House of M

[Atomyk]

As the intruder got closer, Tommy could feel himself shaking. He didn't even know why. "I feel... pressure... Why do you feel so familiar...?!" He groaned and grabbed his head.

The intruder didn't react to the attack beyond stopping in place. He turned slowly to Mason, raised his arm, and swung it hard enough to send the wooden sword across the room. He took a menacing step toward Mason before Tommy rushed into help. He pushed Mason aside and aimed a kick at the man's stomach, only to have the man grab him by the leg. Tommy cried out as he was pulled forward.

"W-Wait! You're not here to--!"

The man grabbed Tommy by the head and began to squeeze. "A-Ah... Aghh!'

The man lifted Tommy up off the ground, ignoring all other distractions. "Stop it! Why are you... Wanda!" Tommy's speech became increasingly frantic and garbled.

"M-Mom, d-did you need to replace me that b-badly--?!"

And just like that, Tommy disappeared. Only a strange mist was left in his place.

@Kaykay @Midnight Maiden @Ryu Keiko @Mason Moretti @Krieg @Archmage Jeremiah @ShiroKiyoshi @Klutzy Ninja Kitty @Minerva @CrunchyCHEEZIT @Josh M @DiningRoom​

 

[Husk]

"You weren't supposed to just announce it!" Lucas snapped. "What if I had twenty-one?"

"Look, he got it, so the rest of us are staying too."

"Ouch, fine. Don't be touchy!"

Lucas revealed his face-down card to be a 3. "If I had hit again, I would have gone over, so there you go. I lose one HP. So yeah, you're not done. In fact, this next round we'll play for two hits of damage. Maybe I should even make it less unfair to me, you know? Why should it be three against one? I'm removing one of you from the playing field."

Billy tensed as if that meant Lucas was going to kill one of them, but instead he just didn't give any cards to Raven.

Shen's cards were:

13/21

Billy's cards were:

15/21

Lucas' cards were:

??/21

"Go on, pal," Lucas said, the light shining on Shen.​

"Another card."

He had a feeling his good luck wouldn't last for much longer.

He still hates games of chance.

@Atomyk @Gands​

 

[Atomyk]

"Light? Time?" Lucas made a noise like a buzzer. "Wrong, dumbass! Come on, you maybe have time for one more guess!"

@York @Gummi Bunnies

---

"Well, the truth is... I'm just so lonely. With mom and dad all fucked up, I just got no one. All I can do is substitute the pain with y'all..."

Lucas broke out into laughter. "You know what? Fuck you! I don't have to explain myself one bit! Tell me, why do you do anything? Don't judge me, asshole!"

@Leon Moretti @The Batter

---

With the others stumped on the last riddle, the water was now raised high enough for Toffee to begin whacking the glass on his own.

@thatguyinthestore
​

 

[Leon Moretti]

"Well, the truth is... I'm just so lonely. With mom and dad all fucked up, I just got no one. All I can do is substitute the pain with y'all..."

Lucas broke out into laughter. "You know what? Fuck you! I don't have to explain myself one bit! Tell me, why do you do anything? Don't judge me, asshole!"

Leon sighed, "Shame, and here I was thinking I was making a friend." He goes down Path B to check on the other two.

@Atomyk

 

[Atomyk]

Lucas was silent, for once.

The boy continued to stare up at the ceiling, breathing heavily. "Please leave me the fuck alone," was all he said to Phil.

Teddy sighed. "Look, we're all in the yellow now, so we have to be careful. I mean... Uh, ugh... I agree with what Six was saying. We need to share the pain to ensure all of us survive. We can't go sacrificing each other."

@LuckycoolHawk9 @Yun Lee @Takumi @Glostechk @Bomb @LivingRoom​

 

[thatguyinthestore]

"Light? Time?" Lucas made a noise like a buzzer. "Wrong, dumbass! Come on, you maybe have time for one more guess!"

@York @Gummi Bunnies

---

"Well, the truth is... I'm just so lonely. With mom and dad all fucked up, I just got no one. All I can do is substitute the pain with y'all..."

Lucas broke out into laughter. "You know what? Fuck you! I don't have to explain myself one bit! Tell me, why do you do anything? Don't judge me, asshole!"

@Leon Moretti @The Batter

---

With the others stumped on the last riddle, the water was now raised high enough for Toffee to begin whacking the glass on his own.

