Vengeance. Lust. Gluttony. Greed. Anger. Heresy. Violence. Fraud. Treachery.
On that day, the 9 Circles of Hell seem to hve been unleashed upon the untainted, unmarked lands of Heaven, in all its false purity.
A wise man once said something. Something that made many of those involved in the Black Chivalry wonder, and wonder brings about curiosity. Curiosity brings about investigation. And investigation..... often leads to change. Change in opinions. Change in ife styles.
Morality is not something that people can choose for themselves. We are unable to decide what is right and wrong, since always, there will be one council, one society, one group. This group is what defines right, and all those who oppose it are wrong. This "Investigation", changed what was right and wrong. And nobody was around to decide if it was for better.
Or worse.

This statement was a very simple one, yet it brought about the change necessary for wht some would call th "Divine Renaissance", as it was similar to the effects on Earth, though this time it took place in the unseen worlds of Heaven and Hell.
This statement was: "Why? Why does God allow the cancers, and the evils, and the vices of this world? Why does he allow them to co-exist with the righteous assets of our land? Why does he not exterminate such pests? Is it because he is willing, but not able? If so, then he is merely ambitious. Is it because he is Able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he neither willing, nor able?
Then why do we call him 'God' at all?" This statement. This curiosity. This investigation. It was THIS, that led to the lack of Heaven's most important asset.
Faith.

On that day. On that one, fateful day. The consicuences of this lack of faith were truly vsible. For if the people had faith, then the Prophet would reveal himself, and Jiyuu could have been stopped. If they had faith, the true causes of the Reapers and Paladins would have been radiantly shown, but because of this loss, they became dedicate purely to what they had vowed to destroy: evil.
On that day, Heaven and even Hell, were lost among the carnage of Heaven, when the Black Chivalry war brought its fight to Heaven itself.
Angels, be they Paladins, Krows or Reapers, were killed that day, and the numbers were reduced to but the very strongest.
The rest, was history.

From the remains of the now-savage Earth, whch had been crushed into but a crumbling, wasteland of Cement chunks and survival-desperate humans, a new Society arose. One whose survival had been threatened. One man allowed this Society to be reborn, and even though it goes by the name of te "Society of Infinite Night", or S.I.N., this man branded the Society a new name, and a new goal.
They became the "Lambs Of God", and became dedicated to the cleansing of the Earth, by taking away the sins of the world.
They believed that God was a traitor to his own world...... and had to be stopped. THIS was their teachng. THIS was their word.

On that day Heaven and Hell were aborbed into Earth, and the world went quiet, even if just for a few minutes. Jiyuu gathered the remnants of his Krow army, and prepared for war from the spot where he had been transported by the portal. The Paladins all regrouped together, and organized their defence. They planned to return to Heaven and hopefully defend the Source, while the Krows hoped to also return to Heaven, though for different reasons. The Reapers, as usual, set out immediately to hunt down all of the Paladins and Krows they could find.
However, unknown to all others, the Lambs also prepared. For in the darkness of the ruined remnants of the world, there lay but a single Beacon of Hope. A Beacon of Light. A Beacon of Faith.
This, was the ultimate target of all.

Only one man, a Paladin by the name of Omari, knew the location of this Tower, and this was because he appeared near it, but in all the confusion, he failed to deem the Tower as important in any way. He is sought now, by Krows, Paladins and Lambs from all over the Earth, and so the race for this divine, golden tower had begun. This tower became known only as the Arc Of The Covenant.
The three Jiyuu, along with a single Krow ally, stood before a group of 7 humans wielding guns, who threatened the pair, ordering them to hand over all their belongings. The Earth had begun imploding in on itself, and with this, it created crushing destruction aross the planet.
Ths destruction, was enough to send the simple-minded humans mad with greed.

Andrew Lark, a powerful Reaper, had been occupied by a group of weak Paladins, and only now had managed to sense Jiyuu's presence, and began his chase, hunting the war mongerer down in the hopes of slaughterig him where he stood. Jiyuu, however, would not be foolish enough to stand by as a Reaper approached. Probably not, anyway.
Koyoshi, the leader of the Lambs however, simply relaxed from a distance, close enough to see Jiyuu's sall blip on the streets below, but far enough so that he would not be sensed. If Jiyuu and Andrew managed to tear eachother apart, then it meant less work for the Lambs.
And Boris Crane, just like most of the other Paladins, had been given his orders by a makeshift leader. The orders were simple: Find Omari. He was the key to locating the Arc of the Covenant, but he had not appeared with the rest of the Paladins. In fact, after appearing near the Tower, Omari wandered for hours, and now, unbenownst to anyone else, he was flying, not above Japan, but through the streets of China, quite a long walk away to say the least.

He would be hunted, no matter where he was. This, was undeniable.

Jiyuu's mind flashed to immediately after the collapse. Three pairs of eager eyes opening to a scorched sky in the Bermuda Triangle. Krow remnants gathered, a tattered mess of a once great army, Jiyuu couldn't take it, whatever was left after they killed the weak off really wasn't much at all.
And right now they really needed the extra troops, not for backup, but for sport.
Back in the now Jiyuu stood face to face, three times, with the pitiful humans. The first one stepped forward, "You realize what we are don't you? What we can do?"
The second one snapped, "I say we just kill them before the reapers show up."
"If we start now, we'd have time to feed."
The third one approached one of the humans, who thrust the gun into her face, her mask opened and revealed an array of teeth, she bit cleanly down onto the end of the gun. She spat on the floor.
"We should leave."
The third one jumped and bit clean through the jugular of the human. While his screams turned into a sound not unlike water down a drain, the other humans opened fire in futility. The bullets did them no good, it just made their deaths quicker and more painless, something Jiyuu detested.
Still, no time for that, Omari was out there somewhere.
Without another word, The krows set off for the Eastern Cascade, one of the four places that all three worlds met.

http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index....showtopic=43353
just so people know why Vortex and I will be gone for a while... but LOL this failed already...

