Powerpuff Girls V.2 IC thread.

[Iris]

-"Ignatius"-

The steady humming of the servo-skull's grav-engines filled the car, as Ignatius drove down the streets of Megaville. The car itself only made noise when he changed gears as his radio wasn't working, not that he'd have turned it on since it would likely speak of heresy, the people on this planet seemed completely ignorant of the God-emperor's glory, of his sacrifice..

Ahhhh came a whisper in his ear, But look where that brought him, your corpse god is bound to his throne while his minions try to protect his crumbling empire.

Ignatius shook his head trying to clear his mind, "Blasted radio." He muttered fumbling with the radio switch, "Must've turned itself on again."
Come now plaything, you need to meet up with your new friend, let us hasten the game.
"Game?" Once more he shook himself trying to focus on the road, once again he fumbled the radio switch.
Soon, plaything, soon we shall have more little ones to toy with. Soon we shall harvest once more.

His vision became blurry for a moment, he had to stop, he needed to get away. Something wasn't right, something wasn't here!
His hand began to tremble on the steering wheel, "Cursed radio, why..why.." The car began to slow down until it stopped completely at a quite intersection, Ignatius tried to move but found that his body refused to move, it refused to respond to his command.
He should be panicing, cold sweat should be running down his back and fear should grasp his heart.
But nothing was there. No feeling, no sound and soon Ignatius' body went limp.


Behind him the Servo-skull rose, their glowing red optics reflected a dark intelligence and malice. Now plaything I shall have my fun, my prey comes for the bait cannot be resisted for it calls to him. Came the monotone voice but no longer did it come from the skulls but from the limp man himself.

The head slowly came up, in his hand was the same cellphone he had used eariler that day. Fingers moved with an unnatural awkwardness, as though they were stiff with decay. The man's eyes rolled backwards as he looked into the rearview mirror, dark emptiness only stared back with silent horror.

Let us see if our friend tFab is up for another job...

[TheTimeSweeper]

-tFabikcalcer-

tFab paced back and forth in front of the building, pausing every so often to glance at the sky for any signs of Puffs or Ruffs. After he watched Bell enter the building through one of the windows, he knew he was on his own again. The task she had given him to do was a boring one, but it was better than looking around the apartments for her sisters for the time being. He might run into Brat again and he knew that wouldn’t be a very pleasant experience, especially if she kissed him again…and yet… tFab shook the idea from his head and focused on his pacing.

A breeze had just come up and the temperature quickly dropped. tFab instantly switched to his cat form and lit himself on fire to warm up as he continued to walk. He stopped momentarily and stared at his paws. The hot, glowing fur reminded him of what a powerful demon he really was, but also how he hadn’t killed anyone in so long. He began to yearn for the sounds of his victims screaming as their insides were turned to ash. God, how he missed what it meant to unleash his fury on someone. He hoped that he could do it again sometime soon.

[Wolfy]

Arken

Arken glared at Brat as she walked away. Her friend collapses and what does she do? Act like a... well, a brat. He felt the girl's attitude was in serious need of adjustment. However he put his anger aside for the moment and now devoted his attention to Buttercup. It seemed that every moment it was getting worse for her. She was too young for a child and he was too much of an idiot to give it any thought beforehand. Though that didn't matter now. What had been done couldn't be taken back, and Arken merely prayed to his god that she would be alright.

He put a hand on the girl's shoulder. He was at a loss for what to say to her now. It will be over soon? He wasn't sure. Everything will work out eventually? He wasn't convinced of that either. Perhaps there was nothing to say. Regardless, he would help her as much as he could, words or no words.

"Alright Buttercup," he told her quietly. "It looks like it's time for you to rest." He took her into his arms. It didn't look like she had the strength for walking.

She probably won't be moving about much for a while, Arken thought. Especially if this is what happens. Wouldn't want her falling down whenever she tries going anywhere.

He carried Buttercup back to her apartment, making sure to seal the door with any magic he had for the job as he entered. He didn't want any disturbances. He gently placed her in her bed, taking a seat in the nearby chair afterward. He felt he couldn't leave her at the moment. Not in good conscience, anyway. His inner persona tried to strike up a conversation, but Arken did not reply. He wasn't in the mood for it now. He would sit there, silently watching, until he felt it best to leave.

[TheTimeSweeper]

~Bell~

Bell hovered quietly down the hallway, trying to locate any trace of her sisters’ auras. Bubbles’ aura was fading fast, like she was going somewhere in a hurry, but Buttercup’s was nearby. Rounding a corner, she spotted Buttercup slumped on the floor appearing to be asleep. Bell stared at her wide-eyed, but kept her distance.

“Wow… Buttercup has really changed. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her in person and her hair actually looks good when it’s long. I wonder why she’s in the middle of the floor like that…?”

She didn’t have time to investigate, however, as a man she didn’t recognize suddenly came into her field of view. He might have been standing nearby the entire time, but Bell had been too focused on Buttercup to notice. It didn’t look like he had seen her as he picked up Buttercup and carried her to a room, presumably an apartment.

“Heh, it makes sense when I consider the look of the room I entered earlier. This must be an apartment building and Buttercup is a resident here.”

