The agony of my feelings allowed me no respite; no incident occurred from which my rage and misery could not extract its food. Mary ShelleyFANG, 20 y/o Amaranth's Lost One
Something that Fang was beginning to realize as time went on, was that friendships in this kind of place were a little hard to come by. Sure, you had your typical alliance acquaintances, but it seemed like most of them were trying to get her to do the things that she was upset with herself for doing. Amaranth was full of people trying to get her to embrace her violent side, to give into the thing she denied that she liked. She wanted something more than that, maybe some understanding.
When she first arrived, she was honestly afraid and felt alone, but soon, in the common areas, she met this guy that made her feel like maybe there was some hope. He went by the name Chariot, she would see him around and talk to him, thinking he seemed to be somewhat kind to her, more than others had been. She started to think of him as a friend, someone who she could talk to, someone to be normal with.
Something happened though and recently, it really felt like Chariot had been avoiding her. She didn’t know why or if maybe she had said something he didn’t like, but after a couple weeks of the silent routine, she spotted him and decided to just ask him.
“Hey... um... did I do something? I keep on trying to talk to you, but you keep on blowing me off...”
M o r e often than not, curiosity gets the better of Mami. Sometimes, they’re very menial and fleeting curiosities. ‘What’s going on here?’ or ‘Who is this person?’ And, once she finds her answer, if she’s not interested she’ll drop it and go about her way onto the next curiosity or whim on her mind. But, other times, her curiosities are less menial, and more … risky.
If she were a cat, she’d be long dead by now.
Recently, she’d caught wind of a rookie in her faction who had an interesting thirst in combat. Now, of course, this wasn’t unusual; there’s a fair number of nut jobs in this so-called temple, with varying levels of crazy. But, that wasn’t what piqued Mami’s interest. See, she’d seen this girl around before, and she certainly didn’t look like she’d go ballistic on the field. And yet, she should know better by now that you can’t judge a book by its adorable cover, because it could just slice your neck and leave you bleeding out on the floor with no remorse.
Mami also wonders if the girl’s temperament translates the same into the bedroom for her too.
Just as she’s feeling an intense need for this curiosity to be satisfied, she bumps into Fang within their faction section. A natural, charming smile sweeps across her lips as she stops the other.
“Oh– There you are. How lucky of me, I’ve been looking all over for you,” she almost purrs, her eyes boring into Fang as if she’s finally caught her prey. “I’ve got this thing that I really need help with, and you’re just the person I need~ Say, you’re not busy right now, are you?”
There are lots of things that hold Fang’s interest, but a common theme is cuteness. She’s addicted to cute things, whether they are stuffed animals to fill her room with or stickers to put on her things, or cute pins to put on on the messenger bag she has slung across her shoulders, she really enjoyed them. They helped her feel relaxed a bit. She had heard others teasing her before about liking “kiddy” things, but she didn’t really pay them any mind. She wasn’t childish, really, she just enjoyed things that made her happy and that didn’t remind her of the violent side of her personality.
She had just returned from an excursion out into Seoul with a new purchase, a little penguin plushie. She wasn’t quite sure what she was going to name it yet, but she had jotted a few names down in her journal on the way back to the living areas. She’s on her way back to her place when she runs into Mami. She’s seen the other around in the couple of months she’s been in Amaranth, and she’s been intrigued by her. She was so confident and seemed so sure of herself that Fang thought probably little phased her.
“Me?” she asked, pointing to herself, carefully placing the penguin in its bag again, then that inside of her messenger bag. She gave the other a smile, nodding at her request, not quite catching on to the way the other was looking at her, nor about the other more personal questions she might have of her. “Sure! What is it? Not sure why you’d need me, but if you say so~” she returns, shaking her head. “I was just going to go back to my room, but if you want to do something, we can.”
Water envelops her and for a moment, she’s disoriented. She was never a great swimmer, even if her parents had enrolled her in a swimming class when she was little. She tries to swim up to the surface, only to have her eyes go wide as one of the people she was connected to in the game get shot and go limp under the water. She swims more, her lungs burning from the feeling of the air being used up the longer she stays under the water and for a moment, she thinks to herself that she may die right there. Soon though, a dock is found, a place to come up underneath it and get some oxygen and plan for the next action.
[TW: Blood] [TW: Minor Gore]
They were stealing a shipment, that’s what they’re told, from some warlord and blood diamonds. The person that was starting to show they wanted to be the leader of the group, they told her to help carry their teammate that was shot. She was a rookie and was strong, so she decided to do that, not wanting them left behind, if she could help it, that was a good thing, right? So, she put her arm around them, it was someone that she recognized as a Cerulean member, someone she had seen around, but never got their name.
