OOC: O______________________________________________O

Holy cotton socks! Wraith, you're unbelievable! No words can articulate how amazed I was to find this gold summary!
And you just went ahead with it? Dear lord, I have to reward you some way. Seriously dude! I really just cannot put into words how brilliant the summary was! It was authentic, to the point, clear and you nailed everything so well, in my very VERY honest opinion. God strike me down right now if am lying! I think that you would've saved me hours to the power of infinity had you not even jumped started this... 8 pages you say?!?

Unbelievably amazing =0 *insert biggest jawdrop of the century*
I woke up with the blues sunday mood, but this flipped reversed it

Really, if you feel you've done enough, let me know and I'll do the rest! M'kay?
Either way, you will be rewarded... can I draw you a full CG picture or something? Maybe two? Goodquality that is!

This summary has really resurfaces the true amazingness of the RP, thanks to all its players and their talents! And I have SO many ideas for all the scenes. Bah, forget me starting a new RP. This is too gold to let it drop. Thanks to all you guys, once again.

Hell, would be happy to carry on with just two or three former peeps.

As it happens, Eggpire has read the RP from beginning to end, has pmed me and seems ken to join I think it would be marvellous to have him on board. So I am looking forward to that!

I've sent an email to Brent, and have told him to tell James to at least come and read the summary. *fingers crossed* I'm not sure how often James comes online. So hopefully he's still around and I hope he'll want to still RP as he was a gold player and Brent. But it's up to them.

Thank you thank you THANK you Wraith!

Am off to the gym. Going to have a think about plot ideas. Hav some good ones . And if you want me to summarise the last bit, no probs buddy! And you WILL be getting two CG pics. Just note me what you want in what style. You have my DA account on watch, right?

Still waiting for my home internet... just til tuesday. Wargh. Well, got a txt saying telecom engineer's coming, so that is cool. Heh.

*bows*

Talk to y'all later!

lol I'm glad you like it Ben^^ Don't worry about taking over, I'm actually really enjoying working through the thing, as I'm remembering points that even I'd forgotten about. And as I said many times, I really really love this RP, so it's definitely worth it! I'm quite happy to carry on and finish the recap - I'll be editing in the rest to that post back there though, rather than adding a new post for it, so keep checking back there for the finale once I've got it written up.

And if you really wanna do a pic of some kind then that'd be much appreciated, although don't feel obligated to do so or anything^^ It's up to you. If you were willing, I'd be really interested to see Wraith and perhaps Ianthe too in your style - I have a few (VERY rough) design sheets for them that I drew when figuring out their characters if you need some extra detail on them. As I said, though, only if you really want to

And that's great news about Eggpire! She (I think? o.o) is another fantastic RPer, and will be a great addition to the talent we already have here. Look forward to seeing her characters and interacting with them^^

I'll be continuing the recap next chance I get

(OOC) From what it looks like I promised to join and never did? or something to that extent. Kinda sorry about that, I was a bit of a child then still anyway. Haha. I really always liked your roleplays and if I get to reading this I'll get to joining this due to well I'm back from my own problems and my own self-imposed hiatus. I think Wraith remembers when that happened in late April. Haha.

End OOC.

Yea I noticed this one the front page when Ben decided to revive it, and it perked my curiousity. So I began reading through the first page and thought to myself wow this is insane! Then I started to wonder where I was at when this was fresh! I'm pretty sure I was lurking around the guild then! Anyways it doesn't matter about that! As I began to read more and more I then realized I was on page four!!! (It was Sunday and noting to do!) That's when I decided to ask to join! After getting the go ahead I began to think on the character that I would use! I thought it would be easy enough to stick one of my usual chars in, but then I realised it would be so much cooler if I built one ground up just for this RP! Anyways I'm 60% done creating this character, and I must say it's one of the craziest and most complicated characters I ever created!!! I'm really excited to begin RPing with you guys, and I hope I don't mar all the awesomeness that has already taken place! Oh btw, Wraith, I'm actually a he. That's okay though, this being the internet and all it's kinda hard to guess those kinda things! X) See you then!!!

And the recap is done. Phew, I forgot just how many characters this RP had! And the recap was limited purely to main player characters or extremely active NPCs, and didn't include characters that had dropped out either! The sheer scope of this RP is epic!

Egg, sorry about that, I felt sure I'd read somewhere that you were female, my mistake. I'll try to keep that in mind for future reference.

And Mike - you did actually join the RP with DeLougre and an unnamed sage, the only reason I didn't include them in the recap was because they weren't active characters by the time the RP finally slowed down. DeLougre was killed when Frost tricked him into blowing up an oil tanker shortly before the Neo Freedom Fighter's base was attacked, but the sage simply faded out of the story, so he could probably come back in at some point if you wanted, or you could create a new character instead. Either way, it'd be good to have you back^^

EDIT: 24 characters in the recap. Counting a rough estimate of characters that have dropped out too, that number increases to at least 36, then there's a good 30 or so named NPCs that have made appearences once or twice, some of them quite regularly.

Is it any wonder this RP is so awesome???

(OOC) Indeed Wraith.

Either way this also reminds me to work on a post for Hedgehog X.

OOC: GUESS WHHHHOOOOOOOOoooooOOOO!!?

YES ITS THE BRENTSTINATOR!! F3AR M3!!

*ahem* anywayz. yes im up for this. as for whether ill stay committed to it or not is another story (I'm notorious for dropping out of forums and websites) but yeah I'm in. I've also spoken to James. he wont be able to join till, i believe it was the 29th, as he is currently working on a comic for doujicon about 2 weeks from now but he sounds interested.

Strangely enough i have a distinct memory of all my character background history, motivations, and future plot developments i had in mind relating to him (ill run it by you Ben to see wot you think) as well as a fair bit of the story up until it died. Though that might have something to do witht eh fact that this is the only role play i have ever been involved in. I never actually read the latest developments in the story when this was still active but I thought I'd catch up so I've also just finished reading pages 10, 11, and 12 ^^

Now we have a slight issue time-wise regarding Sword and Trey and the rest of the entire RP. Because of the lack of my posts we are currently still back at the beach side casino where the gang war occurred (around 3pm) while everyone else seems to have jumped ahead to sunset or just after. From memory Sword and Trey were inside the building just opposite the casino, the gang battle had just ended with Lucents forces retreating and there is a GUN helicopter that was pursuing them from the highway truck crash approaching the building rapidly. Main question here, should I attempt a time skip to catch up with the rest of the story or should I try to continue from there?

Gonna try get a post up in the next couple of days depending on peoples answer.

Edit: Ah yes. I may also be a good idea to repost character profiles so everyone can remember what all the characters are like. Heres Swords:

Name: Sword
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Species: Eagle
Weapon (if any): 1 primary and 3 secondary blades on each arm and his talons (also has a very pointed beak but he never bites people in battle so it doesn't count).

Abilities: The blades on his arms are actually wing feathers that have been trained by Sword, using a method known only by his old village, to harden and develop a sharp edge able to slice effectively through many materials. As the feathers themselves changed they lost the shape and weight required to maintain lift and thus he is unable to fly and has extremely limited gliding capability. Curiously his blades are also retractable despite the fact that it appears physically impossible. This is useful in causing enemies to underestimate Sword.

He is also able to surround his primary blades with energy using his own energy reserves. Gathering the energy required for this takes a few moments giving the opponent and opening for an attack and can be sustained, with Swords current capabilities, for little more than a minute. His control over this ability is also connected to his emotions (I'll provide details in a future post).

Sword relies more on agility and attack speed rather than strength to win battles and is very acrobatic in his fighting style.

Being an eagle he has absolutely incredible eyesight, his hearing is average and sense of smell is below average.

Hobbies: Training to improve his fighting style and the length of time in which he can sustain an energy aura around his blades (though this is more of an obsession than a hobby).

Quirks: Has a phobia for large bodies of water such as the ocean and large lakes. This was described in a previous post and links to the fact that his home village was washed away by a tidal wave originating from a piece of The Ark.

Sword show little emotion throughout day to day life. He his quite happy to make friends and allies with people however always remain emotionally detached from them in an attempt to emotionally protect himself should anything happen. If angered in battle, Sword enters a state of 'Battle Rage'. In this state his attacks become more powerful but his swings are much larger and wilder making them easier to dodge. As he looses focus he is unable to correctly execute a number of his techniques and can no longer perform combinations of attacks.

He only reveals his blades when he is faced with a strong opponent, or is in a tight situation in order to hide his true strength as best he can. He has an aversion to killing and will very rarely finish someone off at the end of a fight. Originating from a village of warriors he has a great sense of honour and will only attack those who are unarmed if he still perceives them as a threat. He also will not attack those who are unable to defend themselves.

Link to picture of character (if one):

Eclipse-James's pic http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/12958820/

My sketch ^^;

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13948341/

Sword was designed by James after he asked me what animal I would be if I were anthropomorphic. His idea for the wing blades came from my semi-obsession with swords ^^ (just thought I'd give credit where credit is due). I have however recreated his personality, background history, and abilities to slot in with this role play.

Hey there Brent, good to see you again^^

With regard to what to do with Sword, I'd say you and Pach decide between you, since he's the one that would be affected primarily by the choice you make. Looking at it from my standpoint, however, I don't think any temporal shift of sorts would really be nessecery - at the moment Trey and Sword are seperate from the rest of the action, so their interactions with each other won't affect any of the other characters that have 'moved on' for want of a better term. Therefore I think it'd be fine to play out their interaction as it is now, then do a 'passage of time' post afterwards, either when they seperate or when they move out together depending on how they interact, to catch them up.

Good idea about reposting the bios too, however to save space on the page I'mma post up links to mine, rather than repost them in the thread.

Wraith and Arista's bio.
Ianthe Irrin and her other sides. Note a small change to her bio though, her fighting style is now Capoeira, not Karate. (Yeesh, I had her doing Karate initially??? o.o )
And I've just realised I never actually made bios for David and Max >.> An oversight on my part. Kate, should I make them now or not bother?

And in further news: Wahey, I claim first IC of the restart!

IC: GUN Prison Cells

"...and so Max came back - to investigate, I guess. I could see him from the chopper but I could do nothing to help him...was cuffed up like a straight jacket. He fought the GUN Captain for a while, but got KOd."

Arista was on her feet again, arms half folded as she listened to the story thoughtfully, one paw resting lightly against her lips. "And Wraith is going after Sachio and Morgaine?" she asked in the lull.

"Yeah, seems like."

"They're defeated." Ari responded curtly, her bright blue eyes staring at the floor. "Morgaine was captured to be brought right here to GUN, and I didn't see Sachio, but Lucent was still alive, so I assume he won their fight too. That should mean that Wraith will be in no danger when he arrives...unless GUN sees him."

"He'll see GUN before they spot him." the bull muttered, and Ari nodded.

"Very true, and he'll probably put two and two together as well - he should guess that we're here."

"So we sit tight and wait to be rescued?"

"Not a chance!" Ari's eyes burned with a newfound fire as she span round, fixing the rest of the Freedom Fighters with a determined gaze. She had a new motivation, a new cause to persue - Wraith, it seemed, wasn't dead after all, and the rest of the gang here needed help getting out of their prison cells and back on the streets to do their work of saving the city. Wether she would be allowed to rejoin them after their escape was immaterial - what mattered is that they were freed, able to continue, and this she could help with. And she also had to see him, to tell him...to apoligise to him. She had to explain to Wraith just how sorry she was. After that, whatever consequences came her way she would accept and welcome, but she had to speak to him at least one last time. "How many were captured, altogether?"

"I dunno, quite a few. They put us in several cells, with about this number per cell."

"Then we're going to find a way to break out and escape! GUN may be powerful, but they can't hold the Neo Freedom Fighters for long!"

A few of the group cheered at the rousing speech, wide grins on their faces as they nodded in agreement at the words, but the atmosphere was interrupted by a long, low groan from somewhere near the door. Instantly the gang gathered round as Max, who had been moved to one of the small, uncomfortable beds lining the cell wall, slowly began to stir. Quiet whispers of concern rippled through the group, and one of them knelt down by his side. "Chief, you okay?"

"Ugh..." Max grunted as he slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. "Tell the guy with a jackhammer to lay off." Rubbing his eyes, he slowly began to look round. "Where are we?"

"GUN HQ boss, in the cells." came the reply. Max swore.

"Curse that idiot Captain! We were supposed to be making a deal!" He swung his legs off the bed, already swiftly returning to the indomitable self he had always been. "This all we got? Where's David?" The group explained there were others in the cells next door and that they hadn't seen the robot, and Max continued: "Okay, so we need to find out exactly how many..." His voice suddenly stopped as his eyes came to rest on a thin, orange-furred form stood close by, stood watching him silently with a piercing gaze, and the crowd around her began to draw back slightly, uncertain exactly what to expect. For a long moment there was silence, the atmosphere tense and on edge as the bulldog and vixen stared each other down.

"Never thought I'd see your face again." Max muttered at length, breaking the standoff.

"Nor me you." Ari responded quietly, her voice calm and level, but with a deep undercurrent of sadness hidden within it's soft tones. "It's good to see you again, Max."

"I wish I could say the same."

"I don't expect you to. But for what it's worth...I'm sorry."

"You know, I should beat you all the way to Knothole Village and back again for what you went and put us all though!"

"And I'll stand still and let you, but first we need to escape. Please, let me help with that. Afterwards, you can even kill me if you wish."

Another pause as all eyes turned towards Max, the rest of the gang waiting with baited breath for his gruff responce. The bulldog stared at her coldly for a long moment, his brow heavy and his eyes narrow, before he grunted again and shook his head. "Ain't my job, sis." he muttered sourly. "That one's up to Wraith." Turning away from the vixen, he moved over to the doorway, running his hands all around it for any sign of weakness in it's frame. "Okay all, listen up." he called as he did so. "Wraith always told us that GUN were our friends, that we were on the same side, and I respect his views and understand what he says. However right now, I'm inclined to believe that GUN has betrayed that friendship. With that in view, I intend to break out of here as soon as I am able. If you dissagree with my evaluation and wanna stick to Wraith's words, that's fine - nothing will be held against you, you won't be forced to come. However anyone who wants to get out of here and go find the boss, let me know now."

The cell errupted in cheering as he finished, and Ari stepped through the small crowd to stand alongside Max. "I think I may have a way for us to escape. I broke my wrist earlier, and aside from some rough work in the helicopter it still hasn't been seen to. I could use that as a distraction if you like, to lure the guards in here."

"It's an old one, but it may work." Max responded thoughtfully. "They often say the old tricks are the best anyway. Let's give it a try."

OOC: I'm still waiting for Seleth to post, even 2 years on.

Carry on with the current time line for Sword and Trey, and after their meeting, with whatever happens we can do a quick time skip or whatever to get them on the same time as the rest of the characters.

Wraith:- That was an excellent recap and certainly provided me with a good few fond memories of everything that happened. My knowledge of the smaller details is slightly lost, but I'm still willing to rp onwards. Just bear with me if I make a mistakes or messups.

OOC:

I'll take this time to quickly hop into the story! I'm still new to this one so please forgive all errors and correct me if need be!

Name: Celey Dalton
Age:25
Gender: Female
Species: Raccon
Weapon: A master of Improv. Namely anything she can find, but is usually seen wielding a spade.
Abilities: See background (IDK if you can count that as an ability tho)
Hobbies: Adventuring, playing cards, writing.
Quirks: Terrified of loud noises, and has great physical strength for someone of her species and gender.
Background: She was born on that fateful day five years ago. Having only been just born her mother decided Celey should be blessed upon the Master Emerald on Angel Island. Blessing someone upon the Master Emerald is a form of babitization, and is commonly done amongt her species.

There the mother and her infant daughter set as they awaited their turn to see the emerald, it had been a long day and the echidnas were tired. Celey and her mother would be the last ones to see the bauble for the day. Their turn finally came, and they headed off into the emerald chamber. No sooner than the mother placed her baby upon the radiating gem of the gods when it happened.

The ARK had entered Mobius' gravitational pull and was on a collision course with the planet below. In a beautiful display of impending doom and firey chaos the ARK began to splinter. Pieces flew every which way striking the towns, the cities, the countries, Mobius herself. The planet for the only time in its history glowed a sickening blood red as fragments from the age old colony resting at the bottom of these 'lakes' caused the water to boil! The end was surely upon Mobius!

Dawn broke on the next day. Millions if not Billions had perished the day before. Strangely enough, however, the mother and her daughter ,Celey, had been spared. They were no longer on Angel Island. They had no idea where they were. The mother only caring about the life of her daughter and her future joined up with a small band of survivours and setteled in Central City. They all went to sleep that night with a vow to restore Mobius to its former glory.

Five years has passed since then. The mother and her daughter had lived in the ravaged city since then. However it was not all happy and cheery. Shortly after the disaster crime began to rise to an alrming level. gangs had formed in all corners of the once great planet. Even Central City had its share of thugs, though not quite as popular or massive as the ones located in Station Square. The largest gang in that area had called themselves The Shadetree Smokers, an almost nonsensical name but they seemed to think it was brilliant.

Five years ago today during this year is when it all began, the never ending cycle of pain and tormet that had plauged Celey for 25 years now. Celey and her mother had been out to gather up some groceries at the local market (what they called a market was a little run down shed with gaping holes in the ceiling), when they were approached by the Shadetree Smokers. They had insisted that Cely's mother was wrongfully walking down thier turff, and that no one was allowed to do that not even civillians. Now the Shadetree Smokers may have been in smaller number than other popualr gangs, but they were just as mean if not meaner!

Celey's mother stated she wanted no trouble. They wanted to get home and enjoy a nice meal. One of the Smokers spotted the little raccon girl cowering in fear behind her mothers dress. One of the gang members, a fox to be exact, grabbed little helpless Celey. Her mother begging that Celey be released wacthed in terror as another gang member brought a knife the girl's throat. The Smokers wanted Cely's mother to pay them an unreasonable amount of money to let her go. Cely's mother didn't have it.

As quick as lighting and fearful for her daughter's life, the mother managed to kick the dagger out of the gang member's hand and successfully broke the hand in the process. This reall infurited the Smoker's. In an outrage, a Smoker grabbed the mother and held her head up as another calmly stabbed her little daughter in the back. Then, paying no mind to the girl's cries of pain and the mother's pleading, dealt a death blow to the stomach with the dagger. Celey was dead, and her mother follwed soon after.

It was the first day after the disaster when Celey, age 5, awoke. The image still fresh in her mind, but she was alive. Oddly though she was in what seemed to be an identical alleyway compared to the one in her recent dream. She looked around her mother was no where to be found. She heard tremendous explosion rocketing in the background. Central City was engulfed in flames. Celey was a little curious as to what was going on, and soon found out the answer. The ARK had ravaged the planet.

Celey was sure she had been bornon the day of the disaster, but then dismissed that as part of her weird dream.

It wasn't until five years later when Celey found out what was really going on. She had been traveling what used to be the Mobian countryside when she was approached by a strange figure. It was a male, light gray, feline, no doubt a thug from another un known gang. The stranger asked Celey if she had any food. Celey calmly replied no, and that was when the feline got upset. he lunged at her. Celey being only 10 at the time could not handle the force of the way older feline. In moments Cely was dead, beaten to death by a starved gang member.

It was the day after the disaster when Celey, age 10, awoke. The image was fresh in her mind, but this time she knew she wasn't dreaming. She sat in a smoldering field, the exact field where she was beaten to death only moments ago. Something was wrong. This had been the second time she had died and awoken to find herself back on day one of the disaster. That was when she set off to find answers.

It happened two more times. Once when she was 15, and again at 20 each death more grizzly than the next. She was living the same five years over and over, but she always remained the same age she was when she died and always remembered everything that had happened prior. Upon exploring this strange curse she also found she ahd some imitations. For some odd reason she can't be in the same places she was during the time of previous version of herself. She couldn't explain how but she knew she couldn't. She also couldn't alter any event that occured during the five years. So if she could see her mother again she couldn't save her. Also she can meet up with people she had previously met only after their intial meeting in her previous life. She was bound by these limitations, and no clue to why she was living this curse, but whatever the case she has one goal, survive to year six!
Motif: To live to see year six!

Here's my character! I hope she can fit in nicely with this RP, but I can always edit if something is out of place or just needs changing just let me know! Also she doesn't always die on the same day. She just dies during year five no set time!

IC:

Celey Dalton stood in fron of Central City. She could smell the rot and mildew wafting in the air. The city was in shambles, and had been for five years. Once towering skyscrapers now lay on their sides. Living complexs and apartment buildings are peppered with paint spray and bullet holes. What used to be automobiles are now nothing more that houses and homes for those seeking sanctuary. Her and her mother had lived in an Aston Martin for those five years. It was small compared to others, but it was home!

Celey leaned down and picked up her shovel (she had named it Charles) and hoisted it over her shoulder. Small specs of dirt clumped together in her thick, black hair as the spade passed through it. She adjusted her armor (akin to chain mail rather than bulky metallic wear) so that it fit just right. She smiled weakly, as she started moving towards the ruined metropolis. It was year five, and she had to be careful, but this was an opportunity that she just couldn't pass up.

As she walked down the main street she noticed several faces cowering behind trash dumpster and small houses(cars). The dirty unwashed faces proved all to well that the Mobius that once was is gone and will never return. She didn't stop, nor did she have a reason to. The only family she had known was her mother, and if Celey's memory was correct, ahe and mother died at the hands of the Shadetree Smokers a little over a week ago. Celey, continuing walking, gazed up at the strangely beatuiful Mobian blue sky. Filled with guilt she looked back down at the cracked pavement. Celey wasn't proud of what she was about to do, but she had waited so long for this and noting was going to get in her way.

The young raccoon trugeded onward towards a trashy looking complex that had once been a hopping bar in its time. She gazed at the shattered windows, the absent door, the multi colored gang markings, and the faint screen og cigarette smoke pouring out the windows. She had at last arrived, the HQ of the Shadtree Smokers.

"I figured there would be more security," she said as she noticed no one around, "For someone claiming to be a street gang you'd think they'd post at least one or two guards!"

At thar the raccoon walked through the red tarp that stood in place as a door. She could here people laughing and carrying on in a small room located in the back. She looked around the vast bar room noticeing the neatly organized tables, and a wealth of alcohol alligned on the far wall. She grinned as she let the tip of the spade hit the carpeted floor. One step at a time she approached the meeting place of the notorious gang members silently dragging her shovel behind her. Another loud gufaw of laughter echoed out into the vast area, and the scent of cigar smoke nearly choked Celey. At last she had reached the entrance. She smiled and placed her back up against the wall beside the entry way. She then slowly brought her fingers to her mouth, and placed the index, pinky and thumb inside. She cloused her eyes and let out a shrill whistle that could have beebn heard a mile away.

"What the hell was that!" barked on of the voices, "Clyde get out there and check it out!"

Celey heard the shuffleing of feet and chairs, and then footsteps. This 'Clyde' was about ho walk right inot her trap. He came around the corner where the vengeful Celey awaited. It was too late for the (not-so) poor soul. Charles had came crashing into the backside of what appeared to be a red fox. He let out a silent yelp in pain, spitting a sickening mixture of blood and saliva all over a small table in front of him. 'Clyde' spun around to face his attacker(s), and all Celey could notice was the thin trail of blood ozeing out of his nostrils. The fox lost balance and fell into the small table splintering it instantly. 'Clyde' stared up at the ceiling with an almost blank stare. Celey felt a tear roll down her face when she realized that 'Clyde' was dead!

