Re: New home (OPEN TO OCEAN MEMBERS)

Re: New home (OPEN TO OCEAN MEMBERS) · by **Zell** August 2nd 2013, 9:12 pm

The bickering continued. It was no burden at first, but it slowly began to fester into Shi's mind. This was unacceptable. They needed to be taught a lesson. A very important one. Shi, as far as he was concerned was on relatively friendly terms with Plural, and he was on good terms with The Black Angel…so his acting out against both of them was certain to draw attention. However he must not let the mundane argument compromise his core value. He cleared his throat.
    ”…excuse me.” He said softly, trying to diffuse the argument. It continued. ”...Uh, begging your pardon.” They continued anyway. Shi just listened to each and every individual plead their case. He looked at Sabrina and smiled at her reassuringly. He was obviously the most ‘caring’ member there to be the only one to know and rationalize that this sort of stress on the woman was not what she needed. Even while Shi completely agreed with Plural that her work was sloppy and she messed up, Shi was also a man of second chances, and he could see the innocent soul inside Sabrina. Shi believed one should look to the past to learn and prepare for the future. There was no shame in looking to the past, but there was no more a grievous sin than to stare upon it. As he closed his eyes once more to meditate, Shi listened to Plural butcher Angel about the whole file concept, and then it moved on to the next portion. Plural took a blade from the wall, and made his point very clear by snapping the blade. Shi didn’t need to know what exactly was done to know that a blade was broken. His eyes shot open and he grasped his knees, there his hands had been resting. These two….were unbelievable.
     Plural was brilliant, Shi could tell this very easily, however he was still human. He was not above emotions, and this alone was proof. He had Shi’s respect secured, however he was beginning to seem even more and more like a child with each point he stated. Yes, his points were accurate, and they were valid….but he did not need to explain himself. He was wasting precious breath, and he was doing absolutely NOTHING constructive. He should have just let Black Angel walk from the room in his opinion. However, Shi had just preached that he took time to think things out, and that was what he was doing now. He needed to figure out a way to bring the group together. He also needed to tell a story at some point. Perhaps he could…no. He refused to do that. He would figure out a way to bring them together some other way. Plural and Black Angel were far too involved in this at the moment to even hear Shi out. He could almost sense the emotions radiating off of them from his meditation. He could even pick out Sabrina’s. The Argument had escalated long enough, this sparring room was Shi’s life, it was his pride, his place of peace and oneness. If Shi had his own religion, then this training room was the damn Vatican AND Calvary hill. Now there were people here having an argument...a pointless…DE-constructive…childish…argument. This began to actually shake him down to his spirit. The rumbling, fumbling and tumbling of Shi’s desperate attempts to remain in a soft meditation were ultimately futile. Shi took in a sharp breath…it was too late…Death itself had been invoked into the room. The room became saturated with an uncanny feel of morbidity, so much so that even those who had no belief in the supernatural would be unable to deny the macabre feel. The essence of Death itself permeated into the room, and before anyone could mention anything about it, Shi spoke.
        ”ENOUGH!” The second this was said it was obvious that the spirit of Death had invoked power within Shi. The voice could be heard throughout all over the headquarters, even in places that were considered ‘soundproof’. This was not the first time this voice had been used. He had used it once before, in this very room, where he and Saileyra were sparing. When this voice was heard, none would even dare approach the training room, the employees kept away, the other operatives were normally smart enough to not approach, if they did that was their mistake. Saileyra was the only one who occasionally came in after hearing that voice, to see what had happened. Shi’s voice returned to its calm composure. “I can appreciate both of your positions. The bottom line is that you have both erred in a common fashion. You have both allowed yourselves to become emotionally compromised, and you have both allowed the past to become the present. While it is fine to bring up that Sabrina has fallen short, instead of dwelling on this we should instead turn to the future. What happened…has happened. It is in the past…you will never get the moment back…it’s gone….forever…” Shi said to them all. He was hoping that his voice could carry enough respect at this point.
