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The Fragment of a Thought

Xibalba

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a part of The Fragment of a Thought, by Jakuri-chan.

'Place of Fear.' This is a section of the city that lay within Avalon, it is known for having a higher crime rate than the rest of the city. Most avoid this place at night, if they can.

RolePlayGateway holds sovereignty over Xibalba, giving them the ability to make limited changes.

439 readers have been here.

Setting

[left[Xibalba
Image[/left]

This is a segment of Avalon, it lies within the downtown area. This place is notable for the fact that it has a higher crime ratio than most other parts of the city; many people tend to avoid this place at night since things can get a little more than scary. It has no official name, but amidst the youth of the city, they call it Xilbalba after the Mayan Underworld from Mythology since the name translates as, 'Place of Fear.'

Most of the crime organizations that exist within New Ithaca make their home here, somewhere.
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Xibalba

'Place of Fear.' This is a section of the city that lay within Avalon, it is known for having a higher crime rate than the rest of the city. Most avoid this place at night, if they can.

Minimap

Xibalba is a part of Avalon.

1 Places in Xibalba:

6 Characters Here

Syd Lastern [10] I may be the child of Light, but you may find me a little different than an 'angel'
Nicoletta Celeste Ardente [7] "I don't want to get anyone hurt, so it's just easier for me to be alone. I'd rather have to suffer near solitude than having to bear the guilt of injuring someone innocent."
Twilla Mavis Erubus [5] Leave me alone... My tears will be my lullaby.
Terra Whitney Thorne [3] "How's it goin? Haven't seen you before. What's your name?"

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Setting

1 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Syd Lastern
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Syd Lastern


Xibalba, the Place of Fears. Had a good ring to it, and none of it false.

Syd had always questioned how this little corner of hell had decided to be called something so foreign. He heard once that it was based off some version of Hell by the Mayans or something, but it mattered not: After dark, he who didn't know the town, didn't leave. It was a simple rule that most of its inhabitants of drug lords, smugglers and racketeers, followed by strongly. Basically put, you either eat or be eaten. Though cannibalism was frowned upon, even in the darkest corners of New Ithica.

The rain was starting to piss Syd off. He hated storms, how they always made the mood somber and uninteresting. Especially if it brought thunder. Damn that cursed loud booming noise created by the crack of lightning, it made him crawl out of his skin every time. The Deck always called him a pansy about it, making fun of Syd as he grabbed some ear plugs when a thunderstorm started. Their minds changed real quick when Syd would threaten to kick them out of the Network, that usually shut them bastards right up. However, Syd was stuck having to do a beer run, which was obvious by the cases he carried. Normally Syd didn't care much for the stuff - he preferred mixing himself something, but the guys were thirsty, and that damn Newby drank like a fricking sailor. Even if he was the King, he still had to take his turn: Didn't want people thinking he couldn't handle a damn beer run. He also took the oppertunity to scope out the area, making sure nobody suspicious was just chilling in the night. Sure, there were lots of suspicious people in Xibalba, but Syd knew most of those guys. What he was looking for were people that didn't fit into the scandalous norm, like undercover cops that had no damn clue what they were doing, or lost strays that made a wrong turn. Syd always felt a little of sympathy for those people, and usually directed them straight out of the Place of Fears. Less people to worry about, the better.

He had also gotten some groceries, if you could call them that, for when he went home for the night. If I even get to go home tonight. Syd grumbled at the terrible memory of last night, when one of his men was compromised and he had to go save his ass. Needless to say, that guy wouldn't be getting another job with the Network. Ever.

As he rounded the corner, he noticed the backs of 3 men that looked awfully familiar. He stared at the side of the one man's face long enough and realized who they were: He recognized those guys as that rapist group that moved in a few months before. He met them when they caught an unfortunate girl who had been passing by, and paid him off to keep him silent. Syd usually hated being told what to do by people that didn't know the ropes of Xibalba, but they paid enough for him to dismiss the thought. He hadn't slept well that night, and felt as if the poor girls screams were keeping him awake. He blinked, and the memory faded. Hopefully he didn't see what they were doing this time, as he really wanted to sleep well for once, if that was even possible anymore. However, that didn't seem to be the case for Syd, as he was about 20 feet away when he heard a scream.

SOMEONE! PLEASE HELP ME!! Syd sighed in frustration. He wouldn't be sleeping tonight if he just continued walking by. That girl's screams would keep him up, though he never admitted that to anybody. His poker face was nearly flawless, and he wasn't going to give that up just because he couldn't sleep much anymore. The rain continued to hit the top of his already wet head, running down his large collar and onto his neck, chilling him slightly. He was glad he hadn't worn his Converse shoes, since all the rain would have wrecked them by now. His boots continued to clomp in the rain as he approached the alleyway, and he was faced with a decision. Clomp, Clomp, Clomp His feet went, keeping a steady rhythm as he weighed his options: Either walk past and not sleep tonight, or intervene, hopefully get a good sleep and have to deal with this girl. Clomp, Clomp, Clomp

He approached the man at the back, and dropped the items in his hands. With a sigh of boredom, he quickly cocked his pistol and aimed it at the last man's head, and spoke in a bored voice. "Look fellas. Not tonight, alright? I want to sleep a little. So run along now." The guy with the gun to his head jumped a little, and the men turned to him slowly. With their large statures, they could probably snap him in half, and they knew it. The guy who played the 'leader' began to laugh at him.

Until he pulled the trigger on the man he was aiming at. They stared at him, and he said one last thing before aiming it at the leader "I'm not asking again. We of the Deck don't take kindly to people who don't listen. So eff off." And they took off into the night, and he watched them run. When they had left, he actually looked at the body first, and muttered "Man, this guy isn't gunna be an easy one to get rid of..."

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Twilla Mavis Erubus Character Portrait: Nicoletta Celeste Ardente Character Portrait: Syd Lastern
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It was a perfectly gloomy day to go out. The bright, evil sun was covered by the guardian clouds. The day was eclipsed by night. It was as though they were calling Little Miss Shadows out of her corner. Just to be sure that it was dark outside, Twilla pulled her hood over her face and peaked out the front door before proceeding out. The day was absolutely mystifying. The cool air made Twilla’s skin prickle. What a lovely day for a long walk


Twilla did nothing as she walked
 She barely even thought about anything. She just wandered endlessly, tracing the shadows with every step. Carefully, Twilla avoided any light the would come her way. Light was poison. Light could kill her. Nothing was more frightening than if light were to touch her porcelain skin or seep into her magenta eyes. She would go blind
 Or burn to death
 Or something! Of course, Twilla was no vampire. However, Little Miss Shadows just knew that the light would kill her.

The world grew ever darker into a black night as the sun set behind the clouds. Twilla didn’t have to hide as much. All she would have to avoid would be any lights people would have on inside, flashlights and if there were a random streetlight working(which was rare).

As Twilla wandered, she saw a black cat strutting the streets. Black cats had to be the most beautiful creature on the planet. They walked with such majesty and their slick, black fur was so soft
 The cat walked up to Twilla and rubbed on her leg. Twilla petted the sweet creature. At least black cats had a place where they fit in. Even in a district where black magic and voodoo ruled, Twilla was considered strange. There was nowhere for the poor girl to go.

The rain began to fall and the poor cat scampered off for shelter. The cool drops rolled off of Twilla’s skin and soaked into her long hair. Uncaring, Twilla stood up from her previously kneeling position and continued on her walk. She looked at the beautiful, black sky in wonder. Why was the darkness so feared? Would Twilla be forever hated for being strange by the people who were considered strange to normal people? Why couldn’t Little Miss Shadows have been born Little Miss Sunshine? If she had been, she would have been just like every other girl in the world
 Loved, valuable
 Talented in some way
 Instead she was born Little Miss Shadows. She was born useless
 She was born with evil powers that her father tried to kill her for
 Powers she couldn’t even control. Little Miss Shadows was born to be gloomy and sad. She was never to have any friends. Twilla was meant to be the creepy little girl forever to hideaway. She could never go to a normal school, where she would be hated
 Where they would have to find a way for her to avoid light and learn at the same time
 A way to avoid light long enough to even get to school. Even after all that, the students and teachers had hated her
 Hated her to the point where she would never return to normal school. Yes, Little Miss Shadows was so useless, no one could find love for her. Even her mother grew tired of her eventually
 Now, her mother wouldn’t acknowledge her
 Twilla was better off not existing.

