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

[Ruedyn]

Three men stood on a balcony overlooking a grand hall. The building was sparsely furnished, though it was clear it was a church of some sort, a grand one at that. The building was lit with torches, and a few rays of sunlight poked through the mosaic window. The man in the middle waved man leading the herd of recruits, and he gave orders to quiet down.

James hated ceremonies, and speaking, and these grandiose acts when they could be fighting by now. Still, tradition was tradition. He cleared his throat and began with his lilting Irish accent;

"Ladies, Gentlemen, welcome to the finest weapon we have. Most, if not all of you know of the demons, of the threat they represent. Most of you have some relation to the menace, as well, and have survived. Some of you are powerful in the ways of magic, some have martial skill beyond reproach, and some of you are the brightest humanity and beyond can afford to send."

'And some are merely batshit, or have good connections, which are both useful in ways.' The one in the suit nudged James' arm, and he continued,

"Yes, well, welcome, one and all to SLICE. The man that led you in will now lead you to the barracks. Get ready, the war has started, and our first battle will be tomorrow." And with a wave of his hand, he turned to his companions, suit man and the man shrouded in the dark blue robe.

"Please tell me one of you guys will take the speech next time?" The Templar shrugged at their silence.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

The large, dark skinned, and altogether military man that had led them in rounded them up again, shepherding them through the hall, the masters words were soft, but they couldn't understand their words. The group, 30 in all, were led through a church with no definable age till they found an... Elevator? It looked like one, and was rather large, large enough to fit the group at least.

"Right then, sbrigavamo, sbrigavamo, we're on a schedule here!" He loaded them all in, and it began its' descent, there were several floors, most of which were still under construction. Still, it appeared to be an impressive, mostly finished project. The elevator stopped at last, bottom floor. A great hallway, filled with doors to rooms appeared before them.

"Alright, recruits, your room will have your name or alias on it. It is in alphabetical order for your convenience." And with that, he began walking away, leaving the reruits to their own devices.

 

[Ruedyn]

Anastasia

William Hale

Lucas Hale

Haytham El-Ghazzawy

Lyra Summers

John Smith

Johnny H. Ezekiel

Medea

Lars Eckhart

 

[Ultraman950]

A white-haired young woman with a huge, messy, cloth-covered bundle tied to her back stood silent next to her own door. Her red-tinged eyes looked briefly into the faces of her co-workers before looking down again.

 

[Terratina.]

Haytham smiled at the 'brightest of humanity' remark. He was only half-human after all, so maybe he had double the 'brightness'? He strolled over to the door, past the crowd of humans and others. Though one of them stood out. She was covered in brands on one side, and burns on the other. She stared blankly ahead. No doubt a subject for Mr. Haytham's antics. But that was for later. He went to the door with his surname on it, and looked to see the people either side of him. An elf and an old man. He sighed. If only there were some nice girls either side of him. He dragged the suitcase of kit and threw it on the room, meeting people would have to wait for later. He had to get that mess of luggage sorted out.

 

[Pappytech]

"Alright, recruits, your room will have your name or alias on it. It is in alphabetical order for your convenience."

Lyra perked up at the mention of rooms, and was unable to resist a slight smile. Sure, barracks could be fun if you liked your roommates, but the chance for a bit of privacy, even if she didn't want to take it, was always nice.

Might as well check out where she'd be staying for the foreseeable future.

"'Scuse me, coming through, sorry, sorry..."

Gently pushing through the crowd of her fellow recruits, Lyra made her way down the hallway, trying to keep track of the various names plastered on the walls. "Let's see here... El-Gha-something, Ezekiel, Hale... Medea, Smith... Summers! There we go!"

Grinning slightly, the woman pushed open the door in question, eagerly scanning the small room that lay beyond. Wasn't really much to look at at the moment; a solitary cot with some cheap, cotton sheets, a lone pillow, and a thin blanket, a wooden desk topped by a simple lamp, a small dresser, and a closet in the corner. The walls were bare of decorations or markings, and the whole place smelled slightly of disinfectant and cleaning fluid.

Needs a bit of color...

But there would be time for that stuff later. Tossing her backpack onto the desk, Lyra stepped back into the hallway, and waved at her new comrades. "So! Guess we're gonna be working together, huh?"

 

[Ultraman950]

"So! Guess we're gonna be working together, huh?"

Ana looked up to the girl waving at them, unsure what to say, so she just waved back. She wasn't used to being around this many people. She only wished she had remembered to bring her hat, so she could hide her pointed ears. At least she could hide the things on her back, if poorly, and temporarily...

The duffel bag on her shoulder was getting heavy, so she set it down next to the door with her name on it. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want to go in yet. At least with a conversation partner, she wouldn't look too strange standing in the hallway for no reason.

The elf-girl was rather scrawny and pale, but cute. Her near-white features were only accented by her black hoodie and dark jeans. If one looked closely, they could see the wrapped-up thing on her back (which extended over her head and past her hips) move a little every so often.

