SHEOL Inc.: I Owe My Soul to the Company Store

[Deathkeeper]

Ground Floor- Entrance

Aw, geez, now there's at least two people waiting for Jace to show up! Now his player he doesn't have a choice but to go, even though the last two Halloween parties he went to involved him getting attacked and stuck with one of the most irresponsible tenants ever. He'd say he hopes this part doesn't come with more kids, but then again, he is dating a big sister, so unless he plans on suddenly not liking her that's probably unavoidable. At least those kids are stable.

Jace's player decided to go with something extremely unoriginal classic, and is dressed in a medieval- style outfit, mostly of flat, neutral colors for the tunic and pants, with heavy boots, a thick belt, and a very well-crafted black and grey cloak draped around his neck. Leather gloves adorn his hands and wrists, and an elegant gold chain is wrapped around his left forearm. At his belt is a silvery prop-rapier, because his player searched for ages looking for a no-weapons rule and couldn't find one, and Jace has brought his silvery prop weapons to all the other Halloween parties! It certainly looks real enough...
Oh, and Jace currently has a mustache and a bit of scruff on his chin. When did he have time to grow that? Who knows? But you certainly can't be a proper swashbuckling rogue without facial hair. It's in the rules.

[What's that? Transformative magic on Jace that didn't emasculate him? What a shocker!]

Oh, right. Zebes is basically just Zebes. Except more yellow instead of metallic, with oddly curling wings, and a distinct lack of forelegs because just because the artists never get it right doesn't mean we don't have to! Truth be told the legs thing wasn't hard to do. Turning into a kobold for the last one took more effort.

Spoiler: Seriously. Artists always add forelimbs.

Show

[Pff. Breastplate? Leather or not, why'd he be wearing that out in the open?]

Truth be told, Jace recognizes Veronica's camera before he sees her. I mean, it's not like he saw those jumbo screens, he was already here! He should probably get a phone that can play Veronica's bits when she's on the air so he can stop always missing them. He sighs a bit. [Don't worry Boss, I'm sure you'll be able to avoid the subject.] snickers Zebes as Jace's thoughts on Veronica's hilariously-coincidentally-timed costume idea.

Jace goes over quietly and sees if he can't give her a tap on the shoulder before she sees him. He's gotten pretty good at moving around in crowds after so many years in cities. And he can be kind of sneaky when he wants to! Of course, his face is rather obvious, and Veronica is looking for him...

[KerfuffleMach2]

Spooktacular - Ivaz

Ivaz shakes her head a bit. Not yet. Don't wanna do anything this early in the party, anyways. Won't be as satisfying then.

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

Spooktacular - Darsy

Darsy happily grabs a shot and downs it before answering.

Well, my name's Darsy. The person I'm dressed as is Juri. She's a character from a fighting game.

What about you? I know you're dressed as Thor, but I have no idea who you actually are.

[Rebonack]

[Spooktacular!]

Oh no!

Krystal didn't notice the Mew in tiny Mewtwo Armor waving at her!

Well then. This is going to need to be rectified immediately.

Fortuna's armor is shrouded in her Psyshocked field and disassembled before vanishing away into her inventory. And then? She begins to blur and pixilate and grow. When her resolution returns there isn't a floating pink cat-looking creature there, oh no! Instead? Instead it's a human woman wearing a pretty spot-on Scarlet Witch outfit! Krystal will probably recognize her from the little adventure back into the Marvel universe, though she's sporting a fairly notable lack of wings this time around.

The lack of wings is a pretty big difference, honestly.

"Hello Krystal! The costume is really nice, but I'll admit I don't know who you're supposed to be," Fortuna says.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Spooktacular - Krystal

Actually, Krystal was in a conversation with Tovia, and Krystal's player was waiting for Tovia's response before posting that Krystal saw the Mew. Because, really, how could somebody not notice a Mew waving at them? Krystal even knew she was a Mew. She had several games back home.

