Lady looked at the door when a knock sounded. "I'll handle it." She said to Trish as she got up and opened the door, taking a moment to look down before kneeling down to get a better look at Nagi.
"Oh hey, I know you. Nagi, right? From Hades? What do you need, got some demons who need to be taught a painful lesson?"
edited 4th May '16 10:13:27 PM by Meanken
Common Room
Some kinda planet wut showed up outta nowhere. Prolly nor ours.
Folkestone Air Base - Baths - Present Time
It was early morning, and most of the Witches of Folkestone Air Base were taking a brief moment of R&R in the large Fuso-style baths. Exclusive to the young Witches, it was an oasis of calm rarely found in this kind of military installations. With its tiled floors and walls, large pools of water and brilliant sunshine coming in through the windows high on the walls, it was its own secluded world.
"Yoshika, Lucchini, don't run in the baths. You might slip and fall."
"Yes, ma'am!" "Yes, commander!"
With a weary sigh, Minna lowered herself in the warm water, gratefully accepting its refreshing embrace. Yesterday had been all kinds of hectic, and with the bombastic arrival of the new satelite in the sky, today too would prove a challenge. And there were even more new persons being introduced to the Battleworld, each more unknown to Minna than the next.
"Hartmann, stop splashing cold water at Clostermann."
"...yes, ma'am."
First of all, she had to follow up on the events of yesterday. Mio had left for Peace River early with Trude and Lynette, to see if she could upgrade their weaponry. While Minna hoped they would be successful in finding new hardware, she couldn't stop worrying over how they were going to pay for it. Something told her that war bonds of IOUs from the military were not worth much here.
"Litvyak, make sure you don't fall asleep in the bath. Juutilainen, wake her up, will you?"
"With pleasure!"
"Zzz...kya!"
When Trude got back, she and Shirley would depart for Santa Destroy to investigate the possibilities of a defensive alliance. And after Sanya and Eila had gotten some rest, they would go to DK Island and establish the "embassy" there. With how defensive the Iaconians had been over the arrangement, there really was no one else to send. Folkestone would just have to cope without Sanya in the meanwhile.
Decepticon Monitoring Zone Tertium - Flashback to the day before
Sometimes Minna didn't like being right. The appearance of the Head of Security, a brutal-looking giant by the name of Bludgeon, in a sort of long-distance projection came as a surprise, but his words did not. The Director was so far in a minority among the Iaconian Cybertronians in welcoming the Witches. Thankfully, he was still in charge.
"Your Head of Security raises a valid point, and I will do my best in trying to assuage your misconceptions. In total, I want to only post two persons on the island."
It was the safest solution, she kept telling herself. But she didn't like placing two of her own by themselves so close to a potential enemy.
"They will be Flying Officer Sanya V. Litvyak and Flying Officer Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen. They are Witches just like myself and Flying Officer Hartmann."
The Director seemed curiously interested in Erica's abilities, which worried Minna slightly. Hopefully that would mean that the Director also would accept Sanya and Eila as ambassadors.
Folkestone Air Base - Baths - Present Time
Her thoughts returning to the present day, Minna rose from the water and started drying herself. Noticing that their commander was heading out, the other Witches started getting ready as well. The blissful morning silence had been broken, and it was time to once more don the uniforms as soldiers of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, and face the challenges of the new day.
"Hartmann, return Lucchini's clothes to her basket. And Lucchini, put down Cloistermann's glasses."
"...yes, ma'am." "...yes, ma'am."
edited 5th May '16 5:43:31 AM by Lemurian
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!
feeling blue
Walking through the catacombs was a group comprised of a boy, four girls and a cat, seemingly searching for something in the depths of the place.
"Ein, what are searching for again?" asked a Lina holding a fairly large bow and arrow just in case of an ambush.
"We're looking for this key's lock," answered Ein, showing her a purple key with a skull on the handle.
"We found it in that ice cavern in the cemetary while looking for the accursed, but we never did find where it's supposed to be used." Fia further explained as she took a better look at the surroundings
"A demon was carrying that key, so wherever it leads to can't be good news." said Serene, holding a strong grip onto her scythe and just itching to do some demon hunting.
"It is quite an ominous-looking key" said Cierra, sounding quite chipper about the subject, she was quite looking forward to discovering the origin of this mysterious key.
"Still, if there was a door around here somewhere I think we would've seen it..." said Rose, the boredom in her voice being quite evident as they had been on this little expedition for a while.
"Who knows, we could have missed something while we were busy searching for the Accursed."
Fia's optimism aside, the search truly wasn't leading anywhere and everyone was starting to get tired of walking around aimlessly. Their surroundings weren't the most pleasant either, being surrounded by the graves of fallen sprites gave the area quite a gloomy feel that just further demotivated the group from their exploration. Although there weren't any demons out there to attack them, at the same time they couldn't help but wish something interesting would happen soon to break the monotony.
"Oooh..." groaned Lina, sounding dazed
All of sudden Lina collapsed on the floor, startling the entire group as they looked at her uncounscious body on the floor.
"Lina! What happened?!" said Fia as she rushed to Lina's side and crouched, trying to shake her awake
"Wake up, Lina!" said Rose as she assisted Fia.
Ein began looking around in hopes that he would find the source of the problem, was that a demon's doing? He didn't have much time to think about it as soon afterwards Fia and Rose collapsed onto Lina's body as well without a word and soon enough Cierra, Serene and him all began to feel lightheaded as well.
"W-What... What is going on..." said Serene, struggling to keep herself standing.
"Is this... Magic...?" Cierra asked herself, placing a hand on her head as she began kneeling down as she felt her counsciousness fading.
"Ugh..."
It didn't take long for both all three of them to soon join Lina and Fia in their sleep, one by one they collapsed on the floor, having no idea of who or what had caused such weakness in them.
Ein opened his eyes to find himself in... Lina and Fia's house? No, it was different. While it still looked like a house from Elendia in that it looked like it was made inside a tree, it was much bigger and lacked a second floor. There were multiple beds as well but otherwise it didn't look all that different, were they back in Elendia? He couldn't really remember seeing any house like that before and it didn't look like there was anyone else in there outside of them.
However his attention was soon drawn to his uncounscious friends lying down on the floor, they didn't look hurt and were still breathing, so they were definitely alive, just sleeping
"Everyone, wake up!" he yelled as he went to all of them and tried to shake them awake.
Unlike with Lina earlier, it actually worked and all of the girls were soon standing up, still looking a bit dizzy, but well. Ein noticed when he first went to wake him up that he was clutching some kind of note and, while the girls were still recovering, he began to read it.
"T-This is...!" said Ein, not being able to believe the contents of that note and even re-reading it just to be sure that it wasn't the dizziness that was making him read things that weren't there.
"Ein... Where are we...?" inquired Rose, shaking her head a little bit.
"Are we back in Elendia?" asked Fia as she took note of her surroundings.
"I thought the same thing, but no, we're not," answered Ein, handing the message to Fia.
The other girls then all grouped together to read it except for Rose who was too small to reach it and didn't feel like flying just for that purpose. As the girls read it, their yes went wide.
