[IC] The Collector

[Scarifar]

"Well then, I may as well start," Daniel addressed the entire crowd. "My name is Daniel Day Dalton, and I dominate fire," and he raised his right arm to his side of his head, letting fire engulf his arm until it reached his elbow. "I know what some of you might be thinking. 'You're pretty cocky, big deal, it's just fire manipulation.' However, it's not just manipulation. As most of you have seen earlier, I can do more than just that." Daniel then condensed the fire, making it so that it formed a realistic-looking red gauntlet on his arm. "This is why I say 'dominate' and not 'manipulate'." Letting the gauntlet fade away, he grinned and asked, "So, who's next?"

[FoxFireOfDawn]

With all of these things happening at once, Xerc simply dazed off. With all this sudden information, it was quite hard to keep track of what was happening. Noticing that the others were introducing themselves, he decided to step in. "I'm called Xerolo'kk Hirnacht'k, but for the sake of remembering who I am, call me Xerc. I'm assosiated with being a hellhound according to the legends. If a human was to insult and gaze at me, then their lifespan wouod be cut in half until they apopogize. This only works on humans, and I'm saying this also as a warning, not just for information. " he proudly stated, his tail waving behind him.

[yoyohayli]

Bea stood at the foot of the stairs, trying to follow everything that was happening in the room. The living teddy bear had certainly caught her attention. Her fairy curiosity kicking in, she gazed at it, trying to figure out how and why it moved. Watching the girl hugging and comforting the bear made her smile; it was a behavior she'd often observed in human children when they happened to pass through her woods.

Breaking her reverie, Bea realized it was about time for her to introduce herself. "My name is Bea. I'm just a fairy, but kind of a rare breed." She looked to Daniel and smiled sheepishly. "And I'd really like it if you could keep your...'fire domination' a little more subtle. Fairies aren't really too keen on fire."

[TheWendil]

Sasha frowned as the others began to introduce themselves. With all these different powers and abilities...well to be honest, it made hers look like crap. Hell, even pretty boy had his fire manipulation. What did she have going for her? Just being some wild animal; even the Barghest had a cooler power. And he was more polite. Suddenly self-conscious, Sasha crossed her arms and frowned. "My name's Sasha Walker. I bite, bark, growl, and sniff. That's all," she muttered lowly. Might as well get the shit out of the way first then.

Unbeknownst to their little picnic group, the hallway outside had begun to change. Actually, that wasn't quite it exactly. Rather, it was still changing even now. Slow, subtle transformations that nearly baffled the eye. But so far, all that appeared to be happening was that the walls were moving. No trick, no illusion, no special effect. The walls began moving on their own, as if it were made of tiles and being rearranged.

They moved with rapid pace, silently waiting and abiding their time. The captured subjects wouldn't be leaving this house for quite a while. There was still plenty of time to set up necessary precautions. Gears and mechanisms twisted and groaned as the very mansion itself began to fortify a inner offensive line. It was eager to keep these creatures detained and under control.

At least, until the Collector returned from his trip.

[shi12]

Alexandra hugged the bear close for a second more, examining her companions for a few seconds. Then with a single nod she set the poor creature down by her side. “I’m Alexandra, Alexandra Valentino, but you can all call me Alex and I am a shapeshifter. A creature who can take other’s forms, but unlike my kin I can copy a being down the personality and abilities that make them who they are.” She said, a smirk on her lips. “Like this.” She adds, her voice suddenly deeper. It almost matched Daniel’s perfectly but even weirder was the fact that she had already shifted into the pyro’s form. Taking a slight step back away from everyone she willed herself to conjure a spark on the tips of her fingers before extinguishing it and slowly melting back into the white haired girl from before.

Finished with her little introduction she picked up the bear once more, facing him out towards everyone but keeping a protective grip on him nonetheless. The woman was completely unaware of the Mansion’s plans for them all. Not knowing that this house had a mind of its own and a goal of keeping them trapped here forever. For now she stood calmly in the basement, her mind set on escaping and hopefully saving the others trapped here with her. There had to be a way out right, or were they just being toyed with for The Collector’s amusement?

