HGT Skies, Transport 1: Imperialism on An Ever-Shifting Planet

To save Maki some much-needed face, Nishijima elected to not look in Vi's direction. Instead, he gave the mantis a polite smile and the smallest of shrugs, as a subtle gesture of empathy.

"The technology available to PANDORA is not the work of a single man, but an agreement among many for the sake of mutual benefit. I am not one to turn my nose at a potential partnership for something as superficial as appearances. Should Bugaria wish to join our fellowship, I'm sure that we can find something in your kingdoms that's worthy of trade."

Turning to chaos' cynical question about PANDORA's most promising ally, Nishijima's smile faded almost entirely.

"I recognize that you are new to the planet and are unfamiliar with its nature, so your question is hardly a surprise. But you must understand, chaos: Battleworld is in a constant state of fluctuation. Entire civilizations arrive and depart in a matter of hours, some vanishing within moments of appearing on the map. Taking an imperial approach to the planet is a pipe dream at best, and a monstrous waste of lives and resources at worst. Even if he wanted to, Lord Vayne is well aware that any ideas of playing conqueror are nothing but a fool's errand."

Trusting that the message would be heard beneath the objectionable tone, the Research Director let out a small exhale and addressed a different side of the young man's questions.

"As for their technological state, Archades thrives on a blend of magic and technology that's entirely foreign to our world's concepts of reality, even the new field of physics created by the Gates. These ships for example harness a mineral with magical properties called a Sky Stone, which possess some intangible connection to the world's celestial space granting the vehicle the ability to fly. It's a crude and rudimentary explanation, I know, but I have had little opportunity to study Archadian magic—although Lord Vayne assures me that the fundamentals are easy enough to grasp, so long as one has the proper texts and a half-decent tutor.

"Archades is divided into a variety of districts based primarily on social standing; a rather disappointing relic to an otherwise progressive metropolis, but at least one's ability to rise and fall through the ranks is not determined at birth, like some other civilizations throughout history. Their 'relative stance' is peaceful and welcoming of most travelers, so long as they meet with the Judges beside the city's portal and state their business. Though Lord Vayne and I share a common disdain for Outworld, which remains the only state to take the aggressive imperialistic approach you expected of Archades, chaos."

The guests might feel butterflies in their stomach as the vehicle stopped moving forward and instead made a small lurch downwards, marking their descent back to the ground. A minute later, and the transport rested on a large slab of concrete sandwiched between two titanic structures that could only be layers of the giant wall they had spotted on the way here.

Nishijima smiled. "Welcome to PANDORA."

HGT Skies, Transport 2: Signing the Waiver

"H-how long?" For some reason the question caught Mr. Vokert by surprise. Perhaps he was distracted by the two different tones Ridley used for the word "bored:" first as reassurance, and then as a looming threat.

"We should be arriving in a minute o-or so. S-sorry for the wait."

That "minute o-or so" was probably the longest collection of seconds in the poor man's life. When the transport finally landed, Mr. Vokert almost leapt at the opportunity to open the door...for Ridley, of course. Wouldn't want to burden the guest with something as tedious as that.

The scene that awaited Ridley outside the transport wasn't quite like where the other transport landed: it was a slab of concrete floor sandwiched between two walls taller than any skyscraper in the city beyond, but that was where most of the noteworthy similarities ended. Maki, chaos, and Vi would find themselves standing beside a transport among a long row of transports, with men and women coming and going between the vehicles and the handful of entryways into the facility. Based on the design, it seemed clear that this makeshift hanger had been intended for transportation from the get-go, albeit the grounded type based on the paved roads on either side of the transport line. Nevertheless, there was a sense of rush and flow in the movement, and subsequently a sense of life.

In contrast, everything around Ridley appeared static, rigid. With closed gates on both ends of the paved plane, the area might seem a touch claustrophobic; the only expanse laid high above the Space Pirate's head, like the world's deepest manmade pit. What counted for "things of interest" amounted to slabs of concrete a 21st century driver might recognize as highway dividers. These bulky pieces of junk appeared to have been stationed at random, as if the designers were lazily treating the square area like storage. That, or they were trying to place the dividers at random.

The transport that carried Ridley into this area departed a few minutes after arrival, with (a very relieved) Mr. Vokert onboard. From the otherwise complete silence of the area, Ridley could gather that the cowardly Institute man was relaying the information given to him about the Space Pirate's physiology, and judging by the swift exit, a decision was made to skip the blood samples until after the test. Wouldn't want to tempt the bloodthirsty subject with yet more boredom.

However, the vehicle wasn't out of range of Ridley's tail before speakers screeched to life and echoed the first testing taps of an unseen microphone:

"Hello? Is this thing on? Spread your wings if you can hear me."

Assuming the Space Pirate did so (reluctantly or not, the voice didn't seem to care), the speaker would continue.

