Artholath sighed. He didn't quite know if the lab was still functional in any sense of the word, considering it had been abandoned for a thousand years and raided by demons, including himself. A thousand years of a spell decaying would not be pretty. Nonetheless, there was no other secure location to speak of, so he brought the last image of the lab in his mind that he could remember before he and other demons had raided it and hoped for the best.

Diego flung the sword down in frustration. What had he been thinking! He should have just ignored the ghost and left. And then Mayumi fired the arrow. It was an excellent shot, and Diego lunged to get out of the way. But his efforts were futile. The arrow was not only going straight towards him, but, because he had moved to jump out of the way, the arrow sailed straight towards Diego's heart. He had miscalculated the dive.

Diego Lumumba Vasquesa Lorenzo Montana Respendal Leniendo the Third's life flashed before his eyes. He saw all the people he had taken advantage of. He saw them crying, screaming, and shouting at him. His mother. His lovers. His cousins. His former friends. But, he pushed this all aside. He had to look after himself. It was every man for himself, and these people had been to selfless. The only thing that mattered was himself. It wasn't them that he had upset and failed, but himself that he had failed. He had let himself get into danger. And that was Diego's only regret. His eyes closed, and the arrow sped towards him. His life was over.

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Specimen #24-785-003 ran outside. It didn't take long for the creature to end up in the wilderness. It paced up to a clearing. There was several people there. Generally, Specimen #24-785-003 liked to see other people. They usually had food. He observed them communicating for a while, uninterested. He was hoping one of them would drop some food. Suddenly, he saw a small creature sailing through the air. Desperate, the creature dashed madly towards it and snatched it out of the air with it's beak. The quasi-ostrich creature then looked up expectantly, hoping for more food.
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What dumb luck! Diego couldn't believe it! He quickly got up and sprinted into the woods at full speed. He had the money! He still had the money! Money had never betrayed Diego and Diego got along very well with money. His life was over. He was beginning a new life! He would live happily! Who cares about these people? Who cares about his debts?

Ixi watched as Mayumi shot at Diego. He deserved it. Ixi watched as he tried to dodged and harmed his own chances. But a large creature saved him. Maybe now Diego would be better.

Something about the ostrich was familiar to Io. It was something about the bird. It must have been when Ia was in charge. Io walked over to the bird, showing himself to the crowd. His appearance flickered between the two. Between Ia and Io. Io confused, and Ia smiling with blood on her teeth. He had risked his life to save Ia and Ia was the one it would probably recognize. So Io's body was simply flickering between the two. Not choosing one or the other for too long.

Samuel watched the man run, after feebly attempting to dodge the arrow. He watched some sort of bird snatch it out of the air, and Diego began to run. This man won't get away. He has a lot of explaining to do. I will get him. Samuel pulled his bow back, aimed, and let the arrow fly.....straight at where Diego's heel would be.

Karasuma reverted back to her normal, ghost form. "I think I'm going to have to look for a new wielder," she grumbled, her face planted into the grass. She slowly pulled herself up and saw Mayumi. "Wow, you have a good shot..." she said, clearly impressed. She went back to Feon and Ixi. "So what are we going to do now?"

Samuel (or Felix? I'm still confused about that XD) was also a good shot. However, a combination of Diego's speed and the shrubs surrounding his heel made the arrow miss it's target.

As he continued to run into the woods, Diego became absorbed with the bag of money. When he stopped to take breaks, he would just blankly stare at the bag full of gold. He became obsessed with the little pouch. One could say that this was a good thing for Diego, because it seemed like he finally cared about something over himself. However, Diego only cared about the gold because it would benefit him.

There was no arguing that the gold had done something to Diego. It made him want more. He needed something. Something was missing. Maybe the gold could help him get that. But that thirst for an improved life made Diego an opponent for all who stood in the way of that goal. Although Diego may not be as powerful of an opponent as Artholath or Lance or Ixi, the gold had made him become the most evil, at least temporarily.

