A Game of Gods Season 4: Frontiers

For lack of anything better to do, a pair of sisters followed another pair of sisters since they were the most similar individuals in both design and circumstances to their own origins even if not wholly 1:1 in parallelism.

When one came from the somewhat distant future of the 2180's, having at least some kind of advanced mechanism around in the midst of all this unfamiliar and unsettling greenery was ideal. It at least gave a baseline off of what to expect rather than beastmen, magic, and barbarian flirting that had been going on.

And then, a special word was used that brought the younger sister's attention from automatically moving daze to that of a more riveted focus.

"...Food?" Despite the fact that Constructs didn't really need to subsist off of biological matter for survival, it was still prudent of them to partake of such every once in a while since it minimized the mental drift that occurred when the mind was reminded that it wasn't in a natural human body any longer.

Humanity needed to be anchored in a vessel that could perform many of the same functions and afford many of the same senses despite such also being capable of so much more, a trade off between weapon of mass destruction and the uploaded mind into the shell after the mortal coil been discarded. A potent sacrifice for others and the world... when such were not betrayed by the cause served.

Still, food was food and especially precious for an orphan cult leader that didn't have all that much fresh supplies of such growing up or even now in the present due to their status as wanted nomadic scavenger. To have such be offered freely in a land of seemingly plenty without the overbearing restrictions of a corrupt society?

That was worth more than its weight in gold.

"...Can I have a little bit of everything?" Luna innocently inquired, speaking for the first time since her consciousness returned.

In turn, it was Alpha's turn to remain quiet as she panned the surroundings with the gaze of one used to scoping out possible threats, hovering behind her younger sibling like a shadow. One part protection and the other part a subtle allowance for Luna to try to socialize with others without her meddling, the white haired swordswoman wondered if they could finally find a home where they'd belong eventually, with no need to evade others hoping to reel them in for selfish causes.

Carmilla, The Moonlight Betwixt The Midnight And The Twilight

"What the—" Carmilla was surprised that the evironment had suddenly turned to night. She wasn't near where Dracula's Castle would be. And then she saw it...

It was an otherworldly moonlit castle. Stepping backwards slightly revealed that it was shrouded in illusion. Carmilla recalled the previous adventure in these mountains with Sypha. They had taken a path completely around Dracula's Castle to get to Seath's Tower. However, she had instead decided to go straight to Dracula's Castle from Seath's Tower this time. Of course, she and Sypha would miss it since it was under an illusion spell and they avoided this area. The entire area looked abandoned.

So what could Carmilla assume about this place? It is probably a Demon Castle whose owner or former owner has magic similar to an Ebony Stone which can also cloak it under an illusion. Said owner is likely a Lord of the Castle as Demon Castles often have. Is the owner a Dark Lord like Dracula? Possible, but it could go either way. If the owner is a vampire, they might be in slumber.

Now Carmilla could go tell Dracula all about this castle... or she could see about claiming the castle for herself. It looks like a nice place, and it is something that neither Dracula nor Seath would seem to know about.

Carmilla chose to explore the castle, wanting to take shelter in it and make it her lair for now. Finders Keepers.

Trevor, Alucard & Grant, Castelia City Entrance

Trevor, Alucard & Grant all looked up to see the literal guard dog who is somehow armed with a sword guarding the entrance. However, all three of them decided this was not a monster to mess with. Besides, said guard dog armed with a sword was being reasonable so they may as well be reasonable back.

"We are looking for one of our friends," Trevor began. "She is a human woman in blue robes named Sypha Belnades. Have you seen her come this way?"

Earth 11945, Forest Kingdom, South

The path into the forest was a little peaceful for a while, just a mossy cliff-face to their left and some enormous tree trunks to their right as the way curved to the right past some small alcoves and gave way to yet more trees on both sides, eventually opening up to a crossroads of sorts, with a path branching to the left deeper into the trees, or to the opening in the forest to the right, toward what could be heard to be a rushing river.

The group didn't have much time to contemplate which way to go, however, because scant seconds after Yunica arrived at the branching paths, a synthesized male voice shouted from down the path on the left, "AIM FOR THE ENEMY ANDROIDS! ENGAGE BATTLE MODE!"

The speaker was an armored Machine with horned helmet on "horseback", although the "horse" was just another quadrapedal Machine shaped like a horse. In his hands he gripped a wicked looking halberd, and in front of him were two lines of three Machines each, all six equipped with armor and halberds of their own, but no helmets.

"NOW, FIGHT FOR YOUR KING!" the leader on horseback roared.

"FOR THE KING!!!" the sextet on foot chorused, as all seven of the Machines charged towards Yunica, aiming to skewer her.

Earth 11945, Factory

It was a good thing someone heavily armored was leading the formation, because once they reached the top of the stairs, the team was met with three rows of Machines spanning the entire width of the large metallic platform up top:

First, a row of short Machines with stubby arms and legs holding cannons that fired the orbs that Jackass had described at a rate of about one every two seconds. These shots were slow and easily dodged as long as one paid attention to their trajectory and could move, but there were a multitude of them.

Secondly, behind the first row were considerably taller, properly humanoid Machines, perhaps seven or eight feet in height, and wielding considerably larger cannons that soon proved to be the equivalent of machine-guns, firing a sustained volley of quick-moving, alternating light and dark orbs that lasted several seconds, followed by several seconds of recharging between waves.

Finally, there was a flying formation of Machines hovering above their comrades who began soaring in the direction of the intruders, firing at about the same rate as the little stubby ones. The fliers, however, quickly split their formation in half to be perpendicular to their fellow Machines as they got closer to the team of androids and humans, and weaved up and down to make themselves harder to hit. If something wasn't done, this third set of Machines would probably end up flanking our heroes from the side or behind before long!

The Moonlit Castle (Carmilla)

Carmilla's exploration of the main entrance through the pair of massive, line-inscribed doors at the castle's evident front revealed first a wide foyer lined with columns and torches, followed by a large main hall, with a number of crystalline chandeliers hanging overhead. The entire place was lushly carpeted with crimson rugs featuring golden trim. As she entered, each of the torches and lights sparked to flaming life as she approached, as if the building itself was alive and welcoming her. Still, there was an eerie silence and stillness about the place.

