[TWI] [ERG] Twilight V/Eragon III: When Worlds Collide

[darkblade]

There is a storm in Forks, Washington, the kind of storm that can kill you if you stay out in it too long, the kind of story most people only see in movies and their nightmares. A young woman stares out a window into the depths of the storm, Alice Cullen, the vampire seer, it was her visions that brought her brother to this rash decision but the future was set, she cannot change the path he chose.
“Alice? Is he ready?” Edward Cullen her younger brother enters the room, in his hands he holds a strange weapon, a cross between a scythe and a sword that could have been mistaken for a giant key if on squinted at it hard enough. Two elongated fangs not unlike those on his upper jaw growing almost naturally from a bleached white staff that ends in a steel guard shaped like a roaring, wild lion on the front and a terrified sheep on the reverse. Alice looks over at the eternal teenager with a look of hopeless sadness on her face.
“It’s not too late Edward. We can stop those who will come for us without doing this.” She pleads despite already knowing his answer before he does.
“I’ve gone too far to turn back now. I won’t let anyone hurt my family.” Edward growls at the older vampire. “Is Eragon ready on his end?”
“He has all of the ritual preparations in place; he’s just waiting on the alarm you set on the watch for him now. He’s about to try calling you on the cell phone Emmett gave him despite how many times we told him that it’s signal won’t travel across the Bleed.” Alice explains with the utmost distain.
“The idiot doesn’t understand any of the science, does he?” Edward asks as he leads his sister down the halls of their house.
“Of course not. His world has barely mastered the advanced technology of the metal forge and they still rely too much on the arcane, unaware of how it degrades the three dimensional framework around them.” Alice chuckles slightly, at least Edward realises how backwards his allies are. They share in a brief laugh before they reach the end of the hall and cross into the spare room set apart for the ritual. Her vampire family stands on the outer wall starring into those hanging from the ceiling of the perfectly circular room. Alice’s frown returns as she looks on the unconscious faces of those they were to sacrifice, their vampire parents, Bella’s mortal Father, the Quileute elders and the Alpha Shapeshifter. In other words those who hold authoritive positions over Forks and symbolic connections to the Town’s heart, the heart they were about to destroy.
“Well then it is just as well that he’s about to tear down that framework all together.” Edward chuckled as he raised his keyblade up to the neck of the frozen Carlisle Cullen. He held it there for a minute before the alarm on his watch went off and he slashed the sacrifices across their throats, blood and venom flowed from the wounds into key shaped hole beneath them. The liquids seem to disappear as they enter the hole but closer examination shows that they instead mixed into a thick dark black liquid that was all but invisible in the shadowed hole.
“It is done; soon we will be drawn into the darkness of the Bleed.”

***

Eragon Bromsoon never had what you might call a good life before. He grew up a mere peasant and fought his way to the top. He managed to pull himself from the lowest levels of human existence into the Holy Imperial Throne. He turned the Varden into his own personal army within less than a year and within a year after that he had taken the throne from the former King Galbatorix. Now he made his way into the Dungeon he had made for those who stood in the way of his perfect vision.
Galbatorix and several minor former nobles hung from the roof begging for mercy as Eragon called forth his weapon from within his heart. A much more decorative weapon than his vampiric counterpart’s but more practical all the same, the mouth of a great blue dragon filled to the brim with razor sharp teeth form the blade that leads into a sharpened flat edge of a shaft rendering the whole weapon an instrument of death right down to kite shaped guard. The captive nobles scream at the sight of the weapon but are unable to do anything in their defence.
Eragon looks at the alien symbols on his wrist. “11:59 PM” symbols that allegedly mark the passage of time in another world but to him they are meaningless all he knows is that it should make an annoying beeping noise to signal him that it is time to begin the ritual, he pulls out the strange communication device Emmett, the large vampire gave him and considers calling the Cullens to make sure the watch has the right time but decides against it. As if on a cue the watch starts beeping and Eragon slices the throats of the panicked captives. The blood runs into another Keyhole, turning a similar shade of black as it does so. Eragon laughs before turning back to his wrist.
“Now, how to I stop this infernal beeping?”

***

Elijah Snow
You walk the halls of Forks Secondary School. High School the foremost institution for education a beautiful sight if you ever saw one, now none of these children will be deprived of a proper education due to poverty or other circumstances of birth. Of course that lack of education is what drove you to hunt down all the secrets of the world and found Planetary in the first place but it is the thought that counts.
The local Planetary office got word that the local vampires were planning something big and potentially world shattering. Since the intelligence report indicated that the majority of the local coven was turned in their mid-teens the High School seemed the most natural place to start. You gave all the regular facility a vacation at double their normal pay rate and inserted your own agents in their place as substitutes. You pass a computer lab where the Drummer is attempting to teach a bunch of ungrateful brats how to use their laptops to tap into extraterrestrial broadcasts that travel through Earth’s outer atmosphere to reach the opposite ends of their galactic empire. In the opposite class room the recently resurrected (damn you feel awesome just thinking that you managed to pull that off) Ambrose Chase is teaching a physics class and in the Gym Jakita is showing off to the students and giving the boys fodder for perverted fantasies that will last them well into their forties. Well time to play Principle.

