Chapter 22: When In Rome

[Li Violette]

Annette seems interested in the fight, and since she doesn't care much for me, I try to use it as an opportunity to reach out to her. I move a few seats over and sit next to her. She seems pretty interested in the black cat. I smile at the cat, but don't pet it. It isn't that I am not an animal person, but, it is simply wise not to touch strange animals.
"Annette, that is interesting that you set this up so they could fight. What an interesting suggestion. I am sure many people will enjoy seeing the Blessed show off some of their powers. It will likely be inspiring." I say, trying to make a conversation with the bitter old woman.
"Have you been enjoying Holy Week?"

[Lucio De Saldanha]

To the Flesh Monger

Lucio jumps up and down in joy for his victory, but it is short lived. He is quickly put into shackles and marched out of the arena by guards. He is escorted by an acolyte to a room where the Flesh Monger is supposed to meet him. Because of his victory, he will be tortured for a while before he must fight again. Lucio feels completely shocked. He won! He should be given some cake! He would love some cake. But instead, he will be tortured. Lucio frowns and turns to the acolyte.
"I don't get any cake!" He states, still in disbelief. No, he will simply imagine that he is being given cake. "I want angel food cake with orange frosting." He orders.
He is hit in the back with some blunt objects and falls to his knees. He is ordered to remain silent until the Flesh Monger arrives.

[Annette Rosenthal]

"I''ll stay for the fights and go back to my office. I have work to do and I think this is a waste of my time." Annette replies to Li. She sounds angry, but really she has enjoyed herself. She even danced with Max at the concert. She looks around for him though and doesn't see him. She does nod at the priest though who spoke to her earlier. At least there are some nice young men in the world. Annette glares at Li but doesn't immediately say anything. She searches her mind for something to crab about. "They should have put that socialist against some greater monster. Don't you think? He should have died painfully...like any communist who threatens the order of things." Annette proclaims sourly. She then offers a smirk as she waits for Li to react.

[Li Violette]

I smile and try not to be daunted by Annette. She says things to anger people and I am not going to give her the satisfaction of upsetting me. "Yes, work is very important, though, since Ariel left, I feel I must stay until the end of the parade. I think it would look bad if I left early. It would show a lack of interest." I state. I don't even respond to what she said about Lucio and what should be done to communists.
I do move over though. It seems there is no point in trying to get along with her. It is just impossible.
"I was thinking of getting something from the concessions stand now that it is intermission. If you like I can get you something. It would be my treat." I offer kindly.

[Annette Rosenthal]

"I don't need anything from you." Annette replies. She is mildly disappointed that she couldn't get a reaction out of Li, but, she doesn't let it bother her too much. Instead, she just does her best to watch the arena, waiting for something to happen. She doesn't even look at Li. Li disgusts her. Although some may find Li attractive, Annette thinks she looks like a troll. The only thing she sees and hears when Li is around is the nadir of human potential. Li is a communist, and although she might try to hide it, and might even try to pass herself off as some of them, she will always be the former leader of China. She is a relic who should have been killed.

[Lehti Itajumala]

Lehti was overjoyed. Lucio had won, just as he had known he would, and the business he had been called away on was in fact that the guard had found a rebel before the match had even begun. They had been doing routine patrol, which was actually a specialized pattern patrol he had insisted on, and had found an idiot with two Manala guns, hopped up on something, waiting for Lucio to walk by so he could 'rescue and liberate him'. Lehti hadn't made the arrest public, because the idiot had been on something. He'd be handed off to the Anti-Drug agents for interrogation before he got any time in the Temple. Plus, he was stupid. One of the guns had had a bad connector. If it had fired, it would have obliterated his arm.

Either way, however, tonight seemed to be going his way. The fact that he had made even one arrest with no injuries at all would bring a congratulations. Now it was up to the rebels to decide how many of them he'd take. He felt great. This match would bring great accolade to all involved, and if it came down to his marksmen ending this, he'd be congratulated for training them. If he took more than one of the rebel scum tonight, he'd be looking at a major improvement in his esteem among his peers.

