And so, as the battle in another realm finishes, and the warriors within prepare to return "Home", as much as it counts as home on Battleworld, time passes. Perhaps more then they realize. And as it does, the sun rises over Battleworld once more, marking the beginning of the seventh day. And as it does, as the warriors exit into the Velvet Room, conveniently at this moment, The Cure begins his usual beginning of day message to the chunk and chunkless representatives.
"Good morning. Firstly, I'm adding a new land to the Battleworld. Please welcome the people of the Siberian HQ to the Battleworld. Secondly, those of you just returning from the realm of the dark god who's been walking my planet for nearly a week deserve a congratulations. The show you put on was quite entertaining. You may want to take a moment to check your clocks, time between my realm and his is not quite what you would call liner. Do come by if you wish to discuss anything with me, I understand that someone took it upon himself to reveal information that was not his to reveal."
"Lastly, those of you still on the planet may now make another request of me. The same rules still apply, I have final say on what is and is not an appropriate request."
Within the Common Room, the map flickered, and shifted once more
As for the newly added Siberian HQ......
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.
"Huh. Wonder what he meant by check your clocks......"
Dante considers this as he steps out back into the Velvet Room
"There you are!"
Lady gets out of the chair she'd been sitting in for a while and walks over to Dante
"Hey, Lady, looking a lot better."
"They gave me some healing spells. But don't change the subject! I was starting to get worried!"
"What, you don't have faith in me, Lady?"
She shakes her head and points at her phone.
"You've been gone so long it's the next morning!"
"What? Are you kidding me?"
"Don't tell me you lost track of time, you dunce!?"
Nero shakes his head. "We were only gone for.....what, two, three hours?"
Joker pulls out his phone to check this
"Hmm......my phone agrees with her. Weird."
He looks up and over at Maki
"You need a hot drink? My room out in the chunkless hallway doubles as a coffee shop. It's not exactly open for buisness, but I can probably get you something if you want."
Dawn of the Seventh Day: -96 Hours Remain
Velvet Room: Onward, to New Adventures!
Once he was back in the Velvet Room's space, one of the first things Maki spotted was a bag; a black duffel bag with the Hellion's sigil stitched into the side of it. It seemed awfully out of place in such a ritzy environment, but that was to be expected since it didn't belong here. It was supposed to be in his room, back in the Huntsmen and Huntresses' quarters. Inside it were all his belongings, which mostly just comprised of his street clothes, some snacks, and the spare Dust-tipped bolts that wouldn't fit in the pouch on his hip. Maki walked to retrieve the bag without any outward signs that it upset him. He knew his friends were gone. He knew there wasn't a home for him to go back to. He just hadn't expected all of his belongings to be waiting for him when he got back.
Seems the Cure has a sense of humor. he thought, A sick and twisted one.
The young Contractor accepted the invitation to join the Phantom Thief, but his tone sounded hollow. He just slung the duffel bag over a shoulder, turned to Joker and asked if they could leave as soon as possible, though his mismatched eyes remained locked on the floor.
"I...I don't want to be here anymore."
On the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, Link was overjoyed to see the Lady come to welcome them back!...even though Priority #1 for her seemed to be scolding Mr. Peetzuh and his friends for being late.
The little hero waved to Lady with a big toothy grin. Assuming that Kyubey was still interested in sharing the boy's message, Link would try to send the human arsenal a telepathic greeting:
< Hiya! Good to see you're back to normal and back on your feet! No need to worry about that mean old Nyarl-whatever—we kicked his butt and sent him packing! >
While he registered the strange fact that a full day had managed to pass while they were gone, Link took it from a "glass half-full perspective," which he would share either through Kyubey's telepathy, or by writing if necessary.
< Well if it's tomorrow morning, then that just means we're in time for breakfast! And BOY am I hungry! Why don't we all head over to Fairy Tail and celebrate? Mirajane here's a really good cook! >
"Uhh, about that..."
Tatl had noticed it as soon as the group had returned to the Velvet Room, and the doorway closed behind them: the number of warriors who walked into the door was a lot bigger than the number of warriors who walked out. There hadn't been enough time for the group at the front of the return trip to get very far, not that many of them were likely to storm off as soon as they got back. Link looked around the group and searched for familiar faces, the color slowly draining from his face as he failed to find some of his friends in the crowd. No Mirajane, no Reisen, no Constanze, no Ozen—even though they had all fought together just minutes ago, there wasn't a single clue what had happened to them.
"Calm down, it's okay."
Calm down? Why would Tatl say that? He was calm, wasn't he? This was all just a bit...sudden, that's all! It was a lot to wrap his head around! There was a lot to think about—what happened to their other friends? What about Wendy, and Erza, and the Guild Hall? Was that all gone, too? Where would he and Tatl stay if Fairy Tail wasn't on Battleworld anymore? Good Goddess, what happened to Epona?!
"C'mon, snap out of it! I said calm down!"
It was only then that Link realized he was hyperventilating, and that his vision was getting a little blurry. Maybe it had to do with all that dumb water in his eyes.
"Did you hear what Philemon said about people and places that disappear from Battleworld? They all go back to where they came from! That means Mirajane and the others aren't dead or hurt, they just went back to wherever Big Red and Ugly took them from! That's a good thing—there's no reason to cry about it!"
Link frowned and prepared to defensively claim that he was not crying, but the water falling down his cheeks made for a poor argument. Regardless, he was starting to feel dizzy, so he decided to sit down. Recognizing that she might not be giving the poor kid enough slack, Tatl fluttered down to his new eye level.
"Look, I get it. Fairy Tail was a great place for the most part! But these meetings and partings seem to be something that everyone here goes through. The good news is that we now know that all the people who've vanished are safe and sound. They...I dunno, 'got a happy ending' or whatever! And getting all worked up about it isn't going to do you any favors. You just gotta focus straight ahead, and keep your eyes on the goal—which I will kindly remind you is defeating Majora's Mask! We've spent more than enough time getting distracted by other problems. So once you're feeling a little better, I need you to get your butt out of here so we can get back to searching for it!"
The little hero wiped his nose on his forearm, and nodded. Now wasn't the time or place to feel sad—he had a job to do!
HGT Portal Area: Breaking News—Emphasis on the "Breaking" Part
"So there's been a leak?" asked Kobayashi.
"Seems like it." Misaki replied. "The message stated someone shared information that wasn't meant to be revealed. Looks like the Cure's trying to own up to it."
"Hard to believe there's someone on this rock who could provide such a leak." November shrugged. "It's not like our most-gracious host has much in terms of competition. Did someone sneak into his security room or something? Been wondering how he's been able to keep tabs on all of us at once. Maybe he's got hidden cameras stashed across the planet!"
"He also mentioned something about a 'realm of a dark god.'" the Section Chief relayed. "Sounds like the target BK-201's been tracking, and since the Cure mentioned some discord between the flow of time, I suspect that's why no one's seen him since yesterday."
"Not that he's much of a social butterfly to start with." November sighed.
Kobayashi turned to Misaki with his eternal frown stamped on his face. "Do you truly believe he will work with us?"
Misaki didn't answer. Instead, she brought her Porsche to a halt and parked the car. From there it would just be a short walk past PANDORA's forces and into to Common Room's portal.
Easier said than done. thought Misaki. Over the past twenty-four hours, the fragile truce between her side of the Syndicate and Nishijima's had been threatened on multiple fronts. First there was the disappearance of several states supposedly allied with one side or the other, then there was the seizing of half the Washington Bridge, which brought Manhattan's forces over to Misaki's side out of their shared disdain for PANDORA, and finally there were the aerial demonstrations of some kind of airships Nishijima's side had developed—no doubt with assistance from another kingdom. The sabers were practically rattling out of control, so the Section Chief had reason to doubt that things would stay peaceful for long. At this point, a Syndicate Civil War was all but inevitable.
To reinforce that point, the trek to the portal was littered with a lot more Synths than the day before—unfortunately, not many of the new additions were on the street in plain sight. Though what Misaki and her companions found more peculiar than the extra bots was the presence of people again: men and women in black leather coats,
armed with the same weapons as the Synths.
It was one of these figures who stopped the trio from making it to the enclosed area housing the portal.
"Halt." ordered the stranger—a tall and steely-eyed man of about thirty-five. "You do not have PANDORA's clearance to use this portal."
"Is that your idea of a joke?" the blonde Contractor scoffed. "Listen, friend: like it or not we're stuck with this bloody thing, so unless you want to serve as our figurative Gavrilo Princip, I'd suggest to learn to share."
If the man recognized the reference, he certainly didn't show it. "You seized the Washington Bridge from PANDORA's control. Why should we relinquish another means out of the city?"
"To start, perhaps consider the geographical dilemma your side faces." Kobayashi offered. "PANDORA is surrounded by Tokyo on all sides, and must travel through the city in order to import and export staff and supplies. Deny us passage to the rest of Battleworld, and our next logical course of action would be to deny PANDORA passage to anywhere at all."
"You lack the resources to block us completely." the man retorted in an even tone. "Set up blockades on the streets, and we'll simply fly over them."
"At which point your airships would make easy targets for our military." answered Misaki, though she hid the bluff with her signature stone-cold stare. "Or our Sable allies will shoot you down once you're no longer in civilian airspace."
"You're forgetting about our—"
"My God, are you paid by the pissing contest or something?" November groaned as he stepped straight up to the steely-eyed man. "Nobody wants to start this war, but you seem awfully eager to jump the gun. Take my advice, friend: let somebody else be the idiot who lights this wildfire. When the dust finally settles and we all kiss and make up, you really don't want to be the scapegoat."
The man fell silent. Though he never broke eye contact with the Contractor, it seemed clear that he was thinking something over...or perhaps calculating would make a better description. In the end, he stepped aside and said with the same even tone:
"It seems I might've overstepped my bounds. My apologies—friend. Please come back soon."
With that, the trio were allowed to pass through the portal and enter the Common Room. Though after taking a few steps into the immaculate space, Misaki heard her older frowning comrade murmur behind her ear:
"I suggest we speak to Mayor Osborn about using Manhattan's portal moving forward. If Nishijima chooses to break the truce at our portal, we would never stand a chance."
