Why German Cafes are Death Traps

Inker stood in a back alley. It had been about a month since he emerged from his sarcophagus. His dark, tattered coat wrapped around him, giving him a rather frightful air. Upon his left hand he wore the only bit of brightness, a single, silver ring.

Drawing forth power from the ring, he spoke a single word.

"RISE" He said, in a raspy voice, like that of someone who had not drank any water in a long, long time.

From the shadows around him, came forth fifteen creatures, soulless in nature, mere extensions of Inkers will. Ink Raiders, he had dubbed them. Vaguely humanoid in shape, all across their body, they had fairly long spikes, and their hands ended in long, sharp, claws.

'GO FORTH, DEVOUR THE SOULS OF THE PATRONS OF THAT COFEE SHOP.' He commanded of them, using the mental link the ring provided to command them. Snarling in response, ten of them tore open the back door to aforemented coffee shop, and barged in, rather startling the cooks. The rest began to go around, to prevent to patrons from escaping.

The cooks were promptly torn to shreds, and their souls eaten by the Ink Raiders. Of course, the Raiders being mere extensions Inkers will, the souls they devoured did not strengthen them, but Inker himself.

Then, of course, the ten in the kitchen emerged into the rest of the diner, quite frightening the patrons, who, sensibly, attempted to flee. However, the five that had been sent around had arrived, and were now blocking the way.

Rose sat still at her seat, ignoring the commotion around her and sipping her tea. Then, slowly, a flurry of glowing rose petals filled the air, mere extensions of her soul, fluttering through the air as on a gentle breeze before gaining immense speed, the flurry flying and burying themselves into the ink of the constructs. She looked to her weapon and husband, Kyllic. "Interestingly enough, wasn't this supposed to be our vacation?" He shrugged, watching to see if her attack had any effect.

(OOC: A little information here, these rose petals, what do they do, exactly? I get that they can be manipulated, but what are their properties? Are they sharp, hard, do they jack with soul frequencies? Or are they just regular petals that can be manipulated?)

OOC: They're kind of like that one guys thing in bleach. Sharp and hard, like swords. They can also explode, but that has a tendency to knock her unconscious...

(OOC:Never watched bleach, but I think I get what your saying.)


The petals ripped into the ink raiders body, destroying two, and injuring three. The destroyed ones dissolved into a large puddle of ink. Of course, Inker felt them die. How....interesting. Perhaps it would be prudent to distract the being who used that particular attack.


'ATTACK THE ONE WHO THREW THE ROSES...' He commanded of the injured trio. Roaring, they raised their claws, and rushed at Rose. Meanwhile, the other Ink Raiders continued to slaughter and devour the rest of the patrons.

Rose set her cup down. "Kyllic... I need you to distract them for a while..." He nodded, his hands shifting into naginata blades as he rushed towards the ink constructs, attacking them in a flurry of spins and slashes. Rose closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and slowly the air inside and outside the cafe grew thick with spiritual rose petals. The petals moved towards the creatures, cutting through them over and over again, like a group of people slicing each of the constructs from every side. Rose grew pale, and braced herself against the table, but kept up the attack on the creatures.

Oh dear. It seems that another five of Inkers constructs were down. Well then. And, of course, Inker had not regenerated enough ink to create more Raiders.

Well darn.

Very well.

ALL OF YOU, FOCUS ON THE PATRONS. THE OTHERS CAN BE DELT WITH LATER.

With that, the Raiders shifted their focus. Them being able to take on the duo was unlikely. However, given a few minutes and a few souls, the next batch would hopefully be a tad bit more competent.

At this point, only a few patrons remained. It wasn't that large of a coffee shop anyways.

The petals shifted focus, forming a defensive shield around the remaining patrons. Kyllic wiped his blades clean of ink, satisfied that the ink constructs inside the cafe were destroyed. He looked to check on rose, who jerked her head outside towards the sphere of petals and the remain constructs. He nodded, leaving her undefended as he went out to deal with the remaining constructs, beginning his furious assault pattern once more.

Aaand his outer constructs were now gone.

Well.

This had been productive. He now knew how combat effective his raiders were, and he had increased in power somewhat. Time to take his leave. But first...


"RISE"

He had regenerated enough ink to summon more Raiders. Best to leave them here to attack anyone who gets curious. With that, he began to walk away, his Raiders moving inside to continue the fight.

"So, you defeated our first brigade. Well well well." He spoke through his constructs. Might as well be polite, after all. "Could we perhaps inquire as to the name of the woman who slaughtered us quite efficiently?" He asked as his constructs got into formation.

