Pax RP

Behind the pitch black goggles, Markus' eyes widened in pain as the heart was melted into his hand, the residual heat just about reaching his flesh. Gritting his teeth, he was about to retort with an incredibly crass remark involving the "good ol' Ophelhiem spirit", when he was suddenly thrown aside and crashed into a wall.

"I miss home." He groaned in his head "magic wasn't as common as dirt."

He pulled himself up as CP suggested that they let the woman speak.
"They're playing a really dangerous game. They'd better bloody know what they're doing."
Markus certainly didn't.

The Collector controlled womans head looked up to Raven with interest when the demoness came over to talk, wearing a serene smile that could probably crack glass. "Why my dear, aren't you the refreshing one" the Collector said, apparently pleased at this turn of events "Why, whoever gave you the impression I was going to kill her? This body of hers is mine now, killing her would ruin it. As for your proposal-" the entity stopped talking, cut off by Tetsus roar and CP's words. The possessed womans black eyes looked down at CP next to her first. "Is that so, dear interesting one? You're here to interfere with MY business with MY agent" behind her, a tendril gripped a wooden chair "I certainly can't have that, now can I?"

She was distracted by the Dragon then however, who seemed to be trying to block her pool by standing in front of it. "Oh, what fun!" C said, clapping her hands together as the liquid now rushed at the Dragon, intent on climbing up the reptiles feet.

"How tiresome" she commented when Markus tried to strangle Raven and got tossed for his trouble. "Now where was I? Oh yes, can't have you interfering" she absentmindedly threw the chair at CP "and Raven, my dear, arrangements always interest me. What exactly did you have in mind, hmmmm?"

Raven, to her surprise, liked the Collector. Sure, crazy has hell, murderous, out to steal the body of her beloved subordinate... but hey, Raven had probably done something similar in the past. She liked the creators style.

Though right now is was rather inconvinient.

"I'm afraid without her body, poor Swix is little use to me. However..." A smile. She chuckled at the chair being thrown at CP - how did that rodent always end up in the way of hard flying objects? Must be a talent.

Having ignored the dragon's roar, ignored the commotion behind her and instead focused on the being in front of her. "It's simple really. I happen to claim leadership for an entire realm. A realm and all it's millions of inhabitants" She purred, picking something out from under her nail before looking back to the creator and continuing. "And I'm willing to give them to you, for whatever you wish. In exchange for this realm, and it's inhabitants. Including Swix and her body."

What better way to end this? Careful to keep her expression plain, with a coy smile she crossed her legs as she perched on the table. "Your own possible army of blood thirsty, cunning demons and their home realm" she paused, thinking briefly "Which I believe has never been invaded, either so you could probably toy with them. I was going to go kill them all, myself... but perhaps you can be more creative with them, hmm?"

Raven knew that as the only demon here, only she could open a portal to the demonic realm. C would have to comply with her if she wanted to get there. The demon realm after all was more protected than usual realms. She hated the thought of relinquishing her... payment to the fools there.

But hey, this sounded more fun. Possibly lucrative, too. Maybe Swix would end up owing her a life debt. That would be rather... fun.

Tetsu scuttled back, caught off guard by the pool of darkness suddenly speeding up. She didn't get too far before inevitably tripping over her own clawed feet and falling backwards to shake the bar again. The stuff was now on her, rapidly creeping over the Dragon's blue scales like a flood just for her. Tetsu panicked, and screamed, slashing the stuff closest to her with her claws. When it moved even further on her body, vines began to tear into it. She certainly didn't want to be the Collector's toy and example why they shouldn't rise against her.

A few meters away, CP watched the pool began to speed up, and the Dragon begin to scuttle. He charged, intending to fry the mess with electricity, when Tetsu fell, knocking the room off balance. The little mouse stumbled, then realigned himself just to see a chair speeding towards him. He moved, but the impact shatteted a table leg. Once more, he was off balance, and after a few creaks, another gave away. Cp now sped down a newly created ramp into the pile of mercenary and new guy.

