Now that Tabitha had control over all of the sin of Envy and all of the sin of Sloth, thanks to her Father, who gave her 'Sloth' when she conquered the First Arm Of Tabrith, as well as all of Gluttony thanks to the gluttonous nature of it, she was in control of 3 of the 7 deadly sins, and would soon have the entire mountain. "If I can find Greed, then this deal should be done," she spake from the abyss.

The units that were under her control; an army of Envies that were now going to be known as 'Pains,' which would be a personal type of Doll for Tabitha, would be crawling along the surface of the West Gate scouring for the Greed Demon or the Sin of Greed, itself. These were the lesser puppets of the Puppet King, which was ordering them from higher up to go back down the side of the mountain to deal with the other Sins.

Sooner or later, after Mister Sir dealt with the disposal of the former Puppet King, which the 'Pain' dolls that were scouting around were once the minions of, he was aware that each of them, after completing their task, would be headless and mindless vessels ripe for the taking. Once he reached the clearing of the West Gate, he would take the path along the water that led to one of the rocky high places, where he was aware that Greed liked to sit to watch everyone do everything to his bidding from afar.

"Greed," he summoned, "Step Forward And Collect The Ones Trying To Make A Deal For My Downfall." This was the first order of business, considering that those who Mister Sir betrayed would inevitably be out for his head, however also they were still able to be controlled simply because they did not know about what was going on in the background. They could be hooked and enslaved instead of destroyed and, if they were found with these detestable sins within them as a group, he could burn them all up at once just because he owned them, which was the plan. "You Can Buy A Lesser Being Easily By Their Minds. So Don't Skimp On The Price, Because They Will Always Shoot Low." He knew that they thought they had no value or self-worth, which means that they would already start off naming a price that was low, and if Greed were to lower the price that already started off low because of their self-esteem and self-worth, then they would be more obliged to want to take the offer because they would be desperate due to low self-esteem. "Easy Money." The fact that Mister Sir knew this so well, and yet was about to give into this Sin of purchasing others again actually afflicted him, further igniting his Wrath. "Whatever You Want, It Is Yours," he said immediately, keeping his flames contained, "As Long As You Sign The Contract To Do It." He pointed off to the puppet army roaming by, passing over the land just beside the Lake of Death. Those were the targets in question.

The Valparaiso Denizens that were hiding out in the mountains away from the raging demon of fire would suddenly turn up once they saw the army of 'Pain' puppets scuttling by under the control of the former Puppet King. "Got em," the new Puppet King said, hurling strings over the crowd. "As long as we have all these forces in our ranks, we can definitely beat that guy now." They weren't certain where Mister Sir was, but their cover wasn't blown, so they weren't concerned with anything except the capture of the puppets for their ranks.

Just then, a man atop a high place, finely dressed, with lush hair that covered his eyes would step forward to greet Mister Sir only a little while after he called. "Ah, yes. Business to be done," the mystery man would say, adjusting his gloves. "I had to take care of a bit of chump change, myself." This man had just come from making some other deals with different underlings before returning to his normal spot, where he oversaw from on high most of his underlings doing the things that they were paid to do. "I don't suppose you mean that unruly heard, do you? The ones at the gate?" He referenced the ones he'd just bid to come up the mountain, who had recently been enslaved by Lust. "I already purchased those lot. They belong to me, and I won't go any lower than 75% on every head." If Mister Sir did not have the funds to purchase this man's assistance, then he might be out of luck.

"Of course..." the man insisted, not simply leaving the deal open ended, "... If you mean THAT lot, over there..." he pointed off to the distance where the rampaging army of dolls was marching, directly where Mister Sir was pointing off too, smiling some, "... I'll cut you a deal for them." The way he spoke of them was as if they were cattle and property, of which he saw each of them as, which was the only reason he was so picky about the proceeds. "You become my new employee and I will purchase the rag dolls for you." It seemed like a fair exchange. He extended his hand, as if to shake and confirm the deal. "What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

Before any form of any kind of 'deal' could be struck, the true owner of the puppets, Tabitha, who had already assigned what her role for these dolls was prior to entering the area, would already be prepared to give the new Puppet King of her choosing the 'Pains' that were running about 'headlessly.' The Goddess of Darkness, after spotting her group, descended into the group of puppets and became their large body, and immediately a great black aura pressed down on them. Their shadows all merged together as one and bulging black tendrils burst out upon the surface of the ground; 6 in total, and all of which immediately curved the entire flock of Mechanica over to their intended targets. "Here, Catch!" the grisly voice of the collective hive-minded dolls droned, all listening to the Command given to them by their owner and reciting it as fed into their minds.