     “Black Angel, Wait. You know I hold respect for you which is only equal to that of Saileyra and Redline. I will address you first. You are correct, Plural was in fact disrespectful in his method of delivery, and he was insensitive to the situation. You are also right, without doubt about what it takes to be a leader…but Plural is not a leader…he is a tactician. I regret to say that there is a difference. But while I agree with you in may areas, I must say that you are equally as wrong in your presentation as Adam was in his.” Shi explained after he shadow stepped in front of her to cut her off. He then looked to Plural. ”Plural…I will quote you. ‘It seems not everyone here is as well put together as I thought they were. I had assumed that I was joining a group of individuals who didn't need handlers and teachers to inform them about how we should be using our abilities in order to be better than the villains we face….. We might be willing to put a bullet in someone's brain but we're supposed to be doing it in the name of righteousness without losing sight of that and devolving into inhumane zealots who are essentially criminals and serial killers themselves ’ Plural…you have repentantly stated how you are smarter than us. I would agree. I cannot argue. I would like to ask you…have you ever made a mistake…one that left you devastated… one that left you with an unrivaled sense of failure? You are smart….but has it ever been ‘not enough’? Furthermore, I would like to bring up the fact that you, Adam…are a teacher. You are smarter, better versed, and more disciplined than many meta humans in our world. As such…whether you like it or not….you must TEACH them how to be a responsible meta human. Adam, it terrifies me that out of all the powers you’ve listed…you have yet to list the ONE power that surpasses them all. Maybe it’s because you yourself are unable to see it yet… but that aside… Sabrina made a mistake. Instead of being deconstructive…as this entire conversation as been…perhaps you could be a teacher…and instruct her on how to recover. Adam, if she can learn from her mistakes, than what happened was not a failure…it was a lesson that was needed to be taught. You can either teach her and make it a lesson…or do as we’ve done so far and leave her to failure…” Shi said. He then looked to Sabrina.
   ”Sabrina…You have made a mistake. Now If you decide to make it right…I will do ANYTHING to help you make that possible. I am sorry that you’re reception has been so…unwelcoming…but I want you to know that no matter what comes, you are part of a family now…as you can see…a rather dysfunctional family…but a family none the less. Shi said to her as warmly and friendly as he could. He looked around.
   ”Plural, Black Angel, Sabrina…If you have not been offended by my words, I would like all three of you to follow me to the ‘simulation training’ area. Plural I wish to spar with you at some point, on a side note.” Shi added. He walked out and brought whomever wanted to come to the room. He walked over and sat into a device that hooked a helmet onto his head. He grunted as it began scanning his mind. The room suddenly morphed. There were human skeletons lying everywhere, the sky was carmine in color, the clouds were black against it, and there was nothing that the feel of death. The temperature was over five hundred degrees fahrenheit, and the ground was nothing but obsidian. There were arms of people buried beneath the dark mineral, clawing to be released. The skin was torn form every person, all the vegetation that been turned into living obsidian giving off nothing but gasses that caused hundreds of micro tears and slashed the interior of the lungs. The world around them was a living hell. Each one of them would be likely be mortified at what was going on here. There were obvious displays of slavery, brutal murders that were carried out by sociopathic creatures made of bone, and then there was the process of meteors falling to the earth at a loud roar. The place was worse than any nightmare, it was worse than any twisted deranged thing that could be thought of by man. Shi pointed to the roof, which was projected as the sky. There was a loud wailing of probably no less than ten billion mortal humans. Each one had been slain, and their soul departed, but instead of entering the beyond…they were trapped into a large current in the sky. The sky was plagued by creatures with arrow like heads and fangs beyond fierce.
    ”This world…what you see here…Sabrina did not make this mistake.” Shi said as he removed the helmet. He sighed, exhausted by needing to recall the memory of the world he had caused. ”what you just saw…wasn’t even the ‘icing on the cake’… it was only the sprinkles.” Shi said as he stood up. He walked down.
   ”Plural did not cause that world…Sabrina did not cause that world…and Black Angel did not cause that world…But all three of you desire to stop that from happening to the world. What you saw was the past. I will not explain, as I owe no explanations to anyone. The point being is that history repeats itself…it is only people like the three of you who break the cycle of repetition. You cannot break it alone…for no one man is strong enough, smart enough, or fast enough….but when two or more gather in that purpose…a difference can be made.” Shi said.

