United States

Scarlett walked through the desolate town as she followed the mysterious pull that called to her. She knew what the pull was and what it meant, but she couldn't resist it. Her grandmother had told her this much a week before she passed away.

"You can't fight the pull Scarlett," she would say. "The game must go on."

Yeah well, Scarlett didn't want the game to go on, she wanted no part in it. It was a worthless game made for people to kill each other, and for what? Immortality? No thank you. Scarlett just wanted a normal life. She looked down at her hands and thought back to the purple claws that had came out of them two weeks ago. She sighed to herself. Sadly, normal wasn't possible for someone like her. As the pull became stronger, Scarlett heard a faint call, "Fear the unknown."

Scarlett froze in shock and felt her poison claws slowly sliding out in defense.
Think Scarlett, think. Whose call is that? It's a girl based on the voice and it mentioned the unknown.
The Ruler of Knowledge. The most intelligent player to ever play the game. Wasn't one of her powers to send visions? Could she have been the one that sent Scarlett the image of the church?

Scarlett moved cautiously through the town, following the pull. Her claws were still out ready to defend at a moments notice and she was sure that her purple glyphs were glowing as well. It was then that Scarlett came across a large church, the same one from her vision. It was old, the style dating back to the early 1900's if she had to guess. It was made out of dark colored bricks and had a large cross pinned above the entry to the door. Scarlett climbed up the steep stone steps and reached for the door. She put her hand on the handle and slowly turned it until the door clicked open. It creaked as she pushed her way through and Scarlett walked into the dark room. The large stain glass windows provided the room with some light, but not much and this gave the room an eerie vibe.
Scarlett heard a shuffle of movement coming from the front of the room and whipped her head to follow it.
"FEAR THE UNKNOWN."
It was a girl around Scarlett's age. She looked pretty normal aside from the image that appeared above her head. It resembled a card and on the top it read The Ruler of Knowledge, underneath was the image of a bright blue brain. It had brighter specs highlighting certain parts of the brain. After a few seconds, the image faded away, and the call became silent. Scarlett was then left to face the girl. She moved to put her thorn claws in front of her when she noticed they had retracted. Holy ground, she thought. Smart move.

Scarlett had read in her archives that their powers did not work on holy ground, in fact, they cannot be harmed on holy ground at all. Scarlett could shoot the girl and it wouldn't even leave a mark.
Scarlett sighed in defeat and sat down in one of the many pews. She had no choice, but to hear what this girl had to say. She just hoped that she wouldn't get killed because of it.

The rumble of the engine filled the air as Aiden rode his motorcycle through some town in Idaho. Or was it Utah? Aiden didn't really care enough to know. Nowadays, people are more focused on living to see another day rather then knowing where they are. Survival is pretty much the only thing anyone cares about since the apocalypse. The problem was that Aiden wasn't even sure if his survival was important anymore.

Ever since the death of his parents and younger sister, Aiden hasn't been his normal self. He hasn't been able to laugh or smile and only thinks in terms of food and water. Part of it might be because he is all alone and has no one to talk to. Aiden has always been a social person and going months with very little communication is starting to take a toll on him. He has no real goal, he just rides around on his Harley going no where in particular. Once he runs out of gas, he finds a car to syphon gas from, and then begins traveling again. It doesn't help that Aiden isn't exactly normal.

It happened a couple of weeks ago as Aiden was making one of his usual searches for food. He had walked into a worn out storage building in the hopes of finding canned food when a zombie came stumbling out. In defense, Aiden put his hands out in front of him only to see sparks of lightning shoot from them, instantly frying the zombie. It freaked him out and he thought he had imagined the whole thing, but the next day, the lightning made another appearance on his skin. Now he has gotten used to it, but he still has no idea why it is happening. The worst part is that he actually finds the sparks to be comforting. Even weirder, a picture of a church keeps appearing in Aiden's head and last week a voice in his head said, "The trickster is no more." What the hell is that supposed to mean? Add that onto the whole freaky lightning powers and Aiden's list of problems just keeps growing.

