The Quantum Reach

Setsuna

Who hurt her.

Who hurt her.

WHO HURT HER

Aaaaaaand she was losing it. Again. She pressed against her arm and even bit her lip to keep herself from going out of control, but it was all she had not to give in to everything that had been bubbling beneath the surface and slaughter everything in sight.

"It..."

Don't.

"It was..."

Don't.

"It was my fucking Dad."

...well.

Now she'd done it.

"He... he hurt me. Insulted me. Beat me. Every. Single. DAY. Because I wasn't good enough. 'YOU'RE NOT A REAL ONI', he kept telling me. 'WORTHLESS LITTLE WELP', he said. Even though I was trying my best. Even though I did everything he wanted, even though I kept going out there every damn day, even though all the other kids kept doing the same damn thing—"

Fucking Gods.

"THE SAME. DAMN. THING!"

Not again.

"BECAUSE I WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH!"

Pupper pupper pupper'—

"BECAUSE I WASN'T ONI ENOUGH!"

But it wasn't enough. She wasn't there. Not yet. But if she got any more pissed off, she was gonna explode.

"WHEN IS IT EVER GONNA BE ENOUGH?!"

And that was the last thing she wanted.

Aichi

Aichi nods, seeming perfectly OK with this.

"Sure, I'd like to meet everyone." He says with a soft smile. If they're all like him, having appeared in this strange place, then maybe some of them will be wondering about getting home, too.

He turns, and follows Katya... although he has no idea what the heck the others are going through.

He can't help but wonder what they're all like. After all, looking around and seeing this place makes it clear that he could run into any kind of people here.

Katya

Ah. Hmm. Distraught screaming was never a good sign. Perhaps this was a bad time to approach. At least she'd ended up being right to get out of there early. She wasn't sure she would've been able to handle that atmosphere. Still, she felt guilty to hear Setsuna sounding so upset.

Bearing in mind Aichi, she stopped in her tracks a little ways away from the group and looked over her shoulder to give him a tentative smile. He seemed like the nice sort, and she didn't want him to get dragged into a stranger's wrath as a first impression. So she mouthed a silent ‘wait here for a moment’ to him before taking in a deep breath and stepping towards the group herself.

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

“What happened? What's going on?” she asked of them in as cautious and meek a tone as she could muster, glancing between them all in visible confusion and concern. She tried to block their view of Aichi with her own body for the moment; not wanting them to see him just yet. “...I leave for few minutes and I come back to screaming... Setsuna, are you... are you hurt...?”

She could tell by the content of the oni's hoarse outbursts were emotional more than pained even from a distance, but for a show of worry she looked her up and down anyhow to see if she could spot any injuries. Who knows? They might've gotten into genuine trouble while she was gone, after all.

Edited by Enirboreh on Aug 31st 2020 at 4:16:33 PM

Aichi

Aichi notices the yelling as he approaches, feeling more tense as he processes it. Is everything OK? What's going on?

Katya gives him the signal to wait there, and he responds with a quiet nod. He's going to trust Katya on this... Maybe he shouldn't interfere until everything's sorted out...

Still, he's greatly concerned and that's very clear from the expression on his face.

Jerusha

As Setsuna lost control of her emotions, naming her father as her tormenter, Jerusha's thoughts turned to her own creator. From what it sounded like, no one had come to save Setsuna and enable her escape...

"I am going to kill him." Jerusha finally said, her tone having a sense of certainty to it. He had made Setsuna suffer, much like herself. That was enough for Jerusha to condemn the oni.

Edited by Bored_Man on Aug 31st 2020 at 11:16:31 AM

Little Wolf

As Setsuna continued talking about pain, it was clear she was speaking from experience. She was hurt. Bad. Not on the outside - oni were obviously physically tough, and if they were anything like the demons Little Wolf knew, they probably regenerated - but on the inside.

And hurt on the inside didn't go away by getting angry. Getting angry only made it worse. His brother had been angry like that, after their mother died. It was only because of their father that Ivan hadn't gone off and killed that hunter and started a war. Because of their father's kindness. Big Wolfgang and Little Wolfgang were a lot alike, in that regard.

So when Setsuna began getting angry, Little Wolf walked forward and hugged her. To an observer it probably looked like a child hugging his mother - Little Wolf only came up to Setsuna's stomach - but he didn't care.

"I'm sorry." Little Wolf said, holding back tears. "I didn't know. Dads shouldn't do that. And it's never gonna be enough, because I can tell he doesn't care about you." He sniffled, but his voice became more confident. "You might not be able to make him love. But you don't have to, if you don't want. He doesn't have to be your dad, just because you're related to him. Family is the people who care about you. Whether or not you share blood. I'm lucky that my dad actually cares about me, but not everyone is. So..."

