City of Valence: Steamgunner Chronicles

Name: Maat Heighton
Alignment: Neutral
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Occupation: Steamsmith Apprentice/Steamgunner
Appearance: 5' 9''
~ Hair: Mahogany with blackened tips (Furnace accidents)
~ Eyes: Brown
~ Clothes/Armor: A simple apprentice cloth garb with thick leather gloves and a backpack attached to him with a blcukle from right shoulder to left hip.

History: At a very young age, Maat's family had moved to Valence as refugees from a hierarchical war that had found itself into their village. Desperately looking for work Maat found he had somewhat of a knack for building mechanicla wondered from wood and steel. His parents had urged him to become a Steamsmith and produce many contraptions to help them throughout the house.
Other Info: all of his things in his room and on his person were made by himself.

Just a reminder: WEAPONS MUST MAKE SENSE

Also: The introductory post will be the only one in first person. Everything after your first post must be in forum RP format.

Just another morning in Valence: The city of technology. This city sure as hell wasn't built in a day, week, or even a month. This city is not only one of the largest in Isiya, but also one of the few that is trying to wean ourselves off of magic. Nigh everything here is powered by steam. Hell, my alarm clock is powered by the stuff. Speaking of which, there it goes now...

"Ahg...What the hell happened last night..." I look at my shoddily fashioned steam-clock and realize that it is a few minutes behind Arche's.

"I'll have to crack that failure open later"
I hear a rough call from downstairs in the furnace.
"GODF*CKING DAMMIT! Maat! Get down here!"

Just as I said, another humid morning in Valence. Arche is my master and I really don't think he pays attention to...anyone. Though he is a tad dangerous, he is a great smith seeing as how he personally designed some of the city's defensive cannons. I jump out of my bed and rush downstairs to the boiler room to find my mater, attempting to put out a fire on his hand.

"Well? Matt? Are you going to get the extinguisher? Or do I have to scream louder?!"

I snapped out of my almost angelic trance.

"AH! Sorry, sorry!"

I grab the extinguisher out of the hall and rush back to the boiler room to spray my master's flaming glove with the white foam. My master flings the glove off into the furnace and leans against the water tank and sighs heavily as he lights a cigarette.

"Looks like we have to get more gloves. Again."
He looks at the furnace quizzically and turns back to me.
"I may be a simple steamsmith, but how the hell does a furnace just explode when you open the grate? Do you know Maat?"
I remember back about two days earlier how I had thrown several "spent" flame cells into the furnace.
"Not even in the slightest Master..." I uncomfortably responded.
He paused for a second and then reached in his pocket to fish out 2 silver coins.
"Here." He dropped the coins in my hand. "Go buy some more heatproof gloves for me. I have to figure this damn furnace out..."

He could have said something else, but I didn't care. I had already put on my sling-pack and was out on the steam-filled streets of Valence.


OOC: What do you think?

As he walked, his feet came upon the familiar hardness of stone. He stopped. Tem took a deep sigh and looked up into the cloud-ridden sky. Far in the distance, the towering spires of steel and metallic skyscrapers reached far into the sky, spewing white steam from their tops. The twisting road sprawled far down the hill, cutting through the ravine like a knife through bread. It truly was a magnificent sight, one that almost took Tem's breath away. He wondered how they were able to fit such a city in the middle of a canyon: but really, one who doubted man's ability is a fool. Tem took a deep breath, and continued down the stone path. On both sides lay barren, red stone. There was not a single blade of grass or any sign of vegetation to be seen, anywhere. The odor of steam was heavy in the air, in fact, it was so heavy that Tem could almost feel it on his skin. He tightened the bandanna on his forehead and kept on walking. The city of Valence was still very, very faraway. Tem really hoped he would have more luck in this place: so far, he hadn't been able to keep a job for longer than a month. He shuddered as the memories of his countless rejections flooded his mind. Methodically and mechanically, his feet continued moving as Tem tried to think about something else more cheerful. He would have trouble with that for the next hour.