Artholath was a demon. He basically had no choice but to act evil. Lance and Zeke clearly weren't the good guys either, but they were both more human than Diego. At least the two of them could love, even if it was their own creations. Diego, however, only loved himself.
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As the ostrich monster approached La and Lo, he didn't seem to recognize a difference between the two, but Lo/La seemed familiar and like they had food. The specimen prodded the rabbit creature's pockets with it's beak.

Feon watched as Deigo ran away giving a sigh of relief. "Now we head after Lance." Feon said as she started to head towards the cottage, they were close, very close.

Lance in the meantime had the entire lab, along as those within it teleported to the new lab. It had some messes in it, but atleast it was open, and since he brought most of his own equipment he didn't have to worry about replacing it. "I have to admit, this looks better than expected." Lance said as looked around the area. There was some sort of red and black crystal in the center of the room though, one that would make it far easier to collect souls for Artholath, it seemed to have only been able to reveal it's self to something in lances lab. Now that it was revealed, it would stay that way.

Feon meanwhile finally got to the cottage, but everything was gone, however there was a used up crystal on the ground, one that most likely helped with Lances escape. "This isn't good." Feon said looking as nothing was left, only that one crystal.

Artholath looked around. It had aged considerably well; the transportation of equipment must have wiped the mess he had personally left with some of the Warlord's assistants - no, that was in another room. That would need to be cleaned up at some point. The whole place brought back memories... getting to the surface would be much easier said than done, though.

Zeke with out a doubt followed Feon back to the cottage. To his surprise everything has disappeared. He never knew of any type of object capable of moving so many machines within minutes. The weird part was the random crystal that look completely worn out. Something about it wasn't right and Feon even said this was bad. Hopefully Marceline didn't get caught up in something even worst then this.

Marceline was lost in the woods. She was too busy being happy to remember the way back to the cottage when she left with her father. She leaned up against a tree and wiped the tears that fell down her face. Terrible thoughts repeatedly played through her mind about Zeke shouting at her and her mother not wanting her. She was becoming more and more depressed every other second. With nothing else to do she continued to search for the cottage.

@SpookySquid

"By the Great Noodly One's Appendage!" Mayumi screamed as the strange flightless fowl grabbed her arrow from the air just as it was about to slay the wicked fiend. Swinging her bow around to take a shot ostrich Mayumi paused as she saw another archer shooting at her prey. "Aim for his globnarks!" She called merrily over as way of encouragement, but the second archer's arrow missed its mark as DIego vanished into the undergrowth.

"Wow, you have a good shot..."

"If only it were a little better, that fiend would not yet live." Mayumi cried out as she dismissed her Devil Heart Bow with a flick of her wrist and drew her Spirit Render Blade from her belt, quickly igniting the spectral blade as she sprinted off after Diego. If he was so good at dodging arrows, perhaps a more direct attack would do a better job.

As Feon approached then crystal a symbol appeared on it, the symbol of a goddess. A voice could be heard in everyone's hearts and minds, including Artholaths. this also showed them each imagery of the goddess herself in all her beauty. "Those who seek to stop Lance Steinburg, hear our plead. He is working to resurrect his late wife and child. They will be resurrected as the Demon God Lilith, and her daughter as the Queen of the Deep Scylla." At this point a picture of the two appeared to all of them.
(pictures will be available on my first post in the Character section)

"This will come to pass as for seen by fate. However you can still defeat them after they have been brought into this world. We will aid you in this endeavor, however you must prove worthy of our help." The goddess disappeared with a bright flash of light in front of all of their eyes.

Once vision returned to everyone they were all in groups and transported to some sort of ancient temple, each one different from the other.

Ixi, Diego, and Felix all appeared in a temple that was rather hot, There were pools of lava throughout the temple, and in the middle was Delios. His eyes glowing red now, he snarled at the three waiting for them to make the next move. This was the real Delios, and he would smash those who opposed him.

