S.L.I.C.E. {Game Thread/ Closed, Started}

[IFS]

Lucas saw Will crush the group of demons, he knew the sight should horrify him, but strangely it didn't, he felt concern for Will, and how this might affect him, but no disgust, and his tangled mess of limbs continued to ward off the demons before him unflinching. God, what is wrong with me he thought, turning away from the mess and back towards the demons he was fighting.

They were keeping back now, beating back his outstretched limbs and staying just out of his reach, he glanced back at Will, unwilling to move away from him in the midst of all this chaos. Instead his limbs sunk back together, forming a black blobby mass where his arm would be, he felt even more mass flow into it from his torso, and even his other arm, before it exploded outwards, now forming a horrific maw.

The gnashing teeth closed on the first one, the mouth had no tastebuds or any way to swallow, so it crushed and tore before retching the demon's remains onto the ground before him, slinking back along the ground towards Lucas, seeming to sniff the air like a snake choosing who to bite next.

 

[DarkRawen]

Will managed to ignore what was going on around him till he spotted something in the corner of his eye. It was a snake-like creature, completely black in color and with a large mouth. Seeing it snapped him out of the comfortable place of few emotions and apathy, making it impossible for him to ignore the creature. It was going towards Lucas, and in a second he grabbed it with his telekinesis ready to--- What the hell? It was connected to Lucas?!

"L-lucas? What the fuck is up with your arm?!" He instantly went back a few steps. His instincts still told him to crush the thing. Whatever it was, it had moved on its own, right? What was it? Lucas had shape-shifted his limbs into a number of strange or disturbing things, but this... Fuck. He looked around to see if any demons were closing in, or the likes, but he couldn't help but look back at that thing. Will wished he could revert back, unsee it. He went back even more. No way he was staying that close to Lucas, and he could have his back from over where that fucking thing couldn't reach him. Lucas' arm or not. He killed a demon that was getting close to Lucas, but more because he didn't want to see the arm do... whatever it did.

"I-I'll have your back from over here," he said, but it was obvious that he was freaked out. He tried to use telekinesis on a demon, but was too shaken by Lucas' arm to realize he had used pyrokinesis, before the devil started screaming and sobbing in pain and finally fell to the ground, his brain fried and his hair burned. That voice, even though there were other demons yelling, would probably not leave Will's mind for a while.

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

Shit, they got out of the van

John jumped back into cover and checked his rifle. There should only be three left. He reloaded to be safe and looked back out at the van. They had just shot an angel out of a tree. Was it really an angel though? Pity either way.

John quickly pulled his head back behind the tree and decided that the mist wasn't providing enough cover anymore. He created a miasma over himself, just enough to blur his features and make himself slightly less distinguishable from the tree he was hiding behind. He checked his rifle again and moved enough of himself out from behind the tree to open fire on the enemy survivors that had crawled out of the van. Then of course he opened fire on his enemy.

 

[IFS]

Lucas heard Will dart back away from him, crap I forgot how much Will hates snakes, dammit now I'll have to apologize to him, I'm an idiot he thought. Still his snake arm was effective, and ass it lashed forward to tear at another devil's legs, tearing a chunk out before retreating back to him, the devils circled him warily. His bulletproof vest sat more heavily on him now, he felt that if it were removed he might appear emaciated underneath from all the borrowed mass the arm was taking.

He considered glancing back at Will, but he could tell from the devils dying out there that he was still fine, and he doubted Will would appreciate him moving closer, given how his current arm had freaked him out. Still annoyed with himself over not thinking, and somewhat saddened by Will's reaction, he lashed out again, feelings of satisfaction as another devil fell accompanied by the worry that this carnage should be troubling him.

 

[deathbydeath]

Lars loosened his feet from the ceiling, feeling gravity doing its work. He made a mental note to yell at the trigger-happy douche that flipped the van while he was in it. As he dropped to the ground, he looked around the van at the state of the other assailants, all of whom were either down and groaning or still and unconsciousness. He slipped out of the back of the van and inched forward behind three armed men who escaped and had begun chatting in a rather unprofessional manner.

"Eh, we can take em."