Common Room: The Rubber Band Dilemma
Among the group of leaders approaching the Cure's throne would be three figures: Misaki Kirihara, Goro Kobayashi, and Jack Simon. As the leader of the trio (not to mention the Cure-appointed delegate for the state called 'Hell's Gate Tokyo'), it was Misaki who stepped closest to the Cure before seeking his attention.
"I've come to make Tokyo's next wish, but before I do: I'd like you to explain what you meant by 'revealed information.' What is this leaked information, and who shared it?"
Castlevania, Courtyard: Return of the King
The dawn of the seventh day seemed like any other time in Castlevania. The sun never rose and the moon never set; such was the strength of Count Dracula's power. In fact, were it not for the Cure's message that a new day had arrived, Majora wouldn't have thought that much time had passed at all.
But it had passed, and with it came the opportunity Majora had been waiting for. It had asked the Cure all sorts of questions about this man, even going so far as to try and make him Majora's successor, should the tunic-clad murderer get the better of it. Too bad the Cure had already promised to give that privilege to the enemy—or rather, it was too bad the Cure planned to keep his promises. That was awfully depressing, and the fact that the mask's newest toy had somehow vanished didn't improve its mood at all. Apparently that's just something that happens around here! How frustrating.
So as the mask received this new message, craning the husk's neck to stare at the not-actually-night sky, a timid voice came from behind, asking if this was really a smart thing to do.
"It's the only thing I can do, Goht." Majora answered dismissively. "If I wish for any of the others they're just bound to get killed again. Least if I sick this guy on our enemies I don't really care if he lives or dies."
That wasn't entirely true, since if this freak of nature failed to kill anyone then the mask would be VERY cross, but still. No time like the present!
"I wish for the return of the Demon King of Darkness." Majora proclaimed to the sky, arms stretched wide as if reciting a powerful spell. "Bring me Ganondorf Dragmire!"
...
At one moment, there was nothing. Nothing to see, hear, touch, taste, or smell. The void was absolute, and were it not for the persistence of his consciousness and hatenote the void likely would have consumed him as well. A single moment here stretched as far as eternity; after all, what could possibly separate one moment from another?
But at another moment, there was ground beneath his fingers. The smell of grass, the sound of poorly-suppressed laughter. Did he dare open his eyes? Or would he find that he was imagining it all?
"It worked! Hehehehehehhehehe~" It was the voice of a child—or at least that's what it sounded like at first. But he knew of no children who could laugh like that.
"He's a lot bigger than I thought he'd be." Another child. What was the meaning of this?!
Curiosity took the better of him; if he was simply imagining this, then his mind was too far gone to be of much use. He opened his eyes, and saw an expanse of stone piled tens of feet high. A castle wall. He was lying prone on a plot of grass—a courtyard, perhaps?
"Where am I?"
"Right where I want you to be, silly! Eh hehehehehehehehe!"
He raised himself to his hands and knees, and turned to look the strange child in the eyes. Least that's what he expected to do, but the child was wearing some disturbing wooden mask; one with an eye sliced down the middle of it.
"What are you?"
The masked child giggled. "Figured that out already, huh?"
"Majora, look at his eyes!" It was the other voice, which also belonged to a masked child with matching clothing, albeit the mask was completely different. What the child was referring to was the color of his eyes: a bright, unnatural orange that some called an "evil" hue.
"Guess I ought to cut to the chase: we're on a crazy place called Battleworld where this scary-strong deity's gathered people from aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall sorts of places to watch us fight and break stuff! Every now and then he gives folks like me a wish to do whatever we want with, and I just used my latest wish to pluck you from the Evil Realm and plop you right here! You're welcome!"
Having gained his bearings, the newcomer slowly began to push himself to his feet. His legs felt like they hadn't been used in ages—wasn't hard to imagine why.
"And what grants you this privilege? To call for such a feat as a mere favor?"
"You wanna know why I get wishes?" the masked child tilted his (its?) head. "It's cuz I'm a delegrant...or wait, was it delegrate? Delegint? What did Mister call it, Goht? It's dele-something, I'm sure of that."
"Uhm...Delegate?"
"Delegate! That's right! I'm a delegate! Basically, the god in charge of this place picked me to be the leader. That means I get the wishes for the group I came here with!"
"And such boons are granted to any appointed representative?" he was feeling much better now that he was back on his feet. He'd be shocked at the rate of recovery, were it not for the other miracles greatly overshadowing this small one. The seal trapping him within the Evil Realm was nigh-on unbreakable; compared to disspelling such magic and transporting him here, getting feeling back in his arms and legs was likely child's play for this mysterious deity.
"You sure do talk funny!" the masked child giggled. "If you're asking if I'm the only one getting wishes, the answer's no. All the groups that come here have a leader, which means all the groups get wishes. And in case you're wondering: you're part of my group, cuz I wished for you to be here!"
"For which I am sincerely grateful. However..." he rose to his full height and cracked his knuckles. Then his neck. "I am in great need of such weighty rewards. Should you resign, I shall welcome you as a faithful and loyal subject. Should you refuse, or if you cannot resign on your own accord..."
His right hand clenched into a fist, which erupted in a malevolent aura. "Then upon my title as King of Hyrule, I swear to grant you a swift and painless death."
The masked child leapt back—or more accurately, flew back. "Woah! Woah woah woah woah WOAH! Is THAT how you say 'Thank You' from where you're from?!"
"Do not make me repeat myself." he frowned.
"I can't not be the leader, even if I wanted to!"
"Then hold still. This will only take a moment."
A single step forward was all it took for Majora to play its ace in the hole.
"Kill me, and your enemy becomes the leader! The jerk who threw you into that place!"
The newcomer froze.
"I asked the god in charge who would be the next leader if something happened to me, and he said he'd already promised that tunic-wearing MONSTER that he'd get to be the leader! So if you kill me, you're only helping him!"
"The Hero of Time...is here?" That couldn't be possible. He had no way of knowing for sure, but he must have spent decades within that void. Centuries, perhaps. After all that time, how could his nemesis still be alive?!
"Now do you see why I wished to bring you here? You and I have something in common: we both REALLY hate that guy!"
"Where is he?" the newcomer snarled.
The masked child shrugged. "We can find him later. There's somebody you gotta meet, first: he's the guy in charge of this castle. I don't know a lot about mortal customs, but I'm pretty sure one of the big ones is introducing yourself when you're in someone's house."
For a moment, it seemed like the newcomer would refuse; if the Hero of Time was here, killing him and seizing his piece of the Triforce had to be the top priority. That had been his only hope during that insufferable era within the void. He had no time for pleasantries.
...but then again, he knew next to nothing about this place—only that there was more than one 'group' and that the god in charge bestowed wishes. To claim that he was grasping at straws seemed generous; if he rushed off aimlessly, he might as well be grasping at strands of hair.
"...very well, then. Lead the way."
Castlevania, Castle Keep: King, Meet Count
Dracula would hear his approaching guests before he saw them. The loud, high-pitched cry of Majora would bounce off the high ceilings of the castle keep:
"Heeey Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisteeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! I broooooooooooooooooooooooought hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmm!!!"
The newcomer only grunted in disdain; if the master of this castle endured such a pest, he was in no position to assume the nuisance was a burden.
Upon entering the Castle Keep, the newcomer approached the throne at an even pace with his head held high, eyes locked on the ash-pale figure sitting on it. Ten paces from the throne, he stopped.
"Imp." he commanded Majora, eyes still fixed on the Count. "Introduce me."
"Huh? Why should I? Forget your own name or something?"
The newcomer frowned; why had he expected anything else? No matter. With one fluid gesture, he gave the master of the castle a courteous bow.
"I am Ganondorf Dragmire: King of the Gerudo, and the kingdom of Hyrule; son of the Twin Witches Koume and Kotake; bearer of the Triforce of Power. To whom have I the honor of addressing?"
Manhattan, F.E.A.S.T. Building: Some New Arrivals
After the interview was over, Mr. Robertson strongly encouraged Zelda to visit Manhattan—not that she needed any encouragement. The novel experience had only fanned the flames of her curiosity, and now that she had a rudimentary understanding of the city's layout and culture, she was confident that she could navigate this wonderous metropolis.
The first step was to acquire the city's currency. Thanks to the ample supply of precious gems back in Link's "house," selling off a few sapphires and rubies amounted to a healthy sum of American dollars...though it did take trips to a few pawn shops, since the jewelers didn't buy uncut gems like she'd expect them to. A diamond circlet enticed them though, so Zelda parted with one in order to gain a few more thousand dollars. When all was said and one, Link was stowing away roughly $50,000 in his wallet, which the princess quickly went to store in a bank, as well as to open a checking account with that amount. While the entire process might have seemed tedious to Manhattan natives, Zelda soaked in every moment of it. The machines used to dispense and calculate the currency, the bureaucracy in the process of opening accounts, the unbelievable fact that she and Link could pay for things without the physical presence of money...it was all so fascinating!
With money to spend, the city was Zelda's oyster. She and Link joined a historical tour of the island, walked through Central Park, ferried to the Statue of Liberty, and even saw a performance on a famous street known simply as Broad Way—an enlightening story about one of the nation's so-called "Founding Fathers." Zelda found the performance absolutely spectacular...and only slightly undermined by the fact that Link dozed off about halfway through the first act.
While they didn't stay in the city overnight, Zelda made a point to return first thing in the morning; there was still so much to see! Among the first places they visited was a comparatively small building, but one that Link was quickly drawn to because of the big gray letters above the doors:
FEAST!
By the time she managed to catch up with her knight (who had sprinted towards the building at the supposed promise of food), Zelda was panting inside the charity's doors.
"Link—I bel—I believe this—isn't a restaurant."
The Champion was scanning the entrance for any signs of a feast, and while the signs certainly pointed to Zelda's assessment being correct, he wasn't about to give up hope. But before he could venture further into the house of feast, the princess seized his hand.
"You can't just go wherever you like!" she scolded. "This isn't Hyrule; you'll cause trouble for people if you trespass on their property!"
No doubt the little scene was stirring some attention in the entryway. Among the witnesses was a short and thin redhaired woman, dressed in stolen street clothes and waiting in line to be registered at the charity.
Edited by TheodoreHastings on Oct 10th 2021 at 10:38:23 AM
Velvet Room
Among those returning from the Sea of Souls were the Magical Girls of Mitakihara. As Homura wasn’t next to them when The Cure gave his daily briefing, Mami and Sayaka were confused for a moment by the mutterings of others around them about clock checking until the former pulled out her cell phone. “It’s already the 6th?”
