[YB/IC-RP] A Funny Thing Happened to Me, On the Way to the Funeral...

[Ycekhold]

OOC:

With all that's been happening to me as of late, I've decided to cut back slightly on the level of my participation here, especially given the fact that I may very well be resuming my Record Keeper duties after the Great Recursion (my IC term for this official reset). That having been said....since the characters who've made LW's life so interesting are either dead, or are retiring....I've decided to retire from playing YB, and concentrate exclusively (as a player) on YBA (or, perhaps, almost exclusively; depending on what unfolds after the reset, I may end up using Shriffyn again).

The remainder of this thread is meant for reading only; please refrain from making any posts here. In closing the OOC portion of this thread, I thank you all for your time, and for being such wonderful story-tellers who were able to make LW's experiences here so worthwhile, for him and me alike.

(BTW....yes, I did speak w/ #47 regarding the use of the Ancient Master in this thread. )

And now....without any further ado....here it is, ladies and germs!

 

[Ycekhold]

Part 1-A

A Funny Thing Happened To Me, On the Way to the Funeral

====================

*During the Tournament of Honor, there had been one belt-ranked fighter who'd been conspicuous by his absence: the masked wrecking machine who'd been the source of (or the catalyst for) so many significant events in this strange new world of his. However, he too would be receiving mysterious visions, as a strange voice would whisper to him in the night. He had a dream that he was there at the Tournament. In the dream, he'd been in lieu of Jackal, the lower-tier fighter who'd gone on to ultimate victory. As the final match was about to begin, he gazes across the arena at this strange drow with fresh claw-marks on her face. Apparently, she had some problem communicating, for when it came time for the customary insult round, she handed a scroll to Lady Tsin instead. "Oh...you need me to read this", the white spider had said. Lady Tsin had unfurled the scroll and scanned its contents....she took a breath in preparation to read, but suddenly turned to Living Weapon, and had whispered directly to him, in a voice that was not her own....*

"She will call you, and you will go. You will be tested....and you will be judged."

 

[Ycekhold]

Part 1-B

*With all the other strangeness happening around him on his quest, the faceless fighter simply filed it away in the back of his mind for future reference. It'd come back to puzzle him a few days later, though....as he was dreaming about himself and Bhallreah, sharing a bed and going at it like a pair of rabbits. As she was on top of him, she suddenly leaned down and whispered to him in that same strange voice....*

"She will call you, and you will go. You will be tested....and you will be judged."

 

[Ycekhold]

Part 1-C

*Now, THIS was getting interesting. If not Lady Tsin or Bhallreah, just who would] be calling, testing, and judging him, anyway? If the masked man was puzzled before, he'd be downright bamboozled after getting back to YB-land. The Great Recursion was nearly at hand, and Living Weapon had very little time to prepare for the funeral of the woman he loved. He'd stored all of Bhallreah's items--as well as a few other items he'd either found during his quest, acquired from GrayDoom, or brought with him from his home-world--in a safe, secret place (after all, he'd worked too damn hard for all of that stuff to suddenly go missing again), before going out for a long jog to clear his mind. That night, he dreamed again....this time, he saw himself out on the jog he'd done that day, when suddenly, the Ancient Master--of all people-- was floating along beside him. After wondering out loud what he'd do with his life after the funeral, the Ancient Master whispered the words that were, by now, becoming a bit familiar....*

"She will call you, and you will go. You will be tested....and you will be judged."

*After waking from that third dream, the unknown pit-fighter mumbled to himself*
"Damn...if this turns out to involve building a baseball field, I'm outta here."

 

[Ycekhold]

Part 1-D

*The following morning dawned on the day of the funeral. Living Weapon awoke and, after feeding, cleaning, and clothing himself, was on his way to retrieve Bhallreah's still-preserved body, that it might be laid to rest. Suddenly--this time in the waking world--the Ancient Master appears beside him "again"!! After a quick double-take on the part of the masked man, he engages the venerable one in conversation*

"Ahhh....so, this time, you're not just a dream." soft chuckle*

"Well, young one...though I know not the context in which you speak, I do know that, in all the eons I've been here, I've evolved sufficiently to be oft-perceived as a dream by you locals. Out of curiosity, though....what did we discuss in this dream you apparently had, if anything?"

"Well....you had repeated to me a....signal? a warning, perhaps? It came in the form of a couple sentences; to wit, the following...."

"She will call you, and you will go. You will be tested....and you will be judged."

*the Ancient Master chuckles* "Well, young one....Bhallreah is still a most formidable presence in this realm, even in dea--"

"No, Ancient One...respectfully, that's not it. If there be any truth to this dream-message I'd had--not once, but thrice--someone is about to judge me, and it won't be Bhallreah."

