Escape From Underworld Battle Arena [plot]

Alicia raised an eyebrow and tried not to laugh as Tiru tried to threaten her. "Thank you? Hey, you could have avoided all of this and let me go in. But you and the other one had to play hero." She almost laughed, and did not lean away when he neared her, refusing to give up even an inch of distance. At his 'warning', she did laugh, a short bark of a thing, more like forced exhalation than anything else. "I've never really been a people pleaser." was her only retort.
She followed him with her eyes when he moved to a wall, looking like he wanted to rip her wings off. Let him try, she thought with a smirk and a mischievous glance, Even if the collar doesn't stop him, he'll be ^$&#ing surprised.

Tiru shook his head and waved her off as she laughed. "Makes sense. Considering how you've been nothing but a useless, whiny bitch this entire time." he said with a shrug. "I'd suggest you get your shit together, or sooner or later you'll find yourself in a cell filled with people who would love nothing better than to introduce your face to those bars. But whatever. Good luck." he continued, glancing back at her. There are so many painful things I would love to do to you. I cannot wait till we're put in the arena against eachother.

Alicia put a hand on her chest, leaning back a bit and looking doe-eyed in an overdone mockery of shock. "Whiny bitch? I'm hurt, wounded even. There must be support groups for people like me who have endured such extensive torture." She pulled a pouty face and held it for about a second before cracking, now channeling all of her stress into getting a rise out of whatever-his-name-was.

His next threat was even funnier. "Are you saying that I'm not surrounded by people who would like nothing more than to see my head on a spike? Interesting, I don't think I've ever felt so loved." Reaching over to fix a few ruffled feathers on one wing, she added, "And by the way, everyone is useless when they're trapped in a steel room."

Emerald takes this moment to intervene in the conversation, "Miss, you are forgetting something when you say everyone is useless in a steel room." Emerald points to Smiles before saying, "He was helpful in getting information, yet still is trapped in this room with the rest of us. I'd hardly say that was useless. Nobody is useless. There is always something someone can do of value. You just have to be more thorough with your thinking." With that said, Emerald laid back against the wall.

"Hey, leave me out of this," Smiles sighed, waving a hand over his face as if dispelling an unwelcomed stink. "The bunch of you have done nothing but argue and it's disturbing my peace and quiet. If you're all that agitated, go out to the yard or something. Play a children's card game with some nazal voiced guy who rages a lot. I don't care."

"Sorry. Left my deck at home." Tiru stated dryly before reaching up his scarf and tapping the monitor with two fingers. "So long as Madame Deadweight doesn't do anything stupid enough to get her ass tazed again." If that happens, she had better not get back up again. thought the grey wolf as he waited for a guard to take the group out to the yard, adjusting his scarf to further hide the fading light on his collar.

Aurelia grew frustrated as the bickering continued, and it seemed it wouldn't stop even with Emerald's intervention. Similar to how a teapot's whistle rises in pitch, her voice did the same, though the pitch was obviously much lower. "If you two could shut up," She paused for a second as she heavily exhaled through her nostrils. Slightly more calm than before, she continued in a more hushed voice, "Remember that we have a goal. Jobs first, in-fighting later". Taking a deep breath, Aurelia turned to Tiru. "Was there any other information that you got?"

"We have established that Knight invented these collars. There is a possibility he may be more involved, but he rarely, if ever, leaves his cell. Not to mention his nearly incoherent rambling. Also, side note, our cell is on the third floor." he whispered, shaking his head. "The collar can be drained. Mine has at most 30% of its power left. Knight says I shouldn't go any further... Alpha? When Smiles sent you info on escape attempts, were any of them initiated by people with some control of electricity?" he asked, hoping Jacob could reveal the information needed before the guard came.

Alicia scowled at Emerald, and then to Aurelia as their rapid-fire scoldings came forward. Her mood grew considerable darker from the wry state it had been in to resenting anger. "And exactly what jobs would those be, hm?" she demanded, glaring at Aurelia, "I don't remember mission assignments, or signing up for this &#^$ing shit anyway, so I think maybe you should choose your words a bit more carefully."
She ignored Tiru and Emerald, now that her fun had been ruined, and only half-listened to their conversation. She doubted that Jacob would give away that kind of information for free, or at least out loud, so she didn't know what Tiru hoped to accomplish. Unless, of course, Jacob was even dumber than she had originally thought. Which was probably entirely possible.