Re: New home (OPEN TO OCEAN MEMBERS) · by **Artemis** August 14th 2013, 1:07 am

(OOC: sorry it has taken me so long, you guys leave intimidating posts)

Sabrina stared curiously at Angel's scar. Although they way Angel was acting made her scared to ask how she got it. When asked if Pural had pissed her off she just spoke meekly. "K-kinda." She followed Angel to the sparing room. She just nodded at Angel's apology, she really didn't need to, it wasn't like Pural was wrong. In fact he was right, she just didn't like being told what she already knew like she was a toddler. They arrived shortly in the training room and from there, everything just fell apart.

Pural repeated what he said earlier. She stayed quite during his monologue, deciding to wait until he was finished talking before responding. "You don't think I haven't been thinking about that, whoever stole the serum from me was obviously smarter then me. I am not the smartest person in the world and I know that. When I set up the security on my project it seemed air tight. And I was wrong." She was planning to saw more but Adam and Angel began to go at it. Sabrina had just shrunk back from the two bickering, but Shi had a different idea it seemed. In a loud, thundering voice silence fell.

It was now obviously Shi's turn to talk and he reprimanded all of them although she nodded when he said he would help her out in any way possible. "I-If you wouldn't mind helping me I gladly will accept for help." Shi had called this organization a family, although it didn't seem like it. Shi asked them to follow him. Sabrina was currently just intimidated at the moment so she followed him with out protest. Once they got to the simulation room they say hell, literally. Well at least what Sabrina imagined Hell to be like. But Shi mentioned it was the past. She wondered what he meant by that. He said that none of them caused this, did he?

Re: New home (OPEN TO OCEAN MEMBERS) · by **The Black Angel** August 25th 2013, 12:04 pm

(OOC: Sorry for the late reply! I had computer trouble earlier in the month. Then I figured with Shi on hiatus there wasn't much point in finishing. However now I think we should finish this one up! It's a pretty good glimpse into the dynamics of O.C.E.A.N, as well as the high water mark of Shi IMO)

Things were quite heated now, the Black Angel was fuming, truly wanting to teach Adam the true meaning of pain... Since he seemed to be a literalist, she figured he had no way of mentally delving deeper into the true meaning of words. The Black Angel stood with her hands on her hips watching Adam twirl the swords about, she was unimpressed, Adam had zero chance of besting her in physical combat if it came to it. Then again he was the worlds smartest teenager... Surely he already knew that? If she wanted to twirl any of these swords and break them, she could do so in any known fighting style to man. While Adam had some skill true enough, it was like comparing Morpheus to Neo in the 90's action flick "The Matrix"...... It simply wasn't there, truly someone as literal as Adam would appreciate boundaries and limits. Where his fighting skills had them, the Black Angel's skill was truly limitless...

The Black Angel chuckled to herself as she thought about Adam's hero name "Plural.... Oh I am so calling him "Literal" from now on!". As the blade cracked, crashing to the floor, the Black Angel clapped her hands, saying "Not bad for an amateur Literal... But you know you have no chance of beating me in single combat.... Just as I know I'd have no chance in beating you in a spelling bee... We each have our.... Unique abilities... When I'm stuck on a crossword puzzle I'll give you a buzz.". The Black Angel imagined her total making light of Adam's intelligence probably struck a cord, truly she respected great minds. However she knew if there was one thing that almost all great minds couldn't stand was when they were not taken seriously. The Black Angel then said as if she forgot to mention something before "Oh... Ya... Literal... I was using a sword as an example... There are many more.... Interesting ways to take care of those who "Made of much tougher stuff than the average human being.". Problem is it often gets.... Messy... When dealing in such methods.".

The Black Angel laughed dramatically as "Literal" said "Further, you're an idiot. Ethics is everything. I'm sorry if you're too jaded to have a moral compass that can pick a direction to point you in at this point in your life, but the simple difference between right and wrong and being able to choose the best possible option that can do the greatest amount of good is what separates us from the criminals we pit ourselves against.". The Black Angel now pacing, distantly said "Ethics is a prison.... A construct of society that makes the "Good and righteous" vulnerable... Because... Because they will not do what is necessary. To truly fight criminality, you must must fight as they do. Without ethics, morals, and without regret... Otherwise you can not do all that is necessary to defeat true evil. You must not be afraid to become the villain, while remaining the hero. There is no place for ethics in a senseless world boy....".

The Black Angel stopped pacing, reaching into her pants and pulling out a pack of Camel Lights. She open the pack, fumbled with a lighter and lit the cigarette. As this was happening, Adam was just saying "We might be willing to put a bullet in someone's brain but we're supposed to be doing it in the name of righteousness without losing sight of that and devolving into inhumane zealots who are essentially criminals and serial killers themselves.". The Black Angel chuckled again, this time saying "Well give yourself enough time in this business and get back to me on that one...". She inhaled deeply, then exhaled a puff of smoke, as she distantly said "Stack enough bodies for righteousness.... For your own criminal reasons... You're literally just a serial killer either way.... With only the dull, fading faces of those you've killed to keep you company in your nightmares.".

