"Lying is wrong. I can't give my True Name because Servants promise to uphold secrecy as much as possible in that regard and my given alias had already been ingrained within my Spirit Origin so that's the only possible recourse when they ask who I am." Saying that with a rather straight face while continuing to uphold her majestic crossed hands laying atop the hilt of her sword planted in the earth posture, Nobukita somehow looked like she was having a bit of fun despite how straightlaced her overall appearance was.
After the resultant wild rodeo that occurred after Skull Kid got on without any warning (much bucking and screeching was to be had there), the hippogriff eventually settled down after Astolfo patted the irate beast down with great care and whispers, the proud animal reluctantly letting the two other kiddos who looked like bad news onto its back before Astolfo hopped on as well. "Now then, just show me the way! Onward to adventure!" And then the party animal (hue) flew off with gravity defying momentum, hurtling through the air with roller coaster tiered adrenaline pumping speed.
"Well then ladies, it's time to go Platinum." Cheerfully waving to Kobayashi and the synths before blowing them a goodbye air kiss, Ahri all but hustled her group on into the cab before taking a seat for herself the shotgun passenger seat while waiting for the ride to begin.
"Well now, Mr. Driver... care to tell an out of towner how it works in the big city?~" Living and breathing the playful tease lifestyle, the vixen now opted for a more unfiltered view of the city that came from the locals. Government people often tended to 'clean up' their information by a fair margin after all so a more raw taste was of pertinent interest for the moment. It was best to collect a wider pool of information after all.
A flurry of sign languages fluttered back and forth between the skull wearing Assassins for a moment, mostly cropping up as 'You must be losing your touch' and some rather choice expletives as Hundred Faced Hassan's various personalities poked fun at a certain Zayd the Base.
After enough getting dunked on, the disgruntled persona held up an old fashioned blow tube to his mouth before shooting out a tranquilizer dart towards the fleeing bandito while making usage of the gunfire to mask the much more quiet but telltale sound of his own projectile.
All the while Da Vinci was simply watching the proceedings from her chair with the trademarked Gendo Pose in effect. Turning her head towards the nice if somewhat poorly named Private, the Renaissance woman gave a large bag of special chocolates
on over to the soldier. "Here's something as thanks for helping out. They're made out of premium ingredients and there's a hundred different pieces to enjoy the various makes and flavors."
"I am Ni- Medjed Caster!" Shaking her head at the last moment to hastily hide her secret identity, the purple haired Egyptian responded with obvious pride and a huff of her somewhat lacking chest even as two dimensional memes popped out from behind her back and out of her hair to give their own gimlet stares back to the genie. "And you're obviously from a different pantheon! At least in my world..."
Edited by Makaioh on Jan 23rd 2019 at 10:04:52 AM
Eternal Princess
Lukic sneered at the man. The nerve! To come to these halls and insult them by treating them as helpless damsels! Perhaps she should teach him this old lesson first...perhaps turn him into a frog and have him squirm under her bony thump.
Finnelan put a hand on the crone's shoulder to get the older woman to calm down. While Finnelan by her own admittance was quite old fashion, Lukic seemed to still try to cultivate the image of witches pre-witch hunts. In fact, with how long witches live, it was entirely possible Lukic was from such a period of time. She never thought to ask, it never seemed polite, though now she had to wonder.
Finnelan let out an exasperated sigh under her breath. Between Lukic's eccentricities, Badcock's thoughts traveling some odd path that she could only fathom, Pisces head completely else where, and Holbrooke not taking the matter nearly as serious as it was, she was starting to feel like she was going to have to shoulder the lions share of this burden. Ironically, it seemed Croix was proving to be one of the more dependable teachers in the room despite their contrasting world views. Ofcourse, she always had young miss Cavendish to help.
Diana perked up at Tsuichi's interruption. She remained stoic as she spoke out in that dignified tone of hers.
"You speak as if the two are mutually exclusive states of mind."
With another wave of her wand she began to again write out several scenarios in the air.
"Simply, attacking Luna Nova would be a poor tactical decision no matter how you look at it. If he is desperate as you say, then to survive this ordeal would require careful maintenance of available resources to utilize them to their full effect. Reallocating resources for unnecessary endeavors is ill advised. While low risk raids is certainly a possibility, as Lukic explained, Luna Nova is surround by the Arcturus on all sides. Small incursions into our land would result with them contending with the fiercely territorial and powerful creatures of the forest. They would have to traverse through several miles of hostile terrain before threat to Luna Nova becomes a reality.
While the idea of destroying the forest is again a possibility, the resources and effort would simply be too costly, especially if one were to assume him to be desperate as you say. That is assuming such tactics prove even effective in the first place. The Arcturus is a place of old and powerful magic that has stood the test of time. Both the fauna and flora there have proven themselves particular resilient. While I am thankful to say that we have no history of attempts of using chemical warfare against the forest, the number of creatures whose defense mechanisms include being able to cover wide areas with fire from an exhalation make the idea of trying to burn down forest dubious. It simply would have already were it a viable strategy.
However, even with the threat of Agent Orange, alchemy is among the many specialties of this school. Creating a counter agent or simply stimulating the already voracious growth of the Arcturus vegetation to undo damage would be a simple task. The results would be an incredible lost of resources and time with nothing to show for it but a forest of powerful and angry mythical creatures now actively hostile to your presence.
Ultimately, on the grand scale, Luna Nova is neither a priority target nor a particularly tempting one. There is no spoils to be had that can aid in a war effort and the land is both hostile and overgrown. The mere act of moving troops and equipment through the forest presents more problems then it is worth. It simply would be a foolish decision to attack Luna Nova.
This, ironically, brings me to concur with Mr. Nishijima despite our contrasting reasoning. The current state of Outworld should be one where direct action is not currently needed. We should be able to avoid confrontation while only adhering to a healthy amount of observation for changes in behavior that may demand immediate reaction."
Badcock, Finnelan, and Holbrooke just nodded along, trying to make sense of all the information. Diana let out a small sigh as if taking a breath for the next part in her little monologue.
"While some of the scenario's presented can be seen as the imaginings of Ms. Tsuichi, they are none the less a possibility and should be considered so. Unless entirely incompetent that they are liable to miss an entire forest, Outworld knows it has a new neighbor with no need for input on our part. If merely knowing our existence is all it takes to ensure hostilities, then the ability to avoid confrontation may already be out of our hands. I would like to think that Shao Kahn would be one to come to the same conclusion as I have and instead concentrate his efforts on more pressing matters, but it seems Mr. Nishijima here does not believe that to be the case.
Reguardless, for us know what is the appropriate action to take requires us to know the situation as it truly is. More information imperative."
She looked at the two visitors with her icy blue eyes in the dignified stoic nature of an aristocrat. She recognized a politician when she saw one, she had become quite familiar fangs hidden behind smiles. Even if she found them distasteful, they can be useful. Lord Hanbridge had been great financier of the school despite never believing in magic. She trusted that this man had ulterior motives, but she was having trouble understanding what. He was sending mixed signals.
The comment about not wanting to spy was particularly perplexing. She wasn't sure if Nishijima was just trying to avoid the negative connotation of being associated with the word or was insulting her intelligence by assuming she would actually believe that they avoided intelligence gathering. It was particularly aggravating since he was sitting here being an informant on their neighbors as they speak. In addition, it was obvious they had arrived at Luna Nova with pre-knowledge on the school, meaning their organization had either observed them yesterday or were using third party information, both done without their knowledge.
