Zone Five; The Shrine Well - Asuka Langley Soryu

Between the shower and the towel I catch the mottled smear of my body in the bathroom mirror and in a moment of stupid habit I decide that I'll assess my damages before I make them public, gurning my split lip and pulling gingerly at the scratches on my cheekbone. There are three long yellow-purple bruises coming in across the other side, index and middle and ring, like the handprint on a slapped ass, and when I cock my chin and scowl I look like the tragic battered wives from the posters for one of those hard-hitting tragic plays the radio won't shut up about. I guess I've looked worse.

I think I'd have noticed if anything managed to reopen, but the nerves are all dead or absent and I also like to think I'm thorough. That's a stupid habit too. I trace the clinical lines of a survey between the foreign craters of my body and I am thrilled by my dispassion.

"Bukkake stigmata," I mumble. What a wonderful phrase.

They’re all still there, anyway. At the concert I think I’m going to wear that T-shirt I found at Donki last month, the one with a bootleg cover art for Anyong Armada printed on it, because although the kanji doesn't mean much of anything and they misprinted her a beauty mark the sleeves are long enough to cover my hands up to the knuckles and suddenly that seems useful. I'm going to wear my skirt, too, because if I tie a spare jacket around it I know for a fact that it'll stay in place and cover the entry-exit patchworks on my thigh regardless of how much I run. I’ve tested it.

I think about putting my hair up the way I used to, even if the interface clips would just get stolen. I want to look my best. There's a lot of work that goes into something like that. I'll put on a padded bra and pretend my tits aren't pinned to my chest.

Just out of my eyeline something licks its lips and murmurs in anticipation, blood and spit dripping from depleted uranium spines, and somewhere keening along my shoulders a wave hits my shores and finally breaks.

I grip the sink instinctively and swallow hard before it can reach my throat, things crawling over every inch of me, and suddenly I need to break the mirror with my stupid crippled hand or punt the washbucket into the wall but I can’t because they’re Satsuki’s and she'll make me stay home and then she'll kill me, so I just let my fingertips turn white against the porcelain and try frantically to imagine that I’m killing something, something vivid but indistinct that bursts obligingly along the seams like a wet bag of offal, something else that can lose instead, some other body I can crawl away from and leave ugly and deformed and crippled and shot through with tissue it doesn't own and needs to hide. My knee twitches sympathetically, pounding Violet’s blank face into jelly against the concrete, teeth washing into a drain like drowning maggots, and I wish keenly and pathetically that Rider had broken her fucking ribs. I wish she'd picked up Stabler by his hips and his collarbone and twisted him open like a prawn. I wish she'd put her hand through his chest and closed her fist around whatever wound up in her palm. I wish that just this once she'd been fast enough and angry enough to kill him.

I stand there for a while, imagining, twitching, staring silently at the reflection of the light fitting. I have my little violence. I get it out of my system.

Eventually I decide I might as well do my hair.

---

Zone One; The Jussy-Jopping Joncert - Asuka Jangley Joryu

My boots were still damp when I got to them and every so often if I hit the ground at just the right angle I can feel my right sock squishing a little, but I’ve decided that I don’t care, because this close to the stage I can feel the baseline of Jussy Jopping thumping in my chest and there’s something infectious wafting off the crowd as we jostle through them to the VIP area. It’s mostly body heat and screaming, but it’s something, and although can’t see the stage yet through the press of bodies I think I can tell from the sound of the guitar, or at least I think it’s guitar, I think I can tell she’s brought out Cowboy John Lennon, who did the backups for Anyong Armada and Jai Shri Areum. I read that in Anyong. It said he’s got nothing to do with the other John Lennon, and that there are rumors they're a power couple, and that his style is highly pogedelic. I have no idea what that means but I think it's got something to do with drugs. I always thought his glasses were sorta cool.

I realize that I must be smiling when Satsuki tells me to have fun, because she’s smiling thinly back at me, so I try reflexively to stop and end up smirking at her and nodding instead. The stage is coming into view now we're closing in and Areum looks amazing up there, even taller than she is in the pictures, and between the coordination of her backup dancers and the graceful lazy ease with which she hits the jop it looks almost religious, almost heavenly. Threepac's there for some reason.

I didn't know Threepac was alive this week.

Along the pink line in front of us I see what I'm certain is Susie's snout poking out from under her hair as she's led to the front row, which doesn't really track because this is about her scene as much as it is Zima's, but in the haze coming off the crowd I figure she can't talk shit about me being here if she came too and it's not like she'll say anything in front of Satsuki anyway, so I jog over and clap my hand on her scaly shoulder.

"Hey," I shout past her at the girl in front, "I don't think you wanna let this one in. She looks like-"

It's fucking Violet.

It's fucking Violet and it's been less than three fucking hours and she's already back out on the fucking streets after everything they tried to bullshit me with and while at least there's a nice big bruise coming in just under her collar and a nasty graze on her ear she honestly doesn't look as if she's so much as fucking registered what fucking happened. It's fucking Violet.

"Trouble" falls out of my lips like a dead bird from a nest.

She's fucking staring at me.

Edited by OG-Sama on Jan 25th 2022 at 11:18:59 AM

Susie

I'm about to tell Teddie that I don't need his permission to call Areum a piece of shit when the hand claps me on the shoulder. I can't help but jump, my head snapping to see who it is, and I flinch at the sight of red hair.

Right. It's an Areum concert. Of fucking course Asuka is here. I bet she had Rider kill a man for VIP tickets or something.

"Hey, firecrotch." I greet. "Shoulda figured I'd run into you here."

Then I blink at her a moment, because she's frozen with that deer in headlights look. She looks like shit, I realize. She's banged up like someone slammed her face into a wall. And she's staring at the metal arm girl like she's about to run screaming.

It clicks right away. I might be bad at math, but I'm not stupid.

"She hurt you." I say, not too loud, not wanting it to be true.

I reach up to return Asuka's shoulder grab in a sort of half-hug that I hope is a reassuring gesture. I lean in slightly so she can hear me better over the crowd. "Asuka. She hurt you, didn't she?"

My other hand slips into my jacket, where my axe is still hidden in a playing card. I can feel the Devilsknife itching to be used, but I don't pull my axe out, not yet.

Because Satsuki is ten feet away and because arm-girl is a Peacekeeper and we're in Zone One and surrounded by witnesses and I have no idea how strong arm-girl is. Maybe her robot arms have laser cannons in them or something. I dunno.

All I know is that I'm glaring at arm-girl now, and I feel my mouth do that thing where the top of my snout pops out slightly and my top teeth poke out over my bottom ones, digging into my face-scales as a deep rumble burbles from somewhere in my throat.

I want to bite someone's face off.

Edited by kagescorpionakki on Jan 24th 2022 at 11:26:10 AM

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

Zone 1; Concert aka Ohio

Yikes, she is glaring at another woman. Maybe I should flir- No wait, that'll make things worse knowing how I did that to someone else in Inaba before. Plus, I got to distract anyone before something worse happe- Aha! I got an idea to diffuse this; shameless promotion! It's good thing that I got some coupons from my store in case something like that happens. So, I did a cough at everyone and pull an go crazy and please don't start a fight over this.

For the fans of the Aruem the singer I happen to have coupons from Donki, a store that opens 24 hours 7 days a week! Plus, they have anything from Pocky to albums that feature Aruem! You can use these coupons to buy. . .well, anything that isn't Aruem related if you want! Plus, I'm a bit too busy to use them cause I have a job to deal with.

And by job, I mean I'm the manager of the store and I'm keeping that part as a surprise tool to help myself later.

In fact, get your coupons to buy anything Aruem related and maybe something unrelated to Aruem related at Donki right now! First comes first serve basis!