Little Wolf looked up at her. "If you want, I can make you part of my pack. My family. My dad's a lot like me; I'm sure he'd adopt you if you want." He smiled, then. "Because I care about you, Setsuna. Okay? If you ever feel hurt, you can hug me and pet me as much as you want. I'll be there for you. I promise."

As soon as she felt Wolfgang wrap his little fuzzy arms around her big red legs, Setsuna... stopped. All her hatred, all her rage and anger, all of it vanished like a puff of smoke.

And then he offered to swap her dad with a better one. To make her part of... part of...

She couldn't say it. Because it wasn't true. It couldn't be. Her own father was a fucking asshole. Beyond an asshole. He was a goddamned monster.

Li Ke Fa Th Er Li Ke Da Ug Th Er, Hu H

So how would another father be any different? What was gonna stop Wolfgang's father from doing the same thing to her? Hell, what would stop Wolfgang from... from...

...no.

Not Wolfgang.

Not the pupper.

And if she could trust Wolfgang, then maybe she could trust his father too.

Maybe she could have a family again.

A real family.

Somewhere where she belonged. Where no-one would bully her. Or mistreat her. Or force her into being something she's not. Or... or...

She fell down on her knees. She hugged Wolfgang and petted his little head like her life depended on it, tears streaming down her face.

"I— I'm sorry... you don't... I don't deserve this, I..."

What was she supposed to say?

"...thank you so much!"

Talk about embarrassing.

Fucking hell.

Edited by kkhohoho on Aug 31st 2020 at 7:49:10 AM

Artoria

...while all that was going on, Artoria was perched on the roof of the building, scanning the city. It seemed to stretch for miles, a combination of architecture from every time period and then some as far as the eye could see.

She couldn't help but notice the commotion even from the roof, and was about to head down to see what was going on when something caught her eye.

Miles away, embedded in the sky, was what looked like...a crack. Artoria's brow furrowed as she squinted at it, trying to make out the details. The crack was pitch-black, standing out against the blue sky. It seemed to contain something inside it, but she couldn't tell at this distance.

The crack was ten miles away—an easy trek for a Servant. Activating Mana Burst again, Artoria started leaping across the buildings, heading for it. Anyone on the ground would likely hear the loud cracks of Mana Burst above them.

Little Wolf

"You do deserve it." Little Wolf said back, smiling as she ran her hands through his fur. As she knelt down, he leaned in, lifting himself onto his tip-toes, and kissed her on the forehead. "Everyone deserves love, Setsuna. Whether they think so or not."

He was still smiling as his ears twitched at a loud cracking noise. He looked up, his keen senses picking out someone flying across the rooftops. He registered who it was a moment later. "Wow, that sword-lady can move really fast. Wonder where she's headed?"

Citrine followed after the rest of the group, ducking her head as she walked through the impromptu passage created by the horned woman. Her eyes widened as she took in all the sights before her. Never had she seen a cityscape quite like this before, neither on Homeworld or Earth.

She looked over at the commotion that was going on, and saw the loud one with long ears drop something. Not wanting to interfere with the heart-to-heart-to-heart that was going on, she scooched by discreetly and picked it up. Is this...some sort of Gem I haven't seen before? Citrine wondered to herself, rolling it around in her hands as she looked at all the colorful speckles. She lightly tapped with her fingertip, realizing that it was hollow, not solid like all other Gemstones, but SOMETHING was in there.

Edited by Akkun_K on Aug 31st 2020 at 6:33:21 AM

Vale

Vale was thankful for the mask covering his face, as he didn't know how Setsuna would react to the grin he was sporting underneath at the moment as he watched her hug Little Wolf. The Nine Hells musta frozen over, 'cause today's the day I'd call an Oni adorable. He chuckled in his mind as he stayed out of sight, perched on top of a low-hanging neon sign. hearing faint cracks moving off in the distance, Vale looked up and saw the fluttering blue and white dress of Saber rapidly vanish into the distance. And further than that was...

The tiefling blinked twice and then squinted. Was that a crack in the sky?

"I dunno if I'm seeing things, but I think Saber's runnin' off towards a crack in the horizon." He called down to the group below him.

Edited by svenorzokarkoff on Aug 31st 2020 at 4:47:19 AM

HK at first was amused by the frustration of the oni...until this stupid meatbag kept screaming and screaming and screaming. It was somehow annoying to his audio receptors. So bad that he wanted this darn meatbag to shut their mouth. Forever.

