"A different control syst- Wait. Your from some sort of videogame? What the hell? Do you really think like that?"
Nanoha's spell would find several things- namely, a broken pile of crystal, connected to others by a tangle of strange, hair-like wires that intersected and surrounded them. One face of the crstal was flat, though badly cracked; although judging by it sshape and condition it would seem that it was still working, albeit barely.
edited 24th Aug '11 12:30:25 PM by Locoman
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
"Eh? What's that?"
A broken pile of crystal. If Area Search had focused on it, that meant there must be something odd about it. She looked down at her staff.
"Raising Heart," she started. The device immediately knew what she wanted.
"Axel Fin," it stated. Suddenly, out of Nanoha's shoes, came pink wings made of magical energy. They flapped several times, to get Nanoha into they air, before settling into a still position.
"I found something!" she announced. "I'm going to go check it out!"
With that, she flew off to where Raising Heart had found the pile of crystal.
edited 24th Aug '11 12:55:07 PM by AnnoR
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
Dreams of Revenge
Grey (who had been transformed back into his normal, non-megamerged state upon return) had kept silent after their sudden return from the underground cavern, listening to the newcomers* . What was currently preoccupying his attention, though, was the mysterious array of buildings and the fact that he was still trapped here.
He was still trapped in this stupid game for someone else's amusement, and that rankled with him. What made it even worse was that apparently people were still being pulled in here. He clenched his teeth and squeezed his pistol's handle tightly as he looked upon the buildings. He, at least, wasn't going to stand for this. He wasn't going to be some stupid pawn for their captor. He'd already went through the motions before. He was meant to decide his destiny; nobody else. And now...
Now he was going to take it back, or failing that, make this game as boring as possible.
Allowing himself to flop on to the earth, he pointedly ignored the portal or anyone else nearby. Model A floated next to him, prodding him occasionally in an attempt to provoke a reaction. The reploid's only response was to grunt in annoyance and shoo away the Biometal a short distance, which only caused the cycle to repeat.
This "rebellion" wasn't exactly ideal, but it was the only means to resist they had right now.
Locking you up on radar since '09
Garland heard the girl's announcement, and decided to follow her. He couldn't move quite as fast as her, but he was able to watch her movements enough to keep up by continually Dashing.
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.
"Hey, wait up!"
"Sonic Move!"
Erio's body was engulfed in a sphere of yellow magic as he zipped from building to building to try and keep up.
"Yup. That tasted purple."
The crystal collection let out a strange ultrasonic keening as the group drew near- joined by Roadbuster, purring alongside them in his armored vehicle mode. But as they came even nearer, the noise abruptly abated, replaced instead by a strange and almost beautiful hum, deep and resonant. A strange and psychedelic aray of glowing lights surrounded the group as they approached the crystal group. The crystals lit up, as strange patterns and displays danced across its surface, and the group might feel as if something- or someone- had entered their minds, and was rummaging through their memories...
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
Nanoha winced, and put a hand up to her forehead. That... didn't feel nice at all. But it didn't hurt, it was just really uncomfortable. Pointing Raising Heart at the crystal pile, she lowered herself towards it slowly and carefully. Was it a Lost Logia? It... could be, and since this wasn't earth, maybe that's why no one she knew had heard about it.
edited 24th Aug '11 1:20:00 PM by AnnoR
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
Link finally opened his eyes. He began to walk slowly over to where Nanoha and Erio were heading. If he had realized something or come to a conclusion in the midst of his contemplation, he showed none of it. But when he passed Rey, he turned around.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here, really. I shouldn't have replaced your friend...."
"But all things considered, I'm willing to try. I can't be the Hero. I can't be what he meant to you..."
"But I can be me. I am willing to become your friend, to get to know you better. It's the least I can do."
He smiled, before turning around and continuing to the site of the crystal.
edited 24th Aug '11 1:20:33 PM by troydenite
After a few minutes of the sensation, the crystals lit up. The images they showed were strange and rather confusing, but the relevant party might realize that the crystals were, in their own fashion, showing memories and iamages that were apparently plucked from the minds of the party. They were garbled, to be sure- they were more of an indistinct blur of people and things overlapping. But between these nonsensical images were something else, thatcame from nobody's memories. Brief flashes of a city, one like this, in its prime, with glowing beings coming and going between buildings, and strange flashes of energy radiating from the skies. And, eventually, something else, something strange, shadowy, and mysterious filling the screen... before the crystal went dark.
