Battleworld 2.0

Carmilla, Archades Cave

Meanwhile, Carmilla was far too busy feeding off of the blood of the KOed monster to be snarky to Havoc. Once she had her fill of blood, she was about to punch her hand right through the monster to kill it, before she reconsidered. She'll just leave it KOed for now.

B.B. Hood, Dining Hall, Red Sprite

"Well, we have this thing called a cellphone," B.B. Hood began explaining to someone who may not exactly know what a cellphone was. "By using our cellphones, we can get in contact with our allies from anywhere on Battleworld without leaving you to deal with a pissed off weirdo."

"As soon as they know where Vergil is, all of them will head immediately there and make sure Vergil goes down," B.B. Hood continued her explanation. "All we'd have to do is hold the fort until then."

CXZ - Mill

Ah, the sounds of panicked rodent squeaks. It was too bad Homura didn’t have anything incendiary — that would probably have finished off all those rats quick — so the next best thing would have to do once she spun around to face her disoriented targets: another quick reach into her Time Shield to withdraw a frag grenade and pull its pin before throwing it into the center of the rats. Hopefully that would take out at least the majority of them and maybe scare the rest off so that she could focus on the bloodsuckers.

Once the grenade was tossed it would be back to the Type 89, get off as many shots on the bloodsuckers as she can before they figured out where she was again and she’d have to pull back once more and come up with another tactic — surprises don’t tend to work more than once in a row, after all.

Mitakihara - Mirai Mall

Kanda didn’t answer Cana’s question. Kanda didn’t even acknowledge Cana’s question, continuing to face towards the door, her posture now noticeably in a rather unprofessional slouch, her eyes clouded over, her mouth mumbling something inaudible from Cana’s position. Not even the slight shuddering the elevator was now making seemed to snap her out of it.

Another look at the tattoo Cana noticed previously might cause her to double-take — it seemed clearer and more intricate than when she first saw it, though maybe that was just her getting a better look at it. Meanwhile, another look at the floor counter would show it tick up to eight...nine...zero? “E”?

OK, something had to be wrong here.

The grand architecture of the Central Command Department gave way to the Welfare Department almost immediately. The change was sudden, with a clear divide between what was one department and what was the other. It was almost closer to stepping through a portal with how drastic and sudden the change was.

The first thing Wendy and Carla would have noticed was how absolutely ''blue'' everything was. The walls were of a rock like mineral substance, giving the place the look of a cave with clean cut walls. It was cool with slight moisture in the air like morning dew. The cavernous walls had a slight echo and somewhere out of sight Wendy and Carla would hear the drip drip drip of water, and some familiar voices.

"Ever notice how some of these pipes don't seem to actually go anywhere?"

The ever energetic Malkuth. Wendy would turn the corner to see the three Sefirots that had ran here. Malkuth seemed to checking the pipes along one of the walls as the two twins leaned against the opposite, waiting for her assessment. The comment caused the female Tiphereth to grimace.

"You shouldn't mention things like that Malkuth, unless you want to be reset."

Honestly, and mentioning that in front of him of all people. She took a peek at the young boy beside her to see him intrigued by this little mystery. That only seemed to frustrate the young girl even more. Malkuth just seemed to wave off the concern.

"I'm just making small talk. Besides, I'm sure all of us are going to be reset after all this. Oh, this would be your first time wouldn't it? But he's been reset hundreds of times hasn't he?"

The girl remained deliberately quiet, though the boy seemed confused as to what had been said. What was she talking about? Luckily, the appearance of Wendy allowed her to side step the delicate issue. The young Tiphereth girl announced Wendy's presence to the others with a dry...

"Oh, you're alive."

The boy in the dress seemed much more delighted to see Fairy Tail duo safe and sound.

"I'm glad. Are you hurt? Are the others ok? Were they able to make it out of there?"

Finally the cheery Malkuth stopped what she was doing to pull out her trusty worn down clip board.

"Alright! That brings the total survivors to five! With most of the Central Command confirmed KIA and every one else MIA..."

The short haired brunette did the numbers in her head and seemed frown at the results. But she soon perked back up.

"That's still a 100% survival rate for Malkuth, Tipereth, Wendy, and Carla though! So as long as we keep those numbers that ain't so bad. Looks like the facility healing units are all offline. I guess it makes sense though. If they enacted the Rabbit Protocol, they wouldn't want us healing down here while they are trying to kill us right? That or everyone in this department is already dead so there is no one keeping it running. Still...I think they keep those healing bullets the Manager uses here. Want to help me find them?"

It was then they heard the distinct sound of bells. It was coming from down the hall, the steady jingle getting closer and closer. The sefirots readied their weapons in anticipation. What appeared was something truly bizarre. A shabbily built sleigh fit for a child pulled along some grotesque taxidermy creature of patchwork leather. Different pieces of leather were dyed in green, red, or white. Around its neck hung Christmas lights and its nose was bright red. It was as if someone tried and failed to make this thing appear friendly. Out of its back was a translucent hump that housed its organs. Liver, heart, intestines all on display. One could see them continue to function, pumping blood that pooled at the bottom of the sac. It seemed to suggest life, but it remained motionless. Just being pulled along by the sleigh as it continued to repeat to itself over and over again.

"Late...late...late..."

As soon as the sefirots got a good look at who it was, they seemed to breath a sigh of relief. Even going so far as to put away their weapons.

"Oh good, Its just Rudolta. Let him pass."

As soon as it got close though, to the surprise of the sefirots, it stopped. The taxidermy creature slowly began to turn its head. It was a painfully slow movement that seemed to cause great exertion for the creature. It sounded like bones were breaking inside just to perform this simple task. When it was done turning its head, it was staring directly at Wendy and Carla with those wide unblinking eyes.

"Wendy. You are 100,800 minutes late."

Its voice was deep and sage like. Though its absolute disgust with everything was barely hidden in its every word. But what was it talking about? They haven't even been on Battleworld that long. Let alone how did it even know her name? Regardless, it just continued.

"With my infinite hatred, I give you this gift."

With equally slow movements, in turned its gaze to the sleigh in front of it. Laying there was a present, neat green wrapping with a red bow on top. Hanging on it a label, To Wendy. Beside the small present was the large bag. Something inside moved and twitched.

The twins looked on uncertain. An incident like this had never happened with F-02-49. They didn't know how to advise the girl on what to do. It hadn't killed anyone yet, but situations liked this usually ended with viscera clean up. Malkuth seemed much more optimistic however.

"Oh! He never gets me anything. What you get? What you get?"

"...maybe we should go back..."

Hod sat in the hall, hugging her knees. Her eyes were down cast as she reminded herself in her head that she didn't run away. She was trying to help Netzach. They were fine, she was sure of it. But, haven't they been in that burning room for far too long?

Netzach for his part sat opposite of the girl. He drank openly from his flask, seeming much less concerned about the other's well being.

"Forget it. They are either dead or found another escape. If they weren't bright enough to leave a burning room, then that's just nature taking its course. You can't save everyone. No, down here you can't save anyone. Not a god damn single person. We're all screwed from the get go. You can drive your self mad thinking of all the if onlys but the truth is..."

He trailed off when he heard foot steps coming toward them. The teenagers huh? Out of all them he expected them to be the first to bite it. Though considering how fast they were on their heels, he supposed they took discretion as the better part of valor. They were soon followed by the wolf, cat girl, and weird eye ball girl. Even Yesod made it.

Upon seeing them, Hod shot up. She came rushing over and much like Felicia tried to check if they were all ok. She suppose even they weren't, there was nothing she could do. Still, she had to at least try to see if she could be of use.

For the arrivals, they had come down the hall some, but from the decor they would see they were still Central Command Department. The sides were all lined with containment units like the one that held Shy Look Today. Though these were all open, all empty.

Yesod would motion to Felicia if he could have back his clothes now that she now longer needed them. If given, he would suit up, turtle neck and all. Odd that one would want to return to being so warmly wrapped after that inferno. Perhaps it was those numerous scars across his body, eager to hide his shame as soon as possible. Or maybe this simple clothing helped him distance himself from what was going on around him, helped him remain objective.

He took a glance toward Talbain and Felicia. There was just a decoration of love, he studied their body language. He stopped concerning himself social trivialities along time ago. Still, He needed to know how that would effect the group dynamic. He imagined Malkuth would have some things to say if heard, perhaps Hod and Chessed too. He however had to keep focused on the task at hand. He would speak out in that near monotonous voice of his as he dressed, or simply spoke out while standing there should Felicia take a liking to the second hand goods.

"The only way back to the surface is through that singular elevator at the top of that room. The presence 0-02-201 makes that difficult. Not only that, but D-03-109. D-03-109 is particularly problematic. If anyone comes in contact with its pink slime, please alert the others right away. Then eliminate the contaminated individual before further spread of the contamination is possible. We can take an alternate route though the Disciplinary Department, perhaps circumvent them all together."

As Hod looked everyone over for wounds, she would stop at Satori. She seemed surprised, staring at Satori's head almost confused. Both Netzach and Yesod would join her in the strange stare. Yesod would look away first and placate the other two's fears.

"Its inert. A phenomenon observed in almost every abnormality. Bestowing gifts. It seemed it took a liking to you. It should be harmless, but I would not fault you if you seek to be rid of it."

The last bit seemed to be addressed to Satori her self. If she should feel atop her head, she would feel what he was talking about. Upon her head was a crown of thorns, its design would leave little imagination as to who it was from. The eyes would look about, but it retained its shape unmoving. It was a living accessory, nothing more, and Satori could do what she pleased with it.

Netzach got up and started walking off toward the Disciplinary department proper. He was eager to be out of this fucking place.

"Come on, let go."

Gebura nodded and matched Ezra's stride as the two red heads charged the rolling fire ball that was the bird. In unison the two blades came down, aimed at their respective wings. As the aquatic blade hit the birds flame, steam would burst forth with amazing pressure. It was blinding, but Ezra could still feel it. Feel her blade cut through flesh and bone as the wing violently separated from its host. Feel the hot blood of the creature splash across her face. In an instant, the raging inferno of the room came to a halt. It became cool and almost silent without the constant crackling of flames all around them. She would hear the thuds as the wingless bird tumbled across the ground behind them.