"If you want to stay in this place forever, then so be it." Aurelia did not mean it, though her words were filled with frustration as her emotions started to overcome her mind. She just wanted to get out of this place with everyone else, and yet they insisted on deterring progression towards that goal. Sitting with her back against a wall, her eyes were either shut or focused on her feet. She made sure that her mind was now on a tight leash by keeping her mouth shut. Aurelia's mind was in a haze as she waited for Jacob to respond to Tiru. Must. Control. Emotions. She sighed softly as she fought herself internally, though there were no visible signs of it. I could really use some rum right about now...

Jacob had been in a state of brooding meditation for a good half hour, shutting out everything other than the thoughts running through his head. His ears twitched when he heard Alicia say his name
"What do you need me to do?" he asked dully. The collar around his neck had been slowly eating away at his usually impervious exterior. He got to his feet and stuffed his hands into his pockets, realising what Tiru had asked, he grunted his reply. "Some managed to drain the collars, took ten charges, but all those who managed it died soon after, escaping the old fashioned way is an option, but it's unlikely we'll get past the guards. It seems our only real hope is getting out through the arena, escaping once the collars have been shut off for the fight." he turned to Tiru "but it doesn't seem like what these things use is simply electricity, there's something else to it, possibly a toxin or poison, from what Smiles told me it accumulates over time and when the collar releases the final charge... the dosage seems high enough to kill you" the wolf sighed. He was aware that he had just told everyone the information he may have just given his life to uncover, but it didn't matter, if he died and they all escaped due to his sacrifice, then so be it. At least they wouldn't be made to suffer. "There was one thing that was made clear by learning of the past escape attempts, none of us can do this on our own. We have no choice but to work together, whether we like it or not" he turned his eye to Alicia, his eyes no longer burning with resentment at the site of the feathered Faunas. "We're a pack now, we need to act like it."

A good few minutes after Tiru tapped on the monitor on his collar, a guard arrived on the other side of the bars, looking vaguely like pretty much all the other ones, although he his stance was a bit slouched and he had a single spade mark on his rank patch. The bars slid open and he gestured for Tiru to walk over and the bars would slide back in place behind him.

"Alright. You get one hour," the guard said to Tiru once he escorted him to the elevator and took him to the ground floor where the yard was.

There were a good few inmates out at this time but the old man, who should have obviously stuck out among all of the colorful characters around, was nowhere in sight.

Suddenly, Tiru would feel two hands on his shoulders and suddenly spun around forcibly, only to meet the sapphire eyes of a hare faunus woman. Placing a hand behind Tiru's head, she pulled him down until his forehead rested on the crook of her neck and she rubbed his back comfortingly like a mother coddling her child.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Hare exclaimed, practically sobbing, her grip as strong as a steel clamp.

"Now, now, don't smother the boy," Hatter chuckled, walking up from behind Hare, his walking can tapping on the floor as the dapper magician stepped up. "Don't mind her. She gets like this with all the younger ones."

Hare finally let go and stepped back, only to place her hands on the side of Tiru's face, turning it left to right forcibly.

"You're not hurt are you? Scars? Bruises? Booboos?" Hare asked rapidly with genuine concern as if Tiru was her six year old son who just fell off his bicycle. "Oh! You've got dirt all over your face."

Removing only one of her hands away from Tiru's face, she licked her thumb and started moving it towards the hunter in training's cheek.

Alicia slumped against the wall, the rest of her spirit leaking away from her. She ignored Jacob, ignored Aurelia, ignored Tiru as he left. She fell into pulling at her collar with limp fingers, noticing how tight it was. She briefly wondered if those who hadnt fought could go into the yard or not, but rapidly decided she didn't care.
She slipped her little finger between the collar and her neck, and felt a painful blister there, probably an electrical burn from the taser in the collar. She gt bored with that pretty quickly, too, and pulled Hiljainen from behind her, resting the glaive-bow's neutral form on her lap and running her hands over the metal.

Tiru paused as he was suddenly embraced by Hare. This is not going to be fun... he thought before she suddenly placed a hand on either side of his face, jerking it from side to side to check for any injuries. "Considering how a bomb went off in my face... I'm fine. Only damage I took was to my confidence. And very recently, my neck. I guess I just need to step up my game." he said before pulling away from the woman, attempting to rub the back of his neck despite the collar being in the way. "So... How have you been? Other than worrying about me?"

Hatter grabbed Hare's hand before she can continue attempting to clean-up Tiru's face.

"Oh, nothing important," Hatter smiled.

"We were watching your fight. Oh you poor thing. You must be tired. Come, come," Hare said, pulling on Tiru's hand and dragged him towards a set of bolted down stools around a steel table. "Are you hungry, dear? Hatter, give him that food. He must have had nothing but that slop all day."