Judging by the gunshot, she decided she wouldn’t ask for it now either.
They made their way through the base, some of the other members of the team dispatching of a guard or two before Fang could even get a chance to react. The injured candidate was slowing her down too much. They were bleeding more and more and without medical assistance, they weren’t going to make it out of this alive.
Heading into an area that they hadn’t scouted yet, they walked right into a trap. There were several mercenaries with guns waiting for them. Bullets flew through the air and she sees one ally go down, and then another bullet rips through the candidate she has in her arms and they go limp. She sees the leader, the one that thought this was a good idea take a shot to the arm, but still continue fighting. She tosses the now dead ally to the side and with her machete in hand, she starts running, diving behind crates, zig-zagging trying to not get hit by bullets. This is by far the most harrowing simulation she’s been in and this is supposed to just simulate a B-Level one. She could hardly imagine what the harder ones would be like. She’s not even sure if the other people in her group are still alive or not as she takes out one of the shooters, driving her machete deep into his torso. She pulls it out, kicking him to the side, picking up the gun he had and attempts to use it, but guns were not her strong point and she ends up missing her target before tossing it aside.
Times are desperate, as she tries to survey the situation, she doesn’t really see anyone else that she came in left. She isn’t going to go down without a fight, and she remembers what the instructions said about their Godmode being stabilized. She knew it was dangerous, but it might be her only chance at survival. She activates it and her eyes go completely pitch black, her machete grows and grows until it becomes a massive, rusted, caked-with blood blade with a serrated edge on top. The second state of her weapon is huge, taller than her, and extremely heavily weighted, yet she seems to be able to swing it with little effort, smashing through a section of crates to take out a gunner on the other side. She runs at the next one she sees and cries out as a bullet hits her in the shoulder, but she isn’t stopping, her built in rage carrying her and the giant weapon towards her foe, cleaving him in half, top to bottom.
She knew she couldn’t stay in this mode forever, despite how amazing it felt to have unlocked it. She dragged the blade along the ground as she went towards the next one, only to find that there were two others hidden off to the sides. The last thing she felt was the bullets piercing her as she died in the simulation, the last member of her team to go down, putting up an effort, but not a good enough of one. Perhaps in the future with more training, she’d do even better.
Finding herself with nothing to do but search through social media on her phone, Fang was strongly just considering going back to her room and just curling up in bed with a book for the night. Right now, she was just sitting outside, away from the common area, just staring up at the night sky. It was weird, not being able to go back to her old life, she wanted badly to see her family again, so this current streak she had of spending her time alone was wearing thin at keeping the sadness away.
She could hear the footsteps coming, maybe before even the other person had spotted her sitting there on the bench. She always did have good hearing, she thought, but it was even better now that she was a candidate. She looked in the direction of the noise, and even with what little light was in the area, she could see this flame of bright pink hair. She wasn’t sure what they were up to, but the girl heading her way seemed like she had something to say.
@blckrhea
SIMULATION (TUTORIAL)
C-Level Mission: HAPPY NEVER AFTER
Fang was tired. Running through the city, fighting off Seekers, going one on one against the simulation in a fight, all of it was harrowing and dangerous and she could feel those hits as though they were real. She had heard the rumors, that some people didn’t make it out of this simulation properly, that some had to be stretchered out even, so she was sure that when she got out of this virtual world, when she got to get back to her own faculties, that she would be feeling every little bit of this. Her anger subsiding after destroying the previous fighter, she rubbed at her cheek a bit where she had been punched, slightly whining and wincing at how tender it felt.
[TW: Blood]
The message popped up letting her know that the simulation was still not over, not that she expected that it would be. The message was clear, but the object of the next stage of the simulation was something that seemed impossible to her. Getting to the top of a mountain? In five hours? When they were not already at the base of it? She honestly wasn’t even sure she could climb it in that amount of time even if she was.
Checking the map, she figured the best way to get there would be to secure a ride and she could see that there was a bus specifically that headed to the park. That would at least help her somewhat, though sitting on a bus where everyone could be a Seeker, that was a bit of a bad idea. That being said, it was the only one she had, so she made her way as quickly as she could to the station to see if she could get a ride.
Finding the bus she got on, eyeing everyone carefully as she found a seat to at least get herself to the park. It was stated to get to the highest peak stop, it would take almost 40 minutes to ride there. Knowing this, she knew it was not likely that she’d be able to ride the bus without someone attempting to attack her. Either way, as the bus pulled out of the station, she settled into her seat, hand on her cylinder, ready to get her weapon at a moment’s notice.
