soul_logs | Evil stuff [Closed]

It was a nice night for a stroll, anyhow; even if Qilby wanted to feel annoyed at being summoned, he just didn't have it in him.

As things were, in any case, it seemed that the old Eliatrope had been out for some time even before the trio's little meeting was to go down. He appeared from the trees further in the park, almost ghost-like in his usual flowing whites, avoiding the lower hanging branches like someone who'd had a lot of practice not running into trees in the woods.

He held up his hand in greeting; his palm and fingers were dirtied with soil, which he quickly dusted off on the side of his leg before flashing a placid smile. "Evening, Demona. Good to see you in one piece."

The same could mostly be said of him -- but although he didn't appear to be missing any more limbs, there was a rather noticeable bandage over one eye that his short bangs couldn't quite cover. Still, he seemed to be in a far better mood than he'd been before the mission had occurred.

While Qilby came out of the trees, Barricade approached from the opposite direction through the city. He wasn't much of a nature enthusiast, and even if he couldn't transform, he felt more comfortable in the urban setting. Too bad there wasn't a nice parking garage to recharge in, though.

He kept his headlights off so as to not draw (any more) attention to himself, ducking through the trees a lot less gracefully than Qilby. At the very least, he could be quiet when he wanted to, and reached the pair without any trouble whatsoever. Barricade considered crouching down to their level to speak, but decided against it. When was the last time Megatron or Starscream bent over to talk to him? Oh, that's right, when they wanted to yell at him.

"Well, here we are," he said, skipping over any quaint 'hellos'. After the mission he hadn't seen or spoken to Qilby, which probably worked fine for both of them. A cool down period would help keep him from making good on any threat he'd made towards the old man's health.

"Good evening, my friend." When the first one approached, Demona turned her head to Qilby, a smile coming to her lips at the comment. "The same can't be said about you. Did you lose an eye?" she said as she noticed the bandage. Per usual, she was such a gentle lady.

And then Barricade came out and she offered him a smile too. "And you look quite well, yourself." not that she had much time to observe the robot from every angle, but he looked fine.

"How did the mission go?" did you guys try to kill each other during it?

"If only I'd be so lucky. I'd look rather distinguished with an eyepatch, wouldn't I?" He sees what you're doing here, and it's not going to work, Demona.

Haha, 'sees.'

Qilby shot a look at Barricade. It was the first time he'd seen the big lugnut since the mission was over, and it was a good thing they had the time away from each other to... Unwind. Now it was just a matter of figuring out if he or the Eliatrope would be the first to complain about the other -- should he make a preemptive strike like usual, or trust the machine not to run whatever metal bits he called his mouth?

"... Splendidly. Took me two days to get the kishin egg blood out of my clothing." He tore his gaze away from the much-taller robot. They were both liars. He should know how to be discreet. "You may have created a monster, here."

Of course he looked well, even if he thought a nice coat of wax would help. He wasn't certain if that counted towards his allotment for 'groceries', though.

"We got what we went for," he said, meeting the look Qilby shot towards him. His expression was entirely neutral, as curious as he was about how the old man answered. Wouldn't he just complain about him behind his back, anyways? Did Demona even know what she was getting herself into with either of them, let alone the both of them combined? When Qilby looked away, Barricade focused his attention back on Demona. "How'd it go for you?"

She still had both wings, so that was a good sign.

Demona raised an eyebrow at the glances the other two shared. Well, as long they didn't deviate from their plans, they were free to hate each other, but it would worry her if they joined together and planned on betraying her. Demona already considered that possibility, honestly, but since they were her only allies in this place, she had no choice but to keep this up even if she didn't trust the two.

At the question, she smirked with delight. "Wonderful." Demona enjoys fighting, so his mission was perfect for her.

"The two kishin souls you got at the end. Did you eat them?"

