It's a quiet evening in Truce, and the citizens are making their way home as a bedraggled moogle approaches the fountain. It's nothing personal, but when adventurers gather together, weird stuff typically happens.

As usual, Vinyl Scratch is sitting on one of the benches, without most of her usual DJ equipment present. She doesn't seem to mind, though, as she watches people start arriving through her ruby-tinted optics. "Never thought I'd see the day where I'm not rockin' out... But here it is."

Lancaster calmly looks around the area. One of his hands hangs limp and is slightly bloodstained. "So, what brings you all here today?" He says, calmly sipping from a flask of tea held in his non-bloodstained hand.

Kent enters the fountain area with a wooden shaft, a little under a yard in length. Around his shoulder he has a bag filled with various cheap tools, nothing significant to note. He sits on a bench by himself and leans back, placing the wooden shaft in his lap. His silver plated sword is still strapped to his hip, but his shield isn't on his back where it usually is.

Mekis had found the day to be lacking in anything interesting. It had been too quiet and no looting had occured. And playing the harp to pass the time only worked for so long. Then came a robot. At least, that's what he seemed like. He was rather shiny. it asked a question, so he answered, "Boredom. Complete, unadulterated boredom. " He looked to Esteban, who seemed perfectly content. If only Mekis were so lucky.

Mogwai waves to Vinyl "Hey there. Just heading back to town to resupply and rest. Been up in the mountains all day. At this point, it seems less like looking for Eevee and more like waiting for him."

Lancaster considers Mekis's answer. "Bored with the town, or with the world at large? I can understand the first, although I prefer the peacefulness here, but the world is so huge. There is ground I have yet to tread, monsters I have yet to run away from, bushes I have yet to search..." He trails off, staring into space.

"Yo, Mog-whoa, whoa. What the buck's this about waitin' for Eevs?" Vinyl Scratch turns to look at Mogwai, neck-circuitry whirring quietly as she tilts her head, even as she raises one cybernetic forehoof to wave at Mekis.

Kent never felt very comfortable around the unnatural beings of Truce, but he knew that they were rarely as malicious as they looked. Still, a few more humans around would have made him more relaxed. He held the wooden rod in front of him and pulled out his sword to compare lengths. He was hoping to be able to get both a handle and a 'blade' out of the one peice, for simplicty.

Mekis found the rambling of the robot a tad annoying. It didn't seem to end. "With the day. I couldn't find any great foe to fight, be it be a pack of wolves or some great demon! There was nothing." Mekis sighed and took a seat by the fountain. Esteban followed his example, keeping by him. Mekis pulled a piece of bread from his pack and began eating, sharing a few bites with Esteban.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard... where were you last week anyway? Anyhow, Eevee and I had a fight, and he ran off. I followed after but... I couldn't find him. Lost track around Sulfataskra, so I've been looking for clues... and doing the whole ascetic on a mountaintop thing." Mogwai chuckles a tad at the last bit.

A little too long. Typical. Kent stands up ands leans the wooden rod against the bench so it would stand up. When he's satisfied, he draws his sword and swing a very quick but controlled motions, and lobs off about six inches from the top of the wood. He then compares it once again to his sword. A perfect length; he could begin to work.

Lancaster "I'm afraid I cannot share your feelings, good sir, but, to be honest, combat isn't my thing. It hasn't been for a while." His eye sparks slightly. He looks around amilessly.

With a slow nod, Vinyl Scratch jumps off the bench to walk over to Mogwai, even as two panels on her forehead slide open and start playing metal. "Kinda bummed that I'm missin' out on adventurin' with you, Mogs, but I've got my rep as DJ Pon-3 to look after."

Mekis heard the familiar sound of a blade unsheathed. He turned hoping to find a combatant at the sound. What he saw was what appeared to be a knight of sorts, cutting some stick. How odd. Still, he believed it necessary to meet him, as he showed great skill with his blade. He walked up to the desheveled man and began. "Greetings. I have come here to know you. My name is Mekis the Small and Fuzzy. What is your name, and do you have a moment to speak?" Hopefully this would help relieve his boredom.

Mogwai chuckles "I wouldn't call it an adventure. Like I said, lately it's just been waiting on top of a mountaintop. Although, I may lug a training dummy or something up there. That's what people usually do on mountaintops right? Train?"

"Make yourself useful Moogle, grab this." Kent tossed the stick to Mekis, not bothing to see if he would catch it. Kent reached into his bag and started fishing for some thin rope. "Bang that peice of wood against the cobblestone here. I wanna see if it'll break with force, which would mean I need to find another one." He looked back at Mekis, wondering if he was efficient or if he just acted the age that his size implied.

