A Game of Gods Season 4: Frontiers

Manhattan, Northern Alleyway -> Manhattan, F.E.A.S.T. Entrance

All in all, that could’ve gone much worse.

Spike whistled to himself as he rode the elevator to the top of the parking garage, fresh bills burning a hole in his pocket. He’d told the Spider-Gentleman that he was going to put the money to good use, but he failed to specify exactly which good use that would be. One might even argue that he could just spend the cab fare on a meal at this point, and resume his quest for bountyheads uninterrupted. But any good hunt was first won with information, rather than bullets, and in Spike’s experience a homeless shelter was a veritable nexus of people who knew things that most people didn’t. And Spike wasn’t aiming to be most people.

Spike’s roaming, bluesy whistle continued on as the elevator reached the top floor, after which he strolled out onto the pavement with an unhurried, languid stride. This lasted right up until he reached the roof parking spot where he’d left the Swordfish II—after which his musical blues were replaced by City of New York yellow, in the form of a metal boot clasped around the front tire of his vehicle. A ticket flapped gently in the wind, nestled within one of the grooves of his cockpit.

Spike stared at the scene for a long moment, his face developing a grimace much in the way that a time-lapsed mold grew over a piece of bread. Then, he drew his pistol, and cocked it purposefully.

One gunshot and a series of measure heel-kicks later, the boot was skidding across the roof of the parking garage, and Spike was climbing in under the bubble-like canopy, grumbling all the while. “Defying public ordinances my ass.” He said, planting his key into the Swordfish II’s slot, and giving it a brusque turn.

Spike’s bones rumbled with the gentle tremor of the spaceship’s ignition, taking a moment to slip on his operator’s gloves as the displays clicked on. Spike pointed its nose off to the side, its needle-like tip spearing towards a patch of open sky. He watched his display as a quarter-circle turned half. Three-quarters.

Full power.

The Swordfish II rocketed off of the parking garage’s ceiling, leaving the other cars trembling in its wake with a shriek that sank deep into the background roar of honking cars until finally dissipating. Spike wheeled the spacecraft fully sideways around the edge of a nearby skyscraper, and then he was off, a fish diving into the blue of the skyward sea.

Retrieving the F.E.A.S.T. pamphlet and setting it onto the dashboard, Spike punched the primitive address coordinates into his system, before idly leveling out as his instruments struggled to handshake with technology and signals that were at least two generations removed from its stated operating parameters. Spike used the spare moment to take in the spectacle of the view, the vault of blue above arcing visibly over the bustling metropolis below, most of the residents within blissfully unaware of how their territory so harshly ended, not even so far away from the last of the monolithic buildings.

Maybe I’m not so far from home after all. Spike mused, a small smile gracing his face, before he hit a series of different switches, and attempted to tune into one of the local wireless broadcasts.

For better or worse, he got the person that he’d gotten ever since getting here.

“Hello, and welcome! Today, we’re going to be discussing the bloodsuckers in our midst, and no, for once I’m not talking about the American healthcare system…”

Spike landed in a secluded alleyway between a cluster of buildings, letting his momentum carry him down the makeshift landing strip until he felt comfortable folding up his wings onto the vehicle’s body, turning a corner, and wheeling his way into pedestrian traffic.

“The hell is that?” Someone called at him from a nearby vehicle. “Italian?”

“Yeah. Italian.” Spike said casually, leaving the cockpit open so he could smoke, waiting for the light to change so that the car in front of him would go.

To avoid a repeat of the rooftop, Spike ended up cruising the Swordfish II into an underground parking structure, to avoid as many scrutinizing eyes as possible. The structure was also run on a pay-when-you-leave system, which Spike found served as a mighty fine incentive. He would either come back victorious, or not at all.

The pounding Manhattan sun wore down on Spike’s battle-weary frame as he strolled down the sidewalk towards the F.E.A.S.T. center, and he found himself shedding his outer jacket as he approached. With one hand in his pocket and the other grasping his slung jacket over one shoulder, he was the very picture of aloof nonchalance, even though his eyes never quite stopped moving. This perceptiveness almost immediately put him in a bad mood, however, as he noticed the prominent No Smoking sign next to the building’s entrance. Spike let out a quiet, lamenting sigh, before making his way up the staircase, a portion of his repurposed cab fare finding its way into the performer’s tin on the way up.

Stepping inside, Spike relished the relief from the heat of the sun, before experiencing a most peculiar sense of vertigo. Seeing the white-haired woman, dressed like a cyber-raver from a spacer nightclub, for a moment it felt like he was walking into a Martian bus stop, with the same enveloping scent of unwashed bodies and the omnipresent rustling of lost souls.

Then, the moment passed, and the group in front of him was attended to by what appeared to be the caretaker of this place. A sweet, kindly old woman with a flair for hospitality. And, with any luck, an ear to the ground. “Funny coincidence,” He would say, butting in on the question of dietary needs for a moment, “this Spider-Man fellow really seems to get around. He pointed me here too, said that you might still need some volunteers? Red sauce happens to be a specialty of mine~.”

Outset City, Border: Something Money Can't Buy...Or CAN It?

Havoc frowned. Money was something that she was in desperately short supply on, no matter what territory she infiltrated. Getting through without these "papers" would be even harder if she couldn't pay the guard off. This was going to be tricky unless she could find something else to barter with.

The Red Giant thought for a moment. If she were stuck playing guard on the border of a multidimensional clusterfuck, the top thing on her wish list would be to know who (or what) to expect might come charging through the front door. Didn't matter if the threat was real or not—who could discredit whatever nonsense she could come up with on the fly? She'd once been hired by a circle of Hell run exclusively by cutesy animals, for fuck's sake. If anyone and anything could pop up on Battleworld, whose to say the same couldn't happen here?

A mischievous smile curled on Havoc's lips—one that she quickly dismissed as she rose from her hiding place and found a spot to make an appearance. Gosfrid the Guard would spot a young man(?) in a plain long sleeve shirt and well-worn overalls casually approaching the guarded border. The stranger was short, with rowdy red hair that covered the nape of their neck. They had sunken cheeks that matched their utterly scrawny frame, and the jade(d) eyes nonchalantly glancing towards Gosfrid shared the stone's sharpness as well as its color.

"How ya doin'?" the stranger greeted the guard, hands in their overall pockets. Judging by the alto pitch of their voice, the twig of a figure seemed to be a teenaged boy. "Shift almost over?"

The guard's answer hardly mattered; it was just an excuse to start a dialogue. Whether the long shift was almost over or poor Gosfrid still had hours of standing left to go, Havoc would wince and suck air in through her teeth.

"Man, that sucks. I dunno how you guys do it. I mean..." Havoc turned and gestured to the Europan countryside beyond the piles of Outset debris: "You've got who-knows-what all around you, and you're stuck here day in and day out just...staring out at it. I'd drive myself nuts wonderin' what's just over the next hill, y'know? And that's just for what's in eyesight. Imagine what's over the hill after the next, and the one after that. Think about what's living out there—not sure if folks here should be excited or terrified."

The young "man" turned to Gosfrid, as if to invite the guard to share his two copper pieces.

Persuasion check roll result: 16

Manhattan, First Atlantic Bank: No Spoilers, Scratch!

Mr. Scratch nodded in approval from the comfort of the dark. These guys weren't nearly as easy to spook as those back alley thugs. Not that he expected anything different. This was still just foreplay.

The masked Brit's claim that the Master knew "hidden truths" forced a snicker out of Scratch's mouth; an unintentional one, and one that forced him to take flight for another spot away from the turning flashlights. He could half-buy the "truths about this city" shpiel—who doesn't love a Hidden World gimmick, or a conspiracy twist?—but "the truths about our nature?" Yeah, unless that truth is "you're a day player in the story of people far more interesting than you," then that's a load of horse shit. Poor poor bastard, you're no more closer to "the truth" than the moment you were conceived...and you weren't conceived in the fun way.

Still, the Limey-sounding goon asked so politely. Might as well answer him.

"Not much." Scratch shrugged from the shadows. Even though the flashlights were far from his current position, the Demons could almost imagine the toothy grin spreading on the creature of Darkness' face.

"I just wanna have a little fun."

The sound of the consultant's desk probably wouldn't be heard until it hit the ground in a violent roll. Its target: two Demons who had (consciously or not) shuffled within a few feet of each other. A moment later, the creak and sudden SNAP! of something above their heads echoed through the Demons' ears. If he didn't act fast, the Brit-sounding Demon would find himself pierced by the glass chandelier torpedoing straight for him. The impact alone would be dangerous, but the broken glass would be what really smarts.

The impacts were hardly guaranteed. A solid strike of a flashlight would be enough to warn the Demons of what was coming—more "parlor tricks," though these ones at least had some teeth. If they survived, that was fine; it'd build the tension either way.

All the while, Mr. Scratch shifted from solid to mist, angling to avoid the clearest lines of sight, and grinning like a kid at Disney Land.

Gerudo Desert, Arbiter's Grounds: DORYAH!

Ganondorf sighed; time to do this the hard way.

With the spineless chorus of "Begoooooooooone!" accompanying him, the Gerudo King walked towards the one pillar that remained unoccupied—the one with a broken sigil of the Temple of Light atop its peak. The coincidence brought a smirk to Ganondorf's face. If he were to start executing Sages, that would've been his first choice as well.

Standing at the base of the pillar, the Evil King ignored the ghostly wails hurled down at him and angled himself against the column and a particular target he had in mind. After taking a few moments for some mental calculations (clearly mocking the howling Sages by judging things like distance and wind trajectory), the intruder coated his clenched fist in a malicious purple aura, and punched the pillar with a roar.

