A Game of Gods Season 3: Frontiers

Akihabara, In Transit: Rolling Exposition

With things wrapping up at the hospital and a silent decision reached that Samus could be kept in check should the worst-case scenario arrive, Krillin followed Miss Satsuki out to the parking lot, and hopped into the back with the others.

"I guess my first question's what the Hospitaliers have been able to do so far in the city." the officer said as he took a set and crossed his arms. "Since we don't have anyone for the Gotham Police Force to chat with yet, I'd like to get an idea of what sort of trouble law enforcement's been dealing with. 'Rampant crime' doesn't tell me much except frequency, y'know? It could mean anything from lots of shoplifting to criminal empires, and everything in between."

Gotham, Cemetery: The First Step is Knowing You Have A Problem

Wake watched the seconds hand of his pocket watch twitch from north to south. He imagined the soft *tick*, *tick*, *tick* of the beating gears like a heartbeat in the palm of his hands. He wanted to crush that tiny heart, seize a fleeting chance to vent his pent-up frustration where no one would notice. His fingers flipped the watch's cover shut, and he squeezed the damn thing in a faint attempt to choke the life out of it. Like he was choking the life out of someone; a woman, maybe. Long as it wasn't Alice.

Oh, Alice. Living alone for two whole years without any news about her husband's fate. She thinks he's dead, of course. But what a sight it would've been, to knock on her front door one day and watch face pale at the sight of her long-lost Alan. She wouldn't believe her eyes at first, but as he poured his soul into those first few words, she'd come around to the idea that this wasn't another dream. Then the waterworks would start, tears of indescribable joy! They'd embrace, share a kiss like the loving couple they once had been. Then she'd invite him inside, and he'd tell her a story no one but she could possibly believe.

Alice Wake. His heart bled for that woman—or it would, if he had a heart to bleed. That was probably the one downside to this crazy clusterfuck; he couldn't sell the lie to her here. Someone would notice he wasn't her darling Alan, someone would squeal. And then the game would have to end before it really started. Talk about a buzzkill.

So "Alan Wake" stopped trying to crush the expensive pocket watch, and tucked it back into his vest where it belonged.

Sure enough, it seemed like the past month or so had moved like the seconds hand of that watch. And if time was measured in seconds, the Travers Administration's progress in cleaning up Gotham was measured in hours. The threat he broadcast on Amusement Mile had fallen on deaf ears; with the Joker dead and buried, that empty throne must've looked too damn tempting. One crime boss free-for-all later, and a sort of triumvirate had emerged that soaked in the local thugs like a sponge. Strange enough, they were apparently founded and spearheaded by Outsiders, not unlike the new-and-somewhat-improved branches of Gotham's government and law enforcement.

And it was on the business of this new Gotham government that brought Mr. Scratch here to the cemetery, approaching the portal that loved spitting out all sorts of powerful freaks looking for a taste of Gotham—maybe even take a great big bite out of it, if the Travers Administration couldn't keep close tabs on the "tourists." This business on behalf of the Outsider-led Gotham government was, oddly enough, about the Outsider-led Gotham criminal underground...and probably the worst side of it. The triumvirate—the worst side of the triumvirate, at least in Scratch's mind.

So with a deep breath, the Chief Adviser to Mayor Travers stepped through the portal and entered Akihabara.

...turns out he was in luck. A Hospitalier truck was making its way to the portal right now! While they were still quite a ways away, the driver and anyone riding alongside the transport would see a man in a black three-piece suit◊ adjust his jacket, smile, and wave towards the approaching crew.

Time to do some recruiting.

Sonia (KAIBADOME™)

Turning to Juri, and interpreting her comments as a desire to spar, Sonia took it as such and entered the arena, holding onto Vampire Killer firmly in preparation for the coming battle.

As for Maria, she would be able to hear, or perhaps feel, a familiar somebody coming, as a woman in civilian garb came into the building and stood patiently nearby Maria. For all intents and purposes they looked normal, but beneath their sunhat, Maria would likely be able to feel the unpleasant frown that was currently aimed at her.

Dark Samus (Hospital Parking Lot)

Following the group if only to get away from the annoying others that had agitated her, Dark Samus saw the vehicle, saw Krillin get into it, and followed suit; rather than climb onto the vehicle like the others, however, she just levitated up and into it, touching down. Again, Dark Samus followed Krillin's example, and sat down next to him, giving everyone else an uncomfortable stare, as she was still rather miffed about what she was subjected to in the hospital.

Proud member of the AGOG community.

Kaiba, THE KAIBADOME

Kaiba looked somewhat disappointing nobody wanted to fight a Blue Eyes. Still, he was glad to see this place getting some use.

“Excellent. Well then, feel free to make use of the Kaibadome to your hearts content.”

Kaiba pushed a button, which caused some scifi looking Tron lines to light up the arena, making it look cool as hell. Well, at least to him. His love of technology and dragons was not exactly subtle here.

Alice, THE PEOPLE GOING TO GOTHAMDOME

“I can handle myself against people whose only crime is hitting on me without resorting to butchering them,” Alice said, shaking her head at Barry’s suggestion. “I’m able to deal with you, after all.”

Once they got on the Satsukimobile and people started asking questions, Alice gave one of her own.

“Does this city have a functioning government? Any sort of system of order at all? I have heard things are bad here, but it may be helpful to know just how bad they are.”

