A Game of Life and Death

[Lordxana0]

What is life worth if one does not fight for it? What is death worth if one cannot fight against it?

A clock rang out through the empty city streets as the players awoke from a deep sleep some of them must have thought would be eternal. As they looked around they would notice the streets were empty of all signs of life, save six other people awakening from the ground in the same fashion they were. As they looked around they would notice that this city was not in fact the same city or place they had died, but rather a place they had never seen before. As the bell finished its toll the noise of a cellphone that was not their own rang in their pocket. If they were so inclined to pull it out they would find it was a smartphone with no brand name or logo attached to it. If they were so inclined to check the phones they would notice they had a message. 'Welcome to the Resurrection Games, for the next seven days players will complete a variety of missions and work together to earn points, if teams earn enough combined points after seven days they will be given another chance at life, you have thirty minutes before the game begins, please take this time to introduce yourself to your fellow players -Akibas Nogama, Session Game Master' A small timer appeared on the first screen of the phone counting down the time they had before the mission began.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Floating Reaper Base Nagami: Current Location, High Above Gamezone 2

A man dressed in a white hoodie with small angel wings on the back of it. sat on a throne in what appeared to be a cross between a king's court area and a bridge that looked like it belonged on a spaceship set. Scores of men wearing red hoodies with the hoods that covering their faces were typing out on the computers, reading lines of code as if they were written in plain English. The man allowed a slow smile to spread to his face as another figure made its way to his throne.

The man walking to the throne was dressed in a black hoodie, with the hood down revealing a mess of long black hair and two blazing red eyes. "The players have awoken Lord Nogama, I have already rigged their Pandora Boxes with the virus code, as soon as they open them to claim their weapons and powers they will be put under your command."

The man on the throne allowed a small smile to slip onto his face. "Good work Zeke, another batch of recruits to add to the army, we should celebrate... while I should at least, I know that you disapprove of my method of celebration" he snapped and a man in a green hoodie walked into the room with a bottle of wine and poured him a glass before giving a small bow to both of the men and leaving. The White hooded man slowly drained the glass and looked at the black hooded man's disapproving glance. "Oh don't you judge me, I am pretty sure you lost that right along with your wings"

Zeke winced as the man brought up a memory that was particularly painful to him. "I meant no disrespect, I simply thought I should mention that just because things are going well for us now doesn't mean that they won't go wrong down the road, celebrating so early is sure to invite Karmas hand."

The white hooded man sighed and finished the glass and grinned. "Please Zeke, what could possibly go wrong?"


((Yes it is a rather short post to start out with, but it is designed to be this way due to the first part mostly being about character interaction. Players do not start out right away with their powers, they will be obtained later. For now just get to know each other until the first missions starts))

[JackAlsworth]

BONG

Pain. That was the first thing that Rachel noticed when she awoke: a dull, throbbing ache in her head and spine. She groaned and rolled over. Just five more minutes...

She felt pavement. Not her bed, then. Wonderful.

BONG

She opened her eyes. A long city street greeted her. She didn't recognize it, which was impossible; she prided herself on knowing her hometown's layout better than anyone. Perhaps more importantly, it was completely deserted. No cars, no people, not even pigeons fluttering around fighting for castoffs.

Something was terribly wrong.

Aren't I supposed to be dead?

Stiffly, she reached around and touched the back of her head. Sure enough, she felt blood - and a small hole. Memory returned in a haze - a desperate dash to the exit, confused shouting. A push - stumbling backward. Anger. Gunshots. Pain -

BONG

She pushed herself to her feet, still sore, and glanced around quickly. Where in the hell is that noise coming from?

Her question was answered almost immediately by the gigantic clock tower standing at the end of the street. She was definitely not in Kansas anymore.

BONG

Shut up, already.

She felt a weight in her pocket. That was new. She reached in and pulled out a fancy-looking smart phone. I don't remember taking this...

The message light was blinking. She pressed it. The note was, unsurprisingly, cryptic and confusing. Something about resurrection and points. Who was this Nogama guy, anyway?

