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Overview[]

The Royal Flush is a group of vigilantes who have started up in Station Square and have made it their job to stop criminals, by murdering them. Anyone ever charged with some sort of crime is now on their list, including people proven innocent. What's worse; the police can no longer stop them, due to the group now holding a huge amount of police family members hostage. Ages Tranquil, a Station Square detective has called on a group of people to try and free the hostages and stop the group. However, this won't be just a simple mission. With traps, an underground base, a mysterious masked leader and several lives on the line, this mission could easily turn into a failure. Will you let that happen?

Rules[]

  • This roleplay is free join, anyone may enter!
  • Minor cursing is perfectly fine (Crap, Damn, Hell), but if you have to use something like the F-bomb or anything besides the three examples listed above, please censor it. (Ex: F***)
  • Do not de-rail the plot, though side quests are welcome and enjoyed
  • Auto hitting in combat is not allowed.
  • Suddenly being invulnerable to all attacks is not allowed.
  • Killing or defeating other people with one single attack is not allowed.
  • Any other form of godmodding is also not allowed
  • Hero and neutral characters are reccomended for this roleplay. Villains are also accepted.
  • Do not break the fourth wall openly. Little references or nods to something here and there are fine, openly breaking it like stating that we are in a roleplay or something along those lines is not allowed.
  • "Do try to have fun, dear."

Participants[]

Involved Characters[]

  • Neo Tranquil the Fox (Neo)
  • Zero Evol (Neo)
  • Ages Tranquil the Fox (Neo)
  • The Masked One (Neo)
  • Swipe (Neo)
  • Royal Flush minions (Neo)
  • Hostages (Neo)
  • Mars the Lightning Wolf [clastus] (Nox)
  • Arashi The Husky-Dragon Hybrid (Metal)
  • Transford the Hedgehog (DoomDegree), (I'm going to make him different and if this one doesn't work, I'll try something else)
  • Solomon The Bobcat (Awkwarddingo)
  • Lexi the Hedgehog (Z888) 
  • Emmy Demion (Z888)
  • Lunar Shiragate (Z888)
  • Zapor the Hedgehog (Z888)
  • Zak the Kirby (Z888)
  • Leo the Toonarite, Wheelie, and Eclipse the Wolf (Z888)
  • Christina "Christie" the HedgeCat (Piano)
  • Alyssa the Dog (Piano)
  • Masako Haruno (OmegaExalted)
  • Natalie Alister (OmegaExalted)
  • The Anti Mobian Army (Jaredthefox92) They're probably funding the Royal Flush, selling them arms, and giving them intel. Instead of AMA soldiers there will be Moebian arms dealers and undercover agents.
  • Saren Arterius

Part 1: Debrief[]

A grey tiled floor, and light hazel walls decorated the waiting room of the Tranquil Manor. Sitting on a chair at one end was a red fox in a black suit and tie. He wore a gold colored badge on the outside of his suit jacket that read "SSPD" and his hands remained folded on top of a brown folder. Sitting or standing across from him was a variety of people.  

One of these people was a green fox wearing a black longcoat, which concealed his black and white stripped button up shirt, and his grey cargo pants. His long shaggy hair was covered up by his black fedora and his arms were crossed on his chest. Next to him was a blue hedgehog wearing a grey and red shirt and pants set. He has white gloves on and on his back was a large red and black scythe.

"There's been situation." The red fox said. "And the police need some help."

"Let me guess, and you want a group of detectives to go out their and solve the case eh, typical police drama." A blue wolf with lightning bolt patterns on his face snarled.

"It's not like that." Ages said simply. "There is a group of criminals known as the Royal Flush in town. They like to think of themselves as vigilantes, killing criminals and the like. Problem is; they're also killing people have been proven innocent of any crime they've been wrongly charged with. The police would normally handle this, but they've taken hostages from the police. We can't get to close to where they are, or they'll kill the hostages."

Ages looked at everyone in the room. "I've selected you all based on a few things. Some of you I chose because I know you have power, and this isn't going to be a simple 'get in, get out' job. Others I chose because I still think we might be able to talk some of these criminals down. The rest of you I chose to help keep other people in check. Frankly, I don't trust everyone here, but I'm not in a position to be picky. You will all be rewarded for your services in one way or another, but this job is to be kept low key. The public does not and will not know about it, you will not kill anyone, and if you can, we'd like for you to incapacitate the leader for questioning."

"Alright fine, this seems entertaining so I'm in. If the leader attacks me, expected him to be deep fried. Literally." Mars stated with a nonchalant grin, as if talking about the weather

"You are to incapacitate only. Out of every criminal in that building, he is the most important one. We need him alive." Ages said.

"Only for the ringleader, The rest... Well I am within my rights to kill them since they will no doubt be attempting to use lethal force to stop me." Mars excitedly stated as he grabs what appeared to be a phone/GPS system only for electricity to start arcing off of it and explode in a flash of light.

At the side of the room, stood a Husky-Dragon hybrid, who seemed to be wearing a black trenchcoat with a grey t-shirt underneath, black pants and a pair of black boots. She had her hood up, and looked over at the group, staring intently. She had two katanas on her lower back, that were tied to a belt around her waist. "I'll glady help. I can easily deal with that kind of thing." The Husky hybrid said, grinning slightly.

Mars just turns around and slowly starts chuckling. "Interesting, and who exactly are you." Mars said in a deceptively friendly tone as electricity started sparking off of his fur. The various electronics in the room started giving off electricity and rushing towards his hands and what appeared to be two small, curved crimson daggers with a serrated edge that are strapped to his sides. Forming into various small orbs of electricity as he started walking towards the Husky Hybrid.

The Husky glared, looking at him. "Keep the fighting till later. Your electricity won't hurt me anyway." She said as she sighs. "My name is Arashi, and I don't intend to fight you unless your an enemy of mine."

Mars dispels the electricity that was currently saturating the air as he walks towards her and smiles. "Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. The lack of nature and thunderstorms are keeping me on edge and Ages dragging me from my home in the forests has left me even more on edge." Mars tiredly stated as he jerked his thumb towards Ages. "Anyway, my name is Mars, Mars "Thunderius" the Lightning Wolf." Mars then extended his hand out for a handshake.

Solomon, a brick red bobcat wearing jeans and a fleece polo, who decided to hold his tongue for most of the briefing, finally spoke. "I guess I'll do my best to keep them from shedding blood, all the while making sure we save more lives than we're ruining."

Mars chuckled a bit after hearing what solomon said "You can try, but Arashi and I aren't so different and besides. These scumbags are targeting even individuals with stuff like robbing a convenience store on their rap sheet. So I'll comply for now at least. So Ages, any idea where we would first start or what? Mars asked in an impatient tone. " I don't think any of us are just content sitting around until something else happens."

"Yes, I have a pretty good idea." Ages said and held up the folder that he was holding for a while. "In this folder I have some information on the royal flush, the vigilantes. In it are files concerning the group, including their location, and a member of the group named Swipe. We believe he is the ringleader, but I'm not too sure about that. Whatever the case is, you can find the location in this folder." He offered it to the green fox, who took it. "Aww, so big brother needs my help after all." He said. "More like I want to save some lives." Ages chided. "Neo I trust you to do the right thing. I only hope my trust isn't misplaced."

" Oh, and Ages. You may have taken me by surprise the first time but next time you try a stunt like that again you will feel the agony that comes with someone manipulating the electric signals your brain sends to the various parts of the body." Mars flatly warned Ages. "I mean you could have asked me to come with you, I would have said no anyway but its still the principle of the matter" Mars exasperatedly said.

Solomon shook his head. He would still take the job, but he felt that the ties between his colleagues wouldn't do them any favors. "Such electric personalities. Not at all shocking." Solomon smirked. "Why don't we stop the childish rebuttals and get to the job. By the way, why are you uncertain whether or not Swipe is the leader? I know gangs like these. They are egotistic in all aspects. The leader would surely reveal himself."

"Screw it, this form is getting tiresome. Might as well go in to my prefered state." Mars said as general appearance amd body shape changed into something completely different. "ahhh thats better. You have no Idea what its like having two base forms that you can switch to at anytime, anyway just call me Nox. Nox The darkling" the now named Nox said

Neo and Zero seemed a bit surprised by the change in forms, but Ages' expression remained unchanged. "That's the thing. No one has come up and claimed to be the leader." Ages said. "Swipe seems to be the one setting all the plans and was the one who told the police they had hostages, but I have a feeling that Swipe isn't the leader, I think there's someone else backing him, but I don't have any real proof right now." The fox sighed. "Whatever the case is, the police are looking for Swipe to stay alive. If you find out that someone else is the leader, I want you to try and capture him as well, alive if you please. If no one else shows, or you can't seem to get him, don't worry. Swipe might be able to tell us more info so we can track the guy down."