I'm glad that learning other ways in luring the customers in without getting myself into heat is pretty useful since I did took lessons on how to run a store and such since these suckers will buy them for anything. Plus, there are other ways to diffuse something, right? Right???

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

Idunn; Zone One, People Died At Pax Primis Concert

Areum is singing and the crowd is jumping up and down, cheering about her singing ability and the appearance of someone named Cowboy John Lennon. As I watch, two young girls covered in Areum-branded merchandise and holding edible glowsticks accidentally jump into each other and begin a fistfight. One of the girls begins to beat the other with her glowstick, but I pull her away before she can inflict more than a few bruises. "Injuring another because of an accident is not acceptable," I tell her. "You will refrain from doing so again." The girl who was being assaulted disappears into the crowd, one hand over the rip in her Areum shirt as if she is attempting to mend it.

I turn away and look for any other troublesome situations, and I see a girl with red hair shouting at Violet, although I cannot hear what she is saying. I make my way through the crowd in an attempt to assist Violet, but the crowd is now shouting about someone named Threepac and jumping up and down again. By the time I reach them, the girl with red hair has stopped shouting. I can see that she is injured and that she is staring at Violet. Someone else with purple hair is glaring at Violet and snarling while attempting to hug the girl with red hair. Behind them, someone is attempting to hand out coupons for Areum-related merchandise.

"If you have sustained injuries, I will escort you to a first aid station," I say, speaking to the girl with red hair. I refrain from informing her that the first aid stations are meant for those who sustain injuries during the concert and that her injuries do not seem recently inflicted. "The rest of you, please maintain an appropriate distance from Officer Violet. Thank you."

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

Zone Theee - Artifacts Incorporated

—-

I wake up even if I had not been sleeping. This inexplicable abyss seemed to have dragged me, but I escaped the abyss. I was able to observe the environment surrounding me, but my consciousness seemed to have been separated from my body. An out of body experience, this inexplicably? A subject of investigation, but not at this point.

I gather that Vivy fortunately elected not to involve in this affair, and our nifty rescue team already enetered the shop. I follow quick.

And what a mess this disgrace of a shop is. As others have went to their respective positions, I groan at this lack of care was absolutely preposterous. Magic was not my forte, but I am already devising a hundred ways of renovating this shop...

Even before my conscious perception is able to realize, my body turns to the stairs, where above the shadows lie. The biological alarm rings across every body part. A danger. Or, at the very minimum, a thing of concern. My enhanced hearing caught a squirm. Misdirection of my paranoia, or validation of my senses? I needed a way to confirm if there is something there.

Then, I saw the bug. The bug that used to be my enemy, and the bug that was now me. I let out pheromones that will submit these bugs under my will.

"Jump", I whisper and it jumped.

Excellent.

"Climb these stairs. Check if something is there. Return if you can." I continue my whisper.

And so the itsy bitsy spider climbs up the stairs. To its probable death. I chuckle.

Edited by kaalban on Jan 28th 2022 at 5:35:53 AM

Everything that lives is designed to end.

Zone One, Ship-Scientists' Guild - Maia

Standing at-ease against the wall of the bio-containment laboratory, Maia patiently observed as Dr Patel and the Guild's researchers carefully investigated the fleshy lump known as Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet, Consectetur Adipiscing Elit, Sed Do Eiusmod Tempor Incididunt Ut Labore Et Dolore Magna Aliqua. As she kept watch, Maia recorded her sensorium and streamed the data to the guild's mainframe.

According to her internal analysis: Subject was intelligent, articulate, persistent (It hadn't stopped trying to get the research staff to join its 'body corporate'). Provisional threat tags: sapient, ectoentropic, predatory, tranfigurative. Primary attack vector: Bio-assimilation by physical contact.

That last point was one of the main reasons she was staying close by - as the only combat-rated non-biological-person in the facility, she could hypothetically engage Lorem Ipsum without being assimilated. She very much hoped that she would not need to test that hypothesis.

Master Jengbish was present for the same reason, with his sealed power armour and expertise with violence, and by contrast he seemed to be looking forward to a containment breach. Ten minutes ago the subject had stuck a sucker to the tank glass, and he had almost drawn his sword.

Maybe he was just disappointed he hadn't been allowed to kill it back in Founder's Park.

In a moment of quiet as the scientists consulted their notes, Maia turned her head slightly towards the master draughtsman, her eyes still fixed on the tank.

"Master Jengbish. Did you hear that the follow-up team dispatched to Room 523179 found your knife?"

Zone One; Concert aka Ohio

Mission somewhat successful?? Ah, whatever, I better grab Susie to get her away from the woman, who happens to be named Violet, or else a fist fight.

Yeah, let's listen what she's saying, Susie. Don't want us to get booted out of my first time at the concert, you know.

While I said that, I waved my coupons around for Susie.

You don't have to use the coupons to buy Aruem merchandise, but you can buy other things like food and drinks if you want.

I said to her not so loudly since I don't want to make things worse. Besides, I don't know what's her story with her, an injured woman, and Violet, so it's best if I don't ask her about that.

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

Zone Three - Artifacts Incorporated Bathroom; Leo

This place is different.

It's not different in the weird and quirky run-down sense, or even different in the shabby, not-quite-ready-for-business sense. It's not even different in the usual 'magical goods store' sense.

Oh, sure, you can see through the walls and the pipes like you can everywhere else, and you can see the wands and the rings and the potions, and the tray of overlords' toes and the drawer full of ancient tomes of power, and the five legendary blades in the umbrella stand and the twenty vials of love's first kiss, and an entire closet filled with Spam. Not even tins of Spam, just Spam. You see the spalling concrete in the basement and the broken boiler, and wonder why they still have warm water.

You focus on the staircase. There's tape all over the banisters, and a big sign, but then you focus just a bit harder and you see the wards glinting around the tape, like so many crimson knives. A spider hops up the stairs and then falls, piece by piece, into so many little spider bits, and you see the fat man inside Octavius looking at it, and the spider bit pheromones floating around him, like a cloud.

But that's not what you see. Not really.

There's a boy upstairs, in the second room on the left. He's wearing a blue cloak that looks like it's been dragged through a mud puddle, he's rummaging through a knapsack, and you recognize his blond hair and blue eyes from the dream you saw.

It's Petunia's brother, Begonia Smith.

Or rather, it was Petunia's brother, Begonia Smith, because when you blink, he's gone.

---

Zone Six; Abandoned Diner - Team Andy

Greed vanishes in a maelstrom of fire and lightning, and as you sear the skin from his face and take the hair from his head you see his bare teeth and the whites of his eyeballs, shining so wet that you don't know what's in them. His mouth is open, but his tongue is swollen so big that you can't work out what he's trying to say, even though you wouldn't be able to hear him anyway. Blisters form on his lips, little black patches of boiling blood and skin, and as he burns and heals, burns and heals, you can't tell whether the red around him is from his magic or yours.

But he stands. Despite the fact that he was trying to run, he gets to his knees, slowly, fighting against every bit of agony with sheer force of will, and you feel the hatred and fear running off of him, stinking, like melted plastic, along with his blood and pus.

He crawls despite everything, towards Andradite, his skeletal arm outstretched like the grasping branch of a tree, and as he gets closer and closer he lets out a wordless howl, and even though you can't hear anything you can feel the shape of the howl, and the shape is mine, this is mine, everything is —

Then something in blue falls right on top of him, and he vanishes. It's as if he never lived.

---

Zone Three - Artifacts Incorporated Display Room; Octavius, Moko, Elimo

A boy in a blue cloak and a stinking corpse crash into a wand cabinet.

That is actually what happens, although it doesn't quite describe the sound, which is a bit like an entire bag of fireworks being dropped into a pool of goldfish. Glass flies everywhere, sparks of every color shoot about like fairies, and the ceiling lamp turns into a pink sheep and flies into the hat stand.