Twenty minutes into the ride, the tired feeling was starting to get to Fang more. Her eyelids grew heavy, momentarily forgetting what was going on. Her mind wandered to when she was younger, the life she used to have. She remembered still her family and how they had emplored her to let them get her help when her violent outbursts started becoming more and more common. She was scared of them, her outbursts, she was scared of herself, so she told them yes, she wanted the help. She had hopes that one day, she’d be better, that she could live her life normally again.
She began to dream, in just these few short moments of respite, that she was living a happy life, hanging out with friends, going out on dates, finding a job that she didn’t like, but it paid the bills. Even that seemed cozy. But then the happy images changed, they were tinged with crimson, the happy friends she had were now covered in blood and she gasped, jolting awake with tears in her eyes. She wasn’t a bad person, she wasn’t, but she sometimes did bad things. And she felt like she hated it. That being said, it scared her. When she did lose control, when she did let herself give into the bloodlust she had inside of her. She was afraid because she liked it. She liked cutting into people’s flesh, she liked hearing the agonized noises they made, no matter how much she tried to convince herself and the others around her that she didn’t.
Sniffling away her feelings, she barely registered the older businesswoman making her way towards the back of the bus where she was seated. She barely was able to get her machete from the canister as the woman unsheathed a dagger she had hidden in her sleeve. She lunged at Fang, catching her dagger along Fang’s upper shoulder. The attack was fast and she couldn’t avoid it, feeling the blade slice into her skin. She scrambled to try to get away, but the small confines of the bus seating was making it hard to do, as the woman had her trapped in her seat. As her assailant attempted to take a stab at her, she saw her opportunity kicking out her long leg to the kneecap of the woman, buckling her leg at the joint. As she was falling, she slammed the dagger forward, Fang just moving her head in time to see the blade sink into the bus seat. She knew she had to move quickly if she were going to survive this. Taking the opportunity of her attacker being over her with her weapon embedded in the seat, Fang grit her teeth and jammed her machete up into her opponent’s torso and twisted, feeling the warmth of her blood falling out onto her. The other just looked into her eyes as the light left her own, and Fang pushed her off of her, ready to fight another person if need be. No one else was coming, and no one seemed to even be paying attention to the scuffle that had occurred.
Now covered in blood yet again, and a body by her feet, Fang settled into her seat yet again, as though this was the most normal thing in the world. After a little more time, the bus finally came to a stop at the base of the trail at the bottom of the highest mountain in the park. Getting out, she kept an eye out for anyone that might be coming after her, but not seeing anyone, she headed towards the sign. It stated the climb was usually two and a half hours, meaning if she didn’t find herself in any trouble, she could easily reach it before the time limit was reached.
This was, of course, wishful thinking. As she started her way up the path, she noticed a pair of Chasers heading after her too. She wanted to fight, but she didn’t want to waste more time. She ended up going off of the path and losing them, well one of them, anyway, in the forest there. She wasn’t great at sneaking around normally, but they had split up in trying to locate her, making it easy for her to come up behind one and slice open their throat.
Convinced she lost the other, she got back onto the trail, still covered in blood, of course. She knew that hiding out in the woods had taken up some more time, so she would have to go at a bit of a faster pace than what she had thought she would have to if she was going to reach the peak before her allotted time expired. The path was steep, especially the further up the mountain she got, and eventually, it got to the point that the trail recommended using the rope barriers on the side of the path to aid climbing up. She did so, pulling herself along, more and more, growing even more tired with each step.
With the changes made to her during the preparation for her to become a candidate, her vision was fixed. Still not quite used to this, it took her a moment to get over the fact that she could see so far off into the scenery. Under other circumstances, she would find this beautiful, but this wasn’t the time for sightseeing. When she turned her attention back to the path, she saw a figure standing there that she hadn’t seen before. Another one came from the ridge above, dropping down behind her. They had her surrounded on both sides. She wasn’t quite sure how she was going to get out of this one. The two Seekers came closer, though their footsteps seemed unstable as they were more concerned with trying to get Fang than they were the terrain. One pulled out a rapier, ready to try and slice her open with it, the other was approaching with a gun, already unholstered, aimed right for her.
The rapier-wielder lunged forward and cut a slice across Fang’s forearm that started bleeding quickly. In doing so, they lost their footing and started stumbling towards Fang more. Despite her injury, she looked back at the one wielding the gun and saw them pulling back on the trigger. She grabbed the first attacker and spun them in front of her, using them as a human shield. They could feel the bullets impacting the body in front of her and she then tossed it at the other attacker, knowing the footing was unstable. The two bodies collided and toppled over, sliding down the path a bit. She wasn’t used to being this strong, still. She wasn’t weak or anything before being taken, but her strength now surprised her a lot.
