Asriel hesitated a moment. Part of it was the oddness of Mao's lack of reaction. But then...maybe that tied into the Contractor mentality. Which meant that he'd probably get more of a reaction from the next big revelation. Or two.
"...those first two questions are...a bit complicated to answer...I-I'll just tell you how it happened, give you some context." Another deep breath. "I called for help right after I got over the shock. I couldn’t feel my arms or my legs… My entire body had been turned into a flower! I was so scared. 'Mom! Dad! Somebody help me!' I called out...but nobody came… Eventually, Dad found me, crying in the garden. I explained what had happened to him. Then he held me, Mao. He held me with tears in his eyes, saying… 'There, there. Everything is going to be alright.' He was so...emotional. But...for some reason...I didn’t feel anything at all.
"I soon realised I didn’t feel anything about anyone. My compassion had disappeared! And believe me, it’s not like I wasn’t trying. I wasted weeks with Dad, vainly hoping I would feel something. But it became too much for me. I ran away from home. Eventually, I reached the Ruins. Inside, I found my Mom. I thought of all people, SHE could make me feel whole again..." Asriel smiled weakly. "She failed. Ha ha…"
He slumped in his seat. "No one could help me. I became despondent. I just wanted to love someone. I just wanted to care about someone. Eventually, I decided… It wasn’t worth living anymore. Not in a world without love. Not in a world without Chara. So...I decided to go where they’d gone. I would erase myself from existence. And you know what? I succeeded. But as I left this mortal coil...I started to feel apprehensive. If you don’t have a soul, what happens when you…?"
Asriel straightened up, looking around, as if reliving the experience. "Something primal started to burn inside me. 'No,' I thought, 'I don’t want to die!' ...Then I woke up. Like it was all just a bad dream. I was back at the garden, back before I'd seen Mom or Dad again...back at my 'save point.' Interested, I decided to experiment. Again and again, I brought myself to the edge of death. At any point, I could have let the world continue on without me. But as long as I was determined to live, I could go back. It was...amazing..."
Asriel stared into space, a strange smile playing on his lips.
Edited by LizardOfAus on Sep 15th 2018 at 10:20:30 AM
It kind of sounded like he wanted to do it to meet lots of new people and visit exciting places, but Koishi did just that without helping anyone. All the time! Unbeknownst to her she'd really just been wandering Gensokyo randomly and meeting the same few people over and over again, but what's unbeknownst will probably remain that way.
If it wasn't that, maybe he found it fun? Utsuho and Rin look like they have a lot of fun helping Satori around the house n' stuff. But, just like before, Koishi had plenty of fun by herself.
Also...sometimes helping out her big sister meant doing boring stuff. Like...moving stuff around. Sitting still for five minutes. Not paying Utsuho handsomely to eat the stuff she doesn't like.
She did come up with a conclusion, though! Still flopped on the bed, seeming comfortable enough to remain here for the rest of her life, she said "Helping people and getting popular's pretty cool, I know. I got popular once! Everyone recognized me and stuff when I walked around town, people even gave me free food."
Koishi raised a finger to her lip in thought. "Though...why did I stop being popular again?"
Eh, probably doesn't matter.
"But if you wanna be like this hero guy so much," she asked Majora, "did he come with you to this new world? You could just ask him!"
Edited by wikkit on Sep 15th 2018 at 6:55:57 AM
Tatsu glanced at his friend as they stood before the sign, looking thoughtful. "What do you think? Path is trapped or maybe outside of the path is? Can you feel anything?"
Alfred shook his head, brow lightly furrowed. "No, at least nothing in the floor nearby. I think it might just be another weird puzzle like the last room. Look," He pointed further across the room and over the bridge, where several levers could be seen down the far wall's length. "more of the same levers. And it's another pathway as well like the last one."
The dark-haired captain nodded as he started moving further into the room and over the first bridge, heading for the closest lever. As he walked, he noted the fairly blatant pathway as it lead directly to the first lever and then onwards down the room's length. As he stopped in front of it, Alfred continued on towards the two levers at the end of the room.
Tatsu leaned forward curiously and brushed a hand over remnants of writing of some sort on the wall, before simply reaching out and pulling it down with a clunk. Then he moved to catch up with his friend, calling out. "Alfred. Is there faded writing around one of those?"
"There is." The young teen confirmed with a nod and a brief glance. "Looks like someone wrote down the right choices and then scrubbed it away. But why?" He looked down at the purple path he was standing on, which ended right in front of only one of the levers. "It's not like it was hard to figure out."
The young captain shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm not complaining. Pull that one and lets keep moving." He fell silent for a moment, his head cocked towards the hallway beyond the spikes. In a quieter voice he said, "I think I can hear voices ahead."
Nodding, Alfred pulled the lever and watched as the spikes disappeared into the floor. Pulling one of his rifles from his back, the young soldier began to move forward in time with his friend and out of the room.
Lucha Libre goddess
Paradise Island—Downtown—Fastest rescue ever
The queen of the Amazons looked at Link with an emotionless expression. "You're noble. But being aggressive with guests, like she was with your friend, and defying my orders is unacceptable."
Hypolyta looked through grabbed the amulet and crushed it with her two hands until mere pieces of glass fell. Link might be able to notice how the queen's breath became slow and slower and her face was all red. “Circe” She frowned.
Thanks to link's effort's the illusion would be shattered and the face of the creepy woman that was bothering him earlier would blur until it has revealed it was someone else entirely.
◊ Donna Troy!
Donna went flying towards the hero of Hyrule, trying to glomp him. “Thank you!” She would attempt to hug Link with the strength of a bear and smile that went ear to ear. "I felt like I had a gag in my mouth. I couldn't remember anything not even who I was. Circe cursed me because I overheard her plans. She is helping some invaders to kill our queen" she said. The Amazon princess put her hand in her brow. "I didn't even remember who I was."
The queen stepped in. "Our young heroine is looking for a guide. Perhaps you could be her guide," the queen said to Donna.