"Oof!" says the boy, before rolling to his feet and staring at his quarry in panic. "Oh, God. You're not Andradite."

"Mlregahsebleh," says the stinking corpse, revealing himself to be somehow not dead. Sparks of red flicker weakly at the tips of his fingers, but whatever happened to him is clearly not being undone any time soon. You don't even know who he is, he's so overcooked. The smell is horrendous.

The boy bites his lip, then looks around. He's blond, with blue eyes and an impish chin, and if you had to guess he'd be no more than fifteen. He's wearing a dirty blue cloak with a leather jerkin underneath, and his arms are bare.

"Um, nothing to see here," he says. "Just a… just a little spell gone wrong. No stealing going on, not at all. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll just get back to the, uh… room upstairs?"

He grins, not very well. He really does look a lot like Petunia.

"Please don't follow me."

---

Zone One; People Died At Pax Primis Funtime Concert - Violet

The music is getting louder and the people are jumping even higher. I do not know why they are jumping so it must be some kind of dance. There is a lizard with hair and she is purple. Her teeth are very sharp. It must be difficult to have your hair in such an unruly state. When I did my hair in a ponytail they called me boyish, but the lizard's hair is not done in any way at all.

"I do not know what a heckle is, but I hope you will enjoy yourself."

Then I see the girl from the alleyway, Asuka Langley Soryu, the one who struck me between the legs. I slapped her across the cheek with my right hand. I can still see the bruise shining. I see that the lizard with hair has her arm around Asuka and is snarling at me. Her teeth shine like screws.

I look at them both because I am not sure what to say. The standard greeting in such situations is to say hello how are you, but I cannot say that to a detainee.

Officer Idunn is behind me, telling everyone to stay away from me. She puts things in a way that I can understand. It is something that I find good about her. I nod to show my thanks.

"We came to blows in an incident. It was a misunderstanding."

When the Major wanted to apologize, he would offer a handshake. I extend my left arm to Asuka.

"These arms are not mine. Sometimes I cannot control them."

Something loud goes off, like the screech of a shell. The large boxes on either side of the stage make louder screeches, then burst and go quiet. The girls in the crowd gasp, then begin to jeer, the same way the enemy jeered when we saw them from across no-man's-land. They are much more articulate than me and it takes me several seconds to parse their intent, even when they shout. I am not good with inflections.

"Boooooo."

"Sound system, like, get your shit together. Oh. My God."

"I need, Areum. I need her, now. Give me, Areum."

There is a woman with a large megaphone in her hand. She is suspended from a large flying machine with a spinning blade above it. She is dressed in a gray blouse with a gray skirt, and she is wearing spectacles.

"Areum, you bitch. I told you I would be back. And now I have my lawyers. You are screwed now."

There are many other men in suits. They are also suspended from the flying machine. They have briefcases in their hands, and they are all wearing dark spectacles. They must be lawyers.

"Mikudayo," says a large woman. She somersaults out from the flying machine and lands on the stage with her arms out. She is very large and her head is even larger. Her hair is light blue or maybe light green. "Mikudayo."

The girls in the crowd begin to wail. One of them vomits.

"Oh God, it is Mikudayo. We did not come here to hear her lame music."

"I am out of here."

"Mommy, help me. This is so not on fleek."

"Last chance, Areum," says the woman hanging from the flying machine. "Cancel your concert or we will cancel you. And I do not mean the social kind of cancel. I mean that we will delete you legally."

"Mikudayo," says the large woman. She is wringing the man in the large hat and boots. I believe his neck has broken.

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

Areum, People Lived at Pax Primis Wrassling Extravaganza

It was hard being this based. First of all, maintaining this sheer level of poggitude day in and day out was difficult. Some people had to resort to PE Ds (Poggers Enhancing Drugs) just to survive in this cruel world where you always had to compete with another streamer, gamer, or other mentally eccentric person for views Thankfully, there was no one in Concordia more mentally eccentric than me, and that was my greatest advantage in the gruesome battlefield of views, clicks, and posts. Don’t worry about what that means, I’m thinking fourth dimensionally right now - only the read K-Heads will get this one.

But another reason it was hard was because being based inevitably attracted lots of haters, and I had no bigger hater than Mikudayo. Not in physical size, or in moral character, or in how cool she was, or in anything that actually mattered, but certainly in terms of sheer tenacity. She was te Garth Vader to my Duke Skywalker, the Demon Emperor of Deathkind to my God Empress of (Wo)Mankind, the eternal villain that I would have to face again and again.

But a brave, beautiful heroine such as myself could never give up in the face of unrelenting evil. I, Magical Girl Anyong Final Fantasy XIV: Areumsward had a plan for just such an occasion. If this hussy insisted on interrupting my concert, I would just make that part of the show.

Cowboy John Lennon and Threepac continued their delightful lyricism for a while, until I put a stop of it with a wave of my hand.

“Enough.”

Silence hovered over the concert, imbuing it with the gloom of a child who failed to properly do the Fortnite dance. It pained me to bring my fans such sorrow, but it was necessary if only but for a moment.

“You are truly a villain without equal, Mikudayo. You have brought me no choice but to end the People Died at Pax Primis Concert… so that we may begin the People Lived at Pax Primis Wrestling Extravaganza!”

With my incredibly powerful, incredibly based magic, a wrassling arena suddenly appeared in place of the concert. Threepac and Cowboy John Lennon were now wearing incredibly beautiful leotards, as was I. In this moment, Concordia would know once and truly what the meaning of beauty was.

Some sexy cool wrestling music started playing, and it sounded like uh… look, it sounds cool as shit, unlike that Yankee wrassling music. That’s all you really need to know.

“Princess of Darkness World of Warcraft Mikudayo, I, Magical Girl Anyong Final Fantasy XIV: Areumsward, challenge you to a battle in the ring! If a moment in the spotlight is what you crave, let us create a Reality Quake together that will shake all of Concordia with our fighting spirits!”

Zone Three - Artifacts Incorporated Display Room

Helena made her way with the others in their search for Begonia. Eventually she found herself faced with a corpse - a living one at that - within the shop. What in the world was going on?

And standing over them was... wait a minute, was that Begonia? Did he do... whatever this was? Helena didn't know any differently, and this certainly didn't look good from where she was standing.

"Don't move."

She tried to grab Begonia's arm and restrain him.

"You need to explain yourself. Now."

Edited by HilarityEnsues on Jan 30th 2022 at 4:52:59 AM

Zone Six—Gem Retrieval Avenging Squad

You advance into the smoke. Every step leaves a burning impression of your foot on the floor. Every step sees more and more of your blackened flesh flake away. All throughout you keep your arm raised, ramrod straight, crimson lightning shooting from your fingertips in staccato pulses.

Yours is no longer a body of meat and blood: it is fire and plasma, wrapped around the core of an obsidian skeleton and sheathed in the crumbling crust of your skin. It is a blazing effigy, an avatar of elemental fury.

A Sun, old but still potent, in human form.

You pass through the smog into the heart of the blaze. You see Amaterasu, furiously whaling on Greed. You see the creature stripped of skin, struggling to crawl even as his body burns. He's healing, but you can smell the toll it takes on him: the stench of souls fills your nostrils, clear even over the stench of smoke and dust and sizzling fat and burning meat but growing fainter by the second.

Keep this up and he might burn out completely.

His fleshless hand is reaching out for something. His mouth is open, shouting wordlessly. You flick your tentacle, and its tip splits in two. You drive them both into his eyes. Sizzling jelly runs down his cheekbones in greasy rivulets. You withdraw, and the split tip recombines as you prepare to ram it down his throat—

Suddenly, blue. Just for an instant, so brief you would have missed it if you blinked—and then Greed is gone.

Not dead, gone.

Something—or someone—whisked him away.

