey retard-on-a-stick! You hit like a girl."

Apparently the echidna was too fumed up that he didn't notice Eckli, his primary focus was on the bloke that hit him earlier. He bared his teeth more, and twitched a bit. He was still a peeved about being backhanded.

(OOC: Personally, I didn't think douchebag was too bad- but meh. When worlds collide.)

OOC:

Hey Tergonaut, may I ask what your email address is? You can always pm it to.

Thank you for your message btw ^^
It's just that I am having a problem with this computer in terms of staying 'logged' in. I can only open up to two links at a time before I get logged out. I barely got on to see your message XD.
Replying will be diffecult for me! I'm sorry about this problem. It took me a good deal of time just to edit my post here- which I had to do as I wrote my post in word and when 'copying and pasting to here'- some of the punctuation marks came out all funny and foreign o.O Eevery time I tried to edit, I'd get logged out. But there was a one off time where it worked. Still, it's all a little frustrating!

I don't know why the login problems are bad on this com. Probably something to do with corrupt cookies but I don't know how to sort them out unfortunatly.

All in all, is it okay to have an alternate means of contacting you? =)

Many thanks^^

OOC: Wow, I saw those whacky symbols but I didn't realize that was a comp problem, Ben. And no probs, you can e-mail me at tergocorp @ hotmail.com (make sure to remove the spaces, I'm trying to avoid spambots picking it up) - this is not the e-mail address I prefer to use, but I can give you my primary one from there. Hope that computer problem is something you can fix and isn't the DSL connection you mentioned earlier, that would really stink.

I'm going to try to post again soon, just felt that needed posting about.

And Mike, er, that one insult that Factor used is a bit on the dirty side, might just be better to modify it. But cool otherwise.

OOC: Howdy everyone! i got some free time today cos i had barely any homework because i worked extra hard at school today... but i came home extra exhausted. but that's not the reason why i didn't post. My girlfriend Gem was feeling really ill after school today and she was so drained of energy she could barely walk straight. On days like today when her mother is unable to come pick her up from the highschool, she has to walk home herself. she lives an hour away from the highschool, and she was feeling ill and drained of energy, and it just happened to be a really cold afternoon, with winter breeze surrounding us. I was so worried about her, i couldn't let her walk for an hour in her condition in weather like today's. My house only happens to be 10 minutes walk from the highschool, so i told her to come by my house and take a rest. I walked her to my house and form there i tended to her, brought her water and such. She wasn't feeling too good. I left a message on her house's answering machine for her mother, so that when she got back from work she could come pick up Gem. Gem was feeling better by the time her mother arrived, but still looked a bit pale. I hope she gets over her cold, poor thing.

She was here until around 5:30PM, i wouldn't let her out of my sight, so i didn't get to homework until after her mother was able to take her home. I felt tired myself afterwards, so i had to take a rest after doing some homework, then there was dinner, and now i am posting. at 9:42PM yes we ate dinner late today.

Well, just thought there was a need to explain myself there, seeing as i haven't posted at all, and i posted late today. Really sorry for not being around people, school is getting hectic, thankfully i am able to maintain a foothold on the work pile, but it can only go downhill from here i suppose. Really, do i need to learn Pythagorean Identity, Relationships between complementary functions and unit circles in maths? when am i ever going to use this crap if i intend to be a video game concept artist? i can see the next blockbuster game title now:

yeah. who'd play that garbage? I doubt that teachers would, I knew a really cool English teacher who played Warcraft 3! He had it on his laptop, but he never played it during a class. He was a clever one Its a shame he doesnt teach at my school anymore.

-----------------------
IC:

Droplets of dew sparkled on the edges of the leaves of the many curved trees that formed a canopy over the forest walkway that Eclipse, Susie, and the young hedgehog Caine trekked along.

Caine led the way slowly, with his head almost bowed completely down in misery. Eclipse and Susie followed, but at a pace that was quite slow compared to their normal walking pace, only because they wanted to make sure they were constantly following Caine.

"since I lost my memory, and since I was created along with Wraith, intended for the Combine's plans... do you think before, maybe I was bad... maybe different to how I am now- that maybe if I do recover my memory... I might change?"

Caines words echoed in Eclipses mind, and seemed to be playing on loop at the same time. Nothing had been said to Caine since he had last spoken, because directly after that, Caine had noticed Susies inquiry and just turned around with an unsettled facial expression, and began to walk, toward that place of legend that Nack had spoken of.

Do you know where were going clips? whispered Susie to Eclipse as they followed Caine. Eclipse shrugged and shook his head lightly. Susie had leaned over to whisper to Eclipse, and when he shook his head, his cheek and upper neck brushed against some of Susies whiskers, tickling him slightly.

Eclipses facial expression tightened as he felt the sensation on his face from susies whiskers, but he didnt laugh, merely jolt back a bit and raise his shoulders up to his chin height.

Susie almost laughed at Eclipses strange actions, unaware that she was the cause of it. What? she asked with an amused smile on her face, almost like shed seen something cute.

Eclipse shivered off the tingling in his face and straightened himself out before he replied, his cheeks slightly red, n-nothing., his expression turned serious, Anyway, I think Caine knows where hes going, so its best just to follow him. He spoke as quietly as he could.

Susie placed her hands behind her head and stretched before replying quietly, yeah, but we oughta ask him what all that stuff about the talking tree and the bleeding stag was about.

Eclipse scratched his chin in thought, I think you have those mixed up there Susie. Whatever were heading towards sounds to be magical in nature, perhaps I can do my best to analyse the situation when we get there

He trailed off as his eyes focused on the back of Caine. The boy would be feeling very sensitive to anything that might be said to him about being a bioweapon, so thus nothing was said. But something had to be done to help the poor boy, help him understand.

Susie, Im going to talk to him. Whispered Eclipse to Susie, taking care of her whispers as he leaned over to her. Susie nodded and watched as Eclipse caught up to walk beside Caine.

Caine shuffled a bit as Eclipse appeared on his left, he wasnt sure that he was ready to talk to anyone yet, nor was he sure he wanted to talk to anyone.

Hey, Caine. Said Eclipse in a not overly-friendly tone. Caine turned his head away, but not in an annoyed fashion, but more as a nervous defensive movement, like he was hiding.

hello ushered the young hedgehog in a quiet, depressed tone.

Eclipse sighed, Caine, about what you said before Eclipses facial expression spoke out symphathy, but Caine didnt turn to look at him, I know by now that it must be true about you being a genetically engineered being, but that doesnt necessarily make you a bioweapon.

Caines ears pricked up and he turned to face Eclipse with a depressed curioisity.

Eclipse wanted to smile for Caine, but he felt too sorry for him to feel happy, Bioweapon is a name given to a genetically engineered weapon, and Weapon is a term used for something that is intended to cause harm upon living beings. But look at it this way, have you ever felt the need to harm anyone?

Caines mouth was open with a form of shock in Eclipses logic, he hadnt thought of it that way before, n-no at least, I dont think so. He replied, with a timid voice.