[If someone says Omari is a Paladin one more time, I'll punt a baby. He's a reaper!!]

Omari cracked his head out the alleyway. Everything looked calm and quiet. Perfect. The past 2 days he's been hiding from Krows, Paladins, Reapers, and even the Lambs due to a coincidence. It was him against the world. But he needed to pick his battles wisely.

As he walked out the alleyway with a hood covering his head, he looked around to see if anyone has been following him. He looked back: 3 people following his every move. He jumped up to the top of a building, and began to take off his hood. What was revealed under the hood was not the familiar feeling of profession and intimidation, but instead scars and bandages with a new, more free flowing wardrobe. His coat had been replaced with a black tank top, with bandages wrapped around all of the arms and shoulders. At the wrist, there laid 2 iron chains with 2 knives neatly tucked in. His pants were replaced with blue basketball shorts that reached the top of the knee. His legs were covered in scars, and his ankle were protected by braces, with bandages underneath showing at the shin. His shoes were replaced with basketball shoes, Nike Hyperizers. On his back lied a gray Jansport bag. Who was once a respected and feared hunter was now reduced to the prey he so passionately hunted.

" I'm not even gonna ask. You want to know the Tower location, eh?" Omari asked, impatiently. The 3 men revealed themselves to be Paladins. " We're glad you'll cooperate." the middle one said. " I didn't say that." Omari said. The Paladins pulled out their weapons, and began to charge at him. Almost immediately, Omari called out his scythe and gashed the three in half. One looked in disbelief. " I've been attacked by 5 year olds stronger than you. And it seems like because of their idiocy, the world is in danger." Omari began to walk up into the air. " It looks like I have the power now. If I can just meet the leaders, I'll be able to decide who deserves to find the Arc. Until then, I'm just gonna keep slashing the small fry." Omari began flying away, in the direction of Japan, where it all began.

OOC: Might just take this into our own hands like last time. We can keep this going till Trickster comes back.

IC: Boris strumbled through the ruins of what used to be a busy city. He was dressed in drabs, and a long cloak, looking like a begger at this point. His skin was tatooed with cryptic symbols. A present from the Reapers, a seal that prevented him from using any of his clara. Unfortunately for them, sealing his clara was not enough to restrain Boris Crane. Still, Boris was in terrible shape. He had to scavenge for food to keep himself going, and at his current state, he couldn't even fight. To think, the once so mighty Boris Crane was now forced to hide from even the lowest ranking Crows was humiliating. But Boris still had one thing going for him.
It had been about a week since he escaped the clutches of the reapers. The world as he knew it had changed. No longer were the lines clear, but everything was blurred. The world was a mess, total anarchy. To think, mere humans had even gotten involved in this Celestial battle.
As the hours went on Boris spotted some figures flying through the sky. He quickly hid amoungst the rubble to avoid being seen. After he was sure they were gone, he continued on, hoping to find a place he could remove the tatoo's which seal his power, or at least another paladin who could temporarily aid him.

---
Andrew looked up into the night sky. The once so tranquil sight was now reduced to a swirling mess. The colliision of heaven with earth changing it into an unrecognizable wreck.
He had been pursuing the trail of Jiyuu Kuro-fuu, trying to find any remaining reapers while he was at it. Ever since the last encounter, he was sure he did not stand a chance against the Crow leader in one-on-one combat, despite the new powers he had recently obtained. Unfortunately, Andrew's primary goal, now, was to get rid of Jiyuu. With the planes of Heaven and Hell gone, now was the perfect opportunity to remove the Crow lord permenently. He would have to do so before Jiyuu, or anyone else for that matter, could get to the Arc of the Covanent.

Jiyuu was cruising towards the Eastern Cascade, just on the border of Japan, immediately after the Black Chivalry it became Krow and Reaper territory. To this day it is mostly Krow, but some reaper remnants continue to stir up conflict. Most of the Cascade is technically over the ocean, but between heaven and hell there is plenty of land for them to fight for.
On the way there, Jiyuu was confronted by several Krows,
"Jiyuu, We've received word of several Reaper units trying to track you down, some of them near the Eastern Cascade."
"Why do you think we're heading there." The second one retorted.
"But, General, it's not safe."
"It's not safe because we made it unsafe. If the reapers were capable of stopping us they would have by now."
"Besides, we have 'friends' we need to talk with."
The Krows moved aside and joined the three of them in returning to the Krow's main territory.

[lul im bak]

Koyoshi gazed down upon the tattered, tainted lands beneath the building he stood perched upon. As Jiyuu took leave having dealt with a group of pathetic humans, he leapt across rooftops, constantly keeping up with Jiyuu without getting too close. He had a plan first.
A pair of hs fellow Lambs joined him after a few minutes, and together they leapt directly into Jiyuu's path, and the two Lambs drew swords. Long, thick, rough silver blades revealed themselves, attached to a leather handle. Fresh blood still dripped from the tips, and simultaneously, the two Lambs pulled down their hoods, reveling their tattooed, scarred pale faces and dark black eyes, with yellow irises which seemed to stare into the very soul of Jiyuu and his men. Koyoshi meanwhile, simply stood there as if he were having a casual conversation with an old friend, with a drooping, sinister grin digging itself into his lower face, like a dagger holding a man in place by the shoulders.