[rocketrobie2]

Mr. T continued to shake but not quite as much when the lady first picked him up. After a while it was comforting. It reminded him of being with Dexter, he missed Dexter. As everyone went about introducing themselves and how they had abilities Mr.T began to shake again when he heard that the boy had fire, the one lady bit and the one holding her could shape shift. The only person who didn't completely scare him was the fairy lady but of course he still felt comfortable with the woman who was currently holding him. Mr.T raised his head and said "I'm Teddy, Or Mr.T and I can run really really fast" he said shakily trying to hide the fear in his voice.

[Tack the Cobbler]

Leland shook his head. An animate teddy bear that ran fast. It's like he'd fell down the rabbit hole.

"I'm Leland, I make things move...without touching them." Not a very intelligent way of wording that, but it worked; he wasn't really sure how to say he made things fly and explode without scaring people, let alone the only control he had over his abilities was to suppress them.

He even felt a little ashamed. Most of the people here some kind of positive ability that might help them out of this situation, even the teddy bear and the fairy were harmless enough. No one seemed to have anything honestly destructive--they knew how to steer clear Xerc's wrath, at least--but Leland was a time bomb when he was stressed. He could kill them, or be the one who stops them from escaping this prison.

"I can't control it, other than stopping it from happening." He added, hesitantly.

[Scarifar]

"Alright, that seems to be everyone," Daniel said, nodding. "I wish we could have met in less... unpleasant circumstances, but here we are." He turned and walked towards the door and said, "Let's get a move on. We'll achieve nothing but imprisonment and death if we stay here." He opened the door, believing himself ready to face whatever lay ahead of him.

[shi12]

Alexandra smiled at the cute being nestled in her arms before turning to them all. Her attention turned to the doorway, a determined look in her eye. She had no idea what awaited them yet fear was far from her mind. “Alright, time to get out of here.” She says confidently. With that she clambered up the steps carefully, moving past Daniel, and peeking her head out of the door. Her aqua gaze was trained on the end of the hall, a sinking feeling of dread creeping down her spine. Something wasn’t right, yet she couldn’t see anything potentially dangerous about the empty hallway.

There was something though, an object her eyes were practically glued to, a framed painting at the end of the hallway. It was a large portrait but from this distance she couldn’t tell what it was of. Suddenly however she felt herself leaving the sanctuary of the basement and moving in its direction, her curiosity taking over and leading her down the hall like it was some sort of magnet.

When she reached it however, she froze. Before her was a portrait of the seven of them, but something was odd about how they stood. She couldn’t see their faces and a part of her was glad that their gaze was turned elsewhere. With every ounce of strength she could muster she looked away, looking down the hallway to the left. There wasn’t one to the right but what she saw looked like a dead end and there seemed to be someone down at the other end. Something about it though, the way the figure moved when she did reminded her of a mirror but much more sinister. That was it, she forced herself to glance back before her and when she did she almost screamed. The faces were now looking out at her with glossy eyes and no emotion on their painted faces. It had moved.

[yoyohayli]

After the introductions were done, Bea followed behind Alexandra, her wings flitting nervously. She could immediately feel an uneasiness in the air that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. The fairy's legs shook under her as she shuffled forward into the unknown.

"What is it?" She asked quietly when Alex stopped dead in her tracks. Peeking over her shoulder, Bea gasped at the portrait. It was...extremely disturbing to say the least. When Alex looked to the left, Bea had to squeeze her eyes shut to erase the image of the painting, but it seemed to have imprinted itself in her eyelids. Opening her eyes again, she was horrified to find the painting had changed in just a few short moments.

"What in the world is this place?" she found herself murmuring. "This has to be a trick."

[Scarifar]

Daniel believed himself to be prepared. He was wrong. Before him lay a different setting than before he went back inside for the introductions. "Something's not right. Everything looks different," Daniel muttered. Then Alexandra screamed a few moments later, and Daniel quickly turned, lighting up his arms with fire for whatever was there. It turned out to be a portrait, but something about it was... odd. Whatever it was, he wasn't taking chances. He walked in front of Alex and Bea and yelled, "Get back, you two!" and shot two beams of fire at it, intending to burn it to a crisp.