Vampire Hunter
Chun-li looked nervous as she saw a young horse bump into her and then talk to her.
"I'm Chun-li," she said again, nervousness evident now. "Who are all of you?"
Wizard Needs Food Badly
"My name is Hidari Shotaro. And you are?" Shotaro said, asking the lady.
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
"Ehhhhh?"
This... this was odd. Nanoha had recognized... something in that mess, the briefest flash of Bardiche, Fate's device. But the rest had been too jumbled to decipher, especially with those views of the city and the glowing people, and then the darkness that cut it all off. "What was that? That was weird!"
Nanoha kept Raising Heart pointed at the crystal pile. If it was a Lost Logia, that meant it might do something else that would mean it would have to be sealed. But she couldn't tell what this was.
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
"Ominous... We should hope that we do not encounter... That."
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I blanked for a while. Allow me to explain:" Tyrell said to Shawn.
"I'm afraid I don't know what a videogame is. This is way it was taught to me: Party leaders have a limited form of mind control over their party members. This allows them to move simultaneously in the same space and gives the party leader an instinctional undertanding of his party's health and energy levels, which most people visualize as numbers. The controls I mentioned are just training exercises to get you to think the right way so you can use it. Once you've got the feel for it you needn't bother with them. If this is unsettling for you we can just skip all that. Convenience is after all a poor excuse for compromising the sanity of others."
"Wh... What was that?"
"Yup. That tasted purple."
Shawn pauses a moment, curious, "Well... Where I come from, its much simpler. We walk around. We eat food when were hungry. We sleep when we are tired. We drink when we are thirsty. Everyone is independent, and every action we take is our own choice. Others may influence our choices, but they have no mind control over us. We don't see our health, or other 'stats', but, rather, when we get wounded, we have to let it heal on its own, or else go to a doctor, who merely makes the process shorter. Also, people can't be in the same place simultaneously, and we don't need 'controls' to move around."
"My name is Fluttershy," the pastel pony said, used to at least telling people her name when asked. "You don't have to worry, most of these people are actually rather nice once you get to know them," she assured Chun-li. "Um, I don't know about Mr. Grievous though...."
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HOTTING HELPY!!
Garland left the TSAB mages and went to find The Doctor. He had been referred to this individual once or twice as someone knowledgable about the current situation; if he could not explain the strange vision, he certainly ought to be told about it.
edited 24th Aug '11 2:29:49 PM by Anura
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.
"Sorry, It seems I've made a mess explaining things. Mostly the world DOES work exactly as you say but being in a party is sort of a magical pact, kinda. By drawing on the source of all Pysnergy it allows you to heal and recover your energy faster when eating or sleeping as well as move in sync."
"And I guess mind "control" wasn't the right word. You only have control over yourself, but you need to move a certain way if your party members are to move in sync with you. You can't dictate my choices or my thoughts. I'm REALLY sorry I botched that so much. In hindsight I suppose it did sound kind of terrifying didn't it?"
Shawn nodded, "That and confusing. In my world, we have games which we play which sometimes run like that, so I think I could pick it up somewhat..."
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
Nanoha lowered back down to the ground, calling off Axel Fin as she landed. Now she was fairly sure that the crystal pile, if was was a Lost Logia, was at least not an immediately dangerous one. She lowered Raising Heart. Still, what exactly was this? And what had it been doing?
"What should we do now?" she asked, aloud.
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
WHAT HAS SCIENCE WROUGHT
Cletus had taken numerous samples of the crystals and wires, looking forward to examining them later. He headed back over to Fluttershy.
"Have you seen the little redheaded girl? She sort of vanished somewhere down in the dungeons."
...and that's terrible.
"Oh, you're used to a different control scheme? Sorry, I didn't realise. I'll just walk march behind you then. Now, you can move around using the + control pad and you can hold B to run. Press A to examine things and perform all kinds of actions. If you ever need a break you can use the START button to open up the Pause menu where you can control sound and lighting options, although the save function seems to be missing. Worrying, that. But don't worry, I'm here to protect you. Take a bit of time to get used to the controls."