Astil

Iris... just looks confused, but still intrigued.

"Hm... now I really wanna know.", she says with a teasing smirk.

-

Near the edge of the forest, Areui, Kirue and PC!Areui heard someone groaning in what sounds to be pain. Recognizing the voice, Areui quickly flies towards its source and lands near it. It's indeed Yazur◊, who's lying on a shrub, seemingly out cold.

"Yazur! Are you okay!?", Areui asks as he tries to shake him awake a bit. Thankfully Yazur does open his eyes, looking up at Areui.

"I'm... fine. I'm just... really... really..."

"You're what? Yazur-"

Cue the younger angel's stomach growling.

"Really hungry.", Yazur groans. "I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks."

Areui sighs in relief. Kirue and PC!Areui land now too, the latter tilting his head when he looks at Yazur.

"Gods, he looks like a smaller, more corporately dressed Aura with short hair and only two wings instead of six.", he groans. "Hopefully they don't share the same personality."

"Instead of judging Yazur for his look, how 'bout you help him onto my back.", Areui says. PC!Areui shrugs and approaches to help. Yazur briefly looks up at PC!Areui when he's picking him up.

"I'm so hungry I'm hallucinating. I'm seeing two of you.", he mumbles to Areui before shutting his eyes again, too tired and hungry to stay awake too long.

"... well, he sure doesn't sound like Aura, so that's an upside.", PC!Areui chuckles as he places Yazur on Areui's back, letting his arms and head hang over Areui's shoulders.

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry him instead?", Kirue asks, but Areui shakes his head.

"I'll carry my friends myself. Now let's head back."

"Wait, we're going back!?"

"Yeah. We gotta let them know we found Yazur. They'll be waiting for us.", Areui says before taking flight again, making sure to hold onto Yazur's wrists so that he can't fall off. PC!Areui doesn't look too pleased.

"In other words, I'll be seeing Aura after all. Fun..."

"What exactly happened between you two?"

"Nothing that concerns you.", PC!Areui responds while glancing away, after which he flies off after his counterpart to avoid further conversation.

"Double the Areui, double the moodiness.", Kirue sighs before following them. Refia may be able to sense them approaching again.

-

The Deliderp was halfway there before the trio (now a quartet) fly over again, going back towards the others. It promptly turns on its flippers and starts waddling back too.

Island of Tropique

"On the run? I'm so sorry.", Ishizu says to Sylvie, looking sympathetic but not patronizing. She genuinely feels awful for what happened to her.

She then shows a smile as Sylvie mentions holding Mattheo.

"Perhaps once we get to the island, where it's safer to do so."

The infant, meanwhile, starts making those baby babble noises as he starts playing with the tiara. He sometimes says a few words, but they're not all too coherent. Which makes sense if he's only about 2.

They'll be approaching the island now. It seems they've already spotted the boat from inside the base, because Krakua◊, one of Helryx's associates, is already standing there waiting for it to arrive and see who's in it. There are some Vahki around him, likely in case those on the boat are enemies who have to be dealt with.

—

Hub Centralis

Well, that certainly catches their attention. ... and also probably the attention of more G.E.M. soldiers. They'll likely be coming back this way shortly.

All of a sudden Thor will hear a telekinetic message.

"It's not just them. They have the entire town on the other end of their weaponry. Their family, their friends, even the dog. One wrong move and it's over for all of them. If they find out about my psychic message, that'll already be enough for Linda to go pull the trigger when she returns."

Judging by the more robotic tone of voice, that was the Masked Man who contacted Thor. And if he's to be believed, G.E.M.'s new boss is literally holding the entirety of Tazmilly Village hostage in such a way that they can take immediate action if Lucas or Claus shows any form of defiance.

If this is true, then it's worse than first assumed. It would mean that the mere act of accepting Thor's (or anyone's) help will be enough to kill them. The only way to get out of this would be to somehow get all of those people out of Tazmilly first.

However, only Thor got this message, and he can't say it out loud or G.E.M. would know (if they really are watching the twins right now). Meaning that Ninten's still in the dark.

"Just listen to Thor! We can help! I'll get your family out of trouble! I'd just need to know where to go to reach Tazmilly-"

"Ninten, I'm sorry, but please stop talking!", Lucas angrily says. Ninten's 4th-D Slip has a limit of four people per go, including Ninten himself. Yes, he could get Flint, Hinawa and Boney out, but then everyone else, including Kumatora and Duster, would be history. And they have no way to convey to Ninten that there's nothing he can do to help right now.

Claus tries to scare Ninten off by firing a (warning shot) lightning bolt in his direction, which Ninten of course dodges easily. Claus knows the soldiers are probably about to come back, and if they see the twins talking to Thor and Ninten and not fighting them...

The problem lies in the fact that Ninten is a stubborn kid though, so he's not deterred by the warning shot.

"I don't understand why you don't trust me-er, us! We're all friends! When we're in trouble we help each other, that's what being friends is about!"

Claus closes his eyes in frustration because this isn't working. He doesn't seem to know that the Masked Man contacted Thor either given that he's starting to look more desperate as well.

Claus... is rash. To a fault. And there's no denying that. It's gotten him in a lot of trouble before, including his own death. More than once. He's been told off a few times by Lucas about that recently, but it hasn't fully clicked with him yet. Why does this matter? Well...

It explains the genius idea he has to get Ninten to back off.

"When the hell did I ever agree to be friends with a weak little momma's boy like you!? Just get lost!"

Beat

The atmosphere almost turns icy cold as Ninten gawks in shock for a few seconds at what he heard. Lucas is looking at his brother in a similar shocked state. He gets what Claus is going for, but it's still ha-

"Ex... CUSE ME!?", Ninten suddenly asks, a venom to his voice that neither Thor, Lucas or Claus will have heard from him before. And it's not just in his voice either. He has a genuinely frightening glare on his face, pupils shrunken down to a dangerously small extent. His forehead is visibly seeing red right now. His teeth are gritted. He's breathing heavily through his nose. He looks like he's about to snap someone's neck. And this is not a state the other three will have seen him in before.

It is, however, a state that Pietro's briefly seen him in before. After all... he became like this when Neo Pseudo attacked his sisters all that time ago. And being on the receiving end of Ninten's face contorted in such an intense rage seems to genuinely scare Claus.

However, despite everything, Ninten lets out a viciously shaky breath before trying to talk through his gritted teeth.

"Claus...", he starts. "This is... obviously a very serious situation... and I'm getting the feeling I don't have the full picture... and because you're also one of my best friends, and you know how important family is, I... I'm willing to pretend like you never said that if you take your words back right now."

The situation is tense. Neither Lucas or Claus really knows what to do or say in this situation. However, reality starts catching up again when the sounds of multiple footsteps will start becoming more audible. The G.E.M. soldiers are close. And Claus, desperate to protect everyone...

"I've been waiting to say that to you ever since you started bothering me every single day when I was keeping an eye on Lucas. If you don't like it, go home and cry to your mom!"

"CLAUS!", Lucas yells, looking like he's about to punch his brother in the face himself. Even Rope Snake is giving him a serious glare. Claus looks shocked at himself too. He instantly regrets the words that came out of his mouth just now, that's clear to read on his face.

"N-no, wait, I...", he mumbles, so shaken by himself that he briefly forgets why he said it in the first place.

The damage is already done. PSI is already radiating off of Ninten's body, much more than normally and much stronger too.