“Wait, what?” Sayaka pulled her own phone out to check. "Wait, how-"
"Perhaps time works differently in that realm," Mami surmised, adjusting the jar containing her Soul. That still felt weird to say: "the jar containing her Soul." Now without an immediate threat to vanquish, her gaze drifting back to the glowing yellow spark hovering within it. Akemi-san — and Kyubey, for that matter — had a lot to explain once they had a chance to do so.
Homura, having returned near, if not at, the rear, stopped for a moment to look around to see who was there. Her eyes fell upon the woman whom she had fought against among others, or rather the part inside that had been forcibly brought out by their common enemy. Kyubey was already there acting as Link’s telepathic relay, so Homura kept her distance until Link finished what he wanted to say with a panic attack apparently. While Tatl did her best to calm the kid down, Homura stepped forward: "I believe I have some things to return to you."
Vampire Hunter
Sypha, Trevor, & Morrigan, Sea of Souls, Day 6
Sypha moved closer to Maki to hear the answer to his question from Philemon. After all, it related to her own question. Philemon's answer seemed to indicate that whatever is brought to Battleworld sometimes snaps back to their original world. That was a better answer than she had expected even if Philemon had to cheat his rules a bit.
Trevor only turned away from the golden seal of Nyx when he heard that Philemon was going to let his vessel live. He ran over to the Minako they knew, but it was Spider-Man who helped catch her. At the very least, Trevor did not need to try to punch a god's face, today... well, other than Nyarly's, of course.
While Morrigan was interested in what Philemon was telling the little fairy of the elf boy in green, she decided not to since it was clearly meant to be private.
Dracula, Castlevania, Day 6
"Alright," Dracula nodded to Majora, leaving him to ask The Cure questions about who he planned to bring in.
The Seventh Day
Velvet Room
"Check my clock?" Trevor seemed confused at the comment and pulled out his Stopwatch to check it.
...
Yes, it was still broken. Trevor seemed annoyed at this.
"It's the next day here while we only spent a few hours fighting at most," When Trevor turned to see who was talking, he would find it was Morrigan Aensland who had said that. Trevor looked around to try to find Sypha when he spotted her near Lady.
"How are you feeling, Lady?" Sypha asked, looking very concerned given what had just happened.
Castlevania, Throne Room
Dracula woke up to the Cure talking to the representatives. It seems like another chunk was added to Battleworld. Also, Nyarly has seemingly been dealt with. There was also something about checking clocks but that only applied to anyone who fought Nyarly. Death is going to be pissed about that. It seems someone revealed information that they should not have... Wait, what? Dracula thought about this particular thing The Cure had said.
"...Belmont," Dracula feels Belmont is probably to blame for that. He and his allies would be clever enough.
Then The Cure spoke about the next round of wishes... It seemed our guest was going to be here sooner rather than later.
Dracula laughed as he got up and headed off to find Majora. After all, Dracula himself has a wish to make.
He wouldn't have to go far as when he entered the Castle Keep he would find Majora and their new guest.
"Count Dracula, Dark Lord of Castlevania," Dracula bowed as well as he sized up Ganondorf. Dracula could already tell this guy was more in line with someone whose existence would lead to a hero fitting Link's traits.
"I assume Majora told you about the wishes, and how every group on this planet, dubbed Battleworld, has a representative who is given wishes periodically," Dracula looked for confimration before continuing. "Majora is the representative of his group and he used his wish to bring you here."
Dracula nodded towards Majora before looking back at Ganondorf.
"I am the representative of my group, and I also have a wish that has yet to be granted," Dracula explained to Ganondorf. "And I am willing to give it to you if you help Majora & I out."
Edited by GameGuruGG on Nov 7th 2021 at 7:51:15 AM
Wizard Needs Food Badly
Skies Above the Ocean
Floating in the clouds above the seemingly endless sea
, a large chunk of earth housing a grand palace drifted along at a lazy pace, as if letting the wind guide it wherever it may. And such wasn't too far off the mark, as its inhabitants had entered this world rather suddenly, and were at a loss of where they were, and where civilization was. So, with no clear course of direction, the Sky Palace kept its pace until land was found.
Naturally, this meant that those dwelling in the palace had had to come up with ways to occupy their time. The Angel of Light, taking a break from talking with his housemates, currently sat in front of the statue of his sleeping Master, talking to him as if he were awake and telling him about the situation. Philotas and Migrana were currently engaged in an arm wrestling contest, with Daniella and Shemaal quietly placing bets on who they thought would be victorious while trying to act as if they were doing no such thing. Alonso was supposedly keeping lookout, but anyone who looked at him would guess that he was asleep while leaning against one of the walls. And finally, Taia was seated in a room tending to a statue of her friend Frost, keeping the dormant spirit dwelling inside company.
Such was the state of affairs that they were in, until Alonso peeked an eye open, and then lazily stretched and spoke up in a tone to get the attention of everyone on board. "Land ho, everyone!"
This brought everyone running (or flying, in the Angel's case) to his location, and sure enough, on the horizon was a new land. With a sigh of relief, the Angel turned to go make preparations to land the Sky Palace, but when he got to the controls, he found a mysterious note that had definitely not been there prior.
"Oho, what is this...'Welcome to the New World'...new world?" He said aloud, visible confusion at the note apparent on his face, as well as clear concern about this blatant breach of their home's defenses. Before he could do anything about it, however, a loud crackling of energy nearby made the angelic being just about leap out of his skin, and had the others come running. In the room nearby, their main living room of all places, a portal had materialized and was now just sitting there.
"We have been here nary five minutes, and I already want to depart." The angel growled, getting just a bit ticked off that their home's privacy had been completely bypassed TWICE in such a short time frame. Unfortunately for him, the others weren't quite as cautious or put out about it, and one of their number was already making a beeline for the portal!
"TAIA, DESIST AT ONCE!" The angel shouted at the blue skinned girl, but when he saw that she was ignoring him and the others were content to let her investigate further, he was forced to fly after her. Just before he followed her through, he whipped his head around at the others. "Our home had better be in one piece upon our return, or so help me I will remind you why I was chosen to lead!" With that warning given, the angel followed after Taia into the portal, entrusting the others to man the Sky Palace that now hovered above the ocean just in front of the continent before them.
Common Room
Emerging out of said portal, Taia stepped through with a curious look upon her face, clearly wanting to get a look at everything she could...but as she felt a weight on her shoulders and heard her friend chastising her for her reckless behavior, a frown formed on her face. Yet much to the Angel's frustration, the blue girl showed no signs of turning back, and instead kept looking around, her footsteps eventually taking her in the direction of a young boy emerging from another room, one with a yellow fairy companion. Upon closing the distance, she knelt down and smiled pleasantly at him. "Hello."
Edited by Bored_Man on Oct 27th 2021 at 2:16:58 PM
Proud member of the AGOG community.
Castlevania, Castle Keep: Ganondorf Right Now
The Gerudo King's eyelids closed a few hair's width, marking the only tell that he was surprised to be the guest of a mere Count. A castle of this stature deserved a master of higher birth...and yet this "Dark Lord" seemed to fit his moniker rather well. Dressed like he was prepared for a ball, yet his skin was pale as ash; not a hair out of place in his facial hair, yet Ganondorf couldn't help but notice the Count's extraordinarily long canines when he spoke. A monster, perhaps even a demon, but one clever enough to hide his true nature until it best suited him.
And then Dracula offered to give one of these deific boons as payment for service. If the Count hadn't intrigued him before, he certainly did now.
"Such miracles must be most common, for my lord to tempt a stranger to play mercenary." the Gerudo smirked, and not only because he was joking. No doubt the Count had more of these divine favors; even if he had doubts that Ganondorf would succeed to match the price, there was always the possibility that someone else could provide what Dracula denied; in other words, he could be "outbid." The Count was playing a very delicate game, and Ganondorf wasn't about to let him forget it—the idea of a King serving a Count was already irritating enough.
"I request that my lord explains the terms and conditions of this alliance." the Gerudo King stated, his previous smirk wiped clean from his face. "Otherwise, I must agree to nothing."
Common Room: "Hey, I'm Grump!"
Should the Angel fall too far behind his subordinate's trail (perhaps to actually look around this eerily immaculate room instead of making a beeline for the nearest friendly-faced half-pint), the cherubic figure might hear a deep, inquisitive voice behind him:
"We have crossed paths with many demons and so-called 'evil' spirits on this planet...but as far as I recall, you might be the first visitor working for the other side."
Should the Angel turn to face the inquisitor, he'd probably have to crane his neck up to see the stern frown practically branded on the stranger's face.
He was a tall man, tucked under a model of formalwear the Angel may or may not recognize: a grey suit accented with a white button down and an orange necktie. He had a stern, professional, and commanding posture, with eyebrows slightly raised and both fists pressed to the small of his back. While there were no traces of demonic energy in this human's aura, that unwavering frown might've been enough to tick off a mental "unfriendly" box for the cherub; after all, unless the Angel had chosen to flutter well off the grown, odds were that the frowning man would literally be talking down to him.
"I am Goro Kobayashi, a civil servant of the city known here as 'Hell's Gate Tokyo'—a truly misleading moniker, I assure you. What might your name be?"
Judging by his even tone, it seemed safe to assume he was treating this greeting professionally. Perhaps he even got brownie points for not addressing the cherub with a childish term, like "little guy."
Edited by TheodoreHastings on Nov 5th 2021 at 6:20:04 AM
Vampire Hunter
Dracula, Castlevania, Castle Keep
"The terms and conditions is that if you work for me, I will offer you my wish to do as you see fit," Dracula stated to Ganondorf, happy to get right to the point. "But perhaps that is not enough for you... Majora here has a particular pest he wants dealt with who you might know. Tell me, are you familiar with a short blond boy with pointy ears who wears green, wields a sword and shield, and has a fairy companion? He goes by the name of Link, and he is on Battleworld right now."
"I care not what you do to the boy as long as there is no connection to me in doing so," Dracula explained to Ganondorf, turning away from. "I do not want to be hunted down because you decided to kill him in my land for example."
Wizard Needs Food Badly
Common Room - I'm Not So Grump!