At the center of the main hall was an elegantly curved grand staircase leading up to a second floor, whose balconies overlooked the rest of the room. At left and right on either floor were masterfully fashioned stone archways leading elsewhere in the castle. Each of the columns holding the balconies up, as well as those posts making up the railing and the pillars she had passed by on her way in were of the same slightly unusual crystalline shape that was reminiscent of the Greek styles, and yet not quite. Further, along the edges of each archway and railing were subtle carvings of a similar crystal substance in the shape of leafy, flowering vines.

Edited by darksidevoid on Jun 10th 2023 at 9:01:28 AM

Earth 11945, Factory

The team barely reached the top of the stairs when they got greeted by three rows of Machines. Samus immediately got to work.

Remembering Jackass's warnings, she expertly fired power beams at many light orbs as possible while dodging the dark ones. She nonchalantly dodged the orbs of the first wave, and as for the second one, she had to use her Morph Ball to get away.

The bounty hunter aimed at the flying Machines, noticing that they were trying to corner the group. She knew she couldn't take any risks with those, and she fired missiles at them as much as she could before taking care of the orbs again.

Castelia City, THUNDERDOME: Somebody Prep the "Krillin Gets Owned" Counter!

Krillin turned towards the tenor voice...only to blink in disbelief at who exactly was challenging him.

The martial artist had seen the yellow mouse's face before; it was featured on a few of the prominent posters for an upcoming title match. Evidently this tiny guy was a champion around here, so even if Krillin couldn't sense Red's ki, he'd know better than to laugh off the challenge just based on appearances.

Unfortunately, Krillin could sense the little mouse's fighting spirit, and it wasn't anything to laugh at. Even at rest, Red's energy radiated about as much as Master Roshi at full throttle. Who knew what he could do when he got serious!

"Uhh...uhmmm...ehhh..."

C'mon Krillin, you can handle this! It's a ring match; there's no reason to think he'd go all-out against you. He'd probably just disqualify himself! Besides, you've fought tons of fighters stronger than Master Roshi!

True, but how many of those fights did he actually WIN? Not that he had any expectations, here. The point was to test how strong these Pokemon people were, not to take some prize money or a belt.

So Krillin gulped down the fear, took a breath, and nodded.

"Sure, sounds like fun. Just try to go a little easy on me, okay?...Sir?"

Following the Pikachu down into whatever ring was available, Krillin turned towards the large lava lizard and shouted:

"So what're the rules for these matches, anyways? Ring out? Points for contact?"

Surely it wouldn't be anything crazy like "fight till one of you doesn't get back up," right? Talk about cruel!

Eastern Forest (Wulfrik)

"RRRRrrrrRRRAAAAaaaGGGHH?!" the Chocobo Eater roared in rage, turning sharply to face the not-Viking and bird and speaking in a demented parody of a voice: "wHaT wAs ThAt, LiTtLe MaN?!"

"Wark!" [Oh shit!] the Chocobo squawked, starting to back away, only for the apex predator of its food chain to surge forward and snatch it in a meaty hand, before shoving it in its mouth and swallowing it nearly whole after a couple chomps.

That done, the monster burped directly at Wulfrik. Godsdamn, did that thing have nasty breath.

"YoU'rE nExT!" it yelled, swiping its other hand toward him in an attempted grab. That said, during all its earlier movements, it had been pretty much unguarded...

Guardhome, Upper Floors

"Yeah, no need to worry on that front, at least," Starrk assured with a shake of his head. "All the people who returned to their home universes were allowed to choose what time they returned to. Which was a good thing for more than just the people who were in the sort of situation you and the kid are, because some people had aged over a decade since they first arrived in the Frontiers. Oh yeah, speaking of, what's the kid's name, anyway?"

"Starrk!" Lilynette warned.

"What?" he groaned, glancing over irritably. "What's wrong with ask...ing... Oh."

Her tone hadn't been direct at his desire for a proper introduction to the lad in green, but at the pulsating light coming out of a doorway down the hall.

"Alright, I'll check things out," he said, smoothly transitioning from sitting with his feet up to standing. "Lilynette, stay here and keep an eye on the kid in case things go South."

"'Kay. Be careful."

Slouching like he had all the time in the world, Starrk shuffled down the hall toward the light, withdrawing a small object that resembled a jellybean from his pocket as he went and pinching it between two fingers.

Earth 11945, Forest Kingdom, North

"Ugh!" The android woman looked about ready to gag, shocked out of her near-berserk rage as Igno pulled back and grossly reshaped his face. "That's not something a Machine or an android could do... What the hell are you?"

"You know what? Don't answer that," she decided after a beat, palming her face and running a hand through her hair in frustration and residual anger. She stayed like that for a few seconds, clearly thinking what he'd said over, then straightened up and pointed at him declaratively.

"Alright! Fine, you fucking win, I guess!" she agreed at last, huffing. "I'll go check out your bogus hodgepodge of different worlds, or whatever the fuck you're talking about! But you're coming with me, and if I find out you're lying, I'll kill you for real! And no tricks, you got that?!"

"What about myself?" the remaining Knight asked, tilting his head curiously.

"You're staying here, obviously, unless you want me to turn you into scrap!" she retorted, scowling.

"Oh. Very well. That is probably for the best."

Castlevania, Castle Exterior

The red-armored man, evidently the gentleman in charge of the foreign troops, craned his neck to look up at the distant Bartley. Now that she got a slightly better look at them, she could spot one of the soldiers carrying an unfamiliar, gold and red flag◊.

"BEGGING YOUR PARDON, MA'AM, BUT WE ARE THE PROUD SOLDIERS OF THE EAST EUROPAN IMPERIAL ALLIANCE, AND OUR BUSINESS HERE IS THAT MY MEN OCCUPYING A NEIGHBORING VILLAGE HAVE BEEN ATTACKED BY A PAIR OF WOMEN WHO CAME FROM AND FLED IN THIS DIRECTION!" he explained, shouting to be heard. "WE'VE COME TO LOOK FOR THE WRETCHES RESPONSIBLE! IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION THAT WOULD LEAD TO THEIR CAPTURE, WE WOULD APPRECIATE THE ASSISTANCE! IF YOU'RE SHELTERING THEM, ON THE OTHER HAND, I CAN'T GUARANTEE THINGS WILL REMAIN QUIET, IF YOU CATCH MY MEANING!"

