D.I.C.E(Game Thread/PM to Join)

[Azkar Almsivi]

(Edit: I wrote it first but my post was longer. dealwithit.jpeg)

Azkar took the device as she ran and smashed it against a wall together with Adriana's phone, she ran hard as the fabric of reality tore around her, demons of various sizes began warping into the facility behind her easily, these things sure were faulty! Azkar chucked her gun away and started stripping her gear, she whipped something out of the bag and chucked that down as well, she also ripped all her headgear off. Now she only had the damaged portal device and the unknown object wrapped in cloth in her other hand. She continued her path towards the portal room.

She burst in and stood there in the center of the room, waiting, waiting, waiting... The demons she had released swarmed in after her. Azkar spun on the spot kicking the device hard into one of the active portals. Sirens blared and red lights flashed as a computerized voice declared
"WARNING, LARGE SCALE TEMPORAL DISTURBANCE DETECTED, LOCATION: PORTAL CHAMBER-"
It didn't matter. The device ripped a massive tear in reality as it merged with the demons in the room and the existing portal energy. However it was soon destroyed in the process. The alarms stopped and the portal room had a large perfect circle cut into the floor, brimstone and sulfurous residue littered the room. Azkar, her item and the demons were gone.

Azkar found herself falling high in a massive pillar of smoke high above the hellscape. She unveiled her item. It was a confiscated talisman that allowed people to call objects to themselves that they knew as well as themselves, or shared a bond with. Div 3 personal had been using them after devising some pretty interesting tactics and strategies with them. Usually involving resupplying or explosives.

Azkar pictured her angel blade Zeruel in her mind. She opened her eyes and saw a burst of white and yellow light in the distance, now speeding towards her. Her eyes stared in confusion as she fell further and further. A second light of pure black and red exploded as well and began propelling at her. The lights came closer and closer to one another. Azkar could see them clearly now. One was her angelic weapon, the other was the demonic living sword that used to be a part of her. Azkar gasped as the lights hit each other barely 100 meters in front of her, but instead of glancing, they merged into a single light and hit her with terrific speed.
The combined sword impaled her, but didn't come out her back, it then sucked it'self into her chest. Her momentum completely shifted. It felt like all her bones were breaking as she was propelled upwards. Azkar blacked out.

Azkar's unconscious body lay smoldering on the floor of the portal room, with her eyes shut, not moving.

 

[Shadowstar38]

A figure in bandages walked into the portal room, altered by the disturbance from earlier. He looked down at Azkar's body and nodded as if he gained some understanding. He grabbed her by the neck and dragged her down to the Division 6 experiment cells.

When he entered, he saw the Lieutenant sitting outside of one of the cells.

"Good day sir"

The man opened up an unoccupied cell and through Azkar into it roughly. Before shutting it, he removed a spear from his back and dove into Azkar's stomach and down past the floor, pinning her to the floor of the cell.

He shut the door and nodded at the Lieutenant before exiting the room.

"Make sure that one is comfortable"
_______________________________________________________________________

Adriana stirred awake a while after the explosions started. She slowly rose to her feet and clutched her head in pain.

"What is that crazy *****'s problem," she asked Isabelle.

 

[IFS]

"No. You cannot help me human. I am...far beyond repair."

The illusory Garath walked closer, hands still raised, "How and why did you come here, are there others like you here?" it asked, then shook its head, seemingly annoyed with itself, "I'm sorry I haven't asked what your name is, I'm Garath," it said with a short bow.

The invisibility spell on the real Garath dropped, and he carefully expanded how large the crate he was hiding behind appeared to be, concealing him more thoroughly. He heard a commotion outside, but ignored it, hopefully he could learn a few things from the demon before they barged in here.

