"Aw come on, I can be very convincing. Just give me five minutes with her and if it doesn't work I'll just... pretend it was a prank call"
That made perfect sense, if everyone else couldn't see the crystal clear logic of that plan, it was their fault.
Speaking of nonsense: Caboose. This friend of him, Church, had been visited by the grim reaper in more than one occasion. The soldier expected him to come back again because their friendship was just that strong.
"Uh... cool?"
How was he even supposed to answer to that?
At least there was something everyone could agree on. There was a talking cat, acting like he was the most normal of things in existence. Strangely enough, he explained he was a human since no cat could be a master thief.
"Have you looked in a mirror lately?"
(Un)fortunately, it was time to deal with Valentina. She seemed a bit more calm than before, even surprising herself with the non-intrusive attitude of the group.
"Well, I guess that proves we are not as bad as you thought"
So, this was it, huh? Talking to the king. It didn't feel like a big deal just yet but that was because Rex still had trouble picturing the scope of this chat. The fact that Valentina remarked their "rude" behavior from before just helped distract from the fact that this would affect a lot of people and wasn't just a shouting match.
"Oh of course. After you, milady"
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
She stood still, her fists tightening, until in one quick movement she turned around. Not exactly unforeshadowed, as she loudly announced "...fffffffffffffffffFFFFFFFINE!"
Seiga didn't care that it was a sloppy application, or that it was a waste of something that couldn't easily be replaced. No. All she cared about as she slapped that ofuda on Lewis' heart once again is that'd shut him up.
There wasn't time to waste, so she only had this to say to her former servant. "Lewis, if you wake up from this in my grasp...stay up here. Stay up here, until you ROT."
At the very least, Lewis didn't get to see her face as she flew away...
THE SLORG!
"I said I could give you information on the world you'll be going to, didn't I?" Miss Tairee said plainly to Arcade, then looked at Cole with a slightly awkward frown. "Er, you are in a book, but it doesn't have any pictures. You're mainly from a game, but... You should probably wait until you're a bit older for that" she mentioned to the toddler.
You are reading this.
“Ghostfreak?” Hercules asked clearly it was not a name he’d never heard of in his world, so he guessed it was a creature from Ben’s world? It was clearly something that Ben had dealt with before in the City because he was on a first name basis with the creature but he was clueless on what exactly this “Ghostfreak” was. According to the man in the suit, Ghostfreak was some kind of ghost, obviously by it’s name and this then reminded Herc of the souls of the dead people that tried to dragged him under in the River Styx previously when he tried to save Meg. “I may not have a whole lot of experiences with ghosts but it’s certainly reminding me of the Underworld.” He shivered at the last word, he did not like being reminded that he could’ve been a part of that river had he not saved Meg and it wasn’t helped by the fact that it had aged him rapidly in the process.
The man in the suit mentioned that they had dealt with Ghostfreak before and then nodded seriously putting that thought into consideration and turned his head to that man voicing his opinion: “We’ll have to be on our toes should we encounter, Ghostfreak in the near future then. Me and Rean don’t know what it’s capable of doing so I urge that everyone be careful when dealing with this creature should it come our way.” He warned and then he heard the girl that was with said man point out that they had arrived at a place that looked quite peculiar to what he was looking at. Then again, most of the buildings in this place was very peculiar and that was a fact he had already established.
Hercules then turned to Ben: “Is this building going to be safe enough for all of us?” He asked he wasn’t too sure what to make of it but hey anywhere was better than being close to that “Ghostfreak” or whatever it was if they hang around. So he would have to take Ben’s word that it was true.
Spyro and Sparx-On the Streets
“Wait, Ghostfreak?” Spyro said, his eyebrow raising. “That two-bit spook? Pfft, let him try something while I’m on the job. It’ll end up just like the last time he tried fighting me: with him in ashes,” Spyro said confidently as the group arrived at the buffet.
edited 16th Jan '18 12:58:50 AM by Dezmo
someone
Eve | Arcade | YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Eve watched and listened silently, smiling to herself. Arcade was going to be a great father, she could tell. When she heard that Miss Tairee had passed them some of the volumes of manga that she knew contained her life, she blinked in confusion. She wasn't aware that...oh.