Seeing the two sprawled out, she tried to hurry to them as quickly as possible, while being careful of her own balance. The one that had come up behind was reaching for the gun, which had been knocked out of their hand. She stepped hard down on their wrist, keeping it pinned to the ground as she picked up the weapon, which she then used to smash their head over and over until she was sure they were not getting back up. She then proceeded to toss both bodies and the gun off of the path and down the side of the mountain off the trail. Then, almost as nothing happened, she continued on her way, checking the time as she did so.
She soon made it to the top, reaching the mountain, a bit bloodied and bruised, exhausted as anything, but she figured any time she made it out with more of her opposition’s blood on her than her own, the better. The thing was, there was no congratulatory message. There was no box for finishing the course like the last two. Nothing like that at all. It was actually a bit too quiet. The sound of footsteps finally broke the silence and she was surrounded, a circle of people, she could only imagine they were all Seekers too, were all around her. She kept her machete in hand, waiting for someone to break rank and attack her.
She soon wished she hadn’t been so eager to fight.
Stepping out of the crowd was perhaps the tallest woman she had ever seen. She was covered in muscle and tattoos and was carrying a large mace. Seeing this, Fang went into defensive mode...which meant attacking first. She rushed forward, machete swinging, only to catch the mace right to the side of her body, she swore she heard something snap and she cried out in pain, the air escaping her as she stumbled, just barely keeping from falling down. She let out a rage-induced growl and swung wildly, her blade seeming somehow to be dodged by a deceptively fast giant of a woman. She could hear her assailant laughing at her, mocking her for thinking she had done so well.
Fang swung again and missed, and the woman swung her mighty mace and clubbed Fang right in the side of the head. She fell to her side this time, the force of the blow too much. She couldn’t see out of her left eye, she wasn’t sure how bad the damage was, but it was not good. She was going to keep fighting, that’s all she could do, she attempted to get up, but she couldn’t. The giant kicked her onto her back and placed a large foot upon her chest. She felt more and more pressure until she felt her sternum give way. She could taste the blood pouring into her lungs and she tried to cough it up, but that’s as good as she could do. The giant smirked down at her one last time before swinging the mace full force down into her skull.
Her vision went black. She couldn’t see, nor hear anything anymore.
She soon found herself being taken out of the apparatus she had been strapped into for the simulation and she just felt hollow. This was a taste of what her life was going to be from now on, it seemed and she still wasn’t sure what to make of it. They led her out of the room, releasing her, letting her go along her way. Whatever that may be.
Hello everyone! I’m really excited to be here and would love to plot with anybody that would wish to! I’m Kyle, on EST, but on most of the time anyway, because what is sleep? This is my broken pup, Fang! You can find some more information about her here! I’m open for all kinds of different plots, so don’t hesitate to throw stuff at me if there’s something you’d like to do! I’m also up for brainstorming and getting up to all kinds of fun here! If you’d like me to come to you, please feel free to hit the like button and I’ll be happy to do so!
The simulation didn’t quit when she completed the first stage. That was the first thing Fang noticed. Of course, the first part was too easy, so they had to keep the simulations coming, trying to get her to fail. She wanted it to be over, but she wasn’t going to give up, either. She took her eyes down to the box in front of her, just in time for someone to walk by and sucker-punch her right in the stomach. She hadn’t expected that, she thought it was just one of the ai bots that were wandering around, but it sure packed a wallop. She was doubled over slightly, a hand where she got hit, trying to regain the bit of air she had just lost. She then saw the instructions telling her what she was expected to do next.
Collecting herself, she straightened back up, spotting the sturdy looking individual who was squaring off against her now. Looking them over, she could see the gun in the holster on their side. That was going to be bad news for her if she couldn’t somehow negate it. Thinking about how she just got punched and the thought that she still wasn’t used to these simulations, it was making her angry.
15 minutes to survive or defeat your opponent.
“I know you’re not real... but I’m still sorry for what I’m about to do to you.”
[TW: Blood][TW: Gore]
Before she could even obtain her machete from the cylinder, the simulation leaped towards her, a flying kick right to her shoulder out of nowhere, catching her off guard and off balance, knocking her to the ground. Eyes going wide, she just barely rolled out of the way to avoid getting her head smashed in by a stomping boot, which landed right next to her head. She scrambled as quick as she could between the simulations legs after the missed attack and got back up to her feet, just in time to catch a punch right to the jaw. This was not going well for Fang so far, as she tasted a bit of iron in her mouth. This thing hit hard.