As Taia was now distracted, the Angel of Light realized that lecturing her would be a lost cause for the time being, and so took the time to look around and figure out exactly where it was they'd ended up. It wasn't home, but it looked...homely. Maybe he could allow the others to visit, once he'd determined exactly what this place was and if it was safe to do so.
Any further thoughts on the subject were put to a halt as the Angel heard a voice behind him, and upon pivoting and turning to face the owner of said voice, he realized just how tall this man was in comparison to himself, which irked him just a little bit. So, after a bit of height correction to make sure they were at least face to face, the white-clothed cherub cleared his throat.
"Greetings and good tidings unto you, Goro Kobayashi. You may refer to me as the Angel of Light. I have many other titles I could list, but for the sake of brevity, I will abstain and instead ask one simple question."
"Where in the name of all of creation are we?"
Sky Palace - It's My Turn to Drive!
Meanwhile, back at the Sky Palace, the other Champions were faced with making sure the place stayed afloat and intact. An easy job, but one that led to boredom very quickly.
Thus, it wasn't surprising that Alonso was the first to crack, and as he took the 'wheel', so to speak, Philotas was right behind him to make sure he didn't end up crashing the landmass into the ocean. As it was, they had now found themselves hovering between the continent they'd found, and an island adjacent to it. Thanks to Alonso fiddling with the controls, however, they'd lowered their altitude so that they were more readily visible to anyone who happened to look in their direction. They hadn't yet hit the water, but its proximity to such made it a viable possibility.
Proud member of the AGOG community.
While he had been listening idly to the discussion going on, Tatsu hadn't been entirely focused on it as he'd taken the time to catch up with his friends, and observe the impossible view around them. But when the topic of what happened to people when they left here came up, he was immediately focused.
And as Philemon spoke, the young captain's expression darkened and turned dour as the truth of this place was revealed. What the Cure did, only lasted as long as they were within his world. Anyone they brought to this place, Delfi and the others who they had planned to rescue, would just end up back in Edenia's hands when they inevitably returned to their own world.
"Tatsu..." Mono spoke up, his tone worried and sad. "Does... does that mean... when we go back, everyone we rescue will..."
"I think so, Mono." He answered, glancing in his friend's direction with a firm expression. The white-haired boy looked distraught at the idea. "But we were going to save them all anyway. So nothing has changed, right Alfred?"
The older teen nodded, though the frown touching his lips made it clear this news had hit him as well. However, it was quick to fade as he smiled at his friends. "And we'd need to face Edenia anyway, to make sure they never did anything like this again."
The moment was broken by someone calling Tatsu's name, and the young captain turned to face Hei as he approached. A friendly smile on his face as he waved. It grew a little stiff at the other boy's words though, turning more serious. "Amber? You can come back with us, but I'm not sure if she'll want to talk or not. She's a bit wary at the moment, and as a member of the crew if she doesn't want to I'm not going to make her.Otherwise, you're welcome aboard!"
The trio, and their guest, then left for the ship.
"And yourself." The young woman replied politely as she took the piece of paper. She waited for Misaki to leave first, before allowing herself to frown slightly as she looked down at the piece of paper. There was temptation to get rid of it, and refuse any further contact with the woman. Yet, it could also present future opportunities. In the end she tucked it away and wheeled herself back out into the common room.
A cursory look about the area as she wheeled along, feeling lost on what to do next, saw her freezing in place out of shock and surprise as she spotted something familiar. A wolf, which looked almost identical to the one's the inexperienced young woman had been around the previous day except for some chains on its legs, stood about. And for a moment the dark grip on her emotions loosened as she quickly looked about, trying to spot the one person she'd seen around such animals before.
That dark grip squeezed a little tighter once more as no further familiar faces presented themselves, and Delfi sunk back into her wheelchair with a bitter snort. Though curiosity rose when it began to move towards her, the large beast striding towards her calmly. She cocked her head slightly in confusion as it leaned its massive head in to sniff at her hands, her prior and only experience with the large canines being docile and friendly leaving her with no fear as it did so.
The blonde jolted in surprise though when the wolf licked the back of her palm after having sniffed at the metal buried in it, her face screwing up in confusion and a bit of disgust at the feeling. She wasn't sure why it had done it, she couldn't read it with her abilities thanks it being very much not human, but it had seemed almost sympathetic. And she hadn't know animals to be deceptive or scheming, which meant she could likely trust the beast. She was sure it would get bored and wander off eventually, but for the moment it was an almost bittersweet comfort she allowed herself as she reached up to pet its head.
She'd take some time to just sit, and think of where to go next with Misaki's offered advice.
There were some that would question her decision, to travel to such a place. An empire bent on conquest and domination of all those around it. But what they didn't understand, was that was the exact reason it was one of the better places for her to go. Delfi knew how such things operated, the way they ran. And because of it, the way you play around it.
For all an expansionist empire would be cruel to its foes, it would still maintain some decent level of decorum and living standards for the masses living within in. After all, one didn't want to fight a war from within and without. And so, the young girl found herself within the streets of what would be the city's middle districts, somewhere she should be relatively safe, but not out of place. Of course, that might have been hampered slightly by her companion.
The night passed as it usually did for those aboard the Red Sprite, nothing much having changed since their arrival several days previous. The sudden changing of the landscape below was noted, but otherwise the ship continued its steady path across the Battleworld while hidden within the clouds.
Within the heart of the metal ship, Supreme Leader Tatsu Frampt was talking to one of the newest members of the crew. "So do you want to talk to him?" He asked Amber seriously as they sat in his office, the chairs plush and comfortable. "If he's connected to your past, I can understand if you don't want to, and that would be fine."
Castlevania, Castle Keep: Enemy of My Enemy
Judging by his sagging frown, it would be clear to all that the Gerudo King was...less than pleased that the Count's terms and conditions were only 17 words long. Still, he held his peace until Dracula finished speaking.
"My lord is correct in at least one respect: those terms are far from sufficient. A negotiation is in order—at the very least, I shall not agree to serve another without an expected end date of the agreement. I have a use for these god-given gifts, but not if their price is enslavement. Whether Hyrule is present or no, I am still her King, and respect the pride of my birthright."
Ganondorf gently raised a hand, requesting the Count to pause before answering. "This negotiation can wait for a more private discussion, out of respect for the third party present. I have doubts the imp has the patience to sit through it."
"What's a nego-see-asian, again?"
Ganondorf didn't bother turning to the masked child as he replied: "A discourse designed to reach an agreement on a matter."
"So...you two're just gonna sit down and chit-chat about the job?" despite not having a tongue or lips, Majora made a raspberry noise. "I'd rather grind my spikes down to stubs. Count me out!"
"Regarding the so-called 'Hero of Time,'" Ganondorf changed the subject, "He possesses something that rightfully belongs to me; knowing him, he will not relinquish it willingly. Does he still wield a broadsword with a royal purple hilt and a golden jewel embedded in the blade? Is the Princess accompanying him, or the Sages? Has he acquired new allies upon arrival to this...'Battleworld,' as my lord calls it? Can any of these new allies be used as leverage against him?"
"Already thinking about taking one of his toys?" Majora giggled. "Now that's something I can get behind! I heard mortals are crazy about rescuing princesses!"
"Using the Princess as bait was one of my greatest errors in my last encounter against the Hero of Time." the Gerudo King replied, once again not bothering to even turn in Majora's direction. "I underestimated her magic, cunning, and power as the Seventh Sage; were it not for her presence in the final battle, the Hero of Time would be dead."
"So you got your butt kicked because a princess was fighting you?" Even if it wanted to stop itself, that sentence was hard to say without letting out a bubbling laugh.
To his credit, the Gerudo King seemed unfazed by the taunt. A smile even cracked his face as he turned his eyes to the steeples far above. "During those final months of my previous reign, my mistakes were far from few. I have spent a leg of eternity to reflect on this truth...and to mediate on what I would do differently, should I ever escape that ceaseless void in which my enemies discarded me."
It was then—and only then—that he turned around to face Majora, smile still present even as he clenched a fist that burst into purple malice.
"Shall I demonstrate? On you, perhaps?"
The mask couldn't shake fast enough. "Nope! Nope nope nope nope nooooope! We're all on the same side, here—remember? We all hate those goody-goodies!"
"Then silence, imp." The smile died, the dark aura dispersed, and the King turned back to face the Count. "The adults are speaking."
Common Room: Battleworld 101 with Professor Kobayashi
If the frowning man was taken aback by the sudden rise in volume, he didn't show it.
"A perfectly understandable question. Also for the sake of brevity: this planet is a conglomerate of cities, states, and kingdoms throughout space and time, created for the purpose of entertaining the planet's creator and sustainer. This being—known only as The Cure—wishes for us to engage in combat for his amusement, like a planet-wide gladiatorial match. The name of this planet is 'Battleworld.'
"Although the premise of this planet involves widespread combat, it is generally understood that not everyone must fight. Building alliances and negotiating are perfectly acceptable, and most combat involves few individuals, with thankfully fewer casualties. This room is called the Common Room, dubbed so because it serves as the crossroads for every state and party on the planet—it is also the only place on Battleworld where harming oneself or others is a physical impossibility.
"There are two sorts of collectives on Battleworld: people who arrive with a substantial landmass as their territory, and people who arrive in small numbers, housed within familiar quarters just down the hall. I belong to the former, as do you, judging by the fact you arrived through a portal to the Common Room, and did not emerge from the Commons Corridor. Regardless of which category you belong in, each state or collective have a delegate appointed by The Cure. This individual receives telepathic updates on the planet's geography, as well as an opportunity to ask an otherwise impossible favor from The Cure. These 'wishes' can vary, but often involve pulling someone who was not abducted onto Battleworld—in most cases, this is seemingly malicious act is practiced to bring a friend of loved one back from the grave.
"Finally, The Cure can usually be found in this room, sitting on the throne. As of this morning, it appears that there has been some sort of information leak regarding the planet, so for the sake of fairness The Cure has decided to inform anyone who wishes to know the contents of this leak. For this reason, my comrades and I are hear to speak with him."
Kobayashi pivoted towards the black throne. "Should you have any further questions, The Cure would undoubtedly prove a wealth of knowledge. At the very least, he appears to have no reason to lie to us, and his commitment to a relative level of 'fair play' works in his best interests."