You stand there for a moment, literally smouldering. Your whole body crackles and hisses like a damp log on a raging fire.

Then you throw back your head and roar.

As you do, the part of you that turned so violently earlier turns back to its original position. Jets of flame erupt from your mouth and goggles, and as these sparks shoot skyward, the light within your crumbling shell dies away, the temperature drops to normal levels, the tentacle burns out, and your whole body goes rigid and hard like a dead tree that hasn't succumbed to gravity's pull. You stand there, motionless, an ebony grotesque frozen in the act of shaking a fist at the uncaring heavens.

Then this ebony shell crumbles, and you slump to the floor.

Your skin is blue once more, your body whole. But that transformation took a lot out of you: you're leaner now, so much of you consumed as fuel for the fire, and your eyes and throat are parched. You don't dare talk, knowing that it would hurt too much.

And even if it wouldn't, what the hell is there to say? You blew it, all of you. You couldn't save Andy. You couldn't even avenge him.

Sighing heavily, you hang your head and cover your forehead with your hand. There's a migraine coming on, and you can't tell if it's because of the stunt you just pulled, the guilt that's welling up, or both.

"How am I going to explain this?"

The Danse Macabre Codex

Witch - Zone Six - Abandoned Diner

The gem Andradite's sudden flailing brought a small sigh of relief. You had heard he could survive being dismembered, but seeing it in person was a different experience. No vital organs or damaged soft tissue, just relatively clean breaks, much like a golem awoken from stone. "Right," you said, placing a hand on the remnants of his shoulder, "We're here to get you back home." Actually lifting Andradite took rather more effort than you first expected; His torso alone seemed to weigh nearly as much as you did, but not nearly enough to stop you from picking him up.

"Amaterasu! Your friend-" you started to say, turning around to see Greed's horribly mangled form frantically rushing towards you despite the divine onslaught he was still suffering. You quickly shifted Andradite under your shield arm and drew your sword, ready to strike, and the next thing you knew there was a brief flash of something blue and Greed was gone. Not dead, not annihilated, just gone. "...Could use some help." you finished. This was beyond Greed's known capabilities. You could still sense the magic in the air; Someone or something had teleported Greed away, possibly against his volition, given his struggling. You couldn't pick up any sign of Greed nearby at all, and given the lack of noise or other movement, there didn't appear to be any more of Eggman's robots present.

You heard a "Holy shit, Kasuga! What's the sitch?" from beyond the door. Rodriguez had arrived, just in time. "All clear," you said, loud enough that those just outside would be able to hear you, and sheathed your sword again, shifting Andradite to support him with both hands. "Let's get this place cleaned up, people!" The private stopped for a second upon seeing the state of the two gods, saying "Woah! You guys okay?" "Rodriguez! Get a runner out, head out and meet up with Lieutenant Kitsuragi. We need to ask the good Doctor Robotnik some questions at the precinct. You!", you said, motioning to one of the Peacekeepers entering the building. "Help them search for pieces of our victim here."

Turning to address the rescue team volunteers, you continued "Thank you again for your assistance in this matter. Once we can verify we've recovered all of Andradite you are all free to do as you see fit, although I must request that you allow us to handle things from here. I would prefer to avoid involving civilians, lest we complicate things further." You weren't sure how much more complicated they could get given that you'd nearly had a gang execution on your hands, but better safe than sorry. There was still the matter of collecting a statement from Andradite, but that could wait given that he was quite clearly out of sorts. One step at a time; First you had to get him out of here.

Zone One - People Are About to Die At This Concert

Another guard shows up, and I turn to glare at her as well, before remembering that she's not the one who hurt Asuka and turning my glare back towards the first Peek.

I'm pretty sure metal-arms girl - Violet, according to the other Peek - is actually a robot. Like Vivy, but without any personality. That or she's just dead inside. I don't know and don't care.

"Misunderstanding my scaly ass, you fucking Peek." I snarl at her. My hand is still in my jacket, and my fingers brush against the card. I hear Jevil's curious 'oho?' in my head, and it reminds me of what I'm almost about to do.

I glance over to Satsuki, who is still right there and watching. I let my hand fall out of my jacket, empty, and I manage to pull my teeth back into my mouth. "Touch her again and I'll kill you."

Then hell breaks loose. Mikudayo appears, Areum declares that the concert is now a wrestling match, and I have to clamp down on the part of me that wants to start cheering for blood. Areum's blood, specifically.

Instead I try to actually think, and realize pretty quick I have no idea how to handle this situation, so I try to gently pull Asuka back towards where Satsuki is. Because Satsuki always knows what to do and what to say.

And if Satsuki's here, then Rider's also here somewhere, and can dropkick Violet on the off-chance Violet's stronger than she looks.

---

Zone Six - Abandoned Diner

Greed stands, stumbles, reaches out his hand. He radiates hatred. Amaterasu merely swings her reflector once more.

Solar Flare strikes nothing - Greed is gone, in a flash of blue. She growls, sniffing the air, but it is as if his scent is merely gone.

She composes herself, huffing in anger for only a moment before rising to her haunches. One of her legs aches, slightly, but she pays it no heed. Instead she turns to her fellow god, her fellow sun, walking up to him and booping him gently with her nose. "It is alright, Everett. I have his scent. And there is nowhere for him to flee; I will hunt him even into the Incoherence, and you are welcome to join me. But that can wait; we must put Andradite back together."

Amaterasu quickly turns to Witch, staying a respectful distance away. "You may leave Andy to our care, Guardian Witch. You may not know this, but he draws energy from the sun. And I should be able to put his pieces back together with my brush, once we've assembled them."

She was actually uncertain if her Rejuvenation could make Andradite whole. It tended to not work correctly on living things. But Andradite was stone, not flesh, and she was not attempting to replace, merely to piece together what was broken.

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

Zone One; Concert aka Ohio aka WWE

...Okay, so it went from singing and dancing to WWE that fast. Well, at least that shou- wait, where did Susie go?! Ah, I was too distracted by the whole unexpected appearance of Mikudayo. Plus, she is just ripping off Miku for starters. Well, if I were Sensei, I would...actually, how would he deal with this if he was mysterious arrive here without his consent?

...Now I think about it, didn't Vivy say she was supposed to help with this concert or something? I mutter to myself.

So, like a madman, I just run around the place just to find Vivy and tell her about this cause I don't want to die here as I would rather die in Inaba! Plus, that's the last thing I want to happen at a concert.

Edited by Xabbynip09 on Jan 30th 2022 at 11:19:37 AM

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

Kayné Ainsel—Zone Six, Saving Private Andy

"Everything seems to have settled down, so I'm coming in!" Kayne declared before she went back into the building that was no longer a building; it was more of a husk now, really. "Oh, dear, Andy, darling...and Everett!"

"Everett? Honey?" She approached and laid a gentle hand on the rain god's shoulder—the flesh-and-blood one, not the mechanical one—while stooping over his melancholy form. "Look up. Andy's over there, in pieces, but as soon as he's put back together again, he'll be fine. I've known him for longer than you have, and he's taken far worse." She unscrewed her canteen and offered it to him. "Now come on. Drink up. You'll feel much better once you've got some water in you again. I'm going to try and gather up Andy's pieces, and you're welcome to join me once you've had a rest."

She took out a pair of special spelunking goggles from her skirt pocket and turned to Andy for a second, waving hello as her eyewear scanned the majority of the gem that was still intact. When her tech was properly calibrated, she walked around gathering the pieces that were highlighted in her vision by the goggles.

---

Moloch "Moko" Kothys—Artifacts Incorporated

"Laddy, your brother is looking for you and he sent us," Moko began straightaway. "Helena, calm down. The boy's specialty is teleportation, not incineration. His master—for I wish not to speak his name, lest his attention be summoned—may have commanded him to do this, though he may have taken the wrong person, and not Andradite like he just mentioned. It's very likely that Kayne has succeeded in her mission to help the rescue party."