If you don't want to spy, maybe you should start by not spying on us!
She imagined she would say something like that. But for better or worse, Diana was not Akko. She still needed to know if this group can be useful or not. It seemed evident they had made up their minds on them before they had even arrived, there insistence on offering suggestions rather then asking questions to learn about Luna Nova would point to that conclusion. They seemed to be trying to push them toward one direction, but to what avail. She watched the two with ever greater scrutiny.
Badcock nodded as she seemed to be in serious in thought. A female vampire? Perhaps one of Dracula's brides from the book? No that would make the whole wishing back his wife awkward, plus diminish his status as a mourning widow pining for his lost love. Oh!. Perhaps...
"Carmilla...?"
She said it more thinking aloud then anything else. Yes that would make sense in this kind of story. A rival love interest, especially one that can cater to homoerotic curiosity tends to be popular. With a another famous literary vampire to take the place, its all too perfect. You have the emotional fragile character of Dracula to earn the sympathy of the reader while you have the sultry Carmilla to peek the curiosity of the reader in stark contrast. She was now convinced more then ever it was that kind of story.
Still, two vampires. That seemed pretty light. Night Fall's love charts tended to be incredibly complex. A simple love triangle seems a bit disappointing. Wait that's it! There wouldn't be two people in a whole castle. The work staff would add a whole cast of other characters. The shy but pure milk maid. The enigmatic old man in the clock tower. The overly competent butler who comforts his master on those lonely nights since his wife died but now feels discarded with the wife's unexpected return, leading to an anguish declaration of his manly love filled with tears that he wants more then a master servant relation would allow! She was just getting excited thinking of all the possibilities!
Nishijima might be able to see from her facial expressions that she was far too gone to help.
There was a slight awkward silence after Marianne disappeared. Finnelan cleared her throat.
"I don't think she means any harm. She is just going through a...phase right now."
Holbrooke kicked her feet like a child in her chair as she mentally prepared for her trip to Archeades. The asking to get a more concrete commitment caused the small woman to wave her hand in a friendly dismissive way.
"Come now, we are already friends! Though...perhaps we should start going over the finer points of a contract. It would be horrid if the meeting ran past lunch. The scones here are to die for, but if you aren't early they sell out so fast. Did you bring a first draft with you or shall I have Lukic begin writing out one for us?"
The crone smiled a toothy grin.
"I had brought the ceremonial dagger and seal to ensure the the contract with a blood oath, kye ha ha ha."
How do you kill that which has no life?
The In-Births, Common Room
“So that’s why we were brought here?” Hyde asked, raising an eyebrow. “To kill other people for this guy’s amusement? There’s no way we’re playing along with this sick game.”
“Yeah!” Waldstein concurred. “I love the thrill of battle as much as anyone, but that’s just perverse.”
Slutsky looked at the chocolate Mona Lisa gave to her, holy shit some actually decent food that isn't the holy trinity of bread, canned tuna and diet sausages.
Now this is heaven.
"Thanks. For you allowing us capture this bandit scum, we shall compensate you by having Duty patrols be in the borders of your land, to protect you from any threat from the Zone. It is our mission to protect the innocent from the evils of the Zone, whenever they be bandits, mutants or monolithians." He said the Mona Lisa, as the SEVA dutyer slowly dragged to them the koed Vladimir.
Meanwhile, Boris was hit by the tranquilizing dart. He immediately stopped dead in his tracks, looking dazed and dropping his AK.
"Oh...mama, get me the mayonez..need it for the kolbaser." The bandit leader said some nonsense...before falling down unconscious. Kowalski moved over to the knocked bandit, noticing the helpers up in the roof who took down the bandit, and gave a nod of thanks to them, grabbing his PDA and confiscating his weapons, before dragging him away to where his others troops were.
The barkeep and the stalkers looked at Lucy and Happy's antics, true, the mutant cat who talked and somehow got drunk from milk was weird, but the fact she also summoned some kind of clock thing was even weirder.
They listened to her explanation and nodded along with her.
"I always like seeing that spark of eagerness in a stalker. Last time I saw that was by a stalker called The Marked One. Wonder where he is now..." The barkeep said. "I'm curious. How did you summoned that clock thing? In all my time in the Zone, I never seen such thing."
"Yeah, I'm curious too. Doesn't look like any artifact in the Zone we seen. Is it from the whole "Mage" guild you said you were part of?" Shovel asked, looking curious and waiting for Lucy's answer.
Meanwhile, a stalker sitting in a stool took out a guitar from his back, and after fiddling with it, would start playing a song with
the guitar, some of the Stalkers in the bar listening and watching the guitar player.
Edited by Darkomega245 on Jan 25th 2019 at 10:51:04 AM
Mitakihara - Downtown
Officer Kanda sighed. “Yeah, we’ve been undergoing a construction boom the past couple of decades. A lot of new developments and business.” She turned back to Cana. “Magnolia is where you are from? It sounds like a more homely place.”
CXZ - Bunker
Money was something she was short of. But Homura’s gaze lingered a couple extra seconds on the RG-6, as launchers were also something she was short of. With her Time Stop tampered, launchers were the only way she could use explosives over there and not here — she had grenades thanks to Bond and Q, but she didn’t exactly have the arm of Masaichi Kaneda. “What would it take for you to part with that?”
That wasn’t to say that was the only thing she was looking for — there were a good amount of weapons to use, and it wasn’t like carrying capacity was an issue for her.
Vampire Hunter
Coliseum, Castlevania
Death attempted to block the blow with his Scythe, but he was slammed against the ground. The ground amazingly held, but Death did suffer damage from...
"A fierce deity! I did not know you had that type of power!"
Death rolled away from another strike of Link's sword and began summoning five small scythes to home in on him. He wanted as much distance from this Fierce Deity Link as he can manage.
Suddenly, the floating figure of the Aliorumnas was nearly hit with an axe thrown at her, dropping the Vampire Killer from her hands. She flew down to try to retrieve it, but the Vampire Killer had gone missing as did the axe thrown at her.
Those watching from the sidelines would then see Trevor Belmont approach the middle of the arena, but rather than interfere with the battle between Fierce Deity Link and Death, he merely picked up the prone body of Tatl as gently as he could and pulled out the bottle of potion that he had on him. He gently poured a drop of the potion onto the fairy and began gently rubbing the potion over her. Tatl would find the potion healing the damage she took from being crushed. Once Trevor was satisfied that he did all he could he returned to the sidelines of the battle. Outside of making sure his fairy companion stayed alive, this was Link's battle to fight.
Lisa & Alucard, Sugar Hill, Manhattan
"Some of us are from the planet Earth and some are not," Lisa said as she walked passed Balthier only stopping to look over to the apparent priest of this place, paying him the respect due to a religious figure. "Father Frost, we apologize for our unfortunate landing in this graveyard."
"I do not understand the specifics myself, but I can confirm that I myself am from Earth or at least, one version of it," Lisa explained to the officer and the priest. "I would however recommend you take Balthier up on his offer to explain what has happened in private."
Alucard seemingly just followed Lisa out of the airship and stayed near her, but otherwise let Lisa handle this.