This should have immediately gotten the attention of Puppet King, who would also recognize the signal, as well. (Consent)

"You Idiot." Mister Sir raised his hand up as if to strike Greed once he appeared. "You're Not Supposed To Ask Me For Pay." He lashed his hand over the army of puppets instead of giving Greed a dime and would just capture all of the dolls himself with burning strings attached to them. "You're Supposed To Do As I SAY!" He threw his other hand out toward Greed to knock his hand away, knowing that there was a more important matter at hand to take care of, which was the destruction of these infernal Sins, and prevent his own termination in the process. "How Can You Be Thinking Of How Much I'm Going To Pay You Right Now When I'm The One Whose Life Is On The Line?" The burning threads of fire that poured from Mister Sir's scalp scorched the land searching for where the ones that escaped him were, and burning up whatever strings they hurled out in the process so that only Mister Sir's strings connected to the puppet army. "You're No Help Unless I Give You Something First, No Matter What The Actual Stakes Are." Greed literally had no concern for anything beyond what the benefits for himself were, and wouldn't accept doing anything that did not benefit him. "Your Life Is On The Line, Too, I Hope You Know." Mister Sir wondered if that even made any kind of a difference, or at least an impact.

"Got it," the Puppet King of the Valparaiso Denizens cried out from the shadows, where all of his men were hiding behind rocks unseen. When they came out of the dark, the 'Distortions' that they used caused the flames of Mister Sir to miss the puppets and instead let the Puppet King connect his strings without anything burning them up. Every time some of Mister Sir's fire tried to get in the way to burn the strings, it would be distorted and redirected before it could touch the strings. "Ha! They're mine now!" he cried, now telling the Puppets what to do. They were stampeding like a herd of cattle, and so the best option was to assimilate with them and have them carry the Valparaiso Denizens and the Puppet King wherever they needed to get to. "Spread out, boys!" the Puppet King would command, and before too long, all of the 'Pains' would split apart and infest the mountain of Sin in many different areas, with each being set up for different reasons. They all disappeared into darkness and would be split up into respective teams and groups during their time inside the darkness, so when they each exited in their own time, it would be in small groups in different areas. "Thanks."

Greed frowned upon Mister Sir's conduct in what was supposed to be a cooperative work environment, feeling rather suddenly insulted by his refusal to pay the price for the services and talents of Greed and his agency. "You'll regret that," were the only things Greed said as his hand was knocked away and quickly placed behind his back. He walked away without paying anymore mind to Mister Sir.

Soon after Greed disappeared, a strange light like that of the sun appeared in the sky, shining brightly and casting lights down upon the field.

The strange lights that came from the sky, which looked something like Hollywood spotlights on a red carpet, would sweep across the ground and draw forth vessels and the souls inside of them up into it. Anything that was in it or looked directly into it would be trapped by it, like a tractor beam, and their attention would be snatched up to look at where the light was coming from.

"How Dare You." Mister Sir was more than furious. Not only was everything actually falling apart, but he also had to see it, and watch at what he was almost a part of. "I'll Deal With You Next, Greed." It nearly seemed like he wasn't upset with the Valparaiso Denizens nor the Puppet King at all, but his eyes flashed a burning crimson like the searing of a branding mark on a cow as he glared at Greed with the eyes of Wrath. Flames dispersed from where the light would shine, Mister Sir's image burning away as soon as he saw it.