"Fair enough, yo. And yeah, I guess so..." With a shrug, Vinyl Scratch turns to watch Kent and Mekis with more whirring from her cybernetic joints, as music continues blasting from the stereo-panels on her head. "Maybe I ought to head up and chill with you, sometime. And yo, dudes."

A sound echoes thoughout truce as though the air itself were being seared and ripped asunder by intense flames. With a large burst of fire, a humanoid shape is expelled from a rift high above the city, falling toward truce with a deep bestial laughter, plummeting into the fountain with a burst of steam, letting out a growling roar as the whole plaza becomes obscured in a hot dense fog. (demonicor)

Lancaster freezes up, painful memories coming back. His ruined eye emits enough sparks to be a fireworks show.

Mekis caught the stick quite simply. Ingrained reflexes and all. The sudden instruction was a slight surprise, but not by much. "Alright. Though I would still like a name afterwards." With that, Mekis began swinging the stick downward against the ground. Even though small, he wielded the stick just fine. Then, all at once, there was laughter of a dark variety, followed by a thick fog. He dropped the stick and wielded his bow, preparing an arrow with lightning speed. Behind him stood Esteban, wings spread to increase his size.

Mogwai laughs "Perhaps, it would make things interes--" she trails off as the beast drops down from the fountain. She forms an energy whip in her hand and readies her stance "I swear, this place is a weirdness magnet."

"Whoa, what the hay...?" Simultaneously, the panels on Vinyl Scratch's head fall silent and slide back shut as she looks up with her cybernetic horn sparking. "Aw, man... So killin' my good vibes here, yo. I oughta go for my bass cannon, or somethin' to throw down with."

Lancaster stands up, looking rather out of it. His flask of tea drops to the ground and shatters.

"God forsaken unholy plauge upon me!" Kent was not amused by the fog, nor the demonic laughter. Still, he was never less than prepared. The cold weather might leave Kent a little drained, but he was going to kill something tonight. He drew his sword and a bloodthirsty grin at the same time.

Mula comes into the Fountain area, taking a walk around Truce, and sees people gathering. She makes her way to the fountain, unaware of what may or may not be happening. "Hello everyone." She calls out as she comes close and sits on a bench.

Mekis began moving slowly through the fog, his mount keeping on his back. Upon hearing a few voices, he looked about in the fog. It was to thick to see anyone. As if it were intedned to be that way. Mekis felt as if this were the work of some spell caster. It would be like one of them, using any trick they can to stave off their death. Mekis would shout for a challenge, but his knowldege said otherwise. It hurt his pride a bit, but it was necessary.

No noises issue from the fountain beyond the continuous trickle of water and a light bubbling; no splashing, no roar or growl, no laughter, and soon the bubbling noise dies away as well, the steamy fog dispersing into the cool air, condensing on just about every surface into cold droplets. Lying in the lower basin of the fountain, which is once again filled and appearing unaffected by the impact of the creature, is a cooled onyx statue, certainly demonic in origin, in a pose suggesting that it tried to scramble through the water towards the rim of the fountain, its visage an unmoving mask of pain. (Demonicor)

Mogwai shrugs, dropping her whip. It dissipates the moment it leaves her hands. She peers over the rim of the fountain at the statue "Gentlemen, behold! I have found my training dummy!"

Lancaster blinks and looks around. "What...what just happened?" He looks rather less out of it.

"YOUR training dummy?!" Kent shouted at the Moogle in rage. "You caused all of that?" Kent stormed towards the Moogle peering over the fountain to get a better look at her. "You forsaken mages think that it's worth going through that much trouble to distub everyone's rest, for a god damn dummy? Give a HONEST WORKER his pay and BUY one!"

Mula looks around "Um..did I missed something?" She asks, looking around at the steam disappating. "Did I walk into something that I should've known about?" She asks again, turing around to see the statue, jumps up and backs away blinking at it.

The fog in the air dissipated, and Mekis stood, mildy confused. Dropping his guard, he felt mildy dissappointed. It seemed that that was going to be the highlight of the day. Mekis picked up the stick and began banging it again. Meanwhile, Esteban waddled about, mildly worried about the shouting man. Esteban kept an eye on him, wary of his movements.

"Yo, lay off Mogs, yeah?!" As she returns with her disguised bass cannon, Vinyl Scratch turns her attention to Kent at the same time she reaches back to draw a pair of CD-blades from her saddlebags with her forelegs. "Don't go after my best buds, dude, when they're not doin' anythin' wrong! Chill the buck out!"

Mogwai glares back at Kent "Hey, I didn't cause this. If I did, I'd make it come down where it could save me lugging it around, sheesh! I just mean it looks like the perfect kind of ugly thing to smack around all day!"

Lancaster says, "Are you implying that magi are dishonest workers? Because they aren't. Sure, their aim with fireball may be a bit off, and they may blind their then-best friend in one eye, but it's nothing to get worked up about." His voice grows more and more resentful as he goes on.