Eclipses hands made actions during his speech, it was a little mannerism he had, no doubt picked up from learning some hand movements that were required for some magical incantations as a younger child. Well, continued Eclipse, You havent ever felt the NEED to harm anyone, and you HAVENT caused any harm to anyone at all. How can you be a weapon if you havent harmed anyone?

but replied Caine with some sadness in his tone, but I might have already hurt someone before I just cant remember and even if I havent, I was still designed to bring harm, its what I was created for

Eclipse placed a hand on Caines shoulder, dont get upset Caine. I know thats what you were designed for. But guess what? You dont have to do what you were designed to do. When you were created, they overlooked one important factor, and that is that you dont have to do what they want you to do. They created you, but you are the one who gets to make your own choices in life, not them.

Caine wiped his brow, yes I dont want to harm anyone but, theres still my memory loss what if I already have hurt people? What if I what if I liked it?

Eclipse shook his head, That is the past Caine, you cant help that. You have to focus on the future. I know that it hurts, I can understand but if you dont let yourself change, then you might become something you dont want to be. Look at yourself, you obviously hate being called a weapon, so just think about it. You dont have to be one. You dont have to be like Wraith just because you were engineered for the same goal.

Eclipse pondered for a moment, actually I dont even know whether Wraith knows enough about himself either he might be just like you, but just misguided.

Caine looked at Eclipse with a level of understanding, almost like an eager student listening to their teacher. At the mention of Wraith though, Caines mind began to wander.

Caine.

Caines focus went back to Eclipse as the bat continued speaking, Youve seen me youve seen me become something else. Youve seen how Ive turned into that, that bloodthirsty, wicked thing that only brings harm to everything Youve seen me lose control, and fail to keep Lunaril from causing so much trouble. Does that make me a weapon? I have caused harm before, yet here I am, with intentions of protecting people, like you and Susie and and I dont want to hurt anyone, and I choose to be what I want to be. Let me put it this way, just because I have magic that can bring harm onto people, doesnt mean I have to use it to bring harm, I can use it to protect people instead. Do you understand?

Caine nodded and turned to look at the ground, deep in thought.

Eclipse patted him on the back, If you get your memory back, and its not what you wanted just make sure you dont forget what you know now. You can make the right decisions when you know what is best.

Eclipses focus was broken as he felt a finger poke the back of his head, Susie had poked him and had a cheesy grin on her face, gosh you talk a lot! she said.

Caine almost smiled at that, it was amusing in a way

Eclipse grabbed Susies hand and nudged it away, but blushed when he saw that her hand was cupped in between both of his. Instantly he recoiled and stuttered his speech, i-Im, Im s-sorr-ry! he shouted nervously as he released his hands.

Susie just laughed at him.

Caine was too deep in thought to be paying attention to what Eclipse and Susie were on about, and thus the whole thing seemed to just drift by him unnoticed.

Eclipse straightened out and turned back to Caine, so, *ahem*, Caine could you please explain that thing to me about the stag and the bleeding tree?

its talking tree and bleeding stag replied Susie.

no, Im quite sure that Ceipher guy said talking stag and bleeding tree replied Elcipse.

talking stag? nah, it wasnt a talking stag!

did I say talking stag? I meant talking tree.

I said that and you said it wasnt!

did I? no wait I was right, it was a bleeding stag.

what?

what!? What did I say?

OOC: That was very good of you to do that for Gem, James. You're a very good and kind-hearted person. Gem's quite lucky. ^^ But yes...will type up an IC when I have more time. Gotta memorize a drama scene.

OOC: Well, the point of removing douchebag was to remove it entirely, Mike, but eh. It's actually kinda funny how you handled it. XD S'alright, this group is mature enough so that it doesn't matter so much, I'd just not use it from now on or use it sparingly.

I might expand on this post later today, but after writing out what I did with Cipher and Wraith, I just had to get this down. I do intend on continuing more with the city group as well as with Susie, though that shouldn't stop anybody else from posting in the meantime.

IC:
"Some memory loss is to be expected," said Cipher kindly as each of the remaining images put their hands into their pockets and looked at Wraith, their single eyes all focused on the blue hedgehog. "The stress of being created and forced to physical maturity so quickly surely would have been a strain on your mind. It is a tragedy that the Combine would have abused the powers of creating life in this way, especially since their goal is to end all life. And you were the vehicle through which they intended to achieve that goal."

"Be more to the point, I don't care about the morality of my creation," said Wraith with subdued frigid coolness as he looked around him, his eyes slowly but carefully perusing each mouse copy.

"Very well then. As you know, you have the ability to tap into the power of the Servers - the Chaos Emeralds - and to utilize their energy in ways that are impossible for normal Mobians to accomplish through normal means. That gift was given to you by the Combine, for the intent that you would be given the seven Servers and use their combined power."

"And what would that accomplish?"

"The destruction of this planet and possibly, the rest of all existence," stated Cipher, a slight quaver in his voice. "The Combine has been manipulated by the evil force that is trapped inside this planet. A demon that was trapped inside Mobius when it was formed, and whose essence has been bound by the seven Servers. To serve its evil purposes, it has contacted people and formed the Combine to use our own mortal follies against us: jealousy, hatred, greed, malice...we make the very weapons that are used to divide and conquer our society."

Wraith closed his eyes, his arms crossed in front of him. "You know much about this "Combine," old man. But what do you get out of this? Why are you trying to interfere with the plans of the Combine?"

"Because I don't want to be destroyed," said the mouse, with a tinge of guilt. "It is selfish, I know. But I hope that by preserving myself and this planet, we may be able to reach a point where we can set aside the evils of the world and move on to a golden age. I want to work toward that, and the Combine is a clear obstacle."

"So," said Wraith as he opened his eyes, and turned to look at one of the Ciphers with piercing eyes. "That means I would be an obstacle to your goal, isn't that right?"

The Cipher blanched, but before he could react Wraith had slammed him against a tree, the hedgehog's hands holding the mouse by the collar. The other Ciphers all faded out of existence, leaving Wraith and Cipher alone in the grove, the wind blowing some leaves around them like a decrepit cyclone. "Because if your goal is to not be destroyed...then I am the biggest threat to your continued existence that you could ever conceive of! Game over, old man."

"Or...you could be...my greatest ally," choked out Cipher pleadingly, struggling to breathe as the hedgehog pressed him against the rough brown bark of the tree. "You could...change the destiny of this planet...all you'd need, is some training, to find your ultimate potential..."

"And you would offer that to me?" asked Wraith, frowning. "Has your fear addled your brains? Even if you could teach me how to be better, and I doubt you could, then why? Wouldn't that make me a greater threat to you? Wouldn't that bring me one step closer to destroying hope for a golden age?"

"Maybe...your argument is valid." Then, maddeningly enough, the mouse managed to smirk. "Though, if an old man, like myself, could keep the Ultimate Life Form from catching some kids for almost an hour...then are you so sure there is nothing I could teach you?"

The leaves rattled across the roots of the tree before being caught up by the wind and sent flying up past Cipher and Wraith, with Roody hovering near Wraith's shoulder.

Ricardo automatically turned on the spot and noticed Factors comment, although for all intents and purposes it was only just possible. The hamster was wrapped up in his own enraged anger with Eckli that he barely noticed Factor, yet notice him Ricardo did, and with it he smirked slightly.