Anyways, Krystal watches Fortuna approach. The shifting definitely caught her attention. And Krystal knew that costume. It takes a moment, but Krystal finally realizes who is speaking to her.

Geneva? Wow. Didn't even recognize you.

Oh, thanks. She's another hero from my home. Captain Marvel.

[Fenric]

[Spooktacular - Ivaz]

Katrina nods

Makes sense. So, who are you dressed as?

[Aric Kale]

Spooktacular - Darsy

Darsy happily grabs a shot and downs it before answering.

Well, my name's Darsy. The person I'm dressed as is Juri. She's a character from a fighting game.

What about you? I know you're dressed as Thor, but I have no idea who you actually are.

Spooktacular - Aric

Well met, Darsy! I am Aric Kale, one of MERC's humble employees.
He looks at his costume before taking another shot.

I'm glad you could tell who I was. I've been told I look similar without the costume, so I thought I'd give it a try. He laughs again.

[Zefir]

Spooktacular

Mia doesn't seem to interrupt current talks so she heads right for the bowl to get something to drink. As the blue light starts following her she giggles a bit.

"Just what I missed."

[Rebonack]

[Spooktacular!]

See? This is the problem with having too many PCs in one scene! People get confused and think they've been missed or skipped or something!

And hilariously enough, the de-rez/re-rez is exactly how Transform looks in the more recent Pokemon games. The Mew's use of the ability looks exactly the same!

"Haha! It was the result of a really wonky roll. Nearest six people get turned into pokemon, form a team, and go on an adventure together. There were only five people nearby at the time, so my goldfish Henry got turned into a Magikarp," Fortuna recounts. "It's a pretty goofy story, I'll have to tell you the whole thing some time."

A VERY goofy story.

And somewhat embarrassing.

Speaking of embarrassing Pokemon-related events, Fortuna waves at Veronica and Jace. Then she bites her lower lip and begins pointing behind the harpy in a 'he's right behind you' sort of way. Way to ruin Jace's sneaking, Fortuna.

Then she turns back to Krystal with a grin. "Doesn't that other comic book company have a Captain Marvel, too?" she asks, apparently unaware of the name change. "Though it's a pretty neat name. I can see why it might get used more than once. Heh... I figured this costume would be thematic for me. Chaos magic and all."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Spooktacular - Ivaz

I think her name is Bomb Queen. Ivaz takes a step back and holds her arms out so Katrina can get a better look.

She was some comic character. I just thought the costume was hot and went for it.

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

Spooktacular - Darsy

Darsy chuckles. Heh, that's pretty much the same reasoning behind my costume. I normally dress almost the same as her.

So, working at MERC any fun?

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

Spooktacular - Krystal

Krystal tilts her head a bit. You mean DC? I think he used to be called that, but now he goes by Shazam. But, some heroes change their name at times. Captain Marvel also went under the name Ms. Marvel. And Binary.

Krystal nods a bit. Yeah, I'd say her powers are a pretty good fit with yours. I think yours get a bit more random, though. I don't think she could've made part of Ultron turn to cheese.

[Aric Kale]

Spooktacular - Aric

Aric chuckles heartily. I haven't died yet and I have received ample rewards...even a flying shield!

MERC is good to me. Gives me something to do.

Damn, how much can this man keep down? Several of the NPCs have given up.

[Fenric]

[Spooktacular - Ivaz]

Katrina chuckles

Smokin! I just went with "Jessica Rabbit" as the theoretical excuse. I really just wanted to wear my sexy red dress

And she strikes the "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way" pose.

[Rebonack]

[Spooktacular!]

Fortuna wrinkles her nose at that name.

"Shazam? I thought that's what the wizard's name was," she replies, somewhat confused.

Must have been one of those comic book retcons.

In her reading she discovered that those seemed to happen quite a bit.