" Than what the heck are we waiting for, the sooner we find swipe the sooner we can get back to what ever counts as normal in our lives!" Nox said impatiently as he was pacing around the room. "By the way, hope you guys don't have any qualms about working along side one of the black arms, or more specifically a darkling. Or you can have problems with it and try to attack me. Either way, I should be entertained for the next couple of months." Nox stated casually with a hint of a threat, as if talking about the weather.

"Well, I never heard of the Black Arms until now, and I agree that we should get on with the mission. I want to get back to protecting my homeland." Solomon said, just wanting to get his legs moving.

A deep sigh was heard from one side of the room. The source was a pink vixen, clad in deep crimson armor. "I hope by the time we start the operation, everyone has their heads in the right place. Our main priority is bringing the leader of Royal Flush to justice. Nothing else matters until that happens."

Nox notices the vixen, or more specifically the crimson armor. "Excuse me, but who are you, amd where did you get that armor." Nox asked in a neutral tone that didnt betray what he was thinking. "If thats who I think it is, and if she remembers my voice from the power outages that I indirectly caused then I should probably prepare a dark bolt, just in case." said nox in his mind with a guarded tone as he silently prepped a small ball with black lightning that was soundless, but had enough power to knock someone back a couple meters within his closed right hand.

Ages, with almost supernatural speed rushes up to Nox and puts a hand in front of his chest. "I understand how you might feel, but this is someone's home, not a battle field. You can take your problems with some of these othere people and deal with them another time, there are lives at stake. Either suck it up, or your not getting paid, and mind you, not only am I rich, I know people, money is not the only thing I can reward."

" Sorry, but when you cause a city wide blackout, even indirectly. People tend to try and hurt you and cops try to kill you. So you see why I'm paranoid, or why I absolutely hate going into cities, preferring to live alone? Beside's what could you possibly have that I want? you know what, nevermind. Lets just get this over with so I can go back home. Sides, I'm only paranoid not vindictive." Nox stated in an emotional whirlwind.

"Maybe some of that information would have been useful before I picked you." Ages mumbled under his breath. "The building that the Royal Flush is using as their base is somewhere in Low town. There's a map in the folder that will show you where it is." The fox stopped for a moment before continuting. "Stay safe."

Part 2: Knock, Knock[]

The rather dirty part of Station Square, sometimes refereed to as low town by the snobby members of higher society, is normally a dreadful place to be in. Spray paint art is all over the abandoned buildings. Trash litters the unkempt streets and there is an awful mixture of dust and mold in the air. The fact that anyone would live here baffles some people, others barely even know it exists, as you have to go pretty far out of your way to get here. Neo manages to bring the group to a tall building by following a map in the folder. The building is worn and some of the windows are broken. It looks like it may have once been a tasteful apartment building, but alas due to entropy and no one keeping good care of it, it seems to have fallen into bad hands. "This is the place." Neo said. "6274 Pumpkin Lane, doesn't say what the place used to be though." He looks up and down at the building as he puts away the map. "How many stories would you say there are? Five...maybe six of them?"

"I don't think that matters in this situation." Zero said darkly. "I think it's more important that we get in there."

" So how do you want to go at this" Nox asked in a serious tone. " Let's hope their are some idiots that can be volunteered as "stress relief" inside that building. " Mars thought as he was fiddling with his twin daggers.

"..." The vixen grumbled at Mars' remark.

In the distance, there was a pale gold colored hedgecat wearing a blue scarf, a purple two piece dress and white socks with blue boots with white laces. She was wandering aimlessly looking around. "This city seems to be a huge dump... you can't even see the floor..." She told herself. She then spotted Neo and his friends, and ran up to them.

" We appear to have a pale gold hedgecat charging towards us, Can I fry her? I haven't been able to discharge all of the electricity I built up within my body." Nox semi pleaded with a bored expression on his face.

"No frying!" Solomon chided. "I should of brought a spray bottle if I knew you would be so childish. Anyways, I can just climb the building and see if we can enter from the roof. Get the drop on 'em."

" You do know that if you soak me it wont do anything to me right? other than to cause electricity to start arcing out of my body, in which case I will simply put my hand on your shoulder and let you get fried. " Nox retorted as he saw solomon climb up the building.

"I see that you don't have the best sense of humor." Solomon shouted from above. "Would anyone care to join me up here? The wind is so relieving compared to hellish pollution you're all wading in."

" I'm coming along, The pollution is why i prefer living in the forested areas, and besides. I was just joking about the frying thing earlier. But with these guys, only one is needed to tell us where Swipe is the rest can be used for stress relief. Anyway, i'm teleporting up there so close your eyes solomon." Nox said as he vanished in a flash of lightning only to reappear a few inches away from solomon.

A red hedgehog and his group of friends were getting ice cream from a nearby ice cream truck, when Zak turned around and saw Neo. "Hey, isn't that the guy we were with last week?"

Zapor turned around and saw him. "Oh, you mean the one that has a black hat? Hi Neo!!" Zapor walked towards him, while the rest followed.

"Mars...or Nox or...whatever, you can't fry her she's off limits. Christina, what are you doing here?" Neo asked, before Zapor and company spoke to him. "Hm? Oh, you, what's up?"

Zero looked the building up and down. "I'm thinking there are multiple ways into the building." He thought aloud. "It's a civilian building, not built like some military fortress. We could sneak through the roof, or we could try going straight through the front door. To be fair, we pretty much vigilantes at this point too, if we say we're here to help, maybe we could sneak in undercover?" He looks at the group, and stare particularly at Neo, Christina, and Zapor. "On second thought, that option might be out." Zero looks over to the Vixen. "What do you think? You look like you might have some knowledge about this kind of stuff."

"That's not really my field." the vixen said, pointing behind her. "It's hers."

Behind her was an olive green lynx. Her silence allowed her to remain practically unnoticed until now.

Arashi looked at the building, staring for any ways to get into it. "Well, we could break though the windows, but that would cause a little too much noise I think.." She said, sighing.

As Mars was on the roof he sneezed. "Oh, somebody must be talking about me." Mars said, making that anime reference that has been around since the dawn of anime.

Soon a grey colored, untagged truck arrived down the street. It stopped just next to the apartment and opened it's sliding cargo door. Out came strange Mobian like people totting guns. They walked up to the apartment and knocked unto the door.It could be clearly seen from the back of the truck that there were boxes of strange content and what appeared to be weaponry inside the truck.

A rustic red lynx with eyes a haunting shade of green and what appears to be a kakashi styled mask over his mouth was observing the vigilantes on a roof through the scope of a heavily modified custom made Revenant tactical assault long range anti materiel rifle. "Hm, so these are the so called vigilantes. I'm not impressed." The lynx mumbled to himself as he moved his rifle's scope to the unmarked van with mobians unloading crates. "What are these guys doing with those boxes? Wait, I've seen weapons like these before. This is bad, I have to get the vigilantes attention somehow. The only problem is I don't know the supplier but I do know that they must have some serious financial backing if they are able to aquire military grade weapons like the ones in the packages." The mumbled to himself in an alarmed manner as he prepared to signal Arashi using morse code and a small shiny mirror shard he had next to him.

Solomon looked down at the unmarked truck below. "Those...are big weapons for a vigilante gang. How can they get the money like this? Who's supporting these thugs? Let's just stop these guys before we have to worry about those guns."

The "Mobians" in dark hoodies continue to offload their cargo while the others guard the perimeter with their guns. From the way they're holding them and looking around they seem more focused and trained than your average thug. Also they're making little audible communication other than a few gestures and nodding at each other. Clearly these people are well organized.

"I'm picking up a lot of activity nearby, I think those two might be on to something. Natalie, I need you to stay here with the others." The vixen said, scaling the building to meet up with Solomon.

Natalie finally broke her silence. "I get the feeling we're facing something even bigger than Royal Flush. If that's the case, we can leave Masako to handle that." she said, nodding to the vixen above.

" Solomon, look a couple buildings northwest of the truck, there is a lone sniper watching us. I suggest you warn the others and get their assistance in trying to incapacitate him." Mars said as he pointed to Saren. "he might be working with them or have knowledge on swiper's location. Most likely not but they don't need to know that." Mars stated while thinking the last part in his head.

" Should I warn them or not." Saren debated to himself. "Nah, they can handle it. My mission objective is to kill the one running the operation here. Nothing more, nothing less." Saren mumbled to himself as he continued looking for the one running the operation here but making sure to keep an eye on the vigilantes and the telltale signs of a "surprise" attack.