Rose cursed silently. willing the petals outside to vanish once the rest of the civilians were safe, giving herself the strength to stand. "Rose Hammer. Graduate of the Death Weapon Meister Academy. Two Star Spear Meister. And who are you?" Her voice wavered during her introduction, and she gripped the edge of the table to support herself. Kyllic crashed through a window, rolling in front of her, hands still in weapon form.

"...THAT QUESTION IS FAR MORE COMPLEX THAN YOU KNOW. BUT ALLOW US TO EDUCATE YOU."

" 'GOD SAW THAT THE EARTH HAD BECOME CORRUPT AND WAS FILLED WITH VIOLENCE. GOD OBSERVED ALL THIS CORRUPTION IN THE WORLD, FOR EVERYONE ON THE EARTH WAS CORRUPT. SO GOD SAID TO NOAH, I HAVE DECIDED TO DESTROY ALL LIVING CREATURES, FOR THEY HAVE FILLED THE EARTH WITH VIOLENCE'.

"DO YOU RECOGNISE THIS PASSAGE? IT IS FROM THE HUMAN BIBLE. THE STORY OF THE FLOOD THAT WASHED A GREAT AND VILE CIVILIZATION AWAY. THE SAME THING SHALL HAPPEN TO THIS CIVILIZATION AS WELL. HOWEVER, INSTEAD OF A FLOOD OF WATER, IT SHALL BE A FLOOD OF INK, BLACK, AND SUFFOCATING. "

"FOR WE ARE THE FLOOD"


.....Not his best speech, more than a little forced, but, for his first time as a villain, Inker thought it pretty good. He would need to work on it, however. He probably would have done better had he used normal pronouns instead of 'we' 'us' and the like. However, he did not intend to tip his hand as of yet.

Rose took a deep breath, lowering her herself a bit and closing her eyes. And then, with great speed and a small flurry of rose petals behind her launching foot, she shot towards the line of constructs. She readied a punch her fist starting to arc with pink electricity. She punched through the first construct in her way, the soul energy collected in her fist exploding with a light concussion. "Rose Thorn. She took a step back, shaking some ink from her hand. "I'm afraid I have to disagree with that assessment. You're weak. A fool. The only true god in this world is Death. Not Lord Death, hiding in his academy, but Death itself. And Death has no need for mortal instruments like yourself."

Kyllic lunged after her, bisecting a construct next to the one she'd attack. He stood as well, his hands shifting back to normal. "You're an insignificant bug who's come into power it doesn't understand, and as such you try to hoist yourself to a position of a god. A flood? Hardly. More like a puddle with the delusions of being a flood."

A disembodied chuckle could be heard as Rose and Kyllic began destroying the constructs.

"WE NEVER ELEVATED OURSELVES TO GODHOOD. YOU ARE THE ONE WHO CLAIMED THAT. AND WE ARE HARDLY MORTAL. AFTER ALL, YOU MAY KILL WHAT INHABITS THIS COFEE HOUSE, BUT MORE WILL ALWAYS BE CREATED, CREATED FROM MANS INHERENT NEED TO DESTROY ITSELF."


"WE DID NOT START THE CYCLE. BUT WE WILL END IT. FOR EVEN A GREAT FLOOD STARTS AS A FEW DROPS OF RAIN."

With that, one of them rushed at Kyllic, attempting to slash at him with its claws. Two others sent a few sets of dark tendrils at her.

OOC: I've been on the internet long enough to know where THAT goes :D

Kyllic dove towards Rose, glowing as he did so. She caught his hand, spinning him around as he completed his transformation into the japanese Naginata. She spun him in a quick circle, cutting the tendrils that had been about to hit her before flourishing him, entering into a battle stance. "This world isn't yours to cleanse. I'll make sure you never get the chance."

"DO YOU CONCEDE, THEN, THAT IT NEEDS A CLEANSING? THIS WORLD IS CORRUPT TO ITS CORE. YOU MEISTERS ONLY TREAT THE SYMPTOMS. YOU DO NOT TREAT THE CANCER THAT INFESTS THIS WORLD. OUR INTERVENTION WOULD NOT BE NESSESARY IF YOU DID."

With that, two more constructs rushed her, attempting to once again slash with their claws, while the others began maneuvering around her.

"FURTHER MORE, YOU HAVE NO CHANCE OF STOPPING US. OUR NUMBERS MAY BE SMALL, BUT THEY WILL GROW, GROW GROW!

It began small, like a passing wind on a summers day. But Kyllic began to grow, as did their resonance, and slowly Rose began to spin him. Slowly at first. But faster and faster until plates were rattling on the counters and the bar. Rose petals began to fill the air, standing still in the gale breeze that slowed the oncoming constructs. When a sufficient number of them filled the sky, the were loosed upon the wind, cutting through the constructs like confetti paper, some exploding when they neared a target, though that made Rose wince, as each petal was an extension of her soul force and with their destruction her soul grew somewhat smaller. "Y-You... Do not choose the time or place for a cleansing. You do not hold the scale in your hand... IT IS NOT YOUR RIGHT TO DECIDE! HURRICANE BLITZ! The air itself grew sharp, cutting the constructs along with the rose petals.