When Krystal brings up Scarlet Witch's power set, Fortuna can't help but giggle. "Obviously she just isn't trying hard enough. She should try throwing out some puns related to what she's trying to do. I've discovered that helps a whole lot! Absolutely no idea why, which kind of bugs me. But chaos magic doesn't seem at all content to be rational."

If it has any rules, they're certainly so convoluted and silly that they may as well not exist.

"So, what does Captain Marvel do? Something star-related?"

More like guidelines, really.

[The Alexandrian]

[Spooktacular - Toy and...]

Toy, disguised as an conspicuously female version of the Joker, strolls into the party zone! Her green dress shirt (which can only cover her body from a few inches above her navel to the base of her neck) is almost inappropriately tight. It's buttons are fastened such that her torso is only barely suitable for public viewing. Her trousers extend from several inches below her knees to her waist. Her polished black boots conceal the section of her leg that her trousers do not. Her hair (dyed black) hangs loosely around the base of her neck. Her face has been painted, and razor-sharp potato peelers, cheese graters, a wine bottle opener, pencils, and many more improvised instruments of torture are nearly spilling out of her pockets.

She doesn't seem to be very interested in joining in on the festivities. She seems to be here at the behest of the woman she should have arrived with (being as uncomfortable in crowds and distrustful of strangers as she is).

[KerfuffleMach2]

Spooktacular - Ivaz

Ivaz looks Katrina up and down, then gives an appreciative nod.

Oh yeah. Definitely sexy. Course, you don't really need an excuse to dress sexy. Just do it. I always look sexy. Ivaz flashes a grin.

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

Spooktacular - Darsy

Darsy is keeping up fairly well. Especially for somebody her size.

Flying shield? Sweet!

You get to do a lot of fighting? I always love a good brawl.

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

Spooktacular - Krystal

Krystal shrugs a bit. She's had her powers for years now. I'm willing to bet she's tried that. I don't think it's technically magic, though. She is a mutant like me.

Captain Marvel's main ability, besides flying and enhanced strength, is that she can absorb most kinds of energy. When she does, it kind of powers her up. And then she can fire her own energy blasts.

[Arkhosia]

Toy and Shantelle

Shantelle arrives alongside her, her face powdered white and adorned with orange spectacles. White gloves cloak her long, slender fingers, her busty and well fit form adorned in a red trench coat, white dress shirt and black dress vest. Her black leggings are paired with maroon boots upon her feet.
On her raven black hair, though, is the most obvious sign of what she is: a maroon fedora.
It's not Carmen Sandiego, but someone much mire terrifying: Alucard.
Hello liebling. Thanks for coming with me.

Elle and...

A tall girl, her 16 year old body rather well developed considering her age, enters. Her milk chocolate skin and caramel eyes match with the black dress she wears, a sleeveless v neck with a skirt that reaches to her knees.

[Lord Magtok]

Spooktacular

Fel decides perhaps she should make SURE that's not the real Doom, cuz if it is, she might be in some trouble, being made up like one of Doom's arch enemies and all.

[Spooktacular]

The Magtok turns away from admiring the pumpkins to regard the other partygoer.
"Merry Spooktember, Doomtok."

The blue flames flicker hungrily up, and then simmer down as quickly as the giant reference book is gone.
"Oh yeah. He kidnapped my boyfriend for...you know I'm not even sure he had a reason."
He wasn't in the habit of explaining his work to crazy people who were threatening him back then.
"And I set him on fire a few times. So he tried to drown me and have me eaten by sharks. So I smashed up some of his experiments and sent an army of mantis-people to attack the MagCave. Actually I'm not sure I ever heard back from them. Guess it went well for him. He shoots up my workplace, I try to turn him into a werewolf, insulting jokes are made by all."
It's a bit of a game now.

"Sounds exciting. Shame he suddenly developed that chronic allergy to fun when he went HALO, though." Doom-Malice opines, before shooting a wary glance at the people who've been doing the same to him. It's just a silly costume; why is everyone so paranoid about his being here?