"Hmmm" the entity mused, jumping off the table in order to start pacing from one side to the other, as an affectation for her thinking "You would give up an entire realm you have a claim on, for this one? Or anything I want to trade. I'd give up my prized pet for another world to toy with. But my dear, I'm no stranger to this game. Since there appears to be no downside for me there is a catch, of course. Whatever is in it for you? Apart from the fun of knowing or watching me get creative with your subjects, of course. Say I choose to trade something other than your, subordinate? I have been waiting 13 years to bring back what she lost after all. What is it that would be satisfactory to a demoness of your caliber?"

The entity didn't stop pacing, but did however slow down when Tetsu fell and CP slid, just to share a cruel smile with them.

"Oh I know, let's all go on a field trip" the entity in a stolen body exclaimed suddenly "you can show me the realm of yours, and I can show you mine" the Collector sent three of the four black tendrils on Swix's back over to where the heap of mercenary, new guy and CP were sprawled in order to grab them by the neck and hold them up in the air so they'd struggle to breathe "we can take these misfits with us. Irritating but sooo much fun to mess about with, wouldn't you say?"

The oily liquid that was speeding up and over Tetsu-kos body didn't stop, in fact it seemed to want to engulf the mythical beast. The Dragons violent thrashing, though it did admirably delay the majority of the flood from getting much further than the area that she panicked and got her vines out, couldn't stop the liquid completely as it flowed through gaps, forming small rivulets that headed for Tetsus mouth, nostrils,, eyes and ears. Once there the living darkness would clog up her airways, sight and hearing...

Markus didn't even get to mutter a curse before the entity of darkness had grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him in the air. He considered stabbing the tendril but thought better of it, at best it'd do jack all... he didn't want to think about the worst case scenario.

"Technically" Markus tried to reason with himself "Everything is actually going to plan. You've not shot this Collector. Good job, I guess."

As he squirmed in the air, Markus felt powerless in the face of such... evil. It was actually starting to send shivers down his spine, he hadn't felt that since his last employer. Of course his last employer hadn't ever strangled him, so maybe he was too harsh on the guy.

Of course, there was always plan B... but no, not yet.

Cp gasped, lifted into the air by his neck. He could no longer tell if this was going smoothly. Raven and C seemed best of friends at the moment, discussing their transaction. Was Raven still on their side? Had Raven ever been on their side?

All the electric mouse knew now was that the Demoness was being offered infinity. The Collector could very well provide anything the woman may want, if the price was right. With that in front of her, was Swix still worth it?

The way he saw it, Raven believed her fellow Evil Council members to be her possessions. Raven didn't like losing her stuff. Period.

But, still, if the transaction was with those terms in her mind, maybe something else would take priority.

They had lost control of the situation.

In the other half of the bar, Tetsu screamed, tendrils like black spittle flailing about her mouth. This was a nightmare. She was being consumed by the darkness, plain and simple. It was overtaking every inch of her Draconian frame, and she had no idea what would happen to her when it won.

The Dragon's thrashing had become so ineffective as more of her was covered. She would use her wings if they hadn't been turned into wing shaped piles of sludge. Eventually, she simply fell, onto her side, as she felt The Collector slither down her throat into her insides. The last thing she saw was the bodies of the only people that could help her being lifted limply into the air.

Then, The Collector danced her tendriled fingers across her eyes and she vanished, with one last bubble, into a Dragon shaped mass of shadow.

(( Before I start, this has to be the most stressful post I have ever had to write. Not, surprisingly, because of its content. But because of how hard it's been for me to find a goddamned computer and have a moment to myself. OH THANK GOD, I'M FINALLY POSTING. ))

'Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh SHIT' Raven's thoughts were rather repetitive at that moment. Tetsu, her future adoptive daughter - at least to Raven's mind - was drowning in sludge. The rest of them she didn't really care for. Oh wait, CP was her pet - right? Yes, that was right wasn't it.

She should probably stop them from dying.

So, with her heart pounding and her possessions in danger (she refused to think of such lowly creatures as friends) Raven took a breath and laughed. "Now, now darling. I know they're rather fun to toy with... but they are barganing chips dear." Raven purred, a raised eyebrow towards C. "I believe I did say all this realms inhabitents, and I would so prefer them alive."