Pink/Blue Diamond, THE AFTERMATH OF THE DROW BATTLEDOME

“Torture?” Pink said with a frown. “This bloodsoaked battle may have been necessary to protect the people of Camoa, but I cannot condone sadism. No matter what our targets may have done.”

“Whatever information they know may also be key to protecting Camoa,” Blue replied. “Sometimes it is necessary to dirty one’s hands in pursuit of the greater good, sister.”

Pink gave a long sigh before responding.

“Perhaps that is true. But I still must ask that we try to minimize our cruelty.”

She could already tell working with people like Junko and Bigsby was going to present… challenges.

Junko & Friends - Bisga Woods

“Hey, pig-mask and Blue over here know where it’s at!” Junko said to Toriel and Pink Diamond, “You think this person’s gonna spill everything if we just coddle them? The guy back at the tavern did say we’d have to interrogate whoever we captured. If you two wanna play good cop, go ahead, but don’t blame me if the big plan fails just because you were too soft to grill our prisoner for everything we need to know. Besides, we can just heal her up later if we want.”

Pig Misunderstanding, Bisga

"Torture? Ya hit your head on somethin', Muriel?" Inosuke tilted his head in confusion when Toriel accused him of planning to do untold things to the captured drow. "We jus' hit her a few times, and if she won't spill, then ya do your magic mumbo-jumbo stuff. Bet someone can just pry info out of her head." Beat. "Without splitting it in two, anyways. I don't think that's how this works, anyway."

---

Pyrrha, Gotham Go

A murderer on the loose...? Pyrrha frowned. "Who is this Sakura Empire, that they would have a murderer in their ranks?" She asked with a low tone. It was a heck of a first impression. Well, putting it on the backburner was just about the only thing they could do, given their mission to Gotham - but Ismene raised a valid point. "I... hope we can figure that out as we go." She said, not sounding at all confident.

It was hard to multitask. Either way, their ride of choice stood before them, simple and utilitarian. "I second Mr. Krillin's question." Pyrrha nodded. They had to know just who they had to deal with. "And on my part, I would like to know if there are any save havens that civilians could use to get to safety. I'm guessing that Hospitallers' effort would create a few, but maybe there were some before you came to Gotham...?"

Seeing that Samus was a little upset about earlier, Pyrrha's first instinct was to offer her a reassuring touch on the shoulder before stopping herself. Right, even with Aura up, there was no telling how it would react to her natural abilities. "We're sorry we had to put you through all this, Samus." She settled for words instead, and a reassuring smile. "We would like you to get settled in this new life as best as we can, but we're still a little in the dark about you despite everything. Please be patient with us."

Once they rode into Gotham and ambience immediately changed to an unwelcoming murk, Pyrrha couldn't help but tense. The air itself in this city seemed different. And speaking of different, not only were they entering it through a graveyard of all things, there was a man in a suit just standing there, as if waiting for them. "...someone you might know, Miss Satsuki?" She asked the chief Hospitaller quietly, regarding Mr. Scratch with a raised eyebrow.

How do lizards fly?

Bisga

"Yeah, we've got things from here and we won't be using torture. Not only is their race proficient in it and thus knows how to defend against such, it's needlessly cruel as well as inefficient. We have better ways of gaining the information on hand. Reliable. Clean." A pony-tailed man that carried a broadsword walked into the area, getting a few nods of acknowledgement from the others (oh hey, it's Knight Leader Van).

Taking the unconscious cleric and slinging her over the shoulder, the average sized man easily began to narrate out orders to secure the site and clean things up so that future scouting parties wouldn't be able to glean much. "It's going to take a bit of time for this process to go through but we do wish to perform the operation on this very day. I'll send a message to you when we are ready for action. Many thanks for your cooperation."

Gazing deeper into the forest and at the earth itself as though he wanted to peer past all those layers of terra firma to see into the heart of the Drow undercity itself, Van's visage was both somewhat grim and yet... somehow also expectant. As though everything was falling into place for the sword wielding tactician. "Get some rest and reprieve for now. Taut nerves will overly strain the spirit and invoke unnecessary exhaustion both physical and mental."

Giving the others a smile, the knight leader then began to talk to the resident Camoans to prep the very big investment before remembering something to turn back. "Oh, and tell the others back in Akihabara about such developments if you want to. It is a rather grand undertaking so getting as much help as possible would help the overall success rate I feel."

Daud - Entertainment District Apartment Room

"Fan-freaking-tastic, I feel safe already. I'm sure all the conflicts and powerplays happening around would be healthy for our adolescent god baby's psyche." snarked Daud, not at all pleased to learn that the residents are essentially shaping said god's will and personage especially after recent events.

"Almost sounded as if one can weaponize and manipulate them, even, the more civilization develops. And to think, I was complaining about our current state of anarchy weeks ago." shaking his head, he continued. "Smart of you to play the role of something like a barkeep. Mouths tend to let loose and guards let down while relaxing."

Tapping his chin as he absorbs all this information, it was time for him to play his cards after Bub showed his. "I have... experiences in maintaining what I'm currently doing. I won't bore you with details of my past life, but suffice to say, I had a hefty bounty on my head once and with good reasons. Something like finding the right people, the downtrodden, the corrupt, the opportunistic wannabe schemers or just those looking for a quick buck from overhearing simple gossips, is child's play to me. And of those whom I deemed have some measure of trustworthiness, ability and connections, I folded them directly into my enterprise to serve as my personal agents."