"Thor. Catch up with Loki before those soldiers get here, or they'll see which direction you're going in and find her. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

It's chilling just how cold and low Ninten's otherwise bombastic voice sounds now. Even when he's emotional there's usually some 'pow' to his voice. Right now he sounds like a completely different person. He's not even looking at Thor as he says it, his eyes are trained squarely on Claus. ... actually, he's not even talking out loud, that was telepathy. But even when he's using telepathy his voice normally doesn't sound any different than if he were talking out loud.

He also doesn't like he's going to give Thor a choice in the matter. There's already energy sparking in his hand. It's possible that if Thor refuses to leave, Ninten's going to force him through a 4th-D Slip portal.

The soldiers are coming into view. There is no more time to argue. If Thor doesn't leave immediately, he will not be able to rejoin Loki, Sylvie and Ishizu on the island without the soldiers seeing him go there.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 20th 2024 at 9:49:44 PM

Astil

"I guess I'll have to tell the story then."

"Tch—rrrgh...!" Aura is offended. He's trying to be angry about it, but he can't muster the will to be.

PC!Areui probably can, though.

"A long time ago, Areui and Aura served together under Heaven, like brothers. But Areui fell in love with a mortal who had sold her soul to a demon, and—"

By this point, the BOYS get back, and Refia stops to look at PC!Areui's face.

Astil

The now-four-of-them are back, and judging by PC!Areui's glare (one notably not directed at Aura), it seems he (and likely Areui and Kirue too) heard what she was saying.

PC!Areui wordlessly walks up to Refia, still glaring, and for a moment it looks like he's genuinely going to attack her. Instead...

"Not. Another. Word. About it."

That's probably the most threatening Refia'll have ever heard PC!Areui sound. He then turns back to glance at a surprised Iris and a strangely uncomfortable-looking Kirue and Areui, the latter of which is averting everyone's eyes. Even from what little Refia said they probably figured out this story didn't have a happy ending.

"Out of all the things to be a constant...", Areui mutters. Kirue looks at him for a moment, then looks back at PC!Areui, Refia and Aura.

"We, um, seemed to have come back at quite the time. You must be Aura. I'm Kirue, Are-my Areui's older brother.", he says as he tries to break the tension a little. And if Refia did indeed stop talking about it, PC!Areui'll just turn away from everyone and cross his arms, no longer potentially hostile but still in somewhat of a understandably bad mood.

Alexandria Eternal

(Third and final part of this once oneshot post)

Having flipped through Adrestia's book for about twenty minutes as he's trying to find the convergence point that'll (hopefully) tell him the sealing spell that was used against Mara, he did end up reading a fair bit of stuff that came before that. Adrestia, from what little he got from the text, seems to genuinely live up to her title of Divine Guardian of Good, spending most of her time traveling across worlds to help combat major evil threats (not just Mara) that would otherwise have potentially wiped out multiple civilizations. Certainly there are many, many people currently alive only because she once helped their ancestors.

Dekai-Ver cannot help but wonder how someone like Adrestia can be related to Mara. Granted, he hadn't read the beginning part of this book, but he's not interested enough in the private proceedings of these guardians to actively search out that answer. He's here to find something to use against Mara, and that's all that matters to him.

"Here it is.", he mutters as he stops at a page. Mutran, who'd gone to read another book while waiting, walks back over to him and peeks once again.

"And so the plan was set in motion. Channeling the energy of the six heroes through her lance, her main weapon of combat, Adrestia repeated the incantation to render Mara helpless, allowing the dimensional rift to engulf and seal her away for the next one thousand years."

Yeah, that 'thousand years' thing didn't end up working out, as shown in Mara's book. Still, had there been no intervention from some power-hungry fool, it probably would have. Dekai-Ver continues reading in the hopes that the spell was documented.

"Before she left, she taught the heroes the ritual needed to perform the spell in the event that Mara may end up escaping somehow. She said 'To banish her, or any other evil spirit, you must obtain an item connected to said spirit and grind it up along with specific ingredients, depending on what sort of being you're facing. In Mara's case, the item must be ground up along with gold and soaked in wine. Once this is done, you must obtain a weapon similar to the one who cast the initial spell. Make sure the weapon in question is made of one of the rarest materials, a common variation will burn up during the incantation."

So a lance made of incredibly rare metal, Dekai-Ver figures.

"Plant the weapon into the ground, hard enough so that it cannot be easily taken out again. Finally, you must chant the incantation 'Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao' continuously. The evil spirit will weaken and, unless the ritual is interrupted, they will eventually become unable to resist the incantation's power and get sealed."

This. This is what Dekai-Ver had been looking for.

"I'm taking this book with me.", he says as he gets up. Mutran chuckles in sarcastic amusement.

"You dare mock me? Is there something you know that I do not?"

   "The tomes cannot leave the confines of this building. Multiple people have tried. Myself included."   

"What!? I'm not sure I'll be able to retain all of this information. I cannot keep coming back here "

   "..."   

"What is with your judgmental stare? I can tell you are judging me, even through that mask you wear."

   "Why don't you just write down the relevant information."   

Beat

"... would that work?"

   "As long as the original book stays here, yes."   

"I see. ... thank you."

Mutran chuckles, then spreads his wings and flies up.

   "I trust you have your business handled from here. Put those tomes back once you're done with them."   

He then flies off, leaving Dekai-Ver to start writing down everything he needs. It's only after he's done so that he realizes he doesn't remember where the exit is.

With an annoyed grunt, he starts searching for the exit. Despite that annoyance though, he hasn't felt this elated since he was a child, before everything and everyone he knew and loved was destroyed by that demon. He'd just need to gather the ingredients, find a fitting lance, and then he would be ready to seal Mara.

Something like this probably only works as a surprise attack though, and he realizes that. He'd only have one chance to make this work.

Bar

As Corrin watch Salazar go, Vladek may feel a slight little sting in his head. Nothing painful or that will peer into his personal history, memories or anything relevant (if he can assess that). And right after it happens, a certain bolt of lightning leap all the way to the sky, prompting the patrons, Foxy and Beruka aside, to peer outside to try to see where the cool action was happening. And to get away from the cool action as well, depending on that answer.

Luckily for them, it's just Thor elsewhere in Hub Centralis.

The citizen here sure are bold - from what I know, these bolts of lightning are hardly rare, Gunter says, walking up to Corrin's table from the left. Corrin turn to him while Salazar simply glance to his left, and suddenly move off his seat, not caring if he has to shove his way past Pyre. Hurray! A compulsion to go after Foxy! He says, getting off his seat and allowing Gunter to sit there, facing Corrin, and he gives his son a warm smile. You're brave to have settled there, Corrin.

Oh, Gunter! What a coincidence! Well... We've already met Foxy and Salazar literally the first bar we went to so I think we're just kind of lucky today! Corrin laughs, scratching the back of his head in wonder. He doesn't notice he's using his seemingly-nasty claw hand, letting the dagger-like claws remove his itch without taking his scalp along with it.

He then put that hand down on the table, lazily letting it rest aside, unconcerned with anyone seeing it.

Hm! I didn't take you for someone who'd believe in luck. Gunter says, blinking twice at the sight of Corrin's claw hand and then calmly peering over the menu. While there can be unforeseen consequences or happenstances, I believe that there is no such thing as luck. Only consequences from actions or events unpredicted, ancient or secret. When people attribute their sorrows or victory to fate or luck, it means they're deflecting their failures or minimizing their triumphs, thinking that both were set-up in advance by cosmic whims.

In truth, it's all a matter of various agendas and the results of said agenda. Which is why it is essential for someone to have full grasp and control over the situation around them before they take any action, lest they doom themselves to unforeseen consequences of actions they did not grasp.