"It's the least I could," Donna replied with a smile.
One Amazon would arrive running a whisper something at he hear. "Young Zelda, I was informed by the old shift captain that they didn't see the masked man you describe. It's possible he might have been helped to pass our defenses. I'm afraid the end of your quest might not be in our land."
She walked looking at the vast amount of trees, the sound of the waterfalls beyond and the marble statues around ."It's a shame you won't be able to stay. But you will be welcome if you decide to ever visit us"
"Nevertheless, you have my gratitude. I would also like to invite you to stay the night. There will be a tournament in the Coliseum and you are invited as a guest of honor."
One blond amazon would cross her arms and said to Link and Tatl. "It would be a grave insult not to go"
"You're welcome to stay the night, to stay for the feast, and replenish your strength before you part. For you will always have my thanks for being wise enough to see what others couldn't."
Edited by FallenLegend on Sep 16th 2018 at 3:03:11 AM
Make your hearth shine through the darkest night; let it transform hate into kindness, evil into justice, and loneliness into love.
Calamity is a housewife
Sin Kiske and Ramlethal Valentine, City 17
Nyarly was getting pissed. The good news was that it meant that he was losing his cool, something Sin always relished in when it came to dealing with bad guys. The bad news was that Breen was now in serious danger.
Like 'every single Shadow in the vicinity is targeting him' danger.
He and Ramlethal began cutting through the Shadows one by one, intending to make their way to Breen.
Sin batted one into the ground, shocked another into submission, and used a burst of magic energy to barrel through a small crowd of them with Ride the Lightning. Ramlethal was shearing through groups of Shadows with her great-swords and downing the ones that got close to her with acrobatic kicks.
And despite their kill-counts rising, they found themselves little to no closer to Breen's location. The Shadows came too fast, too numerous.
"Getting a bit hairy here!"
"Keep going! We just need to protect him for a moment longer!"
"Shake the dust." - Anis Mojgani
Underground, Dreemurr Residence: How Much RAM's in A Flower?
Mao turned back to the Monster Prince as he described his lack of emotions, and watched as the story darkened along with Asriel's face. When he ended this leg of the tale with that haunting little smile, the cat broke his silence.
"I'm...I'm sorry."
Was that it? Was that all his experience living in another skin had to offer? No, no. He could relate to this, it was just...it was just that smile. It didn't register as an expression of happiness. It was a lack of something, a yearning.
A hunger.
Mao could imagine that look on a (human) serial killer, but seeing that smile on a little kid...it sent a shiver up his spine. He broke the spell by turning his eyes away; it was only then that he noticed his claws were poking little holes in the comforter.
"When you live in a body so different from your own, nothing feels completely right. It's like moving in to a hotel after your house burned down: you can try to make yourself as comfortable as you want, but there's not much you can control. It lacks so much of what made home home, and most of the time there's not a damn thing you can do to change that.
"Flowers don't feel anything, so your ability to feel anything's all but gone. It's shocking to hear how you spent your time, but to be honest...it's not surprising. You were exercising what little control of that hotel room you had. At least the staff weren't threatening to evict you at any time."
He paused to quietly kick himself for those murmurs. The comparison between he and Asriel was growing impressive, which made the shrinking contrasts all the more noticeable and infuriating. He didn't want to talk about himself when the kid was getting everything off his chest. Then again, Asriel was being open and honest with him; might as well return the favor.
"I'm a body snatcher. My Contractor abilities allow me to possess the body of any animal within eyesight, but that doesn't mean my host's a good fit. I've still got a human consciousness, after all; most animals aren't intelligent enough to feed something like that."
He turned back to Asriel and twitched his right ear, the one with a sliver of metal clamped to it.
"Do you know what this little thing on my ear is? It's a special computer connected to a server that helps compensate for what a cat's brain lacks. It's what allows me to stay in this body indefinitely, but it still requires maintenance and software updates. If I don't regularly download data packages, the cat's consciousness takes over. It's happened a few times over the years, and I can guess it's not unlike your experiments as the flower. The biggest differences being that I've got a feline roommate to worry about, and that I've got no 'save points' to fall back to. If this little chip stops working, that's it. No more Mao."
The Contractor closed his eyes and sighed. "But I'm getting off topic. So when the Underground arrived on Battleworld, I assume you were still in the body of that flower, right?"
Former Hell, Koishi's Bedroom: "We're Uhh...in A Bit of A Rough Patch in Our Relationship"
Koishi's well-intended advice only made the masked child uncomfortable. He rubbed the side of his arm, turning his eyes anywhere but at his playmate.
"...he doesn't like me very much." Majora confessed. "He thinks I'm bad because I don't look like him, or anybody else he likes. I don't have a body of my own—not a real one—and back home, that makes people scared. They think it's spooky, and that I'm a ghost or a demon that's up to no good."
The mask's eyes rose to meet Koishi's, before Majora suddenly sprung off the bed like a gymnast.
"But that's why I like it here! Nobody judges me because of what I look like. I showed the nice man at the entrance that this body doesn't have a face, and he just smiled and let me in! And then you were fine with what I really am! It feels great not feeling like I have to hide everything about me—it lets me focus on what I wanna do!"
What Majora wanted to do must've crossed its mind in a sad way, because all its gleeful energy iced away before Koishi's eyes.
"...Koishi?" it asked, its eyes turned to the carpet. "...would you be mad if I asked you how to leave this big cave? I love playing with you, but...if I'm gonna be a hero, I can't hide in here forever..."
It quivered for a moment, clearly afraid that broken its new friend's heart.
Themiscrya, Down Town: Party With the Amazons!
"Waa—!"
Princess Donna's sudden embrace/smothering hold caught Link entirely off guard. He had just a moment to let out a cry of surprise before the grateful Amazon chose to gratefully break his spine. Fortunately for his cover, the boy was a little too young and a little too worried about being crushed to think much about having his face pressed against Donna's chest.
