At the end of every evening Artus likes to escape to his favourite part of the garden, where a family of rabbits had created a burrow.  It was a peaceful corner of the world where he could block out the noise of gunshots and crime that made him such a prosperous man. One night while contemplating the events of the day, Artus heard a twig snap under the weight of a boot, and he snarled. He had made it clear time and time again, he did not like to be disturbed when he was here! He whipped his body around quickly to see who was encroaching on his alone time. The sight he gave @Slash had startled the crewleader. Artus was holding a white rabbit in his arms, but the rabbit was stained red, and so was Artus’ mouth and fingers. @Slash knew that Artus liked to be undisturbed when he was with the rabbits, and he had just put it down to an odd quirk. But he couldn’t possibly been eating them, could he? @Slash peered behind Artus, and was relieved to see a half eaten pomegranate behind his heel. @Slash breathed out a sigh of relief, but a sudden realisation knocked him back.

“ARTUS! Is that a pomegranate?”, @Slash exclaimed as he pointed at the discarded fruit.

Artus turned around and picked up the fruit and held it in his hand. “Oh is that what this thing is called? It is kind of difficult to eat, but it is pretty tasty! Want some boss?”, Artus replied as he offered the fruit to @Slash.

@Slash quickly recoiled and took several steps back, “No Artus! What have you done? Of all the things you chose to eat in the Garden of Eden, why did you have to pick that?” @Slash looked at Artus sadly, “You will have to leave the Garden of Eden. No one may eat of this fruit and remain within the walls of the Garden of Eden. But Artus, you are strong and saavy, quick and brave, I have every faith in you. You will do well outside of these walls, and perhaps this is fate. You are meant for greater things. The world beyond the boundaries of this garden is treacherous. You will need the aid of some adventurous souls on your journey. Select some of the crew to go along with you, but hurry, you do not have much time.”

Artus quickly gathered a couple people to be his closest advisers and began to prepare for the world outside of the boundaries of his garden home. He had knowledge there was a huge storm that was approaching the outside world. It was to last 40 days, and 40 nights, and possibly longer. He set off to prepare a great ark to carry his friends and belongings.

Now that the ark is complete. Artus boards the boat with @Rorschach at his side, about to  embark on their new adventure. He fondly pats the steering of the large boat, hoping that his craftsmanship is sound and the boat is watertight. He strokes the rabbit sleeping on his arm and mutters to himself, “Well, down the rabbit hole we go, and into The Flood”.

It was to last 40 days, and 40 nights, and possibly longer.

I am still amaze' with that phrase... The rhyme wasn't intended btw...

Seeing his friend stand up on his rickety soap box and start speaking Bobby walked over to listen. Maybe he would even mention him as they were good pals but as the speech rambled on Bobby's name never came up. Not even a single nod. So he looked around, seen a small rock picked it up and threw it at his pal Artus. 

Not even a single mention, well congratulations I suppose. I'll send an invite to ya for when you burn your HQ down. We all know you can't cook. 

I appreciate your words BobbyMunson, but it's kind of hard to burn down a HQ with all this wetness around.

Artus, what can I say? The Garden that we've built would be nothing without the hard graft from you. Sure, it'll be much drier now that you and all your wetness have left, but it will never be quite the same again.

I look forward to watching you ride the waves of The Flood and growing Las Vegas in your rightful place by my side.

Also, if you have any Zebra left in your Ark, I like mine medium rare!

Raoh smiles and stands alongside Slash, raising a glass for Artus and his new venture.

Artus, its an honour to have The Flood alongside us in LV. I look forward to your growth in Summerlin friend.

Camilla lurked in the back of the gathered crowd, cringing when she heard BobbyMunson had said how Artus couldn't cook.  She knew all too well this was a fact having lived in the same Headquarters.  She waited until Slash and a couple others had offered their congratulations before she strolled over to give hers as well.  Camilla embraced Artus in a tight hug, careful not to squish the adorable bunny.

"Artus!  You have left us, but you aren't too far away.  What matters most is you are still Family!  I do admit bossman has a valid point though, and I am glad to know about the forbidden fruit. I shall refrain from wandering out there to be tempted myself."

