Zone 3, Fitness Zone Outside before going back in.

. . .Okay, so he doesn't work at Donki. That's great cause there's a chance I might get captured as well. After all of that talk, I went back inside while pick up the equipment.

Zone 3, Fitness Zone, indoors.

I went back where Susie and Vivy is at, not even paying attention to the other lady that was talking at them. Sorry if it took so long. Let's just say that I got distracted by something and Vivy managed to get me to see if I got lost again. At least I didn't flirt for once, unless- Yeah no, I'm not going there, no thank you!

“You bowl with 3 middle fingers” Oh hey, a troper wall

Zone Three - Fitness Zone

Robocube starts rambling about how Vivy is apparently the first human-shaped robot in their world. I've always found the word 'humanoid' kind of... insulting? Like, it's not like humans patented the idea of having two arms and two legs. But I manage to just smile and nod at the explanation.

"Cool." I then spend several seconds debating whether or not to ask about exactly how human her body is.

Fortunately, someone interrupts before I can make myself look like a stupid asshole. Unfortunately, they're offering Areum tickets. "Not a big Areum fan," I say, resisting my instinctive urge to tell the lady to fuck off.

Then I consider her offer of going there to heckle. "Fuck it, I'm down." I grab the tickets. "I could use the laugh. Hey, Vivy,"

I turn to the robo girl as she re-enters. "Wanna go with me to that Areum concert?"

---

Zone Six - Andy Rescue

The demon is there. Amaterasu steps forward, even as he brandishes his weapon. Her hackles are raised, her fur standing on end in Greed's unnatural presence. She prepares to leap between him and the others, to protect them - she is confident that the weapon he has is not powerful enough to truly kill her.

Her rosary vanishes, as she switches back to her shield. Solar Flare's beautiful rainbow flames are at odds with the barren diner.

"You are wrong, Greed." She says, her voice calm, yet firm and sharp. "I can kill you. Even if I must kill you a thousand times before you stay dead."

It would not be the first time that she has had to kill the same demon more than once. It likely wouldn't be the last, either. "If you fight us, I will kill you before you can harm anyone here. Release Andradite, and surrender yourself to proper punishment, and I will let you live. The choice is yours."

In that moment her voice is no longer that of the Mother to Us All, who loves all her children. In that moment, she is the sun that illuminates the heavens; she is the light that punishes evil, and drives out darkness from all corners.

Her fangs are bared, and she is tensed for combat as she awaits Greed's choice.

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?

Zone Three, Fitness Zone

Having finished my conversation with Doctor Octavius, I go with Teddie to retrieve the proper fencing equipment and return to the area where we left Susie and Matsumoto. As I approach, a woman I do not know offers me a ticket to the concert which I am already scheduled to attend and help set up for. After initially looking like she will decline the invitation, Susie accepts a ticket of her own, then asks me if I would like to go with her. I smile at the two ladies.

"Thank you for the invitation, but I am already scheduled to attend that concert as part of my work, which is one of the reasons I came to this gym to perform calibration tests," I explain, shaking my head in the negative, "Matsumoto and I are to help set up the Octavius Industries advertising and sample merchandise before the concert, and then socialize with other attendees in the V.I.P. section in order to build connections with the city's elite."

"Indeed, indeed!" Matsumoto agrees, bobbing up and down enthusiastically. "Though, if you're attending and those aren't V.I.P. tickets, I can send one of my cubes over to hang out with you, Susie! Doubt I'll be much help in the networking aspect of our objective, anyway. For some reason, most don't seem to take a gentleman in the shape of a cube seriously, though I can't imagine why! Maybe people are just anticubist!"

"Perhaps Teddie would like a ticket, however?" I suggest, indicating the young man beside me, then continue, "Regardless, it is quite generous of you to simply give tickets away to the concert of as popular and prominent an artist as Councilor Areum, Miss. As Susie said, my name is Vivy, and I am pleased to meet you. What is your name?"

---

Zone Three, Artifacts Incorporated

"O-Oh, um, yes! Yes, actually..." Prushka stammered and sweated a bit, a little overwhelmed by Brand's sheer presence after they'd entered his villainous lair of wilting flowers and peeling walls, "See, my papa and I are Draughtsmen and Ship-Scientists - these people help us on our expeditions sometimes too—" She indicated the rest of the visible Party. "—so we were wondering if you had any artifacts and tools that might be of interest to people delving into and studying the Incoherence and the Ship in general! Yep!"

---

Zone Six, Abandoned Diner

"First off, Andy ain't some thing to be owned! He's a person an' our friend, an' he'd be too valuable for a price ta us even if he weren't a shiny rock!" Ling Ya snapped as his master leaned against the entryway and held him at the ready, hand hovering over the strings, "An' second, where the hell ya think we're supposed to get two million marks, huh?! None o' us are made o' money, unlike the Diet, an' it's not like the Diet's gonna give a shit 'bout what happens ta Andy!"

Edited by darksidevoid on Jan 7th 2022 at 3:04:21 PM

GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs

Salacia Persei Elimo; Zone Three, Outside Artifacts Incorporated -> Artifacts Incorporated

"I hope we won't be too much of a bother," Elimo said to Brand before entering, slightly unnerved by Brand's appearance. A vampire, she thought at first, before a closer look at his eyes betrayed that impression. If Brand had the eyes of a god, what had he done for them? Was it a side-effect of some artifact? Had he simply ripped them from their original owner's sockets? She tamped down all these questions and more as the crew continued inside. If Brand was truly the richest man in the multiverse, or whatever the particular descriptor was, he would probably be able to put up new wallpaper. Perhaps most of his wealth was unavailable to him, or the building was a gateway to a larger space.

After hearing Prushka stammer out a justification of their presence, Elimo nodded in agreement. "You carry potions? Do you have any ice-elemental ones - preferably ones that can be diluted easily?" While she was talking, she unobtrusively scanned the area for any sign of a plumbing system under the guise of being impressed (or at least "impressed") with her surroundings. Regardless of the result of this action, she felt a certain calm at the fact that she was now in her element. She had never been any good at running away, but protecting people in the event that the situation had escalated to murder was something she was used to.

---

Idunn; Zone Six, Precinct Nine, Reception

"I suppose they are," I say to Violet, "but people do not usually walk up to me and express that interest. Perhaps they are interested from afar, but I would not know."

"In any case, if you are curious about my cloak, I can inform you about it. In my world, I was once asleep for a very long time. It was presented to me by the person who awakened me, and he proceeded to grant me a purpose. Even though he is no longer living, I still remember it."

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr

Zone Six, Gem Retrieval Squad

Amaterasu nods, and then the water comes. Not in a spray, or a sphere, or anything that would let you keep your dignity. No, it comes from on high, falling on you.

You, the god of rain, are being rained on. She might as well be pissing on you the way you pissed on Darien Brand hours ago.

You grit your teeth so hard you can hear them crack.

Then you raise your arm, hand open, palm facing the sky.

Amaterasu's downpour stops falling. The droplets hang in the air, frozen, glittering like diamonds.

You curl your fingers like you're squeezing an invisible fruit. Those shining droplets streak towards your hand, gathering, coalescing into a ball the size of a cantaloupe that hovers just above your palm.