Eckli had proven to be a durable threat so far, that much was true, but Ricardo found it laughable that this Echidna still wanted to continue resisting him and fighting him. Factors sword had managed to strangely cancel out and block Ricardos punch full of chaotic energy, but his body was less so durable. Ricardo had merely backhanded the Echidna, and already Ricardo could see the wounds running throughout Factors body. It wouldnt surprise him if Factor had some broken ribs or merely just large bruising, either way, Factor would die by Ricardos hands soon enough.

You people have no brains at all, do- Ricardos sentence was cut off as his whole body was completely thrown away from the ground he had once been standing on and newly thrown against the grand staircase which led up to the next level; First Floor. With his crashing, the staircase was destroyed along the centre, throwing up a thick mound of smoke and dust and caving in the middle section. The staircase wasnt completely destroyed, as it was still possible to be able to climb it along the sides of the stairs, but as it was the middle area of it was now destroyed in an incredible display, and all from a surprising head butt from a much more powered up Eckli.

Factor frowned in irritation at the surprise attack, after all, he wanted to fight Ricardo! But as it was, the pair of them were in a confrontation all of their own. He would still try to intercept and contribute to the battle as well, but the speed and power at which both Eckli and Ricardo would fight at would be overwhelming.

The smoke began to clear, and Ricardo picked himself up out of the rubble from the devastated middle section of the staircase, his eyes glowing red with anger and the rest of his body seemingly having a much more scarier aura increase, as if his own anger had increased his own power. He was much more intimidating now, but to Eckli, angry for what happened to his friends, and Factor, arrogant at the attack Ricardo had dealt him, seemed oblivious to this. The other, more saner figures on the ground floor battlefield however, were feeling the effects of this and were even becoming to be afraid.

Hermes edged away from the battle between the others (as Ricardo and Eckli became closer again to continue fighting, all the while more abuse from all combatants being thrown) and he moved towards a large crater in the ground floor. He stopped, and peered down inside it, towards a still and unconscious figure lying in the centre of it. An Overlander woman, Riku, unconscious. Hermes frowned, as he himself had felt Riku own overwhelming aura before and knew how powerful she was. The fact that she had been defeated was harrowing and unnerving, but with the rise of power in Eckli some hope had been restored. But the danger of what happened to Ricardo happening to Eckli as well was scary.

But regardless of the fight, Hermes priority now was to help Riku. The battle field looked like it would get more and more destroyed and being in here wasnt safe. He continued to move down the crater, before he stood side by side to Rikus prone form. Before, he hadnt the time to truly consider and relate earlier experiences with this group to the forest, but now, Hermes could see that Riku was familiar in an unnerving manner. Just before he had fell unconscious he met something that looked akin to a demon. And that demon had the same aura signature as Riku.

Whatever. Hermes thought to himself. Whether she actually is a demon or not, shes a part of this group, and Ive got to get her out of here. Hermes moved and helped lift Riku, before carrying on towards the exit of the ground floor and to join the rest of the group outside. Besides, we all have our own personal demons It was with that he thought of himself and his more insane side and then, two more figures. One, an icey blue, fast and powerful hedgehog, and yet another, darker magic wielding bat, and then wondered what had happened to the pair of them

OOC: Wow wow wow. Good handling on Wraith once again. Wouldve been a sin not to commend you Terg. XD The interaction there just seemed spot on, everywhere!

And that was a genuine, kind hearted thing you did for your girlfriend James! Youre one in a million.

IC:

Wraith glared at Cipher, squarely in the one eye as if he tried to stab his soul.
Gotcha this time, didnt he?!? Roody taunted as he swooped down just an inch away from Ciphers face, and flew back up again with the dead autumn leaves that were also subjected to an updraft.
Cipher held his position, unphased by the ephemeral jibe. He was still to a greater or lesser extent more interested in what Wraith would deliver, after all he had tried to offer him in his earlier talk despite the fact that the hedgehog was an unapproachable, stubborn and volatile being.
Wraith had to admit, that he found it irritating, and even irking that despite the fact he could easily snap the mouses neck in his bare hands, that he remained so calm and in control. Even more in control than what the hedgehog felt himself despite the fact that he had the upper hand!
Yes, that was an interesting pet trick and indeed maybe I could learn a lot more from the likes of you Wraith said, picking up from the last conversation but as entertaining as your stupid little game was, I sussed you out old fool! And maybe I can suss out everything else I have to offer! And as it stands now, I could easily finish you off- and then find those stupid kids!
With that, the hedgehog abruptly slammed Cipher against tree trunk which gave off a cracking, but harmless thump.
As Cipher yelped slightly from the mildly aggressive blow, Wraith had turned around beforehand and took four or five paces forward, as if in deep thought.
Cipher shook his head, trying to recover from the slight daze.
So Wraith called out, simultaneously spinning around again on the spot and whipping out a patronizing finger towards the slumped mouse how does that make you feel old man?! Why afraid?! he shouted, with a conclusive smirk on his face.
To an extent Cipher groaned slightly as he picked himself up but I dont think anyone well ever know real fear as much as you do. Isnt that right Wraith?
WHAT?! Wraith demanded incredulously.
Cipher casually delayed looking at Wraith, as he looked down to the ground whilst dusting the grit and leaves off of him, despite the fact that he was well aware of his reaction.
Yes. More than anyone. More than me. More than your Chao. More than Eclipse, the bat and even more than young Caine, he explained, briefly making eye contact with those frosty eyes its nothing to be ashamed off. How could it have been helped what everything they put you through you being the first experiment, the first genetic martyr the first Protocol for the Combines dark plans- the injustice is just bound to have drawn inevitable fea-
Youre calling me a coward old man! Wraith said through gritted teeth as he slanted his head and pointed at him again accusingly.
Why do you choose to manipulate the context of my words, Wraith? Why do you believe the worst of what I mean?
Shut your mouth already old man! I dont want your pity! the high-strung hedgehog snarled with his fists thrust downwards at either side of him, livid at the mouses inquisitive manner
EVER!
Very well. Cipher sighed, closing his one eye bare your burden alone. But Ill listen if you ever need to
No. Wraith said coolly as he approached him and gave him a dark look but perhaps Ill consider your other pursuits.
Oh really? Cipher asked intrigued, folding his arms and standing up tall as if totally oblivious from the earlier threats and blows in its various forms.
Despite this previous perilous pursuit, theres still room for the Ultimate lifeform to reason?
Reason?! Think nothing of it! Wraith protested this is a mere investment on my part! It just so happens that maybe what you do know about the Combine, and what you can teach me in the form of progressing these so-called powers I havent yet mastered would be a considerable exchange if I were to simply aid you to reach your golden age as such.
If I didnt know better, I would say that you do indeed sound interested in saving this planet, Cipher smirked with his eye closed, but then frowned and yet with your mad desire for power, I suspect that, despite the fact that you choose not to adhere to the Combines motives, and I doubt mine, that you may have your own. Ulterior ones. The mouse continued as Wraith maintained a speculative stare, even though Cipher still had his eye closed.
may I ask what they are?
At that point, Roody was anticipating the icey hedgehog to punish the mouse for pushing his luck a bit, as he knew his superior despised having to be too informative unnecessarily.
But of course, old man, Wraith smiled simply to be free. From anything and everything that has kept me down, is keeping me down and will ever keep me down
The cerulean hedgehog paused for a minute as he stared at the ground reflectively.
Is it justifiable enough for you to accept that as my answer? Wraith asked you do know that in all due time that Im going to need the seven Chaos Emeralds in order to pursue your request. But tell me, old man, do you think youve acquired enough wisdom in all your old years to decipher whether this is all ultimately going to lead to your desired cause? Wraith asked, indecisive as to whether he should frown or smile as he waited for an answer. He did indeed wonder why the eye-patch donning mouse was willing to make deal as risky as this and whether his motives were indeed true to his words. It made him suspicious.

