[Acro-ish] The KNAVES Castle

[Gnrlshrimp]

Once the site of the "greatest" totalitarian organisation that ever terrorised the Nexus, the intimidating, black winged castle lies forgotten, and abandoned. No longer does it strike fear into the hearts of non-voters. No longer is there even any need to vote. The mighty flying fortress of "The Killing of the Not Able to Vote Ending Solution" party is now useless, and broken.

The wings lie in tatters, bones sticking out from the faded, torn black leather. The top floor of the keep has collapsed, reducing it to two storeys in height, now no larger than the rest of the castle.

The outer wall, square in shape, has lost the front two towers, both broken and crumbling and completely unsafe. The giant, looming gate remains functional and in one piece, the old KNAVES image, the red scales, still visible, though faded.

The inner wall has survived in better condition, with only a few minor, damaged parts, and the portcullis at the very centre of the courtyard also remains undamaged, though seemingly useless now with nothing to control it. It no longer acts as a portal, or so it would seem...

The scar, the great range of prison cells where the KNAVEs tortured their prisoners, has been blocked off by rubble, and throughout the whole castle...silence.

There's something kind of sad about the whole scene. A forgotten castle, lying in the middle of nowhere to slowly rot, not even used as a warning of the terrible evil that can lie within plain sight if care isn't taken to protect that which is important.

The portcullis flashes brightly and rises, slowly, revealing a strange blackness from out of which steps a single metal humanoid...followed by a couple hundred more. Finally, out steps Professor Affidavit himself, last true member of KNAVES still in the Nexus. Well it's not exactly him. It's one of his shapeshifting creations in the form of the Prof. Even now he cannot get rid of his image. It comforts him to have...him...around. He looks around the courtyard and sighs unhappily. "Empty. Quiet. So very, very wrong. I remember when this was the home of the greatest people to ever grace this world with their presence."

As if sensing his presence, the castle's wings start to beat madly and the enchantments that granted it flight activate once again. Slowly, the castle lifts itself into the sky, showering the ground with dust as it creaks in protest. Professor Affidavit smiles briefly, adjusting his KNAVES uniform. There may not be anyone else around, it may take weeks to clear the place up properly, but it belongs to him now. His dream of being in charge of KNAVES has come true at last, and he grins. "Mine. All mine. I will make this place great again."

((Being a flying fortress of sorts, the castle is capable of changing location. Currently it is located somewhere Outside.))

[darkblade]

From far down the shadowed halls there is a click to bones being set down against the hard, cold stone floor. The clicking draws slowly closer towards the mad scientist but gradually speeds up.

Click, Click, Click, Click, Click Click Click Click Click ClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClick ClickClickClick

Suddenly it stops.

"Yours is it?" a shadowy unseen voice calls out.

"I've been here all alone for almost two years," the voice sounds like is coming from the opposite side of the hall then it did a second ago.

"Unable to sleep, eat, breathe or even mercifully pass away into death." The voice somehow seems to come from all directions at once now. The shadows over the hall recede into a single figure. Revealing the place was still lit by torch light after all this time. They had been blocked out by some sort of shadow magic.

"Yet you come here now and claim it all to be yours Affidavit." The shadowy figure steps forward towards Affidavit. It quickly becomes apparent that the figure is nothing but a skeleton with a thin layer, no more than half an inch of flesh like shadow cover it's bones. Over that shadow it wears a uniform a black KNAVES uniform, the one that once belonged to the soldier Darkblade. Not the valiant freedom fighter formerly of HALO nor the brainwashed psychopath of the nuppyland Town. No this one was the well meaning but trapped over his head mercenary of the long lost old Town.

"I'm going to disagree with you professor."

[Gnrlshrimp]

Affidavit coughs and turns to address this...KNAVES soldier? He frowns and shakes his head angrily. This was unexpected, unexpected and...wrong! This place belongs to him now! Not some idiot soldier who didn't have the sense to leave when the castle was finally abandoned! Oh dear, it would appear our dear friend darkblade has been forgotten. Having your mind spread out amongst so many creations can be confusing, the odd detail or two has slipped through, it would seem.

"Bah! Who are you to challenge me? I was second in command! I was State's favourite! You are nothing compared to me, as the highest ranking member of KNAVES I claim this place as my own. Either accept me as your superior, or so help me I'll boot your skeletal body straight over the side!"

Numerous creations rush back into the courtyard to defend their master. Affidavit himself, or rather, the creation he's currently occupying (mostly, there's still bits of him in all of them. It's complicated!) does nothing, simply glaring at this mere soldier that dares defy him.

[darkblade]

Shadows rise up and wrap themselves around other bodies that lie about the compound and the dungeons and rise up to confront the creations weilding whatever weapons or general heavy and or sharp instruments they can find lying around.

"Do you truly believe your rank still holds any weight here?" The makeshift army of shadowy undead asks in one voice.