***

Azula
Your memory is in fragments, your mind all but gone. You remember a girl and your brother; they stole something from you but you don’t know what anymore. You remember fire, beautiful warm fire. The kind you make yourself with the power of the Sun but then water, cold water drowning the fire and cold steel chains stopping you from making more. A cell made of steel and stone, seemingly impervious to you efforts to burn it but you did burn the guards, you recall the pleasure you felt as they screamed. You remember trying to hijack a ship, but it was made of wood, wood that couldn’t survive your fire. You instead hid in a metal ship that could survive your fire. Now you are in a strange new city, away from your brother and his harlot, here your fire will grow until it can consume him and take back what he stole from you, whatever it was.
As wander, burn and laugh you see a fancy shop advertising imported Fire Nation Tea. The name on the sign is strangely familiar, “Iroh” you know it from somewhere and you do not like it at all.

***

King Mickey (the Mouse)
You wander the abyss of darkness behind the sealed Kingdom Hearts. How long since you defeated Xenohart’s heartless and sealed Kingdom Hearts? How long had it been since you lost track of Riku within the blackness? Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? Time doesn’t flow properly here, you physical movements only barely correspond to what you will your body to do. Your only comfort is that you are certain that Sora, survived. Your Keyblade, the Kingdom Key’s dark sister blade the Kingdom Key D radiates still meaning the master of its counterpart still lives in some form or another. There is still light for the worlds’ hearts.
After walking for an immeasurable amount of time you find something strange. Two portals leading into two separate worlds conjoined pulling both together and into the abyss. This shouldn’t be possible unless both worlds had their hearts opened to the darkness at the exact same time but that would require Keyblades, impeccable timing and a complete lack of any sense of morality on both sides of the portals.
Before you have time to properly think this over you see them. Heartless hundreds of them crawl across the dark portals, only shadows right now but it is only a matter of time before they start feasting on those worlds to produce more powerful kinds. You need to act quickly, glancing into one portal you see a moderate sized rural town full of technology much like your homeland before you claimed your crown if slightly more colourful and less hectic, in the other you see a sprawling urban medieval fortress city, more primitive then the Disney Castle but they are rich in magic.

***

Sam Vimes
You know it was him, everyone knew it was but no one dared act against him. Even the Patrician feared the new Varden Empire that was encroaching upon Ank-Morpk and with good reason naritvum flowed through it like milk and honey from depictions of paradise. An Empire taken away from a corrupt King by a band of plucky rebels recently placed under the leadership of a teenager who lucked into finding a dragon egg. Dramatic will does not let people like that lose. That is why you are here alone, the lone wolf, the soul opposition against an entire Empire swearing to bring it’s ruler to justice give you a chance. Even knowing what his army is made up of now.
Vampires, or at least they drank blood like vampires. They didn’t display half of the weaknesses typical towards blood suckers. It doesn’t matter what they were, they attacked the offices of the watch and wore the colours of the Varden that is all that matters. They were taken down with ease, after all they were but minions storming the base of operations of several eccentric, strong willed individuals united by a common goal, naritvum could not yield them a victory but Eragon had marked the watch, meaning you had to mark him back.
Out of your city, in a place where your watch status means next to nothing going up against a man who had just taken down a corrupt Empire. All in a day’s work for the Watch. As you make your way through the crowds at the city gates you and a young woman wearing magic markings, a witch perhaps are stopped by three large men approaching from behind. You hear them arm their crossbows and declare, “Due to the hostile actions of your homelands, Ank-Morpk and the Old Kingdom we are going to have to ask you two to come with us.”

***

Hank J. Wimbleton
You wake up, not entirely sure where you are. You are even less certain of how you got there. About all you can tell is that you are unarmed and locked in some kind of cross between a high tech gladiator pit and a medieval dungeon. The walls and floor appear to be made of polished white marble but they feel more like steel to the touch. Something tells you that you aren’t in Nevada anymore. Then from some roof mounted speakers comes a voice.
“About time you woke up. If you stayed out any longer we’d have to just dump the two of you into the Bleed and abandon the whole project, to make room for the brats.” A man begins to explain, as he does so the gates on the edges of the pit start to slowly open.
“Not that I’d care much. I doubt the way you keep coming back from the dead would even work on Nobodies like me but Xenams wants us to figure it out any ways. So we’re going to kill you, have fun.” The voice cuts out just as the doors open all the way. From within the blackness crawl a dozen small black monsters. No more than two feet tall, the shadow like monsters walk on their hind legs like men but the glowing yellow orbs and fearsome clawed hands betray that visage. The antenna sprouting from their foreheads don’t help much either. They move to encircle you but don’t make any other offensive moves.
“Of course it wouldn’t be any fun to just kill an unarmed man. Name a weapon and I’ll drop it in there for you.”

***

The Abhorsen
The Old Kingdom never had much love for the Empire and who could blame them? But the previous Empire was much better than the one that Eragon had formed, most were ignorant of the truth but you knew. The child had made a deal with the forces of death and forged his Empire with an army of blood drinking undying monsters.
Such crimes must be answered for. As you approach the city gates you and the man grizzled middle aged man standing in front of you in line are stopped. Three large men, approach you from behind, you hear the loud click of a crossbows being set. “Due to the hostile actions of your homelands, Ank-Morpk and the Old Kingdom we are going to have to ask you two to come with us.”
***

Alcatrez Smedry

It’s funny, the Librarians all kind of disappeared at about the same time that Planetary defeated some mad scientist called Randal Doweling. The Planetary Guides of the late 80s suggested there may be a connection between some group that Randal lead called the Five or something and the Librarians, maybe there is something to that, maybe not. All you know is that now that the world is finally able to see what reality really is you don’t have to keep fighting against the forces of evil libraries, but you got to go back to regular High School. Well maybe regular isn’t the right word, some private interest group sent the teachers on vacation and sent in some really weird substitutes, including this long haired, ADHD afflicted, weirdo called the Drummer. As he beats a pair of drum sticks off the chalk board he attempts to teach you how to use the school laptops to surf for naughty movies from other planets, as if that was a useful skill. Oh well might as well go along with it.

