Battleworld 2.0

Common Room->Hell's Gate Tokyo

   "Uh... So like advanced combat drones and robots, then... Fine by me."    Ridley said to Nishijima. True, he was a bit disappointed to not face actual living people, but at this point seeing actual advanced technology he was used to was more than enough for him.

Following Nishijima and the others, Ridley stumbled across some guards. While he was far from impressed, he was glad to see combat machines. Finally some civilization!

The Space Pirate general looked curiously at the destroyed buildings, tail waving in the air. Ridley licked his teeth as he spotted rather... interesting materials.

   Hmmm... The remains of a spaceship or some kind of meteor? Here?    he thought to himself. Keeping that thought in mind, the dragon simply emitted a small grunt when he learned that he had to go on a vehicle on his own because of his size.

With that said, he managed to notice that his interlocutor's smile was... wider than usual.

Perhaps coming here was not a waste of time, after all.

   "Of course, Mr. Nishijima. I'd be... happy to help."    Ridley said with a somewhat polite grin at the human. Likewise, Nishijima would be sharp enough to notice the dragon squinting his eyes.

Soon enough, the transports arrived, visibly some kind of flying ships. Ridley entered the box and growled in annoyance at how tight it felt. Fortunately, he had enough room to sit down in a corner similarly to how a cat would, near the window.

As the transport took off, Ridley didn't even need to grip the handrails. He was strong enough to keep his balance on his own. As the evil dragon silently stared at the landscape, he heard some squeakings from behind.

Oh right. There was someone else with him right now.

Ridley slowly turned around towards the man. Clearly, that little pest didn't seem as used as Nishijima and Shroddy to non-human beings. A much more familiar sight, for once.

The dragon slowly approached the scientist, having already forgotten his name. But it just felt nice to finally see someone shitting themselves in front of him. He would have loved to do more, but he had other matters at hand.

   "Tch-Tch-Tch... It's alright, Greenie, I'm not going to hurt you. You can thank your boss for that. Besides, I don't eat humans... unless necessary. Most of the time, they taste like shit anyway."    Ridley "reassured" rubbing the man's hair.

   "You're just going to... ask about my blood type and DNA? You know I'm not very known for my patience are you?"    Ridley snarled, lazily looking at one of his hands as he waved his fingers as if really wanted to dig his claws into... anything.

   "But don't worry, I'm going to answer your stupid questions as best as I can... Assuming you're used to alien blood. But I might just as well give you a sample of my blood for study. That would be faster than wasting our salivas, hmmm?"    he asked with a cackle.

Edited by Scipion3 on Jun 12th 2022 at 1:31:17 PM

Common Room

Without any warning that the cute white alien space ferret at Link's was the source of Link's telepathic communication nor that he was sapient, Kyubey began an impromptu presentation. <The human population of Earth in my time is approximately seven and a half billion. Space travel by chemical rockets has been established, the farthest humans have reached away from Earth is the lone moon approximately 250,000 miles away, and a space station in low earth orbit has been continuously inhabited for the past ten years. Industrialization is widespread, powered mainly by fossil fuels of coal, oil, and natural gas, although nuclear fission reactors have also been built and there is an effort underway to develop more sustainable energy sources such as solar panels and wind farms. Development and wealth is unevenly spread across the world, as is civil order with approximately 200 countries existing in various levels of stability. Silicon-based microchips have been around for several decades, but an internet of connected computer servers was only deployed in the past fifteen years and artificial intelligence is in its infancy at best.>

In retrospect, that description was probably more for KOS-MOS than Link and Tatl, especially as Kyubey's gaze was more at KOS-MOS. His head turned back to Link. <It seems to be more advanced than the one you came from, Link, though not as advanced as the one KOS-MOS is from.>

Conference Room 2

"Kyubey claims that the greatest magic potential occurs in human girls around 14 years of age, give or take a few years. The short-sightedness is undoubtedly a factor as well, as it makes it easier to hide the truth when he cannot outright lie. But as for why there are no Magical Adult Women at all...there are a couple reasons. One, Magical Girls usually don't have long careers. It's rare to find someone who's been a Magical Girl for more than a year. Many die by that point, fighting either Witches or each other."

Homura paused, intentionally setting up Amber for the obvious follow-up question, verbalized or not. "The second reason is...more involved. What new Magical Girls are told is that using their powers dirties their Soul Gem. To cleanse them, Grief Seeds must be used to draw out the corruption from their Gems, which are dropped from Witches that have been defeated in battle. Again, no falsehoods in that description, only omissions. For what happens as that corruption builds up is that as her Soul Gem becomes more corrupted, her mental state begins to deteriorate.” Her eyes shift slightly off of Amber, like she’s seeing scenes which aren’t happening now. “Hope is gradually eroded, replaced by despair at the state of the world and her ultimate inability to attain what they truly desire in their heart. Until at last, a breaking point is reached. All the despair that has built up, if it cannot be relieved...the Soul Gem cannot contain it any longer, and it cracks and explodes.”

Homura paused, looking around for a moment before pulling out her cell phone and typing out the four kanji characters for mahou shoujo – “Magical Girl”. She then approached Amber close enough so that she could read it, before using a finger to cover the middle two characters on the screen, leaving only the first and last ones for her to read. Majo.

“Witch.”

HGT, Skies (Transport 2): Wait, Was That A Joke?! Where's November 11 When You Need Him?!?!

After a paralytic pause, Mr. Volkert joined Ridley in the dragon's laughter...though he wasn't entirely sure what was so funny about a blood sample.

"I-if that's alright with you, sir. That would be v-very much appreciated. Blood's easier to gather DNA samples from...but I'm guessing you already knew that."

Judging by an apparent lack of medical equipment on the transport, it seemed clear that the scientist wasn't about to jab needles into Ridley here and now. That was probably for the best, since Mr. Volkert hadn't dared to even loosen his grip on the nearest handrail. Chances were high that any attempts to get a blood sample would result in missing a vein and pissing the dragon off for no reason. That, or the quivering idiot might fall during a little turbulence and stab himself in the eye.

"S-so just for reference, are you from a Class M planet like this one? Nitrogen-rich atmosphere, liquid water, varying climates from tropic equators to artic poles? Mr. Nishijima didn't offer much in terms of introduction, you see. B-but we got the part about being from a space-faring civilization, so that's a start!"

Realizing that these questions probably wavered a bit too close to irritating    "one not known for his patience,"    Mr. Volkert decided to cut to the chase:

"I ask because if your body replaces tissue in a similar manner to complex organisms here on Earth, our stimpaks are more likely to have a positive result. They're a cocktail of chemicals designed to kick the subject's recuperative functions into high gear. In humans, injuries that would take months to mend can be healed in less than an hour. It's quite the miracle cure w-when you think about it. Wouldn't want to travel the Commonwealth without one! Heh heh...heh..."

The scientist stopped chuckling.

Common Room (Tatl/Link): Complicated Subjects

"I don't need you to tell me how rain works!" Tatl huffed, clearly embarrassed by her own ignorance. "But if you traveled around with somebody who could conjure a storm with just a little song on a flute, I bet you'd keep an open mind about how things worked too!"

KOS-MOS' attention likely wouldn't stay on the grumpy fairy for long, as Kyubey chose to break his silence with a deluge of information. While Tatl quickly grew bored with all the technical jargon, poor Link tried his darndest to follow along...even if the summary sounded a bit more like:

<The human population of Earth in my time is approximately seven and a half billion. Space travel by chemical rockets has been established, the farthest humans have reached away from Earth is the lone moon approximately 250,000 miles away, and a space station in low earth orbit has been continuously inhabited for the past ten years. Industrialization is widespread, powered mainly by fossil fuels of coal, oil, and natural gas^note Hee hee, GAS! , although nuclear fission reactors have also been built and there is an effort underway to develop more sustainable energy sources such as solar panels and wind farms. Development and wealth is unevenly spread across the world, as is civil order with approximately 200 countries existing in various levels of stability. Silicon-based microchips have been around for several decades, but an internet of connected computer servers was only deployed in the past fifteen years and artificial intelligence is in its infancy at best.>

Needless to say: if they could, sparks would be shooting out of the little hero's ears. Any glances at Link overwhelming his thinking cap might raise concerns the poor boy might pull something. Though thanking Kyubey's summary like a wanderer given water in the desert, there was still one last puzzle he couldn't solve.

<...Tatl?> he asked meekly. <What does 'advanced' mean?>

"It means 'ahead,' usually. Like you're beating somebody in a race."

<Ahead of us in what?>

"I dunno." given her tone, the shrug was practically visible. "Some mortal stuff, I think? No offense Kyubey, but I started tuning it all out around when you started talking about a moon."

Meeting Room (Amber): But What's My Motivation?

The glowing girl studied Homura's expressions in silence; wasn't like she couldn't relate to having to relive a difficult moment—even without time-travel.

Staring down at the rather morbid play on words, Amber sensed that the pieces were coming closer together.

"In other words, there's some strategic motivation for targeting other Magical Girls." her tone was one of deduction, not interrogation. "An especially desperate Magical Girl might use a less-experienced—or at leas a more naive—comrade's hesitation to her advantage. Even in self-defense, it's hard for most humans to strike down one of their own. Wish I could say Contractors kept that quality. That said..."

The pieces were coming closer, but weren't joined.

"What does Kyubey get out of all this? If he doesn't outright lie, then you must've been told something over a hundred and eight cycles."

