End of the Beast, Section 1: Strange New Age

[CallmePrismatic]

Artemis sat. It was a familiar action at this point. It was, as he took it, Purgatory's major attraction. The Beast paced, either through nerves or anxiousness, and glared with his empty eyes at the people surrounding him.
How long had Artemis been in there? He had stopped trying to keep time in this place. Not the longest, that was certain, but it seemed he had been locked away for longer than an eternity but just a hair under forever. Except, now that he mused on it, he wasn't locked away, merely on extended guard duty, like the old days when he and Roland would stay up all night overlooking whatever nasty bandit that had chosen their town to ride through. The old days...
He knew they were old days because the two most recent 'guardians' (Who had coined that term? Whenever Artemis tried to remember the first time using, or even hearing, the term...well it didn't go blank, more like he was looking for something that never happened, something that just always was, a Beast in prison and the 'guardians' surrounding) were definetly not from his time, just as he wasn't from the time of the knight or the Englishman or the Chink (who hadn't actually known what the term meant) or any of them. The Beast seemed to have disregarded time gaps in his collection. Not that any of them had any difficulty in adapting. Once they had died, or whatever they did to get the Beast back, they found that they were connected immediatley, language and habits communaly shared, like a big happy family.
Artemis languidly drew his remaining gun. He spun it with little effort, not particulalry interested in the action. The Beast's gaze eventually settled on the deputy and Artemis wondered if he saw a glimmer of...hope, maybe fear, perhaps both...coursing through the demon. It had never done anything like this, the last two times (that Artemis had been present for) the 'exit' happened the Beast was just as suprised as the rest of them. Now he looked expectant.
Artemis broke the staredown to look at the others, trying to see if they saw any difference like he did.

[Death Dealer]

Rocco glanced over at Artemis, seeing him mess with his gun. Then he noticed a slight shift in his demeanor, and brought his eyes to face the Beast. He looked...happy! Happy, what did this abomination have to be happy about? Rocco took one of his thompson guns from his lap, the guns resting position for a good...what felt like at least fifty years. Silver and Black blended seamlessly on his guns, the metal very well wrought on them. Rocco kept a very close watch on the Beast, wondering if the others had noticed it's shift in demeanor as well.

[dementedmongoose]

"I-is it just me, or does that creature look less pathetically bored than I feel?" Asi asked no one in general. God, if I'd known it would be this boring, I wouldn't have even considered fighting him. Asi thought, frustrated with the monotony of this place. Drawing one of his swords, he placed it on his lap and began to examine it for scuffs, dings, and the like. Noticing nothing, Asi placed it on the ground, drew the other one, examined it, and noticed a ding. Asi swore under his breath, momentarily forgetting the curse on his blade, he was rapidly reminded as it caught fire, sending him backwards in shock. "AACK! GOD!" Composing himself, Asi looked around. "Well, that's one way to change the routine, don't actually recommend it myself, but, we weren't as bored."

[Toastburner B]

Red Eye looked at Lankington...The Beast. he reminded himself for the 11,000th time, and sneered.

"I not be liking it, meself." the pirate growled. "If he be feeling one of his exits coming, would it not be for the best to go in there and make sure can't leave? Or, at the very least, not leave comfortably?"

Nat sighed, and leaned back. "Then again, if we could be killing him in this place, I suppose it would of been done longer before I got here."

[Raiden]

A guantleted hand waved through Thomas's long golden hair, and his piercing blue eyes rested on The Beast. Or, the Black Knight, as he had seen it. His shield lay on what constituted for the ground in this place, and his sword was attached to his hip.

"So what? If he takes his leave, then we'll do what we've been doing every OTHER bloody time he's jumped the spot. We'll sit on our arses and wait for a new bloke to join our round."

It wasn't so much the waiting that upset him. It was the lack of female companions. You could only flirt with the same girls for so long before it just gets repetitive.

[Azisien]

Luke glanced up momentarily. There wasn't a whole lot to look at, but conversation would occasionally peak his interest. After all, conversation was more or less the only thing you could DO here, since the rest of the place was as the books described it: Bleh. But not too much bleh, and not too little. Just right. And yet, not right. Luke cursed quantum physics in his head. He could have just as easily said it out loud, did anyone here actually know what quantum physics was?

In the end, he decided not to speak. He glanced back down at his lap, returning to his meditative state. Though, he wasn't actually meditating, he had no idea how to. He was just bored on the verge of insanity, and doing his best to avoid the latter at all costs.

[MC43]

There was no point to conversation. That was the feeling Adon had the entire time he was here. How long had it been since that fight in the inn? Too long...