Well, well. It seemed that the universe still had surprises in store for Qilby. He pretended not to notice Demona's skeptical brow, effortlessly maintaining his characteristic serene expression. In his aeons of experience, he'd navigated far-murkier diplomatic waters dealing with his siblings on the council-- but at least back then, he didn't have to worry about getting a knife in his back... Or a claw, as things were.

Still. It was a game he'd played for ages, and he knew well enough that the whole truth rarely served his ends. Looked like Barricade felt the same way.

"A petty reward for our efforts, to be sure," he said unhelpfully, leaving the robot to answer for himself and instead taking a sudden, intense interest in a weed at his feet. Barricade didn't need to know about the reasons for his reluctance in giving the kishin egg souls over, nor did Demona need to know that he was unable to keep the things. Especially not after getting on her case about it a few days ago.

Barricade didn't look thrilled at Qilby's answer, though it wasn't like he ever looked happy about anything. Here in the city there was no Madness wavelength pressing down on him, so it was easier to let it slide. Playing nice was going to get him farther ahead here than it did back home.

"Yeah, I ate them," he said, omitting any comment about how petty it was or wasn't. Qilby might not be human, but he didn't have any qualms about killing the old man and eating his soul. "If you wanted me to do something else with them, you should have said so."

He didn't think they were allowed to keep them as pets, anyways. Shibusen might notice something like that. Still, if she wanted his cooperation, she might have to speak up about her plans and goals. He'd spent enough of his life pulling the trigger without knowing the target.

"I was simply making sure." if he ate them, then Qilby was unable to convince Barricade not to; and if Barricade ate them was because he didn't know about Qilby's desire to study the souls to use them as an energy source. She was going to have a word with Qilby after.

"I have spoken to Death the Kid." Demona turns to the side, observing their surroundings "Cross and his group will be focusing on the Witch's madness transmitter. We will have access to it."

Yeah, he'd like to see her try bringing that up with him. He's prepared to be the most belligerent, unhelpful, self-righteous--

Ah? At the mention of Death the Kid, Qilby managed to tear his attention away from his feet, open curiosity written on his features in spite of himself. "Not surprising. All this otherworldly knowledge and experience at their fingertips-- Shibusen's head would have to be even more witless than I thought not to take advantage of it."

Though he was referring to the group's scientific abilities as a whole, he couldn't help but give the impression that he meant only himself. Self-assuredness or arrogance? Not much of a question, not when his present company had already had the pleasure of being exposed to his smugness on more than one occasion. The Eliatrope really made no secret of it.

"Does... He know--" Qilby shook his head, and turned his gaze up at Barricade, speaking directly to the robot instead. "Do you have any idea what it is we're doing here?"

Making sure of what? If everything was going to be so blatantly vague, he was going to regret trying to join their little club. Barricade's attention was threatening to wander off when they started talking about things that clearly didn't concern him. 'We' meaning herself and Qilby, since no one was going to be letting him near touchy machines anytime soon. Even if he tried, Bumblebee would probably get all over his case and try to expose him.

He looked down at Qilby when he spoke to him, interested by the way he caught himself. Most organic species tended to talk about his own species like they weren't standing right there. Too bad the recognition was worthless coming from the old man.

"I wasn't expecting to hear the details up front first time we spoke," he said, optics flicking over to Demona. "But at this point, it'd be nice to know what I think I'm getting into."

Commitment was a fickle thing, after all. Even if the price wasn't right - what choice did he even have, anyways? - he could at least use the resources and support.

The gargoyle nodded, agreeing. Sure, she would tell Barricade all about it. "The Madness transmitter will be studied in order to use it as calming wavelength transmitter." at least that's what Kid hoped for. "With such thing, they would be able to increase madness-free areas. That would be good for the three of us, as well."

The female noticed no one around them, so she continued, now paying attention to the other two. "We cannot build anything inside the City. Just being like this calls a lot of attention upon ourselves. We need a place that will allow us privacy, outside the city. Hence why a Calming wavelength transmitter would come in hand." there is more. "However, you were in that cave; you saw how Madness is able to mutate both animals and plants. It also affects every other living being, including Shibusen and its Heroes" that last word was spoken with such sarcasm.