***

Hank McCoy
As much fun as it is to fight genocidal maniacs, killer robots, and unearthly monstrosities with the X-Men, or fighting off Alien Invaders and corrupt government officials with your fiancé Agent Brand as an agent of SWORD, sometimes you just need to kick back and relax. This is why you took this little break from the standard superhero fare and went up North to Forks, Washington for a little hunting trip. Hell Logan does it every other week and no one misses him. Just you, the wilderness and some deer, or at least you thought so.
As you had a deer lined up in your sights and got ready to pounce a wolf beat you to the punch, and not just any wolf, this wolf was the size of about half dozen wolves squished together into a bigger wolf shape. The monster Wolf starts to munch on the deer as you stare at it in awe but you have a sudden realization, wolves travel and hunt in packs, where is the rest of this monster’s pack?

***

Undead Theodore Roosevelt
No one ever knew why you wanted to be buried in Forks, you had never even visited the town during your life, you had no family there and all in all it was a backwater hick town in the middle of nowhere. That was before the Cullens sponsored several urban expansion programs of course but even then it was but a drop in the bucket. You chose this place because of something you read in a sort of almanac, the Planetary Guide 1917. It mentioned several interesting things about this town, a cold war between groups of werewolves and vampires, but more importantly the boundaries between life and death were weaker here. In fact the boundaries were so weak it was theorized that someone with the body of someone with a particularly strong heart could be resurrected if the Bleed were to open unto the world.
You didn’t understand most of the science involved but your head scientists painted a vivid picture of how the world would fall into darkness if the Bleed were to flow freely into this universe. So you made sure that when you died you would be somewhere that you notice the Bleed, and you would stop the monster that is trying to destroy the world. As it was you shouldn’t even be able to think, these thoughts unless someone opened the world to the Bleed. It takes but a few shoves at the top of your coffin to push it through the two feet of dirt you had it buried under, if you were to wake up, no way you were going to spend that time trapped under six feet of dirt.
As you sit up and draw the rifle you were buried with you notice that an unnaturally well built young man is sitting on a bench opposite your grave pointing some kind of multi-barrelled gun at you. The boy smiles at you and asks, “Did you really think we weren’t prepared for the presidential zombie? We were here when you were buried after all.”

***

The Question
Normally you do not concern yourself with the flow of magic, it is too unpredictable and the league has Dr. Fate and Zatanna for that but going through the trash of several of the arcane sensitive leaguers showed a startling pattern.
Wonder Woman, has letters from Paradise Island indicating that some of its immortal citizens were starting to age, Jason Blood was losing control over his transformations into the demon Etrigan, Stargirl’s staff and Hawkgirl’s mace were kept moving to point in towards a small town in Washington as though they were compass needles and it was magnetic North, Zatanna’s magic show tour got pulled out of Forks, Washington due to a concerned citizen group and Doctor Fate’s tower had disappeared altogether again as it tends to whenever something major was about to happen.
As it was Forks, was already subject your curiosity. For the most part it was rather uninteresting; a quiet retirement village that recently was exploited by a nuclear power company as the location of their newest power plant, shortly after that Lexcorp had (at behest of the same concerned citizen group that got Zatanna’s show cancelled) had set up a factory on the outskirts giving the town a renewed source of income. There is though one family of note, a family called the “Cullens”. They are well above the town’s normal income bracket, even more than what one would expect from a Doctor with a good eye for business like the patriarch. Normally that wouldn’t be too surprising, people of power in cities where Lex does business tend to be bought off for great amounts of cash but this is different. The name Dr. Carlisle Cullen shows up rather often in passing as supervising doctor for some of Cadmus’s more unsavoury projects and he is listed by the patent office as the creator of anklets, devices created by the Illuminati several decades before the birth date on his driver’s licence. Something is going on with the Cullen Family of Forks, time for them to answer the Question.
As you make your way across the Watchtower you overhear that Green Lantern’s recent power surges in his ring that you considered previously unrelated were better when he visited Seattle, the closets major city to Forks on a mission last night. So it’s spreading to other powered heroes, not just the magic ones. Just as you are about to step onto the teleporters you hear a familiar voice in your head, the telepathic monotone of J’onn Jones “Victor, we would like a word with you. Please report to the conference room.”

***

Harman Smith

You are alone in a dark room watching the news on a small TV. Planetary takes out Dowling’s conspiracy. Nevada is still an unstable warzone. Cadmus develops deadlier and deadlier weapons to policy the skyrocketing metahuman population. The secrets behind the world are being unwound all around you. It is only a short time before your little war is revealed to the world. You sit and ponder the implications of this when the door is opened. A man in a nice tux comes in and throws a folder at the table in front of you.
“We got a job for you Harman. The Cullen family has withdrawn support for Cadmus and is seemingly planning something involving powerful magic. Waller wants you to silence them.” The man explains. As you pick up the folder and examine the contents you suddenly have a series of mental flashes, something between a long lost memory returning and a dream. Flashes of the people in these pictures dying at your hands in Gotham City, constructs of coloured light and of one of the younger ones merging with an albino giant. Funny the file makes no mention of anything like that so they can’t be premonitions but what are they?