"Good day..." He muttered to Jiyuu, before letting out a small whistle, causing the two Lambs to jump straight into combat with the Krows, while Koyoshi leapt into the air, and drew back his arms charging Clara into them which swiftly converted into Wind. Wind which burst down towards Jiyuu, and regardless of whether Jiyuu dodged or not, the ground where he had been standing would be crushed downwards, forming a jagged crater. Immediately after the Wind erupted from his palms, Koyoshi formed a Seal in front of him which split into a Scythe. "Demonic Judgement.... Greetings From The Reaper..." He muttered quietly, the same dark grin still frozen upon his face. With Scythe in hand, he plummeted down towards Jiyuu head-first, with his Scythe held back, ready to slice away at Jiyuu when the time came.

[OoC awesome sauce, and yes I am a mod-in-training of all of general discussion so no spam in general/serious discussion, just spam everywhere else ]

Jiyuu leapt out of the way, but the second one still ended up planted in the ground. It picked itself out of the ground and stared at the incoming human. He materialized his own scythe and stood unwavering. He swung his scythe at the last moment, putting the two into a deadlock, face to face.
"Your eyes... You're no ordinary human, it's a shame such an exciting specimen has to be burnt alive." He released himself from the deadlock and stared at Koyoshi darkly. The first and third swooped in from each side, shooting wicked flames from their palms that circled and danced around their target, while the second one scorched the ground underneath Koyoshi's feet.
When the three of them were tapped, the second one finished off the attack by thrashing his scythe through the flames, the other two joined in then staggered back, exhausted from such a thorough attack.

[OoC this is the most epic attack I've ever done in an RP me thinks]

[Bah, it stands no chance Now you get to see the first of the 4 Warp attacks, and it's my personal fav if you ask me]

Koyoshi lifted his left arm up, pressing it against his forehead as a natural reaction to the scorching heat of the flames, and immediately the yellow irises of his eyes spread across the whole of his eyes, turning them completely yellow.
"An interesting assault, though you call me an interesting specimen? Hmph, you don't know the half of it, or of our abilities...." He muttered, slightly before the previously-summoned Scythe came swiping at him. "As your Divine Shephard, allow me and my flock of loyal Lambs to take away the sins that plague our pure world, oh Lord. "Warping Assault Stage 2: Shedding Of The Radiant Blade"" He said in a surprisingly soft tone, which made the spech sound almot like a poem. However, this softness was swiftly replaced by wild laughter, as Koyoshi seemed to turn metallic for a brief instant, and he was suddenly split up into segments, his body and facial features dsappearing quickly, and his body burst into 10 long, thin blades which soared in every direction, making it likely that one of the Jiyuus would be hit by a blade. Koyoshi had disappeared as the Blades were launched, but when they met again, they once again forme his body and his features grew back: he had become a group of Blades for roughly 6 seconds. The actual transformation took roughly 2 seconds, and the poem took 4. In total, it was a close call, and he could practically feel the Scythe's clean edge against his waist.

When Koyoshi was re-alligned behind the 1st Jiyuu, he immediately began to cast another Judgement.
"Demonic Judgement.... Purgery Saw!" He cried out with manic bursts of laughter, as 5 small orbs formed on each of his fingers and began to spin around his hand, blurring into a thin dark disk that spun elegantly within his palm before expanding, growing larger than his hand. He leapt backwards, and threw the Saw without hsitation towards the 1st Jiyuu, aiming it so that it would decapitate him perfectly, and cleanly if it managed to hit him. Meanwhile, he saw that both of the Lambs had been injured, and one of the Krows had been killed, while the rest continued to attack, holding back the confident Lambs.

[OoC I call hax0rz ]

All of Jiyuu suffered somewhat from the swords, mostly superficial cuts and the like, practically a pleasure to Jiyuu. The first one murmured almost immediately after sensing Koyoshi behind him, "Demonic Judgement, Shifting nature."
The first one sank into the now liquid earth beneath him, just avoiding the saw. He arose and stood confidently inside the seal, keeping a close eye on the spinning saw. Meanwhile the second and third proceeded to surround Koyoshi, they remained just on the outskirts of the seal, Koyoshi would not be so lucky [unless he could jump ten meters from standing still ].
The first one approached Koyoshi, the shifting world barely even disturbing his step, "Tell me human, how do you have these powers?"
"We may spare your life if you tell us."
"may."

[Just so you know, you can't control Shifting Nature What is turned into gas, liquid or solid is unknown to anyone since it's completely random, oh and yes. I'm a EPIk haX0r]

"These "Powers"? Hmph..... you are more foolish than you think, dear Jiyuu. For centuries we have been the Shadow which crept eternally behind Heaven and Hell, since the years where all of the Divine Worlds lived in harmony together. To think that you would spark a war without even investigating. If you had done so, you probably would've found out about us. You see Jiyuu...... I have nothing wrong with you or your goals, in fact I share them. I want to eradicate God, and all the beliefs that follow him. But, I also want to eradicate the title of "god". You see..... as long as there is someone acting as a "god", residing above all the lesser folks, there will always be morality.
Morals are something that we as people should be able to decide for ourselves, but with a god around...... right and wrong will be decided for us, and we will be punished for disagreeing. As far as I know, you seek to become a god. Therefore, you along with our current "God", must be........
deleted." He glanced up at the 1st Jiyuu. "THIS is how we have these powers. We not only control what you call Cores ,Seals and Judgements, but we have also changed, no: evolved, to gain these unique powers that we call "Warps". We are the Lambs, Jiyuu. And you are the sins. Read some prayers, and you'll know what we're supposed to do to you. You see Jiyuu, we are boith Shephards leading our flocks of sheep. But the problem is, eventually every Shephard will lead his flock to slaughter, and you and the rest of Heaven have been at this for a long time meaning you're much closer to the day of your flock's demise..... incidently, Earth, my home and the home of the other Lambs, happens to be a part of that flock. But whether you kill me or not........ there will always be another Shephard to take my reign."

[OoC he doesn't control it, he's just a risk taker, and well practiced in predicting it.]