"That can come in hand for us, as well; we can use it as a weapon too."

Qilby kept quiet as Demona delivered her explanation, frowning faintly and shifting his weight uncomfortably, until at last he couldn't stay silent any longer.

"They're not the only ones that're affected by Madness, Demona," he blurted out, interrupting before Barricade could get a word in edgewise. "Do you really think it's wise to try and rely on a force we're just as susceptible to ourselves?"

The other two had no way of knowing about it, but he wasn't willing to acknowledge the irony in his protests. After all, hadn't it been him urging his king to see the virtue in studying Stasis, and all its fathomless capabilities? And hadn't it been him that defied his ruler's wishes, and went ahead and tried harnessing that forbidden energy behind everyone's backs?

Still, that was different. He knew exactly what it took to control Stasis. Madness, though-- that mission wasn't the first time he'd been burned by it. It made him weak, striking at the very greatest weapon he had left to him. If he had a choice in the matter, he'd prefer not to expose himself to it any more than he had to.

Leaving the city to set up a base of operations only made him nervous because of the Madness wavelength. Otherwise, he'd be perfectly fine with it, and would be just as glad to never see Death City again. Earth had been an open road for him before, now it was just another cage.

He was about to ask just what they'd be doing out there once the Madness thing was taken of, when Qilby barged in. Neither of them were in any hurry to repeat what had happened down in the caves, but even Barricade knew nothing was going to happen if they hid in the city all the time. He had always played such an active role in his own war, though, so sitting around wasn't his favorite thing anyways.

"What do you suggest, then? If we're bound to the rules of this place, then we ought to make them work to our advantage," he tilted his head, looking back to Demona. "I mean, is the calming wavelength just a modified Madness, or is it something separate?"

They could worry about using the damn thing as a weapon later - in order to study it, they needed the facility and the resources to do it first. That certainly wasn't happening here, because even he thought this little meeting looked entirely suspect.

"That's why we do want a Calming wavelength transmitter. For ourselves. And that's why we will help them building it." Or she will, whatever; even if Qilby and Barricade don't do it, Demona shall. With one they wouldn't be affected by the madness. Of course they couldn't leave the city without one, and that's why she didn't want to steal the Madness transmitter right away, she wanted Shibusen to build a Calming Wavelength transmitter first and that's why she'd help and really help.

"Madness is a different wavelength, so I was told." Honestly, what she was told could be very different from reality; Demona didn't think humans told them as much as they knew. Or perhaps they didn't know much in first place.

Better still just to make the rules bend around them. He may be stuck in this universe, but he sure as hell wasn't planning on playing fair.

It was messy, Madness and figuring out how to resist it. Trial and error for the sake of study was one thing, but this experience in particular was just so off-putting that Qilby almost preferred to simply take his chances outside the city... And he rarely liked to leave things up to chance. Once the missions were carried out successfully, it wasn't as if they'd be menaced by the brunt of the Madness Wavelength any longer, so why all the fuss?

Fine, then. Whatever reservations the Eliatrope still had, he didn't indicate them any further. He was far too good for that.

"Other... Benefits aside, our real prize in these Madness Emitters is the opportunity to finally get a first-hand look at real Witch magitech." A pause, to look from Barricade to Demona and back. "Demona and I have our own projects, if you will, but they share some common denominators: the need for this technology, and souls to potentially help power them.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're not really the scholarly type, are you?" A rather hypothetical question he already knew the answer to, judging from his dry tone. Ordinarily, he'd say you couldn't judge a book by its cover-- but from where he was standing, Barricade was a rather straightforward book indeed.

Barricade was no engineer, but he could build and dismantle things fairly easily. He'd run the Nemesis just fine on his own, whenever Starscream and Blackout decided to go running around after Autobots. There was no way he'd be able to help Shibusen with something like that though, not with Bumblebee in the city. Subtle things were harder for him to track, so he was just going to have to stick with his more subversive methods.