((Everyone else make your own plot hook.))

[industrious]

Elijah Snow

Time to go to work. And by work, the good Mr. Snow meant one thing, and one thing only. Screwing Drums over.

Elijah heads towards "his" office, where all sorts of disturbing memos await him. Lord, he hates children. If it were up to him, he'd lock them in a vault until they learned sense. All of them. Except Jakita, all those years ago...

He sits at his desk, and picks up the phone.

"Hello, Happy Halls Asylum? This is Elijah Snow. I'd like to report an escaped mental patient; goes by the name of The Drummer. Please send a team of orderlies and a straitjacket to Room 101. Thank you."

It was good to be Elijah.

Moraine Sedai

A short woman in a tattered blue dress gazes around the halls of Uru-Baen. She hadn't been here for long. Less than a few hours. And already she could see that the world was different.

"What Age have I landed in?"

There were no Aes Sedai. No Asha'man. No Sisters or rogue channelers; in fact, Moraine couldn't sense anyone with the One Power at all. The thought frightens her, but she is Aes Sedai and a master of her emotions. Her face does not change despite the raging emotions within.

She had been imprisoned by the Aelfinn, entered their realm without binding to the treaty. She had been bound in the Tower of Ghenji. And then...she was here. It was a strange world. And Moraine had no intention of keeping it that way.

The Question

"On my way."

His mind races as he formulates theories on the underlying cause of the Forks conspiracy. While it seemed to be a standard Illuminati affair, here also appeared to be some elements of Eye in the Sky methodology as well. And as further proof, the Jonas Brothers had specifically not gone within one hundred miles of that area. As he had carefully explained to Huntress, the Jonas Brothers were a decoy; a ruse to distract him from the major mysteries of the world. Follow the aglets, that was his motto. Follow the aglets.

[darkblade]

Elijah Snow

After you dial the phone you here the following message.

"Sorry Elijah. As much as I hate the Drummer I'd perfer not to have to deal with getting him out of the local asylum. It wasn't funny when you did this in Gotham and it's not funny now. So we blocked off the number of the local asylum." the recorded voice of Jakita informs you.

***

The Question

You make your way to the conference room and see the original seven. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkgirl and the Martian Manhunter. The legendary heroes look down on you from their seats on the other side of a big table, single chair sits on your side.

"Sit down Question." Batman says sternly before letting Superman start to explain the situation.

"We know you are a great detective, possibly even better than Batman. That's why we trusted the investigation of Cadmus to you but this is insane." the kryptonian holds up the folder of information you complied about Forks and handed in to the League as your monthly investigative report.

"First of all, you have no magical experience so for all you know this could be a coincidence. Second you plan to go down to Earth and harass a possibly innoucent man for information you aren't entirely sure he has?" Superman continues.

"Also, we have showers, use them." Flash adds quickly as the other Leaguers turn to glare at thim.

"What? He stinks?"

***

Moraine Sedai

((I see what you did there. ))

You stand in the midst of the Town Square. There are four main roads and several small allys. You are unable to tell where the allys lead but the roads clearly lead to a market place, the city's outer gates, the King's castle and a millitary barracks.

[doliest]

Azula
Fire. Her only friend; an all consuming flame. She held it in her hand, lovingly. It had never left her, and it had never failed her. It kept away the cold that her brother's harlot forced on her. It protected her in that cell. It was her everything; the world would burn when she got back whatever it was she had lost. Yes, the fire would spread, would twist and burn...that shop. She knew it...somehow. It had helped contain her fire. It should burn. Everything would burn; but the shop would burn first. She moves forward, all the grace of a master firebender and member of the royal family lost in madness. She shoots flames, hellish flames at the shop; soon it would burn.

Mickey
Mickey's eyes twitch between the two. Two worlds; both controlled by amorality, one of technology and one of magic. Mickey had trained under one of the greatest magicians to ever live; but his kingdom had more than a bit of familiarity with technology. The world actually looked a bit like Sora's, come to think of it. Just less tropical. Shaking his head, he looked between them once more. Mickey didn't quite believe in fate; but what he did know was that with the rise of darkness, any darkness, the light too would rise to overcome it. Whichever world he didn't go to, hero's would rise. So with a huff, he jumped into the modern world.

Sojiro
Sojiro smiled as he chewed on a rice ball, a bloody towel on the ground. Master Shishio had decided that they still needed to stay in the shadows, so his target had been an unpopular noble with several low-key assassins after him. All of them would report back claiming either they succeeded or another assassin had. Lord Shishio was smart like that.

Sojiro grabbed the towel, finished off the rice ball, and hopped out the window, moving into the shukuchi. He continued to run until far enough away that no one would connect his tracks with that of a killer, and walked until he reached the outskirts of a city, humming all the while.

