The Gathering Darkness [Saga/open]

[Kemuri]

Kemuri sat on his throne anxiously awaiting the arrival of his soliders. It was possible that many would come, it was equally as possible that none would. Though if all else failed he at least had Mahajenn on his side. This war would be one for the history books, and that was all that Kemuri wanted. He knew he could crush them all if he wanted to right now, but that was not the tale he wished to tell.



“Come my puppets come.”

[Kemuri]

Impatiently the hyena-man tapped his fingers on the arm of his throne. Who knew waiting for villains to gather would be so.... boring...

No one had yet come. Something that had earnestly surprised the ruler. He thought there were more villains in the world. Sadly they just didn't make them like they used to.

"JENN GET IN HERE!" He barked out suddenly, unable to take the damn quiet and solitude for one moment longer. "AND BRING THE HOBO WITH YOU!"

[Delashano]

Making her way to Kemuri's throne room has been surpringly more nerve wracking than she had expected it to be and surprisingly it wasn't because of Kemuri himself. This very same sort of situation had been exactly how she had been set up in order to be abducted by Toiu and she wanted no part of falling prey to that woman's sneak attacks again. She'd only recently escaped UNITY and while she had recieved a call to return to the castle before she'd even had the time to BEGIN heading to the lookout she was far more comfortable being in this hellhole compared to the seemingly endless halls of UNITY's complex.

She felt reasonably certain that this WASNT another trap, Kemuri hadn't even actually personally summoned her the first time but now he'd shouted a summons that she was fairly certain the entire castle could hear and also demanded that she bring 'the hobo' with her. She didn't even know where Bear WAS how the hell was she supposed to retrieve him. Feeling a twinge of impulse to preform the order Jenn growled in frustration, she WOULD do it she just needed to find out where Bear actually was and Kemuri was the most likely person to answer that question with the impulse satisfied that Jenn was still seeking to fulfil the order Jenn felt it level out as she entered the throne room.

"Bringing him is a bit more difficult when I don't even know where he IS. Maybe if I hadn't been sent off to be experimented on I would be aware of his location but I suppose I'm not quite so lucky" Jenn said glaring at Kemuri, she took a look around and was both mildly surprised and highly impressed by the utter lack of people in the room. Kemuri had not too long ago sent out a sort of call to arms to all the vile forces of Earth, the people who would be willing to serve him and it appeared that not a single person had actually answered it restored a good portion of her faith in the world that Kemuri was perhaps more alone in his beliefs than she had feared with the discovery of UNITY. "Where's the army? I thought you were trying to build up a force to ensure you're rule." Jenn asked as innocently as possible only barely letting a small fraction of a smirk show.

With any luck Kemuri would get infuriated over her cheek and decide to simply send her off to get bear and then let her return to NOT being in his presence, she'd been trying to get some rest after the UNITY ordeal, her body still ached after everything and she needed to find some way to get the damn bracers off. She'd identified that they were the source of her weakened state, thankfully the amount that they actually weakened her by was not enough to leave her defenseless, she had more than proven that in her fights against the Security Heads of UNITY like Tsuki, that fight in particular had been a big mess but it had earned her a new tool at the very least.

[Ohkara Minamaru]

"Two days."

It had been two days since the fight against Kemuri. Two days since Bear's collapse. Kemuri was able to survive the man's full powered attack without sustaining even a scratch. His power was undeniable. There was no doubt in Bear's mind that this man was a threat, but this became more apparent as Bear awoke in a dungeon hours after his bout. Robbed of his flasks, Bear was forced to wait in darkness and silence. The only thing keeping him sane was counting the hours as they passed. By his count, he'd just gotten to 48; forty-eight hours without food or water... Without booze...

Bear lay in the corner of the room, face to the wall like a boy in a "time-out". This was the longest Bear had gone for years without his booze. And his mind had been playing tricks on him all night. It was the war all over again. He was a prisoner, and as flashbacks began to feel like reality, an echo broke through the hallucinations.

"AND BRING THE HOBO WITH YOU!" Kemuri's mighty roar.

Bear's eyes widened, his hands clenched into fists. He was still in Kemuri's castle. There was still a chance to beat him. Obviously, with Bear's weakened state, the chance was non-existent, but maybe if he could help Kemuri, he could do it.

Turning to face the cage, Bear propped his back up against the wall, the sudden action already taxing him. Slumping against the corner Bear could tell just what condition he was in. His body was beginning to need the alcohol, and going without was a torture in itself. His vision blurred, his heart pounded, his breath was rapid and uneven. Looking at his hands, they would tremble, barely even able to move on his command. There was no doubt he was in bad shape. He just hoped the next person to come in the room would be on his side.