[TheWendil]

As everyone else began to slowly file out one by one into the desolate hallway, Sasha couldn't help but stiffen in anticipation. Something in the air just didn't feel right...and it sent a dark shiver down her spine. Going on all fours, she quickened her pace to crouch herself next to Daniel's leg and growl up at the picture. She couldn't help it; in times like these, she was used to either a fight or flight. Not really caring much for the disturbing picture anyway, Sasha looked to the side of her to see a lone figure in the distance. The way the light gleamed off of them....was that a mirror? "Weird," she muttered to herself. "Just what kind of place is th-hey!"

Leaping back from the suddenly summoned flames proved to be quite challenging in this tight hallway so Sahara was reduced to just crawling as far away from the now burning painting as possible. "Oi! Pretty boy! I said warn us next time, alright! Pretty sure no one wants to be cooked raw here." As she continued complaining off to Daniel, something strange and miraculous occurred before them all.

The once smoldering picture eventually, gradually stopped burning. One by one, the red hot embers flaked off of its surface, pooling into a molten spot on the floor. This in itself was enough to freak anyone out, but soon something else had happened right in front of their very eyes. The picture had changed appearances once more.

Instead of a simple portrait of everyone with creepy stares right back, the painting was now one of a much different scene. Everyone present were still there, but now it depicted several great flames of fire and black billowing smoke plastered on a dark backdrop. Worst of all was that in the center of it all lay each and every one of them lying on the ground, piled one on top of another. Dead, their corpses stacked up and their eyes glassy and lifeless.

There showed one survivor. One who had escaped these flames...because it was he who caused them. This new painting showed Daniel with a blank expression setting the mountain of bodies on fire. Their bodies. Sasha stared at the new picture with amazement, her mind trying to grasp the context while her mouth remained open in astonishment. After several moments of gawking, she turned to set her gaze on Daniel instead.

"Pretty boy....what the hell did you just do?"

[FoxFireOfDawn]

Xerc awkwardly shuffled out of the door from the basement and made his way over to the group, staying a little back. Then, noticing the painting on the wall, he tilted his head to the left with confusion. The painting changed it's appearance to fit with the fire, even though the fire didn't seem to burn the painting. He then decided to get closer.

Still confused, Xerc stared directly at the painting, ignoring the feeling that was looming in the air. He examined it thoroughly before looking to the left. It was easy to see over the others from his height, but the figure at the end of the hallway interested him. He once again tilted his head and let out a little whimper in confusion.

[Scarifar]

Daniel, wide-eyed and scared out of his wits, took a step back from the portrait, yet he could not tear his eyes away from it. His flames were extinguished, out of fear that something worse might appear if he did something else to it. "I don't know... I don't know..." he said in response to Sasha. Eventually he raised one arm and punched himself in the face to finally stop looking at the portrait. Shaking his head to clear his mind, Daniel said, "We need to get away from that thing. Now." He turned left, then right, unsure which path to take, then noticed the figure on the left. "Wait, forget the portrait, what is that?" Daniel asked.

[rocketrobie2]

Mr.T shuddered as he began to move without knowing where Alexandra was taking him. When they got to the painting Mr.T didn't take his eyes off it. He was scared if he looked away it would change. It did indeed change when he blinked for a second. He jumped then immediately hid his eyes and began to shake furiously and even more so when Daniel began to shoot at the painting. He didn't see it happening but he heard the smouldering and that something bad happened so as they were all trying to grasp what was happening with the painting Mr.Teddy jumped out of Alexandra's arms and ran towards a figure farther down a hall way. He just wanted to get away from the painting.

[shi12]

Alexandra had taken a quick step back, moving instinctually away from the flames. After the initial shock at the flames she looked back, only to wish she hadn’t. The painting was completely unaffected by the flames, though the beings inside it were burned to a crisp in a sickening scene. “Next time Pyro maybe it would be best not trying to burn everything we find. Honestly I think you made it worse.” She said with regained composure. Her gaze flickered over the painting, practically feeling the flames on her skin and the smoke evading her lungs. It was all in her head, she knew that, most of it being caused by the trauma. The painting however no longer felt as ominous as it had when she had first seen it.