She studied the man as he went into the room and tried to figure out who he was. Boyfriend, perhaps? Bell didn’t know for sure. All that mattered right now was that he was interfering with her plan. Then again, Buttercup wouldn’t be very much help if she was asleep. Bell slowly approached the room and could hear shuffling on the other side of the door followed by silence. She huffed in annoyance and balled her fists. Whoever this person was, he had done something to the door; sealed it somehow to keep intruders out of the room. Bell could tell he was powerful, but she didn’t know by how much. She drummed her fingers on her arm and was tempted to blast a hole in the wall to get past this minor setback, but it would only arouse questions and suspicion. Frowning, she moved away from the door leaving a strong energy signature in her wake. There were more pressing matters to attend to such as locating Bubbles before she got too far. Buttercup could wait.

[TrickyLA]

Bubbles

Bubbles leisurely strolled the halls of the building, heading in the direction that she had sensed her sister. She could still faintly feel Brat's presence as she walked, so she knew she was going in the right direction. Something about the way that Brat had been acting....she felt that she needed to confront her sister. Something must have happened but she didn't know what.

And Bubbles hated being in the dark.

She let out a sigh, mind going over various plans and tactics for when she would have to face her sister, before she stopped abruptly. Narrowing her eyes, Bubbles paused and allowed herself to drink in the auras and power signatures around her. Something wasn't right here, not at all. She closed her eyes and let out a soft hum before her large baby blues snapped open in a realization. She knew this power, but from where?

She thought about it some more, trying to visualize the color of this power; she had always been a more visual person. Strangely, she couldn't fit this color onto any of the people she'd known. Something was off about it. It was....

Blank.

Her face paled very slightly, memories of a misguided girl flooding back to her.

Bell...

She hadn't expected to run into the girl at this apartment complex, but she was here and there was no denying it. Narrowing her eyes, Bubbles' mind began to plot even quicker than before. Bell wasn't stupid, and she wasn't as sure how to handle her after all this time.

"Buttercup will have to wait..."

She murmured before changing direction and walking quickly in the opposite direction. Time for a game of cat and mouse.

[TheTimeSweeper]

~Bell~

Bell stopped in midair suddenly. Bubbles’ power signature had shifted, almost as if something had caught her attention. She had sensed the blond Puff’s signature approaching her position earlier, but now it was moving away from her. Bubbles couldn’t have picked up on her position so quickly, could she?

“Nah, it’s probably just my imagination.”

Bell landed softly on the hardwood floor and continued her search. She hadn’t walked more than three feet when a realization hit her. She hadn’t been in contact with Bubbles for so long, longer than she could remember. In fact, the most vivid memory Bell had of her was that encounter in the forest two years ago. Anything could happen in two years. Anything like a power flux or a complete image overhaul. Bell narrowed her eyes. She would have to be on her guard.

[Kat]

Berserk

Berserk lay quietly, breathing shallowly in her unconscious state. in her mind, a woman was quietly speaking. Berserk tried to make sense of what was being said, attempting to listen harder to the voice.

"...and to shoot energy beams.." the voice came in and out of Berserk's "hearing."

What? What are you saying, I can't hear you... Hey! Hey! Speak. UP!

Berserk rolled over in her sleep, subconsciously scratching at her face, a strange reaction to the essence that Demongo had given her. The fact that the voice was fading in and out was abnormal for most, because Berserk had had X-ite powers at one point, the human essence was conflicting with the memories of X-ite power.

She whimpered loudly, kicking out and clawing at her forehead.

[Iris]

"Humans, such pittiful playthings." The creature scoffed as he fumbled the cellphone in his borrowed form. His human host was beginning to break apart now but that was no surprise considering what he had been through. "Do no worry, once I'm done with my prey I shall feast upon your soul. But then your soul may not be the only one joining you, if I can get my claws on those girls, my master shall reward me greatly."

After several more attempts at the cellphone the creature finally managed to activate tFab's number.
It had all been so easy, spinning a wild tale to get the demon-cat's attention. All he need was a nudge to provoke his greed and curiousity and he was willing to do whatever he wanted. The creature had to, of course, convince the demon-cat with some trickery through some illusions to get him to dance to the tune but in the end, he brought him closer to the girls he heard of. Not too mention drawing out his prey.
The foolish human still went under the name "Ignatius Keyes" and all it took to get his attention was to bruise his ego by masquerading as him.

The creature once more focused on the human toy in his hand and waited for the demon-cat to answer, a twisted smiled played on his borrowed lips.

[TheTimeSweeper]

-tFabikcalcer-

tFab had once again halted his pacing to glance at his surroundings. There was still no sign of any out-of-the-ordinary activity and he was getting bored with his sentry job. He was worried that someone might have come across his case full of gold bars as well as concerned about Bell’s safety. He knew full well of her demeanor and personality, but what about The Powerpuff Girls? He only knew them from Bell’s descriptions and a lot could have happened to them in all the time prior to when he briefly saw Blossom that one day in the future. If Bell got hurt, how much would that change the future? His future? Anyone’s future?

“Gah, stupid questions… Just like before…”

Without any warning, a vibrating sensation came from deep within him and he knew that it was his phone. He quickly changed forms and checked the caller I.D. It said ‘unknown’, but he had a pretty good idea as to who it might be.

“Hello…Ignatius."

[Iris]

"Hello...Ignatius." Came the reply through the human toy, silently the creature exulted now he was one step closer.

"I've done it! I've found the answer tFabikcalcer!" The creature mimicked excitment in his borrowed voice, "The codes and secrets were where I thought they were! We'll be able to prevent everything, we can save everyone now!"