A tiny squeak of excitement and happiness escaped her lips before she could stop it, hands flying to her mouth, which, in turn, hid a large grin.
She owed the Writer an apology.
[TOP SECRET]
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
It wasn't like being swatted away actually hurt or anything, but just a shouting match wasn't exactly satisfying even if I was winning. Well, it was, but obviously that didn't make the spite drain away. If I could just—
I felt but didn't comprehend myself tip over and fall, and it took a few seconds to register and comprehend firstly the immediate sense of deja vu about this strange failure to have thoughts, and secondly (more pressingly) that there was a word for falling, or the implications of the fact that I hadn't stopped oh no this is bad why how I'm gonna die there's a pit of stalactites under me and I'm gonna die how did I know this I couldn't see a damn thing what the hell is sight what's green and why did I just think of it WHO CARES I'M GONNA DIE I'M GONNA DIE
Blurred memories and half-formed questions spun frenetically like a fire whirl, spurred by an unbridled and all-encompassing panic, feelings of pain and hurt and abandonment and the faint outline of a blonde stick of a man laced somehow with both fondness and hatred at once, confusion over the haze that seemed determined to mask any attempt at making sense of that information and that felt so familiar...
Purely instinctually, I scrambled for some way, any way, to resist the damning hold of gravity, forcing my vision back in a vain attempt to find anything to so much as take hold of and, only further panicked, tried to force myself up as if sheer force of will would save me
and
somehow
it worked.
I slowed and eventually stopped to hover just a foot or two above a concrete walkway, and after some hesitation and needing to confirm that I could in fact control my altitude gently landing on the ground in a standing position...and fell to my knees two seconds later, doubling over, breathing ("breathing") heavily, arms wrapped around myself.
That seriously worked.
There is no way in hell that should have worked.
How was I alive ("alive", I quickly corrected, only just now registering that I was literally a dead man walking, though actually wait I guess that answered that question).
...
...
It took...a substantial amount of time to be able to properly dwell on anything other than my mortality or the incomprehensible jumble of ???? I didn't know I had. What was all that? The fragments, the deluge of emotions...why was it all so foggy? Why was I falling in the first place?
Trying to recall anything to explain any of this brought up a complete lack of...anything...except that somehow I'd felt all of this before...
A flash of something angering brought me to immediately grab and look at the glowing locket that despite having paid it no heed earlier I instinctively knew was the core of my being, finding an out-of-place tag with formal scrawlings slapped haphazardly onto one side, and having the unusually loud thought to burn it—
My identity snapped back, and just as quickly...
"SON OF A BITCH!"
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Arcade blinked owlishly at Tairee's answer. That meant that...
Eve's squeak of happiness managed to snap him out of his daze. A huge grin burst out onto his face.
He got to stay with Eve! He had been worried that he'd never get to see her again after the City, but that wasn't the case. Not only that, but that meant that Cole and he weren't going to be alone in their new world.
"This... this is great!" he cried. For once, his self-loathing didn't have a chance to even get in the way, since Eve was obviously just as pleased.
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
I just want to help!
Cole was clearly curious about the book and "game" Miss Tairee mentioned, but that was jolted out by the sudden exclamations of apparent joy from both Eve and Arcade, and he turned to look at the two of them with wide eyes.
From the sounds of it, it would seem that he and Arcade were...going to go with Eve to her world? That...that was good for them, they were very close, and that they would not be separated was very...very good for them.
He didn't know anything about Eve's world...and...very little about Eve, really, when he thought about it, but...it could be worse.
Cole looked to Miss Tairee again, giving her a smile that seemed happy enough, though still apparently largely bewildered, then looked back at Arcade and Eve, head tilted to one side, just watching their reactions.
edited 16th Jan '18 9:15:15 AM by ColeMinor
For the Horde!
Ben nodded. "Yeah, Ghostfreak. It's kinda hard to explain," Ben responded, shrugging. "It's a break day, so he shouldn't bother us today. I hope," Ben muttered. "We can't get hurt today but that doesn't mean he won't be able to hurt our feelings." He shuddered a bit, then looked over at Louie, who pointed out the buffet. His eyes widened and he turned in the direction of the building.