 

[MortifiedPenguin]

"Oh. Um. That's good. Are you feeling alright. I was getting kind of worried when they brought you in all frozen like that"

Yes, worried that he had escaped. If this Agent really cared about his well being he wouldn't have brought him back to the labs to experimented on. Oh well, maybe after another 10 years of this torture he'd have another chance to escape. Was this what you meant as penance Raguel? Teasing him with hope, admonishing him for his own nature. He was a demon of chaos, to be so stagnant was wrong.

"Actually I found being frozen to be quite...relaxing. It's being back here that ires me. I did get some new clothes, but it will take a lot more for you to gain my friendship then false platitudes,"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Isabelle took cover behind a wall as Azkar rushed off towards the base's portal room with a portal device and Adriana's phone scanner. What followed appeared to be a series of explosions, after which Azkar appeared to have collapsed unconscious. She was going to try and pull her out, but a figure in bandages came out of nowhere and grabbed Azkar by the neck, and took her to somewhere else, hopefully she would be safe.

Meanwhile, Adriana slowly came too after the taser attack. She slowly rose to her feet, clutching her head in pain. Doing the decent thing, Isabelle decided to help the young woman up.

"What is that crazy *****'s problem?" Adriana asked.

"Well considering that Azkar used to be some sort of weird demon hunting abomination type thing a while ago, who knows what her problem is. Trust me, her outer form wasn't all that pretty to look at, but her inner form was nice, almost beautiful in a way. But somehow, due to an explained event that happened to her whilst we were in Russia, she has become a human being."

 

[Shadowstar38]

"How and why did you come here, are there others like you here?" it asked, then shook its head, seemingly annoyed with itself, "I'm sorry I haven't asked what your name is, I'm Garath,"

"My...name?", it asked. The demon winched in pain as it sorted them the thrash inside its own mind. There is no name. Only memories of those that had names before.

The human was getting closer, but the kouza didn't mind it. It merely stood still and looked on.

I came here following the specter, as I was told. I don't know how many more came through.
_______________________________________________________________

"Well considering that Azkar used to be some sort of weird demon hunting abomination type thing a while ago, who knows what her problem is. Trust me, her outer form wasn't all that pretty to look at, but her inner form was nice, almost beautiful in a way. But somehow, due to an explained event that happened to her whilst we were in Russia, she has become a human being."

Adriana stared at Isabelle blankly.

"You know what...I'll just file this under weird shit and move on"

She looked back at the room where Garath has run into.

"The magic guy is still talking to the demon? Would have thought they would tare each other apart by now."
______________________________________________________________________

"Actually I found being frozen to be quite...relaxing. It's being back here that ires me. I did get some new clothes, but it will take a lot more for you to gain my friendship then false platitudes,"

"Huh. Well maybe this will be enough"

The Lieutenant opened the cell door and threw in a card on top of Elizer. It was a Division 5 D.I.C.E card with his name on it.

"You'll need that if you're going to get out of here without fuss. I just hope you'll pick somewhere sunnier this time"

 

[IFS]

"I came here following the specter, as I was told. I don't know how many more came through."

"Specter, What specter? What else did the specter tell you to do?" illusion-garath asked intently. This was important, Garath needed to find out who or what this specter was, it was letting demons into the base, and who knows what else it was planning. He wondered if the specter might be the hooded figure that absorbed the Kouza, maybe it had created this demon and other from its corpse?

He glanced out through the door and saw Adriana looking in, he quickly created an image of a few words about a foot from her face I may be able to learn something here, go warn the others that more demons may be in the base. The last thing he needed was her attacking this thing, it could provide information, and maybe they could find a way to help it.

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

Azkar felt foggy. Her brain, soul, body... Everything was numb. She was lying face down, shifted slightly on the ground, she could faintly feel a metal pole through her chest and a dull, agonizing pain. She moved her face so she was resting on her cheek. But didn't open her eyes. "I recognize your voice..." She murmured fairly quietly.

 

[Terratina.]

"My apologies. I didn't actually tell you much of anything back there. My name is Isaac Specter. I'm kind of a..."