"Resources are something of a non-issue after I wished in a whole country's treasure vault and I have my eyes and ears spread almost everywhere in the Frontier. The problem, however," he leans in closely. "Is getting those same eyes and ears into our most powerful hegemons' ranks and inner circle. I've been thinking and have yet to get a crack at Log Horizon's but with how orderly and efficiently Administrator Siluca rules through them, I wager it's gonna take some time and comes with its own set of risks, moreso than usual. And Sakura Empire, well." The man chuckled dryly. "From what I'm hearing, breaching through them is going to be almost impossible. Isolated from the rest of the world through an island, heavily militarized than even Log Horizon and a nation of obedient automatons. Doesn't exactly scream 'hack-able', if I'm using modern lingo correctly." He shrugged. "That we have a sour relationship with each other after recent event is all the more going to complicate my efforts there."

After that, he relaxes and leans back on his chair. "Still, unless you have something to contribute to that, that's not something you need worry about. Just as you revealed your hand, I revealed mine."

It was about here that he had time to sip through his self-brew coffee. "All I ask is for a mutual cooperation deal. I wouldn't want this place to end up like another hellhole for personal reasons." Outsider knows how I utterly fucked up my last one. "And I'm sure you share the same sentiment. So what say you to us pooling our intel, contacts and resources together and do our goddamn best to prevent possible corruption and power-hungry politicians from fucking things up from within while our other erstwhile heroes is too busy dealing with gods, hostile empires and all other manners of horrors out there?"

"A post per day keeps the GMs away!"

Chun-Li, Gotham Cemetery

"The Sakura Empire is one of the factions of Akihabara itself," Chun-Li explained to Pyrrha when she asked. "Despite what it might seem, the Frontiers is still very much a place where might makes right and where we could potentially be attacked by entire armies or people as powerful as entire armies."

"Akihabara puts up with someone like Barry because he devotes his... tendencies towards those who attack Akihabara," Chun-Li frowned and crossed her arms, not particularly happy about it. "Reiko, on the other hand, seems to have killed people within Akihabara itself which naturally makes her a threat to the stability of Akihabara."

"However, trying to tell the Sakura Empire off for their actions in claiming Reiko for themselves will simply cause Akihabara itself to descend into a civil war, which is something it does not need at all," Chun-Li looked away from both Krillin and Pyrrha. "But that doesn't mean Reiko gets to walk around Akihabara freely... The Sakura Empire took her, so everything Reiko does now is on them, regardless of what they plan to do with her."

---

Juri, KAIBADOME™

Juri walked right into the Kaibadome and stood across from Sonia. Soon enough, Juri adopted her Taekwondo stance and beckoned her with her hands to come at her, smirking all the while.

---

Maria, KAIBADOME™

"And how have you been, Persephone?" The tone may have been polite, but the glare she gave the woman belied what she had actually thought of the woman. Maria was certainly on guard against her.

Edited by GameGuruGG on Feb 12th 2020 at 2:41:40 PM

Wizard Needs Food Badly

Toriel (Bisga - Break Time)

While not appreciating Junko's lip, Toriel knew that she did have a point, even if she was rude about it; fortunately, the matter was taken out of their hands by their employers, and so Toriel was left to give everyone a look-over before speaking again.

"Does anyone need medical attention? Best not to let injuries stew if we can help it."

Sonia (KAIBADOME™ - Vs. Juri)

Knowing that Juri was leading the dance for now, Sonia tensed up, eyeing her opponent...before dashing towards her and opening with a whip strike, preferring to keep space between herself and the martial artist.

Persephone (KAIBADOME™ - Rivalry)

Now that Maria had spoken up, Persephone lifted her head to meet Maria's glare head-on, matching it with equal intensity◊, before she spoke, clear venom and dislike in her voice.

"As well as can be expected. How about yourself, Renard? Gotten anyone else shot recently?"

Proud member of the AGOG community.

Satsuki - Akihabara, en route to Gotham

"I believe "everything in between" would be a good way to describe the situation." Satsuki told Krillin, a wry note slipping into her stony voice. "By all accounts, Gotham was a deeply troubled city even before it was taken into the Frontier. A slow economic slump, organized crime and street violence in the poorest areas, rampant corruption among the government and police force. Criminals with superhuman abilities were especially virulent. The few super-powered vigilantes and honest policemen were barely keeping the peace."

"When the city was shifted, it seems that almost all of these stabilizing influences were left behind, leaving the criminal elements almost entirely unchecked. With power, water ad fuel cut off, and no stable government, the city fell into anarchy. By the time the Expedition entered the city, it was practically a war zone."

She leaned forward, elbows on her knees. "That was roughly six weeks ago. The fighting was fierce at first. The criminal elements objected to our presence and tried to push us back into Akihabara, but we fortified our positions, set up medical facilities, and started evacuating refugees."

"Two weeks into the conflict, we had a breakthrough. A team from Akihabara neutralized most of the masterminds behind the attacks, and the gangs' co-ordination crumbled."

"By now, we have several fortified bases throughout Gotham, each centered on one of the city's hospitals. The situation has stabilized enough for the residents of Gotham to form a new government, and with it a stronger native police force. Some districts of the city remain lawless, and the gang presence has begun to consolidate again, but we have carved out secure areas around our bases, the Gotham Police's facilities, and the government's offices. Our convoys still come under attack occasionally, but for the most part, the city is quiet enough that we have started to turn more responsibility over to the locals."