"State is DEAD. KNAVES is DEAD. This castle belongs to the dead." It seems our boy Darkblade is no longer Darkblade but some sort of hive mind of the those who have died withing the castle walls.

"If you wish for this castle you will join us."

[Gnrlshrimp]

"You demand that only the dead command the castle? Hmmmph. A preposterous claim, but one that does not prevent me from taking this place as my own." Affidavit dismisses his disguise, revealing himself to be no more than a shapeshifting creation.

As more creations enter the courtyard, Affidavit's voice rings out through all of them. "I died as well. I was killed by a-" he pauses and the creations frown, as if unsure of who did the act. After a moment or two, they continue. "A coward, sent by that damned cyborg. So you see, even if KNAVES is dead, even if this castle belongs only to the dead, I still have authority here. I am dead too, and hence my claim still stands."

[darkblade]

"We are the dead, Affidavit." The many voiced being begins.

"You still live through your sciences, you are not among us yet."

At this point the skeletons all draw their weapons, some of which Affidavit might reconize as weapons he himself had built.

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Nor do I have any intention of joining, and how dare you use my own weapons against me!" If he had the time, he could take out a certain little device that'd make all their weapons blow up, but that would require far too long.

The creation that was disguised as Affidavit is wearing his uniform, however. It digs around in the pockets, and shortly afterwards takes out a small black box with a single button. "However, you could be of use to me." He presses the button, and the castle is suddenly a flurry of activity as those turrets he installed right back at the beginning are activated for the first time in almost two years.

"These weapons were designed to tear apart anything that threatened the castle, including intruders from within. If you try to attack me, they will fire. As will my creations!" And on that threat, Affidavit's creations draw their weapons. Melee weapons only, actually. The turrets can handle the ranged side of things.

[darkblade]

"Everyone within these walls will join the dead." All of the skeletons with the exception of the one that once was Darkblade charge upon the creations, purely on the offensive not making any effort to defend themselves.

[Gnrlshrimp]

The turret's guns whir for a moment as those mysterious diamonds of Affidavit's are activated, resulting in shots being fired at insane speeds at the skeletons.

The creations settle into a defensive stance, apparently planning to focus entirely on holding off the skellies, letting the turrets deal with the messy side of things.

"I made so many changes to this castle, I know every trick and trap. This is foolish, and hopeless. Give up now. I am really not in the mood for this." This was not how the Prof had planned to begin his "return" to KNAVES. Truth be told, he had hoped there'd be a member or two still skulking around, not a load of undead soldiers trying to pull rank on him!

[darkblade]

Well that isn't entirely what is happening here most of the skeletons are in fact former prisoners trying to pull rank on him.

The each individual skeleton reassembles itself seconds upon being hit by the super sonic bullets not even stopping their assault.

The skeleton of Darkblade continues to stand behind the massive array of dying and recovering skeletons only starring at Affidavit.

"It is only a matter of time until you join us."

[Gnrlshrimp]

Yeah, that's really not good. They may be good fighters, but they're far from unbeatable, so even while focusing on defence, one or two of the creations are taken down, with more weakening.

The Affidavit creation frowns. "Why can't you just stay dead? And why is it always me that has to deal with this crap?" Still, so far only basic and shapeshifting creations have been deployed. Next through the portcullis: The winged creations, who immediately attempt to simply grab some of the skeletons and...throw them straight off the edge of the castle.

One of the winged creations goes for Darkblade, perhaps guessing that he's the one fuelling these undead creatures.

"...I'd kill for a cleric right now!"

[darkblade]

The few creations that are taken down are also swallowed up by shadows and start to march against their former comrades.

The skeletons that were thrown off the the castle fall. As they fall the shadows depart from the skeletons and return to Darkblade. The skeletons turn to dust as they hit the ground.

The fighting skeletons are confused by Affidavit's question. "How do the dead die?"

As the winged creation goes for Darkblade he pulls out his namesake blade, the blade that held the shadow demon Virus. He rolls out of the way of the creature's grasp and stabs at it.

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Um, generally when you tear a skeleton apart it doesn't get back up again!" Thoroughly frustrated by the world's continued refusal to simply let him get on with things, he takes out another, rather more complicated device, with multiple dials and switches and buttons and a pull out section and a keyboard...and a lot of stuff basically.

"And you are not using my creations as hosts."

First, the weapons being used by the skellies that were made by the Prof are going to go boom, only one at a time though.

The second part, comes later.

The winged creation gets stabbed, but it isn't going to give up that easily, instead taking out a glass ball and throwing it at Darkblade. Said ball, naturally, is designed to go boom when it shatters.

The other winged creations continue their attempts to drag and drop the skellies off the castle. After seeing that shadowy stuff move about, Affidavit is quite certain that simply getting rid of enough bodies will be helpful, since the shadows seem to need something to possess.