"So is kidnapping people still a thing in this day and age? I haven't been around that long, but it doesn't really seem like anyone enjoys good versus evil fights anymore for some reason. Not unless those evils are the expendable sort who die at the end of the fight and are immediately forgotten." Everyone is all about loot and quests and self-contained storylines. How dull.

[Rebonack]

[Spooktacular]

"Ugh. The 'psionics' thing," Fortuna groans. "I still don't think there's any appreciable difference. Both pretty clearly violate the laws of physics as they function in your home universe and can't find any real rhyme or reason explaining why they should be working."

Why can't other universes function off a system of magic that actually makes sense?

Is that really too much to ask?

It was nice to find out that SOME realities have normal magic.

But apparently that's an aberration rather than a rule.

Then more chatting!

"Energy absorption sounds interesting, I guess. Does it only work on electromagnetic radiation, or can she absorb the kinetic energy from, say, a fist?"

Fortuna likes to know how things work! Even things that probably don't matter.

[Murkus]

[Office]

Kirk's expression softens ever so slightly. "Listen, Tina. I never intended to hurt you. This disguise had nothing to do with you." He waves a hand past his face. "I just thought it'd be fun to 'seduce' you without you realizing who I was. Is that really so harmful? I'd have thought we could have had a laugh about it some day." Kirk says, edging her as gently as he can away from blaming him.

"I don't know. Maybe we could've," Tina shuts her eyes and shakes her head. Ugh. She pops one open with a half-hearted glare and gives Kirk a rough punch in the shoulder. "Would've been easier without you acting like such an ass. It feels like you think I'm an idiot or something. That I couldn't figure it out, and the way you were talking to me..."

[Recaiden]

[Spooktacular]

"Yeah, he hasn't done much for a while, really. But no, kidnapping is a classic. Still goes on all the time. But mostly people these days go in for oppression. Slow, petty evils perpetrated by forces to vast for anyone to contend with."
Ashtok sighs.
"Hard to have fights like that when everybody shows up for the evil side and the other's left empty."

Glance at Felandria.
"Friend of yours, looking over this way?"

[KerfuffleMach2]

Spooktacular - Krystal

Krystal shakes her head a bit. I don't think it's psionics, either. Everything I found about her talks about probability manipulation. Like, she makes the improbable happen. But there's still probably limits to what she can do.

Krystal then shrugs a bit. There have been a couple cases of her being able to absorb sound waves, but anything else on record seems to be stuff like lasers. There was a mutant who could absorb any form if energy. Even magic. Kinetic worked best for him, but he could absorb it all.

[Shadowcaller]

Invidia waves back nervously, smiling slightly. The warm grin might be easily perceived as a hasty attempt to look not too melancholy, however.

[Spooktacular - The Knight and the Princess!]

"And no wonder you couldn't find me. How do you see anything out of that helmet." Kitty laughs and closes the visor again. "Hello in there. Can you see me?"

Her eyes shift toward Invidia and she returns the wave. "Hi Invidia!" She greets with some energy. She's in a heck of a cheery mood today. It totally goes over her head that the drow isn't looking one hundred percent.

[Spooktacular - The Knight and the Princess! (and the rogue)]

Obriane closes her eyes reflexively when Kitty closes the visor. "Eh, heh... it's hard to!" She replies with a loud giggle while opening the visor again. She would have to lock it there somehow, it was even more ridiculous than Kitty's hat!

The breastplate was her own though, she had just hired some additional parts that went with it. "Should we all go and see the pumpkin?"

[Lord Magtok]

Spooktacular

"Our costumes are from the same setting, so maybe. She could be an enemy too. I haven't been back for very long; I don't know my brother and his friends as well as I'd like." Doom-Malice pauses over the word 'brother.' It's not really the most accurate term for his relationship with the other Magtoks, but it'll have to do for now, I guess.