"So you were told," Barricade repeated, looking and sounding put off by that. Kind of hard to made concrete plans when the top brass might not be telling the truth, or the whole truth. He hated finding things out the ugly way.

He hesitated before answering Qilby, but not because of the actual question. Neither of them knew Barricade himself already got a firsthand look at Witch magic, or whatever it was, when he'd run into Cybele. Did they even know Shibusen had a pet Witch running around? For the moment, he decided against mentioning her, partly because he still felt bitter about how she'd humiliated him.

"Not after the war obliterated our culture and our history," he shrugged one shoulder. Implying he might have been at one point, but that was definitely a lie. He'd always worked in the military, and the war had given his talents a proper outlet. The last thing he wanted, though, was these two abusing his usual role of a ground pounder.

If Qilby had asked, Demona would have reminded him that three transmitters down can easily be put back in place. The gargoyle didn't like to be left up to chance either, and she didn't want to be suddenly hit by Madness when they weren't expecting; even if just as a preventive measure, a Calming Wavelength transmitter was a necessity. Or anything that would stop the Madness from spreading.

The female wasn't sure if Barricade was interested in this world's magitech; honestly, he didn't look like the kind of person to care much about anything but destruction - don't get her wrong, it's a delight to have people like that here, but some planing is necessary and not everything can be achieved through violence.

Demona waited for Barricade's answer, but she already expected to hear so. Not surprising, honestly.

So did that mean he was smarter than he looked, or that his kind had just never picked up the pieces of their culture? The latter, most likely. Not every race could have someone like Qilby, someone whose job it was to sacrifice their happiness carrying the burden of aeons of history. Despite his weaknesses, he was surely the reason Eliatropes had succeeded where so many other races -- Cybertronians among them, evidently -- had failed.

"And I don't suppose you can convincingly pretend to be." Qilby's tone danced between being light and being scathing. "No matter-- your talents are obviously better served elsewhere..."

That is to say, he and Demona could handle the thinking -- Barricade could do the heavy lifting. In other words, the killing or, if nothing else, granting Qilby the power to kill things himself. But that would require...

"Souls." A pause, and a glance he just couldn't quite stop himself from shooting at Demona. "Like I said, we both need souls for our research, and a way of acquiring them." He hoped he wouldn't have to spell it out for the robot.

He'd let the both of them figure it out for themselves, and underestimate him if they were that cocky about their own talents. The unfortunate thing was that he had no grand goal of his own here, so working - not serving - with them gave him something to do. If people got hurt in the process, even better.

"I can be plenty convincing if the occasion calls for it, but don't expect me to be doing all your dirty work," Barricade stopped just short of growling that out. It was no good on either of them, but it had to be said. He wasn't going to come running every time they needed something diced up.

He was willing to let the subject drop, though, in favor of moving along with what they were planning.

"You can't bring them back through that mirror, and murders don't really go unnoticed around here." He'd gone back and read the network headlines. Death City indeed. "You got that part figured out yet?"

Pretend to be? Have you looked at him Qilby? He is incapable of sounding like a scientist, much less act like one. Again, she kept quiet on that - let's not offend your allies just yet. Though Barricade said he could be convincing, Demona seriously has her doubts about that.

"You are also an interested part. And if you mind getting dirty that much, I don't." Demona is quite capable of dicing things up too, and very efficiently.

And now the conversation took the turn she wanted. To know why the hell did Barricade eat the souls when they could have just kept it. "Do tell me what happened to the souls you earned during the mission."

If he did have that part figured out, Qilby felt like hissing, then why was he even considering bringing a useless, bullheaded machine like Barricade into his circle? No, he didn't have it figured out, and he needed to have it figured out if he wanted a hope of moving his research forward sometime in the next century. Goddess, he thought his days of sitting on his hands and waiting for a solution to come to him were over by now.