"Greetings, Mr...Ridley, was it? I am Dr. Sergei Vectrof, and I will be managing this test of PANDORA's latest assets. First and foremost, I wanted to thank you for your participation. Mr. Nishijima has hopes that you will help us see the best in our security measures, and for that your work is greatly appreciated! To ensure that you walk out of this in one piece, we would like to establish a signal to determine when you are suffering serious injury or grow weary. Something visual that can be easily recognized without the need for much exertion on your part. If you would be so kind to take a moment to decide on a signal, and to demonstrate it now..."

Assuming the Space Pirate complied, Dr. Vectrof would continue.

"Excellent! Once we see that signal, I shall give the command for the assets to stand down, and the test will end. Our staff will then provide you with treatments for any injuries you may have endured, as well as your compensation.

"Now for the outline of this test: it shall consist of a series of waves that begin with a transport entry to the testing site. Due to the fact that our current pilots are humans and PANDORA values their safety, I must insist that you do not attack or damage the transports in any way. Each wave will begin with an alarm, at which point the assets will be ordered to open fire upon you—and you shall be free to fire back! You are free to use whatever cover is provided in the area and can fly up to 250 meters of the Gates walls, but I request you do not exceed that height due to a lack of range in the weaponry provided. Aside from the transports, there is no need to show restraint—you may destroy the assets as much or as little as you like. The wave will end once every test subject is destroyed, or you give us the signal to ceasefire. At which point, the alarm will sound again to signal the next transport to begin its descent.

"Do you understand the summary of this test? Please nod your head once if you do, and twice if you agree to these terms."

Meeting Room (Amber): It's Not Over Yet

Amber shared Homura's glance to the door, albeit to picture a different image of "what comes next."

"Is it wishful thinking to ask if Kyubey isn't on Battleworld?"

Of course it was. Whether Homura answered the glowing girl or not, she would sigh and thank her for answering a silly question.

"Sounds like your work's not done, then. Maybe it won't be done till that person you're trying to protect ages out of the Magical Girl demographic."

For the second time in their conversation, Amber seemed to grasp the one straw that led to an unsettling amount of truth. But just as she had done earlier, deduction based on shreds of information wasn't a superpower only Contractors could possess.

Not that Amber was about to waste time walking through her thought process Parlor Room style.

"If you don't mind, I have a favor to ask: could you keep an eye on a blind girl with silver hair? She's from my version of Tokyo, goes by 'Yin,' and is about the age of your blonde-haired friend. The one you first arrived in the Common Room with. Yin might seem timid and soft-spoken, but she has the potential to bring about the greatest change in human history...or the power to wipe us all out, if the plan doesn't go just right. I'd hate to see what kind of Magical Girl somebody like that could become. Or what kind of Witch."

Despite the ominous message, Amber glanced back towards the door with a smile. Optimistic with hard-earned experience, or just plain hopeful that things will turn out well in the end.

"She's not the only one who might awaken to that power, but it sounds like she's the only one we'll need to keep away from Kyubey. There's another here on Battleworld, but his development's a few years farther behind. Besides, from your account it sound like having a Y-chromosome's a disqualifier."

Castlevania

Raven Beak raised an eyebrow behind his helmet. He should have expected that the Cure also brought beings relying on technology that was able to create spacecraft.

More importantly, unlike Dragmire, Von Tepes managed to get used to it and even decided to use it. The walls and that failed invasion from those armored warriors he mentioned only proved that.

Though he had more time to adjust than himself or Ganondorf, the count's ability to adapt to this new world slightly impressed Raven Beak. He was way more open-minded than he originally believed.

   "It would be my pleasure to assist you, Count Dracula."    the Mawkin overlord said, bowing his head at the vampire.

   "As of now, I, unfortunately, have little to offer you, asides from perhaps showing you some abilities of my Power Suit, a taste of what the Chozo can achieve, and examinating the technological infrastructures you already possess if you wish. The Cure only summoned me here and I heavily suspect he somehow weakened me. Rest assured, as leader of my "chunkless" group, I plan to eventually summon a scientist with me. One that I believe will be of use."    he said.

Raven Beak still had some plans for Quiet Robe, after all.

   "In the meantime, I would not be against learning more about your current allies, asides from the King of the Gerudos, if that does not bother you of course. I understand you must be an assiduous man. That is the least I can do, if we are to work together. Lord Ganondorf also spoke of an... impertinent masked imp lurking somewhere in your castle."    Raven Beak continued. While he was more than satisfied with Dracula and especially Ganondorf, he still has doubts about the others.

HGT, skies

Ridley didn't even look at Vokert as he finally exited the transport. The dragon growled as he quivered his body.

As fun as it was to mess up with "Greenie", he was feeling a bit tight inside the transport.

Ridley then looked at his surroundings. Everything was static, claustrophobic, even.

He loved that. If anything, it reminded him of Tourian, Mother Brain's headquarters on Zebes. Ridley almost felt like seeing the big brain again.

The dragon grinned one last time at "Greenie" as he left, just because he was enjoying it. The space dragon then turned his head towards the speakers as a voice suddenly spoke to him.