The town Aiden was in had a strange vibe to it. Normally when he gets these kinds of feelings about a place, he immediately leaves, but something was telling Aiden to stay. He parked his bike in front of an abandoned hardware store and began walking when he heard,"Beautiful to look at, deadly to touch." and "Fear the unknown."
Aiden jerked his head around trying to find the source of the voices, but there was no one to be found. Shaking his head, Aiden continued to walk until he came across a church. It looked exactly like the one in his vision and despite his brain's protests, Aiden walked toward it as if being controlled by some unnatural force.

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ashley rosemarie houben


Huntress
hex code: #45A7A8

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This was absolutely crazy.

It was Ashley's birthday. And then, the famed apocalypses in those crazy TV shows actually happened for real. If it weren't for her knowledge on the games, Ashley would've thought the world was malfunctioning.

Ah, yes, the infamous Game of the Gods. A crazy game held every few centuries or so to satisfy the gods' amusement. Ashley hated them. Yes, she loved competition. But these games? It was either die, or become immortal. Ashley would never want either of those things. Death was a part of life, and she embraced that a long time ago. After all, who would want to live forever? You would have to get bored at some point.

Although, the victors of the games never really did live forever. They lived forever until the next games. But who would want to partake in the games a second time? The victors probably didn't want to, though.

Ashley was walking through the ruins of Utah - or so she thought. Ashley didn't really know where she was, to be honest. She was simply following a pull. Why? Because she had to.

As Ashley followed the pull, she heard a faint call. "My light blinds you." She stiffened, before relaxing. The voice was Karl's.

Ashley walked through the town, her left hand gripping her bow. Suddenly, as she heard the faint crumble of footsteps in debris, Ashley whirled around, her bow drawn and ready to be released. "MY LIGHT BLINDS YOU." Her mind screamed the words as Ashley's vision turned white for a few moments. Soon enough, her vision returned to normal, and the brunette caught sight of a very familiar face.

"Karl," she snapped sharply. "Don't do that."

But Karl merely grinned his signature crooked smile. "Not my intention to do...whatever I did," he responded. "You did it too. Your call really gives people a massive headache."

The first mistake she made was daring to be thankful of no school or authority but the world as it is now...it's so much worse. Her parents and her may not have seen eye to eye but she never wished death upon them. And her friends...a rarity as it was...were all gone.

There wasn't much interpretation in her powers, it was what it was; she could command people without anchors, and she used them for her own gain to navigate through the apocalypse. She would clutch people's arm, causing them to stare into her pleading blue eyes then ask they help her, to the extent of giving up their lives before hers was jeopardized.
Despite her blood boiling at women's piercing screams and wailing some nights because of what the men inflicted on them, Kira kept her eyes dead ahead.
After all having vivid visions of a church she had not seen or heard of before came as an additional fright. In her 19 years she was not ever religious or thought about taking it up, so she never paid churches a second glance. Not even in the apocalypse. But what called to her was greater than intuition, and something she could not fight so she took herself to said destination finally, if only to free her mind and gut feeling of it. Perhaps even to query how or why she could do what she could do. It was in all honestly the best bet for answers.

Kira paused some distance away and frowned. A surreal sensation to see the vision in her head turn real. All she took was a step forward then voices started hitting her at once. "Fast as lightning." "Beautiful to look at, deadly to touch." "Fear the unknown."
Then ahead a young man with an image above his head and writing, moving for the same church. Kira gave it a moment before pursuing, the words getting louder the closer she drew to the church. Maybe she was at the edge of insanity.

Perhaps survivors of this town gathered in the church to pray and meet. See how their stocks were holding and keep track of their population count.

Through the other side of the doors however, were not a town's worth of people. But others with images. Queen of Thorns. Ruler of Knowledge. Lord of Lightning. Then they vanished along with the calls in her head. She didn't expect for it to be overly crowded but still, more than two, three people around her age. Kira slowly sunk into the closest pew, the furthest from the front where one girl stood as if waiting for something, just like Kira waited for answers running her whip between her fingers. Who even grabbed a whip for the apocalypse? If somebody could answer that, she'd be impressed.