[nanobot_swarm]

Teddy Roosevelt laughs when he sees the young man with the gun, dusting himself off in the process. He says, "Son, put that gun down or you'll receive quite a thrashing, I never hit soft. And if you've been alive for all this time, can you tell me what year it is currently, and how the Great War turned out."
***

Harman calmly places the pictures back in the folder and tucks it away. He says to the men before they depart, "So much is revealed these days, jars dug up from their hidden burrows, lids are being broken, and contents spilled out for all to see. Pray that the ones buried deepest, remain so, otherwise teeth will gnash at what is found." To the Public, Heaven Smile are just a group of psycho terrorists, but if one looked deeper, they would find government experiments with their blood to produce new types, a black market for the organs of orphans, and Japanese manipulation of the American political system. People would hang over what would be found, **** like this sinks nations.
When the men have left, Harman's maid Samantha appears in a TV static flicker. He says to her, "They're circumventing the normal procedure, seems they can't trust Mills anymore. They really are desperate. Samantha, prepare me a ride, we're going to Forks."
"Yes master," she says, and then flickers out of existence. Harman then changes, for he has dissociative identity disorder, but with a catch, the alternate personality can manifest itself in reality. Thus he is no longer an old, wheel-chair bound man, but rather a young black man in a white-suit, carrying an instrument case. He exits the room and the trailer house, and gets into a fancy blood-red car that can travel at incredible speed. Garcian Smith is now traveling to Forks.

[darkblade]

Rosevelt

"It's 2010, we won both World Wars." The young man explains keeping his gun pointed at the former President.

"I'm sure you were a great fighter but you haven't moved in almost a hundred years. I recon that this gun that fires a hundred pullets a second will leave you in enough peices to kill you again. Now how about we settle this peacefully."

***

Garcian Smith

You drive to the city, into a small localized storm. A storm that can't be natural as it stops immediately upon the Town's borders. There is an evil presense in this city it feels something like the Heaven's Smiles but different, more fluid, more dark.

It seems to be coming from the LexCorp factory on the outerskirts of the city. It might bare investigation.

***

Sojiro

On the outskirts of the city you see the City Gates. There seems to be a disturbance. Two humans, one male and one female are being held up by large men who's skin glitters in the sunlight armed with crossbows, from here you can tell they both are forengers although both from this continent, unlike yourself. They both look like they intend to resist their arrest.

***

Azula

The shop was made of cheap wood and stocked very flamable tea. It goes up rather quickly. As customers flee the shop an old man comes out. He looks familiar, like someone you used to know. Someone who helped your weakling brother.

"I don't know how you escaped or tracked me down here but you will not get away with this Azula." He crouches down and pulls the fire off of the building and hurls it back at you.

[nanobot_swarm]

Mickey will find quite a surprise, when he sees he did not end up in the modern town like he thought he would. Instead he finds himself out in a large field, with a massive temple dominating his view. The building is absolutely ancient, and covered in large moss patches in many places, but is still mostly intact from the time it was made presumably thousands of years before. If he bothers to explore the landscapes surrounding the temple, he will find a large canyon to the north of the temple, that has a natural bridge connecting to a desert, as well as the remains of a massive stone bridge that seemed to connect the temple to a distant cliff that can barely be seen. To the South, East, and West he will see the large field stretching out to the many mountains/plateaus, many of which have natural paths leading to areas unknown.
But the temple still dominates the view, and something seems to be calling him from within. Something absolutely ancient, from a time before man walked the Earth.

[doliest]

Azula
Azula quickly hurls her own fire to counteract his; she forces her power into the flame, the powerful flame. All-consuming; truth, power, rage; she hopes for the blue flame, her flame. Amidst all the madness and vague lies, she remembers her flame. With it feelings of invigoration, pride, power, "Who are you old man? Some teacher to my brother? A relative?"

Mickey
Mickey knows of old powers and old tales. He was an apprentice to Yen Sid; and if something drew him to this world, then he would handle it as was necessary. He moves to the temple, for Mickey never once backed down from danger or the Call.

Sojiro
Sojiro moves forward to the disturbance, "Now now, let's all calm down; what seems to be the problem here?"

[nanobot_swarm]

"If I could make the Russians and the Japs stop shooting each other, I'm sure peaceful settlement with you wouldn't be that difficult. Also how'd a second great war occur, didn't learn the first time?" Teddy finishes brushing off all the dirt as he says this.
***
Inside Mickey will see a strange altar located near the entrance, that has a stone pillar above it, creating a gap that could fit about two stacked bodies. Behind it is an open view of the landscape. Inside the massive area, one can see sixteen piles of dust and rubble where statues of some sort used to be arranged in two rows of eight along the large hall, each with a personal stall in the wall. Down the hall they line, one can see a doorway that reveals a circular pool of dark water, and an equally circular stairway in the surronding wall, that leads up to another doorway that leads to the broken bridge.
Looking up Mickey will see an aperture in the ceiling in between the altar and the hall, that radiates a bright light. From it two voices echo in loose sychronization, one male the other female:
"Walker between worlds, thou hast come. Thou wishes safety of lands threatened by the ones born of darkness in men. Perhaps a deal can be crafted, for we may have something thou wants, and thou may provide our desires."
***
Garcian narrows his eyes at the evil presence, and decides to drive over to the Lexcorp building, assuring himself that his silenced 9mm is loaded and ready for use.