He sat still in place, throughout the entire time here, meditating, waiting for something to happen. He knew there was a reason why he was sent to this place, and it couldn't have been to sit there and reflect on his short life, or to listen to everyone else complain about there being nothing to do, or the story of how they got here, or whatever else was the topic of conversation.

So there he sat, silent, just as he had done the entire time...

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Genes looked down, momentarily diverting her attention from the Beast. She had grown bored of looking at it now. It posed no challenge for her anymore, and she had long been standing vigilant against its escape.

"I don't know about you guys," she said quietly, but assertively, "but I have the sudden urge to follow the Beast out of the exit the next time it opens. The Gods will have to pay for the fate they gave me. I did not wish to die... By Zeus, they will pay."

Of course, this had to be one of the umpteenth time she had said it, but it still felt good.

[Toastburner B]

"I must admit," the pirate said, "I fails to see the point of this. We be the ones who stop the rampage of this beasty in life, and all we get out of it is to sit here for eternity."

The pirate sat up. "Do we be serving a purpose here? It not be like we've ever prevented Lankington from escaping once in all these centuries, so why curse those who brought him down with to a fate of sitting around doing nothing? Surely even one of the lower planes would be more interesting than this."

[CallmePrismatic]

Artemis considered replying to Genes but opted out. They all felt, on some varying degree, the same exact way. Artemis himself had bolted toward the exit portal the first time he had witnessed the Beast's escape, only to run through whatever Purgatory counted as air. Events like that tended to jade a person pretty quick.
Still the Beast was looking particulalry anxious. Every other time the Beast had made a foray the opening of the portal had taken it by as much suprise as everyone else. Now...it was like it was waiting in a doctor's office, the appointment looming ahead and just waiting for the cosmic nurse to stick his head out and announce he could come in.
As if on cue the flaming man stopped in his track and held his ground. The purgatory in front of him didn't tear so much as pull back, like a giant hand on the other 'side' was pulling on it like a plastic wrapper. Eventually the end of it disapperead and they all saw through to the real world. The Beast smiled at his 'guardians' and was pulled through, and as soon as the entire ordeal started it was finished, jarring but not sudden.
Artemis joined the collective unspoken sigh from the group. Now the only thing to do was wait without an enemy to focus on, at least until he came back with another addition.
And then something jarring happened. Purgatory exploded in light, and at the center stood a staggeringly ethereal figure. Artemis couldn't take his eyes off it and it in turn didn't turn it's faceless gaze away from the deputy. It seemed to be more real than everything and everyone around it and Artemis felt like a cartoon looking at a human being, like the figure was a dimension greater somehow.
COME
The figure seemed to meld into a solid line that engulfed Artemis and before he knew the process he was on ground, being blinded by the sun that made it through the staggeringly tall buildings surrounding him. He drew his gun and waved it in the air through the sudden confusion and in the distance he thought he could hear a woman or child scream but mostly he was taken in by the looming thought.
What's going on?
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OOC: Feel free to make the 'figure' to your liking if you want. And also don't be untempted to describe the future, I'm just tired or I would have done the same (just don't make it beyond like I, Robot, I don't wanna come back and see where we just entered a future where everyone's converted there body into pure energy or somesuch nonsense.)

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Genes was on her feet instantly, excited. Her battle gear glittered in the raiment of the ethereal being's light, and she looked almost as unearthly. As the being engulfed them, and expelled them into the real world, she gave a cry of passionate delight. Her dark eyes were alight with new fire as she turned to look on her likewise transported beings.
"The messenger from the Gods! They have given us new purpose! See?" she waved her shortsword at her surroundings, "Like Heracles, our legacy is not over."

Nobody that looked into her face could deny the utter faith and conviction of her own words. She seemed to radiate confidence that she had, by some divine intervention of the seemingly dormant Gods, been given a second chance to maybe kill the Beast and survive.

[Death Dealer]

Rocco covered his eyes as the sharp light from the figure enveloped him. "Damn! Can ya turn down the lights a bit? I can't see a thing!" As soon as Rocco finished his words, it grew less bright, and he realized he was...somewhere that looked nothing like purgatory and even less like his home. Cars, floating cars, zoomed by at high speeds and the people on foot were all dressed in grey and blue jumpsuits. Robots patroled the streets, with electronic badges. "Where in the hell......"

[MC43]

Adon could feel the light try to pierce its way into his eyes. Squinting his eyes tighter to try and stop the light, to no use by the way, he gave in and opened his eyes slowly to see what was cutting into his meditation. What stood before him looked something along the lines of an angel. She stretched her hand out to him. Adon couldn's stop himself from rising from his seat and stretching his hand out to her.

"You have waited long enough..." Her soothing voice rang in his ears.