Red Sprite, Captain's Quarters: Decisions, Decisions!
Amber kept her eyes to the floor.
"It's not about whether I want to or not," she replied after a few moments' pause, "but whether or not I should. Hei's here for one reason: for me to honor the agreement we made almost a week ago. I told him that if he helped kill that shapeshifting monster, I'd tell him what happened to his little sister Pai—someone who disappeared five years ago, and who Hei has been trying to find ever since. I'm glad he's safe and everyone made it out alright, but...I was in a completely different mindset when I made that promise to him. To be frank, I was in denial about how well I could do without my clairvoyance. What if striking that deal was another one of my bold mistakes?"
The girl inched her eyes up further, staring at the desk in front of her rather than the floor. "Having this talk with Hei was always a part of my plan; the question is when I should tell him. He always reacts favorably to it, but he always turns on the Syndicate once he knows the truth, and that rarely turns out well for him. I've watched him die too many times to risk his life now. He's too important...to the plan."
The young captain could probably guess that those last words weren't the ones she wanted to use.
"So I don't know." she confessed with a shake of her head. "I betrayed him before, and Hei's despised me ever since. The plan was to feed the truth to him in pieces so he could have time to think over what I did and why, but that hasn't been possible on Battleworld. For all I know the Syndicate might already know his Messier code and have a hit on him, or telling him the truth will convince him to leave the Syndicate prematurely, or some third option I can't predict because I haven't encountered it before! There's so many unknowns, so many details I can't see or predict because everything is so damn different here!"
She wanted to slam her fist on the arm rest, but knew that the only good that'd do was give her an excuse to use her healing ability. So she settled for crossing her arms with clenched fists.
"The best guess I can make is that we shouldn't talk alone; I have no clue where Hei's coming from emotionally, and he's not the type to show much restraint. At least Amagiri should be present, and if you're not too busy Captain I'd appreciate your presence as well. Least that way Hei might feel confident that there's someone watching his back, too."
Edited by TheodoreHastings on Nov 14th 2021 at 3:52:15 AM
Common Room: The Cure Is What Ails Me
As Kobayashi got started on his explanation, the Angel of Light found himself most perturbed. A primordial being pulling all manners of creation into its grasp just for the sake of its inhabitants fighting? Said being supposedly has the power to revive the deceased, a privilege only a true Lord should have? Goodness, this was getting more and more worrying by the minute!
"I would definitely speak with this Cure." He eventually said. "As the delegate, it shall fall to me to treat with it and see if it is spreading falsehoods, or if it is as good as its word. Now, as for the matter of combat. My Champions are not the type to stand idle whilst the innocent are in danger. Should it come to pass that we do indeed take up arms, it shall be in defense of those besieged by the wicked. If that should provide this 'Cure' with the frivolity it seeks, then so be it."
Proud member of the AGOG community.
"Yes, yes, well perhaps it was my fault. A moment of lack of forsight, to think that gods of his like would withhold the information."
He turns to look at Misaki
"I suppose I should not, however be shocked that you were the first one to get to me and ask about it. So be it. You are likely aware that many have asked me what becomes of the lands and people removed from this makeshift world I have forged, and a mouthy god saw fit to tell the group who went to kill the dark god or demon or whatever label you want to put on him what becomes of them. In short, they are intact, alive, well, whatever you want to call it. The exact mechanics of how it pertains to the multiverse would be impossible for someone who is not connected to it to fully comprehend, but think of the various universes in the multiverse as........."
He leans back, considering
"A rubber band. One that, under any normal circumstances, would remain unstretched, whole, intact. But what I do, to rip people and lands away from each universe, is not a natural act. And each universe has something of a.....tendency to remain whole. It wants to be intact. And each one enacts its own form of pressure in an attempt to remain so. Thus, the "rubber band" that is each universe pulls against my world, each attempting to reclaim what belongs to it. And even with all my power, even I can only exert so much pressure in return to maintain what I have taken. Were it just one universe, I'd likely be able to maintain it for as long as I pleased. But there is far more then one universe in play here, and so, sooner or later, these universes take back what is theirs."
"Those who've been paying attention to the coming and goings of the lands and people here might have noticed that some people and lands vanish seemingly as soon as they show up, hardly even showing their faces in this room, while others who've been here from the start have remained, your chunk included. I have no way of truly knowing how hard a universe will push back until I take from it, and no way of knowing how long I can maintain it once taken. The ways of the multiverse are complex, with enough factors at play to overload even the greatest supercomputers your world has made. And so I cannot say how long any given land will remain here."
"Does this answer your question?"
Edited by Meanken on Nov 30th 2021 at 6:53:51 AM
Common Room (Misaki): The Funny Thing about a Big Fat Phallus in the Cure's Face
Misaki's eyes narrowed at the Cure's comment about being the first to ask about the leak, but she chose to take it as a compliment. She was a cop after all; information was everything.
However, said information was much more than she was expecting to get. Not only were the dozens of groups that vanished back on their homeworlds, but also the Cure had no control over when anyone would vanish from Battleworld. He was actually admitting to a limit of his power! To think that something—no, someone—would force his hand to do something like this...
But just as the twitch of a smile arose on her face, Misaki had the sudden urge to turn around. Showing that she was enjoying this slight humiliation was bad enough, but what really grabbed her attention was the granite obelisk facing the throne. For the past four days, she couldn't help but wonder why the Cure hadn't done anything to reprimand her for bringing it here. The memorial was a sign of blatant disrespect; a symbol bordering on defiance that literally listed the names of the dead and missing, pushing the planet's creator to recognize the human (and non-human) cost of his "entertainment." Now she finally had a reason why she hadn't been reprimanded:
It was a joke.
Apart from the comparatively few individuals who died on Battleworld, almost every name on that memorial belonged to someone who was actually alive and well. In trying to insult the Cure, Misaki had only demonstrated how little she knew about the planet, or apparently about how the multiverse works. Not that she could be expected to know much about it, but the thought that her efforts were some sort of inside joke forced her hand to clench into a fist.
"All this work for just a chance to watch people fight? Is it worth that much to you?"
The words were out before she could stop herself, but she could stop the reply she saw coming.
"I'm sorry. Please don't answer that." she sighed, and turned back to face the Cure, "...it was a rhetorical question."
Common Room (Amber): Being Allies isn't the Same as Being Friends
"Oh no."
For a myriad reasons, those two words seemed too cheap for the situation Amber
◊ found herself in. One moment she was staring at the Captain's desk, the next there wasn't a desk left to stare at; no Captain, no crew, and no Red Sprite, either. She was back in the immaculate white room, surrounded by two friends, one enigma, and countless potential threats. After all that time, after finding a new purpose on this planet, after finally feeling like she was back on solid ground, the floor was once again ripped out from under her feet.
Yet another twist she couldn't see coming.
Her second-in-command was the first to act. With a strong yet gentle motion, Amagiri
placed a hand on his mentor's shoulder.
"We should head for Manhattan. The longer we stay here, the sooner the Syndicate can find us."
"Aww, but you just got here! Can't even spare time for a chat? After all, February: it's been ages since we last met. You're looking young."
Amber didn't need to turn around to see who was speaking; she didn't know any other Contractor who thought himself a comedian. Perhaps despite her better judgement, she turned around and forced a smile.
"And you're looking awfully spry for a dead man, November 11.
◊"
The MI-6 agent shrugged. "What, that whole 'snapped neck after mocking the Cure' incident? Ancient history. Our dear delegate used one of her wishes to pull me from the gates of Saint Peter—on the condition that I be on my best behavior, of course. Though I ought to thank you for that as well—if you hadn't turned your back on the city, Chief Kirihara wouldn't have become your replacement."
"Hard to stick around in a city that wants you dead." Amagiri replied.
"And whose fault is that?" smirked November. "I don't recall our side bombing the secret intelligence offices of the world's super powers."
"Oh, that's cute. Do you even know what 'your side' really is?"
The question came from over November's shoulder, spoken by the warm and teasing voice of a young woman. He had heard it the day before, albeit briefly and in a much meeker tone, but that was likely just to avoid detection. After all, she had been a stowaway rat he and his comrades had managed to sniff out.
Amber let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're safe, Brita.
◊"
"What the hell happened to you?" asked Luca,
◊ who studied her EPR comrade's outfit and less-than-kempt hair with a barely-suppressed smile.
"Those meddling Hunters and Huntresses let me go after they discovered where Amber and I were hiding in Genosha's palace. From there, I hopped East into Chaldea, where I nearly died of cold before landing in the research facility hidden in the snow. The staff gave me food and shelter in exchange for intel on Tokyo; too bad they didn't stick around long enough to use it. I wound up back here late last night, and locked myself in one of the meeting rooms to avoid capture. Glad I came back out when I did."
"Yes, quite the touching reunion." November hummed, and turned to Amber. "Now as much as I'd love to get all the details, we're running short on time. Unless you want PANDORA to put a bullet in your heads the moment you step outside this room, I suggest you all come with us. The Tokyo MPD's got a cell with your names on it."
Scowling, a dark-haired man in a black coat
stepped between November and Amber. "She's going nowhere until I get what I came here for."
The MI-6 agent raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And who might..."
November stopped. The coat, the hair, the voice, he knew exactly who this man was.
"What, did you leave your mask at home, BK-201? Or has the legendary Black Reaper decided to quit the theatrics?"
The dark-haired man's scowl deepened. "She's mine. Touch her and I'll make you wish you stayed dead."
"I'm shaking." November scoffed. "Tell me: do you have a reason for defending her, or are you just a sucker for a damsel in distress? She's not as helpless as she looks, you know—and she's certainly not a little girl."
"Stand down, November." the order came from a woman in a blue suit with a stern expression—the third (and final) delegate of Hell's Gate Tokyo: Misaki Kirihara.
"And you." she pointed an irritated finger at the Black Reaper. "Is this what you call 'being on the same side?' She's a wanted terrorist, Lee! She brought Havoc to this planet!"
The Black Reaper met Misaki's tone as he stepped towards her, employing his height. "No one touches her till I get some answers!"
"Answers to what?!" Misaki spat back.
"None of your goddamn business!"
"ENOUGH!"
The booming baritone broke the bickering like a gunshot. Seven pairs of eyes turned to the speaker: a tall and burly figure with a frown burned into his face. Having left the Angel to intervene in this escalating scene, Goro Kobayashi approached the group with an aura that betrayed his much calmer tone.
