The Slums

[yinsukin]

Aruna

Aruna sidestepped as fast as he could, returning her wings to his back to avoid them getting striked or grabbed.  Except he couldn't sidestep!  She was being pulled into him.  Chains emerged from his arms, spikes from his torso, his only defense being the threat to skewer him on impact.  The chains that emerged threatened to wrap around Zeke's throat.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

A gleam flashed in his eyes. She was better than last time, and much more assertive. If this were the old him, this would be the end here and then.

But she wasn't going to win by running from her shadow. Her chains of plundering were broken down into the void, the spikes were sucked and shattered into nothing. The darkness consumed, the magic returned to the void whence it came. Compared to a pure dark emptiness, something that needed to channel its properties through a medium stood no chance. They just melted and vanished from this world the moment they touched his darkness.

And his hand was already moving to grab her neck. What would follow would be a series of impacts she wouldn't soon forget.

But could she overcome?

[yinsukin]

Aruna

What?!  Is his darkness stronger than hers now?!  No.. it was more parasitic.  It ate her magic.

Aruna's demonic body was pummeled.  Every strike punctured him, imprinted him with everything he had.  Arms, chest, legs, face: every single thing was struck until he was buy a mess.  Dark energy cloud surrounded his arm and a dagger materialized in his hand.

I can't belive you made me bring it out....

Summoning whatever strength Zeke beat out of him, he gripped the dagger and thrust it into the hand reaching for his throat.  It was a weapon given to all guardians, a tool for punishing those who had strayed down the path of greed.  The stronger the person's lust for power, the stronger the blade would be.  Thus, the weapon was known only as.... the dagger of lust.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

Somebody somewhere once spoke with the harbinger of the end times. The Antichrist offered that man a warning. That he wont be satisfied, but his desire will grow relentlessly, until he drowns in the very cup he wished to sup from.

He was that empty cup.

A sensation. His wide eyes didn't even attempt to hide the shock as he felt something plunge into him. And then pain, a horrifying, soul crushing pain that spread all over the core of his greed, his being. His hand was pierced cleanly like butter, but the pain traveled everywhere. It was enough to cripple a man, enough to make a man scream, enough for Zeke's vision to blur and for him to grit his teeth-

He grabbed the hand that stabbed him and foced the knife deeper in his vessel, until it touched him. And with a jerking pull, he hurled the demon so close to him that the headbutt that followed likely barely registered. And as the demon's head cracked like a melon, as the strength of that void impacted with Aruna's being and rattled it to the core, who would prevail?

[yinsukin]

Aruna

No way.  For the dagger to be hurting him this much.... what the hell was driving him like this?  Was it what he saw in his soul.  Sure it was a lively, hungry soul but, its gotten more intense, more harsh, more perverted even.

"False demon!  Know this!  What you delve in is forbidden taboo in demon culture.  Assimilation is to be done with consent or times of war," he said, screaming at the demon before reeling back from the headbutt delivered to his face.  Once that moment happened, it was as if his body had felt the full weight of the strike.  His vision went black.  "You... stupid false... demon.  I... was... helping her."

And thus, the demon fell limp against Ezekial's torso.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

His blank eyes were bloodshot from the pain. The clenched teeth turned into a feral snarl, and then a horrifying smile. Without pause, he let go of Aruna's hand and gripped Aruna's horn like a vice. Wailing like a shattering planet, a true monster was moving his bloodied hand to split the demon in half-

He stopped. His hand was an inch away from the battered body. Had he not regained his senses in time, this would have gotten ugly.

Fool. You should have gone easier on this old man. You almost got me too excited.

Now, Zeke looked down on the demon he grabbed by the horn, the now broken creature utterly dominated and at his mercy... with recognition. He had not felt a pain such as this in eons, even Serana's punishment was nothing compared to this. Without even realizing it, without even needing, his body was sweating everywhere and breathing heavily.

But he didn't shake. He didn't falter. And he didn't let go of his prize. It would be an insult to the demon's conviction and honor. Even in his jaws, Aruna did not lose the will to fight. Only two mistakes were made... the first was to assume he'd be the same as last time. The second was to assume his greed only applied to pleasant things. If he'd just fall over some pain, then what right did he have to seek pleasure?

He accepted everything. So let it pour down, he'll take on curses and blessings both any time.

You fought well. His wings flapped, and he carried the demon to a faraway place.

Continued in Xibalba

[Kotomine_Rin]

A-702 (Far outside CHEIRON'S headquarters)

Continued from Pine Garden

11:55 PM

The moon shone bright, the winds stroked the three softly. Under the curtain of the night, this story would end like it began.

"We'll have to get in stealthily." He brought them to a rooftop a mile or so away from their destination. That skyscraper where it all began. Naturally, the building was heavily guarded by sentries and armed men. Even for monsters like the three, it was best to avoid a bloodbath. Or rather...

Around the grounds, they were rounding up children, women, and the elderly. Squaring them off together, they were likely trying to use them as hostages. It was likely that they knew they were coming.

Feeling the wind blow across his hair and strings, A-702 smiled. "If we blast through, there is a chance innocents could die. Not that a piece of shit killer like me would mind... but I'd rather not have them on my hands."

And with a sigh, he turned to the two gunslingers behind him, illuminated by the moonlight like actors on a stage.

"Security is tightest around the base of the buildings, as you can see. We'll have to get through the rooftop. Unfortunately, the building is laced with sensors that detect abrupt movements. If we go in any faster than a sprinting human, the alarms will go off. Luckily, I know where the terminals are." He paused and looked up with a mischievous expression. "We can deactivate the systems, or ignore them. Either way, we can't rush towards these grounds. We have to somehow sneak in with normal movements."

[YOLF]

Justice

He breathed in and patted the neck of his abyssal beast, as all four of them looked out from the silver-cast rooftop. Justice's eyes didn't fail to see what Spidey pointed out, but whether he was ready to swallow this story, that was something else entirely.

"No." He said. The Rider turned harshly towards the most suspicious of their number, in all likelihood the cause of their merry chases. "We're not going anywhere until you spill everything else you've been keeping down. Or don't. I'll leave you here, and do this my way."

[yinsukin]

Suerte

The skyscrapper.  The place where it all began.  The city was large, imposing, the skyscrapper a symbol of all its confusion and danger, at least to the simple cowgirl.  For a moment, she simply looked up, seeing if she could see the sky beyond it.  Keeping her hat on her head, she failed to see beyond the peak, even with her head tilted all the way back.  Maybe one day she would bend over backwards to do so, but not today.

"We can always make it big and obvious enough that we give them a chance to run.  At some point you just have to accept that people are just going to die no matter what you do," she said.  "I'm no hero either right Justice?"

Suerte turned around.  Thats when Justice made his deceleration.  With the cowboy standing in protest on one side of the roof and Spidey in another, Suerte's head darted left and right.  "Umm.... yeah!" she said walking over to Justice's side.  "We need to know more things!"

Truth be told, she always did her missions letting fate guide her, but it was probably better to do this Justice's way.  She couldn't keep relying on her luck for everything.  Leaning in she whispered to him.  "Wait i thought we made up!  He's just a little nuts, nothin wrong with that.  What else could he be hiding?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

A-702

Spidey blinked at Justice's rebellion... and just stretched his arms behind his head. "That's too bad. I guess we can sit down and wait for the suckers to get shoved in a test tube or turned into mulch for the plants... about twenty minutes until the guards decide to get bored. I can wait that long."

Man, to think they'd go as far as to pull this shit again. If that bastard they took down was still kicking, he'd probably be rolling in his grave. A bunch of lowlives and orphans, just like them. So why were they chosen while the others died? Even he couldn't laugh at that.

But it was Suerte's whisper that started to drag a giggle out of him.

With that same tired grin, he just sat down lazily and yawned. But he really didn't seem bothered by this predicament at all. "It wasn't so different for me... the original one I guess. I wouldn't know. Well, I guess eventually they'll just get used to it."

[YOLF]

Justice

He scowled at both of them like an angry statue. Even the shadows of his hat couldn't conceal the impatient furrowing between his eyes.

"Suerte, he still hasn't answered my question," Justice said. He eyed their target down in the streets uncertaintly, but crossed his arms at Spidey. "It doesn't change anything, so stop avoiding it. Did you or didn't you murder the cyborg's brother and the other man, right in the offices of the people who cloned you, used you like a rag and kept you on a leash?"

[yinsukin]

Suerte

Suerte nodded.  Geeze, she really did rely on her luck too much.  Why didn't she think of that?  Trying her best to muster a confrontational glare, she aimed that disposition at Spidey's lazy grin, only managing to convey the annoyance she was having towards his nonchalant attitude.  She couldn't get herself to be any angrier than that, not like the cold calculated wrath her dear Justice was projecting.

"Yeah!"

[Kotomine_Rin]

A-702

The spider sighed. "My, my! I did kill them. But I am not their murderer." 

A gunshot rang down below. Captives screamed as one of the now broken order, lacking the leash of the strongest generals in their group, decided to act on their basest animal impulses. It was a disgusting sight.

"This entire time, I have been on your side. My life... it's not worth that much on its own. No one mourns the spiders in the dark. If this is punishment for our sins, then we must accept them as fate. But then who to pick as the executioners?"

Under the moonlight, he bowed like a puppet on strings - or a performer.

"I guess it was the will of the world." He paused...

And spat on the ground next to him, as if to get the stench of his words off his mouth.

"Is that what you expected? Some third rate comic book villain confession? To hell with that. Yeah, I killed them. You suspected that for a long time. But you still stuck around when you could have left. Why?"

[YOLF]

Justice

"Because I felt we were all being played anyway. But I didn't ask for a third-rate soliloquy, you whiny bitch." He stepped in and grabbed Spidey's collar, lifting him in the air to stare at the twitching frown on his face, lively with annoyance. "Now help us deal with this already. We must stop this. I can distract all those soldiers at once and cripple their vision, but that's not going to cut it."

Justice dropped the clone's clothing, shoving him off. "You know how these forces work, get your brain working and talk fast."

[yinsukin]

Suerte

Thats harsh! she thought, a complicated feeling stiring in her chest.  But the world is cruel.  I have to put on a brave face for the sake of survival.

"Yeah!" she yelled in agreement.  "We knew you killed them.  We wanna know what you want with us!"

Suerte's eyes darted to Justice, as if to say did I ask the right question?