Camilla gave a sideways glance to Slash before winking impishly.

"I suppose now I don't have to worry about slipping down in the Headquarters since it will be a bit more dry.  I am very proud to see you venturing out to help Summerlin expand, to thrive and reach its fullest potential.  It won't be the same without you there.  Congratulations dear!  I wish you nothing but success!"

She hoped her associate, Cowluh, wasn't within hearing distance as she directed her gaze towards her bossman.

"Slash! Medium rare zebra?!  That's just disgusting!  Now I know we had rough spells while Artus did the cooking, well if we can call it cooking, but I can sort out a few steaks for us to celebrate this magnificent occasion!"

Slash had listened to CamillaBalistreri state that she was grateful to hear the fruit was forbidden as she now knew never to touch it. However since learning of the fruits existence, Camilla's presence in and around the HQ had become somewhat limited. Often seen leaving the confines of her room in the early morning and returning in the dead of night.

Slash decided to ask BCP to follow her so that they could get to the bottom of her absence.. before long BCP was nowhere to be seen either. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Slash waited patiently the next morning to watch them leave together and followed them all the way to the Forbidden fruit.

"I knew it! You two have been out here pilfiring the very fruit that saw Artus forced to leave us. Well, I have no choice now. Both of your belongings will be transferred over to The Flood. Have fun constantly swimming against the tide of wetness that comes from Artus."

AurelianoBuendia came to the gathering as he wanted to congratulate Artus , and was surprised to almost see him ending up being stoned, so he stood back for a bit. Once BobbyMunson had calmed down he wanted to step forward again, but tripped over a red rabbit.

Then the zebra came up and a confused Aureliano walked off being puzzled about it being a white animal with black stripes, or a black one with white ones, he had gotten hungry and forgot to congratulate Artus .

Revolt had been stalking Camilla for all the time he was out that day, it was a boring and not very productive day, to be a little bit creative and kill time, Camilla was the only way. Noticing that she was heading to a crowded place Revolt got a bit curious, as his thoughts had begun on the matter, he sees Camilla talking to someone, the crowd of people that were present there made it hard for him to see much, as he moves through them, he sees Camilla talking to Artus. Face palming, having realized that revolt had forgotten to congratulate Artus on his big promotion, quickly makes his way towards Artus!

Yes! nice going, man! Time to rock Vegas!

After his little cheer and congratulations to Artus, revolt looks at him sharply, telling him that he'll go back to stalking Camilla again, then revolt slowly disappears into the crowd of people, trying to acquire where Camilla went at.

"BUT BOSSMAN!  I... I... It was Artus!  He said to try the fruit!  He never said where the fruit came from.  By the time I realized it, all willpower was lost."

Camilla's hands waved frantically through the air trying to figure something out.  Her gaze fell towards her partner in crime, BCP.  

"BCP!  I told you to be more quiet.  Didn't you ever look back to make sure no one saw you?!  Now we are banned from the Garden of Eden."

Revolt kept his distance, lurking near the back.  She shrugged in amusement if he really thought she didn't know he trailed after her everywhere. It was actually quite adorable.  Slash began to move into the crowd, so Camilla glared softly in BCP's direction, snagging his gaze.

"Just great!  Now I was this close to getting actual food cooked properly.  BCP how could you let this happen?!  All the wetness around again.  My Oxfords will be ruined by the end of the week."

Risq, soaking wet from the waters of The Flood - gosh, she'd never even realized it was possible for so much water to drench a single place - popped another pomegranate seed into her mouth, watching the show with interest. She liked both Slash and Artus and their crews, but once she'd moved to The Flood had taken the opportunity to grab a handful of the so-called forbidden fruit. It was pretty good, though Risq was pretty sure it'd taste even better if she was still in the Garden of Eden.

Strolling off, Risq headed back to HQ, wondering if CamillaBalistreri and BCP would really get kicked out or if Slash would forgive their trespasses and let them stay. 

Risq sneezed. Rubbing her nose morosely, Risq realized she was probably coming down with something. Being wet all the time was not doing wonders for her health, or for that matter, she thought as she tried to wring the water out of her ragged coat, her clothes.