"Battleworld?!" exclaimed Lina in shock, the name
"So we're not in Riviera anymore?!"
"Sounds like it." Ein sighed, his life had a surprising amount of hopping between worlds with no choice, far more than he would've liked himself.
"So what do we do now?!"
Fia took a deep breath and then looked in the direction of the room's door. "Our best option would be to do as we were told and ask of this Cure person about their demands, surely they must have a reason to have brought us here."
"I guess that's all we can do for now..." said Rose, sounding quite displeased with the current situation
Everyone nodded and they made their way into the hallway and, as instructed, followed that path towards the main room in hopes that they would get some answers.
Dreams of Revenge
Strategic Command Centre — Sun-Tzu
The constant patter of updates from the analysts and officers meant that for a few moments the buzzing of the Vid-Phone went unnoticed. Equally distracting was the titanic shape of the space station looming ominously in the holotank display, seeming almost an oversized, dented Mammoth class spheroid DropShip that had jettisoned its drive units. However, Sun-Tzu was not one to miss such things for long. Carefully angling the display to avoid revealing anything classified (or at least that he assumed was classified), Sun-Tzu accepted the call. The face on the other end - Trish - was one he recognised immediately.
"Greetings," said Sun-Tzu, letting a pleasant smile creep across his face. "I must apologise in advance if it is noisy on my end. What appears to either be a space station or the largest, most strange looking JumpShip I have ever seen jumped into Battleworld orbit a short time ago, and I felt it prudent to go to the most well protected section of my territory. Regardless: how may I help you?"
Locking you up on radar since '09
Vampire Hunter
Dracula & Death, The Throne Room of Castlevania
After waiting a while for things in the castle to get into order in regards to the visitor, the drawbridge itself was lowered... By Death himself and by order of him. No matter what form the shape-shifting demon took, Death could recognize him from attempting to view his soul. The guards, although quadrupled due to the immanent threat of the space station the size of a moon in the sky, were trying to stay out of the path of the shape-shifting demon as Death led the demon higher and higher up in the castle. Castlevania's army understood they had no chance against the demon.
As Death and the shape-shifting demon reached the throne room and entered, they would find just Dracula there sitting on his throne. He had sent Lisa to a hiding spot at the center of the castle, just in case the demon proved hostile.
"Death, is this truly the demon that had been observed in my land before?" Dracula asked his right-hand subordinate.
"Yes," Death answered curtly.
"I see," Dracula nodding to Death, before turning to the demon. "From your actions, you appear to seek murder by proxy rather than asserting your own power against your enemies."
"However, you came here alone, but if you came here to replace Death as you did to that human woman, it would not make sense to let me know about it," Dracula noted, running through the various ideas of why the demon might be here in his head. "However, you also cannot replace me because Death would recognize you even in my form."
"Thus... I conclude you seek my services," Dracula smirked at the demon. Dracula was a very gifted tactician and knew how to play every side against each other, but he also knew when to make an honest assessment of a situation.
Sypha, DMC Room
While Trish contacted Zi-Jin Cheng, Lady answered the door and it was...
"Nagi!" Sypha waved to the Hades resident. "It is good to see you again this soon!"
Wizard Needs Food Badly
"Ah... er no. No headshots today." The girl quickly stated, more than a little scared that the woman in front of her was that gung-ho about gunning Demons down. Even if more than a few henchmen and mooks in Hades were jerks. "I came to a-apologize for getting you and Sypha involved in the giant misunderstanding. A-and well, you gave me an idea the other day s-so I decided to see if a prototype could work... a-and it did!" The stuttering became somewhat more confident as soon as it went to the subject matter of magitech, a most amazing field to study. "I b-built a specialized bracing mechanism that could empower your strength and speed so that fighting m-monsters might be safer for you."
Proffering the box on over to Lady, the girl fidgeted as she waited for the older woman's opinion. Upon looking inside, the devil hunter would find what was essentially few bronze metal strips stylized with archaic runes and magical circles that could be applied to torso and limbs as well as a pair of black fingerless leather gloves that seemed to have what seemed to be similarly runic plating attached to the knuckles. "It's built off the same principle as mana reinforcement that Demons and I use and the charge should last for three days before it needs to be resupplied with more mana." .
And then Sypha went on over to greet her as well, which only jangled Nagi's nerves even more. Not because she disliked the pair, but more because there was now another person closely observing her, a person with shy tendencies as well as a couple of self-confidence problems. Naturally this made the pressure of attention weigh down on the girl even more, though it didn't stop her from being polite. "Y-yeah, I d-didn't get lost on the way here what made you think that, ahaha..." Very awkward laughter came out from the girl whose cheeks was now redder than a tomato. "A-and sorry for causing the misunderstanding, Miss Sypha!" Bowing down at an even 90 degree angle towards the mage, the young child looked like she was impersonating a stereotypical Japanese businessman.
edited 5th May '16 6:50:59 PM by Makaioh
Lady's eyes lit up bit when Nagi explained what it was exactly that she had brought with her. She opened the package to see the device. "No.....this little thing can really do that?" he took her rocket launcher off so she could strap the device onto her, and then tested it by attempting to lift her rocket launcher, only to end up lifting it so fast the bayonet ended up embedded deep in the ceiling. she turned back to Nagi, and broke into a gigantic smile, far wider then Sypha would likely have ever seen it before, and suddenly hugged Nagi.
"Ohhhh, thank you thank you thank you! You have no idea how much this is going to help me! If you ever need anything, anything at all, place to hide out, some guns, whatever, you call me, I'll do whatever I can for you to help, ok?"
Meanwhile, Trish raised an eyebrow. "Space station? Huh. Never been to space before. That's new." She shrugged. "Anyway, I got a friend here who wants to talk business with you. I'll let her give you the details, but she's interested in working out a deal with you, one that I'm pretty sure you'll go for." Trish turned away from the screen for a second. "Hey, Lady, look...."
She paused as she saw the (For her) surreal scene. After a moment, she coughed. "Er....Lady?" Lady looked backward at Trish for a second, giving Sun-Tzu a good view of her face (And the rocket launcher still deeply stuck in Dante's ceiling) before Trish turned the phone back to her.
"That's Lady, she's the one you'll be looking out for. She's, er, usually not that friendly, but she doesn't bite. Much. This is kind of a time sensitive thing, so she'd prefer to handle this soon. And by soon, I mean now. You willing to hear her out?"
Meanwhile, Sun-Tzu would catch a glimpse of a red coated man laughing a bit before shuffling past Lady quickly and walking past in the background as he left the room.
The new arrivals would suddenly find themselves being addressed by a red coated man.
"Hey, you guys the new arrivals?" Dante asked as he jumped into his chair and put his feet up, pointing in the direction of Ruby and her group. "Nice guns there, you guys. Those will come in handy. Anyway, what's up? Name's Dante, Demon Hunter. You're probably a little confused, and I don't see big, red, and ugly here yet. Short version, a bored and ugly god decided to yank you off of your planet and bring you to his planet, which he's made from bits and pieces of other planets he slapped together like a bad puzzle for giggles. You're gonna be stuck here a while, sorry to say."