You slap this ball to your side. It splashes against your flesh, sinks into the hole in your side. It merges with you, solidifying, transmuting from pure H₂0 to flesh and blood. There isn't even a scar to show that a watermelon-sized chunk of your side had been blasted out of you just minutes ago. Even the pain has faded, somewhat.

Just in time, too, because Greed makes his presence known.

You've never met Greed. Never wanted to get involved with someone like him. Now, you find yourself thinking that it's fortunate the two of you have never crossed paths before now. Because the guy reeks.

Not a physical stink, mind you, though his tacky cologne is certainly strong enough to sting your nostrils even from all the way over there. No, this is something more ephemeral, more insubstantial that makes your nostrils flare as you take a deeper whiff, makes your mouth curl in disgust.

This man is full of souls, none of them healthy, none of them his own. If you had the two million marks he's brazenly asking for, you'd bet them all that these souls are the source of his power.

You wonder if they're concentrated somewhere in his body, or if they're spread out and diffuse. You hope it's the former. You can work with that. Otherwise, if things get ugly—and they probably will, at this rate—then it's going to be a hassle to put him down.

You don't bother saying anything to Greed. Amaterasu and Ling Ya have the speeches and retorts well in hand. Instead you glance up at the ceiling, looking for the telltale sign of...

Aha. Sprinkler heads.

You sense no water in the ceiling above them. Utilities were probably shut off a long time ago. Not that it matters, you being what you are.

You inhale. Outside, the rain stops falling, the clouds breaking up into nothing.

You exhale. A tiny piece of you leaves your body, some little bit of the inside of your mouth converted to vapor.

Inhale. The vapor rises, all but invisible, to the nearest sprinkler head.

Exhale. The vapor finds the nozzles, flows in, follows the dusty interior of the sprinkler's mechanisms until it comes to the valve.

Inhale. Your awareness shifts to the vapor. It feels around, getting a sensation of the valve's contours. It isn't much information, but it's enough.

Exhale.

You will water into existence above that point.

Not all of it ends up where you intend. Some you feel materialize in empty air, dash itself against the topside of the ceiling tiles. But enough of it returns a feeling of being surrounded by cold, grimy metal.

You've found the inside of the pipes.

The water multiplies, flows, spreads. Soon all the pipes are filled.

The vapor that was the inside of your mouth trickles from the sprinkler and runs across the floor to soak into your foot. As you absorb it, your awareness returns to your body.

You manifest your tentacle and let it hang. You do the same with your arm. The tentacle's tip flexes and coils. Your fingertips crackle ever so softly, flickering with blue sparks.

You're ready to kill this son of a bitch.

The Danse Macabre Codex

Zone Five; The Shrine Well - Asuka Langley Soryu

I rinse my boots and the bottom of my overalls off in the pool while Satsuki's taking sitreps and target lists and what-the-fuck-ever from a lieutenant I don't recognise, trying to ignore the looks and the stupid giggles I'm getting from the boys with paper boats across the water. There's a man next to them in a breastplate and tactical webbing and he throws a bad salute at his CO and then looks at me for a second before raising his hand again uncertainly, as if I might be a lieutenant he doesn't recognise either, so I scowl at him until he stops. I think I got most of the smell out.

When she's finished and we go through the hatch I throw my socks into the laundry bin and balance my boots on the radiator under the sword stand even though they're probably totalled, and as Satsuki takes off her coat and expels Commander Kiryuuin from her body with a long low sigh I slide into her from one side and loop an arm surreptitiously around her back, because there's nobody with working eyes to see me, and without a single word she understands to take me by the shoulder and hold the awkward contact. It feels weirdly solemn somehow, like satellites docking on autopilot, and I say yes to the tea without really thinking.

I almost pull away when Rider manifests in front of the breakfast table, holding up something like a fax card with embossed writing and badly-printed portrait of-

Oh.

"I didn't know that was today," I say, carefully swallowing the exclamation mark. There's a careful balance here. Rider is one of the worst liars I've ever met and she's being so transparent that I can't even find the energy to try and be offended, but those are VIP tickets. Tickets for very important people. Tickets for very important people who can afford subscriptions to Anyong and pay the fanclub dues and wear her fall collection and get their records signed and their letters printed and probably never touch the ground.

What it is is that Rider's eyes don't work and Satsuki says she doesn't go into my room when I'm not here, so they must have heard me mentioning her at some point or humming Reality Quake in the shower and couldn't possibly have seen the back issues under my bed, and it's with with complete and instinctive certainty that I realise they can never be allowed to know.

"Her beats are okay, I guess," I say, glancing at Satsuki with the mildest interest I can feign. "We've already got the tickets, right? It'd be a shame to waste them."

Edited by OG-Sama on Jan 1st 2022 at 2:03:49 PM

Zone Three, Fitness zone

Yeah, sure! It's a good thing the concert is today as I'll be busy with something tomorrow. Yeah, I'm not going to tell them that I'm the manager of Donki. They'll find that out themselves when they go to Donki and met me in there. Besides, gettting lost in the gym once a week and going to the concert sounds like a typical day for Sensei.

“You bowl with 3 middle fingers” Oh hey, a troper wall

Zone 6, Outside of the Abandoned Diner; Alexi Vult

"Looks like they're going into that building. I don't think they noticed us. We better go after them and help out."

I looked at Grey. "Why did you even think that the police station was a good place to look for me in the first place?" I asked, frustrated.

"...you said you were a Peacekeeper?"

"Yes. Were. As in, no longer a Peacekeeper."

"Well, yeah, but you could've been doing paperwork to quit or whatever."

"...I don't think you have to do paperwork to quit a job. Even if it's for the Peacekeepers.

"Oh. Well... let's just go in, shall we?"

I sighed. "Let's." At least I might be able to knock a few heads around.

We both walked on inside. There's Greed, right next to Andradite probably. Unless there's some other humanoid gemstones out there who've been kidnapped. Explains why Xavier was fighting those guys. Meh, whatever, he's dead now and we don't have to worry about this blackmail anymore. Greed doesn't seem to have noticed us yet, nor have any of the rest of them or- wait, what's Grey doing with that-

...Grey fired off a tranq bolt at Greed, hitting him right in his shoulder. This would be the part where he falls on the ground unconscious, but Greed happens to be immune to tranquilizers.

Grey looks on in shock, before shaking his head and recomposing himself. "...Hi."

I facepalmed. "For fuck's sake Grey."

"Oh well you try coming up with a good thing to say after that, Vult."

"Fair."

Witch - Zone Six - Abandoned Diner

You could smell him before you even saw him, from the instant the doors flew inward. Greed was here; This demanded attention. You had no idea why he was here, instead of having completed the transaction and booked it out of the zone, but that was ultimately irrelevant in the face of the fact that Greed was very much a threat that most present were incapable of dealing with.

You immediately stepped to the side, both to let Amaterasu pass and to catch Ichiban before he did. A regular human stood no chance against someone like Greed, even ignoring the potential threat of whatever gun he claimed to have gotten from Eggman. It was already quite likely that at least a few more of your party would be walking away with grievous injuries, and you would much rather those individuals be the ones capable of surviving them.