Finally after hundreds of years, the game has begun again.

Dominic rode calmly on his horse, Polemos, which he named after the Greek spirit of war. His horse had much more strength and endurance than any normal horse, in fact, any horse Dominic took as his own became enhanced. This particular horse had a fine black coat with eyes that had turned from a dark brown to a glowing red.
Dominic went where the pull led him, knowing that it would bring him to The Ruler of Knowledge.

When he had received the vision of the church, he instantly knew who had sent it; one does not forget the powers of the ruler. Dominic was just relieved that she hadn't spoken to him through his mind as well. The last ruler had done this multiple times and Dominic found the invasion to be unpleasant. As he traveled, he wondered what kind of motive the ruler had in mind. She obviously wanted something if she wanted to meet on holy ground. But what?

Whatever her desire for meeting was, Dominic was prepared to defend himself at the slightest hint of suspicion. Although, Dominic hoped that there would be no need to kill. He was tired of killing, he already had so much blood on his hands that would never be washed clean. But the fact of the matter stays the same, he would kill if necessary. That is what he had done in the last game, and he would do it again without hesitation.

Dominic sensed he was nearing the church and slowed down Polemos. Dominic rode slowly through the town when he heard familiar calls play in his head. He only heard four, but he could feel more players near him. What is she planning?
On high alert, Dominic jumped off of his horse and tied it to a pole. His twin blades rested in the harness on the back of his armor. He spotted the church and strode towards it, his black armor clinking lightly and his helmet shielding his face.
Dominic did not know what to expect, but he knew one thing. No one was to be trusted.

“Go faster go faster!” He all but yelled. The man behind the wheel was pushing the Pontiac Firebird to speeds that would have gotten the attention of half the state’s police. But there were no police and no law for that matter. Just him, his friend and the cars of crazed raiders chasing them, “There’s three of them left.” He friend said in a calm tone. “Yeah I noticed, any ideas on how to get rid of them?” He asked. His friend remained silent as he nonchalantly looked back at their pursuers and then straight ahead, “I would recommend you go faster.” The man gave his friend a sour look, “Gee, you think?!” He sarcastically said. “Sarcasm doesn’t suit you Kai.” His friend calmly said. Kai was about to retort when a loud bang reached his ears and something zipped past his open window, “Hell’s bells! I thought they ran out of ammo three miles back!” Kai said. “Clearly they were holding out on us.” His friend said unconcerned. Kai weaved his Firebird left to right as he tried to avoid the bullets which was made much harder as they entered yet another deserted town. A bullet suddenly hit the right mirror of the Firebird, shattering it and putting a hole in it, “OK, now they die.” Kai growled as he jerked the FIrebird right and pulled down a street to the deserted town square.

Not far behind them the raids turned down the same street in hot pursuit. When they pulled into the square they found their quarry’s car sitting in the middle of the street. The three cars surrounded the target and eleven men filed out with guns drawn upon the firebird. “Got you now boys!” One of the men called out as a few of them approached the car, “Looks like that fine car of yours is mine now.” The leader of the group said. “Yours?! We lost three of our cars and five guys chasing these boys! If anything this car belongs to the group!” One man protested. The leader was about to argue when one of the guys called out, “Oi! There's no one in the car.” One of the guys said. “Well then it just makes taking the car that much easier. Though those boys will make good labor for the fields, so find them! And get that car running now!” The leader yelled. The men started spreading out as the three men moved to open the car. One tried opening the driver side door and found it locked. As he raised his rifle to smash the window a voice rang out, “Don’t you dare break that window!”

Every one of the raiders looked around trying to find the source of the voice but could not pinpoint the location. “Don’t want us to break the window? Then come on out and give us the keys boy!” He said. “What do you think Sephetis? Think I should give them what they want?” The voice called out. “I think you know my answer Kai.” Sephetis’ calm and eerie voice rang out. “These men are a representation of the the scum of our world, greedy, malicious. They are not pure evil, but they have secured their place in it’s lower echelons.” The leader grit his teeth as he looked around trying to locate them, “Tough talk coming from two little boys who hide rather than face us like men!” He yelled back, clearly agitated. “So says the man who preys on the weak.” A voice said behind the leader. He whirled around and found one of the boys standing behind him, draped in a black cloak with it’s hood up. He could not see the boy’s entire face save for his lower half, “What do you know boy? In the real world survival of the fittest is the prime rule and survival is the goal of strongest.” He said as he pointed his gun at the boy.