Mayumi, Karasuma, and Lo/La all appeared in a temple over grown with trees, shrugs, and other kinds of shrubs. In the middle of the temple stood Vernika, her eyes glowing green. This was the real Vernika, and she knew that these people were to be stopped.

Finally Feon, Zeke, and Marceline, all appeared within a temple with puddles of water everywhere. The sea could be seen from the windows as well. Artholath also appeared infront of them, his eyes glowing blue.

All of these had a test that they must past, they must defeat the evil before them in order to proceed or die trying.

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Lance in the mean time had realized that Delios and Vernika had disapeared, however with Vernika gone that meant that ressurecting his wife and child was that much closer. He only smiled at this as he started to work on getting his final experiment ready. "Artholath, If you can, I want you to see if you can't find the soul's of my wife and Child, I can feel them always near me." Lance said as he started to laugh again. "I can tell that they want to be resurrected!" Lance said with another fit of laughter, after that though he fell quiet and started to work on the bodies that he needed to use to ressurect them.

The red and black crystal called out to Artholath, this item would allow him to bring forth old souls, and capture them.

He honestly hadn't heard of a "Goddess", but what he heard was by no means something that sounded wrong to him. Demon God? Sounds like the culmination of all my work. He wondered if his own influence was what would cause it. If so, he needed waste no time.

He peered into the crystal. It was very, very well... constructed, certainly of no natural composition. Within he saw many shifting shapes... he would be more capable of interpreting them in his true form, but he could still scout things out in his human form.

As he looked, he saw... warriors. Many warriors... ones that would more than suit his goals. However, there was something else. Two souls within that did not fit the picture. Two souls that were a little more innocent...

"I may be onto something... but I will need to shift to investigate further." He normally would not ask, but shifting and not telling anyone could result in either a bad reaction from those around him or in an accident - such as Lance touching his true form, which would not feel good at all.

Diego looked at Delios and shook his head. "I'm good. I'm not going to fight any monsters today. I'm sure these two would be better suited... Could you kindly teleport me to the city down south...? I've got some stuff I would like to do there..."

As she crashed her way through the undergrowth in pursuit of her prey Mayumi could hear DIego just ahead of her, in a moment she'd be on him and one swipe of her spectral blade would have his soul locked in one of her spiritual prisons until all his energies were wasted away. In some ways she thought it too good an end for such an irredeemable fiend, as some of the souls she held captive enjoyed the privacy and solitude the crystal cells provided.

Smashing through a particularly large bush Mayumi suddenly found herself standing in an old, overgrown temple and for a moment spun on the spot in confusion. Had her senses misled her? Had she taken a bad turn? All she knew for certain was that her quarry had eluded her and was nowhere to be seen in the open and once-grand chamber. Instead a figure with glowing green eyes stood before her, radiating holy power.

Quickly dousing her blade and returning it to her belt Mayumi dropped to her knees in reverence. "Oh Holy One, whose name I may not know but whose wonder I can perceive with the clarity of a pure heart, might I please enquire as to the location of the vile fiend whose path drew me to this place?"

Zeke doesn't like being given orders from a god but if this was the only way he'd have to shelter his pride and hate for the goddess that appeared before him. As he listened to the mysterious being speak his eyes began to ignite when he heard the goddess reveal Lance's plan. Zeke was a demon but a Demon god sounds terrible. Now he has to stop Lance, not for the future of the world but for his family. It was selfish but still he had good in tensions instead of bad ones in this situation.

Marcy was still lost. Zeke should of honestly implanted a tracking device in the young girl. She stopped her search and rested on a tree thinking about her parents. And that's when it happened the goddess appeared. Marcy was never told about a god but since she was part demon she felt hatred towards the goddess. The hatred quickly turned into fear when the goddess began to spoke. Just the sound of her voice sent chills down Marcy's spine. She was so scared that she didn't even listen to what the goddess had to say.