OOC2: That took a long time to write, and I'm not even sure what I tried to convey other than a long conversation =/. I guess some 'bidding' between two contrast characters.
Going to write Caine's scene tomorrow hopefully.

OOC: Sorry but I can't hold you guys up anymore. I'm pulling out because I don't feel I can really RP anymore and such. You are free to use Lena and Riku if you wish, or just let them leave the RP because I'm also leaving the Mofo.

OOC: Sorry to see you leave Torn =/. Fancied another showdown with Riku but...
Well just take care. I'm sure the door's always open if you ever want to return.

IC:

Caine continued to lead the way, taking a mere glimpse at the bickering cat and bat. He frowned slightly at the fact that they were having a tendancy to make things a lot more confusing than they actually were.
"It was a talking stag and a bleeding tree," Caine sighed "Eclipse was right!"
"Are you sure? I mean... a talking stag and a bleeding tree?" Susie asked perplexed.
"Sure I'm sure..." Caine answered, as he pushed aside some flowerage and peered through the forest beyond.
"So what about it Caine?" Eclipse asked.
"... well." Caine paused, still holding his hands against the foliage "When I was with Wraith and that Weasel, the Weasel said that these woods were cursed..."
"Curse?!? Like in mummies in desert? Oh my! So there's mummy's in these woods?!?" Susie interrupted in a frantic panic.
"I... er... I'm not sure about that one," Caine replied tilting his head as he looked at the cat in a confused manner.
Eventually the group of three resumed their pace, walking through the forest on a discrete path.
"Cursed?... really..." Eclipse responded, almost trailing off as that he found that word struck a cord with him to an extent.
"Yes. According to a legend, two thousand years ago. A knight and maiden once passed through these woods. When suddenly, they bumped into an echantress. An evil one!"
"...eeee!"
"Yeah!" Caine nodded wide-eyed "she then suddenly threatened to punish the knight and the maiden for passing through her forest..."
"Hey! It's not her forest! It's everyone's forest!" Susie protested.
"There's no other way to persuade these sorta people Susie. Not everyone will see things that way... that is... if she was real..." Eclipse responded, before looking back at Caine "please continue."
"She was then going to cast a spell upon the knight, when the maiden stepped in the way, to try and protect him. And she was transformed into... into..."
"Into what?" Susie asked curiously, raising a pair of inquisitive ears.
"A tree!" Caine exclaimed, pointing at random directions around the forest "one of these forest trees... she could be ANY of them!"
Eclipse and Susie diverted their stares amongst the many trees surrounding them, quite intrigued, if not a little disturbed- despite their greater or lesser belief in the legend as of yet.
"...so what happened next?" Eclipse asked.
"I think then, that the knight got angry and upset, and stepped in to try and hit the enchantress with her sword. But then she stole it off him and drove the sword into the tree..."
"And that's what's accounting for the bleeding tree?" Eclipse asked.
"Yeah... yeah it is."
Susie paused, a bit taken a back a bit.
"I don't like this story. It's not a very happy one." she said disheartened.
"The knight then tried to pull the sword out of the tree, but the enchantress stopped him by casting a spell on him, and turning him into a stag."
"Oh no! Now he'll never get the sword out, if he has hooves and no hands!" Susie exclaimed.
Caine and Eclipse looked at Susie with surprise.
"That's true..." Caine sighed "it's a pity. I've never heard a story with a happy ending before..."

Taffy recovered from the swirl of memories, which had been still hanging at the edge of her mind even as she spoke. But now that she was able to focus more clearly, she realized that Karya was headed straight for the building.

"Hold on a minute!" exclaimed Taffy as she took two strides and wrapped her arms under the cybernetic vixen's shoulders, holding her back. "We can't just wander back in there without some type of plan."

"You 'spect me to leave Eck in there?! Let me go, Taffy!"

"We can't help him if we just rush in there! They're both too powerful, and if we make a wrong move then Ricardo might try to use us against Eckli!"

Karya froze, then relaxed, and Taffy let her go though she could still feel the slight level of danger emanating from her as she turned to face the dark-furred raccoon. "You're right...but what should we do? We can't let 'im fight against that whacko by himself!"

"We won't, Karya, I promise you that." Taffy let out a breath and took a deep one, giving herself a brief moment to think before she opened her mouth again. "The Combine is looking for Chaos Emeralds. No matter what, we can't let them fall into their hands. But it also means that the Combine might have more Emeralds somewhere here in the city, and we have to investigate that complex before it gets destroyed. If nothing else, we might find a clue to where they're looking next."

"But we can't all go rushing in there either," pointed out Zephron, holding up one finger. "Those two powerhouses might be able to distract some of them, but if this is a Combine base then they're likely to have more goons running around."

Taffy nodded, grateful for Zephron's more tactically-minded sense. "And Eckli will need someone nearby in case he loses power. I don't know if he will, but I don't want to take any chances."

"I'll stay with him," said Karya immediately. "And you should too, Zeph."

"What? Why me?!"

"Because you were the one who got him involved like this in the first place."

"Okay then," said Taffy as she butted into the conversation before any more arguing could take place, "and that means Max, Lena, Alex and me can sneak in. Hermes and Factor are still there, so they'll be able to help you if you need it. We need to do this fast, so let's do this!"

Cipher managed a chuckle, despite the seriousness of the situation. Or perhaps because of it. "To answer your first question, I will accept that as an answer if you will accept my answer to your second question. And as for that, I'm afraid I must ask yet another question..."

The mouse raised a hand up to his chin thoughtfully, as if to ponder exactly how to phrase his next words. "Wraith, do you think that it was coincidence that you met Caine today? Or those others?"

"There are no coincidences," said Wraith coldly, looking narrowly at the mouse. "Something either happens, or it doesn't."

"Quite true. And in this particular case, you are exactly right." Cipher stuffed his hands into his pockets. "You, them, Caine - all of you were guided to each other by me. Something either happens, or it doesn't, and there is always some force at work when something happens. In this case, it was prophecy."

"Prophecy?" spat Wraith, disgust clear in his voice. "Words to give hope to the weak. And I am no cow to be herded."

"That is true as well, but it was not difficult to guide the others toward you. But I'm doing this because by doing so, I am able to work prophecy onto my side. You see, long ago, one of the ancient prophets of Mobius had a revelation about this day and age. The demon inside Mobius even back then was trying to release itself, and the Combine is the result of centuries of manipulation. But the prophet wrote down certain words that were passed down until I was sent to procure them by the Combine, nearly three years ago now."