Everything went his way. Tonight was one of a million events of the like, where Father Manala blessed him with such amazing strokes of luck. But is it right to take advantage of these people? asked a voice that was his own at the back of his mind. Is it right to hurt them? Are they really scum, or is it just what you're told? "SHUT UP!" Lehti yelled. The voice was silenced immediately. There went his good mood.

He listened in a dark mood as Kaschei announced the match. "A T-Rex? Shoulda taken the guns, Dollar." Definitely not someone to trust in battle. He made another mental note.

[Li Violette]

"As you wish Annette." I say before I quickly saunter off to find some food. I have learned not to become too annoyed with her. It takes patience. I suppose there is the just the reality that not everyone in the world will like me. But, Annette is like a challenge to me. She is a hard nut to crack, but, I want to win her over. There must be something, someday, that will make her less upset towards me. I would like to believe that anyway.

I am not about to go out of my way to be her friend, but, if at some point in my life she ..for a moment does not hate me, I would be satisfied.

For now though, I leave her alone and leave to get something to eat. I approach a food vendor and buy myself an iced tea. It's so warm out that it will at least keep me hydrated. I also buy a caramel apple, since it seems like the most vaguely healthy menu item.

[Bambi Engel]

Bambi's body jolted at Peter's voice, almost choking on the air she had gasped in. She hastily smooths out her suit, feeling both the urge to glare at him... and the urge to flee from him. Well, at least the 'flee' urge was one of her usual emotions. Usual was comforting. "Funny, I could say the same about you. I suppose you're a bit more sly in your trouble causing, though."

Sometimes. She was glad she'd put her hair up today. Were her hands still shaking? She crossed her arms just in case, eyes resting on Peter only briefly. Her ears catch the latest announcement. "Oh, hadn't you wanted to show off some?" She questions, mostly as a tactic to distract him. She was much more off than usual at the moment, also explaining her bluntness.

[Alisa "Miia" Baykal]

Alisa finishes up the kettle corn before the noisy priest butted in. She felt the urge to hiss at him a little, but it would possibly come back to bite her in the ass. At least he knew his weapons and history. She settles back down, not very interested in the fight between the rebel and mantis. A white haired man does catch her eye, one who seemed familiar in a strange way.

Louhi had once told her of a white haired man... but such people were common in these days with Genetech's enhanced humans. At Annette's attention, she purrs the loudest she had since arriving. The witch believed she was beginning to like this woman quite well. Even as an animal, compliments pleased her egoistic side immensely. At her question of who owns her, the cat's eyes briefly flicker toward the Manalist priest.

How degrading. No one owned her, but Manalists controlled her. Not wanting to let that open sore cloud her day, she hops onto Annette's lap. She gives Li a quick glance over from her new position. The Speaker liked to play things on the safe side, not petting a possibly stray cat. Alisa couldn't blame her. Observing the conversation between the two, she makes a few mental notes.

Either way, the feline was taking much more to Annette than anyone else with Calithin off to fight.

[Tristan Tuzanic]

Tristan was not the guard that found the weapon on someone planning to liberate one of the fighters, but, he was close enough to overhear the incident. He is ordered to walk around the spectators, under cover, and try to discover any rebels in the crowd.

"Awesome, I don't have to wear this stupid uniform. But, but, I wonder who that attractive Priest was. He has such nice features...and that voice.." Tristan whispers to himself. He is certain no one can hear him, and even if they did, if they killed him they would be doing him a favor. He leaves the company of the guards and soldiers, but watches the mysterious High Priest leave. When he is gone, Tristan heads to a private area to change.

He likes dressing like a civilian, since that means he can get out of his Manalist uniform. Tristan uses a teleportation booth to return to his quarters and changes out of his uniform into a suit jacket, brown band t shirt, vintage tie, old jeans, and canvass converse sneakers. He looks like a slightly emo hipster. But, that is how he likes to look. Having changed his clothes, he uses a teleporter to return to the Colosseum and starts just, hanging around. He stands by the concession stand first.

[Annette Rosenthal]

When the cat is asked who owns it, it turns its head to the priest. Annette nods. "What a smart cat you are." She replies and continues to pet the animal. She feels that she can trust the cat. It isn't like humans who are so flawed. "I don't like that Li Violette. The Manalists or the Invisible Hand should have killed her. She will be nothing but trouble." Annette confides in the cat. She speaks quietly. "No, she tries to butter me up, but I know her. Communists are the worst threat to humanity." She warns. "No matter how much people may want to complain about this, there is far worse."