Edited by TheodoreHastings on Jun 13th 2022 at 7:49:48 AM

Common Room

<No offense taken,> Kyubey replied. <Though perhaps I should rephrase to make myself more clear. You have a sword and shield, which has been considered old and outdated for hundreds of years now for ordinary regular soldiers in my world — guns are easier to make in large numbers than swords, and metal shields and armor don't protect from the bullets they fire because the bullets are too fast for them to stop. Training is also much easier with guns than with a sword and shield, at least in my world — it takes years for a swordsman to become fully trained, while it only takes weeks to do the same for gunmen. In my world, there's a military saying: "Quantity has a quality of its own." That means that having many soldiers, even if by themselves are not as capable as their enemy, can still win by sheer numbers, like how a single ant would lose against a large spider but many ants can overwhelm it.>

Conference Room 2

"Magical Girls compete over the Grief Seeds. Even if they don't know what really happens when the Soul Gem becomes too full of corruption and despair, they know it is their only means of keeping their new powers, and the only way to attain them is to hunt and defeat Witches. Many Witches prove too difficult for one Magical Girl to kill, and so some try to team up and coordinate both searching and killing them. But there is nothing to stop one Magical Girl from stealing the Grief Seed earned by another and running away, save perhaps reputation. Nor is there anything to stop sufficiently underhanded ones from turning on others if the haul is large enough. Whoever dies in a Witch's Labyrinth that is later defeated disappears alongside the Labyrinth itself — no body left behind, consigned to forever be listed as a missing person or runaway should anyone else care."

She paused for a moment. "You say it's difficult for humans to strike down one of their own. In most cases that's true. Those that don't learn soon that others don't always share that view, or learn to become the cutthroat bitch themselves, tend to die quickly one way or another. That contract forces you to give up everything you have in exchange for a single desire, or else you end up with nothing to show for all that you've given up. Before you ask — yes, I am aware that my own allies represent a counter-example to what I've just said. Other cooperarive groups of Magical Girls across my world do form despite all this. But as you've noted before, I've had a long time to understand their motivations and histories. Most other Magical Girls don't have that luxury."

"You also ask what Kyubey gets out of all this. His name is a shortening of their true identity: 'Incubator'. Our Soul Gems become the eggs in which a Witch comes into being. When a Witch is born amidst the resulting explosion of despair, they collect the energy released to delay the heat death of the universe. If you ask why they don't use themselves, Incubators have no emotion within themselves — they consider it a mental illness."

Common Room, Trevor & Sypha

"I shall," Trevor replied to Nishijima when he mentioned Chief Kirihara. "And please do the same for me."

Soon enough, Trevor and Sypha joined the conversation KOS-MOS was having with Link, Tatl, Kabbu, and Kyubey. The technical aspects of what KOS-MOS was saying naturally flew over their heads, but they could clear up a few things...

"A number of days ago, we had to fight two beings known as the Galactic Emperor and Darth Vader who were on a... manmade structure as large as the Moon which was above the skies of Battleworld for a time," Sypha explained.

"I nearly got blown out of the structure at one point," Trevor added. "It was an experience that I don't want to repeat."

It was then that Kyubey was asked to speak. Sypha narrowed her eyes at Kyubey.

"Right," Sypha began looking at KOS-MOS seriously. "The Earths that were brought here are... somewhat inconsistent with at least their magic and certain creatures, so none of them are likely to be exactly like the Earth from your... er, universe."

"I suspect that if you met Aigis, the other artificial being on this planet, you would notice how she differs from you while the rest of us would just see two beings of the same species," Sypha explained to KOS-MOS.

Dracula, Castlevania

"Gerudo?" Dracula frowned, but began. "You came from the Common Room, so you should already know the names of the Chunks on this planet."

"Unfortunately, my information might be a bit dated, but I do know there are a number of... heroic groups on this planet including the groups of Devil May Cry; S.E.E.S.; the Young Link and his fairy companion; and Belmont and his group. There is also Outworld, which is now the most powerful chunk on this planet. Outworld is ruled by Shao Khan who rules his chunk with an iron fist. He fought a war against Bowser and won, conquering the Koopa Kingdom in the process. There is also the being known as Majora from the same reality as Link who is also Link's foe."

Dracula then asked, "Anything you wish to know specifically?"

Edited by GameGuruGG on Jun 17th 2022 at 6:47:38 AM

Castlevania

Raven Beak barely moved, still as a statue as the count explained the basics of Battleworld. The Mawkin leader did remember the various names he saw, and he already knew some independent group like the Devil May Cry he was told about before but now he was in possession of... interesting pieces of information.

Such as Outworld, visibly the land he came from. A land visibly ruled by a conqueror with an iron fist as well and who was the most powerful land in this universe... for now.

For an iron fist, Shao Kahn must be rather stupid to let someone like his newfound ally roam his land without impunity. For all the times they flew in his skies, this "warlord" didn't seem to place his soldiers anyway.everywhere to keep order.

Not to mention Ridley's little trip to Bowser's previous kingdom. So much incompetence for the "most powerful leader of Battleworld"

Oh, and of course, there were the boy and the imp's names: Link and Majora...

Fortunately, the imp wasn't here. Raven Beak was very patient, but a part of him told him he was not going to like that pest. It would be a shame to throw a bright Sunburst at his face when he could be of use.

Perhaps after the boy is finished off...

   "I see... So Link is the name of that boy King Ganondorf has a history with. Rest assured, as we speak, he is working on dealing with this defect far away from your lands. I offered to aid him in doing so, but first..."   

Raven Beak interrupted himself to solemnly look closely at the castle. As seemingly barbarian as it looked compared to the likes of Ferenia, he couldn't help but be fascinated by this bizarre architecture.

And looking back at Dracula, the Mawkin warlord could tell he had power and was not afraid of using it. What he was truly capable of, he was unaware, but he could tell he would be an excellent ally... Especially since Aran herself was seemingly deemed to arrive sooner or later.

Not to mention he needed an ally with a good stronghold.

   "I understand that your kingdom may be one of the oldest who has been summoned by the Cure. The king of Hyrule spoke highly of you. And if he is allied to you, I might as well offer you my services if you are willing to, Count Dracula. I may have... technology and knowledge that could be of use to you."    Raven Beak said, courteously bowing his head at him.

   "I may also have some... questions regarding how some worlds are working here. I am aware that the King of Hyrule's world functions with artifacts and magic instead of technology and spacecraft like mine. I would certainly not mind learning more about his world, or yours... if that does not bother you, of course."   

HGT, skies

Ridley was... honestly surprised that the humans in this world even had some kind of planetary classification.

   "Greenie... You know I very likely don't have the same planet classification as your kin. Did that thought ever even hit your tiny brain?"    Ridley grunted at Volkert with visible displeasure. The dragon sighed and grinned at the terrified human.

Gosh, he already liked his new toy.

   "And even then, I don't have that many memories about my homeworld. I'm a traveler you know? I visited so many planets by now... But I'm able to survive a lot of environments. One of my organization's homeworlds, Urtraghus has an atmosphere toxic for most lifeforms with constant acid rain. Zebes is a Class XIX planet inhospitable to most bioforms on the surface. Humans are unable to last on this kind of planet without serious protection while I need none. Last but not least yours truly can also breathe and fly in space with ease. With that said... I have a preference for hot areas close to a planet's core, preferably with a lot of magma around."    Ridley explained.

In other words, the "Cunning god of death" was fittingly very likely to survive even on a Class Y "Demon" planet.

   "As for healing... Eating and incorporating fresh prey cells into my body is usually enough. And I doubt your stimpaks things are as... intense as something like Phazon. If I survived being infused by that blasted substance, I'll survive those too."   

Since he clearly was the dominating force of the conversation, Ridley then tried his luck about a certain question.

   "Say, Greenie... Remember the crash site I was at earlier on? I spotted bits of something that clearly can go through atmospheres. Did you or any of Nishijima's buffoons are aware of what this is?"   

Edited by Scipion3 on Jun 17th 2022 at 11:23:01 AM

Common Room

"I see. Thank you for the information, Trevor and Sypha," KOS-MOS replied with a courteous nod. "Even if the Earths in question are not exactly the same, however, I am sure it will still be exciting for my friends and I to set foot on them. After all, it has been thousands of years since anyone in my universe has been able to do so. This notion of 'magic' is also interesting. Most phenomena in my universe have been explained by scientific study, so I wonder if the 'magic' you refer to is truly something mystical that cannot be explained, or simply has not had sufficient analysis applied to it."

The small white-furred creature being able to talk telepathically was a surprise, but a welcome one, and KOS-MOS didn't let any disturbance show on her features. "And thank you for the excellent summary of the situation on your universe's Earth, Kyuubey. That was extremely helpful," she added to the weird ferret-thing, then returned her attention to Link and Tatl.

"It is worth noting that weapons and armor are not the only measure of one society being advanced relative to another," she appended to Kyuubey's explanation. "For example, a more advanced society may have learned to create better medicines for keeping people healthy, have learned better farming techniques that result in more food being available to feed a larger number of people, or have learned metalworking techniques, weaving techniques, and so on that allow for the creation of a wider variety of materials. For instance, the civilization in my universe is able to grow and distribute enough food to ensure that no person goes hungry, and has managed to create medicine that cures any illness. More advanced societies also tend to be more urbanized, meaning a larger portion of the overall number of people live in large cities instead of in the countryside. I hope that helps you to understand a little better what we mean."

Edited by darksidevoid on Jun 17th 2022 at 5:59:57 AM

Velvet Room: Darker Than Black 101 with Professor Misaki

Huang crinkled his nose at the "Old Guy" nickname, but didn't object to Minako's offer.

"We'll see, Sunshine." he answered the Fool. Fancy as this place was, he was acutely aware of what the bug-eyed guy said about this place's location. "Between dream and reality" didn't make a damn lick of sense, but he wasn't eager for an explanation. After everything that Battleworld had thrown at him, Huang had resigned himself to a light sense unease with unfamiliar surroundings, but continued to roll with it anyways.

And yet...

"Can't say I'd mind the five-star treatment, though." Huang admitted. "We've been sleepin' in rundown slums, abandoned temples, even crashed at Devil May Cry for the past two days. Not sure if I'll ever get the scent of old pizza off of me."

As drinks were served and Minako began her summaries, Hei walked over to Igor to ask the sharp-nosed man a favor.

"You mentioned that the servants here are to provide services, right? Is it possible that they can make me a new mask, like the one I used to have?"

Hei didn't provide a reason why—perhaps he didn't need to. Truth of the matter was, everyone would be much better off if the Black Reaper's identity could remain a secret; protocol for silencing unfortunate witnesses was one of the worst parts of the job.