The Black Angel then listened as Adam went off on a tangent about his powers, saying ""Now you're standing in front of me trying to say you have some sort of understanding of 'power' but you clearly don't. Any person can wield a sword and any person can shove that blade into the guts of someone else. That isn't power. It's an exercise of self control, which surprises me because you've shown a profound lack of any throughout most of your tirade. What power really is, is simply the ability to exercise some sort of control and influence over the world around us. But the unfortunate difference here is that your brand of power is a knife blade. SHort and close and precise. My brand is that of entire armies, broad reaching and able to decimate entire planets. You point your sword at one person and cut them down. I open my mouth and issue orders and watch entire countries drop off of maps. I exercise self control with every motion of my body and word from my lips. Do you understand that? I can accidentally throw a car with the flick of my wrist. If I say the right combination of words, I could blow the white house to smithereens. A few waves of my hand and I can turn off the entirety of the financial world. That's not an exaggeration either, I could do that right now. You say you can stop me but you don't even know me or what I'm capable of.". The short sighted diatribe left the Black Angel wondering.... Is this truly the worlds smartest teenager? Or is that simply a coined title?.

The Black Angel set in right when Adam finished, saying "You arrogant bastard.... You're truly the stupidest smart person I know... Is it conceivable that everyone has different purposes? Your purpose as you say is to be the head... The mouth of an army... The reason I was.... Created... Is to kill the head and mouth of criminal groups, of armies, of nations... While you've been busy flicking your wrist... Uttering words... I've been knocking over entire governments with a bullet, I've stopped genocides with a press of a detonator, I've been saving millions of lives with the edge of my knife... That is my purpose Literal... I was created to save millions of lives with one bullet... Tell me Adam.... Can you avoid that collateral damage with your uttered armies?". The Black Angel took another long drag, this time saying "You see Adam.... Just because your mommy, your daddy, and your 7th grade earth science teacher called you special... Doesn't mean you are... Because most of us here can save millions of lives, can end a war, and can destroy cars.... We all just go about getting there in different ways...".

The Black Angel sighed, saying "None of us are special.... We're members of a team... O.C.E.A.N... Any of us start thinking we're above the team, better then the team members, or simply just arrogant pricks... It's time for us to get the fuck out...".

However, by this time Shi had enough of the bickering in his sanctuary. The samurai yelling ”ENOUGH!” loud enough to make the Black Angels ear drums ring as if she'd been at an all night metal concert. Once he'd gotten Adam and the Black Angel's attention, he set about trying to get them to see his perspective. The fact that Shi was a samurai alone made the Black Angel feel a deep sort of respect for the man, whom she considered as close to a friend as she would let most people get. Ultimately she knew he was right, she'd lost control... Gotten far to angry... With cause or without it was unacceptable. A few minutes ago she was ready to rip a fellow operative apart over a minor disagreement. Though she didn't approve of Adam's methodology, she should have displayed more self control...

When the Shi was finished speaking to the Black Angel, the Chinese born assassin bowed to Shi, saying "What you say is true Shi.... I am sorry I have disturbed your sanctuary... Thank you for giving me needed guidance.". The Black Angel then waited silently as Shi spoke to both Adam and Sabrina. She was calmer now, but she was so still calling Adam "Literal". The rage that invaded the Black Angels veins as if shot from a syringe subsided, leaving the Black Angel feel quite tired, as if she'd had one of the longest days of her life. It had been the same when she lost control in Chicago.... She was noticing a pattern... However she knew she couldn't tell anyone, because this she'd have to figure out on her own.

Shi then said ”Plural, Black Angel, Sabrina…If you have not been offended by my words, I would like all three of you to follow me to the ‘simulation training’ area.". The group followed the samurai into the training room, which transported them to what looked like another world or hell dimension. It was a place of creeping shadows, of terror, a place of nightmares. The Black Angel did a three sixty, feeling the oppressive heat on her exposed cheeks. As Shi spoke, the Black Angel knew the Samurai was correct and she'd been in the wrong. All that mattered was stopping this glimpse into a different world, dimension, or time from becoming our reality... To much focus on personnel matters simply took away from the only thing that mattered.... Yes... The Black Angel was now more determined then ever to stop this living hell from becoming a reality on Earth... And she would do whatever it took to stop it.

Re: New home (OPEN TO OCEAN MEMBERS) · by Sponsored content