The Fiery Bird laid there a moment, seemingly dead, before letting out a cough. It wasn't the magnificent cry of the Fiery Bird, but the haggard noise of the aged black bird it was when they entered the room. It weakly got to its feet and made its way over to the two warriors. From its meek movements, it was obvious it was no longer a threat. It was already dead, yet it couldn't be happier.

It still remembered when all others seemed to have forgotten. Those days when hunters from far and wide would chase it. The ultimate prey, to so much as take one of its feathers a pride of the truest hunters. Perhaps it was too illusive of a prey. Eventually people stopped looking, and the incandescent bird became old and haggard with time. For this candle at the end of its wick to burn brilliantly one last time, it was more then it could hope for. Its tried to keep its gorgeous plumage, but already spots with burning out to the gnarled black feathers. As it got to Erza, it took beak full its most glossy feathers and laid it at her feet as an offering, then promptly fell over dead.

From the other side of the room, the two would hear a clap. Chessed applauded the two and gave them a thumbs up on their extraordinary work. He seemed too exhausted to say anything though. Just bearing the heat seemed to take all it had from him as he slumped to the ground. Though, one could hear him mutter under his breath.

"...I can really use a cup after all that..."

Gebura knelled down and lit a cigarette off the feathers. She took a long drag of the thing as she enjoyed the momentary respite. She seemed completely calmed down from how she was a moment ago.

"That pink one is pretty annoying, we should save it for later."

She looked and gave a nod upward to show what she was talking about. The pink slime's mass had all but taken over the second floor. Pink slime was already spilling over the sides and slowly dripping down the walls to the ground floor. From above, the pink humanoid form that emerged from the rest of the mass silently watched them, as if judging them.

Gebura continued.

"Got to prioritize right? There is a pair of fish and three birds I need to make sure are dead before anything else. Even if everything has gone to shit, still my job to avoid these apocalyptic scenarios from panning out. I'd like to think that Angela put Rabbit team on it, but you know how things end up if you don't take care of it your self. Besides, still have to get your little friends out of here. After that, I can kill every single one of these things to my heart content. Clear conscience."

Ezra would be given a moment from the chaos of battle. However, the rumbling from below would remind her that this place was not safe. Bits of floor would fall away about the room, slowly crumbling away to the mass of mouths below. Above, she could faintly hear echos coming down the halls from the higher floors. Gunshots, screams, howls, and carnival music. So much more awaited them.

The grenade explodes in the center of the pack of rats, pieces of rat flesh flying to the walls of the Mill. Homura would see two rodents that survived the explosion, but they panicked at seeing that they were the only survivors and ran away, seemed they were cowardly when they were alone and not in packs.

Homura managed to land a few hits to the chest of one of the bloodsuckers, before a lucky bullet to the head took it down, leaving her with only one bloodsucker to deal with. The creature stared at her with a glare that it fully intended to make her pay for killing it's pack, as it then roared and then charged to her, attempting to go zig zagging to avoid being hit by her bullets.

The person that Lucy got close to and asked her about the helicopter was a Dutyer wearing a gas mask, who nodded.

"Yes, that helicopter is part of Duty. Normally it doesn't see much use but due to a...message we just received, we sent it on a task for us to retrieve some gear to be fully stocked on our task to protect the world from the evils of the Zone. Anyways, stalker, If you want to help protect the innocent and the outside world from the threats of the Zone, you can go to our headquarters and speak to General Voronin about joining us."

The duty stalker would then point to a checkpoint guarded by a few dutyers, near there being a entrance to a underground building.

As Utsuho blasted the rocks away, she would find that while, yes, the rocks were no longer there, the psy-anomaly still remained, as if it was part of the sky instead of being emitted by the rocks near it.

Guess it might be best to go around the anomaly to avoid any brain damage from passing through the anomaly.

Well, seems like her team would be going blind on this stuff. Oh well, that means if they're dropping on a hostile zone, she won't feel bad for shooting first before asking questions. Normally, they wouldn't be together with tall folk, but considering the situation, and the fact that Bandle City's command ain't here anymore, she could sure make a exception.

Besides, she always liked to break rules.

"Sure!" Tristana exclaimed. "Wouldn't mind having some company. You could come with me and Fizz, while Twitch, Veigar and Teemo go together another way."

She looked at the map while her thumb and index finger were on her chin, examining the map closely. This map had some weird names, that's for sure. Who would call the place they live in The Zone? That's like the prize for the worst descriptive name of a land you could think of.

She then snapped her fingers as she came up with a idea. "Okay, how about team 1, which includes me, Fizz and you, go to this Manhattan or whatever it's called, and Team 2 go to this Sakura Dungeon place. If it's dangerous, I bet Veigar and Twitch would have fun doing their own thing over there. Ain't that right, boys?"

Twitch laughed as he examined one of his poisonous grenades. "You sure are, boss!"

Tristana would then smile to Juvia. "What you say, you up for it?"

Trevor, Grant, & Shanoa, Fairy Tail Guild Hall

"Pasta? I think I can do that."

Once he figured out how to operate the stovetop, Trevor was able to boil the water in the pot and put the dried noodles into it to cook them. Soon enough, Grant noticed him and gave his own advice as he walked over to where Trevor was.

"Hey, Trevor!" Grant yelled. "See if you can find some lemons or oranges around there!"

"I found lemon juice."

"Well, only put a few drops of it into the spaghetti. Any more than that and it will be too sour to eat."

Trevor did as he was told and put only a few drops of lemon juice into the noodles. Meanwhile, Grant found a large clean jug and filled it with cold water... Afterwards, Grant put a bit of lemon juice into the water as well, before he took some of the sugar from the jar Mirajane brought out.

"This'll do for something sweet," Grant nodded as he put in some of the sugar into the large jug of the beverage that he was making and stirred the beverage as fast as he could until he was satisfied with the lemonade that he created. "And now we have a nice sweet lemony drink fit for kids and sailors!"

"I believe Grant just invented lemonade," Shanoa added as she continued waiting on the meal.

Eventually, Trevor was finally finished making the spaghetti and putting it on plates, though it was missing something... Something that Shanoa soon added with a suggestion.

"Find something called tomato sauce and pour some of it on the spaghetti, Trevor," Shanoa told the Belmont.

"Okay," he responded when he found some tomato sauce and poured some of it on the plates of spaghetti. Finally, the plates of spaghetti were brought to the table, ready to eat.

Felicia & Talbain, Towards the Disciplinary Department, Facility X-394

"Thanks for letting me borrow them," Felicia soon handed over Yesod's clothes to him. The two Darkstalkers waited for the others to make sure everyone was okay.

"So avoid pink slime at all costs... Got it," Jon Talbain growled and nodded.

"Why do I get the feeling we'll encounter both on our path?" Felicia said in the most sarcastic tone, before turning toward Satori and stopping to look right at the crown on her head. "Umm... let's just get going."

Naturally, both Felicia and Talbain were distrustful of the crown, but they would follow the others in the hopes of escaping this disaster.

Working efficiently as always (even more so as of this current moment in time due to not needing to herd cats since the majority of the troublesome Servants weren't out and about atm), Leonardo Da Vinci was a veritable maestro of multi-tasking as she got to work on compiling logs for the day as well as directing the tireless golems to sweep through the nooks and crannies of the store rooms to deposit the looted arsenal towards sturdy wooden crates before packing them up in styrofoam.

Once done, various wooden boxes were then rolled on over to where the helipad was located so as to allow for the Slavs to pick them up. There was even a tiny bonus of hundreds of pounds of leftover Valentine's chocolates bundled up in more secure packaging, ranging the gamut of mild milk to more ruggedly dark variants filled to the brim with strong liquor for the hardworking European men.

Ringing up their neighbors for a pick up, the Caster hummed with a approval before stamping the Chaldea logo on the side along with a sticker of a chibi version of herself doing a thumbs up gesture with her tongue sticking out most cheekily. "Alright, here's a little token of good will to foster relationships between our respective faction. I'm sure you blokes can put this to far better usage than us who'd just let it sit around and collect dust. Sorry for taking a bit of time to throw everything together."

"Did you have a good nap, sempai?" Peering over the groggily half-awake redhead that was currently blearily staring at a particular section of the blank white wall with the gaze of someone still very much out of it, everyone's favorite eggplant simply sighed before hoisting the lazy Master up onto her shoulder fireman style before slowly moving towards the portal that led them back to their arctic base. "I'll make you some coffee when we get back to wake you up."

"My oh my, this library is certainly a lot more happening than I thought it'd be. I hope I worded that right, the slang of the modern language is still rather strange to me." Eyebrow creeping ever so slightly higher due to the fact that the formerly quiet area was now bustling with people from various other places and wondering why all the decidedly non-literary looking folk were now suddenly slumming it up down here, Nitocris then blinked as she turned her head towards Yomi and Hiriko who were sharing... something between them quietly.

Still, the fact that she could finally see the Dungeon Mistress who managed to corral all these different species under one relatively peaceful banner was rather enlightening. "I've heard a bit about you... You certainly seem to have a solid head on your shoulders if you could run as tight a ship around these parts." Approval was evident in her tone as the pharaoh remarked on how much she liked what she saw.

"OOH, WHAT"S THAT OVER THERE?!" Suddenly his attention was arrested by the fact that there was a building labeled laboratory in the distance, conspicuously propped up near the elevator that would lead up the area towards the area where they must go. "Hey, hey! What's in there? Is it full of the scientific doohickeys that are actually interesting or is it just a boring old lab?!" With the attention span of a hyperactive attention deficit child, the paladin pointed towards Alphys' abode.

"Many thanks. I commend you on your customer relationships." Speaking in her ever neutral tone as always, the Alter Ego then quietly clapped her fingers together for the customary 'itadakimasu' so common to the animes before getting to work. Picking up a fishcake that soaked in the broth liberally and putting it into her mouth, a flash of appreciation shone through her eyes as she found the food to her liking before she really got to work.