Meanwhile, just as Minako's summary turned to the last veteran territory in the Northeast, a knock came from the front door. Assuming that one of the servants came to answer it (or Minako herself, should she choose to), the visitors would see a young woman in a blue suit standing in the doorway. For half a second, it seemed like the woman was surprised someone answered the door so quickly; her expression implied she was deep in thought, and not all of those thoughts were exactly pleasant.

"H-hello." she began, brushing off the last flecks of surprise. "I hope I'm not intruding, I'll be out of your hair shortly. There's just...something I need to say."

Assuming that she was allowed inside, the woman would waste little time turning to Minako.

"I wanted to inform you that the probationary measures we established for the SEES are hereby lifted, effective immediately. There is no longer a need to meet with our advocates to ensure public security. On behalf of myself and my associates, I wanted to thank you for your full cooperation, and to apologize for any inconvenience."

With that, the woman gave Minako an apologetic bow.

"Wait...what the hell?"

The words were out of Huang's mouth before he could stop himself, and they earned him the attention of a person he really, really didn't want to see him.

For her part, the woman simply rose to her full height, and studied the older man with an inquisitive stare.

"I'm sorry...do I know you from somewhere?"

"Nope. Doubt it." Huang replied a little too swiftly. "Might've seen me walkin' around the Common Room, but sorry lady. You ain't ringin' any bells."

"He's with me."

The reply came from Hei, who returned to the group soon after speaking to Igor. Suddenly the woman's inquisitive stare was on not only the dark-haired man, but the silver-haired young lady sitting silently beside Minako's seat, a black cat curled up on her lap.

"And a Doll." the woman mused. "I take it this is your team, then."

"Even I'm not good enough to work alone." Hei smiled, though the warmth in his voice had all but faded.

"Get what you wanted from Amber?" the woman dryly teased.

Even the smile faded, now. "I told you: that's none of your business."

"'None of my goddamn business,' if memory serves. But I'm not going to hold that against you. Assuming that all your personal matters are sorted out..."

"We're on your side, Kirihara." The words came from Hei, but it was Huang who had the biggest reaction; turning away from the woman's back and tilting his cap a little lower further down his brow.

"Glad to hear it." she replied, though the edge in her stare suggested that remained to be seen. Regardless, she offered Hei a hand, and he shook it. The gap, presumably, had been patched.

"You came at a good time." Hei stated as he gestured to the planet's latest additions. "These four are newcomers trying to get a feel for the planet. We were just about to talk about Tokyo."

The woman called Kirihara turned to the newcomers for the first time, and while she naturally took an unconscious extra second to stare at Leif, she soon cleared her throat for a proper introduction.

"Good morning. My name is Misaki Kirihara, and I'm the Chief of Tokyo's Bureau of Foreign Affairs, Section Four. More importantly, I'm the third and current Cure-appointed representative for the city known as 'Hell's Gate Tokyo.'

"To start with the obvious misconception, Hell's Gate is a wall, and it has no association with any religious or mythological afterlife or the creatures that reside there. You might have noticed that the Cure has an interest in many Japanese concepts and locations; there have been multiple iterations of Japan's capital on Battleworld over the past week, and even more isolated Japanese groups, like Arisato-chan's. The name 'Hell's Gate Tokyo' seems to have been intended to be an easy way to distinguish us from the other models of our city, though it's brought us some very unwelcome visitors in the past.

"As to why we have Hell's Gate to start with, that's tied to an event that happened about ten years ago. One day, two points on polar opposites of our planet suddenly became completely uninhabitable, defying not only logic, but the laws of physics as we knew them. Unfortunately, one of those two points was the heart of our city, and in order to protect the population from venturing too close and meeting the fate of so many innocent lives, a massive wall was constructed.

"While much of the world wasn't affected by the appearance of these two physics-defying areas, everyone was affected by the sudden disappearance of the moon and stars. Within hours of the Gates emerging, the night sky was suddenly replaced with thousands of new stars and constellations. Nobody knew it at the time, but those stars were tied to individuals on Earth—people who had been mysteriously altered by the presence of the Gates, and granted abilities most would consider supernatural. From that day on, whenever a new star appears in the sky, we know that a new person has been altered by the Gates; when the star shines brightly, we know they're using their abilities; when the star falls from the sky, we know they've drawn their last breath."

Misaki paused, perhaps to reflect on how many stars she had seen fall over the years. "I say 'we know,' but in reality there's very few people in the world who know this correlation, or about these Gate-altered individuals in the first place. It's a tightly-kept secret on our world, enforced by all of the planet's governments and ensured with memory-erasing technology developed within the past decade.

"But that's the present status-quo on our Earth. Soon after arriving on Battleworld, Minako allied herself with a neighborhood called Ikebukuro. In an attempt to calm the panicking population, she uploaded a video on the website of a popular street gang, where she detailed everything she knew about Ikebukuro's neighbors...including us, and the existence of these Gate-altered individuals. Hence, the reason we made probationary measures with Minako and the SEES; Arisato-chan's heart was in the right place, and it did force us to do the right thing and tell our city the truth, but at the end of the day it helped ease Ikebukuro's anxiety at the cost of our Tokyo's security.

"Speaking of which," Misaki said as she turned to Minako directly. "I should warn you that not everyone in Tokyo is ready to bury the hatchet. My allies and I can speak for the majority of the city, but the research facility within the walls of Hell's Gate is not aligned with us. In all honesty, they've become hostile towards us, and have the forces and technology to become a threat to not only us, but anyone allied with us. So while I won't ban you from entering our city, I'd strongly advise against it. PANDORA and Eric Nishijima still hold a grudge against you, and we still don't know just how much power his side has obtained."

Velvet Room

Igor looked up from where he was shuffling his tarot cards and bobbed his head in affirmation at Hei. "We could certainly craft another for you, but supposing that you simply wish for a replica of your original mask rather than one that has different detailing, I believe you may find a spare in your room upstairs," he answered in his usual, vaguely creepy voice, grinning toothily. However, the Chinese Electric Batman was doubtless too distracted by ensuing events to give much of a reply.

Although she looked a bit sheepish as Misaki detailed what she'd done several days before, Minako nevertheless nodded solemnly at the Chief's note of caution. "I'll be sure to keep it in mind," she agreed with a small smile. "Thanks."

The trio of spacefaring humans exchanged glances with each other at the conversation between these people they barely knew. Evidently there were some previous difficulties between the parties that had just been successfully smoothed over. Well, it was a good thing the others weren't at each others' throats, at least, they decided as they collectively determined to put their questions about the past on the back-burner for the time being.

"Well, that aside, we're pleased to meet you, Chief Kirihara," Shion said after Misaki had said her piece, looking warmly up at the other woman from where she was sitting. "I'm Shion Uzuki, and these are my brother, Jin, and a friend of mine, Allen Ridgeley. We arrived a short while ago along with the rest of our party, a landless group of eight friends called the 'Seekers of Zarathustra'. We're from the equivalent of 7278 A.D., although our calendar has switched over to a new era, T.C., since the mass exodus from Lost- er, from Earth in the mid 22nd century. Nobody has actually seen Earth in our universe for thousands of years, so as you can imagine, we're really very excited to visit sometime soon!"

"Indeed! I happen to be a bit of an ancient history enthusiast, so although I'm not familiar with your Earth in particular, I imagine many things will be similar enough for me to understand," Jin concurred. "However, about that research facility you mentioned..." His eyes narrowed. "Am I correct in thinking they have a paramilitary element in addition to mere research? We have... a certain amount of experience with such organizations and their misdeeds. Of course, we have no wish to make enemies of anyone so soon, but I believe we would very much prefer to ally ourselves with - or at least maintain friendly relations with - Tokyo's legitimate government, whom I presume you represent."

"You can say that again!" Allen nodded emphatically. "I've had enough of dealing with shady research organizations with guns for a lifetime!"

Edited by darksidevoid on Jun 18th 2022 at 8:00:00 AM

HGT, Skies: Time to Talk About An Event that Ended...FIVE YEARS AGO?!?!

Mr. Volkert fumbled for words. He couldn't even begin to guess what kind of planet the dragon's species was from. He was a dragon. He shouldn't even be in space—he should be in a fantasy setting, hording a cave full of treasure and imprisoning princesses in towers. But there wasn't anything to say to what was obviously meant to be a rhetorical taunt. Besides, he didn't have the stomach to mention that whatever classification his world had for other planets came largely from science fiction.

Once Ridley dismissed the stimpaks' usefulness, Mr. Volkert deflated like a balloon. Being able to naturally use digested tissue for speedy recuperation sounded like a literal lifesaver—almost as handy as the drugs available in the Commonwealth. Almost, but that was something to discuss after landing.

The sudden change of topics caught Mr. Volkert off guard—as did pretty much everything, far as Ridley had seen.

"What, the Empire?" the scientist's voice cracked on the final syllable. "Y-yeah, there was this big planetwide attack the day the Institute arrived on Battleworld. They tore through our defenses a-and almost got to us, but that's when M-Mr. Nishijima and this group of superhumans showed up and took them by surprise. PANDORA really saved our s-skins that day, but not everybody made it out alive—including our leader, a man called Father. With the Institute in shambles and the threat of a second wave on the way, M-Mr. Nishijima gave us all refuge in PANDORA. We've been able to resume most of our work, and these 21st century guys get a taste of the future. It's a pretty good win-win!"

Either Mr. Volkert didn't know much about this Empire thing, or he was too dense to figure out why Ridley was asking.

Meeting Room: Again...NANI?!?!

"The heat death of the wh—?"

After talks of time travel and secrets, massive disasters and planning one's perfect death, superpowered sociopaths and the dog-eat-dog world of Magical Girls, this was the statement Amber deemed unbelievable.

"How...how would that...? Are you as confused by that motive as I am? Forget about the ends, how on Earth do those means work?"

Amber fanned away Homura's evident loophole as if it were a foul stench. "They're wish-granters for crying out loud, why not create something to collect the energy? I'm not a physicist, but even I can come up with a better idea than 'traumatizing teenagers to death' with the resources presumed available! Seriously, is thinking a 'mental illness' to them, too?!"