BONG

Wait a sec... fellow players?

She looked behind her. Sure enough, five other people were groggily rising to their feet. She didn't recognize any of them. Well, why should that change now? All of them were older than her, looking around bemusedly. Probably in the same situation she was.

Speaking of which, back to the whole Being Dead thing.

BONG

Goddamn it. Thinking was already hard enough, the bell tolling wasn't helping anything.

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."

"Oh, yeah, real clever, Trent."

She chuckled, but stopped quickly. Laughing still hurt.

The phone buzzed. Another light was flashing. She pressed it. A timer took up the whole display screen:

28:37 28:36 28:35

Well, that can't be good.

Clearly she wasn't going to get any more information just standing here. "Hey," she called out to none of her new companions in particular, "any of you know what's going on?"

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

He shouldn't be alive.

He knew that he had died, and yet this did not look like any afterlife he was familiar with. He had not wished to meet his death, but it had happened, and by the end he had craved it, welcomed the final release from what he could no longer face. He allowed his mind to gloss over the memories of the end, instead letting it relive the blessed numbness and nothingness that had come after, as he gazed down at his hands.

His hands. Two of them, five fingers on each, whole and intact. These weren't his hands. And what of the rest of him? In whose gardens was he buried now? The stomach that, rationally, could not be his rolled violently as the memories he had tried to suppress came surging back in a rush.

He fell to his knees, weeping and screaming and pleading with the heavens until this new throat felt as ragged as the first. At last he collapsed, even his despair spent; only then did he notice that there was a message waiting for him on a mysterious cellphone in his pocket.

He pulled the phone out and scanned the message quickly, taking its meaning in as best he could.

So I'm to be a tool.

He had died once for Melissa, and it hadn't been enough; how, then, could he deny her this, when it might afford them one... last... chance?

So be it, then.

He stood, with some effort-- grateful to the darkness of the night and his clothing for hiding the ghostly scars which he could feel tracing their way along his new flesh-- ready to introduce himself, as instructed, to his new "teammates".

Only...

Andy had died, and rightly so. He didn't belong in this world. If his body and soul would see no grave, at least his name could rest in peace. Mentally he ran through a list of names, and selected the one he felt was most appropriate, whispering it to himself as though to accustom himself to his new moniker. "Malek."

[Sicon112]

BONG

BONG

BONG

The clock sounds so nice, doesn't it? I think its upsetting my new playmates though. Maybe I should climb down from this wall and see if they are ready to play the game. What? You want to know what's going on? OK! I'm Ronove, and this is my best friend Emily! See? She's waving to you! Say hi, Emily! Why am I sitting up here on this wall? Well, I was bored waiting for the rest of them to wake up. They really are silly to sleep this late in the day, especially when it's time for a game.

I think I'll just sit up here for a minute and let all of them figure out about the game. Their pocket phones are all ringing now. I can hear all six separate sounds meshing together. They all got sent really close to each other. Maybe the game masters all got together and played a game to see if they could text all at the same time! That would be funny. You want to know why I can hear so well? That's because my eyes are always closed! When I didn't want to use my eyes anymore, I asked my ears to do their job instead! It was hard at first, but Marco Polo is always a fun game, so I didn't have too much trouble. Now I get to play it everywhere I go!

Oh, it looks like someone wants to know what is happening. Didn't she read her message? Maybe she doesn't get it. Not everyone understands games. I hoped that a bunch of fun people would be picked, but maybe I have to teach them to be fun! That could be a game all by itself. I'm going to go see how fun she is now!

Even though I'm dropping down right behind her, she doesn't seem to hear me yet. She should pay more attention, or else she won't do very well in games like hide and seek! Not like me. I'm very good at those games. Emily thinks she is silly for letting me get so close behind her, and can't help but cackle. Emily is definitely not any good at sneaky games, but she is a great friend anyway. Oh well. She is going to turn around and see me now, so I'd better greet her too!

"Of course I know! We are playing a game! It's going to be a really fun game, too!"