“Your logic is flawed, the goal of all life is death. And the Mauve Knell of Midnight tolls for you.” The boy raised his head a bit so one eye looked at him, “Tell me. Do you feel dead? You will be.” The boy suddenly lept down and rolled under the fire of the leader before a ball of fire knocked the gun out of his hand. The leader was bewildered by the sudden fire attack before he realized the boy in front of him had pulled a long double bladed scythe from nowhere and was swinging it at him. He only had only a split second to realize the boys had set them up before the scythe sent him to be judged in the next life.

The men watched astonished as their leader was cut down so effortlessly and by a boy with a weapon that should have been impracticable to swing around as he was doing now. Their astonishment lasted only a moment as they raised their guns to fire at the boy, “Those aren’t going to do you guys any good.” The two turned around to see the other boy leaning up against a wall, “You bit off way more than you can handle this time. You called down the thunder, now deal with it. Time to Bring the Heat!” With that he threw a punch which sent a blast of fire at both of them. The two wildly fired their guns but it did little to help them as the fire turned the bullets to slag before engulfing them in an agonizing fiery death. Kai looked past the two screaming men as he watched his friend Sephtis dance his way around the other men, cutting them down like they were wheat in a field. Kai had to admire the skill Sephtis displayed in situations like this, against living beings who could think and feel.

Kai knew in this game they would have to fight other players but of all of the contestants Kai knew of, he was afraid of fighting only one, Sephtis. Despite their sheer differences Kai considered Sephtis his brother. Heck the two were as close as two brothers could be, they were there for each other, they looked out for each other, heck Kai would die for Sephtis. But the idea of having to kill his brother was something he feared and it was inevitable they would have to one day soon. It was only the sound of the 12 gauge being chambered that saved Kai as he quickly pulled himself from his thoughts and ducked down. The shot gouged out a hole in the wall before Kai blasted the gun’s holder with a napalm strike so hot the man disintegrated within a few seconds. Kai only had a moment to shake his head at the stupidity of the man before another gun chambering around caused him to look left, one of the two guys he blasted was a live! “How?!” Kai asked in astonishment. “Doesn’t matter. Time to die now!” The man said as he leveled his gun. He didn’t get to pull the trigger as a flying scythe took his head off as he flew through the air towards Kai. Before it hit him the scythe stopped just a few inches of hitting him before it flew back towards the outstretched hand of Sephtis, “Cutting it kind of close Sep.” Kai said.

Sephtis retracted the scythe to it’s smaller form before replacing it on his belt in the folds of his cloak, “Better close than dead.” He responded. Kai snorted, “That's rich coming from you.” He said as the two walked back to the firebird, “Really?!” Kai said as he looked at his door, “Blasted raiders weren't satisfied with a mirror, so they knocked my door!” Kai shouted. “Could be worst.” Sephtis said calmly, “Could have been the hood.” The air was silent for several moments before Kai caught onto the double meaning of the statement and burst out laughing, “Sep, never let anyone say you don’t have a sense of humor!” He said mirthfully. Sephtis looked at him with a deadpan expression, “I don’t.” He said, causing Kai to laugh even more, “My point exactly!” He said as he opened his car door. Kai reached in for something before pulling back and looking at a half open map.

