The Quantum Reach

Suddenly, some kind of near-human that seemed to have a tail leaped on top of one of the meatbags with hostile intentions apparently. Hmm, something to kill on his first minutes here? Guess this makes up for the fact he's away from his master after all.

With no hesitation, the droid aimed his Disruptor Rifle at Kha without hesitation. "Threat: Please, I dare you to try cut his face off, meatbag. The chance to blow holes on a meatbag will make my day."

Setsuna

As soon as that lion-tailed asshole (a yokai maybe?) pounced Mason, Setsuna went on the offensive. She raised her club, snarling as she shifted her feet. As long as someone was in danger, not even a pupper could hold her back.

"GET THE FUCK OFF HIM OR I'LL TEAR YOUR ARMS OFF! AND THEN SEND YOUR ASS TO YOMI!"

Of course, she didn't mean it.

Probably.

But if she could scare him senseless and RIP HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF end this without bloodshed, then all the better.

Edited by kkhohoho on Aug 23rd 2020 at 6:16:47 AM

Portal Room

“Please! Please don't be violent!” Katya begged as one of the strangers seemed to fall upon another in a presumable confused panic; prompting several more to react defensively and threateningly for his benefit. “Just... please... all calm down, back away slowly... please put down weapons, I don't want this to be violent...”

She seemed to be out of her depth, as she was practically whimpering as she cowered away from the weaponry on display. She'd likely never seen guns or clubs in person. Let alone be in the same room as both at once, now being threatened to hurt or kill another living person with–

“If you're going to threaten each other then threaten me too,” she swallowed, standing up to her full height and placing a hard expression onto her face. “But please back down now. We're all very confused so let's be mature about this, da...?”

Artoria

All of a sudden, some lion-human hybrid pounced on Mason, and then everyone was shouting and threatening/trying to stop the incoming violence. Artoria had no desire to be part of another battle so soon, so she drew her sword and held it up in the air to draw everyone's attention, the blue light shining off the surface.

"Cease," she ordered, voice stern. "We are all allies in this war. We have all been summoned here by the Reach. We are not enemies."

With that said, she sheathed her sword and walked over to the lion-human hybrid. "If everyone understands that..." Artoria extended a hand towards him. "I am called Saber. What is your name?"

Suddenly, a round, faceted yellow gemstone started glowing and floating in the air, emitting light in the general shape of a person even taller than the oni that was present, but also just as muscular. The person-shaped light shifted between several outfits before solidifying into a frilly dress that wouldn't look out of place in a magical girl anime and landing on her feet.

She blinked with alarm. "What— where am I?! Has it finally happened? Has one of my fans lost it and kidnapped me?" She looked around at the other people in the room, "Seems I'm not the only one here. Who are you guys? Where are we?"

Matt

And of course it wasn't even a few minutes before someone pounced on someone else, and then, just like that, everyone was shouting about this and getting ready to fight. Matt swore that this was more common than he'd like to admit. Did these people not have any sort of self control?

Matt's eyes traveled the room and as soon as he realized there were also teenagers here - Nancy in particular. These people really just had no sense of what this was gonna lead to... he stepped forward and shouted across the room, "Enough! I'm not gonna let people here act like lamebrained animals! So get your pissing matches done and settle the fuck down, like the lady says. I'm not letting you maul each other and potentially hurt a kid in here."

Thankfully the pretty blond woman was up and trying to settle things down too...but considering the kinds of morons here, chances were they'd need someone to talk to them in their own fucked up language, so to speak. Otherwise they just wouldn't listen to her.

Matt breathed and then looked at the current brouhaha going on, and gestured at Kha, "Yeah so... monkey boy, get off of the nerd," Matt then turned and looked at Setsuna, taking in her appearance and guessing what her deal was, "And you...cool your fucking tits, kay?"

"Now...someone said "The Reach" brought us here." Matt said and looked around, "That's a start. I figure we deserve to know why, and what brought this on. So if we're all done being stupid, let's try and figure out our given circumstances."

Edited by NickTheSwing on Aug 23rd 2020 at 8:10:17 AM

Setsuna

Setsuna had been about to put down her weapon. She still didn't want to treat this lion-taled asshole with kid gloves. He'd tackled that other dude to the floor as soon as they got here. Like, okay. She wasn't one to talk. If it weren't for Wolfgang, she might have done the same thing. But that also meant she knew the sort of bastard she was dealing with.

But it seemed like that fancy blonde-haired girl had it in hand. Least she could do was give her a chance and—

...

Did he

He did not...