*The Ancient Master outwardly shows no reaction...but inwardly, if he'd still possessed a physical body, his heart may very well have leapt out of his chest at that juncture, as he ponders the significance of what he just heard the masked man say*

("Could it actually be true?? If the Rule of Threes has come into play with these dreams of Jenner's, it must be RELEVANT, at the very least. Still....could it truly be, that this walking epitome of chaos, who never truly was--or truly WANTED to be--a part of this world, even despite his love for Bhallreah....would be judged by....HER??? Might it actually be about to happen, now, after all these eons? This masked man, this anti-hero of a thousand faces....is HE The One???")

*As far as Living Weapon can tell, however....when he asks the Ancient Master what the dreams could possibly mean, he receives only a smile and a shrug in reply*

*Jenner looks at the ghostly form of the Ancient Master closely now*

"I have no idea why....but you look very familiar to me. I know you're not from my old world....not counting my first match, which you judged....have we ever met before?"

*This time, the Ancient One's reply is a bit more obscure*

"No, Jenner; we haven't met before....yet."

*On the way to the secret location of Bhallreah's preserved corpse, they pass through the ruins of an ancient temple...so ancient, in fact, that even the Ancient Master has never remembered it as having been intact. Living Weapon is only partially concentrating on stepping over and around the rubble as he speaks, and therefore isn't prepared for what happens next. Just ahead of him is what was apparently the entrance to this ancient temple. Though the columns to either side of it are ruined, the archway itself is in remarkably good condition, despite the fact that it now lies flat on the ground*

"Yes, but....most honorable Ancient One, if Bhallreah is not the key to these recent messages, and you're apparently not either....there are no women of any significance in this realm who haven't already been eliminated as possibilities by my dreams. Just who could "she" be, anyw---"

*Just then, Living Weapon trips over a stone, and goes sprawling....however, when he is about to hit the ground where the archway is, he simply passes into the ground and vanishes, without leaving a hole--or even so much as a ripple--to indicate what'd become of him!! The Ancient Master simply stares at the ancient archway for the longest time, before finally having something to say*

("So....HERE it is. Here, the way to my release had been, all along....and now, after all these eons, I have become too much a part of this world....to make use of it.")

 

[Ycekhold]

Part 1-E

*After a few more moments, the Record Keeper passes by...he's on his way back to the Hall of Records, in preparation to resume his duties pending the Great Recursion here in YB-land. He sees the ghostly form of the Ancient Master standing there, and chuckles softly*

"So....you finally found it, eh? You shouldn't be surprised that it took so long; after all, leaving worlds like these is never supposed to be easy."

"True....but those few who DO find such a gateway are still typically ABLE to use it." *sad sigh, pause* "It has begun, it seems....apparently, She has called for Jenner, and now that he has left us, She will be his judge now."

"Ahhh...so that's how you found the exit." *pause* "Think he's The One?" *soft chuckle* "No, wait...I correct myself; you, of all people should know whether he is or not."

"Perhaps....but if there's one thing that this masked out-worlder has made VERY clear during his time here in my realm, it's that people can change. If people can make such changes from within....perhaps they can also find ways to make changes from WITHOUT, as well."

*As the Ancient Master departs, the Record Keeper can only hope that his old acquaintance isn't about to go and do something stupid. Even with all the wisdom he's gathered through the eons, such an action would still be a possibility; after all, he did behave stupidly at least once before*

OOC:

No, this isn't quite over....part two will be posted later today.

 

[Ycekhold]

Part 2-A

A Funny Thing Happened To Me, On the Way to the Funeral (part two)

====================

*Jenner falls through the portal for what may have been an instant or an eternity. When he emerges, he lands face-first in the middle of a cobbled street with a resounding thud. After he clears away the mental fog, he stands up to get his bearings, and slowly looks around*

*He finds himself in the midst of a Great City....but as he shortly discovers, it's not just any great city. Here....he finds a "nosferatu"-style vampire proceeding down one of the nearby sidewalks (the local time is sometime in the evening); while no one is exactly seen treating this fellow blood-sucker as a close friend, no one is running in terror, or brandishing any torches, pitchforks, or wooden stakes, either*

*And....what's this? Looking in through the window of a tavern, he sees an angel and a demon there in the bar....but not fighting, or even arguing; rather, the two are sharing drinks, and telling funny stories!*

*Jenner is briefly without any frame of reference for what he's seen. He racks his brain for an explanation....then, incredibly, it comes to him, from out of some distant memories of some great role-playing campaigns he'd held with friends, back in New York: this great city is none other than the City of Doors!*

"Great...grand...wonderful. I have arrived....at the crossroads of the multiverse." *soft chuckle*

 

[Ycekhold]

Part 2-B

*He makes his way around the city, and over the next week or so, begins the process of blending in, of getting used to what is apparently meant to be his new life. All thoughts of Great Recursions, or of being tested and judged, are put away in the back of Jenner's mind...

....UNTIL....

