Castlevania

As Dracula walked out of his castle, he would be surprised at a large anthropomorphic bird. He noted that this bird had armor on which looked futuristic.

"I am Dracula, Lord of Castlevania," Dracula introduced himself. "Who do I have the pleasure of meeting this splendid night... or morning, I suppose for you?"

Of the groups that the Cure telepathically told them all about, Dracula had quite the hunch that this one was 'Raven Beak.'

Wizard Needs Food Badly

Common Room (Vi and Maki): FIELD TRIP!

(When hearing about how Ridley came back from death many times, even when mere scraps of him are what remains, Maki furrowed his eyes. Such a dangerous, yet cruel opponent with a team that can only make his demise temporary is without a doubt one to be feared. However, the fact that his only companion, for a lack of a better term, wants nothing to do with him does bring some hope of stopping him should he target Bugaria.)

(When Vi heard about the dragon resurrecting, she expressed her thoughts about it with her incredible, almost masterful, sense of tact the likes never seen on Bugaria. Nay, all of Battleworld.) "You must really suck at fighting if you keep coming back from being blown up. And a robot you? I bet you needed one because you can't win your battles!"

(Clearly, Maki sighed and shook his head in awe, and not disappointment no way no how what are you talking about, of Vi's art of tact. Or subtlety. In any case, Maki and Vi see the head of PANDORA himself along with two guards by his side. Clearly, he is not exactly the friendly sort as he addresses them and Schroder. Still, one cannot discard some semblance of professionalism.) "My name is Maki, and the bee is Vi. We are simply asking for a quick tour for information on how your Chunk works. For diplomatic reasons, of course. We will not interfere with whatever you are planning, expose ourselves to your civilians, or cause any scenes, will we Vi?"

"Uhhh of course not! I'll be on my very best behavior! _{Wait, did he say, 'quarantine zone?'}"

"In turn, we can provide a visit to our kingdom. With our Queen's permission, of course. You can decline the offer if you wish." (The men around him are far more equipped than the usual guard, but they do not seem to wish harm on them, at least for the time being. Still, Maki had to give them a slight bit of trust. Moreso than he trusts the giant dragon to not stab them in the back. As for Vi, she kept an eye on Nishijima. His fierce energy definitely did not scare her a little.)

Edited by Ore-O on May 11th 2022 at 1:06:51 PM

"I treasure every day with you, darling." "No need to be so sappy, love." "You know that's how she is, Nia." - AU!Pyra, Nia, Mythra

Conference Room 2

Homura listened as Amber laid out her funeral plans, her grand finale that was to be played out on the Tokyo stage. Her eyes would noticeably widen when the twist was revealed. Amber was right that Homura wasn’t given to laughing at overdramatic pronouncements, but neither did her face convey obvious disdain at it either, keeping her steely neutral expression on throughout.

"I see," she said finally. It wasn't surprising to find out that Amber had made a plan to achieve a seemingly impossible goal, and only a momentary one when she revealed the big twist that was ruined by their prison warden. "That's...quite an ending to your story to have pre-written. Though if I understand your situation correctly, it wasn't exactly as though your life to this point had been particularly blessed, powers aside."

She paused to ponder further for a moment. “Are you suggesting that I do something similar with my allies, now that they already have some idea on what our world is really like? I mean, more in terms of getting them involved.” It would, at the very least, provide insurance should she die before being able to reset back to March 16th. If Homura were to be honest with herself, there have been times where it was just sheer luck that some Witch hadn’t surprised her the first time around, or that the variances that seemed to differ loop to loop hadn’t resulted in her death – her thoughts settled for a moment upon Oriko Mikuni. (She needs to be addressed as well, now that Homura thought of it – both telling her and telling others about her. Continuing to hide her status as a Magical Girl does not make much sense given what the others already know now.)

Sky Palace

With the change of terrain making things more difficult for the ground based defenders, they did what they could to find better vantage points to press their attack. The Angel was not in such straits, however, and he was free to fire upon whoever he could see, with a shot or two being aimed at Horai.

Proud member of the AGOG community.

Castlevania

Raven Beak didn't expect the master of this place himself to answer him. He expected more from a nobleman. At least he could deal with him personally instead of wasting time with his henchmen, or that strange imp the Gerudo King warned him about.

While the man was humanoid, the Mawkin warlord couldn't help but be slightly surprised at his big size. Ganondorf was tall, yes, but he was still in a more usual size for humanoid species. That pale man on the other hand was as tall as he was, which was unnatural, to say the least..

   "I am Ashkar Behek, Raven Beak in your tongue. I am the leader of the Chozo warrior tribe known as the Mawkin."    Raven Beak answered, bowing his head at the Count.

   "Pardon me for the intrusion, count Dracula. The king of the Gerudo sent me here. He said you could help me learn more about the basics of this world, as I have recently arrived."   

"You're married like me, you know monstrosity can take many forms."

Common Room, KOS-MOS

"Before I explain, there is an important difference in definition to mention," KOS-MOS began, nodding at her conversation partners. "When people use the word 'world' in this sense, they may be referring to either a single planet or the entire universe, so I will explain using those terms instead of 'world'. The people of my universe have very advanced technology compared to what I have been able to observe of most of the individuals who have passed through this room since I arrived. You may not know this, but the stars that you see in the night sky are actually very distant balls of light and heat made of the same material as the Sun, and thus the Sun is a star, and some of the stars in the night sky are suns to their own planets. And so, one of the things our advanced technology allowed us to do was to leave our original planet when it encountered a certain calamity, after which we traveled among the stars and settled on many planets and man-made habitats throughout our universe. Moving from one planet to another for work or leisure was extremely common in my universe by the point in time I come from."

"Intelligent life in my universe is on the verge of complete destruction, however, so in order to save it, my friends and I were searching for a certain artifact known as Zarathustra, and the truth associated with it. That is why The Cure has chosen to refer to my group as 'The Seekers of Zarathustra'. Thankfully, The Cure has assured us that time is effectively standing still in our universe compared to here, so we do not need to worry about that until we return," she finished succinctly, then fell silent and looked at Kabbu, Link, and Tatl, anticipating questions or disbelief.

---

Common Room, chaos

After some consideration, chaos followed Vi over to where she was standing with Maki, Ridley, and Nishijima, arriving toward the tail end of Maki's offer.

"Excuse me, Director Eric Nishijima, correct?" he interjected with an easy, friendly smile and extending a hand for a shake after the suited man had responded to Ridley and the bugs in turn. "Nice to meet you; I go by the name 'chaos'. My friends and I are recent arrivals, in case you didn't catch that through your monitoring system, but I understand the facility you oversee studies 'paranatural' phenomena. Human civilization has had about five thousand more years to develop technologically in my home universe relative to yours, so I believe we may have something to offer you in that regard. I'd certainly be open to a general exchange of knowledge or a trade for a site visit, if you're alright with that, but it might be easier to figure out what areas we'd be able to cooperate in if you could clarify the definition of 'paranatural phenomena' in your context."

---

Common Room, Jr., MOMO, and Ziggy - A Short While Ago

"Climbing?" Jr. questioned, frowning mightily, "I don't think I like the sound of that... Well, whatever! Into the breach! CHAAAAAAAARGE!" In accordance with his own order, the redhead rushed into the Sky Palace portal, followed shortly by Ziggy and then MOMO.

---

Sky Palace

"Sure, sure! Whatever you say, Mono-man!" Spider-Man chirped as he easily flipped out of the way of the pistol-fire, shooting off a thick ball of what he liked to call 'impact webs' at the cultist he was facing down in the process. If hit, the Monolithian would be slammed back into the pillar behind himself and stuck to it in a super-adhesive half-cocoon of webbing, totally preventing him from engaging in further combat. And supposing Spidey missed, well, he'd just keep dodging and firing several smaller balls of web at the cultist until he either accomplished the same effect or he needed to reload his web cartridges.

"Awwww, maaaaaaan!" Jr. whined upon seeing Horai's surprise for new guests. "This is such bullshit!"

"I suppose this means the enemy has the means to rearrange the terrain," Ziggy observed plainly.

"So, whaddya think? Short enough for a toss?"

"For someone of your size, a gap of less than five meters would be easy," the cyborg affirmed.

"Hey! That better not be a knock on my height!" Jr. smirked, cracked his knuckles, and drew his pistols. "Let's do this!"

In short order, there was what seemed to be a young redheaded boy in a longcoat soaring to the other edge of the trench's left side with a "YEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAWWWW!". Landing with a flawless roll, he began strafing toward the same pillar Spider-Man was close to while firing off bullets he telekinetically manuvered for accuracy in striking the limbs of the cultist holding the SPAS-12.

"Hey, assholes! Eat lead!"

---

Velvet Room

What awaited Leif, Hei's crew, and the trio from the Seekers of Zarathusra (although Hei had already seen it) on the other side of the luminous azure door was a rather posh and cozy-looking, yet very deep blue (in the sense that almost every surface was covered in the tone), two- or perhaps three-story establishment. The first floor, lit by a large, elegant chandelier and a series of small table-lamps, appeared to be a plushly carpeted, velvet-cushioned lounge filled with alphabet-shaped couches that were in turn lined by circular, tastefully spaced glass tables. Immediately to the right was a glossy bar being manned by an oddly-pigmented man, a vast array of different drinks shelved behind him. About halfway down the right wall, an open doorway led into a generous dining space with a table long enough to seat quite a few people - indeed, quite a few people could be seen seated there - and the corner of the same part of the main room passed into a top-of-the-line, though far from industrial, kitchen, where a woman in a blue dress busied herself with rinsing off piles of dishes and then adding them to a dishwasher.