As soon as his hand touched hers, the light flashed once more, blinding him. Turning his head and slamming his eyes shut, as tight as they could go, he waited until the light passed.

When it had, he opened them again and found himself somewhere other than where he was before, not that that helped much. This new land was just as strange as the one previous to it. For the first time, words were needed, "Where... are we?"

[dementedmongoose]

Asi found himself quite happy to see the Beast escaping, for that meant he didn't have to spend another second waiting. Quickly sheathing his swords, Asi grinned as the light enveloped him. Landing lightly, Asi was glad to realize he was lightly shadowed, so he didn't seem as out of place, "I'm not sure, but this place seems full of sorcery. Rocco, any ideas about where we are?"

[Death Dealer]

"Not a clue. You'd be better off asking Luke. I remember talking to him and he's one of those future boys. This looks nothing like any place I've seen." Rocco shook his head, slightly bewildered. "This means we'll be kicking the beasts ass again though, and that's only good news." Rocco cracked a grin, and did his best to cover his guns up with his coat, which, was not very well. "Hope those...things with badges don't recognize guns very well."

[Azisien]

Luke's excitement ordered him to look at the figure that was sending everyone out of Purgatory...or at least, away. The blinding light that could pierce through eyelids intensified when he tried to look at the figure, all he could resolve was the tall, humanoid outline. One moment he was staring at a human light bulb bright enough to be a stellar object, the next he was in the same sitting position on a street or alleyway or somewhere that certainly was not Purgatory.

"I'm not sure, but this place seems full of sorcery. Rocco, any ideas about where we are?" Asi said.

"Not a clue. You'd be better off asking Luke. I remember talking to him and he's one of those future boys. This looks nothing like any place I've seen. This means we'll be kicking the beasts ass again though, and that's only good news. Hope those...things with badges don't recognize guns very well." Rocco replied.

Great. I'm the tour guide now.

Luke cleared his throat. "I guess I have less to be confused about than the rest of you." He looked around at the immensely tall skyscrapers and flying cars buzzing in between them. The cars would occasionally stop and 'dock' on the sides of the buildings. "Some mile-high skyscrapers were under construction in the first-world metropolises when the economy and engineering could support it, during my time. As for the flying cars, there had been work on the electrostatic effect, superconductors...but damn, not on this scale. I'd say we're a few decades past my period, up to a century afterwards. We won't know until we consult a kiosk or a watch or something." The voice in the back of his head kept reminding Luke most of the slayers wouldn't have a single idea what he was talking about. But instead of going in-depth, he'd just tackle questions when they were posed. He pulled his interface guns out of their sheathes on the chest plate of his suit. "And Rocco, guns are guns, they haven't changed much over the past century or so since your period." A nearby indistinguishable scream that was background noise came to Luke's attention now. His mind went through a logical flowchart. Beast leaves Purgatory, we leave Purgatory, innocent screams nearby point of entry, Beast terrorizing innocents? Sounds good to me! Luke moved in the direction of the screaming, his motion fluid with practice. He hugged the wall of a building for cover and weaved in between piles of crates and garbage disposal units, both Kalashnikovs resting in his hands.

[Toastburner B]

As Nat Jackson took his first steps out of Pugatory in rough 600 years, he looked around at the wonders of the future, and sighed.

"Alas, lads," he muttered, "Me first steps back into this plane of existance, and there not be a single pub in sight. Surely the good Lord sees it fit to continue my punishment, somewhat."

"Now," the pirate said, "where be Lankington?"

[Death Dealer]

Rocco slid his thompson guns out of their holsters and began following Luke in one fluid motion. Luke's rapid footsteps were hard for Rocco to keep up with, but he managed. The screams continued to pierce the air, which was typically a good sign the beast was nearby. Rocco had asked each of the guardians about their encounter, and learned that screams usually accompanied his arrival. 'Dead beast! Let the blood flow freely through your black, putrid flesh! Let...yourself die. End your tormented existance now, and forever know that you will know no peace!' Rocco thought to himself, adrelaline freely flowing now as he put his fingers right behind the triggers on his guns, ready to slide them the inch they needed to go to fire at a second's notice.

[dementedmongoose]

Asi, slightly confused from Luke's-explanation?-jerked up when he heard the screams. Grinning maniacally, Asi drew his swords, and loped along, shoving pedestrians aside and generally noncombative charged towards the Beast. Let us finish this, infidel, Asi thought, shoulder checking a pedestrian who was running in the opposite direction.

[Gineko]

Chione, who had been sitting quietly, had been engulfed in the light and thought 'Are we finally entering the afterlife? Will our souls finally rest?' She saw a figure in the light, a woman, she was wearing egyptian garments and a headdress with a thrown on top. She turned toward Chione and smiled at her. "Isis..."