With that, the constructs were rapidly decimated, until one remained, one who had remained in the kitchen, watching the confrontation.

"PERHAPS IT IS NOT. BUT THEN, HUMANS LOST THEIR OWN RIGHT TO DECIDE LONG AGO. WHICH APOCALYPSE WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE, ONE OF FIRE AND RADIATION, THAT RENDERS THIS WORLD UNINHABITABLE? PERHAPS YOU WOULD RATHER IT RULED BY A KISHIN EGG, WHO WILL SUBJECT IT TO VILE MADNESS. IT IS NOT A MATTER OF 'IF' YOU WILL DESTROY YOURSELVES, IT IS A MATTER OF HOW. AT LEAST OUR METHOD WILL ALLOW YOU TO FLOURISH AGAIN IN TIME. BUT ENOUGH OF THIS.PROXY! "

With that, a thick plate of armor began to cover the Raider, and more spikes were formed upon him.

"SINCE YOUR ENERGY IS CLEARLY FLAGGING, WE WILL ALLOW YOU THE FIRST HIT. AFTER ALL, THE WORST WE COULD LOSE IS THIS BODY, AND UNLIKE HUMANS, WE HAVE BODIES TO SPARE."

Rose let out a shaky breath before smirking. "The first blow... has already been struck..." With that, a trio of petals buried themselves in the 'neck' of the construct, managing to slip in before the skin thickened. They began to glow for a brief moment, before exploding together with a violent concussive wave. Rose stumbled a bit, planting Kyllic's weapon form on the ground to keep herself standing. She looked up through the dust that had been knocked up from the blast, hoping her petals had slipped in in time.

The constructs left arm and much of its torso was blown off. As it began to waver, it spoke once more.

"IMPRESSIVE. BUT, ULTIMATELY, FUTILE. YOU KILLED BUT A FEW FOOT SOLDIERS, EASILY REPLACED. HOWEVER, BEFORE I GO, LET ME LEAE YOU WITH ONE THOUGHT. IS A WORLD WHERE CREATURES SUCH AS WE EXIST WORTH SAVING?"

With that, the Raider-Proxy lost coherency, and turned into another pile of ink

Rose leaned heavily on her weapon, felling a soothing surge of energy from him. She stood a bit taller, declaring to no one in particular. [color:895a=ff99ff]"I wouldn't try to save it if I didn't think so..."

OOC: I kind of want this to keep going, if you can think of a way to do so... :D

(OOC: Agreed. We could do a timeskip to Inkers next attack.)

OOC: Yeah, that works for me

ONE WEEK LATER

Twas snowing in the city of Berlin. It had been snowing for quite awhile. Several roads had been shut down, and power had gone out in several places throughout the city.


And, at one small community center, one that had managed to retain power, people were being herded. For, reports indicated that the blizzard would only get worse as the night went on, and the building, which served as a emergency shelter, was the only place in the neighborhood that still had power, and by association, heating.

Handing out cots was a man in a rather non-descript suit by the name of Spider. "All right, everyone, calm down. Don't want to trample anyone." He said to the slightly agitated crowd. He had been in Berlin for business reasons. A fellow by the name of Hoit had some valuable documents the Society wanted, and he had been caught up in this blizzard. Rotten luck, as it were. Ah well, could be worse.

_____________________

MEANWHILE, outside, across the street, Inker stood, watching people shuffle in. Tonight would be rather bloody. He would collect more souls, and, best of all, they were all packed in, nice and snug, and easy to get to. God he loved this blizzard. It could not have come at better timing. Underneath his shawl, he gave a rather grim smile, as snow fell on his shoulders. Once, he would have utterly despised the cold. Now, he didn't even feel it. Such was the power of the ring. Bah. Anyways, best to wait until everyone was all in. Didn't want anyone getting lose, after all.

A pair of people stood on the top of the community center, looking right at Inker. Sylas wore a long dark formal coat that fluttered in the wind, and his old beanie sat upon his head. "There. I'm sure of it. He's the one who put Rose in the hospital."

Dowan nodded, her soul perception allowing her to see the darkness of the mans soul. "Are you sure? Every Kishin we've hunted has been 'the one' until we find that they don't have the same powers."

Sylas shook his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets, glad the snow partially obscured them from sight. "This time I'm positive." Now they just had to wait for him to make the first move.