Outskirts of Gallian Capital (Chucklefucks)

Against her better judgement, Rosie snorted out a laugh at the "Chucklefucks" moniker.

"Buncha jokers, aren'tcha?" she said, smirking as she clearly relaxed a bit.

"Well, alright, I won't call you a tree, but I hope you're not a vegetable! Veggies are for eating, haha!" Largo replied to Rehua with a smoky chuckle of his own, offering him an easy smile.

For her part, the black-haired girl on the tank offered the Party a nervous but hopeful smile.

"O...kay...," Welkin accepted slowly. "Well, you may be a bit odd from our perspective, but I understand that with the extremely unusual situation both Gallia and 'Outset' seem to have found themselves in, there might be some upheaval that you want to get away from. That said, you mentioned you needed help with something? What is it? I'd be happy to assist you with it if I can."

Gallian Capital (Aliorumnas)

The Aliorumnas' rooftop break spot overlooked an avenue lined with shops, from restaurants, cafes, and bakeries to seamstresses, jewelers, kilns, and watchmakers. The architecture was in a familiar Eastern European style that would fit around the early 20th century, and this being around lunchtime, the busiest places on the street were the ones with food and drink. The people milling about below seemed to be dressed in quintessentially mid-20th century European attire, which pretty much cinched this place as belonging somewhere in mid-century Europe or similar.

That said, would the Aliorumnas stay where she was and simply catch her second wind, or would the promise of a souvenir or the delicious aromas wafting up from below tempt her to the ground level...?

Area 11, Industrial Docks

"What the hell, man?" the more calm of the two grunts on the docks complained. "Those aren't aliens! They're giant bug people, or something!"

"Aye!" the one with the parrot agreed with a sagely nod. "They be giant bug aliens!"

"For the love of- You know what? Whatever. Just don't fucking shoot them unless I tell you to."

When the Bugs' boat got close enough, the level-headed soldier expertly tossed them the end of a sturdy rope that was secured around one of the dock's posts, obviously intending for them to either hook it onto their craft or hold on to it as he carefully reeled them in. Once they were safely adjacent to land, he offered each of the pair of strangers a hand up to the dock itself.

"Can you understand me?" he enunciated slowly, a clear interrogative note in his voice.

"Of course they cannae understand ye, matey! They be aliens!"

"Oh, shut up already!"

Hyrule, Death Mountain -> Western Ivalice

As Lilian had deduced, Link was indeed the strong, silent type. After retrieving his white-maned, chestnut horse from the neighboring village, he carefully accepted a pouch full of diamonds from Darbus and stuffed it securely in his riding bag. Although he didn't say a word the entire time, he moved with such surety and confidence that you would almost think he was an expert at delivering gifts to royalty. Also accompanying the party on their trip back East were a pair of Gorons, Gorone and Gorowo, who rolled alongside the others at a steady clip as they made their way down the road.

Perhaps they could make some small-talk along the way to the capital...?

Anor Londo, Palace

Not missing a beat at the Dark Sun's appearance, Silver's lips were primed in a neutral line as she drew her coat across her chest with a hand as if it were a cape, and bowed deeply to Gwyndolin.

"Hail and well-met, Your Grace," she intoned in her cool alto timbre, with the practiced air of a woman very used to formality. "I come on behalf of my liege, Lord Norman Osborn of Manhattan, as head of his personal guard, to offer his warmest salutations; an assurance that, as civilized people who are by unusual circumstance your new neighbors, we wish only to advance the cause of peace and mutual prosperity; and his invitation to an upcoming diplomatic summit at which he hopes to forge economic and military ties with both Your Grace's own lands and our neighbors in Castelia, along with potentially other nearby polities."

Saying that, she withdrew a pure white paper envelope from her coat pocket and presented it to Gwyndolin with two hands. In neat, hand-written Universal letters, the front read: To Lord Gwyndolin of Anor Londo. The flap on the back was held shut by an elaborate seal of red wax.

"Current plans for the summit include lunch and supper for the attendees, with the rest of the afternoon and evening hours to be set aside for discussions between the parties, with private meetings possible if desired," Silver continued explaining, folding her hands at her front. "Each primary guest, such as Your Grace, is to be afforded two additional guests of honor from their polity, as well as any close advisors or guards they deem necessary. Prime Minister Rachel of Castelia has readily agreed to attend, and we would be very glad to see Your Grace present, as well. An exact date and time for the summit has not been decided upon yet, but we would welcome Your Grace's suggestions, if Anor Londo's representatives are to attend."

Edited by darksidevoid on Jun 10th 2023 at 8:35:03 AM

Eastern Ruins, Northwest > Guardhome

"Yeah!" Makura nodded in agreement with Conan. "None of us are enemies here. We're all stuck in this together, y'know?"

Yoriichi met the eyes of the wolf and knew at once it must be some manner of shrine protector. The animal's eyes shown with intelligence. The swordsman bowed his head.

"I do not lie, noble one. I would never seek to deceive you." There was utter sincerity in his words, his voice gentle and kind.

The group made their way to the dining hall. Yoriichi bowed once more in greeting to the green-haired woman. "I am Yoriichi Tsugikuni, and this miko is my lady Amako. Only certain people with ties to the gods can hear her voice. I thank you for your kindness. Bread and water is enough for me. Amako-sama?"

Makura, for her part, looked at the meeting place with awe, looking this way and that, while also cataloguing the myriad scents that filled it. She grinned at the mention of food.

"Meat and eggs for me, too! And tea! Oh, and some fruit for my friends! Thanks a bunch!" Kongara and Seitaka 'ooked' in agreement, taking seats at the table with her in a surprisingly humanlike manner.

Guardhome, First Floor

Following the group they'd fallen in with into what had to be an old garrison or fortress of some sort, both Beoulves couldn't help themselves as they stared in just the slightest bit of awe. Even as old as it appeared to be, the building and what lay within it was quite the contrast to what they were used to, and as the two siblings sat down, it seemed to sink in for both of them that they really weren't in Ivalice anymore, in both a literal and figurative sense.