As always, Tatl focused on what was important: the fact that Majora's Mask had yet to be seen. "I don't doubt your guards, Your Highness, but an eye witness told us the masked boy came through your portal. He's a tricky person to catch, so I wouldn't be surprised if he slipped through without anyone noticing; maybe during the shift of the guards. We ought to keep looking here."
When the princess released him (and the feeling came back to his limbs) Link could focus on what was even more important: the promise of free food and fun! His face lit up with the invitation, and he whipped his head towards Tatl with nested hands and a pleading pout.
Tatl was a breath away from telling her easily-distracted partner that now was not the time for games, but the blonde amazon's note on etiquette stopped her. If they refused and stuck around Themiscrya, they'd be insulting the whole city. Fat chance they'd get much help after that.
"I guess we can spend the night here. Just keep us posted if the masked boy's spotted—he's really dangerous."
Link cheered, and hopped back onto Epona's back.
"Just try not to do something stupid, Zelda." the fairy warned. "We wouldn't want to anger our hosts by breaking their customs."
The little hero nodded with a nervous chuckle. Okay, so no bathing in the river or peeing standing up. Guess the masks were off-limits too, since Darmani and Mikau didn't wear shirts.
So turning to Donna, Link gave the princess a big grin, and followed her into the city.
Edited by TheodoreHastings on Sep 16th 2018 at 3:02:18 AM
Mao relating troubles of his own brought Asriel back to earth. Especially the part where he said one little chip stood between him and mind erasure. "...Mao...I'm so sorry..."
"R-Right. Stuck as a flower, with no cathected emotions, and the ability to hop back through time. At first, I used my powers for good. I went around calling myself 'Flowey the Flower', a cutesy little name to get people to trust me immediately. I became 'friends' with everyone. I solved all their problems flawlessly. And it was pretty fun...for a while. As time repeated, people proved themselves predictable. What would this person say if I gave them this? What would they do if I said this to them. Once you know the answer, that’s it. That’s all they...seem to be."
Asriel's empty stare returned. "Then after a while...I got curious." Asriel gripped the bedsheets, bunching them up in his hands. "Curious...what would happen...if I killed them." He jerked upright. "I knew I didn’t like it, even then. I was just doing it because I 'had' to see what happened. But eventually...I stopped believing that. I convinced myself that it felt 'liberating' to act that way. This, from a literal soulless monster who couldn't actually feel anything…" He glanced aside scornfully at this, as he brought his knee up on the bed to hug it. "...but it wasn’t just from boredom, either. I was haunted by the memories of how I died...how I didn’t stop myself from dying. I hated myself for not fighting back, for not taking any souls myself, for letting everyone down...especially Chara. Because of that, I decided that being kind to others only got you hurt. That in this world...it’s kill or be killed."
Asriel shifted uncomfortably, and turned his haunted stare back to the wall in front of him. "In time, I did everything my little world had to offer. I'd read every book, I'd burned every book. I'd won every game, I’d lost every game. I'd appeased everyone...I’d killed everyone. Sets of numbers, lines of dialogue, I'd seen them all...except for one thing. The human souls Dad kept locked away." Once again, he seemed to be reliving the moment, getting more and more excited. "After hundreds of tries to get to them...I finally had the perfect plan. I'd found a way to get past Dad, steal seven human souls, and become like a god. Maybe I’d set everyone free, let them see what humanity was 'really' like. Maybe I’d erase everything, and fool about in the wastes. Maybe I'd turn back time all the way, and be with Chara forever But then, right when I was about to hatch the plan, right before the final blow was struck...suddenly everything changed."
He went quiet again, back in the present moment, back as a scared little boy.
"I was in a room I’d never been in before. I could feel my arms, my legs, my body, I was ME again. Dad was there, standing behind me with tears in his eyes...and I could FEEL something for him again. It should have been the happiest moment of my life. But...but now...these past few days, I’ve been trying to get back to my life like nothing was wrong. Like everything between my death and battleworld never even happened." Asriel trembled, and began to choke back the tears. "But I...I’ve got all these memories now. Memories of being stripped of myself. Of being this soulless...heartless thing...memories of making friends with everyone...and then killing everyone! A-A-And I know they didn’t happen anymore. I know I'd erased all those timelines. I know it wasn’t really 'me' doing all those horrible terrible things, but...but they still 'happened', you know? Even if they didn’t happen?" He grabbed at his head. "All those nightmares, they’re still locked in my brain, even if no one else remembers them, and that thing that I was is still stuck inside and I...I...I don’t know how to deal with that! I don’t know what to do about it…What to feel about it…"
Asriel curled up over the side of the bed, and sobbed gently for a spell or two...
"Mao...Contractors...don't feel anything, for anyone...do they?"
What? This wasn't something that Koishi recognized. It felt a little like happiness, that little light feeling of something lifting up your heart, but...different. But, it also felt melancholic, too. In a way that she hadn't ever felt.
...or, had she? It must've been a long time ago.
Koishi placed her hand on his shoulder. In a remarkably calm and quiet voice, she told him "Maybe we can get him to like you...or maybe I can just teach you instead, but...I'll help, either way."
Of course, with Majora wanting to leave, this gave her a prime opportunity to aid him right now. This was because, for once, she knew exactly what she could do!
Her smile and enthusiasm immediately reappeared, like nothing had ever happened. "Oh! Of course!" She slid off the bed and onto her feet, quickly grabbing at something within her pocket, which was an old, brown, crumpled and torn paper
◊ that she immediately shoved into Majora's hands.
...and then pulled it back immediately.
"Oh wait, wait, wait, that's where I draw reminder stuff, uhhh..." She flipped the paper over, and then presented the correct side
◊ to Majora like it was a real accomplishment.
She first pointed at the shape that most vaguely resembled the manor they were in, and said "Okay, we're here, so you want to go along the long part of the cave, and go to the center of town... while drawing an imaginary line towards about where that shape that might've been a bridge was.