[Kemuri]

His blue genie friend walked into his throne room and of course started off by being disobeidiant and an all around pain in the monarch's ass. Kemuri rolled his eyes at the comment.

"First of all, you deserved it. I also love the new arm-wear. Second of all, he's in the dungeon, probably sobering up. Go and fetch him. No dilly-dallying now. Get him, bring him back here, and no backsass about it. I will speak to you both about my plan when you return."

When she turned to leave, the monarch would call out to her.

"And Jenn dear, you two are all I need." The smile on his face would imply something mysterious and sinister.

(Sorry for the crap post :/)

[Delashano]

Jenn rolled her eyes as Kemuri explained what he wanted her to do, she supposed that yes the dungeons were probably the most likely place for Bear to be she'd not gotten a chance to actually explore that area of the castle before being abducted but HAD seen the entrance which unfortunately gave her little ground to stall by claiming no knowledge of the location of the dungeons. "Fine." She said with a sigh before sticking her tongue out at Kemuri as the albeit childish only show of defiance she could muster under the 'and no backsass' command. With that Jenn began making her way out of the room as Kemuri gave his rather ominous last comment. It was troubling that Kemuri thought that she and Bear alone would be enough  to deal with Kami's forces, Azazel alone was nearly as powerful as Kemuri's top power and that had been a few days ago certainly she would be putting her all into working to close that gap and hopefully surpass it. Then there were the others like Carla, the girl was weak and someone she knew she could unfortunately deal with. Perhaps with some luck Kami had done as Kemuri had and sought out the aid of the rest of the Earth. Popo had shown an ability to communicate telepathically with others so it was not too unlikely.

She just had to hope that Kaladar ended up being more popular than Kemuri because as things stood Jenn was worried for the fate of the Earth, if Kemuri had a means to force Bear to fight and any tactical sense then Bear would be sent to battle Carla, even if Bear was not as strong as her he didn't NEED to be, he just needed to be capable of stalling her as if there were no additional warriors then She and Kemuri would likely be capable of taking down Azazel no matter how much Jenn wanted not to have to do so. The only blessing so far was ironically also a problem, the braces that restricted her power would mean that she could not fight at her full strength even if she activated her own power boost, it was frustrating but ultimately at the moment a necessary evil. Jenn pulled herself from her thoughts as she approached the entrance to the dungeons and proceeded inward in search of Bear.

She hoped that Kemuri hadn't done anything to harm the man as she remembered Bear had been far stronger than the average human but still the man's power paled in comparison to Kemuri's own, even after charging a technique from nearly the beginning of the fight Bear had barely managed to require Kemuri to deflect the move. But Bear hadn't given up, even when all of the others had yielded he still chose to act against Kemuri and attack. He'd certainly earned her respect from that stunt and it was for that reason that she was so worried over why Kemuri seemed to believe Bear would be fighting for him. Entering the dungeon Jenn frowned in distaste at the look of the place, Jenn found Bear leaning against the back wall of his cell not looking particularly well at all. "Hello Bear, you're not looking very good. He hasn't hurt you has he? I've been unfortuantely tasked with bringing you to Kemuri but you're not looking so well." Jenn asked looking over the cell in an effort to find how exactly she might get it open and found herself quickly frustrated by the lack of keyhole. "For someone who's supposed to be so intelligent that hyena's a real damn moron, how does this thing even OPEN" Jenn said with a frustrated huff before launching a blast of energy at the metal bars only for it to ricochet off  without doing any discernible damage. "I hate this century so much, stupid metal magic" Jenn muttered in annoyance having long since gained an unyielding negative attitude towards modern technology.

[Ohkara Minamaru]

There was the faint tapping of footsteps as someone neared Bear's cell. The footsteps grew louder and louder, each a booming roar in Bear's mind. With each step, one might note Bear flinching and closing his eyes against the pain. His condition worsened by the second, but there was one thing that brought his eyes up to see who it was. A voice, "Hello Bear, you're not looking very good. He hasn't hurt you has he? I've been unfortunately tasked with bringing you to Kemuri but you're not looking so well." It was the bandaged-clad girl from their earlier encounter with Kemuri.

Bear let out a light chuckle, which was almost all he could muster. Kemuri hadn't hurt him. He was simply suffering from lack of booze, "W-whiskey..." His plea was an almost silent squeak, his throat dry from lack of fluids.

"For someone who's supposed to be so intelligent that hyena's a real damn moron, how does this thing even OPEN," sending a few blasts at the bar, with no avail, the girl seemed annoyed, "I hate this century so much, stupid metal magic."