A smile played on his lips as he spoke through the phone, "But I need help, lots of help in fact. Can you gather some friends? I don't know how much longer I can remain hidden from them, is there any place I can meet you and your friends? If I can it has to be far from watching eyes, from anyone that might.... overhear us. You know?"

He laughed, feigning nervousness, "I'm sorry if I'm babbling but I can't believe it! I've managed to redeem myself and my squad... their deaths will not have be invain!"
He waited now, the bait had been set. Now to see if the fish was bitting....

[TheTimeSweeper]

-tFabikcalcer-

Ignatius’ joyous voice rang in tFab’s ear and he had to hold the phone away from his head. He never heard the guy sound so excited. It seemed that he found all the answers that they were looking for, but some help was needed to carry out the plans.

“Uh, I can try to get some friends together. Granted, it won’t be easy, but I know a few.”

tFab was confused as to who the ‘them’ was that Ignatius mentioned. The ones behind the destruction of Megaville and possibly the world? He didn’t have time to question that as he was presented with another query – where to meet Ignatius with his friends so as to not raise the suspicion of whoever wanted to stop their plans.

“Hmm, I guess we could meet at the construction site like last time. I’m sure you remember where that is, unless you’re a different Ignatius than the one I met there. It’s hard to keep track of all of your versions. Okay, I’ll gather some friends and meet you there.”

[Iris]

"All of your versions" Was all the creature heard, a mixture of anger and fear now formed on the face. The facial muscles twisted in ways that would baffle any doctor and cause any scientist to run for his research books.

"All good, my good man, all good...." The repitition didn't fully register on the creatures mind, all that mattered now was getting to his prey quickly before his rival...
The thought alone sent the creature into a raging fit, "DAMNATION!" he roared suddenly, forgetting he was still in conversation with tFab, "HOW HAS HE GOTTEN HERE!"
Where as his host had a strong, gruff voice the creature's was unnaturaly hollow, as if it were stretched by an untold length, the effect was an eerie echo with each spoken word.

In his rage he crushed the cellphone, like a man would make a paper ball and at the same time destroying the steering wheel. "HOW CAN IT BE! HAS HE KNOWN ALL ALONG MY GOALS?" The creature's anger was not only childish but comepletely irrational, had he paid any attention he'd have realized he may have just ruined his own plan.

He hit the car door with his hand, creating a massive dent without even flinching at the nerve-signals that represented pain in any normal human. "I'd best get ready to toy with the playthings now, 'Of a Thousand' may have interfered but even he wouldn't dare face me in this physical form." he muttered, savagely getting out of the car. The servo-skull moved to follow but without warning the creature turned his anger on them, with inhuman speed he grabbed them . "You've played your part." was all he said before crushing them like he did to the cellphone.

"Once I'm done with these mortals, I shall deal with you little human." He stated to his host, the human soul bound to him screamed in silence but could do nothing as the creature advanced to the building where he first set tFabikcalcer up.

[Yetisarge]

Zim

Zim walked up around the complex looking around for Gir.
"GIR! Where are you! That stupid little..." Zim began before he just started to mutter over how Gir had seemed to never be around when he needed him now.. and how he seemed to care more about being around for Bell.

Zim decided to take a break, he had been looking for Gir for what appeared to be hours. He walked over and took a seat on a near by bench.

'When was the last time I actually spent time with that ungrateful robot?' Zim thought, he had been a couple of years since he joined up with this group, and orginally the little guy had spent a lot of time until Bell got ahold of him.

'Ah well I'm sure that he will be fine, he usually is.' He thought before he figured that maybe he should go and take a nap or something.

[TheTimeSweeper]

-tFabikcalcer-

tFab held his cell phone away from his ear at arm’s length as ‘Ignatius’ screamed into the receiver. The outburst completely took the cat demon by surprise and he stared at the phone waiting for some sort of explanation.

“What the hell was that all about? Are you okay?”

The next statement caused tFab to cringe slightly in fright. The voice on the other end of the phone no longer sounded like the ‘Ignatius’ he had been talking to. It sounded hollow, empty, like all the air had been sucked out of each echoing word. He continued to stare at the phone with a mix of wonder and fear before a loud KSHHHH was heard, signaling that something happened on the other end and the conversation was over. He brought the phone closer to him and snapped it closed before putting it back in his pocket.

“Fuckin’ weird… What was with those outbursts? It like he was a different person…”

He scratched his head and stared back at the apartment building.

“I’d better be careful with whom I choose for meeting him at the construction site. Something tells me that this meeting will be very different from the last one. I might as well start with Butch since Bell is probably busy right now. It might be very foolish to bother her.”

With that, tFab started walking in the direction he thought Butch’s apartment was in. Hopefully, the Rowdyruff would be willing to lend a hand.

[Wolfy]

Arken
"What the hell am I doing here?" Arken asked himself quietly. "I'm acting like a jackass."

"Wait, you aren't a jackass?" the other Arken said with false astonishment.

"Oh shut up."

"Fine, fine. Well, the only thing else you can do is experiment, but I don't think-"

"Actually, that sounds like a good idea. Very soon I won't have the time to try and separate us. We might as well continue trying now before it's too late."

He stood up, and with a last look at Buttercup, released the magic sealing the door and stepped outside. He was feeling strangely confident that nothing bad would happen to her tonight. He went back to his room, sat down on the floor, picked up a book, and began to read.

---

"Hey, this looks promising!" Arken said with excitement. This one spell looked like it might actually work. Hopefully without an explosion.

"Well, what kind of spell is it?" the other Arken asked.