"Buffet?!" he exclaimed. "That sounds awesome, let's get some grub!" He rushed towards the dome, heading towards the entrance with a grin on his face.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Stop Killing My Titles
Jack, Library
"Usually you bug a guy's phone before you call him a traitor." Jack pointed out dryly. "But if that guy's name is literally Akechi? Yeah, I can see why you're sure of that." It paid off to pay attention on History classes in high school, after all.
"Lots of ifs in that plan though. Wouldn't you guys be better off just not having that Akechi character join you?" Caboose was going on about how his friend Church died in all manners of ways. Then he was back to calling the cat a cat, and then he offered his misguided theory on Akechi. "In before the bad guy and his pops are synonymous." He chuckled humorlessly.
Finally, Valentina showed up. It was go time. "Well, Rex, Makoto, that's your big moment. Don't screw it up." He was coming too, but he was a late contestant; they did the lion's share of work here. "And you, specifically" Here he gestured towards the red-eyed Phantom Thief in question. "keep your date from running his mouth, alright?"
"It's been a pleasure, kids. Make sure you kick Ace Defective's ass for me later. Jack out." With this final farewell to the rest of the group he looked back to Valentina. "What this guy said."
grah
Prison
Garrett hesitated.
He didn't leave the duct yet, instead zooming in on the Riddler's cell door to obtain one missing piece of info: namely, if the lock on the cell looked like it would be amenable to simple lock-picking.
someone
Eve| Arcade | Arc Complete!
Eve smiled at Arcade's joy, happy herself, but happier that he was happy. She had things to do now, people to talk to, and explain what was going to happen to her partners. She looked at Cole's confusion and tilted her head. "What's wrong, Cole?"
[TOP SECRET]
I just want to help!
"I...I don't think...I don't think I've ever seen...either of you so happy before..." Cole finally said, still sounding almost confused, though not very perturbed by it. "...it's good. I'm...glad you get to stay with each other...? This...this is good?"
A small part of Arcade wanted to be offended by Cole's confusion at his happiness. Sure, he didn't enter the city in the best frame of mind, but he could be happy. Especially when people actually started to care about him.
However, Cole seemed confused by Eve as well, so he stuck with simply trying to get Cole to understand. "It's a good thing for you as well," he said, "there are plenty of options that would mean we'd have no support structure, or we'd be stuck with someone like Rex. As it is, we have a much better chance of having good lives."
Of course, he was mostly just happy that he'd be able to stay with Eve. That didn't mean Cole's safety and happiness wasn't going to be his main priority.
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
THE SLORG!
Louie followed along, still keeping an eye out until they got into the building, then relaxed a bit. There was a few other people in the buffet here and there, but it was far from crowded, as a lot of people were at the library or elsewhere enjoying the day. Of those there, one of the few who stood out was Dave the troll doctor, who was idly consuming a whole roast chicken down to the bones, while also talking on a phone.
"Alright, this place is perfect!" Louie said, and quickly released all six of his pokemon around him. "Okay guys, we're having a day off! Go find anything you want to eat! Just stay in the building, okay?" the trainer told the pokemon enthusiastically, before the lot of them dispersed throughout the buffet serving counters to see what was available.
Valentina just glanced at Rex with a dry look. "I'll admit that you have good intentions, but your manners are atrocious. I am serious; if you speak rudely towards the king or act like this was all his fault, then you'll be doing the opposite of helping. The last thing you need is for the king to refuse what you desire out of a sense of protecting his own honor. And that is why you should likely remain as quiet as possible" Valentina informed Rex and by extension Makoto. Then she turned to Silanea, who had returned to the group still holding the handheld mirror with Akyaliha. "Furthermore, as far as you and your people, the only way I believe this will work in the long term is if you swear fealty to the king and become subjects of Vusluora" the sorceress told the two lamias.
Akyaliha looked shocked, and just a little offended. "Fealty? But we don't want to be subjects of your king! We want to be left alone!" Akyaliha responded.