“I took note of the sign as we were riding in.” Kai said as he scanned the map, “If I had to hazard a guess we aren’t but a few miles out from our destination.” He laid it out so Sephatis could see, “I still think this is a bad idea. It could be a trap.” He added as Sephatis opened his door, “I doubt there is much risk from other players. It might actually be the safest place from them.” He said. Kai raised an eyebrow at Sephatis before getting an answer, “Holy ground.” Sephatis added. Kai nodded and mouthed ‘oh’ at this information, “Well, that puts me a bit at easy. Though I don’t feel comfortable being defenseless even in a designated safe zone. I don’t suppose there is anyway around that rule?” He asked. Sephatis calmly looked at him, “Unless the ground has been desecrated, no player on holy ground can harm another player.” Sephatis said before he entered the passenger seat, “Aw, and here I was hoping for a holy war.” Kai said as he entered the driver seat. “If we aren’t carefully, we’ll end up being the holy ones.” Sephatis said as the car started. Again, for a moment Kai payed the comment no never mind until he had a moment to process the double meaning which while gruesome, we so well timed he burst out laughing, “Never change Sep.” He said as the two pulled off heading towards their destination.

A week ago, a man's voice had announced The Trickster's passing. "The trickster is no more," was the direct quote and the thought of how in these conditions pricked Sage's heart. They were pawns in a greater game, but they were only human at the core.

Sage paced for some time hoping those that she communicated with got her message and followed their instincts about it. She had quite the role ahead of her and it was a risky move prompting them all together so early on, reducing it to the size of one building. Though they couldn't harm each other on holy ground, one step outside and it could be a blood bath. But it also felt like the right move, or rather the only move left. For risk would come the only chance of reward.

"Beautiful to look at, deadly to touch." Sage heard first faintly. Like a poisonous plant. She didn't look up until the call grew much louder and she heard the old church door creak open. The Queen of Thorns was the first to enter and the moment they spotted each other, she shifted into an offensive posture. Sage's gaze turned to stone. Unfortunately, Sage couldn't entirely blame her or hate her for that.

A few more filed in slowly, their calls the first to announce their nearing. Sage had gathered what numbers she could of them but she could not make them stay so she was best to cut to the chase. “As you may or may not know, we are special individuals with unique abilities. But the purpose of us being here isn't some great cause...yet. We live to outlast each other and the victor gets immortality for five hundred years. At this rate we are nothing but pawns and a means of entertainment. But the gods can't have their game if we keep each other alive.” Sage met their gazes steadily but the worse was yet to be said. The contradiction of it all. “However, there are others out there like us who have lost touch with humanity and they need to be stopped. They will treat us like the enemy so you should do the same. The people in this room is what matters most. I'm proposing an alliance. And for us to figure out how to end these games once and for all, together.”

As more and more players piled in the church Scarlett was internally freaking out. She was already wary when she realized The Ruler of Knowledge was here and then The Temptress, Lord of Lightning, and best of all The Warrior, walk through the door. Scarlett also heard the calls of The Huntress, The Hunter, The Inferno, and The Hollow Man, which meant that they were most likely coming here as well. What the hell is going on? Scarlett knew that it was natural for players to merge, but she had never heard of it happening like this before.

While she waited for the ruler to speak, she surveyed her competitors. The ruler seemed to be a bit nervous based on the way she was pacing back and forth. She seemed pretty healthy as Scarlett did, which of course was due to there special abilities. It was rare to see any girls after the apocolypse, let alone healthy ones. The few Scarlett had seen had been slaves that were dragged around by chains. Men had tried to do the same to Scarlett, but one glance at her thorn claws and they took off running.
The Temptress was also around Scarlett's age and had long auburn hair. Even while the girl's powers were dormant, she had an alluring presence to her that made Scarlett want to draw closer. It seems that this game is full of powerful and beautiful women. Scarlett always liked to see some girl power, so she was pleased with this knowledge.

Admittedly though, the Lord of lightning was pretty cute. He seemed to be confused and if Scarlett had to guess, she would say that he was not aware of the game that they playing. As for The Warrior, he looked terrifying in his all black armor. Scarlett knew he was a man, but she could not see what he looked like with the armor covering him from head to toe. Scarlett was not happy to be in the same room as the man who had won the last game.