At least Twilla was gloomy enough to ward people off. On most occasions, Twilla was completely avoided. No one cared to glance her way
 If they ever spotted her, which wasn’t often because she was practically invisible, they would run away from her. She scared people
 And they scared her. She wouldn’t have to deal with it much.

Coming from behind, Twilla heard footsteps. There was one set, closest to her
 And several more sets farther away... It was rare for Twilla to see people at night
 Most preferred to wander the day
 Curtained with light. The opposite of Little Miss Shadows, Most feared the darkness. Twilla looked up, trying to see the people
 Not seeing them, she turned around
 She still didn’t see them. They had to have been in another street
 And since it was night, it was easy to hear things that were farther way.

“Heeey! C’mon now you pretty little thing! Why don’tcha slow down and talk to me and my friends? We ain’t gonna hurt ya, y’know!” Twilla heard one of them call out to the one closest to Little Miss Shadows.

The footsteps grew closer and closer until Twilla actually saw a girl
 Why was a girl going into a narrow place like this? Afraid, Twilla jumped behind a trashcan to wait until the people left


“Well now, looks like yer trapped, ain’t ya?” One of the men called out to the girl


Twilla peaked out from behind the trashcan. We they bullies? If they were being mean to this other girl, she had to help
 But if they were not
 Then she would seem even worse than she always did
 Twilla would just ask. When she saw all the people, it scared her
 So Twilla hid behind the trashcan again
 “Are you guys bullies?” She called out as loud as she could muster. Fear swept over her as she had spoken to people she didn’t know
 But if the other girl was in trouble
 She had to help somehow! Shifting deeper into the corner between the building and the trashcan, Twilla accidentally knocked the lid from the can, causing a loud thrash.

No
 No, no, no nono! Please tell me they didn’t hear that
 Please, please, please, please, please! She pleased inside
 She knew that it was impossible for them not to have heard
 But still, she hoped they had not.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a voice echoed "Look fellas. Not tonight, alright? I want to sleep a little. So run along now. I'm not asking again. We of the Deck don't take kindly to people who don't listen. So eff off."

Twilla didn’t dare look
 She was far too afraid
 This was too much drama for one night
 And even if her mother wouldn’t look at her, she would worry if she knew what was going on


BANG!!! The sound of what seemed like a gunshot resounded through the air and not a moment later, the sound of something soft hitting the ground seeped into Little Miss Shadow’s ears. Twilla’s eyes widened as she cringed
 There was fear
 So much fear inside Little Miss Shadow
 She didn’t want to move. She wouldn’t move
 She couldn’t be seen or heard
 Someone might have been killed
 No more
 No more
 Twilla clasped her hands over her ears and rocked back and forth. She began to tune everything out
 If she was going to be caught as a witness to murder and killed for it, at least she wouldn’t notice she was dying
 Little Miss Shadows hoped and prayed that she wouldn’t be found
 That she wouldn’t see a body
 But what sort of god would listen to a girl who was so useless
 Who would listen to anyone so hated and fearful


Tears rolled down Twilla’s cheeks as she waited
 What for
? She didn’t know.

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Terra was running across rooftops at such a speed that she would trip with the wrong step, and the rain wasn't helping with that at all. Fucking hell. I'm late! Was the only thought in her head. She had been out hitting the clubs with friends, need to relax after a hard dull day. Even practicing parkour and continuing honing her powers seemed a bit dull for some reason. So when her friends called her up to see if she wanted to hit up some over under 21 clubs, she happily agreed, figuring she could use a break from the normal. Now she was late getting home and the only short cut was through Xibalba, the Place of Fear. She did not like this and decided to move through the area as quickly, quietly, and unconventionally as possible to avoid drawing unwanted attention to herself.

Terra jumped onto a lower roofed building, sprinted across it quickly, and scaled down the fire escape to the ground below, techno music from her headphones filling her mind. She ran through dark back alleys silently except for the occasional plash of a puddle. Rounding a corner, she ran past a group of thugs a ways down a street. One of them shouted and they gave chase after her. She ran down another alley and was faced with a wall junk piled in front of her. There was a relatively small in the wall of abandoned and useless items that was just big enough for her to fit through. Hurtling though the hole and continuing onward to round a corner, she could hear the thugs climbing over the heap of unwanted junk as fast as they could. Spotting another fire escape, she quickly dashed to it and scrambled up to the roof. Terra started to head for her house in Highrise again, deciding it was much safer to stick to the rooftops as much as possible.

While running along the top of a two story build Terra looked and saw a group of people in the alley below. She didn't pay much attention to them though, not wanting to be any later than she was. She looked forward again to find the next place to head to and a gunshot sounded over her music, startling her and causing to slip in a puddle. "Shit!" She yelled in surprise as she tumbled forward, hit the roof hard and rolled off the side of building. She caught edge of the roof and tried to pull herself up, but her fingers slid off the wet edge and she fell with a small yelp. The next thing she knew, the gravel ground of the alley rose up in a small pillar to meet her half way. She hit the gravel pillar with a grunt and bounced off, hitting the ground hard and landing on her back, the pillar of small rocks and pebbles now gone. "Ow. That stung a bit," she said as she lifted her head and looked at the four other people in the alley, one of which was a corpse. "Oh crap...."

Setting

5 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Terra Whitney Thorne Character Portrait: Twilla Mavis Erubus Character Portrait: Nicoletta Celeste Ardente Character Portrait: Matthew Character Portrait: Syd Lastern
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Syd Lastern


Things were starting to get much to over complicated, and Syd's patience was wearing ever more thin. The rain wasn't letting up, and was going to soak his groceries and the Deck's booze if he didn't get moving soon, but all the people converging on one damned spot was starting to get fricking ridiculous. Syd's mind was starting to get jumbled, so he started in chronological order to try to put the pieces together on what the hell was going on.

After he shot the man and the rest of the rapists left, he turned towards the girl that he apparently just saved. In the dim light, he could make out her small frame, and long hair that looked awfully familiar. For a second, a flicker of another girl appeared beside the girl he just saved, reminding him of why she looked familiar.Alicia... His mind wandered for a little bit, until it clamped down on the harsh, cruel reality. Alicia was dead, and this wasn't her. Just some cheap lookalike. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, then caught a flicker of movement near the back of the alleyway behind a trash can. His eyes normally could pick up all light in the area, but around the trashcan was eerily dark. He still didn't like true darkness very much, and gave him a slight shiver before turning his full attention to whatever was behind the trash can.

"If anybody is back there, speak now-" He was cut off by the ground suddenly becoming a cylinder upwards and he backed away startled as a girl fell onto the pillar and onto the ground. He gave a sigh of exasperation, pushing the phenomenon he had just seen (the ground just fucking moved!!!) into the back of his mind and aimed his pistol at the girl. "Look, I don't care who the hell you are, or what just happened, but it would probably be best if you just moved along from here and left. I have work to do, and people to see, and have NO time to be dealing with teenagers falling from the sky and such." He still had to deal with that dead body over there, but his mind was now divided. 2 teenaged women - he wasn't that much older himself, but was still now an adult - and possibly a third person hiding behind a trash can. Was Xilalba somehow becoming 'the' place to be for random teenagers, or was it just his bad luck today?!