"You probably will be left alone for the most part; it's not like the peasantry are going to stop being afraid of you overnight. But without sworn fealty then sooner or later your people in the forest will be regarded like a foreign power holding resources we require, and you'll be attacked all over again. Maybe not by our current king, but by one of his successors" Valentina argued. "Besides, I thought it was your daughter's desire to see our people living side by side in harmony. Forcefully isolating yourselves will not accomplish that" the sorceress pointed out.
Miss Tairee smiled along with the group at first, though then glanced her eyes to the side and seemed to think of something. "Well, there is one problem you'll be having. You won't have any more convenient translating when you get there" Miss Tairee pointed out.
The lock was some kind of box built into the door with a keyhole on the flat front surface. It looked like it could probably be picked, though it also looked a bit industrial, and there was no telling from the outside if the internal mechanics were like what Garrett was used to or not.
You are reading this.
Arcade frowned as Tairee's words sank in. "Are you saying none of us will be able to understand each other when we leave?" he asked, trying to keep from sounding as concerned as he was.
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
someone
Eve | Arcade | Urgh
No translation? That could be a problem. Eve looked at Miss Tairee. "Is there any way to avoid that issue? Like language lessons here, or a language guide?" she asked. "Something I can do?"
[TOP SECRET]
Gon, Goning to go for a stroll outside the library. See what I did there?
After Gon listened to the others to get an idea on who was responsible for bringing them to this... well "constructed world", the assassin decided to leave in order to get some fresh air, sensing that he can't leave until the last day comes, whenever that is.
For now, he'd walk around and see if he can get something to eat.
2 Spooky 4 U
"Hmmmmmm, seekers of justice that work under the law to bring the changes that the world needs, ja? Now that's the kind of thing I like to see with today's youth! Stepping up to take on corruption and villainous actions with their own two hands! I wish much luck to your quest!" Reinhardt proclaimed to Makoto and her friends, what they said and Makoto's actions in the city being plenty of enough proof that they were a group of young people that wanted to help make the world.......uh, their world a better place, shady methods or not! He then followed up with a light hearted, "oh I get this a lot" tone, "Also, close guess there but seven feet last I checked. Weight training will do that to a person kids."
The old man then gave Rex a short, "Once again, my bad friend. Still, a tough guy like you can't handle a little hammer swing from a old man?" which was both apologetic and teasing at the same time. Next was Caboose, who got a excited sounding, "What a tale! Your friend sounds like quite the hardy fellow to make it through so many battles! And don't worry about her. One of these days we will find her and carry her across the city like the hero she is!"
Finally he told the newcomers at the table, "Oh, are you the Silanea and sorceress lady that I was told about? Greetings and nice to meet you! I'm glad to see that two groups are trying there best to overcome there differences!" but then he raised a finger and noted, "But peace in this way sounds.....Well, I know of a group back home that found destruction when they suddenly found themselves having to live and share in the same culture with once past enemies. Bad things happened for both group I can ensure you."
edited 16th Jan '18 6:19:19 PM by LightToAll
I just want to help!
Cole looked between the other three for a moment as Miss Tairee explained that there was going to be an issue...the magic that allowed them to talk with one another here, only worked here. So whenever they went back to...whatever Eve's world was...they couldn't talk to each other anymore.
"...it's...it's fine if it's only them," he said softly. "I can...I don't have to talk, I can...I can learn to understand..."
Library Lobby- Back to Work
Makoto knew that Caboose was... not quite as connected to reality as the rest of them were, but this last explanation of his sounded kind of nuts even for him. Morgana's eye twitched as he was once again accused of being a cat.
"Are you two denser than lead? I just said that I'm NOT a"- He was cut off when Yusuke unwrapped a piece of bread from a package and shoved it into the cat's mouth. Morgana chewed quietly as he glared at Caboose and Rex. The rest of the Phantom Thieves were very confused by Caboose's story.
"Akechi's an orphan, or at least that's what he told us..." Ann explained to Caboose.
"Is uh... your soldier buddy a few bullets short of a full clip?" Ryuji asked, before Reinhardt complimented their mission. "See? This guy gets us!"
"He kinda strong-armed us into letting him join when he proved he had evidence of our identities..." Futaba said to Jack. "We couldn't exactly let him hand that info over to the police, so we played along. We knew he was up to something for a while anyway..."