A structure this old, this unsupported, and in this environment was bound to fall with enough force. If one mighty strike wouldn't fell the thing, Ganondorf would repeat the blows until it did. Once in freefall, the Gerudo King would step aside and watch the pillar come crashing down...

Straight onto the platform with the mirror shard.

The Evil King smiled. There was more than one way to force information out of someone. Whatever this thing was, the Sages valued it enough to isolate it at the top of a structure in the middle of a land of death. Something that appeared to be a fragile shard of glass, of all things.

What will you do now, Sages? Desiccating this "sacred" ground was unforgivable enough, but destroying a "sacred" relic? Surely that deserved more than a toothless shouting session.

Anor Londo, Yhorm's Anvil: Common Interests in Wildly Different Bodies

Apart from a few "Hmmm"s that felt like a DJ's speakers cranked to maximum bass, the giant blacksmith did little more than continue his clang! clang! clang! of shaping the metal of a sword. That is, until Kayne mentioned that she knew her way around a smithy.

"You...forge?"

The hammer stopped, and for the first time since the introduction began, Kayne could sense that she had captured the giant's full attention.

"Forge...how? Forge, I can; strong, I am. You...strong, too?"

Manhattan, F.E.A.S.T. Entrance: SPAGHETTI?! Void, You Fool! You Had the Perfect Opportunity and You Blew It!

"I don't like broccoli or brussels sprouts!" Maki chimed in before Isamu could speak for him. Was he allergic to either? No. Would either be found within 3 tables from a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs? No. But he was not about to let anybody give him either of those, Contractor rationality be damned!

As for the arguably more important clarifying detail—that a Japanese man was probably not the (biological) father of a Caucasian boy with sandy blond hair and mismatched eyes—Maki elected to leave that up to Officer Fuwa. The Contractor could lie about no problem, especially if it meant his travelling along with Fuwa and A2 would be less conspicuous. But he could be certain that the policeman would play along, let alone the Android who was still trying to grasp how humans worked. Going along with the lie without their consent could immediately backfire on Maki, and the "poor pitiful child" act would only get him so far.

As Adrien Fahrenheit^note An employee? A fellow refugee? Tough to say came to introduce himself, Maki took a noticeable step back from the man—even giving him a wary look at the "poor child" comment. Again, it was mostly an act; a kid trying to put on a brave face wouldn't just accept someone's pity like this, especially not from some random pale emo guy. That said, this stranger's introduction wasn't half as sour as the next one:

The first thing Maki noticed was the sound of the front door opening behind him. Immediately afterwards, the second thing Maki noticed was the nostril-burning, eye-watering reek of sweat and cigarettes. Strong as the new smell was, Maki couldn't say he was surprised; this was a homeless shelter, after all. Bet half the patrons smelled like this.

And then the guy said he was here to volunteer, which compelled Maki to turn around and see who this new acquaintance of Spider-Man happened to be. He wore what could be called the technical definition of a suit, with wet blotches under the shirt's armpits to confirm the source of half the stench. The tie was thin and way too loose around the neck, and his shoes looked like they'd seen more than a few sidewalks. The stranger had mossy green hair, and something that surprised Maki more than anything else about this stranger; or anyone else he'd met on this planet, really.

"Your...eyes are different." the boy thought out loud, before realizing that the words were too vague. "They're different colors. Like mine."

Edited by TheodoreHastings on Mar 22nd 2024 at 6:15:06 AM

Trevor, Sypha, & Grant, Back in the Outside World, Anor Londo

Together, Trevor, Sypha, and Grant fell...

And fell...

And fell...

...

Eventually, they landed.

Trevor, Sypha, and Grant landed on their feet, none the worst for wear. Soliare soon landed right behind them.

"Well, we will need to eat first, as I have not eaten much all day," Sypha told Solaire. "But after that, we will have to reunite with Alucard again."

"He's in Manhattan at the moment," Grant explained to Solaire.

"We can go to a tavern," Trevor looked a bit too excited when Sypha mentioned the need for food.

"No alcohol," Sypha frowned at Trevor, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. "We still have to get back to Alucard."

"Can I drink in Manhattan then?" Trevor asked Sypha, smiling.

"No."

"Fine," Trevor frowned and crossed his arms, before he turned towards Solaire to give a bit of advice. "If you find yourself in Manhattan and need help, seek out the one that city calls the Spider-Man."

After this, the three noticed Solaire's... strange pose again. Sypha looked confused to say the least.

"Right right, praise the sun!" Trevor said as Grant and him tried to imitate Solaire's pose. "And thanks again for all of your help.

The three then left to find a tavern to eat at with Trevor hoping to sneak in some alcohol.

Alucard, Chinatown F.E.A.S.T., Manhattan

Adrian was in the middle of a conundrum. He didn't know what spaghetti was. He didn't know what red sauce was. He could probably guess what meatballs were, though. Probably like the meat in the hamburger, just in a ball form. Given these people were humans, the red sauce was certainly not the 'red sauce' that came to his mind first.

Then that smell entered. Whoever just entered reeked of sweat and strange smoke. Adrian glanced around Isamu to look at the person who just entered.

Ah, he's just like Belmont.

Having gotten his first impression of the person who just walked in, Adrian nodded, "We could certainly use the help, Mister...?"

Edited by GameGuruGG on Mar 22nd 2024 at 9:29:51 AM

Kayne & Moko—Visiting Yhorm

"I thought all smiths were strong," Kayne said, a little mystified but still good-naturedly. "It's practically a requirement of the craft, even though one doesn't need to be physically strong when starting out. One becomes strong eventually as one progresses in the craft."

"Kayne usually works in a much smaller, scaled down forge, especially compared to yours," Moko added. "But proportionally according to her size, I do believe that the appellation of 'strong' is quite accurate."

Edited by JumpingFruit on Mar 23rd 2024 at 12:39:50 PM

Anor Londo, Residential Suite: The Face of Evil

Siegmeyer failed to catch the cry of humor-spreading plagues; a misunderstanding that would certainly not beget more misunderstandings later. Instead, the Knight of Catarina found himself absorbed by the notion that he was the first instance of an entire new kind of people to these bright-eyed young maidens. It was almost like being an ambassador, of sorts! He sure hoped he was doing a good job. Sure, there were the occasional liars and cutthroats among the Undead here in Lordran, but most were honest folk just trying to survive. Whether one was human or Hollow, civility and chivalry were essential!

And what's this? Kat said that he was making a great first impression? Glorious! Such blessed validation! It was enough to force a hearty laugh from the Onion Knight's belly!

"Oh, most certainly! Our diet has some modifications—such as my newly acquired taste for estus soup—but we are quite capable of feasting as we once did. Are you certain no one would mind, though? I'd imagine that your employers would be rather cross handing meat and pastries to an Undead stranger. And that's assuming that the cooks permit it in the first place."

Perhaps Kat would consider that a "maybe" when it came to becoming an accomplice. Not hard to work around. After all, what's a few more lies when royal pastries are on the line?!

Raven would find that the helmet came off with surprising ease, and upon brief inspection she'd be able to see why: the fool hadn't locked the metal latches designed to tether the helm to the breastplate. If she'd been an attacker, the stupid thing probably would've soared right off, and the next blow would've sent Siegmeyer to...uhhh...wherever Undead go.

As the Onion Knight turned to face Raven and her flimsy excuse, the trespasser would be able to see the face of the living dead. No flies buzzed around his head, no eyes were mad with hunger, no blood from his latest victim streaked down his chin like. The Undead figure before her looked...

Like a pretty normal guy.

He seemed to be an older man, possibly in his mid or late forties. His long dark brown hair suggested a youth that his wrinkles betrayed. He sported a moustache and goatee that might be more noble and impressive with a little wax on the tips. He wasn't a thin man, but clearly not as wide as the armor he wore would make one believe. Most importantly, he had kind green eyes; the sort that suggested the person using them was well accustomed to a life of laughter.

"There was?" Sigmeyer blinked, befuddled. "Well then, I thank you for your courteous removal of it. Nasty creatures, but I suppose it could be worse. I've heard it said that the insects of Blighttown can grow to the size of a hound! Can you believe it?"

After a short laugh, the Onion Knight extended a hand. "Might I have my helmet back, milady? Tis a burden better laid upon my shoulders than in your hands."

Maybe he'd actually lock it in, this time!

Edited by TheodoreHastings on Mar 23rd 2024 at 6:29:57 AM

Judas, Eastern Voya Nui Caves

Judas' concern only grew as he analyzed the pictograms. It seemed like a group of humanoids had performed some sort of ritual, which had created strange masks...but also a group of reptilians, which were shunned, and had seemingly retreated to these very caves for salvation from the very people that had created them. Or at least, that's what he thought it meant. He was a survivalist after all, not an archaeologist. And as a survivalist, it was the "retreated to these very caves" part of the observation that had him worried. If these creatures were still in the caves, then they probably wouldn't take kindly to his entrance...still, he proceeded forwards, albeit with an even greater degree of caution now, constantly on guard and listening for even the slightest sound of movement that wasn't his own. If something was going to leap out at him, he wanted to be ready for it.

Buffy and Penny, Traveling Voya Nui's Ring of Ice

"That's...that's terrible!" Buffy cried upon hearing Piruk's story. "They shouldn't have thrown you away like trash just because you weren't as fit and strong as everyone else! And to throw you away to a place like that..." She shuddered. "It's just cruel!"