Kent was growing impatient with these people. "Shut it, steed!" He shouted at the white pony. The big comment came from some half-metallic man. Kent turned around, clutching his sword tightly. "You look like you have quite the experience with magi. Yes, I think they're dishonest! One magic spell and your brain goes poof! Gone! Like the hundred cultists that I've made gone MYSELF!"

Mekis was so weary of all this. When was he going to get his day? When was he going to defeat a great evil, getting wonderful loot? When would he be the hero in the annals of time? When? He began swinging with greater force, over and over. He had been training all his days to achieve greatness, so where was it?! The stick broke on the 37th swing. Mekis may have gone too far. The day had been too long on his mind. A rest would do him good, but not now.

"You lookin' to throw down, punk?" Vinyl Scratch moves away from the disguised parts of her bass cannon, metallic horn lighting up as she levitates the CD-blades out in front of her and stares Kent down with her ruby-colored optics. "Let's DROP this beat!"

Mogwai shrugs "I honestly haven't the foggiest. A big statue fell out of the sky, and now Kent's getting rather upset about it. I think I may need to intervene."

Lancaster glares at Kent with his working eye as the other one sparks. "This is all rather rich coming from you, the one who ends thoughts with a blade tearing through flesh. You really think a fireball is so much different? At least that kills you quickly!" LAncaster calms down. "I hope you reconsider your views. You are really quite the hypocrite."

Mula blinks as she stops at Mogwai's side. "Well, that might be a good idea. There's no reason to be fighting over a random statue that fell from the sky." She says, to Mogwai. "At least..nothing to shed blood over anyway.." She says, softly, almost as an afterthought..and it may very well have been.

Amidst all the commotion, several bubbles rose to the surface of the fountain and popped. A moment later, a snorkel tube rose up out of the surface of the water, followed by a traumatised Helios and the head of the M85, wearing the rest of the snorkel equipment. It stopped rising out of the fountain at about shoulder height, looking around curiously. "M85?" The Mechon chirped in response. "Never... Ever do that again. EVER."

The M85 shrugged and rose the rest of the way out of the fountain. It chuckled ad Helios rolled off of it's head and thunked to the ground, lying still for a moment. He eventually recovered from the sheer insanity that he had just experienced to rise off of the ground and look around, noting the standoff with that crazy knight and Vinyl, plus that other reploid from the other time. "What's going on?"

Mekis had let his emotions take control. Curses. He held the two splintered halves of the stick. Self-discipline was key when training both one's body and mind. And he had let it slip. He would have to work on this. Looking at the knight, Mekis considered it best to not tell him of the stick yet. He seemed rather bothered by the past events. Esteban considered striking the knight, as a preemptive measure.

Kent glares with anger at the word 'hypocrite.' "Me? A hypocrite? Because I kill my foes with a blade rather than a fireball?" Kent raises his sword, more of to draw attention to the weapon rather than to threaten the 'man. "Put a sword in any person's hand, and he has the power to kill. He's honest about it. You see a man with the tool and you see what he has to cut you down,"
"A mage has his empty hands to make you think you're safe, and then throws magic at you. Mages will try to melt the brain within your god given skull. Mages will try to corrupt your thoughts, boil your blood, and tear your immortal soul. Tell me again, how using a sword then, as an honest display of my ability, makes me a hypocrite!"

Mogwai motions to Kent "Dude, calm down. You're seriously overreacting and it's putting everyone on edge. Seems like you're gonna attack someone any minute now."

Lancaster regards Kent calmly. "But what are souls? The ether of an imagined supernatural consciousness? Because there is nothing of the sort. Our minds arise from the processes that now sustain them. Yours through the brain's workings, mine through my circuitry."

Acting out of instinct, Esteban jumped at the knight, flapping his wings wildly. He used both his talons and beak upon the knight, attempting to bring him down quickly. Needless to say, Mekis was appalled. "Esteban! Stop that! Stop right now you dastardly mallard! Cease and desist I say.!!" Esteban wasn't listening much in the slightest at the moment. Unlike Mekis, he had little training in self-discipline.

"Oh great, the knight is freaking out again." Helios sighed. "Come on. M85. We should probably go and consider breaking it up from several feet away." The mechons moved closer to the hostile group, though they didn't make any other movements. "Will you all shut up before you all dissolve into a drunken brawl in the street?"

Kent had usually regarded himself as a damned soul. Upon his most recent discovery, his might have even been destroyed outright. But, he was taught from an early age that he was born with one. "What did you say about my sou-" Duck. That was unexpected. A mallard attacked Kent's face. Kent of course was surprised, but not threatened.