I believe there are some misunderstandings that should be cleared up. I am not your enemy. My enemy is humanity, the same as you. However, while you seek total destruction of humanity, I employ other methods. One of the many methods I use is to corrupt. To take so called "heroic" humans, and expose them to the darkness they hide in their hearts. Fill them with despair. Turn them into the very thing they despise. This is what I was attempting to do with Belmont's witch ally. I believe your own Death can collaborate, the girl was on the turning point of succumbing to the darkness in her heart. I pushed her to kill you because that would have been the breaking point. But, I have no animosity toward you, as you are not a human anymore. The last sentence was a bit of a lie, but nether of them would be able to tell this.
I am here because we share mutual enemies. The so called "Demon Hunters", Belmont and his allies, and all of their ilk. You had an encounter with one of them before I made myself known, Dante. You understand, then, his strength alone. You witnessed how I, in the form of a weakling human with no supernatural powers or weapons to speak of, defeated and nearly killed your Death. Whatever your feelings toward me, you understand their power rivals your own. And their ranks are growing. They are finding more who agree with their line of thinking. You have an alliance with them now against me. But you must know this will not last forever. And when the alliance dissolves, rather then 4, you may have 10 or more of them breaking down your door, several of who are just as powerful as Dante was. You understand how that will end, I trust?
edited 5th May '16 7:26:53 PM by Meanken
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
Common Room — Morning People!
"Yo!" a languid voice greeted the Beacon quartet from somewhere behind Dante, "Wassup, noobs?" Turning to look would reveal three teens roughly the same age as Ruby's crew, the hatted one who had obviously spoken waving cheerily at them and carrying a steaming cuppa java.
"Don't call them noobs, Junpei," a white-haired young man trudging along behind him snapped, "And people say I'm the one who hasn't got any tact."
"But it's the truth! What, can't I celebrate us not being the newbies anymore? Oh, mornin', demon hunter guy."
"Yeah, good morning. Anyway, we haven't been the newbies since yesterday, remember?"
"Yeah, but all those guys are way older than us. They don't count."
"Whatever," Akihiko grumbled crossly while dual-wielding coffee cups, "Why do I have to deal with this crap so early in the morning? Leader, you oughta say something too, you know."
"Mmmgh?" A half-asleep Minako glanced over, taking a moment or two to process what she was seeing. Today she was once more wearing her more formal attire, a blue dress with a butterfly-shaped cutout in the upper back, which the Velvet Room had thankfully provided the day of their arrival. "Oh. Yeah, sure. Right. G'mornin' folks. Junpei-kun, you be sure to be—" The Wildcard's oncoming order was severely undermined by a gigantic yawn. "—be nice to the new people. They just got here, n' stuff."
"Hey, I am being nice! I'm just tellin' it like it is, is all!"
"That's not the point, damnit!" the upperclassman groused, although his cause was evidently futile as their ponytailed commander drifted sleepily away toward the central part of the room. Upon reaching her destination at SEES' chairs, she dropped into the middle seat, whipped an azure velvet pillow onto the table from seemingly nowhere, and let her eyes slide shut before she buried her face and arms into it with a happy sigh.
"You can be a real stick in the mud sometimes, Senpai," Junpei observed with a blithe grin. He turned to the assembled Beaconers. "So, how long ago'd you all wake up? Where're ya from? Ah, I'm Junpei Iori, by the way. This here's Akihiko Sanada. We're from Japan."
To the side, the boxer silently wished he could palm his face without giving himself third-degree burns.
edited 5th May '16 8:13:57 PM by darksidevoid
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Vampire Hunter
Sypha, DMC Office
"...You're scaring me, Lady," Sypha said in near catatonia from the surreal scene that she had just witnessed, before looking up at the ceiling. Meanwhile, Trevor groggly woke up, sniffed the air, and left the DMC Office.
Trevor, Common Hallway
Trevor smelled food and he was hungry... Soon enough, he stumbled on a strange looking feast made for five people... which was currently being inhaled by a pigtailed girl. Trevor raised an eyebrow since women are usually much more polite in eating than how the pigtailed girl was eating.
"Miss," Trevor nodded to the pigtailed girl in acknowledgement and sat down. "This is a rather... large meal you are having, if I may be frank."
Of course, Trevor Belmont has never encountered a Jusenkyo Curse so did not know that this particular pigtailed girl was in fact the martial artist Ranma Saotome.
Wizard Needs Food Badly
"Gurk. Murgle." The tender young girl croaked out even as her bones creaked under the great pressure exerted upon her. If it wasn't for the fact she turned on her own physical reinforcement to withstand her own invention that was working rather too well, the Mechanician would have lost consciousness long ago. As it was, she was in that weird sweet spot of in pain but not much danger.
Her already tomato red face became a true crimson hue though when she realized she was being pressed against a part of the female anatomy that was much bigger than she was used to. Jealousy flared its ugly head after a quick mental comparison was made showing that the difference between them was as wide as the heavens and the earth. And thus did Nagi pout, her cheeks puffing out cutely even while it was hard to breathe. "I-I think you're needed for a call..." The girl squeaked out while in a heady mixture of pain, embarassment, shortness of breath, and breast envy.
"Hmm?" Pausing in the middle of shoveling another bite in her mouth as a voice intruded on her repast, the girl turned her eyes over to the speaker. "Ah, yeah. It's a bit big for normal people, really. Martial artists like me however need the extra fuel to supplement our physical exertions." Deciding to slow down for Trevor's sanity, the girl's style of eating totally changed. What was once a vacuum now became a thoroughly refined young lady who ate things daintily and steadily, her every graceful movement of the chopsticks like a maestro waving their baton. Being "trained" under certain French asshats had its advantages sometimes.
"You wanna sit down and have some? Yer right that it's a lot, even for me. I just kinda made this much since I was used to eating with a household and now I'm kinda alone." The tiny redhead shrugged with a tiny bit of melancholy before taking out a gymnastics ribbon from her backpack so that she could fish a chair out from within her living space. The sitting tool sailed on over her head and landed all four legs with the minimum of noise with another deft twist of her wrist, restoring the thing's balance whilst in midair while slowing its ascent enough to make for a most smooth landing. "Oh, you look like you don't use chopsticks...Fwip. The gymnastics ribbon flew back into the room once more to snag some Western style silverware before landing on the table with the same amount of muted yet eye-catching landing as before.
Homura's Apartment -
It had been a long night for Homura. Hurrying back through the portal back to Mikuni's apartment, escorting her to her own place (thankfully Mikuni didn't have much to carry - there hadn't been much to salvage from her old home), preparing a futon and cooking something quick (read: instant ramen - Oriko seemed a little less than fully satisfied with her care) to eat, then spending into the wee hours building a few pipe bombs to augment her existing stockpile from MI6...when dawn came around she had nodded off at her desk, just barely after putting the last screws into the third pipe bomb to secure it. So it was the boom from outside that shook her awake, startling her like a deer out of her chair and out to the window to try to locate the source.
“Angel?” So focused was Homura trying to figure out the noise that she didn’t even react to Oriko’s habitual nickname for her - apparently the noise woke her up from her sleep as well. “What’s happening outside?”