"Agreed, mate." Penny chimed in. "I've heard of some real cruel bastards, but these "Village leaders" are definitely going high up on my "evil twat" list. Honestly, I'm glad they got wiped out by that "landing on an endless sea" thing. Shame about everyone else, though."

"Yeah..." Buffy agreed. "I'm glad you survived, though! You seem like a pretty decent person to me."

Underworld Castle

By then, Medusa had managed to gather all of the important figures of the Underworld. She had summoned them in her quarters, in the open air, where one could see most of the Underworld.

By the goddess's side, was standing a large fiery dog wit two heads. Then, in front of her, was an imposing man clad in armor, a three-headed dragon, a big ball of flame, and a clown-like genie.

   "I am glad to see you've been able to come so quickly."    Medusa said.

   "It's a wonder Hewdraw wasn't late, for once."    Pandora said, earning a glare from the three heads.

"Hey, watch it!" the blue one exclaimed.

"Well that wasn't very nice." the red one added.

"What can I say, with these two idiots around, I have struggle flying sometimes." the purple one said. As soon as he said that, the three heads started to argue with one another.

"You're the idiot."

"Oh, we are starting this again, are we?"

"Guys come on I'm not in the mood for that."

"Oh you shut up."

"You shut up!"

"How about you all shut your mouths?"

   "Woohoohoo!! Someone is feeling quite peachy today!!"    Thanatos laughed.

   "As usual..."    Pandora sighed, with Gaol silently grunting. Medusa also stared at the dragon, her patience already going down.

   "Hewdraw."    was all she had to say to finally have Hewdraw shut up. The Queen of the Underworld then looked at her commanders.

   "I trust you're all aware right now of the strange structure that had appeared in the Underworld's sky. Any news on this matter?"    she asked.

   "Our minions are still scouting it. They sure take an awful time for a floating bridge."    Pandora said.

   "I say, I thought you were the one behind it!"    Thanatos said.

   "Me? A white bridge? How gauche. That's no better than marble columns. And what about you?"    the flaming ball said.

   "Oof! That would take too much work. I'm better off dozing off."    the God of Death said, stretching.

   "Hmph. At least we're certain it isn't supposed to be here. Combined with this sleeping spell we have all been put under..."    Medusa said.

"Lady Medusa, perhaps it could be a trick from another god?" Hewdraw's purple head said.

   "Possibly. The only one powerful enough I can think of would be Lord Dyntos. Perhaps we should pay him a visit."    Medusa snarled.

   "My queen, if I may add something. It might be best to send our scouts instead."    Gaol finally spoke up.

   "And why would I? I will not let this old fool wreak havoc in my realm."    Medusa said, attempting to thelepatically contact the God of the Forge, but to her surprise, she could not find him. In fact, she could not feel any other major gods either.

   "We are not certain this is his work. And even then something feels off."    Gaol answered. Medusa frowned.

   "Oooh! I remember something that was also off! The key to the Underworld is missing!"    Thanatos exclaimed in a jolly manner.

   "What?!"    Medusa hissed.

   "You're sure you didn't lost it while skating or whatever?"    Pandora asked.

   "Yes!! I searched everywhere in my palace. Honestly. HONESTLY."    Thanatos insisted.

"I didn't know Thanatos was a good searcher." Hewdraw's red head said to the others.

"He's not. His troops must have been ordered to search for it instead." the purple one answered.

   "Oooh, I protest!"    Thanatos said.

"Because you two are better than him, sure." the blue head sarcastically said, ignoring the God of Death.

"Oh come on, again with this?"

"Well we're certainly better at spotting things than you, righty."

   "Why are you ignoring me??"    Thanatos pouted.

   "Thanatos. If you didn't lose it, then what happened?"    Medusa coldly asked, annoyed.

   "Weeeell... It may have just disappeared out of existence! Poof!"    Thanatos answered.

   "So what now?"    Pandora asked.

   "One thing is certain. We're back into business, and I intend to keep it that way."    Medusa decided before pointing at the Dark Lord.

   "Prepare the troops from your castle and send scouts immediately to the Overworld, Gaol. I want a full report of the outside world near the ravine leading to us."   

Gaol bowed to the goddess of darkness before floating away.

Medusa then turned to Twinbellows, the giant dog lowering its heads.

   "You're now assigned to our realm's entrance. Watch it very closely."   

The large dog grunted before leaping away with a deafening roar.

   "Good boy."    Medusa muttered, smirking.

   "Hopefully things will get interesting."    Pandora cackled.

A bit later, Twinbellows could be found at the very bottom of the ravine leading to the Underworld. A bit higher up, Gaol had already taken preparations from her castle. A group of Monoeyes exited it and started to float upwards, eyes wide open.

Edited by Scipion3 on Mar 24th 2024 at 11:19:41 AM

Akiba Ruins, Northwest

Yoriichi merely nodded a thanks at Igno, before following quietly behind Lady Amako as they approached the confrontation.

A strange little man appeared to be accosting a sea spirit. He gently ran his gaze over the woman in the see-through world, checking her for injuries and finding nothing serious.

"Rest assured, you are safe with us." Yoriichi voiced Amako's concerns. "Though this place holds many strange people, most of them are kind."

While he attempted to help soothe Ophelia, he did cast an odd look at Spamton. The tiny man's body was odd, warped in a way that didn't quite seem possible to Yoriichi's mind, and strangely... dark.

Nontheless, Yoriichi did not look at him with suspicion or fear, as it was clear Spamton was not a threat.

Interestingly, Spamton might note that Yoriichi was another oddity in terms of LV, though not because his was so high. No, his LV trended in the other direction to the point of impossibility.

While L.L. had a high amount of LV compared to the others, Yoriichi had none at all.

Akiba Ruins > Near Hill of Origin

"Yeah, he sounds like a con man." Makura smiled in agreement with Igno. She then turned to sniff the air in the direction of the chocobos. "They do smell like chicken, kinda. Chicken-horses. Neat."

It was still odd to think that creatures like that could exist naturally. Then again, the virus that had turned her into what she was had been a natural occurrence; the abilities it had unlocked had already been in her DNA, somewhere. Magic chicken-horses didn't seem so strange, in that context.

"The others got in a fight." She casually chatted with Igno, while Kongara and Seitaka had somehow managed to climb onto one of the chocobos, and were currently looking for bugs in its feathers. "I was kinda talkin' to Nel, so I didn't see it, but I heard some shouting and blasting. No one got permanently hurt though, thanks to the healers- huh?"

She suddenly snapped to attention as the world changed again, an airship appearing over the hill, touching down, and depositing several newcomers. Makura ran a thumb over her holster a moment, noting the airship's camouflage and correctly identifying it as a military vessel.

The duo who stepped out didn't look particularly imposing, though. In fact, they looked similar; family, maybe?

"Not a fever dream, weird as it might look. You're in another world. Apparently this happens a lot." Makura explained casually, smiling at the absurdity. "Sounds crazy, but it's true. There's people with magic and weird powers and stuff. And a fish dog. And chicken-horses."

Manhattan, Chasing Down The Devil (The Anthros and the Android)

Lola stops once she sees their target enter a restaurant. Entering without attracting too much attention would be quite a problem ordinarily, but she had a rather simple solution to this problem.

"I think you two are going to have trouble blending in at a restaurant. Though I do know a way we can get a set of eyes in there without anyone noticing, at least."

She then transforms, becoming taller and losing her fur. Once that's complete, she becomes something that ironically is far more terrifying to Peter Parker and the Gold Star Redditors he calls 'fans' - a woman.

"It's a nice little trick that we pokemon have available to us. Keep an eye out in case things go south. They shouldn't be able to tell who I am, but you never know what could happen."

She nonchalantly makes her way to the restaurant, trying to keep a low profile.

Director's Residence, Fuuka

Ray thinks for a moment.

"My only plans as of now are to explore the various territories and meet their representatives. I have time to stick around if you are so willing to have me."

Patchouli's sad face remained as sad as it was before, despite the sympathetic joy in her heart. Oh, to be a dog, and to so thoroughly get into something as chasing a ball! Patchouli hardly enjoyed things nowadays, it all seemed like work, even if she was under barely any pressure to do anything resembling work. Look at her, only a hundred and jaded like this, even more than Ms. 500+-years-old over in her big fancy seat...well, she was still plenty happy to give Ein some attention. Back and forth the ball went, even if just kicking it like this was starting to tire her out.

Remilia was far from appreciative of her friend's attempts at diplomacy. Her pointed nail scraped at the polished wood of her throne, which given that she was still ignored, she tapped it loud. Patchouli looked up from her play...and then ignored the Scarlet Devil when Ein came back once more. Impudence. Impudence. Remilia wouldn't stand for it, in both senses of the phrase, because she wouldn't do anything about this insubordination with the King in the room.

There was a bit of a misunderstanding that only added to things, though - this foreign regent's difficulty with the word vampire. Maybe it was an accent thing, as in how in Gensokyo nobody knew how to pronounce 'Flandre' right. It's pronounced how it's spelled! She corrected Edward, saying "You need to emphasize the 'va' there," but perhaps this fell on deaf ears. The flight of the drone and its mystery operation kept her from pulling out the German-English-Japanese-Chinese grammar books. "I...appreciate whatever it is you're doing," of which she had zero idea and it showed on her face, "but if you bump into any paintings, vases, I can't replace those." It was a very indirect way of saying 'you break it, I break your neck'.