"Well from what I can gather it's used to split souls for whatever purpose. Ancient Dark magic it seems."

"Well if you think it'll work, let's fire it up already!"

"Woah, hold on there." Arken said. "If this is Darkness magic then you should be the one performing the spell."

"I suppose that's a good point. Alright, let's do this."

The darker Arken was called forth and immediately set to work.

---

It took a while for everything to be set up. But once it was all done, the hard part came next. He held the book in his left hand, while he held the other out in front of him. Spellwork like this wasn't easy, no it was not. It took unnatural amounts of concentration for ancient spells to go right. Now was the moment of truth. With all his might, the dark Arken focused on nothing else but the incantation. He recited it once. Then twice. Then one more time. He felt power rushing through him. Then, immense pain. It felt as if something was being ripped from his very core. Then, to top it all off, an explosion of great magnitude. Then, all went blank.

---

"Ugh... what happened?" the original Arken sat up groggily, holding his head. He shook his head to clear his senses and looked around the room, brushing snow-white hair out of his face. It seemed like another explosion. Just what he needed. It also seemed like he was thrown across the room. But what he saw when he looked back toward where the spell was performed made him faint.

He was laying across the room where the spell was worked. But it wasn't really him. The other him had black hair, and it was much, much longer. The other Arken's skin was much more pale, and he was dressed in a long, flowing black robe, trimmed with red.

Before Arken fainted, one thought ran through his mind.
It worked... My God, it worked...

[Kat]

Buttercup

Buttercup awoke with a start, her dark hair mussed from sleep. Groggily she tried to recall what had awakened her and was subsequently reminded by the smell of smoke from across the hall.

"Fuckdammit." she muttered, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and stumbling out into the hall, barely registering her already growing stomach.

She aimed her laser beams at the lock on her neighbor's door with unnecessary caution: the lasers were weak and just effective enough to break the locking mechanism. She sighed and turned the door handle, opening her mouth to rage at Arken when she was stopped short at the scene before her.

Two men on the floor on either side of the room. One - her Arken, from his light hair - was unconscious against the wall. The other - she recognized him as the "Inner Arken" - was seemingly similarly unconscious.

She stood in the doorway for a few moments, unsure of what to do, before a slight kick from inside of her sent her rushing to the original Arken's side to check his vitals.

[TheTimeSweeper]

~Bell~

Bell whipped her head around at the sound of an explosion.

"What the hell was that?"

The noise seemed to have come from a different room than the one she was at. Scanning the hallways, she found no sign of anyone that could have been responsible. Bubbles was still too far way and, for all she knew, Buttercup was still asleep. How anyone could sleep through that though was anyone's guess. Bell huffed and put her thumb and index finger to the bridge of her nose. Too many damned interruptions were ruining her careful plans and she was ready to release her frustration on anything nearby. Forcing herself to calm down, she sought out Bubbles' energy signature and made a mental note of where it was. If Buttercup had been severely hurt in the explosion, she may never find out if she would have accepted her into the Puff family. And that would only leave Bubbles and Blossom to seek out, wherever the latter was.

Audibly sighing, Bell turned around and floated to the source of the explosion.

"Might as well find out what the hell's going on around here," she thought.

[Wolfy]

Arken

Arken let out a slight groan as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes, but they were blurry and he couldn't see a thing. After rubbing his eyes and looking around again, he was mildly surprised to see Buttercup next to him.

"Guh... damn." Arken said groggily. After finding the strength to sit up, he suddenly clutched his head. It ached horribly. He felt as if though he had just been thrown into a wall. Though that, he reminded himself, seemed to be exactly what happened.

"An explosion. Why must there always be an explosion?" He turned his head to Buttercup and said "I'm going to assume that's what woke you up? Sorry 'bout that."

[TheTimeSweeper]

~Bell~

Bell continued her silent float down the hall, all the while thinking about what crazy things were already going on around here. Buttercup seemingly having a boyfriend, Bubbles' energy signature being a little...ominous, explosions ringing out through the hallways. It was enough for her to grit her teeth in frustration. Things never seemed to be easy for her. Admittedly, she enjoyed the challenges she had to face in life and took up her responsibilites with little to no problem, but sometimes she wanted to take the easy path and have things done for her.

"I'm really getting sick of this..."

Her moods were on the verge of fluctuating and as she approached the source of the explosion, she noticed that the door leading to the room she had entered from was still open.

"Hmmph, security around here sure is lax. Not that I care."

If Bubbles could sense her, and it was very likely that she could, it would be easier for Bell if the Puff came to investigate the disturbance herself. She had to have heard it too.

[Kat]

Buttercup

"You idiot!" Buttercup exclaimed, gently slapping Arken's shoulder.
"You could have been killed! A- And he's.. well..." Buttercup looked over her shoulder at "Inner" Arken and shook her head.

"Let's just get you to bed for now, alright?" she looked at Arken anxiously. "Can you stand? I don't think I have... the strength to lift you. Something's been.." she paused, her head pounding thickly for a moment.

Buttercup put a hand to head without thinking, forgetting her tough-girl attitude for a moment in her pain and worry.

"If you had died," she glared at Arken, picking up her lecture like she had never stopped. "What would I tell the children, hmm? They're growing so fast and you're just recklessly blowing yourself up! Whoo, so fun!" she smacked him again, worry flashing through her features before her scowl resumed.
"Idiot."