Syd made his way over to the body, and knelt down to it as the rain now poured over his collar. He was getting soaked, but he would solve that minor problem later. Normally he would just stand up, grab the body, shove it in a trash can and clear everything of the evidence. The rain was doing the latter for him, but he still stayed hesitant. Why? Was it because of these people? True, most normal people, teens especially, avoided his hometown of Xibalba like the plague, as they should. Yet here were 2, with a possible third person. He sighed, and stood back up.

"This isn't the place where you guys should be hanging around. If you had half a brain, you would be running out of here."

Just as he finished his sentence, low and behold a fourth person ran around the corner, and mumbled out something about taking a wrong turn, but Syd wasn't having any of it. Naturally instinctual, his left hand pulled out his second pistol, and while still aiming it at the girl on the ground now had a pistol aimed straight for this random kid's forehead.

"I don't know who the fuck you are, or why ANY of you are hanging around Xibalba, but right now I don't care. If you want to live, leave. If you want to get raped, shot, tortured, and otherwise brutalized, then go find somebody else to do it for you. If you aren't paying for my services, you aren't needed.." His patience was slim to none as he snarled out the words. This wasn't the thrill ride he was hoping for today at all. He always loved the thrill of the chase, or of dares, but dealing with 4 average citizens in the night? Nope. This was turning into the worst night of his life.

If only he knew that fate was bringing the 6 seals together, he might be more interested. Yeah right.

Setting

5 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Terra Whitney Thorne Character Portrait: Twilla Mavis Erubus Character Portrait: Nicoletta Celeste Ardente Character Portrait: Matthew Character Portrait: Syd Lastern
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Her heart thumped in her chest, as the rain continued to pelt her exposed flesh, she was still cornered against a chain link fence in an alleyway within the confines of Xibalba. Vincente just had to be right about not coming with her, didn’t he. . . ? Why, why did he have to always be right? Chilled to her very bones from the cold rain and from the feat that was gnawing away at her bones, Nicoletta just stared at the men before her with her eyes wide, feeling tears build up upon the rims of her eyes. If there was no rain, she could just scare these guys. . . . It would be so easy. While she was shaking, Nicoletta began to push herself back into the fence behind her as much as she could, until the barrier between her and freedom would give no more. The terror within her body seemed to slow everything down; time itself seemed to move like molasses. God, how she just wished that whatever was going to happen to her, would happen. . . . The clattering of a trashcan lid nearby rattled Nicoletta from her terror induced thoughts and world, and caused her to cast her gaze to the side, to a part of the alleyway she could not make out.

There wasn’t enough light to see what had done that—animal or something else. Not having enough time to even question the sound properly, the sound of rhythmic footfalls hit Nicoletta’s ears, footsteps that were coming into the mouth of the alley. Her grey eyes she quickly looked from the trashcan and discarded lid and toward the source of the noise. Not another one, please. she whimpered softly, trying to push herself back into the fence more and more. But . . . there was a noise that sent a chill through Nicoletta’s body, more so than the men before her, who had chased her down into the alley. It brought forth a familiar and unpleasant memory that made her nauseous. The familiar click of a pistol being prepped for firing . . . the day Vincente had been shot.

Vision blurring at the memory, body freezing in place as Nicoletta remembered, the girl could only dully acknowledge the fact that the new person who had entered the alley was now aiming something at head of the man looming above her directly, the one who had his hand on the fence over her head. She heard him speak over the soaking rain, "Look fellas. Not tonight, alright? I want to sleep a little. So run along now."

Trying to help me? she thought meekly, tremors running through her body as the man before her released the fence, and turned on his heel to look at who ever would be daring to give him an order . . . he even began to laugh despite having a gun held to his head. And with no warning . . . there was a bang. A familiar noise that caused Nicoletta to shriek, and her body to so violently react that she fell to the ground, covering her head as she began to shake violently. Gunshot, th-that was a gunshot-! He shot him, he shot him right through! Nicoletta realized, letting out a noiseless whine as she held onto her head tightly, her eyes wide and full of fear, memories, things she didn’t want to relive. Someone getting shot meant blood, it meant death, danger, loos of life!! It made her remember, it made her remember Vincente getting hurt, coming to save her before—the memory of him being shot through the chest played through her mind, causing Nicoletta to begin breathing hastily, forgetting about where she now was and about the cold rain which utterly left her form sodden.

"I'm not asking again. We of the Deck don't take kindly to people who don't listen. So eff off." The gunman spoke again, causing Nicoletta to look up quickly, eyes wide, hands still clasped onto the sides of her head. He pointed the pistol at another of the men, who quickly ran passed him and out of the alleyway, the gunman who might have just saved her watched them cower away and just leave. Eyes never leaving him, nothing but pure and utter fear coursing through her body—Nicoletta felt heat rushing into her hands, a self-defense mechanism she had no control over. "Man, this guy isn't gunna be an easy one to get rid of..." he muttered quietly, just staring at the man he’d just killed.

Nicoletta found her vision blurring in and out again, ears beginning to ring as if it felt parts of her body just began to go utterly numb—she swore she was starting to taste bile in the back of her throat. How? How could he be so cavalier about murdering a person? Even . . . if the man hadn’t been the best of people, he was still a person, a life. . . . He was a someone, right? He’s done this before, many times before. Nicoletta realized, fighting off the bitter urge to vomit then and there from it. Her blood felt like ice in her veins, though warmth was spreading through her skin with every solemn beat of her heart. For the sake of my life, one was lost. she thought, shutting her eyes. Her arms went limp at this, falling to her sides as she let go of her skull, body beginning to feel hot. Biting down on her lower lip, Nicoletta clutched onto the fence behind her and forced herself to stand back to her feet.

Her body shook and quivered to the extent of causing the chain link behind her to rattle. What was she suppose to do. . . ? Opening her eyes, she looked at the man before her, just as someone managed to tumble right into the alley out of the sky above. Nicoletta had managed to miss the formation of a small pillar, and just opened her eyes to see the woman hit the pavement below. ”Ow. That stung a bit.” she commented, before looking around and realizing that she was caught in a rather unpleasant scene, ”Oh crap
.”

The fire charming Nicoletta looked at her with trepidation in her steel colored eyes. However, she had just fallen from the sky; it didn’t matter, not at all. What was of the utmost importance was the fact that she had just tumbled into the scene of a murder with a very dangerous person before her, and Nicoletta was near powerless in the rain. Get out of here, now. . . . Nicoletta thought, wishing she had telepathy so she could warn the woman to flee, as soon as possible.

Just as that thought left her mind, the pistol was aimed at her, causing Nicoletta to look over in alarm with a quiet gasp. "Look, I don't care who the hell you are, or what just happened, but it would probably be best if you just moved along from here and left. I have work to do, and people to see, and have NO time to be dealing with teenagers falling from the sky and such." He went on rather dryly, so calmly. . . . "This isn't the place where you guys should be hanging around. If you had half a brain, you would be running out of here."

Nicoletta’s expression transfixed upon him, and turned from a look of uncertainty, and into a dead on glare . . . while her heart was still beating wildly enough within her chest, it was now pounding away for a reason beyond that of fear. The small girl’s body shook beyond terror, moving passed the clutches her memories had on her and slowly melted into cold anger. Anger was beginning to eat away at her bones at him . . . for the fact he had murdered someone, and for the fact that he was now aiming his gun without much care at someone who had just shown up from nowhere. That apathy. . . . Where does he get off. . . ? she mentally seethed, her jaw tensing up greatly, as her hands began to clutch onto fence behind her too tightly.

Rain still coming down as heavy as before, Nicoletta still felt heat rushing to her hands—and she wondered what it was, was it her fire? Even with her body so waterlogged, clothing and hair sticking to her, was her anger enough to fuel her fire into existence, even in the rain? If it was, then maybe she could do something after all. . . .

Then, there were more footsteps, lighter ones than the man before her, and suddenly a boy turned into the mouth of the alley "Ummm.....i think i took a wrong turn......il just head back the way i came....." he mumbled out, obviously startled by the scene before him . . . and just as quickly; a gun was aimed at him as well. The hell?! Was this guy trigger happy or something?