She raised a hand to signal that last question was rhetorical. In the end, it didn't matter if she found the reason absurd. If Homura was telling the truth (and it was hard to imagine she'd lie just to say something like that), then children have died for this cause. Taking a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose in meditation, Amber took a breath and asked another question.

"This clairvoyant Magical Girl you killed...did she give any hints as to why she targeted you, specifically? I know we prophets and time-travelers don't always explain ourselves, but there was probably some clue—otherwise how else would you know she could see the future in the first place?"

Common Room: The Magic of...Well, Magic!

Kyubey's summary compelled Link to unsheathe his Razor Sword and studied the blade. True, learning how to fight with a sword and shield wasn't the easiest thing he'd ever done—thanks to the Gloomy Guy and Sell S, he knew he still had a lot to learn, too—and it did take a long time to make a good blade. He and Tatl had to wait an entire day for Zubora and Gabora to strengthen this sword into what it was now; if those gun thingies could be made in less time, that'd make for a pretty handy weapon. Though personally, Link was more fond of the weapons he currently had.

"That sounds a lot like what Majora and Count Dracula like to do." Tatl commented about Kyubey's "Quantity and Quality" quote. "I think Trevor and Sypha here would agree that strategy hasn't worked so far. Beating up armies of wimps just ends up making us look cooler."

Turning to KOS-MOS, Link's eyes widened as the android mentioned how advanced her world universe really was.

<A place where nobody gets sick or goes to bed hungry? That sounds a lot like magic to me, KOS-MOS!>

Speaking of which, the android had touched on a subject that interested Link very very much. Sheathing his weapon, the little hero reached into his utility belt and produced a few items one at a time—not unlike a kid showing off his trading card collection to an adult showing polite interest.

<There's all kinds of magic here! This is the Lens of Truth. It lets me see through things that aren't there but look like they are there. Y'know, illustrons! And this is the Ocarina of Time, it's a treasure of the Hyrulean Royal Family that can use the magic in music—and there's a LOT of magic in music! And I've got masks that can let me transform into different heroes of Termina, and I can put ice and fire and holy magic into the tips of my arrows, and this here's a really cool magic item called a Pictograph. Point the eye at something and push this button, and you can hold a super real-looking painting in it! Go ahead, try it out!>

KOS-MOS would be offered the small (albeit extremely primative) camera to point wherever she wished. However, should she aim the lens at Link and his friends, the boy would give a big beaming grin to the camera.

<And that's just the stuff that I can do! Tatl's the daughter of the Great Fairy of Magic, so she's got some power of her own. Sypha's a good witch who can shoot ice and fire and lightning a bad guys. Kyubey's from a place where there's a lot of Magical Girls; I've met a few of them, but I haven't met any Magical Boys yet. And pretty much every grown-up I've met has these magic rectangles that do all kinds of things! The Cure might as well name this planet Magicworld!>

Velvet Room: But Wait! It Gets Worse!

Misaki returned the greeting, only to be taken aback by the sheer time difference between their respective eras. While she didn't say anything to object, the Seekers of Zarathustra might spot the minuscule wince as Jin referred to her present as "ancient history." It might be accurate from his perspective, but hearing it sounded...weird.

Surprisingly, it was Hei who answered Jin's question. "PANDORA had its own private military before we even arrived on Battleworld. I came close to having to deal with one of their officers myself. Ex-US Special Forces was the impression I got; big, aggressive, and visibly annoyed that the weapon holstered to his leg was just a stun gun. They've also got at least one Contractor at their disposal—a teenage girl who can spontaneously combust any flammable matter in sight."

Misaki narrowed her gaze on the Black Reaper. "Sounds like the Moratorium case a few months back." she hummed.

"It doesn't just sound like it." replied Hei. "'Agent Aoede,' or rather Mai Kashiwagi, is the Moratorium. She managed to gain control of her powers and stabilize after taking down the man who killed her father."

"We caught up with her after the sprinklers doused off what was left of the bastard." added Huang. "Then we handed her off to the higher-ups and moved on. Guess we finally know where she wound up."

The Section Chief turned towards the older man, once again trying to shake the feeling that his identity was just out of reach. Regardless, it was clear he and the entire team were Syndicate agents. Made sense, given the organization's damn near ubiquitous nature.

Returning to the Seekers of Zarathustra, Misaki welcomed the potential cooperation with a small smile. "I would very much like to stay on good terms with your group as well. Most states inhabited by humans were taken sometime in the early twenty-first century; I'm sure you'd have much to teach not only Tokyo, but the entire planet as well."

She crossed her arms as a more serious expression shaded her face. "As for PANDORA, the good news is that you just might sneak under their radar. We've been watching Nishijima's movements over the past week, and while he's made a great deal of allies through a tour of active diplomacy, he seems primarily interested in states. Makes sense from his perspective; he's interested in trade, and you can't strike a deal with people who can't offer large amounts of goods. The Surveillance Specter planted in the Common Room doesn't ever look down the hallway to these rooms. Far as Nishijima knows or cares, this conversation never happened."

Velvet Room

"Aoede? As in the Muse of Singing?" Minako questioned, perking up excitedly. "Oh! Oh! I bet the cost for her power is that she has to sing, right?! ...Uh, sorry, I really like mythology, that's all, eheh!" She scratched her head, blushing a little.

"It's quite alright, Minako!" Jin assured. "You know, we should compare notes sometime! I and a couple of the other members of my group all have an interest in ancient mythology, and seeing as so much collective knowledge was lost to us after we moved to Space, I'm sure there's a lot we could learn from you!"

"Oh, totally! We should figure out a time for a study session later!" she agreed with a huge grin.

"Sounds good! Well, to return to the previous topic, I certainly hope you're right about us escaping notice, but I have a feeling we aren't that lucky," he continued, addressing Misaki again and frowning heavily after setting down his tea. "It wouldn't hurt to prepare for the possibility, at least. After all, we may not have goods in mass quantities, but knowledge is a currency of its own, and I imagine this 'Nishijima' man will be interested once he learns what era we're from... as will many other actors, for good or ill."

"Oh, cheer up, Jin!" Shion admonished, shaking her head. "It's not like anyone can force us to share our technology if we don't feel like it! That means we have something to bargain with!"

"I admire your optimism, sister," he replied, lips quirking upward into a wry smile. "But, as you know, I am a relentless realist."

"Pessimist," she corrected, eyes twinkling.

"A relentless realist," he insisted with a chuckle, then glanced among the people from HGT. "That said, I think now is a good time to clear up some uncertainty. You've used certain terms: Contractor, Doll, Moratorium, Surveillance Specter. Some of these we can guess at the meaning of, but to prevent any misconceptions, I'd appreciate you providing definitions."

"And what's this about 'handing over' a kid to your higher-ups?" Allen demanded, folding his arms. "And yet now she's your enemy? Don't tell me you were all part of the same organization and then had some kind of schism!"

Common Room

Link's enthusiasm was infectious, and KOS-MOS smiled a little wider as she did as instructed and took a photograph pictograph of Link and pals, then handed the little device back to the boy.

"I suppose there will be a great deal for me to learn with regard to the many types of magic present here in Battleworld, then. That said, you certainly do have a large number of magical tools, Link," she observed. "I think I would say that I am the most curious about your ocarina and your masks. For example, what can you tell me about the hero this one represents?" She pointed to the mask hanging from his side that she had noted a particular holy power from earlier.

Conference Room 2

"You'd have to ask them. Frankly, that doesn't matter to me as much as how much of a threat they are now."

"As for this other Magical Girl...yes. It wasn't specifically me she was after. Rather, our goals were...mutually exclusive." It was clear Homura was choosing her words carefully. "I have someone to protect, someone for whose sake I will do whatever it takes to keep safe and happy. I told as much to the Shadow we fought. That doesn't mean being reckless about it, but if it comes down to it I will break any rule, commit any sin...pay any price necessary for that to happen. She was equally committed to ending that. By the end of Timeline 15, even killing her didn't stop her goal from being achieved...and ruining mine."

Common Room

<That is true,> Kyubey acknowledged KOS-MOS' expansion of his explanation. <I picked a military example as it seemed the subject he was most familiar with, but yes, there are other fields where progress can be defined.>

<It depends on whether you have them available to use in such times,> Kyubey replied back to Tatl, and by extension Trevor and Sypha though his gaze was directed at the fairy. <A ten to one ratio looks different compared to a thousand to one, or a million to one. And one person can only be in one place at one time – if you have to defend two different places far apart, a numerically superior side can divide their forces into two parts and have one half occupy the one opponent while the other half seizes the objective. That said, I have also seen individuals be able to achieve feats beyond what they can reasonably be expected to do by others around them, so neither "the many" nor "the one" should automatically be considered the superior strategy in every situation. It depends on how the details play out.>

<You may be on to something about how magic and technology can be similar,> Kyubey noted once Link started geeking out about the tech of KOS-MOS' universe. He decided to keep it at that to let Link do his Show and Tell presentation.

Velvet Room: Darker Than Black 102 with Professors Misaki, Huang, and Hei

Hei gave a simple nod to Minako's guess; the tune he'd heard Mai sing was a bizarre and unsettling one, but he wasn't about to demonstrate.

Misaki patiently listened to the back and forth between Jin and Minako, but tried not ponder on their wildly different definitions of the word "ancient." The fact that she and Minako were from an era closer to Ancient Greece than Jin's era was to theirs was...a lot to take in.

Fortunately, she was handed a helpful distraction in the need of clarification. A hint of red shaded her cheeks as she realized they had been talking over the newcomers' heads more than once.

"Right, sorry about that." she tittered. "Basically, all of those terms refer to the Gate-altered individuals I mentioned. The most active classification are the Contractors: individuals who can use a specific supernatural ability at will, so long as they perform a specific action as a form of payment later. Their power works like an invisible and unspoken contract, hence the name. It's not common for us to meet a Contractor in-person, so those of us who investigate their activity often refer to them by the Messier Code assigned to their star."