Oh god, how was she going to pull this off? It almost killed her to open the portal last time. Even with her super magic potion...of which the last of she gave to CP. Dammit. She should really learn to not give her things to other people.

"A trip seems lovely! Oh, you might like this. They're all going to try and kill me - and probably all of us, actually since you're WITH me." Raven smilled happily, her arms having lifted in expression to signal everyone as she spoke. She returned them to her sides, eying the creator. "I was going to go back and force them into submission... but I've found myself growing fond of a...quiet place like this." Raven's heart beat in her chest. Nausea gripped her as she realized she had not seen the dragon re-emerge. Worry and fear coiled around, choking her.

But you wouldn't know it. Her face a perfect mast of charming, sultry smiles and confidence. Not a movement, not a twitch betrayed her. Perhaps if one could hear the beating of her heart... but it could simply be excitement after all. It's not often one tries to negociate with imminant death as a posibility.

A wicked gleam entered her eyes, lighting them up. For a moment, one would have thought they'd returned to their original crimson rather than the much calmer, cooler lilac they had become over they years. "Oh, also that catch you mentioned. Really, you would be saving me work. The realm is unruly, undisceplined. They refuse to bow to power alone and instead obsess over false blood. Think of it as like an uncut diamond - a huge, beautiful uncut diamond. Yours to cut in anyway you please, my lady." Oh god, please don't let her be too late. She should have insisted the other's safety first.

They were all she had left.

Well except the mercenary and demon slayer. They could die a thousand deaths for all she cared, they weren't anything to her.

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Laxus was hauled into the air with the others. He tried to cut the...thing with his sword. Apparently his magic eating sword had no effect. As his mind began to cloud with a lack of air, he wondered what the HELL that stuff was made of if not magic.

The world was a strange place.

Markus continued to struggle, and could only listen as the would be traitor kept talking. But wait... what was she saying?

"She's... trying to bargain her way into saving this world?" Markus asked himself "That crafty, jammy git. I think I admire her."

Of course, the impressive display of bartering would be more impressive if the life wasn't slowly being squeezed out of him. This was insane, all Markus wanted was to just take some time off and not get killed and WHAT BLOODY HAPPENS?! But he still had an out. He had something he could fall back on... but it could get him outcast from the encampment at best, or get everyone there killed at worst.

This was messed up. This was messed the hell up and Markus rapidly had one option left.

"Just a little longer damn it, just a little longer... don't crap out just yet..."

Cp choked on a smile. Raven was actually doing it. She was still rapidly bargaining for their safety, and actually seemed pretty good at it.

At least to him. The Collector could still be another story.

He felt a small pang of guilt for doubting her at first. The way he figured it though, the mistrust stemmed from thinking what they would do in the situation. If offered a deal with The Collector, could any of them refuse that kind of power? Cp knew better, but that was simply based off past experience. Everyone else was just meeting C for the first time.

He did know though, that he didn't want to go to Demon World. He especially didn't want to go to C's realm. It must mean something if he was choosing Demons as the friendlier option. In fact, it didn't even make sense to go to The Collector's realm. Raven was showing off such a place to prove that yes, it existed. But why go with C? Was it a trap? What could she possibly be planning on doing with them there?

Speaking of things C was doing, Tetsu had been enveloped by the pool for an alarmingly long time. Could she even breathe? The Collector likely wouldn't kill the Dragon outright, as Raven said, she was a "bargaining chip". Nothing would kill a deal faster than pulling back a veil and finding a corpse, and C knew that. Those terms didn't prevent The Collector from having some "fun" with her prey however. Every minute Tetsu remained in that cocoon was another minute for "experimenting". He couldn't know what state Tetsu would come out in, and that just made the need to do something greater.

Unfortunately, they couldn't.

They couldn't do anything without potentially ruining the deal. Any attempt at escape could ruin the entire thing and doom them all.

So, Cp remained hanging. Hanging, staring nervously at the blob of darkness that used to be Tetsu.

He hoped Raven knew what she was doing.