B.B. Hood, Red Sprite, Dining Hall
B.B. Hood glanced over at the soldiers within this particular room and kept a note of them as she considered her options, and decided just to be honest with them.
"I am B.B. Hood, a Darkhunter and another of the Chunkless on Battleworld," she began. "The being named Vergil that Tsubaki describes massacred a whole mess of soldiers in Hell's Gate Tokyo when he entered that land's portal. So long as Vergil is free, he will be a threat to your land as well as the rest of Battleworld, so if you have any information on his location, we request Magnolia share it with us."
Wizard Needs Food Badly
The Cure would then appear in his throne. He turned to look at the newcomers, giving a smile that showed his rotting teeth.
"I see you've already been given the basics of why you are here. If you have questions, issues, ask. If you're about to try to attack me, kindly make it quick because I already have another group who will be here any minute."
Sidorovich glanced over at the RG-6, rubbing his chin for a moment, before responding to Homura. "Well, the RG-6 costs 11000 Rubles...but if you're lacking in money, I can give you this one...for a job."
"You see," He started explaining. "This place is basically like the starting zone for stalkers. Pretty calm, not many dangerous mutants, only dogs, pigs and boars. I pay off the military so they don't do any thing to the stalkers here. There is a few bandits there and then, but the experienced stalkers babysitting the rookies help thin them out....though 2 days ago, there has been a problem. A nasty one. In a mill not far from here, there has been reports of corpses of Stalkers appearing near there. All of them have the same cause of death, all deathly pale, with marks of clawing and their blood drained from their bodies. Somehow, a pack of bloodsuckers made their way from the Garbage to the Cordon and decided to make their nest in that mill. That's pretty damn bad for business and for everybody here, because not many Stalkers here are equipped to deal with one bloodsucker, let alone a pack of them. God knows what happens if they decided their new nest should be in the Village here."
Sidorovich leaned back on his chair, and continued. "In exchange for the RG-6 and a gun of your choice, you kill the bloodsuckers over there. You in?"
The last thing Omega Squad remembered before everything went dark was being overwhelmed in a large battle between Noxian forces before a large explosion happen. The gunfire ringing in their ears as they were surrounded by all sides, as the other soldiers from Bandle City were killed slowly one by one. Eventually only they were left in a bunker, though Teemo was missing in action, who they assumed couldn't catch up to them in time. Suddenly, a loud explosion happened inside the bunker, bringing down the roof and causing everything to go dark.....but then in a few minutes, they found themselves in what seemed to be their barracks room.
"Uh....what happened?" Tristana rubbed her head, wondering what the hell just happened and why did things suddenly went calm out of a sudden.
"What, uh, what, aw what?!" Twitch woke up suddenly, aiming his rifle at everywhere before calming down and noticing that it was only him and his team. "Aw. I was just getting many kills!"
"Woah. Now this is a new one." Fizz woke up and grabbed his trident that was dropped in the ground. "Hey Veigar, what you think happened?"
Veigar adjusted his gas-mask and plasma gun, looking around confused just like the rest. "Well. This place looks like our barracks. I must assume that we were knocked out by the explosion and a rescue team took us back to ba-"
"Come on, keep the explanation short and simple."
"CAN YOU NOT SAY SHORT JOKES?!"
"Squad? I think I found out what just happened." Tristana looked over at the note on her hand, reading it, before showing to the team the note, they looked somewhat confused...before their glances went to Fizz, who looked at everyone confused.
"Whoah, before you put the blame on me, this time it's not me. I'm not even sure I would come up with something as silly as being taken to another world!" He raised his hands and said, he looked
"Oh yeah sure, that's what YOU would say, prankster!" Veigar pointed a accusing finger at Fizz.
"Alright keep it down Veigar! First of all, let's not go to conclusions just yet. This could possibly be real, or we maybe got captured by Noxus. If it's the latter, then we'll just shoot our way out! Now gentlemen, weapons and guns ready! Let's move out!"
"Yes, ma'am!" The Omega Squad prepared...before noticing someone waking up too.
"Teemo?" Tristana looked surprised, she though he died when he suddenly disappeared. The Scout slowly woke up and got up, before staring at his squad in a weird way...before sighing. "The ghosts keep haunting me yet. I still wonder when they will disappear."
"Ghosts? The heck you talking about Teemo? It's us!" Tristana looked confused, what the hell Teemo was blabbling about? And last time she knew, she did not had the gear he has right now.
"They're all dead. They have always been dead. You won't trick me..." Teemo moved away from the room and to the door, heading outside. Meanwhile, the Omega Squad looked somewhat confused at what Teemo just did.
"...And they call me the crazy one." Twitch snarked.
"The heck's up with Teemo?" Tristana looked confused. She didn't knew why, but this wasn't the Teemo she remembered. What happened? "Anyways, let's go, Omega Squad! Follow Teemo!" The Omega Squad moved out from their room, catching up to Teemo...who seemed to completely ignore them and not even acknowledge their presence. Eventually, they noticed what seemed like a group of humans grouped up together...and a large red, big thing sitting in a throne. Veigar and Teemo both eyed suspiciously at Juvia and the In-Births, especially Veigar. Meanwhile, their noses would feel a foul smell coming from Twitch. Somehow, the Omega Squad didn't care whatsoever about that. Maybe they got used to it, or their gas masks covered protected them from the horrible stench.
"Hey big guy!" Tristana waved to The Cure. "You the one who wrote this note and took us to..." She looked at the note for a few seconds. "Your world? Care to explain this a bit better?"
Edited by Darkomega245 on Jan 25th 2019 at 12:05:16 PM
Velvet Room: Nyarly Hunting 101 with Professors Hei and Misaki
Misaki took an involuntary step back as the house pet opened its mouth and spoke. Hei, on the other hand, simply chuckled.
"You work with one too?" he glanced at Joker. "The similarities are starting to get creepy."
Burying the impulse to ask Lee just how he knew a talking cat, Misaki turned her focus on Makoto.
"Well...for the past few days, there's been this...thing, wandering around the planet. It's been trying to sabotage the stability of different states in various ways: hacking an administrator account in Ikebukuro to flood a popular website with paranoia, bribing a madman to isolate and attack someone in Genosha, even muscling into power and forcing City 17's leader to be its puppet. At a glance, its motive appears to be spreading panic and paranoia across the planet, but then it turns on its heels and allies with the Galactic Empire, which was a few minutes away from destroying Battleworld and everyone on it.
"What I can't figure out is what it hopes to gain from any of this; it already had power in City 17, and if it wanted more it could manage without sounding alarms. Attempts to divide and conquer tend to backfire too. The more it tries to cause problems, the more it infuriates newcomers, and so the group hunting it grows larger. So in the end, its greatest accomplishment so far has been alienating the SEES from the others, and that was just coincidence."
Hei shook his head. "No, far from it. That monster knows exactly what it's doing because it knows exactly who it's fighting. It has a way of figuring out who you are, where you're from, and what you've done. I'd call it mind-reading, but it seems too to know everything about you already—like it doesn't need to be present to know how to break you. Whatever its power's called, it uses your own personal fears as a weapon; changes its shape into people you loved, or enemies who died years ago. Nothing seems to hurt it, either. So you're stuck with an opponent who knows just how to twist a knife into your back while you're fumbling to even touch it."