It's why someone like Kenjaku triumph so often - he simply used his long life to control every agenda until there was none that could surprise him. Someone like Garon failed because he didn't.

Well, we did drop in as warriors from other worlds. Says Corrin, as someone who wasn't expecting to be doing something like taking Garon's defense. You almost sound admirative of Kenjaku there too...

Of course - but even then, this is no fate or luck. Merely particular far-reaching decisions, Gunter says. And no, do not worry, I was not praising Kenjaku. I was just pointing out why he's more dangerous than Garon - he has foresight, taking everything into account before proceeding. Garon's life was an impulsive one, and in the end, surely you'd agree he had well and truly turned all but the most doggedly loyal of Nohrians against him, right?

Well, that's true... Corrin says, although seemingly mostly because Gunter is saying it. He look around, as if wishing to look for something else to pivot the conversation to.

Gunter smiles, grabbing the menu and lightly shoving it aside with the tip of his fingers to lean on the table. All is a matter of decisions, control, and knowledge. Fate and luck are simply grand scapegoats. So long as we understand this, and that we understand that decisions are what drive the world forward, then it all become clearer.

Gunter's head turn to Vladek, with Corrin or an incoming waitress apparently not noticing this.

Wouldn't you agree?

Hi, what can I get for you, your friends and those lunatics who are going to carve a warpath through the dinner? Greets the waitress, flipping her notebook open and grabbing a pencil from her hair.

Water, please.

Huh. I guess dad got a bit soft in his old age. But I'm glad, I don't think that "Magma Vodka" is particularly good for his stomach.

... It might be stronger than whatever strong liquor you have in that restaurant. Corrin shrugs, glad to see that Gunter still felt confident even going into old age.

Black Inferno Vodka it is.

Huh, could I get some milk please? Gunter's eyes widen slightly and he laughs in slight surprise, prompting Corrin to tilt his head at him in light bafflement. I like milk...

I am just delighted to see that you haven't lost your taste for simpler drinks.

Elsewhere, Foxy's Noro-Noro beams blast off, freezing a bunch of patrons in their tracks in the restaurant. Beruka nabs a plate (so thoroughly emptied that it might as well have been cleaned) from the nearest table, ignoring the cry of protestation behind her as she jump over the clients, sticking to the ceiling for the briefest of second.

A briefest of second that could have become much longer (and humiliating), with Foxy anticipating her approach and blasting her with the Noro-Noro beams. Having seen them in action before, Beruka simply hold up the plate, and let the beams bounce off the plate into Foxy, paralyzing the pirate and freezing him in place.

Satisfied, Beruka jump off the ceiling and approach Foxy. With him paralyzed, she then fold her arms and wait.

I know damage accumulate while you're frozen. Don't give me any funny ideas.

Edited by Bolded1 on Apr 20th 2024 at 10:27:52 AM

Bad Guy Bar

Luna walks past the Bad Guy Bar, pausing to listen to the chaotic scene inside. Her curiosity got the best of her and she went in, making sure to stay near the entrance incase things get intense. She watches the scene, not really understanding what's going on.

Bar

Vladek winces for a moment. A sudden yet very brief burst of a headache? What happened? Most people would probably be able to connect the dots and realize someone's forced a peek into their mind, but Vladek is from a world where mind reading... isn't really something anyone can do. He doesn't know it's a thing. And as such he doesn't get suspicious over this.

The bolt of lightning doesn't startle him, though it does catch him off guard and causes him to look at the window. If something like that is a common thing that happens here, he'd have to be extra careful not to let others learn about his true intentions until he has everything he needs.

With a low 'hrm' he looks back at the gathered party, now listening in attentively. The old man seemed to know what he was talking about, especially when it comes about needing full control before acting. Being rash got Vladek defeated in his world each and every time he tried, and now he's in a world far more dangerous than his home.

He's briefly surprised when Gunter suddenly addresses him directly. However, thanks to his helmet that surprise isn't visible on his face. So instead he nods in agreement. No reason to pretend he wasn't listening to the conversation now, the old man clearly noticed or he wouldn't have asked him.

   "I would."   

He shakes his head when the waitress comes to take everyone's orders.

   "I have already had a drink earlier."   , he comments.

Anyhow, with Gunter now having acknowledged him and someone new (Luna) entering the bar (and thus being close to him), Vladek feels confident enough to approach him and Corrin just a little. He doesn't get too close just yet though.

   "May I ask the context of what you were discussing? It seems like something serious."   

Vladek may be a power-hungry conqueror and a backstabber, but he did start out as a royal knight, and he hasn't forgotten how to behave like one and speak with the professionalism expected of one.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 20th 2024 at 10:39:00 AM

Bar

Luna just watches with confusion on her face, not sure what is going on. She can hear what they're saying, but can't understand what they're talking about.

I don't know where this is...

>APPRAISE

Bar

A place where people eat and drink. Sells alcoholic beverages.

So, this is where people eat at? It looks kind of nice, minus how dark it is. I guess I should get something to eat. But, where is the food?

Luna walks up to a table, sitting on the ground.

I guess humans sit here. I'll wait here to see what happens.

Thor looks suitably taken aback by not only the Masked Man's reveal that G.E.M.'s new boss was holding Claus and Lucas' entire hometown hostage, but by Claus suddenly insulting Ninten for reasons he figured had to do with keeping him away out of fear of what the mysterious villain might potentially do.

"Damn it, Claus..."

He glances at Ninten.

"I hope you understand he didn't mean that," he says. "Claus is just hotheaded... and desperate."

With that, he takes to the air and begins flying straight towards the distant Tropqiue.

"Has no one among G.E.M.'s ranks even so much as questioned any of their new boss' orders? Surely, they can't all have been okay with the arsehole holding an entire bloody town of innocents hostage to make Lucas and Claus do their bidding."

-

"Thanks," Sylvie replies, looking appreciative.

Once they've finally reached Tropique, she drives the boat onto the beach and hops out to greet Krakua and the welcoming party, prompting Loki to follow suit.

"Worried the Assassins were going to try attacking your base from the sea, or is this some sort of customary greeting?"

"An entire welcoming committee? Oh, you shouldn't have," Loki chimes in, a goodnatured smirk on his face. [[Now, I assure you, if we were the Assassins, I suspect we would have arrived in something much dangerous than a simpler boat."]]

At the same time, Thor arrives at the island and touches down beside his fellow Asgardians.

"So..."

"We can talk once we're all inside, Loki."

Turning to Ishizu, Thor greets her with a slight wave.

"It's wonderful to see you again. I only wish the circumstances were considerably less dire," he says.

It's probably a little worrying that Ninten does not respond to what Thor says. When Thor then flies off, the last thing he'll see is the soldiers starting to come in. But Ninten can teleport, and the soldiers did specifically have their weapons in stun mode, so he should be fine.

Physically at least, given how unlike himself his behavior became in his anger. Regardless, Thor'll have to hope that Ninten will be alright.

-

Ninten doesn't spare as much of a glance towards the soldiers that arrived, eyes fixed on Claus.

"Looks like Thor flew off. It'll be safer to search the city now."

"But, uh... what do we do about him?"

Lucas looks back at the soldiers.

"Claus and I will make sure Ninten doesn't get in the way, we know how to deal with his psychic powers. So go!"

The soldiers aren't 100% sure yet, but they, as well as Lucas and Claus, are taken by surprise when Ninten swiftly takes out his bat and disappears into a 4th-D Slip, nearly instantly reappearing behind the twins and swinging at Claus, hitting him in the back of his helmeted head and knocking him on the ground.