She yet again found herself in a situation where she wasn’t going to be able to defeat it by matching speed. Strength was her forte, so she knew she had to use it to her advantage somehow. She barely dodged out of the way of another fist coming her way, but now that the other was closer, she was able to direct a club of a blow with her own fist, right to the other’s midsection. This seemed to throw them off slightly, just long enough for Fang to manifest her weapon. Machete now in hand again, she felt like this was now going to get a bit more interesting.
The fact that she had her weapon now was not lost upon the simulation, as it started to reach for the gun at its side. Seeing it making this move, Fang finally went on the offensive, the gleaming blade of her machete cutting through the air and cleaving deep into the other’s arm with a sickening, but to Fang’s ears, slightly melodic “shunk”. Seeing the red coming from their arm, her wide-eyed expression faded and instead was the smirk of someone who loved to induce pain in others, to revel in the blood. She stepped a bit closer and jabbed the other in the nose with her free hand, making sure that their vision would be obscured by the watering such a thing would cause. She then pulled the blade from their arm, grabbing it with her other hand and holding it out.
“You have a gun. I have to disarm you before you hurt someone,” she said, pulling the already injured arm out straight. She then swung the machete down as hard as she could, cutting through skin, muscle, bone, and took the other’s arm off at the elbow before they could react. She felt the blood spray on her for not the first time that day and felt a sort of bliss come over her. She grabbed the gun from the simulation’s holster before placing it right against its forehead and pulling the trigger twice.
Fang wasn’t sure what to expect with whatever the higher-ups had planned for her, but essentially a VR experience was not one of them. Before coming here, in her old life, she had wanted to try something like that out sometime. She guessed she had her chance now. The headset was lowering onto her and with a flash of white light, she flinches, her eyes closing and her mind suddenly fills with thoughts of her initiation from not that long ago. How confused she had been, the anger she felt in being taken.
[TW: Blood, Gore]
When she opens her eyes again, she’s in a very realistic cityscape. She swears she can even feel the wind blowing in her hair. She knows better, but a part of her almost thinks about trying to escape, it’s so real, so free feeling. She attempts to interact with the environment, smiling at a passerby. They smile back. Very convincing. She was going to try some more things, but her attention is pulled to her wrist, where she can see further instructions. A point A to point B kind of mission, it really didn’t sound that difficult, but she knew she wasn’t exactly the stealthiest of individuals either, so the Taggers might be a bit of a problem.
Slipping into an alley, Fang pulls up the map again, taking a look at where she needs to go. She’d have to hurry, she wasn’t quite sure she was fast enough to make it in the time allotted, but she was going to make the best of it she could. One thing that does give her a little solace was that she seems to have her cylinder, even in this world, so her weapon should be readily available for her if she needed it.
Making her way through the back allies was difficult, it was easy to get turned around, but she soon found the map was an invaluable tool in this situation. About twenty minutes in, however, she spotted one of her adversaries. A Tagger had figured out her location and was rushing towards her. She attempts to run, but with one glance over her shoulder, she knows she’s not going to be able to outpace them. Stamina wise, she might have a chance, but in a contest of speed, she knows better.
She hates killing without her mask on. She hates that it makes her feel that much closer to the things she’s trying to push down further and deeper.
She just hates.
Using her cylinder, she finds her machete in her hand. When she’s feeling her rage like this, she’s no better than an animal, in her mind.
And you don’t corner an animal.
Gritting her teeth, Fang spins around and before the tagger can touch her, she buries the machete into its abdomen. She kicks it hard in the chest, pulling the blade out as she does, only to then cleave right into its neck. Blood sprays up into her face and she feels the warmth, or at least thinks that she does. She continues hacking until the head has been completely severed from the body. Looking down at herself, she sees that she’s covered in blood. Returning her weapon to the cylinder, she starts running again, using her rage as extra fuel to propel her towards her goal.
From that point on, there was no more hiding. They wanted to treat her like prey, they were going to find out that sometimes you bite off more than you can chew. She knows it is just a simulation, but that is lost to her survival instinct. Any other Taggers are met with a similar fate as the first.
After fighting her way through Seoul, she checks the map one last time, seeing that she’s right on top of her goal. Finishing, she’s exhausted, covered in crimson from head to toe, and only made it with six minutes to spare. She knows they probably expect better of her time-wise, and she expects better of herself to try and rein in her bloodlust. She knows her time will get better, but she isn’t so sure about herself.