“Don’t know yet…” Homura kept looking around at the street below for any sign of trouble.
Mami’s Apartment
“Uh...wha..” Mami needed a moment or two to get her bearings even aftering being woken up by something fairly loud. “Sakura-san…” She rolled out of her bed, placing her feet down and stumbling to the ground when her feet did not meet the floor as she had expected, but rather the (formerly) sleeping form of Kyoko who was on said ground (or, more specifically, a futon). “Wha!”
“Agh!” Kyoko wasn’t sleeping through that, especially not after Mami had stepped on her shins in the latter’s drowsiness and had tumbled to the ground. “What was that for?” she half-demanded
“Sakura-san? Oh, I’m so sorry - I was just woken up by something…” Mami needed a moment to get back onto her feet. “Did you hear it? That was not you, was it?”
“Hear what?”
“Hmm…?” Once Mami got back onto her feet, she headed out of her bedroom and into the living room, the morning sun peeking through again.
Did you know this section has a character limit?
Team White Knight with a Sugar Rush - Common Room
Dante's words drew a look of shock on three quarters of the teens. Nora being Nora, she just nodded happily as if she expected all that.
"What?!"
"Uh, hi Dante. I'm Ruby, this is my partner Weiss, and our friends Jaune and Nora-"
"You expect us to believe that a god took us from Remnant and put us on some patchwork planet? And that you're a demon hunter?"
"Grimm are like demons..."
"Ruby!"
"Weiss, you were in Atlas, I was on my way to Mistral, Blake was god-knows-where and Yang was back in Patch. Now we're all together, we woke up in a room that's been destroyed back home and Yang's arm has grown back. All of that should be impossible. A god isn't that bad of an explanation, is all I'm saying."
"...you're right." She said, begrudgingly.
"So! Do you know why we're here, Dante?"
While Ruby and Weiss has busied themselves arguing, the SEES had arrived and stolen the attention of Jaune and Nora.
"Uh, I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc. And this is-"
"NORA!" Nora cheered.
"...my teamate, Nora Valkyrie. And they're-"
Jaune turned around to see Ruby and Weiss in the middle of an argument, and turned right back around to the Japanese teens.
"...our friends, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee."
Jaune frowned, and blinked as he took in the last thing Junpei had said.
"What's a 'Japan'?"
"It's what you cook Japancakes in, silly!"
Team Bumblebee - The Team RWBY Dorm Room
She hadn't done anything.
Apart from her look of shock and fear when she had woken up, Blake hadn't done or said anything. Even after Ruby and Weiss had left them she just sat on the edge of her bed, refusing to look at Yang.
And all Yang could do was glare. The fire may have died, but her eyes were still red. This girl before her, her partner, her best friend, had abandoned her when she needed her most. Didn't say goodbye, didn't wait for her to wake up, didn't tell anyone where or why she was going...
Yang had been abandoned. Again. And Blake should damn well know why that hurt.
"I'm sorry-" Blake began.
"You really think 'sorry' is going to cut it?" Yang spat.
Blake flinched, and pulled her legs up as Yang began her tirade.
"You left me, Blake! You ran, like you always said you would! I needed you, and you left!"
"You don't understand!"
"What don't I understand? I don't care what your reason for leaving is, you left! Just like Summer did, just like Raven did. Just like I let Ruby leave. I needed you, Blake. I needed my partner, I needed my best friend. And you turned out to be neither."
Blake turned towards Yang, staring her straight in the eyes. The look of hurt was obvious.
"Don't say that." She whispered.
"Why shouldn't I? You didn't believe me after the match with Mercury. You thought I was going to end up like Adam." Blake flinched at the mention of her ex's name. "Everyone else did. Everyone who mattered, but you."
"I lost an arm for you, Blake. It doesn't matter that it's back now, I would've done it again. I would have done it for my best friend, my partner. But for you? The Blake who abandoned me? I'm not so sure."
"He promised to kill everyone I love!" Blake shouted, tears streaming down her face.
It's was Yang's turn to flinch, and the red in her eyes faltered to lilac.
"What?"
"Adam promised to destroy everything, everyone I loved. Starting with you. But if I ran, he wouldn't go after you."
"Adam? Your old partner? I could've taken him."
"No, Yang. You couldn't have. That was him, back in the cafeteria."
The one who took your arm. went unsaid.
They sat in silence, simply staring at each other. It went on for a few minutes, before Yang stood up and crossed the room, before pulling Blake into a hug.
"You idiot..." she whispered over her shoulder.
Blake pulled back and looked at her.
"If he thought he could've hurt you by killing me, he would've done it anyway. He wanted to split us up, Blake. He wanted you to be vulnerable, to be alone. And you idiot, you let him do it."
"If I stayed-"
"If you stayed, he would've had to fight two of best Huntsmen to have ever lived just to get close. And that's not counting Ruby, or Sun, or me and you. You can't beat him alone, Blake. Neither of us can. But we're stronger together. And I promise you, neither of us will ever be alone again."
Blake stared deeply into Yang's lilac eyes, before leaning forward... and melting into her hug again. They stayed like that, the tears gently drying, until Yang couldn't keep up her awkward position anymore, and joined Blake in sitting on the bed. Unwilling to give up contact, however, she took the other girl's hand and leaned on her shoulder.
"...Yang? Are we okay?"
Yang blinked, and was silent for a moment.
"Not yet. I'm still angry at you. But I think we're going to be just fine."
She could feel the smile that broke over Blake's face when she said that. And she couldn't help but indulge in a bit of petty retribution.
"So, what was that you said about me? I'm someone you love?"
"Yang."
"Hey, your words, not mine. I'm sure Sun is going to be disappointed when he finds out that your heart belongs to another."
"Yang, stop."
"I cannot, my beloved. I must profess our love from the tops of the highest mountains! All of Remnant must know that Blakey lurves me!"
"You complete dolt."
"Dolt? You've been spending too much time with Weiss." Yang gasped. "Are you and Weiss having an affair? Oh, Ruby is going to be so disappointed."
Neither could help it. They both burst out laughing, loudly and raucously.
From outside the door, Ren smiled. They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!
Two Years Ago - Einzbern Residence, Germany
"Mama? Tell me a story."
"No, Illya. You have to go to bed or you'll catch your death of cold."
"What? But I'm not sleepy! No fair no fair no fair!"
The white girl rolled on the bedsheets, kicking vehemently, like an enraged snowball suspended on a sheet of dry dough. She looked just like her mother, only in miniature, right down to the lilt of her downy silver eyebrows. She seemed no older than four or five, and very fragile.
Iri sighed, knowing perfectly well that her daughter was in fact seven years old, and that she would probably never act her age.
"You will be in a while if you just lie down. Promise."
Illyasviel von Einzbern came to an unhappy halt and pushed herself to her knees. Her white nightie glowered in the firelight. It crackled like a protesting tissue-flag, scrawled with a crayon slogan.
"No. Story. Or I'll ask Kiritsugu to do it."
"Now, Illya. That's no way to talk about your father."
"But Kiritsugu lets me call him Kiritsugu."