Satsuki paused her briefing as the truck slowed to a halt, turning to look through the window between driver and passenger compartments, through to the road ahead and the familiar figure walking out of the fog.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, nodding to Pyrrha's question.

"Alan Wake. Advisor to the new Mayor." Satsuki got to her feet and stepped out of the open rear of the truck. She rounded the back of the vehicle and stood by the cabin, sword-tip planted on the damp tarmac between her boots.

"Mister Wake." She said once he approached, nodding politely, voice raised slightly over the sound of the other vehicles and foot traffic using the portal, muffled though it was by the fog.

Chun-Li, Gotham Cemetery

"Mr. Wake, this is Krillin, Pyrrha, and Samus," Chun-Li introduces the three newcomers pointing her hand to them in turn. "They are newcomers who just appeared."

"And this is Alice Liddel and Barry the Chopper, who have both been here a month or so but have not been to Gotham before," Chun-Li pointed over to Alice and Barry. "How is Mayor Travers doing?"

---

Juri, Vs. Sonia, KAIBADOME™

Of course, Whippy would fight with her whip. However, it did give her a range for attacks that gave Juri a disadvantage. So instead, Juri jumped up into the air to try to avoid the whip before swooping down towards the opponent foot-first.

"Shikusen!" If Juri hit Sonia with the move, she would then try to follow it up with a pair of kicks, the Second Impact, and then try to send Whippy flying away with a final kick, the Third Strike.

---

Maria, The Rivalry Is On!, KAIBADOME™

"I dunno..." Maria mused in mock forgetfulness. "Have you been a good Maid and not tried to kill your Master again?"

Edited by GameGuruGG on Feb 12th 2020 at 7:10:35 AM

Wizard Needs Food Badly

Camoa - Bisga Woods (Lost Vessel, Others) ~ I'm Out

As it turned out, there was in fact time to return to Akihabara. Upon the armored man's explanation, the Lost Vessel turned briefly to the others.

"Am well," it wrote in response to Toriel. Then, to everyone else, "Returning to Akihabara. Will come back when time."

At that, after one last quick inspection to make absolutely sure that there was nothing it might have wanted from the slain drow, it started heading back to the pub and therefore Akihabara, through whatever means were provided (or just by foot if nothing was provided).

---

Nightengale Hospital -> Akihabara - Gotham Portal (Ismene, Others) ~ Woops, Screwed Up the Location

Ismene was right behind everyone else when it came time to finally go to Gotham. Upon looking inside the provided truck, however, she hesitated before frowning.

"...I was planning on bringing my chocobo along, but it doesn't look like there's room for him in here," she said, rubbing her chin, "If it's all right with the rest of you, I think I might just ride him there instead of hopping in here. I'll catch up with the rest of you in Gotham."

She proceeded to do just that, riding alongside the truck all the way to the portal to Gotham. She might have just hopped through the portal herself, were it not for the fact that the truck stopped. She stopped to, giving it a confused glance, before she noticed the sharp-dressed man that appeared to be waving them down.

She rode up to join the others, albeit choosing to stay on her chocobo for now, just in time to hear Chun-Li call the man "Mr. Wake" and introduce the newcomers of the group.

"And I'm Ismene! Former royal advisor turned adventuring drunk nobody!" she added, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Wake!"

Edited by Yomegami on Feb 15th 2020 at 5:39:08 AM

Icon by Civvi the Civilian!

Barry - Gotham Cemetery

""That's true. Then again, if another me is running around hitting on you and killin' peeps left an' right, he's probably a free kill too, hah!" Idly thought Barry, wondering about the prospect of chopping another version of himself. Sorta like a clone or something.

When the group finally got off the van, lo and behold, looked who decided to show their handsome mug around at the other side! Barry had half a mind to raise the cleaver in greetings to his favorite murder-pal around town... up until he realizes that little ol' Wakey may not want people to know that part about him.

Now, the living automail may not be all that bright at times, but even he can tell that associating with himself or, worse, being discovered sharing the same hobbies and passion as him, may not be in Wake's best interest, considering his position and the folks 'round him. And so, with a subtle knowing look(or as much of a knowing look as his unchanging face helmet can muster), the Chopper re-introduces himself to Mr. Wake.

"Sup! The name's Barry, like what our lovely police chick here says, Wendy's premier butcher and resident 'cleaner' 'round this parts, heh. Been doin' my part ridding this place clean of its 'trash'." And enjoying it to hell and back, to boot! "Can't say the same for the trail of gore and blood I leave behind though, gyahaha!"

Or, in his own words, Sup, Wakey ol' buddy! Got myself a proper job now and having a helluva time visiting this hellhole from time to time. How's your day?

Edited by JustSomeGuy732 on Feb 13th 2020 at 8:37:56 PM

"A post per day keeps the GMs away!"

Gotham Portal Area: Introductions, Reunions, and...Re-Introductiunions?

Krillin's expression seeped more into a stern expression, and not just because of Gotham's apparent condition. The words Miss Satsuki used to describe what happened—"fortified our position," "neutralized most of the masterminds," "carve" out pieces of the city—this wasn't the language of a humanitarian; it was the language of a General. The martial artist wasn't exactly happy to hear a troubled city being summarized in that tone. It felt heartless, even if Miss Satsuki was trying her best to help.