The droid was raising his disruptor rifle and aiming it during the times that thing was screaming, and he was about ready to pull the trigger while the others argued/spoke/threatened it....

But something made him unable to do it. No matter how hard he wanted to pull the trigger, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Oh my, what is going on now?

"Analysis: If my calculations are correct, it appears that this Reach, considering it's...outdated heroic ideals, do not want me to hurt any civilians or personel of this place, and may have programmed me not to do so. Hm. Well crafted, but disgusting."

He did took notice of the well-dressed meatbag taking notice of something. Probably far better to be focused on that instead of that meatbags whining and complaining he was hearing. He then went to follow her to see what caught her attention.

Setsuna, Park

Setsuna blushed as Little Wolf kissed her squareon the head. She tumbled back, falling flat on her ass as her thoughts kept racing.

'Everyone deserves love.'

Did they though?

Wolfgang certainly did. If anyone deserved love, it was him.

She wasn't so sure about her father.

But did she deserve love?

Maybe not.

But even so. She owed it to Wolfgang to try.

Besides.

Maybe, if she kept at it, she'd deserve love after all.

"Thanks, Wolfgang. It, uh, means a lot—"

And then came the sword lady.

"...huh. I don't know. Maybe we should—"

And then the other shoe dropped.

As soon as Citrine touched the sparkled egg, it glowed bright, the speckles sparkling as the egg floated and spun like a top in mid-air. Faster and faster it spun, growing brighter with every twirl.

And bigger.

Much bigger.

With every spin, it grew another inch. And another. And another. And another and another and another until it was the size of a three-story house.

And then it stopped.

Now at full stature, it slowly floated down on the soft grass below, miraculously resting on the ground without falling over. A large door appeared in the center, and a bright bold neon sign could be seen at the very top of the... egg? House? Whatever it was.

"MR.WHISKER'S MULTIVERSAL EMPORIUM."

The door slowly creaked open, inviting anyone interested to take a peak.

Even flat on the ground, Setsuna had seen it all. She lept back up, slamming the grass with her big oni feet. "You know, maybe it's just me, but strange houses begging you to come in is never a good sign."

Not that it stopped her from inching ever closer towards it.

Like, yes. It was probably a trap.

But damn if it wasn't the prettiest trap she had ever seen.

Besides. This was the place Mr.Hoppy's dumb ass was going on about, right?

Least she could do was smash it to—

Everyone deserves love, Setsuna.

...give it a look. Yes. That was it.

...

This was gonna be hell, wasn't it?

Edited by kkhohoho on Aug 31st 2020 at 9:54:51 AM

Nancy Weaver, Streets

"Hmm?" Nancy hummed as she looked up into the sky. "Seamstress, can you see what's going on up there?"

The Stand only shrugged and pointed at its blindfolded eyes.

"Forgot about that for a sec," its user grunted as she climbed onto the Stand's back, straddling the bustle of its ballgown. "Anyhow, let's follow them. Seamstress, take it away!"

Seamstress rotated the spinning wheel mounted on its arm most vigorously, causing several thick strands of thread to sprout out of seemingly nowhere and latch itself onto several tall buildings. Then the elastic threads catapulted Nancy and Seamstress after Saber, and they continued to swing from buildings as they hurried to catch up.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Sep 3rd 2020 at 2:06:52 AM

Artoria

It didn't take long at all for Artoria to reach the crack in the sky. It was just above one of the buildings, a few feet above the rooftop. She came to a stop on said rooftop, approaching the crack cautiously.

The others, it seemed, had decided to join her. Well, some of them. Many were still on the street, sorting out whatever was going on down there. Even if it wasn't all of them, more people would make investigating this easier...and less dangerous.

The crack seemed to absorb the light around it like a hungry beast, the pitch blackness writhing inside. It wasn't particularly big, only a foot long and half an inch wide, but Artoria still felt uneasy.

And then, with a soft tearing sound, it got just a bit wider.

"This...this cannot be good," Artoria murmured, slowly backing away.

Nancy Weaver, Rooftops

"What the..." Nancy muttered as she also pulled herself up to inspect the crack in the sky closely. "Stand back, everyone, my Stand can take care of this. I think."

Seamstress shrunk its sword-needle down to a more manageable size, threaded it, and began sewing the tear in the sky together with great precision and speed. Nancy knew that once the tear had closed, it would fuse together properly. That is, if it was able to be closed at all...

“Well! They’ve caused quite a stir haven’t they?”