"Well, he still won't read you a story. Not when your Mama says it's time for bed."
"He would too. Kiritsugu is always nice to me."
"Well, that…"
Was true, but Iri couldn't admit it.
"And anyway," the girl went on, "he's not really a part of our family. Grandfather Acht said that."
"Alright," said Iri sharply. "That's quite enough, Illya. One story. No more."
"Yay, goodie! Love you, Mama."
Illya jumped up and pecked her on the cheek. Iri tried to look as unimpressed as possible.
"Blanket first," she said imperiously.
Illya crawled obediently under, blinking up at her with an infuriatingly adorable gaze.
Iri smoothed her hair and cleared her throat.
"Once upon a time, there was a prince who dressed all in black. They called him the Crow Prince. His clothes was ragged and his eyes were cold, but his heart was pure as snowmelt."
"Whatsa crow?"
"They're big black birds."
"Oh. Are they good birds?"
"Not really."
"So the Crow Prince is bad."
"No, he wasn't. I already said his heart was pure as snowmelt."
"But you don't even let me eat snow."
Iri got off the bed.
"No Mama come back I'm sorry please don't go."
Iri got back on the bed. Illya watched her guiltily.
"The Crow Prince was good, and his heart was pure. But the people didn't like him. You see, the Crow Prince had fought in many wars. Wars to save the kingdom, wars to keep the kingdom, wars to make the kingdom bigger. It was all for the people."
"Then why didn't they like him?"
"When you fight a war, you get blood on your hands. Cold, dead blood. The more you fight, the more the blood seeps in, until you feel all cold and dead inside. And people don't like dead things."
"But if the people had to fight the wars, then they'd be cold and dead."
A sad smile tugged at Iri's lips.
"And the Crow Prince knew that. That was why he fought. And he never said a word when people looked at him with hate."
"Was the Crow Prince handsome? I think he needs a Princess."
"No, he wasn't handsome. His face was too worn and his eyes were too cold. But yes, I think he needs a Princess too. What should she look like?"
Illya made thinking noises.
"I know! She should be as pretty as a doll."
Again, the same wistful smile of recognition.
"I think that's a wonderful idea, Illya. The Doll Princess was the most beautiful woman in all the land. Her skin was white and her hair was silver and her eyes were ruby-red."
"Oh, just like us! Just like us, Mama!"
"She was beautiful because she wasn't real, because she was made. She was made by an old man with white hair who lived high up on a mountain, in a house where nobody came."
"I still think you're prettier than the Doll Princess, Mama."
"Maybe, maybe not."
"You are," Illya declared emphatically.
Iri laughed.
"One sad day the old King died, and the Crow Prince decided it was time to marry. But no matter what he did or where he went, he couldn't find a wife. Everywhere he went princesses and ladies turned him down. His clothes were too ragged and his eyes were too cold, and he smelled of blood. And then he went up to the old house where the old man lived, and the old man showed him the Doll Princess."
"It was love at-"
"It was love at first sight."
"Yay!" Then:
"Wait, you can't love a doll."
"Why not?" asked Iri, eyes twinkling.
"It's spooky. And dolls can't cook breakfast and they can't be mommies."
"I don't cook breakfast. Princesses don't, either."
"But you aren't a doll, Mama!"
"No," said Iri, "I suppose I'm not. Not after I had you."
She caressed her daughter's head with one white hand. Illya peered at her suspiciously.
"You aren't trying to trick me, are you, Mama? This isn't a true story, right?"
"All good stories are true, in one way or the other."
"So it's just a story?"
"I guess it is."
Illya considered this, then gave an appeased nod.
"Good. The last time Kiritsugu tried to trick me he started reading from his ensycopee-dee-yer."
"Those are good for you. It's how your father taught Mama about the big wide world."
"Facts are boring. I asked for a bedtime story. And from you, Mama, not Kiritsugu. Kiritsugu's a meanie cheater."
"I thought you said he was always nice to you."
"Nuh-uh."
The earnest amnesia of the childish mind never ceased to amaze her.
"So did the Crow Prince marry the Doll Princess?" asked Illya.
"What? Oh, yes. It was a quiet wedding on the mountainside. Only the old man was there."
"And did they live happily ever after?"
Facts are boring.
"Yes, they did."
"And they had lots of babies, even though she was a doll, because otherwise they wouldn't live happily ever after."
The smallest things can stab like knives.
"I… I guess they wouldn't, no."
"And one of the babies was a girl and the other was a boy and they all played in the castle with their Mama and Papa forever and ever and…
"Mama? What's wrong, Mama? Why're you crying?"
Irisviel von Einzbern; Emiya Residence
The house was as still as a quiet field. The clamour outside had ebbed somewhat. There was less wailing, less rushing, less screeching. A few birds proffered hesitant notes. The sun, abashed, peeked through the windows and the porch's glass doors.
The white-haired woman knelt on the tatami, wobbling uncomfortably in a bad seiza position. Around her fingers worked three of her silken locks, weaving and unraveling like an uncertain cocoon.
Someone was here. A Servant. Not Saber. Sensing his presence was like trying to pinch oil from water.
"Yes, the Crow Prince was good. But he was not loved. His speech was too blunt. He never could make himself polite. And no-one could hold his eyes for too long. If they did, whether through mishap, ignorance, or the weight of courtesy, the chill pierced them to the marrow."
Irisviel von Einzbern spoke under her breath, as if trying to make herself believe that she was not alone. Her eyes glistened nervously, like rubies in the sight of a frightened thief.
"For you see, the Crow Prince had fought many wars with his bone-white sword. Wars to save the kingdom, wars to keep the kingdom, wars to make the kingdom larger. He trampled many men. And over time the cold dead blood seeped into his hands and heart and head, turned him white as a corpse…"
Footfalls. Closer and closer. The ambient mana throbbed. It felt like her ribbon was choking her, digging into her neck like a stone. A man's shadow, vague and fuzzy on the porch. Coming closer. Whetting itself on the gaps in the wood…
The Servant turned the corner. Iri screamed and threw her hands up. The ambient mana squelched like pasta dough. Thread-thin spell-skeins of alchemical wire shot out in all directions, stronger than steel, filling the room like a truckload of cobwebs. They bound the figure tight, mummifying him in an inch-thick shroud of neon-blue. Iri braced for the doomed tussle, glanced desperately at the window and -
Nothing. The spell-skeins held.
Iri got to her feet, sweat dappling her alabaster skin like dew. The mass of glowing blue tugged at her hands like a fisherman's net. Arms out, fingers clawed, she took a tentative step towards the bundle.
It swayed, then hopped forwards. Iri sat down hard. The wires flew free, billowing by the mummy's bound base.
"I ask of you: are you my Master?"
A man's voice, courteous, but coming as if through miles of frayed telephone wire. It was as if someone had clamped scramblers on Iri's ears, so that even his voice was indistinct.
"I… don't believe I am," said Iri.
Another hop.
"I see, milady. Forgive my unheralded arrival. I was brought into this world for a reason I know not. Do you seek the Sangreal?"
"The Holy Grail isn't… here at the moment. I mean, it's not for seeking."
