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((God Modding a few people. No regrets. cool ))

Somewhere along the line, Z4 had managed to wobble to his feet, still drunk with the weight of reality. They were dead. Everyone around him embracing and quietly talking and in some cases sobbing or walking to the door... Alpha One among them.

Immediately the Phoenix soldier stopped his awkward, numb dancing to the somber music that had filled the lounge... Their Leader- he accepted the quiet touch goodbye, but already a fresh panic attack was upon him.

Just breathe.

In and out.

Dimly, he was aware of a scuffle near the portal door, but something else seemed to drown it out-

He could hear the clink of glass and somewhere amongst the somber air there was the sound of laughter...

This... could still be a good time. Almost everyone was here- at least who he had had the pleasure of becoming acquainted- and if they weren't, well...

Eventually they soon would be.

He stooped to pick up the fallen ice-bucket top hat.

And they would all have a good time and wear funny hats.

The sound of a tinkling piano suddenly resonated through his helmet- and he couldn't tell if it was just in his head or if... was that A4 by the suddenly uncovered grand piano? Had that always been there?

As far as Z4 was concerned, tt was now, as the cords tinkled through the room in a flood of introduction...

"There's a place you're always welcome, That's as nice as it can be..." He felt his voice pick up, as did his smile as he sauntered his way slowly towards the bar, glancing to those gathered at the couches and tables with their fellow fallen. "Everyone can get in...." Phoenix, Alpha, Zeta, Omega, Whatever- it really didn't matter, did it? "'Cause it's absolutely free!"

Suddenly, he jumped, clear up onto the bar, stepping with a tip of his top-hat and he could sense a spotlight, even if it wasn't really there- "That's death. No need to take a breath. Just lay around all day! With not a single bill to pay! Hooray!" He hopped onto one of the stools, riding it smoothly down to step forward between the rows of tables towards the door.

"That's death." He gave a shrug, suddenly cutting in between Z5 and A3, giving the Alpha soldier a twirl, "No more sicknesses or flu. " He dipped the shocked and befuddled A3 before passing him back off to his original partner, "If you've lived beyond your means. You can die beyond them to. Boo hoo!"

He turned towards the doorway, removing his hat to hold it to his chest, striking a solemn pose, "Well the greatest and the finest, Have already died! Why not simply join them, On the other side?"

He turned to the couches, "That's death." He reached down to suddenly pull A9 up to her feet in a quick foxtrot between the rows, "Say farewell to all your bills, Rip up all your wills!" He gave her a twirl, suddenly tossing her up into the air- "And pop your final pills!" - and caught her.

Amen! Someone shouted.

"That's death" He shrugged, gently setting her back down into her seat, "It's a date with fate. he tapped her leg consolingly, squished on the couch beside her and anyone else who had been sitting next to her before his sudden intrusion, "If you're not feeling great, Then it's the best way to lose weight, mate!"

He jumped up again, this time twirling towards the portal, staggering between A7 and Z8 to hang a hand over each of their shoulders, "Nothing here to hurt you!" He sang reassuringly to his fellow Zeta, before rolling his head to the burly Alpha he had to strain to hang from, "No one's here to nag"

To the other assembling Phoenixes, his hands slid down to gesture to them, "Come die with me, If your life's a drag!"

He suddenly burst forward between them, A7 in tow- he seemed to have had a problem when he took Z8 as a dancing partner, he would just have to cooperate. "That's death! The wealthy and well-bred!" It was sort of difficult to perform some of the moves, but the occasional impromptu swing of a fist and a dip and a duck from Z4's end helped fill the gap, "All of them are here, And they're all completely dead! That's death. No more headaches, no more pain. " He lost his hat but regained it somewhere along the way.

He finally broke free, belting out at the top of his lungs in a sudden throw of passion, "Of the millions who've died. No one came back to complain!"

He marched forward, as people around him backed him up as he scaled a nearby table, "You can't take it with you! You can't keep what you've got! So why not just lay back! And simply rot?"

The music swelled and he hopped down again, back towards the Phoenixes and waiting portal, "Just simply rot, It's so cool it's hot..."

He stopped only just a step from the door... into whatever came next. But his heart felt right. Whatever lay beyond was certainly better than what lay ahead when they had been "Alive"... But they were here now, just as he had always wanted... as far as he could remember, anyway.

"That's death." He whispered, with one final tip of his hat to Z8, and a nod to A7, he followed their Leader into oblivion.

(Z4, over and out and off to the world beyond.)

"Oh, you know..." He murmured, A-Three now coaxing the other into a turn, letting go with one hand and guiding the other in a spin, just far enough away that their bodies brushed with no real friction. A shame that silks and satins...instead of these awkward suits, weren't the clothing of the hour. His movements were careful, and he brought the smaller male back to face him, regaining their original pose, and Three fell seamlessly back into step. Somewhere in the back, he heard Z4 and his rousing performance, as yet another said goodbye....pausing for but half a moment, he gave a bit of a salute, before returning to the matters at hand, picking the dance back up as though he'd never left it.

"Trying to get yourself killed, meeting a fellow, spend three days getting yourself attached...dinner, dancing and a spot of wine?" It was Three's dry humor, and one could almost see the way that his quiet teasing danced in his eyes, even through that mask, something conveyed through sound, the man's voice seeming a living thing in and of itself, touchable. Yes, indeed...death seemed so far away, when one had friends to share the evening with. Hell, if it even was evening...it might be the breaking daylight in the real world, beyond this limbo...but here, it could be an eternal evening. Dancers, singers...they had brought this place the life it lacked.

Heh. That he would be such a one, it seemed such a nonsensical thought.

((And now, for just a moment, the woman Epsilon has all been waiting for. E10 entering from Last Man Standing.))

His truth is marching on...