"Clyde what in the name of-" a tall almost skeletal Iguana barked as he appeared to inspect the noise, "What? Clyde? What the hell happened in here!"

Celey was out of sight hiding behind the counter, watching the Iguana examine his dead friend. Thsi Iguana just so happens to be the fool who had taken Cely's life away the first time. The fool who would stab a helpless five year old girl. The Iguana stood up and franticly looked around the bar room, and this was when Celey made her strike.

She rolled out from behind the bar swinging her spade in an almost circular rotation, slamming it into the heels of the Iguana. He cried out in pain as he crashed to the ground. Cely rose to her feet, and raised the shovel above her head!

"DO YOU REMMEMBER ME!?!?!?" she wailed as she brought the shovel down flat against his chest.
"AAAGGGHHH!" the Iguana yelped, "I don't know who-"
Another strike landed against his chest, "DO YOU REMEMBER LAST WEEK?!?!?!? DO YOU REMEMBER KILLING A MOTHER AND HER DAUGHTER?!?!?!?!?"
Another strike, "GAH!" he spat up blood this time, "I-I don't knwo what you are talking about!"
Celey bashed him one hard time in the kneecaps, "YOU FORCE THE MOTHER TO WATCH YOU SLAY HER DAUGHTER BEFORE YOU SLEW HER!!!!!!!"
A dealt a whack to the elbow this time, "I'm Sorry you got me mistak-"
Again on the chest, "I WAS HER DAUGHTER!!!!! YOU MADE HER WATCH ME DIE!!!!!!"
The Iguana now looked confused. he had in fact remembered, but was puzzeled by raccoon's suden anouncement. No blow was delivered this time. "No you can't be! You died, but you look older!"

That was the last thing the Iguana said before Charles silenced the gang thug with a quick stike to the face! Celey was breathing heavily now, but the deed had been done. She wasn't sure if she should feel good about herself or guilty, but she was glad that at last her and her mother's killers had been taken care of. Celey rose to her feet and looked arounf the gangs hideout. For the time being 'Clyde' and the Iguana had been the only two there, but the others would return soon. Celey grabbed a piece of discarded cardboard and began to look around for something to write with. She had considered using the dead gang members blood atone point, but nearly threw up when she actually tried to carry out that action. She found a small ink pen lnside 'Clyde's' jacket and used it instead.

Two hours had passed before the gang members returned. When they did, however, they found the corpse of their leader. Placed upon him like some sort of greeting sticker was the cardborad Celey had used. Upon the blood smeared discard was the warning, "A MESSAGE FROM THE GRAVE!" Celey had no intention of going after the other gang members, the Iguana was all she came for. But she did in fact want to shake up their morale a lttle bit, if only for thier benefit.

Celey bagn to pass by what once used to be Central City Central Park. She looked up at the lifeless, withered, and decaying trees. A leaf hasn't grown on them since the ARK incident. The fenceing that surrounded the park was also tagged by various gangs fighting over 'turf'! However, Celey's eyes drifted to something within the park. A body. Curious to know if this what appeared to be an overlander was still alive or not, Cely began to make her way towards it. Still carrying her trusty shovel to be on the safe side, she noticed another body. She looked around the park. There was seven bodies strewn across the park. Blood had stained the pale gray grass. They were overlanders all right, and they also happened to be G.U.N. personel. Celey made her way over to the first soldier she saw. The bodies were fresh. More than likely the soldiers had been engaged with members from some sort of gang. She examined the soldier. Apparantly he had been struck a blow to the head by some sort of blunt object, most likely a 2X4.

Celey paniced. She turned to leave the park, but instead found herself facing down the barrels of multiple military grade weapons.

"FREEZE!" shouted a soldier wearing similar garb to the dead across the park, "What do we have here! Jenner! Check them out!"

A soldier darted off past Celey towards the deceased soldiers. She began to turn back to the soldier.

"I SAID DON''T MOVE!" the G.U.N. in charge barked.
"Sir!" yelled the second soldier, "They're all dead! Blunt impact to the head sir!"

The first soldier looked over at Celey, and then her blood stained spade which she gripped tightly in her hands.

"Drop the weapon!" the one in charge yelled, "Drop it now!!"

Celey was terrified. She tried to losen her grasp on the shovel hanle, but found she couldn't.

"DROP IT DAMMIT!" he yelled again, "DROP IT OR I'LL HAVE TO SHOOT!"

Celey tried to speak, but no words came out. It was as if something was forcing her to disobey th soldier's commands. She continued to drop the spade, and let out a silent sigh of relief as she raised her arm. However, it was too late. She had raised Charles perhaps a little to high, and the soldiers took it as a threat. She noticed now, there were a total of six soldiers counting the one behind her who had arrived as back-up.

"ALL RIGHT!! YOU HAD YOU CHANCE!! FIRE!!!" the one in charge yelled.

Bullets began to fly past Celey's head, before she realized she had taken one in the stomach. She recoiled in pain, and found she could move once again. It was too late to comply with the soldiers, so Celey did the next best thing, RUN! She darted backwards toward the rear exit to the park. Another bullet plowed into her left leg limiting her mobility. She limped franticly out of the rears gates paying no attention to the gaping wound she had recieved from the first bullet. She was bleeding badly and leaving a rather large trail of blood in her wake, but she had to get to safety. She looked behind her to see if they were tailing her. They weren't. She also noticed that she was still carrying the shovel. She quickly threw Charles aside and porceeded towards an old run down rest station. Surly she could dress her wounds in there before G.U.N. came looking.

The rest stop wasn't very welcomeing with inch thik grim and grit coating the once yellow walls, but it was better than lying in the streets to die. 'Might as well die on the toilet!' she thought to herself even though she was in no condition to crack jokes. She gave out as soon as she made it to the female's bathroom door. She crashed to the ground feeling a sharp jolt of pain corse through her body. Perhaps this wasn't the year she would make it to six afterall! She thrust open the door in front of her and began to crawl into the restroom. You would thought someone had drug a dead body from there with the thick blood trail she wasleaving behind.

She crwled ever deeper into the damp dark room, brushing cobwebs out of her face as she continued onward. She could feel sharp solid object lying in the floor. Most likey porcilin from a broken down comode. It was dark and she couldn't see much, but at least she was out of the open. She felt around her ever gushing wound in her stomach. It would take alot to recover from that, and she was fairly certain this was the end of her road. She would die and awaken back on day one ready to go another five years before this happens all over again. She began to feel sick and weak, and had a hard time keeping her eyes open. She heard what sounded like footsteps outside, and was certain those soldiers had trailed her. What she got was much more surprising.

The bathroom door began to creak open letting in a sharp ray of sunlight, "I know you're in here!" came a voice. Celey looked in the general direction and saw a silhouetted figure, not of overlande shape, enter. From what she could make out it was a hedgehog, and he deffinately didn't come in there with good intentions. Celey graspd one of the sharp porcelin fragements and brought it close to her body.

"I saw you running down the street, and I thought ot myself, it's be awhile since we had someone so "attractive" running down our streets!" the hedgehog walked closer and closer, "So I followed you in here to see if you needed any help!"

The hedgehog kneeled down toward Celey. She took advantage of the situation and thrust the sharp porcelin into the right side of the hedgehog's skull. Luckily it didn't shatter, and the hedgehog fell limp against Celey. His blood was gushing into her face, and it took every once of her energy to push him off of her. She had exhausted herself now. She closed her eyes and waited to die in peace!

3 DAYS LATER...

Celey awoke. She let out a pierceing shriek as she felt the pain throb through her body. She knew instantly that she had not in fact passed away! This wasn't day one, and she wasn't aware of where she was at. She struggled to stand, but the pain was vicious.

"GAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" she wailed the smell of something rotten drifted in her nostrils, "RAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

Her vision began to come clearer. She was in a cell of some kind. She eyed several plates of food lying next to her. She had been tossed into the cell on the cold concrete. She smelled that rotten smell once more. She eyed the food once again. There was six plates and mopst of the food was non-edible. Whoever threw it in there didn't bother to clean it up. Her vision became better as she looked around the interior. She was definately locked up. More than likely the G.U.N. soldiers had found her before she died. She noticed stitches along her stomach were the bullet hole had once been. She also examined her wounded leg with the same results.

"Well at least they had the curtosy to doctor me up!" she smiled just a little. She had survived just a little longer! "Hello!" she called out not knowing who or what lurked in the damp prison, "Does any body- OW! - know where I am at!! HELLO!"

The pain within her body made her keel over for a brief second, then she continued yelling, not caring if any of the guards had heard her!

OOC:
I hope this is okay! And yes that is the same G.U.N. prison that Ari and the others are in, and at the same time. I hope that's alright and I didn't ruin anything. just let me know if I did!
Also as I was reading through this I noticed and OOC where Wraith stated that if it takes two years to continue he will still be playing! LOL how ironic that that exact thing is happening!X)

OOC: Hi guys, quick quick heads up from me.
Have loads to read. I got my bT line, but activation of broadband line still hasn't been established *dies*
Could take longer than 10 days...

Nevertheless, I am just gobsmacked and SO happy and thrilled to see this up again and to see people's enthausasm for this. And a massive thanks to Wraith for all his trouble. You bet I'll be cging for you.

Will be back ASAP, carry on without me but I will be back!!! And I still need to read Brent's note!

(OOC: That's...quite some character there Egg! Some interesting ideas, looks pretty cool^^ And no, certainly nothing ruined.

And Ben, very much appreciated^^ I've sent you those rough planning images I had in a PM, hopefully they'll help you to visualise the characters a little more.

Oh darnit, I've just had an idea myself...the situation in the cell blocks right now is absolutely perfect for me to introduce a certain...hrm hrm...NO! Must - resist - adding - yet - another - character!!! I already have too many as it is!)

GUN Prison Cells - Cell 23

"GAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! RAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

The figure on the bed oppisite sat bolt upright at the sudden noise, covering her ears with her free paw as her face creased into a snarl. After the pounding she had recived at the hands of Frost she had a splitting headache, a factor which wasn't helped in any way by the deafening noise of her cellmate, and her long whiskers twitched in agony as the cry reverberated around the small room.

Eventually the racoon quietened down, however, and Agis slowly recovered her own sences too, rubbing her eyes as she roused herself from the deep sleep she had been enjoying before being so rudely interrupted. Her right arm was in a sling, broken in multiple places from her trip clean through the brick wall of the Neo Freedom Fighters' warehouse, and her silky golden fur was matted with blood in many places from the numerous cuts and bruises Frost had inflicted on her. Incredibly, though, despite the beating she had recived, the muscular lynx had survived with relatively minor injuries, a testament to her history in martial arts, and now she turned her gleaming hazel eyes on her newly awakened cellmate, who was examining the plates of food on the floor, seemingly still not aware of Agis' presence.

"Well at least they had the curtosy to doctor me up!" the racoon muttered, seemingly to herself, before turning her attention to the cell door. "Hello! Does any body- OW! - know where I am at!! HELLO!"

"You're wasting your time." the lynx's harsh voice cut across the calls, making Celey jump as she span to face the speaker. "These cells are soundproof, I already tried calling my friends next door." She swung her legs off the bed, her thin, incredibly toned frame giving her an intimmidating air despite her arm and other injuries as she fixed the racoon with a penetrating stare, as though examining her like a hawk. "And as to where we are, this is a holding cell at GUN HQ in Station Square...although I'm surprised you didn't know that already, considering you were in here before I arrived. I take it from that that you've only just been captured too?"

IC: CELL 23
"G.U.N. found me after all!" Celey slumped back against the wall her vision was still terrible but she could now make out Agis' silhoutted figure, "I'm surprised they didn't just finish me off after all the trouble I stirred up!"
"Um, hello?" Agis said after (unintentionally) being ignored, "How long have you been in here?"
Celey stared off towards the ceiling not knowing the answer to the question she had just been asked, "I'm not sure. The last thing I can recall was I was in Cenral City. Yeah that's it!" Celey stood up again, "It was just after I attacked those Smokers, and I found the dead soldiers in the park! Oh, man what a misunderstanding!"

Celey just shook her head back and forth after she recalled the events of three days ago. The pain began to set in once again, and she just clutched her gut as she winced in pain. She didn't want to upset her cellmate yet once again. Celey slumped down and little then turned to the lynx, "I'm so sorry -uh- I didn't mean to disturb and ignore you like that it's just that my eyes are slowly getting adjusted to this place! Station Square eh? That's quite aways from Central!"

Agis turned to face the front of the cell, "That's quite all right..." she paused and awaited a name.
"Dalton, Celey Dalton! It's nice to meet you, but I do wish it were under better circumstances! So what are we waiting for? A trial or something?"

Celey began to feel a slight rumble in the pit of her gut. It shot more pain through her body, but there was no mistaken Celey was famished. She eyed the plates of rotten food then quickly looked back at Agis. There was no way she would defile her self by eating such rot! She abruptly kicked the filth to the side so it wouldn't be in her sight any longer. She continued to stare at Agis, it seemed she was lost in thought for a brief moment.

"Find something that interests you?" the lynx stated as she noticed Celey's fixed eyesight.
"Oh, no!" a blush of embarassment creeped across her face, "I'm sorry! I'm still getting my eyes used to this place, and to me you look like a thick black shadow!"

A small laugh escaped the raccoon's lips. This was sudden and very surprising to Celey. She had even shown one ounce of emotion since she awoke back on day one at the age of 20! We'll she hadn't until she encountered her mother's killers, but that was a different kind of emotion. This was an emotion of happieness. Whether it be morbid or not, Celey was actually happy! She didn't know it was the company of the lynx or the fact that she had cheated death, a first during her exploits, but she was geniunely happy!

OOC:
I'm currently working on a picture of Celey, and should be finished really soon! I'm not the best artist, but I feel it's kinda neccesary to give everyone a visual as to what she looks like!
Also I agree with the others Wraith, that was an extremely awesome recap. I was just surprised you managed to fit all the important story nugets in with the space you used, and given the lenght of this RP that is quite a feat!

OOC: Wow, just wow. Excellent post guys :0

And I think Celey is awesome Egg. Nice one . Pronounced 'Key-lee' or 'Sea-lee'? Just curious. I sure was glued when I printed out the recent posts. Loved the sinister aspects of Celey and her past... to present! It was so well written as well. Real strong character.

And I loved the interaction of Ari with the cell mates and the tension between her and the reunion with Max.

This is all so cool guys.

I am hoping to come back tomorrow with some posts with some updates on Frost, Jet, Athena, Shadow, Ianthe and co... and maybe something on Morgaine's thoughts. Oh... I let me think. I think our Eggman's been neglected for some time, doncha'll think? he he.

Look forward to more!

OOC: Thanks greatly Bent. It's nothing compared to the others characters, but I thought Celey would fit in nicely! Also it's pronounced 'Sea-lee'! I should have mentioned that in my intro post but it kinda slipped my mind!

OOC: 'Sea-lee' it is then, lol. 😛

Wow. Guess what. I got some random -dialup' number whilst at the net cafe and tried it at home. Not bad for 1p a minute. Guess dial up is better than nothing, until friggin O2 broadband arrives, lol.

Will be easier to RP in any case. Here's a start. Hopefully update other scenes tmrw and such.

IC:
East-side of river

"Getting into GUN HQ alone?" muttered Shadow, now his turn to raise an eyebrow.

"We can handle them." Ianthe replied evenly. "Not exaclty as crazy a mission as looking for the Chaos Emeralds...like they even exist!"

"Of course they exist... you overly fur-tailed fool!" Athena snapped "you don't remember the legendary tales at least... of when a blue hedgehog once saved the world from an overpowering water creature... Chaos?"

'...blue hedgehog?' Shadow blinked in deep thought.

"Can't say I do," Ianthe replied through thin lips "and who's dumb enough to live off fables."

"Shut up, you!" Athena said, her blood boiling "I know for a fact they exist! I've held one or two in the palm of my own hands. GUN always seem to have sporiodic repossession of them and such..."

"Not even a force like GUN and keep them safe?" Amanda asked.

"No," Athena breathed coldly "everyone lusts after their powers. Everyone. Even the so-called most noble of souls. Very few will use their powers without a selfish heart... the blue hedgehog was one of them. There was once another.... hedgehog..."
Athena slowly turned to look at Shadow- and sensing this gaze, he yanked his face away.

"So, you're hoping to rescue your captured friend?" Shadow asked indifferently.

"Yes," Amanda said, almost desperately "we really could do with your help. You and her..." Amanda said nodding at Athena, causing the fennec to just stare back at her passively. Ianthe in the mean time was getting uneasy about this whole new proposition.

"Fine. I'm guessing this GUN entity have one or two chaos emeralds. Or at least know some whereabouts. Or any answers at all," Shadow said, practically thinking out loud as his voice faded in and out almost.

"I'll escort you on your way to GUN, til I need to part and find my own answers," Shadow explained, beginning to walk and causing the others to follow "just help me find the way!"

"Sound like a fine compromise?" Athena asked sarcastically at the host of new party of people, rolling her eyes and she turned to follow the black hedgehog.

(OOC: I've just realised, did I make a mistake in the recap back there? Looking back at the last few posts before the gap it occurs to me that while it was implied Shadow and Athena might be prepared to go to GUN with the others, they never actually agreed to it yet did they - Ben's post just now made me realise. Sorry, I hope you didn't feel I was forcing something on you there Ben? >.> )

Cell 23

"Well I'm glad someone is happy at their incarceration." Agis remarked as she stood up and moved over to the door, standing before it like a panther stalking it's prey in the dead of night. For a long moment she didn't move, simply staring at the obsticle silently, before she suddenly span round, delivering a massive roundhouse kick at the door with her right paw. The blow impacted with a resounding KERANG on the metal surface, echoing around the small cell like a thunderclap, and the lynx remained motionless as it died away, balanced unflinchingly on one muscular leg as her other rested against the door without any sign of pain or discomfort from the considerable impact.

Her eyes remained fixed on the door as her left hand raised to brush a strand of her golden yellow fringe from her face. "What I will say, Celey Dalton, is do not get too comfortable here. Personally I have no intention to remain cooped up in here for very long, and I have no doubt my associates in the cells nearby will be feeling very much the same way. I'm guessing you wouldn't be averse to a chance to escape should such an oppertunity present itself...?" At this point her head turned to look over her shoulder, her gaze sliding onto the racoon with a powerful, determined air.

"Well...uh..." Celey was momentarily at a loss for how to respond, partly because Agis' cold attitude had suddenly awoken a realisation in her that she didn't know just who she was dealing with...initially the lynx had seemed friendly enough, however it struck her now that it was quite possible her cellmate was some kind of hardened criminal who had very good reason to be locked up in this prison. For all she knew, the other could have killed someone (she certainly looked capable, from her frame) or some other dark and evil crime...and here they were, locked together in a small cell with no way of escape, not just from their prison, but from each other!

The lynx seemed to sence her uncertanty, and lowered her leg from the door, turning to face the racoon as she placed her fist on her hip. "You've told me who you are, so I'll return the favour. Agis Avran, three times Female World Kickboxing Champion and member of the Neo Freedom Fighters, close friend of their leader, the hero Wraith the Echidna. We fight to restore order to the streets of the city and save our world from the chaos it's descended into." She slowly began to step forward, her tail swishing from side to side as she approached. "Forgive me if I seem blunt, but we could be beginning a breakout of here at any moment, and before it starts I need to know exactly where everyone stands...who we can trust, and who we can't. I'm not going to hurt you - provided you don't get in the way it seems like we're on the same side - but I have to know..."

She reached out, offering her paw for Celey to take. "...when we go, are you with us, or not?"

(OOC: I'll give Sunsetfox a little more time to respond before I continue with Ianthe and the others. I haven't heard back from her on DA yet, but I don't think she goes there very regularly any more, so she may pop in at some point. If there's no reply in a few more days, though, I'll carry on that scene too.)

OOC: Well, it's safe to assume XD Don't apologise.
Will try and get involved with other scenes ASAP.
Yeah, wish we could get a hold of Sunset fox ):. I miss her!

For now, this one's for David. 'bout time someone at GUN noticed the alarms. lol.
If I missed something or tripped, lemmy know!

IC:

GUN labs

"Think we can start some time tonight?" asked Dr. Grey sarcastically, eyeing the re-doped weasel who was sprawled across the theatre table.

"...he's almost as naughty and disobedient as you once were," Dr. Grey said, nudging Frost, hardly getting so much as a slight glance from the cerulean being.

Dr. Platinum snapped on some new latex gloves, before pulling out a 0.5 sheathed disposable scalpel from a fresh packet. The other doctors in the meantime, ensured Jet was strapped down to the table by vice-like leather straps. They fixed a mask around his mouth, which delivered both oxygen and other sedative-type drugs to keep the rodent in the 'coma-like' sleep.

As Dr. Ebony was about to make the first incision across the weasel's chest, however, a loud alarm suddenly screeched throughout the GUN entity, causing everyone to freeze for split second, followed by a resonance of turning heads as they tried to mentally identify the signal for the 'red alert'.

"What the bloody hell...?! Is that the vermin causing that again?!" Dr. Ebony cried out annoyed.

"No... it's something else I suspect," Dr. Grey said composed, as he adjusted the glasses across the ridge of his nose.

Shaide leapt across the room towards the nearest computer. He quickly hammered his fingers across the keyboard, trying to identify the source of the distress signal.

"...coming from Kash's department apparently," Cam'Ron reported "what's his line of work?"

"...robotics.." Dr. Grey said frowning, as he peered over Cam'Ron's shoulder.

"Sector 32 is flaring up in red. The damage is spreading... Damn it... what's going on down there?!" Dr. Platinum demanded.

"The questions most definitely can wait," Dr. Grey said, straightening his tie "Shaide, take Specimen 156 with you and quell whatever is going on down there promptly..."

"Yes sir," said Cam'Ron, getting up from his chair and nodding towards Frost, who's eyes momentarily glowed an unnatural aqua colour, before he skidded towards the front door, waiting for it to open electronically.

"...and Cam'Ron," Dr. Grey called, causing the brown furred hedgehog to turn his head attentively to the doctor "I expect you and specimen 156 to deal with this punctually. I'm putting the area on lockdown and if you're not out within 15 minutes... starting from now..." said Dr. Grey as he tapped away at a few keys on the computer "then you'll be sealed shut within that sector and shot deep under ground!"

Cam'Ron hesitated momentarily.

"It'll be a sinch..." Cam'Ron said, approaching the door next to Frost.

"Good luck," Dr. Grey said, before turning back on his heels to tend to the continueing operation on Jet.

Shaide sighed, as he turned into the shady corridor with the sub-ordinate Frost by his side.

"...and for safety keeps, not that I could use it..." Cam'Ron mused over the light blue emerald that Frost had had in his possession before he got capture. Cam'Ron persuaded the GUN officials to let him have at least one emerald for research.

He began to wonder whether there'd be greater demands for the semi-precious stone, however.

As the two hedgehog began to skim, seemingly cascading on air as they light footed their way down the long dimly lit dark corridor, Cam'Ron chanced look at the newly mind-seduced Frost.
The two hedgehogs waited as a secret elevator eventually arrived, before leaping onto the rusty floored platform and waited for it to seemingly plummet downwards to their destination.

"They must've really laid the ground rules down for you pretty well then this time, Frost," Cam'Ron began. He checked his watch and noted that the digits read 0:14:29 s.

Frost looked back at him, unfazed. Or at least, didn't give much away as to how much thought he was giving to Cam'Ron's statement.

