Prologue II: Hellgear City

We made it into the city. It had a slight odor of brimstone, coal and steel. The buildings were steel factories, shops and buildings with chimneys or other bits of machinery sticking out. They had some vague resemblance to Victorian and Gothic architecture, which added to the the dark atmosphere along with the low red lights, the general moving public with suspicious or feared eyes. The sky was dark with storm clouds and the fog produced by the factories. Skyscrapers in gaudy and futuristic designs loomed over with its eerie red and sickly green lights.

From the alleys you can see arrangements of huts made of cardboard, pieces of wood, scrap metal and other junk. You could see the hobos, wearing think coats, shoes, scarfs or the like. You could smell the burning of trash or even gasoline as they made their stew. In contrast, you could see the wealthy in their gaudy clothes and their buff security guards protecting them from the dangers of the city. You can hear a tune like this. However, it came from the environment, exactly like background music.

The city could be divided into the 'Right Side' and the 'Wrong Side.' For every dazzling store or district within the right side, there was a grungy, dark counterpart on the wrong-side. The technological hub, characterized by the sleek collection of stores and repair shops of the latest advancements in cybernetic machinery is known as Cyberspace Way; Being as one of the largest makers of technology on the planet, ranging from transport to medical achievements; a majority of the upper class worked here in managing the products and services as well as the most successful engineers, scientists and doctors. On the opposite way however was more grunt and physical to say the list. Littered with vehicles, computers and other hardware was this display of 'old-world' machinery. Having gone an alternate way, seen with unique corporations of steam technology as well as clockwork, it is a polar opposite to the shiny, 'futuristic' Cyberspace Way. Hackers, hijackers, and rogue engineers occupy this area, The Viral Junkyard.

Past Cyberspace Way was the residential areas. They were built in a gaudy Victorian style; massive palaces showing off the regal tastelessness of its occupants. Surrounding by fences of concrete, steel and electric fences, the people leave their lavish homes with protected cars. Past the lavish housing was the the smaller, more rural yet Gothic style of the middle class. With more taste, less money and more hospitality, their section had stores to purchase clothing, food and other commodities, the stores accepting either the rich or normal, having a better than average tolerance for one another, this was Tinseltown Squares. Across the street was where the lower people lived. The factory workers lived in older, recycled apartments that were simple in design. Having grown whatever food can survive in the soil and atmosphere of the city or from the hospitality, they were nowhere near as nice, however, they were not as bad as their neighbors. Those who couldn't live in the looming old apartments lived in huts made of cardboard, pieces of wood, scrap metal and other junk found in the massive alleyways. You could see the hobos, wearing think coats, shoes, scarfs or the like. You could smell the burning of trash or even gasoline as they made their stew. This being the haven the alley of the less fortunate and the downright poor were he Hobo Boulevards.

The final glitzy stop was for those who worked in entertainment. The only hub of outside culture in the city, Glitzlvania, this place was filled by those rich and poor alike hoping to make it to the big top with their talents. In a way, their job was to distract people from the dark aspects of the city with their talents directly or indirectly. Filled with gourmet restaurants, glitzy theaters, massive libraries as well as the largest building, the Mayor's Office, this place is where all the action happens. This is also where the ports outside the city are, from airline towers to shipping yachts where a multitude of imports and exports is happening. As well as being the most happening place, it is the most heavily guarded from their neighbors across the street. The baddest of the bad live across here. Here is the mixture of all the cheap taverns, 'special' pharmacies and red-light districts are. There are every few gangs here ironically, as they are remnants of those absorbed by the group of the crime boss here. Going by the alias, Ghost, he rules the area and seeks to draw people here in the darkness and have them be drowned in madness, becoming another of his gleeful toadies. Very few come to this place, the only outsiders are the truly desperate or the brave souls who make rescue attempts. Considered to be the entry to the gate of Hell, this is the foulest place of the city, The Hellfire District.

The dazzling neon signs inviting people, but you know better. It is a trap, like an angler fish using its light to loom prey in. Despite the good, there is also the bad, as if this place is hiding many secrets of the devil, hidden in the Hellfire District. Be weary in this place, travelers, the is Hellgear City.


Diego looked around and told the group to stick together. He was reluctant to come here, but the dusk was approaching and they needed to find a hotel or an alternate stay of rest for the moment. Meanwhile, he kept an eye for any suspicious people. Being enar the entry way, there were many souvenir shops and inns, though there were approching Cyberspace Way.

