Board Thread:Roleplay/@comment-26892768-20180510232714/@comment-26892768-20180518165906

Emily is a bit concerned, but doesn't make any moves to help.

And as the Red Ring waits, Foxglove thinks back.

She never really was free during her rule - she'd always had chains. Before she came to power, she'd been somewhat aware that Kyuutopia wasn't doing particularly well economically, but she didn't really realize how bad it was until the numbers were staring her in the face. Kyuutopia's specialization in the tourist industry had crippled it, making them reliant on various tour guides and companies and leaving it on the verge of economic collapse. The rulers before Foxglove had tried to appease the companies on which they relied on by making laws to appease them...but they weren't very effective laws.

Something had to change. And the way Foxglove saw it, that meant having to take more drastic measures to appease the companies and the bigwigs in charge. Even if it meant having to cross a few of her own moral boundaries.

And it did work. Yes, she had to supress some native rights to bring Kyuutopia back from the brink economically, but it worked. But at the same time...it cemented her to be as much of a prisoner to the tourist industry as Kyuutopia itself was. She couldn't stop appeasing the companies, because Kyuutopia wasn't financially stable enough to switch their focus to anything besides the tourist industry. She had to supress more rights to keep the country stable, and Kyuutopia hated her for it. Understandable, really, but still hard to take...all she really wanted was for her people to appreciate her and love her, like other nations did with their princesses, but...

She didn't even have the built-in breaks most other princesses did - there weren't, and still aren't, any heroes or villains in Kyuutopia. Sure, there was Emperor Hack N' Slash, but he didn't count because, while he was a villain, he was also the leader of another nation. Trying to kidnap her would mean declaring war, which Hack N' Slash clearly wasn't willing to go through.

So he hired a middleman.

And for a day, Foxglove felt ''free. ''The logical part of her brain tried to reason that this was a bad thing, but she couldn't help but be a bit giddy when Crow had taken her away from her castle and away from civilization. It helped that Crow was actually rather nice to her. Didn't throw her in a dungeon or anything, just set up a campfire, listened to her problems, even went to the trouble of calling up a hero to get the full experience - even if said hero turned out to be a jerk who was more concerned about his vendetta against Crow, and she ended up knocking him out in a fit of rage.

But when she did knock the blue knockoff out...she felt so ''alive. ''For the first time in years, she didn't feel any chains. She wanted to hold on to that feeling. No need to worry about her kingdom, or her people, or about appeasing the various companies that ran the tourist industry, just...''freedom. ''She wanted to be a villain, and she had told Crow as such.

She was promptly shut down and turned in to Hack N' Slash, giving Kyuutopia to him on a silver platter.

Sure, she'd manage to work her way back to the same position as before - relatively speaking - but now her chains were even tighter, because now she no longer had to appease an industry, but rather a single, villainous lizard-man with a grudge against the Kyuuties for being adorable. Sure, Kyuutopia was flourishing, but it was in Hack N' Slash's image, with the Kyuuties essentially being glorified servants to Hack N' Slash's people.

All because of Crow.

Foxglove growled, gripping her desk hard. If it wasn't for Crow, she wouldn't be in this situation. If it wasn't for Crow, Kyuutopia wouldn't be in this situation. If Crow had just forgotten about his deal and LET HER BE FREE-

Foxglove is startled out of her thoughts by the Red Ring bursting through the wall.

"Balsam Foxglove of Kyuutopia, you have great rage in your heart. You belong to the Red Lantern Corps." And the ring slips onto her finger.

And Foxglove collapses to the ground, gasping and clutching her chest in pain as a burning pain flows through her.

For most of the process, she flickers in and out of consciousness, barely having time to be disgusted and horrified by the sight of her regurgitated blood on the ground before she slips back into unconsciousness, letting her body take over.

At some point, her assigned guards come in, alarmed, but when she sees them, she thinks of Hack N' Slash, and...she's not quite sure what happens, but some sort of red pulse sends them flying into a wall. Was that her? But before she can think to question it, more pain and more regurgitation of blood.

And then it comes to an end.

Foxglove blinks, surprised and slightly relieved. Wiping some blood off her muzzle, she gets up, looking down at herself. Her dress is gone, replaced with a red and black jumpsuit with the Red Lantern logo on it. Not that she knows that. She also notices that her crown feels heavier, and when she reaches up to feel it, she realizes it's no longer a crown, but rather, a helmet. There's a spike in the front at the top of the helmet, and two more spikes on the side. The sides of the helmet go down at an angle, turning and stopping a few inches short of her muzzle in sharp edges. There also seems to be a few attachments - a large faceguard like a dog muzzle attached to the helmet by straps, giving her just enough room to speak if she wears it, with a painted - or perhaps just there, it's not like Foxglove knows - design resembling the snarling mouth of an animal restrained by a steel mesh muzzle. There also seems to be goggles attached to her helmet that she can flip down at any time.

Foxglove looks down at herself yet again after looking at the helmet. "...I like it."

And with that said, she puts on the faceguard and flips down the goggles, only being slightly surprised when the space between them is promptly filled up with more material, making the helmet more like a mask/helmet combo. She supposes it makes sense, considering that her ears have armor too (that somehow doesn't muffle the sound around her).

"Well, that's convenient..." Foxglove pauses when she hears her voice. "Wait - this thing has a voice modulator? Holy crap, this is great! Now my voice sounds so...much better! And a bit more fitting for the look I've got now."

The Red Ring glows, and a rift opens up behind Foxglove. She turns around to look at it.

"What the..." Foxglove is confused, but soon enough realizes what she has to do. "Oh. Guess I'm going in, then!"

And she heads through the rift.

Look out world, here comes Foxglove.