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"I'm not slow, you're unreasonably fast." Erica stuck out her tongue and started assembling her own sandwhich. "How about you, thorn? Slow or fast?"

Blitz was slowly making his sandwich "I've never actually seen the look on anyones face when they walk into their room before." He threw together his big sandwich, grabbed a drink and headed off to the picnic.

*Refreshed*

Baranar was striding quickly through the building, making good time, despite his stature. Good enough that the soldier behind him was having a hard time keeping up.
Baranar came to Ora's room, and began to bang on the door loudly and impatiently.

Baranar turned to face her, the soldier jumping at the sudden arrival. Baranar's robes were torn and battered, and his hair was askew. He had a large scrape on his face that still had dirt and gravel in it, as if his face had been dragged across the ground.

"There is a problem. With the war. Tell her." He said, shoving the soldier foreword.

The troop cleared his throat, not making eye contact with Ora.
"Lady Ora, it happened so quickly. I was with a large group of soldiers, stationed a goodly ways away from Krohv, to try and catch anyone who attempted to escape. There was a fair amount of us, a good 400 men, including heavy artillery, and a pair of Enforcers. Nothing was really happening. We could hear some of the distant battle in Krohv, but we were ordered not to engage." He nervously cleared his throat, rushing the words out. "It happened to quickly, the two Enforcers started moving. They were a ways off from us when it happened. We saw some bright flashes; we figured from the Super holding them, he was a pyro, and then the first Enforcer fell, followed quickly by the second. Our commanding officer took about half of our forces and went to stop what he assumed was the Krohv forces, having discovered us. The rest of us never saw any other troops, aside from ours, but in just a few short minutes, all we could see were corpses... and... an.."


Baranar cut him off. "What he is trying to say, is all of this was done by one man. He stood tall, slightly over 6 foot. He had shoulder-length dark brown hair, wore simple clothing of no marking, and carried nothing more than a bat. A wooden bat."

"I haven't been able to discern his alliance. The group this man was with sent more troops, leaving only a few, and they, likewise, were killed. I found this one driving a vehicle away from the scene." Baranar motioned to his robes and injuries.

"I recieved these by attacking him. I only just got away with my life. He said he had no allegiance in this war, but was looking for a lost brother. I attacked him, after further talking, and I lost.
"I speak with no vanity in my voice to state that I am remarkably skilled in my arts, but this man beat me like I were an infant before a master." Baranar was obviously not happy having to say this.
"Another thing. I attempted to use my second sight to see him, but he would not show up, even by looking for where there was nothing, I could not see him with anything but my own two eyes."

"Tempting, and perhaps crucial."

The cloaked figure walked through Ora's door, towering over them.
"The man you met, Old Crow, has no weakness or vulnerability. My daughter is right in suggesting an alliance with him." The figure's gaze, though unseen, could be felt switching to Ora.
"Now, my daughter, how would you go about procurring this force that so easily defeated your troops and would-be mentor?"

"No need."
The world around them changed, and they found themselves in a throne room, standing around a wide basin, filled with what appeared to be molten metal. The liquid phased, and showed the man of which Baranar spoke.
He stood tall, that even those twice his size would find him imposing. He bore shoulder length brown hair that curled around on his face, masking his features. He wore a black hoodie that seemed too big for him, but did not hang past his waist or wrists. He wore gray shorts, and a pair of black boots. Held in his left hand was a baseball bat, looking scratched and worn. He was stepping over the bodies of fallen AOS troops, no trace of blood upon himself or his bat.

The Master of Puppets spoke to those surrounding the pool.
"Incarnation." He said quietly, with a mystical sense of respect in his voice. He spoke again, this time, directed at the figure in the mirror.
"King, I have not crossed your path before." As he spoke, the words echoed in the water, and the man looked up, though he did not halt.
"I present you with an offer, King, of employ..."

The man spoke, his voice strong and deep, carrying through the pool.
"I am not a mercenary, to be bought so that I might turn the tide of a war. I search for my brother."

"But what if I could offer you information on your kin?" The smile practically shone through the cloaked head.

"You have information on Kic..."

"No." The Master of Puppets interrupted him. "I have information on your other brother, the youngest of the ancient trio. The brother you lost so very long ago..." He let the last words hang, letting the man before him decide.

The man disappeared from the pool, and was standing next to the MOP. "Tell me what you know about my brother, or I will make you tell me of him." The sound of his grip tightening around the bat was quite audible as the situation had gone suddenly silent.

The MOP smiled, and the room changed. He was now sitting in a raised throne on the far end of the room, with stairs leading up to it. Ora stood on his right, and Baranar at the base of the stairs. Ora stood there quietly, trusting her master's knowledge in this task. She made her own quick judgments, however, noting the attachments to his brothers with slight disdain. The man before them remained unmoved.

"I will divulge the information I know about your brother if you accept my offer. I offer you the information for your service in my little game. You will obey me, and if you cannot complete the simple tasks I lay before you, then you get nothing." He glared down from his throne. "Have we a deal?"

The man immediatley dropped to one knee, the bat held in one hand, propped up.
"I accept." He stood up just as quickly.
"However," the bat rose up, pointing at the MOP, "I do not work under children. This little girl, made of woman looks by a spell, shall do nothing but hinder the tasks." He spat to the side, his aversion to the deal he was forced accept evident.
"Made look woman, but too cowardly to accept anyone to make her one? Pathetic child playing the role of grand."