"Ichiban," you said, flagging him down before he entered- physically stopping him if necessary- with a slightly more grim look than usual on your face. "I need you to keep an eye outside, coordinate with the others. Plans have changed, Greed is inside. If anyone happens to catch sight of him fleeing, everyone has orders to not pursue him under any circumstances, are we clear?"

You nodded to him and, noting the now rather crowded doorway back into the diner, opted to vault back through the broken window the robot had exited from earlier.

Most of the others seemed to have instinctively jumped towards the attitude of violence, ostensibly ignoring the very real threat Greed represented. Nobody had yet to successfully kill him, and most attempts on his life had very little actual effect at even injuring him. When he wanted to, his skin was hard enough to block your sword that could cut through shields and stone. And assuming the gun he wielded so nonchalantly was even remotely as powerful as it claimed, well, whoever was on the wrong end of it when the trigger was pulled would stop being there, to say nothing of the potential for collateral damage.

"Two million marks?" The price was quite steep, but this presented an interesting opportunity. "Fine," you said, shifting your sword to your shield hand and slowly reaching into your pack, pulling out a thick leather wallet. "Two million marks, and you leave that gun on the table on your way out. I'll even give you a minute head start."

He was stupid enough to still be here, maybe he'd be stupid enough to take the stack of marked bills you were going to give him. As much as you relished the idea of being able to bring him down here and now, the odds of pulling such a stunt off without casualties was quite low. And with the marked bills in circulation, you didn't need to bring him down now, because once they hit the market again you could use that to track and dismantle more of his fronts.

"But I'll warn you, if you pull that trigger-"

You saw the dart fly past, sink into Greed's shoulder, and whirled around to see who had fired it.

"Grey!"

Blair, Artifacts Inc

My gaze turned to a glare as Brand kept running his mouth. It was difficult to say exactly how much of what he was saying was true and what was bluster.

"I don't know that," I growled, my annoyance clearly visible on my face at this point. "I don't know how much money you actually have, whether you earned it or whether you're just some trust fund recipient, or if you even knew who my mother was or exactly how many lies you've been telling over the course of this conversation. I don't know shit about you. All I know is this place looks like trash and-"

Anger soon turned to confusion as I suddenly tasted coffee for no apparent reason. I suppose he was correct that I hadn't seen something like this before, but I wasn't exactly blown away by his magical prowess at the moment.

"You think I'm incapable of creating something like this? Areum could probably make this, and I wouldn't be surprised if that gluttonous bitch has done just that for every food under the sun."

More boasting and threats. This little worm was threatening me... I approached him with fire in my eyes. My baser urge was to knock him to the ground and slam his head into the concrete until he stopped talking. It became harder and harder to hold back this urge as time passed.

Another frustrated sigh as he kept running his mouth at me. I did not like the people of Concordia, but this man in particular was an annoying bastard. More annoying than anything else was the fact that he seemed to know more about me than I did about him, which put me at a disadvantage. But I was immortal. I murdered my own flesh and blood to get where I am now. I slaughtered villages of people to obtain that sacred relic that granted me eternal life. He had nothing to threaten me with beyond taking away my material possessions. Those were not only things I could regain, those were things I didn’t even really need anymore to begin with. In fact, I had little need for anything at all now. I had a perfect body that had no need for food or drink. Or sleep. Or much else.

Actually, putting it that way… it almost seemed weird that I was still operating a shop. What was all this money even for? Why was I still getting into these corporate dick waving contests with Brand like I used to with all the others who stood in my way? After achieving everything I’d ever wanted, why did I now find myself being threatened by this piece of shit, selling things for profit I didn’t need on a ship full of people I hated?

   "..."   

I had no idea why. I had no idea why I still had to deal with shitheels like Darien Brand all these years later or why I was still deeply unhappy after achieving everything that I had and I hated it. I just kind of snapped at this point. I just stopped being able to hold it together. Whatever mask of civility I had quickly slipped away, laying my unfiltered persona bare.

   "Darien... shut the fuck up. Just shut your fucking ugly mouth already. I have literally never even HEARD of you until a couple months ago, and you're acting as though we're lifelong rivals who are reuniting after years. And I don't WANT to know you. I don't even want to think about you again. All these chittering insects crawling along this awful flying garbage can in space, chipping away at me day by day, and now there's a new one to deal with."   

The negative aura I gave off was something Darien himself wouldn’t particularly notice, but at this point, the group assembled outside Artifacts Inc would be able to sense it now.

   "You're not getting a partnership. What you’re getting is killed if you meddle in my shit. That’s what you deserve. Goodbye."   

I didn’t even bother walking away from his shop. A huge, howling burst of wind swept past Darien, Prushka, and Moko as I swiftly flew up and away from everyone and everything. Aside from the noisy winds, there was a blissful silence as I flew above the people below. I truly felt like I could stay up here forever. Eventually though, I landed in...

Blair, Yagokoro General Hospital

Earlier I had heard tell that there was an artifact, the Oculus, located somewhere around this area. What was the owner's name again... Rum-Eyed Rufus? Hm. Truthfully I was not entirely certain what it did, or why it was so valuable - but valuable it surely was. Darien had his eyes on that treasure, and I intended to get my hands on it first. Or to simply make sure he didn't get it. Either was an acceptable outcome to me at this point. I made my way into the hospital the surgery took place...

Edited by HilarityEnsues on Jan 3rd 2022 at 3:24:29 PM

Kayné Ainsel—Zone Six, Saving Private Andy

"Greed! Don't fire! That railgun's not made properly!" Kayne squawked, choosing to focus on the most practical matter at hand. "Eggman must've skimped on the materials! It's too small; it's got no inertial dampener in the stock!" Though she was breathless and should Greed actually choose to fire the railgun, useless, Kayne took cover behind an overturned table and leveled her ion rifle over the rim.

"It'll level everything in front of you for several slagging kilometers, but every force has an equal and opposite reaction, and I don't think that armor of yours is good against the sheer blunt force that will generate!" she warned, still not firing. "At the very least, you'll lose a limb, or several, or join your victims in becoming chunky salsa! For the love of God, everyone! Calm the fuck down before he pulls the trigger...!"

She had built arms of such magnitude before, and so she knew what they could do. Knowing Eggman, cheapness of production vastly trumped quality. Railguns were usually large, unwieldy devices half as large as a person at their most portable, or mounted on actual rails at their most destructive. Contrary to popular belief, the firing mechanisms did not make up most of the gun; rather, it was the devices devoted to making sure the wielder was not injured by the recoil that took up the most space. Kayne only hoped that Greed would see that, though Grey was making it somewhat difficult.

---

Moloch "Moko" Kothys—Artifacts Incorporated

"My girl?" Moko asked, putting his hatband-arms on what amounted to his waist and puffing himself up further in anger. It would have been almost comical except for the very real ire in his single crimson eye. "You mean my lady. And she is also her own. At any rate, I am merely here as a chaperone for another wonderful lady on a single errand." Do not dare to presume anything further, was what was left unsaid. Moko was a most subtle and haughty highborn hat when he wanted to be.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jan 12th 2022 at 2:59:16 AM

I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.