[darkblade]

All of the skeletons that were weilding weapons made by Affidavit explode one after another, only to get back up but remain unarmed on their next assualt.

A larger catcher's mit made of shadow extends from his arm to gently catch the glass ball and toss it back at the winged machine.

Skeletons continue to otherwise act as before. Dying, repairing and attacking or falling with their shadows returning to Darkblade. Enough shadows have returned to him now to make it noticable that everytime a shadow returns to him the shadows that make up his body get thicker and darker.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Hmm, trying to catch and throw it back?

...NO!

One of the turrets quickly swivels round and fires a barrage at the little glass sphere. It's damn well going to explode in his face!

Okay, weapons have gone boom. Part two consists of all the dead creations having the explosives stored within them going boom. One at a time again. Skeletons are relatively easier to put back together, creations are not.

One person to deal with is better than many, so the attempts to knock skeletons off the castle continues.

Well, Affidavit has never really had to deal with undead before. Aside from knowing that clerics work well against them, he's pretty much clueless.

[darkblade]

The sphere does in fact blow up in his face. The skull reasembles itself but much slower then the minions and he doesn't move as it happens. Although as the skull reasembles itself the shadows of fallen skeletons no longer return to it but intsead form sharp arrow like projectiles and fly towards Affidavit.

The creations go boom but that doesn't have any more effect then making the minion skeletons explode. The shadows just rebuild them.

The remaining skeletons carry on as before.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Well, Affidavit is quite possibly completely screwed.

After all, he only has so many creations. And the guns are doing very little. Well, okay, they're helping to keep the numbers down but that's about it.

Something else steps through the portcullis now though.

Something large, eight feet tall or so, made entirely of diamond. It points one arm at the skeletons, and the arm's shape changes slightly. The change, though minor, has the rather impressive effect of releasing a blast of brilliant, blinding white light at the skellies. Take that you shadowy shadows!

Also, several more winged creations move to assist against Darkblade, and many glass orbs and now thrown in his direction.

Maybe if they reduce him to dust...

The shadow projectiles, meanwhile, pierce Affidavit, causing the usual sticky grey ooze to leak out. He is, after all, merely a shapeshifting creation. He frowns and takes off his uniform, not wanting to get any more holes in it. "That uniform is priceless! How dare you!"

[darkblade]

The glass bombs do indeed strike Darkblade and he is reduced to nothing but dust. His sword goes flying across the hall away from all the fighting.

The second Darkblade goes down all remaining shadows are pulled into the sword leaving nothing but dead skeletons that fall to the ground.

The larger creation with the light blasting arm blasts the harmless bones but it doesn't really do anything.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Well that was rather unexpected. That sword...

"I...don't like this." A single creation gingerly picks up the sword, as several other creations turn and draw their guns, ready to shoot it the second anything funny happens.

[darkblade]

The sword grows what look like six tentacles made of shadow that wrap around the creation that picked it up. Each tentacle attempts to stab through various points on the creature to reach into it's inner workings.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Well, the creation is most definitely dead.

The other creations immediately open fire on the sword, but I suspect it's already far too late.

[darkblade]

Oh the sword isn't trying to kill the creation merely reach inside of it to search for a CPU or a brain or whatever part of the creation controls it's movements.

It doesn't take kindly to being shot at though and three of the tentacles dissipate and reform into a shield that stops the bullets.

[Gnrlshrimp]

It's a brain. A metal brain, but still a brain.

And now the creations are a little unsure about what to do. Or rather, Affidavit suddenly feels rather fed up with the whole thing and decides to just let it play out.

[darkblade]

The sword attempts to override the normal mind of the creation.

[Gnrlshrimp]

And is met by the wall that is Affidavit's mind. Get the hell out of my creation you damn shadow thing!

[darkblade]

"You wish to bring life back to KNAVES. Why?" The voice of the sword asks. "You abandoned it when it lived before. Why return to it in death?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

We all abandoned it. Without State to lead it, it would've been pointless to stay. State was the only thing that kept KNAVES running. Without him, there was no way we'd have continued functioning. I have no intention of bringing KNAVES back to its former glory. That's impossible. There is no voting any more, not that I've seen. However I can make it great for me. This castle has potential, I desire to use it to further my own goals. And KNAVES, well, KNAVES is...special...

[darkblade]

"Special how?" the voice seems noticably calmer now. Much less likely to suddenly lash out an kill you.

[Gnrlshrimp]

I, er, um...It's, kind of, the only place where I ever felt accepted...and truly happy. Affidavit is so happy that there's no one else around to hear him say that!

He'd probably lose it if he'd said that in public.

[darkblade]

"Then we shall not stay in your way. Give us back one of the skeletons and we will leave you and your castle." the voice is now at a total calm.

"Unless we hear that you aim to return the full tryannical force of KNAVES to the Nexus." the voice snaps suddenly back into bitter hatred.