The first one laughed mockingly, "Impressive, really, but look around kid, I kind of beat you to the whole 'killing god' thing. Hell, there isn't a god anyway, stuff just happens and judgmental pricks blame some abundance of power. If I was god, I'd accept you all for the beautiful fuck ups you are, that's not to say I wouldn't kill people randomly, but I'd never have 'morals', hell, I'm not even a shepherd."
The three Jiyuus created balls of clara and shot one of their Krows dead, then, without hesitation, proceeded to shoot a lamb.
"Sorry, had to even the numbers and all that, I'm sure you understand."
The first one walked right up to Koyoshi, "I'll tell you a secret though, because you have impressed me, I too am mortal."
"Or was."
"And can become whenever we want."
"But you see, I evolved as well, in a way far more immoral."
"He killed us you see, killed us and poured his soul into us."
"Or what was left of a soul."
The three stepped back, "We're more than mortal, more than supernatural, more than god, more than wrong, more than powerful, more than justice, more than lambs or shepherds or paladins or reapers or krows."
"We're Jiyuu Kuro-Fuu, stick around kiddo, you might just see something you like."
"Can I eat him now?"
"Maybe."

[OoC Please include that last bit in the story :')]

Omari gazed at the border of Japan to see a battle occurring. " Shit." Omari saw a familiar threesome. " That's Jiyuu...and a human?" Omari unsheathed his longsword in case. He attempted to sneak away from the battle, unnoticed. However, a Krow looked towards him, and yelled, " Stop right there!" Omari shot a burst of Clara towards him to distract him, then slashed his back. Omari turned to Jiyuu. " Damn...please don't notice me." He sweated bullets, and turned the other way.

The second one crooked his head lazily to the side and murmured with agitation,"Do you mind telling your people to stop attacking, I could of sworn we were having a conversation here."
He turned back with equal boredom, "Surely we should be looking for the tower, we can kill each other after."

Andrew stood on top of a ruined spire in dramatic fasion. He placed his index, and middle finger on his forhead, his eyes shut. It was his way of sensing clara from other celestial beings. He was hoping to find fellow reapers, but the sea of Crow's who had taken over the country of Japan really drowned things out. He soon detected bursts of clara released in a battle nearby. Six novas, two essences, and another source he was unfamiular with. Something alien. This would require further investigation, thus Andrew spread his black wings and flew towards the source. The closer he got, he eventually recognized some of the clara. The three bodies of Jiyuu Kuro-Fuu.

---

Boris walked through wastland, leaning on a walking stick for support. For how long had he wandered this desolate land. He needed water, deprived of it for days. His vision blurred. Was it the end? Would Boris die here? Would he be unable to keep his promise. Eventually these thoughts left his mind. He was losing conciousness. Finally his legs would no longer support his weight, and he collapsed. The only motion was from his cloak, blowing in the violent wind.

"Perhaps, you're right, and there IS no longer a God. But if that's the case, why do you want the Arc? If you seek to become a God, then you could do-so whenever you want, in fact anyone can. ANYONE can claim to be a God, but to sustain the responsibilities take a powerful will. And to ignore those responsibilities negates yor title as God. You can claim to be a God, but you need your people to ACCEPT you as one, only then are you truly a God." Koyoshi looked over Jiyuu's shoulder, staring at the dead Lamb and the dead Krow, and shouted over to his last ally: "Halt, Ayo. At this point, our fates are more or less held withn Jiyuu's hands, and as such if they kill me, they'll destroy you." Koyoshi turned his attention back to Jiyuu.

"But killing me... would be the first mistake you make against the Lambs. You see, the Lambs are split up into Sectors, and I am the strongest in my Sector. It may interest you to know however..... that I am still the weakest off all the Sector Leaders, meaning if you kill me, they'll have one of the stronger Leaders replace me without hesitation. And there are 13 Sectors in total.
If you spare me, you'll have me and my Sector acting as a constant problem. If you kill me however.... you'll have someone else, and their Sector combined with my Secotr all acting against you, and so then that cycle repeats itself until the Lambs are nothing more than the most powerful Human in existence, leading what would literally be an Army of Lambs against you and your little friends.
It's your choice."

Koyoshi once again turned his attention to his Lamb comrade.
"I've changed my mind.... attack him." He shouted over to him with an insane smile, before activating the Heavenly Seal: Divine Bullets, and firing a Barrage of Essence towards the Lesser Krow, while the Lesser Lamb continued his physical assault.

The three Jiyuu's laughed and watched as their Krow died.
Finally, the third one flew over to the lamb, scythe in hand, and cleaved the head clean off. She held it like a trophy before feasting on the remains of the lamb. The second and first turned to Koyoshi like nothing was happening, "Look, a lot of people have died today, and I plan on killing a whole lot more. Sadly, i don't have room for you on my list."
the third returned, blood running down her. "We could kill you of course."
"That's right, we could."
"But then there is no message."
"Exactly. Go home and spread the word that you encountered the great God Jiyuu Juro-Fuu and lived... I assure you, I will do the same." The three began to leave before returning a last message, "Oh, and thank you for killing my followers, they question my authority slightly too much, sometimes they need to be reminded of how little I care for their existence."
The third one flew back, "I will eat you when we become god, bye!"
The three turned tentatively and flew towards the Krow base, the second one looking back momentarily.