"Speaking of a rescue party, we must leave immediately," the hat said hurriedly, still upside down. "The proprietor's attention shall not be diverted for very long."

Edited by JumpingFruit on Feb 14th 2022 at 4:10:49 AM

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

Zone Six, Where There Was Once an Abandoned Diner But is Now Just Ruin; Alexi Vult

Fuck.

Alright, best get out of here before Witch remembers I'm still wanted for questioning. Damnit, what the hell set Grey off? Andradite shattering?

Has to be, not like anything else happening that would cause such a... reaction like that.

But in that case, why would it set him off? Maybe some traumatic memory with the crystal bombing? I mean, there had to have been some reason for them to have convinced him to make the crystallization thing? He doesn't really seem the type to just make it and forget it

...Then again, he could've just done it because someone ordered him to and he didn't think of any consequences.

Whatever, at least I'm out of there. Just need to get over to Grey's place while lugging him over as well.

Hope no one asks any questions. I am not in the mood for this sort of thing.

Zone One - Whatever this event is called now - Satsuki

Satsuki had hung back for a moment, watching her ward run on ahead. Asuka had just met up with one of her friends - a reptilian girl she recognised as Susie, a junior Militiaman.

She had been about to turn away and find somewhere a little further back from ground zero when Asuka's body language abruptly changed, stiffening. Satsuki followed her gaze to the front of the line and saw a girl with mechanical arms and a bruise.

Asuka had told her enough about what had happened in the street that morning for the pieces to fall into place. A flash of anger flared in her chest. What was it that the Peacekeeper Lieutenant had said? The girl was to be retrained? Were the peacekeepers so desperate for bodies they sent officers on disciplinary notice to guard public events?

With ease born from a lifetime of practice, Satsuki banked and throttled that anger until it was a cold, bright flame. As if sensing some invisible pressure - or maybe catching a glimpse of her expression - a few music fans in the crush around her suddenly found excuses to go to the bathroom or find a snack stand. Susie turned to look her way, gaze questioning. Satsuki was already striding forward, step quickening as the peacekeeper girl raised a hand - only to pause for just a second as the sound system abruptly shorted out, and a helicopter swept in over the crowd.

Satsuki's eyes narrowed, brows knitting. She really should have brought her sword.

The green-haired creature she knew as Mikudayo - a Diet member's deadly rival is worth keeping tabs on, even if she was utterly unpredictable. Satsuki wasn't sure how these concerts usually go, but she'd presided over, and participated in, enough blood-rivalry grudge-matches to see this one forming before eyes.

Despite everything, as she strode forward through the dumbfounded crowd, she had to spare a moment to render Areum a note of respect. The giantess took the interruption in stride and effortlessly regained the initiative. A reminder not to let the vapid pop-idol facade fool you into underestimating her.

A reminder for another day, however. For now, she had more immediate concerns, meeting Susie and Asuka half-way, settling protectively behind them and setting a hand each on their shoulders, already pushing them away from the stage-turned-ring.

"We're falling back. Stay close to me." Her voice had a clear note of command that cut through the roar of the crowd. "Rider, clear us a path to the rendezvous point."

—

Zone 6 - Diner Ruins - Private Andy saved!

Andy looked pretty disoriented as he clung with his one arm around Witch’s shoulders, looking around in miserable confusion between bouts of panicked introspection.

The worst part about being broken was that, usually you didn’t even know what memories you’d lost. When it was this bad, though, you could feel the holes, even if you didn’t know where they were…

“Where… are we? I don’t think… this isn’t right, uhm… S-sensei! Where’s Sensei?”

No, no, wait he was pretty sure Sensei wasn’t here… But at least he still remembered him. That realization sent a profound wave of relief through the battered gem. If he still had Sensei, everything would be okay… that tall, robed, beloved figure forming an anchor he could use to hold everything else together. Sensei… and another figure, just as tall, fuzzy and horned, comforting just to think about.

With a huff, he calmed down and turned his face against the shoulder of the stranger carrying him, squirming in embarrassment.

“Jeeze… a-all my facets are showing… this really sucks… Oh! Kayne!”

The fact that there were familiar faces in the crowd of people all gawping around this weird ruined building seemed to snap him back to the present, his lower lip wibbling a bit as he spotted Amaterasu as well.

“Kaaayne… Ammmyyyy… I got in a mess… and I don’t have any glue…”

Edited by LittleMako on Feb 1st 2022 at 9:59:11 PM

Neraida; Abandoned Now-Exploded Restaurant

Neraida was rather perplexed at the sudden turn of events. She hadn't seen exactly what had transpired, but Greed was gone and the restaurant had turned from a ruin into a smoking ruin. The sight of it made her vaguely unsettled - sick to the stomach, even, like it was a particularly gruesome car accident - so she preoccupied herself by removing Ichiban's jacket from her now-no-longer-bleeding head wound and returning it to him. "My thanks," she muttered.

Realizing that she was still clutching one of Andradite's legs, she let out an involuntary breath and attempted to waylay Kayne, who was currently wandering around looking for the gem's body parts with her goggles. "Excuse me. I believe I have one of his limbs," she got out, attempting to press the glittering leg into her hands. She leaned against the nearest wall, exhausted mentally if not physically.

---

Salacia Persei Elimo; Zone Three, Inside Artifacts Incorporated, Bathroom -> Display Room

For about the billionth time in about five minutes, Elimo felt guilty for leaving Leo behind in the bathroom. By her estimation of the distance between the display room and the bathroom, if anything went wrong, he'd be in trouble before she could do anything about it. Leaving someone in that situation was not the kindest thing to do by most metrics. She could always lie and say she needed some fresh air, but that would be nothing more than a poor attempt to save her pride. Besides, he had probably seen everything anyway.

(If Leo had looked in Elimo's general direction at any point during his scanning, he would see an entirely different being standing in her same space, only translucent enough to see through. They were the same person, he would see that quickly enough, only this new person was quite obviously human - no wings, no divine aura, a book of magic much weaker than the one that the goddess was currently toting. As for their connection, Elimo's soul/spirit/essence/what-have-you seemed to be welded to that of her new brain friend. Why? What did this all mean? Excellent questions.)

Anyway, a boy who she guessed was Begonia had popped into the display room with much fanfare and a burned corpse. Probably not a corpse, she amended as she heard it - him - mumble incoherently. Helena was gripping the boy's arm and demanding he explain himself, Moko was explaining for him and warning everyone that they should probably leave soon, and she figured that it might be a lot for him to handle. Elimo righted Moko and smiled at Begonia, slightly displeased that she was aware of the effort the latter took. "Indeed. I promise that we mean you no harm, but you must come with us."

Glancing back at the bathroom, she added, "Oh, dear. I seem to have dropped one of my books somewhere. I'll pick it up quickly, and then we can leave." She wasn't entirely sure if Brand was listening now, but it seemed wise to assume that he was.

---

Idunn; Zone One, Concert Stadium, Apparently Soon to be A Battle Stadium

I look up at the sudden noise. There is a flying machine, and a woman is dangling from it while speaking into a megaphone. She is saying to Areum that she has her lawyers, who are presumably the men in suits who are also dangling from the machine, and that she will cancel Areum if the concert is not canceled. A woman leaps from the machine and begins to strangle one of the men Areum was singing with while repeatedly saying "Mikudayo". Perhaps that is her name. Areum responds by forming a wrestling ring out of the stage.