"Fighting each other will get us nowhere. PANDORA poses an existential threat to all of us, not just the Evening Primrose. If we are to stand a chance against Nishijima and his Synths, we cannot waste our strength fighting amongst ourselves."
"Sir, should we be speaking so openly about this?" November asked through gritted teeth, and tilted his head to the Surveillance Specter by the table, watching the group intently, "Here?"
Kobayashi nodded. "Eric Nishijima is many things, but he is not a fool. If he has not already judged this meeting to be the start of an alliance, he will simply use it as an excuse to fire the first shot. Whether we like it or not, there is no turning back—our best course of action is to join forces against PANDORA."
"You have got to be kidding!" cried Brita. "You people are part of the Syndicate! We'd be digging our own graves by working with you!"
"The Syndicate is an international conglomerate of world leaders, scientific pioneers, and underground kingpins." Kobayashi calmly replied. "As such, we do not all share the same visions for the future. While many of its most influential members subscribe to the belief that destroying Hell's Gate will protect the world from a so-called 'Contractor Scourge,' I do not nor have I ever shared this opinion. The Syndicate was not created to commit genocide, and if we are to ever hope of surviving the disasters yet to come, humans and Contractors alike must learn to stand together."
Amber took a half-step from her shelter behind Amagiri to study this stranger. She stared at the frowning man—or perhaps stared through him was a better interpretation—until she found a clue that gave her a reason to speak:
"You've read them, haven't you."
In response, Kobayashi quoted: "'The chosen child will then become the flesh and blood of what will be known as "Izanami," and it will erase the stars in the skies, and stand in front of the Door.'"
Judging by the expressions on everyone's faces, it seemed clear that only Amber had interpreted that sentence as something other than nonsense.
"A fundamentalist, huh?" she smiled. "And here I thought your kind were rooted out years ago."
"I admit we are not as common as we once were, and those of us left have been forced into silence, but there are still some who recall the Memory of the Future, and the Syndicate's true purpose."
"That's good to hear." Amber replied. "I was positive about November and Kirihara, but you were an X-factor. So let me ask you something, Mr. Syndicate—something I asked Misaki soon after I became our Cure-appointed delegate: do you feel like I intend to attack or endanger Tokyo?"
The frowning man answered almost immediately. "You have done so in the past, but due to extenuating circumstances I cannot blame you for those crimes. I feel that—should you have the liberty to act of your free will—you would leave the people of Tokyo in peace."
"You're awfully trusting." Amber teased.
"Not trusting." Kobayashi frowned. "Optimistic."
"Can't say I see much to be optimistic about." the time-traveler shrugged with a sigh. "Even if we decided to join you, what's the point? We're entire dimensions from home and all the plans set in motion. The gears have been stopped by the mother of all wrenches, and there's no telling what the future holds anymore."
Misaki almost said nothing. She could see no objectively good reason to give her enemy a reason to hope...but at the same time, Mr. Kobayashi was trying to cut a deal with the strongest group of Contractors on the planet, and her gut was telling her that they all had bigger problems to deal with. With the words "You don't broker peace with your friends" on her mind, the Section Chief took a deep breath and spoke:
"Actually...that's not quite true. The Cure told me what happens to everyone who vanishes from the planet: they're returned to their home universe. Apparently his control over Battleworld isn't as absolute as we assumed; should we ever leave the planet, we'd just wind up back on our version of Earth."
Amber's golden eyes darted to Misaki's. "When did he tell you this?"
"Just a few minutes ago." answered the Section Chief. "He said he was sharing this secret with everyone because another deity leaked it earlier."
"Another deity?" Amber blinked.
"Probably Philemon." said the Black Reaper. "A benevolent god that helped us banish that shapeshifter I've been hunting. They shared a lot of intel after we took that thing down; wouldn't be surprised if someone asked what happened to the people who disappeared."
"And since this 'Philemon' could only tell a select group, the Cure was forced to confirm what happens to the missing people and places." Brita hummed. "Otherwise he'd be violating his rule of 'Fair Play.'"
Closing his left eye, Amagiri turned to his leader. "Amber: if this is true, then the plan hasn't been ruined. It's only been put on hold."
"Yeah!" Luca cheered. "We've still got a fighting chance!"
For a few moments, Amber remained silent. Her eyes shifted subtly, staring at nothing as she used her hard-earned experience to run the numbers. Eventually though, she would turn to Kobayashi with a small, apologetic smile.
"Sorry, but I'm going to need a little time to consider your offer. Not much—thirty minutes, tops—but there's something else I need to attend to before I can give it more thought."
With that, she turned to her dark-haired defender, and her smile bloomed. "You've been very patient, Hei. It might not be how I envisioned us doing it, but it's high time we had this talk."
She held up a hand as Amagiri made a motion to follow the two: "Alone, if that's alright. Hei just helped stop one of the biggest threats to Battleworld—he's more than earned a little confidentiality."
"The Meeting Rooms bordering this room are designed to be soundproof." Misaki reported. "The Cure created them to be immune to bugging, too."
"Sounds perfect!" Amber grinned. "While we're gone, Amagiri: could you and Brita work out where we should go next? Regardless what our ties with Misaki's team end up being, Mr. Syndicate here makes an excellent point: PANDORA is a problem we can't handle from inside the Common Room."
With her two lieutenants on the task, Amber led Hei to the nearest Meeting Room for some much-needed closure. Not far from the locked door, two rows of individuals eyed each other in quiet whispers: Amagiri, Brita, and Luca on one side, and Kobayashi, Misaki, and November on the other. While neither group broke the stalemate, the looks shot back and forth advertised an expectation—a dare, even—for either side to make a move.
Edited by TheodoreHastings on Dec 6th 2021 at 11:17:25 AM
Common Room - Peace Be With You (Or Else)
With his conversation partner abruptly leaving and getting embroiled in some manner of conflict, the Angel couldn't help but have questions about what just happened. And with little else going on, seeing as Kobayashi was the only person they'd met thus far, the Angel floated back towards him, lowering his voice so as not to disturb the others.
"Are you at liberty to discuss what just happened, or is this a matter I am best staying out of? I couldn't help but overhear the raised voices, you see."
Proud member of the AGOG community.
Common Room: The Simple Plot of Darker Than Black
Much like Amber had done a minute earlier, Goro Kobayashi took a few moments to think over the request. The impulse was to keep the cherubic figure as far from this matter as possible; PANDORA was watching them like a hawk, and the Angel had only just arrived on the planet. It was far too soon to get someone like him involved...but then again that wasn't entirely Kobayashi's decision now, was it?
Much like the situation with the EPR, it didn't matter if Nishijima believed his enemy was gaining allies—he just needed it to look like it. To that end, the Angel needed to at least know what to look out for.
"There is...too much to explain here and now, but I will do my best to summarize." the frowning man began. "I belong to a powerful organization known as the Syndicate. We work from behind the scenes to ensure the preservation of our planet from impending doom, but like many conglomerates of massive scale, the Syndicate's members agree on the 'what' of our mission, but are deeply divided on the 'how.' I belong to a small minority that believes a group of humans altered by Hell's Gate—a new supernatural subspecies known as Contractors—are essential allies to our cause, whereas our rival camp believes that Contractors will kickstart the apocalypse we are all striving to prevent.
"Those three over there belong to a Contractor terrorist cell known as the Evening Primrose, or EPR. Their mission appears to be to stop the Syndicate's majority from executing its sinister and short-sighted goal of wiping Contractors off the face of the Earth. On this planet, the EPR's greatest threat just so happens to be our own: a titanic research facility in the heart of Tokyo known as PANDORA, and its present Director—Eric Nishijima. Over the past few days, Nishijima has allied with a variety of states past and present, and he has amassed a treasure trove of artifacts and materials for research and development. He now commands an army of artificial humans called Synths, as well as a plethora of highly-advanced weapons and vehicles. PANDORA's influence has spread across the planet; truth be told, not even I know the full extent of Nishijima's power. Though what's presently most concerning is that PANDORA has seized complete control of Tokyo's portal, and the surveillance Specter in this very room."
Kobayashi asked the Angel to turn his head sixty degrees to the right, and to use his peripheral vision to look even further around:
"Do you see the white lab coat stretched over one of the chairs? There is something sticking out of the top of it—a strange ethereal mass of blue light.
Blink twice if you see it, then turn back towards me."
Assuming the Angel complied, the frowning man would continue. "That ethereal mass is called a surveillance Specter. Think of it as a remote extension of a person's senses. PANDORA controls the Gate-altered individual on the other end of that line, and they are using that person to collect information on everything that happens in this room—including this conversation, and the one that preceded it. Take care, Angel of Light: you may have no quarrel with PANDORA, but PANDORA may very well have a quarrel with you.
"Should you wish to avoid attracting attention, I suggest you speak to the Cure, and depart for your homeland; your noble Champions will need to be informed of this planet. I do not wish to drag you into our war, but you deserved to know of this potential threat. After all, thanks to that Specter, Nishijima will likely know your face within the hour."
Edited by TheodoreHastings on Dec 19th 2021 at 5:02:07 AM
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
The Velvet Room
"Crap, we lost an entire day?!" Spider-Man groused as he set Minako down on one of the couches, where she began to stir, "I gotta get back to patrolling! But, uh, first... which way is the bathroom?"
"We do not have any bathrooms for non-residents, but you may be able to borrow one of the bathrooms attached to a residential room upstairs," Margaret explained as she and Theodore took turns tightly hugging Elizabeth.
"Well, upstairs it is! Thanks!"
Knock, knock!
Junpei opened the door, yawning widely. "What is i- Oh hey, it's Spider-guy! What's up?"
"Can I borrow your bathroom?"
"Oh, yeah, sure thing! Just, uh, long as you don't mind trekking through my room. 's kinda a mess."
"Believe me, I'm the same way! Back when I had a room, at least..."
"...Wait a minute...," Junpei said slowly, blinking, "You're... alive! Holy shit!"
"Yeah, everybody survived and got the job done, Minako and Aigis included, and everyone who's not downstairs got sent back to their home universes. Pretty great, right?"
"Pretty great?! You are like, the master of understatement!" Junpei rushed out into the hall and began banging on the doors of his fellow SEES members. "HOLY SHIT, YOU GUYS, WAKE UP! THEY'RE BACK! THEY'RE OKAY!"