@thatguyinthestore
​

With Toffee being high enough, he did just that, taking out his hammer and whacking the glass with as much force as he could muster.

@Atomyk @York @Gummi Bunnies @The Batter @Leon Moretti​

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Phil Connors

" I would, expect you see that watch on your wrist, we saved your life and keep you in the green and sacrificed our green for a yellow, so excuse me, but that means something. You owe us your life, you wouldn't be alive without us right now, so let me phrase it this way, get the fuck up and come join us. We're all in this fucked up game together, so shut up and man up. Do you think I want to be playing this- we don't have a choice," he said, offering his hand to help the boy up. He didn't care for his name or whatever was wrong with him. They had saved him and fuck if he was going to let him sit their and wallow in self-pity.

Of course, blabber mouth went silent now.

@Yun Lee @Atomyk @Bomb @Glostechk @Takumi

 

[York]

Replies

"... would that be time?"

Kiyohime wasn't really the type for this, grasping at straws. Though, dawn and end were pretty vague concepts, while dead was specific. Maybe this was it? All the while she was hit by more debris... she was beginning to think they were on a literal time limit on saving Toffee and enduring said hits.

@York @Atomyk​

"Time?" Lucas made a noise like a buzzer. "Wrong, dumbass! Come on, you maybe have time for one more guess!"

@York @Gummi Bunnies

---

"Well, the truth is... I'm just so lonely. With mom and dad all fucked up, I just got no one. All I can do is substitute the pain with y'all..."

Lucas broke out into laughter. "You know what? Fuck you! I don't have to explain myself one bit! Tell me, why do you do anything? Don't judge me, asshole!"

@Leon Moretti @The Batter

---

With the others stumped on the last riddle, the water was now raised high enough for Toffee to begin whacking the glass on his own.

@thatguyinthestore
​

Leon sighed, "Shame, and here I was thinking I was making a friend." He goes down Path B to check on the other two.

@Atomyk

Reiner Braun
@Atomyk @Gummi Bunnies

"... It comes at dawn... And is present at the end... And... Makes up the dead... ..." Reiner was stumped.

Evidently it wasn't time, and he doubted it was light either, but alas, something popped into his head... Something that he remembered certain members of the Survey Corps were tasked with after each mission.

"A... Mortician?" He said.

They went by many names, but their jobs started at dawn, and they present at the end of someone's life... And they certainly did "make up" the dead, in a sense... Before they were buried, or at least... Those that had anything left to be buried anyways.​

 

[Atomyk]

"Here ya go!"

Shen recieved a card, putting him at:

15/21

It was then Billy's turn, who asked for another card, putting him at:

25/21

"Oh, what's this? I'm being told that someone just went over the limit! Do you know what that means?"

Billy looked over at Shen. "That's not fair if he can just... I'm so sorry, I maybe should have stayed--"

"Why you apologizing to him? He's fine. As for you..."

One small blade raised up above Billy's pinkie finger, then a second above his ring finger.

Billy opened his mouth to speak, but said nothing at all. The blades came down, cutting off his two fingers.

"--!"

Billy screamed loudly, reaching up and slamming his fist against the table. It drowned out his codex beeping and putting him to yellow. He groaned and cried for a while, Lucas allowing it go on.

"... Next round. This time it's for three."

Shen's new cards were:

14/21

Billy's new cards were:

13/21

Lucas' new cards were:

??/21

"I think our friend is a bit out of it, so you go first again, pal."

@Otto @Gands @Pantry​

 

[Leon Moretti]

Reiner Braun
@Atomyk @Gummi Bunnies

"... It comes at dawn... And is present at the end... And... Makes up the dead... ..." Reiner was stumped.

Evidently it wasn't time, and he doubted it was light either, but alas, something popped into his head... Something that he remembered certain members of the Survey Corps were tasked with after each mission.

"A... Mortician?" He said.

They went by many names, but their jobs started at dawn, and they present at the end of someone's life... And they certainly did "make up" the dead, in a sense... Before they were buried, or at least... Those that had anything left to be buried anyways.​

As Leon meets up with them and looks at the two, "So what's the scenario at this station?" He asks them, noticing that they are having slight difficulties.
​

@Atomyk @York @Gummi Bunnies

 

[Atomyk]

The glass shattered. Toffee could now climb out of the pit. He would find the item they needed on a nearby pedestal: A statuette of a man down to his torso. The bottom half of him was missing.