"I don't know who the fuck you are, or why ANY of you are hanging around Xibalba, but right now I don't care. If you want to live, leave. If you want to get raped, shot, tortured, and otherwise brutalized, then go find somebody else to do it for you. If you aren't paying for my services, you aren't needed.." Those words were enough for her, and with that last word leaving the man’s mouth, the heat in Nicoletta’s hands became too much for the metal fence behind her to handle . . . and the firm grip she had upon it caused it to suddenly snap, she having heated it up enough to leave it brittle enough to be broken by her weak hold. The sound of it echoed throughout the now quiet alleyway, sounding out above the beating of the rain.

The blonde girl had her head cast downward, eyes hidden from view by her rather sodden bangs as she did her best to quell the anger boiling in her blood at the moment. Rationality, she needed some semblance of rationality to deal with this. She had to try to be as calm as possible, for the sakes of the strange girl and the boy. Drawing her hands out from behind her, Nicoletta could not soothe the heat coursing through her body as she found herself not only fuelled by the carelessness of the man before her, but also of events in her past which rendered her and her brother living on their own, leaving them in this giant city in the first place. Damn it all, she thought as she let out a rather harsh seethe. From mortal terror to potentially fear inducing anger in only a couple of minutes flat—that was probably a new record for her.

She looked up, her eyes almost reflecting a sort of inner fire that lay within the depths of her, and without hesitating, she opened her mouth up and spoke, “What the hell is wrong with you?” Nicoletta spoke, her voice terse and coming out sounding almost forced, “Are you trigger happy or something? It’s obvious by your overly lax mannerisms in regard to the man you just murdered that you are no stranger to killing, but where do you get off by aiming pistols at people?!” she shouted at him, pointing to the man who was now laying cold, before pointing back to him.

Tears of anger filled Nicoletta’s eyes suddenly as she brought her hand back to her side, “I don’t know why you bothered to come in and save me, or whatever you were doing . . . what the hell is someone suppose to think about you anyway?! You go and help a person in distress, but then you kill another person, and now you’re going and threatening people who haven’t done a damn thing. Even if I don’t belong in Xibalba, I know that has to be considered idiotic here. So put the freaking guns AWAY!” By the time she finished her little tangent, Nicoletta’s cheeks had turned rather red, and she had her first balled up at her sides, there was no trace of the cowering girl from before it seemed.

Only later would she come to realize how very stupid she was, yelling at someone who was carrying firearms. . . .

Setting

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Character Portrait: Nicoletta Celeste Ardente Character Portrait: Syd Lastern
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Syd was taken aback when he noticed the first girl in question put her head down for some unknown reason. He had assumed it was from shock that somebody had just died in front of her, which was normal, until she brought it back up. From what he could tell in the dark and rain, she was crying, but with an angry expression. That was a first, and he might have said something if she hadn't gone on a rant.

“Are you trigger happy or something? It’s obvious by your overly lax mannerisms in regard to the man you just murdered that you are no stranger to killing, but where do you get off by aiming pistols at people?!” Syd opened his mouth slightly to say something, but then closed it with his brow furrowing. As if he got off aiming a pistol at every damn person he saw running through Xibalba by mistake. If that was the case, he would probably have to clean his gun more often, but less people would at least come into the district. A dark way of keeping the outside world safe (naw, just kidding. He is only thinking that it will lessen the problems he has with police...), but an idea none the less. Syd would have to thank her for that. But he would have to get her straight first. So as she continued her rant, he slowly advanced towards her calmly, holstering his guns as fast as they appeared in the first place.

I don’t know why you bothered to come in and save me, or whatever you were doing . . . what the hell is someone suppose to think about you anyway?! You go and help a person in distress, but then you kill another person, and now you’re going and threatening people who haven’t done a damn thing. Even if I don’t belong in Xibalba, I know that has to be considered idiotic here. So put the freaking guns AWAY!” By the time she was finished, he had already crossed the entire distance to her, looking down at the very verbal girl. Either she would make a good agent, or get herself killed in Xibalba in a second. Not the time to try recruiting randos, Syd... He sighed, and knelt down in front of her, his deep dull blue eyes staring right at her.

"Odd way of saying thanks, but it will do." He smiled dryly, a hint of sadness and despair mixed in with it. "You remind me of somebody I used to know, except she probably wouldn't have said that to a guy pointing a gun at her." His face steeled itself once again, looking at with cold eyes as thunder went off in the distance, the lightning lighting up the area, and probably catching the indents of his scarring on his face. He shuddered out of fear and counted to ten to calm himself, which would have looked like he was prolonging the silence. He finally regained his composure and continued.

"Let me tell you something miss, which goes for the rest of you." He raised his voice slightly, but stayed focused on the girl. "While your words may be powerful, and loud, they do nothing here in the place we criminals call home. What is considered idiotic is for a female such as yourself, to be running around here without a gun. Though, this must be difficult for somebody as yourself to understand, as you haven't been shot in your life yet." He narrowed his eyes. "I don't really give a shit what people like you think of me, since I will probably never see you guys ever again." If only that statement was true.

He stood up finally, the rain swishing off of his jacket and his collar bouncing back up. He really despised people who believed they knew what was right and wrong in a place where rules weren't even thought of. "As I stated before, if you are not hiring the Deck for services, then I have no more business here." He turned his back and walked towards his groceries and booze, now probably soaked. He sighed in disappointment at his luck, passed the boy, and turned around to the group of misfit children. They may be around his age, but they were nowhere close to having the mind of an adult. His left hand somehow found his pendant and gripped it until his knuckles were white, looking hard at the one girl. She did look a lot like her.

But one thing is clear: She isn't. No way. He turned back around and grabbed his bags.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Raphaela Valencia Shire Character Portrait: Izzie Vieira
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Agh. Kill me now. In some remote corner of Avalon, not yet quite into Xibalba, a short, slightly irritated Italian woman lay in the middle of a barren bed; surrounded by a war with the so-far adamantly sleepless night. Between what had felt like hours of restless tossing and turning, her much needed rest had stubbornly eluded her; much like a stubborn, spoiled child. A child she --and probably many other people-- would therefore love to punish, if insomnia ever happened to be a tangible thing. But, sadly, the only thing she could do was keep still in contempt and absolute boredom. Since, to seal the end of a horrible day (and effectively crush any other alternative things she could be doing), some stupid, ignorant god had decided that it would be simply beneficial to suddenly drown the city in buckets of rain.

And again, Raphaela would've taken her frustrations out on something else; if only the thought of setting off a fire alarm in the dead of night was even the least appealing. Seeing as how her apartment was just kind of expensive, not that it meant much in accordance to her parents' completely unintentional inheritance, it probably wouldn't be the smartest thing in the world to blow it up anyway; not to mention alerting a couple dozen policemen to her door. Not that, of course, they would have evidence to arrest the Archangel. It hadn't been the fault of a system error when all photos and recordings of the wanted criminal had simply... ceased to exist one morning. And then, as it was, anything new was wiped every morning after that. But, just by word of mouth, headhunters still doggedly chased her from dawn to dusk.

Which brought the circle of her thoughts back to sleeping. Or, rather, lack thereof. And more frustration. Fucking bounty hunters. Because, just within that one day, Raphaela had been driven on the run four times. Da un disastro all'altro. That was literally what it was. From the moment she had stepped out of her complex and into Eden Park --for just a nice, peaceful walk in the park, mind you--, life had officially started sucking. Running around and blowing stuff up at eight in the morning? It was expected, albeit a little annoying. The catch, though, was that those couple dozen idiots were actually smart. (Contradictory, but true.)