Demona's next inquiries made him instantly regret coming here more than he already had in the past minute, and he had to refrain himself from saying exactly what he wanted to say. The souls disappeared down this beast's gullet, what do you think? Though he could stay his tongue, he didn't have as much success with the almost petulant scowl he just couldn't keep off his face.

"Whatever was supposed to happen to them," he replied stonily. Whose side was Demona on?

Alright, fine, skip over a legitimate question. He could easily figure out the answer based on the look on Qilby's face. There was more than one reason they wanted a base of operations outside the city, after all, but they'd be on their own to find kishin souls. Shibusen would notice if they started using the mission board and not coming back with any prizes.

For once, Barricade's expression matched Qilby's scowl almost exactly. They'd already covered this, so did she think they were lying to her? Although that was a distinct possibility.

"You want me to find out if I can purge my tanks to get them back out for you?" he growled. "You're the one that suggested we partner for the mission, and neither one of you said a word about collecting souls for other purposes. You want something done, be explicit or tell me up front."

This little 'alliance' of theirs? Not off to a great start.

She knows what happened, she wants to know why. But by the looks of it, if the gargoyle is going to press the subject about how Qilby should have told Barricade from the start, especially because they earned two souls on that mission, things wouldn't go well. Instead she sighed and shook her head.

Gosh, it's like she is dealing with hatchlings.

"I have seen people bringing souls back to their apartments." perhaps they earned the souls during an attack to the city? If that was the case... no, she couldn't wait for another attack to the city. SHe had no idea when that would happen.

Going to the desert to look for a kishin egg by themselves would be too risky as well. There was always the option of a Witch. But she knows how wary Qilby is about them, and she too doesn't trust them.

Oh, Qilby would love to be explicit. He'd love it if there was a way to delicately say that he needed Barricade to put himself at risk for no immediate reward, so go on-- hop to it, and give up your hard-earned souls like a good machine! Yes, that was sure to go over well. That would surely get the robot on his side!

There was nothing for it but to explain, in detail, exactly what it was he was planning to do with these souls. It was just such a tedious thing, though! At least with Demona and Edward's scientific backgrounds, he could be sure his words would fall upon appreciative ears. This metal brute's glassy, red eyes would probably glaze over before he even got through the absolute basics of his work.

It would have to be later, then, when he had a chance to speak with Barricade alone. It wasn't something Demona had to hear all over again. Waving his hand as if shooing away an irritating insect, he replied testily, "Please, keep your insides in. It hardly matters now, anyway." Even so, he deigned to shoot the robot a look that said he wasn't quite completely done.

"And true as that may be," he continued at Demona, "It's no long-term solution. They don't seem to store well without special accommodations... Which would look quite out of place in our residences."

A begrudging sigh. "You mentioned it before and-- I agree. Another location will simply have to be found. Somewhere outside the city limits and out of the watchful eyes of its guardians."

Barricade's response was indignant huff, but he fell silent after that. So far, he had no motivation, no reward, no guarantee and certainly no assurances. What were they expecting from him again?

"Any leads or ideas in that department?" he asked, although he didn't expect much of an answer. These two had been here longer, and had obviously worked out some sort of arrangement, but he was finding out details only pieces at a time. Even better, they clearly thought he was stupid for asking questions he couldn't possibly know the answer to in the first place. All they really wanted as a robotic henchmen. Not exactly a big surprise to him.

"With the madness emitters down, the safe area has become bigger. I believe after the third is gone we may be able to search the area without worrying about going mad." she still wanted a calming wavelength transmitter or an anti-madness transmitter to avoid being suddenly hit by madness, but even without one, they did need to find some place.

"I will leave the city at night to do so. I'd bring you two along, but we don't want to call attention, do we?" The female turned to Barricade "However. You can turn into a Weapon and I can say you'll be coming along for protection." then she turned to Qilby.

Yeah, she had no excuse for him to come along.