"Please remain calm," I say, turning towards the rest of the crowd. "Please remain calm and make your way towards the designated exits. The designated exits are marked with large signs." The girl with purple hair says something about killing Violet if she ever touches the red-haired girl again before a tall woman with dark hair appears and directs them away from the ring. As the red-haired girl turns, I can see the bruise on her cheek and the stunned look she has on her face when she glances back at Violet. It is outside my purview to feel emotions for individual civilians, especially when they injured a fellow Peacekeeper, but she is young, even for a human. I cannot help but feel sorry for her.

There is someone else, the same person who was offering coupons earlier, and he is running around in a very disorganized fashion. He bumps into me, so I take the opportunity to take him by the arm. "Please proceed calmly towards the marked exits," I tell him. "If you are looking for someone, I will attempt to reunite you with them, but first you must proceed calmly towards the exits."

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

Zone one; Concert aka Ohio aka WWE

Nooo~! I need to find Vivy and tell her about the whole wrestle situation or else there's no survivors.

I can't just give up and have the guard throw me out of here like the culprit throw people into the tv. I sigh as I know I didn't want to do this at all, but in case where I don't have my fencing weapon, I have to use mustard bottles..I'm not even kidding.

Guard, please forgive me what I about to do to you.

I managed to go to my pockets to grab the mustard bottles and squirt it into her eye. ..Also, I have two mustard bottles in case she stronger than Chie, so I squirt it into her other eye as well. That's where I remember where Vivy is going to be at. The VIP room, where that guy, whose parents wanted a daughter instead of a sin, must've go to.

In fact, Vivy may or may not still be at the room. So, with me finishing squirting two mustard bombs at the guard, I took my chance to flee to the VIP room regardless if she dodge it or not.

I'M SORRY FOR PUTTING MUSTARD IN YOUR EYE, GUARD!

My yelling echos as I mad dash to the VIP room. Plus, even if there are guards outside of the VIP room, I might have to lose the guard that tried to take me away in case she's following for squirting mustard in her eye.

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

EGG PALACE, Zone 1

"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

"Ahem."

"WHAAAAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?"

"Feels sort of forced..."

Eggman strode around his foyer floor, moving from pose to pose. If he held up his hands like this it seemed like he was really into it, of course, but he could never trust exactly who was good at telling acting from truth these days. People around here seemed so...emotionless. They never put their backs into their words.

It had been some time since Robotnik himself had been forced to speak so animatedly. Being arrested was supposed to come as a shock, even if he had planned for an admittance of guilt at trial, so he just had to take it up to 11. Just like the good old days, you know? Unlike many men, this one's lungs were ground on the stone of grasping at the edge of a pod-shaped vehicle and shouting in frustration and disbelief. No lack of verbal stamina here...just rustiness.

Some years of hanging around boring socialites, engineers and politicians had roughened up his skills a little. He just couldn't summon the chutzpah he could have once upon a time, so he was trying to get it back in time for his upcoming arrest and escort to jail. This was also important for his updated and extended memoir that he'd write while waiting for the trial to finish.

"Let's see about a more subdued one...WHAT'S the MEANING OF THIS?" He held his arms closer to his body in a defensive posture...

...no, anyone who knew him could tell he was lying. Subdued wasn't going to work...unless they actually asked before coming in. He just figured they'd have one of the local two-bit brainless brutes break down the door or something.

---

The exterior of the Egg Palace was a little more busy than usual; the public square it overlooked held a small assortment of the more erudite performers and upper-class vendors. It didn't take very much to convince them to be here today, and it took even less for the local Peeks to overlook their presence.

With them, a crowd had followed and made this unscheduled, miniature carnival. More merry than usual, the atmosphere carried up to the red exterior of Robotnik's manor.

For whatever happened next, there'd certainly be a show made out of it.

Edited by wikkit on Feb 3rd 2022 at 7:29:40 AM

Zone Three, FITNESS ZONE -> Zone One, The People Died At Pax Primis Fun Time Concert

The kind woman, Jim, explains that her mother would have preferred she be a boy, and introduces us to her brother Petunia, the gentleman from earlier, explaining that her father would have preferred he be a girl. Jim further insinuates that Petunia stayed behind while his allies undertook their mission because he finds me attractive. Over the course of my more than one hundred years of operation, naming senses changed often as culture evolved, and sometimes names that were originally customary for girls became unisex or customary for boys, and the same was true for names that were originally customary for boys, so I do not think their names are strange at all.

I am also used to being found attractive, but it is still nice to receive a compliment, so I smile at Petunia and say, "I think you are very attractive as well, Petunia. Your eyes are quite striking."

After that, I promise the others that Matsumoto and I will meet them at the venue's entrance, and we politely excuse ourselves so that I may go get changed into my formal concert attire and so that he and I can arrive early to the concert to assist with setting up, as we have been charged to.

At the time, I did not anticipate how wildly events would diverge from the plan.

---

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

I circle back to meet with the rest of my new acquaintances at the entrance, wearing the clothes◊ I would have been expected to wear at concerts during the days when I was still able to sing. They are the clothes which I arrived to this Ship in, and in fact, they were not originally mine. They were initially worn by the me who is dead, Diva, after her popularity grew to such an extent that she gave performances on NiaLand's Main Stage. After Diva died, they became my attire, as everyone other than Matsumoto thought of me as Diva, and not as my actual identity, Vivy. I would have liked to correct the people who thought of me as Diva, but doing so would have meant the possibility of my one-hundred year mission being uncovered, which might have caused unacceptable disruption to the timeline, so I did not correct them. Besides, in due time, I made a dear friend who only knew me as Diva, so I did not mind being referred to as such. However, he is dead as well, and it is my fault.

In any case, my companions' tickets are stamped and they are guided in the direction of the VIP section, first by a security guard, and then by a Peacekeeper. If the Peacekeeper's body did not show signs of obvious biological damage, I might at first assume her to be an AI like myself, due to what I could discern about her disposition and her evident lack of expressed emotional range. She asks our party what we find attractive about Councilor Areum's music. Susie answers that she is only there to heckle, and Teddie answers that he has never heard of Councilor Areum before but that he thinks her music is neat. The latter is an unusual statement, because Councilor Areum's likeness can be often seen throughout much of the city, and she is one of the few lasting constants of Concordian pop culture.

I take my time in formulating my own answer, in part because I am busy listening to Councilor Areum's performance and watching the multiple camera angles Matsumoto is providing me video feeds of as a number of his bodies float high above our heads. By the time I am ready to respond, Susie has encountered a redheaded girl who is evidently her friend, also on her way to the VIP section, and from there the situation begins to devolve. I keep a neutral expression and do not commentate on the resultant confrontation between this girl, Asuka, Susie, and the Peacekeeper. This is in part because both Asuka and the Peacekeeper were hurt in an evidently prior confrontation earlier, so I cannot assign blame without knowing the full story, but also because the blonde girl is a Peacekeeper, and I cannot afford to tarnish the reputation of Octavius Industries in the eye of the law.

Via another Peacekeeper's intervention, I learn that the blonde Peacekeeper's name is Violet. Violet explains that she and Asuka had an altercation during a misunderstanding, which seems perfectly reasonable. The blonde extends her hand to the redhead in an apparent offer of reconciliation. However, at that moment I am barely paying attention to the confrontation between the four ladies, because via Matsumoto I have discovered trouble on the horizon. I recognize the woman hanging from the aircraft as Mikudayo's manager, and I recognize Mikudayo, but I am unsure who the men in suits are until Mikudayo's manager says that she has her lawyers with her. I see. So these men are lawyers.

Before I know it, The People Died At Pax Primis Fun Time Concert has become

Zone One, The People Lived at Pax Primis Wrestling Extravaganza

Although I admire Councilor Areum's skill at putting on a show, this is a somewhat disappointing turn of events. If the concert has become a wrestling contest, then I will be unable to gather data on performative singing. However, I suppose it is better than cancelling the event altogether, and I do need to remain in order to represent Octavius Industries.