Despite the fact that she remained prim and proper with motions that seemed to be able to measure in the picometers of bodily control, the fact that the mountain of food was disappearing at a pace that could be seen in real time was somewhat unnerving and yet eye-catching all the same. Picking up the bowl and sipping the remaining broth once all solids were devoured by the black hole that female Sabers were known for possessing, Majin Saber the plopped down the bowl with a half-lidded gaze that somehow displayed her pleased state.

"Thank you very much. Now then, I don't suppose you've seen a white-haired man in blue that carries about a katana about these parts?" Finally remembering her mission now that she had nothing to distract her, the tanned swordswoman tried her luck while she basking in the aftermath of her food induced euphoria. One always made sure to ask the vendors for information when possible, such was the experiences gained from her lifetime of conflict told her.

Red Sprite, Halls: Is It Something Gross? I Bet It's Something Gross

Amber blinked at the sudden change in subject, half-wondering if the two were at all connected. The ship's engine, or battery maybe?

"Sure." she shrugged, and followed Tatsu to whatever this "cool" thing was.

Velvet Room: This is Why You're on the Naughty List!

The first shock of anger hit Misaki at the word "cooperating;" from the way she saw it, the SEES was cooperating with Devil May Cry to the same extent they were "cooperating" with Tokyo—namely, they were told to sit in a corner and be watched like a hawk. Though despite the souring look on her face, Misaki said nothing.

The second shot hit after Minako brushed off the severity about leaving Vergil alone. The Section Chief had witnessed Lady's outburst, and there was little ambiguity in what she promised to do to Minako if the SEES got involved. And now the girl was not only dragging the rest of her team into the mess, but another group of teenagers and BK-201 as well!

It was too much. With a clenched fist and a glare that gave heavyweights like Saito shivers, Misaki called out to Minako from across the room:

"Is that all you have to say? Even if you're not directly lying to them, you've played down the problem so much it's just plain neglectful. If Devil May Cry gets involved with this hunt, these kids could get hurt just by taking your side, and that'll be completely your fault!"

Her sharp expression turned to Joker and Makoto, who she'd deduced were the impromptu leaders of this second group.

"One of the members of Devil May Cry warned Minako that if she ever tried to go after Vergil, she and whoever was working with her would be stopped. Light words by themselves, but when you consider who this woman is and the sheer amount of firepower she carries with her, it's hard to think she's talking about a scolding. You interfere with their work, you're going to get hurt. Keep a safe distance."

The steely eyes shot back to Minako: "Which is easier said than done, since tracking down Vergil and hunting this creature aren't as separate as Miss Arisato's pretending they are. Far as anyone knows, the last time Vergil was seen he was working for the thing; when you talk about tracking down its minions, you're also talking about tracking down him. Even if you can make the distinction, I doubt Devil May Cry will care enough to tell the difference."

"You're overestimating Lady's temper." Hei remarked as he stepped past Misaki and headed for the door. "When I first met her, the first thing she did was shove the barrel of a gun into my back. She's fond of threats, but that doesn't mean she plans to pull the trigger."

"The woman carries around a rocket launcher, Lee!" Misaki shot back, ignoring the fact she was calling Hei by an alias. "Even if she's not planning to use it, that doesn't mean you should go around tempting her! And that's exactly what you'll do if you don't keep a safe distance!"

Turning to the Phantom Thieves with a stern "remember these words" look in her eyes, Misaki quickly described the features of Lady, Dante, Nero, and Trish. She ended the profiles with a warning that Devil May Cry wouldn't be working alone, and that she couldn't say just how many others might be on Lady's side.

"Visiting the new arrivals is a smart move, but it's possible that Devil May Cry could be trying something similar. Keep. A safe. Distance."

The Underground, Hotland: You Can't Blind Me with Science if I Don't Have Real Eyes!

Majora answered Astolfo's pondering with a great big whine.

"Science makes my head hurt! I just wanna play!"

Taking Chara's directions, the masked child flew beneath the mythical steed and dive bombed towards the elevator. While wrecking the life's work of a scientist sounded amusing, it wouldn't bring Majora any closer to finding a new puppet.

Besides, the place looked like it was getting crowded.

Archades, Caverns: Cue the Fanfare!

Havoc lowered her super gun as the stupid creature fell dead on the ground. After fighting a water wizard, a pack of stupid-looking demons, a scantly-clad succubus, that water wizard again, a chick who shot webs from her wrists, a vampire hunter, and now five fruit-headed little shits, Havoc could die knowing that she'd participated in the weirdest conflict imaginable.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck Battleworld.

Panting slightly from the surprising amount of stamina that fight took, Havoc used her healing spell to get the feeling back in her arms, then snatched the blood-filled flasks and the Gil these dead jackasses stole. She'd find a private place to deal with her price; say she had to go piss or something. She wasn't about to give these two super helpful comrades of hers the pleasure of watching her puke.

As she returned to the entrance, Havoc simply shrugged off Vergil's condescension. In the first fifteen minutes of being on this planet, Havoc had learned that Count Dracula was walking around. She wasn't the big fish in a small pond anymore, and she knew it. Being troubled by comparative mediocrity was a waste of time.

"I can live with that." she replied. "Though when I start something, I try to finish it."

So with little warning, she shot a half-dozen rapid fire bullets into both of the unconscious fruit creatures' heads. A thought entered her head which made her smile:

Try stealing from me NOW, you little pricks.

Archades, Streets: Ready or Not, Here We Come!

About ten minutes of radio silence followed after Yin, Huang, Mao, and Jack went their separate ways. The silence was broken by Huang's gruff voice muttering through Jack's ear and Mao's collar:

"We're in position. Yin's combin' through the parks and gardens now. Restaurants and public squares are next."

"I've got eyes on the upper city." Mao replied. "Lots of guards walking around. Looks like most of the buildings are off-limits. Unless he's got connections, this shouldn't take too long."

"Copy that. That leaves markets and the lower city. Jack: see if you can find your way to the slums."

Fairy Tail, Kitchen: What Kind of Monster ARE You?!

...she just had to play dumb, didn't she?

Tatl's wings flapped faster than ever. Either this wizard was as dumb as a brick, or she was actively trying to get the fairy angrier. And Good Goddess, was that plan working!

After the eighth or ninth bubbly answer, Tatl couldn't take it anymore. She flew away from Mirajane over towards Trevor, who had just returned from handing out what looked like plates of bloody worms. Ewww.

"Y'know Trevor," she said theatrically so everyone in the kitchen could hear, "something you said back in Castle Vania got me thinking. Remember when we all split up and you handed Shanoa your coat? You said that Mirajane shouldn't touch your family's whip because it wouldn't 'agree' with her. Like how it wouldn't 'agree' with Dracula or Death, I take it. It got me thinking that maybe coming here was a mistake."

Certain that this insulting remark would resonate with Mirajane (and to be spurred on by shock if it didn't) the fairy turned towards the wizard.

"Out of everyone who ventured to Castle Vania, Mirajane's the only one without a clear motive. Trevor and Shanoa went for the whip, me and the kid and those four Hunters went looking for Majora's Mask, and Ozen went to grab some treasure. What we want says a lot about us, and no matter how hard I try I can't figure out what you want. You pop out of nowhere to lend a hand to total strangers, you can change your shape at will, and your powers are a lot closer to Dracula's than I'd ever find comfortable.

"Right now you're thinking 'well Ozen isn't all rainbows and sunshine either'" Tatl said these words in a lousy (not to mention super dainty) imitation of Mirajane's voice "but that's not what bothers me. Ozen's very clear about who she is and what she wants, and I've got no problems with that. The only thing I know about you is that you're two-faced! You can flip from bright and sunny to scary voices and a dodongo's tail whenever you want, and somehow I'm supposed to be okay with you feeding my partner weird food!"

Growing bolder and bolder as she rambled on (perhaps foolishly, if Ozen somehow took offense to the profiling) Tatl flew closer and closer to Mirajane an inch at a time. That said, she still flew out of arm's or even kitchen knife's reach, just in case.

"So if you're not going to take the hint, then I'm just going to have to ask it: what do you want?!"

Fairy Tail, Guild Hall: Blessed Memes

A pool, a room with lots of books, a sitting room, an empty room, rooms with very bouncy beds, rooms with weird white stools with water in them, this place was amazing! Link was just about to pull the stool's weird handle when the smell of baking wafted past his nose. He left the little room and rushed downstairs towards the big tables.

Mr. Belmont set down some plates full of...bloody worms? Link grimaced at the sight, but smelling the tomato sauce on it and recognizing it as an ingredient for those snot triangles, he overcame his pickiness and sat opposite of Shanoa.

Lightly kicking his feet under the table, the little hero studied the dish, poked the pasta a little to confirm it wasn't still alive, and smiled. Time to eat!

Without even looking at the fork beside his plate, Link grabbed a handful of spaghetti and began eating it from his hands. Like an infant.

Velvet Room

"I wasn't playing it down; it just comes down to Lady and I having a difference of opinion and methods, and on the contrary," Minako countered primly, eyes glinting as she failed to even flinch from Misaki's withering look, "she only said she would go after me and SEES if we pursued Vergil, so the Phantom Thieves can do whatever they want. They aren't affiliated with SEES in any way, after all, and are merely visitors to this room like yourself. Besides, you're overselling - or maybe overbuying? - Lady's willingness to actually harm my team and I. She may carry around a rocket launcher, but Dante gave it away: if she's attempting to keep us away from Vergil at least partly out of concern for our own well-being, there's no way she's going to use live ammunition if we ever do come to blows. Not that rubber bullets or whatever are going to do much of anything against a Persona."

"Anyway," she added directly to the other teens, waving away the other matter, "I'm assuming you still want to help against the would-be world-ending threat. All I'd ask you to do is visit any new chunks we're not already going to and warn them about Nyarly, and to keep your ears to the ground for anything suspicious. If you do find him or Vergil or someone else working for him, ping Yukari. Right now, she's our best bet at getting the tracker through one of one of his portals from a safe distance. Of course, there's no point in engaging until she's in a sniping position, so try not to get noticed. Something tells me a bunch of master thieves don't need me reminding them to be stealthy, though."