Misaki took a calculated look at the Black Reaper before asking the obvious question: "How do you know this?"
"What do you think I've been doing the past few days? I've been trying to track this bastard since we found it in Castlevania. Took the appearance of Dante's associate Lady, tried to convince a witch named Sypha that Dracula needed to die then and there, then when that didn't work it took out Dante and fought two on one against me and Trevor. It rarely dodged or blocked anything, it just...never felt pain. Guess it wanted to prove a point.
"After it left, I convinced the Count that this thing was more of a threat to all of us than old rivalries. His second-in-command, Death, can see souls. He picked the thing out before it decided to drop its disguise, so the plan was to use Death as our blood hound to find it again. Before we could, the thing hacked the Dollars website in Ikebukuro, so I went there to look for any traces it might've made. The trail was cold, but by then we had the Death Star to deal with."
Curiosity struck Tokyo's delegate as she blinked at her predecessor. "You were in Ikebukuro during the fight against the Empire?"
Hei nodded. "Helped a color gang liberate a hospital from Imperial command, but earlier that morning my former employers in Tokyo decided they didn't want me around anymore. While all hell was breaking loose, I found myself dealing with a hit man from Ikebukuro; one that could go toe to toe with most Contractors. Squeezed what little information I could out of him, then left for Tokyo. Least there I knew where the portal to the Common Room was, and could handle more conventional enemies along the way."
Misaki knew the rest—in the end, he didn't handle them. She was also aware of the event he deliberately skipped, and didn't comment on it. Not that she didn't want to...
She changed the subject instead. "Well anyway, its ability to know and exploit one's personal demons is news to me. It helps explain how Vergil was bribed so easily, and that woman's explosive reaction to that fact. Now we just need to know what it plans to do next."
"And how to track it down."
As if on cue, both delegates of Tokyo turned to Minako.
Castlevania, Colosseum: Final Stretch
Tatl groaned back to life as the potion worked its magic. Slowly and hesitantly, she began moving her wings to lift herself (with a stumbling swoop downwards at first) out of Trevor's hands.
"Ugh...sweet goddess, is uhh...is the world spinning for anyone else?"
As her vision (and stomach) returned to normal, the fairy fluttered by Trevor, Nora, and Ren on the sidelines.
"Wait...he's never used that mask before. Where did..."
She needed just a glance at her partner's face to spot the tribal marks, and connect the dots.
"...that idiot!"
...
A plume of dirt and dust flew into the air as Link's greatsword struck the ground. He whirled around to face the fleeing reaper and swung his blade in Death's direction. A bright blue swirl of energy shot towards the skeleton like an eight-foot wide shuriken. But hit or miss, Link was far from done with this fight.
He charged towards the reaper once more, managing to dodge one of the incoming scythes by sheer chance. The remaining four hit their marks in the deity's right arm, left leg, armored breastplate, and under his left ribs, the fourth slicing right under the armor plates. He winced, but kept charging regardless. His body was overloaded on adrenaline and rage; pain could wait a minute more.
Should he reach within striking distance of the reaper, Link would try to parry any incoming swing of Death's scythe as he leaped to grab his opponent by the scruff of its hood. They'd be too close to strike each other with their weapons, but Link had another idea—if he held the reaper by its robes, he would try to pull its skull towards him with all his might into a bone-splitting headbutt. The strike might be excruciating for both fighter, and the impact would cut the deity's forehead in the process, but if it landed it might give Link a chance to use his grip to hurl his skeletal foe into the ground.
From there, he'd need only a few uninterrupted moments to step on the reaper's spine and prepare the final, smiting blow.
Did you know this section has a character limit?
Jaune and Pyrrha - Acting Natural; Royal Box, Colosseum Stands, Castlevania
Despite his words, Dracula failed to answer the question Pyrrha had asked. She knew how he had gotten the whip, but her question was why he had kept it. The goings-on in the arena distracted her from asking again.
In the combat tournaments of Remnant, death was exceedingly rare. Once someone's aura dropped below 15%, the match was called. But it did happen.
And as the crushed body of Tatl lay on the ground, she couldn't help but think of when it happened to her. She blanched, her pupils dilated, and the most horrible images passed through her mind.
She only came back down to reality when Jaune put a hand on her shoulder and shot her a look of sympathy. Followed by looking directly past her as something caught his eye.
Pyrrha turned her head too, catching sight of the now-whipless Aliorumnas, before quickly turning away. Knowing that bringing the conversation back to the whip would not be beneficial to their well-being in the long run, Pyrrha tried turning the conversation towards the Arena.
"It seems Death is on the defensive. Link may beat him yet."
Jaune himself turned to the Arena as she said this, catching an eyeful of Belmont grabbing Tatl and using the potion on her. Jaune let his left hand fall from Pyrrha's shoulder, resting it on the pommel of Crocea Mors, as his right hand hovered near the pocket Trevor had shoved Holy Water into.
"I think you're gonna need a third potion."
Ren and Nora - We Do Believe In Fairies! We Do! We Do!; Colosseum Stands, Castlevania
The last few minutes of the battle had been intense. Link had pulled a smart move, giving Death multiple targets to observe, and then striking from one. But Death’s response was nothing but dirty, and both Ren and Nora had to restrain themselves from interfering.
By the time they turned to Trevor, he was already gone, and when their gazes returned to the Arena, there he was, picking Tatl up and using the potion on her.
"Is she okay?" Nora asked, as Trevor arrived back in the stands, her face scrunched with worry. Said visage only lasted until Tatl lifted off once more, but returned as she called out Link's current plan as idiocy.
"What has he done?" Ren asked Tatl, taking in new transformation for the first time. It looked like an older version of Link, truth be told, clad in armour and wielding an unconventional sword.
"Have things gone horribly wrong?" Nora directed at Trevor, hand smoothing over the pocket where the holy water lay.
They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!
In-Births, Common Room
Hyde glared at the cure momentarily as he pondered whether or not he should try to strike him down.
"No," he decided. "I'm not going to attack. If violence was the answer, you would've been taken out a long time ago."
He spoke a bit with the rest of the In-Births as they tried to think of the most pertinent question to ask their captor, when suddenly Seth spoke up.
"If we kill enough people to sate your want for carnage," Seth asked the Cure. "Will you grant us freedom from our prison?"
"Seth!" Hyde chastised the mysterious teen in black. "You can't seriously be suggesting we play along with this!"
"I am suggesting nothing," Seth replied. "I'm only asking the most obvious question right now. But do you actually think there's any chance we're getting out of this without giving something up in return? Whether it be our friends or our very morals... we may not be able to leave with what we entered. That is a reality you should face sooner rather than later."
"I'm going to figure something out, Seth. You can bet on that."
With Seth going silent after Hyde's bit of (perhaps false) bravado, that conversation seemed to be over.
"So," Hyde turned to the Cure. "I do have one question. What happened to the people on our world we left behind? Are they unharmed?"
Some of the In-Births gave the Omega Squad a curious glance. Vatista seemed to become more alert in Twitch's presence.
"Warning," she said in a monotone voice. "My olfactory sensors detect high levels of noxious fumes in the area. Recommendation: Very thorough cleaning."
