Oblivion 22

This was not cool in the slightest. Nero grit his teeth as Hanna suddenly clamped a handcuff onto his left arm. This isn't what he deserved. He shouldn't have to be lumped together with all other criminals as if they were the same as him. Nero demanded respect even if it wasn't for the right reasons. "You imbecile! Do you understand what you've done?! This only going to slow us down!" Nero's rage flooded through to the surface, overpowering his usual stoic and unemotional expression. The fact that he had Hanna talk down to him as if she were in control of this situation is what angered Nero the most. She did not control the situation and she certainly wasn't going to control him either. Nero was about to raise his voice again, but then realised something. Wasn't this a totally average thing for a police officer to do? It seemed illogical to get mad after looking at the bigger picture. The assassin's expression suddenly became bland, his face no longer revealing what was going on through his head. "Oh yeah... This is what anyone else would do as well if they came into contact with me if they were aware of my true identity... How boring..." Nero's eyes drooped a little as he stared at Hanna, almost as if he were looking directly into her soul, if she had one. "... Now that I look at you properly, you're actually pretty well made, aren't you?" Nero approached Hanna, poking and prodding at her arms and face. "Not a lot of people would be able to tell, but I can tell. After all, I'm not most people. I'm not even "some" people either, I'm simply me. One of a kind. But this about you, not me." Nero pinched Hanna's cheek to see if she had pain receptors. "The skin textures are very convincing. You look, sound and feel like a young woman in her early twenties. However... Your eyes gave you away. That's always been one thing that those idiots can never get right. You may look human in almost every way, but you are clearly an android, aren't you?"

Just to clarify, I'm just having a friendly debate about a difference in morals. No harm done whichever way this conversation turns out.

Basically, to be yourself would be to strive to be different from everybody else. But you suggested that you shouldn't strive to be different or the same as everyone else. That implies that people shouldn't be striving to do anything at all and simply accept the fate that they're dealt. I also got confused by your last sentence. "But in the end its good." What do you mean?

You're kinda contradicting yourself here. Just saying.

If everything is considered "Normal" and I do something different, that makes me "Abnormal". But if I consider what I did "Normal", then that would mean that the entire world and all of it's people are "Abnormal". Which do you prefer? Striving to conform to what society considers "Normal"? Or would you rather abandon the morals of society and be called "Abnormal"?

Nine stretched his arms out, yawning loudly as he jumped onto his feet, stumbling slightly as he realised that the carriage was in motion. "Interesting. It looks like we're moving. I guess this is a traveling circus after all. Anyway~... Today's been pretty fun! There ate several interesting people here and they look like fun to fool around with! Of course, encountering Victor has left a poor taste in my mouth, but that was more or less to be expected." Nine rummaged randomly through Z's belongings, presumably searching for some kind of hidden food stash. There must be food somewhere. The idea of no food could never occur to Nine. Remembering that there was actually in the vicinity, Nine's legendary smirk reappeared on his face as he somehow managed to slide along the floor until he was right next to Orali, putting a hand around her shoulder. "So~ You're a spirit huh? That's pretty interesting. I've seen spirits before, but you're the closest a human-like form I've seen. So, what brought you to the Circ-Uhhh!" Nine paused, his face contorting violently as he looked as if he were about to sneeze. He reached to his right and grabbed a nearby bag that he'd found and sneezed into it. Except, when Nine sneezed, it sounded abnormally forced. As he lifted his head back up, the back was completely filled with warm, sweet flavoured popcorn. The "teen" ate the popcorn nonchalantly, seemingly unfazed by its sudden appearance. "So, as I was saying, what brought you to this Circus? ... Popcorn anyone?" ~Meanwhile~ While hanging out with Jake wasn't so bad, Victor felt terribly out of place and even lonelier than when he was alone in his carriage. Finishing his drink, Victor got to his feet and tucked his hands into his pockets. "Jake, I'm going back to my carriage. I'll see you later." And just like that, Victor turned and left the club, heading for the forest. Realising that Happy mentioned they all had a show elsewhere tomorrow, they would probably move the carriages during the night. Realising this, Victor figured he could rejoin the carriages more quickly if he took a straight walk through the forest. However, the forest at night is no place for anyone, not even a semi-immortal Vampire. Strolling through the forest, Victor felt a little more at home with himself, looking up at the dark branches with the bright moon in the background. The way the sky currently looked reminded Victor of the way he felt about himself. A small light surrounded by nothing but the overwhelming darkness of the world. "Say... Which way should I be heading again?" Victor stopped in his tracks and looked around, seeing nothing but trees and branches in every direction. Things wouldn't have been so bad if that's all that Victor had to deal with, but the silence was interrupted by a loud howl. "... That's not good." Victor suddenly began running through the forest, coming to the realisation that he was no longer alone in the forest. He needed to make it back to the moving caravan and warn them that there were Werewolves in the forest they were traveling through. Just ahead, Victor could see a few lights from the many carriages, but he was unable to take another step forward. This was because, in front of him, a large shadowy figure began to rise up to almost twice Victor's size. The figure stepped out into the moon lit night, causing Victor to step back as slowly as possible. The growling beast overshadowed the Vampire, fur covering the beast from head to toe. This was a werewolf, and odds are this one was a member of a pack. Victor bit his lip as he planted one foot behind him, getting ready to fight the werewolf. "If I can just take out one... Then the others will have an easier time." Despite the situation, the thought of Nine telling him to die came to Victor's mind and the thought of how he drank Tabitha's blood. "Even if I don't win... I probably deserve to die anyway." The werewolf let out a loud howl before running at Victor, swiping with it's claws. The Vampire was quick enough to evade its attacks, but was still getting scratched here and there. Victor grit his teeth, his fangs poking out of his mouth while the pupils of his eyes sharpened even more. Victor traded blows with the werewolf, scratches appearing over both their bodies. Victor backed up a little, blood running down his arms from his wounds and fingers. Victor retreated towards a tree, but found that the werewolf was already on to him. The Vampire flashed a vicious smirk, realising the werewolf's mistake. Ducking low, Victor dodged a blow that would have taken his head off. With his right hand suddenly straightening, Victor plunged his arm into the werewolf's chest. Victor pulled his arm back, covered in blood and the beast fell to the ground dead. Victor breathed heavily, coughing as he caught his breath. "Now to warn the others." Victor took a step forward but froze as he heard the sound of growling behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Victor saw several pairs of glowing eyes in the dark forest, approaching him slowly. Victor had no choice, he had to run for the caravan and get some help otherwise he would end up dead. "Happy! If you can here me! You better do something!"

