It would be fair to say that instantly Sage was more than just a little disorientated, for one she could not remember how she even got there, but that was hardly new, right? Not having clear memories was par the course after all. Her pointless thinking was interrupted by a feminine voice who helpfully informed her that nothing was real and the place she found herself was completely artificial, that was basically the gist Sage gleamed from the explanation. That much became really clear when the room started to distort, impossibly extending out a good few feet back putting distance between her and the maiden. Not a completely normal thing to happen, usually.

Sage then got the pleasure to witness the "maiden" get poked in the back by a dummy of some sorts, which honestly was both a little funny, but also just stupid. If she had any say in the matter she would've simply walked away from this mess, however she definitely didn't have the luxury of choice. Without so much as her consent, Sage's own hand had already retrieved her handgun from it's holster, and aimed right at the cuboid dummy. She squeezed the trigger, the shot being meant to hit the dummy square in the head.

---

@ClocktowerEchos

With an burst of pixels, the terrifying bandit of poking fell to the ground, tiny cubes littering the ground before he buzzed out of existence, "Thank you fair hero for saving me. Huzzah! Huzzah!" the Maiden said in her monotonous voice, preforming little bunny hops of celebration as if they actually helped convey her emotions or lack thereof, "Unit B2-DS3.06, Stage One status: Complete. Activating Stage Two."

A sudden burst of rifts brought forth four more pixel cube men, each as intimidating as the last with their geometric designs that struck fear and terror into even the mightiest marshmallow. Incidentally, they were about as threatening as mighty marshmallows to anyone who fought them assuming said person didn't have an irrational fear of the color green. With two pulling out green sticks, the fight began as the melee bros charged Sage with the other two manifested pistols and began to open fire towards the Fatefallen.

"Stage Two now active," the Maiden spoke a bit late with the times as she rose her hand upwards causing various blocks to sprout from the walls and floor, "Good luck o faithful hero." With the intelligence of a lobotomized toaster, the stick-carrying block men ran in a straight line towards Sage as their friends, top graduates of the Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy, fired off wildly down the hall.

@Damiann47

Sage was ever so slightly pleased with herself when she took down the dummy so easily, but seriously it wasn't as if she were a bad shot nor was her target all that hard to hit. The artificial Maiden continued to lack any actual emotion, still Sage had to admit whoever the creator was at least he tried to infuse some personality, didn't change how he utterly failed. The bunny hops were kinda cute though, to be fair.

Then came in four more opponents, something that Sage actually took as a bigger threat at first assessment. It wasn't long until she came under fire from the two brain dead gunners, which the bullets felt way too real for comfort, but quickly she realized they couldn't hit a damn thing even as she stood there away from anything that resembled cover. This time Sage very well intended to defend herself, dunno it was different when she was under direct attack rather than watching a mindless puppet get poked in the back.

Of course her first priority was the all mighty stick wielders, however while they lacked any sort of tactics or sense of self preservation Sage judged that they were approaching her too quickly for comfort. She would attempt to stand her ground, sure getting into melee wouldn't be good, however she figured that running around won't do any favors for her aim. Her strategy would be very straight forward, just shoot them while aiming for the torso obviously taking down the melee guys first, hopefully the pistol dummies won't get a lucky shot off on her besides it wasn't like she had anything to duck behind anyway.

---

@ClocktowerEchos

Awake... awoken... waking... sleep... asleep... sleeping... what was it all? A broken mind wandering down its manny paths... asleep is what he was... but now waking? Yes thats what it was... he was woken, waking, awake now. How long did he sleep? Had he slept? Had he dreamed? Was this a dream? Was he still asleep? Who was he even... Cedro. He was Cedro that... that he knew. A hand drifted up to his wide brimmed hatt, feeling the worn material between two fingers... it was his hand... his hat was still there. Next it drifted to his necklace, his pendant... it was warm.... it felt nice. A crooked smile found a place on his worn features as he felt the warmth spreading through his body... a womans voice.

It echoed in his mind once more... a memory? A dream? A hope? No... a reality. He looked up to the woman. Her voice... it washed over him like the cold... like the heat... what was it like? She spoke and he heard but it drifted away even as he grasped at the strands... Hero? Training program? ... what was this place of shapes and green? A shape that moved... she called out for help... help... helped... helping... he must help! Suddenly he felt it, the weight of the club in his hand, the length of metal sturdy and heavy as it pulled at his arm. He nodded, looked to his adversary and charged. Waste not time, waste not strength he tought. He hefted the club in his hand and brought it down with great force, aimed at the figure's 'head' as it were, intent on obliterating it... destroy... destorying... destroyed... obliterate... obliterating... obliterated...