At the far left of the initial entryway stood a glassy spiral staircase allowing access to the second floor and an elaborately railed balcony with two small tables and pairs of chairs that jutted out a little into the air of the main room. Past this sight, a hallway was slightly visible, although that was all that could really be seen of the other floor from below. Following the bottom of the balcony itself into the wall took the eyes to a storage room full of boxes, racks, shelves, and all manner of knickknacks. Further back, a metal door that looked like it might belong to a prison sat embedded in the wall, though like the entryway, it was luminescent and blue.

At center and near the far wall sat a bizarre, hunched little man with a gigantic nose that emerged far past his hands steepled on the cloth-covered table in front of him. Next to this likely head of the room was yet another ethereal beauty, who stared after the newcomers with open curiosity.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear new guests!” the long-nosed one would begin whenever anyone actually new entered, “My name is Igor. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance. The woman to my side is Elizabeth-” the shorter-haired sister waved cheerfully “-the man behind the bar is Theodore, and the woman in the kitchen currently is Margaret, all attendants who exist to serve the needs of our guests. This room exists between dream and reality, mind and matter... Under normal circumstances, only those who have signed the contract can enter this place. Of course, you yourselves have done no such thing, so you are technically only temporary guests at present. That being said, we provide precisely the same services to temporary guests as we do regular ones. Do feel free to stay as long as you like, but please bear in mind that when you leave, you will be unable to reenter without first being allowed back in."

Her attention summoned by Igor's usual introduction, Minako turned to look out of the dining room where she and the others were enjoying one last cup of tea - or coffee, depending on preference. "Heya, Hei!" she called, waving, "Who's that with... you...?"

The SEES' Leader's question faded away into a loud gasp as she spotted one of the black-haired man's companions, and she sprang up from her seat and zoomed over to throw her arms around - "Yin-chan! I'm so glad you're okay! Where have you been all this time?! Hei's been looking all over for you, you know!" Grinning hugely, she turned her head a little to take in the rest of the newcomers. "Oh, are these your and Hei's friends? Nice to meet you~! I'm Arisato Minako - er, Western order Minako Arisato! I lead SEES, as you can probably tell from the door, heehee! Welcome~!"

"Well, thank you all for the warm welcome!" Shion said, smiling at The Fool, but not extending her hand for a handshake just yet in case the teen and Yin wanted to continue hugging. "I'm Shion Uzuki, and these are Allen Ridgeley and my brother, Jin."

"Good ta meet ya!" Allen agreed, "And these are some nice-looking accommodations you got, here!"

"Indeed! Pleased to meet you as well," Jin said, folding his hands in his sleeves and bowing a bit. "The three of us are part of the 'Seekers of Zarathustra', as our, ah, host calls us."

"Oh, neat! I was wondering what you all were like after I heard Cure announce you! And I guess you're from Bugaria, right, Mr. Bug?" Minako asked Leif. "Or is it Ms. Bug? Sorry, I can't really tell!"

"You heard that announcement from all the way in here?" Shion questioned, tilting her head. "Or do you have some way of monitoring that room from here?"

"Oh no, Cure just sends his announcements directly into our minds whenever he makes them! It's a little annoying sometimes, honestly!"

"He WHAT?!" Shion squaked, aghast. "That's... that's just wrong!"

"Eh, you kinda get used to it."

---

Manhattan, Outside Wakandan Embassy

"Good morning, Mr. M'Baku," said one of the pair of armored Sable International agents standing guard at the doors to the Wakandan Embassy. "We've been expecting you. Just give me a minute to radio up to the Ambassador..."

The agent tapped the side of his helmet and began rattling off code-phrases that with a little work could be made out to be explaining that a Wakandan delegation consisting of M'Baku and his several guards had arrived. Then he was silent for several seconds, before nodding to himself and saying, "Alright, Sir. The Ambassador should be down to greet you shortly. In the meantime-"

But the embassy weren't the only people who had been expecting their arrival. With plenty of time for word to spread as the Wakandans had chosen to take the slow route through the city, a local news crew was also present, and chose that moment to push in and interject before the agent could suggest M'Baku head inside to wait. "Mr. M'Baku, I'm Mary-Jane Watson, with the Daily Bugle! I think I speak for most Manhattanites when I say we're very happy to see Wakanda, a friendly, familiar country, become our new neighbors! Could you please comment on the recent transportation of your nation to Battleworld? How is the mood among the people of Wakanda at the moment?" the redheaded reporter with a very obvious 'PRESS' badge asked with a winning smile, then held her microphone up to his face while her blond cameraman stood back and recorded them talking.

M'Baku would have just enough time to reply and for Mary-Jane to open her mouth to ask another question before a fiery blast went off just yards away with a deafening KABOOOOOOOM! Sent flying by the explosion, the Sable armored car with roof-mounted gatling gun that had been parked nearby tumbled rapidly through the air directly toward those at the front of the embassy!

For the press and the embassy weren't the only people who had been expecting their arrival. A trio of identical black cars cruised down the street toward the building, their drivers and passengers outfitted in black business suits, earpieces, and Chinese demon masks. "Remember," one of them reminded gruffly over their frequency as another of the men, who was standing in the second row with his upper half out the sun roof, reloaded his bazooka, "whoever eradicates these potential allies for that man will be greatly rewarded by our Master himself!"

---

Manhattan, Chinatown F.E.A.S.T.

"My God!" John, sitting in the main room of the shelter with Zelda and watching the news after they had finished up breakfast, gasped as MJ's cameraman caught the crisis as it unfolded, live and in high-definition. "That's the Wakandan Embassy! It's only a few blocks from here!"

Edited by darksidevoid on May 23rd 2022 at 6:46:32 AM

GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs

Meeting Room (Amber): Akemi's Eleven...or uhh, Five?

Amber shrugged at the polite condolences. Homura was right of course; ever since she became a Contractor Amber's life had been far from pleasant, but there was little to say about it now. This (former) time-traveler was content to leave the past in the past. For this discussion, anyways.

"Including others will always involve some risk, but I'm sure you have an idea what's safe to share and what's too much truth in too little time. Battleworld or not, it sounds like you're in uncharted waters, Homura Akemi: couldn't hurt to assemble a crew. Or at least grab a first mate!"

If there was some sort of underlying meaning behind the last comment, Amber didn't hint at it. Instead, she crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat.

"And while I wouldn't recommend leaning too much on them, this planet's full of all sorts of people; if your local allies aren't listening to you, there's bound to be someone who could act as a neutral third party. I'd offer my services, but that'd bring way too much trouble to your doorstep. Like I said, I'm not a particularly good person, and the eyes on that lab coat outside belong to people who really want me dead. I'm confident that Amagiri can keep this meeting under wraps, but just so we're clear: this will probably be the last time we meet, Homura Akemi. Not unless you're prepared to make my enemies your enemies.

"So!" Amber snapped from that somber message with a smile. "Any last questions, or bit of advice I can offer?"

Common Room (Tatl/Link): Anyone Got a Map?

While Link wiggled his toes in silent awe of the Kingdom and...uhh...universe, that his new friends called home, Tatl made a silent note about KOS-MOS' answer. Namely: that she didn't exactly answer the fairy's question. Heck, she barely answered Kabbu's, and the contrast between the description of their homelands made KOS-MOS' summary seem more than a little threadbare. What a world/universe/whatever could do was not the same as where one came from.

She's a sneaky one. Maybe not a threat, but definitely someone with something to hide.

"Well I'm from Clock Town, that's in the center of the kingdom of Termina. We fairies tend to steer clear of mortals, but you've got the plant-people Deku Scrubs to the South, the boulder-brute Gorons to the North, the fish-folk Zoras and pretty pirate Gerudo to the West, and the run-of-the-mill Terminans every which way, like my partner...here..."

The fairy slowed down her summary as something dawned on her. "Wait a sec. You said that you're not from Termina, right?"

The little hero smiled and gave his partner a nod. <I'm from the Kokiri Forest—East edge of the kingdom of Hyrule.>

"Never heard of it." Only a partial lie; that Kokiri place rang a bell, she just couldn't place where yet.

Link laughed, despite the flat response. <I'd be surprised if you did know it. Hyrule and Termina aren't close; Epona and I have been traveling for months. I didn't even know your kingdom's name when I first rode by.>

"So you weren't planning to head for Termina? Not even for the Festival of Time?"

The boy shook his head. <Nope! Just passing through!>

"Huh." Strange. Tatl had never put it to words before, but she had often figured there had to be a reason someone like the kid was in the neighborhood when things started going crazy, even if it was just for a famous festival. But if her partner was telling the truth—and it's not like the kid was a good liar, regardless—then it must've been fate that brought him to that dense forest. That, or a one-in-a-fifteen-billion chance coincidence.

"Lucky us, I guess."

Link grinned and shot his partner a thumbs up, then turned back to the newcomers. Since he understood "bugs" more than "an ever-expanding universe where intelligent life is on the verge of extinction," the little hero looked at Kabbu with sparks in his eyes.

