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The Cabin; It's a safe little cabin ... or IS it?
Topic Started: Dec 13 2009, 04:12 PM (1,656 Views)
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"..." No answer. Not even when Karl's voice became harsher, a clear signal that his patience had already ended and nothing would please him more than punching Arco's face in. Yet the priest showed no immediate reaction. He just stood there, silent and unmoving, as if taking pleasure in Karl's anger and restlessness.

And then he lifted his right hand to face level and snapped his fingers. Immediately after the snap, the snow next to Arco started to gather and move lazily, assuming a new form. It contorted as it made its way upwards, forming scrawny pole of snow with a ring shaped end the size of TV screen. Surely enough, an image began to form inside the ring. What that image displayed?

Desolation.

What was once the village that had helped Karl and his friends was now nothing but ruins covered in a massive quantity of snow, the sings of the battle that had take place almost all erased by the avalanche. Some bodies could be seen peeking out of the snow, though, both of ferinus and of villagers, but mostly villagers. Aside from that, there seemed to be no one left alive at the village ruins. Neither Karl's friends not Arco's contracted could be seen in the image displayed.

"..." And even as he revealed to Karl the after-match of the terrible battle the two of them had arranged, Priest Arco Baleno said nothing. His smile did not change, not even his shoulders trembled in the slightest like they usually did when he was about to break into hysterical laughter. He remained completely silent, enjoying every second of what was transpiring in that place.
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He'd meant to make a comment on the screen popping out of the snow, but the words were stolen from his lips as he viewed the images on the screen. His eyes widened and he just stared, as if he couldn't comprehend the destruction taking place on screen. "...What..." The statue closed his eyes and shook his head, then looked again. The images were still there, as was the growing sense of disbelief. He wanted so badly to believe that this was some sort of trick, but he knew better. "That's... that's impossible... Jakey boy was the secret weapon, they should be... I planned..."

His first tightened around his weapon and he turned to glare at Arco. "Where are they!?" He snarled out, all pretense of politeness gone in favor of obvious rage. "I don't see a village, your contracted, or my toys. I could care less about what happens to those disgusting creatures of yours, but what did you do with my-- with... what did you do with my group?"

If he thought about it, he could easily surmise that perhaps his group of misfits had found their grave under the snow, but Karl refused to believe that. It simply couldn't be.
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Arco remained with his back turned to Karl, watching the scene displayed on the screen made of snow he had conjured. What once was a village full of life, full of people trying to live with their world's harsh conditions and the regret of their past misdeeds... What once a place of redemption, was now a barren and destroyed nest of death. The fact he orchestrated it, he was the one that decided the fate of so many... It made his skin crawl and his trousers get tighter to say the least. But the priest didn't display such outrageous delight over the remains of the destruction caused by the battle. He remained calm and collected, even as Karl babbled his disbelief over it.

It was only when the statue seemed to snap, demanding to know the fate of his friends, that Arco spoke. And even then, he didn't bother to turn to face his adversary.

"... The village you speak of is currently buried in tons and tons of snow, and I suspect your precious "secret weapon" is at fault." He said, short and direct. The colorful young man lifted his right hand to cup his chin as he watched the screen of snow being overcome by darkness, cracking like dark glass and then simply breaking into non-existence. A few more seconds slipped by before the priest spoke again. "Tell me something Karl. In the beginning of this agitated week I had that disgusting - and an obvious case of mental retardation - woman poisoned with the intent of using the energy she would eventually turn into to find and overload the irregular of this planet. Thorough the week, you and your friends searched this sub-zero scenery and fought my contracted various times, only to, in the last day, split up and face difficult ordeals in order to save the girl, the people of this world, and the world itself. But with all this time to think over it... With all the time to put the pieces together..."

And then the priest brought his left foot back slightly so he could turn his torso in a way his gaze was facing Karl without having to look over his own shoulder. This time the priest wasn't smiling calmly, but grinning. And this grin wasn't like any other he had displayed. It was one that passed triumph, mockery. One that passed pride, superiority.

Pity.