" Time to cause a distraction, and hopefully kill a few of these thugs as well." Saren said as he swapped out his current ammunition for special 50MG rounds that have an almost unnoticeable purple glow in the tip. "50MG Explosive dark rounds, normally very expensive, a pain to make and an even bigger hassle to acquire. Fortunately for me though I dont have to spend any money to acquire these rounds since I can infuse the dark energy that makes these rounds so dangerous into the bullets." Saren mumbled to himself as he took aim at a thug carrying a box of weapons and shot him in the head. "now to start the fireworks." Saren spoke as the explosive round detonated while he pressed a button on his anti materiel rifle and watched as the rifle became a close quarters combat assault rifle.

One two other members of the group get caught in the explosion and die. However the members in the truck are alerted and jump out while taking cover. They seemed to be armed with some of their advanced weaponry and are well under cover.

"Remember your training soldiers!" their leader lets out once he's behind cover.

"Oh, gosh. I guess it's my turn then." Arashi said, as she unsheathed her katana, running towards the unknown group, with it raised.

The golden colored hedgecat approached and then tapped Neo on the shoulder, waiting for him to turn around.

They group's members not only were well hidden behind cover, but were highly accurate do them actually taking the time to aim and firing in short controlled bursts. A barrage of glowing purple balls of plasma were sent flying towards Arashi as she advanced closer.

Masako observed the battlefield. "...She's not going to make it rushing in alone like that. They have the advantage in numbers and military training." She took a firm grip on her blade and stepped towards the edge. "Give us some cover fire if you can. They'll have a difficult time focusing on both ranged and melee combatants." She leaped off, rushing after Arashi.

Nox was busy using his electric powers to fry anyone who came close to him. "This is kinda fun!" Nox stated before he noticed a random thug trying to get the drop on him. "Really," Nox asked as he turned around and grabbed the thug by the throat. "I always wanted to try out my lightning erenade so congratulations, your the projectile." Nox said as he used a time lapse electric charge on the thug before he tossed him into a group of thugs and snapped his fingers. " I love the smell of flash fried bacon."

" Well, looks like these guys are saving me the hassle of dealing with the guards. Now it's time to complete the mission objective, find the leader of this operation. Extract any and all imformation he has and then kill him." Saren said as he traversed the rooftops heading towards the combat zone, Which also happens to be where Arashi and Masako are. "Time to join the fun." Saren said as he holstered his Revenant and used his erebrokinesis to make an eight foot scythe with a wicked curved blade as well as a smaller blade on the bottom.

Masako noticed that the enemy wasn't using conventional weaponry. "Plasma..." Within seconds, she started putting a plan into action. Her blade gleamed as she drew it from its scabbard, unleashing the power of Susano'o. She struck the ground as she brought the blade into an upward slash, and the force of the attack assumed a new form: a jagged wall of ice that threatened to stop the incoming plasma.

"Dammit they're using fixed cover! Ready grenades!" the leader let out as some of the undercover AMA soldiers took out grenades and then proceeded to toss them behind Masako's ice bearer.

At that time Saren appeared a couple feet behind the the thugs and the ice wave. "How the f*** could a two bit vigilante gang acquire military hardware, This s*** isn't even supposed to be out of the developmental stage!" Saren said before he swung his scythe at the head of the nearest thug, earning him a clean decapitacion. "Oh well, I'll just take it as part of my pay." Saren said, dispersing the scythe while he yanked the plasma rifle from the thugs headless corpse and started mowing down the thugs with it.

Masako leaped up, kicking one of the grenades back. "It's still my turn." She turned her blade to the side, placing her hand towards its center and drawing back, creating a huge lance of ice. "Frozen Hunter!" She fired it at her own barrier, partially shattering it with large spears of ice still intact. It was no longer a "fixed" cover; rather, it was heading toward the soldiers at high speeds, resembling a frozen beast of sorts. Once in range, it attempted to impale the soldiers with its icy jaws.

Zapor pulled out his machine gun and started firing at the thugs while Zak set his Monando blade to smash setting and hacked down other thugs. 

Lexi looked at Leo who was still eating his ice cream. "Aren't you gonna go help?" 

Leo replied, "Once I finished my ice cream." Lexi the knocked it out of Leo's hand. "*sigh* All right..Eclipse,  Wheelie, lets go.."  

" Wait, why the heck am I even helping you guys anyway?, the mission objective comes first. See ya." Saren said as he spotted a mobian who appeared to be giving orders and started mowing a path towards him with the plasma rifle.

"Son of a..." Zero started and pulled his scythe out. "Alright, hold up." He jumped into the air, catching a bar hanging on a fire escape with his Scythe and spinning off of it, and landing on two guys in front of Saren. "Now hold on a second, we 'can't kill', remember? Maybe you don't want to get paid, but the rest of us do."

Neo turned around towards the hedgecat.

"Correction, I will get paid. My contractor wants him dead but I plan on extracting every bit of information from this guy before killing him so I will only tell you this once. Get out of my way or I will remove you." Saren said in a calm voice as he put the plasma rifle into a shadow portal while taking out a sword and a battle axe. "Sides, Ages didnt hire me because he knows that I only go on missions where the target is to be killed."

"Sorry, did you just tell me what to do?" Zero asked. "No, that's not how this works, I'm not gonna do what you say because you use some school yard bully tactics and threaten people to do what you want, your just as bad as the people we're fighting? So you know what you can try and attack me, but I'm gonna go ahead and warn you not to. Not because I can take whatever you throw at me, but because of other reasons."

Eclipse hopped on Leo's back as Leo hopped on Wheelie. Eclipse then turned into a blaster attached to Leo's arm and Wheelie started dashing. Leo fired tiny green blasts that didn't exactly do anything, but did their damage. Once Lexi finished her ice cream,  she went into punching all the other thugs.

"Idiot. The world isn't as black and white as you believe it to be, It's kill or be killed and I, for one will not let you interfere. I will not fail this mission! Not when my two children are in the hospital and I am so close to being able to afford the treatment to sabe their lives." Saren spoke in a tone that betrayed nothing of what he was thinking. " I can see that you will not move. If it's any consolation to you, I am sorry it had to be this way and I'm not doing it for the money." Saren said as his eyes were closed and a flash bang dropped from his hand and detonated as soon as it bit the ground. When the flashbangs effects wore off both Saren and the leader of this operation were no where to be found.

The hedgecat smiled at Neo and said, "Hi Neo!"

"alright you stupid waste of space. Tell me where Swiper is or I will make sure to do this nice and slow" Saren said while using a rusty needle to slowly pull off the captives fingernails.

"Christina, what are you doing here?" Neo asked. "This is a terrible place to go, why would you be here?"

"Damn it!" Zero called, and swung his scythe towards two AMA soldiers coming towards him, aiming to knock them down and not kill them.

Zak swapped to buster mode. "Well, this is taking a very violent turn."

"Well, I have about given up on persuading any of you to not kill anyone." Solomon sighed, annoyed with what just happened. When two soldiers started firing at him, he got on all fours and sidestepped while using his wrist-mounted grapple hooks to disarm the soldiers. When the barbed hooks embedded themselves into the weapons, Solomon used them as bludgeons in a 'ball-and-chain' sort of way. When the soldiers were dealt with, Solomon had his hooks zip back into his jacket sleeves as he caught the two rifles. "So uncivilized." he murmured, tossing them to the ground

" Need some help there Solo old pal?" Mars asked as he was delivering lightning enhanced punches and kicks to the AMA soldiers charging him. " I here Anti-Mobius is a good vacationing spot. What with all the hot chicks who are usually psycho and the civil wars that break out every five minutes, and did I mention the psychotic hot chicks? Mars asked solomom in a joking tone of voice.

Solomon chuckled, now fighting off soldiers in CQC. "Sounds just like my homeland! Hell, I was in one of the civil wars, and there were plenty of attractive yet crazy soldiers I fought alongside with!"

"Anti-Mobius, huh? Sounds like a nice place." Masako said in a flat, sarcastic tone as she continued fighting off the soldiers using her blade and CQC.

"Hey solomon, Masaki, bet you i can take out more of these jacka**** than you with hand to hand and melee weaponry." Mars said before he transformed back into his Knox the darkling form and stabbed several AMA soldiers in the neck and head with his long serrated tail. "Wow, this kinda reminds me of fighting G.U.N soldiers during the second black arms invasion, sorry about the whole trying to feed you to our kids and harvesting your planet thing by the way" Nox said sheepishly while killing several more AMA soldiers with the spikes on his gauntlests.