The Collector actually winced when Laxus sword cut through the tendril that was holding him up. Though it was true that the stuff wasn't made of magic, it was however attached to the stolen body she was currently inhabiting by magic and so not only did the demon hunter's tendril wobble as it was severed from 'one half' of it's host, it also sent the message of pain down to the entity. The entity turned Swix's face to stare at him with the eyes narrowed to small black slits. "Insolent fool!" she raged at the man "How dare you try and slice parts off me?! I'll rearrange your very bones for that-whilst you're still alive!"
the entity moved the fourth free tendril over to Laxus, aiming to grab his legs this time. The one that was already wound about his neck squeezed just a little bit tighter before slithering downwards-it would wrap about his chest and arms if he let it. However, this one he'd cut was still a bit shaky, his sword had done... something.

CP and Markus would find that at least some of what Raven had said in her extraordinary bargaining had made an impression on C, as the limbs that held them up by the necks also moved downwards. They were going to wrap around the two's chests to hold them up more securely-although the coils around their necks didn't go anywhere, they loosened just slightly so that they could breathe easier.

"Oh, I suppose when you put it that way... I suppose it's no fun breaking toys too soon, even if they're not yours" the entity said when she turned back to Raven with that cracked glass smile on her face and her eyes to a more normal proportion. The eyes were literally shining when Raven mentioned that the Demon realm was like an uncut diamond. She was interested, of course, it showed, but... "I think we may run into a tiny bit of a problem with this particular deal my dear" the entity told Raven somewhat mournfully, and behind the stolen body of Swix the darkness seemed to get deeper-in fact the shadow of her back was literally getting thicker. "But before we get into that" the entity was smiling again "let's get out of here so we can be ready to go on this trip, shall we?"

In the pool of sludge, the Dragon could certainly breathe because C had opened up holes in the coccoon that lead down to Tetsus lungs. The Dragon would find that, now, the living darkness would let her get up and at least see a little, but was not really in any hurry to get off the mythical beast.

All the Dragon in the cocoon knew for sure was the sound of her own breathing. She was alive at least, floating in this expressionless void, the shadow hugging her ever so tightly. Why was she alive, she thought to the darkness. She wondered this silently in her cocoon, unable to properly vocalize anything with her mouth full of Collector. She wasn't even sure if her mouth was open anymore, and asked that aloud too, to her bubble of nothingness. Thinking about single questions was keeping her sane right now. It kept her from focusing on other things, like how everyone else was probably dead, and the terror of just floating here, not quite drowning, but submerged way over her head.

It was kind of enjoyable when she stopped focusing on how terrible it was.

So... Why was she alive? She asked again, trying to come up with reasons. Perhaps this Collector had not yet "collected" a dragon, and was taking her off to wherever she kept her things. In that case, she would probably be taken good care of in the least. It was still a terrible fate, but not as bad as a gruesome death. Plus, if Swix didn't like The Collector, she couldn't be all bad.

The Dragon slowly became aware of something in front of her face. Wood. She could see, sorta. Which in itself was pretty strange because she was awfully sure her eyes were still covered. Was The Collector somehow broadcasting sight? Tetsu wasn't sure she liked thinking about that too much either. If she saw wood, she was still in the bar, and once again had to wonder what was going on. She wasn't aware of her body other than the breathing, and the somewhat-seeing. She could just be lungs and eyeballs at this point.

Actually, it was probably just best if she didn't think much at all.

<hr />
Across from the Cocoon, Cp shifted as The Collector adjusted her hold on him. With such a small frame, it hadn't been too much of an issue earlier, but for Markus and Otherguy, this was likely a blessing. Speaking of the other guy, he was going to get himself killed if he carried on this way. He saw enough of the scene to know he had attacked The Collector, and her response was brutal to say the least. If he thought she was joking about taking out his skeleton and seeing how it looked with the bones rearranged, the poor guy was in for an unpleasent surprise.

What could they really do to help him now though? They had told him to get out, and he choose to instead become actively involved. Maybe he would calm down and they could figure out how to get him to safety at some point.

Maybe.