A searing wall of fire behind him as the heat of the vacuum of his movements would burn up everything that he passed over, which included the Puppet King and the horde of lesser Puppets. "All Envy to me," he muttered under his breath, having his own sights set on a new, better Puppet King. "Don't Die, Children." These were the fading words of the passing heat wave, which scorched the land and ignited the Lake of Death, which was eternally to be lit aflame. Mister Sir's judgment was absolute.

Without much warning, there was a beam of light and a wave of heat that stroked the land, with the shining ray scavenging the surface of the land as if searching for targets. That much was clear. However, when the Puppet King and the rest of the Valparaiso Denizens were in danger, they immediately sunk into the 'Cover' of the 'Darkness,' no longer able to be seen by any of the light, nor touched by the wave of heat, using whatever was making the 'Darkness' they were covered by also as protection from the heat blast. Puppet King and his men were gone in a hot flash.

A figure was seen wandering about the open field, having crawled out from the Darkness.

Game Knight :: Mind Lock'

The Figure That Stepped Out Of The Shadows, Which Was Not A Valparaiso Denizen, Would Be Mentally Linked With The Mind Of The Grand Tabritha, Who Was Testing Out The Tensei Family's Game That Her Father Created; The Argus Card System. Since The Tensei Owned The Land And This Was The Best Area And Scenario For Testing Their Product, The First Creature That Stepped Out Once The Tensei, Grand Tabritha, Stepped On The Mountain And Started Playing Her Game Was Made Immediately Into Her Game Piece, Something Similar To How She'd Done With The 'Archduke' Before.

"Archnemesis," She Deemed, Sending Off One Of Her New 'Royal Servants' To Scour The Area For Any Loose Data She Could Use, "Scout."

Numerous Mirror Images of Pride would suddenly appear all throughout the Lacor Mortis, even hovering over the ignited Lake of Fire, itself. They all seemed tangible and none of them could be discerned because each one was of different size and proportions. All of them were Pride, being either an image of Vanity or of Chauncey, both of which looked identical, save for the difference in size and disposition. These Mirror Images would litter the skies like satellites looking down on a lower class of being. "Ready for your close up, Mister Sir...?" Pride laughed haughtily, glaring down with all eyes condescending.

There were so many of these Mirror Images reflected and projected all across the field that Greed, who had actually already been using some 'Smoke and Mirrors' of his own, would appear in the reflections and project reflections of himself, as well, whilst also holding a wad of money that suddenly, with the clench of his fist and a ruffle like that of feathers, would spontaneously burst into the physical form of a hand mirror that mimicked the appearance of Pride. Greed would have just as many, if not more images of himself surrounding the area, all across the ground whilst Pride took the whole sky and covered him from above.

The Archnemesis, which was a special name given for one of the Mechanica that had crawled out of the shadows, would do as its master commanded and immediately begin to scour the area as a scout, looking for any signs of life or action.

Overhead, it could be seen that a great deal of eyes from the mirrors up above were looking down from the sky and scouting the ground the same way the Archnemesis was scouting the area. After realizing this, the Archnemesis would scurry back into the shadows and continue to scout unseen by the eyes of the one overhead.

"There," a voice called out from atop a high place, before the snap of fingers and the ruffling of paper, "There it is." Someone's hand outstretched above the high place and pointed to the doll trying to escape. "Go get it, Pride."

Overhead, the shadow of an enormous blimp-like ovular object would be seen hovering forward, with a distinguishing, haughty face at the head of it. The hovering object, which was similar to the one that scared off the scurrying rodents and cleared them out of the area, would orbit around the sky like a satellite, adjusting its angle to a degree of heightened perspective. Where this last creature running around the barren land tried to escape to, it would find completely illuminated by a bright light like that of a spotlight, with each of the shadows now altered to a different direction that no longer covered the initial area, something like a stage light shifting around to a better vantage point. "I see you, little bug~!" the voice of the head said in a cute, but exceedingly condescending manner.

The Archnemesis, which was one of the Mechanica that had been sent by and from the shadows of the Great Darkness would be exposed in the light, yet was nothing more than a simple Puppet that would, upon exposure, fall lifeless and without any form of intent. The Archnemesis sat there motionlessly.