Well, there wasn't much he could do about that. He'd just have to focus on putting the criminals behind bars before they could be "neutralized" forever.

The stern expression cracked at the words "Mr. Krillin," which made the police officer titter and rub the back of his head.

"There's no need to be so formal, Pyrrha. Just call me Krillin!"

Despite being an officer of the law, it still felt strange being addressed like some sort of authoritative figure. Pretty much the only people who called him Mr. Krillin were Trunks and Goten, and they were about ten years younger than the Huntress sitting opposite him. At this rate, the honorific might start to make him feel old!

Chun-Li's explanation of the Sakura Empire was quite helpful, albeit a bit puzzling. Akihabara seemed to be a city; how could an empire be just a piece of it? Not that the semantics really mattered. If a wanted murderer was being harbored among them, then they had to be watched like a hawk.

Too bad he couldn't be in two places at once.

The truck soon came to a stop, and the group hopped out to meet a well-dressed stranger who was apparently waiting for them.

...

Scratch's good luck just kept piling up—Captain Kiryuin herself was on her way to Gotham!

"Captain!" he smiled back in greeting. "What a delightful surprise!"

The lighthearted tone and white-toothed smile announced that the surprise was, in fact, delightful. Though as the Street Fighter joined her Hospitalier counterpart, the microexpressions partly cloaked by the fog suggested that her presence was...less of a delight.

Mr. Scratch didn't hate Chun-Li. She was a capable leader, seemed reliable in a skirmish, and was an amiable acquaintance of Mayor Travers'. Unfortunately, these were the precise reasons why he couldn't bring himself to really like her, either. She commanded a well-trained and respected force of warriors, but insisted on employing the Pathfinders as a means to enforce Akibalalabra's neutrality. As if the dumpster fire called Gotham wasn't her responsibility—or rather, it was a lower priority than idly stationing her soldiers to act as the oh-so-important Switzerland of this rock.

Sure, some Pathfinders moved to Gotham as part of the Mayor's new initiative, but those veterans were here to train the police cadets recruited from across the Frontiers, not to patrol the streets and help clean up the city. And Scratch wasn't sure if even that was Chun-Li's doing; maybe all the Mayor got from being pals with the Pathfinder's leader was a pat on the back and a friendly "how are you?" when she strolled into town.

...but this wasn't a professional way to think. In fact, after mulling over why the Street Fighter seemed to grind his gears, Wake concluded his reasons were ten times more childish and a hundred times more pathetic than he'd ever like them be: he was jealous of her. Jealous of Akihabagrabah, and the apparent stability the neighboring city had. And that envy turned into resentment when it seemed clear that the Pathfinders would mainly stay on their side of the line, while Gotham struggled just to claw its way back to "habitable." Not that he couldn't see a full-force invasion and a declaration of martial law coming back to bite them all in the ass, but still. Least progress wouldn't be such a slow burn.

"Grumpy and restless, I'm afraid." Wake answered the Street Fighter. "I've insisted that he not act like the Bat, and dig through the paperwork that's been piling on his desk instead. He wants to be cutting the crime rate down with his own two hands, but part of the mayoral office is, y'know, working like a mayor. What do you think: am I poking the bear?"

Wake chuckled at the question, but perhaps the Street Fighter might find it less funny. Travers had to have gotten thrown in the slammer for something, right?

Turning his attention to the new-arrivals, the Chief Adviser offered a hand to shake, starting with Pyrrha.

"As in 'Pyrrhic Victory?'" Wake asked with the hint of a wince. "That's quite a name to live with."

Not "live up to," as the Huntress would no doubt catch—"live with."

Wake was a few inches from grasping Samus' hand when a nasily voice suggested he just wave instead.

"Samus has some kind of condition. We're not really sure how it works, but in a few seconds she turned a ripe apple into mush and absorbed it into her body. It's probably not the best idea to touch her."

Wake glanced at the short noseless figure with "POLICE" written all over him (literally and figuratively), and then waved to Samus with a short pout.

"Well, you're certainly the prettiest life-sucker I've ever seen." he smirked, then turned to the woman who burst onto the scene (and the conversation) with gusto.

With a small glance at Tiny Voldemort as if to ask for permission to touch this woman's hand, Wake clasped Isemene's hand in both of his and shook it with a delighted grin.

"Nice to meet you, Adventuring Drunk Nobody!" he laughed.

Hey, she set him up for it.

Last of the fairer sex was a young lady that looked like one of those old Victorian dolls that got Pinocchio'd to life. Alice Liddel, as the Street Fighter introduced her. Alice, polite demeanor, dressed as if she feared exposing an ankle would give her consumption...Alice in Wonderland, maybe? Or wait, wasn't Carroll's Alice named Alice Darling? No, wait. Nope. He was thinking of Wendy Darling, from Peter Pan. Christ, how could these old-ass British books be so different yet still feel the same?

Eh, fuck it. Might as well go with the joke:

"A pleasure, Alice." Wake grinned. "Welcome to Wonderland."

With a swift nod and professional "Officer." as a greeting for the tiniest member of the party, it was straight to the trickiest introduction to navigate.

Captain and the Street Fighter didn't seem to know about (Fun) Barry's visit to Gotham way back when, and the tin man was sharp enough to use that ignorance to Scratch's advantage. Oh Barry, you selfless kindhearted psychopath!