*The masked man is making his way back to the inn at which he's made a temporary home, when he sees stepping out of a nearby alley....people who were quite literally the last people he'd expected to see, even in a dimensional crossroads like this one: of the four angry men walking toward him, two are apparently also Kindred, but judging by the way they dress, act, and speak...they all hail from none other than his old stomping grounds of the Big Apple!*

"Well, well, well...", one of the two vampires says with a sneer, "....we were told we'd find you here, and it seems we were told right. You were a bad little boy, Jenner. You cost the yakuza quite a bit of money by refusing to "play ball" in that last pit fight you had, just before your little disappearing act....and now, we've come to collect!!"

 

[Ycekhold]

Part 2-C

*Suddenly, the four men open their trenchcoats, and bring out something that's equally out of place in this city: AKs and automatic shotguns! The air is suddenly filled with high-velocity lead and acrid smoke, as the other-worldly weapons roar to life. As the locals run for cover, Jenner ducks and dives this way and that. The blade from his Shadow Gauntlet flashes forth, but he knows that he'll have to either turn the tables quickly, or get away even more quickly; while he may be able to block the shots from one gun with the Gauntlet, he'd have no hope of stopping the shots of all four, without actually getting hit, and hit often*

*He spots an opening, and with a burst of superhuman speed, Jenner dashes forth and cuts down the two human mercenaries before they can even blink. However....the fight is still two vampires against only one vampire (him), and the two survivors still have their artillery in hand. One of his enemies dashes up to him, and the two New York nightwalkers begin a dazzling display of high-speed melee combat, the likes of which are only typically seen in movies starring people with names like Jet Li or Jackie Chan*

*In all the action, though, Jenner had forgotten about the second surviving gunman. He is about to get the better of the merc who's using his shotgun as a club against Jenner's blade, when a burst from the other man's assault rifle catches the masked man in the shoulder, and sends him sprawling to the cobblestones, next to the bodies of the two dead humans. The shotgun-packing vamp then siezes the opportunity to act and, pointing his shotgun at Jenner again, proceeds to blow off both the faceless fighter's legs, just above the kneecaps. The man grins wickedly down at the defeated pit-fighter, and as the merc's comrade steps over to Jenner as well, he chuckles softly before speaking*

"So....you may have acquired the blood of the Kindred at some time after you disappeared, but you still fight like a pitiful human. I'm almost sorry it has to end like this....almost. So long, masked man...."

*Just then, the shotgun-toting mercenary looks up, as he notices that they've attracted the attention of someone who's apparently come to see what "strange" weapons have been making all this noise. He nudges his associate, and points to the new arrival with a slight look of bewilderment*

"Say, brah...who da f--k is that?!?"

 

[Ycekhold]

Part 2-D

*The new arrival proceeds slowly down the middle of the street, while those few who've come back out of hiding after the gunfire had stopped quickly return to their respective places of concealment, as they realize what's about to happen. The two mercenaries raise their weapons, and issue an ultimatum*

"All right, biatch....if you want to be filled full o' holes, by all means, keep movin' forward!" *The new arrival ignores that blast of hot air from the men....still moving slowly up the street towards them*

"All right, then...have it your way!!" *The men let off a burst from their respective weapons....but incredibly, their target doesn't even seem to be fazed at all!!*

"Aim for the head!", one of the men shouts. "I am, Sonny!!", the second merc replies, with more than a trace of apprehension.

*This time, they switch their weapons once more to full-auto mode, and hit the strange...thing....with everything they've got. Their previous shots, for all they knew, could've bounced off the new arrival's....mask, is it? Has to be some wierd helmet, they think. Now, however, their shots connect all over: face....shoulders....chest....thighs....and still, they don't seem to do any damage at all!*

*While all this is happening, Jenner is lying there, in a pool of blood (his, as well as that of the two dead humans) and a haze of agony (losing two major extremities does tend to provoke such a reaction, even in many vampires). Between that haze and the haze of the gun-smoke, this new combatant is still too far away for him to identify. However, as he sees a series of blades flashing forth over his head, streaking forth to rip one of the men to shreds (with the appropriately blood-curdling shrieks on the dying merc's part), the legless masked man is hit with a wave of dread as he realizes just who is now destroying these two fools....and hides his head in his arms*

"God damn you....don't ya EVER f---in' di--?", the second, shotgun-wielding man starts to ask. Just before he can actually finish his question, Jenner hears the merc's words cut short; this time, there are no screams....no sound of a body hitting the street...no nothing! The man had just....disappeared, as if he'd never been there at all!! With the scene now quiet, Jenner slowly looks out from behind his arms, and as his "liberator" finally floats on up to him, and slowly (VERY slowly, it seems to Jenner, with his soul on overload as it is now) turns Her gaze down upon him, he sees that his fear has been quite well-founded*

A picture of the entity in question

the Serene One

Round: N/A

Opponent: ?
Neutral: ?
Lady of Pain: ?

Possessions: (whatever She needs)
YEN: *guffaw*

Rank: chief enforcer of Sigil
Personal Record: Yeah, right!

ABILITIES:
-You name it, She knows it