"...You know, where you got here? Go right past that, and the entrance to the cave's there, just don't talk to the people that live there because they're not nice."
Following that line leading to a crude mountain with her finger, she concluded "Then you go up, and you're at the surface!"
She hesitated for a moment, though, before moving her finger back towards her house.
"...Ooooorrrr...it's a secret, so don't tell anyone. If you go to the courtyard, where there's a circular well-y thing? You go down that, along the long edge of the part with the fire, then go inside and up when you see the metal stuff."
Her finger traveled down to "OKUU'S PLACE" and skyrocketed all the way up and off the edge of the paper. "That way's a secret way. You might get burned up super hard if you're not careful...but it's faster, and you'll be at the top of the mountain. It's pretty up there."
"...But, uhh, either way, you make sure you can come back, okay?" She looked up from the map and at the mask, with pleading eyes. "You come back soon, or maybe you tell me where I can visit you!"
She then turned to Elisa, who she had probably totally scared while she wasn't looking. She did see the police around her threatening to kill her on the spot for the mere act of hunching over, so surely she had given Elisa and Matt a good spook behind her back.
"Don't worry, I'm still just fine, and I wouldn't think about doing anything to him," Ozen said to Elisa, not catching the note of annoyance in her voice. "Sometimes, I just so happen to look like that."
"But now...let's not waste any more resources of your police department. Let's go meet Xanatos."
And so she went to leave for the Common Room.
Where she didn't meet Xanatos.
In fact, she plainly didn't even see Xanatos in that room, or any sign of him.
After about four minutes of searching, including once underneath the main table of the room, she gave up. She had skipped breakfast, so it was time for that.
Elisa and Matt weren't invited.
Over the chaos of the fighting, Breen yelled.
"Get together now, unless you want to be left behind!"
Electricity started to spark from above the desk. A swift kick from Dante sent Vergil flying across the room, where he flipped, landing on his feet. Yet, in the last moments, his gaze would be focused not on Dante, but on Minako.
WORTHLESS PEONS! MOVE!
Nyarly's form started to smash through the wave of shadows, starting to morph and shift into something that was unrecognizable, save for the fact that it was clearly not human.
"Hang on!" Breen yelled as his finger smashed into the final key, and suddenly, a large ball of electricity surrounded the group, before a strike of lightning signaled their departure.
And then they were all back in the Common Room, facing the portal to City 17.
"Oh.....Oh god, I.....I'm still..."
And then Breen fell directly toward the floor, clearly completely out of energy between the stress of the day and his advanced age. A loud clapping would be heard, and those who bothered to look would see The Cure sitting on his throne, clapping.
"A wonderful show. Highly amusing. It is about time he started getting serious. I am looking forward to much more to come."
Meanwhile, Dante, who had ended up next to Sypha after the transfer, turned around as someone approached.
"Sypha. Belnades." an angry voice spoke.
"Oh, hey Lady. What're you doing here? Thought you had a job?"
Lady, for her part, looked about ready to shoot someone, arms crossed and her shades discarded so she could give her full glare towards the people she was currently deeply unhappy with.
"Finished with that a while ago. I had to hear about everything I missed secondhand from Nero."
"Well, you know, you were busy, and-"
Lady cut him off with a raised hand, focusing on Sypha.
"You went headfirst into a warzone. You knew that thing was here, you knew he was baiting you into going. You and everyone you brought with you could have died. And you couldn't even call me? Shoot me a text message, tell me what was going on? You don't think I wouldn't have come running to help you if you asked, job be damned? I've been sitting here for the past hour worried sick, debating if I had to go charging in to see if I had to retrieve some bodies when my phone calls wouldn't go through!"
From the floor, Breen spoke. Signal jammer....standard practice when rebel attacks happen
"I expected this kind of recklessness from him-" Her finger jabbed as hard as she could into Dante's chest. "-But I thought I could have counted on you to be smarter, Sypha!
Dante shrugged. "Come on, give me some credit, Lady. Why do you think I went? I wasn't going to let the kids get hurt."
"This isen't about you! Even you have your limits! And speaking of, where the hell is Vergil!?"
Dante reached back, scratching his head. "Er, well, about that...."
Lady, clearly having said her piece, stood with her arms crossed, waiting for one of them to speak.
Edited by Meanken on Sep 16th 2018 at 3:46:37 AM
Underground, Dreemurr Residence: If Only Cats Could Give Hugs
Unwavering, Mao stared at the traumatized child as he confessed the results of his little experiment; the effects of being God in a world that would not and could not truly change...until one day, it did. He felt something hot in the pit of his stomach, something that made him feel ill. Perhaps for the first time in years, the Contractor hated that his feline tear ducts were only good for getting dust out of his eyes.
"It's not that simple." Mao sighed after Asriel's murmured question. "I feel things just like anyone else, and that means I can feel things for anyone else as well. I'm concerned about Yin's injury. I hate that Huang won't lighten up on calling me a 'freak.' And I pity you, Asriel. Nobody should have to go through what you have.
"What makes Contractors different from humans is perspective: we see the world through a different lens, one that I've never seen switched out for any other, except for one special case. You could think of it like waking up from a dream you had tricked yourself to believe was real, or like going to sleep as a child and waking up as an adult. The way a Contractor thinks compared to humans or Monsters isn't better or worse. It's just different, and it only becomes tragic if you try longing for something you can't have."
The cat kept a low, somber, but decisively calm tone; not unlike a parent who understands what their child is going through, but lacks the power to make that pain go away.
The bell on Mao's collar jingled as he stepped along the bed to sit beside Asriel's head. "So here's what my cold, rational, Contractor brain's telling me: first, you're a deeply traumatized kid who can't relate what you've experienced to anyone in the Underground—that makes you feel isolated. Second, even though you could hit the 'reset' button whenever you wanted, you now lack whatever power you had as 'Flowey the Flower'—that must make you feel helpless, and weak. Finally, now that you've recovered your feelings, the first thing going through your head is regret over what you did when you didn't care about anyone—that makes you feel overwhelming guilt.