She literally jumped from the frying pan and into the fire. Having just lost the first wave, and thinking that it was probably about time for lunch, Raphaela had nonchalantly walked right into a volley of coordinated policemen. Seen it coming, sure, but it was often better to feign ignorance than suddenly inspire a gigantic, dramatic chase scene she probably couldn't escape from. And she sure as hell wasn't going to let Chaos send a bunch of mocking idiots to save her. So, rather than spending her precious time in a small, local restaurant and eating her fill, her afternoon highlight was taken to get reacquainted with Yggdrasil Forest. (Which, incidentally, she had spent the day before.) It had taken three hours to get out; albeit unharmed.

Now, by this point, she wasn't exactly in the best mood. Sure, she'd gotten to blow up lots of things, but she really did have business to take care of. Like, for example, a grumbling stomach. But the moment Raphaela's foot touched Horizon pavement? Screams and more disaster. And then, after blowing up quite a number of buildings in irritation, she had to find a private corner and delete police records; all the while listening to the high-pitched wail of sirens. Again. And that was pretty much when she realized that she probably wasn't going to have relative peace unless she went home, or drop into Xibalba; neither of which were close. But, in light of the fact that the chance of meeting someone she didn't really want to see was higher in Xibalba, she headed for home.

As it turned out to be, the bounty hunter-police team intercepted her halfway there. So, through the wee bits if daylight to sundown to goddamn midnight, Raphaela had to sprint and generally cause the most mayhem possible in Highrise; in order for those rich, influential folk to get pissed and order them to stop. Which they did, so she got to go home.

Fucking bounty hunters.




Sore out of her mind and pissed off at the rain, Raphaela roamed the rooftops of New Ithaca City; a compromise in case some people were waiting farther on the ground. In complimentary silence, only interrupted by a momentary boom (that could easily be misinterpreted as thunder), she propelled herself from wet rooftop to slippery roof; every so often pausing under a faded, black umbrella to inspect the scenery. It was, after all, the only way to let off some steam without crippling her body even further; and, in any case, Chaos often came alive at night.

Not that she would know; preferring daylight than being like a reclusive vampire. But that was what she heard. And it was probably true, because from one, specific highrise building just outside Eden Park, she instinctively saw a particular half-raven; a Japanese ally she knew. With him were a pair of what looked like kids, playing around of some sparkly thing; preoccupied and so minuscule she couldn't really see. Sure as hell not dealing with that. Don't really know him very well anyway. Somewhere in the city, Raphaela could tell, a ghost-like being was probably poking around; though it was never much of her concern. And so, just like that, she moved on.

It was only when she was well in Xibalba, sweater and jeans uncomfortably damp, that she saw anything that was mildly surprising. From a high vantage point just over an alleyway, she could see the outlines of a mismatched group of kids meeting; spread out around what looked like a dead body. It wasn't so much the corpse but the teens, as most children knew better than asking for a death sentence at the dead of night. From what she could tell, they were terribly easy pickings; albeit one had a gun. But guns wouldn't stop people like me.

But, no matter how much she wanted to crash that party, picking fights wasn't exactly her thing. And, as bad days usually went, something would probably go terribly wrong. So, rather than acting like a typical bad guy and swooping in to prove just why hanging out in Xibalba was stupid while shamelessly singing a disney song, she propelled herself backwards with a seamless crack of a small-scale explosion to land on another roof; with the spot she'd just been in up in tiny flames. And then, with no more interest to the area than she would have for a rock, lighted down to the pavement and roamed there; keeping alert in case a ridiculous teen happened to follow her.

Rather than an easily manageable kid (or at least for now), however, Raphaela found someone far more irritating. Izzie. Agh. She was, as earlier stated, not exactly herself; too exhausted to make sarcastic comments or even really attempt to get her annoying partner angry. So, instead, all she did was sigh and walk forwards; if only to pass her by. It was then that she noticed an overturned car and.. two idiots. "Oh? What happened here?" She didn't break stride as they finally got out but, standing directly in front of their car, fulfilled a sudden urge to blow things up.

The force of the car spontaneously exploding blew her back a couple dozen feet; though conveniently landing beside, or in close proximity, to a certain giant. Well. That was refreshing. A tad rejuvenated and, as you may have noticed, completely indifferent to the state of the aforementioned idiots, Raphaela hopped back to her feet. "Didn't ruin your moment there, did I?" Although the whole situation called for attention, there really wasn't anything in Xibalba either of them couldn't handle. Or, at least nothing I couldn't get myself out of.

Setting

5 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Terra Whitney Thorne Character Portrait: Twilla Mavis Erubus Character Portrait: Nicoletta Celeste Ardente Character Portrait: Matthew Character Portrait: Syd Lastern
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Yes, she was naĂŻve as hell. She knew that. Vincente just loved pointing that little fault out to her all time and poking fun at it since it irked her so much, so how could Nicoletta not have been fully aware of it? For all she was worth, and all she knew, she was still just a sixteen-year-old girl whose most traumatic moment was seeing her older brother nearly killed before her, she herself had never suffered such a pain before. The only aches she felt were emotional, caused by loneliness and the isolation she kept herself in for the sakes of others; to keep them from being hurt by her and the powers she had so little control over. . . .

Face still red from the irritation she felt, and angry tears still falling from her eyes, Nicoletta maintained her gaze upon the man as he spoke to her and to the others. Common sense found no home in her head when her temper got the better of her, really, she was still so irked. Normally, Nicoletta was able to go and just figure out what she thought of people right off the bat, but this man was not so simple. He had saved her . . . and subsequently killed someone in doing so, then he also went and aimed pistols at the heads of two people who were innocent themselves. Only having found their way into the alley by some freak chance it seemed. She wasn’t sure what to think of him exactly, should she think of him as a murderer or a savior. . . ?

Eyes flicking down to the growing cold corpse of the man who had been shot through the skull whilst laughing at the warning made upon him after threatening her . . . she felt a tug upon her heart still. Pity and sadness. No matter the life, a person was a person and death was a sad thing, but there was also the fact to consider what may have occurred to her had he not. . . . If he had not been slain, what would have become of her? Caught within the rain, her powers were useless, she couldn’t have saved herself, and it was possible that the only way to stop those men was to. . . . Was death really the only option in saving her? No, I don’t want to think like that. . . ! she thought, releasing a pitiful breath, But, the sad truth is that . . . really may have been the only way.

Sighing quietly, Nicolette drew her gaze away from the body and looked about at those whom were also within the alleyway. They weren’t much different in age compared to her. All of them, children really. But, they almost had just died at the hand of someone who also was not so different in age from them.

The rain was still coming down as hard as ever, not letting up one bit. Nicoletta could feel it pooling up at her feet, the alleyway not draining the excess water very well it seemed. She hated the rain. It meant she was powerless, and it caused problems like tonight, things to happen that were horrible. . . . The blonde’s thoughts drifted back to before, to what she should make of the gun toting man; savior or murderer? What was he. . . ? The issue of what to make of him, how she should judge him would press at her until she was able to clear it up . . . she knew it. Nicoletta remembered what he said, about her reminding him of someone. . . . He’d smiled, though it was not very visible in the dim lightning of the Xibalba alleyway, she’d seen it, that melancholy. And that only made it harder for her to try and figure out how she should see him.

Normally it was so easy for her to choose how she would see someone, had his actions been as simple as killing that man and leaving, she probably would have just seen him as a bad person. But no, it couldn’t be so easy for her, not in the situations she found herself in. When she was lost in Xibalba on a rainy night while having forgotten her cell phone at home, judging someone couldn’t be simple for her at all. Didn’t he say something about ‘The Deck?’ Nicoletta asked herself, drawing upon her rather poor memory, Aren’t they some syndicate around here, like the Roses. . . ?

Tightening her hands into fists at her side, Nicoletta looked to the ground, he’d also said something about not being hired for services. . . ? So, then. . . .