Unless. "I suppose you can always say you'd like to come just to acquire knowledge of this world." If that's even a good excuse.

"You don't need to contrive an excuse for me. I know when I'm not needed," Qilby replied acidly, lifting his chin. He seemed to quickly realize just how petty that sounded, so he added more neutrally, "I trust you two will work something out together. In the meantime, there's no end of work I can complete within the city's walls."

Besides, it was just a desert. He'd seen enough desolate landscapes in his lifetime to make even the thrill of discovery lose its edge. They can play in their sandbox all they wanted and dig a hidey hole for the three of them -- he'll worry about what to fill it with.

Going on a scavenger hunt seemed like a good opportunity to see how Demona operated, and figure out which one, between the two, to throw his weight behind. If she had anything to add that she didn't want Qilby to hear, she'd do it then. It wasn't like he and Qilby wouldn't eventually talk about her, or Qilby and Demona talk about him, and so on and so forth. It was just an unspoken rule at these gatherings.

"Let me know when you're ready to fly, and I'll lend you a hand," he said to Demona, ignoring the old man's petulant little snipe. "The sooner this gets done, the better."

Yes, it sounded petty, but Demona didn't seem phased by it. If Qilby felt all offended, it'd be his problem; they can't walk around like a damn picnic group and a gargoyle warrior with a weapon, accompanying an old man would be noticeable.

The gargoyle nodded. "After the second mission for the Witch emitters. Be ready, then." then she turns to Qilby. "As soon as we find something, i will let you know."

"Please, do keep me in the loop," Qilby replied drily. How very, very kind of them.

He knew how these things went. Demona would likely try and get the robot in her pocket -- she loved her toys after all, and perhaps she thought Barricade would be able to help her with her designs. Then Barricade would attempt to get the bead on her he so obviously wanted, and maybe ask about him in the bargain. Not that the Eliatrope council was ever the most treacherous body of political water to navigate, but he'd seen his fair share of one-upmanship to recognize it when it was brewing. This was a competition as much as it was a tenuous alliance, and all three of them were playing to win.

"Well then," he drawled, stretching theatrically. "If that's settled..."

Barricade hoped Demona would accept Qilby's cue to wrap this up, even if he still felt like he was missing important details. He'd no doubt learn these things as they went along, which meant it was just business as usual, then. He'd dealt with worse, though.

"Fine," he nodded at Demona. "That it then? I think it's past the old man's recharge cycle."

The female gargoyle nodded, decided to wrap things up as well. There wasn't much more to speak of, and Qilby was still acting like a child (grow up, old man).

She turned to the tree, climbing up. "We will be in contact." and without even a word of goodbye, She threw herself off the tree to gain enough speed so she could fly away.

Evil stuff [Closed]

his hat is AWESOME >:(

do you cry that into your pillow every night

keep telling yourself that

everyone's ganging up on me...

it's a precursor to an intervention. we're worried about you, doc :(

yes we are. you should be thankful.

you can't make me go, ASSHOLES

too late, we're already here

doc we are trying to help you that's what frands do

back, stay BACK, I SAY!!

just give us the hat and no one gets hurt!!

and the beard too, now that we are at it

you cannot fathom the ramifications of your actions today

we're saving you from yourself, you'll thank us one day

denial is normal at first

if you guys just tried his hat then you'd UNDERSTAND

we understand doc. we understand you need help. LET US HELP YOU

this is what friends do, doc. we are your friends and so we care

WOW maybe it's time for me to track this log

don't change the subject, missy

yeah because the hat is still a problem

you two are the problem

remember what juu said, denial is normal. it's part of the healing process.

exactly. just listen to us, we are the voices of reason

non

mais oui

oh no, don't go french on me

C'EST TROP TARD

arrette ou je te fous une baffe

my 5 years of french don't cover speaking it ok

quelle tristesse :(

desole (wait, whose side am i on again)

oui, voilà le triste constat.. (no idea)