Even with her lack of emotions, it was clear that the Maiden hadn't expected B2-DS3.07, the one named "Cedro", to put on quite the show of violence. Pixels exploded as the club slammed into her attacking poker's face as the Maiden wondered why did this man choose a length of metal of all things to be a weapon, standard programing had it that the weapon of choice for someone who underwent a test would be whatever they thought of first. Either this man worked with metal beams in a past life or had a fetish for a long hard length of metal, either way, the Maiden was no one to judge.

"Thank you good... hero." The Maiden's voice was clearly unsure on how fitting the word "hero" was for a half naked man that just clubbed an artificial soul to bits with a crude length of metal, "Unit B2-DS3.07, Stage One status: Complete. Activating Stage Two."

With a silent hum, the walls and floors began to shift as low barricades and outcoves appeared as the hallway stretch out overall with blocks forcing themselves out on to the surface. Suddenly appearing at the end of the hall way, the Maiden waved her graceful hand and appeared four additional green figures, two with sticks, two with pistols, all four wanting revenge for the death of the comrade they didn't know (maybe). With bullets soon firing everywhere, the new fight began as the two melee fighters swiftly jumped and vaulted over the barriers in their path with speed and agility and before long one had already aimed a blow at Cedro that came down quick at the man.

@agentmanatee

Dead... death... dying... killed... kill... killing... his hand had killed it. The pipe effortlessly destroyed the figure, shattering it into thousands of pieces like a pane of fragile glass... perhaps he had used too much force on the fragile assailant of the woman. Not that it mattered now as he stood up, searching the field for more foes... he found none as the woman spoke once more in her monotone voice.She congratulated him... it had been so easy... then stage two... second... two. Down the hall more figures appeared, four this time. Two firing... fired... fire... guns in their hands. The other two sprinted towards him, one already upon him, driving a stick of sorts towards him... he did not deign to block it. Instead, he decided trading blows was a worthy choice, and aimed his own attack as a more conservative smash to its midsection, now knowing of these foes fragile nature.

If succesful, he would then move to sweep the feet of his other melee opponent, seeking to put it on its back before crushing what would be its skull. Then, using the cover they had so haphazardly vaulted over to reaach him, he would make his way towards the gunmen, intent on closing the distance and crushing them as well... crush... crushed... crushing... dead... dying... dream... dreamed... dreaming...

The blow struck Cedro square on his shoulder, its pain comparable to that of getting hit with a rod of hard plastic. However, in the trade of blows, it was the pixel man who got the worse end of the deal, Cedro's attack had managed to shear off his arm in a fountain of pixel viscera through pure blunt force. Now hobbling away with the figure of a crippled man, it was his partner which came in next, the armless figure now stumbling back behind an out cove to take shelter.

Not letting the man with the metal do the same to him, the second clubman jumped towards the wall and bounced off it, landing with a roll behind Cedro. Jumping right into an attack, another blow made contact against Cedro's side, the pixel stick swooshing through the void before it was raised high above the figure's head, preparing to try and counter whatever his opponent would throw. And as wild bullets peppered the air like metallic hail, the figure tilted his head back and forth a little, a challenge for Cedro to do his worse.

He was only just awakening from what seemed like a deep sleep, and there was already a crisis arising. The hooded warrior could not bear to watch as the maiden was assaulted by the cuboid villain. If only there were some way for him to aid her in her struggle.

Wait, what was that strange weight at his side? Something strange was hanging from his waist. As he brushed his hand over it, memories came flooding in to him. An overwhelming feeling of strength washed over the him. It was clear that he had known this weapon intimately for years. It wasn't just any old blade, was his saber from his unknown past.

His hand wrapped around the saber's hilt as if it were an old friend. With practiced dexterity, the blade slid from its sheath and aimed straight at the heart of the monster. There wasn't a moment to lose if we was to rescue her. With the fire in his heart burning strong, he rushed at his opponent. By god, his sword was going to slash through the creature's heart if it was the last thing he ever did!

Pain... painful... pained... it had hurt. Trading blows had been the best decision, the damage done to himself felt minimal, though it stung he could take it. The second runner managed to evade Cedro with an act of extreme acrobatics, and cracked his own weapon against Cedro's side, causing a grunt of pain. Cedro heard the bullets wizzing through the air around his head... death... dying... dead... he wasn't yet. He growled at the taunting figure, and decided to throw him for a loop. He did not swing his wepon at the figure as it had expected and was indeed prepared for. Insted, he smashed into him with a hard tackle, and then lifting and forcing the foe onto its back with Cedro atop it. If this worked, Cedro would set about viciously turning its head into a pulp of pixels with many hits from his crude club.