The look Samuel was giving wasnt one that emanated sunflowers and pretty buttercups. It was one of a clear 'fuck off' variety. The kind a guy who could crush heads like watermelon in a grinder could give. Gave it to just about anyone who looked at him funny, and he probably got a few of those, seeing how they were walking into a 'futuristic' area and he looked like something of a desert walker.

Samuel just looked off to a random inn and pointed at it. "Let's just go there." He said simply. Get off these weirdass streets and away from onlookers.

There was a loop in the butcher knife Zed had, right at the end to hook it to his belt. He decided, in boredom, to spin his knife around by with his finger, casually whistling a tune. Truth be told, he was a bit of a psionic, but he figured to let it go. Nobody needed to know that until it was useful, and if you ask him about it, he's probably gonna hack you up into little bits. He would, too. Crazy fucker. Along the way, he decided to sing a song about being sedated, much slower than it was originally sung. Dude wasn't bad, and the song fit the current situation perfect, but it may just be annoying if you don't have a sense of humor.

Oh, those guys givin' funny looks? Bah, Zed didn't care. Fuck them and their coincidental-characterness.

As Samuel suggested to go 'that way', out of the streets, Eve stopped making notes, and looks up.
"No, I don't think that's a good idea." She says, indicates towards the people on the street. "It looks as though the street over there (pointing towards Cyberspace way) has transportation, so we might need to go there to get around. However, it might be a good idea to go into one of these inns here first, and get a room. That way we could discuss what to do next. I'm not fond of wandering off without knowing where we are going, and why. And frankly, I could use a drink."
Seeing Zed spinning his knife, she decides to stand next to Diego instead.

(Woah, you guys go fast, I can't keep up with you. I'll try though. You may assume my character just follows along quietly, and taking notes, as count DVB suggested in the last post of Prologue I.
Also, were exactly are we? In the good part? The bad part? Or on the border between the two?)

"Eve's right, we might as well head into the one of the nearby inns. We'll use the monorail system near Cyberspace Way," Diego said as he led the group to the right. The signs and streetlights helped lit their way through the place. The faint scent of smoke, medicine and chemicals were in the air as they looked around the Cyberspace Way. Their color scheme was a darken chrome with 'veins' on the building that cause the power to flow throughout this technological wonderland. Having sat on the hovering seats, they were waiting for their train to arrive. Diego signaled his necromancer comrade and pointed toward a map of the city. The city was in the of elongated hexagon, with the entry way being stretched out. Each of the parts were labeled or rather the 'Right Side' was. Diego pointed out the unlabeled a.k.a. Wrong Side locations and emphasized the one in the upper left quadrant. It was approximately the smallest of the places, however it was the most dangerous.

"After some rest, we'll plan out our day and then we figure out how to get you in here, okay?" Diego whispered to him.

This wasn't the first time he scared someone off with his knife. 'Course, most of the time, people had valid reasons to. I mean, right now, he looked like one scary guy. Hell, when he sung, he sounded like the Phantom of the bloody Opera, but more in that creepy sort of super-villian kind of way. Funny, he was singing some song about someone's mother roaming the hallway, half asleep or something, actually kind of entertained by just the overall look of the city. Hell, the seats hovered off the ground! That's some neat shit! Zed proceeded to hop onto one and see if he could spin around on it, jolting back and forth on it like it was a bull in a rodeo.


Then he fell off. FUN TIMES.

Speaking of people not fighting in by appearance, look at Mark. That dude's rocking a confederate uniform, had a civil war rifle and saber, and had a fairy siting n the brim of his hat. But in retrospect, that didn't matter. This place didn't even seem to fit in itself.

Mift was looking around with her jaw down at the largeness of the city. When Mark sat down he plucked her ff his hat.

"Wow," Mift said,"this place is bigger then the Mountain City."

"Well, the orcs did tear the place down t ruins, I wouldn't be surprised if it was once much bigger." Mark responded.

"How are these seats floating?" said Mift, one of nature's shortest attention spans, "what magic is this?"