[RationalThought]

Bong!

The dark sound of time rang out across the empty, black street. Again it sounded, and again. The hollow sound filled the empty street, each fleeting tone ringing like that of a thousand clocks. Thrice more, marking the sixth hour of the day, as the golden light of the sun was just barely beginning to pierce the blackness of night. Within the oppressive, authoritarian blocks of the city, the light barely pierced the long shadows of the hollow street.

This was the hour of wonder.

In the shadows of dawn, a man awoke. The night gave his already pale complexion an almost pallid look, his messy hair - a pale brown, in this darkness nearly appearing grey - cascading around his face - a calm, intelligent expression permanently etched onto his lineless, boyish face. Indeed - it would be easy to assume the man was a teenager - but that impression ended when his striking, brilliant blue eyes opened. Those eyes displayed an intelligence that seemed out of place - as out of place as those brilliant eyes were on the pale hair and the pale complexion.

Now was the hour of rebirth.

The last thing Gerald Rhinehardt remembered before waking up here was a voice. A gruff, cruel, low-pitched voice. "You've been messing with the wrong people," it said. Then a cold, steel weight against his legs, plunging him deep into a cold, wet, darkness. Then, after violence and fear, peace. As his breath had stopped, so had his struggles, as the warm embrace of death captured him.

Now was the hour of impossibility.

And now Gerald had awakened. Saved? he thought, as he adjusted his square, black-rimmed glasses, a fleeting, easily dismissed hope. Were he saved, he would have awakened in a hospital - he would have required immediate medical attention, were he to have lived. This also ruled out the possibility that he was being interrogated - they went far too far for waterboarding to have been an option. This left only one option.

He was dead.

A slight smirk appeared on Gerald's face, as he rose, adjusting his pitch-black T-shirt. So, I suppose I was wrong. Gerald had never really believed in any afterlife - and now it seemed there was one. Intriguing - this required further investigation. Why was he alive, who had killed him? No doubt the murder he'd been investigating was involved - otherwise, he wouldn't have been silenced. He felt a vibration in the pocket of his pale brown khaki pants, and opened his phone.

28:37 28:36 28:35

A bomb? No, no one would be that crude...What could this timer mean? He took a look around for the first time, noticing the other six individuals who had appeared in his field of vision, his eyes falling especially on the strange child who seemed to have popped behind the woman. Perhaps the two of them could shed some light on the situation. He opened his mouth, pausing to reflect on the lack of water in his mouth - further evidence that he was dead. He was entirely sure of this, of course, but it never hurt to double-check facts. He began to speak, in his baritone, somewhat dark voice.

"Pardon me but...do either of you two you have any idea where we are?"

[eli_gone_crazy]

Jamie winced at each toll of the great bell. Ah come on, when did they install THAT? he thought, rolling into a sitting position and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Huh.. Must've had too much to drink at Bailey's again... Opening his eyes, he found that he was not, in fact, outside Bailey's Midtown Tavern. In fact, it was highly probably he was in the street of some unknown town. "Well this is new." Jamie muttered, rocking to his feet, swaying a bit as his stomach roiled. Something's not right... Is... Is that girl's head BLEEDING?!

Jamie glanced around, and saw six other people in various states of awakening, some checking themselves over, as if amazed that they were there; others were looking at their cellphones. Wonder if... oh hey it did survive Jamie thought as he pulled out the phone. His eyes poured over the message, looking for some hint to what exactly he was doing there.

"Of course I know! We are playing a game! It's going to be a really fun game, too!"

Jamie winced at the kid's yelling, "Hey, mind toning it down a few decibels? I'm trying to think here, kid." He paused, then patted himself down, looking for a notepad. "Ah come on. You can't resurrect a reporter and note give them a notepad! That's just cruel."