Meanwhile, Teddie seems to have been triggered by the sudden events, and is reliving some manner of horrible experience. From his words, I believe he has forgotten where I am and assumed that I was already in the VIP section. He withdraws bottles of mustard from his pockets. For a moment, I wonder how and why he stored them in such a place, but that question is quickly superseded by the fact that he is assaulting the Peacekeeper with purple hair and making a dash for the VIP section. Unfortunately, I cannot become involved with that altercation, either, for the same reason that I could not become involved in the first. I wonder if Doctor Octavius' reputation will be impacted anyway if the Peacekeepers learn that he is part of my party.

Matsumoto, intercept Teddie, please.

Fine, fine...

One of Matsumoto's cubes swiftly hovers down to eye-level to lightly bonk the blond boy on the head, bouncing off his skull to float in place in front of his face. I know that Matsumoto is annoyed, because he has a red mark that looks like a # in the corner of his narrowed eye, and also because he is using his classic angry voice.

"You! What do you think you're doing?! Things going slightly off the rails is not a reason to go completely off the deep end! I demand that you cease being illogical and calm down this instant!"

Instead of dealing with that myself, I turn with what I hope is a reassuring smile toward Susie, Asuka, and the woman ushering the two of them away, whom I am able to recognize as Satsuki Kiryuin as a result of a picture of her that I once saw. "Excuse me, Miss Kiryuin," I interject, keeping my voice even and calm, though I do modulate my volume upwards somewhat to overcome the roar of the crowd, "Although the event has taken an unexpected turn, I do not believe that is a reason to leave. Unless I am mistaken, all of us have VIP tickets, which entitles us to front row seats to witness Councilor Areum and Mikudayo venting their frustrations on one another. Is that not something you all would like to see?"

---

Zone One, Yagokoro General Hospital

The quiet buzzing of the overhead lights and the low, steady thrum of vent in the corner of the ceiling provided a pleasant white noise in the background of the sterile surgery preparation room, one room apart from the equally sterile surgery theater. Dressed in one of the hospital's largest disposable white gowns, the patient was reclining in the half-upright bed, and his moral support agent, the one who put all of this together (this including the founding of the hospital itself), was ready to provide input nearby. The sometimes surgeon, sometimes anesthesiologist, all times scientist sat beside the medical machinery in one of those circular, spinning leather chairs found in such places, tail extending downward to lay upon the tiled floor, gloved hands folded in his lap, expression inscrutable behind his mask.

"Now that we have been introduced, before we begin the procedure, I would like to make certain that I understand the situation correctly, and provide our handsome patient with a couple of options for his surgery," the last of these started warmly, inclining his masked head at the gentleman in the bed, "The objective is to remove Mr. Rum-Eyed Rufus' artificial eye, an artifact known as an Occulus, and swiftly replace it with another artifact, a telescoping spyglass. If we dally too long after removing the former, a psychic hole left by its absence may permanently damage Mr. Rufus' mind, or even result in his untimely death. The optic nerves of his open eye socket are to be welded to the glass on the small end of the spyglass, so that he may thereby make use of it to observe the same intricacies of reality's meta-structure as the Occulus allows him to. If any of this is in error, please correct me."

"Secondly, our options as I see them are as follows: We may render the patient unconscious for the duration of the procedure via general anesthesia, or we may provide localized anesthesia to his eye socket and then commence with the procedure. In the case of most forms of eye surgery, I would prefer to undertake the former course. However, as the psychic hole from the Occulus' absence is a concern, I wondered if perhaps the spyglass artifact could be held over Mr. Rufus' good eye until it is time to insert it into his eye socket, so that there would be some continuity of vision with regard to his observing the meta-structure, perhaps delaying or preventing the damage to his mind. As the two of you are more familiar with the functioning of these artifacts than myself, of course, I will leave it up to you to decide."

---

Zone Three, Artifacts Incorporated

Prushka listened intently to what the proprietor had to say, though inwardly she fretted about what her fellow party members were up to. Hopefully they didn't cause too much of a ruckus and get themselves caught. As the ivory whistle on twine came out, however, her breath caught in her throat as she gaped at it, then glanced between the object and Brand, clearly thinking the implications of what he had said over.

"If that's someone else's White Whistle, then it would be meaningless for me to buy it, since they only work if the user's Life Pattern matches, but... are you saying that the tone emitted by White Whistles can have an effect on the functioning of other artifacts from universes beyond the one I came from?!" Despite herself, the scientist and seeker of knowledge in Prushka was becoming quite excited indeed at the idea.

After Brand answered, however, there was quite a tremendous noise as something sounded as if it had crashed into one of the display cabinets in the other room. "Ummmmm..." Prushka felt a bead of sweat form on her temple. "S-So, Mister Brand, whose White Whistle is that, exactly?!"

---

Zone Six, Wendies

"Ah yes, my poor friend's daughter was caught up in quite the dreadful business earlier today!" Mie Goreng agreed, tut-tutting gravely, "The Star of the Shrine Well, dearest Asuka Langley Soryu, brutalized! Oh, it's almost too much to bear!" He put a hand to his brow as though he might faint, voice quivering tearfully.

"Did you ever, in all your years, hear of such a horrid thing happening in our fair city, Officer Tsukinoko?" he inquired innocently, then took a slow, deliberate bite of his porridge.

---

Zone Six, Abandoned Diner

"Hang in there, Andy!" Ling Ya yelled as his master coughed his way through the dust and found his way to where the Gem's remaining leg and some fragments had fallen, "We'll fix ya right up soon as we get ya back ta Gressie, don't ya worry!"

"Uh... Ya do remember us, right?" he queried as Lang carefully carried his findings over to Andy's torso, held by Witch, "I mean, ya remember Kayne just fine, so ya gotta remember us, yeah?"

Edited by darksidevoid on Feb 4th 2022 at 10:26:04 AM

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

Zone one; Concert aka Ohio aka WWE

And just when being clumsy at the gym was my limit, I get bonk on the head by Matsumoto and just did a 360 no-scope just to face me. And..yeah, he's right, I need to calm down since having a wrestling match could end badly. So, I took a couple of deep breaths just to cool it.

Sorry about that, Matsumoto. It's just that...

As much I wanted to tell him that some of the events here remind me of the events that happened to Nana-chan, he will think I went off to the deep end. Besides, how would a robot cube exist in Inaba? So, I pretty much give him the long story short version.

It's just that some of the events vaguely remind me of something bad happening to a close friend of mine. I-I know that isn't an excuse for squirting mustard into the guard's eye, and yet I thought Vivy could do something about this.

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

Zone Six—Gem Squad

Voices wash over you like waves breaking against a rock. For a moment they're meaningless, rendered so by the splitting ache in your head. But gradually the pain subsides, and as words begin carrying meaning to your ears and hands and wet noses touch your skin, you look up.

It takes a moment to parse what you see.

Kayné, kneeling in front of you with a flask held out. Amaterasu, nuzzling you in sympathy. Witch, barking orders in the middle of the room, holding most of a green torso in her arms. The torso, squirming and whining and very much alive.

You blink.

The headache comes back then, and you let out another sigh. You aren't sure whether it's fuelled by relief, or embarrassment, or a mixture of the two.

He's alive. Somehow, Andy is alive. And yet here Kayné, Amaterasu and others are, worrying about you.

Boy, do you feel like an idiot now.

Kick yourself later. There's people talking to you.

You turn your attention back to Amaterasu, and give her a weak nod. Then you take Kayné's canteen, mouth the words "Thank you,", and take a swig. It helps, it really does: you can feel a bit of your strength return as you absorb the precious fluids. It's nowhere near enough to offset what you just burned away, though.