After what seemed like days, Tem finally reached the city's entrance. His breaths came deep and ragged, and although he never perspired, he knew he would definitely be sweating entire lakes by now. Valence looked grander than ever close up: before, Tem could barely see the tips of the buildings. Now, they seemed to stretch on for all eternity. Now, he certainly could feel the presence of steam in the air. The area had definitely grown thicker, and was starting to become almost unbearably humid. Tem swatted his hair out of his face. He could hear the bustling crowd, and shouts, and all the noises associated with a loud, big city, coming from inside Valence. He could see the pipes sprouting out of the countless buildings like mushrooms, all of them spewing white steam into the air.

"What a strange town," Tem whispered to himself, as he took his first steps into the city of Valence. With all the steam, he could probably drink the air.

Valence was much busier than what he thought. People ran here, to and fro, with crowds so huge they blocked entire walkways for yards. Vendors sold little steam toys. An auction was being held. Markets selling foods and other goods stretched as far as Tem could see. As he continued through the city, looking for the city's hall, Tem took care to avoid people: a single hit would be absolutely disastrous. He slipped into a nearby throng, on the sole fact that it seemed that where they were headed was where everybody seemed to be heading.

It had been hours, but Tem hadn't gotten very far. The sun was now high in the sky, its scorching rays seeming to dissipate even the steam of Valence. Inching through the crowds was much harder than he thought. With the rest of his strength, Tem tried squeezing through the side of the throng. He was trying very hard, until he felt something slam into his side. He tried to shout, but all the air was knocked out of him as he smashed into the ground. Two silver coins clattered onto the floor. Tem gasped for air as he scrambled to his feet. Then, he saw his "assailant." It was a boy that looked around his age, although Tem didn't really know how old he was. He looked rather strange: everything on his person seemed to be simple and homemade, even his clothes.

Then, somewhere etched on the boy's shoulder, Tem caught a glimpse of the words, "Steamsmith-in-Training." Oh dear, he thought. A steamsmith sounded rather intimidating right now. Tem didn't know what they were, but in the city of Valence, a.k.a. the city of STEAM, they seemed very important. Hell, the fact that the guy he bumped into was a "steamsmith-in-training" would probably only make things worse.

"I-I'm terribly sorry, steem-smithh...?" Tem struggled with the last word. He really hoped he would be forgiven. He didn't want to start off his career in the city of Valence on a horribly botched note, because that would be bad.

Horribly bad.

"ARGH! DAMM-" Maat fell flat on his face onto the hard, cobblestone path.
"Where's the money?! Aw crud!" He sat up and heard a 'Sorry' in the midst of the confusion. Maat sat up and looked a bandanna-clad boy not too much older than he. Apparently, the boy had been staring at the plate on his clothes depicting his apprenticeship and had difficulty pronouncing the word. This encounter with a random traveler was enjoyable, but there was still the matter of finding the two silver that had found themselves out of his hand and onto the busy street.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a steamsmith apprentice, blah-blah, goodbye now I need to find something!" He motioned to the stranger to get away. Maat quickly got up and began to scour the street for the missing coins.

Cram wrote:

"ARGH! DAMM-" Maat fell flat on his face onto the hard, cobblestone path.
"Where's the money?! Aw crud!" He sat up and heard a 'Sorry' in the midst of the confusion. Maat sat up and looked a bandanna-clad boy not too much older than he. Apparently, the boy had been staring at the plate on his clothes depicting his apprenticeship and had difficulty pronouncing the word. This encounter with a random traveler was enjoyable, but there was still the matter of finding the two silver that had found themselves out of his hand and onto the busy street.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a steamsmith apprentice, blah-blah, goodbye now I need to find something!" He motioned to the stranger to get away. Maat quickly got up and began to scour the street for the missing coins.

The boy was sharp and to-the-point, but at least he didn't get too furious. Tem took an inwardly sigh of relief. Before he could react, he felt himself roughly shoved to the side. His hands reached for his knife, but he quickly stopped: he couldn't possible want more trouble, could he? He quickly realized all the other boy was trying to do was look for the dropped coins. He was having difficulty, with all the rapidly shuffling feet and moving crowds of people concealing everything on the floor. Tem scanned the floor for a moment, before his eyes caught the glimmer of metal and he instinctively kneeled down to pick them up. His hands closed on the two small coins, and picked them up firmly. Tem held out his open palm and tapped the other boy's shoulder.