Lars couldn't fully restrain himself upon hearing this, and the result was a sharp outburst of laughter that quickly tapered off into a moderate cough. The three men whirled around at the outburst, bring their arms to bear as Lars recouped his lost advantage. The SLICE agent snatched Dog by the throat and hauled the man on his feet, positioning him towards Cow like a shield. As he held the masked ruffian off of the ground, Lars rotated his wrist forward and up, slowly wrapping around and cutting into the man's throat. This was his favorite part, when they realized their fate.

In the process of removing Dog, bullet fire rang out and scattered around the scene. Lars threw the asphyxiated man down and dashed behind the toppled van, moving his half-century self in the opposite direction of the speeding lead. He didn't care about removing the man if it meant he died in the process.

Wait, is that the same gun that shot the van d--

 

[Pappytech]

Beep boop, I am error.

 

[Ruedyn]

D3 & D5

The 2 and a half remaining turned around to see a chuckling figure attempt to kill one of their ranks. Dog laid on the ground, gasping for breath, both hands on his throat.

"Shut him up, please shut him the fuck up!" Chicken screamed, as his partner tried to shoot the attacker. Managed to miss. Annoyed by that and the gurgling, he aimed his gun at Dog, putting a round between his eyes.

"There! Now shut the fuck up, and fish that mother fucker out of the bushes!" A light chuckle was heard, again, though not from Lars.

"Then there was Andy!" Pendragon shouted, springing from a tree ("How'd he get up there?" a human in a black suit shrugged), and bringing his sword down diagonally managing to cleave Cow in half. Chicken put a round in the back of his head.

"... That tickles." Andrew Pendragon muttered, tightening his grip on Avalon, "You'll die slowly." All was quiet for a moment, before the angel moaned.

"Need a doctor..." Chicken brought his gun up, before it was cleaved in half by Andy.

The Elf, leader of D5, finally stopped releasing smoke, taking on the view of the carnage.

"... We were supposed to take their place... God fucking damnit." He pinched the bridge of his nose, before sighing and throwing his hands up into the air, "Fuck it, we're strong arming it. Pendragon, get your men lined up in front of the windows, D5, follow me. We're going through the back door."

Pendragon shrugged off the others swearing, muttering something about chill pills, and leading his men towards the building, one staying behind to take care of the angel.

Up close, the building looked worse, and smelled of sulfur. All could guess that was the hulking figure inside, wearing bronze roman centurion armor. He ran his fingers over his shaved head, inbetween the large ram horns. His lower body was that of a faun, too. The ebony claymore on his back looked used, to say the least, crimson visible on the sawtoothed blade. He seemed to be smirking, looking through the walls, his eyes of lava passing over everyone.

He started pacing, deliberately, faster the closer the forces approached. He smiled widely, revealing jagged rows of sharp, long teeth. He stopped when all were ready, drawing his blade slowly, causing an irritating grinding noise.

"I am the most powerful demon to ever be. Are you ready to die?" A voice rang out to all around, though it didn't seem to come from his mouth. That was to busy grinning wildly.

"Arrogant, don't you think?" Came a voice from behind him, also clearly heard. The man wrapped in blue stood directly behind him, holding his hand to his hidden face, "And frankly, you smell bad." Abadon whipped around, cleaving the empty robe in half. Merlin stood in front of him now, 10 ft away, now wearing a steel breastplate over a dark blue robe. His face was old, that of a man in his late 40s, with a burn mark over a lidless, orange eyeball with only a snake's pupil to show it isn't a ball.

"Do you like this? They always told me I had my mothers eyes...." He smirked, and the demon sighed,

"Are you going to throw quips, or spells you has been. You could barely make it out of a cave, and you think you can beat me?" Merlin shrugged, grin dropping, before holding his hand out. The demon blinked, his sword missing, being held in Merlin's hand. He also had a dull throbbing pain on his nose.

"Help would be appreciated, you know." Merlin called over his shoulder, sticking Abadon's sword into the ground.

 

[MortifiedPenguin]

"You really want to hear words from a forked tongue?" The half-something whispered, not unlike a devil, in her ear.

The demon she had questioned look up at the misty man before writhing in pain, screeching out some adulation for the man before writhing in pain; two scythes emerging from her forearms. She cursed whoever had done it, now the demon was swaying drunkenly like a marionette. Her chance for information lost. They were facing a horde, there would be others.