Lucas immediately decides to make use of this situation.

"Now! Or we can't go all-out without hurting you!"

That's enough convincing for the soldiers, who quickly disperse to continue their search. Claus quickly hops back up and launches a bolt Ninten's way, forced to act defensively right now. But the bolt, upon hitting him, bounces back towards Claus thanks to the Franklin Badge, forcing him to dodge instinctively. Why exactly every part of his mind screamed at him to get out of the way of his own attack, he doesn't know.

He doesn't have time to think about it much because Ninten's back on him already, swinging his bat rapidly and forcing Claus to back off until Rope Snake wraps itself around Ninten's wrist and stops him.

"Look, Ninten, this is a really bad idea. You can't beat the both of us. You don't even have offense-based PSI to work with.", Lucas says, hoping to discourage Ninten and just make him leave angrily instead. That would be the best outcome for now, at least until they can actually tell him what's going on.

It has the opposite effect, because Ninten suddenly blips away, leaving Claus, Lucas and Rope Snake confused as hell before he reappears in front of Lucas and briefly floors him with a rather nasty baseball bat jab to the stomach, prompting Lucas to sit down on the ground and clutch said stomach.

"H-how the heck'd you do that? That wasn't a 4th-D Slip, you need to make a portal for that, right?"

"Not always.", is Ninten's sole response, after which he turns back to Claus and launches a PSI Paralysis his way. Claus takes to the air with his jetpack and Ninten quickly takes out another weapon, throwing it at Claus, though the red-headed boy dodges it.

"Ninten, you're seriously out of your league here. Go back before you get hurt!", Claus yells, trying to get him to see reason without looking suspicious in the process. Ninten just narrows his eyes, not looking even a single bit calmer.

"Too late for that, don't you think.", he growls.

Claus is about to say something else, only for Ninten's previously thrown weapon to suddenly strike his jetpack hard enough to damage it, making him spiral uncontrollably in the air as the weapon flies back to Ninten's hand. It was a Boomerang.

"I'll show you who's out of who's league."

—

Once they come ashore the Vahki stand around them in a circle, though none of them look like they'll attack. Ishizu is still a little unnerved though.

Krakua shakes his head at the small group.

"I happened to be outside on patrol with these Vahki and recognized Loki's voice long before you spotted me. I didn't recognize the other voices and became intrigued."

"You... wait, how did you..."

"I am a Toa of Sonics, allowing me to control sound in various ways. My mask also allows me to read minds and project my thoughts into another person's mind. Through either of those I would have known who was coming and would have been able to alert Pseudo in case of a threat. Speaking of which..."

His mask glows for a moment, after which he looks at Sylvie, Ishizu and baby Mattheo, the last of them looking curiously at Krakua and the Vahki. He obviously doesn't understand what they are, just that they're something he's never seen anything like before.

"Sylvie, Ishizu, Mattheo. A pleasure to meet you.", Krakua says as his mask stops glowing.

Ishizu is shocked, and Sylvie may be too. Krakua read their mind to find out their names and they won't have felt a thing.

"I only searched for your names.", he immediately reassures them, letting them know he didn't breach on any private thoughts.

Thor then arrives. Ishizu, while looking tired from this whole ordeal (who wouldn't be?), smiles back at Thor.

"Likewise. What a first way to meet in person instead of across a screen."

Mattheo tries to touch a Vahki and succeeds, resulting in a little baby giggle. The Vahki looks down at him but otherwise does nothing.

"Before we enter Pseudo's base, and speaking of your names... Mattheo, was it? What is he exactly? If he's dangerous, touching the Vahki risks setting them off. Not to mention I cannot let him into the base if he's a threat.", Krakua asks. He looks serious about that question, as if not knowing what a human baby is.

... actually, why would he know what a human baby is? The youngest humans he's seen are Tracey (Ness' sister) and potentially Minnie and Mimmie (Ninten's sisters), all of whom are around 10 years old at least. This would indeed be the first time he's ever seen an actual human baby.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 20th 2024 at 11:53:12 AM

Unnamed Town

Icarus is out on a stroll again, this time in Reprium. He's here to inform himself on the general state of the Arena - it's no use sitting in space all day and designing new devices, even if you're in touch with new friends from Rhodes Island. This place is still relevant, even to him, after all.

He's piloting an Explorer with quite a lot of Collapse Fluid based improvements. The thrusters previously embedded in his feet have been moved to his arms, which can now, at a moment's notice, reshape themselves into a high-stress carbon fiber wingsuit. Save for the handgun in his right arm, he's unarmed - but seeing as how the travel time between his airbase in Astil is less than five minutes, this doesn't matter much. He does have a thin roll of biodegradable plastic on board, ready to be printed on.

A notice catches his eye:

URGENT NOTICE

Strange flesh like beings have overtaken the town of Mithilheim and the forest nearby. Requesting all able-bodied adventurers to unite and combat this unknown threat!

REWARD: 10000G

The reward didn't matter much to him, but the prospect of restricting an invasive species - or, if unsuccessful, observing its development and spread - interest him. He appends a note on a plastic sheet.

I will attempt to document the spread and nature of these beings, and will append all of my findings on them on this noticeboard. - Icarus the Factory Designer

He also sends out a message to The Gas Station: Hey, apparently there's some invasive and very aggressive species here in Astil, I'm gonna try to find out more about them. If any of that sounds interesting to you folks, feel free to come down!

He then moves on, taking off towards...

Mithilheim

Where he perches on a rooftop, assessing the situation. Clearly, some people have already found their way here. Quickly, he notices the presence of others and lands next to the girl and the boy.

"Icarus, here to look over the flesh creature situationnnnnnnnn..."

He does a double take at "Harvey". The thing seemed... suspicious, to say the least. But the girl seemed to help in good faith, and looked like she had a grasp on it.

"Er, yeah, monitoring and potentially finding a tool against whatever took down this town. Are you alright, did anyone attack you?", he asks the boy.

He makes a note to set up wildlife cameras and nonlethal traps in the nearby forest - he'll definitely want to study the creatures' migratory patterns.

Following her brief moment of surprise at Krakua knowing her name before she's had a chance to introduce herself, Sylvie raises an eyebrow.

"He's... he's a baby. How in the Nine Realms could he possibly be a threat? The worst he can do is spit up on you," she remarks.

Thor, despite everything he's had to contend with in addition to this ordeal, nonetheless manages to offer Ishizu a slight smile.

"Indeed. But rest assured, you and your child will be completely safe here," he says.

Loki just chuckles at Krakua's apparent unfamiliarity with babies.

Claus had only just re-stabilized himself, and now he's dealing with potshots from Ninten, who keeps appearing near him to strike him with his bat before disappearing again to then reappear from a different side. It's happening so fast that Claus' tracking system can barely keep up. And the damage from the hits are starting to stack.

Getting somewhat frustrated, Claus starts channeling PSI Love, but that seems to have been what Ninten was waiting for, because the moment that psychic energy starts sparking around Claus, Ninten appears in front of him and hits him with a psychic technique. Once hit, Claus' PSI just trickles out. And not just from PSI Love, but in general, as even the psychic blade on his sword fizzles out immediately.

"Did you just block my PSI?"

Ninten doesn't respond, instead turning to Lucas (who's just gotten back up) and surprise-attacking him with PSI Block as well.

