Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » As Darkness Ascends

Once released from his prison (well, not quite yet, but they're working on it), the lord of all oni and King of Shadowkhan, Tarakudo seeks new henchmen to assist in his quest to engulf the Earth in eternal darkness. And the infamous Ice Crew seems like a perfect fit, if they prove their worth and skills.

OOC: JCA RP thread; a continuation of a Tumblr thread between me and my pal; closed BUT possibly accepting new players (message one of us if you're interested).

One day Ice Crew got a message. The author didn't leave his or her signature, but promised a deal which could make them rich, free and powerful beyond humanly possible. It also had an adress where the "employer" would wait for young men. This might have seemed like a joke if the note wasn't delivered to Ice and his crew by a frigging flying bat shadowkhan in a middle of a night, which then disappeared just as quickly and suddenly as it had found them.

Tap tap tap

Ice twitched, letting out a small snort, then slowly rolled from his back onto his side.

Tap tap tap tap

“Mmnh.” Cobra lifted his head from his pillow slightly, his eyes still closed, then let it drop back down. “Knock’r’s runnin’ off ag’n, somun go get it….”

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap

Ice’s face scrunched up before he sat upright, turning to glare at the door. “What?”

Tap tap

…Wait. That wasn’t coming from the door….

His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he turned to look at the window, only to shoot straight back up at the sight of a huge, bat-like creature perched outside of it. He stared at it for a few seconds, then furiously rubbed at his eyes before looking again.

Nope, still there.

Still staring, he slowly got out of his bed and padded over to Cobra’s, furiously shaking his roommate’s shoulder until he finally opened his eyes with a groan. “What, Dawg?”

“Uh….” Ice pointed at the window. “Ya seein’ what I’m seein’?”

Cobra’s formerly half-closed eyes nearly bugged out of his skull when he saw the creature. “Tha heck is that supposed ta be?”

They both could only watch as the creature reached into the black clothing it was wearing, pulling out an envelope and holding it up for them to see. After an exchanged glance, Ice cautiously approached the window and opened it, taking the envelope when the creature held it out to him.

Cobra approached as he pulled out the message, and they both read it at the same time. Raising one eyebrow, Ice looked back up to the window. “Yo, what’s this–”

The creature had vanished.

“…Freaky,” Cobra muttered.

The next morning, Fist was giving the two a strange look after they told him what had happened.

“It’s true!” Cobra protested. “It was just there one second, and then poof! Gone! Like, a shadow or somethin’.”

“Forget that thing for now,” Ice said with a wave of his hand. “What about that message? Ya think it might be legit?”

Fist glanced down at the paper still in his hand, then looked back up and shrugged.

“If tha thing that brought it was bein’ controlled by whoever wrote it,” Cobra said, “then ya gotta admit, tha dawg’s prolly got some skills. It’s prolly worth checkin’ out, at least.”

It was almost noon by the time the crew got to the address noted in the message. Coming to a stop on their skateboards, they pulled off their helmets and looked around, taking in their surroundings and searching for anyone else that could have been there besides them.

(Can I be a part of it?)

The place they arrived to was an old abandoned mansion, with a three feet tall metal fence surrounding it. The two-storey building of pseudo-Victorian design itself looked ruined, as if it would fall apart after next storm. Lawn and ground around the house became overgrown with all kinds of plants and flowers, mostly weeds. Windows were boarded up years ago, so it was impossible to say what was happening inside.
Once guys entered the place, the gate closed right behind them.
There was no one beside them. No humans, no animals, only a feeling of heavy dark presence which was somewhat similiar to demon sorcerers’ chi. It was quiet, only a lonely cry could be heard in distance. Then again, it could be just wind.
The front door to the mansion opened by itself, as if inviting them to go inside.

OOC: I don't mind, but we need to discuss this in PM X)

“Yo, I feel sorry for tha dawg that lives in this crib,” Cobra said as he looked the building over. “It looks worse than tha junkyard!”

Ice raised an eyebrow as he double checked the address. “Well, this ain’t suspicious at all,” he muttered, earning a questioning look from Fist. Once Ice noticed it, he looked over the mansion again before shrugging. “Worst comes ta worst, an’ this is a trap, we can bust out through one o’ tha windows.”

With that, he stepped forward, the other two falling into step behind him…only for all three to whirl around when the gate abruptly clanged shut.