"Well, if you must know," the hedgecat named Christina started to tell Neo, "I was invited to review dresses by a famous designer, and she lived in Station Square. And oh my lord, they were gorgeous. Then after my review and critiques with the designer, I headed out, and I found you guys in some weird event...... What are you doing?" She looked puzzled.

" They are hunting someone, same as me" Saren said as he reappeared.

"G.U.N? Black Arms?" Solomon said, obviously confused. "You sound like I should know what they mean!" While talking, he roundhouse kicked a soldier and kneed another in the head.

Guardian Unit of Nations? although they suck very badly at that job, and the black arms you would probably know as the "black aliens" and what not. Anyway, still doesn't change the subject. I got nineteen, how much you have" Nox said as he ripped off an ama soldiers arm, removed the bone and used said bone to pierce the skulls of about five other soldiers while he turned the one armed soldier's head into a mushy stain on the concrete. "Make thst twenrty five actually" Nox said casually, as if talking about the weather. "How about you Masaki?" Nox asked.

"If we're talking about a body count, I proudly flaunt my zero corpses, but if we're referring to ones we defeated...around 20...maybe 30. I tend to forget I'm fighting while I'm in combat." Solomon chuckled. "I can have a casual discussion while knocking teeth out. Anyway, I still have no idea about any sort of aliens or mediocre guardians." (I'm going to make it a running gag that Solomon has no clue about anything in the canon.)

"Why do you spare these guys, especially when you hear about the crimes most of their members pull." Nox asked as he ripped one hapless soldier in half with sheer muscle strength while wrapping his tail around another ones leg and slamming him into an explosive barrel, taking out five others in the explosion. " Oooh, I almost feel bad for the guys who were caught up in that one. Anyways, thats the last of them. I got a grand total of thirty one, not counting the ones I electrocuted or the one I turned into a living Electric grenade. I can still smell the burnt brains from that one." Nox said casually, while joking around in that last part. Anyway, How was anti-mobius for you? The last time I was their I was hammered and took a leak on Scourge. Course I would have done that even if I was sober. That guy is a huge A**h***. " Nox asked solomon.

(I'm probably gonna make Nox/mars frequent form changes a running gag, along with the whole recollecting stuff he did while wasted beyond belief, within reason, a running gag as well.)

"Pure insanity" a voiced call out

"Identify yourself" Saren ordered in a voice that military C.O's use. (not the screaming one)

The voice, a black hedgehog, appeared behind Saren. His hands had blood dripping from the fingers and his sunglasses were completely covered in blood. Even the rim of his gun was bloody.

"Go ahead try and kill me if thats what your here for, but just so you know, If I die, I'm taking the person who did it straight down to hell with me." Saren warned with a mixture of grave finality and acceptance.

"Christina, you just walked into the biggest crime-filled area of Station Square." Neo said. "We're here, because of Ages. Apparently a gang took a bunch of Police family members hostage and they're gonna kill them if any cops show up. Why they won't kill them if we're here, doesn't make sense to me, but they haven't ordered to kill anyone yet." Neo said.

"Hammered? That's illegal here." Zero noted in an uncaring voice. "Of course, so is the murder." When the black hedgehog appeared. Zero sort of stared at him. "You gonna do something, friend?" He leaned on his scythe. "If you want to take Saren, I don't know if I can let that happen, but you can have Neo or Mars instead."

"Hey!" Nox shouted indignantly.

The black hedgehog snickered, "what would killing any of you accomplish for me? Absolutely nothing."

"Thats what a lot of other people told me, and that didnt stop them from trying to do so anyway, as you can see they failed, and I simply will not allow myself to die, not until I get the chance to raise my two children and have grandkids to spoil" Thats why I'm after these f**** anyway." Saren said as he put away the knife he had aimed at Transford's stomach.

"I like this guy, not only is he cool, he has a gruesome killstreak even bigger than my own." Nox said in an admiring tone of voice.

"Well I don't." Solomon growled as he approached the newcomer, walking around and avoiding the pools of blood between them. "Why, exactly, are you here? Same reason as us?"

"To an extent, I suppose, I didn't want to get involved in an all out war, but something about these people seemed... different then normal." the voice said, who Saren had somehow known his name was Transford

"Well this seems interesting, normally with military hardware there would be some sortd of identification marking on them, yet with these plasma rifles." Saren said, gesturing to the various plasma based weaponry scattered across the floor. " There isn't any sort of I.D to match it to a specofic company. It's like these rifles don't exist legally. Strange." Saren was mumbling to himself as he examined a plasma rifle he picked up from one of the corpses.

Arashi grinned as she attempted to slash at the remaining soldiers, who Masako was dealing with as well.

Nox started laughing while being surrounded by the various corpses of unnamed soldiers. "Arashi, I bet you these cool energy swords I "borrowed" from the military that I would get more kill than you do!" Nox said while using said energy swords to cause a literal bloodbath of epic proportions.

"Sounds awful..." She told him, as she was seeing the events with her own eyes.

Solomon shuddered at the number of corpses that surrounded him. He could still see some soldiers were alive, the ones he fought. He looked at and took in every detail. It almost made him vomit, but he still let out a gag. "How can you guys take death so lightly? Joking about it...how?" He said in between breaths

After hearing Solomon's question Nox's face took an oddly serious expression. "Solomon, that is a story for another time, I do not trust you people all that well to reveal things like that to you. But I will say this, With how I was created, their wasnt any time for emotions like guilt or a conscious to form." Nox stated in a sad tone.

Masako shook the blood off of Susano'o and sheathed it. "They made their choice. It was either make a stand here and die, or be punished for their failure back home. All I did was respect their decision, I just didn't find any pleasure in doing so. Their families are still waiting for them back home. Eventually they'll realize they're not coming back. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel sorry for them. If it makes you feel any better, I spared the ones that couldn't pull the trigger."

Solomon looked at a corpse a few feet away. It was a young mobian, probably younger than Solomon. "They thought they had no choice. Maybe they did, maybe not, but I've been where they stood, and I found a way out. I made my own options." he bowed his head. "Hell, maybe when this is all over, I'll visit the families of these brave soldiers and send my condolences. To make sure my conscience doesn't bother me."

"Is this what this is, Is that why I feel guilty for butchering them? I was bred to kill, it was all I knew, what I still know. But these people,they didnt deserve to die. Especially in this gruesome manner." Nox stated in sadness looking at the corpses, especially the ones he split in half.

"'Bred to kill'" Solomon repeated, giving a sad smile. "If you only knew the half of it."

"I will give these guys the proper funeral rights at least." Nox said as he prepared to burn the bodies after quoting a page from the bible he remembered.

"I wish I could help carry the bodies but I uh...can't touch blood. a lot of it at least. Makes me go insane." Solomon stuttered.

"They died as soldiers. If their families can't have their bodies, the least we can do is have their dogtags sent back home." Masako said, rifling through their uniforms and taking their dogtags. "Nobody wants to die nameless."

"I'm going to burn the bodies now. Everyone stand back and pay your respects if you want." Nox snaps his fingers and a a torrent of fire engulfs the bodies.

" Wow, I never knew people could be so sentimental about this nonsense." Saren said as he saw the bonfire. "Anyone know how we are going to deliver them to the families.?"

"I hate to be that guy, but do we really have time for this?" Zero asked. "I mean, I get it, respect for the dead and all, but we have a mission and the people inside probably are already aware that we are here. If at least one hostage isn't dead, I'd be surprised, because I know that if I was them, I'd have taken someone out by now. We need to focus less on who we killed and more on who we can still save." Zero approached Masako. "I'll make sure the dogtags are taken to their rightful families. It was my job to do that kid of thing before...sort of."

Masako handed the dogtags to Zero with a nod.

"Yeah. Let's get back to the task at hand." Solomon said. "Same plan? I and some others will scale the roof and attack from the upper floors. Rest of you work your way up. We meet where Swipe is and take him into custody."

"Got it. " Both Saren and Nox said at the same time.

"I'll handle the ground assault. Natalie should handle things above us." Masako said.

"Me and Nox will go with solomon" Saren said in a friendly tone. "What, missions like these always run smoother when partnered with people you can trust, isnt that right grundy ole pal" Saren sated jovially at the last part.

"Sounds good. Now let's save those hostages...and capture Swipe." Solomon said, almost forgetting the primary objective.

"Alright people, lets get into position. I want this to be a quick and clean operation with no casulties civilian or friendlies. The enemy however, do as you wish to them." Saren said in an authoritative tone. "Nox, see what you can do about shutting down the buildings power."

"Got it." Nox said as he changed into his Lightning wolf Nox form and drained the electricity from a power box that supplied the building with electricity. "Enemy visibility has been reduced."