"So says a man in clothes that don't fit? A man who swings around a child's toy as if it were some grand sword? I may be young, but I am no child, and this is no spell, and by no means am I a coward." Ora's crimson eyes burned, her fingers gripping the hilt of her sword, but she made no move to draw it.

"Are you standin' behind your master's deal, or do you got the pair to make this challenge on your own?
The man spat to the side, swinging the bat onto his shoulder as he glared up at her.

"If he calls me off, then I will abide by his word." Ora glanced once at her Master, seeing no sign that would deny her, and pulled her sword free from the sheath. Tiny things in the room began to change, subtle things as she adjusted the scene to her liking, hiding a loose floorboard, moving a sharp-edged banister a few inches to the left. All these adjustments noone would ever notice. The man stood still, staring up at Ora all the while. He made no move as she drew her sword but to shift his weight slightly.

"My name's Hellions King, little girl. I'm tellin' you now, cause yer not gonna be in any condition to hear me later."

"I am no innocent, Hellions King. I've drowned in blood spilt." As she finished the sentance, her image wavered, splitting into three, spreading themselves out. All three Ora's smiled as the floor behind Hellions began to silently move aside, black vines, covered in barbs and spines began to push their way up, creeping along behind him.
The middle Ora took the chance and charged Hellions, making to attack, the black vines moving in time, hurling themselves from the floor at Hellions' back. Neither made it to him, as he took off running, racing up at the Ora on the left, the true Ora. He swung his bat down at her, the wind whistling off the side, but Ora blinked away, switching herself with one of the other illusions, the bat dispersing it as it struck.
"Wrong choice, King." Ora chuckled, as if it had been an illusion the entire time. With a motion, the black vines surged foreword. Hellions dodged in between the vines, kicking off of thing air to propel himself further and past them. He swung the bat down, cleaving through the vines, sending himself soaring into the air. He landed on the ceiling, staring down at Ora, and kicked off, Ora diving to the left as he struck the area she was in just a moment before. Hellions landed on his hands, pushing off into a short backflip, landing on his feet, and took off again for her.
He could indeed see through her illusions in some way, she noted. That, or uncanny luck. She fought back with a darkness, attempting to steal away his sight entirely, bits of shadow convalescing into balls of energy, launching themselves at him.
Hellions' bat swung down, dispersing the darkness. He continued moving towards her, striking each blast as it came to him, the balls dispersing as it struck the bat. He kicked off the ground, surging foreword, flying just inches off the ground as he slashed at her with the bat.

Ora lost her footing as she tried to avoid the swinging bat. Ora brought up her sword, Cirith Sal, in an attempt to deflect the bat, but pure horror crossed her face as it cracked the blade of her sword in half, and continued on towards her head.

"Enough."

Ora saw the bat swinging at her face, could feel a strange heat radiating from it, when it all changed. She found herself up to the right of the throne, her broken sword lying beside her. Hellions landed at the base of the stairs, and turned, facing her and the throne.
"Your might has been proven, far beyond what I could have expected, Hellions King."
Dark green hands extended from the sleeves of the cloak, and clapped twice in approval, before receding into the cloak once more.
Ora's eyes shot to her master, filled with a look of betrayal. They quickly returned to Hellions, both rage and jealousy burning inside of her. King didn't even know what those two claps meant. The Master did not return her gaze, but kept his delighted eyes upon his new toy.

Hellions deliberately turned his gaze to stare at Ora.

"Do not trouble yourself." The Master spoke. "You are in this deal with me and me alone. Those under me have no part in the deal, but I do require you do not kill those with me now, or any others of high rank in my forces."

Ora pulled herself to her feet, the burning look of rage burning fresh anew. The broken blade at her feet seemed to be mocking her.
"Don't think this is over!" She said to Hellions in a sharp, grating voice, the dark strands of her hair curtaining her face. "I promise I will see you dead."

The Master held up his hand, demanding silence.
"For the time being, I have no task for you. I will also require, if the situation comes upon you, that you do not kill the Angel or his red-haired woman."
Doors on the far side of the chamber opened, casting light into the chamber.
"I must now ask you all to leave this chamber, for I have. . . matters need attenting." He turned to face Baranar, then Ora, indicating that they were to leave.

Hellions nodded, swinging the bat back onto his shoulder. He turned to leave, but paused, calling out to Ora.
"Death means nothing to me, little girl. Take grace in your loss, and the fact that all you lost was your pride." With that, he strode from the chamber.

Ora brushed her hair back, and turned to leave the chamber. She left the broken sword behind her, ignoring Hellions' words. If death meant nothing to him, she would find something that did. But even then, her words would still hold, if it mattered to him or not, it mattered to her that she see him dead. She glanced back at Baranar with a questioning look.
"Where do you stand, Bremwill?"

Baranar was walking towards the door when he turned to face her.
"I remain where I've stood since the start." He stated simply, and exited the chamber.

"Then I stand alone." Ora said quietly to herself. "So be it." She left the chamber. Her thoughts turned to Hellions with a focus never granted to any other being except her master.

((Just figure on them all ending up somewhere in the HQ))