“…Freaky,” Cobra said, only to stiffen slightly. Ice and Fist were able to feel it as well; a low, unsettling presence that seemed to make the air in their lungs just a little bit heavier as it lightly scratched at the back of their skulls. With another, near simultaneous turn, they stared directly at the mansion.

“Demon chi?” Cobra asked with a glance at the other two.

Ice narrowed his eyes slightly. “Maybe.” It seemed familiar, like the demon chi they had once carried, but at the same time, it felt…black, almost.

His eyes narrowed further when the door opened, seemingly by itself. He raised a finger and made a single circle with it, then dropped his hand back down to his side as he walked forward. As Cobra and Fist followed behind him, all three continuously scanned the yard around them, looking for any signs of traps or even life.

There was another pause when Ice placed a foot on the first step up to the porch, eliciting a loud creak from the old wood. Welp, there went any last possibility for the advantage of surprise. More creaks followed the three as they cautiously stepped through the front door, giving the space beyond the same scrutiny as the yard.

Nothing was happening as they approached the mansion, but once they walked in the door behind them closed. Again.
The first room they entered was a long and vast hall with a spiral stairs leading to the next floor and several doors. Inside the mansion looked just slightly better, at least lacking weeds crawlings the walls and litter laying on the ground. It was mostly empty, anything valuable long time taken away. The pale red walls had patterns on them which almost completely disappeared by now. Once a luxurious place, not it was a ruined and empty building soon to be destroyed by man or time. Sad view.
The dark aura was stronger here, in this quiet and abandoned place.
“Greetings,” a loud and deep voice sounded above them.
A weird being - red head with horns and long facial hair - met the trio with a sly grin of its sharp tusks. it was rather large and freely floated in the air above the trio.
“The infamous Ice Crew, I take it?” the oni asked in a honeyed tone. “I’m glad you accepted my invitation.”

Their reaction to the door was much more reserved than to the gate, the three merely looking over their shoulders before turning their attention back to the room.

With the strengthening of the aura, they were able to more easily pick out the differences between this sensation and the one caused by the demon chi; while the demon chi was energizing and almost primordial, this aura was simply heavier.

All three snapped their heads up in the direction of the voice, tensing slightly as the head came into view. Ice raised an eyebrow at both the look of the…being, and its greeting.

“Yeah, that would be us,” he replied straightening his back slightly as he spoke. “But who are you?”

The floating head observed the trio with obvious interest, his cold calculating gaze shifting from Ice to Cobra and to Fist.
“I am Tarakudo, the Lord of all Oni and King of Shadowkhan,” he proudly announced with a wide grin. Several shadowkhan - ninjas, sumo and leeches emerged from shadows, staring at the Ice Crew with their emotionless red eyes. “You may bow.”
Somewhere in depths of the mansion sounded a loud roar and the oni threw a furrowed glance back.
“Or not, I’m here to talk business, not formalities,” he said in a deep voice and cocked his eyebrow. “We have never met before, gentlemen, but we do have one thing in common… enemies. Specifically: mister Chan.”

Any remark that Ice could have made died on his lips when the shadows started to shift, and he tensed further when creatures started to climb out of them, widening his stance in anticipation of a fight. Cobra and Fist reacted as well, whirling around so that their backs were to Ice’s and each other’s.

Their gazes were torn away from creatures by the roar, however; Ice furrowed his eyebrows as well, as Fist and Cobra threw glances over their shoulders.

Ice’s attention finally returned to Tarakudo once the oni mentioned Chan. “That dawg seriously can’t keep his nose outta others’ business, can he?”

“Admittedly, he has pretty good reasons,” the oni’s lips twitched in a smirk. “But that doesn’t make it any less annoying.”
The roar repeated, this time as if getting closer. The shadowkhan tensed, aiming their silent attention at doors. Tarakudo glanced at a wall, his smile fading.
“We have little time, so let’s get straight to business. You want to take your revenge on Chan for messing up with you,” the floating head quickly said. “I want to stop Chan from messing up with me. By working together, we’ll have both our wishes fulfilled.”

Those roars were starting to get a little distracting, and the shadow creatures’ reaction to them didn’t do anything to put Ice at ease. Fortunately, they weren’t distracting enough to prevent him from hearing Tarakudo’s offer, which prompted a raised eyebrow.

“So whatta ya plannin’ that makes ya sure Chan’ll try ta crash tha party?”

You know, while he was asking questions… “An’ what’s with all that noise, yo?”