<What's the biggest bug you've ever seen, Kabbu? I once met these two flying centipedes that were so huge they could chomp up buildings! They were evil and causing problems for the Ikana Valley, so I had to use a mask that made me a gillion feet tall and then I WRESTLED them!>

With her partner distracted by (in her opinion) stupid topics only boys could take interest in, Tatl decided to double-down on her previous question to the android.

"Sounds like your scope of the wor—the universe or whatever, is a bit bigger than ours. Do you call any particular part of it home?"

Common Room (Nishijima): Speakin' My Language

Ridley's first reason was enough to turn Nishijima's back to the dragon. He almost wanted to give the beast points for honesty, but "I want to visit because I'm bored" made it pretty clear that humoring Ridley—even as a potential asset—was a waste of time. Me, me, me. Didn't the dragon know that would never get him anywhere?^note Because Nishijima sure as shit doesn't!

Instead, he focused on the mantis. A tour of an insectoid kingdom didn't seem like the most promising endeavor; he figured many would even find it nightmarish. That said, he did have a soft spot for the most exotic territories the Cure added to this little collage of civilizations. A visit couldn't hurt, and an alliance with an infamously populous phylum could be a nice feather in PANDORA's cap.

"I suppose a diplomatic meeting could be arranged; I've had my fair share, and find them quite enlightening. However, the visit must involve a bit more security presence than normal, as well as medics on standby. I haven't the slightest idea how the quarantine zone might affect members of your..." he fished for a word. "Extraordinary species."

And then there was a fourth interest. Initially, this 'chaos' figure said little to distinguish himself from the background—at least in Nishijima's eyes. He disliked children in general, and the young man's title (he couldn't bring himself to call it a name) seemed to only cement the adolescent profile. But then the white-haired youth said two things in quick succession to completely change Nishijima's impression:

He admitted to being from a tech-rich distant future, and he was willing to trade.

For the first time since entering the Common Room, Nishijima smiled. Reserved, polite, and mask-like, but with an acceptance to shake the extended hand, chaos would know he had won the Research Director's favor.

"A pleasure, chaos. And an interesting proposition, as well. The instances vary, but our definition of 'paranatural phenomena' involves a new branch of quantum physics that sprung into existence a decade ago, when the areas we call Heaven's Gate and Hell's Gate appeared on polar opposites of our Earth. The quarantine zones are of unknown origin, but whether it's correlation or causation the celestial bodies were simultaneously thrown into a sudden and violent metamorphoses, impeding any further attempts to break orbit. No one has seen the moon in ten years, and the stars have been replaced with frauds.

"In short, the paranatural phenomena associated with Gate-particles openly mocks Newton's Third Law of Thermodynamics, and more generally our understanding of reality as we once knew it. The impossible is now possible. Matter and energy is spontaneously created and destroyed. And those touched by these chaotic influences might wield power beyond imagination—even enough to wipe half a continent off the map."

The Research Director held an even tone, despite the fantastic descriptions. Maybe he was too accustomed to this speech, or too used to the topic to feign excitement anymore. Or perhaps it was a cheap power move, to speak so nonchalantly about the precise reason his city was dragged to Battleworld in the first place. Whatever the case, his tone swiftly shifted to something more hospitable.

"We can discuss matters on the way to PANDORA, if you would like to join this little diplomatic visit. Should you wish to know more about Battleworld as a whole, I have also acquired a collection of items and artifacts of the planet's past and present civilizations; establishing a Battleworld 'Library of Alexandria' is a bit of a passion project of mine."

Turning to his insectoid audience, Nishijima shared his polite smile with the mantis. "Assuming that you approve an additional presence, Mr. Maki."

Perhaps to test the insect's leniency for fellow visitors, Nishijima actually turned around to head for Tokyo's portal...where he spotted Ridley standing nearby. With his recently-elevated mood, the Research Director paused to look at the dragon in a new light—studying the creature's teeth, tail, and claws with a hint of intrigue that hadn't been there before.

"On second thought..." he pondered as he pinched his chin with his index finger and thumb. "I believe I may have a proposition for you, Mr. Ridley. One that will provide useful data for PANDORA and rid you of your boredom at the same time. I take it that your predatory features are functional, correct? How thick would you say your skin—pardon me—scales are? In terms of durability, I mean. In brief, I am in rather dire need of a warrior to test some of PANDORA's defensive assets. Our deterrence has proven a touch too effective, so I want to test the limits of our forces in a secure environment."

It probably wasn't quite the mercenary work Ridley was looking for, but at least it would get him out of this boring-ass room.

Edited by TheodoreHastings on May 27th 2022 at 6:26:11 AM

Common Room

Unfortunately for Maki, Vi's taunt didn't escape Ridley this time.

She had to mock him about the one thing he couldn't stand by. And unlike Shrothing, whatever the old man's name was, she was useless to him.

   "Excuse me for a moment."    the dragon said to Nishijima. Turning towards the female "Kihunter knockoff", he got his face close to her with a wild, furious grin.

His eyes were burning with pure hatred.

   "I suggest you shut your mouth before I burn and tear you apart the moment you exit the fucking room. Limbs. By. Limbs."    he warned.

Ridley took a deep breath and tried his hardest to calm himself. He had other things to do than waste time with bugs. The space pirate backed down, but his eyes were still burning.

   "Besides, the one who killed me, the "Hunter" could wipe your entire worthless species out of existence in a few hours. She's been the only one able to defeat me. You wouldn't even be able to leave a scratch on me. As a bug, you should know not to play with fire, girl."    he grunted. That was to be taken both figuratively... and literally. Ridley was sure she would instantly be fried the moment he would fire a plasma breath at her.

Coughing, Ridley's hateful look turned back to normal in a frightening amount of seconds. The evil space pirate turned back towards his human interlocutor as he spoke with the "white-haired human trash" before turning back to him.

Much like Nishijima, Ridley's sour mood suddenly improved. He smirked. Not in anger or in intimidation this time, but in joy.

The first thing that made him happy was those "quarantine zones" and those "chaotic influences". Ridley was no stranger to improving or mutating his body. His Meta and Omega forms were proofs of that.

The evil dragon internally cackled at the prospect of gaining powers worthy of a demi-god, hoping that Nishijima wasn't exaggerating. All of the carnage he could cause with such things... It made him excited.

That was a trait he shared with his fellow Space Pirates. Only the results mattered, and they took these very seriously.

Nishijima's offer was the second thing that made Ridley smile. Sure, it wasn't as fun as devastating a city, but he wasn't new to testing his soldiers or new weapons himself.

   "Hmm... My scales are certainly not the thickest in my universe, but I can shrug off most attacks. Usually, it requires great shots of energy or powerful concussive weapons like missiles to harm me. And even then, I'm resilient, I can take a few shots. As for the offensive stuff, I assure you they are fully functional... Assuming the Cure didn't mess with my body before I woke up."    he answered, looking over at his body, flapping his big wings, and waving his long tail.

Ridley glanced at the two soldiers accompanying Nishijima. He stopped grinning and harbored a serious look, studying them.

   "That and well... As a military leader, I give a lot of importance to absolute loyalty from my soldiers. Dare I say, my organization gives a lot of importance to it. I might as well put that to the test if you're willing to... Without killing them of course."    he said, rubbing his long chin.

Ridley regained his smirk.

   "In short, I accept your offer, Mr. Nishijima."    he said, even bothering to remember the man's name this time. He was about to shake the human's hands, only to realize his hands were far too big, being almost as big as Nishijima's arms.

With an annoyed grunt, Ridley presented to him a single claw instead.

"You're married like me, you know monstrosity can take many forms."

Sky Palace

Even with his armor damaged and being a perfect shield anymore, actually hitting the black Panther is a feat much easier said than done, T'Challa managed to dodge most of the fire aimed at him and even the few that hit him he was able to contort his body so it would hit him on the spots that are still protected and he was able to pull it off mostly by instincts without thinking too hard about it, which was a good thing, a moment of hesitation could result in a fatal shot.

While he was jumping around avoiding the enemy fire, he was still running at the enemies taking down as many of them as he could, no longer holding back as much as before since without his complete defense he wasn't as confident of letting the fight drag on even if he may have to fatally wound the cultist to beat them.

As he saw one of his allies use a telekinetic ability to rebound their fire back at their enemies, T'Challa made some back flips in order to stay out of the crossfire that was running at the extremist cult.

Manhattan, Outside Wakandan Embassy

M'Baku shouldn't be surprised that a tribe of Wakanda that had been reluctant from going out of their country for decades cause a lot of attention from the press when they decided to walk around the middle of Manhattan, M'Baku didn't want to stick around more than necessary and accepting any sort of interview by the American reporters would just keep him around for too long so he was just going to respond that he had no comment and they could ask any questions they may want or need to know the answers to, towards their Wakanda representatives on the embassy, but the sudden terrorist attack forced M'Buku to pulled Mary Jane along with him so he can save her from the top of the armored tank looking to crush them, the rest of his men had managed to dodge it in the same way, some carrying some reporters traped on the crossfire too.

"Miss Watson, stand behind me if you wanna live," he said in a serious tone as he began to command his men "Hold your position, the Gorilla Tribe won't be defeated by such a cowardly attack," he said as the Wakanda warriors on the front prepared their shield, with the ones of the back preparing some bows in order to counterattack, M'Baku jumped into the battlefield throwing his Spear towards the Demon with the Bazooka looking to kill him before he could reload his weapon.