"Did you really think it was all about the irregular?"
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Digitaldreamer
Going slightly mad, but only on Tuesdays.
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Karl was only half-paying attention to Arco's words, his gray eyes still focused on the spot in the air where the screen had been. He wasn't surprised that Jake was responsible for the destruction, but surely they would be alright. That was just how Jake's luck worked, surely they would all be fine...

These insistent words flew through his mind as Arco spoke, distracting him from the priest' summary of the weeks events. Everything seemed to be thrown into sharp focus when Arco finally turned to grin at him, however. The grin was everything he detested about the man amplified, a mocking show of teeth that spoke of superiority and set the statue quite clearly beneath him.

Karl quite nearly lost it then, but Arco's last words gave him a moment's pause. His brow furrowed in confusion, eyes narrowing as he tried to grasp what the man was getting at. "What are you talking about?" He sputtered. "That's what this was about, wasn't it!? Jumper was just a distraction, the focus was the world! It comes down to the ferinus conquering the world like some sort of generic video game, it came down to who could use their toys best in this environment, it--"

And then it hit him.

"...You cheated," He said, his words disbelieving though he knew had their situations been switched he would have done the same thing.
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"Oh, I cheated, did I?" Arco answered by turning his torso back forwards, looking upwards and shrugging with his arms outstretched to their respective sides. The priest the turned around all of a sudden, pointing an accusative right pointer finger at Karl's face. Apparently deciding he was over with the silence treatment, he threw all composure out of the widow as he countered his adversary's argument with an annoyed expression. "May I remind you that we had agreed neither of us would get directly involved? I sat back and uphold the rules, but you!? We're not in the cabin right now, are we? And the stupid ill girl is going uphill to meet that barbaric buffoon, because you couldn't just sit your rear down and watch everything unfold! I don't think you're in the position to call me a cheater!" The priest shouted, but immediately recomposed himself, chuckling while retreating his finger and gesturing for Karl to forget his loss of temper. "... Besides, we were playing over it all this time. The fact you couldn't grasp the truth means you lose, simple."

There was no need to say that Arco was having a hard time fighting back hysterical laughter. Karl seriously didn't suspect anything? Nothing at all? The priest wasn't sure if he had overestimated the statue or it was the simple fact of Arco being this brilliant.

"Well, If you really had no clue, I might as well spell it out for you..." The young man said, smiling suavely as he proceeded to circle Karl, walking in a calm pace and not looking directly at the statue, but forwards. Sometimes he gestured during his speech, shrugging or slapping his forehead in mock surprise.

"When your group first arrived in this world, I had already placed various squads of ferinus along certain spots in this mountain hoping you would appear close to one. I told you last time we met I was going for a tragedy, but... Hahaha... You obviously took my words lightly! I'm a man of my word, Karl, never forget that!" He paused to look at the statue while laughing only to start walk and talk again. "Since the last world you visited I had manipulated circumstances so your colorful assemble would get pretty friendly as fast as possible, while at the same time inserting the seed of doubt in some of them... Doubt about what? About you, of course. Then, on that day, after our beloved Melody got the Venom Spear's sting to her back, I just had to imply you influenced the outcome of events together with me, and all of sudden everyone hates Karl! Then - and I admit that surprised me - I had a Venom Spear attack that old loon, but instead of letting him get the poison, you saved his pathetic life, further making the situation more confusing to them and to you!


Oh, but it doesn't end there, oh no! I came up with the rules of this week's game so you and your friends would have to search this sub zero land; this hostile landscape, and fight my contracted repeatedly, the true purpose of that disguised under the pretense of finding the cure. You knew it wouldn't pay off, but you went anyway because of that useless girl! The amount of stupidity in the concepts of love and friendship never fail to amuse me, I tell you! Oh, but it gets better... I played with Hyoji's obsession in saving the girl's life to force you to save him again, so the possible implications and ramifications of it would be playing inside your head, even while we decided the end of our game.