That's the downside of your little trump card. When you shift your aspect from rain god to the Third Sun, your body becomes as kindling, and your strength a pyre. It's a fierce and terrible flame you wield, but it burns bright, and it burns fast. You don't think it can kill you—you've never let it burn long enough to find out—but it definitely leaves you diminished.

You lower the canteen. Everyone else is combing through the rubble, looking for pieces of Andy. You watch them for a second, sucking the parched halves of your lower lip to try and moisten them. Then you stand up—

And immediately stumble into what's left of the counter.

You wince as your head spins, and then you ease yourself back to the floor. Looks like you won't be helping with the cleanup just yet. You're in no state for it, let alone to go after Greed.

So you sit, and watch the others work, and try not to feel guilty for not being able to lend a hand.

As you watch, you wonder how Greed got away. You can't help but feel you've seen that shade of blue before, but where...?

You try to think, but it's no use. Nothing's coming to you through the fog of this migraine, nothing but hours and hours of grainy footage and timestamps.

Whatever. You'll figure it out later.

The Danse Macabre Codex

Zone 6 – Wendie’s – Zima

If Bodybuilder and his friend thought they were impressing anyone with the wide-eyed innocent routine, they were kidding themselves. Zima shot the willowy bastard a glare, a you’ll get yours growl, and was about to give Bodybuilder both barrels for is destiny horseshit when Blondie started up again.

Zima’s mouth dropped open for an incredulous moment as she processes what just came out of Usagi’s.

My god. She was either monumentally stupid, appallingly naïve, or mentally ill. Maybe all three. Some poor simple ditz who thought she was a Peek and just blundered into the arms of these assholes, thinking she was going to get a hot date.

Was there even any point trying to save her? She could drag the dumb bitch out of here, and she’d probably go running back as soon as she got the chance. The fire in her gut just flared brighter as Bodybuilder went back to his bullshit gentleman spiel, pretending he wasn’t taking advantage of a goddamn simpleton.

“Fine. She may have been born yesterday, but I wasn’t. You’re not fooling me for fucking second. If I catch either of you ever again, I make you regret it, you-“

Then the twink said a name, and Zima’s blood went from boiling to freezing. She froze mid-turn, fists balling by her sides.

Asuka?

“What the fuck did you just say?”

How did these pricks know Asuka? She’d told her to keep her nose out of Kiryuin’s business, and now she’d gotten herself beaten up?

How was it Zima could try so hard to avoid Shrine Well bullshit, only to wander into a mess of it on her lunch break?

Edited by LittleMako on Apr 5th 2022 at 4:11:27 AM

Zone Six, Wendie's

The white-haired man tasted his porridge for a moment then swallowed and turned to look at the bear-girl with a slight smirk. "'Did you ever, in all your years, hear of such a horrid thing happening in our fair city, Officer Tsukinoko'?" he parroted himself in answer, as if trying to figure out which thing he'd said Zima was reacting to, "'Ah yes, my poor friend's daughter was caught up in quite the dreadful business earlier today'? 'Oh, it's almost too much to bear'? 'The Star of the Shrine Well, dearest Asuka Langley Soryu, brutalized'?"

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

Zone One; Drownin' in the Sweet Sorrow of the Clash at Areumhead - Asuka Langley Soryu

Susie's on me now and she's already about to totally fucking flip, like did she hurt you, where did she hurt you, she hurt you, didn't she, show me on the doll where she hurt you, digging the tips of her fingers into my shoulder as if she's worried I'm going to evaporate, and then all of a sudden she's snarling, hackles sliding back over long yellow fangs. It's like Caucasian Shepherds or Rottweilers or those shivery little dogs they put into handbags for accessories, where they catch a shape they don't like and all at once you see a lifetime of domestication eaten by the wolf. I think there's a switch for it somewhere deep at the bottom of her hindbrain, like swimming or riding a bike, or like thumbs crossed over your throat. I don't think this has much to do with me at all.

Violet isn't staring at me any more, because she's about to have her throat ripped out, so her backup's arrived to stare at me instead. She looks a bit like Rider, slender chin, lilac hair, and she points her head at me in exactly the same way except that now I can see the look in her eyes, like she's inspecting something growing on a petri dish. I don't like it. I don't like a lot of things.

Some boy wafts past, some pretty boy with arms like spaghetti and hair like an aryan coconut, and he crumples something into my hand and then disappears into the crowd when he realizes there's nobody listening. Nobody so much as glances after him, not with the teeth out.

I hiss "Susie, don't."

I hiss "I mean it, Susie, just let it go."

They don't wear bars and barely have a uniform, but it's obvious from the way she stands and the practiced intonation of her speech that she's a senior model, milspec command bitch, like Violet after wheeling her through however many years of officer school, and for some reason the iris of each eye is a different colour, red and green, like for graduation she had one torn out by the stem and replaced with a spare. That seems pretty common here. The lieutenant must collect them, wind-up dolls arranged in stages of disrepair, trading their spare parts in and out until he's got a working squad. Maybe that's just what the law does to you.

Violet looks at me again and says that it was an incident, a misunderstanding, which I guess is what they put down in the file when they need to filter you back out onto the street. She can't control her arms, she says, as if it's almost an apology, and Susie's blocking off my exit so I can't think of anything to do but just stand there and sneer at the tips of her fingers as she extends them towards me. I can feel Susie shifting her weight, changing her footing and getting ready to do something stupid, but just as I begin to wrestle against the urge to take the stupid bitch's hand and give her my surrender and get it over with before I spend another night in a cell, her switch rolls right back over at the brink and her hackles come back down and for a second I think that maybe it's all passed and she's over whatever this reminds her of.

Then she goes right ahead and does something stupid anyway.

They can't arrest you for swearing at them, not with Violet's imagination, but they don't need that to arrest you for saying you'll kill them. I open my mouth to try and say something but as I do the music cuts off all at once and I realise all of a sudden there's a rotor underneath the subwoofers, hiding in the rhythm, and as everyone looks up and away and forgets Susie completely I decide I've never been happier in my life to see Mikudayo's big mutant doll face.

Actually, I've never been happy to see Mikudayo's big mutant doll face. Nobody else has, either, because the crowd goes fucking crazy.

Susie backs us up into Satsuki and before she turns us by the shoulders I catch Violet staring after me with her hand still lamely hanging in the air and behind her Areum shifting into her leotard, which I guess is pretty poggers to get to see this close up and in colour, but then we're starting to push through the crowd, falling back to the rendezvous point, tactical withdrawal, full command voice, what I think is meant to be a reassuring squeeze. She has her own switch for that. Before we left I saw her glancing sidelong at her sword over and over as I put on my boots, and even though she made herself leave it behind and didn't wear her coat she can never totally take herself off active duty, at least whenever she's out of the house. It's something in her posture and her expression, the way she thinks I can't see her checking the terrain. It's smart, I guess. I know how it is.

Someone tells us not to leave, and because everyone knows Satsuki by name they manage to make it sound vaguely like a threat. When I glance over my shoulder I catch a streak of blue and white, billowing weirdly Catholic, and I realise she's another production-model woman. Her face is beautiful and manufactured and there's an intricately mechanized sort of earnestness engineered into her expression, because that's what boys like, and I can't think of any other reason to build her that would have needed it.

I realize that I've heard her voice before and for some reason the recognition makes me think of Octavius, like I think they must have rolled her out and put her on the radio, which means Octavius must have something to do with this whole thing, because she's saying we have VIP tickets and we should stay to watch Mikudayo and Areum try to kill each other.

And I think shit, she's right.

"We can watch from the rendezvous, can't we?" I say, before Satsuki has the chance to start running. "If they stay in the ring then it should be okay, right? You wanna see them fight too, right, Susie?"

I'm holding a Donki coupon, two for one on bubblegum kimchi. Huh.

Edited by OG-Sama on Feb 8th 2022 at 1:36:30 PM