Hell's Gates Tokyo

While T'Challa and M'Baku were dealing with their own battles on other points of Battleworld, Nakia alongside some Wakandian diplomats had come in order to establish a working relationship with the version of Tokyo that was now one of their neighboring cities, alongside a few of the Dora Milaje for protection in case the place turns out to be hostile, for the most part the place looked like normal Tokyo, except for the giant that reflected the Sky, she was sure to ask about that at the first chance she gets.

Velvet Room

Sayaka and Mami both naturally turned their attention to the new arrivals Minako greeted, though they stayed seated for the moment so as not to overwhelm them all at once.

Conference Room 2

"Is that so." Homura remained almost aggressively neutral at Amber's pronouncement of her own situation and the odds of another meeting. "Then, one more question before we part ways. You had your ending planned out based on what you saw and what you could foresee, until The Cure interfered. If the opportunity were to arise again to achieve what you so desired...would you do whatever it took to ensure it?"

Common Room

Kyubey continued to be a good furry radio transmitter for Link as he and Tatl explained their background to KOS-MOS and Dr. Schroeder. No need to complicate matters by chiming in for the moment, it seemed.

Manhattan, F.E.A.S.T. Dining Hall: Can't Even Wait for A Doggy Bag >:(

Zelda was within eyesight of John within moments of his outcry, the image on the screen widening her eyes in shock.

Shock, but not terror. A second later, and the princess had her smartphone out to search for the address, and it was time to move out.

Her Champion didn't need to be told to follow. As heart-wrenching as it felt to part without even a nibble of these famous wheat cakes, Link was Zelda appointed knight; he wasn't about to let her run off on her own.

Once outside F.E.A.S.T., Zelda reached for the Sheikah Slate on her hip and summoned Link's Divine Beast. With her Champion hopping onto the Master Cycle behind her, Zelda handed Link her phone with directions and twisted the accelerator. With a roar, the unicorn-shaped machine zoomed down the stairs and onto the streets of Chinatown.

Manhattan, Outside Wakandan Embassy: The Demonic Femme Fatale

Among the passengers in the black second car was a woman—one who wore a mask much like the men she traveled with, but that was where most of the similarities ended. Unlike her masculine counterparts, the woman wore a red evening dress and a white fur coat, as if she expected to attend a dinner party after attacking the embassy. Her shoes were a pair of red and white sneakers, which only raised more questions about this enigmatic figure's fashion sense.

Needless to say, she was different than the other Demons. And as the car made its final approach, the Wakandans, press, and Sable forces would discover just how different she truly was.

She didn't wait for a full stop; she barely waited for the car to slow down. The back left door on the second car suddenly opened up and—after waiting a moment to ensure that one of the bullets didn't immediately strike the bulletproof glass—the woman hopped out onto the street. Normally when one jumps out of a moving vehicle they're expected to roll (violently) to a halt, but as a soft blue glow traced the outline of this peculiar Demon, something else happened. Suddenly, there was no woman on the street; just a blur making at beeline for the left side of the embassy's entrance.

Should there be and gaps in the Gorilla Tribe's defensive line, they'd discover they had been flanked almost as soon as the battle began. While she aimed her first shots at the Sable forces (should either of the two guards survive the initial attack, the third and fourth bullets from her handgun would be aiming for the nearest bowman, just over ten feet away. At the first sign of a counter-attack, the Demon's body would glow blue again before she suddenly vanished in another blur, reappearing on the right flank of the defensive line and ready to fire once again.

Farther down the street, Zelda requested that Link return her phone. Seems that the directions weren't necessary after all; the pop of gunfire and the screams of fleeing civilians were a sufficient guide. Spotting the Demon on the sunroof, Zelda kicked the Master Cycle into high gear to catch up with the third of the three cars.

"Freeze the doors!" the princess ordered, and within moments she felt the seat behind her sink, then be liberated of the passenger's weight. With a Savage Lynel Bow in hand, Link felt the familiar feeling of time slowing down as he eyes his target. With one fluid motion, Link fired a single ice arrow that (magically and miraculously) multiplied into five mid-flight, all aimed to strike the right side of the third car in order to coat it all in subzero ice. As time seemed to return to its original flow, the Champion fell into a roll and turned to his princess, who waited for him on a stationary Master Cycle.

"Have Daruk's Protection at the ready." she commanded as Link took his seat behind her once again. "And try not to kill any of them; we are not Manhattan's executioners."

The Master Cycle roared once more, and from the rear view mirror of the third car, the Demons would know that Wakandans and Sable militia weren't the only obstacles in their way.

Hell's Gate Tokyo, Streets: The Welcome Wagon

"Has the kid located any visitors from our new neighbors yet?"

"Affirmative. Five or six individuals, African descent, majority of them female, just a block from the Itabashi Botanical Garden."

"Are they armed?"

"Only one or two of them. With spears, if you can believe it."

"Spears? Damn. I can't think of a harder way to stand out."

"I can, love. I visited Iacon."

"Heh. Fair point. We're en route now."

"Meet you there."

...

As the Wakandans ventured into the Itabashi district of Japan's capital, they would be met with little more than stares. Some curious, some wary, some barely hiding the disdain for people whose appearance screamed "Outsider." Some looked Nakia and her entourage in the eye, but inevitably all eyes went to the weapons.

They were awfully tired of strangers with weapons.

Of course, civilians weren't the only ones watching the Wakandan visitors. Invisible to the human eye, an ethereal blue blob stretched itself from different surfaces as the visitors made their way through the city. A glass of iced tea, a window pane, an empty milk bottle left out to frighten cats from a doorstep, the invisible presence tracked Nakia and her crew from block to block. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, the boy watching with his projected eyes gave directions to his friend, who drove them closer and closer to Itabashi.

Eventually and inevitably, two cars would stop along the sidewalk where Nakia was walking: one was a sleek black car with heavily-tinted windows, the other was clearly belonged to the Tokyo Police. The driver window on the black car rolled down, and the visitors were greeted by a rather eccentric-looking woman◊ in shades.

"Hello there!" the woman greeted with a smile. Judging by her accent, Nakia would be able to tell the woman was probably from the UK. "You all seem a bit lost. Need a lift anywhere?"

It was unclear if anyone else was in the car with the woman, but at the very least they weren't in the front seat. As for the police vehicle, there were two men inside: a large flat-headed man behind the wheel, and a smaller redhaired man sitting beside him. Unlike their counterpart they didn't make any moves to approach the newcomers, but they didn't seem ready to whip out badges and handcuffs, either.

Chances were, they were present to give some weight to the encounter. Or to give the greeter some backup if these visitors wanted to start using their spears.

Manhattan, Outside Wakandian Embassy.

M'Baku is not one to underestimate a woman's ability as a fighter, Wakanda was filled with strong women after all but he had to admit that the female demon was impressing him with her fighting skills, far more formidable than the other terrorists, she most is some kind fo elite soldier, but still, he was confident that the Wakandian fighting style was second to none and that they would be able to overcome them even with her.

Even if the tribesmen were able to block the first shot she ended up vanishing out of the way before the arrows archers were able to hit her, she was either super fast or was capable of some kind of teleportation, this time the defense lines weren't in the right position to defend them and they weren't quick enough to keep up with her vanishing movement so they couldn't move fast enough to defend the archers, some were able to dodge her aim, but one of them got shot in the arm falling on the ground in pain while one of them got hit in the neck making him fall down in the ground unable to scream because his windpipe was destroyed, and was now slowly dying for blood loss and lack of oxygen.

M'Baku practically roared in anger as he saw his men injured and killed in front of him, he took out his shield and jumped high into the air looking to take down the female demon while maintaining his shield in front of him as he aimed to ram into her leather shield first, looking to defend himself from her bullets as he approached her and while trying to turn his best defense into his best weapons as he tried to tackle her with it pushing forward.

Hell's Gate Tokyo street

Nakia could tell people were pretty put off by her and her entourage's appearance, but seeing the situation in which they all were that was understandable, but she felt relieved when someone was finally friendly as he greeted them "Well I can say that depends, do your world has a Wakanda and maybe an Embassy representing it? or if not could you at least take us to your main government building? we're diplomats from the African Kingdom of Wakanda and we come in peace looking to forge an alliance with your version of Tokyo" Nakia tried to explain while offering a handshake to the British woman.

Velvet Room: The "World's Best Boss" Mug

Yin's sudden reunion with Minako came as quite a shock to the Doll, not that anyone could detect it. In fact, judging by how unresponsive the silver-haired girl was to the person hugging her, the onlookers could be forgiven for presuming Yin didn't share the warm feelings.

But she did, of course. It was always felt good to find a familiar face, especially on this planet. Had she use of her arms, she might've tried to force a smile,◊ but asking Minako to release her seemed rude, so she just let the Fool hug for as long as she wanted.

"Trust me, you don't wanna know what kind of topsy-turvey ride we've been on." grunted Huang. Judging by the way he continued his study of the Velvet Room's design, his focus was still very much on the place rather than the people in it.

"You've been bummin' in this ritzy place?" Huang asked Hei. There might've been a little jealousy in his tone.

"Just for last night." the Contractor tittered. "My interests aligned with the SEES. Besides, my apartment's probably a pile of rubble by now. Mai and that CIS agent did a real number on the place."