"There's no easy way to say this, Asriel: what you've done is going to stay with you for the rest of your life. There might not be consequences for the other Monsters, but I don't see any way to wish away all your memories as Flowey—not without help from the Cure, and that would involve telling everything to your father. From what you've told me, you didn't ask for any of this, but then again it's not like Yin asked to be a Doll or I asked to be a Contractor. That's just life, and there's nothing you can do about it."
The cat's tone shifted to something softer, almost kind.
"But none of that means you have to keep those memories to yourself, either. Talking to someone about your time as Flowey is going to help you move past it."
Mao paused, and glanced at the door.
"Tell you what: I'm going to let Huang know that I'll be spending the night over here. He can grumble all he wants, but long as your dad has his cell phone number there's no excuse for not keeping in contact. You and I can spend some time talking about Flowey; I'll even toss in some of the things I'm not proud of, so you don't feel like this is an inquisition. What do you think?"
Former Hell, Koishi's Bed Room: Off To A New (Radioactive) Adventure!
Had Majora truly had a heart (and was not simple heart-shaped), it would have jumped for joy. The bridge it had dreaded to be burned was as solid as a rock.
"I'll come back to visit you!" it blubbered, extending a cold, pulseless pinkie to form a sacred pact with Koishi. "I promise!"
It meant it, too. What was first an entertaining diversion had turned into an incredible opportunity. It couldn't know for what, but Majora sensed that Koishi could make a marvelous puppet someday—when the mask could be sure that green-sporting brat had lost its trail.
So as Koishi guided the masked child through the labyrinthine mansion to the courtyard, Majora pondered what else this strange new world had to offer. What kind of people inhabited the cut-up shapes on that big shiny globe? Where did they live? What were they like? Would it meet creatures like itself? Would it really want to meet creatures like itself? So far from learning the answers to these questions, the possibilities truly did seem endless...
So with a final wave to its new (and only living) friend, Majora flew down the well towards freedom.
Common Room
Kyoko looked up at Misaki as she revealed that sometimes, just sometimes, a good deed is repaid back. Well, kind of - in the grand scheme of things, she wouldn’t have considered exerting all that extra time and effort and exposure to danger in exchange for a phone number to be a good deal.
She looked at the offered piece of paper for a couple moments before sighing. Still...take the breaks as they come, right? With a swift swipe Kyoko took the paper into her hand, giving it a quick look-over before stuffing it into a pocket. “Doesn’t sound like you’re the head honcho of everything there, just some low-level cops that don’t have superpowers.”
Giving the fellow androgynous human a nod of commiseration (and wondering what was up with the place that had three of such people in the same place already), Astolfo cheerfully willed away the cold metal gauntlet cladding his hand so Toriel wouldn't be uncomfortable and held her hands while pattering across the 'dangerous' puzzles. All in all it looked like a rather heartwearming scene straight out of a Ghibli movie.
Vampire Hunter
Sypha, Alucard, Grant, & Trevor, Common Room
At the moment, Sypha was far more afraid of Lady than she ever was afraid of creatures of the night, but she tried to steel herself so as to explain to Lady.
"And what was I supposed to do? Let the demon build up an army of his own in City 17?!" Sypha asked Lady, "It was a choice between that or risk walking into a trap."
"Right before we left, the demon had convinced a Contractor to try to assassinate their friend," Sypha waved her hand at Ruby and Weiss. "Imagine what he could do with an entire army under his thrall!"
"I also had Dante and Alucard with me," Sypha explained to Lady before turning to Minako and Dante in turn, as if blaming them for Vergil. "And I thought we had Vergil under control, but apparently, we were wrong about that!"
"And more than that... You are good, but I did not want to risk either your life on what ended up being a trap," Sypha continued, sighing. "Nagi needs you."
"In any case, it was not this guy's army that gave us trouble," Sypha rubbed the bridge of her nose, really wanting to kick Dr. Breen while he was on the floor, but couldn't because he did save them and it was the Common Room. "Nyarlathotep summoned his own army of what he called Shadows... We did not know he could even do that!"
"Unfortunately, that means you were right, and we cannot just charge right in after him again," Sypha sighed as she crossed her arms and looked down at her feet.
Meanwhile, Alucard was frantically scanning the room which left Trevor, who had been in the Common Room since the disastrous meeting with Havoc, and Grant, who had arrived there with Lady and Nagi because of Sypha being in trouble, looking concerned.
"What's wrong?" It was Grant who asked him, while he crouched on a chair. Both he and Trevor were happy to see Sypha alive.
"Carmilla has disappeared," Alucard said completely annoyed about what happened with her.
"That vampiric b—" Grant began, before Trevor yelled at him.
"Grant, there are children here!" Trevor replied as he noted, not only Nagi's presence, but also B.B. Hood close to the argument between Lady, Sypha, and Dante as if trying to size up Lady's arsenal to her own.
"Yes... I believe she may have tried to betray us like Vergil," Alucard explained to Trevor and Grant.
"Really, ya brought her—" Grant began before Trevor interrupted him again.
"We have another situation right now, one that I am wary of speaking about here," Trevor said as he mimed using a whip and pointed out where the Vampire Killer should have been.
"I see... My father," Alucard's eyes narrowed at Trevor, knowing exactly what he was saying. "It seems even the presence of my mother here on Battleworld has not stopped his scheming."
"Oh man, this is bad!" Grant summarized the entire situation.
Wizard Needs Food Badly
Lady's angry gaze softened a bit after Sypha mentioned not wanting to put her in danger and Nagi. She shook her head once Sypha finished.
"That wasn't your call to make." She said, at the very least no longer yelling. "Like it or not, we're all wrapped up in this. Least you forget, he targeted me first, before anyone even knew about him, to get to you. This isen't a problem any of us can just hide from, or hope is going to go away. And until this thing is well and truly dead, everyone on this planet is in danger, in one way or another."
