"The Last-Forever Conspiracy"

[Coolpikaaa]

"Oh..."
The original coolpikaaa had thought Kaz was talking to him.

This sure was getting confusing.....


"Kaz, could you short out the system from that form?"

-coolpikaaa

[Kazumaru]

~Bloody multiple rodents-- Yep, I probably could.~ Kazumaru thoughtspoke.

[Fade]

Fades eyes with now lowered eyebrow carefully, coldly watch the robot as he warns off the other creature before returning his attention to her.

"That is not inaccurate, we all have our own reasons for joining the Council 501" she said, not even bothering t say anything like 'nice to meet you' as the assassin considered it both a waste of time and breath "The other organisation you are referring to is called the Guardians, calling themselves 'keepers of the balance'"

The assassin spotted Cloud poking the goo with a blade of his, and the eyebrow raised again. That slimy substance currently spreading itself over the ground must be one of the invaders, seeing as her fellow EC member appeared t be trying to maul it. That and she'd heard someone else screaming, so it was logical to assume this was it's remains.

The assassin removed a small throwing dagger from inside one of her pockets, though not a normal one. The daggers blade was covered in an odourless, colourless poison of Fades own recipe, and it was brought out just in case the goo turned out to be less benign than it looked.

[Mitsukai]

((SUPER NINJA BUMP!))

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((The Forest ~ Near the Cages))

Nynaeve watched the turn of events with mild amusement, more like a bystander than someone who was actually there. With the way things were going, that wasn't far from the truth. It was time to intervene.

"So..." she drawled, watching Fade carefully. "Now that you know our story, what's your's? Why are you here? You certainly don't look like the type who'd be here on whim."

And honestly, Fade didn't. She looked as if she was here for business, which she likely was. But who's business? Did the Mistress call her here?

Too many questions...

She didn't like it at all.

Too deep in her thoughts, she did not notice the slight rustling of the bushes. Perhaps one of the others would...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

((Unknown))

This is taking much too long... I'll have to speed up the process...

Glaring at what she was seeing in her water mirror, she muttered something shortly under her breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

((The Cages))

Nynaeve eyed the smoke that was starting to appear... dark... purple... and mesmerizing. It swirled slowly around each bar... gradually growing bigger and bigger.

"Look at the pwetty smoke!" she said with half glee, half absent-mindedness. In fact, more of the second than the first. It was beginning to make her feel strange...

[Chronos]

Ensichrys looked at Fade. His beak dropped open slightly when he figured out who she must have been. All too often had he heard of the indifferent assailant that was this Fade. Fade... such a fitting name for this creature.

He stepped toward her. "Hey, I know who you are," he said innocently, "you're the one known as Fade aren't you? Yea, I've heard whispers hither and thither about you. Rumor has it that you're one worth looking up to." He held out a taloned hand, then realized how silly this was and quickly withdrew it and instead scratched his head crest. "I'm Ensichrys."

[Fade]

"I have returned from a job" Fade answered the human looking stranger (Nynaeve) after fixing her cold eyes on her "and I was not expecting to bump into so many other people. That is all you need to know"

Fade then turned her attentions towards the person who looked like some odd cross between a large avian and a large raptor as it approached her and called her 'one to look up to'.

"Indeed" she replied, just as emotionlessly as everything else she'd said so far "that is a rumour I was not aware of, Ensichrys. But right now, I would be more concerned about who or what is in those bushes behind your colleague there" The assassin switched between topics as though there wasn't a topic change at all, her enhanced hearing had picked up something behind Nynaeve but the rustling of the branches kept her from figuring out exactly what it was.

The poisoned throwing dagger was still poised in her hand, but the mutant did not often do pointless killing. Not because it was the 'right' thing to do, but because it was a waste of time and her talents.

[Chronos]

Ensichrys snapped his beak shut and narrowed his eyes harshly as he turned around with haste. The rustling in the terrestrial verdence was clear. Whatever it was, it was probably dangerous. Ensichrys took a few scraping steps backward. "Can somebody ask who that is?"

[Kazumaru]

The kaz-puddle shimmered. ~Sparkles!~ Kazumaru cried. Just outside of the cage, he could see the bloodied body of his daughter, though nobody else could see it. ~Sparkles... oh gods, what happened!?~

[Coolpikaaa]

"Well...

Could you do that ple-"

"Look at the pwetty smoke!"

"Wha-?"

Coolpikaaa whirled around to see deep purple fog floating in the air.
Not usually the best of signs...

He pulled away and put a paw to his mouth in a desprate attempt to not inhale it.Eventually the potion got the best of him and the electric mouse fell onto his back.

Slowly the room rotated, the ceiling high above soon became the floor far below.

Coolpikaaa realized his deepest fear, he was going to fall to his death.

-coolpikaaa

[Cirrial]

501 looks over to the rustling bushes. "Oh, great, first some weird me jumps out of the bushes and now something ELSE!"

He unholsters his ion pistol yet again. Why don't I just clamp this thing to my hand and be done with it?

He turns to Ensichrys and Fade slowly, attempting to show a large grin, before realising his face is mostly inert and unable to move.

Shaking his head, he turns back and, ion pistol trained on the shrub, leaps forward and runs to the bush, screaming in a sustained manner.

Nearly running into Cloud, he jumps into the air, performing half a somersault, before botching his attempt to seem stylish, and landing on his head. A loud series of clanks, cracks and clicks resound from his neck.