[OoC first page, can't have too big a battle feel free to begin a chase straight into Krow territory, though I think a war would be far more epic, with Omari, Boris and the others caught right in the middle]

Omari came out of his hiding spot. Posing as a corpse under rubble was a decent idea, but the smell of ACTUAL corpses ruined the vibe. He saw Jiyuu heading back to his base. " He scares the shit out of me...I feel numb just looking at them!" Omari arose out of the rubble, looking up towards Koyoshi. The Lambs, eh? I dunno about this, but I just need temporary peace. Omari looked at the direction Jiyuu went off to. He was right in the middle of making a decision that would change life as he knew it. But the question was, who will he aid? " Hmmm....maybe I could...." Omari ran to the rubble he hid under. He moved some of it so he could dig up a hole. He put all his weapons in the hole, except a knife, and put the dirt back on. " I'll be back, Babes. I promise." Omari checked his wardrobe one more time. He already looked radically different, but he needed to lose one more thing: his hair. He took out his knife and cut off most of his hair, though it was a little uneven. It's the End of the World, not everyone is gonna look clean.

Omari looked up towards Koyashi again. " Well, here goes..." Purgery Saw! Omari aimed at one of the smaller somewhat intact buildings around. BOOM! When the rubble finished falling, he put himself underneath some. " HELP!!! SOMEONE HELP ME! DAMN IT, HEEEEELPPP!"

Andrew rapidly approached his targets. The closer he got, however, the louder he could herar a voice. Ever since he escaped purgatory, the wind would carry him news no other being could possibly hear, at that distance anyway. Sure enough, he could hear a "help." Someone was crying for aid.
"Damnit!" cursed Andrew as he headed to the direction of the cries. Why, at this crucial time did Andrew choose to put the lives of strangers over his objectives? It didn't matter now. It was too late to change his mind.
He landed in a pile of rubble. The cries for help louder than ever. Following the voice, Andrew finally found a man trapped under some. He hesitated at first. What if the person was a Paladin, or worse a Crow? Then again what kind of being of heaven would get himself trapped under rubble?
"Hold on!" Andrew shouted back as he started clearing away the debris with his hands. "Any injuries?"

"Urk!" Omari said, looking towards the Reaper. He hadn't expected someone besides Koyoshi to be around. " I-I'm fine. Thank you so much, sir, if you need anything, let me know!" Omari turned around quickly and attempted to walk slowly away, hoping the ex-comrade wouldn't recognize him. Just a little bit closer....c'mon. C'mon!

Koyoshi watched in slight confusion at the departing Jiyuu, and flinched when his line of thought was disturbed by the falling of a nearby building followed by screaming.
"Heh... these Humans are pathetic. You'd think they'd know better than to hang around a still-standing building by now wouldn't yo-..."
Before he could finish, Koyoshi realised his mistake now that he could sense the nearby Reaper. He began to run in the direction the screams had come from, knowing that a Reaper was obviously saving a human: Or so he thought. When he was very near the building, Koyoshi stopped, causing him to skid along the dirt, ending abruptly behind a mound of rubble that had been left by the falling building.
He saw the Reaper he had sought, and only now could tell that there were actually 2 of them. One was in a set of typical clothing that one could expect from a Reaper, while the other was wearing a strange mix-and-match of human clothes. "Huhhmmmmm a black man acting on behalf of the last remnant of Heaven's government..? Odd..... I don't know how he'd be able to stand the racism that secretly flows throughout the hierarchy of Heaven. He must be a strong-willed man...... that's good. And this other one..... " Koyoshi got to his feet and trudged over to the pair, watching in curiosity as Omari tried to sneak away. "Dear Reapers...... I have no reason to be immediately hostile against either of them, and nor do they have reason to be hostile against me. In fact, it woul be beneficial to both of out Societies if we eliminated the Paladins and Krows....... so in a way, we share the same role. You see..... I am a member of a Society called the "Lambs", and we seek nothing more than to free Heaven of all those that plague it with war.... including the Paladins and Reapers.
That is why I ask.... that maybe you'd be interested in aiding me..... because one of my major enmies, and of course one of YOUR major enemies......
is Jiyuu Kuro-Fuu." Koyoshi could only hope that he didn't shock the Reapers too much with his sudden entry, and random proposition that he pulled out of the blue.

"Reapers...?" asked Andrew. From what he could tell, he was the only reaper here. Then the light went on, and he turned to the man he just rescued. "Could it be?" If this man was a reaper, then he excelled in hiding his presence, and the other was good at snuffing them out.
Speaking of the other man, Andrew sensed dark nova, essence, as well as the third unknown source from earlier. Just who was this man, and the Lambs that he lead?
"As much as I would like to discuss a possible alliance, first I need to deal with my subordinate. You!" he declared, pointing at the disguised Omari. "Are you really a reaper like this man says? If so, what do you think you're doing?"

"Urk!" Omari felt his spine chill. " Damn...quite a compromising situation I've been brought in. Really, I was trying to get only one of you guy's attention..." Omari tried to act like he knew what he was saying. All you gotta do is improvise...Improvise... Omari turned towards the two. " What do I think I'm doing? I really have no damn clue. But I'll tell you this much. I was a Reaper as he says....however, for now, those days are past me. I act as my own person now, and I suggest that you do as well. So don't think I owe you anything..." Omari turned to Koyoshi. " I actually needed to talk to you about that. It's pretty much a two person battle now for the title of "God". I've met Jiyuu personally myself, and 'they' actually had goals I didn't argue with. The only problem is, he seems different now. I just want to know where you stand with this mess our 'God' has set for us." Omari looked at Koyoshi. He already knows I'm a Reaper, but does he know who I am? I think I could still pull the incognito for a little longer.

"I just needed to know," replied Andrew. The reaper's words were like knives to him. He understood where this reaper was coming from. After Andrew had discovered the remenants of his reaper unit, most individuals chose to disband, and make the most of this world. He couldn't blame them. The way the world was now, anyone would lose there faith.
The reaper had basically stated everything Andrew would have started with. So he decided to let Koyoshi speak before asking more questions.