The witch shot the hybrid a look that could indeed kill if she wished it, "Even if it is forked, the information truth, half truth or lies, it is still valuable to me."

Before her another portal opened up, a wave of deadly looker demons emerging from it. These were soldiers unlike the other in the arena. Pain would not take them so easily.

"Die" She pushed her hand out toward them, leaving it to hang in the air as she put together the new curse: wither and dry. She directed the hex towards them, instead of a pulse of magical energy a beam with the hex infused into shot towards the new demons.

 

[Terratina.]

"Pretty."

Haytham took a short bow, "I do try my best." With a smile, he readied his katars but was surprised when constructs of blood shot out of the demon's arms and began to spin around like a drunken ballerina. He quickly jumped out of the way and preceded to stand his ground for a bit, katars raised up in a blocking position. It would be rude to suddenly leave the conversation after all. Even if she gave him a look that could probably kill an efreeti, let alone himself. But then again, there were those words...

"Even if it is forked, the information truth, half truth or lies, it is still valuable to me."

Haytham smirked at this, and jested in response, "Each to their own, but demons always lie. Everybody knows that." As the woman shot the beam, he flipped over, switched to the AK-47 and fired at the horde. As he land in the rear of the newcomers in kevlar, he switched back to the katars. Whatever was on their was bad news and Haytham began to hack away at them in his usual slice-and-dice style. Still, there was that beam of magic(?) to take into account and he was ready to exit the fray when it reached the crowd of kevlar.

 

[Ruedyn]

D2 & D6

The horde had shrunk significantly. It seemed most were either running away, or dying to gunfire and other weapons. The demon soldiers had managed to get a few of their brethren back through the portal, for medical treatment and rest.

Still, others stayed, firing blindly for the most part against the invaders. Zeke saw so many dead, and cast a spell, summoning large, sharp tendrils out of the corpses, swinging them at all nearby. Guerra had finished his foes, and was smiling in his human form, his gun empty and blade drenched in blood.

The speaker, clutching his stomach saw all of this, a tear forming in his eye. "So many brothers lost. Why are they so brutal?" He spoke mostly to the sky, though Samael approached slowly, speaking when hearing his words, "You people have brought it on yourselves."

The boot of the angle was the last thing he saw.

~

The division heads stepped around the bodies, already decomposing, to their men. They seemed shell shocked, a fact Zeke ignored. It seemed the battle was over for today, a surprise attack that would devastate the enemy. He couldn't help himself from smirking.

"Zeke, we need to get moving. Base is expecting us." Zeke tore his gaze away from the blood and gore towards his ward, the demon Guerra.

"Yes, yes. Summon a portal, a bus, something I don't care. I'll stick around..." Guerra shrugged, turning around and calling all to him.

"Alright everyone, D6 will prepare a portal for us outside the stadium, and D4 will move in to examine the remains. Great work today, though everyone will report to ground floor for psych eval." At his words, 5 mages gathered together, Samael and the Minnesotan elf among them, and began chanting. A portal opened after several minutes, a rift in reality hat showed the familiar church on the other side. Several men in white coats and hazmat suits stepped through, and began sifting among the bodies.

The group was free to leave now, the heads had already disappeared through the portal.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Alright everyone, D6 will prepare a portal for us outside the stadium, and D4 will move in to examine the remains. Great work today, though everyone will report to ground floor for psych eval."

The demons had fled, although most of them were dead, lying on the ground or completely crushed. Will felt numb, and he staggered through the portal, ahead of Lucas. However, he stopped, and turned around. Lucas still had that arm, didn't he? When he saw the black thing that was a part of his brother, he shuddered. What had his brother been thinking? Not only did Will loathe snake, but more importantly, it was fucked up.

"Then again, what was I thinking? What was I doing" The feeling of demons being crushed by his invisible hands returned to him, making him a bit sick. However, he reminded himself of that it had been on purpose. These were not humans, they were demons. The enemy, in a war. With this in mind, he finally walked though that portal.

At the ground floor, he looked around. There had been some kind of psych evaluation, right? What were they looking for? "Would I be able to pass it? What do we need to do in order to pass it? Wh-what if I don't? No, I have to stay calm."