"Bet the whole planet's done a number on it by now." the older man chuckled. "A magic portal pops up right at your doorstep spittin' out trouble for a full week. You unlucky bastard."

It was about then that Minako shared the infamous "perk" of being the Cure's appointed delegate.

"Can't say I miss the Cure's immutable news feed." the Contractor sighed. "'Attention Battleworld,' 'Attention Battleworld,' 'Attention Battleworld.' Even a single day was enough to make me sick of it."

"Hei was our first rep when we arrived here. Did such a lousy job he got axed after a single day, only to get replaced by somebody who did a worse job and stabbed Tokyo in the back."

It was such a ridiculous summary that Huang couldn't help but laugh. "Shit, maybe we're an entire city of unlucky bastards."

HGT, Itabashi Street: Take Us to Your Leaders!

A delighted edge snuck into the friendly driver's smile. "Can't say I've heard of a Wakanda on our planet, which is saying something; I like to get around. But if it's treaties and alliances you're here for, then I'm glad we found you."

Finally setting the car to park, the woman got out of her car and offered Nakia a hand to shake...or a bow if the Wakandan diplomat wasn't familiar with the greetings of Western civilizations.

"Katherine Baker, at your service. Officially, I work for the Tokyo branch office of British Intelligence. Less officially, I work for the collective of leaders on this side of Hell's Gate, including the delegate our Oh Most Gracious Host chose to represent us. Last I heard Chief Kirihara's in the Common Room—that big white space the portals spit you out—but if you want to talk to someone important, I can always bring you to my boss."

Miss Baker glanced at the Wakandan entourage with a slight wince. "We'll need to take both cars, I'm afraid. The Boys in Blue over there work directly for Chief Kirihara. Good chaps, just don't let the redhead talk too much; he starts flirting. Three can fit with me, but my passenger in the back needs to stay where he is. He likes the window seat. And one last thing..." she pointed to the spears the Dora Milaje were carrying. "Unless those can retract, I'm afraid we'll need to stuff them in the boot. It's not like a car's the best place to start stabbing, anyways."

Hell's Gate Tokyo, Itabashi Street

Nakia responded to the handshake in kind with a firm but relaxed hand, so there was no need for bowing which is for the better since the Wakandians don't really do that even with their king.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Katherine, I'm Nakia and I'm a diplomat and representative for my native country and I have a lot of experience with other cultures, I have traveled around the world as well" she responded, to be more precise she was usually more of a spy but she can't tell that to a foreigner, especially one that she's not sure yet if it's a friend of foe.

"If your boss is the highest form of authority available at the moment I think we can begin our negotiations with him, also I think we are fine with that, me a diplomat and a warrior will come to your car and the other diplomat and warrior will go in the other, oh and for the spear's size" as she said and as if in command the Dora Milaje made their spears retract till they were pocket-size, they were not planning to leave themselves unarmed on a strange land "I don't think the back trunk will me necessary," she said smiling confidently on the technological prowess of her country.

Common Room, KOS-MOS

"Home is wherever my friends are, Tatl," KOS-MOS replied simply with a smile, then blinked and continued. "In terms of a particular fixed place that I am from, however, there are the locations where I was created, but those are not 'homes' in the true sense of the word. The place where my friends and I currently reside is the ship which we have used to navigate between planets. Its name is the Elsa von Brabant, after a famous fictional character. The Elsa is relatively small compared to some other ships, some would say 'cozy', but it contains men's and women's dormitories, a modest but fully-stocked restaurant, and various other facilities."

"It was also brought along with us, and can be found through a door in that hallway," she finished, indicating the Chunkless hallway. "You and Link are welcome to visit, if you would like, although one of my friends or I would need to accompany you, as we have locked the door to prevent unwelcome intruders from entering."

---

Common Room, chaos

"That sounds fascinating! Well, let's hope it doesn't meet the same fate as the original Library of Alexandria! I can imagine all sorts of threats to the place if we just take a random sample of all possible universes and make them your neighbors, not to mention The Cure's selection for ones that trend toward violence. I'm glad to hear your defenses - or at least, your deterrence strategies - have been so effective so far!" chaos commented to the Director after sincerely thanking Maki for accepting his coming along, though his smile shrank a bit when the giant purple lizard agreed to visitation terms as well.

Having said that, and seeing no reason to delay, he went ahead and strode through the portal to Hell's Gate Tokyo.

---

Manhattan, Wakandan Embassy

Caught flat-footed, one Sable trooper was killed instantly by the point-blank pistol fire and collapsed like a sack of potatoes, the other - the one whom M'Baku had spoken to - also falling, but not quite dead yet. "Delta... Embassy... requesting backup... Demons... speedster..." he shuddered across his comm as blood began streaming rapidly out of the underside of his helmet, though the state of his face could only be guessed at. "Too... dark... Mo...ther...?"

As the trooper breathed his last, MJ's cameraman faithfully caught everything going on around them, even the speedster, at least when she stopped for a moment or two. Evidently he had nerves of steel. His hands weren't even shaking, although the same couldn't be said for the reporter. Color drained from her face as she blanched, swallowed thickly, and gripped her microphone with white-kunckled hands. Then, she took a deep breath, steadied herself, and resumed looking into the camera as she and her partner obediently stood behind M'Baku, frowning.

"As those of you at home can see," she began, voice mostly free of quavering, "the Wakandan delegation is currently being assaulted by the terrorists responsible for the City Hall Bombing two weeks ago and numerous acts of violence since then - the group the media has nicknamed the 'Demons' after the demonic appearance of their masks. We will continue to bring you live coverage of this developing story as the situation allows."

Meanwhile, the Demon sticking out the top of the third car did what any sensible person would do when confronted with an oncoming thrown spear in his vision, and ducked. As he finished reloading, the spear whizzed through the air over his head and embedded in the road behind him, though it thankfully missed their Hyrulean pursuers. Speaking of, their windows on one side suddenly being frosted over caused quite a startle for the driver of that particular car, though the man in the forward passenger seat got him back on track with a shout of, "Eyes on the road!" and then added a, "Take care of the interlopers!" to the man out the sunroof.

With a loud affirmation, the Demon up top turned his attention to the duo on the metal unicorn(???), ignoring the strangely futuristic look of their vehicle to roar, "YOU WILL REGRET YOUR INTERFERENCE, OUTSIDERS!" as he aimed at the steed's driver and fired the next of his rockets at her.

At the same time, the first of the black cars accelerated, weaving around the wreck of the Sable vehicle to screech to a halt on the left flank of the defenders, just as the second car did the same a few yards behind the Demon in the dress. As the enemies in the vehicles scrambled to get out, those of them exiting closest to the action were wide open to attacks as they hastily attempted to circle around to the other side of the cars for cover.

GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs

Velvet Room (Leif): Paint it Blue

(Leif took in all the surroundings. At first, he thought that it was some sort of ancient temple, not unlike what the Roaches have constructed, but this... this is far different than what he first thought. This looks like some sort of social club, complete with staff. When he heard the kitchen, he felt the temptation of entering the dining room wash over him. He hasn't eaten since he got here so perhaps, he could sample some foreign cuisine. However, he has more pressing matters at hand. Tempting as the food may be, it'll have to wait for now.)

(The chipper red-haired girl that approached them took his mind off the food in what would seem like a total tonal whiplash of the setting. Leif had to guess that she is also not from around here, but what does he know? His calm, almost deadpan, voice reached Minako's ears as he answered her.) "You can call us Leif. And yes, we did come from Bugaria. We're here to get some info on this world and we thought that these rooms would be our best bet."

(The fact that she heard it from this corner of this world would most likely mean that everyone in the world heard it.) "So much for the element of stealth," (Leif thought aloud. That train of thought would be interrupted by how Hei's portal is practically at his doorstep and the place suffered for it. Leif counted his lucky stars that the portal ended up just outside the castle town of the Ant Kingdom and not anywhere closer. That for sure would have been a nightmare with some of the less than savory individuals. Still, putting guards around the portal would be the smart choice. Heck, perhaps the Queen has a few there already.)

(The blue moth looked at Minako and spoke to her.) "Do you have anything about you guys or any places you've been to?"

Common Room (Kabbu): Big Bugs, Bigger Concerns

(KOS-MOS's story on what her world is like planted a sense of wonder within Kabbu's mind. Moving from one world to the next seen as commonplace? Stars are made of heat and light? Was the stars in his world like that too? However, even with this technology, they have not escaped all their troubles, as she said. Kabbu adds in his thoughts to KOS-MOS.) "Our world might have something similar in regards to a calamity. The giants used to live here but when we went through our "Day of Awakening," they were nowhere to be seen. Only artifacts remained for us to pick up the pieces and from what I have heard, they are rumors. Sometimes, I wonder if the same will happen to us if another kind "awakens" just like us..." (Although his last sentence is rather forlorn, he did not wish to leave that thought without a little bit of hope.) "But we can't dwell on that forever, can we?"

(Kabbu then listened to where Link and Tatl came from. This Termina place does sound somewhat familiar to Bugaria in the sense that it has quite a diverse demographic and it had several environments. When Link made note of how he was not originally from Termina, Kabbu chimed in.) "How curious! I'm not originally from Bugaria either, but rather north of it. As for why I went... I've made a promise to fulfill. And that's why explore with my friends, Vi and Leif."