Once provided with an audience, as she had just the right amount of worldliness to know a camera when she sees one (even if it's flying), she immediately returned to her charismatic self. Chin held high, upper-class poshness put back into her voice, she knew how to best present her mug to the camera. "My, such generousness! I could ask for anything, and knowing you are a king, I suspect you would be most immediately put upon to provide it. Some rulers may be the sort to abuse this generousness, but not I, Remilia Scarlet," she almost winked right at the lens. "What I ask for a gift of diplomacy is not too much, nor too rare at all."

She crossed her hands over her lap, appearing much like a kid trying to act angelic when an uncertain amount of candy is offered. "Blood, please."

It would be improper of a maid to show any pleasure in giving a guest a terrible fright like that, which is exactly why Sakuya didn't show it.

That was far from the last time that she asked for forgiveness, as near immediately after she hit Peter with the one-two combo of "Forgive me, but it's simply in my nature to ask for forgiveness - don't worry about it too hard." She bowed to show exactly how regretful she was over showing regret in a way that caused her guest to regret causing her regretting regret. A handshake was accepted, regardless. "In any case, Sakuya is fine. I'm quite surprised that you literally wear your identity on your sleeve - or your chest in this case - but I suppose it will help get introductions out of the way quicker, Man-san. Though I must ask why your parents named you Spider..."

"...no, I'm kidding," she added after a moment. "I figure it's a title, right? Just please be patient with anyone that makes the same mistake. Some of us are literal, many are unused to Western names, fewer with the idea of a nom de guerre." It was already a bit of an odd mish-mash of cultures in the Mansion's staff, and she had worked for long enough to weave between these issues with grace.

"While it's not often that we entertain a vigilante, I doubt it will cause issues. Sure, some would call the mansion's mistress a bit of a villain, but we disregard that sort of chatter. Manhattan won't be threatened too seriously." This was quite a bit of a thing to just drop in the middle of a conversation, and it seemed that this mysterious floaty woman knew this, as she said it with just the slightest undercurrent of teasing. Was it a joke, or an understated threat delivered with some serious deadpan? Her serene face gave no answer.

Anor Londo, Palace Forge: The Really Really Big, Really Really Friendly, Giant

Yhorm uttered a meditative "Mmmm." at Kayne's point about strength being a prerequisite to smithing.

"You talk good. You forge, too...tis very good!"

The laugh that uttered from Yhorm's gut threatened to crack the cathedral's stained glass, but after a few moments he (thankfully) let out an exhale to calm himself down.

"You like Hawke—Hawke talk good, forge good too. I, no talk. But happy."

The giant set down his hammer on the anvil, and extended his now empty hand towards Kayne; fingertips first, as if to offer a hand (or...uhhh, finger) for Kayne to shake.

"You good friend. I very happy."

With the lethargic caution of one who broke things all too easily, Yhorm withdrew his empty hand and reached for something on the other side of his anvil. With tender care that seemed to be in reverence of the item as much as its recipient, the blacksmith lowered his palm to offer Kayne a small bright blue stone that radiated an unknown, almost mystical glow.

"I-is that—?" Blige gasped.

"I get from Duke. Shiny shiny. Forge weapons, make shiny. More happy."

"That's Twinkling Titanite, Kayne." explained Blige. The way he stressed the name suggested Kayne probably didn't need to ask how important it was. "You could comb through half the city's barracks and not come across even one of them."

"You forge. Make shiny. Or give back, I forge. Make shiny for friend. I help anytime."

So what now, Kayne? A fellow smith hands you an ore worth its weight in platinum, and offers to make something for you if you don't want to tamper with it yourself. What do you do?

Kayne & Moko—Visiting Yhorm

Kayne enthusiastically pumped Yhorm's pinky up and down as he offered his hand for a shake.

But "We're not worthy!" was the heartfelt cry in double chorus after it was explained what exactly this strange "Twinkling Titanite" material was. Kayne had never seen such a glowy metal, even after all her (admittedly short) years of wandering, and Moko concurred with her judgement. Thus, after the expression of delighted shock and youthful consternation, though not divorced from girlish dismay at being offered such a valuable stone, they had to explain themselves.

"I consider myself a mere amateur at the moment," Kayne admitted, swaying a little childishly with her hands folded in front of her, over the little stone. "Therefore, I can't possibly accept the offer of working on this right now. But I also can't pass up the rare opportunity to work on a new metal! So, I have an idea: Why don't you keep holding onto it until I'm old and skilled enough to handle it? That's a nice compromise, isn't it?"

"It would be most improper to accept a gift from a host at the first meeting, in any case," Moko added, in that refined way of his. "Allow us to ready your gift of a lizard-skin strop first, and we will consider our obligations fulfilled. But it doesn't have to be a strop. It could be an apron, or boots. Merely give us the word, and we will craft it."

"It may as well have metal reinforcements or fixings," Kayne exclaimed eagerly. "Which I'll have to forge for you anyways, so you can still have your wish to see me in action."

Edited by JumpingFruit on Apr 7th 2024 at 2:27:20 AM

Akiba Ruins - Northwest

"Hm, you might want to substract one more, actually." Igno remarks to Nel. "Not that I dun wanna have a feathery friend along, but I'm plannin' on being back here by sundown; might have to take the express way back if there's a lot to do out there, and that only seats one. Don't wanna leave the chocobo hanging far from home, y'know?"

"Pretty busy morning, huh?" He responds to Makura, "Got in a bit of a scuffle myself, trying to convince a lady to stop spending her life murdering robots. Face still hurts a bit, actually - Girl's got a skull like ebony, I swea-" The shapeshifter pauses as he sees the airship appearing over the hill and descending to land, waving to its passengers as they step out and approach.

"Nope, not a dream; this here hill's been taking people from all over and spitting them out right here, including yours truly. Been happenin' since this morning, as far as I can tell - I've been trying to get in touch with my man Socucius to move his office here, y'know, getting the newcomers settled in, filling in the immigration papers, asking weird questions about kids trying to steal your sweetrolls... Anyways, couldn't reach him, so we prolly ain't getting a welcome area ready just yet."

Manhattan - 58th East, between Madison and Park Ave

Seven raises an eyebrow in surprise as they witness Lola's sudden transformation; unexpected, but convenient. "Alright, stay safe down there. I'll be scouting around the building, just make some noise if things get ugly."

And with that, the small white furball starts circling the block, jumping from roof to roof, looking for anything notable, like other entry and exit points, either on street level or up on the roofs, as well as anything out of place on these buildings, such as unusual amounts of surveillance equipment, or antennas and other gizmos.

Anor Londo, Duke’s Archives

Faye out a bout of awkward laughter herself, purely to go with the flow of the room, her eyes flickering from one side to the next as though she might just catch a glimpse of the joke that had seemingly flown over her head. This laughing quickly petered off, however, in favor of practically salivating over the chunk of crystal dropped in her proverbial lap, almost racing to physically embrace the treasure were it not for the threat of stabbing herself on its many, many crystalline edges. “Not a problem at all.” Faye said with a cocky bent, after murmuring another command into her bangle that prompted her Redtail to surge out with its claw and grasp hold of the offered crystal, before dragging it closer to the hole in the damaged wall. “The Demons have been working their tails off to make a splash, and Spider-Man’s the kind of guy who couldn’t stay off the web if his life depended on it. Get it? Because… never mind.”

“Alright, you ready?” Faye asked, a coy grin threatening to escape from underneath her otherwise serious countenance. “You want to know about the Spider-Man? Here you go~.”

Faye flipped a switch within her cockpit, the speakers for the Redtail clicked to life, and the room was filled with a jaunty song detailing the various exploits of the one-and-only wall-crawler. Whether or not Seath found the song amusing, or even really understood the somewhat modern concepts referenced within it, Faye was audibly cracking up, her stifled giggles and muffled cackles lending an accidental backing track to the energetic tune.

After this audio display was finished, Faye would then give Seath a somewhat more straight-forward description of Spider-Man’s various abilities: super-strength, super-speed, super-reflexes, sticking to walls, and web-generation from his wrists, which Faye assured Seath was far from scientifically accurate. In fact, when it came time to describe the publicized version of the web-head’s origin story, she approached its claims with a peculiar sort of attitude, as though she were somehow personally offended by some of the claims in play. “So it says here that he was, and I quote, ‘bitten by a radioactive spider’, and it’s really hard for me to stress just how… stupid that sounds. I get that you don’t really know what a radioactive anything is, but imagine for one second if one of your people got bitten by, I don’t know, a magical centipede, and the next day they were suddenly this giant mass of centipedes. Or… thinking about it, maybe magic can actually do that. Bad example. Moving on…”

Faye’s tone became quite a bit more somber, however, when it came time to discuss the Demons. Vicious, dangerous criminals originating from within Manhattan’s own borders, their main objective seemed to be nothing less than undermining the very Mayor Osborne that she had just gotten done describing. They were led in this crusade by a figure known only as ‘Mr. Negative’, and Seath might note that the word ‘magic’ would pop up a few times in regard to describing this man’s abilities, including the alleged power to bring out a person’s worst impulses, corrupting them into a ‘negative’ shell of themselves.

“But that’s really just an excuse that bad guys use.” Faye insisted with a chuckle, this time meant to cover up a bout of genuine discomfort. “If I had a woolong for every bountyhead I brought in who claimed to be possessed by the devil, I’d have… well, three woolongs, but my point is, it does happen, believe me.”