She gestured to Hei. "I refer to him as 'Lee Shengshun' since that's the name he gave me when we first met, but I also know him by his Messier Code: 'BK-201,' and by his infamous reputation: 'The Black Reaper,' and by the codename assigned to him by the organization that employs him: 'Hei.' I know that his ability allows him to generate lethal amounts of static electricity, that he specializes in the use of daggers and a grappling line connected to his belt, and that he's been a Contractor for at least six years."

Her eyes narrowed on the Black Reaper. "But what I don't know is the price he pays for his ability."

"Maybe I'm a Moratorium." Hei replied. Despite his calm and even tone, Misaki treated the suggestion like the tongue-in-cheek joke that it was. As the Section Chief rolled her eyes, Hei turned his attention towards Jin and Shion.

"A Moratorium's a rare form of Contractor who doesn't pay a price for their ability. Normally you'd think that would be the best possible outcome, but the reason why there's a price to pay in the first place is to regulate a Contractor's power. It's a means of control, and without a price, a Moratorium has no control of their ability. The result is a bright flame with a short wick; most Moratoria burn themselves out within a couple days. Far as we know, Mai Kashiwagi is the only Moratorium to stabilize into a Contractor."

"Then there's Dolls, like Yin here." Huang thumbed to the silver-haired girl. "Far as superpowers go, Dolls got the short end of the stick: they can use a certain medium as a remote pair of eyes and ears—this is that Surveillance Specter we were talkin' about—but they don't got free will anymore. Our current tech can give 'em some independence, so they can feed and bathe themselves or use the can without help, but for the most part they gotta be told what to do. Ain't that right, Yin?"

Yin ignored him.

"There are also a minuscule group of individuals called Forfeiters." Misaki added. "A Forfeiter is a former Contractor who has lost their abilities. I've only met one myself, but that's more than almost anyone else can claim. Supposedly there's a chance that interacting with Hell's Gate could restore a Forfeiter's abilities, but I suspect Lee would know that better than I would."

"Havoc decided that she was done fighting." Hei answered with a subtle leer. "But then your friend from the UK ensured she'd never be able to change her mind."

Misaki gave the Black Reaper a leer of her own. "If she wanted to leave her powers behind, then why did you bring her to the Gate in the first place?"

"None of your business."

The Section Chief was a breath away from starting an argument when Huang told her it'd be a waste of time. "This smartass goes AWOL every month or so; one of these days that's gonna cost him, but so far he's been able to escape the consequences. Drives me up a goddamn wall, but you eventually get used to it."

"Hei listens to his heart."

Those were the first words Yin had said the entire meeting, and they were given the gravity such a statement deserved. Even Huang seemed surprised for a moment, but the spell soon ended as the older man grunted: "Well he sure as hell don't listen to his head."

It was about then that Allen raised his concerns, though the incredible shot-in-the-dark guess meant that the first answer to the young man's question was Huang's gaffaw. "Got it in one! Holy shit kid, can you guess lotto numbers too?"

Misaki sighed, and prepared to address that elephant in the room. "On our world, there's a massive puppet master organization dedicated to protecting the planet from certain doom. This organization goes by many names, but the agents on Battleworld refer to it simply as 'The Syndicate.' Lee and his team are field agents of the Syndicate that were deployed to Tokyo about eight months ago. As it so happens, Eric Nishijima is a high-ranking member of the same organization.

"While the subject in-question is obviously different, it seems that the Syndicate's goal hasn't changed: the ringleaders want to protect this planet from certain doom, but they can no longer agree on how to go about it. Over time, this difference in opinion widened, until it became a full-scale schism. To ensure that PANDORA's side of the Syndicate have and keep the upper-hand, they've taken full control of Tokyo's portal, as well as access to the Surveilance Specter stationed in the Common Room. Nishijima's power and influence has grown to a point that he can make real threats against his former allies. From the looks of things, the Syndicate's on the brink of a civil war."

"So how long have you been a part of it?" asked Hei.

"I'm not a part of it!" Misaki snapped. Her conversation with Nero in the Meeting Room came to mind, unbidden and completely unwelcomed. "But I need strong allies. In case you haven't noticed Lee, I'm just a cop. I don't have the influence or resources to protect an entire city from foreign and domestic threats, but according to the Cure that's what I have to do now! All because someone I know decided that his personal problems were more important than defending a city of millions!"

In contrast to the Section Chief's anger, Hei took a moment to think before saying the two words Misaki never saw coming:

"I'm sorry. I learned in Ikebukuro that the Syndicate's only done with you when they say they're done with you; there's no easy way to walk out, so I'm sorry that you had to get involved with them because of me. You're right—you don't deserve to have this weight on your shoulders. I didn't, and neither did Amber. But for what it's worth, I've finally found something the Cure and I agree on: Tokyo finally has a rep worthy of the city, even if she doesn't know it."

A silence filled the room. Hei offered a small smile; Misaki unclenched her fist in return. And then, to kill the mood with a sawed-off shotgun, Huang shared with the newcomers another little fun fact:

"That reminds me of another thing about Contractors: they're masters at lyin' through their teeth. They lose their conscience when they change, so they can make mushy speeches like that and folks'll will eat that crap up!"

Two pairs of eyes drove daggers into the older man's heart; even Yin tried to glare at Huang, though the most she could muster was a slight wince.

"Just sayin'." Huang shrugged.

Common Room: We Don't Talk About Bruno That Mask

Kyubey's mention of the nuances of battle came as a bit of a surprise to Tatl; not because she didn't think the creature capable of it, but because he was dipping into the same technical talk he had used when summarizing what his planet was like. At least this time Tatl didn't just tune the ferret-cat out, though she did have a lingering question about how big "a million" was. Was it bigger or smaller than a billion?

"Yes...well...glad we agree on that." the fairy hummed in (less-than-convincing) affirmation, before also turning her attention to her partner's Show and Tell.

Link's beaming smile withered as KOS-MOS asked about the mask hanging from his belt. He took the mask in hand, cautiously brushing his fingers along the tribal symbols—as if he was worried they would be too hot to touch. The boy's expression soured, the shifty look in his eyes a combination of hesitation, reluctance, and just a drop of fear.

<This hero's really really strong. I don't use his power very much, though. Tatl doesn't like it when I do, and when I wear it I can feel what he feels. The Fierce Deity's...angry. Angrier than I've ever been at anything or anyone, and he feels that way all the time. If I'm being honest, it's a little scary.>

Demonstrating the expression "out of sight, out of mind," Link tucked the Fierce Deity mask into his utility belt and pulled out a different mask instead: a wooden-looking creature with a circular mouth and two big orange eyes. At the sight of a much more familiar (and friendly!) face, the little hero's excitement and warmth returned.

<Wanna see how it works?> Without waiting for an answer, Link pressed the mask to his face, and was enveloped in a flash of light. When the light subsided, the Hylian boy was gone. In his place stood a tiny forest creature with a similar hat and clothing color to Link. Once visible, the little creature began to dance and (telepathically) sing a little improvised jingle:

<Wooden skin and three feet high, a happy Deku Scrub am I!>

Meeting Room: Is Timeline 15 "The Darkest Timeline?"

Homura must've sensed Amber's disatisfaction with the carefully-chosen words, since the Magical Girl was quick to elaborate. In so many words, it sounded like this clairvoyent never targeted Homura in the first place, and was after this unnamed "ward" under Homura's protection.

For a moment, Amber was reminded of just how young Homura still was. "Break every rule, commit any sin." These weren't words of someone who lives in "the big picture." She neither knew nor cared what sort, but they were words of love.

"Does this clairvoyent Magical Girl already have her powers by March 16th, or is she someone Kyubey recruits during the loop?"

Amber could make a guess, and it was starting to sound like she had started off with the wrong impression. Either that, or Homura had somehow managed to kill this poor girl upwards of 108 times.

Conference Room 2

"If she contracts and becomes a Magical Girl, it's usually by March 18th. After that timeline, I had to take steps to make sure she wouldn't become a threat again." Homura stopped talking and looked at Amber, knowing what she was implying with those words. Her form tensed subtly, though Amber likely could still detect it. "Yes. I preemptively killed her starting from Timeline 16. She was far too problematic for me in Timeline 15 to leave unchecked. It wasn't until Timeline 28 or so that I found that the loop I was in wasn't totally static. After all, she hadn't been an issue the first fourteen times. Sometimes certain details play out differently, even without my direct intervention. A boy may take up guitar for a loop, instead of the violin like he normally does. A girl may decide to wear white ribbons to school instead of red. This particular timeline, my first encounter with one of the girls ended with her attacking me with a fire extinguisher, something she had never done before. The changes were never drastic enough to matter in the end, however – without intervention, one of the Magical Girls on my team would always die before Walpurgisnacht arrived, either killed by a Witch due to carelessness on March 26th, committing suicide when she could no longer hide from the futility of her own wish by April 5th, or becoming a Witch herself by April 14th. Most important of all, Walpurgisnacht always came on April 30th. Everything before that became irrelevant if it could not be defeated."

Common Room

Kyubey backed up a couple paces to let Link explain and demonstrate his masks. <Would it be accurate to say that your masks contain the soul of whoever's visage is being depicted?>

HGT, skies

Ridley let out an audible sigh in disappointment. "Greenie" didn't even know what that "Empire" was. What a waste...

Surely, Nishijima would know more about that invasion than the talking monkey in front of him. Ridley hoped that at least PANDORA's leader had the smart idea to recover one or two useful things from them. Especially since the idiot implied that it was but a wave of attack.

Oh, and of course, Volkert had to bring up the subject of some kind of advanced soldiers to the Space Pirate. Were these linked to those "quarantine zones" he heard about earlier? This time, Ridley saved his saliva, he was convinced that Volker wouldn't be able to give him a satisfying answer.

If Nishijima could create superhumans... A superdragon should be possible. And not counting the wishes he could use to revive his three colleagues and try to rebuild his army, if his "partnership" with PANDORA could prove beneficial in the long run...

That prospect made the sadistic Space Pirate leader grin madly.

   "So in short, your "Institute" was colonized by Nishijima. Good to know that his organization isn't joking around. I guess I should thank you then... At least this stupid town doesn't feel too much like I'm stuck in the Middle Age or something."    he grunted.