Great, at least Eligor had a name to work with, but they were cut off as the demon stumbled into view. As soon as the demon was sighted, Eligor was swung about, cutting flesh and bone as Isaac charged and slashed, eventually cutting off the Kouza's heads. Eligor scoffed, these weren't real demons, true demons - those that had risen from the pits of Hell or landed there as they were cast out of Heaven - just the results of someone playing about with demon parts like Lego.

"That takes care of that."

Eligor concluded that the Kouza should be dispatched as such and Isaac didn't disappoint. Unfortunately, they couldn't continue the conversation as there were others to deal with. Red blobs still swarmed the D.I.C.E. headquarters. Nevertheless, it was just getting rid of some pests, some pests this gentlemen had accidentally brought with him, hopefully, he would redeem himself soon. Eligor quickly sorted through the locations of the remaining Kouza.

"Let's not rest on our laurels just yet." Eligor replied, "There is more where that came from, as they say."

 

[MortifiedPenguin]

"Huh. Well maybe this will be enough"

Eliezer heard the door of his cell sliding open and then the faint weight of something falling onto his chest. He finally opened his eyes to inspect the object. It was a key card for the base, one assigning him to Division 5 to be precise, not that he cared. He looked up to see the Agent leaning against the cell, leaving the door open. This was certainly a surprising turn of events, but if he thought he would earn Eliezer's friendship with this gesture he was sorely mistaken.

"I recognize your voice..."

Wasn't that the voice of the half crazed thing he had met on the train? So much for divine will, if it was locked up in here. The sudden shock of pins and needles running though his body as he rose reminded just how long he had been lying down for. Not wanting to stay in the cell any longer he briskly walked out to investigate.

"Well you look different then before, still think you've been given a divine purpose now that you're human?" He mocked, "Or are still as crazy?"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Adriana stared at Isabelle with a blank, expressionless face, stunned by what she had been told.

"You know what...I'll just file this under weird shit and move on."

"I guess it kind of is unusual when you think about it." Isabelle remarked, leaning her back against the wall as the two women waited for Garath to finish with whatever being lurked within the library. Vayle was busy looking at what was the portal room, seeing the damage that had occurred.

"The magic guy is still talking to the demon? Would have thought they would tear each other apart by now."

"Well maybe Garath is trying to make peace with it or something, try and find out what exactly is going on here; anything that could give us an edge in stopping this demon problem."

 

[Shadowstar38]

"Specter, What specter? What else did the specter tell you to do?"

The specter. The one who creates us. His name is Zorama. He told us that powerful mages would be here. We were to bring them to him. He would tell us where he was after we escaped from this place.

As Garath communicated with the kouza further, Adriana received his message.

"Hey. Isabelle. Garath said he's learning something. And to warn the others. I'm gonna go see what's up elsewhere and get the layout of this place"
____________________________________________________________________

"Let's not rest on our laurels just yet." Eligor replied, "There is more where that came from, as they say."

"Right. Time to get on it then"

Isaac's first priority was to cut down on all the active firefights in the lower levels. He phased down to the 4th level and encountered a few agent taking shots at a pair of kouza. The bullets they were using barely even slowed the creatures down.

"Hold your fire guys. We got this," Isaac said in a cool tone. he ran up to the first demon he saw and used Eligor to cut it's feet from under it. He gave it a quick stab in the heart and kept the momentum going with a slice into the next demon's arm.

It struck back with a swipe of it's claw into Isaac's shoulder, which only drew a small bit of blood thanks to a timely dodge. Isaac struck back with a swing straight into the demon's forehead, stopping it dead.

"You know, I think you might be one of favorite weapons Eligor. I've never seen a sword power through demon hides like this before"

Isaac raised Eligor up so that he could scan for any demons that were left. There was another on the same floor, but it appeared to be slumped onto the floor. Aaron came from the same direction, looking as if he were in a haze.