"Eggs, bread and vegetables for us, please. Milk too." Ramza spoke up, ordering for both of them since he knew that Alma wasn't really picky about what she ate, even if she still saw fit to kick him in the leg. If asked, she'd say it was because he put words in her mouth, but they both knew that she didn't need a reason to mess with him. It was her right as his little sister.

As they waited, Alma's gaze eventually fell upon two new people she hadn't noticed before, the pair of sisters that were nearby. Without a moment's hesitation, she offered a smile and an inviting wave to Luna and Alpha, offering them a chance to sit with her and her brother if they were so inclined.

Guardhome, Upper Floors

As Starrk got closer to the room with the pulsating light and ultimately made it inside, he and whoever else decided to join him would see a room covered floor to wall in a strange goopy substance, which looked to be the origin of the light that they'd seen. Despite how much of that substance was in here, there were obvious steps for people to enter and not touch it, so it was possible to move in closer.

If they were to do so, they'd see what looked like a cocoon of sorts, and resting inside of it was a woman with bone-white skin and hair, with a blue suit the same color as the substance within the room. Given that she was all but bathing in the stuff, it could be inferred that she was the source of such.

Should anyone look close enough into the cocoon, they'd see that the woman's eyes were slowly starting to open, as if she was waking up now that there was company.

Hyrule, Death Mountain -> Western Ivalice

With the group from Ivalice now headed back home with guests, the chatter was kept light and relaxed even as the group made sure to be on guard during the walk. Calm as the atmosphere might be, they were trained professionals. No reason to be sloppy.

"So, ah...Link, was it?" Lillian inquired, trying to get the man's attention. "I likely don't need to say this, but once we're back home, it would be best if you show proper respect to the Queen and her entourage. Her Majesty is easy enough to get along with, but her bodyguard takes her job quite seriously. It is likely she'll want you to disarm once we arrive, but try not to take it personally."

Last Outpost -> Hyrule Field (Southeast)

The trip through the skies that the Wind Mage had taken would eventually conclude, and Vaati eventually touched down atop a series of cliffs, catching his breath and looking around at where he'd landed. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about this region had called to him, and felt just a touch familiar. More importantly, as far as he could gather, he was alone, and had time to think and plan.

Edited by Bored_Man on Jun 11th 2023 at 11:23:33 AM

Eastern Ruins, Wulfrik

   Amazing, you are in fact as ugly as you are stupid! Or is it perhaps your hearing that is as deficient as your brain? I see now how those arms of yours attained their length and girth, a shame it was not through more vigorous exercise!   

-The thing's breath passes over Wulfrik, and it takes all his willpower not to blanch. It reminds him of the demesne of a Nurglite daemon prince whose head, heart and guts he had been sent to claim in the masters' name, and which he had found reclining in a pool of liquefying bodies. His victory had been a costly one, for the Seafang had not been rid of the stench for seven months.-

-The creature's arms swing outwards. Arms, mouth and head all seem thick-scaled, but so top-heavy a creature carries its own weakness in its underdeveloped legs. Wulfrik crouches to let his shield take the brunt of the swing, positions himself just under its chin, and pushes upwards with all his might.-

Athena, Mai, and Yuri, Streets of Castelia City

Athena turned to Reisen when she made her interest in idols known.

"Showa?" Athena seemed to recognize the era, but she returned Reisen's thumbs up. "I'll make sure you get tickets."

When Reisen suggested street performances, Athena seemed to actually be receptive to it. "That's not a bad idea."

Of course, Reisen just had to follow it up by insulting Mai, who got angry at the cow comment though she did restrain herself this time. "I am not suited as a cow. Right, Yuri? Athena?"

Neither Yuri nor Athena chose to answer that question. Instead, Athena chose to change the subject.

"It was a circus-themed act, not a farm-themed act," Athena explained to Reisen. "It was one of my more experimental ideas."

"I'll consider it," Athena was rather open to letting Reisen work with her.

"It's our own family style of barbecue," Yuri answered Reisen. Afterwards, Reisen brought up an excellent point. They were all stuck here. Would cows even be in this land. It seemed both Athena and Mai also picked up on it, which caused all three women to frown.

"Fish might work better here, yeah," Yuri nodded to Reisen.

"Mmm, that's pretty good orchestral music," Athena nodded to the beat as she listened to the music coming from Matt's Rotom smartphone. "It's not the type of music I specialize in, but it's pretty good!"

Reisen seemed to try to imitate a song she heard before quickly going into a pantomime. Both Athena and Yuri were confused, but Mai picked up on it immediately that this must've been how Reisen attacked her earlier.

"We all know martial arts," Yuri explained to Charlie. "Athena has psychic powers, Mai can channel flames, and I can manipulate ki."

"Let me show you," Yuri smirked as she got an idea. "I've seen enough people here fly without wings that I think I might have an idea how it works!"

Yuri concentrated the ki within her body, attempting to lift herself off of the ground. She actually started floating upwards, about an inch off the ground... before she trips midair and falls on her butt, "Oof!"

"I think you need a lot more practice with that, Yuri," Mai laughed at Yuri fumbling her attempt at flying.

As Reisen ranted about them being homeless and eventually caved to finally being part of one fight, Athena got an idea.

"You know what?" Athena began. "We shall join the fights as well... One match for each of us, assuming Mai and Yuri are also okay with it and that the money makes it worth it."

Athena looked over at those two. Both of them nodded.

"Yeah." "Sure."

Carmilla, Moonlit Castle, ???

As Carmilla explored the main entrance to the Moonlit Castle, she reacted to the torches and lights lighting up. It appeared that there was a second floor to this place as well as places off to either side. After dealing with Seath and his crystal powers, Carmilla did not like some of the crystal decorations of this place. However, the castle was absolutely beautiful.

Carmilla considered her choices. She could explore either of the sides... and then what? If she found a library, would she even be able to read it? Seath's books were full of unreadable gibberish, so there is no reason the books of this castle wouldn't be unreadable as well. The castle is way too quiet, so there likely isn't anything inhabiting this place to feed on. If this was like any castle she knew, the throne room would be at the top, and she could figure out what to do from there.