Zone Six: Wen Dead Redemption - Dio Brando

Usagi's cat, I have not specified, was a sable shorthair queen in the throes of feline adolescence - the symptoms here presenting in parallel to humanity, she was all limbs and skewed proportions and fit quite snugly into the palm of my hand. A gaudy little beast, composed primarily of claws and teeth. There was a crescent moon atop her forehead, with which she set in vain to gore me through the ribs.

She spoke, of course, most cats here do, and said I was an evil, evil man. Cats are predisposed to truthfulness.

As I went to collect my change and make the damned thing finished with - I was certain I could see the serving girl’s eyes begin got glaze - a thing emerged from that verboten space behind the union of Man and Triple, belligerence in black-and-red, a tinny baseline and a slurring russian cadence. I blinked, and smiled good-naturedly, and saw a puce and naval collar’d girleen.

Lo! Queer thing, this good Samaritan, but quick, aggressive, charmingly vital, and she barked her odds with the confidence of any seasoned gangster. A fine young hoodlum. She couldn't possibly have yet reached twenty. There was some business of subculture to her, all tights and sailor suit and fluffed fur collar, stout boots for kicking teeth, a dyed-red streak of hair beneath her ursine ears. Now, I am an alien to the seething love that striped cloth triangle inspires in men, a certain type of man, a man at home with Freud and known by name at the Devil’s Nest, and so to me, with her boots and her scowl and her lucky flap she seemed instead the Russian sailor girl, passing shells and scuttling ships-of-the-line at Sevastopol.

She certainly spoke like one; I'd not been told the odds in quite some time. She came barely up to my shoulders and looked as if I could fold her with a swift back-hand.

I was delighted.

As she tried to stuff her money into the serving girl’s hand - and, fatally, attracted Usagi - Niao saw fit to lay us all bare. I simply glanced at him and smiled. He makes great habit of this indulgence, does scholarly Gui Niao, though I think in retrospect I may perhaps have earned it. There was nowhere left to tread but onwards.

“It’s true, what Goreng says,” I said, snaking my arm around Usagi’s pointed shoulders. “I groom myself regularly, and I am a gentleman. Gravity is an… attractive force, you see. It draws together those fated to meet, subtly but firmly, like stardust coalescing as it falls to Earth. The beautiful, the powerful, and the queer. We can resist it no more than we resist true love."

Usagi, at this juncture, began softly to vibrate. This was as near to intolerable as you might expect, and I realised then that I was not certain I could move her.

“Is it a such a crime, that a man might buy a meal for one of our fair keepers of the peace? That a man might worry for a good friend's poor arrested daughter, and want to ask after her safety? Won’t you sit with us, Ms. Bear?”

"Ma'am," said the serving girl, outstretched sixty marks.

Edited by OG-Sama on Jan 10th 2022 at 2:00:52 PM

Zone Six; Wen Deez — Usagi and Luna

"Nope. It's not a crime. Nope."

"It is a crime!"

"You're a good man."

"He's a bad man!"

"You should sit with us, Miss Bear."

"Call the police!"

"I'm the police."

"And this is why I said you shouldn't join the police!"

"Oh, what's that? Luna's being a big stupid meanie-head and I have to eat this Son of Baconator so she can shut up? Wow-wee!"

"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother."

"Mr. Diobrando, you should give her a fry. She's not you when I'm hungry — I mean, wow, your hands are so big. Hehehehe. Yum, Son of Baconator.”

---

Zone Three; Fitness Zone

The woman scratches the back of her ear. Despite how casual she looks, she seems to have rehearsed this.

"My name's Jim," she says. "Jim Smith. And no, it's not short for Jemimah or Jamie or anything. My mother really wanted a boy."

"There you are!"

It's the young man in the red jacket, the one who was with Octavius and the others. He looks extremely annoyed.

"That's my brother," says Jim. "His name's Petunia, because my father really wanted a girl. It's complicated."

"You were here the whole time and you didn't come out?" snaps Petunia.

He's pretty, with his golden hair and his fair skin, but his green eyes seem just a bit too piercing for him to be truly attractive. It's like they see far too much, or maybe too little.

Jim shrugs, then points at her leg.

"Ankle's acting up," she says.

"You're lying," says Petunia.

"He can read minds," says Jim, whispering very loudly behind her cupped hand. "Born with ESP, went to magic university, thinks he's really cool but he's not, the works. My brothers are all dumb like that. Plus, he can't read my mind."

"I don't go around reading minds," says Petunia.

"You're lying," says Jim. "You were looking at this very pretty girl, Vivy, and you were wondering what's inside her head, but you realized that she was probably an android and so you couldn't do anything but stay behind. No?"

"No," says Petunia, without looking at you.

"Sure," says Jim. "Anyway, I found some people to go to the concert with us."

"I'm not going to the concert," says Petunia. "They're looking for…"

"I found some people to go to the concert with us," says Jim, primly. "Come along now."

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"Petty-poo, I always know what I'm doing."

"History says otherwise. And don't call me that!"

---

Zone One; The People Died At Pax Primis Fun Time Concert

Objectively, no-one really died at Pax Primis except the assassin who tried to kill Areum, but that doesn't seem to have stopped the entire teenage population of Concordia from showing up. The converted clearing is a mess of screaming fans, wailing candy-floss sellers, exhausted security guards, and even some Peacekeepers, who were sent to keep the peace or something. Two of them look surprisingly young, and you see that one of them has purple hair and the other has a pair of metal arms. Weird.

Since when did the Peacekeepers guard concerts? You figured Areum could take care of herself.

Then again, looking at the rabid audience, it's not difficult to see why.

"OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG"

"I LOVE YOU AREUM"

"AREUM HAVE MY BABIES"

"AREUM TAKE MY BABIES"

"POG! CHAMP! POG! CHAMP! POG! CHAMP!"

This last litany comes from a middle-aged man in an Areum outfit, his burly arms flailing with each syllable. Around him, bubblies cheer and beat him with their edible glowsticks, which, despite being edible, resulted in fifty-nine fatalities in the past year alone.

You don't need safety to be a bubbly. You just need to love Areum.

"Tickets please," says the lanky youth at the stall. He looks terrified. "Please stick to your designated standing area. Please don't throw staff members. Please don't faint when the music is played. Please, I want to go home."

Jim fishes four tickets out of her pocket, one for each of you and then herself. She looks at Petunia.

"I have my ticket," he says, holding up his empty palm. "See? VIP pass."

"Thank you sir," says the lanky youth, stamping all four tickets and then the empty air. "VIP standing area is at the front. Follow the pink line, sir."

Jim grins. Petunia scowls. A security guard comes to usher you into the VIP area, but is immediately jumped by a pair of sentient turntables. The Peacekeeper with metal arms comes to take over.

"This is my first concert," she says, leading you through the mess of arms and legs flailing through the line. "We were sent here because there might be another attack. I did not know that it would be this loud."

She seems detached from it all, but genuinely curious, as if the noise is nothing but a strange new type of bug.

"You like Areum. What do you find attractive about her music?"