'Shit, she's just playing with us.' The Collector's comment about the deal not working out struck Raven. She had hoped to find a way to expel C from Swix and buy them some time to work on a strategy, but it didn't seem that would work anymore.

She noticed Laxus' impending doom and did nothing. If the fool couldn't control himself or realize the danger of a situation it was his own fault.

She would feed him a potion later, should he still live.

However, the immediate problem of the Collector remained before that could happen. She would have to create the portal for her now... even if doing so will leave her half dead and without potions to sustain herself. Oh, and in a hostile environment, where every single citizen wanted to kill her. Did she mention they'd also be with a psychotic blob of pure evil?

Raven was sure nothing could possibly go worse, so she decided to go for it anyway. "Of course dearest. The portal gateway is in my home." Raven smiled coyly at the Collector. "That's the reason I built it there, in truth. It's a bit into the forest north of town. Shall we?" She gestured politely with her arms, allowing the Collector superiority in going first.

We would see who was truly superior.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

Laxus flailed, aiming to hit the tentacles coming towards him with his sword in vain. He would NOT go down without a fight. His blood pumped into his ears, hearing gone all but for the rush of blood. He struggled, flailed, his battle-hardened body straining against the impossibly strong forms.

His eyesight began to fade. The light grew dim. His swings grew sloppier. If he didn't hit the right one, or ones, soon he would faint.

So much for being a Guardian.

The Collectors tendril that was holding Laxus throat would have relaxed if the idiot hadn't decided to flail around so much. Oh, what was it with these creatures that made them want to give her excuses for ripping apart their insides? C barely spared the guy a look as he tried dancing in the air with her.

"Ah" she said to Raven, slightly inclining her head towards the demoness in approval "how very savvy of you, my dear, to keep such a secret close to your dwelling" the entity seemed to be growing quite fond of Raven... Laxus, on the other hand, was getting on her nerves.

The Collector didn't offer any thanks when the demoness gestured for her to go to the door first, she did however, take two steps towards it then turned back to indicate the cocooned Dragon. "Oh, by the way, since one of you so graciously thought to try and bar my way in with a Dragon, I've taken the liberty of making some... improvements" she purred, and held her hand towards the mythical beast, palm upwards, as the cocoon of black fell off Tetsu in pieces and then rushed towards the entity. "Allow me to introduce your all new and improved baby blue Dragon&#33;" she announced triumphantly as Tetsu-kos now blue and black striped body was revealed.

It wasn't the only thing that was revealed either, when the entity and her captives were fully outside the inn-with C not paying any particular attention to whether they hit the walls on the way out or not-with the sludge following along just behind, that was when the demon hunters now sloppy flailings got a result.

The sword of his managed to slice through the limb holding him and the limb that was trying to grab the rest of him in one motion. The limb that hadn't managed to grab him was pulled rather hastily away, the entity winced again and this time when she opened her eyes they were angry.

The shadow behind Swix grew thicker when the sludge connected with her feet, and a pair of skinless wings suddenly burst out of Swix's back. The humanoid womans eyes closed and she fell limply forwards onto her knees and into the muck as the Collector made her first true appearance that night. In her favoured form, C looked part humanoid, part reptilian. She had double bent legs, clawed feet
a whiplike tail, those skinless wings and a pair of snakes heads for hands. The rest of her was female humanoid, except for the eyes which were pools of glowing red light. The four tendrils that held her captives were attached to her back. Her face was twisted with rage at the demon hunter for what he'd just done.

In the pool, Swix lay unconscious as the gunk moved to consume her. On her back, two out of four tendrils that looked like pale imitations of the real thing had been sliced cleanly off at various lengths. That, there, was what Laxus had done.

"That. Is. It" the entity said, enraged, and moved the limb holding the ynunger man to slam him into the ground in front of her. It wasn't intended to kill, C would be happy just for something to break. "You are starting to annoy me" she told him.

"YOU KNOW WHAT?&#33;" Markus Yelled, after the next poor sod decided to attack the Collector. "SCREW. THIS."

He paused for a brief moment, guilt already racking his mind. Swix he felt worst for, he'd already harmed her once and now he was going to leave her to die for all he knew.