"I've heard so much about you man... you were gonna be big! Til you got a bit big for your boots"

Cam'Ron's skin ran slightly cold as he felt the platform descend further and further deep underground. The distance was misty with surrounding rock ledges and steel platforms. Stalled robotic projects were left on some of these passing platforms.

"Tell me, do you EVER talk?" Cam'Ron said with an uncertain but superficial smile.

As the platform finally grounded to a whining halt, Frost gave Shaide a wry smirk for the first time since he had ever seen him.

Before Cam'Ron could express any words of surprise, a huge explosion was suddenly heard in the distance, and shrouds of alarms and red lights suddenly flooded down the corridor.

The two hedgehogs darted towards the nearest department, skidding to a halt as they saw a wild android-human like being that appeared to be closing in on technicians with their back against the wall.

Before Cam'Ron could utter any cry, he suddenly found a man collapse in his arms.

"...help us... help us... he will kill us all otherwise...!" Kash rasped, anxiety struck.
Cam'Ron quickly gazed at his digital clock.
0:10:44s...

"Frost,get him!"

With that, Frost suddenly leapt across the air, read to deal a drop-kick towards David's mechanical legs....

OOC: Little by little.. lol!
Tis Bentleee.
Updating scene with Azieral and Morgaine with this account to make the update look... er... obvious I guess.
Yup.

IC:

Morgaine felt as if she was swinging back and forth, or at least experiencing a bit of a bumpy ride, as she found herself carrier away...

'...away,' she thought helplessly. Somehow the will to fight back had been sedated and seduced due to many reasons. So much had happened in a short space of time. Too much had happened...

Not only had she heard the horrific news that her brother- her only closest kin had reached a bloodied morbid fate of decease.
Despite Sachio's very distance, cold, and cruel-hearted nature- they were siblings. Twins. And had an undeniable bond which made them next to impossible to defeat. Together they got through the hard times. When they were yet small scamping hedgehogs who got separated from their parents at a very young age after the apocalypse.
Together they had found similar furries with similar motives and the siblings were able to command enough power and respect to form their gang and get to where they were today. They were elite and possibly one of the most feared gangs, if not the most feared. They owned a good deal of members, mass weaponry, and had big plans to dominate the remnants of station square.

But now... she lost everything. It seemed as if all the trouble she had spindled and schemed throughout the years had finally come back to bite her. All the pain and poison she had inflicted upon anyone and everyone that succumbed to her wrath had come back to intoxicate her.

Worst of all, without Sachio, she suddenly witnessed one of the worst revelations she had ever encountered.

Without him she had... nothing. Was... nothing.

And it almost made her throat swell with a lump, followed by one of the first fresh tears she had ever shed in her life. Not since she was born, had she felt this intense sorrow and pain which began to feel as if it spread throughout her whole body- like a cancer.

It suddenly all felt so unfair how low she had sunk. Shame and despair was gripping her. Rapidly her own identity was haemorrhaging. And she didn't even have her own brother to turn to. No one to shout, scream, or let a blood-curdling cry at. She'd never expect any sympathy from him in words- but somehow their coldly mutual bond was solid enough to give her ground to stand on.

Now she was falling... had fallen. Like hell's defeathered and mangled angel.

And whilst she was broken, weakened and vulnerable... one of the worst aftermaths of them all was happening before her very eyes.

Ensnared in a thick fabrication of webbing, she could do all but tremble as she thought of what lay ahead of her once the spider assassin were to dump her at GUN's base.

She would've rather have died. She was lost to apathy enough as it was.

Until...

Wait.

There was something dormant. A slight flicker or remnant of strength. If there was one streak that did reside amongst herself, Sachio... her father it was...

...revenge.

She didn't know how, or where to start. But somehow, she was going to make everyone pay for their insolent deeds. For even daring to cross her path. Let alone, reduce her to nothing.

Yes. The game was still on. It didn't have to end just because one bloodline was out of the game.

And she could recruit her father in this scheme.

But she couldn't be captured by GUN. No.
They could do anything to her. Strap her down, freeze her thoughts- expose her to their notorious experiments and be webbed to their control. She envisioned the series of experiments, medical trials, captivity and brainwashing that would await her if she were to let herself fall to that fate. It was a fate someone once tried to protect her from...

She couldn't let it happen. She'd rather die.

Breathing in through her nose, she took the plunge and started gnawing away at the webbing that covered her mouth.

Time was running out. It was not on her side. It was as if each step, each jump and each swing from the spider carrier acted like a pendulum that was ticking towards her doom.

'That spider...' she thought to herself 'she heard me out... earlier on... I obviously upset her somehow...' Morgaine thought.

'But how... and why?' she continued thinking 'perhaps she's just a moody, temperamental and senile female!' Morgaine thought.

No. She couldn't think like that. Somehow, she was going to have to play on this spider's emotions. Until she thought of a plan to crawl out of this mess.

Shutting her eyes tighter than a bo-constrictor's grip around its prey, she sheared the last of the webbing through her teeth and swallowed a bole of webbing. She couldn't risk spitting it out in case Azieral noticed. She'd simply replaster her mouth before she had a chance to say a word. And what a waste of time and energy that would've been.

Grimacing from the nasty cotton-wool like and slimy substance, Morgaine shook her head slightly in disgust, before blinking somewhat.

"Well... you heard my story," Morgaine suddenly said, but in a composed manner "has anyone ever stopped to ask about your story? Of what has brought you to this very moment in time... today?"

Morgaine blinked slowly, awaiting Azieral's reply.

"Everyone has a story to tell. At least tell me yours... before GUN steal my ability to listen... and to perceive."

IC:
Cell 23

"... When we go, are you with you or not?" the lynx said as she held her hand out to Celey! Celey had noticed Agis examineing her as if she were a common criminal. Celey looked down at the ground not knowing how to respond. She was always thought that G.U.N. fought for justice, and she had heard of the Neo Freedom Fighters, especially Wraith. If G.U.N. was trying to establish peace in this chaotic world, then why had they imprisoned a similar group who fought for the same cause. Were the Neo Freedom Fighters the ones who were out of line, or was it the other way around.

"Well I really don't have all day! For all we know my buddies have already busted out and are on there way!" the lynx shot sternly.

Celey had made up her mind. She had decided that G.U.N. was a little to quick to pull their triggers, and she had always heard of the Neo Freedom Fighters, and how they would never attack to kill if it could be avoided.

"Don't worry I'm on your side! I was thrown in here because of a misunderstanding! They thought I killed a bunch of their soldiers! Wrong place wrong time sort of thing ya' know. I only wackeed a couple of gang members who had killed me--I mean my mother!" Celey caught herself before she blurted out her troubled secret. She didn't know if would cause any harm, but she had to be careful as to what she said!

There was only one person she even considered telling the truth to, and she was ten years older than he was now! Celey had made the mistake of falling for someone else. Ignorant to the fact she would break his heart a year later when she passed away in his arms. However, that is another story for another time!

Celey grasped Agis' outreached hand and gave it a firm shake. "So, Agis Avran, what exactly is our plan of escape? Are you busting us out or, as you stated before, are we going to wait for you friends to do that?"

OOC: Argh! I hate the way this sounded! Believe me it wasn't my intention to have such a sloppy IC!
But anyways, posting in this RP has brought a fond sense of nostalgia! No I was never a part of this in the beginning, but it reminds me of the days when the guild was the most happening place on this forum! Nowathesedays it's a little frustrating to get anyone to even look at an RP anymore, and it's that fact alone that I respect this RP. It was two years since the last post, but two years later everybody (almost) that took part in it is still willing to play! It has reached 600+ posts, and we should all raise our glasses for a toast! Another 600 posts for the greatest RP to ever grace this board! Egg out!

GUN Prison Block, Cell 2.

"Slop's up, scumbags."

Two GUN solders stepped in through the doorway, their weapons primed and ready for use as they took up station on either side of the door, making way for a third man pushing a small cart before him on which stood several bowls of prison stew. "Hope you soon develop a taste for this stuff, you'll be getting it for quite a while yet."

The Freedom Fighters showed little responce, slumped as they were on the beds and against the wall, and they simply stared up at the men with cold, angry eyes as the cart came to a stop and the caterer started rummaging in a box on one of it's shelves for spoons. All except one...in the corner, Ari was curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth on her toes as she whimpered to herself quietly, her broken wrist clasped against her chest with her other hand as her face betrayed a look of pain and anguish. The caterer picked up one of the bowls and held it out towards Max, sat leaning back on the bed with his arms folded, but the bulldog simply stared at him for a long moment, before turning his gaze on the soldiers by the door. "Hey, I thought you at GUN were supposed to be good people!" He nodded towards the vixen. "Her wrist needs looking at, isn't it about time you did something?"

Arista looked up at the remark, her blue eyes wide. "Shut up! I'm not letting them come anywhere near me!"

"You need it seeing to Ari." Max retorted, his cold gaze turning on her. "Wether you like it or not, you're going. I'm not letting one of my comrades suffer any more than she needs to."

The soldiers at the door glanced at each other, before stepping closer and conferring quietly, and those of the group with sharper ears picked up a few small snatches of their discussion: "...not heard anything about...yeah but if she's injured...bring her out and refare it up?...could radio in and ask, yeah..." Eventually the men parted, and one of them began to step across the room towards the vixen, but his friend stopped him before he could. "Hold it, they may try something if we get too close."

Max rolled his eyes. "Oh for the love of...what do you take us for? Common crooks?" Ignoring the comment, however, the soldiers continued, raising their weapons.

"You, come on out here, slowly."

Arista's eyes were still wide, this time looking scared rather than shocked, but she quietly complied, standing up and stepping towards the soldiers with her head down and her body tense. As she approached one of the men reached out and grabbed her arm, leading her out the doorway while his companion kept careful watch on the rest of the cell's occupants, none of whom showed any sign of movement as the caterer began to dish out his food again. As they stepped into the corridor outside the doorway, however, Ari raised her head again, turning to fix her escort with a deep, pained look. "Do you have to grip so hard?"

The man returned her gaze with a puzzled air. "What?"

"Don't let go." Suddenly Ari span to the side, jerking the soldier's grip on her arm and pulling him off balance as he let out a cry of surprise. Raising her paw into the air, she span back around, her Akkido training balancing her weight and the weight of the other man perfectly against the sudden momentum, and the man promptly found his world turning upsidedown as he was flung head over heels by his own weight, spinning in the air and landing flat on his back on the hard floor with a winded groan! His companion still in the cell heard the commotion and looked round, raising his weapon as he saw what was going on, but before he could pull the trigger, pandemonium broke loose as the rest of the Freedom Fighters lept to their feet. Grabbing one of the bowls of stew the caterer was offering to him, Max pushed the dish squarely into his face, splashing the hot soup in his eyes and causing him to stagger backwards momentarilly blinded, and another gang member lunged forward and shoved the catering trolley across the room on it's small wheels, sending it careering into the second guard by the door and tripping him up too. Both soldiers quickly scrambled for their guns, but before they could reach them they were swamped by the crowd and swiftly restrained as all their equipment, including radios, were removed.

"Take care, people." Max called over the commotion as he stepped forward, eyeing the three men coldly. "Remember, we aren't like them. We don't injure or kill without good reason. They're to be restrained only!" He turned his eyes towards the small pile of equipment rapidly building up in the corner of the room. "Now...key?" One of the other gang members swiftly handed him a small key card used to unlock the doors, and he stepped out of the cell, beckoning the others to follow. "Alright, take what we can use, leave the rest well out of their reach so they can't call for backup or anything. We'll leave them locked up for their comrades to find." The rest of the Freedom Fighters swiftly vacated the cell, leaving the stunned soldiers and caterer in their place, and the door hissed shut as Max swiped the card through the lock.

The guards secure, he turned to face Ari. "Good work. You haven't lost your touch."

"Thanks." She didn't say any more, partly because there was little time, but mainly because she still felt guilty about her leaving. Max wasn't commending her for a job well done, not yet...he was just giving her a mandatory acknowledgement, recognition for her assistance. It would take a whole lot more than a single incident to win his trust once again.

"Okay, let's get our people out and get out of here." Another cheer rose from the rest of the group as Max stepped down the long corridor to the next cell, swiping the key card through the lock to open the door...

-----

Cell 23.

"I'm not the sort to sit and wait." Agis responded, the slightest hint of a smile touching the corners of her mouth as Celey shook her paw. "We'll figure a way out of here, if we work at it hard enough." Spinning back towards the doorway, she once again approached it with an air of cold distain. "This door is reenforced, but I've been trying to figure out any weaknesses it may have. Maybe we could get through it."

Celey looked incredulous for a moment. "You can't kick your way through a solid metal door!"

"I've gone through a concrete wall in the past." the lynx replied in a matter-of-fact tone, making the racoon blink in shock. "Took me a few hours, but it's possible. It's just a pity Wraith isn't here, he'd blow the thing out of it's frame in one hit." She glanced over her shoulder again. "In the meantime, why don't you look for any other weaknesses this place may have? I couldn't see any, but I might have missed something. Another pair of eyes could help."

Celey nodded, moving to the side of the bed and standing up as Agis again launched a massive kick towards the door, but just before the blow connected the obsticle hissed open, sliding sideways into the wall and opening the way to the corridor beyond! Quick as a flash, Max's arm lept into the air, blocking the kick as it swung towards him, and he grunted a humourless laugh as Agis' eyes met his. "You're your usual friendly self I see."

"Max!" Agis swiftly lowered her leg and stepped backwards, bowing her head slightly in appology. "Sorry about that, a case of really bad timing. It's good to see you got out though sir."

"You bet we did." Max responded gruffly. "And everyone else is out now too. You're the last." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder as he spoke, indicating the crowded corridor behind where at least a hundred members of the Freedom Fighters gang were congregated, maybe more! "We're losing this place and going to find Wraith. You coming?"

"Try and stop me." the lynx replied with a wry grin, and Max's gaze turned to the cell's other occupant.

"And this is?"

"Her name's Celey, she seems to be in here for a similar reason to us. She says she'd be interested in joining our cause."

"That so." Max folded his arms, leaning on the cell doorway as he regarded Celey carefully. "Well it's always a good thing to meet up with like minded individuals, miss Celey, but understand that I can't risk releasing random prisoners to the world without a darn good reason why I can trust them. If you're genuine then I appoligise, but I'm gonna have to ask you to provide such a reason before I can let you come along."

==========

GUN Reaserch Labs: Robotics Department.

Frost suddenly leapt across the air, read to deal a drop-kick towards David's mechanical legs.

Immediately he moved, the robot's head whipped round to face him, detecting the light sound of his sneakers on the cold concrete floor of the corridor. Gleaming scarlet eyes burned with bloodchilling intensity as, swift as a bullet, David lept backwards, dodging out of the way of the attack as Frost's kick collided with empty air. A split second and a whirr of servos later and the blue hedgehog was catapulted back down the corridor as a metal hand connected like an oncoming freight train with his head, sending him crashing against the safety guard of the elevator he had just exited a moment before.

Instantly he was on his feet again, his face black as thunder as his eyes began to glow with energy, twin beams of freezing cold air lancing down the corridor at the machine. The attack struck home, a large section of the robot's chest icing up as the subzero energy did it's work, and as the servos in his waist began to lock up, David fell to the floor. Instantly Frost was on him, delivering a massive kick that sent the robot sprawling on his back before leaping on his chest and throwing punch after devastating punch at his plastic features. A metal arm lept up, blocking the fourth blow from finding it's mark, and a massive impact on Frost's chest launched him clean into the air, almost hitting the roof of the corridor as he was thrown backwards, landing with a heavy thud on the floor. David lept back to his feet as the ice around his machanics was swiftly melted by internal heating systems, and he swiftly span round to face the hedgehog, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him back into a standing position as he threw him against the corridor wall.

Metal met skin as Frost raised his arm, blocking another massive blow from the robot, and he swiftly followed through by spinning to the side, raising his heel and delivering a powerful kick to David's back, knocking the robot forward into the wall himself. Another kick swung round to press the advantage, but David's robotic reflexes kicked in before it could hit and he ducked out of the way, spinning round and grabbing Frost's other leg, wrenching it forwards and causing the hedgehog to collapse backwards to the floor again. Before he could land, though, David kicked out, catching him with a knee and sending him barreling down the corridor again this time in the other direction, rolling over and over as the momentum carried him...

(OOC: This was fun to write, not had a chance to explore David in propper combat yet. Sorry if it doesn't do much to advance the plot, but I wasn't quite sure how Cam'Ron would react, so I figured I'd leave him to you Ben.

In other news, having a little trouble thinking of how to continue the scene at the river, as it happens, but I figured I'd put these other scenes up now to at least give people something to work on. I'll add with Ianthe and the others as soon as I've figured something out.)

OOC: yo, just letting you guys know i havent forgotten about yas again XD. actually been pretty busy these past few days, mostly with entertainment type things but they still count :P. went and saw Hancock and Narnia yesterday and today I trained it to the city with a mate to see a couple of anime films, The Girl Who Lept Through Time (very good movie if your interested in watching an anime film soon) and Appleseed Ex Machina.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday i had work. Admittedly not the entire day but i find it drains creativity out of you and when you get home you just wanna kick back for a while. Man i cant even remember what i did last week >.< OH YEAH!! last thursday i meet up with some mates and saw Yahtzee!!!!! *bounces* got to meet and briefly talk with him as well. He was on at ACMI in melbourne and i missed it the first time he was on. Since im studying a games degree at uni it was good getting some incites from him and jason hill (who if i remember correctly is a games reviewer for a newspaper. not sure though lol). As for those of you who DONT know yahtzee game reviews, go to a search engine and type in "Zero Punctuation" then take a look. i only started watching them a couple of weeks ago but there great.

Anywayz, progress update. I DO have a post in the works so dont worry. I'll get it up sometime tomorrow. I wanted to get it done tonight but its taking me to long >.< (why am i a slow writer? WWWHHHHYYYYY???!!!???!!???) 3:30am here already so im gonna turn in, but i'll DEFINATELY have it up sometime tomorrow. kK?? kk!!

CYAZ!!

PS i havent read any of the post from the last couple of days, man you guys just steam ahead. btw any word from the MIAs yet? like JetK and Sunset Fox (i think that was her name. cant remember who her characters were atm)?

PPS ZEEKY BOOGY DOOG!!! (if you dont know this you suck =P)

EDIT
OOC2: hm i just remembered i was meant to just post Sword explaining to Trey, not do an infiltration and time skip LOL. guess the post will be a lot shorter now.

IC:

GUN Helicopter

"This is chopper 5 reporting in. Suspects vehicle has been located 10 kilometres south of the M1, Crescent Rd, toward the lower district beach. It appears to have been abandoned. Considering the lack of vehicles around this area it is likely they continued on foot."

"Copy. A patrol car is on its way to seize the vehicle. Commence a sweep of the area."

"Yes sir. Chopper 5 out."

The pilot placed the radio handset back on its hook and turned to his partner.

"Which direction do you think they would have headed?" he asked.

"No idea. If they kept moving there's a good chance they continued south but it's much more likely they hid, in which case we will never find them from the air. What I want to know is how we're meant to distinguish them from any of the other low-lives in this area. The two from the truck would blend in, in any crowd around here and we never got a good look at their accomplice," the co-pilot replied.

The pilot gave an amused snort. "Hasn't been much of a crowd around these parts in a good four years but I hear ya. Well let's head just south of here, see if we strike it lucky."

With that he tipped the joystick left, turning the helicopter toward the beach before pitching the rotors down, easing it forward. The nose dropped with its forward momentum providing a clear of the entire street.

"Wait a sec." The co-pilot froze momentarily, leaning out of the open cockpit and shifting one earpiece round, exposing his ear to the outside. "Do you hear that?"

The pilot followed suit. "Yes I do. Sounds like gunshots, a lot of them. Raising altitude. See if you can get a good look at them."

The helicopter rose up above the building line and swung out clear of the taller ones. Not too far off a particle obscured but obviously large horde of people were visible firing weapons randomly, some into the air, some toward a considerably smaller group retreating behind the buildings a street down. No not retreating. Running. Sprinting for there lives.

"Damn," the pilot breathed. "Something big just happened here. Call it in and request backup."

His partner nodded and lifted the radio handset to his mouth.

"Headquarters this is chopper 5 reporting in. We are witnessing what appears to be the conclusion to a large gang war battle in front of a hotel on the beach front due south of our previous location. Two groups are involved, one directly in front of the hotel, the second retreating north back into the city. Requesting immediate backup."

A slight pause preceded the response which crackled through the headphones. "Chopper 5 we have confirmed your location and requested backup. A unit is on there way."

The pilots gave one another a quizzical look. "Only one unit?"

"We only have one unit available at this time. The majority of our forces have already been deployed in an attempt to capture Frost and the Neo Freedom Fighters. Many other vehicles were put out of commission by the unknown assailant on the highway. Those in commission from the highway crash site are on there way. Sit tight and keep and eye on the situation."

"Roger that. Over and out."

They both sighed. "So what now?" the co-pilot asked.

"Well you heard the man, where on surveillance 'til backup arrives. Let get a little closer and assess the situation better," the pilot answered.

"What about that group?" The co-pilot pointed at the retreating party, "and the other three?"

"Keep an eye on their heading but they're not exactly going to be much of a threat in their condition. Lets focus on the ones that won for now. As for the other three, they probably came down this way so they may be involved. If not," and he shrugged "we've got bigger fish to fry now."

* * *
The Abandoned Office Building

Sword held the cheetahs gaze for a moment, searching for insincerity. Deciding the reply had been truthful he relaxed a little. Certainly he seemed far more civil than those below and his stance appeared defensive rather than offensive. A gang member would have little reason to be on the top floor of an abandoned office building, particularly without a ranged weapon. Sword straightened, resuming the formally dignified stance he usually took and addressed Trey's question.

"I see. I am Sword. My purpose here is quite simple. I need to get there," and he inclined his head toward the hotel, "without being seen."

Trey furrowed his brow, obviously surprised and a little confused. "You want to break into Sachio and Morgaine's base? I'd advise against that friend. You've seen the kinds of people they employ. Besides how exactly does being here help you?"

Sword strode over to the window and peered down at the twin's forces crowded outside the entrance of the hotel, celebrating their victory over their opposition, then turning his head right where the GUN helicopter was approaching.

"Yes I intend to infiltrate their building. As to how, you will see in just a minute."

He then unlatched the window and broke off the restricting arm allowing it to swing wide open. He would prefer to be doing this from the roof but that would make him far too visible to the GUN helicopter. Crossing back toward Trey he addressed the cheetah again.

"Trey was it? I need a small favour. I need you tell me when that helicopter passes behind that building." Sword asked pointing to the appropriate locations. "By the way, if you have any issues with GUN I suggest you soon make yourself scarce."

OOC: *sigh* well this is a rather underwhelming post compared to what i had envisioned I'd be coming back in with. I had originally started this post with the intent of make it awesome and long and covering most of the time that has lapsed within the rest of the RP compared to where Sword currently is at, but then i remembered I'd given Pachmac a choice to work with that i had completely forgotten about when i started this post XD *slaps self* so sorry mate if i played Trey incorrectly, I was initially setting this up to jump straight into the infiltration scene. No pressure with whatever you decide to do though. It would be awesome to see a little more character interaction with Sword, which is why I sent him up to Trey in the first place LOL. Also wanted to bring the two overlanders back in but I was having trouble writing that part. I can shove them in later though, doesn't really change anything. Despite the cutbacks and the heavy dialogue I quite happy with what I've written soooooo PACHMAC!! after two years i can finally say. SHE'S ALL YOURS!!! TAKE HER AWAY!!! ^_^

Fun Fact: this is my 10th role play post EVOR. yes i have finally hit the double digits XD GO ME!!!