Edited by HilarityEnsues on Jan 25th 2019 at 9:27:51 AM
CXZ - Bunker
Homura listened to what Sidorovich had to offer. Part of her was surprised that he moved immediately to the job offer. Either 11,000 rubles was a lot of money or she looked too poor to be carrying it — either way, she’d have to remind herself to look up what that was in yen to get an idea of price ranges here. It sounded like a pest control situation, the way he described it.
She was silent for a couple moments, formulating the questions she wanted to ask beforehand. Going in blind was one thing, going in willfully blind was suicidal. “A few questions. How big are they usually? Do you have any idea how many there are? What’s the best way to deal with them? And how will I know when the job is done?”
Sidorovich nodded once she asked the questions about her mission. He would take out his PDA, clicking some buttons before showing Homura a photo of a humanoid being with large claws and tentacles in it's mouth and glowing lambent eyes.
◊
"Bloodsuckers are as tall as the average man, though they usually are in a hunched stance that makes them look shorter. Some of the stalkers who managed to survive them said there were 4 there, so be careful of them overwhelming you. As for the ways to deal with them, shotguns or close range guns are the best ways to deal with them. You better be careful though, they can turn invisible and they really like doing hit and run tactics, or attempt to grab hold of you and suck your blood dry. Their loud breathing are one of the ways they give away their position, and their glowing eyes if you pay attention to your surroundings should also give away where are they. You're done with the job once you kill the bloodsuckers in the Mill. Make sure to bring me some tentacles from one of them as proof you done the job."
Twitch ears perked up and he looked pretty mad at Vatista's comment about him. "Cleaning?! No way I will submit myself to such horrible fate! Take back what you said or I will fill your body with-"
"Hey, easy Twitch." Fizz attempted to calm down the rat medic. "She's just jealous of the fact she doesn't smell as great as you."
Twitch stared at both Vatista's and Fizz for a few seconds, before chuckling. "Good for her to be jealous of me! She would definetely envy at my spoiled food eating skills!" Satisfied, Twitch would then go back with the other group waiting for the Cure's response.
"Sorry, he kinda gets mad when you mention his hygiene." Fizz gave a happy shrug
◊ to Vatista. "Name's Fizz. Nice to meet ya!"
Vampire Hunter
Coliseum, Castlevania
Death found himself unable to avoid Fierce Deity Link's attacks. He ended up getting hit by the energy shuriken, which was too much like Belmont's Cross boomerang for his comfort. While his scythes did damage to the fierce deity, Link was just tanking the hits. Death attempted to wield his own large scythe against him, but Fierce Deity Link just parried it with his sword and headbutted Death, causing clear damage to Death's skull.
"GAH!"
Death was slammed to the ground and Link was about to make the final blow on him, stepping right onto the reaper's spine.
"OOF!"
Death tried one last tactic... He used the control he had over his large scythe to try to trip up Fierce Deity Link. If this didn't work, the match would be over.
"Tatl should be fine since I gave her a few drops of my healing potion, though I expect her to stay on the sidelines, lest Death try a cheap shot like that, again." Trevor explained to Nora and Ren, though he was looking at Tatl. "As for Link..."
Trevor opened his coat slightly to reveal the Vampire Killer to them, before putting a finger to his lips to tell them to keep quiet about it before hiding it again, "Link is not in danger yet, unless there is something about that mask you wish to tell us, Tatl?"
Dracula winced at the look Pyrrha gave him, hating how much that look reminded him of when his wife would disagree with him, and grumbled slightly, "Look, I was not sure if I could just send an Aliorumnas into the Common Room, but I was sure Belmont would come here to claim it."
Speaking of the Aliorumnas, she seemed to be in a panic about having lost the Vampire Killer. She glanced a few times towards Dracula and back in the arena and back at Dracula again, as if she was trying to muster up the bravery to tell Dracula what happened.
Wizard Needs Food Badly
The Grand Re-Vizier
Jack looked on confused as the cat and Huang argued about a new codename for him before deciding his own codename was enough. Then he accepted the ear piece solemnly and threaded it through his robes and into his ear as instructed. He tucked the body of wondrous little box there along with his new 'phone' before turning to reply to Yin. He smiled slightly at the small, pale girl a bit after she mentioned her real name, positively delighted to make her acquaintance
"I am pleased to meet you! My name is G- KRRRRZZZZZZT!
The Samurai known as Jack winced as static feedback from a scrunched bit of wire cut him off. Then he seemed to think better of things, or else forget his introduction, now that business seemed settled and they were ready to head out.
"Very well. I look forward to working with you to defeat the white-haired swordsman."
With that and thankfully no more preamble, Jack followed them out to Archades.
Parsee leaned in closer to get a good look at the photo...and Yamame, the oni...actually, soon enough most of the workers were crowding around the desk, trying to get a good look at the man. When you talk about a foreign "dangerous fugitive" like that, you're bound to get the interest of everyone in earshot. There was a sustained burst of concentrated whispering from the assembled youkai.
"...Who is this douchebag?"
"He's got goofy hair."
"Have you seen this guy, boss?"
"Never in any life."
"Should we really be helping friends of that Trish lady?"
"He looks just like that one guy who runs the papermaking store."
"You're just saying that because you hate the guy, Parsee..."
"...Weird jacket..."
"Can't say I've seen him."
"Uhhh...he kind of looks familiar..."
"Do you think these guys are offering a reward?"
Cutting through the immediate gossip like a knife, Parsee spoke up, saying "If he's a fugitive, then feel free! I think you should be allowed to come in, especially if it's a danger to the rest of us..."
She turned around to the two behind her. "...That's in the rules, right?"
"Uhhh...maybe?"
"There's a rulebook?"
"ANYWAY, yes, feel free to go in and do as you please. If you find him, just make sure to come back here and...tell us, I guess. And don't cause trouble." Parsee took out a stamp and slammed it against a piece of paper, before handing it to Lady. She didn't have any idea about what the stamp was, she just felt it was something an official like her would probably do.
The area outside of the Gatehouse was much like we have described it multiple times before: japanesy, lit only by lanterns with the darkness of the cave filling the sky, filled with a mixture of bizarre creatures and strangely normal-looking men and women, with stalls and wares up and down the lane like any other marketplace would. I'll probably get the description out and into a convenient pastable format considering how often it has been and will be referenced, but I'm feeling very lightheaded and need to get this post out.
I mean, uhh...adventure awaits! The whole of Former Hell opened up in front of those brave souls, ready to be explored, inquisitioned and interrogated.
"Well, I certainly won't be talking to you as rudely, that's what," Utsuho replied, crossing her arms as she turned her nose up at them. She was still flapping her big ol' wings hard to keep stationary in the air, kicking up dust.
"I'm heading towards the power plant, yes I know that's bad." Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that people here were not immune to radiation poisoning and probably didn't command the ability to shoot nuclear heat at stuff, you'd think these guys were wimps, or something. If there was a stronger word for it than wimp, Orin hadn't told her yet. Maybe she'd trade the rock for learning some new ones...
Oh yeah, the rock. She stuck her hand in her pocket. "I wanna blow up the thing that makes your head explode or whatever, but if I can just get them to turn it off, that's also a good thing." The artifact came sliding out, and she presented it to the soldiers at the cordon. "Do you think they'd stop it for this thing?"
Not much else could be said about Ozen right now, other than what she had been doing for the last few minutes: sitting down.