"Where do I stand on the 'God' concept..? Heh.... I am against it. Completely. You see..... as long as there is someone standing above the Lesser Folk, swinging his ego around with Chapels and Landmarks dedicated to themself, there will always be power to abuse, beliefs to corrupt, and rules to break. On top of this, there will never be any kind of 'Moral Choice' in the world. No.... instead, everyone will have to follow this 'God's' teachings like robots, or be branded traitors. No.... I cannot stand by and watch it. For are you not entitled to your own mind? Are you not entitled to even the sweat of your brow? Hmph, 'God' would tell you that it belongs to the poeple, or it belongs to Pope. Why share the same common Soul as everyone else, just because some 'God' guy says it's the right thing to do? My goal, is not to simply kill 'God' and then replace him. I have no intentions of telling you that "When I become God, everything will be different!"
For that would just be hypocritical of me. No, I in fact seek one thing; to destroy the title of 'God' as a whole. To remove the God we currently hold with such vast regards, but not just that; I seek to destroy the title. THAT means nobody shall replace such a....a ...
power-crazed being. That. Is where I stand."

"Hmph. That's pretty bold. You'd best have the firepower to back it up." Omari said. " Look at this mess. I feel like we may need a temporary God to get morale up again. Still, I can't blame you for attempting that. Whenever you need the help, I'm Om-!" Shit! "Malcolm. Call me Malcolm." Omari checked to see if Koyoshi was suspicious.

[Oh and TaFresh, did you see the Sign-Up topic? I meant what I said!! ]

Koyoshi's left eye twitched a mere millimetre when "Malcolm" finished talking, but he simply let it pass, disregarding it as unimportant.
"Well..... Reapers are the closest beings to we Lambs, since they can manipulate both Essence and Dark Nova. For that reason..... you could be invaluable to our cause. Perhaps your.... "former ally" here could also aid in, what will ultimately become Jiyuu's downfall.
Though... in order for either of you to join..... I'll need to "introduce" you to my friends. Before I can do so, I must warn you that this s your last chance to change your mind. If you don't want to join us, then walk away now. If you do, then know that once you enter our HQ, you will be constantly followed by one of our members until I feel you can be totally trusted.
Or, you can simply serve as "supporter", coming in as backup when we get into tough fights. Any of these three options are fine;
walk away, join formally, or act as an outside associate."
Koyoshi formed what seemed to be a warm smile, so convincing was it that he had once managed to fool the politician in charge of Heaven's military forces with it; he hoped it would also fool these two.

Jiyuu burst into the Krow headquarters and was immediately met with roars of praise and applause, some of the higher standing soldiers began to sing praise in their wicked god's name. One such praise was uttered by an awful noble and round krow who spoke with a gruff yet menacing voice, "Behold the being that rips open the worlds themselves!"
A younger, but brutal, looking fellow ,with great scars beneath his eyes, said in a voice completely disillusioned with praise, "And hold, that he does not regard our master's will shall be thrown into the abyss."
A final Krow stepped towards Jiyuu Kuro-Fuu, and with a slightly worried gesture asked his leader, "Did my men not try to stop you?"
The first one dismissed the comment and head for a idle throne in the center of the room, the Second one turned to the man and answered as carelessly as possible, "Why of course they tried, but they also did fail."
The man looked about himself then returned to the general, "But then where are they, surely they would return with you?"
"They're dead."
"Dead!?" the man shouted, attracting a confused reaction from the atmosphere of blood thirsty soldiers.
The second one continued, "Yes, dead. We encountered some trouble on the way over."
"My men were killed by Paladins or Reapers, tell me which, I simply must avenge them."
The second one began to speak, "Neither, Lambs, some supernaturally enhanced humans we were unaware of." before the first one bellowed out, "and me!"
The man looked up, "What do you mean, you?"
The first one stood up, kicked a stool out from a table, stepped upon the stool and looked the Krow clearly in the eye, "All but one of your men were killed by the Lambs, and the remaining one I killed myself."
shock and horror echoed throughout the cramped hall, as every Krow began conjuring up their own tale to spread. However, the krow continued to look at Jiyuu as if to say, 'why?'
and the Krow returned with an answer, "For sport. I killed him for sport, and I'll kill anyone here who I feel like killing."
he stared down his army, "With or without cause"
the three Jiyuus stood together, smoke beginning to rise from around them, "And if anyone has a problem with that, LEAVE NOW! I will have nothing but loyalty within these walls, nothing but ultimate dedication and devotion and power and strategy AND WILLINGNESS TO DIE FOR WHATEVER WHIM WE HAVE!"
The Krow army stood still. The room resonated with rage. The smoke found its way in and around the circles of the room and back to the hands of the children who held the tenseness of the room to breaking point.
The children began speaking again, this time politely, like nothing had happened, "Also, we are now at war with the lambs. If they're still alive a week from now then I would wish everyone in this hall dead. And when we say wish we mean will make. Have we made ourselves clear?"
the room seemed to nod, but upon further inspection, half of the original cast of the room had fled.
"good"

Andrew was tempted to join with Koyoshi. He had grown indifferent to "God" after seeing the many injustices that plagued the real world. Koyoshi's goal of erradicating that title was of little difference to him. But everything seemed too good, as though he were talking to a con-artist. He would need more information before he could make a choice.
"Why should we have to make our decisions now?" he politely asked. "I will say, you have my interest, but I don't know enough about the Lambs to make a clear choice. Perhaps I may meet these friends of yours beforehand?"

---
*sometime after Jiyuu's meeting*

The door burst open to Jiyuu's personal quarters. A high ranked Krow entered, carrying the limp body of Boris Crane.
"Pardon my intrusion great leader, but I have a paladin here to see you. Normally I would dispatch of such vermin myself, but this one claims to be under your personal service. Will he have your time or..." he paused patially unsheathing his blade, "shall I get rid of him?"