"And let me guess...it changed your life and made you decide to go against the Combine?" The smirk on Wraith's face mirrored Cipher's in shape, but not in emotion. For where there was self-assurance in Cipher's lips, on Wraith's was disdain.

"I would have chosen more words to say that in, but yes. The prophecy was so clear about our times that I could not deny the truth of its words. I stole it and ran away, studying it carefully to discern the proper means I would need to bring it fully to pass. The timing is perfect now, and all of the players are in place. Only the execution of the plan exists now, a complicated yet elegant plan that will change Mobius for the better if this works." Cipher glanced up at Roody, which caused the dark Chao to frown mischievously back. "The gist of the prophecy is that there are only two ways that this situation will turn out. The Chaos Emeralds will be gathered by either the Combine, or by yourself and the others. If the Combine gets them all first, then they will achieve their ultimate goal. But if the 'chosen ones' gather them all together, passing the tests and trials in their way, then they will earn the right to free Mobius of the Combine's wickedness and lead us on to a new age."

Wraith nodded, though his expression dropped back into stony seriousness. "Sounds promising. Yet you said yourself that you have been working behind the scenes, interfering to bring about that which you believe to be true."

"But what I said is still true, Wraith. If I do nothing, the Combine WILL gather the Emeralds. I know of their plans, and they are nothing short of devilish. But if I do something, then we might be able to save the world. For, after all, you cannot be free without a place to live, and the demon of this world would seek to destroy everything - even the very concepts of truth, justice and freedom."

"How gallant, then, is it to fight for such things. Just don't preach to me, old man, and I'm willing to learn what you have to offer."

Cipher nodded. "Certainly, though I'll expect you to pay attention if something I say relates to the prophecy." He stretched his arms backward before putting his hands back into his pockets and turned, walking through the forest. "Now, we must catch up to our friends Eclipse, Susie and Caine. By the time we reach them, they will have found the next Emerald or have died trying."

"What?!" shouted Wraith indignantly as he immediately caught up, Roody doing his best to stay up with the pair as Cipher also began to walk faster. "All that talk about keeping me from reaching them, and now this? Are you senile?"

"The talking was partly to give them enough time to go through their task uninterrupted," said Cipher nonchalantly. "And we must practice your skills as we walk through this forest. You must be prepared for when we meet the assassins again, who will also be searching for our friends."

"YOUR friends. Do not disappoint me, old man."

"Oh, I won't," smiled Cipher. "Now, take the Emerald, and I want you to focus on a single emotion..."

One of Eclipse's huge ears twitched, and Susie immediately perked up her own ears. "What's up, 'Clips?" she asked.

"I just heard footsteps...and not ours," replied Eclipse as he slowly turned around, his one ear angling itself until he was faced in the same direction it was. He pointed at a vixen with off-white fur, holding an old gnarled wooden staff with a red gemstone set into the end.

"Ohmigosh," squealed Susie as she grabbed onto Eclipse's arm, her fur bristling out again as her ears folded back onto her head. "It's the sorceress!"

"It is indeed, but I am not the same woman I was all that time ago," said the vixen plainly, stepping out from the shadows of the trees and standing proudly before them. "My name is Jayne, and I am here to warn you. You must not trust Cipher!"

Outside the Combine Headquarters:

Alex had managed to hear everything that was said, but of course, he had large hearing and thus a good sense of being able to detect the sound, even now he could accurately hear each and every explosion occurring upon the ground level battle clearly. However, although he had heard all of what was said, it didnt mean he agreed or totally understood it.

His eyes had fallen and rested themselves upon Buckys unconscious form. Despite the numerous other things he felt, at this moment in time, his strongest emotion was to stay here, and help protect her. As such, he couldnt leave with the group of four and enter the rest of the building-

Dont worry about it kid, these guys will look after her. A voice spoke up which startled Alex and awoken him from his secluded thoughts. Alex was at first filled with confusion but realization dawned in as he understand that the speaker was Max. Alex was now even more surprised, as it seemed as though Max had managed to identify what Alexs problem was automatically, as if he could read his mind! Although this was untrue, it was still something that surprised the young rabbit.

But- Alex began to progress, but Max raised a hand upwards, silencing him, and shook his head. Theres nothing that you staying here will achieve that these two guys can do already. As it is, its best for you to come with us and help us out on the upper floors.

Alex winced and frowned, he wasnt entirely comfortable, but a reassuring glance from both Taffy and Karya confirmed it. He took a deep breath and sighed, before nodding slightly.

How do we go up there, though? Lena interjected, presenting her concerned thoughts. I noticed some elevators on the lower floors, but to get to them would mean going through that battlefield, and thats certainly not the safest thing to do Lena also held her own reservations about her part in what they had to do. Although she knew it was necessary for her to assist her friends, she also felt a need to go to the battlefield and heal whoever was injured, such as Riku.

Theres got to be a fire escape set of stairs somewhere around it, maybe the side or the back. Zephron interjected. I mean, surely a company like this would have it. And besides, not only is it safer in case something major happens down at the ground level, but it should also provide good cover climbing up and down it.

Its sorted then, lets move quickly while weve still got time. Taffy said, moving forwards to progress and lead the way to it. She wasnt sure on which way the fire escape stairs would be, but regardless theyd have to move quickly. Lena followed after Taffy, and then Alex began to move, before his shoulder was suddenly grabbed and he was halted from moving forwards. His eyes widened with surprise at first, but as he turned and saw who it was, he relaxed.

Karya? he asked, wondering what the vixen wanted.

Here. She replied, lifting up her organic arm and presenting to Alex Buckys bow. Youre going to need it for now, because Bucky wont for snoozeland. Alex didnt know what to do, but he grudgingly accepted it and nodded at Karya, smiling to her. He didnt feel worthy enough to use someone elses weapon, especially Buckys.

Th-thank you. Ill make sure to bring it back in one piece. Alex spoke softly.

Yadda yadda yadda, we aint got time for this, lets move! Max said, wanting to take the rear of the group and provide protection with his gun. Alex was quickly hurried by the pushing Max, and slowly but surely the group was splintered into two, four of their number moving towards the fire escape stairs and then to the upper floors of the Combine base whilst the other two, Karya and Zephron, remained and waited in reserve in case anything dreadful happened.

Alex quickly caught up to the front of the four, running alongside Taffy. It made better sense to have two people with long distance weapons at either end of the group, and thus Alex and Taffy brought the point, Lena the middle, and Max the rear. As the four came nearer to the outer side of the building, Alex eventually spoke aloud to Taffy.

T-taffy Im sorry for everything Ive caused you, the hurt, pain and worry. T-this, everything were doing Im not a hero. I- Alex began, but once again found his stuttering sentence interrupted.

Of course youre not. None of us are meant to be heroes. Taffy replied, with reassurance. But lets continue this later when weve got a better chance to catch our breath, hmm? Taffy finished with a smile.

Okay. Alex said with no reluctance. He still felt guilty about his earlier actions, and still had doubts, but now was beginning to feel a little better about himself. For the group, for Taffy, for Bucky, he would try his hardest.