“Reckless. Dangerous. Like what the simulations proclaimed. They’ll cause more harm than good.”

“Only if we let them! So let’s go ahead and meet the new meat. Put them on the new path. Introduce them to their new home. Make their own decisions.”

He lifted his hand.

“Or you know all that free choice jazz.”

Snap.

And in several blips of light the new comers found themselves ripped from their previous events and found themselves standing in a dark, circular room. So dark the edges of the room couldn’t be seen and immediately Mason grabbed his bottles.

“What.” He mumbled lamely, still shaken from their previous disjointed teleportation.

“Ah splendid! You’re all here. Figured I was starting to get rusty in my old age.” Chuckled a voice as an older man stepped from the shadows. Long silver hair reached down to his shoulder blades, aged eyes exhibiting wisdom and countless years of experience. Clothing like that of a sci-fi kimono, like something out of Trim with a warm grandfatherly smile on his face.

“So sorry got yanking you all around. Normally we tend to do the orientation in the portal room but evidently you lot broke that. So we’ll need to do that here for now.”

With a bow he chuckled. “My name is Kishima. I’m the Head of the Board, the ruling governing party here in your new home. Welcome you lot to the Quantum Reach but I’m sure you’ve been informed of this locale by the ones who willingly came.” A smile and a nod towards Little Wolf and Nancy.

“I’m here to answer any and all questions. But just got safety reasons...” a snap of his fingers and their weapons, like the club, swords, belts and bottles, and everything in between vanished.

He chuckled. “Just a precaution. I know you lot can be a bit trigger happy and we can’t have more destruction lingering. You’ll get them back at the end.”

“So! Questions. Ask away.”

Setsuna

And just like that, Setsuna had once again been torn from wherever the hell she was and was back in a dark room without any clue what the hell was going on.

But it wasn't exactly the same. It hadn't been long, but she had made a few friends.

A family.

So, even though her first instinct was to whack that bearded fucker in the face with her—

...wait.

Her club.

Where was her club?

WHAT DID THEY DO WITH—

...

They did it.

They took her club.

They. Took. Her. CLU—

Everyone deserves love, Setsuna.

...

Fuck.

She punched the nearest wall, slamming it with all her might. Though this time, it didn't break.

But she didn't care.

The important thing was she was just a little less pissed.

She took a deep breath before looking the bearded man straight in the eye.

"Okay, look you damn bastard! You take us out from wherever the fuck we were, plop us in wherever the hell this is without so much as asking, steal our shit, and then you act like this is some sort of casual get-together?! Yeah, fuck that shit! You're gonna tell us where the hell we are, why you brought us to this place, and whatever the fuck you expect us to do! OR ELSE I'LL TEAR YOUR—" ''Everyone deserves—"

I GET THE POINT!

"...look. Just tell us what in the name of Hachiman is going on. Alright?"

Aichi suddenly finds himself in another place entirely, confused.

"E-Eh?" He asks, looking around a little before his eyes settle on the man that apparently brought them here. Aichi listens to the man speak.

"'Quantum Reach'? Is that the name of the city?" Aichi asks, still seeming very perplexed.

Wait a minute! Maybe, just maybe...

"Can you help me get back home? I need to get back to my friends!" Aichi says with a serious and determined expression.

However, Aichi jumps when Setsuna punches the wall, and he quiets a bit. She seems so angry...! He supposes he can understand being angry about being yanked away from home... After all, who knows what kind of important things everyone had to do?

Aichi looks around the area, at everyone, wondering about all of the different worlds they all came from...

???

Far outside of the Reach's world, in a place near the end of time, a group of people gathered for a similarly common cause from across the universe made ready for their latest plan. Excepting of course the fact that these people were not gathered in the interest of protecting the worlds, but rather, taking advantage of the use of time travel and alternate worlds for their own gain.

Unlike the heroes of The Reach, this dark alliance had been working together for quite some time.

The main gathering place for them was the Silver Cathedral, a combination military base / cathedral that provided resources and a home away from home so to speak. As of now, the entire "cabal" would be present to commence their next operation and the preparations therein.

An older teenager clad in silver and black armor wielding a crackling black sword stepped out of a portal, his handsome, somewhat effeminate face displaying a slightly cruel smirk, his windswept black hair combed back. He carried himself like someone thoroughly gratified by his own look and capabilities.

Mordred had much to thank the benefactor for - not the least being returning him to a...better part of youth. He'd had enough of 13 and 300 for his whole life. 18? Now 18 was so much better.