Samuel sort of stared at DVB and Eve. He'd just pointed at an inn, sitting clear as fucking day in the building there. He didnt really bother arguing or raising a fuss though. With any luck, he'd remember something and thus acquire more important things to focus on, such as the floating seats sitting here right infront of him. Samuel kneeled and peered under the seats, wondering exactly HOW in the hell they were doing that. He sat in one of them just as that Zed guy fell off of his. Cool.

It then hit Zed suddenly. He could be working on building something right now. So he decided to re-loop the knife and open up his rather large suitcase. SUDDENLY, OUT POPPED A SENTRY GUN. It gave a beep, as if a nod to everyone else that it was aware of their existence. It was about the size of a backpack, and it had two guns mounted on the shoulders, one shooting lighting, the other, a concentrated pulse. Ah, almost ready for use... Hell, he could use it now, but he'd have one hell of a problem trying to get it to work just the way he wanted it to. Thing is, he didn't like getting zapped because the sensor couldn't detect his head, and that really tends to jumble his head around. He of course uses it to paralyze for now, and he figured it'd have to stay that way.

So he sat down cross-legged on the floor, using a screwdriver to tighten a few loose bolts and generally make sure it would be good for use. Thing about this thing is, Zed made it for modifications, so if he wanted to turn it into a jetpack, you know... He could totally do that. Gotta keep these things in mind when making a sentry backpack kind of thing, you know.

Figured he had time to wait for the train.

Now let's hope he doesn't get distracted by more cool future shit, or that the train suddenly pulls up as he just starts to work on his sentry backpack. That'd probably piss him off something horrible.

He decided to hum that song he was singing earlier, occasionally coming out and singing, usually "Don't wait for me, y'got a lot to do, y'got a lot to be.", just sort of whispering it, 'cos he was busy working and humming.




Feel free to ask him shit, he'd be glad to have someone to talk to.

"The seats float using magnetism, I think," Diego said to Mift. "Hey, what are you building, Zed?" he asked the engineer. He was free to questions about the world they were in. Now the monorail would take maybe half an hour to arrive. The city was not just large, it was one of the biggest in this world, each district was at least 1200 square miles in size, with the Hellfire District being the smallest at 1500 square miles and Glitzlvania being 2500 square miles large. Overall, the size of the megapolis was over 11,000 sqaure miles. around 5000 sq miles bigger than New York City.

So uh, I guess I post again.


Zed decided to chill there, fixing up his little invention. Then that one guy that asked him if he had any powers, decided to ask him what he was making. So he said, quite simply "Sentry Backpack." It'd be a good starting weapon, and a pretty cool thing to scoop up metal with or whatever. He wasn't working on that right now, though. He was making the proper room for a booster-style jetpack. The one that takes you up, but lets gravity take you down. He figured it'd be something cool to have.

It was incomplete for the moment, as he needed some sort of booster part. Maybe he could dissect one of these chairs...? Nah. They probably wouldn't do much. He'd have to mess with them later, though. They could probably make for some cool shoes or something.

Diego nodded. "So, uh... how is everyone adjusting to being in this world? Personally, I prefer it over my old world..." he said, trying to make conversation while they are waiting for the monorail train. Besides the floating chairs, there were a few large spheres with a touch screen with three magnetic pads underneath in the formation of a triangle. They came in either a very light or very dark colored metal with either blue or red energy 'veins.' They also had an opening underneath the touch screen. There was also a card slot as well as an opening on the right side of the touch screen. "There are some vending machines over there," he said pointing toward the floating orbs. There was also the floating bulletin board-like screens. Some were used to show the maps of the city or the times of the monorails.

Those vending machines looked kinda freaky, just being a floating orb and all. Zed decided to wait it out, even though his stomach was growling at him. For it's treasonous gurgling, Zed punched it, then keeled over. Oof, bad idea.

Once he recovered, he decided to put on his backpack. See how it felt.

...

It was heavy.

He decided to put the rest of his t(oys)ools into that suitcase and find a chair to chill in.

He now decided that it would be a great idea... To take a nap.

"Crowded," Mark answered, "used to the open mountains, not these cramped cities."

"I don't think it's that cramped," said Mift, currently on Mark's shoulder.

"That's because you're small," responded Mark.

Samuel shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "Couldnt tell you. Smacked my head on a rock not too long back and I dont remember a damn thing before that." He lifted a hand over the back of a free seat and squeezed, easily contorting the metal. "Woke up able to rip the head off a human with a good punch. Dont ask me how I know that." He continued, sort of grimacing at the last part of what he said.