"My sister picks criminal cases apart for a living, Rex," Makoto said. "She's not exactly easy to convince of anything, or lie to for that matter. If she was, then we wouldn't have to go into her Palace at all. Besides, it'd be a little cowardly of me if I couldn't even face her myself..."
Valentina came back downstairs, ready to start the call, and Makoto decided to wrap her own call up before they started.
"Okay, I have to go now, but I should definitely be back in about 9 days. I'll can call again in five days if the situation changes," she said to her friends. "Oh, and ... you guys should probably keep exploring the Palace without me. If you wait too long, Akechi might get suspicious, and the faster we have an infiltration route set, the better."
"...That's what Akira had suggested, but he wanted to wait a little bit longer in case you showed up again," Haru said. Makoto forced herself to not start overthinking about that. Of course he'd want to wait, it made sense for him to hesitate when one of his friends disappeared. It didn't mean anything else. Jack gave her a warning to make sure Rex didn't do something reckless, which unfortunately ended up with him saying the dreaded "D" word in front of 5 Japanese teenagers.
"Woah wait, you're doing what now?"
"What an interesting development..."
"Hey, hold on, I wanna hear about that!"
"I had no idea you were taken."
"I don't believe it, Goggles is too much of a massive dork to be Queen's type. I can tell just by looking at him."
"Alright, hanging up now, bye!" Makoto quickly ended the call and sighed, shooting Jack a look that very clearly said why would you do that? Taking a moment to regain some composure, she went over to join Rex for the negotiation.
"So we're on emotional support duty then, understood..." she said when Valentina told them to be quiet. She wasn't in the mood to argue with a king over his ridiculous pride anyway. As much as it hurt her to agreed with Valentina, there was a level of compromise that came with making treaties. Becoming a subject was a little better than becoming hunted again when you compared the two options. "Swearing loyalty would make sense," Makoto said to Silanea. "You'd be more protected by the laws than just staying separate would allow."
edited 22nd Feb '18 12:13:09 AM by ScorpioRat
THE SLORG!
"It's not like anyone is going to have written a convenient translation guide from one universe to another. Now thanks to the bleeding effect, it's possible and even somewhat likely that the languages you speak are similar to a language in the other world. It just isn't necessarily the same one Eve is speaking" Miss Tairee explained. "I can certainly set you up with some materials to start learning now, and finish when you get there" the librarian offered.
Valentina let out a sigh and glanced at Reinhardt, not terribly fazed by the massive size of his armor. "And I'm sure that makes you an expert on the intricacies of my world and my kingdom in particular" Valentina said to him in a sarcastic tone. "Of course it's going to be difficult, but I don't see any better alternatives. If the lamia are going to live in Vusluora, they must become subjects of the king. Otherwise the only way for them to live would be to leave; and I doubt any of our neighbors would be welcoming to lamia either" the sorceress went on more seriously.
"And how are we supposed to trust your king not to just turn on us anyway?" Akyaliha asked from the handheld mirror.
"Because I'm going to tell him that it's the price we're paying to bring many of our people back to life. I can also include that a very powerful god would bring retribution if we did so" Valentina answered, then glanced back at Reinhardt. "... Just what are you, anyway? Some kind of ogre? Or an intelligent armor golem?" the sorceress asked the crusader out of curiosity.
You are reading this.
"Ghostfreak!" Maya went bug-eyed again, staring back and forth between Ben and the shadow where Ghostfreak had gotten away. "He's back?! Again?!"
Then she paused, and seemed to calm down. "Wait, who's Ghostfreak?"
"Was he the thing that kidnapped your friend? During that desert day?" Phoenix asked, following Ben back the way they came.
"Oh yeah! I think I jumped through him or something. That day's honestly a bit fuzzy for me."
"That might be because you threw yourself down a flight of stairs?" Maya's pouty look was all he got in response, so Phoenix looked over to Rean. "Ghostfreak is...a ghost, I'm pretty sure. I guess he's one of Ben's, uhm, aliens. But he's got a mind of his own, it would seem. And I'm only now realizing I don't understand a lot about this...so I don't know why I'm...trying to explain it."
Luckily for Phoenix's embarrassment, Maya broke the awkward silence that was soon to follow. "Hey, we're here!"