Worrying about it would only make it worse. Besides, he seemed calm on the outside, albeit he probably looked tired an sleepy. His mind was a jumbled mess of fear, disgust, despair, and plain shock, numbed by the constant presence of his powers. But he was calm. perhaps that was enough? He walked up in line for the evaluation, Lucas would probably be there soon, and he wanted to get this over with before having to deal with that again. When it was his turn, he stepped up to the people doing the evaluation.

"So, how does this work?" he asked. His distant eyes hid the emotions of a childish, young man who had just killed several dozens of demons with his mind.

 

[IFS]

The demons fled, as they went Lucas pulled his arm back into its normal shape, there was a sense of discomfort as the bones reformed and snapped into place, and a faint itching sensation as his skin reverted to normal. When it was finished he glanced back over his arm to make sure it was in the proper shape, stretching and wriggling his fingers to make sure everything was in order.

That done he turned and followed the others back to the base, following the crowd to figure out where to go, he figured there was probably a debriefing or something, if nothing else he would like something to eat, shapeshifting had left him feeling very hungry.

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

John's amorpha dropped as the division head dropped one of the remaining combatants and incapacitated the last one.

The D5 head spoke "... We were supposed to take their place... God fucking damnit." He pinched the bridge of his nose, before sighing and throwing his hands up into the air, "Fuck it, we're strong arming it. Pendragon, get your men lined up in front of the windows, D5, follow me. We're going through the back door."

Pendragon the D3 head shrugged it off and led him men towards the building, with one staying behind to tend to the downed angel.

Up close, the building smelled of sulfur, even through the mask and John took position at one of the windows, ready to smash it open. He guessed the smell was being exuded from the large demon. It was wearing bronze roman centurion armor, and was running its hands over it's shaven head inbetween large ram horns. Its lower half appeared to have been that of a faun. The ebony claymore on his back looked like it had been used, considering the crimson visible on the sawtoothed blade. It seemed to be smirking, with its molten eyes surveying the group.

John blocked the smell from his mind as tried to take in the image of the warehouse, his eyes being consistently drawn back to the image of the demon.

It started pacing, becoming faster as the forces approached. IT smiled widely, revealing jagged rows of sharp, long teeth. It stopped when the group got within striking distance, drawing its blade slowly, causing an irritating grinding noise, which John decidedly blocked from his mind as well.

"I am the most powerful demon to ever be. Are you ready to die?" A voice rang out to all, though it didn't seem to come from it's mouth. Something John was used to in his experience, it must telepathic, he'd have to watch for the inevitable probing.

"Arrogant, don't you think?" Came a voice from behind the demon, also probably telepathic. A man wrapped in blue stood directly behind it, holding his hand to a hidden face, "And frankly, you smell bad." The Demon whipped around, cleaving an empty robe in half. The man stood about 10 feet in front of it, now wearing a steel breastplate over a dark blue robe. His face was old, that of a man in his late 40s, with a burn mark over a lidless, orange eyeball with only a snake's pupil marking it.

"Do you like this? They always told me I had my mothers eyes...." The man smirked, and the demon sighed,

"Are you going to throw quips, or spells you has been. You could barely make it out of a cave, and you think you can beat me?" The demonic voice came again and The Man shrugged with his grin dropping. Then he held his hand out. The demons sword disappeared into the Mans hand.

"Help would be appreciated, you know." The Man called over his shoulder as he stuck The Demons sword into the ground.

John muttered something and began fiddling with his rifle, he hit a few switches, replaced the magazine with one loaded with Blessed JSP rounds, and loaded the launcher tube with a cold iron charge. He lined up a shot on the Demon and fired single shots at its head, the center of its torso where he figured he would hit a spinal cord, where he presumed its heart would be on its left, and where he assumed its lung would be on its right. However he full well knew most of these creatures didn't follow any standard form of anatomy.

 

[Ruedyn]

D3 & D5

Merlin distracted the demon with petty insults, trying to give his troops more time to load up their shots. The one named John took the first shot, which Abadon quickly moved his hand to deflect, smirking.

'These humans are-'

Everyone felt a weird shift in the air, and in the blink of an eye, Abadon was turned around, with his claymore returned, straight into his arm. Merlin was chuckling in the corner.