Combine Headquarters: 6th floor:

The ground rumbled. No the whole building rumbled again, for the umpteenth time. It had come to no surprise now that these quakes were frequent, yet with each one brought a new set of worry towards the group that the next one could be the last, and that the whole building could then collapse right around their ears.

He had given voice of concern to help deal with the situation that was creating the quakes, but was wisely refused. The situation was far out of his and the other mens leagues, after all it was a Chaos Emerald empowered battle. It was best to stay in their positions, guard the remainder of the base and instead wait for the signal for clean-up. When the battle beneath them had eventually came to a close, they would clean up the rest of the battle and take the losers Chaos Emerald for their leader. Even if Ricardo had lost, they would still carry on the fight against the enemy. This in itself made many worry, and silently pray that Ricardo win, as well as the walls and ceiling around them not to cave in and give them a silent burial.

Johnson desperately wanted a smoke, but it was against company policy. It all conformed against health standards, about how it best maximised their efficiency if they didnt smoke. But dang, didnt this tension make him almost die for a cigarette.

Johnson was the leader of the group of five men around him, all garbed in uniform green armoured gear, all of them Overlanders. They were guards, their purpose in protecting this Combine headquarters, and thus the intruders they knew who were attacking below them. However, despite the fact that they were guards of the building, they didnt know of the Combines ultimate plans or motivations they were just grunts, working to try and earn some pay. The situation they faced certainly wasnt desirable.

Man, I dont think anyones going to be stupid enough to climb all the way up here, a guard to Johnsons left spoke. Not unless they want to be buried here as well.

Does anyone even know who these guys that are attacking us are? What they look like? another queried.

Undisclosed information, Johnson spoke up, sighing as he knew he would need to explain it to them. We just need to keep a watch on for people who look suspicious and who dont know the pass code.

Silence fell among the group again, and remained that way, until another explosion from below shuddered the entire building once more.

Dang he needed a smoke

OOC: A little adaptation of the BFS...

Enemy grouping: Unit 06-A (Number indicate floor level, letter equals position of group upon floor. There are five units per floor) Leader: Johnson.

Abilities: Guards are, for all intents and purposes simple grunts. However, theyre more powerful then the standard gang members encountered earlier. All guard members within the various Units are equipped with combat armour, giving greater protection to them. Their weapons involve heavy standard machine gun rifles. This is the same for almost all guards, apart from some unique members who may carry slightly different weapons.

Weaknesses: As already mentioned, theyre merely grunts. Despite their boost in defence and offensive capability, theyre still fairly easy to deal with and defeat. Due to the weight of their armour, they have a distinct lack of speed and agility.

Special notes: Although there are several units and guards across all floors, not every single group may necessarily be fought, due to the hero teams nature of wishing to do things swiftly and with as least combat encounter as possible. Weaker points lie on hinge areas. Leaders of the Units may be slightly tougher then their men, such as Johnson who is slightly tougher then the rest of his men.

It is not intended nor expected for several posts to be needed to defeat the guards, as theyre fairly easy to defeat.

"I still cahn't figya' out why ya went and gave thuh emerahld ta Eckli! What were ya thinkin' Zeph??" Kari said, staring crossly at her old friend.

Zephron shrugged, feeling a little uncomfortable under her agitated gaze. "Ya know what your problem is Kari? You don't relax enough. Eckli can take care of himself, and I can assure you that he's gonna beat that dude good. He had you for a mentor, right?"

The vixen opposite him muttered something unintelligable before replying, "Relax? You're tellin' me ta relax? C'mon, Zeph, get real! Do ya think I'm gonna sit down an' have a cup'a tea in thuh middle of a brawl? Huh?"

"Oh yeah...like I meant to sip wine from a crystal glass while having a blade pressed to my throat." The bat narrowed his eyes as his sarcastic comment was given.

Karya flicked an ear and made her glare even fiercer, if such a thing was possible. Zephron shook his head, "Look, Kari, I'm just saying that you need to let nature take its course...things are out of our hands now, regardless if what I did was sensible or not."

She turned her head away mumbling, "Sensible? Pah..."

The bounty hunter sighed. He often wondered how they had become friends in the first place.....

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

Outside, the aura of the chaos emeralds was overwhelming, flashing like fire around their bodies. Inside, though, it was very different. Both oponents were struggling to control their emotions and actions, for this task was made harder because of the immense power of the emeralds.

Ricardo was filled mostly with rage and a strong thirst for revenge; a deadly combination, for sure. As the hamster wrestled with the wolf pup he began to grow more desperate, thoughts along the lines of 'I must have that emerald!' running through his mind. Every time he got close enough to grab the jewel he was thrown off track. Every time his hand reached out to snatch it his oponent managed to jerk away, making Ricardo lose his oppurtunity. His need for more power drove him on, turning all thoughts to mush and throwing unpleasant memories from his past into a swirling vortex of anger and hate until it was spinning out of control.

Eckli, meanwhile, was beginning to lose the edge to his anger. It was becoming harder and harder by the minute to evade Ricardo's attacks and thwart his attempts to relieve Eckli of his emerald. The pup was beginning to get distracted by the energy flowing through his veins and the possibilities it had. On top of that, memories from his own past were being brought up as if going through a file cabinet. Most were not ones he wish to recall, and thus he tried hard not to concentrate on them. Eckli was beginning to wish the fighting would stop. He didn't like Ricardo, and he didn't like violence of any sort, but what choice did he have now?

The pup jumped out of the way just as Ricardo toppled one of the pillars in the hopes of crushing his oponent flat. As the dust flew up and created a large dustcloud, Eckli strained his ears to try and locate his enemy. Where had that hamster gone now...?

(OOC: Uch, sorry for the long wait, in case anybody has been waiting on me particularly. Been a bit busy in RL with school and a few parties here and there. I'll edit this tomorrow...)

OOC: Howdy Everyone.

I know that much earlier on i said that i was interested in joining the RP, and i also know that i have yet to post anything, but a lot has happened to me over the past lot of weeks, including family related issues, relationship distress (which is now thankfully solved) and of course, the terror of my exams, and all the preperation involved for them.

I am still interested in this RP and i would love to make a post as soon as i can, but i'm afraid there will be even more waiting required on my part, because my exams start this week, and run for two whole weeks. As you can imagine, i will be busy studying and preparing myself for next year, which will be my final year of highschool, and the year which will ultimately determine whether i have what it takes to get the career that i want.

I'm sorry for disappearing for so darn long and not telling anyone anything, but i've literally been so damn busy that i've never had a moment to explain myself properly. I've had too many other things to concentrate on, that posting up an explanation here got pushed aside often. i apologise everyone, but please understand that what i am going through is difficult to manage, and although i dont want to give up on any Roleplays, i do not want to be hindered in my studies, so i will need to spend yet more time away from the board.

i will be reading everything that has transpired in my abscense in the roleplay once i am able, so i will definitely make sure i know what is going on before i post anything.

Thankyou for your time everyone.

OOC: Anyone else, commited to continuing this RP? I think as long as we've roleplayed in it, it has probability to live on. Anyone with me?