Carmilla thus chose to climb up the grand staircase to the second floor. Maybe the throne room would be nice... worthy of a vampire such as her.

Sypha, Painted World Cathedral, Anor Londo

Sypha found what looked to be a cathedral to the foreign gods of this realm except larger than any she ever known. It seemed to be dedicated to two of three gods, with the third one missing. Sypha found that in particular strange. There was a painting inside the cathedral, larger than any she had seen. It looked to be a rather realistic painting, especially for someone from the 15th century. As she got close enough to examine the painting, she found herself threatened with a sword.

"I did not intend offense." Sypha began explaining. "I was looking for a place where I could stay, but if you insist I leave, I will do as requested."

Elizabeth Bartley, Castle Exterior

"EUROPAN, YOU SAY?!" Elizabeth Bathory yelled back at them. After getting confirmation, Bartley nodded and replied, "GIVE US SOME TIME TO GET THE LORD OF THE CASTLE!"

—-

Dracula, Main Hallway

Soon enough, Dracula showed up to encounter Elizabeth Bartley on her way to find him.

"Tell me, niece, who are our guests?" Dracula asked her, quite simply.

"They call themselves the East Europan Imperial Alliance. Yes, Europan. Not European."

Neither Ganondorf nor Raven Beak would probably pick up the difference, but Dracula was certainly intrigued by it.

"Their flag is one I am completely unfamiliar with, but it does have a double eagle on it, so I believe they are who they say they are," Bartley concluded to Dracula. "They are looking for Carmilla and the witch."

"Of course," Dracula sighed. "Let us get this over with. Fetch me some Axe Armors and lower the drawbridge!"

—-

Dracula, Castle Exterior

The proud soldiers of the East Europan Imperial Alliance would soon see the drawbridge lower right in front of them. From inside the castle walked out Dracula flanked by his own small army of Axe Armors and joined by Elizabeth Bartley.

"I am the Lord of the Castle... Bartley has informed me of the situation," Dracula frowned to the soldiers. "The two women have not approched my castle... If I had to guess, they missed my castle completely and fled to the mountains. There seems to be a tower beyond these mountains, one tall enough to see from my throne room."

"If you do not believe me, then I invite you to tour my castle," Dracula offered to the soldiers. "That being said, I am curious what you plan to do with them."

Aliorumnas, Gallian Capital

The Aliorumnas was content with staying up on the rooftop and simply catch her second wind... Until she smelled the delicious aromas from food that seemed to be wafting up to her. However, if she was to be loyal to her mission, she would only stay on this roof to get a second wind. Yes, that was what she was going to do!

...until her stomach growled.

The Aliorumnas had not eaten for the better part of the morning and it looked to be lunchtime. She did have gold from Dracula... It wouldn't hurt to try to get a bite to eat. Alright, she was going to get a bite to eat!

She just had to figure out how to get down there.

There had to be a dark alley or somewhere that people weren't exactly paying attention to that she could remove the Cape of Invisibility and just appear and merge into the crowd. She wondered if her late 15th century clothing would clash too much with their early 20th century ones, but she did need to eat.

Edited by GameGuruGG on Jun 11th 2023 at 3:17:09 AM

Guardhome, First Floor: Get A Doggy Bag!

Yoriichi's insistence that the boy would be fine convinced the wolf to back off. They'd have to wait and see, but at least the swordsman didn't seem like he was lying. The strange Zora-dog reinforced the claims that the boy was alright, which made the wolf's tail wag a little bit.

It wasn't much, but if there really was hope that the boy would recover, then he might have found the group to keep him safe in the future. He was far too young to be doing such heroics, and it seemed clear that screeching fairy wasn't doing an adequate job keeping him out of harm's way. He needed protectors; he needed teachers. Otherwise he would never live long enough to do what needed to be done.

Though he lacked the facial muscles to express his surprise, the wolf's energy kicked up a notch as the group entered the building...just not at the promise of food. He'd caught the boy's scent somewhere nearby. It was faint, undoubtedly diluted by the walls and doors between the wolf's nose and the source, but it was here.

Those who entered the dining area might notice that they were currently down a head. The wolf took the introductions and admiration for the ambiance as a chance to stay behind in the doorway, then sneak off towards the source of the scent.

The meal could wait.

A journey through the labyrinthine building proved rather difficult for the wolf; and not just because of the lack of thumbs. A five minute search led him to the source of the scent in a lower level of the building. The boy's clothes had been tossed in a basket beside a pair of strange machines. A bit disappointing, but at least the wolf knew he was somewhere in the building. That, or the boy was running around naked, like that other hero did from time to time.

The wolf huffed, and continued his search.

Guardhome, Upper Floors: Alien Meets Predator

The news that Termina wouldn't become a crater was such a relief, Tatl actually thought that she had gotten lighter.

"Thank Goddess." she sighed. Tael was going to be okay.

Turning first to Starrk's question about the kid's name, and then to the apparent surprise of the blue glow in the hallway, the fairy's attention quickly shifted to the new development.

"Is that...not normal?" the fairy asked Lilynette. "And what did he mean by 'in case things go South?' You don't have anyone dangerous behind one of these doors, right?"

Right? Surely the Hollows wouldn't take a child recovering from life-saving surgery and put him next door to a monster. A creature who can sap the life out of people just by touching them. They wouldn't do something that dangerous. RIGHT?!

As if to answer Tatl's question, the pitter-patter of paws could be heard further down the hall. Following what little trace of the scent that he could, the wolf had navigated through the Guardhome and was closing in on his target. Of course, the eerie blue glow that emanated from an open doorway caught his attention before he could reach the final room...as did the unsettling substance coating most of the interior.

The wolf's hair sprung up, his claws scraped the floor, his nose wrinkled deeply as he bared all of his teeth towards the woman in the pod, and growled like he was ready to pounce for the kill. He didn't know what that substance was, but his nose told him it was nothing good. Instincts told him that this...thing was bad, and toxic, and dangerous, and a very real threat. So if it knew what was good for it, that thing would close its eyes, go back to sleep, and stay in the pod.