Wake forced himself to titter at the living armor's gory guffaw, and chose to wave at Barry instead of greedily shake his hand like he wanted to.

"Hi, Barry. Do me a favor, and uhh..." he pointed to the cleaver, "watch where you wave that thing, okay?"

That was probably the best greeting he could give his fellow murder enthusiast: a cautious and responsible comment on the surface, but to Barry it was a callback to the Two-Face crime scene where they first met. Waving that blood-soaked cleaver of his had tampered with the evidence by the (supposed) Rogue's corpse.

With the introductions out of the way, Wake turned back to Satsuki.

"You've come at a convenient time, Captain. Our favorite turtle queen's been gathering influence by the truckload, and I've been assigned to talk her out of expanding further into the city. As I'm sure you know by now, chatting with the Madame without backup is just asking to be served extra crispy as part of her casino's buffet. Would've taken the Maneater, but it seems she's taken a sick day. I was on my way to that Guild to recruit some protection, when lo and behold all of you show up!"

Wake smiled and gestured to the over half-dozen individuals who had strolled up to Gotham's doorstep.

"There's three ringleaders in Gotham's new criminal underground, and I'm about to confront one of them. Anyone interested in helping to clean up the streets?"

Chun-Li, Gotham Cemetery

"He would be like that," Chun-Li frowned slightly and crossed her arms. "You've been doing great keeping him focused on his job and not just walking through the streets punching every punk he sees until they collapse unconscious."

She had heard stories about Cody... The greatest hero of Metro City who saved it from the Mad Gears by punching through every Mad Gear gang member he could find... And then he just kept punching and punching and punching. It didn't matter that he could take a break when he could break people's bones. It led to him being sent to prison, but for someone as strong as Cody, he would get bored and just punch himself out of prison so he could fight again. Everything was just a street fight to him, but if he can be mayor like his friend Mike Haggar, Superstar Pro Wrestler who became the Mayor of Metro City right before saving Metro City from the Mad Gears, maybe he can learn to enjoy things besides Street Fighting.

"I'll go talk to Bowsette," Chun-Li offered once Mr. Wake informed her of the situation with the Koopa Queen. "But I do request one thing... I need to determine how much presence the Sakura Empire faction has in Gotham."

"Apparently, Reiko allegedly murdered people in Akihabara and then fled here," Chun-Li began to explained. "Once we located where she was in Gotham, I sent in two bounty hunters to try to bring her back to Akihabara to be tried for her crimes, but they were ambushed by the Sakura Empire and Reiko is apparently now in the Sakura Empire's custody."

Wizard Needs Food Badly

Pink Diamond, Bisga Woods

“I suppose we have little other choice then,” Pink admitted. “Well if anyone needs any healing, I can help with that.”

Alice, Gotham Cemetery

“You know about my trip to Wonderland?” she asked Wake, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize that part of my life was apparently common knowledge. In any case, it’s nice meet you as well.”

“As for this crime boss, Barry and I can provide you with backup in case negotiations fall apart. I do hope you have some sort of plan in mind...”

Chun-Li’s words, meanwhile, were rather alarming.

“A known killer is being harbored here? ...I suppose this is a foolish question, but I’m assuming they are the kind of killer we don’t tolerate?”

She sighed heavily, wishing that wasn’t something she seriously needed to ask.

Kaiba, THE KAIBADOME

Kaiba sat upon a chair from above like some sort of Roman emperor watching a gladiator fight, eating dragon shaped popcorn with his Duel Monster allies as he watched the ongoing battle. It was truly, as the kids would say, epic as hell.

Entertainment District Apartment Room

"Indeed. Much like all things in the known world there has to be balance to ensure proper functioning. Too much order results in only a tyranny ruled by an iron fist while too much chaos results in pandemonium and anarchy in which the only rule is whoever can snatch that of others via the biggest fist. Going too far in either direction is horrible as well as inefficient."

Sipping some coffee while continuing to listen to Daud after the initial venting was over with, Beelzebub let an eyebrow quirk up as well as a smile that slipped out after the observations were made. Yes, it was this sort of intellectualism that made him want to reach out for the jaded spymaster in the first place. Pragmatic enough to know what needed to be done but not too much to the point where everything was simply a pure number's game. Like he had said earlier, there must be balance and in this case, he found it.

"Ah, in that case I do believe that I can lend my services in that regard. I have my ways in learning about knowledge others would find rather hard to even get close enough to. The source of such will be kept a secret of course but I see no harm in mutual information exchange around these parts. All I will say is that the job is only hard if you go about it in a regular way such as this but ever so much easier if you need not to rely on men alone."

Being rather gleeful about his advantage without truly rubbing it in, the eccentric fop steepled his hands together while looking rather unprofessional at the moment... even if his eyes were much too sharp and calm to fit along with the rest of the act. "To control things from the shadows takes a certain panache and skill set so I'll make sure to make the deal with such individuals whenever I feel like there will be benefits to such. Much like you I prefer Akihabara to be a land of sufficient freedom so I'll agree on this partnership you're calling for.~"

Chun-Li, Gotham Cemetery

"Of course not! Reiko knows how to stay under the radar," Chun-Li retorted back to Alice. "It took us the entire month since we discovered her murders to find out where exactly she was in Gotham and we had to try to bring her back without alerting her until it was too late."