[Iris]

-Unknown guest-
"My, My, My" Came a smooth and cold voice, it didn't appear that the sound seemed to come from behind tFabikcalcer as it did around him. "You really are too trusting, hardly any sport I must say."
Sitting on an eletrical pole a humanoid sat, calmly looking down on tFab as a noble would look to a commoner, "I know mortals are meant to be guilible but you aren't really of this world, now are you?"

With ease he slipped off the pole and landed gracefully on the ground close to tFab, an unnatural aura surrounded him as the very shadow's themselves seemed to cry out in anguish to his proximity. His face was normal, no distinct facial feature, no unique hair style or clothing, he looked like your everyday man you'd bump on the streets and then simply forget. Yet for all his simplistic appearance, an evil and vile smile played on his face, it seemed to stretch from ear to ear, his white teeth and blood red gums were visible.

"I don't suppose you'd recognize me in this get up now would you?" He asked angling his head as he spoke, several clicks and cracks could be heard as he did so, "No I suppose you would not, so lets make a quick writter's convinience right here." Slowly his appearance began to change, like liquid metal his body rebuilt itself, only the smile remained until a new body was formed, one who was without eyes, it was the image of the Ignatius that had tried to help tFab in the alternative timeline.
"Still not ringing any bells? Haha" His tone had a hint of sarcasim, a hint of malice hidden beneath his unaltering smile. This time the body was in a military get up, the general that had gave secretly given tFab advice.
"Ah but these forms do bore me and surely you deserve some constalation prize after having to go through all this trouble just to be lied to. I know how about this" With a cackle the figure changed for one final time, his head began to turn clockwise until it was fully upside-down but disturbingly the smile remained fixed, the body began to slim, the sound of popping and cracks as bones rearranged themselves.

The figure's shadow enveloped his face, no to be accurate, his shadow was shallowed, it seemed to seep into his eye sockets. Again his head began to turn clockwise, his skin was now an unhealthy pale hue. The figure opened his 'eyes', instead of pupils and iris' there was an unending darkness, floating in each eye were stange words that formed the infinite symbol that seemed to constantly move to it's own agenda.

"Well then, I guess I'll give you an introduction. I am 'Of a Thousand' and I've come to toy with this world, for the time being anyway." It laughed heartlessly before adding in an odd tone, "Feel free to ask away, there is no limit this time."

[Wolfy]

Arken

Arken raised an eyebrow at Buttercup. "Come now," he said. "You shouldn't be wasting energy being angry at me. I'm perfectly fine so there's no reason to be upset.

He then stood up and stretched. Under any other circumstance he figured he would probably be more sympathetic to Buttercup's worries. However, he was just feeling too good for that. In fact, he felt better now than he had in a very long time. Perhaps it was because his body was no longer host to some sort of dark symbiote. Either way, Arken wasn't concerned about solving that mystery at the moment.

As he finished his stretches, he noticed the figure lying on the ground. After walking a short distance and examining the body, he heard a light snoring and realized the man was simply sleeping. Arken then knelt down and shook him.

The man woke with a start and sat up. He then preceded to look himself over. While examining his hands, he said "Amazing. It actually worked... and with no lasting damage as well." He then looked around with a frown. "Why must there always be an explosion?" he asked.

"That's exactly what I said." Arken intoned.

"So..." the other man said. "We're finally free of each other."

"Yep." Arken merely said.

"No more having to use a single body."

"Indeed."

"Finally able to go our own ways."

"Indeed."

"You know what this calls for, right?" the dark man asked, grinning.

"Of course." Arken replied, wearing an almost identical grin.

"Drink!" the two exclaimed together.

[TheTimeSweeper]

-tFabikcalcer-

To say tFab was bored would be an understatement. He had been pacing back and forth for almost thirty minutes arguing with himself about going to see Butch. The guy had been gone for so long and tFab figured that at this point he probably didn't want to be bothered.

"Heh, maybe he ran off, or I should say flew off, with Brute and went to Vegas to get hitched or something."

He chuckled for a moment before his merriment died down. He felt kind of bad just now for saying that and he did think of Butch as a friend, so making snap judgements was a stupid thing to do. He sighed and glanced briefly at the apartment building where he knew Bell was. Recruiting Butch and possibly Brute was not really of the utmost importance right now, but what else could he do? His stomach was telling him that he hadn't eaten in a while and he was just about to go satisfy his hunger, when an unknown voice called out to him.

tFab stopped and looked around. He didn't see anyone except for a guy riding down the street on his bike and some old woman with a huge, overstuffed shoulder bag trying to enter a taxi. It took him a moment to realize that the voice was mainly coming from above him, even though it seemed to come from all around him, and he looked up at the individual. It was mocking him and tFab regarded the being with a glare, after being accused of not being from this world. Truth be told, he wasn't exactly from this world, not really, but the inhabitants in this city were faintly familiar, as if he knew them from a different medium. The being then landed a little bit away from him and grinned an almost unnatural grin, like if he was the Cheshire Cat in a business suit.

The voice was calm, but menacing and tFab found himself staring curiously at this guy, as if he knew him from somewhere. He didn't have time to question this as the individual changed form, but kept his smile intact. The image of a very familiar Ignatius came into view and tFab involuntarily took a step back. Mocking him, the figure changed form again, this time into the military general he had met in the park that one night. tFab just stared at the figure, not blinking, trying to process how this could be possible.

"Were they really all the same person? Just different forms? So, he's a shapeshifter? Well, that would explain a lot..."