The Fool placed a hand on her hip and gave the Black Reaper an expectant look. "Now quit your dallying, Hei! We need to get a move on!"

Edited by darksidevoid on Mar 6th 2019 at 10:02:27 AM

Vector — Imperial Palace

Gestahl laughed a little as he overheard conversation of 'Adventurer's Guilds'. Of course, he invited 'adventurers', so of course they expected hospitality of a more familiar sort.

"I'm afraid we don't enjoy the company of 'adventurers' here in Vector very often. That's why I arranged to have you all invited here at the palace. Our proud military handles any need that the empire requires, concerning exploration or otherwise... But don't take that the wrong way. We may have to let go of some of our old traditions concerning military matters and the status of adventuring parties in the near future."

The Emperor folded his hands.

"But I can't keep you here forever. I have heard about a pub in the Upper West Side of town that serves as a congregation for all sorts of unusual types. It's a very well respected business, open to all that are within our walls or just visiting. Perhaps that establishment could serve your needs. There's also a large inn in the Lower West Side of town, but I'm personally not proud of that part of the city. You've all been there. That neighborhood has always been a blight."

Gestahl leaned forward into his seat, taking a swig of bone-dry wine as he finished his meal.

General Celes paused from her meal for a moment as she spoke to Strelok. "I'm sorry. That sounds rough."

Suddenly, the court jester took interest in the conversation, pushing aside a small plate of fruits and leaning a little bit over the table to get a good look at Strelok.

"You got amnesia, eh? That's funny, since I've made a device that can give you amnesia if you wear i—"

Gestahl slammed his glass of wine down on the dining table, shutting the jester up just with the sound alone. "Kefka, I'd like to remind you that there are certain subjects not to be brought up during dinner. Especially not around visitors."

Gestahl took another sip of dry wine, rolling his eyes. "Please forgive Kefka. He is our court magician. He's mastered the art of sorcery, but the process involved has left lacking in many attributes, manners being one of them. I'm not sure why I invited him here, to be honest."

Kefka leaned back into his seat, shooting a dark glare at the Emperor, opening and closing his fists quietly.

The voice of Lieutenant Kowalski would respond to Da Vinci. "Understood. No worries, our men will take a bit of time due to the fact they have to avoid crashing into any possible aerial anomalies over at the Zone. The helicopter has reported that it's currently close to the Dark Valley so it should be close to your position now. Once again, Duty thanks you for your help, and you can be sure our men will aid you in protecting you from any threat."

Meanwhile, over the skies of the Dark Valley, the Duty helicopter headed to the land of Chaldea. The pilots were a bit confused at the fact that they slowly found their surroundings changing from the dark green plains of the Zone to...snowy mountains. This was quite a bit of a surprise, but their mission was more their priority than wondering about this sudden climate change. The Hind-D headed off to the snowy land of Chaldea, looking for any sign of their destination and to land for the supplies.

"No worries, your highness." Strelok said as the Emperor apologized for the actions of the jester. He had to admit, this Kefka gave out a....not trustworthy air.

Well, the meal was far much better than the Zone had to offer, he wish he could continue eating, but it might be best to examine what things this place had to offer. Hopefully they had something good, considering that this had a weird combination of industrial and medieval things.

The stalker would get off his chair as he was done with his meal, and then look to Gestahl. "If you excuse me your majesty, I will go with Christophe to this armory. Thank you for your generosity and your hospitality." He bowed to the Emperor, and would then head off to the armory.

Mitakihara - Mirai Mall - Cana

"What the hell sort of elevator is this, E isn't even a number!" Cana groaned when the readout kept climbing and climbing until it apparently broke. "Can you get someone to fix it, Kanda? Huh...."

Kanda looked as if she had practically forgotten how to exist.

"Kanda? Kanda!" she shouted, putting her hands on the woman's shoulders and frantically shaking her. "Wake up!"

Facility X-394 - Welfare Department - Wendy and Carla

Wendy let out a sigh of relief, breathing more easily due to the contrast between the cool and refreshingly moist air of the Welfare Department when compared to the previous everything-is-on-fire area.

"Oh good, you guys made it," Wendy said when she and Carla managed to stumble upon Malkuth and the twins in the Welfare Department. It should would have been rough to be here alone, just the two of them, without anyone who actually lived here able to tell them where to go and where they were.

Well... maybe it would have been better to be alone here, after all, because some thing approached them, giving off some major bad vibes.

"Wu...what? H-how do you know my name?" Wendy asked, trembling a bit as she took a step back. She bumped into Carla, who blinked and likewise took a few steps back so that she and Wendy could put some distance between her and the creature.

"Wendy, let's get out of here," Carla suggested.

Carla was right. They had to leave. But... they weren't from here, and this thing was. What if they ran away and it chased them and then she ran right into a dead-end? Wendy really didn't want to have to fight it. And worse, what if she ran away and it hurt the other people instead because she couldn't help them? Though.... Maybe... maybe it would just be harmless - weird, but harmless - and leave as soon as she opened the present? For all she knew, running away might spook it and make it lash out. Plus, it was a present, she couldn't deny that she was somewhat curious about this whole present business.

Plus, Malkuth was from here too, and she seemed to be okay with it. Not just okay, excited about it. She was an adult, and she didn't seem evil, so maybe it would all work out.

"N-no Carla, it's okay, I think it's all going to be f-fine." She tried to reassure the cat.

She squeezed her hand very hard, the puppet getting squished in her grip as she approached. Then carefully, ever-so-slowly, she reached out her other hand to the present and tugged at the ribbon, then began tearing away at the wrapping paper.

"Ewww....." she couldn't help but wimper as she did so.

Facility X-394 - Central Command Center

"You fought well, Erza said, crouching down to pick up the pile of glossy feathers in her fist, and then storing them away with her magic. She let out a deep breath as she stood up, and panted for a moment. She walked over towards Chessed, flicking her sword once to send a patter of cool drops of water onto him to try cooling him off. Then she stuck out her arm and yanked him to help get him onto his feet. "You can dream about drinking things later, we need to get you out of here now, and I need to find Wendy and Carla. If you're thirsty, suck on my sword."

She grunted and then looked back at the dead bird, then at Gebura.

"Nice work," she complimented the redhead. "You handled yourself quite remarkably. Just don't go losing yourself again just yet, we need you focused and alert. Lucky for you, I'm used to handling a pair of hotheads when we go on assignment, so I'll knock some sense into you if you start acting up."

That last sentence might have sounded like a joke. Her expression indicated it wasn't.

"That bird. It seemed... glad to be put out of its misery," she added to Chessed. "And the pink one, it almost looks human. Just what sort of twisted things go on in this place?"

Common Room

"I don't believe I want to know what sort of fun those three think they can get up to in a dungeon." Juvia grimaced, looking at the ones Tristana had indicated.

"Other than that, one place is as good as any other for me. I suppose we should be off to this 'Manhattan' place, then." With all that decided on, she hummed lightly and started to make her way to the portal, but then she thought of something. A pesky thought that just seemed to pop up all of a sudden.

"Man...hattan. Man... hating. You don't think they call themselves that because they hate men, do you?" she mused. Then she hunched over slightly and whispered to herself. "If it were, it would be the perfect place to retire with Gray, then I wouldn't have to worry about any of those man-hating bimbos trying to put the moves on him, eheheheheh."

She'd continue to talk to herself like that for a while until they were either in Manhattan, or someone bothered her.

CXZ - Mill

One to go. Homura brought her Type 89 to bear on the bloodsucker bearing down on her from across the room and pulled the trigger to complete the job...only after two more rounds were fired the gun went silent, even after Homura's finger released and depressed the trigger again.

Jammed. At maybe the worst possible time for it to do so.

No time to clear it with the bloodsucker closing fast, but Homura needed an extra second or two to get another weapon, specifically the shotgun slung around her shoulder. She needed a distraction...and the Type 89 was basically a giant paperweight now. Homura backed up as much as she could to keep the bloodsucker in front of her before throwing the Type 89 at it, hoping it would be distracted long enough to swing the Winchester around into her hands and make its two remaining rounds count.

Mirai Mall - Elevator

One shake of the shoulder was all Cana got before Kanda would suddenly swing around and attempt to sock Cana in the jaw with a right hook. Hit or miss, it would be evident that Kanda’s movements were significantly more sluggish than usual, like her movements were being controlled via puppetry, though with no less force behind them. The lights would flicker for a moment as Kanda would slowly shamble towards Cana, a low, droning voice coming from the cop just barely audible for Cana to pick up:

“Alone…one...together...two…forever...”

And even though there was only one other person in the elevator, if Cana wasn’t freaking out about this turn of events by now she might reconsider if she noticed that there seemed to be more than one voice saying those words, from a direction that was seemingly everywhere and nowhere, coming from every direction around...and from within her head...

HGT, Outside Kabukicho: K/DA Meets the Nut Salesman

Ahri's extrasensory powers would detect that whatever pile of negativity on this side of town was...pretty lacking, actually; the early afternoon wasn't the most popular time to head to the Red Light district. That said, she wouldn't find the neighborhood empty. The largest collection of "greed" to be found were further into Kabukicho, under her feet. Basements.

Turning back to the gig, K/DA would find Mr. Kobayashi's associate inside the building directly in front of them. He was a short and stout man by the name of Yusuke Nakamura. As if to contrast the tall stoic frowning man the popstars had met in the Common Room, Mr. Nakamura liked to yell more than he liked to talk. While the volume in his first words ("CAN I HELP YOU LADIES?!?!") might've been excusable, since he was standing on the other side of a large room off to the the side of a stage, but his voice didn't lower much with the closer distance.

He invited the pop stars to his little office above the live house's stage, where he explained that "GRUMPY GORO TOLD ME YOU'D BE COMING!" Far from surprised by the band's appearance, Mr. Nakamura seemed ecstatic to find a group so clearly in tandem. He was obviously eager for new talent, if the live house's cleanliness were any hint.