Edit: Not entirely sure why i decided to write in the section with the two helicopter pilots. it just seemed to fit. i also thought it would be a good idea to cover a little about how GUN intends to handle the situation and what condition the organisation is likely in. atm it seems like they have an inexhaustable supply of people and man power and with the number of incidences that have happened in this one day i just seemed to fit that their resources would be rather streached. If your thinking it doesnt fit with what happened on the beach previously ie the other helicopter that camron shaide was in and picked up arista and jet with, i choose to think that arrives a little afterward in relation to Sword and Trey. Atm Sachio and Morgaines gang have just won the battle against Lucent so Aristas fight with Morgaine would still be going or just finishing. yes i am THAT far behind in the storylines time frame. Shouldn't be too much of a problem right now coz the events Trey and Sword are involved in are completely separate from everyone elses and i have no intention of letting Sword get captured XD, but we're gonna have to make a time skip at some point so we're all at the same point. SORRY GUYS!! BIG apologies for my never posting before this RP died. I'll try to get them up a lot more often (though thats not saying much considering my past commitment to regular posts ^^;;; and as such they will likely be generally shorter posts. I figure its better to keep things moving and have a few awesome posts now and then rather than never posting at all hehehehe.

Ok time to shut up before my OOC is longer than my IC.

(OOC) Give me some time here, been busy on my end sort of. I'll get to thinking and posting in all due time. Ain't gonna cop out again!

End OOC.

OOC: Why, thank you for filling us in on your rather enviably carefree social life... Brent! Trust you to be colourful with your OOC's and such. And hmmm... their lengthiness probably are catching up with your IC's . Oh well. Excellent post! I love Seleth... he's so... different to you! XD He's just a cool collected and composed character. And the schemes with weaponary and such are an awesome idea which keep me interested sure enough . Oh, the hovering GUN choppers created great context and atmosphere... so have no regrets there my friend. Keepy uppy.

Darn Wraith... David has become so scary. I'm really scared for Frost. Who would've thought a once blue-eye 'dead against violent' human would've become like quite the nightmarish terminator? :0

Mike... look forward to your entry

Loving Celey still. And how Max has put her on the spot. This is just really real and convincing. Please keep it all up guys!!!

GUN Research Labs: Robotics Department.

Before he could land, though, David kicked out, catching him with a knee and sending him barrelling down the corridor again this time in the other direction, rolling over and over as the momentum carried him...

Frost eventually found his overthrowing form colliding into a nearby stack of micro-component and maintenance tool containing shelves. The supports gave way and collapsed upon one another, whilst the micro-chips, metal shards and oil canisters rained upon the dishevelled cerulean hedgehog. A series of metal fragments blasted across his skin, etching crimson slits and gashes across his indigo skin followed streaks of splashed oil slick which only added to the tragic mess he was in.

Cam'Ron lowered his ears, as his eyes searching the rubble after such a devastating counterblow. Enough to spell out the end of a mere mortal.

Out of the ruins, however, he could make out some bloody hands pawing at the cold-stoned floor as it dragged itself out of the pile of disintegrated robot parts. Stains of oil and blood was left in the wake of the crawling figure.

"....GARRRRRHHHHHH!" the scream echoed down the corridor, coming from the wincing face of the cerulean hedgehog. He clutched his head- appearing desperate to escape his own mind.
And Cam'Ron could've sworn he saw a momentary bolt of electricity orbit Frost's head.

"...what the?" Cam'Ron whispered hoarsely through gritted teeth.

Frost eventually rose up, standing tall with his feral spines sticking out as he locked a pair of vicious eyes upon his nemesis at the other end of the corridor.
David stamped on the floor, sending a ripple across the long axis of the corridor as if to taunt the hedgehog- his siren eyes continuing to flare with an artificial and yet pronounced, sense of hate.

A zig-zag flash of cerulean and lavender streaked in all directions, approaching its target within nanoseconds...
... but through his grid like sensors within his mapped mind- David still had Frost locked-on.

Swarming in like a living nightmare that tripped the robot's mind, he hadn't anticipated the hedgehog... splitting into two?!

A ghost...?

"So which is real?" a brash whisper was detected through the humanoid's system, before finding his internal wires being paralysed by an invading quiver of ice through his head. Before he could react, David suddenly found himself spinning through the air as his torso was met with a spontaneous homing attack towards the torso with a powerful clank.

Whist he now, found his large mechanical form colliding through the wall into the pipe systems, causing steam and vapour to burst through and shower him- the substantial Frost on the other hand was able to land back on the ground on his two legs. His ghost clone counterpart, that had fooled David instantly merged with the real form, having served its purpose.

Cam'Ron frowned, shaking his head at the sinister turn of events before turning to Kash and the rest of the technicians.
He checked his watch.
0:05:19 s.

"Get going, take the elevator... get out of here!" Cam'Ron ordered "that's an order.

Kash nodded- getting up and almost stumbling. His face was extremely blanched and etched with fear as he took the lead and somehow mustered enough strength and alertness to beckon his colleagues to the elevator that would take them away from this nightmare.

Cam'Ron looked on from his spot, feeling a sense of fear engulf for the first time since... he could pretty much remember.
Perhaps he was now beginning to understand... what it was that came with being manufactured as a weapon of war.
A fight till the bitter end. No one and nothing left behind to reassure you that everything was going to be okay.
He gazed at his watch nervously. He could very well escape if he wanted to. But as long as these two were alive, and he DID run away... who was to say either himself or anyone else at GUN were safe? Unfortunately, this was a matter he had to see through.

Frost stood there, a shady figure as he looked on through the cracked wall to where David crashed through. All that was coming out of newly incised wall opening was a barrage of mist and smoke from the traumatised pipes.

OOC2: Can someone confirm the Chaos emerald whereabouts pls? As far as I know..
Arista had one that she took from Lucent- did GUN take it off her?
Frost had 2- GUN took one and now Cam'Ron has one
One's in an Arctic zone, one is in the desert, and another is in a top location.
1,2,3,4,5,6...
and no. 7?
:S

The Abandoned Office Building

"Trey was it? I need a small favour. I need you tell me when that helicopter passes behind that building." Sword asked pointing to the appropriate locations. "By the way, if you have any issues with GUN I suggest you soon make yourself scarce."

Before Trey could answer though...

"Get down!" Sword ordered in a waspish tone.

As Trey stared at him with a confused and somewhat aggitated frown, his eyes opened up in surprise as he found Sword leap on him and drag him flat against the ground.
As Trey opened his eyes, his back flat on the ground, he gasped with a supplimentary sweatdrop across his forehead as he saw a streak of bullets blast through the air which would sure have hit him had he still been standing up.

Trey shot up again, looking over his shoulder before making a full turn as he tried to identify the coulprit of the shootings.

Sword however, had other plans. He instantly jumped upon a broken post box, before leaping off it high into the air and gliding. As he did so, he swung back a leg and managed to kick off a body from a window ledge, causing it to plummet to the ground with a thud.

Trey stepped back from the robed figure, before stepping forwards again and lifting it up with his one able arm.

"Who are you?!" he asked, trying to identify the face within the dark hood of the robe.

The figure sneered, before lifting the hood back. And out popped a white head, causing Trey to drop the figure to the ground instantaneously- as if he had just received an electric shock.

It was... it was... the greatest treasure hunter. Or once was...

"Hello boys," Rouge the bat said, throwing off the cloak to reveal a show-stopping figure- but a harsher and colder look about her as she appeared to be strapped in a black corset with a draping black cloak along with an ash-complexion and smokey make-up upon her face. This all made her outlook a little less colourful than her former familiar days. Almost a reflection of the hard times that had obviously conquered her non-chalant outlook on life.

"Rouge? I've heard of you and I recognise you as a former GUN agent..." Trey explained. Rouge observed the cheetah somewhat indifferently, batting a pair of ebony tinted eyelids, before looking at Sword.

"Here to stash some goods from the former 'big-cheese' gang huh?" she asked incredulously, addressing the eagle and cheetah with an assertive look "you vultures should scram...! Leave it all to a professional treasure hunter like me... m'kay?"

OOC: O.O wow ben, i did NOT see that coming XD this ought to be interesting. i'm guessing the former "big-cheese gang" is sachio and morgaines, so rogue saw sachio die and morgaine get captured? coz your gang is still below celebrating their victory over the Nocturnes. Just need to clarify that. I'm a details fanatic hehehe. I'll get a reply up soon but it'll be very short so Pachmac gets a chance to respond as well.

EDIT:
as for the 7th chaos emerald. apparently Wraith has it somewhere

OOC: XD
Yeah well, thought I'd spice up the scene a bit. She's so different to Trey and Sword that I thought another charrie (esp. Rouge) may make it somewhat interesting.

Yup, she will have seen Mo and Sachio fall. The former captured and the second dead, much to her delight. And if the rest of Sach's gang are celebrating, all the more for her to grin at their stupidity of allowing themselves get that distracted. They really are not much without their leaders.

Alrighty then, tally ho ^_^

(OOC: Yeah, the seventh chaos emerald, the grey one, is in Wraith's posession. And with regard to the one Ari has, I don't think GUN will have found it...if you refer back to when she got it from Lucent on the way to Sachio and Morgaine's hideout, she hid it very well where few would think to look.)

GUN Reaserch Labs: Robotics Department.

Frost stood on the brink before the smouldering, ragged hole in the wall, watching, waiting, staring into the gap with his cold, icy gaze for any sign of his mechanical target. Hissin steam from the surrounding pipes obscured his vision into the shadowy depths slightly, but he could see enough to see movement in the area...of which there wasn't any. It seemed to robot was out of commission.

Slowly, he let his tightly clenched fists relax...

A sudden whirring noise as two burning scarlet points of light flicked open in the shadowy gloom, gleaming with terrifying intensity, and like a bullet from a gun David lept back out of the hole, a metal hand closing like a vice on Frost's forehead as the hedgehog was thrown backwards, slammed into the oppisite wall of the corridor in fury! He raised his right hand to try and wrestle the robot's grip off his face, but David's other arm lashed out between them, grabbing his wrist before he could fight back. Not to be outdone, Frost's left hand closed around the robot's neck in a subzero grasp, and all at once the two combattants were locked together in a twisted, tense ballet, unable to extract one another from the enemy's grasp!

David immediately launched into a spin, looping the hedgehog clean around his body to slam him into the wall once again, but Frost bent his knees behind him as he touched the smooth metal, placing his feet squarely on the wall as his legs absorbed the impact. Then, with a roar of anger, he kicked off, launching them both back across the corridor and impacting David's metal form against the oppisite wall. Letting go of the robot's neck, he smashed his arm against David's limb that was holding his head, knocking the robot's grasp off his forehead, before launching a massive punch at the gleaming red eyes before him.

David dodged to the side as the blow impacted on the wall behind him, and using the leverage he still had on Frost's wrist he turned the tables, spinning the hedgehog so his spines were pressed against the wall instead of the robot himself. A metal elbow dropped towards his face, but Frost ducked his head out of the way, a loud CHUNG of metal echoing down the hall as the blow punched a hole clean through the wall. Another blow came flying towards him, and again he ducked, David's arm smashing into the superstructure of the building clean up to the elbow! The robot seemed to pause, however, as his fist became stuck in the debris, unable to pull back out of the hole.

Frost saw his chance, and delivered a massive kick to the robot's chest, propelling him backwards at speed as his arm was torn from the hole with a metallic grinding noise, the plastic skin coating it's length shreadding like the peel of an orange, and the hedgehog immediately pressed his advantage, launching a volley of devastating blows that sent David spinning down the hallway, his metal frame clattering and grinding against the walls and floor as he fell! Frost darted forwards in persuit, pulling back his fist for another punch, but David's metal arm lashed out with inhuman speed, catching his fist before he had the chance to throw it. The next thing he knew his arm was twisted almost out of it's socket as the robot's grip rotated, forcing him into a painful crouch as his arm was pulled over his back, then a metal heel smashed down on the back of his head as David kicked him forwards, his body impacting on one of the large metal doors on the wall of the corridor and smashing clean through it into the room beyond! He rolled down the few small steps in the large, open space, coming to a stop at the bottom as he slowly began to pick himself up, and as he did so the gleaming metal form of David stepped through the bent and mangled doorway, his burning red eyes swiftly scanning about the room for any sign of danger. An experiemental robotics lab, full of inanimate machine parts and tools - very little danger.

He, however, was an unknown. The machine's gaze fell upon the tall, thin man with long greying hair sat in a chair at the back of the room, his eyes wide as he viewed the scene that had just invaded his makeshift cell. Slowly, hesitantly, he stood up from the chair, his own eyes fixed squarely on the robot before him. "D-David? Oh no...w-what have they done to you?"

Frost was already climbing to his feet again, his fists clenched tightly by his sides as he clenched his teeth in fury, but the Overlander raised an arm to wave him away urgently, shaking his head. "Stay back!" he called. "I might be able to control him, but if he percieves you as a threat he won't listen!" With that he took a step forward, placing his hands on his hips as he strook an imposing stance in the middle of the room, keeping the machine's attention. "Protocol Origin Zero-Seven Alpha!" he commanded boldly. "Recognise doctor Dillan Amoz, creator, system ident eight-zero-one-zero command root control. Acknowledge!"

David seemed to freeze for a long moment, his gleaming vermillion eyes locked on the man with an air of what could almost be defined as confusion. "Protocol Origin Zero-Seven Alpha!" Amoz repeated, his body tense. "Acknowledge!!!"

For a long, drawn out moment, there was silence, then slowly the robot's white plastic features shifted as his mouth opened. "Potocol Origin Zero-Seven Alpha acknowledged." he murmured in a voice quite different to his usual innocent, gentle tone...a voice much deeper, darker, more robotic, grating with mechanical distortion and purely functional in it's implementation. "System identification acknowledged. Doctor Dillan Amoz - recognised. Awaiting priority commands."

=====

GUN Cell Block.

"So is that good enough for you or are you just going to leave me here to rot in this cell, either way it doesn't really matter to me!"

As Celey spoke, another figure had stepped into the doorway too, a tall, thin vixen with firey orange fur and gleaming blue eyes. She seemed to be listening even more intently than Max to the racoon's words, and as Celey finished she and the bulldog exchanged a knowing glance together, both looking somewhat impressed.

"Okay..." Max responded smartly, giving Celey a curt nod. "Let's get moving." With that he turned and left the cell, Agis following close behind him, but the vixen stepped forward, offering a paw for Celey to take.

"Hi, I'm Arista. It's good to have another member on the team."

"Celey." Celey responded, taking the outstretched hand and shaking it. "Thanks for your help."

"I couldn't help but hear your story." Ari murmured, her voice full of empathy and feeling. "You aren't the only one to feel that way, many of us have had a similar expreience." It was clear from her pained expression she was speaking of something she knew well. "You aren't alone."

"Thank you." Celey responded, touched by the fellow feeling in Arista's voice. "Do you think it's possible...for things to finally work out? For everything to go back to the way it was before?"

Ari paused for a moment before replying. The question had caught her off guard, and her mind wondered back to the time she had been staring down the barrel of her own gun, held by Lucent...the time when all her hope had seemed lost and her beliefs destroyed. At that point she had given up on the ideals of the Freedom Fighters, realising just how impossible they really were, and in the ensuing confusion and chaos she hadn't really had a chance to give it any more thought. Now...what did she believe? Had anything changed since that moment? Was there any hope at all for their ideals? "I've wondered the very same thing myself..." she spoke up in a voice little more than a whisper. "Sometimes I've been terribly discouraged. Sometimes I've felt like giving up, like the fight is impossible and can never be won." Lucent had had that effect on her - the dark, twisted evil of the Nocturnes leader, cold and somehow mercyless, completely selfish and brutal to his own ends. Yes, what hope was there for the world when chaos such as that reigned?

But something had changed. She could see it now, clear as day, and cursed herself for not recognising it before. Her lust for revenge against Morgaine and her brother had blinded her to it, leading her off on a path to darkness, a darkness like Lucent himself, an evil, selfish shadow that forsook all else. But now, it was different, and she knew why. There, in the alleyway with Lucent, her world had seemed empty because nobody around her cared. Just as Lucent himself, every member of the gang were out for themselves, sticking together only out of a selfish motive of self-preservation and fear that had no real meaning behind it. But during the battle with Morgaine in the boathouse, when she had found herself looking into Jet's deep gaze...during the breakout of their own cell just moments ago with the rest of the Freedom Fighters...during all her time with Wraith, seeing his noble descisions and the bold, selfless resolve in his steel grey eyes, she could see the change, the small gap between the world of Lucent and that of Wraith that made all the difference.

"But then...I think of my friends." she continued, her voice swelling with warmth and determination. "I think of the comradeship we have with each other, and the respect and resolve we share...and I realise that nothing can defeat that, nothing can stop it. It doesn't matter how long it takes, or how hard it will be - so long as we stand together, and look out for each other, we will succeed. We will prevail." A slight watery quality came to her eyes as she looked up at Celey again. "I've learned that the hard way."

Celey was quiet for a moment as she considered the words, her own eyes deep with emotion. "I've been alone most of my life." she responded slowly. "I don't think I've had the chance to learn that at all."

"Well you aren't alone any more." Ari stepped forward, putting an arm around the racoon's shoulders as they began to step towards the door. "We're in this together, and together we can get out. Come on, let's not keep the others waiting."

In the corridor outside, Max was organising the rest of the gang. "We can't exactly go wondering through the halls of GUN as a group." he called out over the crowd. "We'd be taken out or rounded up in seconds. What we have at the moment is the element of surprise, they don't know we've got out. For that reason, most of you are gonna hole up here and lie low. If anyone comes in, capture them and put them in the cells with the other guards. I'll take a small team to get our bearings and find us a smooth way out. We'll keep in touch with the rest of you via radio." He held up the radios they had taken from the two guards earlier. "So, who's with me?"

"Count me in." Agis spoke up immediately, stepping forward. Max glanced towards her, looking at her arm hung up in it's sling, but she shook her head with a wry smile. "I don't need my arms, remember? It's my feet that do all the work."

"Alright...if you're sure." Max relented. "Anyone else?"

"Uh...you may need someone who knows their way around computers." The short figure of Aaron pushed his way through the crowd, the Freedom Fighters' electronics wizard and data administrator who had a crush on the kickboxing lynx. "I guess...I could be there too...i-if you think you can use me."

"Yeah, good point, you're in." Max responded, and the short figure, a racoon like Celey smiled a somewhat nervous smile as he stepped forward to join the smaller team.

"I'm coming too." Arista called as she exited the doorway of the cell with their new ally in tow. "I promised I'd help you all get out of here and I intend to stick to that." Max simply nodded in responce.

"Okay I'll take one more to watch our backs. You..." He pointed a thick finger towards Celey. "...you have any combat experience? You think you wanna come along?"

=====

East Side River.

It seemed Athena wasn't particularly keen on the idea of travelling together.

And neither was she. Tech and Amanda she could perhaps deal with, but these two newcomers were nothing but trouble in her book, particularly the vixen. Ianthe regarded Athena coldly as they stepped down the street, watching her for any sign of danger. This was why she preferred to be alone, aside from the danger she could potentially pose to any friends she might make. There were so few people you could trust in the city these days, and even seemingly amiable friends could turn out to be dangerous if you trusted them too much...

...some perhaps more than others she thought wryly as her glittering emerald green eyes watched the strange fennec with a cold, mistrustful gaze. Athena was currently walking ahead of her, so couldn't see the look in her eye, but it was so intent and piercing that the vixen could almost have felt it burrowing into her back like a drill, digging deeply into her soul as if to scritinise her innmost thoughts and feelings and watching her for any small slip, any move that could be dangerous.

The hedgehog...we was more of an enigma than a danger right now, and to a degree Ianthe could identify with him not knowing who he was. There had been times when she had felt the same way thanks to her condition, times like when she had woken up the next morning with blood on her hands from an unkown source, or come to in an area she had never seen before. Probably this Shadow had different reasons for his confusion, but the similarities were clearly noticable. Not, of course, that this ment she trusted him in any particular way - trust was a very rare commodity for her nowadays.

"So what exactly does anyone know about GUN?" she announced suddenly, looking round at the rest of the group for their reactions. Athena was the first to show a responce, turning to look at her with a sly humour.

"What, you been living under a rock for the past five years?"

"I wasn't old enough to care before all this happened." Ianthe responded, meeting the snide remark with an even, collected exterior. "And since then I've not had any reason to find out about them. I know they're some kind of private army dolled up as a peacekeeping force, and that they have a monopoly on all kinds of equipment and technology, but beyond that I have little to go on. Perhaps some of you could enlighten me."

OOC: many thanks for Chaos emerald clarification.

Writing other scenes as we speak. Wraith, if interaction with Amoz is out of character, let me know and I'll edit! (=

IC:

GUN robotics labs

For a long, drawn out moment, there was silence, then slowly the robot's white plastic features shifted as his mouth opened. "Potocol Origin Zero-Seven Alpha acknowledged." he murmured in a voice quite different to his usual innocent, gentle tone...a voice much deeper, darker, more robotic, grating with mechanical distortion and purely functional in it's implementation. "System identification acknowledged. Doctor Dillan Amoz - recognised. Awaiting priority commands."

Cam'Ron blinked- a mask of abseloute disbelief and confusion upon his face.
One minute, this terminating warlock robot seemed hell-bent on massacring any and all sings of surrounding lifeforms. The next, the robotic entity seemed completely neutralised by a mere few words uttered by this newcomer.
Frost breathed out in exasperation, a thin line of blood visible from his mouth. He lowered his hands and gazed at the situation in front of him with inquisitive eyes- his spines following his slowly regarding head movements.

Cam'Ron frowned, before gritting his teeth and snarling.
As Frost was about to step in a carry out another attack manouvre, Shaide quickly raised an arm, indicating for the sub-ordinate hedgehog to stay back.

"H'okay!" Cam'Ron called out, standing up tall and throwing his hands in clenched fists on either side of him "just who the hell are you and what's your game old man?!"

"Keep your tone down... he doesn't like hostility," Dr. Amoz tried to explain in a composed manner and a hushed down voice.

"I don't bloody well care!" Cam'Ron snapped back, daring the situation as Dr. Amoz stepped back slightly and David whirred his head in the brown hedgehog's direction.

"I, too, have a weapon of war at my disposal," Cam'Ron said softly as he jested towards Frost "so unless you want another fray of oil and haemorhage with the both of us caught in it... I suggest you answer some questions."

Dr. Amoz upheld an unreadable expression in spite of his composed nod of acknowledgement. Given that the hedgehog didn't seem to know who he was, he wondered whether this hedgehog was some new GUN employer. A naïve hotshot.

"My name is Dr. Dillan Amoz. I am the creator of this robot here. David..." he explained, presenting the neutralised robot with open hands. Shaide couldn't help notice a certain resemblance which caused him to wonder furthermore about the motives of this doctor's creation. The personal name seem to make the being all the more closer to home as well.

"His mechanical and physical make-up is intricately in tune with emotions I aspired to convey through him. He is a fine balance. Any interference or disruption to that balance- resulting in dire consequences," he sighed, a wave of anguish almost overwhelming him "he's a noble soul... who represents nothing but good..."