"And besides, Reiko has already been taken out of here by the Sakura Empire," Chun-Li shook her head. "I just want to know the reasons why she isn't in Akibaharan jail cell right now, which requires figuring out what presence Sakura Empire possibly has here."

"I got briefed on it while we were at the Hospital with Samus," Chun-Li explained to Alice.

Wizard Needs Food Badly

Nightmare Castle

Well, the giant laser cannon blasted Nightmare's mech in two, just as planned. The legs went flying off to somewhere unimportant to crash against a wall, while O'kais attack opened a hole exposing Nightmare himself. As Rico grappled on, he'd be able to see Nightmare try to lift his giant claw in front of his face.

   Impossibl-   

Then the gunfire started, and he was cut off as the bullets shredded his body to bits. Rico would be able to see Nightmare start to disentgrate into nothing as the mech half started to spark with the telltale signs of impending explosion. Thus, Shigure would uncermoiously yank Rico off of the mech and get clear before it blew the fuck up.

Soul Edge itself, meanwhile, landed on the ground, impaling itself into the floor tip first. The eye looked wildly between each of the people in the fight, lingering for a moment on Rico and Velvet. The implcation was clear. It was afraid.

Oh woooooow, that was so cool!

Tira ran over to Ges, whereever he'd landed, and dropped down to her knees, bowing her head.

Please please be my new master! You're sooooooo much cooler and stronger then Nighty, you're way more worthy of being my master then he ever was! I'll do whatever you want, kill whoever you want, whatever Ges, just please please let me serve you!

---

Meanwhile, before Lady and Siluca made it through the portal, the hooded mage who'd allowed them to get here in the first place emerged, and looked over in the direction of Soul Edge.

"So. You have prevailed."

Even though he was only speaking at normal volume, his voice seemed somehow amplfied, echoing through the room through some form of magic.

"It is almost done. But until the sword itself is struck down, you have but delayed the inevitable. You must all strike as one, and destroy the cursed sword, once and for all."

Lady spoke up. "Hey, that's great and all, but we've got injured here." She motions toward Siluca and back at Rico. "Think you can help us?"

He looks over Siluca for a moment before nodding, walking over to her. He motioned for Lady to release her, then lifted his hand, a green glow surrounding it as the wounds started to stitch themselves together and the shrapnel was removed.

O'Kais, Nightmare Castle

-A gue'la emerges from the portal and claims the sword of Mont'au must be destroyed as well. This instruction being perfectly compatible with the Greater Good, the Shas'O locks his missile pods onto the barbaric sword planted in the ground, keeps his plasma rifle trained on it, and walks over until his flamer is in range to torch the sword, all weapons ready to be unleashed on the twisted thing in an instant.-

Ready when you are, gue'vesa!

Mikazuki Augus - Nightmare Castle

Mikazuki landed on the ground and watched as Nightmare was killed and blew up. Then Tira declared that Gespenst was her master now. it kinda reminded the child soldier of the time when Tusk appointed himself as his student. The white-haired boy was really annoying when he insisted on acting as a manservant, even if Mika still missed him somewhat. So he easily could guess that Tira would somehow get even more annoying at least towards Gespent.

But he had other matters to attend to. Barbatos walked towards Soul Edge. "Alright, now to deal with you." The Gundam then took out its wrench mace and tried to grab the evil sword with it so he could crush the thing between his own weapon's 'jaws'.

Scrooge - Gotham Portal Area

Scrooge just followed the rest of the group into the hospital vehicle. Once they were in front of the portal to Gotham, he walked out to greet Scratch. "Hello there. I'm Scrooge McDuck, owner of most the mines in Akihabara." He then quietly listened to the others talking about Reiko and her murders.

Edited by Alecoene on Feb 15th 2020 at 11:49:07 AM

Enterprise - Bisga Woods

"I think I'll head back as well, I should try and get one of the tanks my factory has produced and bring it along for a test run rather than simply letting them sit and collect rust. Also just incase we need some more fire power."

Enterprise decided to follow Lost Vessel's example and head back to Akihabara to gather some extra fire power for combating the drow. Her new tank would finally get that live fire test she had been waiting for.

Gespenst - Nightmare's Castle

Well Gespenst had been a bit caught off guard by Tira just asking him if she could be his servant, still he didn't have a reason to say no to her considering the help she had given him. It would also probably work out better to keep her close by rather than risk some one else recruiting her or trying to kill her.

"Sure, I could use the extra hands."

Since Mika was already moving to shatter soul edge, gespenst took a look at the hall they were in and some of the damage that had been done, before turning to the others.

"Hey if you guys don't mind I'll be taking this castle as my home. You guys can have the treasure or what ever valuables you were after, but I'll be taking this fortress itself, gonna have to do a lot of rennovations though. I don't think it even has plumbing."

Bandit Town - Incoming Tetsu no Lullaby

on the edge of bandit town, though rapidly approaching it, there was a high pitched whirring sound as three machines◊ shorter than Britannian knightmares seemed to skate across the ground while approaching bandit town. Despite the fact that they were all packing heat, they stopped at the edge of the city rather than opening fire, there was a rather distinct 'clicking' sound as their eyes seemed to shift between three different settings.

Melkia had gotten word that someone had taken over bandit town and removed Britannian control, or at least convinced the garrison to change sides, and they were interested in potentially forming an alliance with whoever this third party was. There was absolutely no way this could go badly.