Ridley rolled his eyes when the voice asked him to spread his wings as if he was some kind of test subject. Couldn't the idiot just come here?

Then again he technically was a test subject right now.

Whatever. Ridley complied and stretched his wings. Not that he greatly cared, but he seriously needed to do that anyway after spending such a long time in a tight place.

The voice then introduced himself. Sergei Vectrof. At least this human didn't sound like a complete moron like "Greenie" was. Good.

Though Ridley was sure those "assets" were no match for him, his many prior defeats flattened his ego and he also complied with Vectrof's request for a signal, in case he was in "danger".

The space dragon sighed. Too bad the moron wanted something visual. Otherwise, he would have let one of his signature roars. A big and very loud roar akin to these. Loud enough to make anyone too close's ears bleed.

Instead, the Space Pirate took flight and stomped on the floor, three times. Each time, it almost trembled because of the impact. That was the signal. Three consecutive stomps on the floor.

Satisfied, Ridley then listened to the outlines of the test. The only downside was that once again, he couldn't harm the pilots.

That's a shame. He had a lot of monstrous ideas regarding them.

Asides from that minor inconvenience, the Space Pirate understood everything and nodded twice with a bloodthirsty grin.

Edited by Scipion3 on Aug 3rd 2022 at 12:17:25 PM

Sky Palace

With his spot in the sky, and with his own attacks proving to be less effective than they truly ought to be, the Angel had a choice to make. Taking a few moments to think it over, he nodded in affirmation to himself and addressed each of his Champions through their respective Jewels.

"Their commander must fall if we're to prevail! Advance, I'll cover you as much as I'm able!" He told them, and with this in mind, the Angel of Light began zipping around the skies, darting from Champion to Champion and lodging arrows in whatever Monolithians hounded their movements. As for the Champions themselves, they had to rely on closing the distance bit by bit with the aid of the others.

Taia, realizing that out of all of them she might have the best chance of doing some real damage, stepped closer and closer amidst the disrupted floor as she addressed her allies. "Cover me, please. I need a moment to charge." Planting her feet, she began to do exactly that, holding her bow and taking aim at Horai as energy built within her, the air growing colder around her as a result.

PANDORA, Testing Site: Wave 1—BEGIN!

A few heartbeats after the second nod, and Ridley might notice the sky grow a bit darker. The reason why was obvious enough, judging by the shadow by his feet slowly beginning to grow, encapsulating him before slowly gliding away behind a healthy gap between dividers.

Judging by what he'd encountered at the portal to this human city, Ridley wouldn't be surprised by what stepped out of the transport's doors: 10 frail-framed automatons wielding weapons so small they could easily be mistaken for toys. The machines marched out of the transport in-step, fanned out over the span of twenty feet (utterly ignoring the dividers) and stood motionless, awaiting orders.

Said order came once the transport was in the air and well out of range: an alarm echoed through the testing ground, and all 10 Synths raised their laser pistols and proceeded to open fire on Ridley.

Velvet Room: Mr. Brightside has A Permanent Frown

Hei's eyebrows raised at the thought of mythological horses, and quietly wondered what would've convinced Shion that they were real. However, the interjection of two of Homura's associates caught his attention—as it did Jin and Misaki.

For a moment, Misaki wanted to let Jin keep his cynical view of her recruitment into the Syndicate. Kobayashi wasn't ambiguous about the reasons, even if some of them didn't even pertain to her position as the Cure-appointed delegate. Still, a part of her knew that leaving that impression be wouldn't do her or her side any favors. Jin might have (or at least feign) a disinterested view of her camp of the Syndicate, but there was no guarantee that his allies would feel the same way. Hell, she already knew they wouldn't look at the matter objectively—Shion's objection to Doll treatment was all the evidence she needed.

So the Section Chief sighed, and adjusted her glasses before speaking to Sayaka, Mami, and Jin.

"The man who knows Mayor Kurogane is the official leader of our side: a self-proclaimed 'civil servant' named Goro Kobayashi. Apparently he's been a sympathizer for Gate-altered individuals since the beginning, advocating for their equal rights and to abolish the policies that keep them hidden from the public. From what I can tell, these were minority opinions in the Syndicate back on Earth; lucky for us, we're no longer on Earth, and this former minority now has considerable footing in Tokyo."

Turning a bit more directly to the Magical Girls, Misaki continued: "I don't know what relationship Kobayashi had with Kurogane, but whatever happened it seems that Nishijima had a better offer. That said, we have no plans to take our fight to Mitakihara. If your mayor wants to make deals with PANDORA, we have no right to disrupt them. Let's just hope he realizes that working with Eric Nishijima is more trouble than it's worth."

Mami might sense a pair of dark eyes turned to her. Evidently, the guy in the black coat had taken a small interest in the Magical Girl—or rather, who she likely knew.