With a swat of his hand he pushed the duck away from his face, and with both hands he forced the animal to the ground. He knew the duck was the Moogle warrior's mount, so he did not kill the animal. However, he did take his boot and whack the animal across its head. It was enough to get the mallard to back down, and let Kent go back to his conversation.

"My soul is... I'm not sure anymore. But don't deny the exsistance of such things. I... made mistakes in my life. But, others have the choice to save theirs..." His mind flashed to his squire and friend, Kimen, the young mage who was probably destoying his chances of eternal bliss dayly, and Kahleen, the woman he loved whom he had learned was cursed. Was...was Kent crying? "Do yourself a favor. Stay away from magic. It will save no one."

The M85's intervention is enough to compel Vinyl Scratch to store her CD-blades, but her glare doesn't dissipate until she turns to watch Mogwai with her optics. "Jeez..."

Mogwai seems relieved to see the situation diffusing, but can't resist poking it with a stick "Oh that's a lie. I've used magic plenty of times, and I'd say the majority of the time everyone benefitted from it. Well, minus the bad people."

Lancaster gives up. "I'm not going to argue with you any more, Kent." He sits back down and begins fiddling with his bloody hand.

Mekis was glad to see Esteban dealt. Given, it was a bit rough, but he had acted out of turn. He walked up to the mallard. "Esteban! What do you think you were doing? There was no need for such violence. As punishment, I won't get you another on of those cricket cakes you liked so much for several weeks." He stood up straight, as Esteban's head drooped. "t's only what you deserve. Don't try to get out of it."

Kent shot a glance back at Mogwai. "Then you got lucky. I suggest you do not rely on it further. Repent while your soul can be saved from your witchcraft, or you will die a heretic's death. But not at my hands, your town has strange laws about permitting these unholy practices. You perhaps die at your own hands, perhaps peacefully, perhaps when your demon masters reclaim you, but your soul will not rest easy."

"Dude, enough. Give it a buckin' rest and go somewhere else with your crusadin'. This is ONE DJ who doesn't want to hear you talkin' about that stuff." With a snort, Vinyl Scratch is turning to gather her gear and head back to the tree-fort.

"At least he isn't gearing up for a fight anymore..." Helios mutters to the M85. He then turns to Mogwai. "So, what is that thing in the fountain, anyway? Or do we know?"

Mogwai shrugs "I have no idea what that thing is. It just fell out of the sky and landed there. Looks fairly ugly and demonic though, I was thinking about using it for target practice."

Lancaster sips at a second flask of tea as he says, "Witchcraft and heretics. All fun makebelieve until somebody takes it too seriously." He rolls his eyes.

"OH, don't do that! This is a perfect opprotunity to scan it and see what it is." Helios darts over to it and begins running a battery of scans on the statue. The M85 heavs a long-suffering sigh (somehow) and walks over to stand near Helios.

Kent grunts at Lancaster's comment and sheathed his sword, finally. "'All fun makebelieve...' Bah. This town grows harder and harder to deal with daily." Kent checked his bag and heads southward towards the inn, deciding to blow off a little steam by humming a tune on his way. Those with keener ears could faintly hear Kent walk off. "Nearer, my god, to thee, nearer to thee..."

The statue, from an outer scan, appears as a perfectly ordinary onyx creation, magnificently carved from cooled magma, or possibly formed from it. An internal scan would show a still warm but solid core made of crafted internal organs, similar to a human's in structure but much more menacing.

Mogwai stands by as Helios conducts his scan. When the mechon has finished, she comments "So... anything interesting, or can I go ahead and haul this thing up a mountain? It'll make for something fun to do while I'm waiting for Kalin."

Mekis was done for the day. The time for rest had come. "Good day to you all. And knight, you will need a new stick. I suggest you go get it soon." He then, much like all other nights, got atop his mount and went off to the local inn for some much needed rest.

"This is fascinating... We should probably study this more." The M85 nudges Helios and says something in it's incomprehensible speech. "Oh, right. Hmmm... That knight seems to love these things." He looks over at Mogwai. "Oh, no. Just that it was alive at some point and may or may not be now. Putting it on a mountain might result in bad things, though we can't confirm that."

Helios says 'Also, on the subject of mountains, we were not able to find anything near where you lost Kalin. Just some unusual mana levels.'

Mogwai nods "Well, I'll be with it constantly. And if it does turn out bad, well, it'll be far away from society."

"Well, you know where to find us should you need us. Oh, one more thing for communication. M85?" The large mechon reaches into it's storage compartment and pulls out a small communicator, handing it to Mogwai. "You can use that to reach us if you even need something. Anyway, we must be off. scans to peruse and all that." Helios nods to her before heading off north, followed by he M85.

Mogwai gives Helios a simple salute, and starts dragging the statue south, before getting the bright idea of rigging it to her bus and dragging it