Chapter 22: When In Rome

[Akira 69]

"We must not dilly dally! Onwar-war-ward!" Akira exclaimed as he turned and followed after Ceph. Pausing at the door frame, he spun his upper torso around and bowed to Ophelia. "We will meet again my sweet!" he said before turning and walking out. Akira did not really care about the lives of the humans, but in either case it may be good for him to bee seen as a hero! Chicks liked heroes.

[darian]

Darian would admit that the creations of Genetech were wonderful, though would have still prefered that the rebels could put up more of a fight. If only he had managed to subdue that demon back in Helsinki... he'd put up a fight that Darian would enjoy watching. It wasn't even so much that he was sadistic, he just liked to be reminded that in the end, flesh and bone prevailed over technology. "A gorgon? Interesting... lets see how that works against an animal designed for killing. Darian commented, alittle more interested now. That was a creature he would not like to deal with without his mask.

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((For zee dinosaur of awesome))[rand=4897022445831225681635431303407733978037906258949909171306709716]

[Calithin Crest]

"Agh!!!!!!! My Israeli fighter! What is this!? That was unfair. I'm calling that one a draw. This next fight will be the one that counts..."

I get so upset when the fighter is defeated by the dinosaur. I slump down in my seat and frown and wish there were some way to bring things back from the dead so a rematch could be held. My interest in these thoughts wavers, however, when I notice a cat sitting right by me. I like cats. I perk up a bit and lean over to inspect the animal.

"Hey! Hey cat. I know you're on my side. Israeli fighter should hand won, hands down! They're like sand ninjas, you know."

Cats know these things also. They are very intuitive creatures... My attention shifts momentarily back to the colloseum floor and I look over the more recent fighters. It seems to me the armored rhino has the best chance here.

"I say rhino. The shoplifter looks like a twerp and I've had to deal with plenty of gorgons in my time. No big deal there."

[dice=6]
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[The Flesh Monger]

Flesh didn't bother to go and see the fights. Mainly because Flesh would rather torture the prisoners than watching them getting killed during the fights. So, he decide to get himself busy by making voodoo dolls. He even made voodoo dolls of Lucio and Salome. Flesh knew its useless to make voodoo dolls of the Terror prisons because there is a chance that they will die during their fights.

"At least I kept these dolls as souvenirs..." Flesh says to him before heading to his room.

[The Red Jester]

Jester is pleased that everyone had fun from his carvinal the night before. When the morning finally came, he shut down the carvinal, but didn't told the carnies to put away the games and food stands. Jester wasn't sure if Scrag want do another night of the carvinal after the fights.

"Jester, we better get going." Pine Eyes says to him.

"Back to our place?" Jester ask.

"No!! The fights. I already miss couple of fights."

"But watching them die is no fun."

"True...but we don't have many prisoners in the terror anyway."

Jester simply nod before they head to the fights. Once they're finally there, Jester didn't bother to find seat. So, he and Pine Eyes wander through the stands and watch the fights.

[Will Bonacelli]

Will was entertained during the sacrifices of the two women and the carvinal a day before. He is still somewhat piss about giving the 'regular' people about Red Leaf, but that is Scrag's orders. When the fights finally came, Will is thrill because he wanna see the prisoners try to find back aganist the creatures, thanks to Genetech. He did overheard other people making wagers of who gonna win, but Will doesn't want to get involve though.

[Yasmin Seyyedi]

Yasmin had some fun during the carvinal and manage to some free Red Leaf. She didn't eat them right away because she might get 'hyper'. The next day, Yasmin did went to see the fights, but she stay under the shades since it is during the daytime and might get a 'sunburn'. She likes the fights, but wonders why the prisoners have to fight against the Genetech created creatures. She did really want to see the prisoners to fight againist each other.

[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

As the day progresses, I feel even more sick. I decide that I just want to go home to Helsinki and get some rest. Talking to the people at M TV seems to have failed. I take a cheap teleportation booth back to Helsinki and walk to the socialist house. By the time I make it to my room I feel feverish and exhausted. I lay down and decide that I will try to sleep it off. I haven't been eating or sleeping well lately, so maybe that makes me more prone to disease. I don't know. I call Armin before I lay down to tell him that I failed in my mission to talk to M TV workers.

[Kaschei Bessmertny]

The fight between the thief, the gorgon, and the rhino begins with the thief trying to run away from both the gorgon and the rhino. He runs for an exit, but it is blocked by Manalist guards. He then runs for the walls around the arena, trying to pull himself up into the area where spectators are seated. The walls are too high though. All of his running catches the attention of the feasting dinosaur, which goes after him, quickly killing him. This leaves the gorgon, the rhino and the dinosaur. The gorgon seems indifferent to the fight and even upset to be there. she stands back as the rhino and the dinosaur fight...with the dinosaur winning due to its speed and agility. The gorgon looks at the audience and wanders around the arena. She remains quiet though. When the dinosaur finally notices her and moves in her direction, she turns it to stone with a glance.

She moves closer to the wall and near some spectators...she says something inaudible to them before her eyes glow a little and she turns a few of them to stone. It is at this point that the Manalist guards use some sort of remote control on her and she falls to her knees in pain. It becomes apparent that she is wearing some sort of device to control her, but no collar seems evident. It could be an internal device.