Mordred audibly gulped as he saw another larger portal open, a figure in full body covering tinplate-looking armor stepping out. Exarch never showed his face, the closest thing being when his visor lit up if the time criminal was displeased. The figure turned his head lightly toward Mordred.

"And I assume the spell is finalized...?"

"Yes...Yes that it is, Exarch." Mordred responded, forcing a smile as he confidently stated, "I am my mother's son after all. Whoever's getting this nasty little present won't soon forget it."

"Good, good...now, are we all prepared? The next target has been ascertained."

"Of course, of course." The man said with a small smile on his face as he nodded, arms behind his back comfortably to show he held no fear of the raging red demon before him. He gestured out and the black faded to an ariel view of the world of the Quantum Reach below, and he gestured downward.

"The world you lived in once upon a time is not alone in the far, far reaches of the multiverse. Where you thought was one, is actually trillions and trillions, stretching into the vastness of infinity. People and places, worlds and beings you never knew existed, existed as your universal neighbors for as long as the universe has existed and even then some."

The man sighed and he shook his head as he gestured. "Worlds die, and so do its populace all the time. Why, even in the time it takes for me to finish this sentence, another world has died. And another. And another. And another. It goes on and on like that for some time, and I'm afraid it's simply a way the world works. Forces outside our grasp, alien creatures, otherworldly beasts...the list goes on and on. It's disheartening."

"but..." he held up a hand. "The Quantum Reach is here to combat that. See, the Reach is the amalgamation of multiple worlds, and multiple people, saved from their world dying-" he gestured to Matt and Mason, "-wanting to be heroes-" He gestured to Nancy and Little Wolf, "-or people desperately seeking some kind of purpose in their life." He gestured to Setsuna and smiled.

"We've collected heroes, warriors, everyone from the worlds surrounding us, the best chances this multiverse has to save all of the worlds around us. You lot are here because you are the best of your worlds...and you can help save the multiverse, and countless other homes."

He smiled a bit. "I understand it may not be enough. But...I do hope you understand what's at risk. And your desire to help fight it will shine through." he paused. "I hope, at any rate."

Katya

”I hardly see how I'm the best of my world~” Katya chuckled at this given explanation, though her somewhat dismal tone betrayed the fact that she was being serious. And frightened, by the sound of it. “So this is where... I didn't think Heaven would be like this...~”

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

She couldn't blame some of the other's reactions either. But she wasn't the naturally hostile sort, or even the assertive kind the more she thought about it. She just hoped that she could make her home here, assuming that going back was out of the question.

If she didn't think about it too much, maybe it'd all be okay.

Nancy Weaver, Council Room

"Hey, hey, it's gonna be okay!" Nancy said, smiling sympathetically at Katya. "I didn't think that I was the best of my world either, but look at me now! They could have had their pick of Josuke, Okuyasu, Koichi, even that alien Mikitaka—all of my friends who have strong Stands. But they didn't. I chose to come here, and that should...that should mean something, shouldn't it?"

"Even one of my younger friends, that short stack Hayato—" Nancy paused for a moment here. "—He didn't let being young stop him from doing what he needed to do to stop a Stand-using killer. Maybe being the best in your world is an active choice. You just have to make the first step. That's all there is to it." She laid a hand on Katya's shoulder, and nodded respectfully at the gynoid.

Funny Valentine, ???

"I do hope you're going to find a good use for this," Funny said neutrally as he walked into the Silver Cathedral, with several bandaged wounds on his body and one black eye, holding a shining, golden arrow in one fortunately undamaged hand. "The power of Stand Arrows are not to be taken lightly. We should be the ones to pick up the napkin first, you know, and this will enable us do it."

"It's a shame, what happened to the pink-haired man that I took this from," he sighed as he put the arrow on the meeting table in front of him. "He was a self-made man and a fighter, that one. Fighting men do not deserve to be killed like sheep, but unfortunately he was a mafioso, and in my way."

"He gave me a good fight, so we should honor that man's sacrifice by using the power of his Stand Arrow to its fullest capacity!" Funny declared menacingly, sitting down and resting his head on one hand. "With what I have brought you, we should be able to make an army of Stand Users. An army powered by sheer soul. Can you imagine it, my fellows?"

Edited by JumpingFruit on Sep 11th 2020 at 10:41:58 AM

Jerusha

Having been warped back to the room she escaped from, and having also been deprived of her sword, Jerusha now looked quite anxious. Indeed, her stare had now turned most unhappy as she looked at the older man.

"I am not a hero. Fighting for this cause could end my life. Why should I do such?"