Anor Londo, Palace: ...Is EVERYONE Getting An Invite?

Gwyndolin accepted the invitation in the manner Sablinova offered it, and took the rest of the visitor's explanation to study it carefully. A diplomatic summit? Either such events weren't unheard of in the world Manhattan originated, or this Lord Osborn was very skilled in thinking on his feet.

"If Castelia's leader endorses this summit, I see no reason for Anor Londo to refuse." the Dark Sun replied. "Yet to satiate mine own selfish curiosity, hath an invitation been sent to the castle beyond these mountains?"

To clarify, Gwyndolin slowly gestured towards a window facing North, where an eerie dark cloud loomed over the mountaintops.

"Hardly and hour ago, I crossed paths with three travelers from yonder land. They spoke of the ruler of that dark terrain, a creature called Dracula who enslaveth men and consumes their souls. An abomination which hath Death itself as his second-in-command. Is it Lord Osborn's intent to extend a gesture of civility to such a vile creature?"

Razor sharp words aside, Gwyndolin's tone never wavered. Their voice remained as soft and as placid as ever, treating the summary with the same energy they treated greeting Silver and Lady Helia. Whether the Dark Sun was indifferent to Dracula's existence or they had some doubts about these claims, it seemed clear that—despite their aggressive words—they had not ruled out a meeting with the vampire of Wallachia.

Question was: would Osborn stomach a monster at his summit?

Anor Londo, Painted World Cathedral: Well Why Didn't You Say So!

"...I was looking for a place to stay..."

As if by secret code, the sword immediately returned to its sheath once Sypha spoke those words.

"A thousand pardons, my lady. I realized not thou'rt in search of shelter. Rejoice, for thy search hath ended."

The figure bowed, and gestured towards the painting at the far end of the cathedral. Assuming that Sypha accepted, the hooded figure would lead the Speaker towards the painting.

"Our...situation at the moment has made us most uneasy." the figure explained. First a universal slumber, then the discovery of this strange new tongue, and finally a roar that shook the very earth. We know nought of the world beyond the city's walls, and yet rumors spread that all of Lordran has vanished! A most ominous state of affairs; when thou arrived, the fear of danger clouded my judgement. I forgot my purpose, and nearly brought harm to one who sought our aid. Though my actions art inexcusable, I pray for thy forgiveness, my lady."

Sure enough, the "we" would be noticeable as one by one, Sypha would spot more hooded figures stepping out of their hiding spots. Seemed as though this place had quite the security force.

Now at the base of the painting, the speaker turned his head towards Sypha and said with a smile in his voice: "May thou find peace in the Painted World."

Whether she touched the masterpiece out of her own curiosity, or be forced to brush it with a subtle nudge from the hooded figure, something unsettling would happen once she made contact: her body wouldn't touch canvas, but instead move through it—and it wasn't letting her go. After a moment to realize there was need to be alarmed, the painting would begin taking more of Sypha; not just a few fingers, but now her hand, her wrist, her forearm, her elbow. As more and more of her body vanished into the painting, panic might grip the young Speaker. Though were she to cry for help, the hooded figure would do nothing to aid her.

Soon enough, the painting captured Sypha entirely, and the witch would find herself lying face-down on the ground covered in...snow?

Yes, snow. The breeze was frigid, as was the ground beneath her. Looking forward, Sypha would see a familiar-looking rickety bridge crossing a seemingly bottomless ravine, a bridge that lead to a familiar-looking tower of ruins. Behind her lay nothing, not even a hint that she had just passed through a painting to get here. And so with few options available, the bridge welcomed Sypha to the Painted World:

The Painted World of Ariamis.

Conan - Guardhome

As Conan and his companions of the moment walked together, the travelling Cimmerian listened to further explanations about the amalgam of lands they each had been whisked away to: the Frontiers. "So, if I am understanding this right, the whims of the gods alone will decide how long we'll be kept there, be it one year or an hundred of such?" The musclebound warrior commented on Nel's explanation even as he kept following her. "And no doubts that more lone stragglers much like us will arrive to these Frontiers, without nations to call their own..." Musings appeared in the barbarian's mind, of half-dreams of one day being his own monarch, and how this forgotten city could perhaps be settled once more.

"I highly doubt we have seen the last of that Wulfric man. Vanirs such as him seldom simmer down." But there would be time to plan for the future later, as for now the ecclectic group entered the base of those 'Guardians'. The outside had the familiar appearance of an opulent palace, like many the wanderer have seen before, he was far more surprised to explore its inside. While many of the rooms had functions that he could easily deduce, the overall architecture of this ancient place were alien to the man from the Hyborian Age. Even with all his wordly experiences, he couldn't help but be a little awed by his strange surroundings.

Then, the group would be welcomed, for lack of a better term, by another emerald-haired woman, tough one clearly more ascerbic than their cheerful guide despite their shared lovely looks. "Well, with such warmth waiting at home, I can see why you were so eager to take us there!" Despite this irreverent jap, the barbarian did take a seat of the table. He was quite happy to finally have a meal, so he could handle a beauty's biting attitude. "Some bread, meat and water would be much apprecied! Tough I must admit I have never heard of such a beast as a 'chocobo'."

Starscream - Eastern Ruins ——> Tokyo Settlement

In a more remote corner of the Ruins, a schemer had also noticed the influx of newcomers, and decided to act. The alien robot known as Starscream was one of the few who chose to remain in the Frontiers, to bide his time as he studied the land's peculiarities. After all, he had lived literal eons, what was one more century or two? He even let those foolish 'Guardians' be, as he knew whatever that energy source was, it was completely unusable for his designs. Unlike all of those arrivals...

If one looked up during the last hour, perhaps they might have seen a strange biplane take off from the Ruins and fly over the Frontiers, observing its current state. Most of them didn't caught his interest for long, until he noticed a city whose ruler's philosophy seemed to meet his designs just fine. The Brittanian Empire, eh? He could work with that...

And so, after the plane landed in the nearby wilderness, the northmost limit of the Tokyo Settlement would see a man in armor approach◊, bearing a confident smirk as he walked towards the bustling city in front of him. "Perfect..."