Instead of being allowed to keep fighting, she is removed from the arena by Manalist priests. There is a short intermission to clear the arena of bodies and the stone dinosaur statue, before the next fight is announced.

"The next fight will be between Lucio De Saldahna, a Cuban political rebel captured by the Manalists in Helsinki. He will be fighting a Giant Praying Mantis." Kaschei announces. This fight is somewhat less interesting to Kaschei, since a large insect doesn't seem very...interesting or intimidating. Perhaps the Manalists wanted to tone things down a little after the deaths of a few spectators in the last fight.

[Dinari Dollar]

Dinari notices the cat and pets it a little as well, since he doesn't mind cats. He is more of a dog person, but he likes pets in general. "Aw, what a pretty kitty..." Dinari says to the cat. "You should by some Allmart cat litter and some Allmart cat food. They are always at the lowest price and the cat food is made with real fish." Dinari tells the cat, even though the cats generally don't have much purchasing power.
Dinari glances up and sees that the twerpy thief lost and that the gorgon was taken away. He becomes a little interested in the fight when he sees it is a Cuban rebel and a mantis. Since Allmart controls much of Cuba now, he feels interested in the fight and seeing that this person is defeated.

"So what happens now Calithin...do we keep betting or because we lost the last one do we have to give Annette something?"

[Armin Lehrer]

Armin works a full day at the Allmart factory, and returns the next day, still under the guise of Jesus. Meanwhile, the real Jesus is taking a few days off, since he is taking advantage of the fact that Armin is willing to work for him.
The real Jesus has even decided to let Armin stay with him. After another long day of work and no progress talking to the workers, Armin goes home to Jesus' place. Jesus lives with his wife and several children outside of Allwhere, since they are too poor to live inside the perfect American city. They instead live in a swampy shanty town outside of the city, which is infested with snakes and alligators...two things that Armin is very afraid of.

"So why are you here, can't you find work in Europe?" Jesus asks Armin over dinner. Dinner is fried smeet with potatoes. Armin doesn't mind though. He has gotten used to smeet over the years.

"I ...am here for a mission. The Eyes of God is something I want to try to stop. I want to talk to the workers about it." Armin replies.

"You know its hopeless. We're all poor. We don't have the power to stop the Eyes of God." Jesus replies. "People need jobs. They won't risk them."

Armin listens and knows this all too well. He knows that they need jobs and that they are afraid.
"Well, the project will mean a lot less privacy for a lot of people. I have to try.."

[Heikki Toivonen]

Heikki starts feeling quite ill. He has muscle aches and the chills. Because he is part Ruwai, with the Ruwai part being opium poppy, he doesn't feel much pain itself, in fact, he feels mostly tired and numb, but it does not take away the extreme fatigue, the fever, or the chills. He goes to his room at Bonifaz's home and lays in bed. He isn't worried that the flu will kill him, since he can't die, but, he knows it isn't going to be a pleasant week or two. What's worse is he is alone. There is no one there who cares about him, will take care of him, or will even check up on him. He supposes ...well, what else is new? But the feeling is depressing.
He falls asleep in his room at Bonifaz's, hoping to feel better when he wakes up.

[Calithin Crest]

"Well now we owe Annette something. She gets to decide what we have to do since we've lost. We can keep betting... We just risk owing someone else something also. But... As for me, I'm out. I need to learn to better effectively cut my loses in terms of gambling, and this is a lame match-up anyway."

With just a touch of reluctance I abstain from placing any bets on the new battle and instead get myself another Countess Cola. Life is a game of juggling addictions.

"Today seems not to be our lucky day, cat. But that's alright. Our days usually are lucky days... Comme ci, comme ca. That's how it goes."

I buy some kettle corn to go with my cola and hold a little of it out in the palm of my hand to the cat. I don't know if cats like kettle corn, but I LOVE kettle corn. So I figure it's worth a shot.

[Kasper Schultz]

"Aloe...no, I don't have any of that. I'll be okay, I just have sensitive skin." Kasper replies to Em. He is pretty happy that she wants to meet his friends. He wonders where they are though. When he last talked to them....they were in Helsinki and fleeing to Germany. Were they still there? He also figures that before she meets them she should know that they are rebels. He wouldn't want to shock her. Though, what if that means that she wouldn't want to risk seeing them? Kasper considers that, but knows that honesty is the best policy.

"Uh...Em...I am happy that you want to meet my friends...but...I do have a secret.." Kasper states to her. They are almost at the town now. Kasper gets off the bike and figures they can walk with the bike the short distance into the remote town. "My friends and I...well, we aren't Manalists..and we...want to fight them. We get in trouble sometimes."

[Lucio De Saldanha]

Lucio has the odd feeling that he is part of a low budget science fiction movie. He watches the mantis carefully, and looks around at the crowd. He is the center of attention and despite the dangers involved, it feels wonderful. He has a spear, since the fighters are allowed to pick some sort of weapon before they enter the arena. He grasps it weakly and looks around for his mother. Why his mother? She is not there...probably in Cuba instead. But, he wants her to see him now..that he is famous for a moment. He smiles and skips around the arena.
"You will call me, Dr. Awkward. That's my super villain name." Lucio says to the mantis, skipping about it merrily. The giant insect turns, turning in a slow circle as Lucio skips around it.