---

Zone Three; Artifacts Incorporated - Prushka, Team Begonia

Brand smiles at Moko, then turns to you without a word. You're not even sure if he's doing it on purpose, but the snub is palpable. It's like he has a mailed fist in that velvet mouth of his, or a forked and armored tongue.

"Yes, I'm aware of your father, Miss Prushka. I admire his work, actually," says Brand. "He's bold enough to do what he needs to. Not many scientists can say the same."

He leads you down the corridor to a small inner room, which looks like a converted study. The walls are lined with plastic cabinets and rubber chests, the kind that a mother uses to organize her children's toys. They're dripping with magic.

"I was actually talking to one of them," he says. "Blair, the researcher witch. You know her, don't you? She didn't seem quite happy with me. I heard she had a bit of an ego, but I didn't think she'd refuse an offer of honest friendship. Pity, really."

He rummages through each cabinet in turn, before removing something on a piece of string that you can't quite see.

"Feel free to look around," he says to the rest of the Party. "You might find something you like. We're having repairs upstairs, so the top floor's off-limits for now — apart from that, I've got nothing to hide. Have fun."

You understand, intuitively, that this is the only chance that the others will get to hunt for Begonia. This is your moment. You have to distract him.

"Now, Miss Prushka," says Brand, "we're in an interesting situation. You see, your Ship-Scientists base most of their conjectures off the study of the Multiversal Mausoleum. The Ship is a borrowed metaphor, if you will. A projection. But that means that if the similarities hold true, there are facts about the multiverse that resonate here. Some rules still apply. Just like on your world."

He raises his hand, and you see that he has, dangling from his hand, a carved white whistle on a piece of twine.

---

Zone Three; Artifacts Incorporated - The Rest Of Team Begonia

You can only hope that Prushka is better at talking than she seems.

The rest of Artifacts Incorporated looks too much like a threadbare bungalow for it to be unintentional. There's potions of all sorts on the shelves, and a display cabinet full of wands and rings, and an entire rack of hats that look like Moko. But there's no labels on anything, not even to show a price, and you realize that the shop simply isn't ready for business.

That, or Brand is doing this on purpose.

The stairs beckon from behind the yellow tape. They look old and dusty and there's no carpet on them, but you can see another corridor at the top, two or three doors hidden in shadow.

Is it your imagination, or can you hear something squirming?

---

Zone Six; Abandoned Diner - Team Andy

Greed smirks, even as the air turns wet around him and Amaterasu blazes like the sun. If he hears Kayne's warning, he doesn't seem to care. It's clear that a lost limb or two isn't a concern.

"Look, doc." He quirks his head, all abandon and clipped plosives now that his speech is out of the way. "Our deal was simple. You don't touch my people, I don't mess with you or the Draughtsmen. You stay out of my business, I stay out of yours."

He strolls up to Witch like a panther, his eyes gleaming. He's looking at the money. It's like none of you exist.

"I'm a forgiving guy, doc. I don't mind if people break their promises, as long as they're willing to pay up. I don't steal, I don't cheat, and I certainly don't stick my do-gooder nose in everyone's business. That's the secret, you know. If you want people to like you, you've gotta give them space."

The railgun is still in his right hand. He hasn't put it down.

"You should try it sometime."

He takes the purse and shakes it, as if he can tell exactly how much is in it without counting, from the feel and the smell of the money. He leers.

"Thanks, officer. Much appreciated. I'm glad you're putting that oversized paycheck to good use. Now —"

Grey's tranquilizer dart sinks deep into his shoulder, then ejects as if shot from a bow. Greed glares sharply up, seeing nothing — then his anger ebbs away, slowly, and comes back as a cocky grin.

"Alright," he says. "You had your chance."

His skin flashes the color of carbon, and as the Ultimate Shield rolls up his body, he points the railgun at Andy's vial and fires.

---

The Shot; As Described From A Detached Narratorial Perspective

Those members of our audience who are largely unaware of the quantum narrator will not understand how this section is possible, but that is fine. For the uninitiated, this is an explanation of the precise sequence of events that led to the fourteenth bodily destruction of the Gem Andradite. Since this precise sequence of events took approximately two-eighths of a second, it will be important to ponder each step in its various stages.

1. The weapon used was a portable railgun prototype, created by Dr. Ivo Robotnik from two used reactor rods, a tin of mints, five eggs and a single living hamster. It was, indeed, powerful enough to destroy the entire block.

2. Unfortunately, Dr. Kayne Ainsel's analysis of the railgun was essentially correct. The lack of inertial dampening meant that the kinetic force was mostly transferred to the firer, creating blowback of extreme proportions, neutering the shot and detonating the gun. Estimates of the impact indicate that the explosion was powerful enough to create a hairline fracture in Copyrighted Danish Building Brick Material, the strongest known substance in the multiverse.

3. Unfortunately, Greed the homunculus had his Ultimate Shield up, rearranging his skin into compressed carbon the same hardness as diamond. This gave him a rating of about 10 on the Mohs Scale. This also caused the force of the explosion to diminish considerably, and protected both the people behind him and around him from the brunt of the blast.

4. Unfortunately, Dr. Ivo Robotnik had used a dwarf hamster in construction. The dwarf hamster yields approximately twice the explosive power of the European hamster, due to its greater density. This meant that Greed's soft innards turned instantly into something akin to Copyrighted British Beef-Analogous Extract, the saltiest known substance in the multiverse.

5. Unfortunately, Greed regenerated immediately by burning fifty souls, putting a prompt end to all talk of circumstantial misfortune. However, this forced him to put down his Shield and left him completely naked, which may or may not be unfortunate depending on your inclination.

6. Unfortunately, Witch's wallet was reduced to a fine spray of paper and misappropriated tax breaks, going to what cryptcoin specialists describe as 'the way of all fiat.' This is either a very good thing or a very bad thing, depending on how much tolerance you have for the candlestick chart.

7. The Gem Andradite has a rating of about 7.5 on the Mohs Scale, and while functionally immortal cannot heal without the application of a strong waterproof adhesive, such as Copyrighted American Threadlocking Epoxy. This meant that his left arm and right leg flew at high speeds towards the assembled arresters, along with the glass from his tube, the plume of dust from the explosion, fifteen chunks of plaster, a used napkin, three flies, five cockroaches, and an entire potpourri of flooring tiles.

8. The Therudduni of Plek were completely obliterated. This was a shame, because they were two microseconds away from achieving cosmic consciousness, but was also rather inevitable because they had made the mistake of spending 250 million seconds evolving to sentience on a molding french fry.

9. It was at this point that Greed decided to make a run for it.

Edited by troydenite on Jan 16th 2022 at 2:38:52 AM

'Being around you guys makes me go "wtf" instead of pondering the ever increasing dread of time' - EchoingSilence, 2023

Zone Six, Gem Retrieval Squad

You remain on guard even as Kayné tries to reason with Greed and Witch decides to meet his demands. You're not sure what the plan is there, but you assume there is one. You keep your focus on the smug shit with the tiny gun—the gun that, if Kayné isn't blowing its power completely out of proportion, could level this whole block with a single shot.

As such, you don't notice the newcomer until you hear the thwip of a shot and see a dart suddenly stick out of Greed's shoulder.

For just a moment, you close your eyes.