"I'm sorry. I really am." He called out one more time, before slamming a strange metal disc on his hip, and vanishing.

Time paused. Well, it didn't pause per say, but it slowed to a complete crawl. You'd have to be paying quite close attention to see anything actually moving, but it was. Light seemed to be slower here too, it wasn't any darker but colour was but a distant memory. Sound was suffering too, everything was very slow and distant. It was almost serene, if not for the chilling feeling of dread Markus felt in his gut.
He had invoked something powerful, but it wasn't magic. At least that was what he was told. And wouldn't you know it, the very creature that had assured him of this was approaching right now...

MARKUS. YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME. AS PER OUR... CONTRACT WE ARE NOW AS YOU SAY, EVEN.

A creature of alien metals and materials approached. The most striking thing about the creature was the many, many spiderlike legs it possessed. They were tucked together as it walked, Markus suspected that if it stood fully upright, it would dwarf him by a considerable amount. Looking upwards the rest of the machine became more humanoid. Skeletal, but humanoid. The face was the most disturbing thing however, it was shaped like a skull but lacked any features whatsoever. Smooth as silk. And yet Markus felt it's gaze penetrating him.

"What... what's going to happen now?" Markus enquired, fear creeping into his voice.

AS PER OUR AGREEMENT, YOU WILL HAVE THIRTY OF YOUR MINUTES TO DO AS YOU WISH IN THIS REALM, AND THEN YOU WILL BE RETURNED TO REAL SPACE.

"What if I'm in a wall or something-"

IRRELEVANT.

"Great..."

BE GRATEFUL THAT YOU ARE BEING GIVEN THIS CHANCE, MORTAL.

"But what about the others&#33;?" Markus barked, and swiftly regretted it.

The machine considered this.

WHY DO YOU CARE?

"I... I just do. Don't harm them. Except the insanely magical creature there" He explained, pointing to the Collector. "If you can deal with... her I guess, feel free."

The machine carefully unwrapped Markus from the tendril, and even with the expressionless skull, he could tell it was considering that fact.

WE WILL WATCH. NOW GO. YOU HAVE TWENTY NINE MINUTES.

Markus wasted no time, and bolted as far away as possible. But where was he gonna go? If they survived he'd surely be hunted down, and frankly he wouldn't blame them. Maybe he could fine a way to the other world? Unlikely, that was a once a year chance if he remembered correctly... No, he could still help.

Charging through the streets, Markus searched for somewhere close and somewhere high. And it literally was through, whatever this realm was it didn't seem to mind him walking straight through solid objects. And people, that gave him one or two grisly sights.

"If only I could do this more often, makes running away a hell of a lot easier." He thought to himself, wistfully.

As luck would have it, or dreadful fate depending on how things went, he spotted a tower. It was still in the middle of construction, and looked like it would fall over if you gave it a mean look, but he suspected this wouldn't matter here. Vaulting up the stairs, trying not to think about how that was working considering his trip through the street, he positioned himself to oversee the drama outside the inn.

So had the machine.

"What are you doing here?&#33;" Markus exclaimed, and once again quickly regretted it.

WHILST THAT IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN, I SHALL GRACE YOU WITH AN EXPLANATION. YOU'RE A PREDICABLE CREATURE MARKUS. PREDICABLE ENOUGH TO KNOW YOU MAY BE OF USE YET, BUT A TEST IS IN ORDER. THIS IS THAT TEST.

The machine very casually plucked a clip of ammo from Markus, and... fiddled with it. Markus couldn't explain it any other way. The thing shifted and morphed like putty, until the machine seemed satisfied and returned it.

PROCEED.

"Damn." He thought. "I really am predictable."

TWENTY TWO MINUTES, MARKUS.

Ah, right. The plan. Well, there was only one thing for it. Markus took aim, and fired on the collector, one at each tendril that was holding someone captive, and a couple at the collector herself, aiming for the head. He then kicked back from his position and hurtled down the tower, charging towards another spot to take aim.

He'd pay back Swix when this whole mess was done. Probably. Did it count if he was in another dimension?