Gotham Cemetery

As both an answer to what kind of presence the Sakura Empire possesses, and because its what it was tasked with in the first place, a literal small box on legs, with a QR code on its side, and with a posit note over its face bounces through the cemetery, and crashes into a gravestone since the note is half covering its little sensor.

Thanks to the things small size however no real damage is caused, and much to its happiness it manages to find who it is looking for, taking a seat in front of Chun-Li like a little dog as its antenna happily wags, and the sensor's shutter dilates to get her into its focus.

It just sits there dutifully, waiting for her to take the post-it off its face.

If she did, there was a rather neatly written note on the post-it, reading.

Weather it was read or not, the little robot would continue to sit there and wait until it was dismissed.

Edited by Imca on Feb 14th 2020 at 4:05:11 AM

Siluca - Nightmare’s Castle

The mage was pretty much about to give out, though before she knew it, the pain and burns were beginning to fade away, and she was once again able to collect her thoughts.

This was the man who had brought them all here through that portal. Siluca never would have expected that he had healing magic like some of her class-changed citizens or Priscilla.

As she once again got up, briefly examining some of the shrapnel that had fallen out and once again inspecting her snapped broom, she looked around, remembering she was still in the castle. Before she could thank the man, she realized that the man called upon them all to destroy the sword. At the same time, it was likely she would strike her allies if she used her lightning. Maybe the others would be sufficient to destroy it.

Wait, didn’t she have something that could conjure blades to her at will?

No, she had left that crystal back at her headquarters. She hadn’t expected to enter into this battle, and in hindsight, her decision had been completely reckless.

“I’m in your debt sir,” Siluca said giving a bow to the hooded man. “And you as well Lady. If either of you need to call upon my assistance in the future, or wish for Log Horizon’s aid, let me know.”

Siluca turned around to begin to walk over towards the sword where the others were beginning to gather. Seeing Mikazuki try to grab that thing with that wrench-like device, restraint seemed to be the best course of action, and with O’Kais’s weapons trained on it, the mage also tried to keep her distance.

Siluca had no immediate issue with Gespenst claiming the castle. She wasn’t even 100% sure where this place was, and currently she didn’t have much interest in expanding her lands through the portal. Hydaelyn did something similar back when they had fought Luke, though she struggled to remember where exactly that tower was.

“I have no objections. If you’d like, my district and I could also help repair and improve this castle’s condition.”

---

Junko & Friends - Bisga

Well, that was lame and annoying. Who did this guy think he was? Junko was pretty sure he didn’t tag along on the airship.

She would have had goat-mom and Pinky over there convinced if it wasn’t for this guy. What, did they have some sort of truth or mind-reading magic?

Half of the Ultimate wanted to see if this stuff was legit, but it would be pretty dumb and disappointing if she let all her plans slip out from a magic trick anyone could see a mile coming.

Well, if the other hotshots were as lame as this guy, then Camoa was next on her list of cities to destroy after Akihabara. Maybe even before then. At least Aki had a few psychos and someone had been busy kidnapping or murdering people over the past month or two. A shame she didn’t know what was going on with all that.

And people were getting ready to head back. Shame there wasn’t any way to kill off the Drow leader without everyone noticing, but she’d have other chances to watch things go to shambles.

Enterprise was bringing a tank, huh? Oh yeah, her faction was starting to build that stuff. Junko vaguely remembered the guy at the tavern saying something about having to into the earth/through tunnels, so how would a tank fare under those sort of circumstances.

It could be interesting to watch. Puhuhuhu…

By this time, Chiaki and Keropoyo had finished looting the bodies.

“Huh, I wonder if there’s a way to see the stats on this gear.”

Then the Ultimate Gamer realized people were getting ready to head back, possibly to Akihabara.

“Is it over already?” Chiaki let out a yawn. “I don’t think I even leveled up yet. I hope there are more enemies back near the city we can farm for exp.”

So, Junko and her companions went back with the others, not that they had any serious plans aside from maybe seeing if there was anything to do or stuff Chiaki could grind for levels. Maybe they could walk back but even if they fought a few things it would probably be boring and Chiaki would probably fall asleep on the way back, so it was probably better to take the airship like everyone else.

Red Bowsette, Gotham Streets - Ready to be confronted

Somewhere within Gotham, on a street that was currently being given a wide-birth by passing citizens, a certain tall, horned queen was staring with disappointment and bemusement at the squirming and cursing man held aloft in front of her by his collar; Who was saying some very inappropriate things about her and what she should do. Meanwhile his friend groaned weakly from where he was sprawled out on the sidewalk, one black heel pressing painfully into his back as the koopa woman towered over him.

Bowsette frowned slightly as the tirade continued, before she finally shook the main sharply; Bouncing his head and body around like a ragdoll to shut him up. "Enough! I'm aware that my name hasn't spread through all of Gotham yet, but how foolish do you have to be to try something like that on a woman of my size and appearance? And if you keep that up, I'm going to be very tempted to fry you. So STOP."

Fiery embers sparked in the back of her throat, promptly shutting the man up and turning his face pale white. With that done, Bowsette suddenly reeled her arm back and lobbed the man further down the street where he slammed into the concrete and rolled. He was followed by his friend a moment later his friend, as the horned woman removed her foot from his back and promptly kicked him away from her with enough force to briefly get air. The men would live, but would be very sore for some time. And then with a huff, she turned away and went back to looking for a place to get a drink of some sort at. Flying around was thirsty work.