A hushed plea once again left Bear's mouth as he rose a trembling hand, "P-please... W-whiskey..." Barely catching himself with his left hand, Bear narrowly avoided his face connecting with the concrete. Picking himself up and re-propping his back against the wall, he let out a hard sigh. It was pretty obvious that without helping him first, Mahajenn might just have a hard time bringing him to Kemuri by herself.

[Delashano]

Slowly quelling her fury towards the strange cell doors Jenn returned her attention to bear just as he voiced his second plea, it was sad to see the man in such a state, she had very easily smelled the scent of alcohol on him when they had first met and if his current state was any indication it appeared he had been without ever since the day that he had been captured, she had seen how someone so dependent on hard drinks could be hit by even a day without such, it had been a source of quite a number of deaths back when Ketsueki had been wreaking havoc on the Earth, the lack of trade had bled the smaller communities dry of alcohol in many cases and those who 'needed' it didn't tend to last very long. With a heavy sigh Jenn looked over the cell it was designed to resist energy but did it actually have a means of preventing things from moving between the bars? Sometimes those who felt there security so perfect ended up leaving the most obvious holes when it looked as if they were no threat at all and of course what threat were the openings in a cell when they contained fully grown adults.

Pushing her arm into one of the openings in the cell Jenn grinned as she felt no worse for doing so "Just hold on a few more moments Bear, I'll be able to help you soon." Jenn said reassuringly before her body became covered in smoke, the smoke would condense upon her slowly and with time the cloud around her began to shrink and shrink and shrink until it was barely a foot in height, then the cloud dispersed revealing a impressivly well groomed blue-gray cat one of Jenns preferred forms. Leaping through the cell Cat!Jenn scurried over to Bear, she could have transformed back immediately but it wasn't necessary smoke began pulsing off her tendrils of it gathering before her feline form first creating a cup with handles on each side ideal for someone with there strength sapped from the rigors of withdrawal and likely dehydration and the beginnings of starvation. Then formed another cup of the same design, and lastly a plate, upon the plate formed a few rolls and sliced meat and a few cooked vegetables, inside the first cup formed some albeit watered down whiskey nothing TOO strong but hopefully enough to take the edge off of Bear for the moment and in the second cup actual water.

With the food and water created Jenn reshaped herself back into her normal form she would take a few cautios steps towards Bear and if the man would allow her to would attempt to help him take a seat near the food and drink. "Here take you're time. I made some whiskey for you, it's nothing amazing but I doubt you could handle anything strong in your current state. Once you're feeling a bit better we'll need to head upstairs unfortunately, Kemuri wants to see you. But of course with you in you're current state the only reasonable way to get you there is to first get you into a slightly better state of health." Jenn said with a smile.

[Deleted]

The call had been sent out weeks ago through the surround lands, warriors; they were looking for abled body foot men. For what reason Anri didn’t care he had been a mercenary for years of his life and nothing was changing that. Taking out hits for the highest bidder was something he often did and was something he was good at, a natural born solider just like the rest of his kind all 14 billion, hell even more by now. He had wanted to show up sooner but his duty was elsewhere taking out a hit, it wasn’t a very difficult job it had just required him to do some travel only just now getting back into town.

Anri hadn’t even had any issues getting inside the grand palace it almost seemed that there wasn’t any guards too protect it, and the ones that did see him did little to bother the strange looking creature. It didn’t surprise him though most of these inhabitants had never seen a Vannor before, for that fact they were even known of until the last few years. The first contact was with a lone Vannor who had stolen a rocket ship after he was banished and made it to another world, very interesting story he loved too tell. Walking down the luxurious hall way he scanned the surrounding area, it was furnished for that of a king; he hoped whoever was in charge was a kind of king that lead the people inside of enslaved them. As long as he could pay the bills he didn’t care, good or bad matter little to the merc as long as the cash was good he would work for the highest bidder.

Up ahead he could hear the shout of a man as he called out for a “hobo” Anri question this thought in his mind having little idea of this planets culture. Finding the entrance to a much larger and grander room he glanced in too see a man like figure with a animal like head, the creature threw him off. Being that it was rather well dressed and sitting in a throne built for a ruler, he had guessed that this was the “man” he was looking for. Without any further hesitation Anri walked down the isle towards the animal man, hopefully the new person in the room would grab his attention rather quickly. But rather than waiting to be addressed he spoke out to the creature.