Oh no he didn't!

Roaring like a raging bull, she charged towards Matt, club raised and out for blood. Even as the better part of her tried to reign herself in, the other part shoved it to the ground, kicking in its teeth and slamming it into the dirt.

Uh...

Shut. Up.

But maybe...

SHUT. UP.

But—

SHUT THE FUCK UP!

...okey-dokie.

And with that, there was nothing stopping Setsuna from pummeling that sexist motherfucker into the next century.

Edited by kkhohoho on Aug 23rd 2020 at 10:33:18 AM

Portal Room

Another beastfolk appeared in the room, and Little Wolf smiled, preparing to introduce himself - despite the stereotype, he had nothing against cats of any kind - when the lion man in question attacked someone. From Kha's questions, it was obvious he was panicked and acting on instincts. Little Wolf knew better than anyone what it was like to have your instincts take control.

Before he could try to calm his fellow beastfolk down, everyone began drawing weapons. Little Wolf gave a small whimper. "Please don't hurt him." He pleaded to the room. "He's acting on animal instinct. It's okay, Mr. Lion. No one here is gonna hurt you-"

And then Matt opened his mouth. Little Wolf's ears folded flat against his head. Why does he have to be so mean?

Little Wolf was about to ask Matt to be nice, but Setsuna roared, and flung herself at Matt. Without a word, Little Wolf moved, jumping in front of Setsuna with his arms outstretched.

He hugged her, pushing against her body with surprising strength for how little he was. "Please don't, Setsuna." Little Wolf said. "I know he's a jerk, but that doesn't mean you should hurt him!"

Matt

If one expected Matt to quiver and retreat in the face of Setsuna's rage, that was not what ended up happening. It did seem he misjudged who Setsuna might be willing to listen to, but the fact was, she was entirely too predisposed to violence for his preference. Especially with things being as they were.

Matt's eyes flashed once and he dodged one swing of the mace, and then let the club collide with something that blinked into existence, floating by his side. A heavenly shield of white and gold, seeming to contain within it red and white energy beneath the surface.

Ancile was a godsend (literally), especially when it came to dealing with this issue. Matt just stood back and watched as Setsuna's blows connected with the mythical shield of the God of War, Mars. Whereas the Old Kings of Rome merely contented themselves with duplicates, Matt brought forth an iteration of the genuine article as wielded by Mars.

"Listen to her or listen to me, I don't care. But really, let's be honest here, you should listen to her. Less people listen to my rude ass the better." Once again me and my mouth. Reminds me of the time I pissed off that Elvish Perfect. And then Little Wolf got involved in this.

"...Goddammit, kid. She could hurt or kill you!" Sure she was nice to him at the start, but considering her evident temperament? Who knew how long that benevolence would last. He got ready to put another shield in front of Little Wolf in case it went worse.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Aug 23rd 2020 at 8:50:26 AM

Setsuna

Setsuna was about to lift up her club and swing it again. And again. And again and again and again, no matter how many times it took to thrash his scrawny ass. Shield or no shield, nothing was gonna stop her from tearing him limb for limb.

...except for maybe a pupper.

As soon as Wolfgang hugged her, pleaded with her to stop, she froze. She still wanted to beat the shit out of him. Rend him limb from limb. Tear his limbs off, pound his head in, absolutely PULIVERSE HIM—

But... she couldn't.

Not with Wolfgang begging her to stop.

In moments, her rage subsided. She was still pissed. Still wanted to eviscerate him.

But... maybe not literally?

She lowered her club to the ground. And it was then that she truly realised what she was about to do.

She was almost ashamed.

Almost.

She kneeled down and hugged Wolfgang, whispering only a single word as she lingered in his embrace.

"Sorry."

She got back up. She stomped over to Matt, seething.

But the club was sitting on the floor.

No matter how pissed she was, she at least was willing to settle this with words instead of fisticuffs.

"You tell me to cool my fucking TITS, and you expect me to listen?!" She spat at his feet. "What, you think you're Izagani or something?!"

Edited by kkhohoho on Aug 24th 2020 at 7:59:48 AM

Matt

Matt for now kept his shield active just in case anything further happened, and took her asking him "who the hell he thought he was" as an invitation to introduce himself. And, more to the point, clarify some things, "Alright, who the hell am I...? My name's Matt Streiss, former agent of the AOGAMI and follow up SRARMA organizations. Ask my boss or my surviving former partner, and they'll tell you I'm a crude, tactless ass with no filter who sleeps around, talks shit and gets up every single morning to make sure nobody gets eaten, maimed or killed by Angels, Demons or Fucked Up Tentacle Things."