The deal was simple: they'd have half an hour to rehearse before the doors opened at 9, and long as they covered a minimum of 90 minutes performance time, they'd be getting a small cut of the night's revenue and "FREE DRINKS!" Any dress or costumes were their responsibility, and special effects were out of the question (he'd been dismantling a busted stage light when they first arrived).

Finer details were listed on paper waiting for the band to sign. All in all, it wasn't the worst gig in the world, and while Mr. Nakamura's vocal chords must've been made of steel to keep talking like that, it seemed clear that he had a good heart.

That, and that he was obviously half deaf.

Once the contract was signed, K/DA would be free to go while Mr. Nakamura made preparations at the live house. The pop stars could head wherever they wished...so long as they kept an eye on the time.

Velvet Room: Washing Her Hands of It

As Minako split more hairs and shrugged off weapons that were still quite lethal if things went wrong, something shifted in Misaki's glare. From the very first "distinction," the Section Chief began loosening her fists, releasing the furl in her brow, and unclenching her jaw. By the time the Fool finished speaking, one might mistake her stoic expression for being convinced by the argument.

They'd be mistaken. What Misaki felt right now wasn't calm, it was apathy; the realization that she was talking to a lemming. Minako just didn't care whether Lady tried to stop her or not—and in all fairness, why should she? Those giant creatures that burst from her head were a damn miracle cure, and she'd depend on them till she finally bit off too much and died. Talk wouldn't stop Minako from doing whatever she wanted, no matter how much Misaki wished it would. She could only trust that the Black Reaper was still on her side, and that these other kids didn't run off the cliff after Minako.

"It's reasons like this..." the Section Chief finally said with a sigh, "that have put you on two watch lists in two days. I tried to defend you when Lady blew up in your face yesterday; maybe I shouldn't have bothered. She's absolutely right."

Misaki walked out the door, but not without tossing one last thought over her shoulder:

"You're a breath away from strike three, so stay out of Hell's Gate Tokyo. Expect a visit from April later today."

And with that, the Section Chief left.

Hei in the meantime, kept quiet beside Igor and the twin servants. He followed Minako at her call, but not before offering some cryptic consolation as he put on his mask:

"Not everyone asks to be a leader."

Common Room: Next Stop...

"Something troubling you, Misaki?"

Goro could spot the Section Chief's distress from across the Common Room. Having returned to big white room after parting with K/DA, Goro was soon joined by his partner and bodyguard—who had more than a few colorful things to say about Tokyo's new security.

"Nothing that I can do much about." Misaki replied as she approached. "Just have a bad feeling, that's all. Any changes in the city?"

"Your blue-haired friend's got an interview soon." the Dog shrugged. "Trying to salvage the little problem from this morning. Might convince some people that Contractors won't kill you with a look."

"The general fear's less that they won't and more that they can." Misaki sighed. "And that's a problem we're not going to fix in a day."

"Some progress has been made, at least." Goro frowned. "Eric has granted me limited access to these Synths' protocols, allowing me to update who they view as allies."

Misaki nodded. If they couldn't get rid of the things outright, at least now they could keep the portal area from turning into a war zone for a fourth time.

"So what's our next move?" she asked.

Goro's eyes turned to the globe. "We should pursue more alliances to support the Dueling Grounds. Since we have all but depleted our list of survivors from the Empire's invasion, perhaps focusing on Former Hell's neighbors would prove effective—we can use Satori's support as leverage."

"Do we know anything about Luna Nova?"

"Some kind of high school for witches." answered the Dog. "Nishijima's there."

"While Luna Nova may be cooperative, I doubt Eric would appreciate our presence. We cannot waste time stepping on each others' toes."

Misaki lowly hummed an agreement, and further studied the globe. Entering Outworld was a death wish, and there had still been no sign of Zi-Jin Cheng's delegates. Both were nonstarters. Which left...

"What about Vector?"

The Dog shrugged. "Arrived this morning. Capital of an empire, I guess. Rep's an old man, probably the emperor."

Misaki turned her eyes to the city's portal. "Well, it's not like there's any better options. You two coming?"

"I should stay here." Goro stated, not without some reluctance. "Should anyone else wish to enter Tokyo's portal, they will need authorization. Otherwise we will soon make more enemies than friends."

The Section Chief agreed, though it was only a matter of time before they'd be forced to abandon that post. They had to find a better solution soon.

"Don't worry, Goro." the Dog smirked. "We'll bring you a sandwich or something."

And with that, Misaki and the Contractor departed the Common Room for Vector.

While Homura experienced the most common and worst situation a stalker faced with their guns, the bloodsucker started to get close to her. The creature was hit by the jammed gun in the head, disorientation it for a brief second. It would recover it's senses to find a buckshot blast hitting it in the chest. The creature recoiled from the hit, but still survived and looked slightly annoyed...until the last shot from Homura headshotted it, blowing up the upper half of its head into gory chunks, the body of the beast falling down to the ground.

The bloodsuckers were no more.

"Shesh, hopefully not." Fizz said to Juvia, looking a bit uncomfortable with the possibility of that. "At least I hope they love cute looking fish yordles if they do."

"Eh, don't worry, Fizz." Tristana said. "We'll vouch for you that you're okay if that's the case." After that, if they weren't interrupted, they would head off to the portal to Manhattan.

Meanwhile, Twitch and Veigar looked to where the portal of this Sakura Dungeon was, looking at each other, before Twitch spoke to him.

"You first."

"No, you go first!"

"Come on Veigy!" He laughed, "I'll be sure to protect you if that place turns out to be bad!"

Veigar grunted, not looking too convinced by that idea. "If I go first, do you promise to take a nice, long shower?"

The mutant rat looked angered at that kind of idea. "I already told you how many times, never and never!"

While the two kept arguing on who would go first, Teemo examined the portal to this Sakura Dungeon. He was not sure why the hell was listening to the orders of a dead person, but...he needed to explore to find out a clear solution to where he was, and the layout of this land. After all, it's his duty as a scout...and if they turned to be hostile, he hoped he would get some fun taking some of them down.

He would approach the portal to the Sakura Dungeon, and then enter it. Meanwhile, Veigar would take notice of that and look panicked at the fact Teemo went in without them. "Oh great, you stupid sewer rat, you let Teemo go away without us!"

"How is it my fault, I told you to go first, but you did-"

"Oh whatever!" Veigar exclaimed. "Let's just hope he doesn't get himself killed!" They would sprint to the portal to Sakura Dungeon, and then enter it.

Edited by Darkomega245 on Mar 8th 2019 at 6:24:49 AM

Ruby and Yang - Expectations; Outside The Portal, Mitakihara

Well, that was a better reception than they expected. Though that wasn't a low bar to clear, they had expected pointed weapons at least. And not an alleyway.

"We're friends of Lady's." Ruby said with confidence. "She called to say we were coming."

The pair, while not expecting trouble, looked the soldiers with a critical eye. So far, they'd experienced a couple types of soldiers between them: Ruby had fought Combine, while Yang had fought alongside Capellan forces. Both had seen a few Genoshan soldiers, and of course they had personal experience with the forces of Atlas. Some things didn't change: helmets and boots, and a belt of pouches around their waist. But the body armour they had look soft, compared to an Atlesian's rigid chestplate, and their uniforms were in a grey camouflage pattern.

Interesting how patterns emerged and were broken across universes.

Weiss would've responded to Dmitri, but the Oni instead bellowed at them for whispering, and Lady sent them a glare for good measure. While she could understand the Oni's problem (Weiss privately cursed Ruby's influence for letting her manners slip), Lady doubling down on the chastising was unwarranted, and she got an unimpressed look in return for her glare.

"My apologies." She said to the Oni, not willing to let Lady speak for her in this instance. "I didn't mean to insult you. My world doesn't have an afterlife called Hell that I know of, neither do we have an afterlife that's home to demons. There was a gap in my knowledge, and all I wanted was to resolve it privately and without embarrassment, or potentially insulting you by not having heard of your home when every else has."

That last part, by the way Weiss placed emphasis on it, seemed more meant for Lady than the Oni.

And in turn, the boy was growing suspicious of them. BB Hood explained the concept of communications technology to him, but Blake felt the need to follow it up.

"If worst comes to worst, we should be able to keep him occupied long enough for our allies to get here."

Blake neglected to mention that they'd probably have to employ hit-and-run tactics. As far as she could tell, only herself and Tsubaki were melee fighters like Vergil, and she wasn't so sure that they could work well enough together to beat him. She'd much rather have her own team at her back.

After saying their goodbyes to the rest of their team, the knight and the spartan headed towards the portal labeled Chaldea, only to find themselves about to enter at practically the same time as a pink-haired girl and the friend she was carrying over her shoulder.

They'd be more worried if they didn't know the pacification field would have prevented an actual kidnapping.

"Are you guys headed to Chaldea too?" Jaune asked, before realizing the stupidity of his question. "I mean, are you from there?"

Because people regularly take their napping friends into foreign lands.

Meanwhile, it was Nora who'd decided on their next course of action.

"Maki only wanted to avoid Amber. Now she's gone, he can come out."

It was with that sentiment that the viking and the ninja found themselves entering through the door of their dorm room.

"Maki? Are you awake?"

Lady effectively bore her heart to him as she explained why she was doing this, and Bond nodded along with it.

"Better than most." Bond nodded grimly, as Lady asked if he understood. "I've done my fair share of dirty deeds for a greater good."

More than his fair share, really. And how greater the good was a topic for debate.

"But in my experience, people tend to be stubborn. They try and help when they're not needed. Don't beat yourself up if Dante ends up killing his brother again, despite your best efforts."

Or if Vergil killed Dante. Third time was the charm, after all. But that wasn't something to bring up right now.

"As for Minako, consider her shadowed. I'll contact you when they leave the Common Room, and if SEES splits up, I'll keep on Minako and tell you were the rest went. I'd try and bug them, but if they went through a bug sweeper, it might damage their neutral reputation. Or get them killed."

Or both. Or worse.

Rostok - Zone - Lucy and Happy

"Protecting the innocent? Fighting evil?" Lucy asked the Duty S.T.A.L.K.E.R. curiously. "Well, yeah, that sounds pretty good actually." Though she had to take it with a grain of salt, considering the bloodsport that was going to be going down in the nearby arena.