"Y-yeah, well, my sword and cannon may be useless now, but I still have a Keyb-"

Lucas immediately shakes his head no, probably feeling that summoning a Keyblade in front of Ninten right now is going to make him even more upset. But it's a bit too late; Claus has already subconsciously summoned it, and it appears by his side.

Surprisingly, Ninten doesn't look more angry upon the sight of it. Instead he shows a cold smile of bitter disgust for a moment, probably due to it responding to Claus even in a situation like this one. Claus stiffens, he had no idea Ninten was even capable of pulling off an expression like that one.

Ninten suddenly swings his bat hard, knocking the Keyblade out of Claus' hands. Yeah, they both know Claus can just will it back to his hand, but Ninten doesn't care right now. He goes for another swing attempt, but suddenly falls to the ground, held down by gravity. The gray energy spikes coming from Lucas' arm (formerly Metatron spikes) have increased the gravity around him in an attempt to keep him trapped.

"Ninten, just stay down now.", Lucas says, looking upset. He really doesn't want to fight Ninten, and he definitely doesn't want Ninten and Claus to continue fighting either. Ninten glances at Lucas, but then just blips away again, out of Lucas' hold.

"Is this seriously not gonna end until we knock each other out?", Claus asks nobody in particular, only to hear something coming from the si-

SMAAAAAASH!!!

"A... baby?", Krakua asks.

"Babies are newborn humans. Mattheo is only two years old right now."

"He's a human!? But he's so... small.", Krakua says, looking perplexed to an almost comical degree. Understandable given that even Matoran are nearly the size of adult humans, but still a little comical from everyone else's perspectives. It ends up making the atmosphere somewhat less tense in general since Ishizu can't help but chuckle just a bit too, alongside Loki.

"Rest assured, human babies are harmless."

"I suppose the Vahki would have attacked already otherwise.", Krakua mutters as he sees Mattheo tap the Vahki again, with it once again not responding. Does it even feel the touch, given how weak a baby's strength is?

"Regardless, let us enter the base. Is psychic teleportation safe for a newborn human?", Krakua asks as he takes out a transceiver.

"I... am not sure?"

"Right. So we should not tempt fate then. I don't quite trust Weber's dark powers either... I will ask Pseudo for advice on this."

He starts calling Pseudo. The Vahki, meanwhile, back off a bit and give the four some space. Mattheo returns to being interested in the tiara instead.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 20th 2024 at 1:46:04 PM

Parasite Town

With the boy seemingly being well in hand, Katakuri doesn't help him, since the others seem to be on the case. The odd menagerie doesn't seem to be really striking a chord with him, but he does raise an eyebrow. And he does wonder if the boy isn't infected, given the description of the enemy. Still, while Katakuri was an hardened fellow, capable of ignoring clear distress from a child, he thought better than trying to accuse or attack them yet.

He size up the newcomers as they introduce themselves. If these people were going to be his fighting fellows, Katakuri thought he could spare them a few explanations of his powers. He adjust his scarf on his mouth slightly.

It would be useful to have an idea of what each of us can do in battle. He says, figuring that saying "hello" first wasn't a priority. My name is Charlotte Katakuri. I can peer into the future of something I'm focusing on and both produce and manipulate mochi. If I warn you of something, you should listen. He says, sounding oddly prouder of his ability to use mochi of all things. I can also transform the surrounding area into Mochi. My control is precise enough that you will have room to fight and navigate but I find it fair to warn you first. A sudden shift of the battlefield can be distressing.

While Krakua is busy calling Pseudo, Thor looks down at Mattheo in Ishizu's arms.

"His name is Mattheo, you say? That's a good, strong name, if I do say so myself," he says.

"A shame Botar still has yet to be found. He would have had us inside before you could say 'suddenly, warping through space and time, Botar appears!'" Loki remarks.

"If he didn't give the baby a good scare by just appearing out of nowhere," Sylvie replies.

Pica-Verse

Previous

Sora gets knocked back, but he does a midair flip and instantly halts his momentum, letting him glide back in and take a few swings at the T. rex, ending with a Hurricane Blast.◊

Altina is torn. Evacuate the city or keep the kid safe, evacuate the city or keep the kid safe...

Then she notices Sora casually recovering from a tail slap and rushing back in. Her choice is made.

She plunges her twin swords into the ground, creating huge walls of golden and blue fire around the monster and those fighting it, hopefully ensuring it won't charge through the ring of flames to attack random civilians.

Makai

Previous

Peppino's Superball power-up ends. He looks down and gulps, but looks back and realizes he has nowhere to retreat to, forcing him to return to monke and beat this damn level as quick as he can.

I hate vine/rope swing levels so I decree Peppino aces it out of spite.

Confluence of Fates

Previous

"oh my gog stop ignoring meeeeeeeeeee"

Normally Reyna would be happy the monster's not targeting her, but given she has a somewhat personal beef with the 'Jiiva species, she is this close to busting out a trump card out of spite just to get Soulstealer to focus on her.

Instead, she shoots a pheromone pellet at Tera Soulstealer's tail, letting her Kinsect nibble away at it with bites that spread clouds of explosive powder.

Astil

Refia takes a quick step back. For a moment, she resembles the nervous little girl PC!Areui knew her as before.

"Understood," she says without hesitation.

"So essentially, you're my equivalent," Aura says to Kirue. He looks over at OG!Areui.

The envy is tangible, but unbecoming of an angel of Aura's station, so he holds his tongue.

"Now what are you doing here?" he hisses at PC!Areui.

Eric, who has held his tongue up till now, speaks first, expecting that an answer from PC!Areui would be laced with vitriol and only make things worse. "He learned about his counterpart and wanted to meet him."

Hyrule Castle Town

Bigby◊ is out enjoying a nice smoke break in the middle of bumfuck nowhere.

Well, that's a bit harsh. Hyrule feels a bit like home. Vast and empty. Just the way he likes it.

Also on the scene is fellow enforcer of justice, Ryu from Streets in his guise of the Crimson Hawk Ranger.◊

"What's with the weird getup?"

"It's a fighting uniform. It boosts the wearer's power."

"But...there's no one around to fight."

"I must always be ready for my next battle."

Edited by KiriK on Apr 20th 2024 at 7:17:19 AM

Corrin is hardly in a position where he can go and criticize anyone for looking evil considering his evil claw arm thing but Vladek does look kind of... erm, overwhelmingly evil. And he's not too sure about Gunter recruiting him. Because he could tell that Gunter was going to do so. Perhaps thinking he could subdue the armored man with his powers or just bravado.

But when dealing with a man who seemed to be as ancient as he was dangerous, Corrin thought he'd rather have Nicole or Anna as backup, and not someone whom he didn't know and who looked...... no, that was unfair. Vladek seemed polite. He shouldn't be acting as if Vladek was evil simply because of his dress code. For he knew that Gunter or Beruka, even himself, could be dismissed as evil off a glance too.

Glancing at Luna, Corrin hesitates briefly and offer her his hand, being just big enough to pick up the pokémon without making her uncomfortable. He didn't really know what or who she was but she looked to be hungry and, at the very very least, he couldn't really afford to let her out on the ground, where she could be accidentally stomped on by an unwary patron.

Here, I think it's safer for you next to me. He says, speaking rather softly, trying not to scare her away.

If he succeed in hoisting her up, he put her on the seat next to him.

I don't know if I could feed you something from the dinner. He doens't realize that maybe Luna can't understand him. So, huh...

We can! You just have to pay. Add the waitress, a glint in her eye. Can't promise you that it'll actually tell you what it want until it's right in front of it though. But we've got a lot of food for it if you want.