She reached forward, placing her hands on Sypha's shoulders.
"I appreciate what you were trying to do. But just like you were concerned for my safety, I was concerned for yours. Like it or not, we both accepted the risks long ago. We have to accept that, and trust each other. We have to understand our limits, and know when we have to bite the bullet and call in help. Do you understand?"
Meanwhile, over at the portal, two figures that would be familiar to the group of people stepped through.
"There you lot are. Apologies for being late, between the additional air reinforcements that showed up after you left and the stone spell that blocked the hole, twas quite impossible for even a pilot of my skill and good looks to break through on time." Balthier said as he entered. "Fortunately..."
"It is as I said, a great disturbance emanated from within the tower of steel, and then their essences all vanished as one." Fran said, hot on his heels. "And this disturbance on the ground had a similar feel to it.
"It seems your hunch paid off. Now then..." Balthier started looking around the room. "Where are my new crew members?! Sans, Papyrus, report!"
The aftermath of the fight was, in contrast to everything leading up to it, anticlimatic. The army of shadows, befit of targets, started to all melt back into the black goop which they formed from, goop that rapidly vanished into the shadows that they came from. Within a mere minute or two, only Nyarly, Vergil, and Carmilla stood in the room. Nyarly did not say anything at first, his face, still Breen's, unreadable. The Vergil stepped up to him, ignoring Carmilla.
"Well?"
He turned to Vergil. You failed to fulfill the terms of my offer. The man still lives. Thus, you will not be receiving what you wish from me. Not today. Other chances to prove yourself worthy, however, will come.
He then looked over at Carmilla.
Tell me, woman. How does it feel? To be free of the pack of fools you were bound to, free of dancing around the vampire lord you served while seeking your own ends, free of the chains which once bound you? Is it not liberating, to be able to discard your mask?
Vampire Hunter
Carmilla, City 17
"Personally, I have always... enjoyed wearing masks," Carmilla chuckled at her own personal joke as she moved a hand as if she was putting on a mask. "But you will certainly be a better master than the Count, so... yes, I feel liberated."
"I do regret that accursed son of his getting in the way, though," Carmilla added, angry with herself for going too slow with the assassination of hers. "But that is my fault."
Wizard Needs Food Badly
Hiriko - Chaldea Mess Hall
"Ah, most informative," Hiriko said with a slight blush while the AI saved the video for future reference. She made a few minor adjustments to her technique before continuing to eat."Hopefully it does not require the full year for my hands to be as nimble and graceful as your own," she added to Nitocris, pointing the chopsticks at her hands for a brief moment.
"Well, the hour is getting late, I suppose I'll need to return to my spaceship once again and get ready for bed. My troops will have worked out a schedule of shifts to allow for working continuously around the clock, so we shall see what progress they could have made by then."
Vampire Hunter
Sypha, Common Room
"Yeah, I'll wait for you next time, but only if you will talk me out of any stupid idea," Sypha nodded to Lady, before turning to see Balthier and Fran and looking apologetic. "We are sorry we had to leave you back there, but I am glad you two are alright."
"And... welcome to the Common Room," she waved her hand about the room. "I am sure someone else can fill you in on the details because some of us need baths."
Sypha remembered the whole adventure through City 17's sewers, and knew they all needed baths, except for Balthier, Fran, Papyrus, Sans and Dr. Breen. ...Okay, Dr. Breen might also need a bath as well.
Wizard Needs Food Badly
Lady smirked at Sypha's request. "Oh, no need to worry about that, I've done that more then once with Dante. You go ahead and get yourself cleaned up and rested, we'll talk tomorrow. There's something else I need to deal with."
Lady let Sypha go and turned, and Sypha might be able to catch Lady's return to extreme anger as she faced Minako.
"Now then, young lady, we need to have a serious talk." She said as she started stomping toward Minako. "What the hell were you thinking? First you go and challenge Vergil, probably one of the deadliest swordsmen on this planet, to one on one combat, placing yourself at dire risk of dying without any support, but then you manage to beat him, and then rather then kill him or try to throw him in a cell or.....anything else, you tried to force him to work for you? And you trusted him not to stab you in the back?"
"I'm sure he mentioned Dante more then once, did it never once cross your mind to call me, or him, or come see us and let us know what was going on? We could have came, told you what it was you were dealing with, warned you that nothing he says can be trusted, that he would betray you the second he decided you were no longer worth his time...."
Lady halted her rant, taking a second to breath. "But now it's too late, he's already done exactly what he always does! And now he's working with that thing, who knows, he could have been working with it the whole time! I spoke with a man today who confirmed to me that Vergil was in Ikebukuro at the same time that the thing we're all hunting was making that terror message on their internet, busying himself by cutting his way through a whole stronghold of Yakuza! Who's to say he didn't recruit him then, offer him up power in return for his services? The whole thing with him losing to you could easily have been a setup for him to get close to you and learn what you were doing, how much we all knew, or who knows what else!"
"And now? Now he's gotten away again, and now he's working directly with that thing! Who knows how much damage he'll cause, how many people he's going to kill, what he'll do before we can locate him again! If you had just acted responsibly, called people who know what they're doing, didn't just assume you knew best, we could have stopped him by now! What do you have to say for yourself!?"
Tatsu and Alfred passed through a long room, marked by a path-like discolouration wiggling across the floor. On a nearby wall, a plaque said "The western room is the eastern room's blueprint." Then came the room with the floor laden with spikes. The sound of voices continued to echo ahead.
"There we are, safe and sound," said Toriel, as the trio cleared the spikes and proceeded onwards down a remarkably lengthy hallway. "If you are a little worn out from that excitement, there is a room up ahead with some pieces of candy. We can take a short break to pick one, if you like. Just one, though."
Chara stifled a mischievous giggle.