You knew this was inevitable, but still, you feel a headache coming on.

If you live through the next few minutes, you're going to strangle whoever that was.

By the time Greed starts raising his arm, you're already in action. Your will takes hold of the water in the pipes overhead, redirecting and concentrating it into one spot. There's a few hundred liters of it up there, and it isn't meant to all be bunched up in one place. that small section of pipe swells and strains under loads it wasn't meant to bear.

You snap your fingers—and the pipe bursts.

Seven hundred litres of water—about fifteen hundred pounds of the stuff, give or take—smashes through the ceiling panels directly over Greed.

***

Now, your plan here was straightforward. Slam that water down on Greed's arm, force him to point the gun at the floor as he pulls the trigger. Maybe bring him down to his knees for good measure.

That's what should have happened. But narrative contrivances have gotten in the way.

***

The ceiling tiles prove tougher than you thought. They delay the water just enough that, by the time it bursts out of the ceiling, Greed has already fired.

You don't see what happens next. The bright flash and the subsequent dust cloud hide everything from view. But you do feel it: feel fifteen hundred pounds of tightly-packed water smash down on spiky hair and bare skin like the hammer of god on an impudent nail.

At the same time, something slams into your shoulder and nearly spins you around. As you turn, you catch sight of it before it passes out of your field of vision: a pale arm, with a cracked stump that seems to glitter green as it catches the last flecks of the explosion.

Andy's arm.

The realization hits you like a punch in the gut. He's dead. He was counting on you all to save him, and now he's dead. He was right there, and now. He's. Dead.

You failed, Bill. You let 'em down like you always do.

And just like that, your shock and dismay boil away to be replaced by something else.

Rage.

Something inside of you turns with a sharp crack. In the blink of an eye, your whole body turns from navy blue to charcoal black. Your tentacle begins to steam and sizzle, and its fumes are soon joined by more of the same, rising from your head, your arm, your shoulders.

Bits and pieces of blackened flesh begin to flake off, falling like embers from a burning log. Underneath is not muscle and sinew, but light and heat: ruddy, roiling, unpleasant to behold. The air shimmers and dries up around you as all moisture burns away. Your tentacle becomes a coiling whip of liquid fire, incandescently bright, its every flex and twist searing afterimages into the retinas of onlookers.

You turn in the direction of where you last saw Greed. As you do, your lips and cheeks burn away, exposing a black jaw with obsidian chips where your teeth should be, backlit by the orange glow rising from the depths of your throat.

"You think you can't die, Greed?" Your voice is the crackling groan of a forest in flames. Your eyes are stars shining from the bottom of deep bony wells. "Let's put that claim to the test."

You raise your arm. Lightning—not blue, but red—leaps from your fingertips into the dust. At the same moment, your whip shrieks as it carves a murderous arc through the air. Both attacks are aimed at the spot where you felt your water make contact with Greed.

The Danse Macabre Codex

Zone One - Concert of Instant Regret

This is entrapment. These screaming assholes are just begging me to punch them, and every time someone brushes against my arm I have to resist the urge to take a swing at them.

Also, we're getting close to the stage, and I'm pretty sure that's really dangerous. If Areum trips or something her fat ass could kill us all.

I stare at the girl with metal arms (who is kind of cute in a porcelain doll sorta way) and consider how to respond to her question.

"I actually hate her music." I say, hoping she'll appreciate the honesty. "I'm just here to heckle."

And also I'm kinda hoping someone else tries to kill her. That'd be cool.

---

Zone Six - Angry Gods

Amaterasu is moving, even as Greed raises the gun. Her shield is already raised as she imposes herself between Greed and Andy.

It does not matter, in the end. The blast is too great.

Amaterasu tumbles out of the dust, in one piece, but clearly hurt. Blood drips from a mostly-cauterized wound on her stomach, mingling with the red streaks in her fur. Two teeth are missing from her mouth, and one of her hindpaws is twisted at an odd angle.

If she is bothered by this, she doesn't show it.

Her mouth is twisted into a snarl as she leaps at Greed to tackle him. Everett's lightning passes over her, but does not harm her; its divinity merely mingles for a moment with her own.

She raises Solar Flare, and brings it down on the homunculus. Again and again and again. Caught in throes of anger, her red markings glowing angrily, she will not stop until Greed ceases to regenerate.

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?

Zone one; Concert aka Ohio

I never heard of her, but I think her music is neat. Yeah, I have to be honest since I never talk to anyone in this city until my weekly get lost in the gym have someone to talk to. Apparently, Susie didn't like her music nor her, and I don't think she wants to go a concert with me. But, I don't mind since it's better than getting coup up indoors.

“You bowl with 3 middle fingers” Oh hey, a troper wall

Areum, Zone One, People Died at Pax Primis Fun Time Concert

The roar of my crowd of fans was truly a beautiful thing. Not as beautiful as my gravure idol photos, which were known to drive people mad with passion, but still very beautiful.

“Thanks everyone! Your love and support is super based!”

With that I started jopping and singing like a madwoman. The sheer levels of pog were off the charts as I went over some of my classic hits - Pogchamp Daddy, Reality Quake, and of course… Jussy Jopping.

People called this the greatest song ever written, and some of those people were me. That’s how you know they were right.

“Now, I know everyone is having fun right now, but things are about to get a little serious. This next song goes out to a very special fan. They can’t be with us today, but they’re a member of Areum’s Angels, a Concordian initiative for promoting community service and helping the needy. You see, they’re undergoing surgery today - apparently they have recently come down with a very serious illness.”

A few tears roll down my cheek. I try to hold back my emotions and maintain my jovial poggers nature, but for a moment I falter. In a moment of vulnerability, my emotions are laid bare for the world to see.

“Each and every one of you are my little pogchamps. I love everyone who is willing to jop, who is willing to party, who loves to wild out. That’s why this next song will be one written by superfan Ha Joon, who could really use all the support we can give them right now.”

I then did a song that, to be honest, was pretty weird and didn’t vibe with my general style at all, but at the same time I would’ve felt really bad if I refused to do it. Such is life, I suppose.

Once that totally bizarre interlude was out of the way, I eventually returned to my more normal stuff. Like a sick K-Rock number involving holographic guest stars Threepac and Cowboy John Lennon.

Edited by HilarityEnsues on Jan 15th 2022 at 2:54:41 PM

Witch - Zone Six - Abandoned Diner Impact Zone

The explosion happened so fast you hardly had time to perceive the results let alone react as dust and debris filled the air. There was a glimmer in the air as a piece of plaster bounced off your helmet, your left arm already instinctively raised in a futile effort to better shield your face. It only took a slight movement to adjust and catch the glittering object, cracking several bones in your hand from the impact. Your divine senses help to maintain a somewhat-reliable picture of the scene in lieu of mundane sight, obscured as the room is with choking particles. You glanced at the object in your aching left hand as you reach your right hand into your pack to retrieve a familiar steel ball. It was an arm, Andradite's other arm.