Koyoshi grinned lightly before letting out a long sigh.
"Your hesitation is normal, understandable even. But you must realise... I simply cannot let you see our secret Headquarters, and then let you decide whether you're with us or not. In fact it would be quite.... well, quite foolish of me. You could discover our HQ and then decide you're not with us. What then? We kill you on the spot, at the cost of losing some of our good men? Our numbers are.... scarce. I can't take any kind of chances that would risk losing more Lambs, unless we had a lot to gain from it. That, is my reasoning. Koyoshi's grin had long faded, and he gazed at Andrew with a calm, Neutral expression, while inside, his heart was thunderously beating, as if on a mad rampage, knowing that he was so close to recruiting a pair of Reapers; all he had to do was pick the right words that would make him seem relatable and fair, yet powerful.

Koyoshi took a few steps away from the Reapers, Andrew and "Malcolm", and he stared into the tainted, rotten land that was suspended above in place of a clear night sky. His eyes moved to the right, looking in the direction of the two however he remained facing away from them. A faint, gloomy smile, once again fake, grew on his face as he muttered just loud enough for them to hear: "So what do you say?"

"Your reasoning is understandable as well," replied Andrew. "Well, if I'm absolutely forced to choose now, than I think I would have to choose the third option. I can't join an organization without the proper knowledge, but I really think that being affiliated with the Lambs could have a mutual benefit."

Jiyuu leaped off of their thrown and landed just in front of Boris, the third one turned to a ragged man by a door, "Get this man something to drink, something to eat" she called out urgently. Meanwhile the second and first one examined the body of their once/once not/once again comrade who now lay almost dying on their floor.
"I can't sense his clara..." the second one said seriously
"It's bound in some way, perhaps." the first one answered, before turning to what could only be described as a dark cleric, "We need to examine this paladin, we believe he may have a curse on him. Prove your worth, or we won't hesitate to kill you."
The cleric nodded then moved to a chest and began preparing instruments, meanwhile the previous man came out from a door carrying food and drink. He placed it cautiously by Jiyuu's feat then backed away fearfully.
Jiyuu turned their attention towards Boris, "What happened to you?"

Boris coughed before answered Jiyuu's question.
"Reapers..." he weezed. "Captured... tortured... escaped..."
He saw the food and drink placed by Jiyuu's feet. Famished, he weekly reached for drink, his hand shaking as he slowly moved.

Jiyuu grunted, "We never liked the reapers, they never understood the purpose of this war, you paladins did... So there was always some hope for you." the first one said frankly. He then turned back to the fallen Paladin, "That doesn't explain why I can't sense your clara, what did the reapers do to you, and how can we help."

Boris managed to grasp the goblet, and drank deeply from it. After he had drained it, he gasped for air. He then addressed Jiyuu's question, his voice not nearly as raspy as before.
"They managed to place a clara supressing seal on me," he said as he removed his cloak, revealing his bare chest. Ancient marking surrounding his torso and arms like chains. "Apparently, this seal is removed by breaking the intersecting links, how these links are broken, however, I do not know."

the second one turned and gestured for the dark priest from before to approach them. The cloaked man stood over and examined the chains. He looked respectfully to the first one, who replied, "Yes, you can speak, Colbert"
The man, Colbert, took another look then cleared his throat, "You see" he began, pointing to the markings, "how they interlock. This is powerful cursing indeed. If I'm right, and I'm rarely wrong, then this is designed to seal and suppress all supernatural abilities, and then further weaken those abilities until they cease to be."
Jiyuu looked at Colbert in unison, "How do we cure him?"
Colbert looked at the demonic children then stood up straight in the candle lit darkness, he then rubbed his thin white beard and continued, "There are multiple ways to break this seal, however, most of them rely on the prisoner not escaping or not wanting to do certain things. In this case the prisoner has done both. Our initiations for higher level Krows, subjection to high levels of clara and dark nova, would easily break this seal because it's designed for Paladins and not for Krows. Of course, the resulting mixture would be far weaker than before the seal was put in place. We could also perform a simple but arduous ritual, one that may remove the markings altogether, but it could just make things worse."
Colbert stopped and straighten out his robe, Jiyuu looked on confidently, "Your hesitation tells me that you have a much simpler and more effective solution."
The dark priest laughed, "Oh yes. Those markings are made in ink, and even when buried within a living being it is still ink. The demonic judgment shifting nature may be able to change the state of the ink, and one simple fracture in the chain will cause the entire thing to collapse. However, we'll have to create a very powerful judgment to affect ink below the skin, so I'm afraid we'll both have to cast the judgment and simply hope that you're friend here can survive."

Jiyuu turned to Boris slyly, "Hear that? You can choose your favorite, but they all come with a moderate risk of death." Colbert turned back, "There are also great alters where we could cleanse him, but no one knows where they are anymore."

While Jiyuu conversed with Colbert, Boris had taken the liberty of taking the food, quickly devouring it as though he were timed. Of course, he continued to pay attention to the conversation. The topic was about him afterall.
Finally, Jiyuu turned to him, asking to him to choose the option he prefered. Waiting to find a cleansing altar was not a option. So it was either to die from clara, or die from some unknown matter wrecking the insides of his body.
"No one ever gets anywhere by playing it safe," he replied. "High risk, high reward. So, about this demonic judgment shifting nature..."

Jiyuu paced around his hall and talked almost to themselves, "Well you need to get better first. Eat up, drink up, rest. As soon as you're better the four of us will take you out to a clear an area as possible and cast shifting nature on you. It's possible nothing will happen, as shifting nature rarely affects people's bodies, but we're expecting that the markings themselves can still move, and if they can move then they can move out. Still, let's not get ahead of ourselves, that's not what this war is about. For now you need to rest, and so should we if we're going to create a judgment powerful enough to steam the ink out of you."
Cobalt coughed to speak, "I'm going to meditate, let me know when you want to perform the judgment."