"Really? That's a shame," said Asgore, carrying over a couple cups of golden flower tea. "I certainly hope the Cure made sure you all had a good place to rest your head. The 'NOL', you say?"
Asriel sniffled, and rubbed his snout on his sleeve with a teary smile. "I think I'd like that..." he said, "You know, Flowey would've hated being pitied over this. I guess...I'm just glad that there's somebody who understands. That I don't have to suffer in silence anymore."
"here," said a slouching Sans raising his hand.
"PRRRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR, CAPTAIN BALTHIER SIR!" said Papyrus as he stood to attention, clicked his heels and saluted so fast his hand wiggled from the momentum.
Did you know this section has a character limit?
RWJNPR? JNPRRW? PWRNJR? Ooh, I Like That One - Common Room
"Oh hey, Ruby and Weiss just appeared from a ball of lightning."
"...is that a common occurrence here?"
"To my knowledge, this would be the first time."
"What do I get the feeling it's not gonna be the last?"
As the quartet rushed their way over to their friends, Ruby instead found something that had immediately caught her eye. She wandered straight past the the approaching JNPR, who were momentarily confused until they saw what had transfixed her.
"Two pistols, small caliber; two sub-machine guns, probably the same calibre; sawed-off double-barrel shotgun; projected energy pistol; oh my gosh is that a coilgun?!" Ruby exclaimed after a sustained period of mumbling. "And a micromissile battery on the back of your rocket launcher! Oh that is so awesome! You're awesome!"
Realizing she was probably coming off as weird, Ruby tried to nonchalantly lean on her scythe and look cool.
She failed.
"I'm Ruby!" She exclaimed, just a little bit too forcefully. "Sorry, I'm interrupting something, aren't I, but I just couldn't help myself! How do you carry so many weapons? Why do you carry so many weapons? No, no, I don't care. Did you build them yourself? I mean, it wouldn't be any less awesome if you didn't but I haven't found anyone who builds their own stuff here so far and it would be so cool to talk about all the differences in technology and-"
"Ruby!"
"Gah!" Ruby was shocked out of verbal diarrhea by Weiss coming up behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"My apologies if she's bothering you, miss. She... likes weapons a little bit too much."
"I'm not the expert though, that's Yang. She managed to fold down a shotgun mechanism and forearm-length gauntlets into a pair of bracelets- I should stop now." She trailed off as Weiss sent another glare her way.
They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!
This post was thumped by the Codfish in a Derby Hat
"Ah, there you are!" Balthier said as they appeared. "I don't recall telling you two to jump in after everyone else, but it's going to work out in the long run for our paycheck, so I'll forgive you. Next time, however, let me know first before you pull a stunt like that. Now, time to collect, I'll be right back.
Balthier walked away, and Fran looked the two monsters over.
"To leap into the unknown, heedless of the dangers that await....tis the mark of great courage...or the mark of a great fool."
Meanwhile, Balthier walked over to Alucard.
"I'm here to collect on the other half of the fee, as agreed. While we were not able to complete the pickup, we still took you up, distracted those ship things outside, and two of my crewmembers selflessly volunteered to accompany you on your quest and help you complete it, which is still ground enough to expect payment, I feel."
Nyarly smirked again. Good to hear. Now, let us speak not of the past, but the future. I already have a safe house of sorts set up for you, out of the way, in a relatively new land where you will be able to blend in with the locals. I already have one person there, a sad, pathatic exquse of a person who has recently been taught a lesson in following orders as stated, and not deviating on personal whims. Yet, I believe with proper, direct supervision, she may still be of use, and so she continues to draw breath for now. Treat her as you will, but refrain from killing or maiming her for now.
"I am not a babysitter for your pet humans." Vergil said, clearly not happy.
You will endulge me in this, Son of Sparda, if you expect to gain anything from this arrangement. Vergil shook his head, still annoyed, but said no more. Nyarly extended his hand, and a black portal appeared. Go, then. Equip yourself as needed, the land you are going to has many shops which sell all manner of gear and magic, and you have been provided some of the local currency in the safehouse for that purpose. Acclmate yourself, and when I have need of you, I will find you.
Vergil stepped through the portal, which waited for Carmilla.
Assuming she went through, and did not remain to ask Nyarly another question...
The two would find themselves inside a decently furished house foyer. Probably not as grand as Carmilla was used to within Dracula's castle, but it could have been a lot crappier. Vergil took a moment to look around, before locking his eyes on Carmilla.
"So. A vampire? And how did you end up working with that pack of fools and children?"
Edited by Meanken on Sep 22nd 2018 at 6:17:15 AM
Underground, Dreemurr Residence: Sleepover!
Mao nodded, and tried to smile as much as his feline face would allow. So after Asriel opened the door for him, and after a brief (yet heated) private argument with Huang, and finally with an even more brief (and far more pleasant) request to Asgore to spend the night, the matter was settled. Asriel and Mao would have plenty of time to talk about Flowey.
Mao hadn't lied when he said he pitied the Monster Prince. Living through something that...incredible, must've left some deep scars on the kid's psyche. He also hadn't lied about how talking about Flowey—addressing the memories that now haunted him—would be an effective way to move past that traumatizing stage of his life.
Though just because Mao hadn't lied didn't mean he'd told the full truth. There was another reason why the Contractor wanted to hear about the Flowey days, and their effects on Asriel; a reason that frankly had nothing to do with the Monster Prince aside from similarity. Watching Asriel explain his anguish over years of hitting the 'reset' button rang a bell. It reminded Mao of that phone call in the truck, listening to another person with a similar power confess her own feelings about it all—and about how part of her longed to have that power back.
If Mao could understand Asriel's story, it'd be a great step towards understanding Amber's.
Common Room: "I Don't Own the Place, I Just Pretend To!"
Misaki didn't take offense to Kyoko's criticism; after all, it wasn't without merit.