"Alright then." Zero said, holding his scythe steadily in his hand. "Remember our job, do not fire at Swipe, I suspect he won't with his grunts, so do to them what you wish, ready?" Without waiting for an Answer Zero pulled his leg back and kicked the door down. "Knock, Knock." He said.

Part 3: A gun fight (Bottom half)[]

The bottom floor of the building was rather raggedy. Besides the mold on the floor, the peeling paint on the walls and the fact that there was no real furniture on the first floor, there was a scent in the air, one that didn't seem to connect with the house. It smelled like a forest, which gave a peaceful feeling to the otherwise dreadful appearance of the building. When the door was kicked down, many gang members turned towards the door and began to shoot, causing Zero to duck behind the side.

Masako dashed behind cover, taking in her surroundings. If she were to rely on elemental attacks, she couldn't risk causing collateral damage to her allies because of the environment.

Arashi followed, pulling out her other katana, before charging straight at the members. Deflecting some of the bullets using both the Japanese swords, along the way.

Neo reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black sphere with a glowing blue light. He threw it on the ground the thing exploded covering a good chunk of the door way with smoke. "Go!" He called and dashed in.

"They're here! Kill the hostages!" One of the gang members said.

"We can't!" Another called. "He told us not to!" He said, putting a lot of emphasis on 'He'.

Zapor kicked one guard down held a fireball to his face close enough to make him sweat. "Zak, how's that hat thing you were working on coming?"

"My rabhat? Pretty good, still testing, but pretty good." Zak said as he jumped to avoid the bullets.

Christina was absolutely motionless, thinking of a good strategy for when a gang member attacks. It sort of looked like she was actually waiting for someone to come up and attack her.

Two gang members started running towards Christina.

A gang member ran towards Neo and tried to stab him, but Neo parried with his claws and threw the guy towards the ground.

Zak knocked a knife out of of one the gang members hands and hit him with the bunny ears on his hat, ending with a double punch from both.

Masako unleashed a blast of cold air towards some guards before rushing toward them with a combination of kicks and slashes. Nothing fatal, though; maybe a severed arm or leg, but that's about it.

Christina just waited for the right time to make a move.

One of the guards froze, pulled a gun out and began to fire towards Christina while the other got closer to her, brandishing a knife.

The time was right. Christina performed a "Matterhorn Ascension" on the guard, which made the gun fall out of his hand, and sending him high into the air, about 10 feet up, and to drop fast and hard. From there she returned to a standard Monegasque Gymnastic Street Fighting ready pose.

Most of this room was cleared out, and the way to the next floor was clear.

"You guys ready?" Neo asked.

Christina nodded to Neo.

Neo made his way up the stairs towards the second floor only to be greeted with nothing. The second floor had no one in it and an odd quiet hung over the rooms.

"This seems rather...odd." Neo muttered. "I suppose we should make our way to the third floor. Maybe we can meet up with the other group.

Christina, once again, nodded to Neo.

"Well then...everyone be careful. We don't know what's up there." And with that, Neo and company made their way to the third floor.

Part 3: A gun fight (Top half)[]

On the roof, Solomon was picking the lock to the door that would take him and his allies inside. "Alright everyone." Solomon said in a hushed voice. "We are going in quietly. The gang's attention is probably now diverted to the group below. We stay quiet until we engage, then be as loud as you want."

"Got it." Saren and nox said as they prepped for entry.

Natalie nodded silently in response.

"I reccomend each of you takes of these, you never know when you might need it" Saren said while holding what appears to be three orbs and three flashbangs. "Well, i'm going to have to go buy some more flashbangs. The little omes are going to love this story." Saren whispered in a happy tone.

Zero, who had made his way to the top of the building stood in front of the top door. "You guys ready? It was chaos for the first floor, might be similar for the top."

"Ready and willing" Saren said as he took out his revenant tactical multi-weapon in CQC assault rifle mode.

"Same" Nox said as he unsheathed his twin serrated daggers from his sides.

"They don't know we're here yet, so I suggest we throw a flashbang into the next room and start our attack then. Let's keep our enemies in confusion and their hostages safe." Solomon recommended, checking his grapple hooks.

"Alright then, hopefully these guys are dumb enough to look at a flash bang as it explodes" Saren said as he pulled the pin on one of his flash bangs and held it long enough so that when he threw it in the center of the next room the flash bang immediately detonated.

"Alright." Zero took a step back and kicked the door in, waiting for Saren to throw the flashbang before he rushed in.

Saren threw the flash bang as soon as Zero kicked the door open. Tje flash bang detonated as the entire room was filled with a blinding light and a high pitched ringing noise. (had this happen to me but with a coleman gas lantern, )

Solomon ran in and jump-kicked the first guard he saw in the face. "NOBODY EXPECTS THE INQUISITION!"

Transford, who haf followed them in, ran in and opened fire

Zero followed suit rushing in and using his scythe to knock enemies out.

Most of the soldiers were going down pretty easily. Which seemed odd, considering the technology they had, that was of course, before the sounds of someone stepping came from the stairs and a blue wolf yelled towards the guards. "Keep them back, our leader doesn't want any distractions!"

Saren started bashing a couple soldiers heads in while screaming "ALWAYS ANGRY ALL THE TIME!"

Nox just snapped a random soldiers neck with his tail while face palming.

Natalie, a woman you'd expect to be slashing throats left and right, seemed to be less fond of that idea in favor of simply tripping the nearest guard then repeatedly kicking him in the head, then knocking him into the air and kicking him into another guard.

Nox pauses at the sight of what Natalie did to the guard and starts rolling on the floor laughing. "Do that again, again." His tail manages to impale two guards while he was laughing.

"That attack was a nonlethal way of incapacitating two guards. Nice." Solomon remarked about Natalie's attack

"Want more blood, need more flesh" Nox psychotically stated as he stared at a guards corpse with a hungry expressionand started walking towards them with the intent to feed. (He's part black arms, they eat other living creatures, not going into detail.)

Transford continued fighting. Whatever humans were around were torn to pieces and anyone else was just shot in the head

Most of the people on this floor lay dead or unconscious with the exception of the blue wolf who called up before. "So, you guys are a bunch of criminals too?" He asked. "Don't suppose I could convince you to join us?" He added sarcastically.

"Hmm, if the price is right, I might be convinced to further your cause" Saren said in a convincing tone.

"I don't think we have that kind of money." The wolf said leaning on the wall. "So what's next? I like money, but to be perfectly honest, I like living a little more. So, you could just walk by, you never saw me, I never saw you, we continue on our day, our you could be a bunch of brutal savages and beat to death with your clubs and pointy sticks." He said while eyeing Zero's scythe. "Oh, I apologize, I meant farm weaponry."

"Dude, don't even try to pull the oh I don't have enough money schtick with me, how does a two bit vigilante group managed to get plasma based military hardware if they have no money? The answer is, they don't. Now I personally won't try to get to involved, merely because i'm lazy and I have better things to do, but I can't say the sane about the others." Saren stated as he gestured to Zero, Mars/Nox, Transford and Solomon. "Also their are a few others most likely coming here as well." Saren stated in a bored tone.

"Well maybe we have it, maybe we don't, I'm not the boss, I don't keep track of that. In fact, my boss is the one with all the money. Showed up out of no where and offered a ton of money for us to get a bunch of people on a list. Was quite the interesting story too...wonder where he came from?" The wolf wondered but then cleared his throat. "Anyways, I won't fight you guys, just go on ahead if you want."

"Alright then, wow what a buzzkill. Way to take out the fun in this." Nox complained as he finished eating a dead soldiers corpse, blood staining the white fur on his face and muzzle.

"Dude, disgusting." Solomon said to Nox, almost gagging. "And wolf, the others here fought and died for their boss. Why don't you? Are you wise or cowardly?"

"Up yours solomon, I'm not even the same species as you guys so it isn't cannibalism." Nox said while flipping off solomon with both hands. "Ooh, more food, its like a smorghasborg in here" Nox says as he wanders over to an unconcious guard who he thinks is dead and proceeds to nibble on his fingers. (Nox is black arms, they thrive off of eating other races, so its natural for Nox to eat them, not cannibalism.)

(Uh...okay, Cannibalism might be a bit much... -Neo's weak stomach)

(not cannibalism if nox isn't eating black arms aliens, Nox is an alien, not a mobian so its not cannibalism, don't worry it's not like i'm going to go into detail.)

"Let's just kill him and get it over with." Zero said.

"Wiser than most, it seems." The wolf said eyeing Zero. "I have a name, by the way. It's Swipe, and I'll have you know that killing me might be a bit difficult." He looked back to Solomon. "You seem a bit more sensible. I might be a coward, but if that means I can live to see another day, yeah, I'll be a coward. I don't even really know our boss, he showed up out of nowhere and barely even talks. I'm not gonna die for some guy I have no loyalty for."