Greed is many things, but physically skilled is not one of them. Between the aftereffects of that explosion and the rush of water bursting down from the ceiling he was unlikely to react quickly. As you moved to hurl the ball at him, you noticed a swift change in the air, courtesy of the two divinities in attendance. Their fury was palpable and stifling; What had angered them so you could only speculate. Perhaps they were merely incensed by Greed's flippancy, or on behalf of their kidnapped friend, now seemingly injured further. You hadn't an inkling of how durable Andradite was, merely that as a gem they could be broken, and had been rebuilt before.

Nevertheless, you were far from foolish enough to remain in proximity to irate gods, regardless of their ostensible lack of fault with you in specific. You need not have watched the grisly scene unfolding to know why the Diet was afraid of Amaterasu. As the sphere was loosed from your hand, you took a few steps back towards the door.

You saw the flaming shield come down upon Greed and knew that your gesture was but tears in rain. So much for taking Greed in alive. You sincerely doubted that anyone present could convince either of them to stop.

"Everyone, outside!" you shouted, motioning out the doorway and stowing the arm in your pack. Nobody else needed to be present here, lest they risk becoming an unintended casualty to the rampage of two gods. You circled around the edge of the room, steering clear of any potential contact with the ensuing chaos, and attempted to get closer to the now-shattered container to assess the hostage situation.

Today's report was going to be rather dramatically more eventful than you could've possibly dared believe, and not for the better.

Salacia Persei Elimo; Zone Three, Artifacts Incorporated

"Thank you very much, Mr. Brand," Elimo said. "If we may wander around, as you say, could you please direct me to your restroom facilities?" After receiving directions to and finding the bathroom, Elimo set Moko upside-down on the floor near the sink after brushing off some of the dirt on the floor. Once Leo had emerged, she quietly said, "If you require me to do anything else, just ask," and moved in front of the door. Almost as an afterthought, she waved her hand, and a faint blue light washed over Leo before fading, healing whatever minor injuries he had sustained in the course of his grand adventure.

The thought of washing Moko off briefly occurred to her, but she reasoned that the time for that would come when they weren't (as the saying went) smack-dab in the middle of enemy territory. She waited for Leo to do his thing, to see the weakest pipe in the system and whatever had been upstairs in the area Brand had said was being repaired and whatever had ended up inside her head. It would be nice to know what it was, and then she could undertake one of several available options, like never stepping foot outside her house again. Definitely no more rescue missions.

---

Neraida; Zone Six, Abandoned Restaurant

Greed fired his gun, and suddenly everything was dusty and Amaterasu was jumping past Everett's lightning at Greed and Everett was on fire now. As smoke rose into the air, she saw in what seemed to be a roughly-humanoid sun the flame that had burned down... well, something, and as she came to the realization that she couldn't remember what exactly had burned down, a chunk of plaster hit her squarely in the face. As she struggled to refocus her vision, a glimmer shot by her head and into the street beyond. Combined with Witch's order to evacuate what was rapidly becoming a battlefield, this served a perfectly adequate reason to leave to investigate, and so she did. Free of the smoke, at least for a moment, Neraida bent down and picked up what could only be Andradite's leg, come to rest against a stray pile of bricks. She felt a wave of detached disgust and horror wash over her, mitigated only by the fact that Andradite was presumably more repairable than the average human and that there was no blood on it.

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr

Zone Six, Abandoned Diner; Grey

The shot rang out, and Andradite shattered.

...I've done it again, haven't I?

They're dead.

I always bring death wherever I go, don't I?

Friend or foe.

They always die.

They always die.

They always die.

They always die.

They die.

They die.

They die.

They die.

They die.

They die.

They die.

They die.

die

die

die

die

die

die

die

die

die

die

die

die

die

die

die

die

do it

Zone 6, Abandoned Diner That Will Likely Soon Be a Vacant Lot at The Rate Things Are Going, Alexi Vult

"Grey!"

I grabbed him and tried to pull him away from towards the shitshow with Greed and the two gods. The madman was trying to walk over there to, I don't know, stab Greed? Fuck, what the hell is he thinking?

"Grey!"

He struggled. I caught a glimpse of his face.

Even with those goggles covering his eyes I could tell that he seemed... I don't know, empty? Just, that was the face of someone who had seen far too much, and had just gave in to the pressure. What the hell is going on?

He managed to push me off. Damnit.

That tranq gun of his is here on the floor next to me. Only one way to go from here.

I picked it up and fired. Good, a direct hit. There we go, nice and sleeping.

I hoisted him over my shoulder (fuck he's heavy) and ran outside at Witch's direction.

"I got this suicidal maniac! Idiot tried to go and fight Greed in the middle of that whole 'clash of the titans' thing that's going on!"

Oh fuck, I really hope they don't ask about the whole "beating up Redd" thing. Not like he didn't fucking deserve it.

...

...

...

...I'm not them.

Edited by Mindris on Jan 16th 2022 at 10:34:26 AM

Kayné Ainsel—Zone Six, Saving Private Andy

Fortunately, Kayne was already behind a surprisingly study metal table by the time Greed pulled the trigger, and the shrapnel that resulted from that had a mighty hard time penetrating both the table and her shielding. Shards of Andy rained over her, and she grit her teeth as she peeked over the overturned edge of the table. It looked like Greed was being given what for. That was good. That was very good indeed.

"Nice cock, Greed!" she jeered on the edge of the fracas. "Too bad you think with it most of the time, or you might have avoided this! I told you so! I told you so!"

Kayne then quickly moved to get the hell out of dodge like Wtich said to do.

---

Moloch "Moko" Kothys—Artifacts Incorporated

Brand received no more than a haughty "Hmph!" as Moko was borne away from the commercial god's presence but calmed down as soon as he was turned over. "Psst! Lad! It's alright now. You can take a peek!" he said to Leo, who was inside him. "Maybe stretch those aching muscles a little while you're at it, eh?"

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jan 30th 2022 at 9:49:46 AM

I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.

Zone Six - Abandoned and ruined diner

It was probably really lucky that the containment vial had been built to withstand more than just an angry woodland creature.

Some of the tube and some of its occupant had bounced and crashed into the opposite wall of the diner, through the counter that had been in the way. The vial's trajectory was marked by a trail of clear and glittering-green shards, leading to a tangled mess half-buried in splintered wood.

Oh, there was a second leg laying there too, powder scuffed but leather slipper intact.

"Ehh... whaaa....?"

Andy's body was a jumble of pale and slender shapes under the mess, bright green along exposed facets and where his powder had scuffed off, draped in shreds of black and white cloth - the remains of a valiant summer uniform.

A single arm, miraculously intact, flailed weakly at first, then with growing urgency, sending debris flying again

"E-eeehhhh?! What the heck?!"

He had lost both legs, one arm, both his braids and a chunk of one hip. The rest of him was not happy with this situation, the gem looking down at himself with a confused and alarmed splutter, then up and around, trying to reconcile the chaotic scene with his now decidedly fragmented memory.

By the time Witch got to him, he had slumped back with a frustrated groan, hand clinking against his face.

"Aw man... Not again..."

Zone Three, Inside Moko -> Artifacts Incorporated Bathroom - Leonardo Watch

Leo, not wanting to distract Moko while he could very well be talking to Darien Brand, had spent the rest of his journey in silence, pondering instead the mystery of Jim's identity. He mulled over the memory that Petunia had shared, particularly Begonia's reaction to the name. He hadn't seemed scared, but it had definitely had an impact on him. A former boss? A long-forgotten friend?