Maybe it really didn't though. Everything that tFab knew about this guy, whoever he is, was quickly becoming a lie, or if it was still the truth, a really stretched-out one. The figure changed again and it was this form that caused tFab to break out into a cold sweat. The shadow form, the extremely pale skin, the empty eye sockets that seemed to stretch on forever into nothingness.

"You..."

Again, tFab took a step back, but stopped. He was experiencing so many different emotions; anger, fear, wonder. Who was this guy? What was this guy? He quickly got his answer. This man, this being, was only one of many. Judging by his name, those forms were only but a few of so much more.

"Well...uh, you pretty much answered my question of who, or what, you are. Heh..." tFab gave a light chuckle before continuing. "If your purpose here is to toy with this world, then why exactly are you here for that purpose? What's in it for you? Are you studying all of us, trying to figure out how we'll react to your little games, especially me?" He glared at the being and growled. "I've just been nothing more than a pawn in all this, haven't I?"

[Iris]

-Of a Thousand-

"Haha, my you've hit the nail right on the head." Of a Thousand began sarcasticly clapping his hands, "However you're not my pawn, you've unwittingly been the chew toy for my rival or at least one of my rivals, the rascal has been busy the last couple centuries and I'm getting a bit tired of his pathetic attempts in the grand game...."
He paused for a moment, "Oh my, my, my, it looks like I'm going too fast again. I've skipped the start and headed straight to the ending, do stop me from doing that in the future." the creature grinned, flexing his fingers in anticipation.

"So, the unasked question, yes, let's begin with that. What most people scream out normally is 'OH GOD, WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME ARE YOU?!' or something along those lines, it's the question I do enjoy the most. Buuuut since your sanity will comprehend my exsistence it takes the fun away. I am a deamon-prince or that's what I'm refered to in my world. In lay-man's terms I was once a human turned 'evil' then gained a dark gods favour subsiquently gained semi-immortality." He started to count his fingers as he reached ten additional fingers formed until Of a Thousand let out a melodramatic sigh, "I've personally lost how old I am, time is a fickle thing in a realm where it doesn't exsist and if it did it wouldn't matter I suppose. Needless to say I am far older than that I appear to be.

By the way, I do look roughly in my 20's don't I? I find it's the age most people go out to explore the world and such.... never mind." He half interrupted himself, tapping his chin as he waited to let the information sink in.

"Now then for my purpose, you see my shall we say 'being here' is tied directly to my patron, he in turn is tied by the needs of hope, knowledge, ambition and several other little emotions along those lines. My purpose is to make sure the great game continues indefinately after all the end of the universe means the end of my god. Which is pretty shitty in my books but alas.

So my purpose is to be neutral, play the hero, the villian, the supporter and at times the backstabber, it's a play that will never end. Hehe, I'll let you decide whom I play this day." He bowed for a moment for some abscure reason or perhaps it was reason enough to bow, "Let's combine your questions, 'what's in it for you' and oh so popular 'I'm paranoid now, let me see what he knows about me'

You see, when I gave my 'soul' I was rewarded with eternal knowledge! However my patron is fairly clever and let me only see a brief glimps of it, leaving me a hunger for it so take a shot in the dark to why I do this. As for your idea of how you'll react to my master's plans, you can't HAHA, you see every little thing you do, hoping your sister is alright, praying that your friend will help, wanting a new car.... it all feeds my master!

However my master is far from lazy, he knows that there are things which must be stopped and things that must be completed for the universe to keep 'spinning' he constantly give's out advice that's open ended and equivocal, no they do not mean the same thing. Not in my mind anyway."
Of a Thousand stretched his arms and suddenly made a move to sit, a blak chair materialize from the shadows. An identical one appeared by tFab, "Do sit down, I'm sure some of what I tell you may or may not have shocked you but from past experiences, I can tell you most either faint, ran screaming, call me a heretic and a daemon or demon, depends in which realm I'm in, or commit suicide through numerous and interesting ways. And to be honest I need you to still be in the game before I let you and your friends off the hook."

In a gentle manner he offered the chair before he continued, "Now this rival of mine, he's been a torn in my side ever since I taught him the basics, my master's wish not mine and since my master needs schemes and plots to substain himself I let him go for the last couple thousand years, letting him taste immortality, victory and such. Now I wish to take it away and to do that I've done something extreme.

I know you still got some of those memories locked in that brain of yours, when that fool altered the past I took it upon myself to do the same. I decided to change on man's past and possible future to suit my needs, I had to bend countless rules to do so but since someone else had broken them it was somewhat easier than expected... which was disappointing.

I'm certain you know of whom I speak of."

[TheTimeSweeper]

-tFabikcalcer-

tFab let out a growl and diverted his gaze. So, he was a pawn, but at the hands of someone else. It heated him up inside, more emotionally than physically, but he calmed when the figure moved on in his explanation. He even chuckled when it told him what most people would say when they first saw him. tFab blinked when the label was revealed. A deamon-prince? Interesting. The cat demon thought about his own labeling. Would he himself be referred to as a deamon-prince? He didn't really know and there would be other times to mull it over. The age thing was another factor too. The figure was probably older than time itself, if someone could ever make that claim, but tFab had to agree with him. He did appear to be in his 20s. tFab shuddered slightly at the thought that he shared a few minor details with this individual, but on the other hand, it was also a pretty cool thought. He shelved this notion within his brain and continued to listen.