Edited by Alecoene on Jun 12th 2023 at 11:25:12 AM

Guardhome, Upper Floors

Rather than stay in the pod like the wolf would prefer, the alien woman appeared to be emerging from the pod as it opened up, with her hovering just above the floor as she exited her containment unit. Once she was out, the blue substance around the room...began moving away from the rest of the group, making sure to give them plenty of space to breathe and move as it gathered around the woman.

   "Down, boy."    The woman said in a firm tone, looking down at the growling wolf and holding a cautious hand up, attempting to show that she wasn't looking for a fight.

Edited by Bored_Man on Jun 12th 2023 at 10:54:20 AM

Underground Cavern, Fuuka

The opening of the door naturally drew the attention of the three people already there, away from the array of camera feeds on screens surreptitiously showing various scenes around the school. “Mai-chan, hey! You made it.” The eldest one of the three waved, letting a smile onto her previously serious face.

“Midori-chan.” Mai’s eyes glanced around at the other two ladies with her. “Yukino-chan, Sanada-san. You guys are safe.”

"I’m glad you’re safe." Yukariko allowed herself a smile at seeing Mai in person; Yukino followed suit without speaking.

“Yukino, anything new happen?” Natsuki closed the door behind her once she got inside the room after Mikoto and a well-aren't-you-a-ball-of-sunshine Nao.

"That unknown submarine seems to have left the Bay without incident from Searrs. And another island has just appeared out at sea.”

“Wait, what?” Mai’s confusion would be plain as day on her face. “‘Another’?”

“Yes. Outside Fuuka several new settlements have appeared out of nowhere. The geography around us has totally changed. It apparently started after that incident where everyone fell unconscious at once."

"Is Searrs behind that too? They attacked right after all that happened."

"That was not Searrs' doing." Everyone turned in surprise at the new voice that made itself known, away from the door Mai and the others had just entered through, as there sat Mashiro in her wheelchair, Fumi standing right behind her with her hands on the wheelchair’s handles.

“Director! But, your residence — there was a giant hole in the side and —”

“Alyssa Searrs and I had a discussion which became contentious." Mashiro's eyes turned a bit to focus on one of the screens showing the front courtyard of the Academy, dark gray armored vehicles stationed around it. “More to the point, she went ahead with the attack even as the world around her was torn away.”

“Why would she do that?” Midori asked. “Does she really want to get all of us HiME that badly?”

“Then we have to take her out,” Natsuki declared. “Her, Greer, and all the Searrs soldiers.”

“One moment.” Mashiro’s words drew everyone’s attention as she turned to Mai. “Did Alyssa Searrs say anything to you before Kuga-san and Minagi-san arrived?”

“Yeah,” Mai affirmed with a small nod. “She tried to convince me to join her.”

“Wait, what?” Several of the women present turned to Mai with an incredulous look on their faces. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, we heard that too,” Yukino confirmed.

“You said ‘no’ of course, right?” Mikoto asked.

“Yeah, of course! Even if Natsuki hadn’t jumped in right at that moment.”

“But still, she asked.” Mashiro spoke up again, hand up to her chin in ponderment. “Perhaps there is still a chance at diplomacy to end this.”

“You’re kidding, right?!” an indignant Midori exclaimed. “These guys come in here and take over the school, pull all the girls out and sort them like cattle all specifically to hunt us down! You expect niceties from people like that?”

“If it were just us and them, no. But whatever happened to cause all those other locations to appear on our outskirts, Searrs is cut off from their support as well. They are an old organization, one whose strength is in having spread their influence worldwide — being in an entirely new world, cut off from their support network, hurts them more than it hurts us. They wouldn’t have done that on purpose.”

“And yet here they are stomping all over the place,” Nao remarked.

“They follow Alyssa Searrs. And when we talked...perhaps you can call it optimism, but I sensed that she continued with her plans because she did not conceive of an alternative to one’s destiny. A cornered animal is the most dangerous, because it will fight out of desperation. Offer an escape, however, and it will have a motive to back down and run.”

“You think she can still be talked down?”

“I am not saying we should give ourselves up, of course. The terms she gave to Mai are not acceptable. If there’s to be any cooperation, it would have to be on terms better for us.” Mashiro’s eyes went to a couple of the screens, which were showing various other locations across the city of Fuuka, including the earlier meeting of Searrs’ ships with the mysterious submarine out in the bay and the current one in the eastern district over a game of cards. “But we don’t know what these other forces are capable of, or what else might be out there. In such a circumstance, having more options in hand would be better before trying to figure out what to do afterwards.”

“Assuming that’s even possible,” Natsuki answered. “These guys don’t play nice.”

“It’ll be up to Alyssa to decide. For now, though…” Mashiro’s eyes lingered on a video feed of the front courtyard, where a blonde-haired teenage girl in a Student Council uniform was currently marching up to a Searrs tank and began kicking it in obvious indignation, to the bewilderment of the soldiers around her who had to struggle to grab her to get her to stop and drag her away.

“Haruka-chan…” Yukino muttered, half in resignation.

“We should demonstrate that this Academy will not simply bow down and take her orders.” Mashiro looked over at the HiME assembled. “How does that sound?”

Eastern Fuuka

“Oh, right. Sorry. Heh.” Fernandez stole a glance behind his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t about to get his head ripped off by his undoubtedly PO’d CO. “Right, so…what was the question again?”

Karakucho

Hidden away in the rooftops, Homura would allow herself a momentary frown of dissatisfaction when it was clear that Magical Girls weren’t the only ones capable of using telepathy. While on the one hand it would make explaining things a bit easier seeing as they’d have no problem believing her, it did mean one less possible advantage she could count on her adversaries not having a counter against. Nonetheless, if that’s what this particular world’s rules dictates then she’ll just have to figure out how to work through them. At least it was clear that this particular group of people were already familiar with this Phantom Society — it did seem as though an alliance with them was becoming the best option.