That’s when she noticed Mr. T’s absence from her grip, he must have jumped away during the fire ordeal. Alexandra quickly scanned the hallway before noticing him dashing towards the figure she had noticed before. Her stomach plummeted, ice running down her spine as she took a harder look at the unknown being down there and even though the figure was hard to make out she could feel the darkness surrounding it. “Mr. T!” she yelled, dashing off in his direction in a frenzy. It took her no time at all to catch up to him, the slender girl stopping him by swooping him up and holding him close again. Her gaze however was locked with the thing down the hall. It seemed about her height and the way it’s eyes glowed reminded her of the glassy eyes of the painting. The color though matched her own, being a fierce aqua color, yet the figure itself looked more terrifying than the charred bodies she had just witnessed. It’s clothes seemed to be ripped, dripping in blood, and sticking to their figure. The thing that bothered her most though was how much it resembled her, from the eyes to the outline.

Alexandra took a step back, taking her eyes off the figure momentarily to look for another way out of this hall. Her gaze though only met the shiny surface of multiple mirrors. The entire hall was made of mirrors. Something caught her eye though, a sliver of motion behind the reflective glass. Almost like a shadow running by. Once again searching for a way off this hall, though she knew she had to go back to the group, she glanced back at her lookalike. From where she was standing though she noticed the shiny film between them, like it was only some deranged reflection. Something was different however, instead of just being the one figure it was now several, eight to be exact. Seven of them she recognized but the eighth, it almost seemed like it didn’t belong. She didn’t linger any longer though, turning and running back to the group with Teddy in her arms.

[TheWendil]

The eighth mirror. The eighth. Mirror. Eighth. Eight. Something was off about it. Just...something. Was it a man? A beast? Something...wrong was portrayed in it. Nevertheless, something was awakened when Alexandra gazed into it. Several appendages, pale white hands began to rip themeselves out of their glassy prison. Some had shredded skin, while others were drenched in blood. They came in all numbers; first five, then ten, then thirty. A million? Hard to say. They lashed out violently, rushing forward to bind and constrict.

One of them snaked around Alexandra's ankle, and several more ceased the opportunity to pounce and trap the shape-shifting girl. Seeing their self-apparent leader in danger, Sasha ran forward on all fours and grabbed one of the spectral arms between her teeth. All it took was a strong pull before the arm became detached and lifeless. As it lay on the floor, a black and oily substance began leaking out of its sides. Sasha spat the thing out and backed away from the liquid in fright.

"Shit! What is this stuff?"

[Scarifar]

Daniel was quick to react, but not quick enough as several... things came and pounced on Alexandra before Daniel constructed a wall of solid flame to seal the way from which they came. "Quick, everyone help get those things off while I keep the rest at bay!" Daniel yelled. He could feel multiple things pushing at the wall, but Daniel did his best to keep the wall up and set the other side of the wall on fire. Some pressure relented, but there was still a considerable amount, and it kept growing steadily, slowly but surely.

[rocketrobie2]

Mr.T knew he couldn't do much and he was terrified to try but he did so anyway. He for a second time kept from the shape shifting girls arms and tried attacking one of the arm constructs but didn't do much. Despite this Mr.Teddy kept trying to hurt the thing but still to no success. Then he remembered once when Dexter accidentally cut himself on his eye so he began rubbing his eyes on the arm which made scratches almost seep enough to penetrate the skin but not quite. it defiantly distracted the one arm though.

[shi12]

It felt as if she was being constricted by dozens of snakes, the putrid hands having wound around her to keep her from running. Cold fear ran through her system, though she didn’t show it, but on the inside she was panicking. Alexandra stiffened as she felt bloody fingers on her skin, her nose filling with the metallic smell. She had to get out, even her newfound companions had realized her plight and were busy trying to help free her. Getting tired of the ghostly hands she let herself shift, not caring to warn anyone, for all she knew these things would realize what she was doing and hold tighter or do something more ‘drastic’. Her bones bent out of shape, creaking and groaning with the shape she was attempting to take. The shifter’s teeth became animalistic, like the arrowhead shape of sharks teeth, while her nails lengthened to shimmering claws. By the time she was finished all that was left was an angry looking jaguar.

Lashing out at the tendrils holding her down, Alexandra completely lost her composure while her fear and rage fueled her actions. She attacked her oppressors mercilessly, ripping hands from their arms with splatters of black ooze that soon began to coat her mouth. As she was caught up in the fight though, a group of hands reattached themselves to her hind legs, pulling her off the ground tail first where she could only swat and growl at the air. “Put me down!!” she yelled, taking a slash at the hands holding her but to no avail.