'So weak.' He dropped his smirk, turning around to get hit in the chest. Merlin's idle chuckling turned into full barks of laughter at his opponent. Abadon, injured but not out, called out, actually speaking this time,

"Shut the hell up!" Merlin wiped a tear from his eyes, still smiling. He spread his legs out, pulling his arms out to both sides, black fire balls forming in each hand, veins popping in his demonic eye. His laughter returned, though more sinister this time.

He threw them both, both transforming into skulls that seemed to trace the demons movements, looking for a way to do maximum damage. They both managed to strike him, one in the armpit and the other in the face, knocking him off his feet.

"Shoot the bastard now!" Merlin yelled, to which everyone abliged. After a chaotic hailstorm of lead, the demon laid on the ground, breathing heavily. And then, in the blink of an eye, both were gone, leaving the rest to figure out what to do.

"... God damn it, we have no way of getting back, do we?" Pendragon moaned, his colleague preparing a spell.

"Calvin, what're you doing?" The elf didn't respond, though he finished his spell, smoke wrapping around everyone, taking them into the air, though the wounded angel and medic were gone, like the demon and wizard. They ended up back at base, just in time to be lined up for psych eval.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Everyone

The line led to another elevator. A slight annoyance could be felt by some, though most were used to elevators at this point. Besides, it was better than gun fire.

The elevator, which all could recognize from the first day, took them deeper than the barracks. Much deeper. An errant glance around showed they had gone deeper than logic dictated was even possible (Samael even thought he saw a fossil), until it stopped, suddenly, revealing a massive room they were in the center of.

The room was white, and sterile, several men in lab coats wandered around. The machinery looked simply alien, and hummed with slight arcane power. A handsome man in a suit led the group towards a long hallway, much like the barracks.

Each room seemed to conform to the mind of those who entered. Serene waterfalls, childhood homes, the ocean, it changed for everyone to be most comfortable. The only thing they all had in common was a man and a desk, with a single piece of paper and a name tag, that read simply "Dr. Gerald Mann". It was the third member of Division one, the G-Man.

"May we get started?"

 

[DarkRawen]

They had been walked into an elevator, and into a really odd room, white and with odd machinery. After that, it had been a hallway. An illusion? How far had the elevator taken them, if not? They were to walk into separate rooms, and Will didn't feel all that well, suddenly. Sure, he had been willing to keep a distance from Lucas when he knew where he was, and that would only last a while. This place was strange and alien. However, as he walked into the room, whatever doubts he had about it disappeared, as a large wooden room appeared, with a tall roof and fairly open. A large number of chairs were put out in a half-circle, accompanied by music stands. In the middle, a conductor's music stand stood, albeit there were no one there.

"This is..." Will wasn't sure why, and how, but as always, the location was the place where he had always been able to lose himself, not being Will, but a flutist in an orchestra, a part of the harmony. Was the purpose making him feel calm and relaxed?

"May we get started?"

He noticed a man in the corner of his eyes, and turned around. Had he been there the whole time. "Y-yeah." Will walked over to the desk, having not noticed it with all the chairs and such in the room. The man behind the desk seemed to be named Dr. Gerald Mann. "Of course."

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

John felt the pain of teleportation again, and then he was back in the main hall at the headquarters. After a coughing fit he pulled his mask off and stumbled back to the bench he was at before as his lungs adjusted to the air again. He fumbled around in his rucksack looking for a detox vial. A minute later he found one, pulled the stopper off, and downed the red liquid. His eyes lost the silver sheen and his mind became less wild, but his eyes took on a bloodshot appearance and a headache began.

He got back in line for the elevator after another moment, and went down to the labs with the rest of the group. He passed through the labs into a hallway reminiscent of the barracks. Everyone seemed to be going to a different room and John pulled one of the unused doors open before walking in. The room was sterile and white like the rest of the surrounding complex. He had the nagging feeling that this was some form of illusion however.

The man at the desk apparently Dr. Gerald Mann spoke "May we get started?"

John sat down in the metal chair infront of the desk and spoke "Of course."

 

[IFS]

Lucas passed through the white lab room into something unexpected, the room seemed to have changed into that of his parents basement entertainment center, which he hadn't seen in some time, especially since before SLICE he had been busy with college. It brought a faint smile to his face, though he knew it couldn't be real, the desk with the doctor behind it where the TV should be was proof enough of that, but even so he felt himself relaxing as he sat on the familiar old couch.