When the light disapated, Chione was surprised to see herself sitting on the dirt in a very strange world. Standing up, she saw that there were structures here that were at least a hundred times bigger than the great pyramids, and great metal animals that were flying and moving along at, what seemed to her, impossible speeds.

She stood up warily, "What in the name of Ra..." Luke's explanation didn't help either, she couldn't understand the words like 'skyscrapers', 'cars', 'electrostatic', 'superconducters', or other things. Though she noticed that everyone was wearing the strangest clothes, even stranger than the pirate. She took a glance at her own garments and realized she would stand out quite a bit in this world.

A scream came from her left, and Luke immediately ran toward it, followed by Rocco and Asi. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "Why are we doing this again..." she muttered under her breath. Then she followed the others.

[Toastburner B]

Nathainel sighed when he saw the others going. "T'aint the Beast, lads." He said as he ran to catch up them. "Surely you should've figure out how he operates by now. Just 'cause thar be screamin' don't mean that 'tis Lankington causing it. After all, I caused a fair bit o' screaming back in me day, as I'm sure you did, Rocco." Nat said, point at the gangster.

"Me point being," the pirate continued, "is that de Beast be smarter than this, you all have seen it. He works 'imself into power first, does he not? In my time, he was a British Commadore. In yours, Luke, a General. With yerself, Rocco, he 'twas a crime boss, was he not? He was even advisor the old Aurthur himself, according ta Sir Allgood over thar. The point tis that the Beast will try to establish 'imself before he starts his terrorizing. Just 'cause thar be screaming don't mean thar be the Beast."

"I had meself far too much time to tink about this." Red Eye muttered to himself.

[Raiden]

Thomas had seen the glowing figure. And after noticing that it wasn't a woman, so far as he could tell, he didn't pay much heed. But when he felt pulled out of his area, well, he certainly took notice.

He almost fell backward when he entered the new world. And by falling backward, he was almost hit by one of the floating carriages. He also heard the screaming. As the others ran off, he walked slowly beside the pirate.

"I don't think it's the Beast they're screaming at. I think they're screaming at us. I know that if a bunch of blokes with weapons suddenly popped up, I'd be a wee bit poppy m'self."

[CallmePrismatic]

(OOC: Wee bit poppy?)

Artemis shook the...un-Purgatory out of his eyes and raised his gun in the air, a very loud report escaping from the barrel as compressed air shot out. As expected the crowd instantly dropped, revealing a perfect line-of-sight to...something that looked like the Beast. For some reason every motion the creature did created not only an after-image but a 'pre'-image, giving the impression that every moving part of was somehow three times larger than its still counterpart.
To Artemis it appeared to be washed out, like new paint after a rain, its body not prepared for the sudden onslaught of reality it had been dropped into. "And if thats how we see it, maybe everyone else can too..."
Before he could relay this pondering to the others the Beast's head snapped around three times to glare at the troop. A single tattered wing unfurled from his back before he lurched over and jumped, scrabbling on the sleek metal facades of the buildings. A streak of lightning launched from Artemis's battle, along with every other gun-toting member, hitting nothing but windows as it clawed across the corner of the building.
"Damn." He lowered his gun and noticed the crowd, specifically the lack of it. As a deputy he considered crowds like sand: Dangerous when surrounded and curious when absent.
"Threats targeted, lethal force uneeded." The voice blares around them and when Artemis turns back he sees the walls glow and something like the sun's strange flare erupt forth and then pull back to reveal a row of stalwart...things, man-shaped, like a stiff, too-clean scarecrow. One look at their eyes releases any thought of humanity.
In unison they march forward. "We are here to protect the populace, stand down."
Artemis cocked his pistol, a mostly unneccesary gesture but something that gets stuck in a guy's habits nonetheless. "Stood down too long." Fire streamed out and immolated one of the being's heads. Their march stopped until the smoke cleared, revealing a face of metal but nothing that looked like pain. "Aww cmon..."
"Initiate attack phase." And as the metal men spread out to fight the group Artemis realized why the crowd had cleared.

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

"Golems of metal. Pah!" Genes spat, glaring balefully at the metal beasts that had formed a semi-circle, surrounding them. She sheathed her shortsword and took out her battle knife, its keen, long, silver edge glinting in the light.
"Do not stand between us and our quarry, or suffer the wrath of Appolo!"

She flowed, rather than ran forward, her feet flying over the ground, eating it up with astonishing speed, and closed in on one of the beasts. It swung a heavy fist quickly, but not quickly enough. Granted by an ancient God's power, Genes flowed underneath the attack and slammed the keen blade deep into the chest compartment of the creature. Tormented metal screamed as Genes' blade grated its way upward towards the collarbone regions, slicing through the wiring of the machine. The creature jerked frantically, but before any of the other metal creatures beside the assaulted beast could react and aid their unfortunate companion, Genes had pulled away and had danced out of their reach.