"It's kinda the same for me. How about you have your 'friends' meet us somewhere hidden instead of us going to your HQ if that's such a big deal to you. Otherwise, you guys won't really be much more than acquaintances. " Omari looked at Koyoshi with a watchful eye.

Koyoshi closed his eyes and titled his head up for a moment. ~Why didn't I think of that...?~ He thought to himself, ready to punch himself in the head at his thoughtlessnes. He considered it for a moment, and finally decided that there wasn't much risk unless Malcolm were to bring some friends to the meeting. However there was a simple solution to that: He could escort Malcolm to the place with the largest volume of Lambs in the same place at that current time; the Shiodome City Centre. The Lambs had converted it into a temporary "Mini-Base" to keep watch over their various operations throughout Japan. "Alright..... we have a sort of.... outpost that you could come to. We have men there so there would be no need for preparations. That means..... we can go right away..... if you wish." Only now after saying this, did Koyoshi turn to face Malcolm before taking a huge leap, landing on the railing of an apartment balcony, to Malcolm's right. Koyoshi smiled down before shouting;
"Shall we?!"

Andrew lept upwards, following Koyoshi.
"Since we've managed to come to a compromise, I hope you don't mind that I take back my stance, and meet with your comrads."

----

Boris finished the food he was recently presented.
"Now that my basic needs have been met, I'll be fully prepared for this ceremony by tomorrow," he answered.
He attempted to stand up, but of course, food and drink is not some miracle cure for muscle fatigue. He fell onto one knee, trying to keep himself from looking clumsy.
"You wouldn't happen to have a crutch I may borrow, do you?"

Jiyuu shrugged unusually. The second one took a chair and smashed it, measured up the wood then threw it away.
"No. We haven't got any crutches. We'll send a Krow to obtain one. In the meantime rest here, I have some business to take care of."
They headed for the door, mustered up an almost sincere wave then left to join the fighting on the planes below.

Omari leapt up towards Koyoshi. " I have no rush, it's the end of the world. WHat do I have to wait for? Lead the way, Koyoshi." Omari turned around to look at where he left his gear and sword. Matilda, I'll be back.

Koyoshi smiled lightly, knowing that he may have on over two Reapers without having to reveal his HQ.
"Very well.... let's get going. It's a bit of a trip for a normal human, but people like us..... well for us it's a walk in the park." With that said, he began jumping from building to building, growing somewhat envious of his Reaper followers who had the novelty of wings. "Tell me... what are your thoughts on Jiyuu's power, at this time?" Koyoshi shouted back at the pair, curious about whether or not either of them had encountered him. "And do either of you have any idea.... of what it'd take to annihalate him..?"
~I need to know as much about Jiyuu as possible if I'm to have any hope of crushing him and his army. I shall raise a factionof such power that no amount of Krows will be able to save Jiyuu...... these Reapers, if I can gain their loyalty, will be of much use to us....... I just need to work my wording right, and show them the.... more noble side of the Lambs.~

"I have fought with Jiyuu Kuro-fuu myself," answered Andrew, who followed Koyoshi on foot rather than fly. Seemed like a courteous thing to do. "But back then, he was whole, rather than split like he is now. I do not know whether this changes his powers or not. Regardless, in order to defeat Jiyuu, we will need an appropriate countermeasure to his ability to manipulate flames, and his clara-negating, demonic judgement."

the group arrived at their destination and were met with many suspicious faces, which stared at the Reapers and Koyoshi with puzzlement. These unsure Lambs naturally trusted Koyoshi however, and so they simply let the Reapers pass until the group made it to the top floor of a simple-looking office building.
A pair of simple Lambs stood either side of a powerful giant of a man wielding a pair of oversized battle-axes who stared at the Reapers with disgust.
"This, is Alexander Pate. Mr. Pate is my superior in strength, and is the leader of another Sect of the Lambs. Mr. Pate, these are Andrew Lark and Malcolm; they are both Reapers of impressive strength and, well..... with the current state that the world is in, I feel they may be willing to join us. They simply wanted to meet some of our kind, you understand."

Alexander stared at the Reapers head-to-toe as if judging them. "Alright..... Koyoshi you understand my usual beliefs about bringing non-Lambs into any Sect, however. I'm planning a direct Assault On Jiyuu's Stronghold which was recently discovered by one of my scouting teams who had followed a Paladin to his base. If these two are willing to fight with my men...... then I'll have no quarrels with them joining."
Koyoshi smiled, before looking behind him to the Reapers with a look as if to say "well?"

"Well this trip has not revealed much about the Lambs as I hope to learn. I cannot say I will join the Lambs at this very moment. But if you will allow it, I would like to assist you in assaulting Jiyuu's main headquarters," replied Andrew.

---

Boris sat cross legged in the middle of a chamber. The ritual to remove the markings was scheduled for this morning. He had slept well, and most of his former strength had returned to him. Fortunate for him so, for he would need it for the events to follow.

"Same here." Malcolm/Omari said. " So, when do we go?"

Cobalt strolled into the hall. A fearful character if on the wrong side of him, his judgements were among the most powerful. He approached Boris, "Master shall be here any second."
True to his word, Jiyuu entered, covered in blood, seconds later.
"That was a fun night." The Third one laughed viciously. The first and second followed behind her, "Right, let's get started."
The second one was carrying a staff, "Still need a crutch?" he asked Boris, throwing him the staff.

Cobalt strolled outside, Jiyuu waited for Boris then continued.
"Just say the word when you want to begin." Cobalt instructed.
The four Krows distanced themselves from Boris and prepared to cast the judgements.

[I have to say...... this business of using Shifting Nature to remove an ink seal is a bit iffy
If you're gonna do it, I say we should at least make it all "official" like Like use a random number generator to decide if it's successful?]