"It's true," she chuckled, "I'm not the Queen of Hell's Gate Tokyo. Though I wouldn't call Section Four 'low-level.' Before Battleworld, our job was to investigate Contractor incidents—not unlike the one you experienced today, judging from the sound of it. I think we can agree that walking into unknown terrain without a clear exit's a bad idea; thanks for clearing one for my friend."
As the band of Demon Hunters emerged in a flash of light, Misaki's attention turned to the rescuers...and their lack of a certain blue-coated swordsman. She asked Kyoko to excuse her, and approached the Lady she'd encountered on the Death Star.
Listening in on the conversation proved useful. Misaki knew about Vergil's presence in Ikebukuro because she was there when he lost the fight to Minako. Though it seems this Lady was still missing a few pieces.
"It sounds unlikely they've been working together before now." Misaki replied a few feet behind Lady. "Up until yesterday, Vergil's M.O. seemed to be to wander from state to state and slaughter anyone who stood in his way. He killed Yakuza in Ikebukuro, but he also killed police officers in Hell's Gate Tokyo, and threatened to harm demons in New Hell. It doesn't seem to matter who or what bothers him; from what we've gathered, Vergil kills indiscriminately.
"Meanwhile, the demon is much more precise, and focuses on crushing morale rather than killing people directly. It has more variety in its forms of attack, but also chooses when and where to strike. Apart from that, there's the fact that Vergil had two whole days to kill Miss Arisato or anyone else in the SEES, but he didn't. If he's been working with the demon since Ikebukuro, he's doing a terrible job."
The Section Chief stepped forward to speak with Lady face-to-face. "This morning, I told your associates at Devil May Cry that Vergil was working with the SEES; they didn't believe me at first, though I imagine that's one of the reasons why Dante accepted the invitation into City 17."
For half a second, Misaki's eyes fell on Minako. She couldn't agree more with what Lady was saying, but what good would parroting her do? Sheltering that cop-killer had been Strike 2 for the SEES, and now they were paying the price for it without Tokyo needing to take action. Misaki couldn't stop April from bursting a blood vessel yelling at the Fool, but she could at least refuse to contribute.
"What matters right now is finding Vergil as soon as possible." the Section Chief stated, eyes back to Lady. "I'm not a fighter like the rest of you, but I can gather some resources to help catch this bastard."
Coming a stop at the plaque, Tatsu glanced from it, to the spike-laden room just ahead, and then to his friend. "Another follow the path one, huh. Whoever made these ran out of ideas pretty quick it seems. Come on, they're close now."
After a moment of memorizing the layout of the path in the first room, the young captain lead the way towards the spike-filled area with his hand on the hilt of his sword. The two were ready for a fight, should the owners of the voices be the ones they were looking for. Tatsu stopped briefly in slight surprise as when he approached the start of the path the spikes retreated into the floor. He had wondered just what was going to happen when they got close. Though, looking at them, while he couldn't spot any blood he was suspicious of what just might happen once they actually stepped onto the place. It would be a pretty sneaky trap to have them pop back up and impale someone walking over it when they least expected it.
But did that really fit with what they had ran into so far? They had seemed more like puzzles for fun, or a minor inconvenience at most. To suddenly turn violent would be strange. Or just another trick.
"Alfred. Can you tell if the spikes will pop back up if we step onto it?" Tatsu asked after a moment, glancing at the older boy.
He shook his head after a moment, face set in faint concentration. "No, I don't think so. But I know how to make sure."
Suddenly there was a faint metal groan and crunch from under their feet, as the older teen disabled the spike trap with his powers. "There, now it won't pop up at all."
The two quickly moved through the room in this manner, following the path laid out in the previous room as Alfred disabled every set of spikes that popped down as they approached them.
Common Room: Kyoko Rolled on Community Chest and Got A 'Get Out of Jail Free' Card!
Well, dirty blonde hair and a red jacket wasn't much to go on, but it was enough: this kid was Kono's mystery hero.
"His name is Yutaka Kono," Misaki smiled. "And yes, I'm his boss. He was sent to your neck of the woods to investigate the area, nearly lost his life in there to something he couldn't really describe. Looks like I've you to thank for saving him."
The section chief reached into her jacket pocket and retrieved a pen and notepad.
"I should introduce myself." she said, scribbling something down on the paper. "My name's Misaki Kirihara, and apart from being a section chief in Public Security, I'm also the chosen delegate for Hell's Gate Tokyo. This role has given me some influence over how the city's run on Battleworld; specifically, in its security and determining friend from foe."
Misaki ripped off the scrap of paper from the notepad, folded it in half, and offered it to Kyoko.
"This is my cell phone number. If you need anything from me, or want to return to Hell's Gate Tokyo, give me a call. There's some places even I can't grant permission to enter, but I can at least take the bite out of April's threats."
Mushroom Kingdom, Portal Area: It's Like A Tissue Box!
Apart from easing the slight hunger sensation, Jai felt the even slighter ache in his neck loosen up. The magical fungus had relieved the terrible pains brought on by essentially adopting the sleep cycle of a cat.
Moving over to the map station, Jai took a copy for himself. Then, after noticing how the pile of maps didn't change in the slightest, he took another. Again, no change.
"Cool." he blinked, then took another map. And another. And another. And another. And many many more until he had a stack so large he had to tuck them under his armpit.
Before entering the green pipe towards parts unknown, the stranger turned back to the Tutoritoad, and gave the imprisoned NPC a short wave.
"See ya."
Underground, Dreemurr Residence: Not Quite the Reaction This News Warrants...
There it was. Another example of living on after death in arguably the most frustrating form possible: in a body that didn't belong to you. Had he not lived through four days of Battleworld unpredictability—had he not crossed paths with someone back on his world who also shared his fate—this news might have taken this reveal with more surprise.
Instead, Mao simply turned his head from Asriel to the door in front of them.
"If you don't want the king to know about this, I assume he doesn't know about this. How long were you trapped in the body of a flower? Did you call for help?"