Edited by Uncandescent on Apr 1st 2024 at 2:58:59 PM

Hewkii, Manhattan, East 58th Street, the roof of an apartment(?) adjacent to TAO Uptown

Perched atop the corner of an adjacent building to the west of the fancy restaurant, Hewkii watched with some concern as the goon made his way inside. With muttered curse, the Toa began to wonder what their next course of action was going to be, given how strikingly conspicuous the group was—and he himself really wasn't cut out for spying and espionage, no doubt only faring so well because the one they were tailing was a bit of an idiot. What he wouldn't give for a Mask of Stealth...

That was, at least, until Lola seemed to have just the solution, revealing what he wagered was some sort of illusion or shapeshifting ability. He already had faith in this rag-tag team, but this only reaffirmed it.

"Knock 'em dead!" the Toa quipped with an affirmative nod as the pokémon departed, only thinking to verify whether or not Castelians knew what that expression meant after she'd already hopped down to the sidewalk and disappeared inside.

She probably got the point. He hoped.

With the matter now firmly out of his hands, Hewkii likewise looked around the roof of the building atop which he was perched, to see if... hmm.

The restaurant had what Hewkii assumed was a side door, and the back of this building overlooked an alley leading out of it. "I can watch this exit," he relayed to Seven after signaling for them to come over, assuming they'd spotted it too. Like a kolhii game, the Toa's mind was buzzing with possible eventualities, actions their new 'friend' might take, and strategies to counter them. "'cuz if we ever need to, I can block off the alley in a snap. What do you think?"

"And, uh..." the Toa added, a thought having occurred to him. "You got any way we can talk to Lola while she's in there?"

Judas, Voya Nui, Eastern Caves

After Judas was given what seemed like a dramatically-appropriate amount of time to soak in the meaning of the carvings, the silence would be broken by the faint scraping of metal on rock, seeming to come from all around and growing in volume until they were discernable as the footsteps of wickedly-clawed feet. Something was approaching. Multiple things.

Then, a pair of glowing red points appeared deeper into the darkness ahead.

Then another pair appeared, and another behind him, and more down the branches. Sitting at just above eye-level with Judas' human form, their sources weren't visible until they began to step closer to his light, and it became clear that these were the beings from the carvings. Slouched and reptilian◊, elongated faces in skeletal white sat atop scaled biomechanical bodies clad in crimson-and-navy armor and trailed by long whip-like tails—bodies that would tower over any human if they stood upright, made all the more imposing by multitudes of claws and teeth.

One of them ahead of Judas, taking point, spoke. Their voice was a harsh rasp more akin to a growling hiss than speech like the human would know it, with careful enunciation and diction as if they were grappling with an unfamiliar language, making it difficult to parse tone or intent, but their words were legible all the same as they seemed to study him, head cocked in apparent curiosity.

"You... are not one of them."

Piruk, Voya Nui, travelling up the Ring of Ice

Piruk simply shrugged as he continued on his way. The twos' outrage was understandable, but to someone who'd lived all of this... "That's this place in a nutshell." he remarked with a sort of vaguely sad nonchalance. "You get used to it after a while. D-doesn't do anyone any good to sit and mourn."

Before much longer, a gap in the icy coastline would become visible in the distance, seeming to create an inlet into the interior of the crescent. Piruk paused again, craning his neck as if to check that everything was safe before proceeding—and were Penny and Buffy to follow his gaze, they'd just barely be able to see a small tower-like fortress near the mouth of the inlet, nestled into the rocky terrain and overlooking the ocean.

"We're getting c-close," the Matoran noted aloud before cautioning the two: "Follow my lead, no sudden moves, and k-keep your hands where my friends up here can see 'em."

Edited by Chortleous on Apr 5th 2024 at 10:15:24 AM

Near Hill of Origin

"Igno's joking aside-" Nel punctuated her statement by lightly punching the shapeshifter in the shoulder, "-the phenomenon that brought you and your ship here is, in fact, a natural part of this landscape. To be clear, since maybe it wasn't from what these two just said, you are quite literally no longer in the world you know. Rather, you're in an alternate universe that has drawn bits and pieces of other universes into itself, hence the strange patchwork of landscapes you see around you. I'm afraid there's currently no way for any of us to return to our home universes, but it's always possible that could change in the future, though when or by what means I couldn't say. For now, I'm afraid you'll have to content yourself with living in this world, although since you have airborne transportation, I'd wager you're already in a better position to find a place for yourself than most people trapped here. Aircraft have all sorts of uses, after all!"

Although she'd continued arranging the chocobos into groups as she talked, Nel paused, then scratched her cheek sheepishly and let go of the reins she was holding, striding over to Josette and Don and offering her hand for a shake.

"Oh, where are my manners?" she admonished herself, though she beamed a big smile at the Capua siblings. "Hi, my name is Neliel Tu Odelschwanck, but you can just call me Nel! Nice to meet you both! I live in the ruins you see over in this direction, but a whole bunch of people who reside or were visiting there are about to set out on an expedition to explore the surrounding lands! These big ol' birds are called Chocobos, and they're going to be our mounts for that purpose. Sort of like horses, if you've heard of those! Oh, and this upstanding fellow is Igno, and the furred lady is Makura, and Makura's little monkey friends are Kongara and Seitaka!"

Akiba Ruins (With Link & Spamton)

"I'm not interested in whatever you're hawking," L.L. replied to Spamton with a flat look and an even flatter intonation. "Whoever you are, you better not start following me around. I have enough to deal with as-is without an incessant salesman heckling me everywhere."

Meanwhile, with her raven-haired partner distracted, C.C. leaned over to glance at Link's question and smiled slightly.

"He's just frustrated that so many people seemed to rush off at the chance to throw themselves into another conflict, when he knows that it could easily have been handled just by the likes of Lilynette and Coyote, who are stronger together than almost anyone here," she explained in an appropriately hushed whisper. "He's probably also worried that many of us will be stuck traveling at night if we don't get going soon, which would be its own problem. It's not certain that we'd have a cloudless sky to provide us with moonlight to see by, after all. We're in a race against time to learn about this world before it learns of the thing sealed in these ruins, and if we have to stop traveling for the night before we reach a town, that's an entire night wasted."

Scarlet Devil Mansion, Land Bridge

Laughing out loud at Sakuya's joke, Spidey nodded in confirmation at her guess that his name was an alias. Seeing as she wasn't obstructing his progress, he began casually continuing his walk toward the mansion itself, even as he talked with the maid.

"I'll take that as something to be relieved about, then! I'm glad to hear your mistress won't be a threat to the city, and I doubt anybody truly evil would be able to keep somebody as polite and personable as you on her payroll! That said, if it's alright with you, Sakuya, I'd still like to meet her, if only to catch her up to speed on what we currently know about the situation and the other places that have appeared near us. I also have a little gift for her from the Mayor that I think she'll find useful! Before I meet her, though, I gotta ask: what's her name, and what's the best way to refer to her in her presence? I may not be the high society type, but even I know when to try for a good first impression!"

Manhattan, Chasing Down the Devil

Seven would be able to find little that was unusual upon the rooftop, aside from a fairly tall radio tower which, if they tuned into its frequency, they would find to be transmitting all kinds of radio chatter and crime reports on a channel meant for police use. As for entryways and exits, there were only two: one into the alley beside the establishment and the other the front door, which Lola had just entered.

As for Lola, as soon as she entered, the hostess in the sharp, dark uniform at the desk to the right of the door perked up and smiled charmingly at her.

"Good afternoon, Miss. How many in your party today?"

Over at a bar a little ways in, the incognito Pokemon would be able to spot her quarry, sitting on a stool with a hot cup of tea before him, tea that he was ignoring as he hunched over his phone and stared at something with a distressed, forlorn expression.

Manhattan, First Atlantic Bank

Predictably, a pair of the Demons near one another were bowled over by the rogue consultant's desk, and let out cries of surprise and pain as they hit the hard, tiled floor. The British-tinged one, however, was much quicker on the uptake, springing deftly to the side as soon as the snap of the chandelier's chain reached his ears, landing in a crouch and handily avoiding the would-be deadly object.

"Enough of this!" he snapped furiously, reaching for something on his belt. "We are not here to play games, cretin!"

Bringing his hand up, he brought to bear a fairly small, roundish tube with a coned something on the end, complete with trigger where his finger was resting. Without delay, he fired the thing off at the metal shutter blocking one of the windows. It wouldn't penetrate, and goodness knows there was no way he'd be able to hit Scratch in the darkness without dumb luck, but he wouldn't need to: this projectile soon revealed itself to be a smoldering flare that cast the room in an eerie red light. If Scratch was unfortunate enough to be caught in its illumination, the Demons behind the teller's desk would turn and begin rattling off gunfire at him, but if he wasn't, then they would quickly turn with their flashlights to light up the corners of the room that were still in darkness.

Hyrule, Arbiter's Grounds

Unfortunately for His Majesty, his attempt to destroy the sacred relic failed. Rather than shatter the mirror as one might expect, the falling pillar simply broke in half under its own weight with a loud crack as it impacted some kind of invisible field a little way above the remains of the artifact, as if the area where pieces of the mirror were missing was some kind of indestructible, phantasmal obstacle. Needless to say, the sages were outraged.

"How dare you?! Is there no low to which you will not stoop, Evil One?!" one of them cried.

"A thousand curses upon you, King of Darkness!"

Nevertheless, being Sages, they were wise - wise enough to know that they stood no chance against Ganondorf in a physical or magical confrontation. And thus, with one final chorus of "Begoooooooone!", they faded from sight, and did not deign to reappear. His Majesty would be left with merely the company of the imps, a broken pillar, the remains of a mirror, a gigantic black rock, and some chains.