And, while knowing that she could not rest until she had made an adamant decision. . . . Nicoletta did something she knew Vincente was going to reprimand her for later on, but as things were, he was going to already be having a cow for the fact she’d gone and vanished half the night and forgotten her cell phone at home. Nicoletta took a tentative step forward, maintaining a terse expression upon her face. “Wait,” She spoke, voice loud enough to cut through the rain. Walking passed the strange girl, and making sure to step by the corpse carefully and the boy who run into the alley by accident, Nicoletta reach into the back pocket of her shorts and pulled something out.

She stopped in front of him, “Whether this was considered a ‘service’ by you or not, I owe you.” Nicoletta said to him quietly, “Even if I don’t know what the Hell to think of you still, the fact remains that you did . . . save me from something terrible.” Looking down at her hands, the teenager fumbled about with a red duct taped wallet she had made in crafts’ class at school, and subsequently pulled out money from it. The thought of paying someone who just killed a person to save her made Nicoletta feel a bit ill, but. . . .

Not saying much else, but keeping that same expression upon her face, Nicoletta counted out several hundred-dollar bills before slipping the remainder of it into her wallet and placing said item back into her pocket. Letting out a long sigh, she looked at the money for a moment before casting her gaze up to him, no trace of any sort of fear within her bones. “Here,” she said, holding it out for him to take. “. . . .my name is Nicoletta Ardente. That is the name of the idiot girl who was wandering around Xibalba in the rain tonight. Look the name up if you need a favor that falls into the area of legality, because I know that money is not equal to a person’s life.”

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Character Portrait: Syd Lastern
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Wait

Syd turned around, slightly shocked and slightly annoyed. Now what? He thought with a slight grumble in his head. He really needed to get going, or else the Deck would be wondering if somehow making a beer run was too much for their leader. That wouldn't look good, and he really didn't feel like beating somebody up to prove he was still good to be at the top. He raised an eyebrow in the darkness, starting to feel a little queezy at all the black surrounding him. He really wanted to just glow, use that freaky light powers of his and make himself feel better, but he restrained himself: He didn't need random strangers spreading rumors about how a guy from Xibalba could glow in the dark. Not something his reputation could handle very well.

He then noticed that she was pulling something out of her pocket, though he couldn't tell until she was standing right in front of him, and even then it was hard to make out what was nesting in her tiny hands. Whether this was considered a ‘service’ by you or not, I owe you. He raised his eyebrow once again, confused as to why she would be saying such a thing. If she hadn't known it or not, she already repaid him for not giving him nightmares for the night, but information of that secrecy wouldn't be known by this girl. Even if I don’t know what the Hell to think of you still, the fact remains that you did . . . save me from something terrible. He could tell that she really didn't want to do this, or was extremely nervous by her shaking hands. Regardless of the cold, she didn't look good as she pulled out money from her pocket and began counting money. Both eyebrows up now, he was in a state of shock: A girl was paying him without a contract? Bizarre. He rarely refused money, regardless of how he got it, but he did have some morals, such as 'You shall not take money from girls that remind you of somebody and didn't ask you for a job.' Okay, he just made it up, but he was still befuddled by her behavior.

Here...my name is Nicoletta Ardente. That is the name of the idiot girl who was wandering around Xibalba in the rain tonight. Look the name up if you need a favor that falls into the area of legality, because I know that money is not equal to a person’s life. He stared at her long and hard. He wasn't sure of this girl was serious, or if she was just messing with him after he told her about his 'services'. Either way, he really didn't want to take the money of a girl who didn't hire him. It didn't seem right. But, after some consideration, he grabbed the bottom bill of the pile she made, and stuffed the hundred dollar bill in his inner jacket pocket. He left the others in her hand.

"Nicoletta Ardente eh? I take it that you are probably the daughter of the Mr. Ardente, the successful business owner. That would explain why you would carry hundred dollar bills around." His Canadian accent shone as he spoke, not feeling the need to keep his tone steady anymore. He gave her a small smirk as he remembered how she called herself an idiot. He turned away from her and began to walk.

"The name is Syd. Syd Lastern. I go by many other names, but Joker seems to be the one that sticks. That or CardMaster. One or the other." He turned back around and faced her once again, smiling like a cat. He didn't care if she put the pieces together and found out he was the leader of the Deck. She wouldn't come after him anyway. "And I believe you have it wrong, Miss Ardente. I don't go looking for favours, I am hired."

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Character Portrait: Nicoletta Celeste Ardente Character Portrait: Syd Lastern
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Nicoletta had figured it out quickly enough that he was only going to be taking the bit of money from her that he had, the one bill. After this had been done, she went ahead and simply slipped what he had not taken back into her shorts, not bothering to fumble about with her wallet once more. He’d caught her name, and quickly enough deduced whom her father was, not that it wasn’t a bit obvious, after all, how many girls floating about her age with the last name ‘Ardente’ with a rather large sum of money on their person? Her surname was not a very common one in the least, and as far as Nicoletta understood, her father had made a good name for himself in the business world. . . . And, Syd, that was what he had said his name was, with him saying he was a part of ‘the Deck,’ one of New Ithaca’s syndicates, it wasn’t much of a surprise to find out that her father was known.

The CEO of a well to do company would be known by people who would want to find out ways to exploit money from them. . . .

As the rain continued to pour, cracks of thunder rumbling through the air, causing Nicoletta’s small body to tense up, the girl simply thought to herself about certain matters. Though she deemed herself an idiot, she was paying attention to Syd’s words, and also, the fact that the tone in his voice did not remain completely consistent as it had before, Did I catch a Canadian accent? There was also the fact that . . . he hadn’t taken any money from her for a notable length of time despite her offering it up to him. And even when he had gone and taken some of it, it was not the lot of it, but just one bill. Truly an unusual thing to see, normally if a person was offered up money, and they had absolutely no conscience, they would not have at all hesitating in taking it, and normally, people would go and take the whole lot of it even after being so unsure. Yet, he did not.

That was something which conflicted with the fact he had killed a person with so little regard. And, it confused Nicoletta even more. How she perceived people, or, how she choose to view them, that was a very important part in her living. She could never be comfortable unless she knew what she thought of people. Syd had murdered a person without hesitating, and at the same time saved her from God only knew what sort of fate. So, do I deem him as a killer or a savior? she asked herself, removing one of her small hands from the pocket of her sodden shorts.

This issue was going to gnaw away at her sanity until she remedied it; he had said he did not go looking for favors, but he was hired. Had he misunderstood her words? Even if he does not go looking to get favors from anyone, I don’t think he quite got what I meant by that. As Nicoletta were, she couldn’t put two and two together and figure out who Syd was, the aliases and the fact that he was a part of the Deck should have been clear enough material to realize it, but. . . .
The blonde teenager opened her mouth to speak one last time, “Syd, even if you’re not out looking for favors, I still owe you. What I meant to say, is that it is an open offer that can be taken up on at any time in the future. Even if you are normally ‘hired,’ you’ve still gone and indebted someone to yourself.”

. . . .though, Vincente will be royally pissed off when he finds out I went and did this. Offering a favor to someone who murdered a person right before me. She reminded herself, sighing quietly. “Just . . . remember it.” Just as she finished speaking, lightning flashed across the sky, a bellowing bit of thunder roared behind it—one loud enough to insight a reaction from Nicoletta. She shrieked out in shock, and descended to the ground, supporting herself in a tight ball on her feet as her heart skipped beats in her chest from being startled. As she sat there, trying to regain her composure, Nicoletta failed to realize something, something that was rather important.

As she had gone down, she’d thrown her arms up and over her head . . . all the while, her body had been trying to force flames from her hands in self defense. Because of the rain, the arcs had not formed into anything magnificent or dangerous, but the fire was notable enough in the dimness that was Xibalba, for a moment, Nicoletta had produced some light.