@thatguyinthestore

---

"Wrong, wrong, wrong! How are you so wrong?! It's the letter D! D! And for being so slow that our special contestant had to free himself--" The door swung open suddenly, slamming into both Reiner and Kiyokime. Their codexes beeped in unison.

"Whatever," Lucas said with a huff. "You're all free to go now."

@York @Gummi Bunnies @Leon Moretti @The Batter​

 

[Verite]

T'Challa, again, knew the answer: False.

"Looks like you all got that one... right! Wait, except... one of you! Man, that car is about to crush him! Wonder which one it is, huh?"

Lucas seemed to be enjoying this.

"Now, True or False, back in the classroom I made, you guys found six gems, right? You all were awake for that, right?"​

"..."

Kyoko hesitated in pressing a button for a moment, not because she had a difficult time answering a question, but because she was trying to think of whoever was consistently getting their answers wrong. She pegged T'Challa as one of the more intelligent beings within the group, for one. As for Adam, while on the outside he came off as sort of meat-headed, the way he spoke and carried himself made it plausible that his bite actually lived up to his bark. Nono... She was a fidgety one, so it was definitely possible, but she knew for sure where the young idol was sitting anyway, so that only left...

From zero to hero, back to zero then?

With a sigh, she pressed the false button in response to the question, just like everyone else, and following that action, she pressed the button to lower her own car, and as a result, raise the car hanging over the head of Makoto Naegi.

"Your Ultimate ability could really come in handy right now, Makoto."

@Atomyk @Jeremi @dark @Crow @J A Y F R OM T H E 6 I X​

 

[Leon Moretti]

"Wrong, wrong, wrong! How are you so wrong?! It's the letter D! D! And for being so slow that our special contestant had to free himself--" The door swung open suddenly, slamming into both Reiner and Kiyokime. Their codexes beeped in unison.

"Whatever," Lucas said with a huff. "You're all free to go now."

@York @Gummi Bunnies @Leon Moretti @The Batter

Leon just looks at the two completely confused. ".... Do I even want to know???"

@Atomyk @York @thatguyinthestore @Gummi Bunnies

 

[thatguyinthestore]

The glass shattered. Toffee could now climb out of the pit. He would find the item they needed on a nearby pedestal: A statuette of a man down to his torso. The bottom half of him was missing.

@thatguyinthestore

---

"Wrong, wrong, wrong! How are you so wrong?! It's the letter D! D! And for being so slow that our special contestant had to free himself--" The door swung open suddenly, slamming into both Reiner and Kiyokime. Their codexes beeped in unison.

"Whatever," Lucas said with a huff. "You're all free to go now."

@York @Gummi Bunnies @Leon Moretti @The Batter​

Toffee would silently make his way out of the cage before brushing himself off and picking up the item. Once he did so, Toffee would walk over to the rest of the group with the item in hand.

"I found our item." Toffee said bluntly.

@York @Atomyk @Gummi Bunnies @The Batter @Leon Moretti​

 

[York]

Replies

As Leon meets up with them and looks at the two, "So what's the scenario at this station?" He asks them, noticing that they are having slight difficulties.​

The glass shattered. Toffee could now climb out of the pit. He would find the item they needed on a nearby pedestal: A statuette of a man down to his torso. The bottom half of him was missing.

@thatguyinthestore

---

"Wrong, wrong, wrong! How are you so wrong?! It's the letter D! D! And for being so slow that our special contestant had to free himself--" The door swung open suddenly, slamming into both Reiner and Kiyokime. Their codexes beeped in unison.

"Whatever," Lucas said with a huff. "You're all free to go now."

@York @Gummi Bunnies @Leon Moretti @The Batter​

Reiner Braun
@Atomyk @Gummi Bunnies @Leon Moretti @The Batter @thatguyinthestore

Two hits left... And Reiner felt pretty foolish not to have guessed that; perhaps these riddles just weren't his strong suit or something. Though despite his moment of embarassment, he sighed and nodded, deciding to take their "victory" of sorts, despite having lost 3 hit points on his codex... Alongside Kiyohime, speaking of which, he turned to her, looking a little worried.

"Are you okay?" He asked, as they had moved along a bit too quickly to receive an answer last time.

Besides, he had to make sure that Kiyo hadn't been too badly hurt by the door, or the maze pieces... Though in the end, it seemed that they had to be alot more carefull now, with two hitpoints left...

Eyeing Toffee as he came in with the item, he rubbed the back of his neck, wincing a little as he unintentionally brushed against a bruise there.

"... Thanks..." He said awkwardly.

Looks like they've got their item now... At the cost of his pride, and a good chunk of their hitpoints...​

 

[Husk]

"Here ya go!"

Shen received a card, putting him at:

15/21

It was then Billy's turn, who asked for another card, putting him at:

25/21

"Oh, what's this? I'm being told that someone just went over the limit! Do you know what that means?"

Billy looked over at Shen. "That's not fair if he can just... I'm so sorry, I maybe should have stayed--"

"Why you apologizing to him? He's fine. As for you..."

One small blade raised up above Billy's pinkie finger, then a second above his ring finger.

Billy opened his mouth to speak, but said nothing at all. The blades came down, cutting off his two fingers.

"--!"

Billy screamed loudly, reaching up and slamming his fist against the table. It drowned out his codex beeping and putting him to yellow. He groaned and cried for a while, Lucas allowing it go on.

"... Next round. This time it's for three."

Shen's new cards were:

14/21

Billy's new cards were:

13/21

Lucas' new cards were:

??/21

"I think our friend is a bit out of it, so you go first again, pal."

@Otto @Gands @Pantry​

"I am satisfied with my cards."

Shen didn't visibly react to what happened to Billy, but he certainly didn't ignore it.

He couldn't just stand by and not question Lucas.

"What do you wish to gain from inflicting pain upon us? What is your goal?"

@Atomyk @Gands​

 

[Kaykay]

As the intruder got closer, Tommy could feel himself shaking. He didn't even know why. "I feel... pressure... Why do you feel so familiar...?!" He groaned and grabbed his head.

The intruder didn't react to the attack beyond stopping in place. He turned slowly to Mason, raised his arm, and swung it hard enough to send the wooden sword across the room. He took a menacing step toward Mason before Tommy rushed into help. He pushed Mason aside and aimed a kick at the man's stomach, only to have the man grab him by the leg. Tommy cried out as he was pulled forward.

"W-Wait! You're not here to--!"

The man grabbed Tommy by the head and began to squeeze. "A-Ah... Aghh!'

The man lifted Tommy up off the ground, ignoring all other distractions. "Stop it! Why are you... Wanda!" Tommy's speech became increasingly frantic and garbled.

"M-Mom, d-did you need to replace me that b-badly--?!"

And just like that, Tommy disappeared. Only a strange mist was left in his place.

@Kaykay @Midnight Maiden @Ryu Keiko @Mason Moretti @Krieg @Archmage Jeremiah @ShiroKiyoshi @Klutzy Ninja Kitty @Minerva @CrunchyCHEEZIT @Josh M @DiningRoom​

"Who or what on earth are you?"

Beatrice glared at the intruder with her hand on her sword, not at all expecting an answer from what looked like a man. Foolishly enough, she had figured there was a chance that the man wasn't a hostile. Of course she had to be wrong.

"Are you even capable of speaking? I don't get it, I just don't get it at all." Beatrice shook her head, the impatience in her voice clear even as reason told her there was no reason for the intruder to answer. "What the hell is wrong with you people in this place?!"

At the same time as her agitated cry, the blonde woman struck. However, even now she was still a soldier. Striking blindly, even if unlike Mason she was well-versed with a sword, couldn't have been a good idea given the way he'd countered a blow from behind effortlessly. Even the most foolish girl wouldn't do so after being reprimanded by her superior officer so many times.

Thus, the one bestowed with the name of Valkyrie swung her sword diagonally upwards from her left. It was a swing to slice the leg. It wasn't something lethal, but it was a safe move that was hard to catch due to its low trajectory as well as one that limited the opponent's mobility if it was successful.

@Atomyk @Midnight Maiden @Ryu Keiko @Mason Moretti @Krieg @Archmage Jeremiah @ShiroKiyoshi @Klutzy Ninja Kitty @Minerva @CrunchyCHEEZIT @Josh M @DiningRoom​

 

[Atomyk]

"Inflicting pain? My man, have ya been paying attention at all? We're playin' a game here. Have a little goddamn fun for once! What other point could there be?"