"Uh... w-what's your name?"

 

[DarkRawen]

"Ladies, Gentlemen, welcome to the finest weapon we have. Most, if not all of you know of the demons, of the threat they represent. Most of you have some relation to the menace, as well, and have survived. Some of you are powerful in the ways of magic, some have martial skill beyond reproach, and some of you are the brightest humanity and beyond can afford to send."

"It's not magic. It's telekinesis. Why doesn't anyone get that right?" Will thought to himself, as he looked around. There were a lot of people here, more than he had expected from an organisation that called itself SLICE. One could say whatever one wanted, SLICE sounded like a knife-brand. He started walking towards the rooms, would he share one with Lucas? Or would they be next to each other? Perhaps not, perhaps there were someone else with the last name Hale, named Roderick or something silly like that. He then turned around to see if Lucas followed. If he was, he was doing it slowly. Too slow for the human eye to spot. "Lucas, let's go already." He muttered, tone flat. However, as he was to walk off, he heard a voice.

"So! Guess we're gonna be working together, huh?"

A woman said, waving her hand at people. He walked up to her, getting to know some people might not be too bad. "It seems like it. I'm William Hale, and that guy over there," he said, pointing at Lucas, "Is my human shield/brother, Lucas. Nice to meet you." His words were concise and to the point, not trying to be rude, but not making much of an effort to be polite either.

 

[Deu Sex]

Johnny walked down along the hall, whistling lowly as he did. The boy had decided to wear his more formal attire, a khaki-coloured suit with a cravat, to the ceremony. Although he would have much preferred to go with casual demin he wanted to set a good first impression with his new partners. Most of them weren't likely to think highly of the youngster with a thick southern accent and a long messy hair, so he needed at least look more professional.

The halfbreed reached up to his ears and scratched at their sharp tips. All that hair covering over-top of them made them itch something awful. "I outta get me a haircut, now that I'm with folks who wouldn't go and flip out at the sight of elf ears." As Johnny thought, he heard one of the fellow recruits speak up. "So! Guess we're gonna be working together, huh?"

He cranked his head around and spotted the girl. Smiling he walked over as another girl, this one clearly elven, approached her as well. "Guess we are partner! What's your name, ma'ams? Folks call me Johnny where I come from. Pleasure to meet both of ya'll." To both of the girls he extended a hand for a shaking. Around the wrist of the one held out to the elven woman had a silver cross wrapped around it.

 

[IFS]

Lucas walked up to check the room assignments, both his and his brother's. It seemed that they would have adjacent rooms, which was not unexpected when this was organized by last names. He finished collecting the information and made his way over to see what Will was talking about and with who.

"Is my human shield/brother, Lucas. Nice to meet you."

He heard Will introduce him to the others, so he raised one hand to acknowledge them. "The two aren't synonymous?" he said with a slight smile, joining the group. They certainly looked like an odd bunch, but what did you expect from a group of demon slayers.

 

[Pappytech]

Lyra's grin grew as more and more of people spoke up in response. Will, Lucas, Johnny, that quiet girl with the white hair... Good, it looked like this crowd could be pleasant enough.

"Uh... w-what's your name?"

"Nice to meet all of you!" the woman replied cheerily, extending a hand to each of her new acquaintances one by one. "I'm Lyra, Lyra Summers; looking forward to working with you guys."

As she shook their hands, Lyra did her best to commit names and faces to memory. Will and Lucas, brothers... Johnny, bit of an accent... Quiet one.

The white haired woman had set her bag by a door marked... Ana? No first name, so it'd have to do for now. "Ms. Ana? That what you go by?" Lyra asked questioningly, cocking her head slightly to the side.

 

[MortifiedPenguin]

"Noisy" The witch thought as she stared idly at the room labelled with her chosen name, "They're all so noisy"

For once she could be considered one of the less peculiar figures that littered the hallway, partially because of the malformed halflings that were there and partially because of the piece of clothing she had been given, what did they call it again? A "hoodie", was covering her ruined façade. They were all making such a ruckus, all she wanted was to leave the hubbub behind until she was needed. That was why the witch had agreed to the farce, she would help and have her revenge"

"Noisy" It was all but a whisper, not likely too be heard by the others and stepped into the sparsely decorated room labelled Medea.

She sat on the bed and waited.

 

[Ultraman950]

"Ms. Ana? That what you go by?"

"Guess we are partner! What's your name, ma'ams? Folks call me Johnny where I come from. Pleasure to meet both of ya'll."

The elf-looking girl nodded, rubbing her hands. "M-my full name is Anastasia, but you can just call me Ana... if you want... N-nice to meet you, too..."

She didn't seem to want to look anyone in the eye, but she at least managed to look them in the mouth. Sometimes even the nose. So far, everyone seemed pleasant enough, but she figured one of the... less-accepting ones would show up in a moment to help make her life more miserable. It was all but customary at this point.

The covers on her back twitched again.