"I believe you dropped these." Tem spoke, trying to hide all signs of his nervousness. He really wasn't comfortable talking to strangers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Res flexed his fingers, his hands dripping with blood. He stood in the middle of a dark, stone-walled room, with only a torch as the sole source of illumination. Human blood splattered the walls. The bodies of a few people lay strewn across the floor. The man took a deep breath, and stared into his palm. Having been newly created, the being was merely a youth: but he was no ordinary organism. He was a Vodalka. He was made for death, and he was not human. Somehow, something inside his steel told him what to do. His hands reached for a pen, and on the nearest piece of paper, he wrote:

"res"

Is that my name? the Vodalka thought. He wouldn't have time to think about that question, because 2 miles away, he could hear the sound of footsteps. With the utmost haste, the robot grabbed garments from one of the blood-splattered bodies and made its escape.


The Vodalka were not "living." They were artificial. A small group of scientists from the city of Valence had grown "bored" of the powers of steam, and had run off to have some fun with research. Ever since then, the scientists disappeared from the scientific community, and after having formed a small cult, they began experimenting with the darkest forms of magic, arts forbidden to the eyes of man.

Eventually, they succeeded. Their first success came in the form of a robotic man, named "Sin," for sincerity. Being no ordinary man, Sin was a Vodalka, a term dubbed by the scientists defining a "living" being made of metal. These Vodalka, were simply hunks of humanoid-shaped metal that had been animated with these dark arts, which the scientists had strived to perfect. And perfect they did, as they had produced one of the finest killing machines Isiya had ever seen. The scientists barely escaped with their lives, and "Sin" was nowhere to be found.

As their second project, the cult decided to work on another Vodalka, hoping to improve upon their previous errors. After a year of grueling work, they had finished. This one was named "Sil," for silence. Sil was an absolute monstrosity: with metallic wings composed of razor blades that could slice a magnum rod in two, she was arguably even more well equipped for death than Sin. Sil resembled nothing human, at all. While the scientists had succeeded in making a more docile temperament for the Vodalka, their efforts were in vain. After the Vodalka realized how horrifying she truly was, her frail, new mind was strained to the point of insanity. The robot fled the research chamber and was lost.

Dissuaded by their two previous failures, the scientist cult split into threes, each developing a Vodalka, hoping to improve over the other. In the short course of a year, all was complete.

The first group had developed another female Vodalka, named "Jus" for justice. A considerable improvement over the others, Jus was calm, cool, and very pleasing to the human eye. She was perfectly capable of seducing a man, or even woman, but her capacity for death was still unmatched.

The second group never came. It was only later that they found a note with scrawled handwriting in a blood-splattered room, saying:

"Res."

It was assumed that the Vodalka, Res, had killed that group and fled.

The final group came to the meeting empty-handed. They claimed that their experiment had escaped, and they were doing everything they could possibly do to get it back. They described it as having white hair, and white eyes. The first scientist group rejected this explanation, regarding it as a simple "excuse" for their failures. As a result, the third group was subjected to the wrath of Jus, who despite having improved over the others, still retained a sickening taste for blood.

What happened from there is not known. Maybe the Vodalka destroyed all of their creators, but no one is ever sure. What is known, however, is that they escaped. The first four Vodalka eventually met up with each other, and acknowledged their similar origins. All of them joined an ancient wargroup called the Caylia Legion, and what they did from there is unknown.

However, the wherabouts of last Vodalka is still unknown and the Vodalka itself, unidentified.

HRM?!
Maat turned around and shot out of his confused rage at the sight of his master's two silver.
"AH! You found them!? That fast?! Whatever! Thank you stranger-" He politely bowed as he snatched the coins from the stranger's palm. He then stood back up quickly an replied with a hasty," I must be off, so SEE YA!" Maat shot off from his old position and ran to the supply shop only two blocks from his master's abode.


OOC: I am having difficulty coming up with the story because I don't want to severely alter anybody's ideas about the Voldalka (Seeing as how they are Matt's idea)

OOC: PS this RP's rules probably put off everybody at the mention of posting minumum (vvo + tigga) and YOUR CHARACTER WILL DIE (Everybody else)

Cram wrote:

OOC: PS this RP's rules probably put off everybody at the mention of posting minumum (vvo + tigga) and YOUR CHARACTER WILL DIE (Everybody else)

OOC: If you hadn't noticed, this is a one-on-one RP. We'll both be playing more than one character.