When the goddess finished what to had to say their surroundings changed and they were now in a temple. Zeke stood looking directly at Artholath his eyes radiating a yellow color. He did notice the presence of his daughter by him but unbracing her would have to wait. "Marceline, what I said a while ago was a lie and....I'll give you something if you help mommy and daddy defeat their opponent." Marcy was a little confused but she was loyal and if what ever her father said was true to her so she turned her attention towards Artholath. Marcy's began to glow yellow and she retrieve her battle Axe from her back. Electricity engulfed her Axe and her body. She was ready for battle. Zeke turned his attention to Feon and waited to see what ideas she may have on defeating the enemy.

"Hey... Daniel," Ixi scowled. Saying his fake name in an extremely hostile tone. "You ain't getting out of this fight."
Ixi summoned a hand full of throwing knives and began to run towards Delios. She threw them before proceeding to draw her katana. She was going to win this fight and put an end to Lance's evil. 'Cause someone asked her to do it. And he did seem very very evil.

Iolooked at Vernika. He recognized her. He had seen her before. In Lance's house. That wasn't good. Io jumped back in order to unsheathe his sword. He needed it the most right now. He began to pull the stapes off the sheath. He drew the sword and stepped closer to the other two.

Feon took a step back while still staring at the man with glowing blue eyes. She started to attach her extra limbs while waiting for the Artholath to make a move. Once Feon had her limbs attached she started to circle around Artholath with her scalpels out and ready to lunge. She hoped that the others would follow her lead and circle around in the other direction now. Feon had smiled at Marceline's electricity, to Feon she saw it as an opportunity to create an even more powerful attack.

Delios meanwhile snarled at the man who asked to leave. He then right off the bat started to charge at him as he found Deigo very annoying at this point. Delios aimed a powerful punch Straight at Diegos stomach. If it connected Diego would go flying into the air from an upper cut before being punched again into a wall.

Lance in the mean time continued his work, bodies could be seen forming in large test tubes, his final experiment was reach it's completion now.
The souls that Artholath was looking weren't that innocent, when looked at closer one could see the immense amount of evil coming from them, infecting the other souls even.

Diego saw the monster coming and knew what he had to do. He tensed. He prepared himself. Then, he turned around and ran for his life, trying to avoid Delios.

The clone of Artholath was more... pure than his true form. More focused to the matter at hand. These foes, simply, needed to be eliminated.

He shifted as Feon circled, keenly aware of the others preparing to attack. His true form came out, standing tall and bony, with his limbs ready to lash at his foes and his aura of cold chilling the already lower temperature temple. He opened his attack by sending a spray of ice spikes in all directions, simply as a distraction, and lunged at Marceline, prepared to shred her to pieces if she didn't move.

---

Artholath's true self, meanwhile, continued to look into the crystal. He noticed the souls he looked at earlier were not all as they seemed... in fact, he could see where the Goddess was coming from with the whole demon bit. These are the souls I need...

He hadn't looked at the bodies Lance had made for his family, but hopefully they would be more fitting to a demon. As it was, many creatures in the lab could be outfitted with the souls in the crystal.

"I think we can afford to expand this project a little... you can make demons, and revive your family, Lance."

"Lets use all the souls in here, it looks like your family is in there as well."

Karasuma stood behind Mayumi, confused at everything that was going on. Where have they been teleported? It was the Goddess who wanted them to put an end to Lance as well? She really need to figure out more of what was going on, but she did know that he was the cause for her death and maybe by killing him she can finally move on to the next realm.

Not really wanting to disturb Mayumi while she was doing...whatever she was doing, but she had to anyways. She tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this mess, but I think we have been transported somewhere else... I'm not even sure if we are in the same world anymore. Also there is a girl there with glowing green eyes who looks like she wants to kill us. Well you guys, since I really can't be killed again, I'm a ghost...hahaha... Also, I can't really fight unless I have a wielder since I turn into a sword with my necklace so you might need to help me out here."