 

[Deu Sex]

"A pleasure to meet ya too miss Lyra. I'm lookin' forward to working with ya'll as well." he said as he shook her hand. Noticing the two brother introduce themselves, Johnny lifted his free hand up and waved at them. "Nice to be acquainted with the both of ya'll too!"

His ears then peaked up as he heard the elven girl speak up. "M-my full name is Anastasia, but you can just call me Ana... if you want... N-nice to meet you, too..." Johnny reached over and shook her hand firmly. "Well that's one fine name you got there little miss. What's with that there stutter? Nervous about strangers?" He chuckled a bit as he pulled his hand back. "I noticed you got them elven ears on ya, miss Ana. I've got the same here, although I'm only a halfer. I assume you're full?"

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

John walked the hall, until he arrived at his room. He took a look at the others, feeling thoughts partially beginning to filter through as he scanned their faces for anyone he recognized. He couldn't recognize them personally but he could tell most of them were nonhumans. He shook their thoughts out as they began to talk and pushed his door open. He looked around his room for a moment realizing it was rather empty, something he was used to. He flicked the light on and sighed before hefting his dufflebag onto a desk, and placing his rucksack next to the bed.

He sat on his bed and let his mind wander while he took a moment to relax.

 

[IFS]

"Nice to be acquainted with the both of ya'll too!"

Lucas smiled at the man, he found his accent a bit grating but that wasn't something he could change so it hardly mattered. He wondered if he could shift his ears to hear differently, something worth looking into he supposed.

"Likewise, this organization seems full of interesting people doesn't it? I wonder what we'll be sent to do first," he said, trying to make small talk. He wondered how closely he could make himself resemble some of the others, his powers weren't suited for mimicry but he could manage to copy some small details, as he thought about this he felt his ears unconsciously shift towards being pointy, and promptly forced them to revert to their natural state.

 

[Ultraman950]

"I noticed you got them elven ears on ya, miss Ana. I've got the same here, although I'm only a halfer. I assume you're full?"

She winced as he gripped her hand and pulled it back, then rubbed it with her other hand as she bit her lip. She clearly wasn't terribly fit, or else she had some kind of disorder, in addition to being an albino.

"W-well... no, not really. I'm half, too. B-but, uh, I-I don't know what the o-other half is..."

She couldn't lie any worse if she were trying.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Likewise, this organization seems full of interesting people doesn't it? I wonder what we'll be sent to do first,"

Lucas was obviously trying to make conversation. Very well, then Will would attempt as well. "A slice of suicide mission with a side helping of weeding out the weak." He poked at Lucas, for no other reason that he could. "Good thing we're not weak." He intended to say it jokingly, but it didn't really sound like that. Well, it was true, so it couldn't be too bad.

The others seemed to be fairly able as well, not that he could tell that from looks, it was more of a guess. Actually, did they seem able? Oh well, it didn't matter much, for all he knew these people could be stronger than him, or a lot weaker. He'd just have to see. Not all of them was entirely human, but that didn't bother him much. He had seen Lucas shape-shift, that was as strange as strange got, he suspected.

 

[Deu Sex]

Johnny chuckled again and patted her on the back in a gesture of friendliness. "Well whatever it is, it sure is nice and fine to see another halfie on the team. Ain't never thought I'd see another set of ears like these here in my lifetime. Come on miss, no need to be so nervous."

As he turned and looked about the boy spotted Lucas' ears suddenly change shape before reverting back to their original form. Johnny blinked for a moment. "Sir, am I seein' things or are you elven too? Cause I swore I just saw your points jottin' out yer ears."

 

[Pappytech]

"M-my full name is Anastasia, but you can just call me Ana... if you want... N-nice to meet you, too..."

"Anastasia, eh? Alrighty, don't think I'll be forgetting that one!"

"Likewise, this organization seems full of interesting people doesn't it? I wonder what we'll be sent to do first.

Lyra's grin continued to widen as she turned to face Lucas. "Heh, you and me both! Hopefully they won't have us sitting around here for too long; start to get twitchy if I get cooped up, ya know?"

"A slice of suicide mission with a side helping of weeding out the weak."

Now that remark was enough to put a dent in her enthusiasm. Raising an eyebrow, Lyra cast an appraising eye in Will's direction. "Er... Have you been in this line of work long? So long as people know what they're doing, survival rates aren't actually all that bad. I mean, I've been doing this for almost five years; teamwork and ingenuity can get you through a lot."

 

[IFS]

"Sir, am I seein' things or are you elven too? Cause I swore I just saw your points jottin' out yer ears."

Lucas ignored Will's poking and turned to talk to Johnny, "No, I'm human, most of the time at least, parts of me change sometimes, little things usually and its easy to keep under control," he said simply, shrugging a little as if it was little more than scratching an itch.

He didn't want to tell him the full extent of what he could do, he was sure most would find it disturbing, or at the very least quite strange. Then again they were all demon hunters, but still he'd let them know later.