If he was in charge though, Tokyo would be way more industrialized, as were Tourian or Urtraghus. And also, with some statues of him here and there, much like back in his lair in the depths of Norfair.

   "Here's a... easier question to answer, Greenie. How long until we arrive? Not that I'm getting bored of course and I know Nishijima insisted that I don't get out so that I don't make his people pee themselves... a bit like you are now, but an estimation wouldn't hurt. You know, so that I don't get bored."   

Edited by Scipion3 on Jun 20th 2022 at 7:33:54 PM

Common Room

The smile dropped from KOS-MOS' face in favor of a frown as Link expressed his fear of the hero within the mask she had asked about, evidently a deity that was simply known for being fierce. She filed the information away in her memory and watched as the boy pulled out another mask, this one distinctly different.

The gynoid resumed smiling and clapped politely at Link's demonstration, then crouched down to brush a hand against his wooden arm. "I see, so your skin truly is bark-like now. That is most remarkable. Is this species known as a Deku Scrub, then, or is Deku Scrub the name of this particular hero? What other species of intelligent beings are there where you come from, beyond Fairies, that of your normal form, and this one?"

Velvet Room

Having grabbed Yin's hand to give her a sympathetic squeeze during Huang's exposition regarding Dolls, Minako scowled at him all the more intensely as he uttered the lines about Contractors losing their consciences and implied Hei's apology was insincere. That said, she wasn't the first to speak after Misaki finished her spiel.

"Great! Just great!" Allen groaned, palming his face at the explanation of the Syndicate. "Just what we needed, another conspiracy to deal with!"

"Indeed. I've had rather enough of those," Jin agreed dryly, folding his hands into his sleeves and raising an eyebrow at Misaki. "Now, should we assume that this organization has begun incorporating other people in positions of power in other lands after coming to Battleworld?"

"Now, hold on just a minute!" Shion, who had been glaring at Huang at least as fiercely as Minako, if not more so, interjected hotly, holding up a hand. "Back up! What gives you the right to say Yin doesn't have free will? She seems like an ordinary, introverted young lady to me! You think somebody without free will would be able to express her thoughts unprompted, like she did just now? Do you?! I'm not going to sit here and listen to you say another word about any of this until we all agree that everyone involved are people, with rights, feelings, and wills of their own!"

The brunette let that hang in the air for a moment, then turned to the Doll, her expression softening to a small smile. "Yin, thank you for sharing your perspective on Hei. We appreciate it," she said kindly. "If people like you use a certain medium for their observation powers, what kind do you use? And I'm sorry if this is a sensitive subject, but I've noticed you may not be able to see well, or even at all. Would you be able to see us if you used your ability? If so, I was thinking it might be a good idea to do it while we're here, so that you know what we look like in case you come across us later. I can show you pictures of the rest of my friends, too, of course!"

Spider-Man would find his attempt at incapacitating the Monolithian successful, as the cultist was now stuck on the pillar thanks to the very sticky webs, as he was writhing about in it on a attempt to get off it as soon as he could.

Meanwhile, the Exoskeleton cultist would had focused his full aggression on Black Panther when he was vulnerable, but due to Alucard redirection attempts, along with the sudden arrival of a gun toting redhead, his attention was taken away by these two. While his exoskeleton armor was durable enough to absorb the worst of the SPAS-12, along with the bullets striking his limbs, he still stumbled back from the SPAS-12 impact, stunned and vulnerable to any further attack.

The burnt cultist holding a SPAS-12 was still not deterred as his weapon was cut to pieces, as he pulled out a combat knife and rushed towards Alucard to stab him repeatedly, his painful injuries, and the power Alucard holds still not enough deterrent to him to stop his attempt at harming him.

As for the rest, as T'Challa rushes to eliminate as many as he could, his effort paid off as with a strong blow to the head, one of the cultists was down and out of the fight, though he'd find himself a target of rifle fire from the other two cultists nearby.

Velvet Room (Leif): From Out of the Blue

(It may not be all of the places, but it's a good start, Leif thought as the Chunks are being described. What's curious to the moth is that they all sound similar in most of the details: big city full of people and they are almost unified in terms of politics. Even the woman that came from out of the blue to describe HGT and the people tied to the stars, as well as the reason why this young girl and her group had been barred from entering. The fact that they previously had (and parts of them still have) beef with SEES did not exactly put its best foot forward, but nonetheless, he kept quiet about it. But first things first, introductions.) "You can call us Leif. We've come from Bugaria, hence the name."

(All this talk of technology and ancient civilizations reminded Leif of the Roaches, once again. Were they as prosperous as either of those chunks were? And if so, what caused them to disappear? Leif isn't sure if he would like the answer, but it's still something to think about. The same could apply to the giants, but he's sure most of Bugaria knew them even less. They left a lot of ruins, but they never knew for sure what they looked like. Sure, some bugs came up with ideas on who they are and how they used the items they left behind, but those are just ideas and nothing more.)

(For the most part, Leif kept quiet when all the jargon from the Chief lady and the older man are explained. That is, until Leif heard the whole business involving PANDORA and the Syndicate. He could only mutter out softly, but loud enough for anyone near him to hear.) "First the Sapling, then the wasps, and now this. Why not add a conspiracy to the plate, while you're at it?"

(Speaking of plates, Leif has been eyeing the dining room after his comment. In response, he asked the group.) "We hate to kill the mood, but can we discuss this over breakfast or something? More than it's already been killed anyways."

Common Room (Vi, Kabbu, and Maki): Parent's Permission

(Kabbu listened on to KOS-MOS's story with wonder. Much like the little green hero, he did not understand most of the jargon being sent his way, but to reach among the stars is certainly an achievement not even the Bees have reached. When the topic of artificial beings counted as living beings with thoughts and feelings came to light, Kabbu chimes in.) "I believe you're every bit of a person as all of us are."

(Kyubey's spiel about the human race did somewhat go over Kabbu's head since while he does have a more developed vocabulary, he would have little understanding of the terminology at large. The fact that humans are able to craft something as massive as a moon is most certainly a remarkable achievement, but the fact that they had to fight it means that it was either a base or a weapon of war, which definitely spoiled that achievement for the beetle.)

(Then, he turned to see Vi and Maki nearby and he approached them.) "Yes? Have you two find any news?"

"We're going to a Chunk to see what's up with it."

"Vi and I will take a tour for Hell's Gate Tokyo, and we wanted to let you know where we are."

"I heard there plenty of awesome stuff there!"

"Are you sure? Do you want me to come with?"

"I suggest that you stay and inform Leif when he comes back here."

(Vi puts her hand on the beetle's shoulder.) "Don't worry, Kabbu, I'll be fine! I can handle myself!"

(Kabbu raised his hand to reach Maki for a shake.) "I'm putting all of my trust in you, Maki. Please come back safe."

"We will. We won't be gone long." "_{What part of "I can handle myself" didn't you get!?}"

(With that, the two walked to the portal along with the group. Kabbu turned his attention to the group with the artificial woman and the green-clothed boy.) "My apologies."

(And then the subject of magic is brought up. Of course, he didn't want to interrupt Link's show-and-tell of his many magical items. Of course, Kabbu furrowed his eyes when a certain divine mask is brought to light. A power with uncontrollable rage is most certainly a terrifying thing and he's glad that Link has the sense of responsibility on not using it willy-nilly. However, the other mask did set that feeling of concern aside for one of amazement.) "Very impressive! A power to change forms must be very helpful! My world is no stranger to magic, but none quite like this."

Skies of Hell's Gate Tokyo, Transport #1 (Vi and Maki): "Their Stuff's Better than My Stuff!"

(Maki kept up his stoic demeanor while Vi looks around in amazement. She made a few comments about how big the buildings are, how many people they house, what kind of foods they ate, whatever responses are on her mind. What stuck out to the two the most is the wall designed to look like the sky itself. But why? Maki did indeed take note of chaos's explanation of the wall. The sentence about the communication and trade between states did get a nod from the mantis.) "Indeed. Perhaps we could use this technology to further enrich Bugaria and we could share some of our technology from both the Ant and Bee Kingdoms."

"Are you kidding me? This is much better than what the bees have! The most they got for travel's just some ropes and wood."

"They also have a honey factory and an almost entirely mechanized work force to keep the honey production going. Not to mention a great number of scientific boons that not even I could explain."

"Yeah, but they don't have this anti-gravity thingy." (Vi stick her tongue at Maki while he shakes his head. This may be longer than I thought, he noted.)

Edited by Ore-O on Jun 28th 2022 at 4:07:15 AM

Sky Palace, Courtyard: Getting Hands Dirty

They kept coming. A wall the size of a house and a trench deeper than Olympic swimming pools...and the pests still kept coming. As the latest gun-toting wannabe hero rolled to a halt, Horai couldn't help but snarl.

He'd been too lenient with mere barriers. To get rid of pests, one has to kill them.

Clapping his hands together, Horai planted both palms on the ground once again. Red sparks danced across the battlefield, collecting along the edge of the makeshift wall (where Taia and Jr. now stood) and towards the Western side of the fight (where Spider-Man had just successfully webbed a Monolithian to the column, and where Manhattan's protector currently stood). The red light emanating around their feet would be the one and only warning for what was about to happen: like a bed of brambles, a wave stone spikes emerged from the ground. 4 feet in length and with tips sharp enough to prick, Horai's latest edition to the battlefield would not only endanger the immediate targets, but it would also add another obstacle for the inevitable reinforcements. With the damage done to the Western side of the courtyard, the heroes would also be less likely to strike from that front.

Unfortunately, the attack was indiscriminate. While Horai's intended targets were Taia, Jr., and Spider-Man, the fact remained that a Monolithian was now stuck to a column. The chances of his brother escaping the webbing in time were slim, and unless the web-slinger sought to endanger his own life to protect him, the Monolithian would almost certainly be skewered by one of the stalagmites. An acceptable sacrifice if it meant destroying the enemies of the Holy Monolith.

As if to chastise the Monolith's Herald for the friendly fire, one of the Angel's arrows met its mark and struck Horai in the back, above his left shoulder blade. However, the blow was far too shallow to do any harm, and the former Director removed the arrow in a swift and effortless motion.