"I've been getting that 'there are no heroes left in man' vibe a lot, actually. Is it really that bad? I mean, if I just up and abducted someone right here at the party, at least a few people would try to punch me in the head, right?" Malice glances towards Krystal for a moment, before his gaze shoots back to Ashna. No, bad Mag, don't even look in her direction, lest someone get the idea you might be plotting some sort of shenanigans.

[Recaiden]

[Spooktacular]

"I bet they would, but say you got away with it. Would anyone try to find you and rescue them? That I doubt."
Brother? Must be VIGIL-mag and his collective. Or do they each have relationships to specific other Magtoks? Ashna shakes her head.

"I think it is. You know the saying that 'you die a hero, or live to become the villain'? Well it has been a long time. How about we find out just what people would do, faced with some good old-fashioned evil?"
Ashna looks towards all the people still newly arriving, a smirk on her face.

[Arkhosia]

[Spooktacular - The Knight and the Princess! (and the rogue)]

Obriane closes her eyes reflexively when Kitty closes the visor. "Eh, heh... it's hard to!" She replies with a loud giggle while opening the visor again. She would have to lock it there somehow, it was even more ridiculous than Kitty's hat!

The breastplate was her own though, she had just hired some additional parts that went with it. "Should we all go and see the pumpkin?"

Sure, I guess.
Invidia replies, walking over to join the group.

[5a Violista]

[Spooktacular Party]

Harley (still totally dressed up as Isis) watches things. People, actually. Much more fun to watch than things.


Also!

I decided to have another character here, since I don't know what happened to the last scene she was in. Actually, it's because it's perfectly understandable that people IC wouldn't want to interact with Harley, so - in order to give people more chance to interact with one of my characters, there's another woman who arrived here in addition to just Harley. Not at the same time, though.

She's dressed up as a very skeletal musician. Pic. Facepaint and bodypaint do wonders to a disguise. The Scordatura's cloak is dark gray - chosen because she couldn't get a white one or a black one in time. It covers most nearly all her body, only leaving her face (painted skeletally), forearms (same), and feet exposed. Obviously, she's not playing her viola in such a crowded place where people could get hurt, but it's still there in its old beat-up case.

[FireFox]

Spooktacular - Krystal

Tovia seems familiar, but Krystal can't quite place where. She figures that Tovia was a member at some point, though.

Krystal shakes her head a bit. No. I'm went home for a while, and when I came back, I joined VIGIL.

Krystal smiles a bit when sees all the costumes of heroes from her home world.

Harriet Dresden loses some of her smile. Ah... and how is that going for you?

Spooktacular

Really? I'm surprised. Did you know that I have yet to call him dad? I feel that I haven't earned the right to yet, honestly. Also, I'm glad you recognize my costume. Thought it'd be fitting, as I do pilot a Mecha of sorts and I am half German.
Sophia replies, sipping a cup of soda.

I forgive you. Lord King Foxtok says magnanimously. For what? Not calling her dad dad, not earning the right to, thinking she has to earn the right to, liking Asuka, learning Tobias knows NGE, believing she resembles the character, piloting a Mecha, being remotely German, or drinking soda when she could have something a little harder? All of them at once, of course. You have an adventure ahead of you, you know. Getting a guide to a wondrous place that you won't realize resonates with your unconscious until after you leave it, losing that guide, a marriage, an ordeal, a theft of a boon, an apotheosis, and then, of course, the rematch with your threshold guardian. Your victory is not in winning the battle, but in understanding that blind worship of your father is what was holding you back all this time. Reconciled with both your father and your unconscious, you will share the boon with the world and settle back in your happy ending until, one day in your old age, you will be called upon to mentor another Hero's Journey. Ah, I envy you, child...

[Felandria]

Spooktacular





"Sounds exciting. Shame he suddenly developed that chronic allergy to fun when he went HALO, though." Doom-Malice opines, before shooting a wary glance at the people who've been doing the same to him. It's just a silly costume; why is everyone so paranoid about his being here?