If succesful he had a plan to avid taking further hits. He would take the then headless body and lift it as a buffer or shield from the wizzing bullets, in case the gunners recovered their attrocious aim. He hoped to get close enough to toss the body at one, bash the other across its head, and then move to take out the other... such was his plan... plan... planned... plans... idea... ideas... he had them, and would set them to motion.

With a quick slice, a nasty gash appeared on poking fiend stretching from its shoulder to to its side. With a silent, muffled scream, the cube fell over and bled many of hundreds of tiny cubes. The maiden clapped jubilantly in perhaps her most expressive emotions yet as one could tell her voice had gone up a solid 3 decibels, "Thank you valliant knight, you have done well." Out of everyone she had waken up thus far, this man at least looked the part although he'd probably also be longer over due for a face lift. Maybe botox, just maybe, "Unit B2-DS3.12, Stage One status: Complete. Activating Stage Two."

The stage shifted and churned once more as blocks in the walls and floor began to divide like plant cells. Soon the ground and walls sunk in on themselves, covering the hall in few barrier but plenty of trenches and out coves. The Maiden appeared at the end of the hall, floating just a few inches off the ground. With a swipe of her hand, two additional geometric minions appeared, unlike the others she had summoned thus far. The first had a round shield along with their stick, the second had a shotgun, the scattering of pellets effectively cancelling out their terrible aim. And with a blast of shot, the two comrades began their battle against the knight, charging forth.

@Ezekial Wolffe

---

Caught off guard by a sudden shift in tactics, the pixel ninja was thrown off guard and forced on to the ground. No amount of parrying stances could stop the violent smashing of its flat face. It had long dropped its club and gone limb until the brutal assault of Cedro stopped smashing its head in. Thankfully since this is all pixelated, there is no need to censor any of it unless you happen to be a cubekin*. Even the gunners seemed apathetic to the death of their friend, still just firing off like blindfolded madmen on some serious drugs. Apparently though, drugs make them aim better as one of them got a lucky glancing hit on Cedro's outer thigh.

^{*No cubekin were hurt in the making of this}

@agentmanatee

Before the valiant knight could have a moment to breath, the maiden vanished from sight, and the scenery changed around him. Two more cuboidal beings appeared from thin air. They held entirely different weapons; one had a shield and a blade, the other was raising a shotgun and preparing to fire! Ezekial had no more time to assess the situation. He retreated behind one of the newly formed barriers and waited as shotgun pellets rang out through the hall.

This was a fine mess he had gotten himself in to. As long as he didn't know how much ammunition the shotgun held, he was trapped where he was. Worse still, he could the footsteps of the approaching momnsters from where he was crouching. His body tensed in anticipation. The blade he clenched in his fist was the only weapon he had against the harrowing odds. He would only have one chance if he wanted to survive.

The creatures are smart enough to use weapons, they should also be smart enough to realize that he was trapped there. By anticipating their arrival, he could prepare to take the first one to reach him by surprise and cut their throat, allowing him to use them as a living shield. Any moment now, the first creature would reach him, and then he would attack.

With a savage blast, another hail of shot came down, than another, and another; it was a lead rain who did not know the meaning of the word "chill out" and pounded the knight's position. It paused for a second, a reprieve from the action but twas a false break as a hand reached around and grabbed Ezekial from behind his cover. With the knight in a solid, geometric grasp, the warrior bashed his struggling opponent with the butt end of his stick before delivering a solid strike, throwing Ezekial (thankfully) behind another bit of cover. Proud with its display of martial strength, the cubekin raised his round shield in celebration and waved his arms like they were noodles.

@Ezekial Wolffe

With a blast from Sage, the first melee dummy collapsed and clutched their stomach as their comrade continue to charge, taking a shot to the arm which beyond sending his arm in a comical noodle physics did little to slow him. Literally throwing himself at the gunner, the surviving and unfazed cubekin sending himself off his feet towards Sage. With another burst of inaccurate shots, the second dummy rose to its knees, visibly weakened and staggering towards the target in a desperate armed waddle.

There was a certain level of interest the Maiden had, given how this person seemed to ignore the shots fired at them. Either it was by bravery or foolishness but it was admirable still. Such faith in her opponent inability to hit her was quite something, assuming that Sage wasn't about to get a bullet to the dome and be proved wrong of course.

@Damiann47

Sage inhaled sharply as she realized her first two shot didn't quite hit home like she wanted. At the moment she was still fairly confident that the dummy gunmen would still just be unable to get shots off on her, but the longer she sat out there in the open the less thrilled she was about the prospect of one getting super lucky. Once the melee guys were dead she absolutely had to take care of the ranged guys.