The crowd gasped. The attack was lightning quick, and had been over in a few seconds. Genes inspected her blade.
"The Gods smile upon me. Thank Athena," she merely said, a slight smile on her lips.

[Death Dealer]

"So these metal...things want to...well, damn, I don't suppose die is the word for it."

Rocco did a swift turn on his heel, and unloaded five bullets into the skull of one of the machines, and with his other thompson gun, unloaded six bullets into the chest of another.

Only one of them stopped...

"I think we need to aim for their chest! I'm not sure what the hell makes these things walk and move, but it seems to be centered near where our heart would be!"

Right as Rocco finished that sentence, the stopped robot whirred back to life.

"Damn!"

[Raiden]

(OOC: Trust me, Prismatic. If you ever listened to two British people speak 'real english', you'd swear that they were making words up as they went. I won't do it now, but expect Thomas to run into another Brit eventually.)

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I've died enough in my lifetime."

Thomas reached to his hip and unsheathed his sword. The blade was almost as reflective as a mirror. And to Thomas's knowledge, it had never been polished. It was a special sword, he had to give it that.

He leapt forward in a thrust. The point of his blade sank into the metal of the chest like a hot knife through butter. He gave off a smile of the calibur that would make any woman swoon, had there been enough around.

"Don't mess with a Knight of the Round, lad. It doesn't do well for your health."

The robot reached up and grabbed at the blade. Thomas's smile faded.

"Oh bugger..."

[Death Dealer]

Rocco noticed the machine grab Thomas' blade, and he ran to the side of it, evading a few swiping metal arms as he ran, and yelled, 'Stand back for a second! Release your blade!" Thomas looked skeptically at Rocco, but did as he was instructed. A barrage of large bullets began to tear through the air. The machine's body almost danced, bullet after bullet making contact with it's metal flesh. Then, suddenly, the machine slumped down, it's servos destroyed. "Quickly now! Sever it's head! Something tells me..this thing...will stay alive if it still has it's head attached!"

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Silver arced through the air, leaving a glinting trail. The robot's head rolled away, severed from its body.
"You should just tell us to take off their heads. Don't explain," Genes said calmly as she dodged a swipe from a nearby beast. She swung around, aiming a vicious kick towards the small of the metal golem's back. Her greaves connected in a shriek of metal. The robot jerked slightly, and turned... And stumbled. Its feet twitched uncontrollably, damaged by the swift blow. The machine tried to grab Genes. The Spartan woman held her battle knife out to collide with the humanoid hand. The fingers dropped, severed.

With the same efficiency as before, Genes ducked underneath the monster's defenses and rammed her knife into the abdomen, cutting upwards. Her other hand loosened and brought out the short sword, and she lopped off its head. The thing slumped forward, deactivated.

OOC: How many are there?

[Azisien]

Luke actually sat back and watched them engage the bird...bots. Robotics had come a very long way in his time, but not quite this far. These robots moved like humans, and they were much better at doing it too. Kind of pointless, he thought, to make robots with so much advancement and fail to give them any kind of weaponry. Pointless, and stupid. For a fleeting moment, he hoped they weren't in the United States...

He wasn't a coward by any means, but the other slayers seemed to be having fun disposing of the dozen or so enforcer bots. Luke had other things on his mind...These aren't high-end, are they? Riot-control maybe, keepers of the peace. Threats targetted, lethal force needed...these things might be capable of dealing out lethal force to the untrained and unarmed, but we are none of the above. What would the police do if they were outgunned? He followed the logic staircase to one dead end, and it ended in three possible ways: Death to us, Genocide to them, or Retreat.

As if on queue, more of the bird-bots were appearing and closing in on the slayers. Luke readied his Kalashnikovs again and shouted out some advice, noting the Spartan's distaste for details. "Take the head and chest out. Sever, cleave, disintegrate, whatever you folks prefer." He kept a close eye on any of the enforcers approaching him - none were at this point - and started looking for an exit route. His gut instinct told him these things would keep coming, and bigger things would show up eventually.

OOC: Uh, yeah. I KIND of set a rough number, but if Luke's guesswork holds ture, we'll have as many of these things as we want. Not sure how free-form this is, anyway...Kill them until CMP tells us to stop. :)

[CallmePrismatic]

(OOC: Sorry about the delay, I tried to make this post like three times in as many days and kinda got burned out after watching my computer eat it away...nonetheless...)