Staring at Link through narrowed eyes as his mentor was cruelly grasped between bony fingers, as his form changed into that of a vengeful fighter of the spirit, and even now, as Death was being beaten back with little more than a sword. Two black dots peered out from underneath her wide-brimmed hat, and they gave off the same cold sentiment that her face did.
Internally, Ozen was feeling kinda hungry...but at the same time she was ready to sit perfectly still, her head resting on her hands like nothing was going on, until Link died. Or won. Either worked.
Trevor's return gave them some good news for once; that they could leave at any time, if they so desired. Their initial goal was complete. Ozen briefly smiled. "If the fairy is fine, then there's nothing keeping Link from performing at his best. Just as he'd like, right?"
Edited by wikkit on Jan 26th 2019 at 9:01:48 AM
Tatsu chuckled at the girl's question, not faulting her for having trouble believing it. He wouldn't have either if he hadn't seen it for himself, and then subsequently killed Blackburn. "An actual skeleton. Charred black and wreathed in electricity, with dark, glowing eyes. Ashes Blackburn was what they called him. One of Edenia's top soldiers and generals. The stories said that certain warriors killed in an old Great War continued to live on, using the electromagnetically charged ashes of other thundercore humans to hide what they were and continue fighting."
"Thank you." The young captain replied to Amber, nodding at her as he glanced back. He took a moment to return a greeting from a passing young man before he spoke up once again. "You've mentioned that Contractors each have a different ability a few times now, and it seems to vary a lot. What are the abilities you and your friend have then?"
Garnet frowned, scanning over the small, strange group for any deception or tells. Not that he believed they'd try anything with a reason like that, but you could never be too careful. He shook his head. "Wherever this Vergil guy is, he isn't here. Nobody like that has come through, either."
Leaning against the barricade, the young man questioned the three; Though his focus seemed to be on the older of the group. Something that B.B might notice. "So, how did he kill a whole bunch of people by himself?"
With her emotions now back under control, for the moment, Delfi simply gave the fox-woman a side-eye at her comment about teasing. Holding back the comments that came to mind, which only grew more numerous as she watched a mischievous look return to Yomi's face. She fought the urge to use her powers to find out just what the woman was thinking, but her choice of words held the young woman back; Lest she see something she couldn't forget. "What do you have in mind, then?"
Edited by Alleydodger on Jan 27th 2019 at 9:56:33 PM
Castlevania, Colosseum: Final Blow
"He didn't get that mask like the others." Tatl explained to those on the side lines. "The masked kid gave it to him soon after we got to this planet. I don't know the first thing about it, but when's the last time you thought a present from your arch enemy was a good thing?
Still, she couldn't deny the thing was effective. He'd lost the use of his shield and other weapons, but Link had managed to get Death fully on the defensive. That's more than even Darmani's power could do.
Inside the arena, Link's white eyes shot wide as he realized almost too late what Death's outstretched hand was striving to reach. With no time to grab the incoming scythe and fearing the reaper would escape if he stepped of its spine, Link made a desperate move to keep his footing: he thrust his greatsword into the ground behind him.
It was a poor decision, even if it likely won him the match. Despite the obstacle in its way, nothing would stop the scythe from flying back to its master; it just swung around the blade on its journey, gashing into the hero's left leg along the way.
He winced and bared his teeth through the fresh layer of pain, but just when the scythe was within a inch or two from Death's reach, the wrathful god snatched it and held on tight. The last tantalizing hope of escape was gone; it was time for Death to die.
Reaching behind him to seize the greatsword, the Fierce Deity raised his blade over his head, and swung it down towards Death's skull.
Red Sprite, Dining Hall: I Almost Forgot Wei Got His Ass Kicked Twice in This Game!
The Latina answered Garnet's question with a half-bored tone one might use to order at a drive-though window.
"He's not human, to start. Moves faster than the eye can follow, and likes to teleport. His sword can't be normal either—the cabrones he killed shot at him, and that crazy thing deflected the bullets. He's got these armored boots and gloves that're magic or something, and he can summon swords to throw at people. Then when he's really mad, he changes his look and makes these...how'd he describe it...big purple stab-you-a-thousand-times balls. And that's what he did just fighting one of us. Wonder what he'd do if he met a challenge."
Maria glanced at her companions, half expected them to ask how she knew any of this, and gave a preemptive shrug. "One of my comrades fought him; the verga came back a bloody mess, and our second-in-command led Vergil to the Gate. Didn't know his name when I heard about the fight, but the guy in the video we watched matches the description. Unless there's two white-haired swordsmen in blue coats walking around."
Red Sprite, Walkways: Red Sprite Contractor Powers 101 with Professor Amber
"I'm afraid the friend I just mentioned won't be joining the crew." Amber said, perhaps a little too quickly. "She's...in a complicated situation."
That was putting it mildly, but explaining Pai's predicament was only going to confuse the boys. So instead, she chose to focus on the Contractors she could offer the Captain.
"My second-in-command can join, should you wish it. He goes by Amagiri, and his ability is to shoot blasts of highly-compressed air from his hands, strong enough to break bones if he gets a good shot. The price of his power is to eat eggs, so we may need to ensure there's some reserved for him. Otherwise, he can't use his powers.
"The marksman I recommended goes by Luca. Her power allows her to accelerate any object she can throw beyond its maximum velocity. To put it simply, so long as she can toss it, kick it, or flick it, she can turn anything into a bullet. She generally sticks to rubber bands, though; she keeps more than a dozen of them on her wrist. Her price is to yell things as loud as she can, but when she does, I suggest keeping the youngest members of the crew out of earshot—she likes to be colorful."
Amber chuckled as she reflected on the first time she'd ever heard Luca pay her price. It was...enlightening.
"As for me, things are a little tougher to explain. I lost my powers when Tokyo was brought here; the Cure considered them too powerful, and I won't deny they could've made things pretty unfair. After a series of events I'd rather not talk about, I wound up getting some new ones. From what I've gathered, I can repair damaged tissue at the cost of physical stamina, also this glow around me dies off for a while if I use this power too much."
Judging by her tone, Amber wasn't trying to avoid the "powerful but lost abilities" subject so much as she was focusing on what she actually use for the benefit of the crew. She would answer the question if asked, but otherwise would turn to the Captain's companions and ask:
"Are there varieties of Thundercore humans? Apart from the horrific skeletal sort, I mean."
Vampire Hunter
Castlevania, Coliseum
"Fair enough," Trevor nodded to Tatl's reasoning and turned back towards the match.
Jaune, Pyrrha, Mirajane, Ozen, and Shanoa would find Dracula suddenly stand up and teleport from the throne he was sitting on.
As Fierce Deity Link found himself about ready to decapitate Death, he found his swing stopped by the hands of a glaring Dracula.
"Behold my true form!" Dracula screamed as he transformed into his 2nd form. More demonic than ever, he took the form of a large muscular winged blue demon with horns, fangs and a tail.
◊ It was clear that Dracula was no ordinary vampire. With a mere shove of Fierce Deity Link, he sent the masked-powered entity flying right into one of the Coliseum walls.
And it was about this time that Dracula hand got hit by a long chain whip with a spiked ball at the end of it which hurt his hand. Those at the scene who were familiar with weaponry would recognize it as a morning star flail, but Trevor knew the weapon's name... Vampire Killer.