"Nothing but good doctor...?!" Cam'Ron protested "what was this performance going on here? From it looks like earlier on, he was TRYING to kill GUN personnel!"

"You took him from me!" Dr. Amoz cried out, his emotions taking over "your GUN personnel kept me locked up all these years! Attempting to exploit my knowledge to fulfill your powerful greed in trying to create and construct a state of the art robotic army. I refused. And then you emotionally blackmail me... you bring David back to me, the only thing that means anything to me anymore... only to take him away again and attempt to reverse engineer him?!"

Frost observed David, causing Cam'Ron to look at him briefly, before re-addressing his look at Amoz.

"Well... look where it's got you. Your own voracious venture has spelt out your misfortunes. You went tampering with his head and inner workings so pitilessly. You had no right to take him from me... to meddle with him. NO right!"

"Listen!" Cam'Ron decreed "we're not here at GUN to create lifeforms because we 'feel' like it. There's a dangerous world out there in case you hadn't noticed at its within our own interest to take every measure we can to quell it."

"And you're taking innocents along in the process! Just what do the 'Guardian of united nations' stand for anymore?!"

"Kill some, save a lot! That's the way it is and the way it'll always be!" Cam'Ron snarled "for someone so 'intelligent' and old... you obviously have no wisdom."

"Do not lecture me about wisdom, young sap. Do you think that once you've been expended for your services that you'll be grateful for everything you're standing for at this present moment?"

Before Cam'Ron could answer, however, his mouth suddenly became agape when a solid steel door came crashing down from behind himself and the rest of the gathering- sealing them all shut within a sector.
Pulsating red lights suddenly starting flashing, followed by a screeching alarm. An awakening chaos was resurfacing.

Shaide quickly checked his watched whilst the others threw their heads about in confusion.
0:00:00s

"God damnit!! Our window time has expired!" he cried out, before throwing his head towards a large screen that suddenly switched on. A face suddenly merged in the form of Dr. Grey.

"Shaide. What happened?" Dr. Grey asked with subdued emotion.

"Doctor... we've accomplished out mission! The GUN staff our out and we have detained a Dr. Dillan Amoz and his robot creation... 'David'!" Cam'Ron explained with bouts of panic in his voice "we'd like to come out."

"You can't Shaide," Dr. Grey explained "I informed you that the sector was on lockdown. Once a site within GUN is closed down and contained, the process can't be reversed."

"...but Doctor... " Cam'Ron tried to utter words out, but found his throat tighten from fear and dismay.

"It's a safety procedure we have been practising within this facinity for years Shaide," Dr. Grey disclosed "every now and again, a bug crops into our system which threatens to cause detrimental interference to GUN as a whole. Like a certain... Dr. Dillan Amoz and his friend..." Dr. Grey managed to catch sight of the whole cast, including an subserviant expressioned Frost, a neutralised David, a worn out Dr. Amoz... and the panicked Cam'Ron.

"The trick is not to get caught in the zapping process. I did warn you. And I'm rather unimpressed you're dragging specimen 156 down to your grave. But... we managed to store his DNA data anyway and can always clone him. So 'oh well'... I suppose."

"What's gonna happen to us?!" Amoz interrupted.

"The sector you're in is attached to the rest of the GUN complex on 'puppet strings'. They'll automatically snap- sending you plummeting towards the middle of the earth. Amazing how deep underground we managed to construct this complex, wouldn't you say?"

Cam'Ron just stared in disbelief, wishing the ground would swallow him whole.

And his wish got granted.

As the screen shut down with a computerised groan of seeming exhaustion- the red lights suddenly got cut off- leaving the cast in pitch black.

The world suddenly seemed like a black, surreal vortex in slow motion as the gathering found their feet a good half inch off the ground as they felt the dark room falling down...

...deeper and deeper to their doom...

IC:
Celey looked towards Max, "Yeah I've got skills!" she smiled, "My whole life has been one big battle! Just give me the right tools (which is pretty much anything lying around) and I'm the gal you want!"

Celey began to scan the cell block looking for anything she can use as a weapon. Then she spied exactly what she had been yearning for! For some unknown reason there was a small shovel leaned up against the opposite wall. She calmy walked over towards it a picked it up! She swung it around over her head then brought it down against the ground with a muffled clang. She winced only once as the pain, still lingering, coursed through her body.

She raised it above her head, "Well hello Charley!" Celey then noticed the strange looks she was getting from the others inside the Cell block and quickly turned red, "Heh, I'm sorry! I guess I was getting carried away! So um, what is our plan, heh!"

OOC: sorry 'bout the shortness I just can't think today!

(OOC: You played Amoz better than I ever could Ben! Great work^^)

Robotics Labs

In the silence, metal hydraulics hissed, and two tiny points of burning scarlet light whipped round, leaping like a stag towards the door. Amoz saw the robot moving. "Synthetic unit!" he bawled into the darkness. "Origin command: base prototcol override! Hold your position!"

Again the robot stopped, it's gleaming eyes turning in the direction of the Doctor as it regarded him impassivley through the gloom. "Base protocol - overriden." the mechanical voice droned out, sounding even more sinnister and unnerving in the deep twilight. "Awaiting priority commands."

Amoz was thinking fast. This was a very dangerous situation...although perhaps not in the way that Cam'Ron and Frost would have thought it so. He didn't care about the room they were in plumeting miles into the earth, never to be seen again. It didn't matter to him what GUN did with chunks of their complex. Right now, his main concern was David. His programming had reverted to base millitery code, which prioritized the defence of his own person and the elimination of any dangerous outside source. Normally command protocols would have been added to the mix before the unit went online, to allow the robot to act as a trained soldier and take orders from his superiors, but in this case that hadn't happened. It was only the backup 'Origin' protocol that Amoz had built into the base programming that had allowed him to stop the machine, a system that would recognise the robot's creator and follow his commands regardless of any other orders it recived.

But the Origin protocol was by no means foolproof. Amoz had still been working on it when he had terminated his work for GUN robotics initially, and in it's current state it could be overridden by the base programming should David, or rather the killing machine he had become, percive the Doctor as a threat. Ordering the robot to wait, to stay still when in a situation of almost certain death, was a very risky manuver in itself, one which would surely have unbalanced the scales against him to a degree - it's logical mind would have taken the order almost as a command to commit suicide, to allow the destruction of the unit without resistance.The percentages and probabillities would be a delicate balance if he wanted to get on the robot's good side again. He would have to choose his words - and actions - very carefully.

"Synthetic unit - Origin command: adjust unit identification syntax to 'Alpha', and recognise all further commands from this source as Origin commands until further notice. Acknowledge?" At least this way he would be able to control the machine much more swiftly and smoothly.

"Command acknowledged." the grating voice rang out as the eyes continued to regard the man impassivley.

"Will you stop playing with that toy of yours and think of a way out of this???" Cam'Ron's voice, sounding extremely angry and more than a little scared. Amoz could not see either of the hedgehogs in the darkness, but he could pretty well imagine their faces.

"Shut up!" the old man retorted in an uncharacteristically sharp tone for his gentle personallity. "That's exactly what I'm trying to do! Now let me focus or one wrong word could spell the death of us all long before we reach the bottom of this shaft!" A loud cracking noise echoed through the room as the thick concrete of the construction began to break up from the velocity of it's fall, and Amoz swiftly redirected his eyes back to the twin red orbs of the robot. "Alpha, rescue all life forms within the immediate area and assist them to escape from this structure!"

The robot's eyes swung to the side as his head turned, seemingly in the direction of Frost. "One life form tagged as hostile. Hostile life form will not be saved."

"Negative!" Amoz shouted, his voice echoing around the large room. "Save everyone!"

"Command refused."

The machine moved, darting towards Amoz like a bullet, and the Doctor felt a strong metal arm close around his chest and a sensation of movement as he was dragged across the room effortlessly. Another cry from the enraged Cam'Ron suggested he too had been caught, and a moment later a deafening crash of rock and metal echoed in the blackness as the air filled with concrete dust. The robot was breaking clean through the wall of the doomed building to escape. For an indefinitely long moment everything seemed to stop, drifting serenely as though they had suddenly been shot into the deep, dark void of space, then Amoz had a vague impression of something flashing past his head, dropping downwards while he remained stationary. A grunting noise, and the robot's grip shifted as he felt something press up against his back - perhaps the GUN hedgehog had been transferred to the same arm to leave the robot's other arm free. Then, suddenly, the deceleration hit...the Doctor felt all his breath leave him in an instant as a crushing weight dropped onto his shoulders and pain shot through his entire body. For a long time he felt like his legs were about to tear off and his skeleton was going to exit through the soles of his feet, and he had the distinct feeling he was going to retch. At length, though, the feelings finally subsided as the motion seemed to cease, and though the inky black of the darkness still pervaded the air around them, Amoz got the distinct impression that the area they now occupied was considerably more massive than the place they had been in moments before, a huge, cathedral like space with no roof, no floor, and the opposing wall a massiv distance away. He felt like he was hanging on a wall like a fly, held up only by the cold metal grip around his chest.

Again he heard the loud roar of cracking concrete, however this time it was much quieter and distant, seeming to come from somewhere below and echoing up a gigantic empty chasm. It seemed that they had escpaed the falling building...

...leaving Frost behind, all alone, as the section continued to plumet to it's destruction...

=====

GUN Cell Block

"First on the list, we need information. Lesse if we can find a computer terminal of some sort and get ourselves a map of this place." Spinning on his heel, Max set off down the corridor towards the door at the far end, the rest of the small team in tow. They walked in complete silence, their eyes scanning around the walls and doors nearby for any sign of movement despite the fact they knew the other doors were locked tight, all of them slightly tense and nervous at the situation. One mistake...that would be all it would take for all this effort to be in vain.

They reached the doorway swiftly, and Max carefully peered through the small window in it's metal surface, looking into the room beyond. "Some kind of access control for the cell block." he muttered quietly as he stepped back. "Large bank of computers on the left, one guard sat at them. Nobody else in there."

"This one's mine." Agis murmured immediately, and Max gave a curt nod, causing the lynx to stand up and turn towards the door with a deep breath. The bulldog ran the security pass across the access pannel on the dorrframe, and immediately the door opened Agis was moving, racing into the room like a sandy colored lightning bolt. The guard looked up from the magazine he was reading in shock, jumping to his feet as his hand reached for the gun on his belt, but before he could draw it a powerful heel impacted on his stomach, making him double over in pain as he gasped for air. Another sharp kick, this time to the man's temple, and he dropped like a stone to the cold floor, unconsious.

"Alright, let's be quick about this." Max stated swiftly as he followed the lynx in. "Aaron, computer, now. Find us a map that we can use to plan a way out of here. Agis, Celey, cover the other door." He pointed a finger towards the second door in the room as he said this, leading out into the rest of the GUN complex. "Ari, check that guard. See if he has anything we can use, then tell the others to pick him up and put him in the cells with the other three."

The computer hacker was already rounding the desk the computers were sat on as he recived his orders, and he swiftly sat down in the chair as he looked to each of the screens in turn, getting his bearings on the system. It seemed two of the monitors were supposed to be displaying feed from a number of security cameras places throughout the cell complex, but to Aaron's surprise they were currently showing rather different images, and he made a face as he cancelled the applications. It semed their latest guard friend had some rather tasteless interests. The central monitor, however, was clearly logged in right to the GUN central mainframe, and it didn't take the racoon long to figure his way about the system. "Alright...map." he muttered, his fingers flying over the keyboard as he typed in commands. "Map, map, map...aha! Here we go!" His face rose as the computer screen changed, but then suddenly his brow furrowed in confusion and his mouth dropped open. "Woah, that can't be right..."

Max rounded the desk to stand alongside him, looking over his shoulder. "What's up?"

"Well I got us a map, but..." Aaron pointed towards the screen where a very detailed three dimentional map of the entire GUN complex was slowly rotating before their eyes, one particularly large section of it flashing a bright scarlet red. "...look at those warning symbols. I think there's some kind of major emergency going on right now!"

"Where do they show up?" Arista asked swiftly as she looked up from the guard's body, her blue eyes widening. "They couldn't be closing in on us could they?"

"No, this is across the other side of the complex." Aaron responded hesitantly, zooming the map in on the gleaming red marks. "The...Robotics division."

"Oh heck!" Max grunted, more to himself than anyone else. "David was with me when that idiot Captain knocked me out, I dunno what happened to him. Wonder if they brought him in too..."

"I lowered his resistance to violence against living creatures too." Aaron murmured as his brow raised in a look of apprehension. "You don't think he could be killing anyone over there do you? If he is it could be classed as my fault..."

Max immediately shook his head. "Nope, wouldn't be. You stopped him having to interviene when he saw violence, but he still refused to take a violent action on principle. Not with deadly force anyway. What's more important now, though, is that there's an emergency somewhere else which will be draining GUN's resources and energy. I don't think we could have picked a better time to break out, everyone - if we move quickly we might be able to escape before they even know what's happening!"

"But what if David has been captured, Max?" Arista spoke up again, turning her gaze on him with a worried expression. "Shouldn't we do our best to rescue him too? He was kinda part of our force, after all, and I hear he was instrumental in helping you get Wraith out of the Nocturnes' base."

"As much as I might agree with you on some level, it's just too risky." Max responded gruffly. "First, we don't even know if he was captured...for all we know that emergency might be something completely unrelated, and he's walking free on the streets of Station Square. What's more, we have the entire rest of the gang holed up in that corridor back there. If they don't get out soon, they'll be recaptured and we can kiss all the dreams of the Freedom Fighters goodbye. As useful as David was, he ain't a substitute for a hundred and fifty dedicated men and women with a noble cause in their hearts."

"I see what you're saying," Ari remarked quietly, "but he wasn't just useful...he was a friend."

"So are the rest of the Freedom Fighters in there. If we get out of here and find out that he was indeed captured, then perhaps we can start thinking about ways to help him out, but until we know for sure and until all our forces are in the clear and safe, we can't take that risk Arista."

Ari was quiet for a moment, but then she relented with a sigh, nodding her head slowly. Max was right, there was too much at stake right now to worry about possibillities. Wherever David was, though, she hoped he was alright. Max turned back to the computer screen, telling Aaron to find them a way out of the complex that should be safe, and the vixan went back to stripping the guard of his weapons and equipment, piling the merchandise on the desk close by the keyboard the racoon was working on. Meanwhile, by the door, Agis and Celey had been listening to the conversation running about the room in silence as they stood flanking the door, ready to challenge anyone who might step through it swiftly and cleanly.

Suddenly the lynx's ears pricked up, and her head turned to the door between them as her face dropped to a cold frown. "You hear that?" she murmured to Celey quietly. For a brief moment silence reigned, punctuated only by the tapping of Aaron's fingers on the computer keyboard, but sure enough, if one listened carefully, they might have heard a distant, regular thumping noise, like the sound of footfalls, possibly a few of them, slowly getting closer and closer through the door. Agis tensed and took a step backwards. "I think someone's coming..."

OOC: Ha ha ha, excellent post Wraith. That was just surreal and captivating. And I'm glad David didn't save Frost. It's so much more true to the story of the characters.
Had to say it!
Up with a post soon, no hints as to what's happening though

OOC: More to come!

Soleannian jungle ruins

Within a dark, tomb like corridor, where technology was merged with ruins in an old temple located in a nuclear-overgrown jungle, miles away from station square- a figure with a tailing white coat ran down the its tunnel.

"Sir," Kellerman reported, coming to a stop within a screen decorated and computerised room. Its outlook was a stark contrast to the outside jungle and ruins.

"What is it?!" an impatient reply came from the red clothed, robust overlord, his dark miniscule glasses catching the light emanating from the surrounding computer screens. He turned away from his work, standing up tall to face Kellerman, hasty to hear the rest of what he had to say.

"Several recent happenings to report according to what some of our surveillance cameras picked up around station square," Kellerman began "firstly, it appears that the gang leader of the 'Street vagabonds', Sachio... has deceased. He was overthrown by Lucent, leader of the Nocturnes. Morgaine, his sister, has been subdued and was last seen being carried away by some dark-clad assassin type figure. An arachnid by the looks of it."

"Interesting twist of fate..." Eggman mused "ok then, glad that stupid bat did some dirty work for me. I've always been keen to know what that runt of a hedgehog kept in his digs."

"Well, their hotel is surrounded by GUN helicopters, and the rest of the 'Street vagabonds' are segregated and without a master to rally them... randomly getting caught and hurled by GUN."

"Is that so?" Eggman asked "well, whilst the place is in such disarray then perhaps we should go pay a visit then!" he grinned.

"Rally my robotic enforcer legions into our Aircraft cruiser and let's make an invasion. Find out what lies in the wake of the tender years of Sachio's hideout. And anyone that stands in our way..."

Kellerman raised his eyebrows, awaiting Eggman to finish his sentence.

"Will be taken captive," he said, clasping his hands with a loud thud "I'm stepping back in time to my own tender years as a roboticist. Furries actually DID always made good batteries for my robots. It's just that... just that that accursed blue hedgehog always bloody well got in the way before I could take things to the final step!" the doctor raged.

"Well, now that my research is complete- roboticization can now not be reversed. Kill the machine, and you kill what's within. With substantial difficulty may I add." he said, raising an index finger to enforce his point.

Before Eggman exited the room, with a jubilant stride in his step, he made a point of turning around and facing Kellerman.

"And let's bring sub-ordinate Knuckles with us. He'll prove to be handy, in more ways than one."

With that, he departed from his workshop, leaving Kellerman to nod in acknowledgement, and get to work in setting up for their invasion on Sachio's former base in station square.

IC:

GUN PRISON CELL BLOCK

Thump, cl-clomp, thump, cl-clomp...

The sound was getting closer. "There's definately someone approaching, and by the sound of things, there is more than one!" Celey said calm and cool, "But they more than likely have no friggin' clue we have sprung!" Agis just gave Celey a 'no crap' look and peered down the corridor once more.

Four figures emerged from around the corner, seemingly chatting away as if nothing was wrong. As they came closer Celey noticed the large qunaity of equipment they were carrying. GUN footsoldiers. Celey and Agis quickly puled back behind the wall hiding from view as one of them looked their way. The footsteps had stopped. The soldiers were apparantly converseing in the corridor. Agis gave a slight hush to the others and motioned for them to try and keep out of direct sight.

"Did you hear what's going down at the robotics lab?" one of the soldiers said.
"No, not that I care though! I always hate patrolling that place, and besides I'm on break!" another one said in slightly high pitched voice.
"From what I gather they talk like the whole damn place is going to burn to the ground!" came another voice this time much deeper.
"It wouldn't bother me a bit!" came the first soldier again.
"Hm..." came a grunt more than likely from the fourth team member.
"Huh? What's eating at you Garner? You're wife still getting under you're skin?" siad the high pitched man again.
"No, I just thought I heard voices a couple of seconds ago." replied Garner.
"This whole block gives me the Willies! I mean just try and imagine how many people died in here!" said the first soldier.
"Still beats the Robotics lab!" laughed the high pitched man.

Celey was growing restless as the soldiers stood for what seemed like ages chatting back anf forth about the robotics lab, and poor Garner's wife. She pressed up against the wall tighter and listened as one of the soldiers punched another in the shoulder. Her ears perked when one of them stated...

"...It's unusually quiet in here today, Rock." came the high pitched man.
"You're telling me, Mack!" replied the first soldier.
"We just got several new interesting prisoners today so you'd think there would be more activatey." said Garner.
"Well if they're anyhting like that Raccon chick they would be out like a light!" said Rock.
"Damn how long has she been here?" Garner asked with a chuckle.
"Oh, about 3 days, and she's been outcold since!" replied the deeper pitched soldier.
"Ha, you'd think a cold blooded killer would ya' know, be a little more active!" garner laughed.

They were talking about her, Celey Dalton. She looked down at the ground in disgust. "Cold blooded killer eh?" she heard Agis whisper in Celey's direction, "Tell us why we let you out again?"
"No they have it all-" Celey had moved a little too quickly successfully knocking over a small drinking glass that the guard in this room had been using.

-CRASH-

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" shouted Garner.
A hurried rush of footsteps rushed towards the guard's room that Celey and the others had occupied.
"Crap Celey!" Agis said as she braced for an attack. Celey sighed with a blush on her face then pulled out her new best 'friend'.

The four guard had came to the threshold and spotted one of the escapees. However before anyone could say anything Celey, who had been hiding behind the wall, spun out bringing the spade crashing into the ankles of the first two soldiers to enter the room. A roaring cry of pain echoed throughout the small corridor as they fell backwards knocking the other two down. Celey ran out into the corridor positioning herself behind the soldiers as they rose to thier feet. Celey spun the shovel around and pointed the hanlde at the attackers. As the first one rose to his feet she quickly jabbed into the backside of his neck successfully knocking him outcold. As the next rose she done the same. The next one caught on to her trick and dodged the blow allowing time for the last soldier to rise to his feet. The two circled her putting the raccon in between the soldiers. As one of them began to speak she brought the shovel up and smakced both in the head. One was impacted in the face and the other int the backside, then she reversed again knocking them outcold.

"I reccomend you hurry up Max!" Agis shouted as Celey examined the hallway watching for anymore troops!

OOC: This post should be of size to make up for my ridicously short IC earlier! LOL! Bent I wanted to know if it would maybe be okay to introduce antoher char into the story. I think I have a great way to work Celey's Character more so I was just wondering! Thanx!

(OOC: Sorry for the OOC post, but I just wanted to let you guys (and girl) know some good news, Sunsetfox responded to my note on DA and said she'd be glad to come play Jet again^^ Hopefully she'll be along soon to catch up on what's happened since the restart.That's almost the entire origional crew either back or on their way, this is gonna be awesome!!!

IC from me when I can.)

OOC: Oh, that's fantastic news Wraith. Awesome!!! Totally, yay!! Can't wait to see Jet again!

Need to catch up with posts and stuff. Big time. But I'm amped again

What's that Egg? ANother character? Course you can! SOrry I'm rather late answering. I can't multi-task on net very well at all. Look forward to your greatest maestro character addition and stuff =]

EDIT: Haven't forgotten about this and it aint' gonna be forgotten an time soon. Writing out ICs in word and stuff. So yeah

BRILLIANT NEWS! James pmed me the other day. He still wants to continue with this, but his schedule is extremely hectic. But I'm really glad he's coming back!

OOC: good good. i was wondering when hed get round to staying hes still alive XD. anywayz sorry for the long wait but i do have a post in the works, should have it up by the end of the day. in other news i return to uni next week so i have no idea how often ill be posting ^^;; (though you probably wont notice any difference in time considering how long it takes me just to make them normally anyway *shot*)

i also think ill pm pachmac once ive put it up. seems hes forgotten about us XD. also i was reading through a fair bit of the RP last night (until 4am @_@ i know *slaps self* my sleeping habits are shocking) and theres a couple of things i wanted to bring up.

asher and angela: is anybody going to still be controlling them? or have they been written out of the story at this point? last i read they were still on the mission to find arista.
trey: was also on the mission to find arista, has this changed at all?
one final point, are we bothering to keep track of injuries? coz at some point a lot of the characters in this RP have gotten injured and a few hours later (RP time obviously. like a year later IRL lol.) there perfectly healthy again. does this matter?

i know there was another point but i cant remember it sooo. . . CATCH YAS!! ic up today at some point.

EDIT: WE JUST GOT AND WATCHED STARGATE CONTINUUM WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! It rox my sox!!