[AMimsyBorogove]

"Tch. Noisy," Murmured a dark clad shape as it shifted slightly from where it had sat motionless in the shadow of a large wall. Slowly, two shaded purple eyes opened as their owner cocked his head slightly to the side, allowing his long, unkempt fringe of hair to slide to the side, exposing his face - or at least, that part of it which wasn't still covered by his furred hood. His pale skin was cast over by the darkness of this cowl, yet, despite this lingering concealment, the man's slight, sardonic smirk could not be mistaken as he slowly rose to his feet, glancing down at the open cellphone in his hand.

The last thing I remember is passing out in a back alley. Given the auditory and visual hallucinations I was experiencing, and the beginning sensation of pain from within my torso, I doubt that I'm now waking up in the same place, although my blurred recollections make it impossible to prove that. Furthermore, I was drugged. If I had been saved, then I would be awakening elsewhere. A hospital, perhaps, but not in the middle of nowhere. And, besides. Whoever it was who did me in wouldn't leave anything to chance. They'd have combed the area to find me after I collapsed. Even if I had survived, there's no questioning that, given where I've found myself presently, I wouldn't have lasted the night. So, I suppose that means I have no choice but to believe this message here. This is what being dead feels like, then? Somewhat anticlimactic, if you ask me. Reasoning thus, Raiff glanced around himself, his keen eyes searching the faces of those others coming to their feet around him. Heh. That was actually pretty funny. He recognized some of them - when one had files on most, if not all people of interest in the city, one found it difficult to encounter a person you didn't recognize from somewhere or another - like the young prodigy of a detective, or the journalist. But, to his surprise, there was another individual here that was all too familiar to him.

"Of course I know! We are playing a game! It's going to be a really fun game, too!"

Raiff's smirk grew much, much broader, and, resolutely, he snapped the phone in his hand shut with a casual flick of his hand, chuckling quietly to himself as he did so.

You're right about that. Yes... in fact, that's the best word I could use to describe this situation. This is going to be... FUN!

[Blurred_9L]

He could feel the numbness of his body laying down on the floor as the words echoed inside his head: Move... move.

His hand twitched to the sound of a clock's ringing. Surprised by the fact that his body responded to his thought, he tried again, this time, he tried moving his right foot. Wasn't I...? He opened his eyes slowly to find himself in a place he had no recollection of ever being in. His memory was a bit foggy, but he remembered being pushed from the back as he inspected a piece of paper he had found with an address in it. He had let that guard down and had been the end of him... but, now he was here in stranded in an unknown city, laying on his back in the middle of the street.

Caleb triend glancing to his side, ignoring the numb pain he felt across all of his body. Other people were there, getting up and looking around, probably as confused as he was right now. The voice of a kid sounded nearby:

"Of course I know! We are playing a game! It's going to be a really fun game, too!"

"A game? Heh, guess I won't have my 'eternal rest' or something like that, huh? Figures, a guy like me can't rest... not even after death."

He tried to get up, but his paralyzed body wouldn't permit it. He heard another man talking to the air around his left, complaining about a notepad or something. He turned his aching head towards him and spoke:

"Looks like you're going to have to do without it. Mind giving me a hand or two over here?"

[JackAlsworth]

"Of course I know! We are playing a game! It's going to be a really fun game, too!"

The high-pitched, eerily joyous cry was preceded by an even creepier laugh, their creepiness slightly amplified by the fact that they had come from directly behind her.

Rachel jumped. Normally when people used that expression, they merely meant that they were startled or shocked. In this case, however, she felt her feet actually leave the ground.

"Son of a bitch!"

She stumbled forward, trying to recover gracefully. When that proved unfeasible, she turned around and glared at the tiny figure who, she assumed, had spoken. "Don't - do - that!"

The boy just looked at her, grinning. Well, "looked" wasn't quite accurate - she could only see one of his eyes, and it was shut. He was clutching a small doll, which wore a matching smile.

28:23

The men behind her were now fully conscious, apparently, since she could hear several voices behind her. All of the seemed to be just as confused about their situation as she was. No help there, then. She recalled the message on the phone: "For the next seven days players will complete a variety of missions and work together to earn points."

Well, then. Maybe the kid was on to something.