"He. At least one of you guys can handle your own. Lucky you"

Isaac pointed Eligor up and looked back at Aaron.

"Hey. There should only one or two left on the third floor. Why don't you meet us up there"

 

[DarkRawen]

Richard hadn't stayed much longer after he had gotten the items, and soon after, about ten minutes, he was in Minneapolis. He paid the cab-driver, and carried the suitcase with the clothes to the area where the portal was supposed to be. The pager-thingy he had been given showed an address that was close by. He hadn't taken the cab to the accurate location, that would be an idiotic thing to do, considering how much trouble DICE went through in order to hide. Richard wasn't fond of DICE, but he understood the constant need for secrecy, as annoying to him it had been. His stomach hurt when he walked, but at least he knew he wasn't going to get hurt by it.

A small, abandoned building was where the portal was hidden. Well, actually, there weren't a portal there, only the necessary equipment to make a portal, considering the portal itself was the-- well, that's not important. What is, is that the pager had a certain set of buttons, and he realized soon that the one with a small version of the DICE "logo" was the one that contacted DICE, and let them know he needed the portal set up. He pushed it, and waited. Suddenly, the doorway straight to HQ was in front of him, showing that the portal room was damaged for some reason. He went in, only to find the place in a calm chaos, people working, yet not being sure what had happened. Nobody seemed to be in danger, and while things were a bit messy, the most damaged seemed to be a perfect circle in the middle of the room.

He walked over to the lady that had given him permission before, and shaken as she was, she still was looking into that computer, trying to work. "Hello," he said, acting as if nothing was wrong. Somehow, he sensed that would be a better thing to do than to panic himself, though panic had never been something natural to him. Sure, overwhelmed, but he stayed calm when stuff happened, and acted fast. She looked at him and nodded. "That suit-case is what you brought back? I'll need that and your coat." He nodded, and gave her both. The items weren't in it anyways. "Anything else? Like, any other items at all" he nodded. Richard couldn't lie to save his life, after all, not if it was a direct question. "I have it on my body, you want to---" she shook her head.
"It's fine. Let me check through that suitcase, and your coat." She started doing the checking, and Richard looked around again, wondering what could have done something like that.

As he was, a man in military garment approached him, clearly having seen something. "Hey, you're D6, right?" How did he know that? Richard wasn't wearing anything that could indicate he was. Perhaps he just looked more clever than what this guy was used to. "Yeah?"
"You guys really need to keep your experiments from running amok. Some girl ran into her with a portable portal device, and fucked the place up. She had a whole lot of demons after her, seems like she messed around with it or something." Richard tilted his head, listening, yet not that interested. Any time someone assumed he was part of the technological part of D6, he stopped caring for the most part. "Okay, I'll tell them." He wouldn't, so he looked away slightly as he said it.

"Good. That black-haird chick really messed up. What kind of crazy woman does something like this?" Crazy, black-haired woman? Why did that sound familiar? "Hey, that girl, was she kind of small, and probably too young to be here?" The soldier nodded. "And she took care of a lot of demons at once?"
"Yes, I did say that."
"What happened to her?" Richard asked. That had to be Azkar, right? She was the only one he could think of who would do something like that, for whatever reason. He wasn't sure she needed one. "She disappeared, but then suddenly appeared again, on the floor. Some mummy guy took her, I don't know where. I would guess D6 labs or whatever is there. Where you lock the demons and freaks up."

The cells? Why had Azkar been taken there, unless they were going to experiment on her. Richard went over to the woman still examining his stuff, asked her to take care of it for a short while, and headed in direction the D6 cells. Going home had reminded him of how much he disliked some of DICE's methods, and having them doing even more experiments on Azkar was on the list of what was not acceptable. She was supposed to go to Europe with him later, not rot in some cell.

 

[IFS]

The specter. The one who creates us. His name is Zorama. He told us that powerful mages would be here. We were to bring them to him. He would tell us where he was after we escaped from this place.