He chuckled under his breath, "And no, I don't think I'm Izanagi. I could probably summon his sword though. That's my "thing"."

Edited by NickTheSwing on Aug 23rd 2020 at 9:08:23 AM

Vale

The Rogue turned to Matt with his eyes- the only visible part of his face currently- clearly expressing the "Are you serious" tone he was feeling "Gee, a real beacon of charisma you are." He drawled with veiled annoyance, cocking an ear to listen to Little Wolf's pleading and reluctantly sheathing his dagger. "Well I hope ya have another way ta calm this twitchy fella then 'cause I don't know how else to- and he's off."

The Tiefling reached under his hood to scratch his head as he watched Setsuna and Matt (verbally) slug it out while Little Wolf tried to calm the enraged Oni down. "Yeah, I ain't getting myself involved in that shit right now." He muttered down to Kha and Mason as he took a seat next to them, before pulling out a small hunk of bread from his pack and taking a bite. "Seriously, what kinda deity is crazy enough ta pull a bunch of random fellas from across the realms in one place and expect them to all play nice?"

Portal Room

Well that was a... clusterf$&%.

Katya could barely keep up with all that happened, but what she did know was that she'd backpedaled into a corner to press her back against a wall; sinking down into a cowering position until they'd finally cooled off just a little. She couldn't help but agree with Vale's sentiment, and after a moment's pause she began to carefully approach in order to sit down nearer to him. He seemed a lot more mellow in comparison to the... others.

“...P-Perhaps this isn't God, then. Perhaps it's Loki... or someone who'd find this all funny...” she swallowed, not sure how exactly he'd react to her coming nearer. As respectable as he'd appeared to be so far (apart from ‘Little Wolf’ but even he was right in the middle of everything) he certainly was afraid to be defensive. She just hoped she wasn't particularly threatening to him. “Are you... wh-where are you from, then...? I am from... Nizhnevartovsk, in... in Russia...”

If she wasn't this frightened, she might've even been able to speak in full sentences. But for all intents and purposes, she'd been on a nice relaxing walk in the crisp early morning air, then [REDACTED MEMORIES] followed by her waking up wherever here was. Needless to say, she was starting to wonder if this was all some bizarre dream.

(...-tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock-...)

Edited by Enirboreh on Aug 24th 2020 at 9:53:54 AM

Setsuna

...the fuck was coming out of his mouth? Setsuna thought that, at the very least, he'd have enough common courtesy to explain himself. (Not that she was one to talk, but still.) Maybe even offer an apology if he had so much as a speck of decency.

Instead, he kept going on about an 'a-o-what-now' or shwarma of all things. (mmm... shwarma) Without even mentioning what started this in the first place.

It took all she had to stop herself from tearing his cursed head off.

"I don't know what any of that means. And I don't care. You know what I care about? You telling me to cool. My. Fucking. TITS. You think going on about all that stupid bullshit is gonna make up for it?!"

The worst part was, he knew he was an ass. He told her so to her face. He knew he was a bastard, and as far as she'd seen, he did nothing to reign himself in.

At least she made the attempt.

Edited by kkhohoho on Aug 24th 2020 at 10:05:21 AM

Nancy Weaver, Portal Room

Something flitted across the room, too fast to sense, apparently, but even as Matt would be able to acutely feel some sort of menacing presence looming in front of him, most in the room could not see the mysterious entity that was Nancy's Stand, Seamstress.

However, a shadow materialized on the floor, just in front of Matt's, of a humanoid figure in a ballgown. It hovered in front of Matt with fists balled and an ugly grimace on its face that belied its ladylike appearance. "Gyata!" it shouted angrily. "GyaTA!"

"So you say something that incites this madam to anger, and when she reacts understandably and Wolfgang-san here moves to stop them, you label the madam as someone dangerous, someone to avoid—when really you could have acted with politeness to avoid the situation," Nancy's voice, laced with cold fury, came out of the thin air in front of Matt now, even though the girl herself continued to stand in the same place with her arms crossed, seemingly silent. "And that is in no way an appropriate apology. Whoever you were before, however important—let me say this plainly—means absolutely JACK SHIT to me!"

"My name is Nancy Weaver. I would like to live a quiet life. I understand that when you call someone an animal, you had better expect them to bite back," the Stand continued tersely with Nancy's voice. "That is one of the first rules of living a quiet life: not insulting others and being a pleasant person. It appears that you lack these abilities, including much self-awareness. I don't blame you. Perhaps you haven't learned that if you do not have anything kind to say, you should not say anything at all. I would be most pleased to assist you with that, should you have any further trouble with the concept."