You know this world's irregular? It would never give us the amount of energy we wanted anyway, because of this world's small populace and the fact that blasted temple was already feeding on it from times back, delaying its awakening! But nevertheless I pretended it was all about the irregular, and laid the grounds in a way that forced you to split up your group, which was already physically and mentally fatigued from your exploits thorough the week! And I did it in a way that gave you the false impression that you we're doing it of your own free will for the sake of tactical leverage! That you had everything in control! And guess what? You fell for it! To a bunch of simple psychological traps and mind games a child could pick up upon! By the way, I must thank you for finding that village, it made everything easier!


And all this... All this was to hide the true purpose of this world. To trap and capture each and every single one of you... Or did you really think I would simply keep making colorful plans and let you hop around from world to world to mess with them without any retaliation!? This is not a Saturday morning cartoon, man! Hahaha, I mean, honestly! Does it hurt? Does it angers you to face this horrific truth!? Does your foolish pride forces into denial!? Get your feet on the ground and face reality, Karl! From the very moment you first arrived into this world..."

At this point Arco had stopped walking right before Karl, turned sideways with both hands behind his back, face forwards and slightly down. He then turned his gaze to the statue, smiling as he raised his arm towards his, fingers outstretched as if he was controlling an imaginary puppet.

"... At every single step you took, I was already two steps ahead."
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Arco's loss of temper did bring Karl back a bit, causing his eyes to narrow once again and his teeth to grind together. He wanted so badly to yell back, to insist that Arco had cheated just as much by sending anything after what would qualify as 'the prize' since Jumper's death would render half of the game meaningless. Before he could spit out a response, however, he was stopped by the explanation.

As the colorful man circled around him, the blond simply stared ahead, listening with a growing sense of disbelief. He considered himself to have a solid grasp of the human mind and how relationships between people worked, he certainly exploited them well enough. And of course, grand schemes like the one Arco described were no mystery to him, he could orchestrate those well enough. The more the colorful man spoke, the worse he felt, because the whole situation really was painfully transparent. The whole thing was too impossible for the real goal to not have been obvious from the very beginning, and he'd missed it completely because Arco had anticipated something he hadn't.

Arco knew he cared.

Arco had known he cared. Karl had tried to play into the game, thinking perhaps it would deflect things, perhaps it would keep Arco from noticing and perhaps it would keep them safe... but in the end that had all been a futile effort because the priest had figured it out before Karl even had.

A part of him couldn't believe it. A part of him wanted so badly to laugh, to make some joke about a Xanatos Roulette or make some comment along the lines of "Just as planned!" and pretend it all meant nothing. But really, there came a time for the mask to come down, and it was down now and he had nothing left to counter with.

He knew it, but a part of him kept going anyway.

The blond's gaze went to the snowy ground. After a moment he shook his head. "You're wrong," He gave a small laugh, a forced thing. "Well, no, I suppose you were right... painfully so, and congratulations for that. But... you're wrong. You won't catch them. You're underestimating how strong they are. I suppose in retrospect it shouldn't be too surprising that this happened, I underestimated myself... but you won't catch them. And even if you do, you won't beat them."

He knew these words were a desperate thing, almost more of a plea than anything. But Karl wasn't known for backing down, even if he was at the end of everything.
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He could see it. The light of defiance leaving his already lifeless eyes, the way he looked down and forced himself to laugh, weakly so. It was for this Arco had spent his time and effort planning up all of this. Sure, they were a nuisance, the contractors wanted them, and all that jazz... But most of it were simple, consequential matters. That pathetic appearance... The visage of the defeated. It was glorious thing. Arco never felt more alive in any other way. Not when he was reading, not when he was treating others like trash, not when he was harassing Ballerina back in his own world, not when he was torturing someone, not even when he laid with Tori, like a few hours prior... No. It was when he was witnessing the morale decay of his defeated opponent that Priest Arco Baleno truly understood that life, his life, was a truly wonderful thing.

... And yet, it wasn't a complete feeling this time. The priest simply watched with a blank expression as Karl insisted he was underestimating his little troupe. That he wouldn't be able to catch them, never alone beat them, oblivious (or in denial) to the fact that the majority of them was already in Tori and Hart's possession. He knew that determination was worthless and illogical... But the simple fact that he still defied him was enough to tick him off.