Nero rested his arms on his knees, gasping for breath, when he was suddenly ordered to put his hands up. Looking over his shoulder, Nero's eyed narrowed as a police officer was essentially reading him his rights. Nero just stared at the girl, unable to tell whether she was an android or a human, and wondered what on Earth was going through her head. "Seriously? ... You have actually got to be joking, right? The whole world is falling apart and you want to arrest me?! This is too funny." Nero was legitimately laughing as he couldn't believe that someone would still try to do their job even in this situation. Although, despite finding the whole situation funny, Nero was positive that he didn't have the strength to either fight back or run away. So, with a sigh, he stood up straight and faced Hanna directly. "Look, even I admit that I won't be able to stay in this world on my own anymore. I'm going to need others to help me otherwise I'll end up dead, and nothing is more boring than dying. So, how about for now we call a truce. I'll work with you to survive this situation and you don't have to arrest me. How does that sound?" Nero crossed his arms and smiled to himself looking away from Hanna, twisted thoughts of what he could now do in this new world came flying into his mind. "They're not people anymore, they're monsters. So, won't you need someone who knows how to kill like me? You don't need to worry about getting your hands dirty officer, I can do all the killing for you. After all, this a truly fascinating situation. I don't think I've had this much fun in a long time!" If this virus was based on insanity, then it was going to be hard to tell if Nero was infected or not. After all, he wasn't like anyone else. In his own eyes, he was the greatest that humanity had to offer and now a situation had arrived where he could truly test his limits. This was the solution to the boredom that he'd been looking for. "So, what'll it be little police officer? Are you going to accept my help and cooperate with me, or are you going to take your chances with me tied up? It's your choice."

I've been doing college assignments the past couple of days but my schedule has freed up a little now, so I can make a post soon.

"Man~... I need to find something fun to do." Nostalgic flashbacks of all the fun Roleplayers who joined in 2010.

After several minutes of fighting for what felt like hours, Nero had finally reduced the infected number around him until there were only enough to be counted on one hand. The young man was almost out of breath, unable to remember exactly how many he'd torn through just to get to this point. No other infected were arriving at his location as he'd ceased shooting them with his guns, but that just made fighting with his knives so much more physically taxing. With his arms hanging low and his body slouching forward, anyone would be able to tell that Nero was exhausted even with that mask covering his face. One of the remaining infected to Nero's right suddenly jumped at him, aiming to knock him to the ground with a shove. Seeing the attack, Nero pulled his body back up right, stepping back out of the way before moving his blades into the infected's chest and dragging the blades up through their body. That was one down, three to go. Another attempted to bite Nero's arm while he was attacking the other, catching the assassin by surprise slightly. Dropping his knives, Nero abandoned his jacket to make sure that he didn't end up getting bitten. That trick won't work a second time. Outnumbered and now weaponless, Nero narrowed his eyes in order to come up with some kind of strategy. "This looks pretty bad... But I should be fine if I put in everything I have left." Nero took a deep breath to get his breathing under control before moving in towards his knives. The infected that attacked him was joined by his two buddies, surrounding Nero from all sides. Ducking suddenly, Nero dived towards his knives, rolling forwards and plunged the blades into the infected in front of him. He then immediately took the blades back and stabbed at the two remaining infected on each side of himself, presumably winning the "Battle Royale". However, Nero miscalculated. He overlooked one simple fact. The infected consisted of androids as well, and that's precisely what one of the last two was. With the knife unable to penetrate his skin, the infected android picked Nero up by his throat before tossing him through the air with its phenomenal strength. Nero flew into the wall of a building, causing him to scream out in pain. The killer's mask fell off of his face, revealing Nero's facial expression contorting into all kinds of shapes of agony. "You'll regret that, you rust bucket!" Nero squirmed as he got back to his feet, stumbling as he couldn't walk properly. The infected android ran at the wounded human, looking to either kill or infect the young man. Nero himself twirled the knives in his hands, his breathing increasing from the overbearing exhaustion that consumed him. The android then jumped at where Nero was, before the latter dodged to the right, threading his movements quickly in between the android's flailing arms, slashing them with what strength he could muster. Waiting for an opportunity to strike them down with one blow, Nero remained still as the android held up both of his arms and brought them down to where he was standing. Nero jumped up and out of the way, putting his arms on the androids shoulders and flipping over until he was behind. With his remaining strength, Nero wrapped his arms around the android's neck and bent it to the point that its neck snapped. With the android now defeated, the two fell to the ground with Nero entering a sitting position. The assassin was completely worn out from all this fighting. He was surrounded by countless bodies and his clothes were stained by not only the blood of his enemies, but his own as well. "If the next person that shows up is infected, I think I might just be done for..." Nero slowed his breathing, but his body still ached. It was difficult for him to move, but he had to try. Getting to his feet slowly, Nero found his duffel bag and began changing clothes. The smell of blood on himself was so fowl it was making him sick. Wearing some dark jeans, a white T-shirt and his red jacket, Nero now appeared as any other citizen who'd survived this apocalypse. He was still bleeding from some of the cuts and bruises he'd received from the infected and was beginning to stain his clean clothes just a little. "I seriously hope someone sane turns up next..."

Hey Hargle, so something in your character bio has had me wondering lately. You put that your character once had powers and I was wondering if there are other supernatural humans in this RP. I understand that this RP takes place in the future, but how do characters gain or lose powers in this verse?

Making his way through the streets, Nero began to encounter those who had contracted the infection all around him. The assassin walked casually through the street until a few of the infected took notice of him and Behan chasing him. Nero took out his phone and started typing on it as he raised his gun, shooting his enemies in the head with pinpoint accuracy. Hitting one last button, Nero put the phone next to his ear as he continued shooting as more and more of the infected were turning up around him. The call went through and on the other end of the call was the man who had hired Nero for the job to kill Ezekiel Hamilton. "Nero! So glad to know that you're not dead! I assume that you are safe." "Yeah, something like that. I need an explanation here. What's going on?" "Well according to some reports, there was a chemical explosion that caused the people caught in the blast to be infected by what others are calling insanity." Nero continued shooting, moving his phone into his pocket as he switched on his Bluetooth device in his ear. "If you are bitten by these things, then you will also contract the infection." "Lovely~... Now about that job you sent me on." "Right~... I don't think you'd want to continue given the circumstances, so you can feel free to..." But before the man had any attempt of finishing that sentence, Nero interrupted with a grin forming on his face. "Ridiculous, I never leave a job unfinished. I want double of what I asked for earlier though." "You're really running me dry, you know that? Fine, if you do it, we'll pay you and make sure you have somewhere to lay low. But, until you've carried out your job, you're on your own." Nero then pressed a button on the earpiece, hanging up the call as he took out another gun to shoot more often as the infected would not stop coming. "Of course, I always work alone. Now then..." Nero began to pay more attention to his surroundings. From all the shooting and killing he'd been doing, the sound of his gunshots were drawing the attention of a grand amount of infected. He also came to the conclusion that while he was on his trigger happy frenzy, other survivors would overhear him and either come to his aid or to kill him. Either way, Nero had every intention of letting any other humans listening that he was there. He wanted to be found this time. "That should be enough noise. Now to secure the location." Finding a brief moment to sheathe his gun and take out a pair of hunting knives, holding them both backhanded and out in front of him. Despite being in food condition, it was starting to become tiring to use his senses at their maximum capacity all of the time. But, if he didn't go all out, there's no way Nero could guarantee that he wouldn't get bitten. Taking a deep breath, the dark assassin started to slash his way through infected, blood staining his clothes and mask until he was dyed red. Despite the insanity driven ghouls surrounding him, Nero sounded like the craziest one there. The 19 year old began laughing, finally feeling as if his life was in danger enough for him to feel like staying alive was challenging. This was his opportunity to prove just how truly alive he was. "Kill me if you can!!"

While Nine was seemingly being strangled by Mr Z, the boy began to jerk back and forth in agony, the dark magic coursing through his body. With his crimson eyes peering open slowly, Nine grit his teeth as he looked over at the demonic doctor. "What the hell are you doing to me?!" Nine pushed himself up into a sitting position slowly, cringing at the feeling of something foreign coursing through his body. His hands reaching up to his head, feeling a surge reach the inner workings of his mind. "What is this?! This thing is inside my head!!" "Nine? Don't be stupid, of course that's not my real name. That's just a number I use in order to remind myself of my past. You wanna know more about me? Then you're gonna have to rip my mind apart before I let anything else you demonic piece of trash. Now, if you would kindly... GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!" Nine let out a scream, forcing Z's dark magic out of him, oozing like smoke from his mouth. Nine breathed heavily, coughing a little. It was true, his wounds had healed, but he was certain that he wasn't about to let someone invade his private thoughts. Glaring at Z with cold eyes, Nine held up his hand with flames sparking in between his fingers. "If you ever try that again... I will make sure that all that remains of you is a pile ash." Nine clenched his fist, extinguishing the flames before lying back down. Taking a deep breath, the boy then smiled at the good Doctor and Orali as if the intimidating stare from just a second ago had never existed. "Now, how about we go get some food?" ~Meanwhile~ Victor followed Jake into the bar as he gave him advice on not letting the deaths of those who've died haunt him. Even if he needed to hear it, he was sure that Jake wasn't the one that he needed to tell him that. "Just because you saw my memories, doesn't mean that you were there..." Victor mumbled, not wanting to look ungrateful but still feeling the urge to say something. As they walked in, Jake began chatting with some of his friends, leaving Victor feeling a little out of place. Sitting down, the Vampire was asked what he would like to drink. After seeing Jake order something ridiculous, Victor became sure that they would most likely serve him anything he asked for. "... Can I get a cup of English Tea with milk and three spoon fulls of sugar please?"

"This was supposed to be an easy job. Get in, get paid and get out. But no~ someone had to blow something up and now there are zombified civilians everywhere." Nero unloaded a clip from his signature Black Desert Eagle and slid another magazine of ammo into the gun. Dressed in his black cloak with his mask hiding his face, Nero peered around a corner to check if there were any signs of life before leaving his currently safe position. Being heavily trained in infiltration as a part of his occupation, he was now highly dependant on remaining undetected under these circumstances. Nero was sure that if he became heavily outnumbered, then he would surely be caught and infected or killed. The young man ran out from his current position, making his way across a shopping mall while on his way to the exit. "Good thing I still had my gear, if I was shopping while still in my civilian gear, this would be much harder. What on Earth happened?" ~Earlier that day~ "$5,000 for the head of a high priority target? Don't try to cheapskate me or I won't do it." Nero was in the alleyway near the shopping mall and was negotiating with one of his private contractors for the price of a hit. "Alright Nero, name your price." "I want ten times the amount." "$50,000?!! Do you think I'm made of money you asshole?!" Nero's expression was without emotion as he slowly crossed his arms. "Well, if you think one of the others can take care of it, then feel free to offer them the job. But, judging from the security the target has, they'll either be captured, killed or simply fail to carry out the kill. So, if you really want this target dead, you'll get me my money." The contractor gritted their teeth at Nero's answer and overall lack of emotion, but everything he had said was true which annoyed him even more. "Fine. If you can carry out this hit, I'll get you the money. But if you can't deliver, I'll make sure you never work in this profession again." Nero and the contractor shook hands, announcing to each other that they had an arrangement. In response to the contractor's words, the sides of Nero's mouth curled up into a devilish smile. "Don't worry, I have never failed at anything in my life. If I can't kill them, no one can." Nero leant down and picked up a duffel bag that was on the floor next to him and took a file that the contractor had on his target, walking away. "Hey, Nero!" Nero turned back, his expression blank once again, the contractor smiling and chuckling to himself. "Good luck." Nero sighed, turning away and walking into the shopping mall, looking over the file he'd just been given. "As if I need it..." Strolling through the mall nonchalantly, Nero read through the file quite quickly, soaking up and storing all the information the document had to offer. "So, from the looks of things, I'll be looking to take the head of the young master from the Hamilton family, Ezekiel Hamilton. If it was just the kid then I'm sure I'd be fine, but this android of a bodyguard that he's got guarding him is really something else. State of the art and military grade too. A literal tool of destruction that I'll have to destroy first if I even want to get within a mile of little Ezekiel." Nero dared to grin in public at the slightest hint of a real challenge, knowing that this kill order would be one of his most difficult jobs, knowing that he could be killed if he were to make a mistake. However, things didn't quite go as he had planned as a particular bomb went off in the city. ~Back to the Present~ Nero approached a window, peering out into the streets to see if there were any infected people lurking around. Remaining calm despite the chaos of the situation, the dark haired assassin let out a sigh as he was completely alone at that time. Walking out into the open nonchalantly, Nero took off his mask and held it at his side, keeping his gun held tightly in his other hand. The young man then walked towards the entrance to the mall with mostly no regard to his own safety. "Since they're just monsters now, no one will care if I just kill them. But, if I find out that sniveling piece of garbage that hired me is still alive, I might just go ahead and collect my money early." Nero put his mask back on and left the building, walking through the streets to see if there was anyone around. "I wonder if there's a safe zone yet?"

*That awkward moment when you've finished an opening post for an RP that hasn't started yet*

Just letting you know I'm still waiting on that response.

Full name: Kyle Oliver (Optional) Pronunciation: (I think you guys can figure it out. ) Nickname(s) or Alias: Nero Angelo (or just Nero) Gender: Male Species (Android or human.): Human Age: 19 (Optional) Birthday: December 12th (Optional) Sexuality: Hetero (Optional) Languages spoken: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish and currently learning Japanese. (Optional) Native language: English (Optional) Relationship Status: Single Physical Appearance: Casual Appearance Assassin Outfit Assassin Mask Personality: Moody. Reclusive. Untrustworthy. Secretive. Cold hearted. Selfish. Sociopathic. Arrogant. Can be prone to becoming extremely and uncontrollably angry if provoked for long enough. Likes: Getting his own way. Other people staying out of his own way. Solitude. Money. Dislikes: Talkative or overly optimistic people. Daily annoyances in life. Altering his plans. Being overpowered by others, especially Androids. Vegetables. Fears/phobias: Fear of being bored to death in the literal sense. He feels the thought of dying as nothing but an annoyance, but dying due to having nothing to do is almost like driving him insane. Hobbies: Listening to music. Taking on the kind of jobs that are better left unmentioned. Getting paid. Living as simply as possible... And occasionally killing people for the hell of it. Talents/skills: Abnormally high level of intelligence. Excellent with knives and daggers. Assassination. Many forms of martial arts. Expert lingual and social skills. The art of deception. Deadly accuracy with most guns. Back Story: No matter where you go in history, someone will always want somebody else dead. The only things that change are the ones doing the killing. Before he became the Assassin for hire known Nero Angelo, which is Italian for Black Angel, Kyle Oliver was a boy who grew up with only one thing on his mind; satisfying his endless amount of boredom. Kyle was extremely gifted when it came to any task that was put in front of him to the point that it was clear that he could go on to change the world. However, Kyle was already bored with the tests and jobs that he knew would be coming his way. Everything was predictable. This is where a certain desire began to take place inside of young Kyle's head. A desire to seek out entertainment from the world, but his family were cautious and his tutors were worried about what might happen to Kyle if he went out into the world. Unfortunately, the tutors had made a grave miscalculation. It was not Kyle that needed protecting from the world, it was the world that required protection from Kyle. Without even so much as a glimmer of remorse, Kyle killed the tutors he had felt were holding him back and escaped into the crime underworld. Using his enormous potential for learning, Kyle studied for many years on how to become a killer for hire. Mastering combat, assassination, languages and even masking his own killing intent, Kyle became a stone cold killing machine by the age of 16. With his work drawing the attention of crime lords and private companies alike, Kyle donned the name Nero Angelo to distance himself from his past even more, becoming a completely different person entirely. Now at the age of 19, Nero was just finishing up a job and was about to collect his payment when the explosion releasing the insanity virus went off, leaving with a whole of targets that could be killed justifiably. (I hope this isn't over the top or over powered. If it is, let me know and I'll tone him down a bit.)

Victor followed behind Jake as they left the grounds where the majority of the circus meeting up for Happy's announcement. Just then, as they were walking, Victor was asked a seemingly pointless question by Jake. The vampire was so dumbfounded by the question that he couldn't help but laugh at the way it was worded. He was aware of what Jake was trying to ask him, but the way it came out only made Victor choke up in laughter. "Seriously?! You do not know what Vampire's drink?! That is like asking if butter should be placed on bread! You can be seriously funny at times Jake, you know that?!" It was slowly becoming apparent that Victor was laughing much more than he should have been considering the situation he was in earlier that night. The immortal teen was laughing and laughing, keeping his face looking upwards so that none could see his expression. "Hey... I know it was an accident... But I really lost her trust... Didn't I? ... This is the second time I have lost her now... I will not get lucky a third time... The world is not that fair, even if you can live long enough." Victor's laughing died down and he seemed to rub his eyes as he stared at the night sky. "... I have been having this dream lately from when I first became a Vampire. I was drowning in the Venice River... I do not know how I got out of the water because I lost consciousness. That moment where I fell unconscious... that was when I, Victor Graham the human, died. It is kinda scary to think of it like that. The term "dead-man walking" now fits me perfectly." Victor looked back at Jake, realising that he was yammering on as usual, speaking out loud instead of in his head. "Sorry, I must be boring you. After 400 years, I stopped caring about who or what over hears the thoughts in my head and started to speak out loud. Of course, that does not mean that I will talk about everything casually. Even I have secrets that need to be kept, for my own well being as well as Tabitha's. Man, if you heard half of what I have been through, even you would call me crazy. Oh, and assuming that you were asking me what I would like to drink from where we are headed, then I have no personal taste in anything. I do not mean that blood is the only thing that will satisfy me, but more like I do not have any preferences when it comes to food or drink. To compare, humans require water and food to survive, but you can eat things to which you desire if you would like. The same is with myself. I require blood to survive, but I am free to eat and drink pretty much anything I like... That makes me question what would happen to me if I ever ate something poisonous. My digestive system still works, but my heart does not beat... So... Ummm... It is very strange indeed." Victor carried on to mumble to himself about seemingly pointless things that he still had not figured out about his own body, casually following after Jake as he led the way. ~Meanwhile~ Excited that his new "friends" had agreed to play a game with him, Nine jumped up onto his feet and pulled out a deck of cards, shuffling through them repeatedly until he was satisfied. "Okay you guys, this'll be one for the record books. I call this magic trick "Nine's daring escape from the stupidly-obedient-guards-who-are-keeping-him-prisoner!". Now, watch carefully, do NOT take your eyes off me for even a millisecond. You don't even have the opportunity to blink, otherwise you'll miss the trick!" Nine suddenly ceased his shuffling, clapping both of his hands together with the cards in between before quickly releasing the cards out into the open, almost as if they were flying out like butterflies. During this brief second, Nine had been obscured from view by the cards and the guards were unable to react to Nine's movements as he seemingly disappeared from view. As the cards fell to the floor, Nine could be seen kneeling down on the ground and holding his neck tightly. The boy was coughing loudly even though nothing seemed to have happened. However, there were two things that were majorly different from before that both of the guards took notice of. The first was that Nine had a red ring of blood streaming around his neck and the second was that the EMP collar was now in his hands. "Ta-dah~!" The boy coughed loudly again, choking up some blood as well as he seemed to be in a great deal of pain. His voice was very quiet and raspy, but it was just loud enough for him to speak. Between every couple of words, Nine was forced to stop for breath or cough some more as the ring of blood around his neck still seemed to bleeding and didn't look like it would be healing any time soon. "Since you are my... fellow circus friends, I will inform you how I... got out of this collar. You see, as soon as this collar... was put on me, I was already working... on a way to get out of it. This is the same way... I got out of the handcuffs." Taking one large breath before coughing very loudly, Nine was able to completely clear his throat and sit up properly with the bleeding slowly stopping around his neck. "I assume you two are aware that within my body are little robots called Nanites, correct? Well, for the handcuffs, I had the Nanites exit through my wrists and eat through the metal itself in order to make the hole big enough to squeeze my hands out. That was simple enough, but that collar was much more constricting and frightening. If you guys had detonated that, I'm sure that all of the Nanites in my body would have been fried and the wounds I'd gotten from Victor would have reopened, causing me to bleed out and die. Thankfully, I only made you anxious when I was ready to escape. By having the Nanites leave through my neck, I allowed the collar to become looser, but it wasn't that easy. Because I now had holes in my neck, it meant that I would be unable to breathe once I removed the collar. So, when I distracted you all with my cards, I simply took it off of my head and began suffocating. In order to make sure I could breathe, I would have to redirect the Nanites that are healing my ribs and other broken bones straight to my neck and that's why I began coughing blood as you just saw." Slowly climbing onto his feet. Nine stumbled towards the door, tossing the EMP collar towards one of the two who's names he didn't care for. "Now, if you don't mind me... I believe I should go and introduce myself to the Circus. I'm sure it will help if I can get along with everyone before you all torture me to death for "attacking your friend"." Nine's facial expression suddenly took a radical change, his eyes narrowing in hatred at the Vampire that he'd mentioned. "I won't tolerate people getting in my way if I have a grudge against the monster Vampire who calls himself Victor Graham. So, next time I fight him, it will be a duel between two members of the Circus, so don't interfere again." And with that last sentence, Nine simply walked past the two guards and exited the Red Carriage. Stumbling through the grounds, Nine made his way towards where he could hear some loud voices, only to find the majority of the Circus gathered after Happy's announcement. Unexpectedly taking centre stage, Nine made his way up to Happy's side and stood up straight next to the oh-so-great leader of the Circus. "Hellooooooo everybody~!! My name is Nine! It's nice to meet all of you and I hope that we'll all be able to get along nicely! But please, don't include Victor in our happy little family! I like playing with cards, doing magic tricks and playing mind games with others! I can manipulate fire, but I'm one hundred percent human! Currently, I am under constant torture in the red carriage and currently have no place to stay! If I could sleep in the same bed as one of you fine young ladies, then I think we can really make things work here at this Circus! As a performer, I am a magician, but I am also a genius when it comes to technology! So feel free to rely on me when it comes to missions! Thanks for having me everyone!" Nine smiled and waved widely before some blood slowly ran out of his mouth and he collapsed onto the ground immediately, mumbling as he was already unconscious. "One more thing... No more...Collars..."

Watching Tabitha leave, flustered and annoyed, Nine basked in his own laughter at the girl's own self-torment. "Well, things are going more or less as planned." Nine yawned a little, going back to a led down position with his hands behind his head. He was aware that the guards were with him in the carriage, watching over him, but that didn't stop him from talking to himself out loud. "Well, I thought things might be a bit more exciting this time around, but I'm still stuck doing the same things. Beating people up, hurting people's feelings, running my mouth as usual. I'm so... Boooored~! ... Well, at least my arms aren't shackled anymore. It might be a bit dangerous to take this thing off my neck, so I guess I'll have to leave it on." With a sigh, Nine turned towards Jake's "henchmen" with a very playful-yet-sinister grin. "Hey guys. Any chance you wanna play a game?" ~Meanwhile~ Looking up as Jake walked into his carriage, Victor could only sigh despairingly as he was invited out for a drink. He knew that Jake was somehow taking pity on him and probably had the intention of letting Victor know that what happened wasn't his fault. But none of that mattered because hurting Tabitha was something Victor could never forgive himself for. "... Are you sure that I am the guy you wanna get a drink with? I am just another monster in this Circus and I bet everyone is suddenly realising that I am like a wild dog with not much of a leash. It will probably be better if everyone else kept away from me from now on." Still, Victor continued to stand up, grabbing a coat and a scarf to follow Jake. "I guess I can rely on you to put me down if I lose control. After all, you are one of the stronger members of this Circus. You better be buying the drinks though." Before Victor stepped out into the night with Jake, he heard the sound of Happy's Bell which meant that there was an announcement to be made. Victor was half deluded at the time, almost intoxicated due to the fresh blood in his system, but he was sure that he heard Nine say that he would join the Circus after their fight had ended. Gritting his teeth, Victor's gaze fell to the ground. "... If it is an announcement from Happy, then we can not ignore it. We will stick around for that then go for that drink." Victor left his trailer with Jake, making sure to close everything up behind him. Heading to where Happy was making the announcement, Victor kept himself near the back in order to avoid the other members of the Circus, especially Tabitha. He was too ashamed of himself to even make himself known to them. Hearing that the announcement was about welcoming Nine to their group, Victor sighed and turned away. "Just as I suspected... Well, I do not need to stay here any longer. After all, I would just frighten everyone if I stuck around any longer."

So~ Strider is without a head again.

As a fellow fan of Homestuck, I feel like we should cry about it finally ending together.

The funny thing is, someone could be talking to themselves for three posts before anyone realises it.

SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!!!

"Well if it isn't little Miss Sunshine. It's nice to see that you're back on your feet after your encounter with the boogey man." Nine chuckled as Tabitha ranted on at him for causing the incident with Victor going berserk to occur. True, he did do it in order to cause trouble, but he wasn't causing trouble for no reason at all. The red head then smirked as Tabitha tripped herself when she herself mentioned what Victor had done, inching closer to her during the short time she had become flustered. "Yes~! What did I make Victor do again? Oh! That's right! He bit you! I mean, I can totally understand why. There doesn't seem to be that many humans around on site that are members of this merry gathering of freaks, so that would only leave you to be on the menu for snack time. Well don't worry, I'm sure Princess Buttercup has learned her lesson that there are no such things as Knights in shining armour. Your precious little Victor is not human and it's about time you saw that. I was watching the way you coddled him in your arms as he was bleeding so I know he means a great deal to you, but you're better off just killing him and moving on to the next attractive guy in line. Oh, that would be me,wouldn't it? Scratch that idea, don't kill Victor. Let me kill Victor and then you can do whatever you want." The longer Nine talked, the less sane he actually sounded. It was beginning to sound as if his explanation about coming from the future was closer to a fairytale he's made up rather than an actual fact. "Knowing Victor anyway, he'll probably refuse to see you again and probably starve himself half to death. Who cares if he's only just been topped up with fresh blood? He'll kill himself before harming anyone else again. But that's another lie because he'll eventually just lose control. Tabitha, if you treat Victor like a human again, then you'll be even crazier than me. Only an insane person will do the same thing over and over and over, expecting the outcome to be different each time." Nine finally backed away from Tabitha and sat down, holding his shackled arms out in front of him. "I'm getting bored... Let's do some magic. I'll be the magician, you'll be the idiot falling for the trick. Ready? Go!" Nine suddenly shoved his arms out in front of him towards Tabitha. Within an instant, one of the shackles on his arms were now on Tabitha, with Nine waving his fingers around like it was a show. "Ta-da! Now we can be together forever~! ... Unfortunately, I still have this leash around my neck, so I can't exactly go out and take a nice long... Oh wait, we're PG-13. Hmmmm... What's a good metaphor for being a pet who is also a homicidal trickster that can't so much as leave the house without his brain exploding? When you got one, let me know, I'm kinda stumped." Nine then began whistling in the meantime, putting his now free hands behind his head and lying down on his back casually, a pose that seemed to fit him well as a lazy individual who irradiated the essence of annoying. "By the way, personal question. Are you an S or an M? Because you dress and act like an M but you never know, because deep down you could be one of the REALLY crazy ones, you know what I'm saying?"

Slowly waking within the confines of his trailer, Victor stared at the roof without moving his body. Trying to remember everything that had happened not too long ago, Victor grimaced over the fact that he had both lost his humanity briefly and, more importantly, defiled Tabitha's neck with his fangs. His teeth ground together in self hatred, despising himself for what he had done. "Damn it..." The Vampire sat up, his arms trembling with a quiet rage. His body looked almost new due to the fresh blood streaming through his veins, but his eyes remained the same dark shade of red as before. Victor was only finding more and more reasons to hate himself. Getting onto his feet, Victor opened the door to his trailer a little to see that one of Jake's guards was keeping watch outside, probably to make sure he didn't do anything that would jeopardise the secrecy of the Circus. Victor retreated back into his trailer, locking himself inside and in the dark. "I must not forget... I am a monster... Nothing more than a beast disguised as a human. A wolf in sheep's clothing." Victor's gaze fell as he reached down under his bed, bringing an old chest out that looked at least a hundred years old. "I keep putting myself in these situations... Places where I feel at home are places that I let my guard down and lose control." Opening the chest in front of him, Victor took out what looked like a bright pink ribbon that was decorated with the pattern of a flower. "... It is happening again... History is beginning to repeat itself and I do not know what to do anymore..." Closing his eyes and lying down on the bed, Victor moved the bow in his hand to his head. "I could really use your advice on this one... Rose." ~Meanwhile~ Entering the red carriage, Nine looked from right to left in wonder at the various torture devices that had been set up for those who would defy the Circus or oppose them. "Man, these things are antiques from my time. This is gonna be so much fun seeing how they work. Sure I can regenerate, but I don't have anything to stop me from feeling pain. Man, I haven't felt any real pain in years. I'm so excited! Is it okay if I go in the iron maiden first? Pretty please?!" The guards escorting Nine honestly wouldn't have known what to say even if they were forced to talk to the red head. It was as if Nine was the craziest kind of masochists they could imagine. To them, the kid must have been totally insane if he actually wanted to be tortured. "You see guys, here's the thing. Whenever the main character is taken in by the bad guys and tortured for hours upon hours, it gives the viewers a very good reason to sympathise with the character and make him seem more appealing. Also, I hear that the warrant to see characters tortured and left half clothed is surprisingly high. So while I'm hear, maybe I'll hit on some of the ladies after they see my ridiculously great body covered in cuts and bruises. It could cause their maternal instincts to kick in and make them want to look after me." It was official, Nine was one of those people who would keep talking even if you told them to shut up thirty times. In the simplest of terms, he was annoying. "Speaking of which! Exactly how many girls are there? Do you think they'd be interested in me? I did save that pink haired girls life. She was pretty hot. I'm sure there are other cute girls too. Do you think they'll find me attractive? I am pretty attractive, right? I know I am totally attractive to be people from my time, so I should be like a god to the girls from this time. I mean, if I was a girl who saw me, I would get on my hands and knees and beg to just to be welcomed within my presence. Yeah, I'm sure loads of chicks will dig me. I may look young, but I am in fact eighteen years old, a fully fledged adult. I can be very convincing to the soul of a teenage girl." Nine stopped talking for a bit, moving his shackled arms around a little, trying to scratch his neck where the EMP necklace was that Jake put on him. "Why are these things always so god damn itchy?! It's so annoying damnit!!"