(The mention of the word "giant bugs" and how Link dispatched the two centipedes made Kabbu's eyes widen in pure shock. Just as soon as it appeared, the shock soon went away to curiosity. But first, the question about the "biggest bugs he's seen.") "...We have met many different bugs in all shapes and sizes, some twice as big as I am! However, there are some giant bugs that are not like me and my team. Rather, they are referred to as "lesser bugs" in the sense that they do not act civilized and usually attack other bugs. There is one, however, that I would... not talk about."

Common Room (Vi and Maki): Tact Check Failed, Diplomacy Check Rolled

(Ridley's threat immediately sent Vi behind Maki as the mantis glares at him. The gruesomeness of the threat caused him to grip the handle of his blade to say, "if you try it, I'll be taking your head." While the introduction of chaos has lessened the tension, it did not assuage them completely. With the mention of a visit being in the cards, the mantis guard nods his head.) "I assure you; the Ant Kingdom will not cause any harm to any potential visitors. And if things go well, we might be open for more visits should you wish."

(Vi looked out to see chaos and gained at least some assurance. Hopefully, he'll keep that ugly dragon from skewering her or burning her. Or skewering and burning her. She looked at Maki and vouched for him.) "Yeah! He's a pretty smart guy! Taught me all sorts of things about his kind, where he's from, and all sorts of stuff."

(Maki looked at the short white-haired and give him a look over. He seems rather knowledgeable despite his young age and the fact that he comes from a civilization far more advanced than either of theirs would serve well. Maki nodded as he shakes chaos's hand.) "Very well. Welcome aboard chaos. And not to worry, we'll keep our eyes peeled for any "paranatural phenomena" and our distance if need be."

Edited by Ore-O on Jun 6th 2022 at 10:40:55 AM

"I treasure every day with you, darling." "No need to be so sappy, love." "You know that's how she is, Nia." - AU!Pyra, Nia, Mythra

Meeting Room (Amber): "Whatever It Takes"

Amber blinked at the question. It seemed strange to ask something like that, considering what the former Contractor just admitted only a few minutes ago. A little too obvious, too redundant, or perhaps a little too self-evident.

Or was the Magical Girl quietly asking for advice? Hmmm. How to phrase the response...

"In my case, what matters most is getting to that final conclusion: the fresh start that I've seen come to pass. While the Cure's thrown a big nasty wrench in the gears, my overall goal hasn't changed; what's shifted is the course of events that will lead us there. I'd be lying if I said going back to the playbook's much an option anymore; not while we're on this planet, and certainly not when we return to our world. So I'll adapt and improvise. Maybe that'll be enough."

She smiled at Homura. "It's easy to believe that 'correlation equals causation'—especially for people like us, who spend so much time and effort planting seeds knowing what we'll be getting out of it later on. I guess it's part of the reason why time-travelers can look so scary to others; we're basically the ultimate control freaks! But if Tragic Truth number 1 is any indication, you're never going to see the full picture—and if Tragic Truths number 2 and 3 are any indication, being even partially blindsided can be frustrating as hell. But while we have a grander perspective than our peers, we're not omniscient: accidents, coincidences, unforeseen experiences or traumas, physical health, states of mind, diets, even allergies have a part to play in getting people from A to B. Not everything is up to us to direct; sometimes that's a pain, and sometimes that's a relief."

The glowing Contractor sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Guess that's a long-winded way of saying that sometimes you get lucky and things go your way. After all, I've finally met a fellow time-traveler and I barely had to lift a finger!"

HGT, Itabishi Streets: Fast & Furious 3: Tokyo Lyft!

Miss Baker raised an eyebrow as the deadly weapons contracted to the size of a pen. Now that made this little encounter much more interesting!

"How convenient!" she smiled. "Must work wonders getting through security."

It seemed hard to say if she was genuinely impressed, being critical, or critically impressed. Regardless, she opened the shotgun door for Nakia and gestured for a Wakandan diplomat and a Dora Milaje to enter the back seat on the left side.

Sitting on the back far right of Miss Baker's car was a boy. He was small, Caucasian, with blonde hair and sleet grey eyes that stared at nothing but the back of the driver's seat. He wore a peculiar outfit of long socks, overall shorts, a long-sleeved button down, a small bowtie, and a newsie cap—in short, the lad looked like he belonged selling newspapers for a penny in Covent Garden, or on the set of a rendition of Oliver Twist.

"Don't mind him." Miss Baker assured her new passengers. "He's a good lad, but not much of a talker."

Not one for curiosity either, judging by the fact that he didn't even glance at the Dora Milaje guard who took the middle seat behind him.

With everyone in the car and buckled up (safety first!), Miss Baker began the drive to her boss' office elsewhere in the city.

"So you know our delegate's name, but it seems my partner in the Common Room's been a bit preoccupied. The man sure knows how to keep a girl in suspense; the only reason we even know your kingdom's name is because you just told us. If you don't mind me asking, who's your unlucky winner of the Cure's favor?"

Edited by TheodoreHastings on Jun 7th 2022 at 6:47:10 AM

Conference Room 2

For the first time in a while, Homura's face shifted. A slight frown would be detectable for Amber to catch. "Luck and I haven't been on speaking terms much. Not when I've come close so many times before only to be thwarted by a last-second heave of spite from a dying bitch." She paused, her eyes shifting like she realizes how that sudden spike of enmity might come across. "You're right about one thing. I don't like leaving things to chance that they may turn out in my favor. Even if strictly speaking it worked out this time, that's still a hundred and eight failures to one success. And as you pointed out, that's just getting past Walpurgisnacht. Going forward the odds are entirely unknown. Maybe that's secretly a blessing, but in my experience I cannot rely on such an outcome being the case."

She walked a few steps around the table. "You're meeting someone else who also has been able to see a larger picture than a single timeline for the first time, and you express joy at it. You should know that that isn't true for me. The first time I met someone who could see into the future like I could — she tried to stop me by murder. So I had to kill her first."

Edited by megarockman on Jun 8th 2022 at 11:43:07 AM

Velvet Room

"Oh, sure! I don't mind explaining some of what I know!" Minako agreed, releasing Yin and taking a seat on one of the nearby couches. "Why don't you all sit down and get comfortable first, though? This could take a while, depending..."

"And hey, Mister Seen-It-All Old Guy, you never know, maybe your luck is looking up today! I don't mind letting you and your team stay here longer-term - if you don't have someplace better to go, and as long as you don't mind getting to know me a little better, that is!" she declared, sending Huang a pair of finger-guns with a grin.

"Would any of our guests care for a drink while you talk?" Elizabeth asked, smiling brightly at them. "As Master Igor alluded to, this is a realm of thought, so we do have every drink available that you can imagine!"

"I'll just have a water, please! Thanks, Liz!" Minako responded, then settled back into her couch. The attendant nodded, took the rest of their drink orders, and returned with their requests promptly as they continued talking.

"So, first off-" The SEES' Leader held up a finger. "Does anybody have an up-to-date map of the planet?"

"Oh, yes! Just a second... here!" Shion answered, calling up a holographic image of the Battleworld globe, a picture that KOS-MOS had sent to the rest of her team's phones.

"Oooooo~, holograms! I guess the more futuristic time periods have some stuff in common across universes!" Minako peered at the map pensively, then nodded after several long moments. "Well, I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad that the map has changed so much. I can only really tell you little to nothing about most of these places, because almost all the locations that my team visited or has otherwise had contact with since we arrived several days ago have gone back to their home universes. I wish them well, of course, and I'm glad they're back where they belong, but it's a little frustrating to be almost back to square one, you know? Anyway, I'll start with the ones I know the most about."

Starting at the far East end of the map, she pointed to Mitakihara. "Mitakihara is a Japanese city from the early 21st century A.D.. My team and I are from about the same time period as them, for reference. Their government is democratic, and as expected of such cities, it's led by a City Council as well as an Acting Mayor by the name of Kurogane, since apparently their actual mayor was away. They have a flourishing technology and biomedical sector, those being their main industries. As far as military power goes, they have a military base that's under the joint jurisdiction of American and Japanese forces who were stationed there at the time of their being taken to Battleworld, and they also have defenders with magical powers known as Magical Girls. Mitakihara's representative is Homura Akemi, who's a Magical Girl herself. Don't tell her I said this, but she's rather... bad at communicating, although she means well. She sort of holds people at arm's length."

"Excuse me," Shion interjected, raising her hand a little, as if in a schoolroom. "Do 'American' and 'Japanese' refer to countries, or...?"

"Indeed," Jin confirmed with a nod. "The United States of America was a major nation back on Lost Jer- back on Earth, I mean, before mankind moved out to Space. The State of Japan was smaller in size, but like America, became technologically advanced earlier than many other nations, and was thus important in its own way. Japan was one of the first nations to have a government program focused on Space exploration, for example."

"I see!" Shion smiled. "I guess your knowledge of old stuff is coming in handy after all, Jin!" Jin sipped his tea somewhat proudly at that declaration.

"Well, in any case, please continue, Miss Arisato," the brother implored, inclining his head at The Fool.

"Right! Oh, and please, just call me Minako! So, seeing as my team and I are from Japan, we're planning to move to Mitakihara within the next day or so on a permanent basis, at least as long as we're in Battleworld. We tried to be a neutral third party sort of deal, buuuuut... it didn't work out so great." The girl shrugged as if to say, "What can you do?"