Seeming to want to get her message across, The Ruler of Knowledge finally spoke.  “As you may or may not know, we are special individuals with unique abilities. But the purpose of us being here isn't some great cause...yet. We live to outlast each other and the victor gets immortality for five hundred years. At this rate we are nothing but pawns and a means of entertainment. But the gods can't have their game if we keep each other alive.” The ruler met their gazes as if they were not going to like the next part. “However, there are others out there like us who have lost touch with humanity and they need to be stopped. They will treat us like the enemy so you should do the same. The people in this room is what matters most. I'm proposing an alliance. And for us to figure out how to end these games once and for all, together.”

Scarlett sat in shock. End the game? That was unheard of. She wasn't even sure if it was possible and yet, she couldn't stop the glimmer of hope she felt from the ruler's words. Scarlett would do anything to escape the horrid fate that was forced upon her. The only downside to this plan is that she would still have to kill some people, but Scarlett was willing to make that sacrifice for the overall outcome.

She stood from her spot in the pew and said, "I'll gladly join your alliance. I'm willing to do whatever needs to be done to end this game."

WHAT. THE. HELL.

If Aiden thought he was losing it before, he's really losing it now. He came to this creepy ass church for some unknown reason and then all these weird people around his age start pouring in and coming together like they're all part of some freaky cult. Then a guy, at least Aiden thinks it's a guy, comes in wearing black armor like some evil knight. To top it all off, blondie starts talking about being pawns in a game, and winning immortality, and killing people.

Maybe Aiden is dreaming. Yep. That's right. Any minute now, he's going to wake up and find out that the apocolypse hadn't happened. His siblings would still be alive, his parents would still be alive, and he would have his normal life back with none of his weird lightning powers. Hold on a minute. Powers. Didn't blondie say something about special abilities? How would she know about Aiden's powers? Is she... is she telling the truth?

No, of course not. It doesn't even make sense because if it was true, why is she the only one who knows about it.

Suddenly the brunette girl with the darker complexion stood up,"I'll gladly join your alliance. I'm willing to do whatever needs to be done to end this game."

Seriously? Does everyone here know what's going on, but me? Aiden still didn't know what was going on or what to believe, but he was starting to connect some things. The powers, the voices, the random floating images, they're all connected and Aiden is starting to think that these particular people are somehow involved in whatever is happening to him. Aiden was still unsure, but he decided he was going to listen to what they had to say.

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karl deryck houben


Hunter
hex code: #071C57

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Karl trailed his sister and she led the way to...who knows where. Their relationship was like one of those twin things in some stories. The little sister was the leader, and the older twin brother was the bodyguard. Sidekick. Whatever. To be honest, Karl didn't have a problem with that. Just as long as Ashley wasn't leading him to certain death.

"Sis, you know I love ya," Karl began, gripping his bow. "But do you have any idea where we're going?"

Ashley halted and spun around. She wasn't glaring at him, but if Karl wasn't Ashley's twin brother, he would be intimated as hell."I'm following the pull," she stated simply. "You can't feel it?" After those brusque two sentences, Ashley faced forward once again and continued on her trek.

Oh! Karl thought with sudden realization. That's what that thing was! Karl wasn't going to lie, compared to his sister, he wasn't the brightest person out there. He was far from stupid, but not as sharp as Ashley.

Suddenly, as Ashley stopped abruptly, Karl heard voices in his head. "Fast as lightning." "Fear the unknown." "Beautiful to look at, deadly to touch." "Bow down to my mighty swords!" Karl almost jerked back at the last one. Damn, the dude was intense.

Karl was thrown back into the present as Ashley made some hand gesture at him. Hey, she was the one who knew ASL. Not him.

Ashley jerked a finger towards the church in front of the twins. Karl furrowed a brow, then shrugged. He knew that the both of them could feel the pull.

Ashley slowly and silently plucked an arrow out of her quiver and readied her bow, Karl following suit. The siblings approached the church, as silent as leopards stalking their prey. Which was fitting, considering that the twins were both holding a bow and had a quiver of arrows strapped to their backs at this very moment.

Ashley silently set her hand on the door handle. Karl winced, knowing what was coming. His sister silently and oh-so-gently curled her fingers around the handle and slammed the door open in a flash. Said door whammed against the building wall with a loud boom. Literally anyone in the church would be scared out of their wits. Ashley was intense like that.