Artemis fired off four shots, beheading two of the metal men and giving another two much-needed chest holes. Overall, after the initial appearing out of nowhere display and a look at their possible speed and power, he was quite underwhelmed by their new enemies. They seemed to be working under the most basic of fighting strategies, just trying to punch whoever was nearest like a common drunk, albeit a drunk with the ability to punch through walls.
The squeals hit Artemis's ears first and the vision of huge black carriages (Rocco and Luke sublimely added the word car to everyone's vocabulary) appeared at both ends of the street. His eyes came late to the party but still managed to process the emblem of a six-shooter emblazoned on the side before it was wisked upwards to unload the car's load, scores of men, the way they moved was so unlike the metal men that Artemis didn't have any time to consider they were anything but highly trained humans, armed with the sleekest guns any of them had ever seen and the ones in the front carrying...well it looked like orange light that begged to be shot at although Artemis gathered the impression that it would do as much good as shooting the sun.
With their focus on the newest arrivals only a few, the close fighters of the group who were still engaged in combat in its purest form, noticed the walking scarecrows disappear just as they had come, a flash of light and then nothing. One of the newcomers, dressed in all black, stepped forward, brandishing no gun or light shield. "We have come here to help the populace, please step down. You will be taken to a Hillon Defense Branch and dealt with by our best psychologists and medical proffesionals."
With all the events that had occured over the past few minutes, the mention of his last name managed to triumph all his other senses and unleashing a torrent of new questions. "What...who is Hillon?" He called back, his gun raising with his hand to form the gesture that would carry his voice, not realizing the aggresive nature of this action until he saw the man reveal his own hand, a small orb in it which he tossed with response.
His basic training kicking in Artemis shot, hitting the orb and unleashing its contents, bright purple fumes that swarmed out and surrounded the guardians. Trying to cover his mouth from the gas proved to do nothing, the smoke seeped into his skin like a giant blanket and everything began to go numb while his eyes and ears teamed up to create a devastatingly surreal version of whatever world this was.
"Sticky them and bring them in." At least thats what Artemis thought he heard, although in his mind the sentence raged on for hours. Before his eyelids began to weigh more than the horse he used to ride he made out the vision of the other black men raising their weapons, firing soundless rounds of black. One round caught his gun hand, a giant ball of black that weighed him down to his knees. When the ball connected with the surface of the street Artemis didn't have the strength to pry the adhesive from the ground. Instead he resolved himself to fight these newer foes to the bitter end, just as soon as he rested his eyes, just for a second...
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...and a second later he awoke, now inside a stark metallic room, way too-clean for what he was used to. His gun was gone even though he didn't bother to check, it was like checking to make sure you still had your arms.
He wasn't the first to awaken, but also managed to not be the last. He straightened himself up and spoke to no on in particular. "So this is the future."

[Death Dealer]

Rocco opened his eyes slowly, groggy from what had just happened. The Guardians were all in the room, some consious, some not.

"They better hope like hell they don't come in here or I will kick their asses all over the map....whatever the map looks like in this age." Rocco said, his voice dripping with rage.

Rocco started out in the mob as a heavy, only allowed to use his bare hands to deal with the Boss's issues. There were a few times in that span that he had some really good tests of his skill, nearly dying. Rocco never really forgot how to do the moves he had to pull off before he invented his twin thompson guns, but he hadn't used them in years.

[Raiden]

Thomas was leaning against a wall, tapping his foot on the ground. He was now only wearing a pair of brown pants. His armor, sword, shield, and shirt was taken.

Why they took the shirt too was a mystery. Thomas had a guess, though.

"They had a gentlelady take our clothing and possessions. I just bloody know it."

[Azisien]

Luke was the last to succumb to the chemical agent. Whether this was a good thing or not he wasn't sure, but he knew the fight was over the moment the gas spread and his fellow Guardians started dropping like flies. He didn't even put up a fight, he simply set the safeties on both Kalashnikovs and set them on the ground. A minute or so later, he was out like the rest of them. Immuno-resistance genes only work so well, most chemical agents target universal biological pathways and no gene in the world could do anything about that. Unless they made Luke into some kind of bacterium. But do bacteria make good ninjas?

Luke was also the first to wake up. Of course, stripped of his Kalashnikovs. His Interface Bodysuit seemed intact, though. He waited for the others to wake up, and waited for his captors to show themselves so he could figure out their situation.

[Toastburner B]

"'Tis like we be making the best of impression ourselves, lads...and lassies." Nat muttered from his corner. "We did pop in from out of nowheres and lay waste to their little toys, did we not?"

The pirate sighed. This was the first time he had passed out without the use of alcohol, and he was sure he didn't like it one bit. The cutlass that had been at his side for hundreds of years was now gone, and he felt somewhat naked without it.