"Would you happen to know somebody called Anko Tanaka? Not sure if that's her real name, but it's the one she gave me. About this tall, red hair, brown eyes, has quite an appetite—"

"You're one to talk." teased Huang. Hei ignored him, and continued.

"Most of what I know about her's that she's from Mitakihara and she can communicate like that...thing, that accompanied Homura Akemi through most of what we went through yesterday. Weird to think there's talking house pets walking around here."

"Maoooooooww." teased Mao. Hei ignored him, too.

Common Room: Link is the New Lorax

Perhaps to the surprise of the newcomers present, the happy Deku Scrub's mood plummeted as Kabbu described the goal of his team. No more hopping and running around; just angry eyes and wooden arms crossed in a VERY disapproving manner.

<And why'd you want to eat something like that? Magic plants shouldn't be eaten, Kabbu. They should be allowed to grow up big and strong! Hurting a sapling can keep it from growing, and you want to risk its life just to feel young again? That's selfish and wrong and not okay!>

Link stamped his foot in protest, and it was that motion that reminded Tatl of the last time somebody brought up the death of flora. Perhaps Trevor would also recall how Link reacted when Ren stated that trees die to bring in new life in other forms, and how the little hero had screamed and shouted as if the Huntsman had just insulted his mother.

Once again, the fairy felt obligated to apologize for her partner. This was starting to become a rather annoying habit.

"The kid has a big soft spot for trees. He grew up in a forest with a..." she turned towards the Deku Scrub, "Guardian Spirit in the form of a tree, right?"

Link doubled down on his disapproval and turned his eyes downwards in a pout. <I don't wanna talk about it.>

Good enough for Tatl. She sighed, and turned back to the beetle. "If you want my two Ruppees, Kabbu: this Everlasting Sapling's probably a hoax. From what I've seen, mortals are big fans of thinking up easy means of wish-fulfillment. 'Riches, fame, eternal life, all yours for the taking if you can accomplish what literally nobody else has done before!' Doesn't that sound a little too good to be true? Besides, even if this thing does exist, it probably doesn't do what you want it to do. If the Roaches could use it to live forever, they'd probably still be around. Don't you think?"

Talk about a Debby Downer. Maybe she was just trying to throw off any potential eavesdroppers...?

Testing site

Ridley simply waited, deep down really wanting to just blow the cargo up as soon as it showed up. The dragon stared at the 10 automatons as they stepped out of the transport. He stayed still, staring at them with his yellow, fire-filled eyes.

Were it not for his bloodlust, he would have burst into laughter at how ridiculous the weapons looked. Then again, this was just the first wave.

As the alarm rang, so did Ridley. The Space Pirate let out an ear-deafening roar before taking flight.

Though he was a big target for the automatons, his speed more than made up for it, as he dodged every gunshot. First, Ridley targeted four of them at once as he spin his tail before launching it at the four automatons, trying to impale them before ripping them apart.

Trevor & Sypha, Common Room

As Tatl whispered about the masks, Trevor continued to look down at his Vampire Killer. Trevor glanced over at Sypha.

"So long as the power is being used for good, we won't complain," Trevor said to both Sypha and Tatl. "And he does seem to understand the difference between benign magic and magic that should be limited to emergencies given his treatment of the Fierce Deity's Mask."

"I agree with Tatl here," Trevor said to Kabbu, and Sypha nodded in agreement. Both Trevor and Sypha were willing to believe the Everlighting Sapling existed, but she was right to believe there was some sort of catch to it that might not be want the people looking for it want.

Dracula, Castlevania

"You speak of Majora," Dracula nodded to Raven Beak. "He is a childish imp, yes, but it is because of him that Ganondorf was brought to this planet."

"Both Majora and I are leaders of our own groups," Dracula explained. "Naturally, I was lucky enough to have my own land brought here with me as well."

"I can call someone to find it for you if that is what you wish," Dracula offered to Raven Beak. "Otherwise, I am willing to accept your help."

Sky Palace

Hearing Angel's instructions T'Challa decided that this battle had gone for long enough, he jumped in the air and punched the ground as he came down in order to push away all the enemies surrounding him nearby and after that, he began to run on four legs like the animal he was named after looking to reach the enemy commander as fast as possible "understood, I'll try to take down their leader and put an end to this once and for all" he had his claws out while he was dodging their shots as much as he could, ready to kill if he had to so he could end the battle.

Manhattan, Wakandan Embassy.

Seeing that the elf-looking people were now dealing with the leader of the demons and that his men were getting surrounded alongside the reporters from new york by the rest of those criminals, M'Baku decided to forger about that fight for now and came back to them ready to help his comrades, he pulled out a couple of combat knives and jumped at the demons ready to take them all down.

Conference Room 2

"The Incubators were brought along with us. If you had seen Tomoe-san the first day we were at the Common Room you likely have also seen the small white creature she was carrying. That's Kyubey. Normally they should be invisible to anyone who is not a Magical Girl or a candidate, but it seems The Cure removed that ability of theirs outside of our city."

Homura listened to Amber's request. "She sounds like the kind of person Kyubey would pursue hard to make the contract. Though it is odd so far that I have not heard of any possible Witch encounters outside of Mitakihara, with so many magically potent people here, it would not be like them to ignore making them Magical Girls if they could. Nonetheless, if she's as important as you say she is, keeping an eye on her would be prudent. What do you know of her normal habits? It would be easier to keep track if I were aware of what she normally does – or doesn't do."

Velvet Room

"I suppose it would be naive to think our political leadership would have been sitting idly this past week." Mami pondered the implications for a moment. "Though I suspect this means we should probably keep lines of communication between us open if things start developing that concern either of us."

"We can do that, Shion, if it'll make you feel more comfortable talking with us." Sayaka offered her hand for a greeting shake. "Though it might take some time to adjust for us, so sorry in advance if we screw up out of habit."

The two Magical Girls were then approached by Hei inquiring about another girl. Neither of them showed any recognition at first regarding the name, but Sayaka's face would betray it once he got to her physical description. Mami's eyes caught Sayaka's look, caught Hei's eyes catching that look, and made some quick calculations in her own mind. "Yes, we know who you're talking about. Has she been troubling you somehow?"

Mami elected not to correct Kyoko's apparent use of a fake name for Hei at the moment, finding it a compromise move between trying to get more information about the larger BattleWorld while also keeping her identity a secret if she had resorted to using a fake name derived from her own. Once Sayaka gave that look of recognition as clear as day complete disavowal of knowledge was impossible, though Mami knew that Sayaka's poker face was about as good as her math tests.

Common Room

Kyubey looked on at Link's pouting and Tatl's covering until the latter finished. <The desire for miracles is a great driver for change to one's station. Is it really right to destroy what could be used to improve one's situation?>

Edited by megarockman on Aug 29th 2022 at 9:17:15 AM

PANDORA, Testing Site: Knockin' Down Pins

There was really just one word to describe the battle strategy of these machines: pathetic. They aimed for where Ridley was at any given moment, which meant that they were almost guaranteed to miss. They completely ignored the surrounding cover, leaving themselves wide open to any of the Space Pirate's counter attacks. They remained where they were, giving Ridley motionless targets to line up and knock down—if he was feeling comedic or creative, he could probably roll them all out with a strike from one end of the line, "Men In Tights" style.

It wasn't a suicide run, exactly; that might imply that the Synths expected to be slaughtered. Rather, it was just a hopelessly unprepared display of force that fizzled out the moment the starting bell rang. In a word, it was pathetic.

Ridley ripped apart four of the ten machines like tissue paper, and the remaining six put up little more resistance. By the time he was through, the area was scattered with scraps of metal and plastic, the concrete stained with coolant fluid. The first wave ended in a massacre.

A few moments after the last machine fell, Ridley would hear Dr. Vectrof's voice booming through the speakers.

"My sincerest apologies, Mr. Ridley: I'm sure that was quite boring for you. While I trust Mr. Nishijima's judge of character, I also did not have a basis for your combat prowess. It seemed appropriate to start small, and see where we stood afterwards. Consider it our control test, a warm-up, and a means of introduction. I shall be signaling for the second transport to arrive shortly."

Sure enough, soon the shadow of a second transport began to grow. Once it landed, the occupants of this cargo hold exited to display a platoon of machines with a little bit more meat on their bones; in some cases, literally. The thin-framed Synths were still among their ranks—5 Gen 1s in all—but they were complimented with figures with human proportions decked out in a rather rudimentary set of battle armor. At 10 Gen 2's strong with all soldiers carrying laser rifles that looked like they might actually do some damage, this platoon seemed a bit more like they were worth Ridley's time.

Once the transport was away, the Synths began to fan out to cover the testing ground. While some of the Gen 1s elected to stand out in the open, most of the combatants seemed interested in using the traffic dividers this round. By the time the alarm rang to signal the start of the match, the 15 Synths had covered about half the distance of the testing sight, aiming to flank the Space Pirate in a semi-circle.

Whether or not this would be a challenge remained to be seen, but at least this wasn't insultingly simple like the last round.

Meeting Room: The Daily Habits of A Doll

Amber paused at Homura's request for profiling Yin. She crossed her arms and pinched her chin in thought, as if drumming up habits and favorite hangout spots was much harder to know than a destiny to be the savior/destroyer of the word.

"That's...a tricky question. Yin isn't like a normal teenager; she's a Doll, someone who's been altered by the Gates much like us Contractors. Were we on our world tracking her down would be a piece of cake, since she can't really do much aside from follow orders. Dolls have lost most of their sense of free will, so she doesn't have much choice but to do what she's told.

"Course, 'doing what she's told' could mean a lot of things here on Battleworld. Last time I saw her was in Genosha, three days ago. She could be anywhere by now, but if her luck's even a little bit better than mine, then she's found her way back to her team: a gruff man in his fifties, a Contractor in the body of a black cat, and Hei."

She sighed, and shrugged off some of her concern. "That's just a guess, of course. Hei didn't mention where he was staying nowadays, but he probably isn't living in Tokyo anymore. Too many bridges burned, too many enemies. If you've crossed paths with him before, it wouldn't surprise me if you do again.

"After all, Battleworld isn't that big." she winked.

Velvet Room: Making Connections

"Agreed." Misaki nodded at Mami's proposal. Reaching into her pocket, the Section Chief retrieved her phone and offered to share the number with the Magical Girl. It was probably safer than giving her a card that could be lost or misplaced—even if she did feel a little weird about getting the contact information of a teenager she didn't really know.

Hei rubbed the nape of his neck and turned his head to the side. "Well...not really, no. She just showed up in Tokyo a few days ago, and I crossed paths with her near my place. We tried getting out of the city together through the portal, but got separated. Just wanted to know if she's okay."

That "not really, no" was an absolute lie; one that Hei didn't try to hide very well. He didn't regret his decision to cover her escape, but he did end up getting shot in the process. Hard not to consider the factors leading to that conclusion "bothersome," even if Anko Tanaka couldn't bear any blame.

Castlevania

Raven Beak quietly nodded at Dracula as the latter told him about Majora.

How amusing that this childish creature was responsible for bringing Dragmire to this planet. But if the Gerudo King said the truth, the two of them had a common enemy, the elf boy.

Perhaps he might be useful by helping him learn more about the Gerudo King.

   "As you wish, count Dracula. I should not bother you any longer. A guide will be all that I need to find the impish creature."    Raven Beak said.

Pandora, testing site

The remaining automatons were quickly dispatched, with Ridley only bothering to use his tail to rip them apart limbs by limbs without any sort of mercy. The dragon arrogantly even stopped flying as fast as before, letting himself be hit by some of the bullets. They simply scratched his sturdy skin.

The dragon silently contemplated his dirty work, casually waving his tail with the last automaton trapped by it.

Too bad there wasn't any drop of blood. Or fire. That would have helped the scenery

Ridley simply shrugged when Dr. Vectrof spoke again, crushing the last remaining automaton. Hopefully, it wouldn't be pathetic again.

Soon enough, the second wave showed up. 15 automatons, with 10 armored soldiers and with decent weapons and more accuracy. Some of them were smart enough to take cover.

Better, but Ridley still faced worse.

First Ridley made quick work of the wide-opened Gen 1, using his deadly claws to rip them apart. He sadistically grinned. As if the robots spreading out even mattered.

Weaklings were still weaklings, even if they were armored and more intelligent. And they weren't the only ones with a projectile. He'll save those kinds of attacks for more dangerous foes.

Ridley flew towards one of the covered groups, managing to dodge or tank the others' fire. He landed and grinned further, fire steaming from his mouth.

With a loud roar, he savagely lunged at them.

Edited by Scipion3 on Aug 28th 2022 at 12:07:44 PM

Meeting Room 2

"That's going to make things difficult. And dangerous." Homura's head tilted up slightly as she explained what she meant. "An easily malleable candidate for a contract is going to be easy prey for the Incubators, or someone else, to manipulate into making it. Contracts have been made over the most trivial of wishes like saving a stray cat that was hit by a car, or a new cake. And Kyubey isn't one to look closely beyond the letter of the law when it comes to wishes. You did mention before that she was in the care of Mr. Hei and another person — I don't recall seeing a girl matching your description of Miss Yin the times Hei and I encountered each other, though it seems reasonable to assume he wouldn't want to have to carry her while fighting Nyarthalotep." Homura paused to think for a moment. "If Mr. Hei's been ejected from Tokyo, how much trouble would he bring from the forces based there if he and Miss Yin were to relocate to Mitakihara? I am aware there are some competing groups from your home chunk, one of whom has already made a relationship with our City Hall. But my thinking is that if Miss Yin were in Mitakihara it would be easier for us to keep an eye on her. Although this would also mean that it would be easier for the Incubators to approach her as well — the cat is out of the bag somewhat about their duplicity now, but that won't necessarily stop all attempts at making the Magical Girl contract."

Velvet Room

Mami's calm demeanor did its best to ease Kirihara's discomfort at inteacting with a teenager as if she were a full-blown adult as they exchanged contact information.

As for Hei, Mami offered what she could: "She didn't tell us much of anything about this escapade of hers, but I can say she didn't look any worse for the wear than usual, at least since we last saw her two days ago."

"Yeah, she's used to running off and...doing things by herself," Sayaka added, settling on that description for her usual extracurricular activities.

Velvet Room, Dining Room (Leif): An Appetite for Adventure

Leif nodded to Minako, "Thanks," and follows her to the dining room. Over there, he speaks to one of the assistants of the strange one with a mosquito-like proboscis, the one named Margaret, "We hate to bother you, but we would like for a plate of cooked mushrooms and egg with some roasted berries? ...Actually, can you make that four plates?"

With the order placed, Leif sits down on the chair and waits for the food to be made, seemingly unaware that there's more people in the dining room that are not aware that a giant blue moth is ordering food and sitting like an actual person, let alone talking like one. It's not likely he'll notice unless someone among them points it out.

Common Room (Kabbu): Loose Mandibles Sink... Shandibles?

When the news of the others telling him that blabbing about the Everlasting Sapling may be kind of a bad thing, he bows his head, "My apologies. I figured that I could trust you lot with this information, but I'll keep quiet."

At first, the beetle was shocked at the little Scrub's indignation of a magical plant being eaten, he responded calmly "I would never eat the Sapling myself and my team would never resort to that either. I would try to protect it from harm and let it grow to benefit all of Bugaria if I could choose its fate."

And the fairy and the vampire hunter decided to throw in her two Berries about the Sapling, "...You raise a good point. It may be all a lie to fool explorers, but we don't know if it is a lie or not."

The doubt does indeed make Kabbu take pause and wonder what would have wiped out the Roaches if they had immortality at their hands. What if the Sapling truly was false? Kabbu stuck himself in his own thoughts before speaking to the group, "I just don't want this effort to be for nothing, even if it's all a lie, that's all."

Hell's Gate Tokyo, Transport #1 (Vi and Maki): Marvelous Monoliths of Megaminds

The mantis warrior nodded at Nishijima's proposal for an alliance, "I'll be sure to let our Queen know. Perhaps she can take you up on that offer."

Vi smiled as she heard chaos's desire to see what Bugaria is like, "You're free to come visit us someday! If you need any help, just call for Team Snakemouth, and we'll be there to help! For a fee, of course."

"What would he have to give you?"

"I dunno, maybe he brought some Berries before he got here."

"I'm sure he doesn't have any."

"Well, maybe he's got some rare doodah he's willing to part with."

Maki didn't bother to entertain that line of thought before the transport sets down and displays the headquarters of PANDORA before them. Vi could only let out an enamored "_{Whooooaaaaa...}" upon seeing the sights before her. Maki looked for any points of interest before he nodded to Nishijima, "Impressive. You lead the way."

PANDORA, Test Site: Synths with V.A.T.S?!

The first sluggish Gen 1 was torn apart like tissue paper in Ridley's claws. While a second managed to pull the trigger a few times, the only reward for its effort was some ineffective shots on the dragon's right thigh. A moment later, and it joined its brethren in the scrap pile.

But sure enough, the other Synths were taking notes. Ridley wasn't shy about soaking up laser plasma, but those shots hadn't been concentrated on any particular target. Dealing with Ridley like a flying Deathclaw wasn't going to prove effective; they'd all be destroyed before they could shoot him enough to wear him down. Which is why 3 of the Gen 2s taking cover decided to choose a specific target for their shots: the membrane of the dragon's left wing.

Their understanding of Ridley's biology was next to nothing, but they comprehended the anatomy of winged animals from their Earth—including animals that didn't survive the bombs. Reptiles of the Draco genus had membranes between their front and back limbs that provided a means to glide as far as 200 feet. However, in order to maintain sufficient lift, those membranes needed to be extremely thin compared to the rest of the animal's scales.

In theory, the plan was simple: tear a hole in the beast's wings, and it won't be able to maintain its flight pattern. A grounded target would be much easier to hit, and thus easier to kill. So as Ridley flew through the air, he gave these few coordinating Synths easy access to their target. Even as the dragon swooped down to maul a Gen 2 Synth from behind its cover, this trio of sharpshooters would make it clear that they were aiming to clip Ridley's wings for good.

Meeting Room (Amber): Will They Need to Pay Rent?

The signs of concern around Amber's eyes deepened; she knew all too well how vulnerable Yin was to the entrapment of wishes. She was lucky to have crossed paths with Homura before Yin crossed paths with Kyubey.

Still, the offer to shelter Yin and her team was quite unexpected. "You'd let them stay with you in your city?" the glowing girl blinked in poorly-veiled surprise. "Are you..."

No, of course she wasn't sure about it. She literally just asked if taking them in would bring her city a lot of heat. And considering PANDORA's attitude towards anyone involved in Heaven's War, Nishijima might take any efforts of providing asylum as a sign that Mitakihara was aiding the enemy. Question was: did Nishijima know the new identity of BK-201?

...no, that probably didn't fit into the picture anymore. Didn't need to, either. Nishijima would have a handful of really good reasons to hate the Contactor known as the Black Reaper, whether he knew Hei's history or not.

The thought suddenly occurred to Amber that she had trailed off on an earlier question. She snapped out of the mental gymnastics routine and tittered an apology.

"Hei's position is...a little complicated. You might already know that he was the first delegate for Tokyo, but he was defiant and refused to do anything the Cure said—including answering to call to receive the first round of wishes. It didn't take long for our host to lose patience with his attitude, and he decided to make me the rep for Tokyo instead.

"Now, knowing what you already know about me, that didn't go super well with the Syndicate. A mercenary having access to reality-bending wishes was bad enough, but as far as Tokyo's concerned, I'm a wanted terrorist. By not playing ball, Hei inadvertetly gave me a ton of power. I don't know the details, but I doubt the Syndicate just shrugged that off—and I'm willing to bet that Nishijima's the type to hold a grudge. It seems like Hei has smoothed things over with one camp, but PANDORA's bound to be looking for him sooner or later."

Amber shrugged. "Aside from the pros and cons you mentioned, I don't know if sheltering Hei and his team's a good move for Mitakihara. You might need to ask him, though whatever he thinks, I can almost guarantee that giving Yin a place to stay won't be viewed nearly as bad. Her big debut as the world's Savior/Destroyer isn't scheduled for at least a few years."

Pandora, testing site

With the 5 Gen 1 out of the way and a group of the covered Gen 2 reduced to scraps, Ridley still had the advantage. All that was left was to take care of the remaining Gen 2 scattered.

But then, a specific trio of robots acted. As he was on the ground, their riffle managed to pierce Ridley's left wing's membrane creating a fiery hole in it. The dragon hissed in pain as he turned towards them.

His wings may not be as much of a weak point like his mouth was, but they were still slightly weaker than the rest of his body.

   "Kssh!! Smart little shits..."    Ridley growled, smart enough to notice what was going on.

That wouldn't stop him. A single hole in his wings wasn't going to stop him from flying. It would take much more to force him on the ground.

And even then, there was even one time when Samus burned his wings as Meta Ridley during their second confrontation on Tallon IV.

And Ridley was just as deadly on the ground as he was in the air.

Still, Ridley was quick to take flight again and rapidly flew towards the trio.

   "So! You want me to stop flying then? Alright!!"    Ridley sarcastically boasted as he stopped waving his wings... letting himself fall towards the three Gen 2 to simply crush them underneath his huge body.

Edited by Scipion3 on Oct 9th 2022 at 1:12:24 PM

At that moment, something happened to the globe floating in the heart of the Common Room: nearly half the states on the planet suddenly vanished, no doubt flung back to whatever home world they came from. An unfortunate loss for some, maybe a lucky break for others, but all in all the comings and going of entire kingdoms was so frequent that many probably wouldn't bat an eye at it.

But there was one figure who noticed, and his gaze remained fixed to the globe for a long time afterwards. The small growl escaping his throat was drowned out by the conversations in the Common Room...as were the swift screeches of nails scraping restlessly across the onyx surface of his throne.

"This game has grown..." he leered at the map with fire in his eyes. "stale."

Taking a moment to refocus, he prepared to speak once again...only this time, every man, woman, child, and sentient entity would hear his voice:

"Attention Battleworld. A select few of you may recognize my voice, but for those who don't: know that I am your host, captor, and benefactor. For seven days, I have watched you and countless others confront the threats around you; some were of your own making, while others I provided for you. Regardless of their origin, many of you refused to stand helpless as enemies encroached on the people and places most dear to you. You did something that I've learned too few mortals have the stomach to do...

He gave a rancid, toothy grin. "You fought back."

"You may be expecting my congratulations; you will be disappointed. I am speaking to you now to say that our time together has come to an end. The planet's instability has grown too great, and soon the entire structure will be torn apart. You and your chunks of civilization will return to the home worlds from where I took you, and there you will remain to go about your lives as you see fit. But for those of you who fought I have some parting words, take them or leave them as you like:"

"Contentment is poison; complacency is death. Fight, struggle, persist—only then can you claim to be truly alive."

Before the last syllable had left their minds, the world went black. Just as they arrived, the people of Battleworld would not witness their expulsion from the Cure's creation. Only its creator would watch as one by one, the doors down the Commons Corridor vanished; the map emptied to a blank sphere of nothing.

The Cure smiled. He had seen this empty globe many times before, and likely would see it many more times after this one. It wasn't a failure by any measure; they had entertained him for an entire week—one of the longest running renditions in recent memory. But he was far from done, and the next planet wasn't about to make itself.

He raised a hand, a large, fat looking hand with vicious claws on the ends of each finger. It was time. The warriors had been carefully selected. Each capable in their own different ways. The battlefields chosen. Vastly different lands, each of which would present their own challenges to those who would fight over them. Of course, a being as vastly powerful as him did not need to resort to ripping chunks of other realities out of the ground to form a new planet. He could have snapped his fingers and created a world out of thin air. But he had never claimed to possess much of an imagination.

He watched as his meaty hand started glowing as he begin the process of the formation. Reality itself distorted before him as the world began to form before him. A new world, one build entirely for his own amusement. Lands from across the multiverse, warriors from across time and space, all were about to be brought together on a new world:

Edited by TheodoreHastings on Oct 20th 2022 at 5:32:19 AM