"Who cares really. I'm hungry and you just so happen to be on the menu, just like anyone else who decides to get in between me and lunch over there." Nox said as he started grinning at swipe with a crazed, hungry expression.

"Good point." Solomon told Swipe "but our orders were to bring a guy named wipe in. Our employers suspected that you were the leader. If you aren't, then who is?"

"He's been saying he doesn't know, while normally I wouldn't believe anyone who says that, this guy knows his only hope of staying alive would be to tell the truth," Saren said. "You better be telling the truth otherwise i'll just come back here with Nox and have him eat you alive" Saren threatened swipe while Nox was grinning, showing his blood stained teeth in the background.

"Even with your...very...pointy teeth, I don't think you could eat me...well you could, but you might have some stomach issues afterwards." Swipe said. "Point is, I'm not the boss. Our boss doesn't exactly have a name I know. We just sort of call him 'the mask'. As I already said, he sort of came out of nowhere, we don't really know where he came from, just that he offered us a ton of money in order to track down a bunch of people on a list. That's all I know."

"Alright then. Now onto more important matters. You are the one who manages the groups finances right?" Saren asked. "Cause if you are I'd like access to all of it, including the transaction records, but most importantly. I want the money Capiche" Saren said.

"No." Swipe said, "If I controlled the finances, would I really be here right now? I simply was the face of the 'company'. Plus, even if I did control the finances and have all the money, there is no way I would give it to someone like you."

"Well then, it looks like I have no use for you anymore, might as well do what I was paid to do in the first place." Saren said as he sliced off one of swipe's ears and pocketed it. "That was proof to take to my employers that your a corpse. Now all thats left is to make sure that the deed is done. Nox if you will." Saren said in a calm tone, as if he didn't set a flesh eating alien loose on a person.

"I am so hungry right now. Prepare to be lunch!" Nox said as he started advancing towards swipe.

Upon the cut, the body of the blue wolf fell to the ground with a very wooden sound, the body was fake, as was the ear.

"Thanks for the chat, friend, you gave me just enough time to escape." Said Swipe's voice from seemingly nowhere. "Just remember you've made a resourceful enemy today. One that will remember what you did. Our boss is just down the stairs though, so if you want to get your job done, your just going to have to keep on moving."

(Clastus, if you look near the top of the rules near the top of the page, you should see that one of the rules states "Auto hitting in combat is not allowed." which is a rule that you violated by attempting to cut off Swipe's ear. You didn't do any real damage, so don't worry too much about it, but please refrain from auto-hitting from now on. If you have anything you need to clarify about this you can PM me in chat or send a message on my talk page. -Neo)

"A decoy!" Solomon exclaimed. "I knew something smelled off about him. And Swipe. I know you can still hear me, and while you may be resourceful, we are relentless. I will not stop until my heel is resting on you're breathing, twitching body. One of the few things I HATE is cowardice."

"No one denies me my paycheck!" Saren shouted as he pulled out the plasma gun he stole from the goon outside (that huge fight outside that he started.)

"Alright, so this guy uses wood, anyone got a lighter or flame manipulation powers?" Nox asked

"Calm down, Saren." Zero said. "You won't get paid but maybe there's more money to be found here. Someone with enough money to buy all those plasma weapons has to have a ton of it, right? His boss should have more, he isn't worth it."

"good point, and I could sell these weapons to the highest bidder, keeping one for myself of course." Saren concede as he thought of all the ways he could get more money.

"Anyways, let's get going." Zero said. "We need to go downstairs, we'll find their boss soon."

"Sure, lets gett this mess over with." Saren responded.

Zero made his way down the second flight of steps which led to a set of empty rooms full of nothing. None of the doors were locked and for some reason there seemed to be nothing here.

"Weird, there's nothing here." Zero noted. "Why wouldn't there be traps or something?"

"If it seemed like he was trying to protect something, traps would make it too obvious to pinpoint his location. He just wants to stay hidden." Natalie suggested.

"I can't even smell the stench old grizzly soldiers and lots of alcohol, it's like they were never here" Mars stated as he was too confused to start nom nom nomming on another corpse he found.

"Unless it's a..." Saren started to say.

"I think there are too many of us for there to be a successful trap." Solomon said. "Maybe an ambush, but no trap."

"But to just leave a floor with no guards? Less than that, he left it with nothing. No hostages on this floor, no boss, no weapons, no...anything. It's like he expected us to come from the roof." Zero muttered.

"How much you guys and girl wanna bet this guy has an informant?" Saren asked in a joking tone

"Not taking that bet. . . Hey, its the corpse I was saving for a snack, I don't know about you guys but I'm hungry" Nox stated as he remembered the corpse he was dragging along and started to eat it. "This is actually pretty good, any of you guys want some." Nox asked.

"No thanks Nox, I'm not hungry at the moment." Saren stated calmly due to the fact that he has seen worse in his line of work and the fact that he knows Nox is only eating the corpses as a way to survive.

"No guards? He must be trying to conserve his resources to give him a better chance of survival somewhere else. The Royal Flush must not be that large of a force." Natalie said.

"Maybe we should search these rooms, they might give us a clue as to where these guys have been and where they might be heading to." Nox advised as he was eating the corpse.

"Still surprised that your not freaking out or calling Nox a sicko for what he has to eat in order to gain sustenance and continue functioning." Saren told Natalie in a slightly shocked tone.

"...I've done worse things to people." Natalie murmured. She didn't seem too enthusiastic about it.

"Even worse then wiping out entire sentient races and reducing whole planets to barren husk's devoid of all natural resources. How about being one of the last members of a species of aliens that thrived upon harvesting other forms of life. Nox is and you don't see him caring too much about his past. Course he doesn't seem to care much at all but thats not important. Point is, your among people who share similar backstories and have committed atrocities in their own rights." Saren calmly told Natalie as he indicated to Nox, who was unaware of the conversation.

Zero shook his head. "Well, while you're all talking about something that isn't important right now, I'm going to go downstairs where I'm sure we'll find something. Whether it be the hostages, or the boss or both.

Part 4: The Masked One[]

Both groups were on the opposite ends of a large barren room. There were markings on the floor and roof that one could assume used to be where walls once stood for multiple rooms, but they no longer exist. The moldy wood floor was very rickety and the beige wall looked very crumbly, as if it was about to fall in. Standing in the center of the room was a man.

The man stood roughly 6 feet tall and almost everything about him was hidden. He wore black shoes and black pants, blocking any fur or skin from his lower section. He had a silver chest piece on made out of some strange looking metal, it seemed sturdy but light. His arms were covered in black and all of his head seemed covered in a helmet with a strange looking mask on the front. It wasn't exactly a normal thing to see on a mask. It wasn't a face or any animal, it looked like a symbol. Three circles encircled by a larger circle. In the center of it all was some odd looking runes.

He carried a large silver container in his left hand. It was long, about three feet long and had a handle on the top of it, like a suitcase would. At the end was an imprint where it looked like something could come out but there was nothing to see in there. In his right hand, the man carried a small leather book.

He opened the leather book and pointed at the green fox. "Neo." He said in a deep voice.

"Well hi, Mr. Crazy.Glad you know my name, mind telling me yours?" Neo asked.

"Nox, look its a walking talking all you can eat dinner buffet, right next to neo" Saren said as he pointed to 'Mr.Crazy'

"Where? oh. . . FOOOD!" Nox shouted as he finished the last corpse and looked at the direction saren had pointed to.

Christina looked at the figure's mask and she gasped silently, "My lord.... what on the world is covering your face?" She asked the figure.

"A mask with strange symbols on it obviously." Saren said, annoyed at the obvious question. "Still though, it looks cool. You buy it or make it yourself?" Saren asked in an intrigued tone

The man stared back down at the book. "Christina." He mumbled. He turned to Saren and Nox and nodded at the prior. "Saren." With his left hand he pressed a button on the hand and a very quiet, very difficult-to-make-out clicking sound filled the room for a few seconds before a crystal flower shape appeared above the imprint and a wall of crystal appeared in front of Nox, blocking his way to the man. "Not today Nox, or is it Mars now?"

"Oh, so you know all our names." Zero mumbled. "Great."

The man flipped through his book before closing it and sighing while looking up. He pressed the button again and the clicking sound once again chimed until a handle came out of the imprint and when the man pulled it out he held a long scythe in his hand.

"A scythe fight eh? Well then, don't mind if I cut in on the action. Bloody Harvester! Appear in my hands" Saren shouted as an eight foot long scythe made of pure darkness appeared in his hands as he rested it on his shoulder.