(OOC: I gotta stop making these OOC posts without IC content too, but just to answer your questions Seleth:

Asher and Angela were taken into GUN custody after the incident where DeLougre blew himself up, and since their creator is no longer part of the RP we kinda left them there, so yeah, that's effectivley written them out I think. They could potentially be brought back in at some point, like right now as the Neo Freedom Fighters are escaping the GUN cell block for instance, but I don't think there'd really be a need as we have plenty of characters in the story already, and are having no problems keeping the plot going.

Trey was still kinda looking for Ari when last we saw his motivations, plus he was going after Lucent and possibly the twins too. When the battle between the gangs kicked off and then GUN showed up, however, he decided it would be best for him to hide out for a while, and was about to leave for his hideout when Sword accosted him - taking my info here from this post of Pach's. Wether that has changed or not in the short time he and Sword have been speaking, you'd have to ask Pach himself.

And with regard to injuries: I'm keeping track of my character's injuries and making sure they stay in there. I've made a few referances to Ari's wrist since the restart, and while Wraith is up and walking when Myst guessed he'd be down for a week or so, he's still limping somewhat - it's only his personallity and willpower that's allowing him to ignore the pain and carry on regardless, and it will affect his performance in battle. And David hasn't yet recived any serious injuries, only a superficial bulletwound to his chest that was largely cosmetic, and perhaps a few dents and scrapes from Frost just recently.

Hope that helps^^)

OOC:

Okay so it took me a little longer to get round to completing it but its done so, WOOT. I should really cut back on some of the detail on these, they take me so damn long to write cause I have to get the gramma, sentence structure and word use spot on and fully describe everything in vivid detail, almost as if I'm writing a freaking novel. Dunno why but it just seems to be an obsession of mine, if I'm gonna write something I often seem to feel the need to write it perfectly, which is great description wise but terrible time wise. Seriously it takes me at least an hour to write one flippin page.

I was (again) gonna add a little with the two overlanders but I want to get this up now and the opening ceremony just started XD. Sorry if Swords departure seemed abrupt, I figured this section should get moving around about now and i also don't really know how to RP Rouge XD. Just so pplz know as well, Sword doesnt really know much about the heros of mobius as he spent most of his life before the Ark crash in his own village, which is why he was asking who Rouge was much to her disgust hehehe.

Wraith thanks for the quick reply, and yes that answer all my questions perfectly ^^

IC:

"Since when do professional treasure hunters get caught so easily?"

Sword bent down and closed his fist around the grip of Rogue's dropped weapon then righted himself, the barrel pointed toward the bat. He gave an amused snort, his beak curving upward slightly into a patronising grin at her words, though her eyes were now fixed intently on the nose of her own weapon only now realising how dangerous the predicament she had just flown into could possibly be. Clearly the bat had lost her senses, assuming she had any to begin with, if she were willing to speak so condescendingly to those who held the upper hand. Unless of course she had a few other tricks up her sleeve and felt safe enough in her abilities to not feel in the least bit threatened by them. Judging by her words she must believe that the cheetah and himself were nothing more than petty thieves. A gross misassumption and an extremely unflattering prospect. Still, he might as well play on the belief. He doubted much would come of it but it would at least serve to continue her underestimation of him.

"Besides this is hardly the prime location to hide stolen goods now is it?"

Trey quickly stepped forward, Swords reaction surprising him. One of the heroes of Mobius, well not a hero per say but still, had dropped out of the sky in front of him and now this eagle he had just met, and whom had seemed reasonable enough at first, was pointing her own gun at her. Admittedly she had fired on them and Sword had saved him from the hail of bullets but he did not like this scenario in the slightest.

"Hey now Sword! Put the gun down. This is a major misunderstanding." Trey said, his hand imitating the action he wished Sword to make.

Swords reply was swift, his tone quite harsh. "I do no respond well to weapons fire."

"Fair enough but there's no need to act rashly in this situation."

"I wasn't intending to. Now," and he turned his eyes back on Rogue. "I would say what you want is obvious, so lets stick with who you are."

Sword glanced out the window. The first helicopter was about to pass behind a nearby building and out of direct view. Three more black dots had appeared in the northern-western sky, obviously reinforcements, still some distance off but heading toward them and at great speed.

"Who I am?" she repeated incredulously, quite taken aback. "I'm only the."

"Forget it." Sword cut her off and tossed the gun to Trey. "Do what you will with her. I don't have time to stick around." With that he turned and sprinted straight toward the office window. Launching himself off the window sill and out into the open Sword released his wingblades. Their large width formed a partial wing surface as they extended. The former feathers were a far cry from the perfectly structured gliding surface of a normal eagle's wing; in fact they were hardly ideal for any notable lift generation.

Wind howled through his blades, struggling to keep Sword's form from plummeting as he glided to the hotel, slowly loosing height. The solid wall of glass and steel beams approached. Sword tipped himself back just before impact, unleashing his talons and kicking forward, driving their sharp points deep into the plate glass. The muscles in his feet locked, holding him in place on the side of the building. Small cracks spread quickly around the puncture marks as the glass adjusted to support his horizontal weight. He acted quickly, his toes and talons already feeling the immense straight required to hold him in such a position. Sword closed his eye for a moment and focussed upon his own body. A bloom of energy welded within him, instinctively flowing along his arms toward his wingblades. He concentrated, restraining it and restricting its flow to a thin trickle, directing it carefully to surround just his primary wingblades which began to glow with such a low intensity its light was almost completely drowned out by the glare of the afternoon sun. Energy conservation was important and glass would hardly require much to cut.

Sword opened his eyes and studied the dull glow on his primary blades. Relaxing his mind a little caused it to flare slightly before, with a second thought, settling back to its previous almost invisible luminance. His brows knitted in annoyance. The energy flow still wasn't completely stable even now. Even at this level he had regained little of his previous control.

A sudden gust of wind pushed Sword forward, straining his talons even more and reminding him this was not the time to be focussing on anything but the task at hand. He raised am arm over his head and slashed quickly at the window. The energy surrounded blade sliced quickly and easily through the plate glass cutting a large section of it away which dropped, with a wince inducingley loud crash into the hotel room to that it belonged to. Swords wingblades retracted quickly back into his arms, the arcblade energy surrounding them extinguishing immediately. Grabbing the edge of the new hole Sword wrestled his talons out of the fatiguing glass and flipped himself around its edge. He landed neatly upon the square pane of glass lying underneath the window. The release of tension on his feet was felt immediately as a wave of relief and followed rapidly by a low tight pain as the muscles cramped.

Looking back out the window Sword took in the current state of affairs. Around five GUN vehicles were drawing near to this side hotel, presumable with some vehicles approaching on the opposite side of the hotel to prevent the gang from running. The nearby helicopter wasn't in sight, most likely hovering nearby waiting for the reinforcements, and the backup helicopters had gained on the building considerably in the minute it took for Sword to enter. Less than half a minute would see them arrive, although. . . . . . one seemed to be veering off in a completely different direction. He looked across at the building he had just leapt from, then up the side of the hotel. It appeared he had fallen three floors in covering the short distance between the two. Quite pathetic really but he had made it, hopefully undetected. Considering the egotistical nature of the twins he surmised they would likely have set up their office on the top floor of the building. Yes that would be most befitting. Best start there. He still had to cover a good half of the building to get up there but with the, if not all, at least the majority of the gang outside the building the lifts would be as safe a place as any really.

Sword pulled his head back through the window and turned toward the door of the hotel room.

OOC: stopped it here so Trey and Rouge can jump in if they want to. and three guesses where that other helicopter is heading *grins evilly at james*

OOC: Eep, don't gun me down for yet another OOC *runs*
I've NEARLY finished all my IC's!!!

Well articulated post Brent. You obviously put a lot of thought into Sword as a character, his interactions, and thoughts. Don't think he reminds me of any other fictional or RL character, he's that unique. Awesomeness!

...and yeah, thanks for update on you awesomely chilled life as well

I wrote to Pach. Hasn't responded yet- so... does he even log on here anymore? Hope he's ok.

Thanks for filling us in Wraith. Good reminders for me as well.

Booyah, and hopefully next post is a friggin update.

GUN Cell Block

Agis watched in suprirse at the racoon's skill in wielding the rather unusual weapon, her eyes piercing. It seemed Celey was indeed more dangerous than she appeared, and the comment about her being a killer had aroused the lynx's suspicions somewhat. Still, it wouldn't do to persue those suspicions until they were in the clear, so she kept them to herself for now as she stepped up to one of the downed soldiers, pulling open his shirt to reveal a thick black substance underneath. "Body armour...now this could come in handy."

"You got that right." Max too had stepped forward at the commotion, ready to intervine should he be needed, and now he helped Agis pull the armour off the stricken man. "Only four suits, but it's better than nothing. You four, put them on."

"What about you?" Agis protested, but the bulldog either didn't hear or didn't acknowledge the question as he span back to Aaron.

"Soldiers will be missed more than prison warders - our time is more limited than it was two minutes ago. Give me some good news bud."

"That I can do!" Aaron responded triumphantly, twirling a pen he had found on the desk between his fingers as he continued to type away furiously with his other paw. "These cells are in Sector 5 Basement Level 2 on the south wing of the complex. And you know what else is in Sector 5, on the ground floor? The primary GUN vehicle garage!" His face was beaming as he shot the rest of the group a broad grin. "All we need to do is head down the secondary access corridor, take the freight elevator up to the supplies warehouses and the garage will be right there at the end of the section. Hotwire a few Hummers and we'll be out of here!"

"It can't be that easy?"

"Normally it wouldn't be - the corridor and the garage would be locked up tighter than Robotnik's Flying Fortress, but with the security scare in the Robotics Labs most have been called away, there's only skeleton security manning the posts at the moment."

"Then we move yesterday!" Max grunted decisivley, slamming his fist into his palm. "Prepare to set out right away. I'll call the others. Looks like we'll be moving as a group after all."

As the duo had been speaking, Agis, Celey and Arista had been continuing to strip the armour from the soldiers, and Ari pulled one of the tough polymer suits on over her torn vest at the command, securing it tightly around her waist as she prepared for action. The lynx actually stripped her T-shirt off before donning her armour, seemingly unpeturbed by the possible embarassment the move could cause thanks to her buisnesslike attitude and years spent in the crowded Freedom Fighters' warehouse where privacy was somewhat rare, then she took another suit and stepped over to the desk. "Yours, I believe."

Aaron looked up from his work in surprise, suddenly becoming nervous again as he realised who it was he was talking to, and he began his uncertain mannerism of chewing absently on the collar of his shirt as he hesitantly took the armour. "Uh...thanks. I...uh...hope it comes in plus sizes." A nervous chuckle as he pointed to his slightly overweight middle.

Agis just smiled slightly at the corner of her mouth at the comment, but the smile became somewhat more pronnounced as she spoke up again: "And well done finding out all that intel. Seems we owe you our lives."

The racoon hacker brightened up tremendously at the complement, particularly since it came from the godess Agis herself! Had he perhaps finally done something worthy of her recognition? "Thanks." he responded, his smile beaming. "I'm just glad I can help out my friends though. Nobody owes me anything for it."

"I always knew you had a good heart." Agis replied, causing Aaron's grin to reach his ears. "You keep up the good work, I'll watch your back while you do it. We'll get out of here together."

"Heck yeah!!!"

The gruff call echoed from a small anteroom a little way down the corridor out to the rest of the base, and all of the group looked up in unison, pausing what they were doing in curiosity. As they watched, Max stepped through the doorway of the side room, his hands laden with two long, gleaming silver magnums which he span expertly on his fingers, slotting them smoothly into their holsters on his belt. "Looks like our good captors didn't get around to processing our equipment yet, they got it all stored in here! About time I got my babies back, was missing them something rotten!" He turned his gaze to Arista. "I had a look for your gun, but I couldn't see it. It'll probably be in there somewhere though."

"No, it won't." Ari responded, shaking her head. "I lost that and my knife in the battle with Morgaine." A collective gasp went up from Agis and Aaron stood at the desk, and Max's stern features darkened into an expression somewhere between a look of shock and a scowl as he grunted in responce.

"You fought Morgaine yourself? I'm really looking forward to hearing this story of yours once we get out of here."

Ignoring the comment, Ari seemed to consider for a moment, running a paw through her firey red hair. "There may be something though!" she muttered as realisation dawned on her, and she swiftly dissapeared into the small storage room, returning a moment later with a short metal chain with spikes welded into it's sides.

Max gave the weapon a look of distaste. "Don't seem to suit your style."

"I know." Ari responded evenly. "It's not mine, it's Lucent's."

Again an aura of shock filled the room, and Max shook his head slowly. "You got a heckload of explaining to do, sis." he muttered sourly, before turning away and reassuming his buisnesslike attitude. "Alright, soon as the others get here and get resupplied, we're moving out. Aaron, you better have that map memorised. Everyone else, look sharp!" Behind him, Ari sighed as she slid the chain into her belt and stepped back against the wall next to Celey.

"Morgaine? Lucent?" The vixen looked round at the comments, meeting Celey's questioning gaze, and she sighed again.

"It's a long story. Has to do with that dark time I told you about, when I was feeling discouraged. I'll tell you when we aren't running for our lives."

Celey nodded in acceptance, going quiet for a brief moment, but then she smiled as she spoke up again. "Well whatever the case, you seem like a nice person to me."

Ari looked round at the comment, her deep blue eyes widening as for a moment her mouth hung open, unsure of how to respond. It was clear from the look in her eyes that the comment had touched her deeply. "Thank you." she murmured when she finally found her voice again. "That means a lot."

(OOC: I wanna join your other RP too Ben, but I know even less about the new Sonic game than I did about Heros and Shadow, and I'm also short on time at the moment so don't think I'd be able to keep up with another thread )

OOC: Post coming very soon, hold tight folks ;3

OOC: Wow, what have you got up YOUR sleeve James? Should we be scared? XD Love the new badas$ avatar. Lucent looks like he means business! :0

Brent, screw that other film you mentioned. Watch 'The Dark Knight'/Batman... why do I get the feeling you've probably already seen it and are about to call me slow? >_>

I'll act on the scene with Rouge next time. Or maybe I'll do some escape thing with Morgaine if I don't hear from Pach soon. Whole point of Rouge was to get some activity on that scene. But yeah. Seems in character for Sword to take off XD

Yeah, coming in with more IC's, like next time Athena, Eggman... and other randoms :S.

So SO sorry this took a long time. I kept getting new ideas for future plots and stuff which meant I had to rearrange posts I wrote on word and consider other factors. Something like that.

Useless information within this OOC to mestastisise your brains. Bet you're all glad.

EDIT: I got a reply from Pach. He's really tied up with life right now and really is unlikely to find time to re-accustome himself with the whole RP and his characters. He was really grateful for Wraith's brilliant summary though. He said we can control his characters. So, I suppose we'll treat them as NPC's. Don't kill them off though. It's nice to keep the door open

IC:
The Fall

Frost simply watched as he was discarded, like a nasty piece of work, by the saviour robot who reached out to save Dr. Amoz and Cam'Ron.

He had been denominated a hostile creature, who was not to be saved in spite of the creator's command.

As the inky blackness began to swallow visible-boulders, metal, and shards of construction work that once configured the room, Frost took a deep breath.

A part of his mind was screaming out- the instinct of survival that hammered and harassed his heart to fight back was heedful.
And yet, an opposing force suppressed and inhibited any physical action. It was as if his free will had been restrained severely.

By now, the robot had disappeared, with its rescued gages, ascending to presumably- a safehaven.

He, on the other hand, was left to die. The darkness continued to close in as he spiralled towards his doom. He was now falling at terminal velocity and in spite of the impossibility of being able to see anything, he found his fur getting warmer.

Had GUN really dug down as far as the centre of the earth? Would he fall into a pit of liquid molten rock and be incinerated for good? Or would he hit ground with a bone crushing thud, so hard- that he would be experiencing an echoing high voltage pain soaring through his body that would sear through his soul and follow him to the after-life? A parching reminder of how he perished.

__

"Who? What... how?!" Frost cried out angrily, finding himself sprawled across a damp black slab. There was a howling wind in the background which made his ears twitch, and impelled him to pick up his aching self up.

He finally opened them wide- ready to take in the calamitous and malignant predestination that awaited him.

A half-wasted moon, waning in light lent what trifling beacon it had to reveal the city of the dead.
Eternal barren wastelands encircled the panorama of the scene he found himself within. Dead trees with moss withered in the wind, whilst old tomb stones and rotten-wood crosses sprouted all over the grounds.

"I told you, young one... didn't I?" an elderly voice resounded.

Frost immediately turned around, a minimally surprised gasp as he saw the figure who had been standing behind him. Drenched in an oversized monk-like robe. A flashback suddenly overwhelmed his vision;

____

"Someone walk over your grave son?" called out a frail voice.

Before he could do so, however, a spontaneous flash of lightning blinded the scene, followed by a booming thunder which echoed across the derelict city.

_______

"God damnit! I remember your pathetically senile self...!" Frost jeered, before taking a few threatening steps forwards. Just as he was about to reach out to tear the hood of the rogued creature.

CRACK

Frost found himself back away as one of the most obscene, defiled looking faces tore through his vision! The decrypted, aged creature did the favour of unveiling their hood and revealed a transient, ghastly-ghost like face that looked as if it was burning in black flames. It had white, pupiless orbed eyes with tints of blinding light blue within and jagged teeth entailed its beastly grin..

"..." Frost held a stiff upper lip, refusing to be intimidated by this phantom-like being. He gazed into the burning aqua-coloured embers within its pasty-globed eyes. The creature tilted its head from side to side, whilst maintaining its jagged alligator grin all and menacing gaze.

"Who are you?" Frost asked at last with a forceful but low tone, keeping his icy gaze upon the creature in front of him.

"You've forgotten me?" it said, whipping its back, before projecting it forwards, stopping an inch before Frost's face- its black fires roaring more.
Frost jerked backwards and held up his fists, his eyes igniting a glacial radiance.

"Do not be alarmed, I'd never do anything to hurt myself," it said thickly, craning its head to the side like a vulture with its shadowy spines continuing to burn up like black flames.

"What are you talking about?!" Frost demanded, tiring of the encrypting messages that were harassing his mind. He had little patience to wait for an answer now though. He threw a skull-crushing punch towards the creature's head...

What happened next caught him completely by surprise.
His fist simply sailed through a sandy essence, as if before an astral stage curtain.

"...a ghost...?!" he seethed, bringing back his fist slowly, but maintaining a heavy-weight glare upon the spectre "airy lifeform. Ha. I have no time for you!"

"Insubstantial apparitions are what we both are, you deceased fledgling!" the creature spoke through jagged white teeth "you're so typical frost. Always first to overhaul your excruciating brute and power in place of stopping and assessing your surroundings, situation or plight. Even when you're dead."

And whilst the undertaking truth appeared to draw substantial silence from Frost, who only finally noticed the transparent film that drew up his body, the surroundings scenes suddenly vapourised and shifted to a new panorama.
The two ghosts suddenly found themselves upon a single clifftop, which was one amongst thousand of other ledged platforms within firey illuminated environment.
Plummeting down a few hundred feet below, molten rock and magma boiled below with accompanying flame infernos.

Frost unhesitatingly sprinted up to a lying form which drew his attention, with the wispy black phantom swooping his trail.
As Frost studied the sprawled out cerulean body upon the stony tier, he bent down and carefully swept the face-down head towards him. So that he could see its face.

"I've never seen you look so peaceful," the dark apparition remarked drily, as Frost's eyes scanned all the bloodied scars his dead body had accumulated recently.

One thing that had caught his attention was a glint, that had caught a nearby flame, shining between one of his backspines just behind his ear. Whatever it was, it resembled a metallic like stake that appeared to be driven into his head. Maybe even through his skull.

"You've been quiet some time," the apparition spoke again, raising a shadowy eyebrow "aren't you going to ask what happened? Or have you worked it out." it said suddenly adopting a blank face.

"Yeah," Frost said, dropping the head of his own corpse and started to stare at a distant flame ominously "following my capture in the midst of fighting those god damn Neo-freedom fighters by GUN, that damnable corporation clocked me back in to their vicinity. They operated on me and implanted some neuro-inhibiting device into my head. Rendering inanimate to my own free thinking..." he said with face as black as lightning.
"...they expended me til the bitter end."

At that Frost stood up angrily, and gritted his teeth as he shook a damning fist. The shadow simply burned behind Frost, watching his back.

"You still haven't told me who you are," Frost said with an unexpected soft tone.

"I told you, fledgling," the apparition sighed piercingly "I am you. The other have of you. Articus D'Sombre. I brought you back to life when you died in that unfortunate Haunted Mansion ring maze challenge. A group mission with wing commander Seipher and Ollie Panda bear. Dispatched by your human creators yet again. Ah yes, you took the unfortunate path that took you to stand before lord of shadows himself. One swipe of his burning blade against your neck..."

At that, Frost suddenly had a vivid flashback of the day he did get slain- the piercing scream he gave echoing in his own mind. The day the original specimen 156, project Shadow protocol, died.

"and you fell to shadow realms beyond anyone's worst nightmares. And I resurrected you. At a price. One your human creators hated you for afterwards. They feared you but were intrigued on how you were able to wield your new found powers and dual them with the innate abilities you already had. And it was what made you one of the most powerful and unstoppable forces that was ever born."

Frost maintained a steady gaze throughout. Aware, but embittered once again to be reminded of condeming luck his life had been made up of.

"And now I'm dead," Frost said, casting his gaze down at the molten lava below. He watched as fires burned wildly, and cauldron rocks errupted from below.
"so game over."

"No." Articus spoke "not yet."

OOC2: Man, this took too long.

Robotic sector remnants

David somehow managed to fly himself, Dr. Amoz and the whimpering Cam'Ron to ground level. The ground level that was like the end of a broken bridge before the sector broke off.

He landed with a clunk as his mechanical legs made contact with the floor. At that point, he gently released his grip, giving Dr. Amoz a chance to steady himself and stand on the ground- and for Cam'Ron to leap off as fast as he could.

As the brown hedgehog breathed in heavily, his respiratory rate and pulse slowly returning to normal after shock of the rapid turnover of events, he took a moment to look at Dr. Amoz and David.

Things had changed.
In spite of posing a threat to them both earlier on with Frost at his disposal, Dr. Amoz had stil requested that David saved them all. Including Frost, which the robot had denied due to unridable protocols that disabled rescue of hostile subjects.

And it was GUN, the his own job entity, that tried to kill him.

He shook his head. Mixed feelings of shame, foolishness and folly for having enstilled so much trust in a force he fully believed was powerful and loyal at least, to its own employers.
He resented them now. And he was pretty sure that once the dismay he was feeling had passed, it would all turn to anger and spite.

"Thank you... for what it's worth..." he said at last.
He yanked his GUN ID tag off his neck and stared at the professional photo of him, his name and bar code, and division.
Mr. Cam'Ron Shaide. 014675BJ. GUN senior security operative.
He tossed the ID badge to the floor callously, which ground to a halt upon hitting David's metal feet.

A nippy wind, coming from the dark opening which the fallen sector of the building had left behind, picked up a chill and a haunting howl that served to echo the sinister atmosphere of the former robotics lab.

Cam'Ron turned around and walked to face a wall.

"You two should probably get out of here while you can. This place'll be swarming with GUN SWAT teams to check out the aftermath..."

OOC:
*Dusts off his keyboard*
Let it begin, anew.