Iri decided to remain discreet about the fact that she was, in truth, the Lesser Grail, and therefore roughly one-eighth to a quarter of the finished product.
"That is distressing news," said the mummy after a while.
"I can see why. You aren't running low on prana, are you?" asked Iri. "I wouldn't want you to fade away."
The sentiment was genuine. He was a very polite and very strange mummy.
"My prana reserves are at their peak, milady."
Iri blinked.
"Without a Master?"
"Without one I can sense. Our bond is most unusually tenuous, and I can feel but little. Hence why I asked you, milady, if you were she - prithee pardon mine ungraciousness."
"It's alright," said Iri. "I suppose you can break out of those bonds now."
"Alas," said the mummy morosely, "it has ever been my vow to succour maidens in distress."
"Firstly," Iri frowned, "I'm no maiden. I am a mother and a wife. Secondly, the only cause of my distress was you. Thirdly, in what way does that stop you from freeing yourself?"
"Save in times of war and in the most dire of mishaps, it is the knight's creed never to harm a lady."
"You haven't even touched me."
"Ah, but the fright of mine escape could excite your humours, and by excessive agitation of the blood choke your vital spark, and send you a-fainting. Now, admittedly, I am no physician, but according to the divines even the sin unintended is still a sin. And thus even the possibility of harming you would…"
Iri stalked over to the other side of the room.
"Milady?"
And again, after several uncomfortable minutes:
"Milady?"
Iri raised one silver eyebrow.
"I shall remain here in penance for mine offense until sundown," decided the mummy.
"Oh, just get out of there," huffed Iri.
There was a sucking sound, a trembling, and then a loud and resounding crunch as the full-body cast collapsed in on itself. The Servant rematerialised step by step, rising out of purple light like a vision from a lake.
He was a tall and lithe man, built with deceptive grace; in truth it was the kind of lean scarred strength that could reach in and topple you as easily as a play-acting child. His dark lilac hair fell to his shoulders, shrouding a face smooth as elm bark. Yet he was no longer young. The worries of age were knit tightly on his brow, and all around him was a faint melancholy; like some half-remembered song keened through a field of withered dandelions, reaching wistfully for some old abandoned ruin.
"Who are you?" breathed Iri.
The man bowed. He was wearing a gilt burgundy waistcoat over a white shirt, a pair of black pants, and soft leather shoes. No, the waistcoat was black and the pants were burgundy. Something blanketed him like a mist, making even his clothes dim and uncertain to the mind's eye.
"Forgive me, milady, but I cannot tell you my name. You may call me the Chevalier mal fet -"
"The Ill-Made Knight," said Iri. "You're Lancelot du Lac."
The man lowered his head, but did not smile. His hair hung down like strands of bruised kelp.
Fujimura Taiga; Wandering Over Where-Now?
"And that," said Taiga brightly to Wander and Sylvia, "is the worst ramen joint this side of the city. Don't go there."
The three large men on their tail tried to look discreet.
"And that's the second-worst ramen joint. I'm pretty sure they have some kind of rivalry thing going on. Maybe to see who can off the most customers."
The three large men sidled past a lamppost, a looter, and a large lump of lubricant. The last one's slide was a thing of beauty.
"And…"
Her voice died down. A shadow fell across her path, slight and sharp.
"Fujimura Taiga," said the woman in black.
"Oh. Hello. I don't think we've met."
"We want to see your grandfather."
There was a man in black standing by the sidewalk. Taiga's hand crept to the bamboo sword on her back.
"Did anyone ever tell you that you talk like a robot?" she asked.
"No," said the woman.
"Well, now you know. Seriously, it's freaking me out."
The woman opened her mouth to reply, and then the three men lunged for her back. Taiga pulled her shinai free with a triumphant yell.
The woman caught her wrist and twisted it just so. Taiga howled, and then she was stuck with something cold and hard against her neck. The men stopped, slack-jawed.
The woman's eyes glided over Taiga's left ear, impassive. It was like she wasn't breathing. The middle-schooler looked down her own graying face and saw the knife at her throat.
The shinai fell from her strangled grasp.
edited 6th May '16 6:08:45 AM by troydenite
Devil May Cry Office: This Is A Courtesy Wake-Up Call For Mr. Dante
The telephone on Dante's desk started ringing. If someone picked it up, they would hear the voice of a young man asking for Dante.
Dreams of Revenge
Strategic Command Centre — Sun-Tzu
Sun-Tzu listened attentively to Trish as she made her preamble. To his credit, he only blinked as he saw the rocket launcher Lady had managed to lodge in the ceiling. Though his face was a perfect mask of serenity, he felt the beginnings of disbelief creep in. He knew what his mother would make of the whole affair. She would have been storming around the command centre, thundering about the incompetence of the gweilu mercenaries who did not even know the basics of soldiery. Perhaps she might have even compared them to Glorious Redemption Detachments in her scorn. But Sun-Tzu was not his mother. He knew very well the proud service that those who were not of the state could render. He might well have killed to have McCarron's Armored Cavalry, also known as the Big Mac. The political aspects aside, they had fully deserved their granting of Capellan citizenship and semi-integration into the CCAF. He did not miss the flash of red as Dante left the room, but decided questions could wait.
"Certainly," said Sun-Tzu, with all the grace and poise of a man who had learnt well the art of not seeing. "I would strongly prefer it if she came to Zi-Jin Cheng rather than vice-versa. Regrettably, the current situation makes travel potentially dangerous for me... and I am certain that she is a far more accomplished fighter than I."
Locking you up on radar since '09
"New planet?" Axton looked to the side to get a view of the Death Star before shaking his head. "You idiots, that's not a planet, it's a moon. That doesn't count!"
"No, wait." Maya said. "Look closer. That's a space station."
"No shit?" He said as he looked. "Place that big, probably not friendly. You know what that means?"
"We get to blow it up?"
"Yep." Then a yell came from behind them.
"Hey, guys! Check out my new mech Axton got me!" Gaige yelled as she came out of the hallway in the large mech suit Axton had brought from Hades yesterday. However, it was now painted bright red.
"Why'd you paint it red?"
"Dude, haven't you ever watched Moving Suit Gunbot? The red ones go faster!"
Both looked at one another for a second before Maya spoke. "That makes no sense whatsoever."
With everyone else occupied, it was left to Nero to take the call.
"Devil May Cry." After he was asked about Dante, he shook his head. "Na, he's out of the office right now. What's this about?"
Lady, suddenly noticing how much she was choking Nagi, let go, her face going red. "Oh. Sorry kid. My bad." Sypha's comment apparently went unnoticed.
"Ya, she's gonna wanna see the place for herself anyway. Ok, cool. She'll be down shortly. Thanks for your time, chat with ya later Sunny." She said as she hung up the phone with a sly grin. Then she turned to Lady. "All set, you just need to get down there."
"Ok, thanks Trish. Nagi, I have somewhere to go, but thanks again. Like I said, anything you need,let me know. Sypha, I don't know if you wanna come with me or not, this is probably going to be really boring for you, mostly a business trip. Not gonna make you come, if you wanna stay behind that's fine. Just take this for me." She pulled a smartphone out of one of her belt pockets and handed it to Sypha along with a thick instruction book. "Here, my number's already programmed in along with Dante's. Call if you need anything, ok?"