"It's Mars now, and I am going to enjoy ripping your eye's out and force feeding them to you, maybe I'll do the same to your family as well." Mars said as black lightning started to envelope his hands and feet.

The masked man stood very stoic with his scythe and machine as if waiting for someone to move.

Christina looked at the crystal flower.... She then thought hard about it... "A Crystal Flower..... isn't that--?" Suddenly it hit her.... "My two kinetic abilities...." she told herself and partially to Neo.

Mars looked at the machine and the masked guy...... "If I can either touch the man or get close enough to the machine, my electrokinetic powers should be able to do some damage" Mars thought to himself

"Mars, you have got to learn how to proper communication." Solomon said, clearing his throat. "So, masked man, are you the leader. Because, well, If you are, I'll be honest, we're going to beat the hell outta you. Now, would you kindly drop the gardening tool and come quietly?"

"Yeah, and that scythe looks a lot like Zero's..." Neo told her. "Just who is this guy."

The man looked over the group and threw the scythe back in the machine, which seemed almost impossible since the scythe was longer than the machine. He pressed the button at the top and when it stopped a set of green claws came out and latched themselves onto the man's hand. "No. Fight me." He said simply.

"Well then." Solomon clapped his hands together. "He wants to fight a group of rag-tag mercs all on his own. Look, boyo, there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and you're leaning a tad in the latter direction, but if you want a fight, we'll gladly oblige." Solomon popped his claws out and showed his game face in the form of sharp teeth and eyes that can pierce the soul like a knife through butter.

"Let me tell you something." The masked man said. "In my hand I hold a book on the lives around me. I know everything about you. I know your dearest friends, your darkest fears, I know the ones you love and the ones you hate, I know how you fight and why you fight. I want to see if what this book still works after all these years. Now...fight me."

"Alright then, lets dance you pile of trash!" Mars shouted insanely as he coated himself in black lightning, enhancing his physical abilities and reflexes and grinned like hannibal lector at a cannibal all you can eat buffet.

"A book that see's my life eh. Than it should see the mountains of kills that I have and will continue to have you two bit terrorist occult wanna be!" Saren shouted with a crazed look on his face as his eyes turned a deep crimson red.

"It may mention that, but I only see a troubled soul who needs help." The masked man said. "It's a shame you have to be so aggressive, if I have to I will protect myself, and that results in your death I'll be sorry, but I will not hesitate to do it if I have to."

"Christina, something seems completely off about this." Neo warned.

"Help. HELP!, I don't need any help! What I need is for idiots who think themselves to be 'prophets' for some bullsh*t cause to stop popping up every five seconds! What I need is for people to stop acting as if they cared about more than their own selfish agendas! What I need is the money I will get for your head in order to save my children! So why don't you just shut up and die!" Saren shouted as the shadows around everyone started shaking and bending to his rage fuelled powers as he was unknowingly feeding off of his own rage, hatred and sadness as his aura gained a reddish tint to it.

"What does your book say about me huh?" Nox asked in curiosity as his black lightning started to get darker and more pronounced thanks to the dark emotions swirling around Saren.

"Something tells me I am the least interesting one in there." Solomon mused, seeing that the man wouldn't attack unless the mercs struck first. "But I digress. To me, you're just a creepy guy who loves the farming season all too much along with reading about everyone's personal lives. Now, jokes aside, what's your play?"

"Oh, calm down." The masked man said and clicked the machine again, put never let his finger off the button. "You need money to save your kids so you went into work that involved killing people? Clearly there is other work to be found for that money, I read Ages Tranquil is paying good for the release of a some hostages, and the capture of the leader of the Royal Flush. In fact, I heard there is quite a bit of money under the floorboards on the first floor of that old apartment building in the wrong side of Station Square, now I wonder where exactly that could be? This is the only apartment building on this side of Station Square that is still up."

He turned to Solomon. "I wouldn't say that, Neo's is pretty dull." He took a step towards the side of the building. "I don't really have a play. Sure I kidnapped a couple of people whose names were listed in the book and yes, I did hire a group of people to protect me from some dangerous individuals, but aside from what the book told me to do, I don't have a play." He took a step back towards the wall again. "You know, it's funny really, this entire time you all thought I was the criminal, when in the end, it was all of you instead. Yes I kidnapped about twenty...maybe thirty people, but they're unharmed and perfectly alive, while the rest of you have the blood of 162 guards on your hands. Guards who all had families, jobs, friends, quite ironic, huh? It'd be great for the papers Oh and don't get mad at me for it, last time I checked you attacked first Saren, correct? Yes they certainly were carrying weapons, but did anyone ever wonder if we were trying to help people? You should all know that you need weapons sometimes to do good things, and you just killed them all. The police should be after you all, not me."

"You....Huh...You're right. About our group, I mean. Sure, I never killed any of the guards, but I witnessed some abnormal amounts of violence I haven't seen since-" Solomon was interrupted by a splitting headache at the thought of all that blood. One may notice that his eyes flickered red for a second. "People getting cut in half, mangled, eaten." Solomon was now just realizing it. At the last few words, he stammered a bit, like he was about to be in tears. "I...need a minute." He finally said after a long pause. He brace himself against the wall with one hand and buried his face in the other.

Christina thought to herself. Darkest fears? Closest friends? Secrets? She then turned to Neo and spoke, "Yes, something does seem wrong, but what? Is it a future vision of my powers? Krys's magic hologram?"

"The machine." Neo noted. "I don't know what he is, but that machine powers all of his attacks, it has to have something to do with that."

"Funny how the mighty fall." The masked one said. "You see now the problems of the path you choose? In an effort to do some good, you slaughtered people who were only doing their job. Not even caring about who they were or why they were there. Do you see the problems?" He held his finger on the button and inched closer to the wall.

"Hey, what does your book say on me In regards to what I have to do in order to survive?" Mars asked as he reduced the amount of electricity he was externally giving off while channeling it to his reflexes and muscle movement while walking over and tapping a section of the crystal wall closest to the machine.

"It says enough for me to be interested." The masked one said. "I'd give you the details but I don't have that kind of time." He finally lifted his finger from the button and a handle popped out. The masked one grabbed it and, very slowly, pulled the weapon out. A long, red bladed katana exited the machine, it's crimson blade pulsing with energy. He pulled the weapon up and slashed it down in front of the wall, creating a large red fissure that looked like it was sucking red sand into the center. "Anything you'd like to know before I leave?" The masked one asked.

Solomon raised his head. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. "WHY?!" he shouted "To just make us feel bad about ourselves? To prove a point?! TELL ME!"

Mars just calmly asked "Where did you get that mask and where can I buy it, you did say anything?"

"The mask came from a friend." The masked one said. "And all of this? Was to set of a chain of events that need to happen, I was simply the one who had to play the part."

"Who are you?" Zero asked.

The masked man stopped for a minute as if pondering what to say, then turned around. "You can call me...Aero, and I would like you all to know that today is the day I beat all of you." He turned back to the portal and mumbled. "A feat very little people can say they have done." He raises his head and takes one step in. "On the first floor is a trap door, you'll find the hostages in there. Tell them I meant them no harm and they have my thanks for being pawns." With that, he walked in the portal and the red tear seemed to close as soon as he stepped in, blocking anyone from entering with him.

Solomon ran up to where the tear was and banged at it like a door that was meant to be opened. "BUT WHY!? What do you get from beating us!?" He screamed. After a bit mor punching a wall, he finally stood back "COWARD!"

"Obviously the guy wants us to be mentally unbalanced and I hate to say it, but with the exception of Mars, it seemed to have worked. Neo, this is exactly what I was afraid would happen when I was talking to Natalie and you said it was unimportant, well guess what. It is" Saren explained with a hint of smugness directed at Neo.

"Well, whatever you guys talked about, i just don't get one thing. What did he mean by he beat us?" Zapor asked.

"I'm...going to go free the hostages. Unless you have any further way of exploiting us, I'll be going." Solomon growled. "No better than my father..."

"I'm not sure, Zapor." Zero said.

"You act like this is my fault." Neo said. "You realize that he basically told you that all his money is downstairs under the floorboards of the first floor, your problem is solved, go pay to get your kids, or whatever."

The thief turned to Soloman. "Further way of exploiting you? We were tricked too!"

"For someone who acts all confident like a leader, you really seem to be forgetting a few things. One, this is personal and I won't stop until I have his severed head in my hands. Two, it pretty much is your fault. Go on ahead, attack me if you don't like what i'm saying. I guarantee it won't be a pretty result." Saren stated calmly as he had a seemingly lax grip on Bloody Harvester.