[Cracklord]

Kallad Stormwardan
The last thane of Karack Sandra stumps down the road, big calloused hands rough and clenched into fists. Ruinthorn glints on his back, his hard eyes are narrowed, and he's dressed in battered gromril mail, black leather and the dwarvish equivalent of a long-coat. His boots and gloves are iron shod, and he exudes such a palpable aura of menace that beasts coming his way will take a detour.
The mountains towered above him, but he was a dwarf, he conquered mountains. The cold froze moisture in the air but didn't slow him. He had mastered nature. Hardship was an old friend that he met often. When not hunting, the ghosts of other old friends tormented him so.
No, it was the unnatural that concerned him.
Kallad was a dwarf, and magic had little effect on dwarves. But he remembered the wars. He remembered Vlad and those who followed Vlad. And he knew that they were starting again. To many had forgotten, let the fear slip away, and now it was too late. But would stand, as he had so long ago.
Nothing was forgotten. Nothing was forgiven. They would pay.

Vimes
Politics.
When he said it aloud, he put enough venom into that word to make nearby birds stop flying and crash into things, and children to cry.
An Empire on Ankh-Morporks doorstep was a threat. Particularly one run by soldiers. It was no secret that soldiers sitting around got bored, and started looking for more people to fight.
Ankh-Morpork had nothing resembling a standing army, plenty of wealth (that made it a far more attractive target), and no outer-laying territories. They had no military geniuses on their side, and nothing really to deter a lot of soldiers looking for a fight. If they decided to invade, things were going to look very bad, very quickly.
So, Vetinarri had stressed for a diplomatic solution, and Vimes knew what he meant. It meant that he had best find the tights and plumes.
No doubt the patrician was playing a long, subtle game that would involve Eragon being dethroned and an incidental benefit involving the empire being broken up and Ankh-Morpork being paid rather nice reparations.
No doubt he was the catylyst as well, while the patrician began his machinations. No doubt.
He'd gone by himself. Young Sam was old enough to stop wanting to be read and start trying to hammer circle shaped blocks into triangle shaped holes, without much success. And this was going to be unpleasant, so the further his family was, the happier he would be. It was a shame, Sibyl had really wanted to see the King's dragon. But as with many successful relationships, he went along with what she wanted unless he insisted. And this time it had been an outright demand.
Taking a match, he struck it on his chin and lit a cigarette, then looked up at the guards. "Ankh Morpork, diplomatic emissary acting on behalf of Lord Vetinari. I'm supposed to be negotiating something or another." He replies, tossing them a seal in a lazy underhand.
Then he points at the witch. "And she's with me. Bother her if you want, and arrest me if you have to, but make sure you have the authority. Because if this empire starts any wars you can't finish, it should be someone who is aloud to make decisions." He was bluffing, and for all he knew they had a genuine grievance. Bugger that. There was a time for good, honest police work, and a time for testing authority. This was the latter.

Greed
You'd think the Devil's nest was a dangerous bar, looking at it. A fringe bar, with a fight every night, a killing every week, which sold illicit substances as well as alcohol. You'd think it was frequented by tough guys and no one else, each one looking for a fight. You'd expect to see criminals plotting heists, and expect cops to detour in order to avoid it.
It's propetier went to great lengths to encourage this perception of it's reputation. Extreme lengths, even.
People, his clientele, at least, which was considerable, liked a feeling of danger when they drank. A feeling of importance, and of risk. So that was the impression he gave. Nothing illegal actually happened at the bar. That all happened miles below.
The bar was incredibly stylish. Underground, for the sake of space in crowded Las Vegas, expensive furniture and tough guys, many of whom were regulars and also Greed's staff. It was also one of the few establishments that didn't gamble. Rather, it was here for when you just hit success and needed to get the burden of it off you're chest. If you had money, this was the place for you. If you didn't, this place wasn't giving it away.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
In the corner, where the lord could survey his kingdom, was a special, reserved chair. A comfortable, soft, expensive chair, with room for a few friends, and while it did not resemble a throne, the intent was there.
Greed was smiling, baring his sharklike fangs, one arm tossed casually around a girl he'd just met (Sandra, she called herself), the other holding the hand of Nicole, who was more long term commitment.
It's been said, but bears repeating, it's good to be king.
"We should be meting an interesting client soon." He says, not to anyone in particular. He takes it on faith that Dorchett, Roa or one of the others will be nearby and hear him. "So cut out anything objectionable before he gets here. Arranging this meeting wasn't easy."
Question

Spoiler

Show

You find this in your room in the Watchtower.
'You have questions. I have answers. I know things, I know what's being planned. I know everything you merely suspect. I have answers to your questions.
Devils nest, Fourth boulevard, Las Vegas.
Bring company.

[doliest]

Mickey
"What kind of deal, exactly?" Deals with old beings; by no means how Mickey had hoped to start the...day? Week? Time didn't flow in the darkness, at least not in anyway that Mickey could understand.

[darkblade]

Kallad Stormwardan

As you walk down the city's copplestone roads you see off in the distance a shop on fire. Out side of it a young woman and an old man are throwing fireballs at each other with reckless abandon. Amazing the watch and city guard are no where in sight.

***

Azula

Iroh drops to the ground under Azula's fireblast and dragging his hands on the ground directs a blast of lightning her way. "Don't tell me the year in jail has made you forget your deal old Uncle Iroh?"

***

Greed

Some riff-raff put away their pornography, weapons and other not illegal but not exactly clean items and head to a back room to resume their entertainment.

The girl Sandra looks at you curiously, "Who's this special client?"