-----

IC:

"You what???" Dirges eyes scanned over Wraith and Tails sinisterly. "Who are these guys?" he muttered, then he spotted the kitsunes second tail and his mouth dropped open. "Tails???

"Wraith and Miles." retorted Myst, concentrating on Lucent again. "They helped me to find you."

"Wraith and Miles the heroes???" growled Dirge in amazement. "Myst, what were you thinking??? Theyve got that Freedom Fighting gang...theyll probably arrest us all! Youve led them straight...!"

"Cool it, big guy." interrupted Wraith, stepping past him and staring down the alley after the rest of the gang, hoping they didnt return. "What Myst says is true, right now our main concern is Lucent. Well deal with everything else later, okay?"

Dirge looked down at Lucent, then back at Wraith, as though in two minds as to how to react. "I won't let you take him!" he barked, glaring at Wraiths back.

The Echidna span round. "I said later!" he retorted. "Right now we have to make sure he lives!" He looked down at Myst, then at the unconsious Lucent. "How is he?"

Myst's hands trembled as she looked over Lucent, slowly they stained red from the patches of blood that resided all over Lucent's body, his condition worse than Myst had ever seen. She wanted to reply to Wraith, to assess Lucent's condition and give a thorough reply, but her mouth simply stayed open as her mind failed to string together a coherent sentence for transmission.

Her eyes didn't stay fixed for a second, constantly they swept over Lucent's idle frame, transmitting so much data to Myst's mind that she had no idea where to begin her analysis. She had always felt helpless when Lucent would come to her with injuries but this time was different; rather than feel helpless to prevent Lucent from subjecting himself to such injury, she felt helpless in her ability to aid him in recovery.

Tears welled up in her eyes as her shoulders began to heave. All she could do was stare at her hands, soaked in Lucent's blood, and sob.

Worry once more cascaded down the already grin faces of Dirge and Plugg as they simultaneously leaned in closer to Myst.

"H-hey Nurse..." whimpered Plugg in an attempt to sound comforting, "Now ain't the time to cry, you gotta focus and stuff... S-sure he looks pretty bad but the boss's been worse, right? I mean, remember that time he fought off those SandKicker gang goons? That was pretty bad. Or even that time he got into a brawl with those jerks who kept ridin' their van around our turf? He got pretty messed up then too! And then that time that-"

"Plugg!" growled Dirge as he smacked the gecko upside the head.

"OW-Take it easy man! I'm just tryin' ta help!"

Wraith grimaced and knelt beside Myst, inspecting Lucent himself and placing a hand on Myst's shoulder, effectively snapping her out of her trance.

"Myst..." began Wraith, "Plugg... at least had a point at the beginning there, now isn't the time to cry."

Myst nodded slowly in return.

"He's not in good shape, the sooner you can get started on him the better."

"b-but..." Myst whimpered, "I don't know where to start..." the tears began anew, "he's just... he's all torn up... "

Wraith turned to face Myst as he spoke to her, "When a goal seems too great, don't focus on the problem as a whole, it'll drive you mad, believe me..."

In reply to Wraith, Myst simply turned to the echidna awaiting the next part of his lecture.

Wraith's dark grey eyes looked to ground and then to the sky, "I learned that a long time ago, with the coming of this age of darkness and destruction. When I made it my ambition to return Mobius to its former glory, I focused my mind, my emotions and my spirit on achieving my ambitions by using the same method I learned when I used to spar with my brother."

A smile sparked by fond memories formed across wizened expression, "I used set myself small goals; make my punches faster, get my left arm to hit as hard as my right, get more nimble on my feet..."

Memories were sparked in Tails as well, memories that had a different effect on the fox's overall mood, his gaze and his ears both drooping closer to the cold hard ground.

"what was... what was your goal?" Myst asked Wraith with a sniffle, letting hiss words give her mind something other than panic to focus on.

The wise grey eyes once more met with Myst's gaze, "always stay one step ahead of my brother," chuckled Wraith hoping to lighten the atmosphere.

A weak smile came over Myst and she nodded, "I think I understand..."

Wraith nodded in return, "One thing at a time. Don't let yourself be overwhelmed. Now..." he used his eyes to lead Myst's over to Lucent's unconscious form, "Let's start by tending to the bigger cuts and bruises."

"Lacerations" corrected Myst, already wiping her hands onto a cloth that hung from her satchel and rummaging through it for medical supplies.

"Right, lacerations" replied Wraith with a contented smile as he took hold of a roll of bandage Myst passed to him.

What ensued was almost like what one would expect to see at a mechanic's bench, one figure constantly entrenched in their work whilst an accompanying figure continually retrieves and passes various instruments and materials to the aforementioned, occasionally giving first hand assistance on the 'repairs'.

All that Tails, Plugg and Dirge could do during the whole ordeal was gather around the scene and watch, leaning the whole time so as to get a good view without Myst getting upset and snapping at them for not giving her enough amply working space with which to focus.

Dirge continually offered his assistance but had his large outstretched hands slapped away immediately by Myst's more slender ones. Tails offered assistance once but didn't ask again after being snapped at the first time. Plugg would have offered assistance too, but justified himself as being unable because of his bad arm, though the real reason being that the grisly sight of medical procedure always made him feel nauseous, causing him to turn away for greater lengths than he actually observed as Myst and Wraith continued their work.

Soon most of Lucent was cleaned, treated and bandaged, the bat still looking worse for wear but at least clean for the most part and in a mostly stabilised condition.

"What's that over his eye?" asked Wraith pointing to Lucent's closed right eye.

"It looks like the early stages of an infection," said Myst, rummaging through her satchel again, "a dose of antibiotics should clear that up without a problem, it'll weep occasionally though so we'll have to clean the area and bandage it along with the wound just above it, to keep the whole area as clean as possible."

"Right!"

As they completed wrapping bandage over Lucent's head, the pair set their sights on the broken joint where Lucent's left wing met his back, a split bone visible through the torn and bloodied flesh.

Myst examined the injury and winced before she once more buried her head in her satchel, "Hold him upright for me please Wraith, I need to find some splints."

With a nod Wraith obliged and held Lucent by the shoulder so that he lay limp in a sitting-up position.

It was as he held the bat that Wraith began to feel a troubling feeling inside. How on Mobius did he find himself in such a situation? Not only was he not immediately arresting these people of street gang alignment, but he was actively participating in reviving one of the most dangerous criminals ever to befoul the city with his presence; the cruel, enigmatic slaughterer, Lucent the Bat!

However, the strange twist of fate that allowed this unlikely occurrence to materialise into being had given Wraith a renewal of hope for this world, something to remind him of the reasoning behind his strife and his hardships...

He had been reminded, that even those who lived lives of crime were people all the same, people trying to find a way of surviving, even if that way meant letting fear cloud their better judgement and lead them into committing acts of a destructive nature. There will always be individuals evil beyond hope, but people were still generally good if given a chance. The real enemy in this world is fear. Fear, and the agents who devote themselves unrelentingly to the cause of sowing fear into the souls of those who are not strong enough to resist succumbing to it.

Wraith hadn't realised it, but he had briefly gone off into a trance-like state for a moment pondering the current state of events, he hadn't noticed that he'd been staring into the concrete below him!

As he brought his head back up, the first thing that greeted him was a single open eye, disapprovingly gazing right through him... Lucent's un-infected left eye.

Wraith felt a chill down his spine; he couldn't move his gaze away from that unblinking gaze staring back at him. Suddenly light blue energy flared around Lucent's iris with a crackling sound that caused Wraith to instinctively let go of Lucent and recoil backwards, keeping his eyes wide open in sudden shock and his teeth gritted together.

Lucent fell backward without Wraith's grip there to support his limp body. A gasp and a gargled groan escaped Lucent's fanged maw as he fell onto his broken wing joint flat against the hard, rough surface of the surface below.

All eyes turned to Lucent as they heard the cry of pain, and all mouths gaped open in response to what the eyes saw.

'L... LUCENT!" cried Myst, immediately dropping what was in her hands and rushing over to hold Lucent's head in her arms.

Getting back up, Wraith said apologetically "He just, he just woke up! I'm sorry, it's my fault, I got startled, is he alright?"

"Boss!" said Dirge and Plugg in unison, standing up from their positions away from the operation to stand over Lucent. Tails approached slowly, making sure to obscure himself behind Wraith.

"Lucent? Lucent can you talk?" asked Myst, looking down at Lucent with teary eyes, " It's okay, we got you, you're not going to die."

Lucent's eye shifted its focus up to meet with Myst then looked around to cycle through the other faces present on the scene. His eye stopped and narrowed when it settled on an unfamiliar pair of characters... unfamiliar, yet not unknown...

"hrrruuhh..." Lucent's lips opened to give way to some words but he only let out a murmur. His eye didn't change its position.

Myst followed Lucent's gaze and turned back to him nervously, "Lucent... umm... that's... that's umm..."

"It's alright Myst." Interjected Wraith, "just tell him straight out."

"HHhhrrruuhhhnnn...!" another murmur came from Lucent, this time with a bit more of a hostile growl.

Tails began to feel his knees tremble, causing him to take another step behind Wraith, further obscuring himself from the bat's unsettling gaze.

"Lucent..." began Myst, regaining her composure, "Lucent that's Wraith... Wraith the Echidna, and Miles Prower, from the Neo Freedom Fighters..."

Lucent's body began to tremble and noises like someone clearing a very moist throat escaped from him. Dirge and Plugg began to feel a level of dread that almost rivalled that of Tails, who at this point was crouched behind Wraith and covering his ears whilst shivering.

Myst placed a hand on Lucent's forehead, "Lucent, you don't need to be alarmed, they mean us no harm, in fact they even helped me to revive you!"

'revive me?' thought Lucent, his eye finally shifting focus from the Neo Freedom Fighters and onto his own body, covered in bandages. Everything began to settle in, the fight with Sachio, the aftermath, the injuries, his location, everything. So much information all at once hit Lucent in the form of a sharp jab of excruciating pain from every injured area on his body, particularly the broken wing joint that he was still applying an unpleasant amount of pressure to with his own bodyweight.

"AAARRRGGGHH!" cried out Lucent, mustering the strength to bolt upright where he sat, taking the pressure off of his broken wing but causing the injuries on his chest to flare up fiercely, causing him to erupt into a fit of spasms and curse words of an otherworldly nature.

"Hey, the boss is a-okay!" exclaimed Plugg, literally hopping on the spot.

"ehhh... kinda." Dirge retorted with a spot of nervousness.

Meanwhile, Lucent was having an uncontrollable shivering fit as his body began waking up and realising the state that it's in.

Just at that moment, a distant cry could be heard accompanied by the sound of running feet drawing ever nearer. Looking in the direction of the noise, the group all saw a familiar figure running from the direction the rest of the Nocturnes had travelled.

"GUYS! GUYS!" yelled Tabby between breaths as he ran up to meet the group. Stopping in front of Dirge, Tabby stopped to catch his breath.

"What's goin' on Tabby?" Dirge spoke in a much more commanding manner than he normally did, he was getting very nervous about the current state of things and it was taking its toll on his temperament.

Tabby gasped, "It's Ryan... *gasp* he's... *gasp* he's makin' some kinda speech.... *gasp* talkin' to all the others, sayin'... *gasp* sayin' all this stuff about some kinda... *gasp* 'revolution'."

"A revo-what? From Ryan? That bug guy?" asked Plugg confusedly

"You heard me... *gasp* a revolution... He's sayin' all this stuff about wantin' t'change the Nocturnes... *gasp* I think he's trying to get the whole gang to turncoat on Lucent!"

Dirge grimaced in disbelief, "he can't be serious"

Tabby shook his head "oh he is! And the worst part is, he's got the attention of the whole gang on him! A whole bunch are even cheerin' for 'im... No-one's even movin' back to base no more!"

A look of panic and confusion came over Myst, while Wraith frowned in contemplation of what this Nocturne, 'Tabby' had just unveiled. With trouble brewing amongst the Nocturnes, trouble made particularly for Lucent, things could get a whole lot more complicated. Wraith was certain Lucent's mind would be racing more than his own right now, but what was still very deep pondering was interrupted by yet another glimmer of light blue from Lucent's un-bandaged eye as the bat began to do something that caused everyone to turn, look and go silent.

As he rose to his feet on shaky legs, Lucent clenched his teeth, exposing his fangs, as he attempted to right himself and assume command of the current affairs.

"How far...?" murmured Lucent.

"Boss? Boss you're okay?" asked a bewildered Tabby.

"I said...", Lucent turned his head to look over his shoulder at the tabby cat who had brought with him such ill news. "How far...? How far away are Ryan and the rest of my gang?"

"Lucent, NO!, Myst almost straight up commanded Lucent when she stood up and responded to his comment that she knew suggested taking violent action whilst in his horrible condition.

"There is no way you're going to be able to fight in this state, you can barely stand-!"

"HOW FAR AWAY IS HE?" Lucent shouted with a ferocity that seemed all too familiar to the Nocturnes in his immediate area. Wraith on the other hand was still trying to comprehend just what was holding Lucent together let alone what allowed him to stand and shout so vigorously. Something about his voice, his tone... it was like he held no regard for the bleakness of his situation. In a twisted way, he had the air of someone influential about him, someone who could inspire others and make the best of any situation, but through the darkest means possible.
'So this is the infamous Lucent.' thought Wraith.

Tabby recoiled and stuttered "o-only about a block up ahead and around a corner, the whole gang just stopped moving when he and some others got the group's attention so he could start makin' his speech."

"what that no-good little-!" began Plugg.

Dirge turned to Lucent, "what're we gonna go boss?"

Lucent grunted in pain as he turned his whole body around to face Tabby, Dirge and Plugg. Looking down at his damaged frame, Lucent reached inside his now shredded vest to rummage for something, only to shake his head and realise that what he was looking for wasn't there. Arista still had his emerald.

What started as an expression of annoyance on Lucent's face turned into a look of confusion and disbelief as it started to become clear that his emerald wasn't just not in his immediate possession, but not within the range of Lucent's senses either. Lucent's innate ability to detect the emerald that he had been exposed to for so long was failing him, he could not pin-point the location, and it was taking its toll on his psyche.

With teeth bared and his un-bandaged eye flaring up with crackling energy, Lucent almost spat his words, "Arista... Where is Arista?"

The very mention of her name sent a chain reaction of pangs inside Wraith's head, 'Arista!'

Together, Dirge Plugg and Tabby exchanged nervous glances and shrugs. Lucent clenched his fist and shouted, "WHAT HAPPENED TO ARISTA? WHERE IS THAT ACCURSED FOX?"

--

OOC:

Your move Wraith ;3

I have more planned but Wraith's reaction is pivotal at this point and I believe no-one could handle it better than he. So for now i lie dormant but ever-watching... bwahahahaha.

IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK!

Let's keep it rollin' folks

PS: I'm so super amped about continuing this roleplay that i've got a little side-project going where i'm drawing images of all the pivotal player characters of The Rise and Fall, i will post links to what i have so far when i'm able to submit them to deviantArt, as it seems DA doesn't want to let me submit stuff tonight for some ungodly reason. STAY TUNED!

EDIT: I BRING ARTS!

Lucent
I just HAD to draw him with his bandages and shredded vest :3

Wraith
Wraith, I referred back to those drawings you posted on page 11 of the roleplay to get an idea for what Wraith should look like. I hope I did him some justice, he really is an awesome and deep character.

Sword
Sword has seen some re-designing here from my next most recent rendition of him (my next most recent image of him found on my old DeviantArt Account here LESS FINGERS NOW!) but I felt it fitting to spruce him up and adjust his look for the bleak world of The Rise and Fall.

I actually am really proud of these, i developed this whole new sketchy/blotchy style from the awesome vibes I get from this roleplay, so in effect you are ALL responsible for inspiring me to create these guys, if not for you all and your contributions in creating such an awesome roleplay, these images would not exist and neither would the handy tricks i picked up from making them! =D

I think i'll always affectionately refer to the style as "Rise and Fall Style"

As mentioned, plenty more of these to come, this is just all i have so far. So don't feel bad if i haven't drawn your character yet, i must make the set complete ;3

And i DEFINITELY have plenty more roleplay posts in me! THAT IS HOW AMPED I AM ON THIS ROLEPLAY!

(OOC: It's fantastic to have you back Eclipse man! I was really looking forward to seeing just how Wraith and Lucent would get along - or wouldn't, as the case may be. I gotta say too, your playing of Wraith in that post was spectacular, came up with all kinds of things that were totally in character that even I wouldn't have thought of! You seem to have a better grasp on him than I do lol

And with regard to the picture...well, that's just awesome! I was genuinely speechless when I saw it! As I said in the DA comment, I absolutely love what you've done with his armour, and that pic is now proudly displayed on my desktop for all to see^^ The other characters are brilliant too - I really can't wait to see the full cast lined up like that if you're really planning to do them all!

EDIT: Oh and by the way, speaking of doing them all - Eclipse, I do also have a few rough sketches of Arista and Ianthe if you'd be interested in seeing them too, in case they might help you nail their designs down as you did Wraiths. Let me know if you want to see them^^

And without further ado - updates^^)

Robotics Sector: Remnants.

"You two should probably get out of here while you can. This place'll be swarming with GUN SWAT teams to check out the aftermath..."

Amoz was looking up at the brilliant orange sky, his mouth hanging open in wonder and a certain cloudyness in his eye as he stared out across the slowly darkening skyline of the battered and broken city. It wasn't just that the sunset was beutiful, that the firey reds and yellows scorching across the expance above and flushing the few whispy clouds a bright pink were nice to look at. No, it was so much deeper, so much more. It was the first time he had seen the sky in almost five years. GUN's imprisonment had kept him in only two places - the large lab he was supposed to be working in, or some small quaters in a converted storeroom nearby - neither of which bordered on the outside of the complex and so had windows to the outside world. And so now, the thrill, the sheer freedom of finally being released was euphoric, almost more than he could handle!

And yet, at Cam'Ron's words, he looked round, turning away from his subdued yet emotional celebration to focus instead on the disenchanted, depressed hedgehog. "What about you?"

Cam'Ron shrugged his shoulders, noticing a small chunk of cement that had crumbled from the wall left standing on the floor beside the gaping hole and kicking it listlessly into the crevasse where it plumeted from view into the shadow below. "What about me, old man?" he muttered, sounding dissinterested, but it was clear there was a harsh, coarse tone somewhere beneath the words. "I've only just escaped from an attempt on my life by the very organisation I believed in and trusted, the very organisation I worked for! What could possibly be wrong with me?"

"You want revenge?"

The sudden question pulled him up short, and for a moment he was uncertain how to respond. The truth was, he was still too shocked to know quite what he wanted. Maybe, once he recovered sufficiently, he would want revenge...he didn't know. "I bet you do, don't ya?" he asked eventually, glancing over his shoulder towards the aged figure. "I dunno how long you were holed up in there, but it must have been a while, and they seemingly didn't care enough about you to get you out of the place when it went down either. You must be furious at them!"

Amoz let out a long, emotional sigh. "No." he responded quietly. "No, I don't. Revenge is not a motive I ever wish to stoop to in my life, no matter the circumstances. It, like other emotions such as hatred and anger, are the very driving forces behind the building of weapons of war like I used to create...weapons like that." He inclined his head slightly towards 'Alpha' as he said this, still standing silently by the duo's side with his gleaming red eyes staring off over the rest of the GUN complex. "Nothing is worth such brutallity, nothing at all." he continued, shaking his head sadly. "I only wish I had realised that earlier, when I was much younger. So much pain and suffering that I have caused, so much death that my inventions have wrought..."

Cam'Ron was looking at him with an expression somewhere between empathy and scorn. He could, to a degree, see what the man was saying, but the headstrong hedgehog didn't nessecerily agree with all of it. In his time at GUN there had been plenty of situations where offenders would not listen to reason, where force was nessecery, the only way to take them down. And while that organisation had now betrayed him, he still stood by the ideal that not all situations could be solved through talking alone. "So what're you gonna do then?" he asked, genuinely curious as to what this pacifist figure might have planned.

"All I want now is my son back." Amoz responded, again staring at the robot with a distant, melancholy air. "I just want to find somewhere safe, somewhere where they won't find me, so I can figure out what went wrong with David and put it right. I just want out of all this chaos and destruction." His gaze drifted back towards Cam'Ron. "You're welcome to come with me, if you wish."

Before the hedgehog could respond, however, the robot suddenly moved, his plastic-enshrouded head swiveling round on it's servos to face one of the broken, empty corridors that bordered the vast open hole into which the Robotics Labs had plunged. Amoz stiffened as he saw the motion, taking in a deep breath. "Whatever you decide, though, I suggest you choose quickly. I think Alpha has just picked up movement in the nearby area, we may be getting some company very shortly..."

Downtown Alleyways.

"I was going to ask you the same question." The comment was a kind of pressure valve for Wraith, allowing him to release a little of his pent-up emotion and worry he had been storing deep inside. He had been forcing himself to focus on Lucent and the other gang members nearby for the moment, as they were far too dangerous to allow him any distraction, however Ari's absence in the column of walking wounded that had passed by earlier was accutely noticable, and had not escaped his gaze. Max had definitely said that she had joined with the Nocturnes in their attack on Sachio and Morgaine, so if she had indeed been involved in the battle, what had happened to her, and where was she? The fact that Lucent and his cronies seemed to be at a loss for an answer was a slight reassurance, but nowhere near enough to put his mind at ease.

Lucent's head snapped round to face him, gleaming eye fixing him with a cold, scathing glare. "Just what are you talking about? You know her?" he retorted furiously, but even as he was speaking his churning, restless mind threw up an image, a memory of a time just before the battle at the hotel, when Plugg had announced Wraith's capture in his proud and lordly tones. And slowly, his face began to darken further, his brow dipping lower and lower over his diamond-bladed eyes as he recalled the reaction the news had provoked in the vixen. "She knew you." A statement of realisation rather than a further question, and slowly his fingers curled, clenghing his already balled fists even tighter as he continued: "She was concerned for you, admired you...she was working for you the whole time, wasn't she."

"I wish I could say that were true." Wraith folded his arms as he met the bat's gaze with a surprisingly calm, collected air, keeping his emotions under as tight control as possible. He couldn't afford to lose his cool now, Lucent would only see it as a sign of weakness and use it to his advantage. "But as I'm sure you probably descovered, she had her own agenda to follow. Now she needs to be brought to justice for what she's done."

By Lucent's side, Myst had been listening to the conversation carefully, her face a mask of worry, and now she spoke up as a deep pool of empathy enveloped her wide eyes. "That's why you were asking those questions..."

"What questions?" Lucent's ears pricked up and he rounded on Myst with surprising ferocity. "It's not enough that you release our prisoners? What did you tell them???" Wraith swiftly intervined before the nurse could answer, however, taking a step forward as he stretched out a gloved hand.

"She told us nothing. I was simply asking how Ari might be treated, to make sure she wouldn't be killed before standing trial."

Lucent's gaze flicked back to the echidna once again, his expression black as thunder. So Ari had had attachments to the Neo Freedom Fighters? She had been clever, she had fooled them all...and if there was one thing Lucent really, really hated, it was being made a fool of. To think, he had even been impressed by her skill, even let her off when she attacked him because he had respected her battle finesse! Not any more. Now, she had shown her true nature, her real loyalty. And she had fooled him in the process. Now, she was just prey. And this Wraith...he was a lousy liar. The bat's sharp ears had not missed the fact that he had refared to the vixen, not as Arista, but 'Ari'...