Hence, only a second after Karl had finished talking, Arco had already dashed at him with surprising speed, planting the palm of hand onto his face and gripping it tightly. Immediately after that, darkness started to spread from his fingers, hand, and along his arm and suddenly Karl would notice the increase in strength of the grip, before or after the priest slammed his head into the snowy ground.

"Tch... It's still not it... How I wanted... Very well, I suppose a draw is a pretty dull ending..." The priest murmured to himself as he stared at the statue's eyes from above, the shadow that covered his left arm coiling at his face as if it was tempted to take over it. It seemed eerily alive. Arco didn't pay a half mind though, and this time spoke directly to Karl, sound annoyed. "... I thought I told you to face reality? Just look at what I have done! I played you for a fool just by putting some effort into this game, and you still insist your dull friends are a threat for me!? I already caught them, you fool! And I will "beat them", as you say, just as I have done it to you."
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He hadn't been sure what to expect after his last words. Maybe more taunting, perhaps the fight with the Obsessive Fangs to begin, perhaps there was even some vague hope that maybe he'd just be left alone. Arco suddenly rushing at him was certainly not on the list of things he expected, though.

The statue let out a yelp of surprise as a glove pressed against his face and he was suddenly slammed to the ground with a shocking amount of strength, the force of it all sending Arma flying from his hand to clatter into the snow. Gray eyes widened in shock as darkness coiled around Arco's arm, writhing and swirling as if it were a living thing, giving monstrous strength to a man that ordinarily appeared to be little more than a very ornate toothpick.

Well, this was probably not good.

Karl let out a growl as he thrashed in an attempt to get out of Arco's grip. He wasn't sure if it was because of the priest's sudden boost in strength or his own lack of it, but whatever it was, it was keeping him there and it was downright frustrating. He kept fighting for a moment, doing everything in his power to try to escape... then quite suddenly he slumped, growing quite still as he gazed up at Arco and laughed. The sense of defeat he'd had earlier was gone, replaced by that same grinning defiance he'd always had. Perhaps he was cornered, but he wasn't out.

"You beat me? Look at yourself, Skittles! You're losing your cool over something that you claim to be so trivial! Face it, you may have won, but this took a lot more than you thought it would... I'll say it again, you underestimate them. Don't mistake capture for defeat, Rainbow Brite," He paused at this, clearly exhausted. He could feel his strength fading now, there was no way he would be able to stay conscious for much longer. He seemed determined to spit out the final words, though.

"Congratulations on winning this one, Baleno. But for the record, you will never really beat me."
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There was something wrong. He had won. He had bested Karl thoroughly and without space for doubts. He was standing at the top. Even now, he was weak and alone, while he was still strong and needless of any kind of assistance. And yet, that wonderful feeling of victory was quickly leaving him, as if washed away by a sudden tidal wave. That tidal wave was the determination on that accursed being's voice. The certainty that all was not lost. And his words... Dreadful words. Priest Arco Baleno could feel the anger rising within him at each word that came out of that statue's mouth.

"... Y-you..!" The young man growled, his mouth contorted in a sharp inverted "V" as he glared from above with anger printed on his features. Even the blackened claw that held the statue down twitched, and the darkness that covered his arm wriggled and coiled wildly like some predator before attacking. He was ruining it! His bliss! He was ruining it! "Damn you! Why can't you just yield, already!?"

Suddenly, the claw that held Karl's face arose with the statue's head only to bang it against the white ground, with enough force to send some snow flying around. Arco didn't remember the last time he hated someone so profusely as he was hating Karl right now. Who was he to defy him like that!?

"... Haaa... Haaa... I will love removing that glow from your eyes." That was the last thing the priest said, panting from his outburst. He lifted his free hand, snapping its fingers. Immediately after that, a rift big enough for the two of them appeared from below, its eerie blue glow affecting the color of the snow and the glaring tones of Arco's coat. Without anything more being said, the statue and the priest were swallowed by the rift, which disappeared right after.

The Obsessive Fangs, which had been sitting there, watching the conversation of their master and its adversary dutifully, quickly realized there was nothing else to be done and melted back into the ways of The Riftstream.

Arco had won... But seconds of defiance made it ring hollow.
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