"Aye sir!" Happy enthusiastically added with a salute. "Helping people who can't help themselves is what Fairy Tail is all about!"

"General Voronin, huh?..." Lucy thought out loud. "Alright, yeah, I think I will. Thanks, pal!"

With a wave, she and Happy were off, taking one step after another as they began their long journey down the road- and now they were done.

"Excuse me!" Lucy said to one of the guards as she approached. "I'm here to talk to Mister General Voronin, please!"

"Aye sir!" Happy echoed his earlier statement and posture.

"Anyway...." Lucy continued. "Do you think we could meet with him today?"

Mirai Mall Elevator - Mitakihara - Cana

"Ow! What the hell!" Cana shouted, her right hand momentarily going up to her cheek where Kanda had socked her. She grunted and threw herself at Kanda, wrapping the officer in a fierce bear hug to try and pin her arms in place.

"H-Hey, I don't know who you are, but you picked the wrong person to mess with!" she called out at the freaky voices that were sounding off in the elevator... and her brain? "You let her go right now!"

Imperial Palace - Vector - Maeve and Ryuuou (and Staff)

"No guild for adventurers?" Maeve asked in disbelief. "Well, I suppose I'll make due with what I have."

"You're what's considered a human magician?" Ryuuou said with a smile as she stared unblinking at Kefka. She snickered. "No wonder they have you dressed like a clown!"

"Anyway, I think he has the right idea," Maeve quickly added, standing up and putting a hand on Ryuuou's shoulder. "We ought to go and see this armory.

Ryuuou didn't move.

"Right now." Maeve tugged at her shoulder.

Ryuuou still didn't move.

Sighing, Maeve leaned in a little.

"I would... greatly appreciate it if you were to accompany me," she said, holding on her arm. "And... I'd be in your debt."

Ryuuou took a few moments to ponder this as she nibbled on the last bit of bread she had before finally responding.

"Hmmm.... well, if you insist, then of course," the dragon said haughtily, standing up and linking one arm, a wave of her free hand motioning for her servants to grab a couple more platefuls of food off of the table to bring along for the road, which they promptly did and put on their own serving trays.

"I'll be taking my leave now your majesty," Ryuuou said louder, this time addressing the table at large. "This has been a most thoroughly entertaining meal. We'll have to do this again at some point."

The duo set off to the Armory a short distance behind Strelok, Ryuuou's two servants trailing behind them with their newly-loaded trays.

Common Room - Heading Out - Juvia

"Huh, fish yordle?" Juvia asked, making smalltalk as they set out for the glorious realm of Manhattan. "You don't look like a fish."

From a dark corner, mocking applause would sound, as Nyarly, in the shape of a samurai in white garb, stepped out into the light.

   If you are done playing with the local wildlife, we must speak. The situation on the surface has changed.    He turned to look at Vergil.    A group has united, with the express purpose of finding you and destroying you.   

"Dante's bringing other people into our rivalry now?"

   Not him. A woman, one you met once before in that tower, the spawn of that man Arkham.   

"How like a human, to compensate for their weakness with numbers." He said self-smugly as he leaned against a wall. "They are of no concern to me."

   I seek to exploit this situation. The woman is growing paranoid, making rash decisions, allowing emotions to control her, and slowly creating a rift among those who oppose us. This is to our advantage. We will use hit and run tactics. Appear in one place, strike, withdraw, and appear elsewhere. They seek to find you and pin you down. By remaining mobile and appearing in multiple locations, we will prevent this from happening, and sow more chaos and discord among them   

He raised a finger.    But-    Then he turned to point at Carmilla and Havoc.    They do not yet know you travel with him, and I wish to keep it that way. You two will complete another task, and create chaos in this land by murdering the emperor of this city. Vergil, meanwhile, you will go to the surface. The man who's form I have taken is to be your target. Others lurk with him, but they are unlikely to join the fight directly. You will challenge this man, this "Jack", kill him if you can, if not, present yourself as an "innocent" civilian of the city who fought in "self defense" when the guard arrives, and get the man wanted by their authorities, who will be on high alert after the death of their leader. Once that is done, I will have your next instructions.   

   Any questions?   

Lady nodded, the words from Bond seeming to help improve her mood somewhat.

"Alright. Thanks again, you didn't have to agree to help me, I appreciate that. I need to get moving, I've taken too long already.

She started to move for the door out, but paused at the door, looking back.

"By the way, later.....once this is all over with....I'd love to actually spend some time with you, maybe some dinner, drinks, whatever your preference is, if you're not busy."

She would wait long enough for him to reply, then leave.

Edited by Meanken on Mar 8th 2019 at 7:30:39 AM

...Spa...ghetti? Ozen, mentally, did a big think. What exactly is it? A noodle dish, obviously, though having the noodles already made and dried into little straws was bizarre. Why wouldn't you just make them yourself?

She was handed the vaunted job of mixing the building blocks of cookies together, something that distracted her from the curse of the Italian race. "Naturally," she said, without too much interest in the matter. Her iron strength demolished all obstacles in her path.

Somewhere between stuffing the cookies and when she menaced Tatl, she wondered why you'd put lemon with your noodles.

Now onto the next part required of all cooking adventures, verbal harassment. The little insect decided that, of all people here, Mirajane was going to be the one to backstab and kill everyone here, maybe with poisoned. If she was that didn't concern her, because there's no way she'd have enough poison to fill her gut, but in all likelihood she wasn't.

That, and while she could agree with her estimation of her, it was only half right.

As the fairy inched closer to Topknot's face, she stood behind him and gave a sly look to their gracious host, holding a finger up to her mouth.

"I don't have a tail, but really...is it just because I'm not sunny enough for you?" She'd reach up with surprising speed, and tried to pin the sprite between three fingers to hold him in place. Not enough to hurt at all, and Tatl could probably wiggle free if he really tried, but it was a firm grasp.

If she managed to pull it off, she'd slowly move her face closer to the entrapped fairy, and she'd whisper just loud enough for Mirajane to hear, "I'd really like to see what's going on inside that little head of yours, that'd make it think that she's the scary one. I can sound a lot scarier than her, and I can look so much worse..." She'd release Tatl, and if he spun around to look at her he'd see...

A normal, pleasantly smiling Ozen. At least as pleasant as someone with a face like her's could manage.

If he got away and she was left empty handed, she'd merely do The Thing and give him the same look that she gave everyone as he escaped. "I don't get it," she said with her gaping black maw, "You'd trust me over the woman who tried her best to comfort that brat of yours? What exactly do you want from her? She takes you into her own house and you'd treat her like this, then?"

Though she wouldn't know it, the oni found herself suddenly holding the impression that the career demon hunter was the better of the two. One of them gave her the best attempt at a kowtow she'd seen from an abovegrounder in recent years, the other gave a good shot...and missed the point by a good few inches.

"What gaps in thy knowledge could thoust fill from the mind of someone who isn't from here, traveler?!" It wasn't a bellowing inquiry, but more an honest question born from the need to educate. "Asking my humble self to inform you about my home burg isn't some task that even the Buddha couldn't fill, it's the opposite! It'd take a few seconds from my day where all I do is stand in front of a gate and help the less firm Kishin up the stairs when they need it."

Much to Lady's chagrin, this didn't lessen her suspicions. The guard could put it up to poor judgement, but that being her excuse made it seem just the slightest bit fishier.

"I could understand what you said, o reasonable traveler." She looked Lady on square in the eye, with a slightly more accommodating look. "With the honor of your others notwithstanding, you make a good case. Should your ears fall on the words of the Kishin, they will appreciate them. But I now follow a law that me, my father, and his father have followed in their service...paperwork. Surely, if you know of Hell, you would know of the Celestial Bureaucracy?"

She hung her arms from atop of her iron club as she planted her chin there, entirely deflated that all of this would come down to the most asinine of technicalities. "Unless you have the luck of the gods and already hath inscribed onto a proper missive beforehand, and would be generous enough to show me, there is at least a two-day waiting period and a form to fill out."

There were spirits of starvation, constructs born from the dead by famine, the mindlessly hungry that had eaten smaller portions slower than her.

This cook, someone who had only been alive for mere decades, could feel the sudden and overwhelming gap of strength between them. The way she merely moved on like that meal was just as mundane as stepping into someone's house...

...it made her wonder if she was going to take "no" for an answer!

The vendor paused, with a loud, droning "uhhhhhhh" that seemed without end. She looked at everything around Majin Saber, but dared not look her in the eye.

"Wwweeeeeeeeeeellllllll...uhhhh...there was a blue-skinned man from Makai who visited a few stalls down a day or two ago, that's just something I've heard. I...don't know if he had a katana, but, you know, maybe my eyes are just bad? It's...please don't hurt me"

Edited by wikkit on Mar 9th 2019 at 11:55:05 AM

The representives of the Battleworld would hear the voice of The Cure in their heads.

"Attention, I am adding a new land to the Battleworld. Please welcome The Netherworld to the Battleworld"

The map would flicker and change.

The New Map of Battleworld (To be added later)

Those who find their land brought to the Battleworld will find that, in the course of their normal (or not so normal) day, they and everyone in their land had suddenly fell asleep. They would wake up to find themselves on the Battleworld, where anyone near a chunk border would note the clear changes to their surroundings. Whoever had been chosen as the chunk representative (this being the main character) would find a note in their hand.

Greetings. Right now, I am sure you have questions. What happened? Who is responsible for this? If you are outside or near a window, you may have already noticed the changes outside. Suffice it to say, you are no longer on your world. Now, you are in MY world. You are far from the only ones I have brought here, however. Should you wish answers, then you should enter the blue portal that now stands before you, or leave your current quarters and follow the hall. All questions you have shall be addressed there.

As they finished the note, they would indeed find a blue portal had appeared in front of them, waiting to take them inside. In said room, blank white walls stood on all sides of them, with only a giant round table in the center stopping it from looking like a white void. In the center of said table stood a rotating globe, with the map of the new world on it, each land clearly marked with the name of the land and the name of their chosen representative (That is, the one who received the note) under it. Above it, in gigantic letters, was the name of the world, Battleworld.