"Well then, allow me to tell you." he spat, his voice dark and sinister. "I'm going to find her. I'm going to track her down, and take back what she has stolen from me. And then, I'm going to kill her."

The reaction was predictable. Wraith took another step forward, his arms dropping from his chest and his own fists clenching by his sides as he retorted through tightly gritted teeth: "You lay so much as a finger on her...!!!" He stopped himself swiftly, taking a deep breath to regain mastery over his emotions, but the damage was done...Lucent, even in his injured, weakened state, had gained control of the situation.

Myst grabbed the bat's hand and clasped it between her own as she looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Lucent, please!" she cried, her voice hoarse as tears welled in her eyes. "There's already been enough blood today! Stop this, now!" Her words, however, seemed to fall on deaf ears as he pulled his hand from her grasp, turning on his heel and beginning to limp off down the alleyway in the direction Tabby had come.

"I've got a rebellion to put down."

"You're going nowhere." Lucent froze in his tracks as the deep voice rolled over him from behind like a wave on the ocean. "Myst is right, this has gone on long enough." For a long moment, there was silence as Wraith silently regarded Lucent's back, and Myst turned to him, shaking her head ernestly as her tears began to fall. Even Tails seemed uncertain as he stood behind the echidna, his eyes flicking hesitantly from him, to the bat, and back aagin.

"In the interests of morallity it is my duty to waive my responsibillities as a Freedom Fighter while your life is in danger." Wraith spoke up at last, his voice carefully measured and controlled. "I will do, and indeed have done, everything in my power to keep you from death. But now, you are alive, you seem out of danger...and we both know that Arista isn't the only one in this world that has crimes to answer for, Lucent." As he spoke, he tensed his muscles ready for battle, and behind him, Tails nervously did the same. Lucent may be beaten up, but he surely wouldn't go down without a fight, and who knew what the bat might have planned for situations like this? Besides, Lucent wasn't the only one - both Dirge and Tabby had stepped forward themselves at the speech, their faces dropping to scowls as they regarded Wraith coldly. Clearly they, unlike the majority of the Nocturns, were still loyal to their leader. Plugg, meanwhile, had taken up shelter inside a nearby trashcan, with just the top of his head and his wide eyes poking over the metal rim, and Myst had fallen to her knees, her hands clasped together over her mouth and nose as her eyes wept bitter tears.

And all the while, Lucent remained perfectly still...

OOC: Sorry bout the ooc guys! Just a lettin' ya'll know that I'm not dead despite my lack of posting in this RP! I've been really thinking about the character (soon to be characters) that take part in this rp, and I'm taking my time to to make sure everything works out just fine! 'Pect a post from me before the weekend is over feature my new character! Also I've finished drawing Celey! I'll post it on deviant art and add a link as soon as I can! When I do don't make fun of my suckage art, beacause I'm no artist!XD

OOC: Sorry for the 'no show' for a while. Went to Ireland on holiday. Am still here XD

James, awesome post. You hath returneth. with Brilliance! Yay!
Art's also awesome and sharp. I'll try and comment when I have a chance!

And awesome interactions... that with Wraith and Lucent in particular.

No worries Egg! Can't wait to see new charrie =P

Okay, some updates. I want to do more... but no promises. Foo foo!

IC:

In the air

The proud Eggfleet swarmed through the air, the setting hazy sun reflecting a brilliant lustre and shine off the air vehicles' titanium surfaces. All sorts of state of the art avians made the air squadron look overwhelming and intimidating as it blanketed the sky.

The commanding tyrant himself looked out through his double glazed windows of the flying headquarters- taking in the fading jungular landscape as the fleet began to ascend upon the shrapnel industrious, cityscape below.

He twitched his ginger moustache, before coincidently turning around and almost knocking Dr. Kellerman over who had been patiently awaiting to get his attention.

"Sir," Dr. Kellerman reported.

"Gah, what is it?!" Eggman demanded, annoyed to have had his train of thought so crudely interrupted.

"Spy-bots dispatched below have picked up something that may be of some interest to you," Kellerman said, before flicking a remote which brought out a massive view-screen with a whir.

Eggman grinned as he saw the revelations before him on screen, followed by scratching his chin.

"Yes yes, ha ha. I'll be paying them a personal visit," he said rubbing his gloved hands together, before making his way towards his own personal hover egg carrier.

Down below

The spider was shocked to hear that voice of her captive. That webbing is durable enough to hold bridges together. So how did that blasted female hedgehog get it off her mouth? She was also no fool. Morgaine was a body of bad bones so any sympathy she meant in her question was most certainly fake.

"How polite to consider asking about my background since our acquaintance..." Azieral replied incredulously "but I preferred the peace and quiet... let me reseal that poisonous mouth of yours..."

But before Azieral could cuff Morgaine's mouth, the spider felt a violent shove which sent her sprawling against a barrel of trash-cans. Morgaine momentarily flew in midair, before landing on her side with a painful crunch, whereas Sachio'sSachio's dead body also collapsed in a heap.

"Well WELL! What have we here then?" an evil laugh suddenly dominated the area.

Morgaine blinked with a groan, a blur before her eyes. As her retinas gradually came into focus, she suddenly found her sight bathed in someone's shadow. She could suddenly see some very big feet about 2 feet away from her. And as she gradually cast her glance upwards, her eyes were met with a tall legged, stocky man with a red cloak and blew in the wind. The trademark accentuated ginger moustache and beady blue glasses that fell upon an egg-shaped faced left no doubt as to who this was!

"Little Morgaine, how YOU'VE grown," Dr. Eggman chuckled derisively. As the cerulean femme hedgehog let out an incredulous gasp- Dr. Eggman adjusted his glasses, before darting his vision towards a limp bundle just beside her.
"Oh dear," he muttered indifferently, before he waved a governing arm which signalled a nearby roller-bot to scoop up the dead body and to transport it back to the egg carrier.

"Seems your twin brother, Sachio, got the hack. Couldn't quite survive this bad world. Hmm?" Eggman continued.

"...what?!" Morgaine spluttered "granted I know who YOU are Eggbutt! But how the hell do you know who 'I' AM?! And... and... my brother?!"

"Hmpf. Such manners young lady. I'm suddenly disinclined to answer that!" Eggman retorted.

Morgaine stared back up at Eggman from her webby confinements- her contrasting orange and green eyes locked on the tyrant with anger.

"You remind me someone sooo similar," Eggman spat gruffly, before scratching his chin with interest "someone... I actually need to check up on now that you've somehow reminded me. But for now..."

Before Eggman could finish his sentence, however, he raised his eyebrows as he noticed Azieral crawled out of the pile of trash cans, her attenas twitching and body throbbing from the violent fall. As she limply rose to her feet, she, too, took in the coarse tall figure that stood before them.

"Well... look what the spidey dragged in!" Eggman cried delighted "Cease and desist you impudent arachnid!"

And before Azieral could adopt her habitual ninja stance, she suddenly found the back of her head clouted with a metal rod by one of Eggman robotic henchman. After the deafening clank, she suddenly found her vision clouded by black, before wilting backwards into a pair of metal palms. Her body unconscious.

"Hmpf. Pathetic," Eggman sniggered "take her back to the egg carrier. She'll be a good first sampler for my roboticiser..."

"...the hell?! Roboticiser?" Morgaine demanded, scrunching her forehead.

"Why yes," Eggman said "a revived invention of mine. And I'll be needing some furry samples. Furry samples JUST like you." he smiled maliciously.

"Come along with me Morgaine and have a look. You might find it quite intriguing..."

Before Morgaine could protest, she gasped as she suddenly found her body lifted in the air. It seemed one of Eggman's roller bots, similar to Azieral's escort, had scooped her up and began wheeling her towards the Egg carrier.

And as the area, that was occupied by three furries not fewer than a few minutes ago was finally cleaned up, Eggman gave a final look around the area, before turning around on his heels and heading towards the egg carrier.

Shrapnel robotics department

Cam'Ron lowered his ears, as he too, picked up some nearby sounds.

He honestly didn't know what to think. He was thrown in a disarray of confusion. And time to think... to choose his side... was not there.

"You're welcome to come with me, if you wish." the accommodating voice of Dr. Amoz resounded in his head.

Cam'Ron would call himself crazy if he had a moment to reflect upon how heart-warming it was to have that offer. Suddenly, a more secure and genuine hand was being offered to him. A new... friendship? Something he hadn't quite had much contact with since he lost his family in the apocalyptic arc disaster.
And the way he spoke about his creation, Alpha, as his own son and how he wanted nothing more than some peace and to be with him made his position as a fatherly type figure all the more believing.

"I'll hold you to the offer," Cam'Ron replied seriously, before forcing a smile.
The reply temporarily took Amoz out of his panic from the approaching danger that Alpha was picking up. He, smiled in return, momentarily.

Picking up the caution that re-masked Amoz's face, Cam'Ron's face hardened with determination.

"Come on. Follow me. I'll get us out of here..." Cam'Ron said, running over to an air-vent at ground level. He grasped the bars of the lid that sealed the chute, before wrenching it off and tossing it to one side.

"Crawl through this opening," Cam'Ron ordered, before sliding underneath.

Amoz scratched his head with a frown, before bending down on all fours and crawling through.

Alpha adopted the same manoeuvre, but ended up causing a few bricks and debris to crumble as he passed through owing to his massive size and strength.

"Okay..." Amoz said, squinting his eyes as he found he was able to stand up again in a darkish area. He felt his away around apprehensively with his hands, before fixing his sight on the brown hedgehog's back in front of him.

"Where are we?" the doctor asked.

"The utility tunnels," Cam'Ron replied water, gas, and electricity are more or less running through these pipes..." the hedgehog explained.

"Kinda creepy, but if we make our way along carefully, we'll hopefully be able to escape this complex undetected." Cam'Ron said, determined as he scanned the maze of tunnels that lay ahead of him.

"Don't suppose Alpha has some kinda computer map to coordinate our journey... does he?" Cam'Ron asked.

East side of river

"Well," Amanda began "I guess there was a time when I thought GUN- the 'Guardians of the united nations'- stood for good and honour..."

Shadow frowned, his eyes shutting in a painful grimace as he suddenly felt a surge of cold reservations infiltrate his head on hearing the name of that organisation. For a concealed reason, the mention of their name just seemed to make his skin crawl deeper and deeper every time.

Moreover, Ianthe, the serene femme squirrel felt this wave of anguish. She didn't have to look at his face- but feeling the broken rhythm of his onward march indicated the emotional level the organisation must've been on to affect the ebony hedgehog merely through conversation.

"...but..." Amanda choked, forcing back the tears "I was wrong... horribly HORRIBLY wrong...!"

As Tech flew down, to squeeze Amanda's shoulder with a sympathetic paw, Athena lightly turned around with piqued interest.

"... Just what are they doing with Jet?!?" she demanded, the tears flowing down her cheeks "he's done NOTHING wrong! Why have they captured him?! WHY?"

The group suddenly felt condemned with silence. Their footsteps whittling to a stop.
Athena stared back at the emotionally struck Amanda- a wry smile creeping on her cheek. Merely a curious one, however.

As Amanda lifted up her heavy head which felt as if it had been weighed down like lead by her emotionally stony tears, she looked up and faced Athena was glassy eyes.

"...you," she called out helplessly, before striding up to the femme vulpine "you know about GUN. YOU KNOW about GUN!"

Athena smiled, her expression in a trance as her focus suddenly fell upon Amanda's neck. She envisioned the rich blood flow that passed through it.

"...I know about GUN..." Athena murmured, her head spinning as she tried to control her inhibitions.

"What... are... they... going... to... do... to........ Jet?" Athena heard Amanda say in a hazy drawl. Stupid weasel was standing too close... TOO close.

'They're doing it on purpose... they're trying to taunt me,' Athena thought brashly 'they know how hungry I am...'

"Well? Please... please tell me... PLEASE!" Amanda pleaded.

Ianthe's eyes narrowed, before she clasped her staff in both hands and raised it slightly in preparation.

"...I..." Athena struggled to get the words out.
She dragged her gaze across the ground, before casting her sight upon the sturdy squirrel was looking at her squarely in the eye. A frosty pair of irises colliding against an emerald pair.

"I don't know," Athena said at last, before looking at Amanda with thin lips "they could have done anything to him, alright?! Killed him, poached him... locked him up..." she sneered.

"But most likely they're experimenting on him. Oh yes. They always test animals. All ethics thrown out the window..." she breathed, suddenly having flashbacks of the times she was bed-ridden, with IV drips infiltrating her veins that branched across her limbs.

She turned away and walked passed Ianthe, knocking the squirrel's shoulder coarsely to make it seem as if by accident. But Ianthe knew better, and gritted her teeth. Tempted to whack the fennec with her staff.

Amanda turned away, teary eyed as she reflected anxiously on Jet's fate. Tech flew down and continued to try and reassure her whilst Shadow frowned as he looked out into the distance.

The ebony hedgehog could see something over the horizon...

"Hey," Athena suddenly said, raising her long ears momentarily before turning to give the group a quick glance "can you see that up in the sky?"

Everyone squinted their eyes, fighting the glare of the sunset as they tried to make out the approaching dark flying objects.

"...the egg fleet..." Shadow suddenly said. Though he didn't know why...

3 WEEKS AGO
RUINS OF WESTOPOLIS

The sun rested high in the sky, casting an eerie filtered glow through the smog down upon what once used ot be a great metropolis. The light only revealed what the entire planet already knew, ruin. Buildings were tossed side to side as if they were a child's Lego playset. It was in this glorious city of destruction where Celey Dalton (age 15) and her boyfriend, Rappala Kain (age 17) currently resided. The young female raccon had met the young fox only a year before. Celey had run into the fox boy while attepmting to flee from a wild gang she had acciently made ill. It was in the Casino Night Zone where she had overheard this gang disclose plans that would make even Eggman blush in shame. Celey was still young and unaware of the fact that she couldn't die until it was year five, so she paniced when she was found out. Luckily this dashing fox hero just so happened to be in the neighborhood when all this went down. Celey, to this day still, is unaware of exactly how, but the fox boy disposed of their entire Casino gang before the sun could even rise. The fox found Celey hiding behind an old slot reel. He introduced himself as Rappala Kain, and the two became a team set on their goal of restoreing Mobius to it's prime.

Rappala gazed up at the murky sky as the sun cast a slight sheen off of his black fur. Holding his hand behind him was none other than Celey Dalton, and as always she had a worried look on her face.
"Is something the matter?" he asked calmy fixing his violet eyes upon her, "You haven't been yourself lately."
"No Rap, I'm fine," she said with a smile sun also shining off of her violet fur. Of courseCeley was lying. She knew that time was short and she would have to tell him sooner or later, but she just didn't know when or how how he would react.
"Sure?" he said again this time letting his think white bangs fall in front of his eyes, "You know I'm open to anyhting that you might want to discuss!"
"I'm fine." Celey said again this time a little more stern and then changed the subject, "Someone said they spotted what they said was a shard of an emerald somewhere around here!"
Rappala just sighed and responded, "Shard? From a chaos emerald?"
"Don't know if it's a chaos emerald or the Master Emerald. God knows that anything can happen in this crazy world." Celey gave a nervous chuckle.
"Okay go ahead and tell me!" Rappala said once again bringing up the dropped subject, "Please. Just let me know what's bothering you so we can fix it!"
"Fix it?" Celey said in an angry tone, "You have no idea what your talking about, and yet you say you can fix it?"

Of course a small arguement brewed which in turn led to the couple storming off in opposite directions. That might no have been the best course of action when one looks back on this tale. Celey had deecided that she was going to find the emerald shard which had been rumored to be in an old service tunnel here in Westopolis. She was sure that if she could find this shard then she could find the others. And if she could find the other shards then she could find the chaos emeralds. And if she could find the chaos emeralds then she could shape the planet back the way it was before the ARK. Her inentions were noble, but the those who had also heard the rumours had other plans.

"So this IS where the legendary gem is rumored to be?" spat a bright orange colored female feline, "BAH! I see nothing!"
"It's here." replied a sinister looking male echidna, "I know it has to be here, proboably burried under the collopsed tunnel's rubble."

It was a small band of two or maybe four individuals. Where Celey was at she could only see the cat and the echidna, but she certainly knew more were in there. Celey was at the entrnace to the tunnel lying face down on her belly behind a huge boulder. She didn't know how dangerous these thugs were, but she couldn't take any chances.

"The emerald will be ours, and with it we will shape this planet the way it was always met to be!" the echindna roared, "It went missing during the disaster, but at last we have tracked down the emerald known only as Chaos' Burning Desire! It is said whoever wields this magnificent gem will be granted the powers of the Chaos Force itself! Can you imagine what we could do with power like that?"
"You do realize that the gang group or whatever they are NEW mobius are located in these ruins?" came another female voice from the background.
"NEW mobius? Never heard of them!" the echidna said with a shrug.
"They are not as well known as other great gangs, but they are slowly catching on in the ranks! Give them a year and they will become the one to overpower!"
"What do they fight for?"
"Supposedly they fight to restore Mobius to it's once former glory! Thier tactics are harmless, however they are growing in numbers and are a threat to gangs everywhere!"
"Well we aren't a gang! We needn't worry about them!"

A slight pause rose thorughout the group as Celey gasped at the fact that these individuals were commenting about Rappala's group!

"SIR! I've found it! I repeat I"VE FOUND THE EMERALD!" roared a voice from further down the tunnel.
"We're coming!" the echidna yelled back as he darted out of Celey's sight, "Whatever you do don't touch the god damn thing!"

Celey took this opportunity to make her way further into the tunnel and see for herself if they really had in fact found the emerald or not. She looked around and grabbed a small pickaxe lying next to her for protection, then proceeded after the small group. She heard a rummble comeing from up above her head, paid no mind to it and darted as close as she could to the group with out being spotted.

"YES! THIS IS IT!" the echidna said with an evil smile, "THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR!'

Celey could see that there were four of them. The echidna, the feline, a male overlander, and a female overlander. They were all gathered around a pile of rubble with a small orange glowing object in the center.

'That must be the emerald that they keep going on about!' Celey thought ot herself, 'I only have one chance, but I can't let them get their hands on that bauble! I don't know why, but something deep inside me yearns for that rock! It won't leave me be until I have the emerald in possession! It like finding a long lost friend!'

Without a second thought, and just as the echidna began to reach for the bauble, Celey Dalton leapt into action brinnging the handle of the pickaxe right down against the backside of the echidna's head.

Silence.

The echidna fell flat on his face and began to roll in pain.

"Wh-WHO THE HELL IS THIS?" boomed the female overlander.
"She's dead!" replied the male overlander.

Both overlander launched their bodies at the raccon. Celey dropped the pickaxe, jumped into the air, and planted the soles of her feet square in the faces of her attackers. They too went flying backwards. Celey landed on her feet facing the feline.

"Pffft!" the cat laughed, "You really have no idea who you are messing with!"
"Do it!" the echidna said pulling himself to his feet, "No one makes a fool out of Kragok and gets away with it!"

An exploson came from the outside sending debris rolling down from the ceiling.

"NOW MISS RACCON! YOU WILL FIND OUT WHY IT'S WISE TO PISS OF THE LEGION OF HIS DARK FOLLOWERS!" the echdna roared with laughter.

Another explosion, but this time a massive mech came crashing in through the ceiling. Celey spied the GUN insignia marked on the side.

"A GUN battle mech?" was all she could manage to say.
"Tobor! Kill this little girl while I recover my emerald!" the echidna said facing the gem.

The mech lowered it cannons down at Celey. She took a gulp, and shut her eyes. The blast struck the ground in fron of her sending the poor girl flying against the right side wall of the tunnel. She hit and crashe dto the ground her lower half pinned in debris. Celey opened her eyes. All she could see was smoke, but she knew this was it!

"I'm sorry!" she wailed, "I'm sorry Rap, please forgive me!"

CRASH!

The mech brought it's mechinical leg down upon the rubble. She let out a moan of pain as she realized she was being crushed. Out of the corner of her eyes she spied a marking on the mech reading "HOTSHOT". The name of this particular mech. The machine pressed down harder, and Celey could see a small trail of blood rolling out from underneath the trap she was in.

"FINISH HER NOW!" the echidna yelled emerald in hand!

And that is exactly what Tobor in the Hotshot did. In an insatnt the mech smashed one final time, this time shattering the debris and oblietrating Celey's lower half. In an instant everyhting for Celey went black.

Of course she awoke five years ago, but her dying at that particular moment had an impact that is still being played out today. As Celey was being toyed with by the Hotshot, Rappala was rapidly approaching the battle ground. He had heard the battle and decided he should check it out. Imagine his surprise when he found the girl he loved tore to pieces.

"What's this? Another one?" the echidna said agitated, "I've already got the emerald so it doesn't matter now!"
The mech stepped aside aside as Rappala approached the dead raccon. Tears began to build up in his eyes, as he imagined what the pain must have felt like. He couldn't stand to look anymore then turned away.

"Are you finished?" the echidna said.

Never speaking a word the black fox lauched himself at Kragok knocking him off balance. The emerald flew in the air, and Rappala caught it in his hand. In an insatnt the vengeful fox brought the point of the glorious gem straight into the echidna's left eye! Blood smeared across the emerald as Kragok breathed his last breath. Rappala had to forcefully pull the gem out becasue it was wedged so deep, but when he did somehting happened. An odd green auroura began to surrround the emerald. The blood stains vanished from the rock, and in a second the gem changed from orange to green.

Rappala looked down at his hands. They to were emitting the green glow that had previously covered the jewl. He felt a surge of energy.
"What is this power?" Rappala turned to the mech which was now approaching the fox. He spied the blood cakeed onto the foot of the machine then closed his eyes.

From the old tunnel in Westopolis a green blast of energy rocketed into the sky as the shockwave ripped apart the ruins of the former metropolis. The blast lasted ten whole minutes before it eventually died down. Amidst the ruins was only one survivor. Rappala.

3 DAYS AGO FROM PRESENT TIMEFRAME

Ever since he had discovered his powers, Rappala has never been able to pull off the explosion that had leveld Westopolis. Ever since he discovered his powers, Rappala left from his group NEW mobius. Ever since he discovered his powers, Rappala has made it his goal to destroy all weapons built out of machinery and those who use them.

Rappala was here in Central City. He didn't know why nor did he care. He knew they were around here somewhere. Military grade weapons. He could practically sense them.

He found himself walking through Cental City's central park, and spied dexactly what he was after. GUN miltary agents.

He casually walked up to them and said, "I don't like your weapons!"

"Who the hell do you htink you are?" snorted a soldier.

The green glow surrounded Rappala's left hand, and struck the guy in the back of his skull. He repeated this on the others then incenterated the wepaons with the green flames he could now produce.

It was a random act, but for some reason, Rappala felt it was justified. After disposing of the evil. He turned and left the city hardly saying a word. He rarely said anyhting to anybody that wasn't going ot die. Little did he know that his former love Celey Dalton was still alive, but 10 years older. And little did he know thathe had just set her up to spend time in one of those fine GUN correction facillities!

Rappala left Central City and faded amongst the horizon, who knows if he will be seen again!

OOC: Whew there we go! My new char! I'll post a profile for him later. And to clear up confusion, the emrald he has is NOT a chaos emerald. It's something else! I don't know exactly how to bring Rap into the story just yet, I'll have to think on that one, but he'll eventually get some action time!
Link and IC with Celey next post promise!