"Good morning, and welcome to Just the Facts with J. Jonah Jameson, alerting you to the threats you don't even know about! Now, I'm fully aware that I can be very critical on this show of mine, some would even say dour, so I thought it would be nice to start off today's broadcast with some good news: These past 24 hours, nobody has seen hide nor hair of Spider-Man! He's vanished without a trace, as if God Himself snatched him out of existence and out of our midst! As I've always predicted, of course, crime has gone down in that time-span. Most notably, the sinister gang called The Demons, who as you all know, orchestrated the bombing on City Hall a scant few weeks ago, have gone silent ever since the accursed webheaded glory-hound disappeared.
"A less astute observer might attribute their inactivity to our sudden transportation to this 'Battleworld' planet we so strangely find ourselves on, say that The Demons are merely taking a measure of the situation and waiting for an opportune moment to strike. Au contraire! With the city in so much chaos and confusion in the midst of this sudden change, why haven't they chosen to attack while the police are off-balance to cause even more mayhem? The answer: Spider-Man and The Demons are in cahoots! Think about it! What do The Demons want? Chaos! What does Spider-Man just loooooove to create in our fair city? Chaos! They're both thugs who hide behind masks! They both use force to get their way! They feed off of each other and Manhattan's misfortune like some kind of oroborous parasite eating both our misery and its own tail! And so, with Spider-Thug nowhere to be seen, it's no wonder his pals in The Demons have gone quiet, just waiting for him to come back. And believe you me, he will be back, and worse than ever before!
"Yes, my dear listeners, I'm afraid that along with every silver lining comes a dark cloud, and this one is as sinister as it is foreboding! According to my confidential sources, the thing that brought us all here to this planet, this demon calling himself 'The Cure' - to what, I don't know - this reality-warping monster gives out wishes to those who curry his favor, like some kind of evil, red genie with poor dental work! And what's more, he gives one out for free to the representative he's chosen for each territory after their land of origin has been on this planet for its first full day. Now, who's Manhattan's chosen representative? Not that any of us in our right minds would choose him, that is? That's right, it's Spider-Man! And it only stands to reason that, anticipating the equivalent of a magic lamp from the biggest demon he could find, he and his Demon buddies would be waiting for this very morning before they plunged us all into a Hellish nightmare like we've never seen before! I have to say, I always hoped it wasn't true, but I knew in my heart of hearts that Spider-Man would even stoop so low as to make a deal with the Devil himself if it suited him, and how right I was! To all the doubters and haters, I say: I told you so!"
"Greeeeeeat... Amazing take, JJJ," Spider-Man sighed as he washed his hands, "Well, time to check my messages..."
"You guys...," Minako wheezed from the middle of the six-way hug pile, "Ease up... I can't breathe too good... guys..."
"Wait..." Mitsuru mused, "If you're here, what happened to the Great Seal?"
"Oh, so your memories returned...? Philemon said I was a copy with her memories and personality, so the real Minako is still out there, acting as the door... Sorry, I'm a fake..."
"Well, if you have her memories and her personality, you're no different from the original, right?"
"But-!"
"No buts! You're just as real as the original Minako, and we won't hear otherwise! Understood?"
"Okay... could you ease up, though? It really is kinda hard to breathe..."
"So, now that the big, dumb jerkface is dealt with, we've been planning to officially retire from trying to be diplomatic brokers and join up with a chunk proper!" Minako explained to the Magical Girls, clasping her hands, while the rest of SEES lounged around the various couches, "And since we were originally going to enroll ourselves in Luna Nova, which disappeared, and we burned too many bridges with Tokyo... Do you think it would be alright if we moved to Mitakihara?"
Meanwhile, Yukari was leaning forward from her seat to frown down at Link, brow knit in concern. "Do you even have a place to sleep, little guy? Where've you been staying, these past three days? That 'Heart of the Moon' thing is just a big, empty field, right? You could spend your nights here, if you want! But then I guess you'd have to leave Epona someplace else for the night and stuff... What do you think?"
"Oh, and..." the pink-pajama'd girl added as an after-thought, "You said you were hungry, right? We haven't eaten yet, either. You wanna join us for breakfast, or at least take something with you to eat later?"
Common Room, Some Unclear Amount of Time Later
Awkwaaaaaard... Spidey winced internally as he looked back and forth between the Tokyo representatives and the Evening Primrose as they silently faced off.
"Ahem!" he eventually cleared his throat, walking over to Misaki, "Hey there! I'm Spider-Man, from Manhattan! Unless I'm mistaken, you're Tokyo's Misaki Kirihara, right? Nice to meet you!" He offered her a handshake that would be solid and friendly, but not overly firm.
"Mayor Osborn said he sent you an invitation last night, while I was away dealing with the Big Bad Evil Guy," he continued after she'd reciprocated (or not), "Did you get it? I wouldn't normally ask, but, uh... judging from what I just overheard of your conversation with them-" He gestured to the EPR people. "-I'm guessing there's a little... friction inside Tokyo's government."
Manhattan, Chinatown F.E.A.S.T.
"Heh-heh, nope, this ain't no restaurant!" a man sitting on a folding chair in the corner of the foyer chuckled as he read the morning paper, "This here's a homeless shelter! The F-E-A-S-T stands for Food, Emergency Aid, Shelter, and Trai..." He looked up at the newcomers at last, then finished lamely, "...ning."
"Princess Zelda?!" he observed incredulously, glancing between the front page of his paper, where her face was emblazoned, and the royal in front of him to confirm it. "Wow, it really is you... you look just like your picture!"
Grinning and excited now, he trotted over to the doors to the main room and shouted to the interior, "HEY EVERYBODY, IT'S PRINCESS ZELDA!"
Immediately, the place was filled with the sound of chairs scraping across floors, the stamping of feet toward the entrance, and a chorus of "What?!"s, "Holy crap!"s, and "No way!"s. In mere seconds, a semi-circle crowd formed around the Hyrulian duo in the entry hall, seemingly composed of everyone in the entire place.
"I can't believe my eyes! It's really her!"
"Good morning, Your Highness! How are you doing? And you, Sir Knight?"
"What brings the twoa ya here this mornin'?"
"Are you staying here in Manhattan?"
"I heard you went and saw the sights yesterday! Did you enjoy it? We've a fine city, haven't we? A fine city!"
"If you're a real princess, where's your dress?" This last question came from a little girl peeking out from behind her mother's legs and peering suspiciously at the pointy-eared lady.
"Shelly!" her parent admonished, mortified as she shoved a hand over the girl's mouth.
"Now, now, everybody, settle down! Don't throw so many questions at Her Highness all at once!" came another reproachful voice, as the crowd turned to look at its source descending the stairs. Its owner was a thin and elderly, redheaded woman. Time had clearly been kind to her, as she was not particularly hunched, slow-moving, or even wrinkled, save for some clear laugh-lines in her face. Evidently well-known to this building's inhabitants, she was met with a bevy of "Morning, May!"s and "Good morning, Aunt May!"s. The crowd parted slightly to allow her to approach the foreign duo more directly.
Slowly following this "May" down the stairs was a sunglasses wearing gentleman in a bright red button-down and khakis with brown shoes. In his hand, he held a long, white cane, which he lightly whacked against the woman's leg as he made his way down. Adjusting his course so he wouldn't run into her, he moved a little to the side and stepped onto the first floor. In contrast to the redhead, he didn't receive any greetings.
"Welcome to our humble shelter, Princess Zelda, Sir Knight! I'm May Parker; pleased to meet you both!" May said, beaming as she strode up and offered them her hand, "Now, this is all quite exciting, but we were all just about to eat breakfast. Would the two of you care to join us?"
Although he had turned to look at the spectacle as he worked, the man at the counter had been working diligently throughout the scene, and now that the scrawnier redheaded woman was at the front of the line, began his list of questions with, "Good morning! Could I have your name and date of birth, please?"
Edited by darksidevoid on Dec 20th 2021 at 10:10:37 AM
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Velvet Room
Exhausted as they visibly were, the question posed by Minako caught all three of them off-guard. "Well, I doubt any of us would be against the idea," Mami said, cradling the glass jar containing her Soul as her face rather pointedly tried to avoid looking downwards by focusing on Minako. (Those who happened to look in Homura's direction might catch her making a small frown at Mami's words, but she allowed silence to speak for her.) Golden eyes looked around at all of the SEES members present. "But where would you all stay, exactly? I'm not sure if it would be an easy matter to find enough hotel rooms to hold all of you together. Especially with the haphazard nature of BattleWorld — many people don't have homes to return to still because they weren't brought along."
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
Velvet Room
"Oh, right!" Minako nodded, still smiling optimistically. "Well, we were thinking of buying some apartments, since Mitsuru-senpai's not exactly hurting for money. Hopefully the same problem you just mentioned isn't too much of an issue as far as permanent housing goes, but you're right, we do need someplace to stay in the meantime. Ai-chan doesn't need a bed, just someplace to plug in and recharge, so she could easily double-up with one of us. That means we need five beds to sleep in at night, with two guys and three girls. We were actually hoping we could divide ourselves up between all the Magical Girls' places plus Madoka-chan's, but hmmm..."
She put a hand to her chin. "Sayaka-chan, do your parents even know you're a Magical Girl? Do Madoka-chan's parents know she's involved in this stuff, too?"
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Velvet Room
"No," Homura replied as soon as Minako finished her question. "They don't know."
"My parents aren't even here anyway. They were in another shelter when Walpurgisnacht came." Sayaka added. "Which...I guess means it's up to me. I could host some of you for a while, though not all six."
"You'll be drawing attention to yourself, Sayaka Miki," Homura replied. "Especially if you've been by yourself the past week and suddenly out-of-towners show up sleeping over at your apartment."
"It's my call, Transfer Student." Sayaka's challenging gaze at Homura was for just a moment before she looked back at SEES. "I can maybe host two — three is pushing it."
"Same for me," Mami added. "Two is probably the maximum without resorting to a bare floor — you've seen my apartment before, right Arisato-san?"
"Kyoko's an absolutely no way in Hell and Madoka's family doesn't know, so..." Sayaka's gaze moved back to Homura, the same challenge returning to her face; Mami's would follow, though more out of curiosity than any sort of direct threat.