Tem felt the two pieces of silver snatched out of his hand before he even knew what exactly was going on. He heard the splutter of a few words and then the Steamgunner had disappeared into the crowd, all in a the course of a few seconds. Tem stood there for a moment, dumbstruck.

"B-bye...?" he whispered, meekly waving a farewell. Suddenly, someone smashed into his side, hard. It wasn't long until he realized that people were smashing into him from all sides. Tem started to make his way through the throng, which was probably thicker than meat soup, and just as hard to weave through. It was the start of what Tem felt was a long day: the sun had not even made its way across the sky yet.

Little did the citizens of Valence know, that there were four shadowy figures standing silently atop the shining metallic buildings, watching their every move.

"Sil, I have located the target." One of them spoke. It sounded male, but was particularly smooth.

"Affirmative, Res. You may neutralize as necessary, but do take care not to kill him." The other voice was obviously female, but was pleasantly seductive. The other figure took no notice.

"Ah, Sil, you don't need to lecture me." One of the shadows leaped off the building, down to the lower reaches of Valence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been what seemed like several hours: but the sun had barely moved at all. Tem decided that he would follow the Steamgunner through the crowd: it would probably be the easiest way he would find some sort of a job. Thankfully, he had only lost sight of the man a couple of times, but it was enough for him to follow him through the crowds of Valence. Eventually, his little excursion took him to a hole-in-the-wall little shop labeled:

Suggy's Supplies: You'll never be sorry!

Sem almost grimaced at the cheesy, terrible slogan, and the name, but it was where the Steamgunner had gone into. Strangely enough, the entire building was made of wood, rather than metal, which greatly differed from itself from practically every other building around it. Slipping out of the main crowd, Tem pushed open the creaky wooden door. Suddenly, before he could react, the rusty hinges snapped, and the door toppled. There was a deafening crash as the door smashed into the ground, making Tem flinch. Then, he noticed every single person in Suggy's Supplies was staring directly at him. A couple of bystanders outside had also caught sight of the spectacle. Tem was dumbstruck for a second. His head held low, he walked inside, and started to heave up the door.

It was rather heavy, but after a few minutes Tem eventually managed to put the door back into its rightful place.

"...Sorry about the door..." he murmured. Tem wondered if anyone in the store had heard him. The patrons of Suggy's Supplies had gone back to their usual ruckus, having seemingly no memory of the incident. The store was rather lively and bustly, almost no different than the world outside. Tem looked around for the Steamgunner, and quickly found him thanks to the man's distinctive, charred mahogany hair. The Steamgunner was talking to one of the helpers, apparently shopping for some gloves. Tem waited for his business to finish and made his appearance once the man had turned around.

"Um, excuse me, sir?" Tem began, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. "You're an apprentice, right? Is it okay if I could talk to your master?"

"Hm?" The apprentice looked awkwardly at the man before him. " Erm...well...I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Maat tilted his head to the side quzzically. "Well, in any case, I guess my master can see you, however, he may not be in the best of moods. May I at least, know why you need him?" Maat looked around and saw that people were still staring at the "Dynamic Door opener." Per haps, we can talk on the way?" He said with an anxious tone.

[[ooc: not much to say here ]]

Katherine Zefrite sat at her desk literally banging her head against the wall. She couldn't think of any new gun designs. She needed to come up with another one if she wanted to get a bonus. She abandoned the idea of coming up with one spur of the moment and picked up the next order form. A man wanted a gun to use 16p rounds with 90 rounds perclip firing 30 rps at 2000 fps. She tore up the paper and pulled out a rejection form and wrote, "I'm sorry sir but your design specs are over complicated and nearly impossible to design." She dropped it off in the mail box and continued working.

Three hours later, she had finished making a detailed sketch of an order and sent it to the orederer. She left the building and headed to her usual gun range to practice with her gun.

Kate walked down the streets of Valence carrying her guns in a side bag. She walked in the door and signed in for lane 37. She pulled out her custom gun, one she made herself. She called it an AP-SMG (armor-piercing submachine gun). It had a very strong kick and a foldable wooden shoulder guard. It also has a shoulder sling.