The groups would suddenly see the large, red form of The Cure appear in his throne. "I believe I will take that question."
"And there's big, red, and ugly himself."
"You may call me The Cure." He said as he leaned back, ignoring Dante. "As for your question, you are here to fight among each other for my own amusement. As he said, I have brought many lands from many worlds here. You, however, were not brought here with a land. You are a "wild card", here to make things interesting. You are free to do whatever you wish on my Battleworld, ally with who you will, kill who you will. All I require is you do something. In return, I am willing to reward you. I am an all powerful god, and I am willing to fulfill any request you have, so long as it will not throw off the balance of power."
edited 6th May '16 3:54:10 PM by Meanken
"Oh hey, there's the man himself. Took a long while to arrive."
Scorch added sarcastically when the Cure arrived, as Boss turned to look at the Cure.
"If talking about the "Balance of power", then why exactly is there a space station here?" Boss pointed with his right hand at the large space station in the map's hologram. "I am not sure if it's a new chunk or a chunk who wished for a space station, but they clearly have a larger advantage to any of us right now."
"Ah. Yes. That." He said as he turned to face Boss and his group. "There has not been enough fighting here for my liking. A few lands have come to blows, but not as many as I wanted. So I have decided to liven things up a bit. This is a new threat I have introduced, one who you will find negotiating on equal ground with to be....difficult. Yes, they do indeed have a significant advantage over you, although not insurmountable. I did warn you all, if you do not become the aggressor, you will become the defender, and if I must introduce elements specifically to play that role, then so be it."
Boss stayed completely quiet upon the response of Cure, before muttering quietly in Mando'a, as if berating himself.
"Gatle, mhi cuyir gotal'ur atakaanir bal at ramaanar par Jetiise sulye saryr an... bu'ctihyr cuyir o'r cuuntal...." note
Boss then turned to face Scorch and Sev.
"Delta Squad! We must go and warn Fixer and prepare the Underground from an invasion from this new threat! Move out!"
"Aye aye sir!"
"Yes, lead!"
The 3 squad members then sprinted out to the portal for the Underground.
edited 6th May '16 8:31:45 PM by Darkomega245
Common Room
Yer 'umie's kinda stupid, inne?
Spess stashunn eh? Dat could be useful. Mr. Nailbrain!
Kap'n?
Seems we've got us a stayshon ta krump. Get our spacey hulk ready fer tellyporterin!
Er... Can't, Kap'n. Da engines still aren't werkin' cuzza da Kür.
Wut? Ow'ze we supposed ta scrap da zoggin' fing if we'z stuck down 'ere!?
Mebbe if we waits fer it ta get close enuff, we kin shoot it?
Hrrr...
-The Kaptin tromps over to the Cure, a master craftman full of righteous indignation at being denied the means of practicing his art.-
Oi! Daemon dok! We needz da krooza werkin', dere's a big ship up dere wut needz killin'!
edited 7th May '16 1:31:20 AM by Chabal2
Ikebukuro Warehouse: Status Update
Hei leaned against the porous concrete, taking full advantage of the shadow's long-reaching shade. In his hand he held a throwaway phone to his ear, speaking to Nero in his normal low and pleasureless tone.
"It's about the demon." he replied. "I've been keeping an eye out in Ikebukuro for any clues, but looks like this trail might've gone cold. All the inside knowledge it leaked to the city was addressed by the same source—some leader of a local gang called The Dollars. Far as I'm aware, the thing moved on a long time ago."
Hei glanced to his sides before continuing. "There's something else. According to the demon's report, there was a swordsman in a blue coat wandering the area. Supposedly, he killed a group of Tokyo officers before arriving in Ikebukuro. Can't tell who he is exactly, but it reminds me of Dante's brother—the one who trespassed into Tokyo two days ago. According to another post from The Dollars leader, the man in blue has been 'taken care of.' Not really sure what that means, but it's possible Dante's brother might be dead."
edited 7th May '16 10:26:43 AM by TheodoreHastings
huzzaaaaaaaah
Genosha - Today
Pietro stood in front of Kitana, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as hard as he could, trying to do anything but talk about the situation at hand. He clasped his hands, took a deep breath and then put on his best smile as he tugged on his royal uniform.
"So, uhm," He mumbled, holding out his hand. "I heard you're supposed to be my wife?"
Classy.
Tea with Taiga
"Oh man! I love ramen!" Wander yelled, before leaning close to Sylvia's ear and whispering what's ramen again?
Before Sylvia could answer Wander with an equally confused response, the duo stopped on their tracks when their guide was suddenly accosted by a woman with a knife. "Hey, listen here, pal!" Sylvia yelled at the woman, pulling up the sleeves she didn't even have and clenching her fists. "You let go of Taiga, or we're gonna give you the beating of your life!"
"Or, and hear me out here," Wander dropped from Sylvia's saddle, banjo in hand. "We could all just lower our weapons and nobody has to get hurt, right? Right?" He pleaded, strumming one note on his banjo.
Did you know this section has a character limit?
Team RWBYJN_R - Common Room
Ruby remained silent as the Cure appeared and explained why they were there. Those closest to her could see a slight shake in her, as if she was at the epicenter of her own personal earthquake. Her left hand slowly reached behind her, lifting up her cloak and revealing a red rectangle beneath it. Weiss' hand shot out, grabbing Ruby's arm, and when Ruby turned to look at her, all she got was a shake of her head.
The message was clear. There was no use trying to fight someone this powerful, no matter how despicable they were. The fact that Weiss kept a hold of Ruby's arm was testament to how well she would take that message.
"Well, that explains the arm." Yang said cheerfully, breaking the silence. "You want to see the full Xiao Long experience, and not the mostly 'armless version."
Ruby groaned, though you couldn't tell if it was from the awful pun or the fact that Yang was bear-hugging her from behind. Yang, Blake and Ren had arrived just as the Cure did, but had kept their silence through his explanation. Weiss smiled at Blake as she took her place beside them, and received one in return. Ruby would've greeted her too, but y'know, bear hug.
For as much as Weiss disliked her hotheadedness, she could appreciate Yang's tactical acumen. As long as she was hugging Ruby, Ruby couldn't attack the Cure, and would be distracted from shouting at him.
"Oh, a reward? What sort of reward? Is it a sloth? Oh, an elephant! Maybe we can have our very own castle!"
"Nora, he could be asking us to hurt innocent people."
"C'mon, Ren! Who puts a bunch of heroes together and expects them to fight each other? There's gotta be bad guys here, and we just gotta find 'em and smash 'em! Right, Mr. Cure?"
There might be some confusion over Nora's wording. She was speaking about smashing enemies, when she clearly had a grenade launcher on her. In fact, the group's weaponry was quite eclectic. Beside's Nora's grenade launcher, Jaune was clearly carrying a sheathed sword on his belt; Weiss had a rapier on her waist (though some might notice the coloured windows in the cylinder in the hilt of it); Blake had what looked to be an oversized cleaver on her back (close inspection would reveal that the handle was obviously a pistol); and some may have spotted the red rectangle beneath Ruby's cloak. Ren and Yang, on the other hand, appeared to have no weapons at all beyond Yang's fingerless gloves. One might notice those gloves ended at yellow bracelets, though.