The oni pondered about an answer. Sure, they used to work for Drago, but he still wasn’t sure they’d approve of engulfing the world in eternal darkness.
But they’d know sooner or later anyway.
“I believe marrying his niece and engulfing the world in eternal darkness has to attract some of Mr Chan’s attention,” Tarakudo explained.
He nodded at one of the doors. Weird noise was coming from it, like soft rumbling.
“A little test. If you want to work for me I’d like a proof of your competence,” Tarakudo frowned, recalling Enforcers. ”You have no idea how hard it is nowadays to come by good henchmen.”

...Well, then.

Ices eyebrows rose noticeably at that, as Cobra and Fist exchanged a glance. "Aight, that whole 'engulflin' tha world' thing ain't really su'prisin', but...why would ya wanna get hitched ta tha shrimp?"

At the nod, all three turned to look at the door in question. As Ice turned to look back at Tarakudo, he gave the head a calculating look. "'Fore we get this test thing started...anythin' else we can expect from workin' for ya?"

Shrimp.
Tarakudo chuckled, imagining Jade's anger if she heard this line. Funny insult it was, though if he wanted to get along with the girl, he'd need to make sure these three don't get on her nerves a lot.
"I'm not picky," his fangs glimpsed in dim light. "She was always meant to become our Queen anyway."
The sounds coming from behind the door became quieter. Perhaps the beast had calmed down a little.
"Almost everything - power, influence, money wherever we reign," the King said. "I might even give you a secret of becoming as strong as an ox and as fast as a tiger, if you be very, very bad boys."
New generals wouldn't hurt. At very least he'd have more than nine onis to rule.

And cue a slowly rising eyebrow from Ice. "Aight, then...."

Luckily, before they could think about that any further, Tarakudo moved the conversation along to a topic that they were much more interested in. Every thing he mentioned caused them to perk up just a little more, the beginnings of smirks dancing at the corners of their mouths and their eyes starting to light with greed.

"Ya don't say?" Ice drawled, glancing over his shoulder to look back at Fist and Cobra. Fist gave a small nod as Cobra grinned, and he looked back up at the oni again. "So how's this test gonna go down?"

"Oh, the task is very simple, I would say laughably so," Tarakudo winked at the three. "You need to do just one thing."
The floating oni head whistled and suddenly a sound of many locks closing and one opening could be heard. The door with sounds coming from it opened, revealing a big, hulky monstrosity tearing a sofa apart. It looked sort of like a giant ape, with skull-like head and sharp claws.
"Survive," Tarakudo grinned a vanished in the air, as if in mockery, his sharp fangs fading last. "Good luck!"
The sound of his voice attracted the beast, which glared at the doorway and saw Ice Crew.
With a roar it lunged towards them.

And right when they were starting to get relaxed, too. The sudden cascade of clicking locks put them on edge, Cobra quickly turning to look at the front door as a click emanated from it, as well.

The opening door got all three's attention, and their eyes widened at the sight of the creature. Ice almost didn't catch what Tarakudo said next, and he whipped his head around to where the oni had been last. "Hold up, what?!"

Only to see that the floating head was already gone.

The roar of the monster quickly brought Ice back to focus, and as it charged, he and the others scrambled to get out of the way, Ice and Cobra diving in one direction as Fist ducked in another.

The ape dashed past them, almost crushing into a wall. It quickly turned around, growling and baring its fangs at the three. Its glare switched from Ice, Cobra to Fist and back, the creature choosing its target. With a snort, the monster finally decided and jumped at Fist, trying to grab him by choulder and lift into air.
The screech it made was feadening so close, and the creature smelt of blood and filth, dark-red stains on its fur.
Amd Tarakudo was watching the whole thing from the shadows, chuckling and smiling to himself, finding the whole situation very entertaining.

The three quickly scrambled back to their feet, turning to face the ape as it did the same. They slowly started to circle the creature, trying to surround it. Unfortunately, it decided to move again, outright jumping in Fist's direction. Fist had almost not time to react, letting out a grunt as he was grabbed by his left shoulder and lifted into the air. His hands flew up to claw at the creature's hand, his right hand sliding up to its wrist and trying to find a pressure point to press. His nose wrinkled at the stench coming off of the beast, and he flung one of his legs upwards, aiming for the thing's chin or throat or...something in that area, whatever he could reach with its head so close to him.

"Hang on!" Ice and Cobra rushed forward, Ice leaping into a flying kick aimed for one of the creature's knees, as Cobra hopped up onto its back, grabbing at its fur to pull himself closer to its head.