Yet even an ineffective attack could be of some use; the Angel knew that his weapons had way too much force behind them to deal so little damage. Like Alonso had no doubt realized before him, something wasn't adding up.

With the latest adjustment to the battleground complete, it was time for Horai to take a more active role in the fray. The colorful vigilante was one of the most agile of these vermin, which gave him advantage against Horai's slower transmutations. In order to better deal with the stronger and sturdier hostiles later, Spider-Man had to go.

So while the web-slinger was preoccupied (with what, the Monolith's Herald did not care), Horai would rush Manhattan's protector and attempt to strike his chest with...his empty left hand? A bold strategy to say the least, but it would only take a moment for Spidey to realize that the former Director wasn't as unarmed as he appeared: slits of silver opened all across the bare hand, and just before he struck five large talon-like claws emerged, ready to sink deep into the web-slinger's innards.

...

Luca whistled as her new acquaintance was hurled over the wall like a human-sized football. In contrast, her red-haired superior seemed far less amused.

"How annoying." grunted Amagiri. The Contractor raised his right palm towards the barrier, and braced the arm with his left. Suddenly, the large man's body began to glow with a soft blue aura, not unlike starlight—his eyes tinted with an eerie bright red light. In his pocket, a circular object appeared to glow the same blue light surrounding his figure, as if it were responding to whatever Amagiri was doing, joining its power with his.

"You miiight wanna cover your ears for this part." Luca warned the party before following her own advice.

A moment later, a powerful force shot out of Amagiri's palm, nearly staggering the large man with the kickback. When the speed of sound caught up with the blast, the BOOOOM!!! that erupted was almost deafening. A chunk of the wall shot through into the battlefield endangering friend and foe alike, leaving a hole the size of a door for fresh reinforcements to rush through.

...assuming that they could vault over the trench and through the bed of stalagmites, of course. But for Luca, Amagiri, and Kobayashi, the next step was to hoof it down the trench and climb up to the other side.

Trevor & Sypha, Common Room

Both Trevor and Sypha understood the point Kyubey was trying to make even if the words weren't that familiar to them, namely that one shouldn't take their power for granted.

"Transformative magic," Trevor looked over at Deku Link, impressed. When Kyubey mentioned the masks containing the souls of the being whose visage it depicted, Travor looked to his Vampire Killer and frowned.

"I carry with me my holy whip, the Vampire Killer, my daggers, my axes, my holy water, and my cross boomerang," Trevor showed off his weapons in turn. Trevor was glad that Link had the sense of responsibility to know not to use a dangerous artefact as the Fierce Deity Mask willy-nilly.

Dracula, Castlevania

"Ganondorf's world and my own are similar in utilizing artefacts and magic instead of technology and spacecraft, perhaps a bit too similar," Dracula stated. "Having been here longer than most of the other chunks, I have experienced a little of what space technology had to offer."

"The northern and eastern walls for example was built by large transforming robots to keep out a chunk full of large transforming robots, and a while ago, all of the chunks were invaded by a spacefaring Empire and their white armored warriors," Dracula then nodded to Raven Beak. "All of them had disappeared from Battleworld long before you showed up, but I would appreciate the help."

Edited by GameGuruGG on Jul 3rd 2022 at 5:12:03 AM

Common Room: "Healing" vs. "Trapping" (a.k.a. How Parts of Majora's Mask can Look REALLY Messed Up if You Think About It)

Perhaps surprisingly, the ferret cat's reasonable presumption was met with some impressive protest from Tatl.

"What?! NO! Trapping a soul in a vessel like that is nothing short of black magic! That's the most dangerous and most evil sort there is!"

As the fairy seethed with the biggest "What is WRONG with you?" tone she could, the little Deku Scrub was busy giggling at sudden touch on his arm. Link flexed the arm KOS-MOS was studying, striking a masculine pose as the wooden arm—to the surprise of no one—remained inflexible.

<A Deku Scrub's the race; this little guy's named Alder. He's the son of Hornbeam, the butler to the Deku Scrub King in Woodfall Swamp.>

"He means was." Tatl corrected, but not without a sigh. "The masks don't contain the souls of the dead; they contain the pain and regret that's preventing the spirit from moving on to the next world."

<But it's not as bad as that sounds!> the little scrub interjected. While he focused on KOS-MOS, Link couldn't help but glance at the vampire hunters to see if they disapproved. <As long as the masks exist, there's still a part of them that's left. They're not completely gone, and I know what they wanted to do before they...> he fished for a substitute phrase before "speaking" with a grim mumble: <...ran out of time.>

Then, as if to hook the subject and reel it out of the murky depths, the little hero hopped and spread his arms wide in (possibly feigned) excitement. <But that's why I don't just use the masks to save the kingdom their friends and family call home—I make sure to set things right for their spirits! Alder here loves to race his Dad in this big obstacle course behind the Deku Scrub Palace, so I made sure to race Hornbeam once the swamp was rid of evil. That way, part of Alder could race his Dad one more time!>

As if to demonstrate, the Deku Scrub began to zoom^note well...waddle, complete with a quack-like sound effect around the group, evidently unaware that the purple dragon he'd been wary of ten minutes earlier had decided to visit a city.

<And he didn't take it easy on me, no siree. I had to jump over running water!> he jumped! <Spin around sharp turns!> he spun! <Do cartwheels just because they're fun!> he...tried, but seemed to have miscalculated that his body was about 50% head now, so he fumbled into an unstable head-spin before falling prone with a thud. A triumphant thumbs up emerged a moment later, along with the telepathic announcement <I'm okay!>

While her partner strained to lighten the mood, Tatl was acutely aware that some of the more mature listeners might connect some morally ambiguous dots; what's more, some of these more mature listeners held opinions the fairy actually valued, so she inconspicuously began to flutter over towards Trevor and Sypha:

"So, here's the thing:" the fairy muttered between Trevor's right ear and Sypha's left. "I'm aware that what the kid's doing basically amounts to impersonating the recently departed before most people know they're dead. It's a lie that can't last forever, and more importantly it's just plain messed up. But at the same time, he's determined to put a smile on every face in the kingdom at least once, and helping folks out as Fake-Darmani and Fake-Mikau and Fake...well this is the first time I've heard the name but Fake-Alder, it has gotten us stuff that helped us out in our quest later on. So I'd appreciate it if you'd be a little lenient on judging the kid's actions...and me being his reluctant accomplice, and whatever."

It was right around then that Kabuu mentioned that his world wasn't a stranger to magic either. Hearing the (literal) magic word, the Deku Scrub scrambled to his feet and waddled over to the giant beetle—a figure that looked even more giant now that the boy was a full foot shorter.

<REALLY? What kinda magic does Bugaria have, Kabuu?>

Meeting Room: Define "Intervention"

Amber nodded idly with the mention of discrepancies between loops. It sounded like the standard butterfly effect; coins landing tails instead of heads, choosing to go out for ramen instead of sushi, watching the news instead of a game show. Seemingly inconsequential differences caused by chance, only taken to their inevitable conclusion: a decision that's grave enough to have dire consequences. For this poor girl, at least.

Speaking of which...

"What about this cycle?" Amber asked. "Did your intervention save everyone on your team this time around?"

Now it was Amber who was choosing her words carefully.

Velvet Room: "What Is A Man? A Miserable Pile of You Get the Drill."

Huang was not an easy person to like; the old man would be the first to admit it. He was sullen, cynical, and had a personality as gruff as his face. He trusted people as far as he could throw them because over the years he'd had a few knives jammed in his back. He hated his job almost as much as he hated working with Gate-altered freaks...even if he was starting to realize that these freaks weren't all that bad. So he wasn't surprised that his audience was less than pleased by his commentary—with the apparently high privilege optimistic vibe he got from this group, he'd find it stranger if they agreed with him.

He was not, however, expecting the outburst from Shion. The squat man's frame squished a little more from the volume alone.

"Wha? Calm down, kid. I ain't tryin' to be mean to her, that's just what Dolls are. It's part of what makes 'em Dolls in the first place." In a moment of semi-desperation, Huang gestured to Misaki. "Help me out here, Chief."

"I'm not your Chief." Misaki leered, silently grateful for the opportunity to make the older man eat his words. Turning towards the deeply upset Shion, the Section Chief's expression softened...even if her words weren't a complete refutation. "There's still so much we don't know about Dolls, or anything else related to the Gates. They've only been around for about a decade, but regardless of what's happened to them they're still people and deserve the same human rights as anyone else."

She tried REALLY hard to not think about Astronomics as she said those words. About Madame Stargazer, and the dozen Dolls working around the clock in their isolation pools. All so that they could stay one step ahead of any Contractors in the city. To "keep the public safe."

And we're supposed to be the Good Guys. she thought.

Turning her attention towards the quieter outburst, Misaki answered Jin's assumption with a nod. "We know for a fact that PANDORA has offered Mitakihara's Acting Mayor a seat at their table, a man named Kurogane. We believe that part of their agreement is to use Mitakihara's medical facilities to mass produce chemicals and supplies of either PANDORA's design, or one of their partners. Unfortunately, that's all we can gather on the project right now.

"We also suspect that Nishijima has made contact with someone important in Archades, possibly even their leader. The details are hazy, but it seems PANDORA has recruited a consultant to oversee production of flying vehicles unlike anything from our Earth. Now that Nishijima is taking bolder steps to expand his influence, I'm sure we'll see a lot of these vehicles in our airspace very soon."

At the mention of avoiding (what seemed to be yet another) conspiracy, Misaki offered the Seekers of Zarathustra a small smile. "While I wouldn't turn down allies, I'm aware that this isn't a fight for everyone. My associates and I won't ask you to choose sides, and like I said before: it's doubtful Nishijima even knows we're talking right now. Long as you give PANDORA a wide berth, you and your friends should be fine."

Finally, Yin turned her head towards the friendly voice before giving Shion a small nod.

"Water." she said in a soft, monotonous tone. The idea of "seeing" who she was talking to held some merit; she was awfully good at distinguishing people by the sound of their voice, but it couldn't hurt to get a visual. Assuming a glass was fetched for her, Yin would gingerly accept the medium before emerging her index finger into it.