The shadow on the floor seemed to brandish a needle and thread. It seemed that "assist" was a most dangerous metaphor indeed. "Now, please do your best to field an appropriate apology, or I will ensure that you will not have to make any in the future."

Edited by JumpingFruit on Aug 24th 2020 at 11:10:22 AM

Matt

Matt just crossed his arms as Nancy went about threatening him, not even seeming like he was terribly unused to being threatened like this. After taking in everything Nancy and her...psychic projection...had to say, Matt sighed and nodded, "You...would be absolutely right. I'm not interested in a quiet life, nor have I ever been offered one. That option was taken away pretty damn early."

He sighed, and figured with the fact everyone was here like this on the doorstep of a group they knew next to nothing about, prolonging conflict was not advisable. "Alright...alright. In the interest of having no further fighting on the doorstep of...whosoever the Reach is, then I apologize, Setsuna, and to anyone else whose toes I might've stepped on. I was tactless, and I will hold back from that sort of statement."

Edited by NickTheSwing on Aug 24th 2020 at 11:32:31 AM

Vale

"Loki? Sounds like a trickster god...or chaos god." Vale nodded, not at all minding Katya approaching him. She seemed mellow enough for now, so he had no problem with her taking a seat by him. "You might be onto something there...though I dunno what kinda god would be strong enough ta affect so many realms." The human's next questioned only caused Vale to look quizzically at her once again "Niche-never-wha? Russia? Are those cities in another realm like Japan?" He asked, "I'm from Marina, a port city off the coast of Demarri. Maybe you could tell me more about those places someti- Pelor's blazing taint!"

Vale's attention was violently wrenched from Katya when he saw a spiritual figure rise up in front of Matt and speak in Nancy's voice. "Is this...an astral self? I didn't think I would see one fully realized outside the temples!" The tiefling babbled on in wonder as he sprang to his feet and moved closer to inspect Seamstress with his own eyes, not at all realizing that to most eyes he would just be staring at nothing like a loon.

Edited by svenorzokarkoff on Aug 24th 2020 at 11:21:00 AM

Portal Room

“...Oh. You've never heard of...” Katya blinked at first, not expecting Vale's confusion before smiling a little and nodding slightly in acceptance. “That's okay; I don't mind. I've never heard of those places you said before either–”

She flinched at his sudden shout in exclamation, frowning in pure cluelessness as he seemed to talk to something that... wasn't even there? An ‘astral self’, did he say? Like a ghost? What was that girl standing like that for? Who was–

She shook her head, pressing her fingers against her temple and rubbing it firmly. This whole situation was giving her a stress-based headache, and after a few moments spent taking in deep breaths she began to idly him to herself again. Just focus on the music, calm down...

(...-tick-...)

(...-tock-...)

...ignore her heartbeat hammering wildly in her chest...

“...Bozhe, yesli ty menya slyshish', day mne sil...” she muttered beneath her breath.

Nancy Weaver, Portal Room

The "Astral Self" turned to Vale, appearing in front of him in an instant, blowing up dust around it with the sheer speed of its movement. Its face relaxed into a happy grin, and it said something along the lines of "Ashi-shi-shi!" which was its way of greeting people. Then it extended a hand out to Vale, apparently wanting him to kiss it, while tossing its yarn hair with its other hand.

That was when Nancy dismissed it. "Sorry, that's a Stand, and it's supposed to be a manifestation of a person's fighting spirit or soul," Nancy said, having calmed down from the previous confrontation. "Each Stand has unique powers and stuff. Mine can make thread that it can manipulate as it pleases and sew things together with its needle, fusing them together."

"If you're a Stand User, you should also be able to see other Stands. Mine has a habit of being vain like that. Sorry. I wonder what it says about me, if my Stand constantly acts like that..." Nancy dipped her head in slight shame. "It's a bit ugly and rude, don't you think?"

Edited by JumpingFruit on Aug 24th 2020 at 11:44:46 AM

Vale

"Whoa!" Vale almost flinched as Seamstress suddenly zipped in front of him, giggling and offering its hand like some of those noble-ladies did in galas he infiltrated way back when. Before he could play along and respond in kind to it though, Nancy dismissed her Astral Self...no, she called it a Stand, as she continued to explain it to the Tiefling rogue.