Gunter ignores the scene. He does give Corrin an approving (if slight) smile when he sees him picking up the creature, the young man looking glad at that.

We've found ourselves dealing with an ancient bodyjacking evil known as Kenjaku. It's all a rather complex matter - but to boil it down, we will need to play by Kenjaku's rules a little bit to properly subdue it. And I've been gathering potent allies to cover our bases when we will have to partake in some grand, twisted experiment he's set up in another world.

Gunter puts his elbows on the table, accidentally(?) finger-tenting.

I could tell you more. I can communicate information directly by thought - but I can understand that it might be a little bit off-putting to offer that out of the blue. I can only trust that my initial explanation is good enough on its own? Gunter says, resting his cheek on his fist.

Oh! And for Beruka... mywife hm... could you get her some milk too? Corrin asks the vendor.

She could use it. Gunter says, deadpan. Corrin chuckles despite himself and Gunter smirks, being amused to see Corrin promptly hold down on that laughter. I won't tell her you laughed. I wouldn't want you to perish! Gunter says, face twisting into a grimace. His way of laughing.

...

SWORDAMENT

Corrin dies at the hands of Nelo Angelo but he might be able to kill him back. Either way, it's not something he cares about immediately, spawning North-East of the map.

Grunting in annoyance, he rushes back to the center, not really getting there yet.

Adam is ready to argue further with Goemon by cutting him open to show him the damn difference, but, hey, Blade's calling out to him! He glances at her, frowns, and briefly look around before deducing that she must meant him.

Don't call people by their physical attributes, round-ears! Adam just straight-up rush at Blade, intending to get to her before Goemon. He drags the tip of his sword into the ground as he runs, then fling his sword upwards to throw the dirt and sparks at blade's face about one meter before he actually get to there, unless she goes and make a move of her own.

Being mindful of Goemon, he then raise his sword overhead and reflexively take two steps back, although he at first lurch forward to try to bait an attack or to prompt Blade to respond on reflex and attack the spot where he was. Then, knowing he can't hold the stance for long and leave his guts vulnerable, Adam try bringing Gram down on Blade, or Goemon, depending on who's closest.

Edited by Bolded1 on Apr 20th 2024 at 2:33:11 PM

Bar

Luna looks up at Corrin, confused for a bit, until he picked her up and places her on the table, which was much appreciated from her. She wrapped her tail around herself as she sat down on the chair, looking back at Corrin before turning to look around the bar from her spot, which was much higher than where she was on the floor.

|Thanks human.|

I hear food. Are they talking about food?

Luna wasn't to sure what exactly the group was talking about, having no experience with the human language before. All she could do is just pick up some words she understands.

There's lots of new smells in here... Humans, food, drinks... It's kind of making me hungry. Do humans just sit here then and get food or something?

Luna stares off, looking at some food and drinks that various customers have ordered. They look good to the Pokémon's eyes

Astil

"Your... oh, are you your world's Areui's brother?", Kirue asks. The regular Areui now looks Aura over as well. He's about to say something, but then halts when Aura (angrily) talks to PC!Areui, who shoots a glare back Aura's way. Eric really speaks up at the right moment, as PC!Areui glances at him for a moment, then smirks.

"That's right. I wanted to see how many similarities and differences we have. I got some surprises at least. Now, I would go back home like a good little boy-"

Like Hell he would.

"But I just agreed to help these poor souls deal with a potential threat to innocent lives. I'm a nice guy like that.", PC!Areui grins while walking over to Areui and Iris, putting one hand on one shoulder each. The two smile awkwardly, since it's pretty obvious PC!Areui's just trying to show off to Aura right now and they don't really want to say anything that might get them on the new guy's bad side.

The Deliderp finally catches up with them again. Completely ignorant of the current atmosphere, it waddles back to Iris and looks up at her, though she doesn't notice it yet.

Hyrule Castle Town

As if having tempted fate, all of a sudden there's a lot of noise coming their way. A quick glance at the nearby street would tell them why: there's a large trailer◊ coming their way, and fast too. Before they can even think of moving elsewhere it reaches their general location and stops. The obvious large door on the side has kanji on it, but unless either of them can read Japanese they won't know what it says.

The door then slowly opens upwards, releasing a crapton of smoke as a silhouette◊ becomes visible from within, letting Bigby and Ryu see what they're about to be dealing with, and...

it's probably not anything they could have expected to see◊.

   "Yeah, the cultural sensation of the Server Continent is back, alright! It's Etemon the King!"   

He crosses his arms and looks down at the two.

   "And I do say, what does it take to get an audience around here? First sign o' life I've seen since I got here and there's only two of you? Is everyone dead or somethin'? Cause lemme tell you peops that my performance can blow the life right back into your souls, babeh!"   

... Definitely not anything they could have expected to see.

(A) Black Hole Base, somewhere in the sea

"Sir Hawke! A report from our allies!", a Black Hole soldier◊ tells Hawke◊, handing him the report. He reads it over for a moment.

   "...!"   

He quickly goes over to the computers near him and contacts the main base. He gets Sturm◊ on the other end.

   "This better be news on where those unknown enemy soldiers' base is, Sturm."   

   "No, sir. This is most likely more important than that."   

   "... oh?"   

Bar

Vladek listens intently to Gunter's explanation. A body-swapping entity? Mind-reading powers? If he could attain powers such as those...

Well, perhaps he can. The dark powers already within him may just be able to steal such powers, granted that he'll get an opening to use them. But that would require that he join this mission. Would they be accepting of that?

   "It is indeed enough. Do you still require more allies? I am the most powerful knight my world has to offer. I am still new to this world, but you know what they say: it is never too early to forge strong alliances. If you allow me to join you, my powers shall be used to your benefit."   

Tropique

"Thank you.", she says to Thor, smiling a little again. She then turns to Loki.

"Botar... I remember hearing about him. I hope you find him again soon."

While it's not Botar, speaking of appearing out of nowhere, this thing◊ suddenly warps in right next to the group. Ishizu yelps in shock and backs off a bit.

"WHAT IS THE -ZZZT- MATTER? ... OH, I SEE. NONE OF YOU HAVE SEEN ME LIKE THIS BEFORE, HAVE YOU?" , the being asks.

"IT IS ME, LARICE. ONE OF NIIUE'S FRIENDS. I HAVE -ZZT- REGAINED THE UPGRADE I LOST UPON TRAVELING TO THE ARENA. THIS IS MY GHOST OF STARMAN DELUXE FORM."

"It was pretty surprising for us to see too when we returned not too long ago.", Krakua says as he looks back at the group. "Pseudo recommended him since his teleportation is not psychic in nature."

"IT, IN FACT, IS FUELED BY MY MECHANICAL BODY. HENCE: NO POTENTIAL SIDE-EFFECTS FOR YOUR CHILD. SHALL I BRING YOU INSIDE?"

"Erm...", Ishizu mutters, a little uncomfortable. He looks at the Asgardians as if to ask them if Larice is trustworthy.

Hub Centralis

Claus lies on the ground, groaning somewhat weakly. That SMASH!!! hit ended up cracking his helmet and letting some of the force through. His fake eye is cracked as well, and he's feeling blood trickling down the side of his head. He hopes he won't have a concussion after this.

After... uh... what exactly was he doing again?

He hears Lucas yelling his name, but it sounds blurry due to his daze. Someone's standing above him... is he holding something?

