Duoya

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Tony Nicholson

@Sickle-cell

The pair were waiting for five minutes after Tony spoke, when a man in a suit entered through the door of the cafe. Normally, Tony would not even notice him, but considering he was one of the only people dressed formally, he was pretty distracting. The man searched around the room for a little bit, before quickly making his way to their booth. He slid in, back to the window, and Tony was relieved to finally have someone to accept this damn letter.

This relief immediately became fear as the cold metal pressed against his knee. Tony had woken up countless knights in the Wonderland to this same cold touch - the touch of metal, and judging from the shape, it was a fairly large pistol. The man spoke in a quiet, deep voice.

“So, I hear you have something for me. Here’s how this is gonna work. Place it on the desk and sliiiiiide it over, nice and slow. Don’t try to make skin contact with me, or I pull the trigger. Don’t even think about pulling something funny, or I pull the trigger.”

“This isn’t my first rodeo, so Master-Stranger protocols are in effect. If I don’t check in with my partner once this is done without any change in my usual speech patterns, code phrase or otherwise, then a 50. cal bullet will make one of you about a foot shorter. And since I take you for the leader, that’ll make your friend the one holding the short straw.”

Robby opened his dumb face hole.

"Actually, I'm the leader."

Tony had barely managed to restrain the intense urge to strangle his companion, before grabbing the crimson red envelope in his hands. Tony immediately began to slide it over, not daring to open his mouth out of fear. He made absolutely sure he had his fingers on the very edge of the envelope and pushed it very slowly, minimizing the chance of skin contact. The thought of convincing the man to put down the gun was extremely tempting, but logic took control of Tony - these protocols most likely guarded against a parahuman simply convincing a man to stop threatening them, and Tony really didn't want to risk losing a leg, or worse, his life. It wasn't until the letter was most of the way across the table that Tony began to retract his hands. Finally he opened his mouth.

"This is an invite, though you most likely already know this. If that is all you need, our business is taken care of."

Tony was doing his best to remain discreet about the nature of the invite, as they were still in a public location. Thankfully, the years of being in shady bars and card games had conditioned Tony to have a fantastic poker face, which he prayed was enough to hide the fact he was nearly shitting his pants. Tony learned a long time ago that showing weakness made others more eager to demonstrate their strength. Tony just prayed that these weren't the kind of guys that killed their enemies as soon as they were done with them.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

@HueMan
Duoya#4348

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Tony Nicholson

Thinker Cup Cafe

@Sickle-cell

They slowly made their way, headed towards the place that could very well be the place Tony died... To be honest, he really didn't want to die... But Tony hadn't had this much fun in awhile. Robby was one of his only close friends, and despite his wining and attitude, he was a good guy. Tony just didn't like going to so many places that could trace him back to the Wonderland. If people found out he was a part of them, then things could end up pretty bad...

"Here it it!"

The place wasn't what Tony expected. He expected some rundown, crappy joint that with barely any customers, like the places from his youth. Instead, a place that could only be described as comfy and nice was in his view - the word's "Thinker Cup Cafe" could be seen in one of the windows. Tony raised his eyebrow at Robby, who either ignored him or simply didn't notice. Shrugging his shoulders, Tony followed his companion into the small cafe.

The scent of coffee and pastries assaulted his senses, and Tony quickly began to water in the mouth. He hadn't eaten breakfast that morning, and even if they had to wait awhile for this guy, Tony wouldn't mind that much. The pair found a booth and slid into it, before Tony began to look around.

"Dude, don't look around that much, you look suspicious! You look for a little bit-"

Robby scanned the front of the cafe, looking for Sickle as he did so.

"And then you stop looking."

20 seconds passed, and before Tony was able to ask anything, Robby continued.

"You look for a little bit-"

"Alright, I get it."

After around 5 minutes of this stupid method of searching, Tony quit. He honestly had no idea what to search for - after all, Sickle-cell wouldn't show up in a costume or anything, right? All Tony managed to see was the people, a woman with Brown hair and wearing a suit along with another girl who had black hair and green eyes. Well, people and the pastries - their irresistible nature forced the starving Tony to rise from his seat, and quickly move to buy some. As he did so, he examined the cafe itself - bland, barren of shocking colors or points of interest, and filled with people who could only be described as generic. Tony loved the place - it was the perfect blend of boring and average that he wanted, after a life filled with excitement and danger. Maybe he'd get a part time job here - not for the money, of course, but just to have some fun instead of sitting around all day.

Tony made his way back to his booth, 4 cinnamon rolls in the small brown paper bag he carried with him. He slid into his seat, before pulling out a napkin and placing two of the rolls in front of Robby.

"Ah man, you know I like bear claws more-"

"I bought you free food."

The pair began to eat their food, finishing after about 20 minutes thanks to chatting and searching for Sickle-cell. Still, the man was nowhere in sight - or at least, he wasn't obvious.

"So... Are you sure he's coming?"

"Probably."

Tony sat around for a minute or two, but then spoke out again.

"Yeah... If he doesn't show up in an hour, I'm gonna head home."

Robby nearly jumps, quickly interrogating Tony.

"W-what?! C'mon man, I can't be here alone, it's terrifying. Besides, we can't leave until we invite Sickle to the circus, or else Pipeline will be pissed."

"Correction: You can't leave until you invite Sickle. I'm not forced to do this, I just have to show up for the circus."

"Maaaaan... Alright, whatever. If he doesn't come soon, you can leave. Honestly, thanks for the help so far - it's been fun catching up."