Still, the pirate sighed. "I suppose it won't be long before they start to question us." Red Eye smiled. "I wonder if they have heard of some 'o us. Surely history hasn't forgotten old Red Eye."

[Raiden]

Thomas blew a bit of air upwards, moving a stray lock of hair from his eyes.

"They might have heard of us, Nat. Or, they may have heard of our old tales. Emphasis on the old. To them, we're a bunch of swanky crackpots that went on a spinner in the middle of the bloody cavenar."

[Death Dealer]

"Thomas, sometimes I think you pull words out of your ass...but I have a feeling they've heard of at least a few of us. The people in my age were obsessed with Pirates...and I'm sure a few were interested in the Knights of Old." Rocco fell silent for a moment, "I have more than a sneaking suspicion that they've heard of me, or at least my invention, as well."

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Genes was the last to wake up, and as she rubbed her eyes groggily and grunted as she pushed herself to a more upright position, she didn't need to pat herself down to know that her choice weapons were gone. The familiar weight of her armour had also gone, and somebody had taken the liberty to reconsider her dress code. She was wearing a faded pair of jeans and a white tank top instead of her usual greek attire, and she didn't like it one bit.
"Oh dear Gods!" she uttered.
But since there were men about, she had to grimace mentally and make do with the chafing material that rubbed so uncomfortably in her nether regions. She looked around, and noticed that she wasn't the only one missing parts of her clothing. Thomas seemed to be shirtless... and more ruggedly handsome than ever --
No, she thought, he is out of bounds.

"By the name of all the Gods, what in Hades has happened? I thought we were caught in a cloud of toxic Hydra breath. This is not where I expect to wake up."

[dementedmongoose]

"Trust me, nobody could have expected this," Asi laughed, slipping out of a corner. "Now that we're done with waking you up, let's get down to business. How do we get out of here?" Now that he was out of the corner, and moving around, he realized that not only had their captors taken his swords (he'd already known this), but they'd taken his robe, leaving him to wear paper pants they'd put him in while he was unconscious.

[Toastburner B]

"Well, that a problem, does it not?" Nat said, looking around the room. "Back in me day, they at least had the good graces to put bars on the door so you could see out, or a window or something. Not that I ever saw the inside of a cell, mind." The pirate said.

He looked at the door and considered. "I suppose the easy way would be to rush whoever opens the door, but if they have that misty stuff that makes us faint, 'twont do us much good ta be doing that. It 'ppears our best bet is to eyeball the situation fer a bit longer, see what we can learn from our captors."

The pirate looked around the room, and laughed. "Of course, that be assumin' that they be understandin' us at all. I not be sure, but somehow's I don't think they'd be able use the language of pugatory, so unless they's knows ancient greek, arabic, and whatnot, theys going to have all sorts of fun interrogating some of ye."

[CallmePrismatic]

"I always wondered how the people in my son's science books spoke to each other..." Artemis contributed absentmindedly. He knew that he had even less of a chance to be remembered than the others, and the fact he had heard his name was now more coincidence than anything really. "Luke, I know we had a few interruptions before, but you're still the 'closest'. Anything about our situation seem...wrong?"

[Azisien]

"Well...firstly we don't even know how far ahead of my time we are yet. They were speaking in English, though. This place does seem to resemble a North American city too. I've never heard of any defense branch by that name, so some massive changes must have occurred in the world. We never had giant bird-head robots in 2020, that I can assure you." Luke was really just as confused as the rest of them. Too many questions were unanswered, and that leaves everything to assumption and guesswork. "I can't tell you, Artemis. I mean, to these people we just popped into existence out of some dimensional spacetime tear, they will be just as confused as we are."

[CallmePrismatic]

Artemis shrugged in confusion, a motion he had developed in life and refined in Purgatory. "I just don't see the point of the cell. The only reason to keep someone locked up is to let them sleep off the drink or keep the people who want to kill them out." Artemis slumped down and fell through the door that appeared as the wall slid away in a noiseless motion, revealing an expansive room decorated only with a long, Last-Supper-esque table at one end.

Artemis sprung up and reached for either of his non-there guns. He didn't know exactly what he would have shot at if he had had his guns. The room appeared to be clean but in the way a nice guestroom was clean, meant to always be looked at but not neccessarily lived in. He led the party out of the cell and looked around at the barely-there room. Take away the table and it was basically Purgatory.

PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME The voice came out of nowhere and echoed through the office. Artemis wished for his guns yet again and spun around trying to locate the sound. REPEATING QUERY: PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME

"Artemis Hillon?" He said it as if he was unsure if it would be correct. The voice subsided and then returned, coinciding with the table glowing for a second and revealing his gun. ARTEMIS HILLON, ONE GUN Artemis approached the table and tentatively took his weapon. It was altogether unchanged.