Around the table were chairs, some of which had names on the back. The leader would find a chair with their name on it, and other chairs would have names that matched the names on the globe. One chair, The Cure's giant black throne, stood away from the rest. In it sat a giant of a man, standing at about 20 feet tall, with blood red skin covering his body apart from bits that were covered in leather bindings. He turned to the newcomers with his pure black eyes, and smiled, revealing his rotting teeth. About 20 or so feet in front of it stood a large, black obelisk, with a digital screen on it that seemed to have a list of names on it.

The man in the chair lifted his hand, motioning for the newcomers to approach.

Lady's expression softened a bit as Weiss spoke up, making it known how much of an ass she'd just made of herself. But it was when the demon spoke and told them of a 2 day waiting period that something snapped in her. But rather then getting angry, her netural expression shifted, and she just looked....really really tired and resigned, a shift she was not really consciously aware of.

"Oh." She said in a dead tone. "I see. I'm afraid where I come from, the residents of what we would call Hell are....much less open to negotiations or governing of any form, and have not heard of paperwork. I won't insult you and ask you to make an exception for me."

She held out the photo for the guard, as well as a business card.

"Could I just ask you to take this, and pass the message on to your superiors to be on the lookout for him? If you spot him, please let us know, go through the portal and look for a room called "Devil May Cry", tell someone there and the message will find its way to me."

Reguardless of whenever or not the photo was accepted, she would continue.

"Sorry for wasting your time."

Then she would turn around and start to walk away at a much slower pace then when they arrived, not even so much as glancing at Demitri and Weiss.

The Netherworld, Laharl

Laharl sat upon his throne, pondering what his next move should be. The newly crowned Overlord had a plethora of responsibilities he would need to deal with, and one hell of a legacy to live up to. No matter, though. He would be an even greater leader than his old man, of that he was certain. But something about today didn’t feel quite right. His suspicions were only confirmed when he looked at a suspicious note that mysteriously appeared in his hand.

“What the?” Laharl’s hair antennae twitched a little as he read the note incredulously. “What is this crap? A prank? This better not be a waste of time.”

The young demon stepped through the portal without much of a second thought.

Common Room, Laharl

Laharl suddenly found himself in a large white room with a map in the center of it. There were several locations listed on it, including his own Netherworld. This wasn’t the first time he had ended up in different Netherworlds, but something about this seemed strange about this. None of the people here seemed to be demons at all. None except for the ominous figure sitting atop the throne in front of it all.

“I’m assuming you must be the Overlord of… whatever this is,” Laharl said, not sure what to make of all the other people who were gathered. “So what’s this all about, anyway? If you summoned me here, it must’ve been for a reason.”

Welcome to Sakura Dungeon

After going through the common room and into the shimmering blue portal for the Sakura Dungeon, it opened up into the gardens◊. Many monsters were hanging around in the gardens, most trying to get some time in the sun, either by playing around or being lazily sprawled out in the calm of the garden. A cat witch and an abyssal goat were standing inside a little kiosk made out of bamboo branches, with a big cloth banner suspended from the top that said "SAKURA DUNGEON". A demolitionist and infantry fox were standing on either side of the kiosk, watching the portal area.

There were a Tribeswoman and Mud girl laying down on their stomachs and elbows, watching a Genie practice her new dance routine, while the demolitionist and infantry were intermittently peeking over in that direction. A Fox Tamer was jogging with her foxes, strolling through the gardens alongside a Forest Spirit who was petting the bird on her shoulder. A few bees were out, pollinating flowers so they could eventually return to the hive and make honey. An enterprising and cheerful cat witch was selling ice-cold drinks made with fruit and cream, while a pair of redheaded women were just sitting leisurely in the grass, polishing their axe and scythe in the sun.

When Teemo popped out of the portal, the bird stopped chirping and the Forest Spirit turned to look at the Yordle. She wrinkled her nose as she looked down at the weird creature at a distance. The Fox woman who was jogging nearby, a pair of foxes scampering alongside her, diverted towards him, the pair of animal foxes following the one monster Fox on this new path.

"Why, aren't you a cute little thing?" the Fox Tamer asked when she came to a stop near Teemo, the two little foxes slowly approaching him. "Why are you here? And where did you get that outfit?"

Fairy Tail Guild Hall - Mirajane

"Good work Trevor. And nice trick with the lemons, Grant. Boy Ozen, when you mix the cookie dough, you sure mix it, teeheehee," Mirajane commented happily as they all worked together.

And when you thought about it, adding lemon juice to pasta made sense. Learn something new every day. Wow, things sure were looking up! Everyone was getting along, and the Castlevania folks had managed to cook some lunch and set it out, so it would just be a fun time hanging out with each other until the cookies were ready. She was already smiling as she imagined Link's eyes bulging up to the size of dinner plates when he ate his first cookie. Why... she even dared picture Ozen smiling warmly.

She had to grit her teeth for a moment to avoid bursting out laughing.

Of course, this being the real world, their resident bundle of sunshine just had to ruin everything. And to even her surprise, Ozen of all people spoke up on her behalf.

"Please don't fight! I..." she pleaded, her lips narrowing to a more neutral expression. "I just wanted to make new friends. And friends help each other because they're allies. I wouldn't be a very good friend if I only wanted to get along with people when things are great. I have to be willing to put myself in danger for them so that we can all get through things together. We're all stuck on this world now for who-knows-how-long, and I needed to find people who could get along with me and the rest of Fairy Tail, and there just happened to be a group of you all talking about how you wanted to fight an evil vampire. If you were trying to find other good, kind people who were worth being your friends, what better place to start?"

She wiped a teardrop from her eye that had been forming, and smiled slightly.

"Allies aren't just supposed to work together though. We have to celebrate together, and most importantly, we have to grow together. But we can't do that if we can't even give each other a little bit of trust. That's how friends work. You give someone a little bit of yourself, and you let them give you a little bit back, and then those little pieces grow bigger and stronger the more we go through things together. It's not just me though, how would you and Link make any friends from other worlds if you weren't able to trust each other? Sometimes you have to be the one to ask for a chance, and sometimes you have to be the one to give someone else a chance."

She tilted her head towards Ozen and smiled even more, her cheeks even taking on a rosy tinge.

"Even if it's someone who acts like they don't care, but then shows how much she really does."

"The combat gear and the helmet kinda makes it hard to tell, but yeah, I am!" Fizz would then start pressing some buttons on his helmet while they made their way to the portal, and after a few seconds, take it off, revealing his fishy blue face. He would then press a button on one of his gauntlets, a light coming from it and making his helmet disappear.

"Pretty cool huh?" He gave a grin to Juvia once she would take a good look at his face.

The checkpoint guard nodded to Lucy. "Yes, you can meet him right now. You'll find General Voronin by entering the bunker and heading down the stairs."

The checkpoint guard would let Lucy and Happy pass through, while pointing at the underground bunker's door entrance so she would know where to go find him.

The Yordle Scout found himself not in a dark, threatening dungeon but....bright garden? Not only that, but it was populated by what seemed like a variety of animals and Vastayan-like people happily going around.

Teemo glanced at the Fox tamer and the little foxes approaching him. He wasn't sure if they were hostile, but considering she just called him cute...he doubted it.

"That outfit is military gear. And I was sent here to scout out this Battleworld to gain information of the land here. Hope you don't mind having a visitor here.."

After he was done answering the question of the Fox tamer, Veigar and Twitch would come out from the portal, their guns raised due to thinking Teemo was in trouble...but once they saw the strange place they were in, they both looked confused and lowered their rifles.

"...Ugh, too bright and colourful!" Twitch complained as he saw the bright gardens. "I prefer the sewers of Zaun compared to this!"

"Quit your whining, rat! It's a good thing we aren't in a hostile zone." The duo would notice Teemo speaking to what seemed like a fox vastayan and her fox pets, deciding that getting answers from the locals would be good, they would approach her, grouping up with Teemo. Veigar would then speak to the Fox tamer.

"Vastayan! Or whatever you are, we are part of Omega Squad, Bandle City's best commando squad! We were sent by our commander to explore this particular place and see if they're friendlies or enemies, so hopefully you can inform us about this place and let us explore this land!"

Trevor, Fairy Tail Guild Hall

"Just because someone uses dark powers, does not mean they are evil," Trevor corrected Tatl's misconception about the whip. "The Vampire Killer is designed destroy dark creatures without regards to their morality."

"I will point out that one of my own allies, the one who goes by the name of Alucard, is the rebellious son of Dracula who desires his defeat same as everyone else on my own team," Trevor explained to Tatl. "The only reason he was not with me was that he was making sure his own mother, who Dracula brought here with one of the Cure's wishes, was safe."

"His mother, a medicine woman named Lisa, was able to temper Dracula's evil with her own love," Trevor frowned slightly as it was rather gloomy to discuss. "At least until Carmilla sparked the witch hunts that led to not only Lisa's death, but also the death of the parents of another ally of mine."

Trevor turned to Mirajane, "Sypha is a witch herself... I suppose you could describe her as a wizard."

"She is over making sure a neighboring school for witches, Luna Nova, remains safe," Trevor explained to the others. "The point is neither my own world nor Battleworld is as black and white in regards to morality and powers as it seems yours and Link's are."

"For example, Sypha and Lady had an early fight with some friendly demons from a chunk that is no long on Battleworld anymore because of misconceptions both sides had about the other," Trevor shook his head, but looked back over to Tatl. "So I would try to at least curb my opinion in regards to the alternate lands and people brought here."

—-

Shanoa, Fairy Tail Guild Hall

"Link, use this on the food," Shanoa tried to give the kid a fork, observing that he really needed one and apparently didn't know what one was. After this, Shanoa began eating her own spaghetti.

Carmilla, Archades Caverns

"Sounds good to me," Carmilla nodded to Nyarlathotep, as she thought the caverns were becoming rather dreadful when it wasn't focused on laughing at Havoc. "Anything we need to know in regards to our task?"

