Duoya

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Tony Nicholson

@Sickle-cell

The man smirked slightly and began to speak, Tony barely able to hear the words over his pounding heart.

“Professional. Not like your friend, there. I’m almost impressed. Might be a future in this city for you - not like the majority of Wonderland’s goons. Forgive the handgun. It’s nothing personal. You tend not to survive very long in this line of work without taking precautions... And yes. We did know, but not coming along regardless is impolite. Be seeing ya, kid.”

The man began to leave, and it wasn't until the door to the cafe had closed completely that Tony allowed his tense muscles to relax, releasing a sigh of relief as he did so. The feel of the metal still clung to his skin, and Tony shivered slightly. He had experienced far worse in the Wonderland, but he never planned on going through anything like that again.

"Man, what a prick."

"A smart prick. A smart prick, with a gun. Jesus..."

"Well, his gun wasn't pointed at me, so he was just a prick."

Tony just shook his head silently, doing his best not to laugh. That was a just what Robby would say - he had been in the Wonderland for who-knows-how long, this was probably just like every time he had handed out invitations before. Tony was again reminded how thankful he was that he got the hell out of the Wonderland when he could.

"So... What next?"

"I'm headed back to the Safe house, you don't have anything to do. Just remember to show up to the circus tonight - we all missed you man!"

"Yeah right."

The pair shared a laugh at that, and silently, they exited the cafe, before parting ways. Tony knew the general time the circus started, so he'd show up when he had to... Still, the thought of returning after a few weeks of peace was a little intimidating. When he left, most in the Wonderland were on generally good terms with him, but good terms means jack shit when you're in a den of crazies. Still, despite the fact he wasn't looking forwards to it... Getting to meet some of the guys again seemed like it would be pretty fun. And the promise of the bets made it all the sweeter. Tony made his way home, planning on preparing for the circus.

---

Not much kept his time, in all honesty - Tony still had the mask from when he used to be an announcer for the circus, and he had only been gone for a few weeks. Still, a few weeks is a long time when you used to sleep with one eye open. Other than that... he was honestly ready. He was too poor back when he joined the Wonderland to afford a good costume, and Tony really never felt the need to get a new one. After all, he sure as hell would never get in the ring.

All that was left was to wait... Tony normally would be too anxious to breathe in this situation - hell, if he knew that the final invitation would end up with a gun against his knee, he probably wouldn't have gone in the first place. But in this case, he really didn't feel too worried - he was going in with insurance this time. The power he had was incredible for a guy like him, the kind of guy that stayed out of things. It would let him get out of a situation if things got sour... hopefully.

Tony laid down on the couch, turned on the television, and began to wait until the circus began.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

Dirk Davidson

Health: 1880/2000
Mana: 450/500

---

The scenes that unfolded were rapid, almost too fast paced for Theo and his painfully slow paladin speed. Reylan's arrow was followed up quickly with a blast of lighting from Dubstepp, which nearly outright slaughtered the wolf where it stood. The wolf, despite clearly being close to death, when it ran straight towards Reylan

Shit!!!

The spell he used earlier - he wasn't focused. He cast it on the second wolf by accident, forcing it to claw at him violently. In the corner of his vision, Theo could clearly see the green bar that represented his health go down by about a 20th. Luckily, it seemed that pain was still just as dulled as it was in the previous hunting quest - the hit barely fazed him, and Theo was still able to see Wolf 1 shot in between the eyes before it managed to reach Reylan. Theo nearly let loose a sigh of relief before the sound of ice and gnashing teeth alerted Theo to the third Wolf. It was tearing apart it's icy restraints, and would be free very soon. Theo quickly stepped forwards towards Wolf 2, hoping that would anger it enough to keep attacking him now that Aggravate was wearing off soon. Theo quickly made his way to Wolf 3, pulling back his longsword and swinging violently into it. Hopefully, it would be easier to hit since it was slower.

---

Summary:
Dirk attacks Wolf 3 with a basic longsword attack.

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Will post tomorrow.

Edit: Sorry, Work and school keeps me pretty busy. Will try and post tomorrow.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

Dirk Davidson

Health: 2000/2000
Mana: 450/500

---

Reylan appeared to be the one leading the charge for the group, taking the position with little argument. After all, Theo surely didn't feel like leading that morning. The party entered the dungeon after the night had passed, with Theo and Aster in the lead. They progressed a little slower than normal, considering the paladin's class mobility, but they quickly reached the first group of enemies.

The wolves were far more intimidating than the boars from earlier, mostly due to their large size and teeth. Still, Theo moved into the front in order to protect the party, before Reylan called out orders. Theo didn't feel confident in letting Aster tank one of the wolves, but there was no time to argue - especially considering the dire situation. An arrow flew past Dirk, effortlessly sliding into wolf flesh. Dirk didn't have time to to assess the damage, however - a bolt of ice flew from Alisea's direction, hitting the wolf farthest to Dirk's right. Dirk wasn't paying attention, however. He quickly made his way towards the wolf that was Alisea aimed at, doing his best to prevent it from going down the narrow passage that led to his squishier allies.

As he moved, he began to cast Aggravate, unsure if he would be able to finish casting in time to prevent the 1st wolf from attacking Reylan. As he did so, he made sure to keep his shield facing the 3rd wolf, protecting himself from it's attempts to attack.

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.