[Dinari Dollar]

Dinari enters the arena. He really wishes he would have taken a gun, but, he didn't know he would be fighting a T Rex. Those cool gloves don't seem quite as cool any more. He stands there with Calithin, but remains intrepid. "Hey, don't worry. I have this really good attack. So, all you have to do is distract the dinosaur while I try to create it, okay!" Dinari suggests to Calithin. He punches him in the shoulder in a friendly manner, but with the special gloves, it comes off as much harder than he expected. "Ah sorry...anyway...you distract...and I'll Dinari Dollar it."

With the plan finalized, at least to Dinari, he starts concentrating very hard. The dinosaur is finally introduced to the arena. It is being pulled by ropes made of Manala energy and prodded by small Manala blasts. This seems to upset the dinosaur a great deal, so it thrashes and roars as it is brought into position.
Dinari gets distracted by this, so he looses the tiny ball of energy he managed to form in his hand.

"Don't worry, I'll start over..."

He focuses his mind on this special attack that he knows. He tries to remember what he was told. He wonders if Peter is watching. Peter would be so proud of him now. Oops, distracted again..the energy disappears.

"Those priests make it look so easy." Dinari says with frustration.

He concentrates again, and once again, a small orb of energy starts to form in his hand....

[Lehti Itajumala]

"Hmm. I suppose you could say that." Lehti spoke with a thoughtful tone. He had walked up while Annette had been speaking to the cat, overhearing only the anti-communist statements. "However, you might also say it's the source that creates communism that is in fact the root of it all." He took a seat across from Annette, and watched as Dinari and Calithin got set up in the ring before speaking. "There are three things that lead a person to communism, and they are similar to almost everything that destroy people. The first is insanity. Take Lucio, the rebel that just won that match. He's as insane as they come. They just took him into a torture room, and he thinks he's getting cake!"

"Speaking of Lucio, that leads me to the second thing that causes communism. Stupidity. Plain old idiocy! I hate idiots. They are wastes of flesh, with only enough brain to go 'duh, I wanna be free!'. We just grabbed one, a communist rebel. I can tell he's an idiot, because he had two Manala guns. The one in his left hand, we found, had a loose connector. The right was equipped with a dead crystal! So, when he attempted to save his insane friend, one hand would have held a useless lump of metal and the other would have been blown clear off!" He shook his head, exasperated with the world.

He looked across the ring, avoiding the combatants themselves, and saw the Speaker. "Unfortunately, the third is the most dangerous of all. Ability and greed, without the ambition to act on them. This is what spawns rebel leaders and those that cause the most damage to humanity at large." He sighed, then straightened up, as if he hadn't realized what he had been doing. "My apologies, Ms. Rosenthal. I just butted in on you, I don't know what I was thinking."

[Annette Rosenthal]

"Your words are the most refreshing thing I have heard in ages." Annette replies to the Priest. She smiles and feels warm all over. Finally, someone who truly agrees with her. Everyone else treats her like she is a senile old bag. "No one takes the threat of socialism seriously. They think we have advanced beyond ideologies and that what few rebels remain are powerless. But they are like...poisonous cockroaches. They are hard to kill since they hide in dark places and reproduce quickly...then they spread their poison when we aren't looking." She says. The comparison is not very good, but, she thinks she makes her point anyway.
"I am very glad that you do not dismiss this threat like so many others do." She says and feels like a weight has been lifted off of her shoulders.

[Li Violette]

I return with my caramel apple and iced tea and take a seat back in the area where Annette is seated. I see she is talking to the High Priest and I frown for a moment, though, there is no reason to be too upset. I will not let that woman make me feel like I don't belong here.

At least I have not missed the fight. I watch as Dinari Dollar tries his best to make some sort of Manala attack. An admirable effort in any event. I sip on my tea and for a moment, feel awkward. The sort of feeling a person gets when you walk into a room where you know people were just talking about you.

"I don't think we've met, at least formally." I say to the High Priest. I need no introduction, so I wait for his name. Maybe we have met. The robes make them look similar.