She glanced around. One of the men was looking at her and the strange boy. Had he asked her a question? Didn't matter, she probably didn't know the answer anyway. One was still lying down, looking as sore as she felt. The rest were standing, presumably asking more questions. So far, disconcerting as his entrance was, the oddball was the only one who seemed both willing and able to help

Facing the boy again, she forced a grin. "So... a game. Right. Do you know the rules?"

[Sicon112]

Hee hee. It looks like this will be fun after all! I don't know what I was worried about. Jumpy Girl was really surprised, and her expression was really funny. I'm sure to cover my mouth with the loose end of my sleeve so that she won't see me smiling, but Emily isn't as polite, and she starts cackling again, making her head bob up and down. I'm going to have to remind her about her manners, so I put her up on my shoulder and start to chastise her. "Emily! It's rude to laugh at people, even if they make really funny expressions. You should apologize."

Hmm, she is tilting her head and looking at me funny. I don't think she gets it... Oh, there she goes, laughing again. She really doesn't get it. "Ahahahahaha! I apologize, I apologize. Ahahahaha!" Oh dear, I think she is mocking Miss Jumpy Girl. Oh well. I'm sure she is a nice person and will be understanding about it. I hope so. I don't want to have to do anything to one of my new playmates.

Oh, I almost forgot, she asked me about rules! She doesn't know the rules? Why did she join the game then? Oh well, too late for her now! She will just have to figure out as she goes! Well, maybe that would be fun. Like a game inside a game! Hee hee, that's a funny thought. I hope nothing bad will happen while she figures out!

"You want to know the rules? You already should! Or you will. One or the other! Well, I suppose you could take too long and end up losing. You should be careful not to lose. That wouldn't be very nice! I only just got all of you new people to play with. If you mess up, then I'll end up getting bored all over again!" There, that should answer her question just fine! Oh, hey, look, it's him! I'm going to go say hi! "Hiiiii!" I run over to Raiff spreading my arms out like the wings of a plane just for fun, but don't worry, I'm careful not to let my hair get messed up and swing out from in front of my face, and I keep my other eye shut tight. That wouldn't be a very nice thing to do to my playmates. Not yet anyway! We can play that game together in time! "Hello Raiff! I'm glad you could make it to play today, just like I told you you would!"

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

"I wouldn't get too attached to the rules, whatever they are, if I was you." Malek walked over, awkwardly inserting himself into the conversation. "Chances are whatever we're up against won't be following them. Real life doesn't play by any rules."

He looked over the people he was talking to. A bunch of kids? Well, that's just great. I don't know how I can hope to help Lissa with a couple of little kids for allies. Well, there wasn't much he could do about it but make the best of the situation.

"I'm Malek." He extended his hand, wincing as the light hit his uncovered skin, but the others didn't seem to notice what he saw. "I guess we'll be working together."

[JackAlsworth]

Rachel stared at the kid as he ran off, repressing a shudder. Please, please tell me I'm not the only sane person here. No doubt about it, he was just plain creepy. The doll wasn't helping; she hated ventriloquists' puppets on the streets back home.

Stop thinking about home, it won't help.

"I wouldn't get too attached to the rules, whatever they are, if I was you."

Someone else had come up. Someone older, and presumably less crazy. He had been one of the first ones standing. Something seemed off about his complexion, but she wasn't going to waste any brainpower right now trying to figure it out.

She took the offered hand. She had to reach slightly for it; why were they all so much taller than she was?

Besides that goddamned kid, obviously.

"Moore," she replied. "I guess we will. So, do you have any idea what's going on?"

Other than, you know, we're all dead.

27:57

[RationalThought]

Gerald glanced around him, at the other people, particularly on the girl, Moore, and the man who called himself Malek. The child worried him a little - he'd require further scrutiny later. He turned his attention towards Moore - the girl looked quick and agile, from what little he could see of her, based on her movements. She also was evidently poor - her shabby clothes marked her as a denizen of the streets. Coupled with her young age... Ah...some sort of pickpocket.. He smirked slightly. Evidently death had not impinged at all upon his deductive reasoning.