"So, really, your task is to keep the universe in check," he replied in response to the individual's reason for being here. "You're like a regulator/moderator, making sure things don't spiral out of control. And you could also be labeled as a jack-of-all-trades, changing your label from hero to villain and such to maintain the balance. Pretty clever actually."

tFab had to admire this guy for that reason. In actuality, maybe it didn't take much for this guy to manipulate others, tFab reflecting on past experiences, but he still regarded the figure with semi-approval. The figure moved on in his explanation and things were becoming clearer, but they still raised some questions. tFab knew he should probably save those for the end. A black chair suddely formed next to the figure and he offered an identical one for tFab to sit in. He sat in the chair, grateful for some ease on his legs and back, and found it to be not overly comfortable, but not quite stiff and hard either. He settled in the chair and continued to listen, hoping that some of the questions forming in his mind would be answered by the end of the explanation. The last thing he wanted was a mountain of them in his head. Finally, it drew to a close, but tFab was not satisfied. He knew he had his mouth open in shock at what the figure, Of a Thousand, had just talked about.

"The individual, the one who altered the past, is that the Ignatius I saw in my head when I was immobilized? He's your rival? Wait, maybe I'm not thinking this through correctly..."

tFab paused and rubbed his forehead. He had a bad habit of jumping to conclusions and it nearly cost him his life on a few previous occasions.

"I'm pretty sure I do know of whom you speak. It's that soothsayer guy; ohhh, if I could only think of his name. The one who wrote the pages in that journal I had to go find. Unless he was a made-up person too. And who exactly is your master? Is he or she omnipresent? Are we being watched right now?"

[Iris]

-Of a Thousand-

"No, little one, you were not thinking it through I must admit though it would've been interesting to have him as my rival, I fear he is far too below my level. Perhaps not in 'combat' but the great game far exceeds his view, you see this Ignatius lives for one thing; though he may call it Redemption or Retribution, he effectively fights for Vengeance." Of a Thousand slapped his forehead suddenly, "My, my, I've done it again, I've gone ahead and spoiled a big surprise! I did say you should try to stop me but then again you cannot read minds."

The daemon chuckled, "No, that was the old model. Mayhap it's best if I showed you some... let's call them clips." He pointed down to a table on it lay a marble chess board, it's back and white tiles neatly polished to reflect the light however the pieces themselves were strange for they were colored in a grey haze.
The closer you looked into the details the more disturbing the pieces became, each was a living avatar of a person, each was simply being themselves enjoying their life.
towards the middle of the board several pieces had gathered, one of them was an image of tFab.
The image in turn was looking into a smaller representation of the chess board but there where subtle differences, some of the pieces in his world was position differently. "Has in dawned on you? While you are a pawn of my rival he in turn is a pawn of another being, maybe greater or lesser, the master sees it all and relishes the prospect of outcome. Big or small he watches and gives his blessings to all sides."

Of a Thousand brought his hands together sinisterly close to his face, "You say I'm a regulator and a moderator? I fear you do not understand me, I am neutral simply because it suits my needs, I have created heroes and brought villians into the fold, led noble souls into damnation and sent the worst of mankind into the depths of the abyss. All for the great game, nothing more, nothing less. But do not think of me as an ally, do not think of me as good or evil for I am beyond simple understanding, reason and ryme."

He clapped his hands and the chess board vanished along with the table, "Now I degress, I shall shorten the tale of the so called 'Ignatius'. Long ago a lone solider fought for the survival of his kind, against an ever crowding planet he and selected other went out to explore the universe and the possibility of different dimensions. However one exploration went astray and solider was forced to sacrifice himself in vain. His soul now trapped in my domain, my master and his 'brothers' choose to entertain themselves by spliting his mind, body and soul into seperate beings, the body could not handle the loss and soon died, the soul was lost in the ocean of malice and the mind could not contain the horror of what he had learnt. That was the destiny my master had set out but chance decided to play a role.

When that fool altered time, he opened up countless other possibilities for the solider and my master saw in his great wisdom to let loose the pawn. Let him decide what would happen, unknowningly of course, when the same event came to pass the solider's soul was cast into a different realm, though it was still a demonic world it was not in ours. Interestingly his body remained in his dimension, comatose of course without explaination doctors tried many things until without warning the solider woke up."

Of a Thousand stopped melodramatically to stretch, "But he was no longer the same, I cannot say what had happened but the solider gained and lost something. Perhaps his innocence, maybe his sanity but what ever he lost solider gained an unending rage. Though he may look calm and casually joke at times, he will at times refer to himself as 'The Relentless' for you see he conquered the demon realm, slaughtered countless souls and drank their essences... Or so I've heard. What I do know for certain is that he sees himself not as a human, not fully at least, he calls himself 'Forged'. "

The daemon stood, "And now for the reason to why I've aided you for the time being, find 'Ignatius' regardless of his alliance or lack of, he hunts for my rival for unknown reasons. I am curious to know why. Although my master no longer has interest in him, it is clear he has a role in the great game. We need to know what it is.

Your reward is simple, not gold or any monitary mind you but stability, I question his mental state and you don't want a man calling himself 'Relentless' running through your neighbourhood now do you?"

[TheTimeSweeper]

-tFabikcalcer-

tFab slapped his forehead in frustration. He knew there was something he had left out of his thought process and he had been wrong for it. Well, in the grand scheme of things, he wasn't rebuked for his stupidity so he was happy for that.

"Hmm, vengeance..."