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Character Portrait: Syd Lastern
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Syd paused as she began to speak, and turned back around when he heard he voice once again. The lightning was starting to unsettle him, as his fear of thunder still existed. The irony of it all, eh? He could get supercharged by lightning, but thunder scared him shitless. He didn't know what to do with himself during a storm, for he hadn't told anybody of his fear, which was based solely off of his memories. If that day hadn't happened... where would he be now? Living a life accepted by society? Married? He pushed these thoughts away instantly in a rageful despair. If he dwelt on that now, he would lose his composure, and very well his sanity. He didn't need that, not now, not in front of a very rich girl and a bunch of normal folk.

Syd, even if you’re not out looking for favors, I still owe you. What I meant to say, is that it is an open offer that can be taken up on at any time in the future. Even if you are normally ‘hired,’ you’ve still gone and indebted someone to yourself. Syd raised an eyebrow at her statement. So that is what she meant. Pardon that, I guess she meant the other way round... He sighed, wishing he had gotten that drift earlier. However, what she said was dangerous: Speaking to a Xibalban resident that if he ever needed a favor, to call her up. She told him to remember it, and he nodded slightly, and then lightning flashed. Horrified, he was flung into his memories once again, the constant reminder that thunderstorms gave him of the fateful day his girlfriend killed herself. However, he was flung out of his flashback when he saw soemthing that stunned him almost as much as the lightning: The girl, Nicoletta, suddenly had fire coming out of her hands. Not much, but enough to give him more energy from the light and a stunned expression.

He couldn't believe it. His face shone with utter disbelief in what he just saw coming from her hands, and for a moment, he couldn't think. Couldn't breath. There are others like me out there? I-I thought I was an abnormality, one of those little oddballs when life feels like screwing you up. "You... You.." Gone was his normal facade, his cold demeanor, now full of terror and a little of wonder. "You just... fire... hands..." He spluttered out as she began to regain her composure, and he didn't know what to do. However, he knew one thing; if he offered hospitality at the Deck, she may never leave. He took in a few deep breaths, and spoke.

"It seems we share more in common than I originally thought." He began to glow as he walked over to her, and with lightning quick speed, handed her a playing card. "I may take you up on that offer later." The glowing began to get more intense as he walked over and grabbed his groceries all in one hand, them now soaked under the constant rain. "I have a funny feeling we will be seeing each other once again. But remember this Nicoletta Ardente." He gave her a small smile. "You may regret giving a favor to the CardMaster of the Deck." And with that, he used his speed of light travel to simply disappear, even disposing of the body, before completely leaving the area, and all at the speed of light.

He stopped his light speed right infront of the door, steadying himself. That was probably one of the longest times he had ever 'flitted' as he liked to call it. He pushed open the door to the House of Cards and smiled in a giddy sort of way. Oh yes, we will be seeing each other much more often. And whose to say she is the only one? His giddy smile turned into something slightly more sinister as he announced his presence back home.

Home. They say the heart resides there. Yeah right.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Raphaela Valencia Shire Character Portrait: Izzie Vieira
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Image and Izzie Vieira

"My moment consisted of world's most witless fucking sniper missing two targets at point blank range, it ruined itself long before you got here." "Oh, really? Hard to believe when there's so much of you." Sarcastic tone aside, this short Italian criminal was almost overly satisfied; the spreading fire, her work of art, reflected among a hungry predator’s eyes. Because, as an insistent crowd of angry, small-time villainous sidekicks began streaming out of half-burning buildings, she finally realized that ‘Hey! These aren’t fucking smart bounty hunters! Now there’s an easy way to let off steam!’ Or, well, something along those lines. In any case, even if that didn’t merit enough, at least causing this much of an irritation to the giant beside her would be worth something satisfactory.These were the only thoughts that entertained Raphaela as her mood abruptly soared from her earlier, depressed state of mind; and brought on much the smile as the settled kinks from a sleepless night audibly worked themselves out.

"Oh, really?" Raphaela retorted sardonically, with an all-too-satisfied aire about her. "Hard to believe when there's so much of you." Izzie chose not to dignify this with a responce. Less because it was an insult and more because she took it as a compliment, well aware that 'so much of you' was in reference to height and Izzie was more than a little proud of her stature. The silent, minute smirk that momentarily crossed her otherwise harsh features did not last long, however, quickly ran right out of town by the event that saw fit to take place in responce to Raphaela's exploding the car bearing the aforementioned world's most witless fucking sniper. Izzie suppressed an irate rolling of the eyes as any number of even more witless thugs began to pour from the assortment of buildings that surrounded the two agents of Chaos. Evidently, they took issue with Raphaela blowing up their people. Fucking brilliant, now I get to stick around and beat the shit out of a bunch of small-time mooks. "Damn fedelho," she grunted off-handedly down at Raphaela as she shoved a hand down the pocket of her leather jacket in pursuit of another smoke. She was gonna need it to deal with this shit.

The familiar, comforting feeling of self-fulfilled contentment created a rather nice, fuzzy feeling in Raphaela’s otherwise empty stomach; and it was so when she cracked the last nick in her neck. “Hey, they’d pool out from an overturned car just as well.” At this point however, before either had a chance to respond, her ever-satisfied smile seemed to finally burst the offended thugs’ last rational vein; simultaneously breaking the dam that had formed between the two females and, for lack of a better word, horde. So, with the tension she really hadn’t felt having just snapped, they literally ran forwards screaming and waving little sticks and stones; giving less than a thought to their apparent, self-assured safety. Oh, try me. Because, after all, what harm could two unarmed women, wandering around Xibalba at night, possibly do? The thought never ceased to cause rounds of boisterous laughter, but in these circumstances only amounted to the cracking of a large smile.

In any case, regardless of what they were thinking or even what incoherent insults they were hurling, the Archangel didn’t notice; caught in her own, systematic world full of explosion-wreaking havoc. Between tiny mushroom-clouds of gravel, fiery bites out of the neighboring structures, and half-drunken bodies being catapulted into walls, it could barely be said if she was actually thinking; less even where she happened to be. Especially when these little bits and pieces sprung up everywhere almost spontaneously. But, with such general mayhem and confusion breaking out all over the place, this little 'two against the world' street-fight quickly turned into a regular brawl; then just a pile of half-broken bodies and corpses altogether. Or at least it was so by the time Raphaela had reached her personal record of shattering the umpteenth ribcage.


Izzie was torn between a satisfied smirk and an irascible scowl as the mob of thugs advanced. Wasn't sure whether to be pleased that this opportunity to blow off steam and crack some lowlife skulls had presented itself or annoyed...for much the same reason. She was no stranger to conflict of internal feelings, but whenever such disagreements arose within her mind, Izzie had found the simple way to get rid of it was copious amounts of violence, preferably followed by a smoke, or a beer. So ultimately, when the question of Do I really wanna deal with this shit? made its overtures, and the horde of bruisers all but began charging towards what appeared to be a couple of strange women simply glaring them down, Izzie responded to that all-important question by stampeding forth towards the oncoming attackers.

It rapidly dawned on the thugs that what they had taken to be a couple of out-of-place, defenceless women was anything but. Funnily enough, this revelation seemed to grace the lot of them concurrent with the moment explosions commenced to discharging out of absolutely nowhere and the comparatively taller, heavier woman all but disappeared. Which is to say, stormed forward at a speed the painfully mundane human eyes of the thugs could never hope to keep up with, up until the moment her elbow came crashing into the face of the nearest thug, reducing an already repulsive mug to a broken mass of flesh and bone. She didn't dawdle behind to admire her handiwork before making a demolished corpse of the next man, and the next, rapidly moving into those areas where Shorty's explosions had not decimated the mass of goons and making short work of ameliorating that.