...Leo knew he was projecting, but the reaction had seemed more intimate than that. Almost as if Jim was their-

"Psst! Lad! It's alright now. You can take a peek!"

What emerged first from Moko's interior was not a bed of untamed hair, but a sneaker-clad foot that wriggled around frantically before it retreated back into the fabric. The bustle of cloth and some muted grunting were heard next, followed by a hand shooting out and patting around the floor like it was the dark underbelly of a couch. A second hand then emerged and found purchase on the scuffed tile, and soon after Leo tugged his upper body free and flopped down onto the floor with a deflated gasp of air.

He remained like that, more a sagging sack than human, for a further minute or two, taking in the relatively fresher air and the starburst of pain around his neck as it recovered from being crooked. The pain dissipated quicker than he'd expected, something soft and light enveloping his body and smoothing over all the little cricks. With the annoyances gone he abruptly became aware of his unflattering posture, and used his hands again to push himself upright. "Thanks," he said to Elimo, offering her a smile as the subtle light faded from her hand.

Moko's suggestion to stretch his muscles was tempting, but better to check first that doing so wouldn't be dangerous. The smile faded from Leo's face as he positioned himself, hands still on the floor and legs kneeling inside Moko. His eyes slid open slowly, the ethereal blue-white glow from within ruining the otherwise picturesque normality of his features. Simultaneously gentle and pre-eminent, the Eyes observed languidly, their starry expanse so much larger than what could possibly fit within Leo's skull.

Then he focused, and an otherworldly bell chimed around the three as intricate glyphs formed in the air before the Eyes. Suddenly the Eyes were not languorous but instead almost painful in their focus as Leo swept them across the bathroom, across Elimo, looking beyond the flimsy walls of the room and the flimsier walls of the visual world.

---

Zone Three, Artifacts Incorporated - Sonic the Brave

Bad place weird smell, funny smell, hair-go-up smell. Magic smell. Sit on shoulder, Prush friend shoulder, sit on paper, bum hide paper. Bad man, bad face, weird funny hair-go-up eyes. Leo eyes??? Big stare.

Bad man look! Run run run but no, no run, sit strong. No fear! (Little fear, little shake.) Strong for Leo, strong for Prush friend. Prush friend good. Pat good Prush. Pat pat pat.

Thing? Bad man hold thing? Sniff sniff. Weird smell, hair-go-up smell, alive smell. Thing alive? Weird.

---

Zone Six, Andy Retrieval Squad - Ichiban Kasuga

Ichiban's not... okay, well, he is dumb, but dumb in the way that he can flunk every test and still land on his feet cause he knows how people work more than he does numbers or words. He knows Witch wants him outside cause she doesn't think he stands a chance against Greed. And maybe she's right (she usually is) but impossible odds are exactly the kind that he likes! They haven't gotten him killed yet!

But, as much as he rankles against it, Witch is still his superior. If she wants him to stay outside, then he'll stay outside unless there's a damn good reason why he shouldn't. "Got it boss." he grumbles, flattening himself against the wall as Witch trudges inside, followed by Everett, Amaterasu, Neraida, Kayne...

Alright, so, Witch had told him to coordinate with the others- all well and good, but there's no one else out here. Ichiban grumbles more to himself, punting away a chipped-off chunk of the wall. Is he really that far below everyone else? Amaterasu he gets, and he'd just watched Everett vanish and re-appear and magically heal himself with water. Lang could make fire with his talking guitar and Neraida had busted out a pair of butterfly wings, so who knows what else they could do. What was Kayne hiding, then, if she'd been allowed in?

...Wait, hang on. Grey and his pal had been skulking around just a few seconds ago, and Ichiban knows for a fact that he's just some nutcase with too much time and drugs on his hands, so where's-

BOOOOOOOOM!

The explosion rocks the wall with enough force to send Ichiban tumbling to the ground, which is perhaps the safest place for him to be as debris shoots out of the doorway and windows and tumbles overhead. He stands up quicker than is maybe cautioned to and shakes dust and plaster out of his poor, increasingly gunked-up hairdo, ears ringing and bones thrumming as he desperately tries to take stock.

The restaurant's in tatters and people are stumbling out of the entranceway. Neraida is first and Ichiban catches a glimpse of crimson against her alabaster skin as she hurries past. "Hold up!" he calls, shrugging off his jacket as he follows her over to something white and green and sparkling-

It's the same leg he witnessed tottering around the Egress' tables just a few days ago. It's Andy.

Neraida is hurt, which is the one thing stopping Ichiban from falling victim to shock. "Hey, take a seat." he says, muted, flipping his jacket inside-out and bundling it up as best as he can before pressing it against the wound on Neraida's head. "That looks nasty, you probably don't want to be walking around with it."

The blue lady is out next, Grey flung over her shoulder, and Ichiban realises she might be the Peacekeeper who fell victim to some weird mutation the other day. "Over here!" he calls, waving his free arm to get her attention, eyes drifting past them and to the restaurant doorway to see-

To see that Witch was absolutely, 100% right. Ichiban would've died if he went in there.

"What the fuck," he whispers, watching as two gods of fire and flame bring down their vengeance on Greed.

they/them || "Forgive me, regent of queer amphibians" - Lt.BGob

Satsuki, Pax Primus Concert

As she made her way through the crowds with ticket in hand, Satsuki was becoming increasingly aware that she had very little experience with concerts.

She had been to the opera with her mother a few times, and these had been stiff and formal affairs, and Satsuki had been so preoccupied with her own performance as the dutiful daughter that she barely remembered the music. More pleasant, but no less formal, had been the concerts and recitals she'd attended with Jakuzare.

Neither the opera nor the recitals had mosh pits.

She rarely had the opportunity to visit zone one, either - She had had to stop herself from noting choke points and security concentrations during the trip inward. There was always the a risk in drawing so close to the seat of the Diet's influence, but she was fairly confident no-one here would recognize her. Satsuki kiryuin was a distant figure with a black coat and a sword, not a young woman in a skirt with a glow-stick.

It had been somewhat hard to leave the sword at home, but she wasn't here as captain of the militia. She was going to a concert with her family.

"Asuka, if we get separated, meet us back by the statue when the concert is done."

She had to shout over the opening bars of Jussy Jopping to make herself heard. It didn't disturb the audience - half of them were screaming as well. Aureum's music was... lively, her fans equally so. This was less a concert and more a full-body experience.

It was more intense than she would have chosen for a night out, but the smile that Asuka had forgotten to smother was infectious.

"Oh, and have fun."

Zone 1; Concert aka Ohio

. . .Okay, most of her songs are just groovy in my opinion. However, when I look at Susie. . .yeah, she's isn't an happy camper. In fact, she appears she want to die already. So, I have the dumbest idea that'll get me banned from concerts; have her heckled at the singer.

Psst! Susie, I notice you don't like the singer, so I figured I'll let you heckled at the singer since you look like you kind of regret being here.

“You bowl with 3 middle fingers” Oh hey, a troper wall