“Anri of the Vannor reporting for active duty, I am in of search of the one that called for abled body warriors. Highly capable in a hand to hand and energy attacks you won’t find a better mercenary out there. I assume giving your high quality attire and disposition you are the one that I have been searching for.” Though he could speak their language it was thick with an alien tongue.

[Ohkara Minamaru]

"Just hold on a few more moments Bear, I'll be able to help you soon."

Bear smiled, his eyes closing. He could hear some commotion, but his energy was gone. There was hardly any fight left in him. But as soon as the whiskey formed, his nose began to wiggle. He could smell the bitter kick of the booze. Eyes slowly fluttering open, his arm shot out and grabbed the cup, a sudden surge of speed from him. Though his hands had a hard time getting the cup to his mouth, they did the job.

With a strong, loud sip, the whiskey entered Bear's mouth, and color almost instantly returned to him. Smiling to his savoir, he allowed her to help him to the food. With a hard thump, he sat down and took a second drink from the cup, this one nearly missing his mouth all together. But as the harsh alcohol ran down his throat, he was beginning to feel better.

"T-thank you." He told her, between harsh sips of the cup. It was obvious that he knew what his body could take in such a situation. After all, this wasn't the first time he'd been 'saved' from imprisonment. After finishing the cup of whiskey, and eating half the food, Bear slowly stood up, "You said Kemuri wants to see me? Do you know what it is that he wants of us?" Though his knees were wobbly, the food and drink had done the job. Though he wanted more booze, the girls was not what he was looking for. He wanted the stuff inside his gourd and canteen. And he would do just about anything to get it.

[Kemuri]

“Sir.” One of Kemuri’s mindless lackies said out of nowhere, nearly causing the Hyena-man to jump right out of his pelt. Angrily he turned to eye the man who had roused him from his day-dreaming. It was just one of Buraddori’s old generals. Kemuri waited for a long tense moment, but neither one said anything. Kemuri cleared his throat but the general just kept looking right at him.

“Did you need something?” Kemuri finally asked after the moment had grown even more awkward. The general nodded and saltued.

“Sir, a mysterious being is entering the throne room.” He said and then pointed in the direction towards the door. Kemuri ground his palm into his forehead. Getting good help was just so hard these days.

“Yes I can see that.” He shooed the man away and rose from his throne. The man, if it was a man, in front of him was unlike any alien that the Hyena-man had seen before. The king put on his best smile. Before he could speak however, the creature did so first. Kemuri’s smile never left his face as the man introduced himself and his purpose.

“Anri of the Vannor you are most welcome here. I am Kemuri, King of Earth.” The smoke-hyena would step off of the dias his throne was raised on and would walk down to where Anri was standing. He cut an impressive figure that was for sure. He would need a lot of work however if he was planning on being able to fight the heroes that Kemuri just had.

“Welcome to the team Anri. Two of my other soliders, one who is well aware and one who doesn’t know it yet, are on their way back up here at this moment.” Kemuri would finish circling the man and head back up to sit on his throne.

“Whilst we wait, tell me more about yourself Anri, I wish to know those I deal with on a more personal level. I’ve never seen one of your kind before.”

[Deleted]

Anri waited and watch as Kemuri looked him over, it wasn't unusual for something like this too happen in a "interview"' he had gone through hundreds of them before, he knew what would be said and done. He stood at attention in a military stance that he be taught to him so long ago, his prime posture, bleak face made him look the role he was trying too fill; that of a warrior. Eventually Kemuri left his side, walking back up to his high throne as it looked down from above over the vast room, a room fit for the king.

"My kind sir? There are many things my kind brings to combat, and it is no surprise you have not seen my kind before. I was the first to touch the stars for my people, all those years ago...." Anri paused in thought about the first time he had left his home world on a stolen rocket, the memory brought a sense of happiness to his mind but he did not let it show on the outside.

"The Vennor home world hails far higher gravity than the world we stand on, giving all Vennor great body strength and heavy bone structure. Along with our natural plated armor we are a force to reckoned with on the field of war, and our deep tradition and culture for fighting embedded into our hearts we are great warriors." Anri paused to let the words set.

"After spending 5years in cyro I found my self in another system where I picked up work as a merc, it brought two things I enjoyed together. Fighting and money. Hearing rumors about earth and the issues going on around here I thought it would be a good place to set up for awhile, at least till the work dries up."

Taking a deep breath he started up again.

"All in all I have extensive military service skills, and 20 plus years of mercenary work under my belt. As long as you can foot the bill I'd be more than happy to do what you ask of me."  He told Kemuri, his alien ascent flowing over every word.