"Dracula, you know you cannot take all of us on, so stand down!" Trevor gave Dracula an ultimatum as the spiked ball returned to him and he started doing tricks with the Vampire Killer's ball and chain, showing off just how much fine control he had over his own weapon.
Dracula growled at Trevor, "...Fine, go heal the boy! Slogra, Gaibon! Bring over the potions! This match is over!"
Slogra and Gaibon practically flew over to Death as Dracula grabbed the potions and offered them to Trevor before Trevor shook his head no.
"I shall use a potion I know I can trust," Trevor replied to Dracula. "That was a dirty trick Death did against Tatl."
"This coming from the one who kidnapped my wife!" Dracula retorted to Trevor.
"She is safe with your son!" Trevor retorted right back as he glanced over to check on Link.
As this confrontation between Dracula and Belmont continued, Slogra and Gaibon pulled Death up onto their shoulders and began dragging him out of the arena. The Aliorumnas, sensing how bad the situation might have gotten, flew off after Slogra and Gaibon.
Wizard Needs Food Badly
Did you know this section has a character limit?
Ruby and Yang - Ruby Has An Idea; In Front of the Mitakihara Portal, Common Room
It was almost like looking into a carnival mirror.
Ruby
and Yang
stopped in front of the trio from Mitakihara, who on a very basic level matched their own trio. Two girls, the Blonde looking older than the Redhead, and a white-furred rabbit-cat-fox thing that they could only assume was the "demon" Lady encountered earlier; vs two girls, the blonde looking older than the redhead, and a white-haired half-demon that Lady had definitely encountered.
"Maybe you can." Yang answered, gesturing with her still-human right hand. "We're looking for someone. He has white hair, wears a blue coat, and has a sword. And I don't mean the guy standing behind us."
Ruby let a look of confusion cross her face, before looking back over her shoulder at Nero. Now that Yang mentioned it...
In any case, that wasn't something to talk about in public. Ruby looked back towards the trio, sparing a glance for the cute catbunnyfox thing. She felt an urge to pet it, but also realized that it could probably talk and thus wouldn't like getting pet by a stranger.
"He's hurt a lot of people, and we think there's a chance he might be in your chunk." Ruby nodded towards the portal their group had been walking towards. "All we want to do is make sure he can't hurt anyone else."
Weiss
- Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here; Outside Gateway Building, Former Hell
"Weiss Schnee." The white-haired woman told Parsee as she passed. She hadn't actually given her name alongside everyone else, as due to the way both Majin Saber and Lady had introduced themselves, Weiss had been sure a fight was about to break out.
Then again, the staff of this immigration booth weren't exactly up to Atlesian standards.
Speaking of which...
"Lady?" She asked as soon as she believed they were out of earshot. "Does that paper even say anything?"
Blake - Menagerian Standoff; Dining Hall, Red Sprite
"Three." Blake
corrected Maria, her hands held up by her head in a sign of non-aggression. "We met Nero back in Devil May Cry."
Being surrounded by armed men and women wasn't exactly a situation Blake was unfamiliar with, but it never made for a pleasant experience. At the very least, if the shooting started, they could get back through the portal quickly, but that didn't mean they would escape unharmed.
"Even if your borders are secure, like Maria said, Vergil is capable of teleporting. There's still a chance he might be here." Blake explained to Garnet.
Bond - Mutually Beneficial Relationship; Outside Universal Exports, Common Hallway, Several Minutes In The Past
"Looking for Bond?" Asked a voice from behind Lady.
The man who walked up behind her was clearly not Bond. Sure, Lady might be able to imagine Bond wearing the beige suit
◊,no tie, with the top two button open on the white shirt beneath, but the man's dark hair, completely different face, and American (vaguely Californian) accent, it seemed the only thing this man shared in common with Bond was his height.
And their place of employ, as he reached past Lady to key himself in on the intercom.
As the large metal doors split apart and slid their way open, the man stepped into the lift beyond them and beckoned for Lady to follow him. "Come on in, let's see if we can find him somewhere in here."
Once Lady followed him inside, the man would hit the button to close the lift doors. But strangely enough, once they were closed, the lift didn't start descending.
"The Cure has to work on his social skills, but you can’t argue that his friendship doesn’t come with benefits." The man said, dropping his American accent and shifting back into his familiar British one.
Bond turned towards Lady, his hands away from his sides (and thus any potential weapons), his palms pointed towards her. To put it simply, he was trying to look as non-threatening as possible.
"I think this is a good look for me, don't you?"
They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!
The paper had been thoroughly stamped, perhaps a little too much so. It was the bright red image of a taijitu, or yin-yang symbol, surrounded by elegant leaves that suggested it was the stigma of a flower. Circling around it was a long message of characters, readable despite their archaicness, though...not really readable, as the stamp had smudged them. Words like "Ministry", "Divine" and "of" were still legible, but nothing that could give a hint towards exactly what they read.
Otherwise, there wasn't anything on the paper at all!
Edited by wikkit on Jan 27th 2019 at 9:14:41 AM
Sakura Dungeon Garden
"Well, while I believe most visitors would have a preference for visiting the inn or the arena as a way to excite themselves, you strike me as the sort of individual who enjoys more cerebral pursuits," Yomi said with a small smile to Delfi. "Perhaps you'd enjoy a chance to enjoy one of my libraries? The dungeon also possesses one of the most sophisticated observatories you'll find in the world, as it uses magic the humans seem to lack. We're on a new world, after all, does it pique your curiosity as to whether there are stars in the sky beyond the sun?"
Sakura Dungeon: Egypt Edition
"Different pantheon... No doubt a monster from one of the Southern dungeons," the Genie said rather dismissively. She sighed, and then resumed her work, diligently polishing the throne.
"These baths aren't too far away, but I don't think you'd get a warm welcome by disturbing Anubis in her bath," Hiriko told Nitocris. "Unless... unless you enjoy bathing in milk and chocolate?"
She shook her head.
"That is to say..." Hiriko inhaled, thinking. "Did you know there's a library just down the hall from us? And in the room East of here they have a room that contains a seemingly-endless desert, without using any sort of virtual reality technology. Don't those sound interesting?"
Castlevania - Coliseum
Mirajane bit her lip as the fight took a turn for the worse for Link, or more specifically, Tatl. On one hand, she knew more than a few fighters who would resent having a manly duel broken up before a winner was called, but at the same time that fairy looked like she was really in trouble. But before anyone decided to intervene, Link managed to conjure up one more form. He was pulling out quite a few of those in this fight, she'd have to ask him all about them later. She cheered her heart out, glad that things were on the upswing, only for Dracula to teleport into the stage and, with a fair bit of theatrics, reveal that he, too, had a final form.
Maybe it was a little hypocritical of her to wonder, but did anyone here not have multiple transformations they went through?
With a half-twist and a jump, she threw herself out the window and landed down below, her feet solidly planted on the floor of the Coliseum near the now-broken wall, one hand on her hip, and her other fist held outright.
She lifted her fist up slightly, extended a finger from it. With her pointer finger raised into the air, she wagged it at Dracula and Death, though with the latter being dragged out of the arena she doubted it had much effect on him.
"Bad! That wasn't very nice!" she exclaimed. "And I'm taking one of potions."