***

Sam Vimes, Abhoreson and Sojiro

"You stay out of this firestarter." Firestarter was an old Imperial slurr for Fire Nation, dating back to the last time their was an intercontinetal war a few centuries ago. One of the sparkling warriors turns his crossbow on Sojiro.

"Lord Eragon made no such mention of an embisarry, follow me then." The remaining guards lead Sam and the Abhoreson towards the Castle, leaving the single guard and Sojiro alone.

***

Rosevelt

"Germany felt ripped off and blamed it on the Jews. Anyways I couldn't agree more, I'm not much of a negotiator though. I'm just here to pick you up." the young man stands, lower his weapon.

"I got a car waiting for us."

***

Garcian Smith

The factory is busy, producing who knows what. Alive with the sounds of machinery and toiling workers. At the front door you are greeted by the factory's secratary. She can't be more than nineteen and sits at the front desk looking bored while reading a magazine.

"Welcome to the Forks LexCorp Factory. The Plant manager is out and there are no scheduled tours today. We are currently not hiring but feel free to leave a resume for the next time we have an available position." she says it all without taking her eyes off her magazine with no ethusiasim at all. You can feel the dark presense is on the factory floor.

[Cracklord]

Greed
"I don't know his name." Greed replies. "Don't know anything much about him, actually. He's one of those nutjobs who thinks anonymity protects him."
He replies, stroking her affectionately. She arced her back like a cat and pressed herself closer, making contented noises.
Greed was fairly sure he'd come. If he didn't it would mean he would have to leave his considerable comforts and go himself, which was not something he was in the mood for to say the least.
But he was fairly sure the dog would take the bait, and open up whole new vista's to him.
He scratched her behind the ear. "Mine." He whispered, and nuzzled her.

Sam Vimes
Good. First step of dealing with the rank and file. Make sure they realize how out of their league they are.
He doesn't answer, simply walking along with the attitude of one who has every right and privilege to be here. Looks like he was going to meet a king.
Happy day.

Kallad
The dwarf has got involved in these things before. It never ends well. But it's not in him to let it continue. His warning can wait. With a few snaps he assembles a clockwork crossbow, that fairly strums with tension and power. Locking back a single bolt with a rune of piercing inscribed on the head, he snarls at them.
"You will stop that now, manlings, or I will have to kill you." He promises.

[doliest]

Azula
"Uncle?" Azula rolls to the side, dodge rolls to the side and dashes forward, attempting to launch fire from her leg at him point blank.

[Cracklord]

Kallad
"I'm not going to ask again." Kallad promises, stumping closer, the crossbow shaking slightly with pressure. You have to shoot a bolt hard to kill a vampire.
"Three. Two."

[darkblade]

Kallad and Azula

"You'll have to forgive my niece she's a little bit insane. Runs in the family, I'm trying to minimize the damage but she's good." Iroh informs the dwarf before taking the fireball to the face and going down.

***

Greed

Sandra giggles slightly at this but doesn't do much else. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the mask man to show up.

[Cracklord]

Kallad
"One." If she doesn't answer in the next moment, Kallad will fire.

The bolt travels through the air in moments, punching through her left leg out the other side, then a foot down into the cobbles beneath. Kallad drops the crossbow, it's only good for one shot as it takes close to five minutes to reload and ten to snap back up, and removes his axe instead. He seems taller and infinitly more dangerous with Ruinthorn in his hands. The two are one, an extension of his very soul. With casual competency, he spins it in butterfly arcs to loosen up his arms and intimidate his target, and begins to advance, counting on his innate resistance to magic to protect him from the fire, and the pain she's in to stop her from concentrating.

If she does, he will not lower the bow, but keep her covered and wait for someone with authority to get here.

[doliest]

Azula
Azula giggles, a dark ear-rending sound, over Iroh's fallen body. She looks at Kallad, a little composure gained, "What was it?"

[nanobot_swarm]

Teddy says, "Thought we'd stop German Tyranny the first time around, must have put a bunch of good-for-nothings in charge if they let Germany start another war of that size." He follows the man to the car and looks at it in disbelief, "That's what cars look like now? With all those windows and the like preventing air circulation, the thing must bake like an oven."
***
The being says, "An exchange. We shall grant thou whatever object thy desire for thy quest to slay the darkness born from men's hearts and safe passage to a land thy chooses. In return thou will provide that which we desire, shape and form."
***
Garcian is always prepared to bypass his way to get into places, so he takes out some government papers, flashes them at her, and says, "I'm an inspector. I'm here to make sure this factory is following all regulations. Open the gate."

[Cracklord]

Azula
"I think you want to come with me miss." Kallad replies, trigger finger itching. He really, really wanted to kill her.
He hates wizards at the best of times, and has seen a few corrupted by the winds in his time. Chaos might stretch it's fingers into her, insanity, then mutation, then evil.

[doliest]

Mickey
"Hmmm; that sounds good...but what will you do with shape and form?" Mickey knew how deals with this could end if you didn't get specifics. Devils or Eldritch beings, things potentially worse than the Heartless in their own ways.

Azula
Azula gives him a grin; small man. Strange man; not of the fire, that to be sure. He did give off the warm that even her 'uncle' had. He was not fire, "You're not of the fire; why should I come with you?"