"Next up, Manhattan! Manhattan is actually a smaller part of a much larger metropolitan area, the commercial center of New York City, which is from America! Like Mitakihara, it's a democracy headed by a City Council and Mayor Norman Osborn, although I get the sense from what my teammate reported last night that Mayor Osborn has considerably more authority than his Mitakiharan counterpart. Their main industries are again tech and biotech, as well as finance, although the most advanced of the former on the island is controlled by one company, Mayor Osborn's Oscorp. Their assets include basic things like police and electricity generation, of course, but also Sable International, the private security force that the Mayor brought in to both restore order after a bombing a couple of weeks ago at City Hall and to go after the gang of terrorists responsible. Speaking of which, there's a lot of crime that goes on in Manhattan. Thankfully, their representative is probably the person who can claim to be the single individual who dedicates the most of his time dealing with the nitty-gritty of tackling the city's crime, a vigilante known as Spider-Man. He's a great guy; hilarious and heroic all wrapped up in one! I'd introduce you, since he was just here a little while ago, but he left to head back to Manhattan, I think. I guess I could give you his phone number, but... uh, I don't know if our devices are compatible."

"Well, let's see..." Shion mused, putting a hand to her chin. "What sort of comms tech does your phone use?"

"Uhhhhhhhh... Well, I don't know all the in and outs, but I think it uses radio waves to communicate over the air?"

"Radio waves?!" Allen questioned, taken aback, "Geez, that's ancient tech!"

"Well yes, Allen, they are from only the 21st century A.D.!" Shion rejoined, rolling her eyes. "Thankfully, we built radio wave broadcasting and reception tech into KOS-MOS, so we can probably use her as a relay."

"Ooooohhhhh, that's right!" Allen pounded his fist in a palm. "You're a genius, Shion!"

"You 'built' KOS-MOS, your rep?" Minako asked, tilting her head. "I just assumed she was a normal girl whose name was Kosmos."

"Oh! Well she is a normal woman - well, not normal normal, but she's a person with her own feelings, you know?" Shion explained, stumbling over her words a bit. "KOS-MOS is an android who Allen and I helped to build. She's technically built for combat, but she has many other functions as well."

"Oh, that's so cool!" Minako gushed, beaming. "We have our own robot girl on our team, too! Her name's Aigis!"

"Huh... Interesting! I wasn't aware that robotics technology had advanced so far by the start of the 21st century!"

"Yeah! Well, anyway, let's get back on track, shall we?" The SEES Leader moved her finger to point at Hell's Gate Tokyo. "Hell's Gate Tokyo, or as I like to call it, HGT, is a Japanese city also from the early 21st century that... eh, maybe I should let the people who actually came from there explain this time?" She raised an eyebrow at Hei and friends.

Edited by darksidevoid on Jun 9th 2022 at 10:02:02 AM

GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs

Velvet Room

Sayaka's and Mami's attention was naturally drawn to Minako introducing the newcomers to BattleWorld itself and implicitly to everyone else there as well, especially once Minako began introducing Mitakihara. Sayaka rolled her eyes and let out a low scoff at Minako's description of their leader. "That's an understatement," she muttered, earning her a slight nudge from Mami non-verbally telling her to be quiet.

Common Room (Nishijima): All Aboard the Tour Bus!

It was then that Nishijima said six words that would sweeten Ridley's deal even more:

"There's no need to hold back." he assured the dragon. "Quite the contrary, it's my hope that you strive to tear them all to pieces. That should provide invaluable data on how these assets will stand against other cold-blooded killers. I mean that as a compliment, of course."

As an aside, the Research Director glanced over to the other three interested parties. "The assets I have in mind are not alive; not in the same sense we are, at least. Regardless, they can feel neither fear nor pain, and employment of these kinds of forces ensures that human lives are not at risk on the front lines."

At chaos' off-the-cuff comment about aggressive neighbors, Nishijima's eyes shot to the globe. The sudden jump of Archades' location was an overall plus to PANDORA's interests, but he couldn't help but wonder how Outworld would react to Vayne's new strategic position. Better yet: how would Kobayashi react?

But with everyone eager to get the show on the road, Nishijima saw no reason to stare at it for long. He followed the others through the portal to Tokyo.

...

"Stand down, everyone: they're with me."

Seven laser rifles were either lowered or holstered, but something might tell the visitors of Hell's Gate Tokyo that those seven weapons were just the ones they could easily see. But to be fair to the guards^note four were crudely-framed bipedal machines, three of whom seemed human, though only one of those three wasn't covered from head to toe in armor, the area surrounding the portal suggested that Tokyo had had its fair share of violent visitors.

The first structure the newcomers would see was the fence surrounding the portal and funneling them to a figure in black similar to Nishijima's bodyguards. From beyond the fence they'd be able to see the charred remains of an apartment building, and another apartment building desolated by some kind of crash. Bits and pieces of whatever struck the building still remained, and were Ridley quiet and sharp-eyed enough to spot it, he might guess that they were made of an incredibly durable material: the sort that could easily break and enter atmospheres.

Nishijima wasted no time calling for a vehicle transport for himself and his easier-to-transport guests. Ridley, he regrettably informed the Space Pirate, would need to travel in a different vehicle; he was simply too large to share one with two humans and two substantially-sized insects. Besides, he was heading to an entirely different part of the facility.

"My staff will be happy to answer any questions you may have, Mr. Ridley." Nishijima informed the dragon. "We can speak later if you wish; should the tests prove promising, I may have more exciting challenges for you later."

It was awfully subtle, but Ridley might spot that Nishijima's polite smile stretched a bit too wide to just seem inoffensive. He had some fun ideas in mind.

Were any of the visitors from the early 21st century—or if any of them had even a remote notion of the primary modes of transportation for that time period—they probably would've been thrown for a loop. The sound of approaching vehicles wasn't the purr of a combustion engine, but the soft ghostly Whooooo of something else entirely. A "something else" that didn't roll down the street, but gently floated to the ground in a smooth descent from the heavens.

The flying transports were rather simple in design: a large chrome-colored box that resembled a cross between a military cargo truck and a trailer for transporting horses or other large livestock. The interior was crude and provided little more than handrails and a separate cockpit for the pilot. Either Nishijima's Flying Yacht was in the shop, or (more likely) this technology was quite new to PANDORA, so the bells and whistles would have to wait.

Nishijima's bodyguards joined him and the three smaller visitors in the first transport. In Ridley's transport, he would find a man with brown hair and sunken eyes, wearing a peculiar form of lab coat with green sleeves. As the dragon entered the transport^note he'd at least have enough room to sit down, the scientist stared at him with the the thinly-veiled terror that was weirdly missing from most of this planet's human meat bags.

"Okay, y-you're...wow. You're a lot bigger than I thought you'd b-be." the scientist tittered, before he realized he might've misspoken. "I-In a good way!"

He cleared his throat. Funny how it felt so dry all of a sudden.

"So h-hi, my name is Brendan Volkert. I'm part of the bioscience division of the Insti—well, I guess we're called PANDORA now. Talk about a corporate buyout. Anyways, I'm here t-to ask you a few...kiiiinda personal questions about yourself, sorry. About your blood types and DNA structure, stuff like that. Not the uhhh...yeah nothing that's too invasive. We just want to know if any healing treatment we have would be viable before the tests start...not that I think you're going to get really hurt of course. I mean, look at you!...shit, I'm sorry, I didn't mean any offense."

Meanwhile in Nishijima's transport, the visitors would have a chance to see the cityscape like few others could. From the thin rectangular windows lining the flying car, they'd be able to see an expansive sea of streets and buildings littered with tiny moving specs along the freeways. But perhaps more eye-catching than the lights and skyscrapers would be the largest structure in the city—it was "perhaps" because the thing was camouflaged to look like the sky above it: a massive wall spanning all around the heart of the metropolis, like a monument of ultimate denial.

"That is Hell's Gate." Nishijima informed his passengers. "And it's within the layers of those walls where PANDORA resides."

Meeting Room (Amber): Nani?

"What?"

Amber's posture straightened with the monosyllabic word. She didn't expect Homura to express much content or gratitude from this meeting, but she definitely didn't think the Magical Girl was going to drop something like that.

"Hold on a minute." the glowing girl asked, hand raised as if to stop Homura. The questions were getting harder and harder to ignore now. She had been so good up till now; trying to honor some sort of time-traveler code she'd fabricated for the sake of setting boundaries for her own curiosity. But this was too much. It was unfair. Homura couldn't just throw that detail out and not expect demands for an explanation, or at the very least a follow-up.

"And when did you happen to do that? March 15th? I've tried to steer clear of the details, but if you're willing to share something like that then hope you don't mind if I ask some questions I've been biting my tongue about."

With that, Amber too rose from her seat. "I've told you what Contractors are. You've probably gathered a lot more from fighting alongside Hei and whoever else. But you've dropped a few terms here and there that aren't painting a clear picture for me. 'Grief Seed,' 'Incubator,' but let's start with the one you refer to yourself and your allies: what is a Magical Girl?"

Conference Room 2

Homura's posture straightened as Amber hit the emergency brakes on this conversation train, needing a moment or two to consider how to approach the question. In retrospect, she had shown more of what she covered every hour since God-knows-when than she intended to show, but then it was always that one thread that pulls the whole curtain down, wasn't it?