OOC: Agreed, but of course. Here's hoping support will continue.

OOC: Okay, who/what is everyone waiting for in this situation? I really hope I wasn't being waited on all this time or anything, but regardless we might as well plot this out a bit.

Let's talk it up; what you wanna do with this, folks? It's got a beautiful plot and great characters so far, lots still to do and develop.

OOC: Other then a few ideas mentioned before, I don't think we really need to plan much of anything ahead. True, a bit of foresight is helpful, but not having the majority of things planned out will leave for a bit more creativity and surprises still.

OOC: I've added some questions in the 'Unofficial RP discussion' thread.

OOC: Must breathe life!

Combine Headquarters; Fire escape

The group quickly continued to ascend the thankfully unguarded fire escape stairs that ran along the side of the Combine building, each step continuing to feel almost as if it would last an eternity. The four pressed on however. They had already risen through 4 floors in a matter of minutes. But already through their earlier encounter with the gang of unsavoury men, their confrontation with the dreaded and mysterious Hunter being, plus the chase and inevitable fight against the Chaos-empowered Ricardo, they were beginning to feel a strain upon themselves. Not only physically upon their bodies, but especially mentally. It seemed almost as if this entire thing would never end. Especially the stairs.

Hold it, Taffy said, turning around a corner on the stairs which would allow them to keep ascending. She had stuck her hand out, barring passage to the rest of the group; the overeager Alex almost falling backwards and with Lena and Max crashing into the back of him.

Ugh, what is it? Max said, his voice sounding strained. Not only had he been put through the exertion of the matters listed above, but he, along with Alex, had also been shot. He was running on limited adrenaline and his nerves were frayed.

Security camera. We dont want it to see us, do we? Taffy said back to Max, her tone almost sounding as confrontational as Maxs own words. She too was feeling tired and almost spent of energy.

Well Ill just shoot the dang thing. Max replied.

Not wise. Itd cause too much noise. Lena interjected. Max frowned and grunted slightly at her. He know she didnt deserve it, but his frustrations had to be expended in some manner. Shooting something would help.

Whats a security camera? Alex asked, the nave rabbit completely clueless about the machinery that hung down from underside of a series of stairs above them.

Devices the people in this organization can use to track us. Since we dont want to be seen, we have to destroy them. Quietly. Taffy explained, looking to Alexs bow. Can that do the trick?

Alex pulled out an arrow and set it upon his bow, lifting it and aiming it towards the camera that thankfully wasnt pointing towards them, and thus, wouldnt be able to see them.

Hang on. Wont destroying that camera just make their view screen go all static anyway? Thats not gonna help much. Max spoke out, tensed.

They might think its because of all of these- Lenas speech was cut short as the entire series of stairs violently shuddered to a result of the continuing climatic battle below them between Eckli and Ricardo. The damage they were causing made it incredibly unsafe to be in here. They really didnt have time to waste; they needed to hurry up before the whole building would collapse around them and they would be buried in there. quakes. Lena finished.

Thwip!

The arrow was fired, and it landed on the cameras screen dead in the middle, piercing it. A short electrical jolt formed around the camera, before a final small explosion engulfed it, completely destroying the device. There passage was now open to continue, until they reached the next camera at least.

Cmon, lets go! We dont have time to waste! Taffy said loudly, and began to continue raising up the stairs.

Dont want to make a loud noise, she said, Max said, following after the rest of them and grumbling to himself.

How many floors does thing have, anyway?! Max called out to the front of the group.

Not a clue. Lets concentrate on that less, and think about mainly ascending these things instead. Taffy replied, after which she could hear a loud noticeable sigh from Max.

The door to the sixth floor unexpectantly opened, just as they were passing along the corridor to the next set of stairs to floor seven. As it opened and a green armoured Overlander stepped into the fire escape, all four of the group froze completely, followed quickly by the guard.

An eerie silence and pause followed next as all five looked at each other, considering what to do to themselves. The guards feet slowly pivoted, about to turn back and call out to the rest of the group.

Move! Lena whispered loudly, charging forward from the middle of the group, her Everblade drawn. Before the guard could react, Lena had already passed him and her sword had drawn through the air in a long arc, intercepting the guard as well. A second passed, before the guard fell down to the ground, his armour and flesh pierced by the incredible sword. As the guard clutched onto his stomach with great pain and free flowing blood, mumbles of agony rose from his mouth. We dont have time for this! Knock him out, now! Lena shouted, but it was too late.

Her attack hadnt been fatal because she hadnt wished it to be, but it was still not quick enough to silence him or knock him out, and the guard loudly shouted out at the top of his lungs for reinforcements. It appeared he valued duty over his own life or maybe he was just too afraid of the consequences from his employer.

Shut it, you! Max shouted out, swinging his boot forwards with a loud crack from the connection with the guards helmet. The guard feel silent as his body entered unconsciousness.

What do we do, fight them on the stairs, or just get going? Lena asked from the front of the group.

Not going to work, we do that and whoevers coming will just alert the rest of them on the upper floors. We need to take them out quickly now, before they have the chance! Taffy shouted.

You serious? Theyve got armour! Max said incredulously.

Well just have to try our best! Alex called from behind Max.

And at that second, as the four began to enter the sixth floor, Johnsons squad of fiver men including himself rushed forward to engage their enemy.

You serious? Theyve got armour! Max said incredulously.

Well just have to try our best! Alex called from behind Max.

And at that second, as the four began to enter the sixth floor, Johnsons squad of fiver men including himself rushed forward to engage their enemy. Max gritted his teeth, he.. he wasn't sure. He knew he was weak from being shot upon earlier account by that 'Slayer' thing. He bit his lip and held out his hands. He knew this was really stupid, after this everyone would consider him a freak! And hell, revalations only led to bad happenings. The red hedgehog closed his eyes for a breif moment. And his hands began to spark, and as he opened his eyes- they too sparked. "Eyah!" Max yelled loudly as fire combusted out of his hands and jolted for the enemy. The fire formed three balls of fire as such.

He hoped the hits would be accurate.

The fireballs all managed to strike their surprised opponents, all of which bar one. The leader, Johnson, had only barely managed to avoid the blaze barely, and as such part of his left hand side of armour was visibly scorched. The rest of the team had fallen and collapsed either to unconscious, or because of a crash in their armour and it no longer responded. For those people, the armour was simply dead weight, and prevented them from being able to move.

Taffy, Lena and Alex could only stare in shock and speechlessness at the scene that had just unfolded before them. It had only been a short time that they had known each other, true, but even then no-one suspected Max had magical qualities. He had always seemed as a hotshot who relied on guns (something Alex detested. It wasnt Max himself, just the choice of weaponry, due to past experiences). And now, this!

Unbelievable was all Alex could mutter from the astonishing display.

Ugh dont count ourselves so lucky yet. Was Maxs response. The summoning of fire had been draining combined with his already previous wounding. He was tired, and the fact that one of the guards remained wasnt uplifting.

I dont know who you are, but your progress stops now! Johnson shouted, aiming his rifle towards Max. A burst of machine gun fire poured out from the weapon, all of which would have hit Max, had he remained on the same spot. But a dashing figure who had managed to jump in, and push both max and herself out of harms way allowed for all of the group to dodge the deadly fire unscathed.