Just what exactly did Ignatius plan to do? Whatever it was, it wasn't necessarily good or bad. Vigilantism had its pluses and minuses, but tFab didn't think this Ignatius was planning to do something positive, unless in his mind it was positive and then he might be labeled a basket case. A table with a chessboard suddenly appeared and tFab gazed upon its exquisite features until his eyes rested on the pieces. Gasping in realization as to what they really were, he watched as a representation of himself looked at a smaller version of a different chessboard, this one with different pieces.

"Yes... It has dawned on me. So very interesting... And I really shouldn't have labeled you as a regulator or moderator. You said you are neutral and I respect that."

tFab listened intently to what Of a Thousand had to say about 'Ignatius'. He didn't want to miss any of the fine details that could be invaluable in the future. Most of the information came flooding back to him as memories, things that he had stored away in his mind, but other information he had never heard before or had simply forgotten.

"The Relentless... That does sound very familiar. And forged... Sounds like he was made and not really born, so to speak."

Of a Thousand suddenly stood up and tFab was told his mission - locate 'Ignatius' and find out why he hunts for the daemon's rival. His role in the grand scheme of things needs to be known as well. tFab nodded his understanding and also stood. The reward for his efforts would be very important. He thought of Bell, Butch, Brat, and the others he knew of. He worked way too hard to come all this way and risk them being hurt.

"No, I don't want something like that to happen at all. If I'm going to find 'Ignatius', I'll have to start with what I know."

He then glanced in the direction of the park, the area where he last saw 'Ignatius' before he drove away in his car with the skull-thing. tFab would have to track his scent and hopefully, after all this time, he could still pick it up.

[Iris]

-Of a Thousand-

"I suggest you don't try to follow my rival, you're in all likelihood far superior to him but he's more akin to a parasite than anything, his exsistence relies on attatching itself to a weakened soul and then simply controlling it's body from that point onwards. Besides the man we are looking for is several blocks in the other direction." The daemon-prince spoke in dull voice, as if it was nearing boredom, "He'll be in the shopping mall if I remember correctly he'll be sitting close to the windows on the restuarant level, I also suggest caution if you approach him, he's armed... he's always armed don't ever forget that, on of my observers found out the hard way and got bisected."

Of a Thousand looked to the skies for a moment before he shrugged, "I fear that my time is limited now, two of my other pawns are nearing the end of their journey and I'm curious to if good can overcome evil this time. It has been an interesting couple moments in time and perhaps we will meet again."

Cracks began to appear across his face and his body, he resembled a broken mirror now, "Oh before I leave, I should warn you some of my words were outright lies and of it was truth but I can't remember which is which, hahaha but know this little one, the man you seek has an unnatural aura around him, people will avoid him at all costs. It's one of his powers, it's called 'The Visage' and you'll understand why we wish to know his role soon."

Without warning Of a Thousand shattered, like glass the fragments hit the ground and scattered. Slowly they faded from reality leaving tFab alone once more but a haunting laugh echoed around him.

[TheTimeSweeper]

-tFabikcalcer-

tFab paused in his thought and glanced at the man. Apparently, his rival should be avoided at all costs because of his parasitic nature and the man they both wanted found was in the other direction.

"The shopping mall, close to the windows on the restaurant level, and he's armed... Got it."

tFab watched as the man's face and body began to split and crack, almost as if he was drying out at a rapid rate or was a broken mirror. He frowned when he was informed that a few of the things he was told were outright lies, but he wasn't too bothered by it. Lies were pretty much the norm whenever he talked to individuals such as Of a Thousand. tFab nodded at what he should be wary of once he found this guy; an unnatural aura surrounding him that keeps others at bay. It might even make tFab's search less difficult on account that the man would be all alone. The cat demon watched as the figure cracked even further and fell to the ground in pieces before they quickly moved away. A haunting, echoing laugh resounded and tFab was left alone in silence.

"Why do I always have to come in contact with the strange ones...?" He shook his head, but made a mental note that this was one of his more interesting encounters. "I'd better get a move on then."

After debating whether or not to change into his cat form for the trip, he opted to stay human until he at least got close enough to the shopping mall.

[Iris]

-Ignatius, Megaville Shopping Mall, Food court-

The sound of constant babble filled the air, hundreds of people sat and ate their lunch taking a short break from their spending sprees or weekly needs. Some sat with their friends or families, others sat alone either focused on their food or perhaps reading a newspaper but close to the windows sat a single figure.

The area around him was hauntingly empty, a perimeter of unused chairs and table lay unnoticed by the shoppers as when ever they came to sit down a strange urge forced them to leave, once they were out of the area they'd seemingly forget why they left in the first place and almost casually went to find another seat but never once did anyone return to try and sit close to the figure.

The man himself sat uninterested, looking out the windows without purpose. Or so it would seem as his choice of clothing hid his face.
He wore a mixture of blue, red and purple clothing, blue pants with strange markings and glyphs written on the sides, a long-sleeved buttoned shirt the majority of which was red but along the sleeves lay a complex weave of stylized torns and vines, over this was a purple vest with a hood that seemed to cover the man's face almost perfectly, similiar markings and glyphs ran across the vest but at the centre of the man's back lay an unique emblem; a caged phoenix. The cage itself appeared to be a ring of latin words and inside this cage, the phoenix fought for it's freedom, wings spread open, ready to take flight.

[Meta-humans and other super-powered beings will not feel the urge civillians have felt, instead they will noticethat the air feels heavy, as if they are deep underground]