But first the basics, otherwise Timeline 15 won't make sense. "To hear Kyubey say it, Magical Girls in my world are those who chose to bring hope to it by fighting those who spread despair to humanity. In Mitakihara, we know them as Witches. This is in exchange for a wish, a miracle that wouldn't be possible under normal circumstances. We gain the ability to fight Witches and the Familiars they send out with the help of a Soul Gem, which he'd say is the source of our powers as Magical Girls."

Homura paused for a moment to let the foundation settle. "Strictly speaking, Kyubey never tells a lie. But he frequently witholds details that change the whole context of what he says. Such as the Soul Gem, which many don't realize until too late is a more literal term than they think it is. Sayaka Miki uses the term 'zombie', but I believe the Western term for what Magical Girls are, what I am now, is 'lich'."

Edited by megarockman on Jun 11th 2022 at 1:15:01 PM

Hell's Gate Tokyo, 'Tour Bus' #1 (chaos, Nishijima, Maki, Vi)

"I see... Doctor Schroeder mentioned Hell's Gate was something like a wall, and what I can see of it certainly fits that description," chaos commented as he peered out the window of the smaller visitors' transport. "I assume it surrounds what you referred to as the 'quarantine zone' on all sides? How many square kilometers does it encompass?"

"Also, I hope you don't mind me pointing it out, but...," he continued, turning back to face Nishijima, "As I recall, transports with antigravity propulsion technology like this one has weren't invented until well after the time period you came from. Was it a product of PANDORA's paranatural studies, or perhaps something you obtained from elsewhere after arriving on Battleworld?"

Though the youthful white-haired man kept a composure and smile that were practically zen-like in their serenity throughout their cruise through the city, his fellow-travelers might have cause to note something else about him, should their craft accelerate or decelerate suddenly. Namely, his unearthly steadiness extended to his movements as well; without even bothering to make use of the provided rails, with his hands relaxed at his sides, he managed to flawlessly maintain his balance through subtle shifts in his footing. To someone who practiced such, it would probably be a tell that the man was a masterful martial artist, but perhaps to the layman it would simply seem like unusually good bodily coordination.

GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs

Manhattan, Wakandan Embassy: Freeze and Retreat

The rocket aimed for the Hylian reinforcements would make about half of its trip to the target without interruptions. However, the archer had expected something to happen with the enemy in such a vulnerable position. By the time the Demon shouted his remark, Link had another ice arrow strung up in his bow.

The Champion had planned to shoot the Demon himself, but thankfully for the criminal (and the hero's wish to obey Her Highness' non-lethal approach), the rocket got in the way. While 4 arrows would zoom by to strike targets unknown, one of the arrows suddenly flash froze mid-flight; no longer explosive, but still very much enroute to slam into the Master Cycle.

That is, until an ethereal red icosagon appeared around the vehicle, shielding the driver and her passenger while simultaneously knocking the projectile in another direction. With the weight and trajectory entirely out of sync, the spinning, speedy sphere of ice and metal flew wildly off course, slamming deep into the concrete of a nearby building.

While she did not see where the lightning-fast cannonball landed, Zelda certainly heard the CRASH! of the impact, and made a mental note to return here later and offer to pay for the repairs.

...

Perhaps as was expected, the Demon in M'Baku's sights would not stay so for long. His impressive yet flashy meteor drop wasn't blocked or countered; with another soft blue glow surrounding her, the Demon was gone in a blur, standing beside the second car as her reinforcements arrived. She accepted an assault rifle from one of her allies, glowed blue, zoomed to the left flank of the Wakandans, and opened fire once more.

The more attentive Wakandans (or indeed, the Daily Bugle staff) might begin to spot a pattern with this particular Demon's abilities. The blue glow was a clear indicator that she was activating her ability, but she also always opened fire from a stationary position. Incredible as her speed seemed, she obviously couldn't aim with the entire battlefield zooming by. Secondly—and this was the much more peculiar trait for a speedster—every time she finished a mad dash, she would whistle. Some sort of strange tick, maybe? But regardless of what it was, that compulsion to make a noise after dodging one's line of sight might prove useful to some.

Assuming the location wasn't filled with the sounds of battle, of course.

Common Room (Tatl/Link): "Home is Where the Heart is, So Your Real Home's in Your Chest!"

It took Tatl a Herculean amount of willpower not to groan. "My home is where my friends are" was probably one of the cheesiest lines she'd heard on this planet. Thankfully, KOS-MOS was generous enough to provide an actual answer, as well as drop a hint as to who (or rather, what) she truly was.

"Where I was created." Not "Where I was born."

"Wait a sec, are you one of those 'arty fish-hull' people? The kid and I have come across one of them during our time here, and heard a bit about another one that isn't on this planet. Strange to think they're all girls that look around the same age, though."

The mention of a ship sparked a great deal of interest in the fairy, and she quickly jumped on follow-ups that she might quickly come to regret.

"You use ships to travel from planet to planet?! That doesn't make any sense—how can the place beyond the sky be made of water?! It's not like we're all fish who can breathe in lakes and oceans. Or wait a minute...is that what rain is? Just a leak in our giant sky-ceiling? And how did you fit a whole restaurant on a ship? Either the Eva Van Barber is mostly restaurant, or you and I have very different ideas about what is and isn't 'cozy' sized. Which...I guess is kind of a given, seeing our sizes."

As for Link, the little hero tilted his head at Kabbu's rather vague mention of a promise. Then tilted his head the other way when Kabbu mentioned a big bug he didn't want to discuss further. Link didn't pry, though—he wasn't about to bother a new friend about personal stuff.

<Hey Tatl?> he asked, turning to his fairy. <What does 'civilized' mean?>

Turning away from KOS-MOS for a moment, the fairy replied: "It means 'following rules and being good around others and stuff.'"

<So does that mean we're civilized, too?>

"I am. You break waaaaay too much pottery to be called 'civilized.' You're pretty much half a step above 'savage.'"

A hint of red flushed Link's cheeks as he tittered and shifted his weight. Then, catching the eye of his think-talking translator, the little hero leaned down towards Kyubey while resting his hands on his knees.

<Come to think of it, we don't really know much about your world, Kyubey. What's it like?>

Meeting Room (Amber): You Must be This Small to Fight Evil

Amber's gaze didn't waver through Homura's summary. Interesting, albeit rather grim.

"Is there a reason behind granting the wishes of children? I'd claim that they make easier targets due to a lack of impulse control, but there's plenty of adults who wouldn't think twice about getting a miracle of their own."

She'd deal with the 'Lich' comment later; there were too many blank spots in the story to deal with what she suspected was a very sore spot for Homura.

HGT, Skies: The Secret is Magic Rocks

"The Gate encompasses the majority of Tokyo's central districts, spanning 15 kilometers in diameter. Unfortunately I'm not the greatest mathematician, but I believe that would come to...about 175 square kilometers? A tragically large span of space, to be sure. Not only did hundreds of thousands die, but we also lost the heart of our nation. The National Diet Building, the Imperial Palace, so many seats of power suddenly vacant. The months following the disaster were filled with absolute chaos."

Turning to a lighter topic (light enough to float and fly, even!), Nishijima smiled politely as he shook his head. "While I wish I could claim that these vehicles are a PANDORA original, I must give credit where credit is due. Our partnership with the Archadian Empire has granted us access to the components that went into the construction of these machines. Draklor Laboratories' Doctor Cid designed these transports and oversaw their construction in PANDORA. He's quite the eccentric, but none can question his brilliance.

"When we first arrived on Battelworld, one of my first goals was to establish a fellowship of sorts between PANDORA and various like-minded states and institutions across the planet. This mutually-beneficial partnership has helped establish safe lines of trade and communication between states."

The last comment was directed towards Maki, with a polite smile.

Common Room

"My body is artificial, yes," KOS-MOS answered the fairy with the patience of a saint, smiling gently. "The word 'artificial' comes from a much more ancient word, which in turn means 'handicraft'. In other words, both I and other individuals who are artificial were crafted by people, not naturally born. If our creators design our bodies with the ability to think independently and feel emotions, then we are in most respects just another person, though often with physical or mental abilities that exceed those of natural people. Of course, not everyone recognizes us as people rather than merely as tools, but I am sure someone as nice as you or Link would fall into the former camp, Tatl."

"With regard to using ships for travel through Outer Space, that being the space between celestial objects, they are simply referred to as ships because the first people to design and make use of them thought of travel through Outer Space as similar to travel across oceans, and in many respects it does require the same things: Food, drink, energy to move the ship, a crew, beds to sleep in, and so on, and travel across Outer Space takes relatively long periods of time in most instances, much like travel over the sea. Unlike oceans which teem with life, however, most of Outer Space is not water, but simply complete emptiness, without any air to breathe. Thus, just as ocean ships must be watertight, spaceships must be airtight, and must also bring along their own supply of breathable air so that those onboard can survive travel through Outer Space. That said, I suppose that our relative sense of what is a large or small ship is different. Perhaps a tour would provide you with a better idea of what I mean."

"If you would like me to explain how rain works, I would be happy to oblige, but that is not directly related to the topic at hand," she concluded at last, eyes tracking the winged ball of light that was Tatl.

GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs