The Good, The Bad and The Spandex II

The Library

“I can very much see that,” Alice commented, stifling a string of giggles at Wilma's antics yet unable to fully hide her amused grin. “Be patient. They'll arrive when they arrive. Anyhow, if you're feeling restless, why don't we get some air or something? Clear your head a little. It works for me,” she suggested with a light shrug—though her serene look faded as Cheshire gracefully swirled into existence on her shoulder.

“Indeed. Prowling the town can do wonders for your mental health. Plus dear Alice has been due a proper tour. I'd take up the offer and experience myself—but I've already seen every nook and cranny. Though this is Easton. It might surprise me,” he added—pausing to send an unimpressed look to Alice; who was currently in the middle of idly batting at his tail like a cat with twine. Seeing his grin harden, she stopped —prompting him to retreat the appendage and continue.

“What's more, what say we check up on your companions while we're at it? We'd both love to make personal acquaintance... ” he grinned, only to pause at Alice's quirked eyebrow. “What? Don't tell me you're shy now...”

“You're awfully presumptuous.”

The Cat entertained this thought, before grinning again. “And you're stuffy and contrived. At least I'm helpful.”

“Hardly.”

“Oh bully for you, Miss Independence. I'll be on my way then,” The Cat snorted, only to vanish from view once more. Sighing, Alice fixed her shoulder where he had been perched upon, before pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“Ignore him, if you want. He can be utterly insufferable sometimes—but the blasted cat always manages to get at least one point across. Do what you like, really. But now he's said it, I am quite interested in meeting these groups in a more personable way than looking at their pages. I think he banks on his oh-so-dulcet tones lingering in my head,” she murmured, pointedly ignoring the prideful grin momentarily stretching into existence out the corner of her eye from one of the shelves at the ‘compliment’.

Edited by Enirboreh on Oct 25th 2018 at 1:15:25 PM

The Library

Wilma thought for a moment, then said, "Well, why not?"

Taking Alice by the hand, she said, "Most of the group are at Ignatius' forges at Mount Etna, but if I call for Jumping Bean, I think she can come over and pick us up."

So she stood outside the Library, and called out, "Jumping Bean! We need a lift, please! JUMPING BEEEEEEEAAAAAAN!"

"I heard you the first time!" Jumping Bean said, materializing in front of the two girls in a golden flash. "And you have a friend..."

"She says she's going to help us," said Wilma brightly. "She's Alice. Alice, this is Jumping Bean."

Jumping Bean bowed. "Your assistance is much appreciated."

"Also, Kayden's in the basement now!"

"...Not going to question that. Anyways, let's go!" Jumping Bean grabbed the two girls and whisked them away to Etna.

Mount Etna

They materialized inside the higher levels of the forges, where the heat was not so bad. A clanking could be heard down the hall, where a silhouette of a man in what looked to be a loincloth hammering a blade on an anvil could be seen.

The Lurker was for all intents and purposes lounging in a corner making cat's cradle shapes with its tentacles.

Hi, Other Me. Did you find a new fri—ally?

"Yeah, this is Alice."

Greetings.

The Lurker waved with a braid.

"Hello, don't walk over, I'm almost naked and I'm making a sword!"

That had to be Ignatius.

"Sit down, make yourself comfortable, tea's on the table over there," Jumping Bean pointed to a crude set of wooden benches around a flat stone. A tea kettle was heated over a hole someone had ingeniously carved into the stone table and filled with charcoal. Teacups were set to the side.

Mt. Etna

“Please, Wilma. I can introduce myself,” Alice lightly chided, before performing a curtsy. “But yes, I am Alice. Alice Pleasance Liddell... and I am just now realising how–”

“–stuffy and contrived you are?” remarked the Cat, smoothly cutting her off and appearing only as a disembodied, grinning head. “I did tell you, and you didn't believe me...”

“Yes, well—ignorance is bliss,” she retorted, before making her away over to the seat (mostly to hide her flush of embarrassment—not at all helped by Ignatius's call from down the hall).

“I'd make comment, but I can hear he's working. A blacksmith, isn't he? Forger for living legends?” she clarified, only to shake her head. “I apologize. I read up on you all in the Library—but my head's always been packed to the brim. I do recall you, though,” she stated with a thoughtful click of the tongue, outstretching a hand towards one of the Lurker's... appendages in greeting. “Quite a set of trials you've gone through. But you managed to get out alright considering, hm? Abused, but not destroyed. That's remarkable,” she commented with a hint of admiration—a rare, full smile erupting across her face and enunciating her prettiness considerably. “And if it helps, I... know something about losing oneself. Just so you know that you're not alone in that.”

Indeed, the Lurker had been an individual she had been most empathetic of—and not simply because of the revelation that they were actually a version of Wilma. The hooded entity had witnessed everything she knew wiped out in an instant—and forced to retreat to a strange place in order to find hope in fighting the demon responsible. A tale—that when abridged—sounded eerily familiar to her.

Edited by Enirboreh on Oct 25th 2018 at 2:21:03 PM

Jumping Bean sat down to meditate in a corner, while Ignatius continued to pound on the anvil energetically. Wilma waited to hear what the Lurker would say.

Well, I mean...I least I get to say I survived the end of the universe. Not many can claim to have done that.

(I kinda want a t-shirt for that, but wearing that over myself would look...weird.)

Silence.

And these glasses are just plain legendary. They didn't break at any time during the proceedings. So that's one unexpected bonus...

Wilma barely suppressed bursting out in laughter at that last part.

Mt. Etna

Alice couldn't help but grin again at that. “I noticed that. Perhaps they were the true key to your survival? Some sort of legendary material, built to withstand even the destruction of existence? Sounds rather vorpal to me, if you want my opinion...”

A little eased, she moved to sit down fully, reaching out for the teapot and putting on her most exaggerated snooty demeanour and warping her accent to a ridiculous degree. “Oh my, I could so do with a cup of good old-fashioned tea right now. What say you join me here on this delightful...” she trailed off, breaking character as she realised she didn't actually know the time. “...Morning? Afternoon?” she hazarded, before shaking off the whole act with a rather prominent blush at her failed attempt at humour. “Ah well. You get the picture. And I'll also ask you if you want a cup, I suppose! Unless you're too hot already!” she suddenly yelled out to Ignatius, prompting Cheshire to snort amusedly from his position reclining atop a crevice in the rocky walls.

“With all this talk of tea I'm surprised you haven't summoned the Hatter. If you've managed it with myself, I'm sure you could do it with some of Wonderland's other denizens...” he mused.

“Actually, I can hear him screaming his oversized head off now,” Alice admitted. “I'd shut him up, but I'm quite happy to hear him back to normal now. That... that awful thing he was turned into... I... I don't know if I could bear seeing him like it again,” she whispered sullenly, her voice abruptly dropping in volume with an audible crack in tone—prompting Cheshire to tense and swiftly manoeuvre back onto her shoulder to provide some comfort.

“And it was your overwhelming guilt that warped him in the first place, wasn't it Alice? You needn't worry over what's occurred—just deal with it as it comes. I doubt it'll happen again to anywhere near close to that extent; remember that Wonderland had been left alone to fester in your traumatised mind for naught but a century...” he pointed out—meanwhile shooting a mildly apologetic look to the others in the room for Alice's outburst. “Just relish good things when they happen. No need to overthink them, hm?”

“I-I suppose not...”

Edited by Enirboreh on Oct 25th 2018 at 4:08:31 PM

Wilma sat down and poured tea for the both of them. The Lurker drifted over to "sit" down on a chair.

I can't drink. I don't have a mouth...or a stomach to hold the tea in. I think I'll just settle for watching you. That's just as satisfying, somehow.

I also think that it was just plain laziness on the Anti-Creator's part. He forgot to delete my glasses, so I still have one tie to before. And now it's a part of me...

There was a HIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSS!! from where Ignatius was reforging Jumping Bean's sword, and his silhouette showed him examining the blade after he'd quenched it. Then he put his tunic and sash back on, and walked over to join them. Wilma poured a cup for him too, and he sipped appreciatively.

"I hope you don't mind me saying, but I've always been hot... Ignatius chuckled. "Sorry, that was bad. Here's your sword back," he said to Jumping Bean.

"Thanks," said the Xian without opening her eyes. The gourd and sword both teleported to her side. The sword had a noticeable shine to it now, more than before, at the least. It was not glowing, because there was no evil present, so it simply shone, content to be at its wielder's side.

"I need more things to forge into her Heavenly Blade. Right now it just got strengthened. If only we could make it sharper..." Ignatius mused. "If only we had a bit of metal from another legendary sword, I could forge it into that one...and essence from some kind of artifact..."

"How about these?" Wilma said as she pushed Pocket Excalibur and the Infinite Lighter over.

Ignatius' eyes popped. He made several attempts to speak, but could not get any sound out. At last he managed to ask "How...how did you get this knife? And what's that lighter..."

Wilma was about to speak, but the Lurker cut in.

She can't tell you the real story because it would end the "enchantment," but I can. That's an ordinary pocketknife, but she pretends that it's made from a piece of Excalibur. That's an ordinary lighter, but she pretends that a scientist made it so that it could make infinite flames. So, presumably, it has infinite fuel. That's the power of belief.

"Really? I swear it's the real thing!" Ignatius exclaimed. "This would be a big help. And if I melt down the Lighter's casing, I can make a great big flaming sword! Err, if I can have these..."

"Sure, go ahead," Wilma said.

"Later, later," Ignatius said, looking like he was mentally preparing himself.

"But anyways, Alice," Ignatius turned to her. "One way or another...you'll have to face the source of that guilt and either try and fix it, or just let it go. Trust me. I know."

A shadow descended over Ignatius' face—and allusions were made to this in the book. How Ignatius slaved over Akutonari, only for him to give it to a heartbroken young boy...how the boy started slaughtering people, and the final moment where Ignatius slit his throat and lost most of his "fire."

Past Reading

Wilma might remember reading in Of Aecthon the Brilliant;

Aecthon the Brilliant was a figure mired in controversy well before he made his choice to open the Way to that ancient universe. Among the Scientist Emperors of his people, he was known as an eccentric, and increasingly, someone distrustful of authority taken for granted.

What most do not know of the "Wandering Scholar of Sin" as he became known is that the first Weapons were crafted by his own hands when his journey took him back to his home universe briefly. It is said he personally sliced the Great Emotional Embodiment of Determination and the Great Emotional Embodiment of Rage to pieces, and made the first Weapons of the agonized Embodigems they produced.

As for Unwitting Servant of Naught?

According to some who know of these old events, Aecthon's attitudes served the being the gods of his people only referred to as "The Cruel One" well. Perhaps it was his own distrust of gods and entities as time went on that engendered the later attitudes of the Weaponmasters?

What far fewer know is of the offbranching group, the Thunder-Lords. Proud servants of the Anti-Creator, they live on a shattered moon of Alqobia within the Strange Energy Universe. It is they who fashion the great mechanisms of the Cruel One's world.

It is said the Thunder Lords were borne from an experiment undergone by Aecthon the Brilliant during the days leading up to his fateful experiment with the world beyond.

NJI

Obsidian City Streets

Hans and Star Girl commenced trying to move around as stealthily as possible, which was somewhat limited due to Star Girl's colorful outfit. It looked like the dismal streets of Obsidian were occasionally patrolled by a van of the PMC group used for security by Aquavect.

There were also street tough types that looked like they were employed by the company. Hans clenched a fist as he led Star Girl (and attempted to lead Ebony) to hide in an alley and watch for now.

"Well, seems all the awful schwein are out in force today." Hans saw the blood red streak of paint across the white shirts the toughs were wearing, and he saw the telling and provocative salute given to some passing PMC goons.

"Those are Proud Lads. They're horrible, brutal people. Probably given their attitude they've got connections to the goon squad rolling on the streets." He turned after his little reveal and checked for Star Girl...

"Eh...Star Girl?"

She was not in the alley watching any more. Hans' heart almost leaped into his throat when he saw her marching out already!

Zugzwang Mission

Ryan looked over at Kyle when he offered to sniff out the enemies, and nodded briefly, it really did look too quiet out here. "Go ahead man, this silence is making me really fuckin' nervous..."

He remembered the attack on Miracle Pharma and what happened there, and then shortly after.

Have to prevent that from happening again.

Infiltrate Aquavect!

Trickster and Kris would be let out near the top of a tall building by the jet in stealth mode, and Kris - in his full Atomic Spider get up - simply gave her a thumbs up and said, "Magpie probably told you about my ability to travel through phones. If we can get the CEO or someone in his home on the line, I can hop through the phone, get an entrance in that way."

Mt. Etna

Alice seemed to look up at Ignatius for quite a long while, before she reached down to the space beside her chair and drew up what appeared to be an unnaturally sharp, iridescentally gleaming short-sword from no obvious source.

“Here. Maybe this'll be of some use to you. Snicker-snack; and it leaves them dead. I used it to slay a Jabberwock.”

Without bothering to clarify on what the nonsensical half of her sentence actually meant, she handed it to him hilt first, her expression only now revealing that his words had gotten through to her.

“Take it. That... meant a lot to me. Thank you.”

Besides, it wasn't like she used it often anyway. Usually she considered it overkill—so it had rarely seen the light of day ever since she had slain the beast in the first place. Plus, if Ignatius was indeed the incredible forger the books said him to be, she was sure anything he would do to the blade would be an improvement.

Obsidian City Streets

Ebony let herself be pulled into the alley (though once again there was a distinct protective film about her preventing Hans from actually fully grasping her arm) only to inwardly curse as Star Girl made a beeline for their targets. Not taking the chance to her having been spotted yet or not, she leapt out of cover after her—grabbing the girl and pulling her behind her while using her free hand to throw up a protective shield of force in front of them. When she wasn't being distracted by Star Girl, she'd actually make to do something offensively as well.

Mt. Etna

Ignatius took the Vorpal Blade and examined it, nodding. "A fine blade. Alright, I'll add these to the Heavenly Blade. See what comes out," he said, drinking some more tea before he took said blade and the other materials.

"See you all in a bit," Ignatius said before he retreated back into the hall.

Wilma, remembering what she'd read, began to tell everyone what she'd learned. It was very interesting. Especially where the attitude of the Weaponmasters came from, that was very telling.

Infiltration of Aquavect—Trickster

Trickster nodded, poking her head out over the roof to take a look at what was going on below.

"I can do that," they said, and with a wave of their hand they made a generic phone ringing noise begin to sound in the CEO's house. It was illusionary, and if the CEO used a different kind of ringtone, the jig would probably be up.

Rooting Out Zugzwang—Magpie

The silence was indeed cloying.

"I hope that they don't get Trickster," Magpie whispered nervously. "They can't really fight like I can..."

She walked silently alongside Ryan, keeping an eye out for any ripples in the air that would signal something cloaked in invisibility. She would not be blindsided like last time.

Looking out for every single thing in the surroundings, Kyle closed his eyes and inhaled as he kept waking.

Everything took a new dimension, as he noted every detail of the area as they advanced.

Something smelled foul, as there was something that felt... fake close enough from them.

"On your guards, guys" He warned "The chess freaks are close"

And he is ready to maul them.

Zugzwang Encounter

"Ohohohoh, quaint name wolf-brat, but I suppose expecting a teenager to know the word android is a little too much, if one is not speaking of a phone."

The voice was coming from everywhere but nowhere, and seemed to have a slight mechanical reverb, as well as a snide british tone.

That was when a dark looking door opened in front of them, in the very air itself, and a black and purple armored robot man stepped out, clad in a grand black ermine cloak. His armor gave the impression of the King in a game of chess, the head piece resembling an ornate crown.

"Well, this is quite a meeting. Introductions are in order. I am the Black King of the Zugzwang Organization, and I have come here to tell you why opposing our operations is by all means a terrible mistake on your part."

He then pointed to Magpie with one spider limb shaped finger, "And I do address that to little miss Magpie as well."

Star Girl walked right up to the men in white shirts, one of them outright chuckling upon seeing her get up. "...And what the hell is this hot mess?"

Star Girl stated to the largest one, "I do not appreciate your brutality or the manner you conduct yourself in our streets. In the name of the stars, I will smite you."

They all broke up laughing, and their leader tried to push her back, "...As funny as that is, little girl, maybe you weren't watching the news. We're not afraid to get a feminist bitch killed. So run off or we're going to have...trouble..."

He kept trying to push her, and she would not move.

Star Girl then smiled and said, "Here, let me try." She shoved him, all right, right into a parked car, the man flying right through the air on route to it, twitching and coughing up blood from the impact.

One of them shouted obscenities at her and tried to smash her head in with a metal baseball bat...only to see the bat bend on impact.

Before long he was thrown handily right through the air, impacting on the ground.

The last few, deciding to cut their losses, ran screaming from her - they were entirely prepared to brutalize those weaker than them, but upon the intervention of a superhero, they turned tail and ran.

Kris prepared himself for this, and when one of the house attendants got on the phone in response, Kris was able to get a brief call in - just brief enough to ride the lines and get in!

The man in there had no idea what was going on, after all, Kris was not even large enough at that size to be seen!

He sent a message through one of his drones remaining with Trickster - he made it in.

Trickster

Trickster heaved a sigh of relief and sat down on the roof. Unknowingly, they let their guard down, and didn't even bother readying their staff, which was still on their back.

"Roger that, Sir Kris...All's quiet on my end..." they sighed.

The Magpie And The Mackerel

Magpie snorted steam upon the moment she laid eyes upon Black King, and it was evident that a web of red cracks was beginning to spread out across her "skin." She seemed to be getting a bit taller as her face twisted into a murderous glare.

"Would you most kindly jump into a sewer and die like the rat you are?" she asked coldly.

At that moment, something ripped out and threw aside the metal grill that blocked off the openings to a storm drain a short ways away from the confrontation. A bloated corpse, with dirty water dripping from its face jumped out—

—Only to be covered with a net and vanished in the blink of an eye. A man dressed in quaint fisher's garb crawled out, and he vanished the net too in a shower of water.

"Rest ye in peace, poor Drowned Soul," he intoned, before noticing the confrontation and looking at Black King.

"Wait a moment...are you part of the plot that damned these people? I could have sworn I saw you being involved in this! Tell me!"

There was a faint aura of death, darkness, and decay around the man who just hopped up from the storm drain, and he smelt faintly of fish and saltwater. His hair and coat dripped water even though the storm drains had been dry for several days.

Oh, and he was furious, making the aura even more apparent. Those that had been in the presence of gods (Ryan, most likely) would recognize the aura as a divine "marking of office." This particular god, however, seemed to be too weak in power to make his aura tangible.

Black King would also most likely know this...

Zugzwang Encounter

The Black King let out a very posh sounding derisive laugh at Magpie's anger and statement, "Oh why I would never step a foot near such a place...so dirty..." He cupped what must have been his "chin" and tapped at it a few times, blatantly enjoying grinding Magpie's gears.

Then the Death God appeared, and despite the fearsome image of that drowned corpse being dragged up and out, the Black King simply yawned in response and waved a hand forward and back.

"...And of course the accusations. Do you really think I involve my glorious self with such matters?"

He decided to take this opportunity to elaborate on what he said, "Now, as I was saying, oh yes, why opposing us is a horrible mistake."

He gestured around himself, "Take a look at this gentrified Americana Urbana - before they were evacuated they were happily watching TV and playing away on their phones, no influence from us needed to make them disregard the suffering going on in the lower areas."

Black King then gave a low, mechanical "chuckle" and said, "I would remind you of what occurred at Miracle Pharma once the corrupt authorities in question finally outlived their usefulness. We killed them. Which is FAR more than can be said for you superheroes..."

Ryan outright threw a huge sphere of force at Black King, which simply vanished into another of the King's doors. "...The fuck do you mean? What the hell are you talking about!?"

Black King clasped his hands together, "Here's how it goes nowadays; a corporation does something very very not-good, they get found out...and what happens? They punish a middle man, and the men at the top? If it wasn't for us killing that Miracle Pharma CEO, what do you imagine would have happened to him? He would have ran off and pulled a Polanski! And the governments of the world would say "no skin off our backs"! Recall, you have your own version of this - you fight supervillains, yes? And how often do they show back up? How many times has Strip Poker tried to rob that one bank?"

Ryan bit his lip and then demanded, still sparking with rage, "Then what the hell is your deal about supporting those pieces of shit!?"

Black King continued, "Well, since you ask - they're means. To an end. What we needed was for them to provide the product they provide. Miracle Pharma made those drugs. Aquavect makes sure the water is made to our liking, whatever that may be. And we don't tell them what happens when they've done all we ask. Because they don't know what we know about their own products, and they're expendable."

He snapped his fingers and Ryan's attack from earlier flashed into existence inside a rich man's car. The car was left a flaming heap of rubble by the end of the explosion that ensued.

Ryan's eyes visibly widened, and he started to realize what he and the crew were up against. The bit with the car was immediate, but it definitely gave the message. These guys didn't just kill people who got found out. They killed people who made deals with them as a matter of course. That was the way they operated. Take what they need. Kill when they're done.

Black King pointed at Magpie, "Now as for what we want...it is to ensure that all humans live conflict free lives of prosperity and wantlessness. Once we have what we need from all the corrupt corporations who've accepted our "help", we'll be able to give everyone the jobs, the lives, and the customizations they desire. At the end of it, it is Zugzwang who will end this concept of corrupt authority. Because when we take over, everything will become better for everyone. Nobody will NEED to be corrupt any longer or want to for that matter."

Edited by NickTheSwing on Oct 26th 2018 at 10:10:29 AM

"I know what an android is, you just don't deserve to be called by the right terms, junkpile king" Kyle just shrugged him off. The king speech just made him roll his eyes.

"I dunno what's worse a corrupt leader or a corrupt leader with no self awareness whatsoever" He told Magpie "So, what are you gonna do once that happens? End yourself? Otherwise you are just a complete hypocrite" The transformation was complete now, and he was ready to start the fight.

Edited by Blueace on Oct 27th 2018 at 1:49:52 PM

Confrontation

"Almost all of you say that. It's true in a sense, but you are still a liar," Magpie said accusingly, leveling a pistol and firing. "Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure not to leave you alive."

Makquer'el summoned a menacing harpoon made from a large spine, and charged, aiming to impale Black King. "PERISH!!" was his battle cry.

The sky was blackening with storm clouds, and it was evidently Makquer'el's influence. He savagely thrust with his harpoon while Magpie fired off shots.

Obsidian City Streets

The few mercs left over didn't get far before they froze in place.

Or at least, their primary mass did. They were still able to move their eyes and a little bit of their jaws. Other than that, it was suddenly as if they'd been caught in slide or buried into quicksand. A tremendous pressure was matching every single movement they tried to make—for every writhe or twitch of the muscle, they'd be forced back with exactly the same strength to keep them in place.

Ebony quietly manoeuvred up to one of them, glancing to Star Girl with a frown implying a ‘we need to talk’ on her face, before returning her attention to the merc and memorizing his outfit and markings. Trying to decipher any possible ranks—judging just how organized they were.

But once she was done, she simply turned on her heel; and chaos struck behind her.

One merc found himself pinged like a rubber band straight into the side of a building. Another was shot like a rocket into the upper atmosphere. Three felt a blow like a car crash impacting their abdomens—which they were thankfully allowed to roll with and avoid being turned to mulch because of as the paralysis effect dissipated. Still, they ended up pushed a good hundred feet away. The last one was simply uppercutted by the very ground in front if his feet—the tarmac spiking up into a column and cracking his lower jaw.

“Star Girl—would you care to explain such recklessness? You jumped in without a second thought and didn't even consider them to possibly be having advanced weaponry that could harm you,” Ebony reprimanded—having not raised a finger at all for the entire display—and crossed her arms in a manner quite reminiscent of a scolding mother.

Zugzwang Encounter

Black King outright scoffed at Kyle's statement, "We are not corrupt - we have every license to do what we need to so long as a future where 99% of humanity is happy perpetually is achieved...hm? But it seems your little friends are done with this parley."

Ryan was just about to run in and try his luck when he saw Magpie's shots that went at Black King snatched up by another of his doorways that seemed to fly through the air taking each shot.

And then the freaky fish guy ran in there with a harpoon that—-was that a human spine? Black King outright seemed to find the attacks incoming quaint, giving only a nobleman's laugh in response, "Dohohoho, so quick to run in!"

Then a doorway opened up just when Makquer'el was in close, and the harpoon seemed to vanish through it...

...Seemed to, because another door opened just an inch from Magpie's back, letting the Harpoon out there, at a spot either at her Core or very close to it, "As for you, little god, I'd rather she perish first."

Ryan remembered how dangerous his own powers were, and the destruction he could cause, as well as that little illustration Black King made using one of his attacks. He tried to think of how to deal with this, but right now with everyone here...

Encounter

Makquer'el only just managed to dispel his harpoon as he thrust it forward and yanked his hand back out of the portal for fear that it might close, cutting off his hand.

"Neither ranged nor melee attacks seem to work!" Makqer'el observed.

"But how many of those things do you think he can open at once?" Magpie countered.

"Fair point," Makqer'el shrugged. "Do you feel like testing that out?"

"...No," was Magpie's clipped answer. "He knows about my Core. That's why he aimed you at it."

"...I'll take care of it," Makquer'el resummoned his harpoon and seemed to meld into a shadow of a street sign, which rippled like a puddle. Then he rose up halfway from Black King's shadow and jabbed at the android's legs suddenly.

"Keep telling yourself that" Kyle snarked at him. While he was about to jump in, something stopped him. It was just a feeling, but he knew what happened.

Time to see that trick? A howl coming deep from his soul was all the confirmation he needed. Fine, I was getting tired of dealing with overpowered bozos

"Know why a wolf howls?" He asked rhetorically, as he howled to the heavens themselves, there was something odd about it, an unnatural echo that could freeze a man's soul.

For a second, nothing happened.

And then, pandemonium started as one, ten, a hundred, a thousand and more souls entered Kyle's body, as a loud scream ripped the air.

When it was over, Kyle's body changed, somehow, as if something left him, and his eyes changed.

And then, he moved.

Nearly no one would have followed his movements, as he simply aimed to shove his claws to the eyes of the king.

Elsewhere, Near Ignatius' (Former?) House And Axel Adam's Building

Dammit! She was being boxed in!

With a grunt, Koda slammed a fist onto her Over-Clock Trinket. Immediately, the hands of the pocketwatch badge sprung into action and she burst ahead with prodigial speed, just in time to avoid the grasping hands of her pursuers.

Sparks flew from the ground as she skated ahead, losing her hunters in the urban sprawl of Easton. Koda took many deep breaths and climbed up to the rooftops, laying low and watching her hunters disperse. She was safe, for now.

Or so she thought.

One punkish, hooded figure crept up behind her and cleaved down at her head.

The blow would have killed an ordinary person, but Koda was hardly ordinary. One heart disappeared from the five hovering above Koda's head.

She drew her Weapon and counterattacked with a flurry of furious slashes with her Weapon. Her opponent paused, then collapsed into a pile of Coinz. They flew towards Koda and phased into her Avatar. A screen showed up and showed Koda's current balance of Coinz, but she barely paid any attention to it.