Tony smiled at this. Even though he was kind of a prick, Robby had his heart in the right place. The pair sat in their booth waiting, with Tony occasionally looking around at the other patrons.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

The trip was less arduous and more quiet than anything. Theo wasn't in the mood to talk or be over dramatic like he usually was, and the others simply chatted among themselves. Eventually, the group made it to the dungeon - rolling hills that extended far , blocking one providing a melancholic feeling with the setting sun. The group quickly began to set up camp - thanks to his skill in searching, Dirk was to search for food... which he did poorly. It wasn't like he wasn't skilled... well, he was, but that wasn't the main reason. The hills were mostly barren, containing only grass and occasionally monsters. To gather enough food for the entire party, Theo had to walk a distance away, where he was able to scavenge wild fruits and nuts. By the time he returned, Theo noticed several people already had food, like the pork they earned on the hunting quest. He also noticed that they had set up a fire, which was lucky since he didn't see any of them with tools. Theo handed out the meager proportions he gathered, before eating his share quickly. He wanted the day to be over as quickly as possible.

"So, anyone got any good scary stories?"

The question was followed by Reylan asking the man he had originally partied with, Dubstepp, to help him with his meat. Honestly, Theo never particularly enjoyed scary stories or movies, and he never thought of Dirk as having any fears. Nevertheless, Theo thought the situation was kind of strange - they were in a game of death, and they wanted more things to scare them! Still, Theo wasn't scared for himself - he was more scared for his companions. Kajin's death was still uncertain, but it was the most likely thing that happened... Dirk possessed high health, and a few abilities meant for tanking. His companions, on the other hand, were mostly squishy classes.

"What? Do you mean ghosts and ghouls? We probably shouldn't say anything that would upset a ghost; I think I saw one following Aster on the march here. She might still be around, listening."

Theo faked a smile at this, choosing not to interject in the conversation. Instead, he wondered if the other's noticed - several people were missing. Kajin, Aura... No one mentioned them. Did they simply not notice, or were they afraid of talking about them? Theo was simply upset that one of his only friends in this game is already dead...

How much damage did he take? Did he take any at all, or was it simply instant death? Hopefully it was peaceful, at least. The most depressing thing wasn't Kajin's apparent death, however. It was the fact that, despite this, Theo still wanted to remain in this game.

A man died. His body may have been a collection 0s and 1s, but his personality was human - and somewhere, his real body was now nothing more than a chunk of meat. Despite this horrible atrocity, Theo was still excited to be in the game. He wanted to be the hero, he wanted to be Dirk forever. Theo was scared that despite death having been proven as real, he was still hungry to remain in this world.

Theo just noticed he had been largely ignoring the conversations going on, and decided to remain silent unless he needed to say something - he still didn't feel confident in being Dirk after Kajin's passing.

Forgotten Heroes: Marvel's Underdogs

I'm also ready.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

Will post later today or tomorrow.

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Will try and get a post up sometime tomorrow or on tuesday.

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Tony Nicholson

@Sickle-cell

The pair slowly dragged themselves along, moving painfully slowly through the city of Boston. The Alverton Building was a distance away, and Tony was slowly growing anxious. These guys were a lot more terrifying then the PRT - the PRT at least had guidelines, rules they couldn't break. They had to follow the law. Tony knew handing the letter off would be easy - just give it to the secretary and say it's an 'important message.' Still, the place had to be heavily monitored, and the last thing Tony wanted was for his identity to be revealed... Just imagining having to return to his old life in the Wonderland was terrifying. Those people were batshit....

"Thanks."

"Hm?"

"You didn't have to come here, or agree to show up for the circus... If I were in your situation, I'd want to leave the wonderland to. I'm just saying thanks for doing it for somebody like me."

Tony sighed gently as they just arrived at the Alverton building. Whether those feelings were genuine or just trying to guilt him before he chickened out Tony would never know - but it was too late to back out.

---

The automatic doors gently opened, revealing a very beautiful lobby area. Tony walked forwards, heart thumping in his chest - he made sure to keep his head down and away from as many cameras as possible. After what felt like an eternity, Robby and Tony made it to the front desk, and the woman there politely addressed them.

"Hello sirs, do you have an appointment today?"

"Just a message - It's very important. Make sure that it ends up on Mr. Maxwell's desk by the end of the day."

Robby nudged Tony's side, bearing a creepy grin. Tony glared daggers at him until it fell, which was relatively quickly. He sure as hell wasn't goin to 'hand it to him personally' like Robby originally suggested. That was just plain stupid, and begging for Tony to get caught. Besides even with his power, getting to Maxwell would be difficult and have little to no payoff.

Tony quickly made his way out of the building, doing his best to hide his face. The last thing he wanted was to get caught on the way out. Finally, they made it out of the sliding doors, and Tony quickly made his way to a safe distance, before sighing in relief.

"We should have seen the guy face-to-face! Then we'd know he would get the message. That receptionist is probably going to just toss it into the junk pile."

"I wanted to stay in there as little time as possible - besides, do you think a guy like him as the free time to see a couple people right off the street? He wouldn't give us the time of day, even if we tried to talk to him."

"Well... You gotta admit, that one was pretty easy! Just get in and get out, no problem!"

"If you're trying to make me feel better about out next visit, it's not really working."

Tony slid his hand into his pocket - this was the hardest part of all. They'd be meeting up with the guy that declared war against every faction in Boston. If they were lucky, he'd be a crazy guy that would be happy to make a return appearance in the circus. If they weren't... They would probably die. At the very least, Robby said they would be meeting in a public place, so they probably wouldn't kill the pair outright...

"Ready to go?"

"Lead the way."

Tony followed the smaller man, praying that he would be able to just walk into the cafe, hand off his invitation, and leave as soon as humanely possible. If he wasn't dead or being hunted down by the end of the day, he'd be able to go to the circus at night... wonderful.

Afterlife: Dead Sun

@Holy Soldier
Sorry to hear man, I enjoyed this while it lasted. Hope to see you around!

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Will post sometime later today.