[Delashano]

Jenn watched curiously as Bear ate and drank he clearly favored the whiskey over the water which she considered a bit unfortunate but certainly not surprising what she did consider strange however was when he did eat and drink he did so with a surprisingly amount of caution for someone who likely had been without for two days most of the people she had helped had all but devoured and gulped down anything they could get there hands on though of course some had been without for longer even still the restraint he showed was impressive not even actually eating everything. As Bear stood Jenn noted that while he was certainly not at his best he was most definitely far better off now than he had been before she had entered the dungeons as now he appeared capable of standing under his own power.

"Much better, with any luck you'll be back to one hundred percent soon enough." Jenn said with a grin as she hopped to her feet, Bear then asked her what it was that Kemuri wanted him for and Jenn let out a sigh "I'm not entirely certain to be honest. He's been sending out a call to arms of sorts since the fight but nobody's answered from what I can tell so when I decided to poke fun at that comment when he called me to his throne room his only reasons was for me to go collect you and that we would be 'all he needed' I have to imagine he intends for us to fight for him and unfortunately I'll have to... but you are another matter entirely. I don't know what he has planned for you so just... be careful. We already know he's not above nasty tricks to get what he wants. With any luck it will remain as just you and me fighting for him, give Kaladar and the others a better chance." Jenn said with a shrug as she moved over to the cell's bars once again shifting down into cat form in order to slip through to the other side.

"I'll return in a moment Bear, I'm going to try and find the means of opening the cell for you." Jenn said before heading further into the dungeon's at the end she found what appeared to be a booth of some sort filled, much to her dismay, with more and more technology that was far beyond her ability to grasp. Some of it was simple, screens that acted like crystal balls depicting the insides of the cells, while others were less simple, such as the vast array of buttons and switches. Jenn let out a frustrated groan that would likely be heard all the way by Bear before she began randomly pressing buttons and switches while watching Bears screen in hopes of seeing his cell open, after a few moments of opening and shutting random cell door and during on and off various lights Jenn eventually found the right button and with that Bears cell would open up and she would rush back with a triumphant smile on her face, the likelihood of silent alarms notifying a breach of security having gone off was essentially a certainty even if Jenn was unaware of such things but she HAD accomplished her goal. "Perhaps these things are not as difficult as they appear." Jenn said with a grin as she looked over the cell door still confused how such things functioned without magic.

[Kemuri]

The newly crowned king sat and stared at the creature called Anri. It was true, he did look like he could handle himself in combat, but his power was considerably lower than Kemuri’s or even Jenn’s. Though any ally that could be used as cannon--- as a distraction to those so called “heroes” up on the lookout would be useful. Anri was apparently the first of his kind to “touch the stars” and Kemuri had to resist saying something mocking. He was trying to make allies, not lose them.

The tidbit about the gravity was interesting, so they were naturally stronger than most races? Well that was interesting… Given some training this man? boy? Kemuri wasn’t sure, though it seemed masculine. Whatever it was given some training this thing could be a very valuable ally.

“My dear Anri, the question is not whether I can “foot the bill” I am the king of Earth, I can afford you. My question to you is this, do you think you are worth my money? There are heroes at this very moment training with the former guardian of Earth to try and overthrow me. I need allies who can fight Anri, I need allies who can kill. Will you kill for me? Will you fight for me above all others? There is no one on this planet as rich as I.” Kemuri asked intensely, the first time in the conversation his emotions had risen higher than lackadaisical.

[Deleted]

“I have spilled the blood of a thousand systems and a thousand more shall bleed before my time in this realm is over. I have no issues with killing, it was what I was born too do. If you shall ask of it, I will slay whoever you wish me too.” Anri stated as he stood at attention in front of the man-dog, all the while keeping his calm demeanor.

It was true given the time he had spent as a merc traveling between the stars he had killed many a men, in so many different ways. Choke holds, neck breaks, slit veins, infection, poisons, burning them alive, internal bleed out, bone ripping through their skull, even crushing; the list could go on for miles and miles. No matter how many times he killed someone though he could always find a new creative way to do it, he wasn’t paid extra for it; it was just something he liked to do. During his longer trips he would sit back and think of new ways to make people squirm and suffer, most people would call it sadistic but it was just who he was.

“I shall fight at your side, and grow stronger with every passing day; killing all those that are foolish enough to stand in your way.”

Anri let his words trail off, at this point there wasn’t much more he could really say; he was a merc plain and simple. He did the bidding of those that could afford his services, and he had no qualms with killing if he was told to do so. Either Kemuri would hire him or he would not and go searching for work elsewhere; but from the lack of troops he had seen and the looming threat over Kemuri he looked like he could get all the help he could take.