"I'm still making notes about everything. I love it here. But I would to go home, to Earth. I wonder how the people will react when they find out about this world."
"I'm thirsty, anyone want a drink? Zed, you look hungry." She says as she walks to the vending machine.

"Not sure if anyone would believe if we made it back home..." Diego said as he looked at her. They got here because of that hobo. Her notes would be proof enough, but would their memories remain? What is going on? His eyes lowered as he felt a heavy strain on him. Shaking his head, he went to the vending machine and tossed in 4 coins. These coins were Rune Coins, the currency of this world. They were a darkish color with a blue rune on them. They came in different varieties. The value increases by darkness such as white with a yellow rune, gray with red and black with blue. They were the only universal currency, there were also local currency which can be exchanged.

The machine hummed a bit before the hatch door opened and received two bottles of a strange fizzy fruity drink. "This is like the cola back in Earth. However, this has a slightly stronger taste with more organic ingredients," he said as he gave a bottle to Eve. "They have fruits similar to Earth, like this is made with Cherigo fruit, which taste kinda like cherries with a hint of orange," he added as he began gulping down the cool drink. "The monorail comes in about 10 minutes," he said.

Zed woke up a bit to the offer of food. Yeah, he could use some of that. His jaw opened once, just sort of hanging there, before closing it again, hearing about the weird shit to drink. "Aaah... Yeah. Food is good. I'd like that." He then sort of nodded off back to sleep, like he was never awake. Dude's been working hard lately. Or maybe he was hardly working. Either way, he decided to take his goggles off his eyes, due to them squeezing against his head. Zed hated it when that happened.

Mark went over to DVB and put his arm over the guy's shoulder.

"Let me tell you a story, it's about a guy who wanted nothing to get home. He went on many adventures, and was a monster hunter. He hunted the strongest beasts. But deep down, he wanted to get home, was an earthling at heart." Mark pointed to DVB, "know who that guy is? Well, it's actually not me, it's not just me. It was a whole group of people. Long story short, we wanted to get home, and eventually found out we were home all along." Mark removed his arm around DVB. "See? You've already made a pact or what not to the animal spirits of this world, sounds like you've made this place your home, eh?"

While Mark went on his condensed life story, Mift had taken two seats to lay down on. Huh? Two seats? Ah, yes, she was currently four foot ten, tallest she can grow.

"...I made a pact with nature and the elements. Things are different here, okay?" Diego said with a smile, though the tone was saying that if someone mistaken that one more time, some one was going to get hit with the mace. "However, I guess you're right. Is that why we were called here? I wish I knew," he said as he took another gulp of the soda. "There are some other people here besides humans, though I haven't met all of them..." he said.

Samuel was bored. REALLY bored. He decided to crush the rest of the seat next to him for fun. First the back of the chair crumpled inward, like it were bending over in pain. Hell, thing would be if it were alive. Then came the smooshing. Pressing the two things together like a motherfucker and just letting it float there all on its own. Guy had nothing better to do now. 10 minutes to blow and nothing around to entertain. With the crushing done, Samuel stretched out and put his hands behind his head, relaxan.

"I don't drink very often...and as you can guess vir has no need for the consumption of things." Kye said to the offer of a drink, other then that he didn't talk much. He was listening vaguely to Diego and the monster hunters conversation.
Vir went up to samuel and looked at the rather imposing figure. "'ello comrade, what are ya doing?" vir is a rather childish teenager.

"But of course, you g-" Samuel started to bend metal, making much noise and indirectly interrupting, "et the trolls in the mountains, and gremlins get in practically everywhere." Mark scratched his nose. "and the fairies, like Mift here, a pixie."
"What," Mift looked up to her name being said.
"Nothing."

Zed decided to wake up from his nap because someone was bending metal. Kinda wakes you up. Dude was sitting next to him, too. Zed's black eyes opened up halfway and looked to him like he was an alarm clock. "... Egh." He was bored, tired, and getting a bit hungry, but he wasn't going anywhere. So he decided to light up a cigar and wait for something to come his way.




Decided to look over at those glowy tube things and give 'em a knock.

"ehh... i can't just stand around here...I have buisness to attend to." Kye said, it seems that diego fellow just went in a coma or something and Kye thought being here would be more exciting then earth not a snooze convention.