Homura would look back at them silently, letting the implied retort of "What are you looking at me for?" be communicated with the same sort of stoic expression that she usually wore.
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
Velvet Room
"Well, I can understand being reluctant to play host to people you barely know, ahah...!" Minako admitted, scratching her head, then held up a finger, "If you're willing to let them stay, Homura-chan, we'll only send the two most mature members to stay at your place: Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai! Mitsuru-senpai likes to keep to herself and read books for the most part, and unlike Junpei-kun, Akihiko-senpai isn't boorish-"
"Hey!" Junpei protested.
"It's true!" Yukari confirmed.
"-and will be a perfect gentleman. Isn't that right?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" the teen in question agreed with a salute.
"So then we can send Yukari-chan and Junpei-kun to Sayaka-chan, and Ai-chan and I can stay with Mami-chan! Oh, and of course we'll chip in and pay for our expenses while we're staying with you! What do you all think of that plan?"
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Velvet Room
Homura let her usual visiage hide her displeasure at how things had developed outside of her plans. She'd been outnumbered and outmaneuvered, not by battle but by social links — if Nyarthalotep was still around, he'd be having a field day. Still, at least the board wasn't as dire-looking as she had become used to and she still had cards in her hand — looks like it was time to play one. "I'm already hosting someone."
"Already?" Sayaka asked with surprise evident in her voice. Mami's face would similarly convey her not knowing anything about this. "It's not Kyoko, is it?"
"No." No way could that lie hold up for more than two seconds.
"Then who, your own parents? Thought they-"
"No," Homura repeatedly, a little more testily.
"Then-"
"It's another Magical Girl," Mami said, looking at Homura. "Isn't it?" The moment's passage without another denial was enough for Mami. "The other day when I met Kirijo-san at your apartment, I had sensed a magic presence nearby. I had thought at first it was just you and dismissed it, but now that we know you've taken someone in and it is, if I may be blunt, unlikely you'd bring in someone who isn't at least aware of the Magical Girl business..."
Homura had forgotten how smart the others could be when they had the time to sort things out. "You are correct, Tomoe-san."
Sayaka seemed taken aback by this revelation, silent for a moment. "Who is she?" She asked, her eyes drifting towards Kyubey.
<I can't reveal that information, Sayaka Miki. I can confirm that I made another contract with someone in the past week, but their identity cannot be divulged from me directly.>
"You and your rules," Sayaka spat. "Wasn't even asking you anyway."
<I thought that you were the most agreeable to the rule of law, Sayaka Miki.>
"Justice, ass-rat. Not the same thing."
"Enough," Homura snapped, cutting off the developing argument. Though Homura did share in Sayaka's displeasure at Kyubey, it was more because she saw what he was doing by seemingly going out of his way to start an argument with the most hot-headed among them. "It's Mikuni."
"Oriko Mikuni? The daughter of the former Deputy Mayor?"
"How did you end up with her?"
"Not important now. Point is, I already have one extra person at my place." She looked back at Minako. "I can hold at most one more at my place without raising too much suspicion."
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
Velvet Room
"I see!" Minako nodded again, choosing to gloss over this little revelation about a fifth Magical Girl, then looked to the blunette. "Well, that means we'll have to send three to Sayaka-chan's place, then. And since we'll be imposing the most on her, I think that means Sayaka-chan should get to choose who it is! So, would you prefer Mitsuru-senpai or Akihiko-senpai?"
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Velvet Room
"Uh...well..." Sayaka scratched her head in wonderment. This isn't like a normal sleepover, after all.
"It might be better to take Sanada-san," Homura opined. "Neither I nor Tomoe-san normally have males living at our apartments, so in the worst case scenario we would have nothing suitable for them if an emergency came up. You at least have some things belonging to your father, Miki-san, and Madoka lives nearest to you — may be able to sneak something from her father as well if needed."
"That's a good point," Mami agreed.
"Eh, I guess that makes sense. Let's go with that."
Edited by megarockman on Dec 21st 2021 at 3:29:36 PM
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
Velvet Room
"Okay~! Sounds great to me!" Minako clapped, beaming as consensus was reached. "Now that that's sorted, would the three of you like to join us for breakfast? We can do American style with pancakes or eggs to order, or Japanese style with rice, miso, and fish! Or if you'd rather get going, we can make you something quick to take with you, like granola or toast!"
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Meeting Room -> Common Room: ...Well THAT Could've Gone Better...
"You're welcome." Misaki replied, before reaching into her inner coat pocket for a pen and a small piece of paper.
"This is the phone number for my branch of Foreign Affairs. If you ever feel the need, you can call us day or night."
The key words, of course, were feeling the need to call. The Section Chief had strong doubts that would come to pass, and even if it did, she feared it might be too little too late.
With the card in Defli's possession, Misaki got up and opened the door for the Thundercore human.
"Take care of yourself."
Delfi didn't need to search Misaki's microexpressions to find the feelings in those four words; she didn't even need to look at Misaki at all.
Defeat was in her voice.
As the two parted ways, Miskai's attention was almost immediately seized by the globe—or rather, how little was now left of it. The absence of Vector compelled Misaki to check her pocket for Maduin's magicite, and she let out a quiet sigh when she realized it was still there. Ghestal's Empire wouldn't threaten the planet anymore, but there had been so many losses...Former Hell, The Netherworld, Chaldea, Luna Nova, Morioh, so much of the planet had disappeared it seemed The Cure had to rearrange the thing just to keep states in contact with each other!
The Section Chief spread her hands on the circular table at the room's core; she had to support herself with something, at least for the initial shock. But the first feeling was soon swept away, replaced with even parts resentment for The Cure and determination to keep on living anyways. At that point the table stopped serving as support, and became the target for a solitary strike from the bottom of her fist.
Many names needed to be added to the monument—and someday, she would make The Cure pay for every last one of them.
...
Once the Thundercore human left the Meeting Room, she might notice a peculiar sight in the Common Room—or pretty much anywhere with heavy foot traffic. A wolf: a grey-furred, blue-eyed beast that eyed her almost immediately, and started to slowly approach her soon afterwards.
If Delfi had never seen a wolf in-person before, perhaps the first observation she'd make is just how large the creature was. At least 120 pounds in weight, and were she capable of standing up the beast's head would be around the same height as her naval. The second observation she might make was that the wolf had an accessory on his front left foot—a shackle with a few chains still trailing behind each step. Evidently at some point the beast had been chained up, and evidently at some point the beast gave his captors a very rude awakening. The third observation was...well, probably hard to really make with her abilities, unless Delfi was well experienced with reading the microexpressions of canines, but the way the creature approached—at a slow and permissive pace, with his fur low and relaxed, and without the slightest sign of baring teeth—she could probably guess that the wolf wasn't looking at her as his dinner.
Should she not try to escape the beast, he would slowly but surely reach her. When he finally reached the Thundercore human, the first thing he did was lean his head closer to Delfi...and begin to sniff her hands; specifically, the conducting rods implanted in them. Then, without warning, he would give her left hand a small lick. A strangely deliberate gesture, as if he were conveying sympathy for the grotesque procedure.
The notion that an animal would have the intelligence to recognize the rods as something terrible and to express sympathy for the procedure was probably a bit far-fetched. But then again, this was Battleworld.
Castlevania, Castle Keep: Soon:TM:
Majora mulled over the Count's wise words, then let out a bubbly little chuckle.
"Well, you've got some good points there, Mister! Then it's settled: I'm gonna get us a new friend for this secret club of ours. But before I do..."
Once again, the mask turned its half-scarred gaze towards the ceiling.
"I wanna ask the Big Red Mister a few questions about this guy..."
The Sea of Souls: So Long, Nyarly Realm!
The fact that Philemon not only acknowledged their injustice, but even rescinded their initial policy, threw Maki for a bit of a loop.
"Yeah, uhm...well..." Maki mumbled. Seems he wasn't expecting to win this argument; now he was too busy to keep up with this news to say much of anything.
Speaking of those who were expositioned into silence, Tatl was half-tempted to ask the kind deity to pump the brakes on this flood of information. Hylia? Triforce? Master Sword? None of these things made even a lick of sense! But there was one name that Philemon dropped that rang a bell—not that it made much sense by itself, either.
"Ganondorf: King of Thieves"
Her partner had written the name down back on the day they arrived on Battleworld. The kid had stated to her and the Amazonians that Ganondorf was the only male Gerudo—the sole exception to a race composed entirely of women and girls. No wonder someone like that was this...big. Their very existence violated the laws of nature!
"So...uhh...does the kid...?" The fairy stopped herself before she asked something she already knew. "Nevermind. Forget I said that."
Of course he didn't know the full story. Who could handle that knowledge and still find the hope and energy to be so annoyingly plucky all the time? Tatl now officially knew more about her partner's fate than the boy did himself, and she silently swore to keep it from him for as long as she possibly could.
With the Q&A winding to a close, and two figures previously thought dead were returned, everyone's attention would no doubt turn to the doorway back to Battleworld.
The Captain of the Red Sprite would hear someone call his name. Should he turn to face the speaker, he'd find Hei walking over to him. While they had been fighting side-by-side for the past three battles, this might be the first time that Tatsu had seen the Black Reaper's face.
"Mind if I come with you three back to your ship? Now that this business is done, I can get some answers from your newest crewmate."
Meanwhile, Maki had turned his attention from the doorway to the sudden compulsion to make his payment. He grabbed his thermos and poured himself a cup, only to frown and groan midway through filling the cup.
There was no steam coming from it, which meant it was too cool to be of any use; how long had they been in this crazy place, anyway?
"Does anyone know a place I can get something hot to drink?" he asked the departing group. "I uhh...I need it as payment for my power."
Say it, you idiot. his Contractor side growled. Being stubborn isn't going to do you any favors.
His face flushed, but in the end he spat it out: "...also I need a new place to stay."
Having reunited with Tatl, Link turned back to where the butterflies vanished, and gave a great big wave goodbye to the sanctum, and the endless cosmos beyond.
< See you later, Philemon! Thanks for all your help! When I come back to visit, I promise to bring you a nice big flower for you to rest on! >
And with that, the little hero and his fairy followed the Contractors and the others through the doorway home.
Edited by TheodoreHastings on Oct 8th 2021 at 6:50:30 AM