She decided the mostly unharmed melee had to go down first, this time she wanted aiming for the head as it appeared torso shots were less effective that she would've wanted. Sage took a deep breath to help in steadying her gun while making sure to also grip it with both hands, she had a feeling that not killing them now would land her in deeper trouble.
@ClocktowerEchos

With a vibrant display of sparks and gun fire, Sage's gun launched two bullets through the artificial void of this world. With a cry of robotic pain, the cubekin in front had a new hole cutting into its head, shooting cubic giblets out the back as he tried to raise his hands to his face as he was swept off the ground. They were dead before they hit the ground in an explosion of more shapes. The second bullet missed just a little but still hit its target in the neck, forcing the cubekin to stumble onto the ground on his knees and arms, one hand over the wound, before immediately falling to the ground twitching.

As the final melee warrior was killed, the two gunner changed tactics and began to slowly move in a zig-zag. Going from one wall to the other, meeting up at a center point, then continuing to a wall before "bouncing" off of them and repeating the process. They made progress towards Sage and even as their wild bullets continued to avoid Sage like she was an inverse magnet, it would be hard to miss her once they were close.
@Damiann47

With a growl he rolled into cover, his thigh bleeding from the shallow wound in his thigh. Cedro glared at where he knew he final opponents stood... opponent... enemy... killers... death. He rolled back over the pixelated headless body and yanked it up before him, a crude sort of shield in case any of the other bullets got lucky again. Even if his corpse shield couldn't stop the bullets completely it would at least cushion him against them. He charged down the hall screaming at the top of his lungs, bounding towards the two gunners. As he got close he hurled the headless corpse at the gunner on the left, intent on incapacitating him, while his pipe swiped hard across the others face, intent on tearing whatever it had for a face off with shear brute force. After that, he intended to finish off the other hoping he was stuck beneath his former allies corpse.

@ClocktowerEchos

Gallus wasn't sure what was happening, not at first. He couldn't comprehend his senses, at most he knew he was on the ground and writhing uncontrollably. What he thought was him breathing was actually violent dry-heaving motions, though nothing was coming out whatsoever. Eventually the unrequited movement stopped, and all that was left were shaky gasps for air. He sat there for awhile as he tried to control his breathing, though it took some time seeing as he hadn't breathed of his own accord for what had possibly been eons. After some time passed, his senses finally began to return to him and there was only one thing his mind could process.

'I am alive. I am awake, and I am alive.'

He tried to force himself to stand, but he stumbled back onto his knees before he could make it all the way up. Though as he fell back down, he noticed something laying on the floor next to him. It was a mask...? Had it fallen off when he fell out of the stasis pod? Wait, was it even his? He felt that he did own it, that it belonged to him, that he wore it many times before, but the memories of it just wouldn't return to him. But still, it was his, he was sure of that. So he picked it up and gingerly put it on, not wanting it to pinch his skin or get caught in his hair. It felt...right.

He stood up, successfully this time, and looked on over to the others who had also awoken. So, they shared the same fate as him then, eh? But, weren't there supposed to be more? They surely couldn't be the only ones with such a fate, there were so few who had woken up. Something must had gone wrong, though what, he had no idea. For now, he would just have to follow the words of the Fabled Maiden, and hope that she could guide him and the others to answers.

Though in actuality, she ended up guiding them to a monstrosity instead. Yes, she'd told them that a beast was loose in the place, but this was not what he'd had in mind. For Rynoll's sake, this thing was being called a Daemon! Even with a numbers advantage, could a ragtag group of forgotten husks who had only recently woke up from a seemingly infinite slumber, even stand a chance against the raging mechanical giant? It seemed that they were going to either sink or swim here, so to speak. Oh well, the odds never seemed to be in his favor anyway, but this wouldn't stop him if he could help it.

"Well then," Gallus ended up saying, a surprisingly cheery tone apparent despite the dire situation, "Let's test its reflexes first, shall we?" He stepped back a bit to put more space between him and the beast, and began to channel one of the Datacores that he felt within himself. The Dart Datacore began to manifest, and with a simple open-palmed gesture aimed at the Daemon, he fired the powerful magic-like projectile. If the beast was fast, it would see the attack coming from a mile away and easily dodge, which would let everyone know that a different strategy would be needed. But if it hit, then the Daemon's slow speed could be taken into account as everyone figured out their tactics. Overall, the opening shot was meant to be more tactical than damaging, but he wouldn't complain if he managed to hit it.