Unforunatley, her gun was faulty. She never let anyone else see the designs except for her usual steamsmith. Her gun never had any corrections made and it was prone to damaging itself. Due to the fact that it is meant to pierce armor, if a bullet goes astray just a little bit, it can shred the gun's barrel. Speaking of which, that just happened. Kate looked sadly at the shredded barrel of her personal weapon and sighed. "Not again. Gotta go see Arche again..."

Kate walked out the door and headed to her usual steamsmith, Arche. She walked in through the door and stood behind the counter. "Hey Arche, the barrel shredded again..."

Tem nodded his head in agreement, following in stride with the apprentice. He felt rather excited at the prospect of a new job: this meant he had another chance at success. But of course, there was always the chance of failure... but he didn't want to think of the possibilities right now. There was already simply too much that could go wrong in his life. He'd have to pray for the best of luck. Tem's head swirled in clouds as he walked towards the door with the other man. So far, so good. As he reached towards the handle, he half-expected the entire thing to fall on him again. Tem sighed: that was absolutely ridiculous. What was he thinking? Unfortunately, he was right about the first part. Tem only saw an ominous shadow in the crack beneath the doorway, followed by a shrill beep, before it exploded.

Tem felt his back thrown against something hard. Wooden splinters rained upon him, followed by a huge cloud of dust and debris. His head was in a daze: he saw stars floating in front of him. There was something large and heavy braced on top of him: he quickly realized he was pinned under a massive bar of wood. Tem pushed against it, but it failed to budge an inch. He was securely pinned, helpless. His eyes darted around the store: he couldn't find the apprentice anywhere. Tem, again, secretly prayed that he hadn't died. Because if he did, he would be left without a job. Suddenly, Tem heard metallic footsteps beside him, before the silhouette of a man appeared before him. The floating dust only made the man look more eerie: there was something definitely different about him. Suddenly, Tem noticed the glint of metal in the man's hands. They were knives.

"Hello, Tem. We've been looking for you." The man spoke, his face emerging from the "fog." Tem nearly gasped: he looked truly horrific. Plates of metal jutted from the man's face, some of them even looked painfully etched into his skin, like a mangled doll. But it was the eyes that frightened him the most: they were almost completely black, the only white being the irises. He almost looked alien.

"H-how the hell do you know my name?" Tem spluttered, struggling against the bar. Again, it held sturdy. It failed to move. But the man only replied with chilling laughter.

"That matter is irrelevant," the man spoke, "The most important matter in this room is you. Everything else," the man brandished several blades, and held them deftly between his fingers. "Pointless."

What the hell is this guy talking about? Tem thought, his mind frantic. He was sure his face showed it, but the assailant took no notice.

"Now the choice is yours, whether you choose to come with us, or die by my hand, is entirely up to you." The man grinned, evilly. Then, all of a sudden, it all came to Tem. This man was...

"Oh, and how rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Res."

Katherine stood waiting behind the counter for Arche to show up but apparently he was busy. As she stood waiting, an explosion rattled the building. Kate jumped behind the counter and covered her head. As soon as the shaking subsided, she grabbed her gun, and ran out the door. If there was going to be another explosion, she did not want to be inside a building when it happened. Kate looked around at the buildings near her to find the source of the blast and saw smoke pouring out of a building. Apparently, the door had been blasted in.

Kate walked up to the side but didn't walk in. She pressed herself up against the wall and tried to listen in on the conversation. She heard only a little, but from what she heard, she knew she had to help. She heard, "Now the choice is yours, whether you choose to come with us, or die by my hand, is entirely up to you."

She moved through the open door to see a boy pinned under a door and a man holding knives standing over him. But, there was something wrong with the man, he seemed to be covered in metal. "Don't move or I shoot!" she yelled, holding up her gun which she forgot was broken.

As of now, I hereby am directing the course of this RP until further notice (until Cram decides to assume authority).

DarkLink3603 wrote:

Katherine stood waiting behind the counter for Arche to show up but apparently he was busy. As she stood waiting, an explosion rattled the building. Kate jumped behind the counter and covered her head. As soon as the shaking subsided, she grabbed her gun, and ran out the door. If there was going to be another explosion, she did not want to be inside a building when it happened. Kate looked around at the buildings near her to find the source of the blast and saw smoke pouring out of a building. Apparently, the door had been blasted in.