Hatter complied, reaching inside of his hat and pulling out a packaged meat bun, still steaming hot and placed it in front of Tiru.

"I'm so sorry," Hare said, placing a hand on Tiru's shoulder and looked at him with worry in her eyes. "No one so young should be put in here."

"Sadly the Queen does not discriminate," Hatter said, pulling out two more pieces of plain bread from his hat and handed one to Hare. Hatter ripped open his package and took a bite from his bread while Hare started tearing off small bite sized pieces from hers.

"How are the others in your cell? Are they okay?" Hare asked worryingly.

Emerald was more than okay. Unlike the bitter Alicia, he was having fun. Bored with planning an escape, he was playing 20 Questions with his other personalities. Is it animate? Nope, it is not living. Is it an idea? Nope. Is it manufactured? Yes. Is it a piece of furniture? Nope. Amethyst was thinking of a shotgun. This game goes in order of who was in Emerald's head first, starting with him, then Almandine, Lapis, and ending with Topaz. Then back to the top. You would think Almandine would try wasting the questions they have, but the guy likes games, and 20 Questions was no exception.

Tiru simply shrugged as Hare asked him about his cellmates. "Depends. There are a few of us who... Don't exactly see eye to eye. Tension is pretty high in that cell. Smiley aint helping." he said before warily unwrapping the meat bun that was placed in front of him. "Wait... Queen? Is that the person in charge?" he asked, curious as to learn more about the complex, as well as how it was run.

"Supposedly," Hatter shrugged. "Whenever the guards talk about orders they're always talking about the Queen. Some call her Red Queen or Bloody Queen because she runs the death matches and decides who fights what and all that. She also regulates the collars and the entire facility. Nobody has ever seen her though, so nobody can say for certain whether or not she's a single person or the name of a group."

"The Queen gives orders to all the guards and sometimes speaks through the speakers in the arena, but never shows her face." Hare suddenly seemed to tense, her hand clenched into a fist so tight her knuckles were turning white. "If she ever showed her face in front of me, I would..."

Hatter placed a hand on Hare's and grasped it firmly. He smiled at her reassuringly but he had a saddened look.

Tiru nodded as Hatter spoke, absentmindedly taking a bite out of his meat bun. "So... Nobody has ever seen this person... Or collective... Or whatever?" he started, swallowing mid sentence. "And this "Queen" runs the show..." he said, glancing around the yard. If we could find this 'Queen' and take her out, maybe we can get everyone out of here. We'd have to get rid of these collars first, though...

Jacob sighed, the rest of the cell didn't seem as behind the idea of working together as he had hoped. Alicia in particular seemed a little... broken. He closed the gap between them with a few short strides before crouching down to her level
"Listen to me" he instructed "you're helping no-one sitting here feeling sorry for yourself, do what you need to in order to stay with us, and keep hope. Bust my balls if you have to. Just keep it together" he lay a hand on one of hers, trying to force her to make eye contact, acknowledge what he had said.

Alicia stared blankly ahead for a moment, not really listening to much of Jacob's little speech. Her eyes lazily met his, looking distant and glazed over. She had become extremely tired, her anger wearing off and the effects of her earlier punishment catching up to her.

When Jacob touched her, however, her eyes came into focus and her expression grew mildly defensive, and she moved her hand away. It went to the righthand end of Hiljainen and flipped out the folded blade, letting it click into place with spring-loaded force. It wouldn't touch him, just open as a warning to keep his hands to himself.

Jacob's face cracked into a gruff smile
"That's better. But let's save it for the ring." He walked over to his still untouched food and picked it up, before placing it next to Alicia "you'll need your strength" he stated.

20 questions are used up. Drat. What was it? Shotgun. We got pretty close with rifle. You still lose! Moving on, I wonder if what that guy who fought just now did with his collar will work for the rest of us. Try it and find out. Emerald taps the monitor on his collar and waits to see what happens.

Alicia looked at the food and promptly away again. Even if she was hungry, and willing to take food from Jacob, she couldn't stomach that stuff again.

"Shut the hell up, will ya?" She sent a sharp glare in Jacob's direction, telling him to back off, and put Hiljainen back on the back of her belt. She drew her knees up and leaned her pounding head on them, wings independently arranging themselves to lay a bit out to either side.

Wandering over to the bars once again, a thought suddenly struck him
"Where are we in the lunar calender?" he demanded "how close to a full moon?" he added. Realizing that certain complications may arise should there be a full moon in the near future.

((This thread is being continued here -->> http://www.rwbyfanon.com/rwby-rpg/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=264))