What now?

Underworld

While the monsters were doing their thing to the mysterious bridge, an equally mysterious albino man◊ emerged from the ivory hole in the wall and began powerwalking across that very bridge toward the hole at its intersection. Rather than slow down for any of the traps, he simply jumped over them without effort, making it look like the easiest thing in the world. If left uninterrupted, he would proceed to the squarish hole, over which the white cubes would suddenly grow, and upon his stepping upon the new surface, it would reveal its purpose: a rudimentary elevator lowering itself to the Underworld's floor. If any of the monsters approached, however, he would make a show of stopping and turning to them with a cunning smile, then address them with a hand over his heart and a slight bow:

"Greetings! Are you able to understand my words? I am here to speak with whosoever rules this place. I have a great deal of information that may be of interest to them, and I believe we can be of use to one another."

Meanwhile, the monsters ascending out of the ravine would find themselves in a world of daylight, with the sun gradually descending in the West toward what was soon to the twilight. On the East side, past the rocky mountains, they would find a large expanse of snowy plains, and on the West side, some brief plateaus just before a wide open, grassy field. From their position high up in the air, they would be able to spot a small village to the South of this field, past a heavily wooded forest. To the direct North, over some more mountains and cliffs is yet another very large field. To the Northeast the mountain range continues to extend, with one mountain in particular being very tall and having a ring of clouds around its peak. Oh, and past the sheer cliffs to the Northwest of their position, they would be able to spot part of a large town surrounding a towering castle.

Oh, and at the very Southern edge of the ravine, a redheaded man whose armor is covered in skulls has made it his mission to climb across these mountains to the other side.

Hyrule Mountain Range (Wulfrik)

In the aftermath of the earthquake you felt moments ago, a ravine has suddenly appeared just to your North. You're fortunate that it didn't spawn a few meters South, or even you would likely have fallen to your death. As you prepare to climb down the mountainside toward the small village you can see in the West, however, seemingly demonic creatures of various descriptions begin ascending from the pitch-black chasm...

Manhattan, F.E.A.S.T. Entrance

Mostly unaware of the effect that his pre-No-Smoking-Zone-drag was having on the building’s inhabitants, Spike glanced over to his side for the one making a comment about his eyes—before finding himself having to look down, instead.

That right eye, the carefully-constructed fake that Maki had so astutely pointed out, took in the child with alternating eyes the color of traffic signals, and stifled a frown. As a general rule, Spike did his best to avoid interacting with children as much as possible, and the dangerous nature of his profession meant that he usually didn’t have to try all that hard. But no matter how hard his heart might have been when it came to the younger set, something within it nevertheless panged distantly for someone who had to be at this place, at this time, at that age. Spike knew all too well the pain of desperation, and of being too young to do anything about it.

But his left eye, his remaining original flesh, showed him a different picture. Under a Martian night sky, he faced off against a diminutive silhouette, the figure buffered from behind by the flickering blaze of a destroyed gas station. Both he and the opposing figure held one another at gunpoint; only one of them wanted to die badly enough to miss all of their shots. A harmonica lay on the ground nearby, never to be played again.

Spike mused on this for a moment, before the connection clicked: there was something in how both of the otherwise-unconnected figures carried themselves. Old souls, with young bodies. Creatures too aged to play pretend, yet left no other choice.

Then the moment passed, and Spike wondered if he might just be imagining things. As he could attest to, finding out how the world really works before you’re old enough to actually handle it was not, unfortunately, something altogether rare. Either way, he was being spoken to.

Spike smiled at Maki, in a way that didn’t quite reach those aforementioned multi-colored eyes. "You're pretty observant there, kid. Yeah, I lost my eye in an accident, right when I was around your age. Look both ways before crossing the street, and you won’t have to end up a bum like me.” He said, before stepping forward to playfully ruffle Maki’s hair. But if Maki let this action go through, given his possible familiarity with the gesture from other well-meaning adults, he might be able to deduce that it was not delivered with the zeal of someone who particularly liked interacting with kids.

Sweeping past the boy, Spike would then greet “Adrian” with a smile that was significantly more genuine, even just so far in that it was an easygoing and professional greeting to another adult. He would then reach out to shake the man’s hand. “Spiegel, Spike Spiegel.” Not like they could look up name in a database somewhere, right? Aliases were too much of a pain in the ass to keep track of, anyway. “I’m always happy to lend a hand. Especially in times like this, with all of these nasty bloodsuckers walking the streets, don’t you think?”

Edited by Uncandescent on Apr 4th 2024 at 11:17:39 AM

Tokyo 205X, Limo -> Phantom Base (Leos and Pigna)

The two G-Divers get out of the vehicle easily enough, and the two of them soon follow their escort to the elevator, Pigna turning to Leos to ask him something. "Hey, did you see how tall this thing is, Leos? Shoulda known it was one of those "Hidden in Plain Sight" deals."

"Yeah..." the ash-brown-haired Knight From Jupiter agrees before the three of them start ascending, which is when Leos and Pigna exchange glances at the mention of Iron Mask, or more particularly, the type of mask Phantom's big boss would traditionally wear. Considering the amount of times General Answer had recorded a masked person being a rival of sorts to any of the infamous Gundam pilots, it felt like a very odd coincidence, especially since "Iron Mask" was the nickname of one Carozza Ronah, a high-ranking figure in the short-lived nation of Cosmo Babylonia, and he wore a full-face metal mask right up to his death in battle.

Of course, the senior agent would provide the opportunity to ask some more questions, which Leos decides to do so. "So, if Iron Mask is a hereditary position, like a rank, how long has Phantom been operating?"

"Something's got me curious, too. I saw a lotta signs in Japanese on the way here. So, are we in Japan?"

Pigna’s question causes Leos to realise, with appropriate eye-widening expression, that he and Pigna aren't even speaking English right now. And as far as he knows, he's not speaking Japanese either. A completely different language? "Yeah, that's definitely a good question. And how is it we're able to understand each other right now? I don't think any of us are speaking English or Japanese right now."

"Huh?" Pigna turns to look at Leos in disbelief, before thinking to herself, ...Holy crap, he's right. The hell?

Once they have their answers, they would wait outside as the senior agent briefs her superior on the situation.

Castelia

"You look amazing! Like a mighty wyvern!" Taia exclaimed, staring at Charlie in awe even as Migrana stepped forward to lightly grab hold of Taia's shoulders to stop her from invading the draconic man's personal space.

"Mind your manners, friend." Migrana told her, then looked towards Charlie herself. "Pardon her enthusiasm. We have just arrived, and she wears her excitement plain for all to see."

As for Shemaal, the gears in his head started to turn, and he looked to be in thought about something or other. What that could be, he wasn't telling, but he was looking towards Athena's group and then the city as a whole.

North Akiba Ruins -> En Route to Hill of Origin

Before Ramza could form a proper response, Ellie made her decision known, as did the rest of the group that had arrived. Seeing as the crisis was over, the blonde sheathed his sword and returned whence he came to track down his sister, only to see her on the move with the rest of the group he'd been fraternizing with. Moving to join them, he walked in step with Alma, who spoke up to address him.

"You didn't bring anyone with you this time. I was half looking forward to another lost waif being taken under your wing." Alma said, unable to hide her teasing grin.

"Even if the thought had crossed my mind, half the party had joined me before long, and the water creature was rather insistent on stepping up to look after her." Ramza replied, though if he were to be honest, he hoped the others would be able to keep Ellie in check. She didn't seem the friendly sort, to put it bluntly.

Ivalice, Capital

A growl like that caught the attention of Agrias easily, and thankfully for Link, she didn't seem to be phased by it.

"You can follow me. I am due for a meal myself." She said as she put away all the equipment they'd used and proceeded to exit the room, then grumbled in a quieter voice. "Otherwise the Queen will order for food to be brought to her quarters, and make me eat it in front of her."

Faron Woods, Faron Spring

This was a nightmare. An exhaustion induced hallucination. It had to be. How else coud Vaati rationalize being in the company of the very people he'd so desperately wanted to avoid? Surely his luck wasn't that bad...oh, who was he kidding, of COURSE it was.

"Hmph." Vaati replied, trying to force himself into a sitting position and nudging Zelda's hand away in the process, refusing to meet anyone's eyes as he spoke again. "Where am I? Who are you?"

As if he needed to ask that question. He knew all too well who they were. Or at least, who they shared the names and faces of. But maybe learning more about them would give him an idea of what he would be up against when they inevitably faced off in battle.

Although...if he played it just right, perhaps he could nudge them into dealing with that blasted dragon for him. It'd be one less headache to deal with.

Underworld

The first monster who spotted the man was a Reaper◊. The creature angrily freaked out upon seeing him, waving its scythe in the air, alarming the rest.

Immediately all monsters turned toward the man, preparing to gang up on him without any second thoughts.

   "Wait."    a low, commanding voice echoed in the realm. Then, out of nowhere, two large eyes manifested before him, then a face, dark ravenous hair, combined with hissing snakes, and a large body.

Medusa's projection stared down at the insignificant man, with an amused smile.

   "Well, well, well, there you are... Bold of you to show yourself without a proper invitation. And you've been looking for me? How touching."    the goddess mused. Her grin faded, replaced with a scowl.

   "I don't know who you are, or what you're seeking, little thing, but invading my domain is not a very good start. I've turned humans into stone for less."    she said, a slight touch of venom in her voice.