"May we get started?"

"Sure, not like I have anywhere else to be," Lucas replied, trying to remain nonchalant.

 

[Pappytech]

The room... wasn't really a room. Well, it was at first, a plain white, squarish chamber that lacked any sort of decoration and looked about as sterile as an operating room. But the second Lyra stepped through the door and swung it shut, the room... well, it stopped being a room.

The walls and ceiling seemed to just disappear. They didn't slide into the ground or fall away, they simply vanished into thin air, as though they were nothing more than mere apparitions. In their place arose a sprawling forest, one that seemed to stretch for as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of trees, their leafy branches interlocking to form a emerald canopy, shook in a breeze that Lyra could hear but not feel. Sunlight filtered through the treetops, casting ever shifting shadows and patches of light upon the ground. About a hundred yards out, a small creek bubbled along merrily, its contents cutting a swath through the sea of trees.

"W-wow," the soldier muttered as she slowly spun around. "That's... Pretty damn impressive."

"May we get started?"

"Huh? O-oh, right!"

Shaking her head, Lyra marched forward, grabbing hold of the chair in front of her and sitting down. Taking a few deep breaths, she focused on the man behind the desk and forced her thoughts to calm down and sink back to reality. I'm not in the middle of a forest here. I'm in the SLICE headquarters, getting my psych evaluation. You can see and hear the scenery, but you cannot smell or feel it; it's an illusion, nothing more. A complex one, granted, but still.

"Sorry about that, Mr. Mann. I'm ready to begin whenever you are."

 

[Ruedyn]

"Y-yeah. Of course."

"Sure, not like I have anywhere else to be."

"Sorry about that, Mr. Mann. I'm ready to begin whenever you are."

Gerald crossed his legs, studying the various reactions. 25 voices in his head, 40 in the background. 1 on the topside of the church. 100s in the city...

Gerald simply smiled, a small action that could be translated however the watcher wanted to. His eyes remained blank, studying every twitch in the patient.

"You've been on your first mission, for us of course. I can easily wait, and read the report your division head will send me... But yet, I wish to hear about it from you." he leaned forward a bit, still watching. A new voice entered his head, one he hadn't heard.

'Merlin has forgotten his barrier...'

A grey room, of brick and spartan design. There are no furnishings, but there are runes, and a lone window, showing sun, as it slowly fell over the horizon. A young man paces. His eyes are red, and puffy. He has been crying, of course. He has run out of tears now, however.

Fourth day of imprisonment. Memories of her. The lady in black, eyes burning orange, laughing. And laughing. And laughing.

He sits down, suddenly, covering his ears.

"SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUT"

Gerald shook his head. Fascinating, but deal with that later. Have his patients spoken? Perhaps, he would press on regardless.

"... If the background bothers you at all, objects can be made physical. If it makes this easier for you."

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

"You've been on your first mission, for us of course. I can easily wait, and read the report your division head will send me... But yet, I wish to hear about it from you."

The man looked like he had zoned out.

"I assume this is on the record. Okay, give me a moment to think."

The man shook his head and spoke again.

"... If the background bothers you at all, objects can be made physical. If it makes this easier for you."

"No, it doesn't bother me."

He mulled the mission over in his head for a moment, nothing that would need creative censoring came to mind.

"We were teleported to the mission site, and told to wait for... well I hadn't been told what the objective was, but I waited for a signal. Several men with animal masks drove into the area in an unmarked van. When one of the D5 men, approached it and... I hadn't seen who, but one of our men opened fire. I assumed this to be a signal and as the van attempted to flee, I as well as most of the team opened fire on it and its occupants. It flipped and one of the targets wounded a team member. The D3 head killed all but one of the remaining targets and from what I saw knocked the remaining target unconscious. I assume he was taken back with us for interrogation. The man I assume is the D5 head was angered at the state of the mission, and ordered the D3 personnel to take positions outside of the warehouse. It smelled like sulfur and inside was a demon of apparently considerable power. It telepathically broadcasted a boast and a man appeared behind it. The man attacked the demon, and I opened fire on it. It slapped my bullets out of the air somehow and was wounded further by the man after being distracted by my shots. The man and it disappeared, and we were teleported back to base."

"Is there anything that requires clarification?"