Oh, it's Ninten, with that black bat he got from Phoenix. Why's he holding it like th-

Claus snaps back to it, and everything comes rushing back to him. And he realizes that Ninten is about to strike with a bat that can conjure holy flames upon being swung. His eyes shrink in shock and fear. He glances to the side and finds Lucas being held down by PSI. Is Ninten doing that? When did his PSI get that strong?

Has it always been that strong and Claus hadn't been paying attention to what Ninten is actually capable of?

He looks back up at Ninten, who's glaring with such intensity that there's tears threatening to form in his eyes. There's already heat coming off of the bat. If Ninten takes that swing, Claus would be very badly burned, or perhaps even worse.

"..."

Ninten's arms shake a bit. He lets out a shaky breath, then slowly lowers his bat, the heat vanishing. Now that Claus can get a better look at him, he realizes that not only is Ninten's whole body shaking (not just his arms), but he's bleeding a bit from his nose and ears. PSI overuse?

Ninten's breathing is a bit ragged, and his face looks pained. Both emotionally and physically, and Claus realizes Ninten's probably on the verge of an asthma attack right now.

The silence between the two lasts only a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity to Claus. He wants to say something, anything at all, but what can he say that would soothe Ninten without putting his family at risk? His friends? The rest of the townspeople? Surely Thor would tell Ninten about this after, right? Everything would be alright again eventually, it'd just have to hurt right now.

Ninten suddenly moves, crouching a bit to be closer to Claus.

"You and I... are no longer friends."

Ninten's eyes narrow even further.

"Don't ever talk to me again."

Claus can't help but stare as his mind processes this. Ninten stands back upright and starts walking away without saying a thing, though he does release Lucas, who immediately gets back up and runs over to Claus.

"Claus, are you okay!?", he asks, worried. Claus, still in shock, doesn't even try to get back up. He lies there for a bit before slowly turning his head towards Lucas, pupils shaking a little.

"I... I screwed up... didn't I...?", he asks with a surprisingly weak tone of voice. Lucas doesn't know what to say in response, just looking as distraught as Claus probably feels right now as he starts trying to heal him with Life Up. The two soldiers knocked out by Thor awaken now, climbing out of the rubble and seeing the twins, though Ninten is already gone by this point. Lucas, upon seeing them, calls out to them.

"Bring us back to HQ! Some of Claus' mechanical parts are in urgent need of repairs! Please, quickly!"

Thankfully the soldiers don't ask questions or seem suspicious of the two. The fact that Claus has this much battle damage on him is proof enough for them that the twins played their part in this mission. As the soldiers go to pick him up, he still stares in front of him in silent shock as he can't help but think the same thing over and over again:

How do I fix this?

Church

Tilra raises A Pillow Of Winds, which is promptly peppered by Jack's shotgun spray of molten rock. Calmly, she takes a step back.

She isn't wholly sure what exactly is going on, but what she does know is that the longer it goes on, the more likely she is to fully cook what she's making ready. Her primary concern is Emma, who may be planning something similar at an adjacent rate.

With Emma outputting so much energy, though, the solution seems relatively self-explanatory to her.

   .One Of These Days.   

She thrusts her arms forward, and they quickly erupt into monstrous, beastly growths covered in snapping jaws, pouncing upon Emma. An emerald-green glow forms within the many maws, each creating a siphoning effect to devour excess energy that Emma sheds. The maws themselves bite to devour the energy straight from her body, converting it to a raw state before transferring it to Tilra if they can manage to get a hit.

The white light of Tilra's aura begins to glow brighter, and her aura expands in size, as the energy that she is collecting internally bleeds through into physical reality. The ruined and molten ground at her feet begins to softly dislodge as the gravity around her destabilizes.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Complete) - 7/10

Astil

Aura folds his arms. "And what would this threat be?"

"They're getting recruited to fight a sleazy god who put his hands in the wrong places."

Aura balks, then suddenly gives the human a Death Glare. "A sl—I should kill you where you stand, Eric Masters."

"Oh, you know my name, neat." Eric shuffles behind PC!Areui for cover.

Black Hole Base

To our allies in Black Hole, this is your comrades in the Principality of Belka.

We have intel suggesting Erusea has brought the facility Megalith to the Arena and has begun restoring it to operational capacity. Megalith is a superweapon several hundred square kilometers in surface area, loaded with intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying nuclear payloads. It is believed the Erusans have hidden it underground somewhere in Intrigue.

The threat of nuclear annihilation is nothing new. However, in addition to the appearance of Megalith, a Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism has been spotted moving through the sea around our territory as well as that of the Eruseans.

We trust you to make the right tactical decisions in this difficult period.

Castle Town

The Crimson Hawk Ranger grunts. "It's rare to see a large gathering of people in these parts."

• Count me out.
• What are you, an Elvis monkey?
• I'm interested.
• ...

Bigby folds his arms. "Okaaay... Not the strangest thing I've seen. Why not?"

Edited by KiriK on Apr 20th 2024 at 9:04:52 AM

The Asgardians are just as surprised when suddenly, warping through space and time, Larice appears. After a moment or two, Thor answers Ishizu's wordless question with a nod.

"Mattheo will be perfectly fine, Ishizu," he assures.

"Well... I thought I'd have to wait until Botar's return for a surprise like that," Loki says.

"You had to go and prod fate," Sylvie remarks.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Apr 20th 2024 at 7:21:37 AM

Astil

PC!Areui just glances at Eric when he hides behind him. Thankfully for Eric's nerves the fallen angel does not object.

"Hold on a second.", Iris suddenly speaks up, not intimidated at all (unlike Areui and Kirue). "I asked them for help because said god sent another, incredibly dangerous god to this place in an attempt to save his own ass. A lot, and I mean a lot of innocent lives were put at risk because of that, and whether we'll end up fighting that god to teach him a lesson or let him explain his actions, or both, that god deserves to be punished for what he put people through here."

She approaches Aura with crossed arms.

"It's likely a touchy subject for you since you are an angel, but surely you agree that we can't just sit here and let that god get away with it, right? We need as much help as possible in case we'll end up having to fight. Maybe we won't. We don't know. I'd love to punch him in the face at least. But we'll have to see. Either way, they should be allowed to help out if they want to."

Areui and Kirue glance at each other. This Aura guy seems like serious business, and while Areui might've been tempted to react in a similar way to Iris if his buttons were pushed, even he probably wouldn't have done so immediately. PC!Areui lets out an impressed whistle. And the Deliderp waddles to Iris again, this time hopping onto her back and climbing up a bit, its derpy little head now peeking at Refia and Aura from over her shoulder.

Black Hole Base

Sturm's eyes narrow.

   "Then we must destroy them before they can destroy us. Send this message to Belka: ready your troops, we shall soon strike Erusea with a full-blown pincer attack from our combined armies before they have a chance to deploy that superweapon. If they dare use their nuclear weaponry, they shall be engulfed along with them. Specific details on how and when to strike shall come soon, get all your soldiers ready in the meantime."   

   "I shall relay that message. But what about the aforementioned Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism?"   

   "Find it on the radar and prepare to send submarines and battleships at it. Have them survey whatever it may be, and if it dares move into our territory or try to get involved with our war, have them annihilate it with everything they have. Let it be a message to Erusea and everything else alike: those who dare resist Black Hole's power shall be eradicated from this world!"   

   "... shall I... add that part to the message?"   

   "Just add that we will handle the organism."   

Hyrule Town

   "Now that's what I like to hear! A little pre-applause for yours truly and his wonderful two-man audience, thank-you-very-much!"   , Etemon grins before actually clapping. He then readies his mic.

   "Ready your seats, kids, 'cause you'll never have witnessed a performance like mine before!"   