Garath sent another image to Adriana, Zorama, see if anyone knows that name, he sent this demon, maybe others. His illusion looked up and down the demon in front of him, it couldn't actually see, but it made it more believable, the illusion began to run its fingers through its goatee then said "This Zorama, he made you, out of what? you look like your patchwork, the Kouza's mind I touched earlier felt like it was made of fragments of other minds, how many things were you made out of?"

Real Garath began to scan the room, he wondered if it came in here to get a weapon, it certainly didn't seem hostile at the moment, but it was here to catch wizards and he hadn't revealed his magic to it yet, maybe he could get it to help him.

 

[Shadowstar38]

"This Zorama, he made you, out of what? you look like your patchwork, the Kouza's mind I touched earlier felt like it was made of fragments of other minds, how many things were you made out of?"

The demon placed it's hands on it's head and shut its eyes.

Nine. No, ten of us make this body. 7 lesser imps. 2 stronger demons. One human. Why a human? Why...

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

"Well you look different then before, still think you've been given a divine purpose now that you're human?" Eliezer mocked, "Or are you still as crazy?"

Azkar spasmed and half curled into a ball as her movement was restricted by the spear. Her still closed eyes clenched, her teeth grinding when she heard the words 'divine purpose'. The pain wasn't from the words. She couldn't think straight, like another part of her was reacting to it. Azkar continued to sob and choke in pain and confusion, she passed out for a few seconds. As she did, the spear inside her seemed to glow and hum slightly as indescribably beautiful letters in Angelic danced up the shaft.
'With the speed of God may this item return to whence it came'
The spear disappeared soon after in a small shower of mist and glitter, elsewhere in the facility, the mummy received his item back in a slightly violent fashion.

Azkar woke up again and crawled to her bed, she barely managed to get in it. Curling into a fetal position. She was bleeding out, she just wanted to sleep. She barely remembered she was talking to someone. "You're free to go, isn't it about time you had a whinge and stormed off like a child?" Azkar couldn't put much energy into being snide and couldn't even lift her head up to say it. She just lay on the bed, slowly turning the bedding crimson.

 

[MortifiedPenguin]

Just as demons could only speak demonic, angels could only angelic, but this girl was doing something that made angelic runes, runes that matched the ones on his wrist, appear along the the length of the spears shaft and in an instant the spear was gone, replaced by a shimmer of mist and glitter, but the hole that the spear had made was still there causing her to bleed badly, soon her whole tiny world of the Division 6 cell would be crimson.

"A mortal angel, interesting" He chuckled lightly at the thought, "Very interesting"

"You're free to go, isn't it about time you had a whinge and stormed off like a child?"

The retort had very little energy to it, she looked like she was barely able to stay conscience at all, the first and most telling sign of massive blood loss, he would know. Once the 'scientists' tried draining him of his blood, hoping it would regenerate indefinitely, giving them an infinite amount of blood to test. All it did was make him sleepy, the blood didn't regenerate right away but there was always enough just to keep him alive. The scientists had deemed it to slow and shelved the idea.

"If you insist, but believe it or not I wasn't planning to stay, there are more interesting things in the world then watching a girl slowly die," He said nonchalantly, his tone then darkened "I have been in this world for an unfathomable amount of time, but none of it has been more uncomfortable then the 10 years I spent locked up here, you'll find that out too"

With that finished he started walking towards the exit of the labs.

 

[Nouw]

Why don't we start with, why me? I'm just a human.
"Well Danny-boy, when a parasite is forced to attach itself to demons for hundreds of years, having a human is a very welcome change."
Then why did you test me?
"I can't have a daft wuss for a host can I? And I'm not taking about courage Danny, I'm talking about faith in your beliefs and your will to live. You passed my test, which demons have failed, and came out a sane man.
Oh, so I should be thankful for having a parasite.
"Of course. Lighten up Danny, you'll find there are many positives to having me in your head."
We'll see.