The other one was harder to read - he kept shying away from glances, and seemed attempting to avoid scrutiny. Without a closer look, Gerard couldn't find anything about him. He dismissed the thought, sure that he'd come to know this man closer in time - after all, it would be certain that all of the - presumably also dead - people around him were here for the same reason.

"Hello." he said. "Gerard Rhinehardt. It seems evident that no one knows what has happened save the child, so trying to find out now is pointless. Given the lack of other people here, it can't be a standard afterlife, a standard afterlife would be much more crowded. So...I suppose the only course of action here is inaction." He paused. "Anyway, this may seem an odd question, but how did you die?"

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

"Anyway, this may seem an odd question, but how did you die?"

"Good question," Malek answered. He turned to face the other man directly, locking gaze with him, blue boring into blue. Malek withheld all emotion from his eyes; they conveyed only deadness, nothingness, emptiness.

In his pocket, the phone's display continued to change, as the young man stood, rooted in place.

27:00

26:58

26:42

26:19

25:47

25:33

25:12

25:00

"...Next question?" he said, at last, breaking the heavy silence which he had created.

[AMimsyBorogove]

The informant chuckled slightly, his hands slipped deep within his pockets, as he at last looked up from beneath his hood, a slight wry smile forming on his face as the familiar - and rather manic - young know-it-all rushed up to him, giving his usual cheerful greeting. Raiff supposed that most people would probably be unnerved by the little boy and his talking doll - especially the latter, since when it spoke, the child's lips never even moved, and the crude effigy talked with an entirely different voice from that of its owner anyway - but he'd long since grown used to Ronove's... unique attitude.

"So it seems. I suppose not even I could thwart your predictions in the end, huh?" Raiff said quietly. "Well, in any case, it seems you've been well, aside from the fact that you're just as dead as I am. I suppose I should be questioning how exactly we're all here, but considering that you mentioned this whole scenario already, somehow I'm far from surprised by any of this." The information broker grinned. "Speaking of which, I'm guessing that you probably won't be willing to part with any of your knowledge in regards to this game, huh? You always were a stickler for playing 'fair,' in your own way." Asking this question more as a joke than a serious request, Raiff merely shrugged at the boy's knowing smirk, and once more leaned casually against the wall he'd found himself sitting against upon awakening, casually removing the phone he'd been given from his pocket and glancing down at the time. It didn't really matter to him, he supposed, if Ronove wouldn't tell him about the games to come. Actually, not knowing things was sometimes much more interesting than being prepared, and most certainly more fun. Besides, whether it was sooner or later, he was going to know everything he wanted to. He had no doubts about that. Now, it was just a question of when.

24:47...

[eli_gone_crazy]

Jamie halted for a moment, brow narrowed in concentration, when he thought he heard someone call out to him during his frantic and fruitless search over his person for a pen and paper. Pausing, the reporter examined his paper-white arms for gashes or other injuries that could have caused his demise while listening for more weird talky noises. Hearing no other phantom shouts about something silly like not worrying over a pen, Jamie began walking in the other direction. As he walked, his thoughts turned inward to speculate over the unacceptable lack of pens in the afterlife. I mean if he found a pen, the worst case would mean he would make do with writing notes on his skin, then purchase a notepad at the nearest opportunity. Actually writing on his arms was a really good idea.. Oh, maybe he could get like notepaper lines tattooed to his arms and then it would- "How did you die?"

Die? Why's this idiot talking about being dead when he's right there talking. Really, it was remarkable how this death-hallucination-group dream thing worked. While he was not only was he able to walk, talk, and otherwise function without feeling, well dead, others seem to retain the wounds that made them not-alive. They seemed to also have varying levels of brain function, with a few like the creepy kid understanding exactly what was going on, while others seemed to be a bit upset at their new state of dead-ness... death?... Then you had that one weird guy asking obviously upset and creepy people awkward questions like, "How did you die?" Amateurs he sighed as he was jerked back to reality by the grating sound of nothing happening. It seemed that he that while he had lost track of time, conversation had ground to an unpleasant halt.