Meanwhile, the Monoeyes◊ exiting the ravine started to fly all around the ravine, spotting snowy plains on the East, a grassy field on the West. There were also some villages and castles around.

They weren't bright, but they were still confused. This place looked nothing like the Overworld.

The floating eyeball things were about to do more when one of them spotted the redheaded man climbing. Hostile, they didn't waste any time. They flew toward him and once close enough, they fired energy balls at him.

Edited by Scipion3 on Apr 5th 2024 at 7:58:10 PM

She had a straight shot toward Shion. She merely needed to be quick enough. But for the second time in the same minute, it seemed someone other then her target had stepped in her path, hoping to offer themselves in place of the one her lance was meant for. Was she going to have a little girl's blood on her hands too? Was this her fate? It was like some sick joke! It was for that reason that there was almost relief when Sea Wasp could feel her spear hit something hard. Something that could withstand her strike. The cyborg came to a stop and looked.

Alot happened in that instant. Not merely the chaos of battle, but mentally and emotionally as well as the troubled girl's mind raced through a roller coaster of thoughts with each happenstance. The relief of being spared the pink haired girl's executioner was quickly followed up by a refocus on the task at hand. She still had a spectacled scientist to skewer. But that thought too was quickly overtaken as Yunica saw the CO tumble over the edge of the cliff.

She did it. She got that bitch. And with that realization, she could only wonder, what now? What was she suppose to do with all this rage and sorrow eating away at her guts!? She couldn't undo what she had done. He was still dead. She was still a killer and traitor in the eyes of the unit. Her life as she knew it was over. What was she supposed to do now? She wouldn't have long to wonder though as a plasma bolt ate into her back. The woman in the flight suit would fall to the ground, unmoving.

Not dead. She was a weapon made for fighting monsters the size of buildings, it would take more than that to destroy her. It seemed she was not going to be so lucky. It would not be quick. They were going to have to work to kill her, because that was how they made her. But she would not resist. There was no reason to keep living. The unit was everything to her. If this was the way things were, there was no point in her existing. It was time to die. She merely had to let them do it. But a single word rung out that would relight the cyborg with purpose.

"SNIPER!"

The Jellyfish soldiers looked about in a panic. Where the hell did that come from!? It wasn't one of there's, so who the hell was that!? Enemy of my enemy? Hard to believe there were friendlies this deep into enemy territory. Especially when the enemy they just took out was there ally just a few seconds ago. This was all so fucked up.

They couldn't make sense of the situation. Sea Wasp was a traitor? CO making friendly with the enemy? Commander calling in to pull rank? Who were they supposed to trust!? They couldn't even trust their own eyes and ears since no one knew they were being watched until the sniper ousted themselves with that shot. Suddenly what the Commander of the Yorha said about the bots closing in seemed very plausible. Each tree and bush starting to look like it was hiding another unknown threat.

Two soldiers were quick on the heels of the machine that had caught Shion, just for them to jam the barrel of the guns against the head of machine and start yelling at it. It seemed no good deed truly goes unpunished. They had not only let Sea Wasp get to the CO, but the this machine too!? The two would bark out orders and threats.

"Let go of the CO!"

"NO! Don't let go of the CO!"

Their fingers were on the trigger, ready to drill a hole into the machine's skull. After all, they still had their orders from the Yo RHA commander. The only thing stopping them was that Shion's life literally hanged in the balance.

Meanwhile the soldier who had dared to stand before 2B would slump to the ground, seemingly shell shocked. Seeing the speed at which the blade was approaching him had caused his life to flash before his eyes. He had to take a moment to make sure he wasn't dead. He wasn't dead at least. The soldier would look about at the chaos that had erupted, still shocked. He was willing to put his life on the line, but what had he accomplished. When 2B asked him, he muttered back his answer still in a daze.

"...I thought...I could save people..."

But as the rest of the Jellyfish fell into a panic, Yunica had once again found focus. Her path forward was clear. She was a weapon to be used against the enemies of the Jellyfish Special Forces. That did not change. Even if the others brand her as a traitor, she was loyal to the unit. If they asked her to die, she would die. But as long as there were enemies to fell, she had a job to do. So she couldn't allow her self to die just yet. Not when the enemies of the unit still lived. Not when there was a whole forest of them surrounding them.

The body of Sea Wasp would suddenly spring back to life with the ignition of her Jet back. She would skid along the ground until she made it to the tree line. Once there she would begin to ascended while maintaining a strafing motion as she began zeroing in on the location of the shooter. The cover of the trees and her own agility would make the approach possible despite the shooter's arm cannon. Once she had gotten close enough, Sea wasp would suddenly shift direction and go in for the kill. Only for her to suddenly back off and return to her strafing pattern once she got a good look at the target.

Dark Samus would hear the flying killer for the first time. It was a girl. Sounded like a kid. Couldn't have been older then 16. But more then that, what Sea Wasp said was sure to catch the bounty hunter's attention just as much as it was to confuse her.

"You!? What are you doing here!? You are supposed to be at the factory with..."

The girl's voice suddenly trailed off as realization came in. This wasn't Samus. If it was, command would have given them a head's up. But that armor meant who ever this was, came from the same unit that Samus did. The fact that Samus didn't mention there was another, or how that other was interfering with this group's operation while she went with the other team, or how that other had been able to get this deep into Machine territory completely unharassed, too many things were adding up. They didn't just happen upon her here. There was no such things as coincidences on the battlefield.

Yunica would quickly try to get on her coms and contact the other team.

"Samus is a traitor! She is working with the machines! She set us up to die!"

She wasn't sure the message would make it trough. Chances were command had already cut off her communications once she was branded a traitor. But she had to try, Permet was on the other team.

With that, Sea Wasp's lance would change into an energy cannon which she would use to fire explosive energy bolts at the bounty hunter. She would soon have to return to the tree line though as gun fire from approaching Jellyfish soldiers would cause her to pull back. However, the gunfire was not just for her as Dark Samus would find the soldiers firing at the mysterious shooter as well.

Perfect. It was the only way to describe how the operation was going. They were a well oiled unit that had taken on every obstacle in their path despite the heavy odds against them. Not only had they destroyed every adversary that opposed them, they had done so without a single casualty. What seemed like a suicide mission now had good odds of succeeding. They were already at the last obstacle before they could make their way down to the Factories inner workings.

Then the presence of a single unit had caused decision to scrape the mission and retreat. It seemed illogical. But then that may have only been because Permet had no data on this new unit. Judging from Jackass' expression, she did. Regardless, retreat was the order.

Permet would motion to her fellow Jellyfish soldiers. Half were to move ahead and secure the exterior. If that area is taken by the enemy, their escape route is cut off. It is imperative they hold it. The other half are to take the rear as they fall back. They know the drill. Work in pairs, one lays down cover fire as the other moves back, then alternate.

Sea Slug would fix her laser rifle onto her back to free up her arms. She would then use jet back to quickly skim along the ground toward Jackass, grab her, and then take off away from the threat. If they were retreating, the CO's life came first. Permet didn't respond to the man's little quips, instead focusing on the mission. The girl would probably seem boring the half naked man, like his brother when he was too busy reading a book to play with him.

Two of the soldiers meant to hold the rear got a good look at the threat they were running from. Some shirtless pretty boy. They figure if they were going to run, it should have been from the spider machines the size of a car. But this guy? They could take this guy. The two would move in. Their movements swift and precise. It was easy to see why these guys were considered special forces. One would laydown machine gun fire while the other would move toward white haired machine's blind spot. They even had Samus laying down fire on the guy. Though at this range, they would be in a perfect position to be an example why this guy was worth running from, besides the fact he was apparently the equivalent of a walking automatic grenade launcher.

Should Yunica's communication get through, it would be hard to read Permet's facial expressions hidden behind her mask as it was. Even her usually exposed mouth was now covered by a gas mask to avoid breathing in the dangerous fumes. Though one could perhaps sense a certain hesitation in her body language. It was a logic error. The numbers weren't adding up. Nothing in her observations would suggest Samus was a traitor. Even now she was fighting against the albino man. But this was a message also coming from Yunica her self. It certainly didn't help the timing came when their team also had just been ambushed. Coincidence? Never on the battlefield.

What was the logical choice here? Was she letting her self be swayed by personal connections? The tension Yunica's voice. She could tell the other team was in danger. She could feel her emotions getting the better of her, not that one would be able to tell. Her voice remained as calm as ever as she turned to the acting CO, Jackass.

"Orders."

It was innocent enough, but the subtext might make one's blood run cold. It suggested the bookish girl would be willing to shoot their comrade in the back should command deem it so with the newly gained information.

Starscream - Area 11, Darlton's Office

"Why, of course! The landscape has changed since then, naturally, but my drones allowed me to have a good view of what's around here." The seemingly human Arkeville would take out his datapad, showing Darlton what was already a digital map of what he had seen some hours ago. "And while the places brought to this chaotic world are varied, there are some patterns. Most of them tends to be from worlds dominated by humanity above all, and fewer of them are alternate version of Earth." Really, Starscream didn't see why there was this fascination around this mass of dirt infected by organic vermins. "But above all, almost all of them have people that you could call exceptional. It's like this land is explicitly searching for those."

"Well, it's true that I have a rather high position around here, but don't let that make you treat me differently." The headmaster nodded, sipping his hot chocolate again. He listened to the two women's odd words, not leting himself show much reaction despite the very weird situation he was in. "Lady of your own domain, is that so? Impressive. And I would in fact very much like to know about this... world. What IS this world, and what are we doing here? And if this castle isn't hers, then who does it belong to?"