"Who knew that two powers could be so similar, and so different at the same time." Vale murmured in no small measure of awe. "And ya say that there's more of these Stands where you're from? Damn, I'd love ta visit your realm if I could..." He chuckled softly. "I don't got one of these things though. I'm just a Psychic Rogue....Soulknife, some folks call me." He held a palm out and the air around it rippled for a split second before a shimmering blue blade of psychic power appeared in his hand. "See? I can use it to cut spiritual shit, ignore physical defenses an' some other nifty tricks." He grinned behind his mask.

"That? Ugly? Ya sure you're not just fishin' for compliments?" He teased Nancy lightly. "Yer a young'un with a special power. A little haughty display like that is coppers compared to some of the shit I dealt with from adventurers thrice yer age. Besides, all I saw was your soul bein' a kickass princess who takes no shit. Ugly is the last thing I'd use ta describe it. It's a damn sight better than anythin' spawned from my soul, that's for sure..."

Jerusha

The situation seemingly having resolved itself, Jerusha looked over the group, before slowly putting her sword back in its proper place. Hearing one of the others in a trance of sorts, her attention turned to 'Katya', and she walked towards her, stopping behind her. Asking others if they were okay was the right thing to do, so...

"Are you okay?" She asked, her tone flat.

Setsuna

Setsuna was gonna keep going, only for Nancy to do her thing. She didn't know why, but she could see what whatever the hell she was doing. Not that it phased her. Probably a yokai or spirit familiar or something.

But damn if she didn't put him in his place.

Setsuna didn't care for the reasons of Matt's apology. But she didn't want to drag this out any further than she had to." Apology accepted. And you'd better. Like the lady said, you want people to listen to you, you need to be someone they want to listen to. And so far, you've done a pretty shit job at that."

She turned to Nancy, listening to her explanation. A Stand, huh? Sure sounded like some sort of familiar or spirit servant. Would explain a lot.

Though from what she said, only other Stand users or whatever it was could see it.

...

Nah.

She couldn't possibly...

Whatever. Something to think about later.

"Uh, thanks. Nancy, right? You know, I wouldn't mind being part of that culture club or whatever it was you were talking about. Or at least as soon as we get out of this place."

She scratched her ass, her guard having eased up around her after that whole display. "And hey, rude and ugly ain't so bad. Trust me!"

Edited by kkhohoho on Aug 24th 2020 at 3:33:41 AM

Portal Room

“...I am... fine. Feeling very... overwhelmed...” Katya murmured to Jerusha in response to her question, offering the angel a brief smile in an attempt to assure her concerns. “I'll... be better very soon. Just... give me few moments, that's all...”

She tilted her head a fraction at the other woman, looking her up and down curiously. With more mellow, subdued people like this she could pay more attention to them. She didn't have to rush to keep up with them; unlike some others in the room who seemed to run on an accelerated perception of time.

“It got very heated very fast back there, so I'll say my name again just in case you didn't hear...” she smiled in a more genuine fashion, clasping her hands loosely behind herself as she let her eyes trail up and down Jerusha's form in intrigue. “I am Karina Makarovna Tsvetkova, but you can call me Katya for short. I didn't catch your name back there... what is it, if you don't mind me...?”

Matt

"...As I said, it'd be better if you listened to her," he gestured at Saber, "...Rather than me. If fewer people listen to me as an authority figure, that's all fine." He wasn't willing to countenance potentially hurting a teenager like Nancy, so of course he backed down as needed.

"Well, as far as my "thing", I figure I should at least make it known in the interest of transparency..." Matt took a step away from the others and snapped his fingers. Around six floating swords flickered into existence even as Ancile vanished - among them the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi.

"I create weapons, iterations of famous and well known ones at their strongest point. Swords, shields, guns, spears..." He snapped his fingers again, and the weapons vanished. "If it counts as a weapon, feasibly, I can conjure it."

Nancy Weaver, Portal Room

"I call it Seamstress, because my mother is one too," Nancy said, a bit proudly after Vale gassed her up a bit. "And it's also the title of a song I like. Lots of people in Morioh name their Stands after songs. People used to name their cards after Tarot cards too..."

"I think things work differently here," she continued thoughtfully. "Stands are spiritual and psychic constructs, so if you're a psychic or sufficiently spiritual enough, you should be able to see and, er, or affect them like another Stand User. I think."

"I'd be glad to have you on board, Setsuna-san," Nancy said to the oni woman. "I think you'd look lovely in a kimono. And your hair is so beautiful too. I like its color. Maybe I can braid it later...It looks so soft..."

Edited by JumpingFruit on Aug 24th 2020 at 2:32:31 AM