"....Does any one have a pen?"

21:37
21:36

[Lordxana0]

Floating Reaper Base Nagami

The man in the white hoodie looked down upon the streets and sighed. "This is boring, I am so sick of this waiting, just send out the soul hunters already!"

Zeke turned toward the man and raised an eyebrow. "Sir that is against the rules"

The man laughed. "Everything I do is against the rules, send the messages and let the games begin!" He pulled a cellphone from his hoodies pocket and raised it up in the air. "Begin" he pressed the send button and smiled. Now things get fun.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The sound of a text message arriving suddenly rang out from the players phones.

Mission One: Pandoras Box

Objective: Find your box and open it, release the power trapped within it. Once done defeat the monsters sent after you. The death of any player will result in failure for the group, and your souls will be sent to the afterlife for judgement and processing.

After it was read the text message closed itself and opened up a map on the phones, showing players the directions of their various objectives.

A sudden roar sounded from above the players heads, and when they looked up they saw the once empty buildings now had massive wolves atop them. Their bodies were black as ink, with only two glowing green eyes and bright green teeth and mouths making a change in their colors. Above there were massive wasps, easily the size of a large dog. Their bodies were bright yellow, with stingers that dripped a light blue color and eyes that seemed to glow bright orange. Their phones rang once more, giving the players an option to open an app on their phones by the name of Bestiary. If players were to open this they would see two entries.

Toxin Wolves
Impurity Level: 1
These deadly beasts are fast, strong, and deadly as the day is new. Their bodies are full of an acid that will melt through rock and metal on contact, and a bite from one is almost surely a death sentence. Luckily they are not too bright, and can be fooled if you are smart enough.

Bright Stingers
Impurity Level: 1
These flying bugs are deadly in both single combat and swarms. While their stingers might not hold venom they are sharp as a sword and can sting multiple times. If one finds you it can alert the entire swarm to your presence.

The wolves let out another howl and began to run down the buildings and toward the players, with the wasps flying right behind them.

((Find your boxes, get your weapons and powers. How you do this is up to you. Toxin Wolves: 10 Bright Stingers: 15))

[Blurred_9L]

Caleb heard the cell phones' alarms all going off at once. Interesting... he thought, taking note to remind himself to investigate who was sending out those messages to the seven of them. As he read through the text, still laying down on the floor, trying to repel the numbness from his limbs, all sort of questions began flooding his mind:

Power? What sort of power?

Death of one of us? Weren't we already dead?

Monsters... which monst...?

His thoughts were cut short by a sudden roar above them. Putting away the cell phone he held on his right hand, he saw the top of the buildings were filled with several green points on a black background. So much for death... He thought, as he tried to pull himself away from the gravity pull and the numbness that kept him on the floor, his limbs barely responding. His movements were slow, but he managed to get himself on foot, unfortunately, the roar just a few meters ahead of him made him realize that, perhaps, he had been too slow to react.

He gazed into the toxic green eyes that watched him, his hand moving as quickly as possible to his side, trying to find his gun holster. The beast remained unmoving, as if it was sizing him up. Not wanting to waste the precious seconds he had before other beasts aproached him, Caleb quickly aimed the gun and pulled the trigger.

...

There was silence for a moment, the world had remained the same, there was no sign of the beast being wounded. Oh you gotta be kidding me... Thought Caleb with the sudden realization that his gun was out of ammo. The wolf in front of him growled, as if getting impatient, cutting the distance between itself and the rookie detective short. Caleb lowered his gaze towards his belongings on his shirt or belt, desperately trying to find something of use. He grabbed the first thing he saw, his cell phone message tone loudly resonating with those of the other around him again. The beast roared again, preparing to leap at him. He looked at his hand just before throwing what he had grabbed towards a nearby wall, easily distracting the menacing beast.

A pen... how... ironic?

The beast crashed into the wall, leaving a huge hole in the building. From inside, its green eyes shone with anticipation as it looked back at Caleb.