Morrigan & Lilith, Sakura Egypt Dungeon

"Oh, I've encountered an alien before, though he was a very vile creature," Morrigan waved Hiriko off. "If only he was as friendly and lovely as you, Demitri would not have killed him."

Morrigan frowned a bit, knowing that Demitri would have simply tried to make Pyron one of his servants.

Lilith seemed to be looking around the library like a hyperactive little hummingbird.

Edited by GameGuruGG on Mar 11th 2019 at 10:48:07 AM

RWBY RWMS: Try Your Luck!

Maki had kept himself busy. He'd begun searching for cleaning supplies as soon as Nora closed the door. Grabbing some gloves to prevent making matters worse, the Contractor had spent the first thirty minutes of his grounding walking around the rooms and scrubbing clean every surface he thought his hands had touched. The fridge, the cabinets, the table, the counter, the doorknobs, the sink; anything that might wind up as potential collateral if he got himself wound up again.

Once the work was done, it was time to try out these video games. The fighting game already in the console was as good a start as any. At first, Maki tried to play the game with the cleaning gloves on, for good measure. Though after Soaring Ninja killed his character like 20 freaking times, he realized the gloves were just a handicap. Once the 61st Death by Soaring Ninja rolled around, Maki was ready to blow up the controller, the console, and the whole damn television. Try to dodge that, you stupid ninja!

Fortunately for the Hunters' property, Maki stepped away from the dumb game before his anger took over. He returned to his room, punched the pillow a whole lot, and grabbed the deck of cards he'd been carrying for the past few days; a little gift from one of the strangest people the young Contractor had ever met. Time to practice.

So by the time Ren and Nora returned, they'd find Maki over by the dining table shuffling around three cards with some respectful speed; the kid was a fast learner.

"Oh, hi Nora. Hi Ren." he said, his mismatched eyes still on the cards. "Wanna play?"

Should they decide to try it out, Maki would begin a round of the bread and butter of street con artists everywhere: Three Card Monte.

"There's three cards: one ace, and two jokers. All you have to do is find the ace." the boy explained, shuffling the cards on the table over and over between his hands. He'd keep things simple for the first few rounds, tossing the ace of hearts on the table with the jokers like anyone would expect. It was never hard to track where the card should be, even with dealers much more skilled than Maki.

Of course, that's why there was a trick to it all. By the fourth round, Maki judged the Hunters were lured in enough to trip them up. He showed them the three cards like he did at the start of every round, but this time subtly switched out the ace for a third joker right on top—

His ten year-old hand lost its thin grip on both cards, and the ace and third joker fell face up on the table. With four cards present, the jig was up.

"Awwww." Maki grumbled.

Archades, Caverns: Devil's in the Details

Havoc's jaw clenched tight at the sound of mocking applause. She didn't need to turn around. She didn't need to hear that shuddering mesh of voices. His was a presence she'd somehow learned to sense in just a few arduous days; something akin to the feeling of being watched, but knowing it wasn't all in your head. She turned to face Nyarlathotep—but not before taking a short breath for courage.

Her nerves began to calm as the creature unveiled his plans. Planetary hit-and-runs sounded like such a delightful strategy, it even brought a smile to Havoc's thin face. The only downside was she wouldn't get a chance to watch the reactions.

Nyarlathotep had that covered though, and what a fun consolation it would be! Assassination work was nothing new, but she'd never come close to killing anyone this important before. Not even Brazil's provincial governors were targeted in Heaven's War—to jump straight over king-killing onto emperor-killing was...just plain exciting! WAY more entertaining than killing a Medieval vampire hunter!

But despite her emotional state, the stoic Contractor mind prevailed: she needed to know just what her boss wanted. She wouldn't be pardoned a second time.

Jumping on Carmilla's request, Havoc added: "Anyone you want framed, boss? Is there someone you want in charge once the emperor's gone? Someone we could..."

How to put this? In a moment, the right phrase came to mind; along with a grin.

"...push up the line of succession?"

Common Room: Return of A Beauty

Princess Jai had just traversed the most unsanitary terrain a Contractor-turned-beautiful-princess-via-magical-crown had ever suffered. The seams of her dress had brushed the revolting water of Rogueport's sewers, and a shoe even stepped ankle deep in...wait, do mushroom people even shit?

With important questions like that running through the Contractor's mind, it took Princess Jai a moment to realize that the sewer had disappeared entirely. She would traverse the filth no longer; the power of the crown had returned her to the prim and immaculate floors of the Common Room. Oh, what a sight to behold!

...aaaaaand now that sight was boring again. Same globe. Same table. Same big black dick facing the big red mascot character. Hard to keep an interest in a place that never changes. There weren't even distinct walls to stare at!

So heading through the nearest portal (one which a shirtless tween emerged from a few seconds earlier), Princess Jai embarked on a whole new adventure!

...

Whoever was unfortunate enough to witness the departure of the king of the castle, would soon be privileged to gaze upon a most stunning beauty:

Thin arms and dainty gloved hands, barely contained D-cup breasts, an hourglass waist with tree-trunk thighs to support a full, round, spank-worthy booty. A performance-ready face with round cheeks, large pillowy lips, and derpy glazed-over eyes indistinguishably expressing extreme boredom or extreme fatigue.

She wore a dress of noble forest green with light brown laces along the sleeves and rim. Off-white silk gloves covered just past the elbows, and the feet were adorned with rich brown high heels; the right one apparently coated in evidence of a strong vegan diet.

The beauty hiked up her dress an inch as she moved graciously from the portal to whatever witnesses she had (if she had no witnesses, she'd just leave the throne room and find some goddamn witnesses! Behold!). Gazing sleepily? disinterestedly? just gazing at those before her, Princess Jai would part her perfect lips, and utter the words of a true maiden:

"Hey. Sup, bro?"

Fairy Tail, Kitchen: Tatl's Face Right Now◊

If there was one thing Tatl was good at (not counting her ability to grate people), it was noticing patterns. People and monsters alike have a familiar routine; snappers tend croak when they're about to attack, and people tend to shift their eyes or quiver a lip when they know they're lying. It doesn't take long to start expecting results, especially when you pay close attention like Tatl did.

So what followed was a series of speeches that were to a great extent predictable. Words that moved no one nowhere, but at least persuaded Tatl to wait for her turn to speak:

At the first brush of fingers on her wings, Tatl stopped trying to fly. It was an effort to drop down before Ozen caught her, but it only saved one wing. Silently groaning at the thought of an impending "Big Bad Ozen!" ramble, the fairy simply stayed in the Unmovable Lord's grasp and went along for the ride. No protest, no struggle to break free, no snippy remark to tempt Ozen into squishing her like a bug. Despite her big mouth and aggressive attitude, Tatl wasn't dumb; there was a difference between gesturing towards a bear and actually poking it

Then came the second step in predictable reactions: enter Mr. Exposition. Circling around the point with rebel vampire sons and good witches, to the chorus of "Dracula learned to love, but then Carmilla and the witch hunts took the healing woman away" (two comments Trevor must've forgotten he had mentioned before), the only useful note was in the vampire hunter's first two sentences—though that was more than could be said about either Ozen's intimidation or Mirajane's crocodile tear.

And speaking of the wizard—few ideas could brew a fire in Tatl's belly faster than "friends are supposed to trust each other." As if they could even pretend to be called "friends" after knowing each other for just a few hours. You can trust strangers who are straightforward with you—people who reach your expectations for a task, or at the very least don't try to cheat you out of something—but that trust gets VERY shaky when you realize the person you're dealing with might not be the real person you're dealing with! Tatl could've accepted parting ways with this demon-woman when the job in Castle Vania was over; least then their common goal would've been over and done with and she could steer her gullible partner back to their unfinished quest. But no. She insisted they walk into her den and share a meal. As if they were friends!

Maybe Tatl was angry because she was caught up on the dark magic and demonic appearance, like Trevor seemed to suspect; maybe she was also angry because the last friend Tatl trusted had terrorized hundreds of innocent lives and tried to throw the moon into planet! Who's to say? But whatever was going on in "that little head of hers," as Ozen put it—it wasn't budging.

So when all present had given their piece, Tatl flapped her captive wing free and fluttered to Mirajane. The wizard might imagine a twinge of uncertainty behind that little ball of yellow light; though if the uncertainty was there at all, it was walled away behind crossed arms and a no-more-nonsense glare:

"Could you at least explain why you have dark magic powers? If it's a curse or something, the kid and I might have some ideas on how to lift it."

Fairy Tail, Guild Hall: What are These Things You Call "Fourks?"

Link turned his gaze up to Shanoa as he spoke, his sapphire eyes contrasting with the tomato sauce now dripping off his chin. A what?

He accepted the utensil with his dirty hand and studied the "fourk." The thing reminded him of the tool Mr. Ingo carried around back on Lon Lon Ranch; the one he used to lift hay into big piles for the stable.

...was that how these things were used?

He watched the expressionless woman use the utensil first, just to be sure. Turns out she wasn't just using it to lift the tasty blood worms—she was using the gaps in the thing's teeth to jab into the pile, then twisting it around to spool the worms around it, and then lifting it to her mouth. What ingenuity!

With gusto that demanded both hands, the little hero licked his lips, stabbed the pile of worms to its core, and began turning the fourk clockwise to spool it. He giggled at the wad of spaghetti he lifted off the plate, and chewed greedily into it.

Still messy, but progress was progress!

The Netherworld, Episode 1 – Jai’s Sexy Princess Adventure!

Jai would notice a few things immediately after going through the portal. First of all, there were a couple of shops nearby. One was headed up by a shirtless warrior◊, and the other by a stitched up corpse in a maid outfit◊. But most importantly, right in front of her was a big castle that was surrounded by lava. You’d think such a place would be hot, but for whatever reason the heat wasn’t too overwhelming for our magical princess.

A little penguin with peg legs, bat wings, and a stitched up belly◊ in front of the castle entrance gave Jai a wolf whistle.

“Whoa momma!” the Prinny said. “What’s a cutie like you doing here, dood? Actually... how’d a human you even get here in the first place, dood? Is Earth trying to invade again, dood?”