His truth...

..ching on...

Dear God, what had she done? She had awoken in a tent, a bright highlighter pink tent that made her want to gag at the very sight. She had been surrounded by twelve other pleasant people. Good people. People who were bent on making sure it was their entire squad had made it to the end. What had she done? She'd turned on them the moment she'd found that they could get a pendant and be guaranteed survival.

Ha, what a load of s**t that had been. She'd gotten her hands on three of those things and look where it got her. Look where it got Four, Thirteen, Five, Seven...those pendants didn't guarantee s**t.

She was..happy. She was glad she had been killed. She was glad someone put a stop to her. Sure, she had been on cloud nine, reveling in the euphoria of feeling invincible. In truth? Epsilon Ten had felt like a god. And she had been. She was a god for those few minutes she had her hands on the scythe; Epsilon Ten became the God of Death, not the Angel..the God. She smote her enemies without prejudice, without care. She didn't care. She didn't care about anyone but herself...but she did care. In those final moments before her death, she realized she did care. She cared very much. Had she truly agreed willingly to this? To the game? To the gamble on her life and the lives of others? She couldn't honestly see herself doing such a thing, especially after seeing what it had done to her. She was over. She was finished. She was...

...s**t.

Epsilon Ten stared straight ahead of her with wide eyes, glad for the mask covering her face. There was a look of absolute shock and horror on her face. After what she had done she was still sent here? She heard singing, she saw dancing; everyone was happy and having fun. For a brief second she relaxed. No one had seen her yet...or maybe they had? But she wasn't being attacked. Maybe..maybe it was okay. Maybe they forgave her. Maybe she could stay. It'd be okay. She was alright. Everything was okay.

Or...maybe they just didn't notice her yet. That seemed the more likely option. They just didn't know she was there. How could they? They were busy having fun, enjoying themselves, being happy. It was like they were...alive...more alive than they were when they were living. She winced at the thought and pressed against the wall behind her. That hurt. It was the most likely truth, and it hurt. She didn't deserve to be here. She wasn't allowed this luxury. No. Not in the slightest. She needed an escape, a way out of here, or at least a closet she could hide herself in for the rest of eternity. She was dead and there was no coming back from that.

That was when she saw it.

An open door.

She tensed up against the wall behind her and looked to the door, then the people between her and the door. She'd killed many of them...how many of them held a grudge? They were reunited with those lost! No hard feelings, right? Eh heh...

No, that was a silly thought. She didn't belong here with them, that door seemed her best bet. She watched as several people went through the door. Where did it go to? Did it go somewhere good? Somewhere nice? As long as it was away from all these happy people she didn't care if it led to the very depths of Hell, she was going to go through that door.

She counted to three, pushed off the wall and made a break for the open door. She ran straight for it, not pausing for even a moment to look around at those she was pushing past as she made her sprint to freedom. That door, if it led anywhere, would lead to her freedom. She could just feel it. The only thoughts running through her head were Anywhere but here, anywhere but here! Anywhere but here! over and over and over again until she was through the door.

Epsilon Ten was gone. Forever.

[Beta x entering from This is a Test game thread - deadpsychosayswhut? ]

She had not expected her eyes to open again after such a short period of time. X had sputtered out her own blood in what was a grande collaboration of brutality. A lovely death...

calculating...calculating...

X registered this fact of "death" and yet- here she was with visibility? Rising from her place on a now...clean...floor.... she surveyed the surounds and raised a once furrowed brow. A lounge. There were beverages... was she rid of her suit and mask? no. Placing a hand to her face, she inspected that her appearance had not changed. She was still in the black and blue (heh) suit.
Grating fingers gently across the filter of her mask, she also noticed no blood.

Once she had concluded that she was indeed dead and in a lounge, she began to notice figures. Some were...familiar....

[Theta 3 Entering from 'This is A Test']

Warmth, pounding, kind of like ocean waves, except...she opened her eyes an was startled. A bunch of Beta's weren't beating the daylights out of her? So where was she? She touched her neck, no pendant, what was this place? She slowly looked around frowning as she saw some familiar and unfamiliar faces...well masks. Then she spotted a door, what was through there? Was it a way out, or a way in? A way into where? Out of what? This was all so confusing, she reached up and then slowly stood.

Purgatory? Was that what this was? Then again the person who had said it was masked as well, so what did they really know?

She walked over to the door frowning and examining it curiously unsure of passing through or not. Was she really dead?

So this was where that beta had gone... interesting.

X marveled at her dead self walking... walking. What an odd sensation. Both mobile and yet no feeling of pain from her previous injuries as she moved.

"ahahaha~ so...... you died. How did that happen?"

X paused before deciding a seat beside B7 would do fine. She hadn't any weapon or real entertainment here, so it was simple enough for her to relax a bit as she constructed the current happenings in her mind. Sitting with arms folded and one leg crossed over the other, she let her back settle on the comfy couch. Intrigued suddenly-

"A bet?... good to hear my death has further pleasures" oblivious to what this bet was. She'd run scenarios of ghostly/afterlife tortures in her mind. What sort of yummy disasters could befall the dead? Entertainment, perhaps, did exist here.

X nodded lightly when she heard the methods to which B7 had fallen by. Shifting her head to look into B7's mask as she responded.

"Shame the piranhas didn't have their way with you. Poisonous dart... I hope it lasted? Doesn't seem like we carry any remnants of pain in this place. Intriguing area. Mine was a glorious presentation of group bashing. They ganged up on me and had at it. I was pleased at this show of enraged passion."

Upon hearing the bet standards, X had no words.

"..."

Lowering her head and shaking it from side to side, she sighed. So this was what her bonus in death was? ... were those broken shards of glass on the floor? She swore she saw a glimmer of shining pieces of broken glass...