Re: World-Valencia

[Ulysses Septimus]

The witchdoctor hissed, "Rot in hell, Armada scum." His body was trembling from the effort he had put into to not give in already, all of which had not escaped Ulysses' watchful eyes.

[Sydney Underhill]

"I do believe that it will be you who will be rotting quite soon." Sydney corrected, a sly smirk present on her face as she tore the rest of the flesh open before gripping the tip of his now-loose nail with her own fingers and twisting that as well, slowly pulling it free from the flesh with a fresh spurt of crimson blood.

"Nine more to go..."

[Ulysses Septimus]

Cyrus hissed, saying nothing still. They would have to do quite some more to break him, he was sure of it.

[Sydney Underhill]

"And just wait until we're done with these!" Sydney eagerly exclaimed, punctuating her sentence by stabbing the hooks into the underside of the pad of another one of his fingers, this time burrowing up through his flesh. "Your fingernails are not the only part of you that I can destroy, hmm? I'd say this would be the least painful method by far, given what I have in store for you..."

[Ulysses Septimus]

"Helping Atticus Mercilus may have been the most foolish thing you've done, Chamberlain."Ulysses remarked as he watched the show, his arms crossed over his chest.

[Sydney Underhill]

Moving on to the third fingernail, Sydney watched the witchdoctor's face closely as she wedged the tip of the hook underneath the nail, bending it back so that the nail separated itself from the flesh agonizingly slowly.

"Yes, yes, there's much more excitement to come...it'll truly be a once in a lifetime experience!" Her grey eyes seemed to light up with energy, and in her adrenaline-fueled stupor, she drove the rest of the hook into the skin of his fingertip, striking bone and tearing nerves.

[Ulysses Septimus]

Cyrus gritted his teeth, containing the pain, pain which Ulysses sensed that he would soon let out... Something Ulysses looked forward to rather eagerly.

[Sydney Underhill]

"Hmm...most humans would have shown more reaction," Sydney murmured to herself, using her own fingers to grip his fourth nail and twist it entirely around, pulling the bloody mass out of the flesh slowly, meticulously. "I must say, it's impressive."

[Ulysses Septimus]

Footsteps echoed as a figure stepped into the dimly lit dungeon, light reflecting off his sharply angled face-mask.

It was Albinus Crassus, his rifle balanced perfectly in his hands.

[Sydney Underhill]

Sydney turned at the sound of footsteps, making sure not to loosen her grip on the witchdoctor's wrist. She grinned broadly upon the sight of the now-repaired Armada clockwork.

"Albinus...I trust you remember..." She motioned to Chamberlain, "...who this is?"

[Ulysses Septimus]

If the clockwork spy had a living human's face, his right eye would have no doubt twitched, thus he chose to nod mechanically, and replying in the familiar monotone, "I do, Commodore... This is Cyrus Chamberlain, second in command to Mercilus, the one who nearly shattered my mind."

[Sydney Underhill]

"But he didn't, did he now...?" Sydney laughed, sneering at Chamberlain. "All that effort, pirate, and for nothing. I don't think you took the consequences of meddling with the Armada into account before you oh-so-foolishly acted."

She took this moment to stab the hooked tip of the knife directly through the open palm of his hand, pinning his hand to the wall behind him.

"Almost shattered your mind, did he, Albinus? Well, I'll tell you what. We're going to shatter his...only this time...it'll be all the way."

[Ulysses Septimus]

Cyrus let out a hiss of pain, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. He could feel his own mental defense slowly crumbling at the pain, but he wasn't about to let them k know.

"Shatter my mind? How do you plan to do that?" The wtichdoctor asked as calmly as he could without displaying pain.

[Sydney Underhill]

"Now, now..." Sydney shook her head with a wry smile of amusement at the witchdoctor's attempt to appear indifferent. "If I told you, it wouldn't be any fun, would it? You'll find out soon enough, there's no need to rush..."

[Ulysses Septimus]

((sorry I took so long with this, my brain sort of ran out of ideas for a while, great leader))

Ulysses took the glowing Apple of Eden from his coat pocket, the ancient artifact giving off bright bolts of light like it had before. "Commodore, the Apple just spoke to me again, and it said it could cause our guest here to see some interesting things."

[Sydney Underhill]

"Really, now...?" Sydney said, staring at the artifact with an amused expression. "I suppose I shall have to force the pirate to make contact with it in order for this to work?"

[Ulysses Septimus]

Ulysses chuckled, "Not this time, no, it says it has a much more interesting way." He focused on Cyrus next, extending his hand with the Apple toward him.

Almost instantly, a bolt of harsh golden light shot out of the ancient artifact, snaking into Cyrus' mouth, while a holographic screen was projected from the Apple itself.

Images flashed across the screen, showing Cyrus' memories as well as greatest secrets and fears-

It showed him joining Adrian Devereaux; him fighting against the young Captain Septimus with Adrian's crew at the Isles of Doom; him getting captured by Ulysses and tortured into a sniveling pile; him crippled by the Armada admiral; him tricked into betraying Adrian by Ulysses; Ulysses throwing him down into a Cool Ranch desert when he outlived his usefulness; Cyrus joining Mercilus; him laughing as Albinus, chained and broken, twitched before him, his thin, mechanical body trembling; and finally, the witchdoctor's greatest fear.

Death.

[Sydney Underhill]

"Well, look at you now." Sydney placed her hands on her hips triumphantly, watching as the witchdoctor's most private and internal thoughts and memories betrayed him. "Not so high and mighty any more, are we?"

Even so, there was no suppressing the violent anger that rose in her chest when the memory of the torture of Albinus was displayed.

"I suppose...I suppose that you could have been...jealous, yes...?" Color rose to her face, but she managed to bite back the roaring screams that ached to come out of her throat. "After all, humans are often envious of the one thing that they can never have...perfection. And as many of you say, if you can't have it, no one can...isn't that right?"

She backhanded Cyrus across the face. "Cowardly maggot."

[Ulysses Septimus]

Cyrus' head was twisted hard to the side from the impact, as a low grunt flew from his mouth. He focused on Sydney, trying to hide his fear while growling, "Like I care about all those soulless, ruthless, metal devils... Just what the hell do you see in them that makes them so perfect?!"

[Sydney Underhill]

"And just what do you not see?" Sydney screeched, seething through her teeth. She was absolutely enraged at the moment, and the Commodore knew she had to be careful, else she would destroy him far too soon.

"I will show you just what I see...the lacking of such perfection in humans. You will watch, Chamberlain, as you break down, piece by piece, faster than you are able to imagine."

[Sydney Underhill]

((Anyone still here?))

[Ulysses Septimus]

((I am, but I think I lost all inspiration for this storyline, I am truly sorry, my liege... Do you mind if we start anew but keeping the current setting? As in Sydney is still in the Armada but with a new storyline))

[Sydney Underhill]

((That's fine So shall we start back at Cadiz?))

[Ulysses Septimus]

((Sure, my liege))

Ulysses, closely trailed by Sentus Optimus, stepped out of the room with a more than grim face to meet Sydney. "Apparently the pirate threat is much worse than I initially thought..."

[Sydney Underhill]

"Much worse?" Sydney felt the sinking, heavy feeling of dread settle itself in her stomach. "Has there been another escape?"

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