"I hope you find it sufficient, we try to keep our detainees belongings in proper condition." Artemis delighted somewhat in the fact that he now had a gun to point at the voice that he didn't recognize and the face...of a very average man. Everything about him seemed to scream normalcy. He appeared capable of taking any job and never being noticed. "Our A.I. is being fine-tuned at the moment but Jenny is more than capable of retrieving your personal effects." He smiled, even with a gun pointed at his face and surrounded by eight angry faces. His words were in English and trickled through the soul-link into the various languages but his stature was readable by them all, one of no fear or other emotion. "Jenny understands any language, if that is the problem."

Artemis's mouth caught up to his trigger finger. "Who the hell are you?"

"Please Mr. Hillon, I would rather everyone be comfortable and in some cases fully dressed before we fully begin." He passed through the stunned faces and seated himself at the table, facing the guardians. "Jenny, if you will."

PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME

[Raiden]

Thomas stepped forward. He was starting to get a chill from wearing only the thin trousers he had worn for the past several centuries.

"Thomas Allgood..." Thomas Allgood. One sword, one shield, one cape, and one complete suit of armor, sans helmet.

Thomas's belongings appeared on the table. He reached out, and almost immediately began to put his armor on.

"Hey, where's my-?"

A shirt suddenly phazed into existance on the table. If he could see a face of the strange woman handing out their possessions, he would have made a strange look.

[dementedmongoose]

"Asi ibn Rashad?" Asi stated, almost more questioning than stating. ASI IBN RASHAD, TWO SWORDS AND SHEATHES, ONE ROBE. Gathering his sheathes, Asi slipped them over his shoulders, and replaced the swords. Asi then tore off the paper pants and threw his robe on, completely oblivious to the fact he'd just exposed himself to the entire party. After he had his robe, he noted that everyone was staring at him in shock. Realizing what he'd just done, Asi nearly swore, getting out, "Aww, shi-" before he stopped mid-word, remembering the curse. "Okay, would you mind explaining what is going on here? Oh, right, English. Infidels, bah."

[Death Dealer]

"Rocco Thompson." ROCCO THOMPSON. TWO THOMPSON GUNS, ONE BULLETPROOF VEST. 'But I didn't have a...' Rocco just smiled inwardly and took his guns and the vest, sliding off his shirt long enough to slip it on. Even though he really didn't have a bulletproof vest when he came, if they wanted to give him one, he wasn't going to complain.

[Toastburner B]

"Nathaniel Jackson." Nat said, fighting off the temptation to offer his full title.

NATHANIEL JACKSON: ONE CUTLASS, TWO FLINTLOCK PISTOLS, JACKET.

The pirate took his posessions, drawing his sword to make sure the blade was unblemished. Nodding in satisfaction, he turned back towards the man. "Thank ye."

[CallmePrismatic]

The man behind the table motioned to laugh before straightening out again. "Please Mr. Rashad, speak freely, I assume you all have some way to communicate with each other and I will not be a deterrent to polite conversation."

Artemis blinked for a second. Every word that had come out of the new guy's mouth had been in perfect 'Rashadi'. "But I would like to hold off on further inquisition, my superior is due to arrive soon and all things considered it would be much better for every applicable party to be involved in situations like these." That sentence had been uttered in impeccable Greek.

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Genes looked suspicious as she stated her name, and the AI intoned out her items of possession. She disappeared in a flurry of clothing as she threw on her old greek clothing - the ones that didn't chafe as harshly as these strange new clothes. Her weapons and armour - mostly silver - were strapped comfortingly onto her bodice.

She spun around when she heard greek, her eyes widening, then narrowing.
"You speak a stranger version of my tongue, stranger. Is this the 'present' dialect of greek?" she replied in ancient Greek suspiciously.

OOC: There is ANCIENT and present day greek... i think....

[Azisien]

"Luke Deprez."

LUKE DEPREZ. TWO KALASHNIKOV INTERFACE SUBMACHINE GUNS.

The guns appeared on the table. Luke picked them up and slid them neatly into the sheathing pockets on his suit. He made a cursory check and saw that they were still loaded. His suit read as fully loaded as well.

"All right, enough of the mystery magic tricks." Luke turned slightly to face the man, who for all he knew may or may not actually be real. "What year is this? Where are we locally and nationally? And although our...appearance may have been strange, what do you want with us?"

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OOC: You are correct, and as technologically advanced as this society is appearing to be, I doubt they have proper ancient greek on all their little language dummies. Course...it could be some freaky brain-reading language interpreter farther into the future than I imagined... *runs*