Heh. You. Max spoke, as he saw who it was that moved him out of harms way. It was Taffy, and to say he was surprised was an understatement.

Youre fast, and lucky. Johnson continued, aiming. But Im faster and luckier.

An arrow was shot forward and aimed towards Johnsons helmet, but the man was quick enough to barely see it and just avoid it. Whether the arrow would have pierced the protective glassing upon the helmet was unknown, but he didnt want to chance it. Regardless though, Johnson had been defeated. During the time he had been aiming at Max and Taffy, and distracted by Alex, another figure had gotten towards Johnson. One who had already drawn a deadly blade out and held it firmly.

Damn! was all Johnson could think before the interior hallways light flashed across his eyes through the reflection of a downward curving arc, and the next second he registered nothing but pain, as his armour was cut through and his body pierced enough to send him into unconsciousness, and no longer a threat. He was right though, he was fast and lucky enough himself. Fast and lucky enough to move slightly backwards in time and avoid a fatal blow. But then again, Lena was faster and luckier enough to make sure Johnson was hit, and to not be in their way for the foreseeable time.

So Max can do magic. Lena said, smiling slightly. At that time, the building rumbled again. But despite that, I doubt he can do anything to prevent this building from collapsing. I suggest we hurry up and go?

Can you move? Taffy asked Max. Because I dont want to have to give you a piggyback.

"Oh please." Max snorted. "Of coruse I can walk." he said with a smug grin, it was half true however. He was weak, and he wouldn't be very fast with his energy. He had really never used the skill of his fire on more than one person. And even then he hadn't used it in a while for offensive purposes.

"Heh." he chuckled.

OOC: Going to do a little bit with Wraith and Cipher as well for some explanation of Chaos Emerald use.

IC:

Taffy accepted Max's response grudgingly and turned to the others. Her heart was pounding from her own heroics earlier, and in fact she was wondering just how she had managed to move that fast. But she tried to hide her surprise as she gave everyone a hawkish look. "No time to sit around and gawk, it's not like we haven't seen crazy stuff like this before! This might be our only chance to see if there's anything we can use against the Combine, before this entire place comes down!"

I can't believe we just survived that, thought the raccoon as the group started moving again down the corridors. Those weren't goons like the ones we fought back at the house, these were trained agents aiming to kill us. They probably don't know what's going on either, but we can't risk bumping into any more groups like that. If there were only a way we could go faster but without risking being seen...

They came into another corridor, and Lena pointed to a double-set of doors across from them. It had "LABORATORY" written on a black sign screwed into the gray carpeted wall. "Maybe that leads to something?"

"Maybe...but if someone's waiting for us, they'll be waiting right behind that door," pointed out Max, his practical sense showing through. "Gotta be a better way through this..."

Taffy looked up at a grating in the ceiling just in front of the double doors. "And there it is," said Taffy with a smile as she remembered all of the spy and adventure movies she had seen. "Let's use this to get up for a better view..."

"So the key to the Emeralds is through emotion?"

Cipher nodded to Wraith's question as they continued to walk through the woods, Wraith holding the purple Chaos Emerald out in front of him with one hand. "Basically. More properly, it is the desires of the heart that shapes the power of the Emeralds. While machines can tap into the nearly limitless energy created by the Emeralds, only living beings can truly manipulate the energy into their heart's desires."

"And that's why you feel it so important for me to master my feelings, so that I can use this energy more...efficiently," stated Wraith, his eyes focused on the Emerald as the black Chao Roody hovered on the other side of the one-eyed mouse, pulling a rude face that only Wraith could see.

"Correct. The ancient echidnas understood this principle implicitly, which is why they were able to fashion an amazing empire that once ruled this planet. However, their downfall was pride, overweening pride, selfishness and greed that made them forget that they were still mortal beings, despite their magical talents. It is this same pride that brought the Combine to try to develop you into a weapon to release the demon inside Mobius."

"So you believe that the power must be used through 'righteous' emotions, old man? That morality sets the terms for what is right or wrong to use the Emeralds for?"

"There are consequences for every action," replied Cipher carefully as the wind tossed some leaves behind them. "And there are rules and laws that cannot be broken. The key is to discover the rules and laws, like the prophecy I found, that will lead us from dreary ruin into a new age, better than anything else this planet has ever seen before. A new peace and prosperity."

"So your desire for this golden age will shape the use of the Emeralds?" asked Wraith with a ruthless smirk. "But of course you must have all of them before your desire can be achieved."

"That is correct. And there is much work to do before that happens, so focus, and we shall see just what you are made out of."

Taffy immediately regretted her idea as soon as she was boosted up into the cold metal ventilation shaft. It was cramped, dark, and dusty, and she felt nearly claustrophobic as she crawled forward on hands and knees. The air was blowing gently through the tight space, whistling in the occasional tiny holes that had rusted through. Though her vision in the dark was fair, she really hoped nothing happened while they were in here.

"Do you see anything up ahead?" asked Alex, just barely audible above the subtle vibrations that shuddered about them.

"There is a light," Taffy said with a sigh of relief. "Looks like it's an intersection, we can use that to look down at whatever was behind those two big doors. Be a bit cramped though..."

With some scrabbling around, soon the four of them reached the intersection, which was a boxy area that widened out enough for them all to fit in and not too unreasonably. The shafts went off in four different directions, including the one they just came from, and the grating in the middle of the room was fitted with wide angular openings that gave the group a good though segmented view of what was down below them.

They could barely make out the labcoated figure of a man wearing large, round reflective glasses, behind a lab desk, confronted by a business-suited bobcat. Lena gestured to the others for silence as they bent down low to listen to the conversation.

"...der attack, Dr. Garos, we need to leave now!"

"No, I will stay behind here. The Hunter is returning to this base to protect me, and I must stay here to make sure that the Slayer arrives here safely."

"But who knows what he'll do now that he's been on the loose? He's a loose cannon, he fought against the Hunter earlier with those renegades!"

"Which is exactly why I must stay here to face him. He's going to find me eventually in any case. Get going, with the two Emeralds in this city out of our control it's only a matter of time before this base falls."

"What's he talking about?" asked Max impatiently.

"I don't know exactly who or what the Slayer and Hunter are, but that one there, Garos, said something about only two Emeralds in this city," said Taffy. "If he's not lying then our job here is done as soon as we can get the Emeralds out of here."

"But wasn't that thing that attacked us earlier with the metal skin, didn't it say something about hunting or slaying to us when it attacked?" asked Alex, his ears curled up against his head in the tight quarters.

"Metal skin? Oh, you mean that robot that shot me," growled Max, rubbing his shoulder. "Yeah I think it could be one, but which one? The Hunter or the Slayer?"

"Maybe we'll find out if we just-"

Taffy was interrupted as the building shook, rattling the ventilation shaft with a clatter that nearly deafened them. When it passed, she swallowed nervously and looked around. "On second thought, maybe we should just get the heck out of here and see how the others are doing."

OOC: There we go folks, trying to kick in a few things here. 'Bout time I contributed again.