"There's a Surveillance Specter peeking out of the glass right now." Hei informed Shion. "Normally only Contractors and other Dolls can see and hear them. They look like thin ghostly amoebas, and when they emerge and disperse they let out this low moan, kind of like the way whales talk."

A moment later, and Hei recalled that he was speaking to space-farers from the distant future. "Whales are these massive water mammals on Earth that swim in the ocean. They're the largest animals on the planet, and our world's scientists recently discovered that they use lots of different kinds of moans to talk with each other." Then he added, with a chuckle: "I think they've even used them to sing."

Edited by TheodoreHastings on Jul 11th 2022 at 7:09:08 AM

Sky Palace

Seeing the danger that was beneath her feet, and seeing that she wasn't the only one in danger, Taia yelped and leaped away before addressing Jr. to alert him of the danger. "You must move!"

As for the Angel, his eyes narrowed. He'd put quite a bit of force into that shot, and all he had to show for it was Horai so casually removing it? This was becoming vexing. "He must possess armor of some kind...there must be a way to pierce it..."

Common Room (Kabbu): There's Magic and Exposition in the Air

(With the question of magic directed towards Kabbu, while conveniently not hearing the part where the masks are made from other people he responded.) "Magic in Bugaria mainly consists of the crystals on this land. Primarily, they are used to power machines and provide light for us. However, we don't know where the magic comes from or how these crystals are formed. For bugs using magic, that is much rarer. To our knowledge, only around ten bugs can utilize magic on their own. One of our teammates, Leif, can summon ice at will and erect a barrier. I would ask him for a demonstration, but he's currently inside one of the rooms down there." (He looks at the corridor where all the Chunkless groups go to.)

"I know that the protective magic is in place there, but I'm still a little concerned with Leif." (A look of concern can be seen in Kabbu's eyes before something popped up in his mind.) "Oh! I almost forgot! There was a civilization before our current one known as the Roaches, and they had a grasp on magic and technology unlike anything we have seen before. However, they disappeared, and no one knows why, but artifacts of theirs still remained. In fact, they left behind an incredible treasure: The Everlasting Sapling! A plant that contains so much power that even eating a single leaf can grant unending strength and youth! In fact, that's what my team and so many other explorers are looking for."

(Kabbu's exuberance at explaining to the now-wooden boy could potentially be heard to the others in the group, but he did not mind it. After all, he trusted them with this information enough that they can't possibly do anything bad with the Sapling or use it for nefarious purposes.)

Conference Room 2

Homura answered with a nod. “It was the first time all of them survived to April 30th. Enough to defeat Walpurgisnacht. Enough that none of them died fighting it. Enough...for all of them to see what came after it." She glanced out the door after concluding. "As you said, I have to start thinking about what comes after Walpurgisnacht. You do make a good point – even if I were to go back to March 16th, I would still have to figure out a plan for all of them after Walpurgisnacht is defeated if they're still around."

Velvet Room

Both Mami and Sayaka perked up when they overheard Misaki's update on cross-Chunk relations. Having finished their food, both of them got up to approach Misaki. "Wait, you're telling me our mayor's involved in this?" Sayaka asked.

"I had a feeling he wouldn't have been doing nothing once City Hall became aware of our situation," Mami added.

"Yeah, but joining up with some sketchy-ass conspiracy?"

"Not surprising to me either, Miki-san. Our city may be an up-and-comer in our universe, but the politics can be as conniving and dirty as any other. We still have yakuza, after all. Though I would like to ask how you came to learn of this," Mami said, turning to Misaki. "It wouldn't be wise to take everything from someone we've just met at face-value."

Common Room

<I won't judge,> Kyubey replied simply.

Edited by megarockman on Jul 14th 2022 at 1:16:59 PM

Common Room

Although she could hear Tatl perfectly well thanks to her finely tuned audio sensors, KOS-MOS, like Kyubey, chose not to judge Link and his fairy friend for their apparent transgressions. She turned to Kabbu as he explained the state of magic in his world and mentioned a number of interesting facts. Most of what he'd said she stowed away in her memory for later use, but there was one thing she felt the need to comment on:

"Kabbu, I think it would be wise not to speak about the Everlasting Sapling in a location such as this where information travels so freely. I know that none of us here would go in search of an artifact that provides infinite power and youth for nefarious purposes, but the same surely cannot be said of everyone who learns of it, and this room is closely watched. For example, that blue entity sitting on the coat over there is used to watch and listen remotely." She pointed to the Surveillance Specter. "That said, I have gathered that these rooms to the side are used for private meetings, so if there is anything you would like to talk about in secret, I would suggest we all take our collective conversation to one of those."

Velvet Room

"I see!" Shion replied at Hei's explanation, fascinated. "I've heard of whales, but I thought they were just made-up until today. The same goes for horses. I wonder if this planet has any marine life..."

"Well, I suppose we may be able to find out soon, if none of these fine people know," Jin said, then inclined his head at Misaki. "Regardless, I'm thankful that you won't insist on us joining one side or the other of your brewing conflict. However, I would hardly say we're averse to fighting for a righteous cause, and I doubt our... host will be happy with us sitting on our laurels. So, depending on what the rest of our group thinks, and depending on what else we learn about the situation, we may join you yet, Miss Kirihara."

At Mami and Sayaka's interjection, Jin raised, then lowered an eyebrow, keeping a calm smile. "Pardon me for interrupting, but based upon what she was saying earlier, I believe Miss Kirihara was only recently let in on the conspiracy in question, after she became her city's appointed representative," he explained. "I gather that someone higher up in her faction of the organization decided she should be in the loop in a bid to strengthen their hand vis-a-vis what she's referring to as the 'PANDORA' faction of the same conspiracy. Or, perhaps I'm being too cynical, and she was simply informed because someone in the organization felt that telling her the truth would be the right thing to do. However, I notice you said 'our mayor'. I take it that means you're from Mitakihara, and not part of Minako's group?"

"Right in one! These two are Tomoe Mami-chan and Miki Sayaka-chan, friends of mine from Mitakihara," Minako confirmed, raising her hand to indicate the blonde, then the blunette. "Er, I guess in your naming order they would be Mami Tomoe and Sayaka Miki. 'Chan' is—"

"A diminutive honorific for children or close friends," Jin filled in with a happy nod. "I don't know if you were able to guess from my attire or our names, but Shion and I are distantly descended from the Japanese, and some knowledge and customs from ancient times have survived to the present day of our universe. So, although we don't use them in our language anymore, I know what the associated honorifics are. Of course, Shion thinks it's all stuffy, old nonsense." He crinkled his eyes at his sister.

"Because it is stuffy, old nonsense!" Shion retorted, rolling her eyes. "No offense to your culture, ladies, but I see no reason to use honorifics or titles beyond Mr., Ms., and Mx., except to create an unnecessary hierarchy! So, please, just use those or our names without anything else attached, and I hope you don't mind if we do the same." She paused, then shook her head, smiling. "What am I saying? We haven't even introduced ourselves yet! I'm Shion Uzuki, this is my brother, Jin, and this is our friend and my former work colleague, Allen Ridgeley. Nice to meet you, Mami and Sayaka!"

"Hey there!" Allen added, giving them a somewhat awkward wave.

Minako, however, was already moving on to answer Leif. "Sure, we can move to the dining room and get you something to eat if you want! We actually just finished breakfast ourselves, but I don't mind! That way you can meet the rest of my team, too! You can order whatever you like, and the Velvet Room's attendants should be able to make it, as long as you know of or can imagine it!" She got up and moved back over to the dining room, motioning for the others to follow. After a glance at one another, and after the rest of the introductions with the people in the main room were done with, Shion, Jin, and Allen followed The Fool to the table.

Sky Palace

"Shit!" Jr. cursed, diving to the side as Taia warned him and the ground underneath lit up in what in his experience was obviously an attack of some kind. He was, of course, proven right as stone skewers shot up immediately afterward.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man, who had easily dodged the stalagmites due to his Spider-Sense, let out a loud "NO!" as the Monolithian he'd webbed to the column was brutally and fatally impaled by his commander's own attack. Enraged, he turned just far enough toward Horai in time to register and dodge the metallic talons aimed for his emblem-covered chest, stepping deftly to the left and then throwing a furious right-hook at the man's head while the opponent was finishing the motion of his attack.

Ziggy and MOMO, on the other hand, obediently covered their ears at Luca's suggestion, though Amagiri's blow to the wall still reverberated through their skulls.

"Wow," MOMO commented in the aftermath.

"That was certainly impressive," Ziggy agreed as the others made their way down the trench. "However, it would seem there's yet another obstacle in our way. I'll take care of that." Summoning a boxy, trapezoidal slab of metal with several large holes in the front via voice command, he took aim at the rocky spikes and fired a single rocket at them, blowing open a path to Black Panther and the two remaining forward Monolithians with another BOOM! and a scattering of stone fragments.

While the cyborg man reloaded his rocket launcher just in case, MOMO leveled her bow-looking weapon, carefully targeting the forward Monolithian furthest from Black Panther, then fired off a pink bolt of plasma that zipped through the air, seeming like a pink streak of light aimed for the adversary's head.

HGT, Skies, With Vi, Maki, Nishijima

"I see..." chaos frowned at hearing that so much had been lost due to Hell's Gate, closing his eyes for several moments in a silent prayer for all those who had died.

At Vi and Maki's observations and light arguing, however, he resumed a small smile. "Based on what I've heard so far, it sounds like there are plenty of interesting places to see in Bugaria. I don't know if it will be today, since I'm not sure how things will develop after this, but I hope to visit your homeland someday soon as well," he said, nodding at them.

"On the topic of Archades, though..." he continued, turning back to Nishijima, "What can you tell me about them in terms of their technological level, culture, or relative stance? They're an Empire, so I would expect their foreign policy to be fairly aggressive just based on historical empires, but have they actually attempted to extend their dominion at all since coming to Battleworld?"

Edited by darksidevoid on Jul 22nd 2022 at 6:44:00 AM