Kate walked up to the side but didn't walk in. She pressed herself up against the wall and tried to listen in on the conversation. She heard only a little, but from what she heard, she knew she had to help. She heard, "Now the choice is yours, whether you choose to come with us, or die by my hand, is entirely up to you."

She moved through the open door to see a boy pinned under a door and a man holding knives standing over him. But, there was something wrong with the man, he seemed to be covered in metal. "Don't move or I shoot!" she yelled, holding up her gun which she forgot was broken.

A noise behind the assassin caught his attention. He turned swiftly.

"And who might you be, milady?" Res grinned, running his tongue across his mouth. He stepped off the young man, his target, and brushed himself off as he closed in on her. There was something about her that made her quite... interesting. Res didn't know why, but he couldn't just ignore the weapon being pointed threateningly at his torso. Sure, that pea-gun wouldn't do a thing to him: but if he were to be shot, witnesses were sure to be convinced that he was something beyond human. He'd have to find a way to remove her, and quick. Res could feel the the tension on the young woman's grip. She would pull the trigger, even if accidentally, at even the slightest provocation.

"Is this your friend, here?" Res shoved a kick into Tem's motionless side. He only replied with a pained groan.

"My deepest apologies if he does indeed hold any sort of significance to you, but you see, he... belongs to me. Us, to be more precise." Res let the words slide off his tongue like oil across water. He moved slowly, and took care not to make any sudden movements. At this point, almost anything could prompt her to tense, and pull the trigger. And he couldn't let that happen. Suddenly, the cold voice of a very familiar comrade entered his mind.

"RES! What is your status! You're 0.2 milliseconds off plan!" Sil barked. Res winced ever so slightly.

"Calm down, Sil. You sound like a dying garganoth. It's all under control." He motioned telepathically. Connection between the Vodalka was precise and thorough: almost all of them were linked mentally so as to provide unadulterated communication. Except for their missing member, which this target seemed most likely to be.

(A garganoth is a creature inhabiting Isiya.)

"Under control, my ass. I can see perfectly well that there's a flesh girl pointing a freaking steam-gun at you. Get the hell out of there, now. We can't risk your identification, or you getting shot at." Res sighed.

"Understood, ma'am."

"I never asked for your sarcasm."

And at once, the link dropped dead. Res blinked: Sil in a worse mood than usual. Not that she wasn't always in one. However, he'd have to deal with that later. There were more pressing issues at hand.

"I'm sorry, young lady, but I can't play with you for now." He casually produced a dagger from the depths of his sleeve, and hurled it silently into the girl. The knife flew straight and true, directly into the girl's weapon. The gun hurtled across the room until it was driven into the nearby wall, which was pure rock.

"Catch you another time." With that, Res disappeared with a flourish of his cloak.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tem climbed to his feet. His body was aching all over, and his head was pounding. He looked at the rubble all around him, then at everybody in the room who seemed to be staring at him. He took a glance at the girl in the other side of the room, until he suddenly remembered that he had remembered something. An epiphany. He searched his mind, and found nothing put pain. It felt like there was a nail being driven into his skull. Then, unprompted and seemingly without cause, he collapsed to the floor, his vision enveloped in black.

"What is the...HOW in the....."
Maat tripped over his words fearfully.
"You...What in the crap did you do?!"
Maat glared intensely at Tem.
"Why in the hell are crazy-ass destruction-prone jerkwads after you?"

He groaned in despair and held his head between his hands.
"What the hell is wrong with this guy?!"

"He's obviously not human" Arche was standing behind the girl who had threatened the "jerkwad"
Arche snatched the gun out of the girl's hands and took a glance at it.
"Stripped again? Make it right this time woman. I can't keep repairing this hunk of sh*t" He tossed the gun right back at the girl as he walked back to the smithing room.

"Bring your half-dead friend with you too!" He pointed at Tem with the same scowl he always had.

"Hey! Arche! Don't worry about the fact that I was almost killed by a friggin knife which must have been going 3000 miles an hour! And I think the reason it broke was because of the firing mechanism you made!"

Kate stood in a corner in a huff and blew some hair out of her face. "I'm sorry, I always get mad when Arche says bad things about my gun." She put it back in its case and walked up to Maat who she knew through Arche.

"Let me help you with your 'half-dead' friend here," she said. "So how do you know him?"

DarkLink3603 wrote:

"Hey! Arche! Don't worry about the fact that I was almost killed by a friggin knife which must have been going 3000 miles an hour! And I think the reason it broke was because of the firing mechanism you made!"

Kate stood in a corner in a huff and blew some hair out of her face. "I'm sorry, I always get mad when Arche says bad things about my gun." She put it back in its case and walked up to Maat who she knew through Arche.

"Let me help you with your 'half-dead' friend here," she said. "So how do you know him?"

Tem's head was swirling: it felt like someone had smashed his head with a hammer and thrown him into the clouds. He shook his head, trying to ease the pain, if only a little. Suddenly, he realized he was lying on something: the floor.

"Ughh..." he moaned, clutching the side of his head as the pain in his head spiked. He weakly opened his eyes, but was met with darkness. There was nothing, except him, and the black that surrounded every single corner he could see. Confused, he climbed to his feet. He stumbled at first as his weakened knees gave way, but after much effort, he managed to stand up. What is this place...? He mused, trying to find some semblance of civilization, or at the very least, any sign of life. He found none. Still confused, and slightly afraid, he sat back down, contemplating his next course of action.

Tem was just about to give up, when the floor started to rumble ominously. The darkness still seemed to stay perfectly still, but he could definitely feel it. The tremors threw him onto his back, knocking out a little bit of air from him.

"W-what the hell is going on?!" Tem screamed, but nothing listened to his cries. Then, as if in response, an enormous, gray mass materialized on the floor, and quickly grew larger at an astounding rate. Within moments, the mass began to shake and move irrevocably, as if something was trying to push its way out. Tem crawled away as fast as his arms and legs would let him, panic overriding his senses.

Suddenly, the thing inside the mass broke free with a gargantuan roar, followed by another earth-splitting tremor. Tem's eyes widened in astonishment and fear: it was a gigantic doll. Its body glowed with a disturbing luster, as if the entire thing was made of plastic. The thing slammed its palm into the floor, pulling itself out, as it glared at him with its huge, bulging eyes. Tem screamed, and he tried to climb to his feet to escape. His foot caught on something, and he crashed into the floor once again. He didn't bother to look back: he clawed at the floor pitifully, in a vain attempt to get away from the... thing. He felt cold, lifeless fingers close around his waist and squeeze, and then he was lifted into the air. Tem drove his fists into the hand that held him, but it was useless.

“I’ve been waiting for you.” An eerie, chilling voice pierced the air. Tem found the doll looking straight into him, but he couldn’t speak: the hand was a vicegrip around his torso.

“You are mine,” it spoke again,

“W-what the hell are you?” Tem managed to choke out, using the last bit of his air.
“What? You don’t know? Or is that you don’t remember?!” The doll’s expression darkened, and its grip tightened. Tem screamed in agony.

“I made you. You belong to me,”

“What am I, Tem? I am your mother.” A startling amount of blood began to exude from the doll's eyes and pores, seemingly all at once. Blood ran down the doll's face, streaking its now ugly and gray visage with a viciously red tint. The hair became matted and disgusting, and its teeth sprouted into fangs.

"What are you talking about?!" Tem screamed

"You were made, Tem." The last thing he felt was the pain of the razor-sharp teeth digging into his flesh, before crimson blanketed his vision.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tem awoke in a cold sweat. His breaths came ragged, and deep: the shock of the experience was still embedded in his mind. He could still see its eyes, staring, staring into him, and his soul. What did that thing mean... that... I was... made...? Tem secretly wondered, but his mind was too weak to think about it for now. He quickly realized he was still in the workshop, surrounded by a pile of rubble. There appeared to be two people squabbling over something, standing near the pillar of light, which he soon remembered was the doorway.

"I-I think I'm fine, now." Tem stood up, walking over to the distraught duo. "Do any of you know who that man, Res, is?"



OOC: Also, Cram, I liked the way you wrote in your very first post, adding in italicized thoughts of your character, but it seems to have disappeared. Is it too much to ask to beef up your posts a little (they're like kids in Africa)? I'm not asking you to write extravagantly long: but since you're the leader of this RP, it's a bit hard to respond to such short posts, posts which are supposed to drive the storyline forward.