Immensely satisfying, but my body will probably hate me tomorrow. Actually, I'm pretty sure it already does. Amidst the much admired view of a whole block's worth of burning buildings and half-crushed bodies, Raphaela could only sigh in otherwise complete contentment; before, of course, getting the hell out of open sight. Because, although being short, she was much too easy a target when being one of the only two, you know, upright and alive. With adrenaline beginning to finally run low, her own limbs began to ache in much an unholy way; but even that couldn't pull her out of good spirits. But then again, sparking chains of spontaneous combustions is bound to put one in one or the other irreversable extreme; and it's really self-explanatory which one Raphaela indulged in. It was as if a frustrating weight, or perhaps buzzing fly, from the earlier events of the day had been suddenly shot down; leaving some form of happy clarity. To sum this all up, like a drug-induced high. But without the hallucinations, or the significant decrease in brain cells.

In any case, unfortunately, life never keeps so nice. The clamor and outrageously loud noise caused by this innocent, sweet late-night massacre (and burning buildings) had --or would soon-- attract the attention of many, many other people; be it the inevitable police or certain teenagers who just happened to be in Xibalba that night. Since, although numerous in the commons would beg to differ, there simply couldn't possibly be a way that nobody could've at least heard the destruction; even between thunderstorm rumblings. And, from one logical standpoint to another, curiosity tends to follow suite. Anyone within the borders of the crime-ridden streets would have no excuse, for how could you miss burning, blazing fires in the middle of a perfectly dark night?

But, as it was, Raphaela honestly didn't give a damn; simply admiring the view, shrouded in the shadows of one of the only durable, intact structures left. Beyond which, of course, was a very empty backstreet alley; connecting with many other, although perhaps not as lifeless, paths out of the fresh crime scene. Not giving, as you can see, never means that self-preservation didn't come first; that, you know, rabbit holes and escape routes hadn't already been charted. Because wanted criminals simply don't slip up that way. Or, for sake of the argument, Raphaela doesn't slip up that way. Well. Some giants just charge through things. Amazing that it actually works. Then again, there aren't many people who can stop a train in her tracks. Besides, of course, the train herself.

For the next while, Raphaela kept to her place; watching anything that happened to come into view. Or, by perhaps some magical gut feeling, just waiting for some equally magical meeting through fate. Nevertheless, like a temporarily amused cat, she would be gone at the sound of a siren uncomfortably close; probably even before then. But at the moment, she was there; and just the same aware.

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Twilla Mavis Erubus Character Portrait: Nicoletta Celeste Ardente Character Portrait: Syd Lastern
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What . . . had she gone and let herself do? Fire, she had let fire come from her hands. Nicoletta remained knelt down to the ground, her body having felt as if it had gone utterly numb. The horrid shock of realization settled in upon her as she came to know what it was she had stupidly gone and done. In front of people she did not know, in front of a man whom she could not decide to think of as a murderer or a savior, she had shown her powers. Even if thunder was something that startled her to no ends, there was no excuse for her to have been so damn careless!! Hands still over her head, Nicoletta’s grey eyes were wide as her breathing was held fast in her lungs. It felt like her heart had even stopped beating for the moment, as she understood the reality she was now living within.

So . . .what was going to happen to her now? To a man who had killed a normal human without the slightest bit of remorse, would he now take her life as well given what she had just done? This was why she never allowed herself to be around others, why she kept herself isolated. . . . It was just easier, it kept things like this from happening. It kept people safe, it kept her, safe.

Nicoletta heard him sputter as he began trying to speak, to understand what it was she had just done in front of him. His composure, shattered by the shock of seeing a seemingly normal girl suddenly spurt fire from her hands. Even the outward face of a coldblooded murderer/savior could be broken by seeing such a phenomena. Swallowing back the feelings she had, the fear and the utter numbness as realizing what it was she had gone and done, Nicoletta lowered her hands from above her head, shaking, and looked up. Is, is he going kill me?

The sensation of unfeeling remaining, Nicoletta allowed an expression of worry seep on over her features as the rain continued to pour down from above as she slowly forced herself to ascend upward, to her diminutive height. If she was going to be executed now, for her strangeness, better she face it head on rather than cowering. ”It seems we share more in common than I originally thought.” Syd began to speak . . . his words catching Nicoletta off-guard. A jolt ran through her when she realized what he had said, ‘in common.’ She did not understand what it was that was suppose to mean until the man began to . . . glow. Nicoletta’s jaw tightened as she bore witness to this, and her eyes widened as far as they could. The girl’s whole body tensed up, and she nearly took a step backward, yet forced herself to stand her ground, even feeling the shock she did. Syd was . . . he was glowing, lighting up like a lamp!

He took a step toward her, and suddenly, before she could even blink, was right in front of her. Looming over top of her while putting something into her hand. Too stunned she was, to look down to it, as she kept her gaze transfixed upon Syd, feeling nothing but panic and confusion. Nicoletta didn’t understand. . . . She did not understand what was going on or what had just happened, what Syd was doing, how he was doing it. ”I may take you up on that offer later.” he spoke, simply walking over to pick up his since abandoned groceries, lighting up brighter and brighter as if it were perfectly normal.

Oh dear God, what can of worms have I opened? Nicoletta thought, his words sinking in as she really came to understand what was now happening before her. It was one thing for her to go and grant an open favor to a man to whom she could not decide upon being a murderer or a savior, and who was also part of the Deck. . . . But the fact that he also was . . . in a word, like—like her, that was something else. Should she have felt relief at finding out that she was not the only person in the world with unexplainable abilities, or should caution have been everything?

"I have a funny feeling we will be seeing each other once again. But remember this Nicoletta Ardente." Syd smiled at her before continuing, "You may regret giving a favor to the CardMaster of the Deck."

With those words spoken, Syd was gone, vanishing into the night, along with the corpse of the man whom had been killed. That was when the shaking in her began, her whole frame began to violent tremble as she held onto the sopping wet playing card that had been forced into her hands as cold fear began to creep into her bones. Not only was Syd dangerous as a normal human, but he was. . . . Like her. She probably should have felt relief, happy that she wasn’t alone in the world, that she wasn’t the only person with some odd power, but Nicoletta simply could not just go and feel relief. I just opened a can of worms unlike any other by letting my secret slip, I’ve made myself known to someone who would have otherwise just been someone I could repay with something mundane in the future. Like me or not in terms of powers, there is no telling what Syd may ask of me now in regard to the favor I went and granted to him.

Releasing a shaky breath, Nicoletta allowed her eyes to shut as she turned her neck downward, letting her sodden hair stick to her flesh. In the dim lighting of Xibalba, the blonde opened her eyes and looked at the playing card in her hands. It was giving way to the rain, the cardboard of it was bending. It was a sign of the danger she had put herself in, herself and her brother.

There was a clatter from back within the alleyway that startled Nicoletta back into reality. The sound of a trashcan being forced from its place and hitting against the wall. The noise jolted the fire charmer, and forced her to look up. Still holding onto the playing card, she turned her head about, gazing around to see that it seemed that she were now alone—the boy and girl whom Syd had held at gunpoint had vanished. . . . Getting away while they had a chance, before they got into more trouble. Not that Nicoletta could blame them, it was the sensible route.

But, if she were alone . . . then how did that trashcan get thrown? Earlier, she had thought she’d heard something rattle one of those things, but she wasn’t certain. Part of her mind still concerned about the can of worms she’d gone and opened, Nicoletta turned around, and took and idle step forward, looking around as carefully as she could in the rainy darkness. Lips partly open, she made a small effort to speak. “H-Hello? Is there someone else . . . there?”

Her heels clicked against the flooded pavement as she again stepped ahead, still carefully looking about. Was there really someone there? Or had the trashcan just . . . moved on its own? Given the fact that Nicoletta herself, and Syd, apparently, possessed otherworldly powers, it didn’t seem unlikely. Venturing further back into the fenced in alley, to where this all would become the beginning of something, Nicoletta’s eyes scanned the murky parts . . . eyes adjusting for the lack of light, she found herself able to make out a faint figure against the blackness. Though she could not see features, she did at least know someone was there.

“I-I see you there, and well, you’re okay here. I’m not going to hurt you. . . .”