Bond - Santa Destroy Resort
Bond left his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Turns out, it you destroy the window of room that's several stories up a building, that room will quickly get intolerably cold.
He stayed in the hallway, though. It would be rude to call for services and not wait for those services to arrive. Especially if he was going to tip them heavily by way of apology. They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!
"Hahhhhh... Nuthin' like a nice bath to start off the day." The fact that he could relax in the furo without having to worry about anyone, especially Akane, walking in on his peace and quiet made the boy slouch down into the greenly tinted water, basking in the therapeutic hot waters that ate away at his stress. With no one around that he didn't want to, the boy slouched and enjoyed this rare moment of peace with his entire being, feeling ever so content. His old universe had no sway over him here, and though there was a mad god playing with the lives of men, it wasn't crass enough to interfere like Nerima did. Battleworld had its perks it seemed.
A few minutes after some rather languid lounging in the hot baths, a refreshed and rejuvenated martial artist came out clad in his customary Chinese silks, this time with a short sleeved top and kung pao pants as opposed to the traveler's Communist outfit from yesterday. "Right, time for some breakfast." Heeding the call of a rumbling stomach, the lad reached out to the sink and sticking his hand underneath the running cold tap. A fraction of a second later, where was once a lean man with raven locks stood a tiny and busty redhead, masculine handsomeness traded for feminine allure. "Yosh, time to get to work!" A cute and charming voice of the mezzo-soprano range rang out in the kitchen as the diminutive girl flexed her slender arm in a "we can do it" pose.
"Everything is martial arts." Holding a knife before her eyes for a moment, Ranma's free hand then flashed out as it thumped the counter top to bounce the lined stack of washed ingredients into the air. Twirling her body as gracefully as a ballet dancer, the martial artist's knifework flashed about in quick succession. The ingredients in the air looked whole for a second before popping apart in evenly divided slices and chunks that was then caught in various pots and pans. "Hmph, nothing but the best for the best." Chuckling at herself, the girl smugly closed her eyes and put on an apron dramatically, the hem fluttering from the momentum as she posed.
Showsmanship was important after all, even if no one was there to bask in the glory of her artistry. Still, this was no mere showing off in and of itself. This was training in The Art. Power that had to be applied in just the right way, precision that couldn't be off by even milimeters, a tempo that could adapt to any speed, calm footwork that always led their owner in the right direction... all of this was trained and honed much like a knife being ground against a whetstone. With no one around to cook for her, it was up to the girl to procure her own nutritional benefits.
The fact that people proclaimed she could cook better than Kasumi in one of her episodes had lent her the idea that if such was feasible, then wouldn't she eat better than kings and emperors everyday once mastery was brought back up to snuff? A most selfish whim it may be, but it was the highest practical use for a newly made bachelor such as herself. And then fire came into the equation. Properly dressed foodstuffs were simmered, boiled, fried, steamed, and masterfully handled in the heat of the stove by the glutton known as Ranma Saotome. And thus, breakfast was served.
◊
Staring proudly at her work, Ranma sat at the empty table and waited for the others in her household to come... before forgetting that she was the only one around from Nerima in this new land. Blinking and feeling the tiniest pang of loneliness, the girl sighed as she stared at the spread before her. They were delectable looking indeed and had an aroma that was quite stimulating... but... the place lacked energy. Sighing, the young heir to the dojo decided to give the tranquil atmosphere a bit of spice by picking up the table wholesale with all the various dinnerware to go eat out in the Common Room, where there was always a sort of energy.
And thus did an entire dining room table with a veritable feast get laid out near her Chunkless room. Sighing as she saw the others in the distance, the girl happily sat down and gave thanks to the ingredients for giving her sustenance. "Itadakimasu.~" With a quick prayer, the girl then visibly cheered up and munched on a bite of her repast, the atmosphere mingling with the taste of some damn fine home-cooking to give her a pleasant sensation. "Ahh... I'm the best.~" So sayeth the girl who seemed to be eating enough food for five people all by her lonesome.
A girl who looked no older than twelve summers dashed through the portal that led to the dread lands of Hades, contrasting rather heavily against the hellish looking landscape with her general truly innocent look and mechanist's attire. Though the fact that she was traveling with a wrench two-thirds her body height strapped against her back while holding a neat brown parcel in her hands only added more to her rather clashing image with the volcanic lands of doom and gloom.
Pausing at this room and that to glance at the names before dashing off like Lewis Caroll's White Rabit, the tiny waif began to celebrate with an aerial fist pump when she saw the words Devil May Cry. "Aha, success at last! I, Nagi Clockwork, am a genius!" The girl laughed awkwardly with a blush on her face, not wanting to admit that she had lost the map of the Common Room that Valvatorez had given her that marked down exactly where the room should be during one of her daily tripping accidents.
"I hope this works out..." Shrinking back now that she was near the door after remembering the incident plagued by misunderstanding caused by herself, the short blonde froze before shakily knocking against the door. Zip. Instantly, the package was hiding the majority of her face save for her big doe eyes and horn-rimmed glasses. "Uwaaahhhh..." Shy and awkward was the Mechanician, though it was not without some charm.
"Negotiations are successful with this Peace River you've gone on about, Fenrich?" A curious voice from a curious vampire resonated through the throne room, clad in a charismatic accent as always. Valvatorez glanced at his smirking servant from the slightly raised throne, taking it for an affirmative and nodding back while reclining on the chair.
"Indeed, milord. We are well on track for opening up a Battleworld-centric delivery service since Peace River had agreed to sell us some of their vehicles. A little reworking and polishing before they become Hades quality and ready for service." Giving a confident half bow, the werewolf smiled predatorily. "Amasson is indeed a profitable enterprise. We deliver goods using our superior portal systems and gain needed goods. We'll deliver anything as long as the price is right... even if other factions might not want it so."
The fact that they could mess around with embargoes and other such pesky things was just one of the features for their services. It also meant that they could simply choose to give aid to people that could stir up trouble for potential enemies was just icing on the cake. Crucial information could also be gained from the trading and delivery service, making the business a feasible option in the long run for many reasons.
"Operations will be up and running fairly soon. This I swear in the name of the moon...s?!" Glancing up in the skies, the werewolf noticed that there was another celestial object in the skyline where before there was not. Given his inherent racial abilities as well, the fact that he could not feel any sort of lunar power emanating from the far-off floating sphere was highly suspicious, causing him to bare his fangs at the mimicking object.
Valvatorez upon seeing this reaction also looked at the new thing in the sky, his face more impassive than his vassal's. "Fenrich, we need information on that. You know what must be done." Upon hearing this simple statement, the silvery furred demi-human grimly nodded before stalking deeper into the depths of the castle-gaol, intent on seeing what trickery there was now. The irate werewolf sincerely hoped it wouldn't be something like aliens, since those were always annoying and a pain in the ass to deal with...