Meanwhile, the two other explorers of the academy would find themselves approached by a blonde, bespectacled woman, whose clothing seemed to indicate she was a teacher of some course. "Excuse me. I think we may need to have a few words, young ladies." Seems like she had been warned about them for that earlier mishap with the plane!

Conan had come out at about the same time as Makura did, raising an eyebrow at the herd of giant birds even as he followed their lovely shepherd. And as another strange contraption appeared with people coming out of it, the shirtless barbarian crossed his arms. "Aye, it is just as the verdant lady said. You have wandered off far more than you'd have ever imagined. I am Conan."

At first, the quarter rather tensed up as they found themselves in front of military forces not too dissimilar to the Atlas Army, and so the Huntsmen of course expected that they would be hardass military people in demeanor as well! ...until hearing the guy casually and loudly greeting them almost caused the whole team to do an anime-style pratfall out of surprise.

As the leader, Jaune was of course expected to be the one to answer, and the blonde guy indeed did so even as he sweated from being taken aback. "Uh, well, we're Team JNPR, and I'm the leader, Jaune Ar- Did you say multiversal???"

"Aww, dangit!" Ruby kinda-swore under her breath as she saw how her scythe just ripped through the wings of her monstrous opponent. But that didn't meant she didn't pay attention, for the batwing demon that attacked her would just see her turn into a flurry of roses, letting its spear hit the air as she rushed to go towards the one attacking Weiss. Then, she would turn back into her usual form to slash at its back before it could hit her bestie-in-denial!

"Wha-" Weiss heard the noise and turned to see how Ruby had saved her. She would promptly return the favor by summoning a new circle to launch fire towards the demon that had tried to skewer the reaper earlier.

Yang was indeed blew back by the gargoyle's movements, but she rapidly shot with her gauntlets to stabilize her fall, letting her land on her feet. "You're one though bastard, aren't ya?!" And so, with the muscular guy having stopped the counterattack, both her and Blake rushed towards the gargoyles, the two partner attacking each sides of his belly with all of their strength!

Josette & Don Existential Horror Show (They Get Better), Hill of Origin

Josette flinched when Makura replied to her mumble near-immediately. Okay, so this lady didn't just look weird, she had actual beast hearing? "What the flip-"

"...would you believe us if we told you that, uh, magic and chicken-horses are pretty believable to us?" Don's face faltered, eyes wandering to the others present. Maybe this was just a big ol' prank? Or they were seriously tripping with whatever that Crossbell bastard spiked their drinks with... but then again, Josette didn't have any and-

Unfortunately, no laughs or jokes came. If what the yellow-eyed fellow said was true, this was a very recent phenomenon - and one that the others were strangely okay with, judging by the reactions. "You have got to be flippin' kidding me!" Josette ground down a rather unladylike swear word in her mouth. "We just got off the flippin' ground again! Some... some jerkwad thinks they can jerk us around, again?! Oh no, they've another thing coming or my name isn't-"

The man coughed awkwardly, earning himself a sharp glare from the girl - but at least her rant was arrested in place. "We... uh... cripes." Don lacked a good rebuttal to the information. Not only they were stuck in some strange mishmash of things beyond anything the Goddess Aidios had ever created, they also could not go back; a rather pressing issue if you had a business to run and mouths to feed. Sure, they had the freedom of movement thanks to their Bobcat, but if this world had never heard of orbal engines, this was going to become a problem before long.

"...this sucks." Josette mumbled petulantly. Don sighed, shaking his head. There was nothing they could do about it now, and nothing would come out of moping. But... she wasn't wrong just now; they did just get start anew, only to be tossed to Goddess-only-knew where. It seemed Josette too understood it; smushing her cheeks together to try and get herself back on track. "Right, well, this sucks and we'll have to make the most of it."

She shook Nel's hand first, summoning a confident grin. "I'm Josette, and this is my big bro Don." Don grunted out a word of greeting and shook her hand next, looking a tide embarrassed for a spell. "We've got the others aboard, a twenty-something crew of aviators." Nel would also find a colorful business card in her hand shortly after; it remained unexplained how and when it got there.

Looked fairly cute, all things considering.◊ "We're Capua Delivery Service!" Josette announced with aplomb reserved for a famous pirate crew or other, presenting more business cards in a fan. "First in this place, I dare say!"

"Although we should probably find a good spot for ourselves before we resume operations." Don muttered gently, making his sister deflate briefly.

"Well, t-that's a no-brainer... er... sorry about earlier caginess. You guys are..." She looked around the people gathered, trying not to linger too long on a ridiculously muscled guy over there. "...u-unique."

"Not to mention, the whole "an entire airship comes out of deep sleep in mid-air" thing." Don added his few mira to the discussion. "Gave our pilot a scare of the year."

"Don't suppose you guys have some kind of a, uh, tour guide thingy to read?" Josette queried to Igno, since he made that joke to begin with. "Some do's or don't's or why that castle over there is not making sense?" She pointed in the direction of Anor Londo's inconsistent shading.

Edited by FergardStratoavis on Apr 6th 2024 at 5:24:14 PM

Judas, Eastern Voya Nui Caves

Judas tensed up as he heard the signs of creatures approaching, and only got more tense when he actually came face to face with them. He kept his Hedgeherne's torch at the ready, in case he had to fight.

"Yeah, no shit." he muttered in response to the cave creatures' observation. "I'm guessing you guys are the ones who made these?" He gestured over at the cave paintings.

Buffy and Penny, travelling Voya Nui's Ring of Ice

The two ranger captains seemed to get noticeably more intrigued as they finally caught sight of their destination, and heeded Piruk's words.

"Alright, if you say so." Penny said, raising her hands up into the air. Buffy followed suit.

"I just hope these guys don't turn out too xenophobic..." the latter murmured, before perking up. "Oh well, I'm sure it'll turn out fine!"

Area 11, Darlton's Office (Starscream)

"So it's mostly composed of locations from alternate Earths whose inhabitants are special in some way," Darlton summarized to make sure he understood what "Arkville" was telling him. "Hmm... Well, it's true that we Britannians think of ourselves as superior to other peoples, but it's not as if every Britannian is an outstanding specimen. I'd say the most outstanding things about us are our Darwinist ethos and our military might. I wonder if it's due to the latter that we've been chosen to come to this world, or some other reason I'm not seeing with my limited view."

"Ah, that's right! You may be interested to know that we were apparently moved from a different location on this world since yesterday, when we initially found ourselves... displaced from our home universe," he continued, drumming his fingers on his desk in contemplation. "The only thing that seems to have changed since then, aside from our surroundings, is that there was some kind of blue portal at the docks that's since disappeared. We had a pair of men in our custody who'd appeared by driving through said portal, supposedly a serviceman from our own military and his elderly father, but we weren't able to get much information out of them before we shifted again and they vanished to who knows where. I don't suppose you would know anything about those peculiar phenomena, Arkville?"

Vale, Ozpin's Office

"To sum up, this planet started off as a sort of blank slate, and then drew bits and pieces of other worlds to itself, both individuals like myself and entire pieces of land like your native city out there! I don't know why exactly it does that, though! That part is a mystery!" Arcueid began expositing, as happy as ever to explain the situation to a newcomer. "Back in the day, we used to call the entire place 'The Frontiers', although I can't remember who named it that or why. At a certain point about a century ago, though, all the people and places that had been gathered on the Frontiers were allowed to return to where they came from, if they chose to. Afterwards, all that were left were me, my domain, Len, some wilderness, and the ruins of a major city with a number of people staying behind as their caretakers. And now, one hundred years later, whatever forces or powers-that-be that animate this world have started to move again and drawn in all kinds of new places, like you all! I was asleep over the course of the last century, so I can't tell you much about any of the new places around here, but I can tell you all about what life was like a century and change ago, including most of the major events leading up to the vast majority of this world's inhabitants returning where they came from. Does that make sense?"

"Oh, and as for that other castle, I'm not sure, but Carmilla is from there, so I'm sure she could explain!" she added as an afterthought, indicating the bat-winged woman.

Vale, Beacon Courtyard

"A teacher?!" Ellet surmised, beaming with enthusiasm and failing to sense any sense of disapproval from the other blonde woman. "Perfect! I'd love to have a few words with you! In fact, how about a lot of words? I'm looking for an interview subject, and someone knowledgeable about this place like yourself would be the perfect fit!"

Manhattan, Henry Hudson Bridge (JNPR)

"Good to meet you, John R. and the Team Juniper!" the Sable grunt who'd greeted them said, enthusiastic smile evident even if they couldn't see it through his helmet. "And yeah, see, as of about yesterday morning, this city - which is called Manhattan, for reference - and everybody in it got pulled into some kind of mish-mash of different places from different universes by this big ol' demon guy who was close to omnipotent! But then this morning, he said he was giving up on his plans for us and that we were gonna be sent back home... at which point, we found ourselves here, on whatever this world is, instead of back home. Bummer, right? But we found out through contact with our new neighbors that whatever this world is, it's also made up of a patchwork of places from different universes! It's pretty crazy, if you ask me, but dealing with that is way above my paygrade! I just guard this bridge and make sure everybody who comes through is decent and give them appropriate ID cards and stuff! Speaking of which... say cheese, Johnny Boy!"

With the sound of a digital shutter, the grunt would proceed to take a picture of Jaune's face with his laptop's attached camera.

"Next!" he said expectantly, turning to the rest of the Huntsmen-in-training.