Now sprawled out in the bushes, after a few minutes 501's voice groans from the bushes. "...I'm, I'm okay, don't exactly rush over and help, do you... ow. Well, I suppose I had that coming."

He rolls onto his front and slowly stands up, brushing trees and leaves off.

And... shiny white goo?

"...Wait, th--"

It's moving. Moving towards his head. Like the other goo did before.

"...Oh, five feathers. Guys! Situation!" He staggers forth out of the bushes, arms flailing, and slips up on the larger puddle of goo after tripping over Cloud's sword.

"oh not again whatever happens please not again--"

The goo pools around the back of 501's head and slowly drips and drops upwards around the edges of the plug in the back of 501's head. 501 twitches and flails about, panicking, rolling away from the goo and jumping to his feet.

501's eyes go dark, and he collapses to the floor again in a metal heap.

Then, seconds later, his eyes flare back into life. He quietly freaks out and stands very still. "People. Goo. Head. Do something. Quick. Before it figures out my head again. PLEASE. DO SOMETHING."

501's head twitches violently. "NOW!"

[Cloud]

"Do you mind?" Cloud shouted just as his dagger was kicked away by 501. He stood up quickly and moved over to the robot who was sprawled on the floor. He peered into those lifeless eyes just as they sprung back into action again.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

[Mitsukai]

((Not exactly what I had in mind for the "rustling in the bushes" but that works fine. ))

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((The Cages))

The very scene that she has kept hidden, locked away in the deepest sub-concious recesses of her mind for over ten years now, flashed in front of her eyes.

Flames flickered wildly all around her, proceeding to lick up the trees of the forest.

It looked like hell.

A man laid on the ground like a rag doll... a very dirty, pale ragdoll.

A man with limp black hair.

A man with striking emerald eyes.

Her father.


"No... no... no..." she whispered. It was all so vivid... all so real. As if she was reliving the painful memories.


Not far from him was a woman with a man almost on top of her.

A woman with long auburn hair.

A woman with blue eyes, now dull from pain, and wide from fear.

Her mother.


"No! Please! STOP! Don't kill her! Please!" Eve begged and screamed to the air, or perhaps to the cage. To someone. Anyone.


She struggled against the man whose mouth was at her neck. Some blood leaked from his mouth, staining the ground beneath her.

And then, a little girl ran toward the man, beating at him with her small fists.

Herself.

"Let go o'f mama!"

The man snarled, unhappy that his meal had been disturbed. He stood up quickly, causing the little girl to fall backwards.

"Run... sweetheart... please..." her mother pleaded breathlessly.

And she couldn't. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe.

All she could do was watch her mother's life slowly slipping away.

Watch her father's body slowly being eaten by flames.

Watch the murderer, blood still dripping from his mouth, slowly approach her.

All while this woman looked on...

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((Unknown))

It is working well...

The Mistress watched the chaos going on within the cages with much glee. This will certainly speed things up.

But just in case...

She muttered something underneath her breath again, an incantation of sorts.

The trees near the cages swayed gently. Her smile widened as she glanced over towards the trapped children.

The process was already showing results. It wouldn't be long until...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

((The Forest ~ Near the Cages))

Nynaeve narrowed her eyes. This wasn't working the way she wanted.

"I suggest you move Cloud," she said calmly, approaching the fallen mechanical bird.

Touching the goo lightly, she muttered something under her breath.

What looked like a slight electrical charge jumped from her fingers to the goo.

Anyone who was watching, except those who knew electricity, would just think that she was trying to shock the goo off the bird's head since electricity worked well against it.

Leave. You are not to take this one.

No sooner than she had completed the thought, a wind brushed by against her, carrying the voice from the cages with it.

[Fade]

Fade had remained where she was, only slightly raising her eyebrows at what Nynaeve did to the robot-bird creature. At least it looked like it had worked and she was not going to have to waste one of her coated throwing daggers by using on a viscous substance she wasn't going to risk touching.

But then, voices reached her ears. Voices filled with many mixed emotions, but mainly of despair. The assassin resisted the urge to rub her ears as Clouds shout had dulled their sensitivity somewhat.

"This is where these invaders keep their captives" Fade stated, it was not a question as it was rather obvious "then it would be logical to attempt to release them. They seem to be experiencing some considerable distress"

Again, this was not because of morality. It was because of necessity, freeing the captives would free up more allies.

[Cirrial]

501 stares deadly forward. He stands perfectly still.

Silence.

And then, a slow drone, a rumble, and a slight rattle. Then more silence.

And then, slowly, 501's head turns towards Nynaeve.

A voice completely unlike 501's own speaks, deeper, and with a harsher synthetic grate to it.

"No. Who are you to command me?"

With a swift, single movement, while 501's head continues to stare forward, 501's right hand grabs at his holstered ion pistol, pulls it out and trains it on Nynaeve.

"Who are you to even recognise me?"

A talon curls around the trigger.

"I will give you one piece of information. Just one."

501's head twitches to the side and slowly faces back to Nynaeve.

"Run if you want to live."

The talon curls tighter around the trigger. The ion pistol begins to spark menacingly.

[Mitsukai]

"Run if you want to live."

For a moment, she was torn between indecision. Should she reveal the secret now? Or not at all?

"Go ahead and shoot," she replied calmly, a strange look in her eyes. What was she hiding?