Satisfied that actual Doom isn't over there, Fel continues nomming on her candies and wandering around, vaguely self consciously.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Spooktacular]

A man in a black military-type uniform comes in. Oh no! Someone has complained about the party, and the Union is here to shut them down! And they've sent a suspiciously high-ranking Union official to do the job!

There's several problems with that theory, however. First off, there's the question of who's in the uniform. It's not Vyrn, or N'alae, or Noelle, or any of the other various well known PCs and various underlings you might commonly expect to see in such a uniform. It's Kal. Yup, it's unmistakably the absurdly sexy, flawlessly tanned/dark-skinned, red-haired tiefling/half-incubus/diabolicalsexbombwhatever.

And in the event that someone might believe that, through some insane collective lapse in judgement, the Union somehow has recruited Kal as an officer, it's also a little suspicious that they also appear to be suffering a severe fabric shortage, since the top portion of it seems to have been cropped rather severely just under the chest, revealing the entirety of his abdomen, with only an improbable strip of fabric down each side connecting the top half to the bottom half, clinging to his obliques in the way that's either only possible with lots of adhesive, or in the certain type of anime that makes no pretense of creating an even moderately accurate representation of reality. Even the parts of the uniform that aren't explicitly missing are more flattering than any military uniform has any right to be, showing off the curves of his chest and arms and legs with all the exuberant pride of a 4th grader presenting his favorite action-figure at show-and-tell.

So he's just strolling around, innocent-as-you-please. He came out to have a good time and please don't attack him or anything. That would be sad.

[Devixer]

[Spooktacular!]

Fortuna gives an exasperated sigh and mutters to herself, "Mew mew mew mew mew mew mew..." <That's going to make things needlessly difficult...>

Despite it being a statement of exasperation, it still sounds absolutely adorable!

That's what she gets for being small and cute.

Silly little Mew.

She polishes off her drink and puts her lil' Mewtwo Armor helmet back on.

Hard to drink punch while wearing a helmet.

Then she begins punching in a new question on her wrist pad! "Are you sure it's another nexus as opposed to, say, a subset of this one? I've heard people talk about a 'mirror world' before where personalities are flipped."

And then Krystal!

Fortuna waves a paw at her. Chances are pretty much exactly zero that Krystal would recognize her, what with her being (mostly) human for their little trip to Marvel-Land. Hmm... Maybe she'll swap over to her alternate costume soon...

"I guess? Maybe? Far as I can be bothered to figure out, I came out of one Nexus and into this one," Aiden says. He's not going to be much help - it can't be understated how little he cares about the actual physics of everything related to the Nexus. Besides, it looks like Fortuna has more pressing matters right now.

[Arkhosia]

Spoiler

Show

Harriet Dresden loses some of her smile. Ah... and how is that going for you?



I forgive you. Lord King Foxtok says magnanimously. For what? Not calling her dad dad, not earning the right to, thinking she has to earn the right to, liking Asuka, learning Tobias knows NGE, believing she resembles the character, piloting a Mecha, being remotely German, or drinking soda when she could have something a little harder? All of them at once, of course. You have an adventure ahead of you, you know. Getting a guide to a wondrous place that you won't realize resonates with your unconscious until after you leave it, losing that guide, a marriage, an ordeal, a theft of a boon, an apotheosis, and then, of course, the rematch with your threshold guardian. Your victory is not in winning the battle, but in understanding that blind worship of your father is what was holding you back all this time. Reconciled with both your father and your unconscious, you will share the boon with the world and settle back in your happy ending until, one day in your old age, you will be called upon to mentor another Hero's Journey. Ah, I envy you, child...

And I forgive Tobias for not knowing Sophia isn't old enough to drink alcohol yet! :P
Sophia grins at this, thankful for the speech of +10 Moral Boosting.
I promise that I won't let you down, and I'll make sure you have reason to be envious of me, Tobias. Hopefully one day I'll follow down your footsteps, but dieback a different path than yours.
Sophia replies with utmost sincerity, saluting with her right fist upon her heart and her left behind her back.