"Solomon, you let him get into your head. You act as if killing is so wrong but you forget, killing is sometimes the best answer. Something that all you moralistic scumbags conveniently forget about when it's people like us who are willing to fight and die for our beliefs. I slaughtered entire species and left many worlds to burn, some of which are still burning to this day. All in order to preserve my beliefs, make my mark in history and most importantly. To survive!" Mars stated as he was having flashbacks of various worlds and atrocities he committed in the name of survival. "How is it my fault?" Neo asked. "Last I checked, you were the one to kill people, and Ages is the one who sent us here. If anyone is to blame, it's him!"

"Mars, I've killed people, I won't lie about that." Zero started, "and you are correct, sometimes killing someone is the best choice, some people are just broken. If you're talking about sentient species, I don't know if that was right. No one is born a killer, I'm sure you know that."

"One thing, I was bred to kill, to conquer, to ensure my kinds survival through any means necessary. I drove the glorft invasion force off the black comet and I was the one to deliver the death blow to their 'Primarch' I crippled the Seedrians and I tore out their leaders heart!" Mars spat " I led a second incursion to harvest this planet, it may have failed but I revealed to the world that G.U.N isn't unbeatable!" Mars ranted.

Solomon stopped and looked back at the others. "Don't you get it? Killing was not necessary. I could have gone through this building, freed the hostages, and got out without anyone dying. Tear gas, flashbangs, fist and heel are only a few ways to incapacitate without killing." Solomon turned to Mars. "And you. You are a monster. So willing to commit mass genocide for the sake of your own life. Ending entire planets because you are even more of a coward than the masked man. But if I were to ever fight you, no matter how hollow of a shell you are, I wouldn't kill you. You wouldn't learn anything from your mistakes if you're dead." Solomon looked at Saren. "Before I left my father to the fire, the first and last time I will ever take a life, he told me that I was his little weapon to be unleashed wherever he wanted, biological weapon. I denied my supposed purpose in life and made myself a new one protecting a city full of people that may or may not deserve to be protected. It doesn't matter. I'm giving them a chance to deserve it."

"It takes one to know one you simpering fool! I hold no remorse because it's kill or be killed, unlike you I have the balls to accept what I am instead of whining and throwing around a little tantrum when someone who has killed before doesn't act like an emo self absorbed waste! So go ahead, call me a monster. I would rather be a monster then be a pathetic waste of space who just can't seem to GET OVER HIMSELF AND MOVE ON! UNLIKE YOU, I WILL FIGHT AND KILL MORE AND MORE PEOPLE UNTIL I TO AM CONSUMED BY THE WARM EMBRACE OF DEATH! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME SO WHY DON'T YOU QUIT TALKING, YOU SAY I EXTINGUISHED ENTIRE PLANETS DUE TO COWARDICE! I DID IT TO ENSURE THAT THE NEXT GENERATION OF MY KIND WOULD EMERGE, SO THAT THERE WOULD BE A TOMMOROW FOR THE MEMBERS OF MY SPECIES! YOU HOWEVER DID IT AT THE BEHEST OF YOUR OWN DAD, TO FURTHER HIS OWN LITTLE SCHEMES AGAINST HIS OWN KIND YOU WORTHLESS HYPPOCRITE! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO SURVIVE IN A WORLD THAT CONSIDERS YOUR KIND NOTHING MORE THAN BRUTAL ANIMALS TO BE PUT DOWN! I COULD KILL YOU HERE AND FEEL NOTHING! But I won't, why? It's because you are too weak and pathetic to kill, always griping about life when you had it easy compared to others." Mars stated in a wrath filled tone that slowly rose to a shout as the energy surrounding him started to react to his emotions, causing the lights to explode as every electronic device within a two mile radius of Mars started to short circuit and explode.

Neo stayed silent as the fighting went down, then rolled his eyes and walked in the middle of it. "Did anyone wonder if maybe Aero planned for this to happen?" He looked from Soloman to Mars. "I mean, getting us to talk about our morals and stuff so far has gotten us all to start turning against one another. Let's not give him the satisfaction. Both of you make very valid points, why don't you both knock it off. We just have to release a couple of hostages and then we can be all on our merry way and never have to worry about it again."

"Yeah, and I kill peeps almost every other week." Zapor said. 

"Uh, thats you, you have an actual excuse." Zak said.

Christina put her hand on Mars's shoulder. She gave a warm smile, but then nodded. "There's no use in throwing a tantrum..." she told him, "but what's the worst that can happen?" Ironically, her cellphone vibrated, telling her she had a voice message. It was a familiar person to her, she played the message.

"Christina? Can you help me? Please? Some weird man with a strange mask is holding me hostage! I might be at the point of my death soon.... save me? Please?!"

The message stopped playing, and she was in so much shock, that she dropped her phone. "No no no...." She started to say "Nonononono......" She then started to hyperventilate.

"She's hyperventilating, looks like she's about to go into shock! Neo you might want to find out whats wrong with her, I have a feeling that Aero is connected to this!" Mars shouted after he noticed her hyperventilating and heard the message that played on christina's phone due to his wolf hearing.

Neo pulled his hand up and slowly eased Christina's breath with his control over air. "Breath, Christina. Everything, will be okay, just tell us who that was and where to go."

Zero turned from Christina and Neo to the stairs. "Damn it Zero, what have you gotten yourself into?" He mumbled under his breath. "Alright, I'm going to go free the hostages, give me a second." With that Zero charged down the stairs.

Christina took a deep breath and said, "My friend Alyssa is held hostage," she told him, "We gotta save her..."

"Alright, Malaria City?" Neo asked. "I think I can get us there quickly."

"Is that where Aero held everyone hostage?" She asked him.

Solomon snapped out of his anger and decided to stick around a bit longer. "Let's get the hostages safe. No one else is dying...and I'm going to beat the mask off of Aero..." he declared.

"No...but is that where Alyssa is?" Neo asked. "Zero is dealing with the hostages downstairs as we speak, I thought Alyssa might be there...unless she is downstairs and Zero just walked into a death trap."

"I'm afraid Alyssa is down there at the moment," she said, "But since I'm the only one who knows who she is, well unless you all are familiar with her, I'm probably the only one who knows how to escape......"

"Alright, we need to get moving." Neo told everyone.

"Got it" Saren and Mars said at the same time.

Part 5: Things get complicated[]

The basement of the building was full of three things. Darkness, hostages (who were all unconscious), and two briefcases sitting over to the corner. While the room was rather dark Neo managed to grab a flashlight out of one of his pockets and shined it into the room, revealing concrete walls with a grey floor. There was a ladder leading up to the first floor.

Three people stood in the center of the room. The first was the familiar blue hedgehog of Zero with his scythe in one hand, and a dark pulse radiating from his other. The other two both wore masks, similar in style for Aero's, but not quite. One was a boy, who looked no older than thirteen, using a sword and shield. What was odd about this boy was that he stood by Zero and seemed to be targeting the other person.

Standing there was a female form, not looking to tall or too muscular but she didn't look too different from normal. Her mask hide most of her facial features, but a strand of purple hair pooled on to her shoulder. She held a doubled bladed sword with some odd looking features. One side of the sword was a soft glowing indigo while the other side was a mystical lavender, both which glowed a little. Behind her was a familiar female form for Christina, one of the only hostages still conscious.

"Finally you guys are here!" Zero called out. "I've been dealing with these two forever!"

"Hey, I'm on your side, alright?" The guy with the sword and shield said.

The girl with the double bladed sword looked around the group, before grabbing something out of her pocket and throwing it on the ground. There was a loud snap, and the group fell asleep.

When they woke up, the girl with the sword was gone, but everyone else was still intact.

"You have a lot of questions to answer, kid." Zero told the boy with the sword and shield.

"First, we need to clean up this mess." Neo reminded the hedgehog. "Then we can do questioning."

"The clean up, the one part of the job that irks me the most" Saren said. "Why not just leave the corpses to Nox, that way we can be sure no evidence is left behind" Saren advised as Nox was eating the corpses

Epilogue[]

"That's everything." Neo told his brother as they both sat on the couches in Tranquil Manor.

"Interesting..." Ages sat back. "So this guy...Aero...he did this all to...meet you guys?"

"We don't know." Neo stated. "He was so...weird. He had Christina's power, and he had Zero and my weapons, and he was good, like, real good."

"I see." Ages muttered. "Well your group did their job, they will all recieve payment." The red fox got up. "I have some paper work, why don't you go to sleep?" Ages didn't wait for a reply, he turned and moved upstairs towards his room. Which, once entered, he shut the door behind him immediately.

"You did your job well, Aero." Ages snickered. "I just hope those kids are ready for what comes next, there is trouble coming, I just know it."

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