Sitting down on the edge of the roof, Koda slid her Weapon back onto her back and sighed. Opening up a can of soda, she wondered when she would finally be able to live a normal life again.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Oct 31st 2018 at 4:49:31 AM

Axel District

There was a faint sound of clapping nearby, just from behind Koda in fact. Upon turning around, the reality codebreaker would see a too-tall man in a suit on the borderline between casual and scruffy applauding gleefully for her performance; impressively gelled hairstyle, and a slight glimmer of red in the backs of his eyes when the light hit it—and also the fact that his face was plastered proudly on a billboard just opposite the building they were on. Which was strange, because one could have sworn it was an ad for a new watch just seconds before.

“Astounding skill. Simply extraordinary. Oh—and the execution of it! Mimicry of videogame HUDs and mechanics in a practical way? Marvellous!” he gushed, before hopping up next to her to perch on the ledge—perfectly mimicking her stance “Quite the technology you have your little paws on. What do you call yourself?” he asked in a tone between formal inquiry and informal glee. Though his tone had become very off at the 'little paws' remark. That and it was an oddly animalistic choice of words—but other than that he seemed genuine enough.

Edited by Enirboreh on Oct 31st 2018 at 10:58:07 AM

A pixellated exclamation point appeared above Koda's head and she turned around in alarm, warily watching the strangely suave man. A ping from her Quest Log showed that it had updated herself, but reading the new entry would have to be put off until later.

The exclamation point was replaced by an ellipses as Koda's HUD in her visor showed her the change in the billboard with a side-by-side comparison. It grew longer as the music switched from a quiet, relaxing tune to a somber elegy with violins and church organs.

There was an uncomfortable silence, during which the "???" above Axel's head was replaced with "Axel Adams" and the ellipses started to wrap around Koda's body. She ripped through them and threw the tangled mess of dots to the side.

"...Koda. Call me Koda," she said at last, mentally berating herself for revealing her real name so easily. After all, the incident with her parents was plastered all over the news not so long ago, and they emphasized the fact that she had become an orphan. She detested that.

Koda downed the last of the soda, and the can disappeared. The heart she lost popped back into existence over her head.

"You want, like, soda or anything?" she asked tentatively, holding out another can to Axel. She had a feeling Axel was someone she wouldn't want to piss off, though she was ready to fight at a moment's notice.

It showed, too, in the way she carried herself. She was wound tight like a spring, ready to fight or run as the need may be. The image that came to mind was of a rabbit carefully lifting up its head to survey the area for predators.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Oct 31st 2018 at 4:48:25 AM

Axel District

The CEO blinked in what one could only assume to be an approximation of surprise.

“Koda? Not... the Koda? Carter-Ridgecrest Koda? I've heard of your escapades,” he shrugged, his voice dropping down to one more casual a little too abruptly as he shifted gears to graciously accept the soda and take a swig. “And I've heard of that other one. The company, I mean. The one you're up against. I have good connections,” he shrugged again.

Well that much was obvious.

“Nonetheless, you must've been on the run for a while. Care to take a break? My door is always open,” he offered warmly, despite his grin still being a fraction too genuine. He seemed unable to work with the minutia of human expression. And the billboard near them was a constant reminder of that anyway.

"Uh...Yeah, I'm the one," Koda responded. "You mean OtherWorld Corp? Yeah, they...they're pieces of work alright."

She shifted awkwardly, and blurted, "And I'd love to take a break! I...um...yeah...Thanks, Mr. Adams."

This was the highest amount of respect that could be begotten from a teenager like Koda in this day and age. From his knowledge of humans, Axel would probably know this.

The ominous music faded out and was replaced by the cheerful tune from earlier. Koda was so desperate to have some modicum of "human" interaction that extended beyond fighting her enemies and talking with the Shopkeeper that she didn't register that Axel was most likely manipulating her. His praise of her abilities also skewed her damaged mind towards making the decision to go with him.