He waited a moment before slapping the table in front of him on screen. "Come on, I have other groups to talk to. You stayin' or what, kid?"

Billy breathed deeply. "... Stay."

"Suit yourself! I'll be pickin' up a card..."

Lucas smiled at his new card. "Would ya look at that?"

Lucas then revealed all his cards:

21/21

"So, I have twenty-one! But you know who has the lower amount between you two?"

When the realization hit him, Billy tried to pull his hand from the mechanism. "... No, god, no, please--!"

Three blades raised up, and three blades came down. All of Billy's fingers were gone now. All he could do was scream and groan, even as his codex flat-lined. Lucas grinned and leaned closer to the screen.

"Did I forget to mention to you guys that ya have five HP in total? Five fingers equal five HP!"

Billy's crying soon turned to whimpering. The poison injected into his body was shutting him down and soon his head thudded against the table. Shen and Raven were now sitting with a corpse.

Lucas then played a recording of a crowd cheering. He clapped on screen.

"Well, good news for you two, him dyin' means you've completed this little game of ours." The mechanisms released, allowing Shen and Raven to move again. A panel in the center of the table slid open to reveal an ox statuette. Its head was missing.

The television shut off and the door unlocked.

@Otto @Gands @Pantry​

 

[Jeremi]

T'Challa as well would press false. This was just tedious busy work, the only thing Lucas wanted out of this was a corpse, and he was not going to provide his own for that.

However...he was not going to let someone else die because they didn't have the knowledge to succeed and proceeded to raise Makoto's car while lowering his own.

@Atomyk @Verite @dark @Crow @J A Y F R OM T H E 6 I X

 

[Husk]

"Inflicting pain? My man, have ya been paying attention at all? We're playin' a game here. Have a little goddamn fun for once! What other point could there be?"

He waited a moment before slapping the table in front of him on screen. "Come on, I have other groups to talk to. You stayin' or what, kid?"

Billy breathed deeply. "... Stay."

"Suit yourself! I'll be pickin' up a card..."

Lucas smiled at his new card. "Would ya look at that?"

Lucas then revealed all his cards:

21/21

"So, I have twenty-one! But you know who has the lower amount between you two?"

When the realization hit him, Billy tried to pull his hand from the mechanism. "... No, god, no, please--!"

Three blades raised up, and three blades came down. All of Billy's fingers were gone now. All he could do was scream and groan, even as his codex flat-lined. Lucas grinned and leaned closer to the screen.

"Did I forget to mention to you guys that ya have five HP in total? Five fingers equal five HP!"

Billy's crying soon turned to whimpering. The poison injected into his body was shutting him down and soon his head thudded against the table. Shen and Raven were now sitting with a corpse.

Lucas then played a recording of a crowd cheering. He clapped on screen.

"Well, good news for you two, him dyin' means you've completed this little game of ours." The mechanisms released, allowing Shen and Raven to move again. A panel in the center of the table slid open to reveal an ox statuette. Its head was missing.

The television shut off and the door unlocked.​

When Shen was released, he didn't grab the ox statuette. He just stood there with his fists clenched, no doubt struggling to contain his emotions. He wanted to kill Lucas for the atrocity he had committed. Billy was mercilessly slaughtered for the sake of... "fun", as Lucas had called it.

Shen got flashbacks to a time when he, Zed, and his father, Kusho, began tracking down a murderer that would kill his victims in the most brutal of ways. He remembered the horribly disfigured and twisted bodies.

The man's name was Jhin, and the goal behind his killings was... "art".

Art is worth the pain.

Having finally captured the serial killer, Kusho had taught Shen something very important.

Good and evil are not truths. They are born from men and each sees the shades differently.

His fists relaxed and he shook his head, dispelling the memory from thought, but keeping in mind what his father had told him. As the Eye of Twilight, his judgment should never be tainted by concepts such as good and evil. He must always remain neutral and act only to preserve balance and equilibrium in his world. Right now, his objective was to escape, not to hunt down Lucas.

"You take it." He said to Raven before storming out of the room.

@Atomyk @Gands @pantry>dining room​