[Draxx]

Beast
Beast has more doctorates than the teaching staff at Yale. You need a deconstruction of the themes and complexity within Paradise Lost? Hank McCoy was your man. You in a cave with nothing but a box of scrap and a piece of shrapnel in you're heart? Beast could have it out within ten seconds with almost no pain. You need to know the exact calculations to determine relativity, to open a portal to the bleed or to detect Dark Matter?
Nobody could do it like Beast.
He knows quite a bit about wolves, or Canis lupus. But aside from a long list of facts, the first thing that occurs to him is by far the most important. Wolves do not get that big. Par of him wants to kill it, skin it and make his half human wife to be a new fur cloak (those who know Beast would be less then surprised that he knows how to do this), and the scientist, for once, is in firm agreement with this part. How was it moving? It's proportions were wrong, it should be a slow, lumbering thing, and it's weight was incorrectly distributed. It must be extremely dense, imagine what could be learned dissecting it...
But the part of him that was a government agent and had once been an X-men sighed in irritation. Something unnatural going on. Size often comes with increased intelligence, he'd noted. The thing might be sentient, and might not be hostile.
Deciding to trust Rosseau this once he stands up and lowers his rifle, to show he means no harm. He does not, however, turn on the safety, and puts his back to a tree so if they try anything he'll be able to see them do it.

Hank
The psychopath doesn't answer. He simply removes his red tinted sunglasses, revealing some of the ruin of his face, his white filmy eyes focussing on the incoming monsters.
In this world, many wear masks for a variety of reasons, and Hanks is perhaps the most honest. He wears it to conceal the sorry remains of his face.
But he can still see. Slowly, carefully, he cracks his knuckles, his gloved hands with steel tips over their knuckles, then begins to walk forward, as if he has a ll the time in the world, trenchcoat billowing around him.
Then he strikes, a blur of action so fast only hints can be seen, and he's holding a severed black arm that he's using to beat another of the things to death with a series of wet thwacks. Tossing the mangled appendage aside, he waits, ready to kill more.
Inwardly, he's already plotting his escape, tracking down the voice in the sound system and killing him as well.

[Cracklord]

Kallad
"I'm of steel and gold, carved of the mountains and just as hard." He replies. "If you don't listen, I'll break you in half."
Again, he's promising. A threat might not be carried out, and Kallad takes what he says very seriously. He knows his wasting time. They could already be here. He needs to give the warning.

[nanobot_swarm]

"Provide for us a body, either that of those responsible for the opening of forbidden gates, or those of their blood. It matters not be they breath or cold, bring the body back to the Shrine of Worship. What does thou desire?"

[doliest]

Mickey
"Hoo hoo; well gosh I just want to stop all this before they cause the end of the world, hoo hoo." Aw. That tick; it popped up anytime he got nervous. He'd tried to get rid of it, but..., "Well, I can't really give you the bodies of those responsible. It's their bodies, and I wouldn't know the magic needed anyway, hoo hoo."

Azula
"I'd like to see you try, earth-man. Regardless; I will go with you. For now." She looks down at her 'Uncle' and brings her foot down on his neck, "So where shall we go?"

[darkblade]

Beast

The giant wolf looks up from it's meal and at the blue mutant in front of it. It sniffs the air a few times before shifting into a well built native American teenager, who is very naked. "What's this? A vampire made parody of a werewolf?"

***

Hank

"Now that's the spirit. Here have a sword, you'll want it for these buggers." The voice says. On the far side of the room a doorway made of darkness apears and tosses out a sword, disapearing before Hank can get to it.

Two large creatures like the ones before except much fatter waddle their way out of the gate. Unlike the others these ones are wearing clothes. Turbans are bright orange vests, almost like parodies of arabians. Along side them float six more creatures, these ones look like the first little ones but tied up and forced into green robes and little wizard hats, as they float about they admit green sparkles that the bigger monsters seem to like.

***

Rosevelt

"There are machines that cycle the air in there. Don't worry about it." the young man opens the back door of the car for the former President.

***

Azula and Kallad

Iroh wakes up and starts chocking as his neice stomps on his airpipe. He waves his hands either trying to generate fire or warn the dwarf but ultimently he fails at both and suffocates.

***

Sojiro

The guard gets bored and raises his crossbow and turns to leave you again.

[nanobot_swarm]

"The foolish who unleash those born in the darkness of men's hearts are not apart of the realm of reason. They will not be swayed from their madness, by niether you or any other. They voided their chords of life when they opened the forbidden gates by cutting the chords of others. Thy lack of knowledge is no burden, we posses the power do do so."

[doliest]

Mickey
"Still, you didn't say what you'd do once you got a body, hoo hoo." Dangit, there went that tick again.

Sojiro
Sojiro looks between the people and the guard again, before shrugging with a smile, "Sorry, I guess I'll be on my way." With that he moves to actually enter the city and meet with whichever member of the Juppon was in this area. Master Shishio hadn't told him, but he knew all the major members faces by heart, and none of them were masters of disguise, to say the least.

[Cracklord]

Kallad had not thought this far ahead. It had simply been a matter of stop her from doing what she was doing and go to the palace. Now that he had, he couldn't be sure.
With a sigh, he removes the bolt and replaces it in it's watertight cast, then begins folding the crossbow back up. It takes time. Considerable time. But not a lot of focus.
"Castle. Have to see the king." He replies.

[doliest]

Azula
King? She thought she knew a king. Or was it a lord? Titles blurred; all fell to the flame, given time. Distant voices and calling titles. All nothing to the pure mixture of red and blue. Azula nods, "To the king we go then."