A long, black, tentacle-like arm started to sprout out of her back, quickly wriggling towards Dracula like an eel swimming through a current. A fist sprouted from the end and grew large, large enough to grab one of the potions and reel it back towards her waiting hand. She popped off the lid of the potion and drank a mouthful of it.
"I'll know if it's poisoned before we can give it to Link," she explained, licking her lips as she concentrated on the effects of the drink, casting a worried glance at Link.
Cana - Mitakihara Cop Car
"Yeah, it's where my home is," Cana replied. "Although now the guild's been moved to somewhere on this world so.... I guess my home's here."
She sighed as she looked out the window. Man, this really sucked.
"So, are we getting close?"
Common Room - Juvia
"Well then, good luck with that!" Juvia told the In-Births, ready to go on her merry way and-
The rats were looking at her. They were looking at her.
"Gah, who let rodents in here?" She said with a shiver of her spine, shaking her head in disgust at Veigar and Teemo. Especially Veigar.
100 Rads - The Zone - Happy and Lucy
"Umm... yeah... no," Lucy started. "It's not really an artifact, or at least not what I've seen you calling them here. It's a celestial key." She set down her glass on the counter, pulled a silver key out of her pouch, and then held it up.
"To start with, I'm a Celestial Wizard, so I use a type of holder magic that uses contracts tied to using keys to summon spirits with spatial magic. And I've contracted with a bunch of Celestial Spirits to be their keybearer." She stood up and pulled back her key, sticking her hand up to display it in all its keyness. "Open the Gate of the Heart Constellation. Lyra!"
Before their very eyes, a woman with a really big lyre popped into being.
◊
"Wow! Finally, a chance to hang out! Hey Lucy!" the girl skipped over to Lucy and smiled while holding her lyre.
"Hi Lyra!" Lucy said cheerfully. Then she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh, actually I don't really need help with anything...."
Lyra started to frown.
"I mean, I thought maybe you'd like being here... that guy's playing something!" She raised a hand up and pointed it over at where the "It might be a chance to learn some new songs, doesn't that sound fun?"
"Oooooh," Lyra said with a big happy grin, then moseyed on over towards the guitar-playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and started playing her lyre, accompanying his tune with some good old-fashioned strumming.
"So that's how it works." Lucy nodded at the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s
Edited by nman on Jan 28th 2019 at 1:45:09 AM
The Dutyers looked unimpressed at Utsuho, somehow they were not impressed at her display of wings for some reason. Once she asked if the Monolithians would spare her if she handed them the artifact, the Warrant Officer shook her head and responded to her question.
"I doubt the Monolithians would disable the Brain Scorcher just because you have a Stone Flower artifact. They just kill anybody that is not a mutant or one of them without asking questions. Sure, it's psychic resistant properties would allow you to survive the Brain Scorcher for a few seconds, but you would still get filled by bullets or rockets due to the cultists there. If you really want to head to the NPP safe and sound, even though that's impossible, ask the Ecologists for help. Heard they were developing something to counter the Brain Scorcher effect."
The face of the Warrant Officer turned serious and looked somewhat impatient.
"Now if you want to head to the north, you'll have to pay 1000 Rubles. No ifs or buts."
Shovel, Fiodor and the Barkeep listened to Lucy's explanation before seeing her summoning a woman with a lyre. They looked pretty impressed. "Huh. Having some magical spirit friends would sure come in handy in a place like the Zone." Shovel said, looking at Lyra with curiosity.
"That sure is. And here I thought I saw everything the Zone offered." The Barkeep said. Meanwhile, one of the Mercenaries near a table would move out near Lucy. He would lean near the bar counter, while Shovel and Fiodor gave him a weird look."Hey there m'lady." The Merc said in a somewhat smug tone. "Not everyday a woman appears in the Zone."
"Beat it, Merc." Shovel dismissed the Merc, giving a angry glare to him. "Leave the lady alone."
"Shouldn't you be in America right now helping your country take oil from others?" Fiodor snarked sarcastically, earning a chuckle from the Merc.
"Now that's a rude way to treat someone, stalkers. I'm just trying to give a nice, warm greeting to the nice woman here." He then focused his attention back to Lucy. "Say, miss. Me and my team will have a important fight in about 2 hours, so...I invite you to watch our perfomance over the arena, what you say? I bet you will be impressed by our tactical skills." The Merc said, smiling under his gas mask.
Meanwhile with Lyra, the guitar stalker looked surprised at Lyra's appearance, but then he gave a small smile as he had someone to play a song with. He would then clear his throat as the duo began to play together a song, the stalkers looking at the duo's performance with interest. The stalker would then began to sign.
"Digging up moments after hundred of years,
We will melt into the remains of their hopes,
Leaving our future generations a trail of tears.
And in the memory of those close to us,
Fall a red flag and the laughter of children
Everything has disappeared, and only tears upon stones remain.
Melting the Shadows of dreams,
We will suddenly remember the past,
The shadow of mistake in children's tears.
We can only live on.
Time to live.
Time to die.
It's not our time to dream of another live
You can't bring back,
What's done and gone
Forgive me, my beloved home!"
The duo would still continue on with the song, as the stalkers watched the great performance of the two.
In-Births, Common Room
"Hello Fizz, my name is Vatista," the gynoid introduced herself. "I apologize for offending your friend, but humans are very preoccupied with remaining clean. I assumed this was the case for all organics, though I suppose I was incorrect."
Common Room - Juvia
Juvia looked back over her shoulder, towards the heart of the Common Room. The room where the big rid bastard's throne sat. But she had a feeling that no one on this world of his was ever truly out of earshot.
"Why, the Cure is the charming gentleman who brought us all here against our will to fight for his own entertainment," she said cheerfully to Hyde. "I'm sure you and your closest friends are no doubt ecstatic for the chance to battle complete strangers to the death in an entirely different universe from your home as he watches our every move."
Her eye twitched.
100 Rads Bar - Lucy and Happy
"Thanks!" Lucy gave the barkeep a small nod, and took an equally-small sip from her glass. Happy, meanwhile....
"Oh yeah!" Happy said with great excitement, eyes growing to the size of saucers when he saw the glass of milk. He grabbed it in both paws and started to go to town on it.
"You guys... you guys must be preeeeetty hard up *hic*," Happy gave the STALKERs what was likely the most shit-eatingest grin they had ever seen on a cat. He set down his empty glass and sat back, propping himself up a little with his tail. "You have a talking cat right here in front of you, but all you can talk about is the average-looking girl who-"
"What did you say!?" Lucy shouted, slapping Happy clear off the counter, sending him into a crumpled-up heap in the corner of the room. "Gah! What a JERK!" She let out a few deep breaths to calm herself, and took another sip of her juice.
"Oh, you know," she explained to the barkeep. "You might say I chose to come to the Zone, and it might be that the Zone chose me. Something about coming here just felt right, know what I mean?" She left out the part about how she chose a portal completely by random.
"But it works out, I take jobs all the time for my guild back home. Fighting bad guys with my friends, exploring old ruins, tracking down monsters - that sort of thing. Guess you could say it's pretty similar to what you guys do here. It's almost like I've kind of been a STALKER all this time without even knowing it." She also left out the parts about her careers as a reporter, an underwear model, and a writer. The whole 'adventurer' thing seemed the most relevant skill set to mention at the moment.
"Except... we just call ourselves Mages." She winced slightly. "Telling people you're a STALKER might be a little... awkward."