"Alright guys, we need to get out of here! We should stay together and try to fend these... things." He shouted to the others as more of those beasts jumped down from the building they had apparead on.

"Right. Now."

[eli_gone_crazy]

Jamie glanced through the message, eyes disbelievingnthe words he read. "I'm... dead?" The words softly escaped his lips as he tilted his head back in a wide grin. "This is awesome!"
Glancing around the square, he saw the rest of the group was in various states of dissarray. One of the men, presumably a police officer, took out his gun and begantrying to shoot a - Woah what is THAT?! The officer gave up shooting with the empty gun, and instead threw a small missile that vaguely resembled... Jamie's eyes widened as he identified the object, "Ah, come on man, now I have to go after it!"
Rolling up his sleeves, he chased after the pen, completely ignoring the hellhound. The pen bounced and rattled down the street, finally colliding with a box. Ignoring the pen for the moment, because strange boxes inthe afterlife takes precedence over pens, he rationalized. He carefully unlatched the box, lifting the lid slowly. A feeling of pain eminated from the box, the stench of decay and rot perfumed it. Wincing from the smells, jamie slammed the door down. Wow, whoever got that must be like, lord of the trash or something

Coughing violently, jamie turned around to be faceto face with an angry looking bee. whoops....

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

Malek read the message dully.

"Can be fooled if you are smart enough." Yeah, that worked out really well for saving Lissa. The gloomy thought was interrupted by the realization that one of his new companions was cornered by a monster.

"The death of any player will result in failure." I can't fail her now. Not so soon. Not again. He rushed after the man, toward the massive wasp hovering over him.

He wasn't particularly strong, he knew, but he did have one thing going for him. The difference between me and you, he thought, as he eyed the thing carefully, is that I have nothing left to lose. He reached toward the noxious blue stinger, placing his hands too high for the liquid dripping off it, and, with a motion that would have been called reckless in another man, snapped it off.

Having made one creature harmless, his eyes fell to the ground beneath him, where sat a small, unassuming box. Malek lifted his head to look at the man who already stood there. "Yours?" he asked.

"Nah, smells like it's the lord of the flies'," Jamie said, cracking a smile. "Feel free to take it... uh, I don't think I caught your name, do you have a pen?"

"Malek," he answered shortly, kneeling down beside the box. "Sorry, no pen." He returned his attention to the object, rather than the crazy man, his long fingers deftly lifting the latch.

In the bottom of the box was a small knife. No. The knife lay still, but seemed to dig painfully at Malek's memories, upturning what he hoped to bury. No. No no no no no no NO. He knew this knife. No. It was a clone of the-- NO!

His fingers took the knife no and slipped it into his pocket no. As his fingers touched the evil metal no no no, he got... something else. Not exactly a thought, and not a memory, but... understanding. "Release the power trapped within it," the text had said. Well, he supposed he'd found his.

He stood, trying not to think about his "power" or the knife no no no no no no no in his pocket no no no.

[eli_gone_crazy]

Jamie looked at the other man, cradling a knife. The man was shaking back and forth, talking about how this couldn't have happened, this must be a trick. The man's moans annoyed Jamie, burrowing into his happy thoughts. Jamie winced, pacing next to the disturbed man, holding his head between his hands. Growling, he said, "You must be really upset about that knife."

Malek continued his frenetic rocking, holding the knife closer to himself and endlessly chanting, "Nononononononononononononononononononononono-"

Shrugging, Jamie left the obviously crazy man to his own devices, choosing instead to focus on the purely rational focus of finding his pen. Looking around, he saw large dogs and bees flying and running through the nearly deserted town. I don't think they would have pens Jamie thought, discounting the ravenous beasts because if they drooled, he could reasonably assume that they could write, and if you can't write, why would one carry a pen? Obviously a pineapple would be more reasonable. Nodding at his own sage advice, he began searching the nearby area for something, anything that resembled a-AHA.

Jamie saw what appeared to be a small, hand-held instrument used as a chew toy and note taker. "Yay!" he exclaimed, sprinting happily towards the pen.