Danny stepped inside the vent. The blood was there, but moving. It seemed to have a mind of its own, slithering and squirming like a thousand worms. The trail of blood lead Danny to the left vent and he saw the same sight. Some drops were struggling behind but the blobs snatched them and continued their journey. It was a fascinating yet disgusting sight; it was amazing to see it acting on its own but the thought of it inside him, controlling his movements, was blood-curdling. But if the blood had no host, how could it be moving?

"It seems that the previous host is still alive. Barely alive, but alive enough for the blood to feel compelled enough to make its way towards its host."
So my job is to finish off your previous host?
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"
No. The fewer demons there are, the better. Can't let some random agent do my job.
"It's your first day and you already have that conviction. I've found that most people are very hesitant."
Then they're not very good at their job are they?
"Does doing your job well satisfy you?"
Yes.


He came to a drop in the vent. He hesitated. It wasn't low enough to wound him, but at the bottom was a particularly large pool of blood. It looked like it was fighting each other, animated tendrils lashing out. His only choice was to drop into it, and the last time he fell into a pool of blood he had been subject nothing less than torture. The blood urged him on and he fell. As soon as he hit the sadistic pool, a blood-curdling cacophony erupted into a full fortissimo. The blood seemed to scream and violently threw itself back. Danny couldn't believe it but he felt sorry for them. He wondered if they could feel pain.

"Yes it can. And unlike humans, it doesn't have the freedom to die."

Danny was much more careful from then on. He even took longer paths around to avoid making contact with the blood. His blood didn't seem to mind at all, and in fact for the next half-hour or so it was quiet. He mused that it could be sleeping.

"I'll have you know I wasn't snoozing off, I was exploring your psyche."
And do you still want me as a host?
"I love you more than ever friend."

Danny laughed and continued following the blood.

 

[IFS]

Nine. No, ten of us make this body. 7 lesser imps. 2 stronger demons. One human. Why a human? Why...

"Because he's cruel," the illusion said, shaking its head in disgust, "I'm going to give you a choice now, you can come with me, the scientists here might be able to help you, or I can kill you, just tell me which."

Garath doubted that it would choose life, and he didn't blame it, it was clearly suffering and D6 probably would use it for experimentation rather than try to cure it. He had to stifle a laugh at his own hypocrisy, he was more than willing to force his will on a demon or even some spirits, but the moment something was the least bit human he let it choose. He sighed, and then there was the question of if mercy killing was moral, God he was just a stage magician, when did being a good person become so hard?

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

"If you insist, but believe it or not I wasn't planning to stay, there are more interesting things in the world then watching a girl slowly die,"

Azkar's began convulsing and crying out on the bed. Twisted tendrils were crawling throughout her wound, wrapping around and regenerating the wound. At the same time a pale light was seemingly repairing the damage. However the two effects seemed to conflict viciously, causing her extreme pain. Even though she was suffering Azkar retorted spitefully "A common point of view from a mutt, chained by the whims of a lesser Angel. I would assume I'm older than you, but quite honestly I don't care."

Azkar stood up, tightly hugging herself. She finally opened her eyes. They were still blue, but one seemed to shine with a faint golden glow as the other seemed to smolder slightly red with morbid hatred and thirst. "There is a reason why banishment is a punishment. Maybe when you're a little older you'll work that out." Azkar hissed the words with malice. She then turned around, unbuttoning her shirt, she slid her fingers across her chest. Angelic and Demonic runes began appearing across her body.

Pacify, balance, healing in Angelic.
Subjugate, control, endure in Demonic.

Azkar gave a long sigh as the pain began to die down. The cost in power reduction was ridiculous, but it didn't matter if she couldn't use it. Azkar turned back around as she was buttoning up her shirt "Children run away, I usually work fairly fervently in their interests, but as you said, you're not one, you're not innocent. Your ignorance is inexcusable." Azkar rolled her eyes and sat on a corner of the bed that was still clean.