Love Serenade

Rock music starts blaring from the in-vehicle studio as Etemon begins to sing.

   "Yeaaaaah! Yeaaaaah! I'm the coolest cat there is and if you don't watch out, I'm gonna get'cha 'till you scream and shout! 'Cus I'm the hippest Digimon in town! Oh yeaaaaaaaaah~!"   

A strange sound-based energy wave starts emanating from Etemon that soon travels across the whole area the three are in. If Bigby and the Crimson Hawk Ranger listen to this sound, they'll start feeling pain and nausea, and covering their ears will not block the sound one bit either.

   "My little daaaaaaarlin'! Yeah! You think you're swell, you think you're cool, but now you'll be blueeeee... YEAH!"   

They'll feel as if their energy is being sapped from them, and all of a sudden (if they ended up listening to the sound waves) their bodies will forcefully turn back into their base form states, regardless of whether those states are weaker or stronger than they are right now.

Tropique

With that reassurance, Ishizu looks back at Larice and nods. Right as they're about to be transported a 4th-D Slip portal opens near them. Ninten steps out. He looks... angry. And troubled. And confused. And... like he feels betrayed.

"Ninten? You are back early. Did you not say you would spend the day in the town?", Krakua asks.

Ninten glances away.

"... I'm going to my room. Please tell the others not to bother me for the rest of the day. ... or tomorrow."

He doesn't sound nearly as pissed anymore as he did when Thor left him. Instead his voice sounds a bit hoarse (despite his lack of yelling or screaming), like he's trying to suppress an audible sob from breaking through. Which, in one way, is worse.

"You... I remember seeing you from the other side of the screen a few times. Are you alright?", Ishizu asks, concerned for the kid. Ninten looks at her for a moment.

"Are you alright?"

"Huh? ... um, yes, thanks to them. But-"

"Then that's all that matters.", Ninten says with a tone of finality. He clearly doesn't want to talk about the way he's feeling... which is starting to feel like a concerning trend.

"WORRY NOT, NINTEN. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO -ZZT- REST SOON." , Larice says, mistaking the way his voice sounds for exhaustion. Ninten just nods, and Larice then zaps all of them (save for Krakua and the Vahki) into the main computer room. The fact that Ishizu and Mattheo didn't have to go through the hall to be scanned means Pseudo was likely told about the baby. After all, who knows if going through such a scan is healthy for a child this young.

Speaking of Pseudo, he awaits them there.

"Welcome. It's been a while. You've brought two new faces, I see. And as for Sylvie, I believe this is the first time you've visited my base?", he asks.

He then notices Ninten's expression and pauses.

"... did... something happen?"

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 20th 2024 at 5:04:04 PM

Once they've been teleported into the base and gathered in the computer room, Sylvie takes a look around at the facility's interior.

"Nice place," she says, nodding to answer Pseudo's question.

"Just... give him time to cool off, Pseudo," Thor says. "It's been a very long day for quite a few of us."

"Which is why we've come here, actually," Loki adds.

Bar

Luna looks around, admiring the food that she saw. Thinking that she should get something, Luna turns to look at the waitress.

|Hey, uh... What do you have to eat?|

Luna was hoping that the waitress could understand her.

I'm just assuming that the bar uses the TV Tropes Café menu.

Edited by ThatBlindGamer on Apr 20th 2024 at 10:51:44 AM

Trying to recover from his recent exertion and thus not able to respond right away, Jack fails to fully dodge Arlina's light spear, piercing through his head and emerging from his back. Going by the sound of metal crunching and the sight of mangled components inside his torso, his defenses are waning along with his power output. Energy and smoke pours out from the open head wound. In a lesser state, or if he were a lesser being, he would be decisively deceased by now.

And yet he still holds on, even as the cumulative injuries escalate further, his body visibly on the verge of total breakdown.

   {...I didn't expect to live this long. Maybe I could've...}   

He moves his monologue inward, not wanting to be perceived as having regrets. The radiant glow in his eyes dims too, though it doesn't fully fade yet.

   <...I could've won this if I didn't get careless. I was healing from everything, and the other fighters seem unwilling to use full-body disintegration attacks... Did they stop attacking and try to talk things out because they knew I'd push myself further into combat in response? Or did they just think it was hopeless while I could still mend the damage? Or were they genuine...>   

Jack grapples with some very complicated emotions for a while, standing in place and not doing anything in a way that briefly makes it look like he died on his feet. Then he suddenly whirs back to life, lingering in the air for a moment while performing a backflip. A card falls out of his pocket - the business card from earlier. After landing again, the battlescarred green-glowing man surveys his opponents briefly. Emma's the closest so he does naturally end up facing her, but the message he sounds out is for Arlina and Tilra to hear too.

   {I don't know who'll win here, but remember to take that card of mine with you. It'll be your only guarantee of finding me again. And whenever we meet, tell me that I used Contingency Plan M. Should make things go a lot smoother.}   

Then, he closes his eyes and begins powering up as much as he can still muster - a pale shadow of his peak self, but still enough to be a considerable threat to someone. Green light pours forth from the multitude of wounds all over his body, the wounds growing larger as burnt ashen flakes spill away into the air. By now, it'd be more accurate to see him as a cluster of energy that happens to have (part of) a body, rather than as another fighter.

Whatever Jack does next, even if it's ultimately nothing of note, he WILL die doing it.

As they enter the remains of the town, Mercer-06 and his accompanying guards look around, all on guard. Given they're all masked, it's impossible to read their facial expressions in full, but in Mercer's eyes at least, whatever happened to the place represents an atrocity. The main man reaches down to his hip, keeping his grip on the fireman's knife there, while the other two keep their primary weapons on hand.

"This certainly looks like the town on that warning. But that's weird - if it's been overrun, then where did the flesh monsters go...?"

They then hear the sniffling from the middle of town. It puts Mercer visibly on edge, though the other two don't seem to react. The trio cautiously advance, one guard keeping his attention left while the other keeps his attention right, Mercer himself able to focus his attention directly forward. Given they were somewhat late to arrive, they see...

The crying boy. The strange girl. Harvey the vaguely-alien-bug-thing. Icarus, perched on a roof. And Katakuri. All in all, quite an odd gathering of beings. The AK-12 wielding masked trooper suddenly turns his head towards Mercer.

   "Commander. Wildlife behavior atypical. Possible infection."   

Mercer turns and nods at the AK-12 wielder, then turns his attention back to the gathered people. He advances a few steps, but is overall keeping himself just far enough away that he'll have time to react if anything happens. The other two soldiers advance with him, turning to cover his blind spots and training their AK-12 and HZ-12 on anything that moves in too threatening a manner. Since the only lead available is the crying boy, who was presumably a resident of this village, Mercer focuses primarily on him.

"You there, local civilian. Do you recall what happened?"

Pandemonium. That's all that the encounter can really be described as. The Crawlers don't have the strength to properly contend with the arachnid abomination, so even despite their numerical superiority, the vast majority get put down too quickly to achieve anything.

The one exception is the Albino Crawler, not because it's got any particular hidden strength, but because upon experiencing summary execution, some specialized organ within its body is ruptured and releases a cloud of corrosive gas. Under the cover of the gas and aware that they stand no chance, a few Crawler specimens with a bit more self-preservation instinct than usual manage to slip away.

Nonetheless, between one Primitive Arachnida and a shipment of over a hundred Crawlers, that is a very decisive victory for the one. And a worrying amount of free concentrated biomass handed over to the parasite infestation.