Homura’s nose did wrinkle up a bit as the group approached the chosen alley. It was a foul stench, enough for Homura to disable her sense of smell for a few seconds so that the odor wouldn’t bother her and her aim as she pulled out the Walther PPK — an old gift from MI6 — and fired three or four shots at the drone as it passed by below her, focused on its targets and (presumably) not having situational awareness. Once it was confirmed the drone was permanently offline and there weren’t any other unwanted observers around, Homura stood up from her position, allowing the others to see her for the first time. <It seems we have much to discuss.> This time, everyone in the alley could hear her telepathic voice in their heads. <We should return to the Velvet Room to do so while we are free of outsiders' eyes.>

<With the exception of that homeless man's,> Kyubey quipped. Homura made no reply to that as she turned around and headed back towards the alley via rooftop.^{perception check} The observant may have noticed that her eyes narrowed on Kyubey's before she left, and she was moving at a rather quick pace…

"She always did have that kind of flair," Mami commented, starting her way back as well. "Not that I can't be accused of being similar sometimes, I suppose."

Edited by megarockman on Jun 13th 2023 at 11:31:04 AM

Zacian, Castelia City Entrance

The sword wielding dog thought back to the various people who had entered Castelia today.

"There are some humans who have come to our city," he confirmed. "But none that match your description, I'm afraid. She would need to come through here to go to Manhattan, so my only other guess is that she may be in Anor Londo, our neighbor to the north."

Castelia City Streets, Charlie and Matt, The Martial Arts Gang, Also There's a Bunny Eared Gremlin Moon Racist Who Eats Expired Bento Boxes?!?

Charlie really wished Reisen would stop being weird about Mai's boobs, even comparing her to a… oh right, a Miltank. Charlie felt bad for all the pokewomen she was probably going to get into verbal spars with, as opposed to the physical sparring that pokemon did all the time. But that's normal so stop thinking about it, there's nothing weird about Pokemon society.

Meanwhile, Matt was jamming to Reisen's Epic Tunes, his interest in music making him forget for a moment that basically the only thing he actually knows about this girl is that she kills people. In his defense, it's really good music, and maybe she's not actually that bad once you get to know her. Or maybe she is and she'll need to be tackled by a Tauros or something. Sometimes that's just life in this city.

"This is some really good stuff!" Matt said as he moved his head along to the songs, unphased by Reisen's use of psychic powers to facilitate this. "Hm… so you're asking if we have any harder stuff, basically? You bet we do!"

Matt then played another track.

For a terrifying dragon with super deadly lasers, Necrozma had a pretty cool theme. Ah, the simpler days when all Castelia had to worry about were extremely powerful and dangerous beings that were a threat to everything around them instead of actually frightening things, like Lunarians.

Charlie wanted to ask what the hell kind of society just let people starve and bring up that pokemon society wasn't like that, because it was weird. That was normal outside the Pokemon World? To him, that was as strange as the Pokemon Battling League likely was to everyone else.

"Reisen… we don't really- I mean, to be honest, we don't really have starvation and homelessness in the pokemon world. I uh… guess I didn't really consider how lucky we are relative to everywhere else. Sorry."

Both the pokemon perked up as the martial artists and Reisen expressed interest in giving battling a go. Though Reisen's arrogance is met with very clear doubt from Matt and Charlie alike.

"Not a single one?" Charlie quirked an eyebrow. "Gonna be honest, I really doubt you could beat every pokemon in the city…"

"Well," Matt chimed in. "You'll have your chance to see how well you can do in the arena. Come, follow me everyone."

Matt then leads everyone to…

Castelia City, Pokemon Stadium Lobby

,,,the lobby of Pokemon Stadium, where you're greeted with an Inceneroar, just as Hekwii and Seven were.

"Well hey there!" The jovial wrestling cat greets the group. "You lookin' to throw down against these guys, Charlie? Matt?"

Both shook their heads.

"Uhhh," Charlie figured someone would've asked him if they wanted to fight him specifically, and Matt was more into music than fighting. "I don't think either of us are. These guys are just looking to have one match to make some extra money, and I think that's the extent of their interest with this whole thing."

"Hm," the Inceneroar nodded. "Alright then. So that's four of you looking for a match. Well typically we either do 1v1 or 2v2 matches. So I'd need to split you all up into at least two groups. Or… actually, we could just do a 4v1. That'd be easier to set up and would prevent Hil from having to write even more individual scenes, please help."

"That's a thing?" Matt asked.

"Yep. Sometimes we have special challenges where an entire party of people face off against a really big or really strong pokemon, usually three to four entrants. Uhhh… who's available right now… alright, this should work."

The Incenaroar pulls up a fighter profile◊ for some sort of sea serpent pokemon. A really, really fucking big one judging by their height. Good lord.

"Milly here will be your opponent. She should provide you guys with a decent challenge, without being too overwhelming. Well, probably. Anyways - rules are very simple. You're trying to ring your opponent out, and if you all get knocked out of the ring before you can do that, you lose. Don't get too crazy, as we're not going for blood here. Other than that, have fun! You guys ready to go? Need to prep a little or anything?"

Castelia City, The THUNDERDOME

"Let's do ring out rules," Red said to Krillin. "Sometimes we go until a ref calls it if you're talking about the more hardcore matches, but that seems like a lot for a friendly little spar."

For the sake of convenience, there's a space where they can spar pretty close by.

"Don't worry too much, this is just for fun after all. There's a time and place for serious competition,"

With that, Red removed his hat, and put on a red fighting headband.

"Ready to begin, Krillin?"

—-

It was difficult trying to adapt to the abilities of an opponent that wasn't in the pokedex. When Hekwii suddenly created a pillar out of the floor, Arturia found herself being rapidly pushed towards the arena's boundary! But before she is rung out, she creates a barrier around her. This allows her to block Hekwii's attack and halt her momentum just long enough for her to get out of the way. She lands on the ground, at the very edge of the arena and still very much in danger of losing should Hekwii get another good hit in.

"That was really close! I'm gonna have to make this count…"

Arturia summons a shadowy hand◊ that attempts to just straight up push Hekwii out of the ring.

Zariah, Anor Londo Palace

Zariah was indeed present to make sure that Sablinova's journey to Anor Londo went smoothly, and had stepped back so that Manhattan's representative could speak for herself, for the most part. Though when Gwyndolin brought up Dracula, the Zapdos gijinka became concerned.

"Though Castelia remains committed to peaceful relations with other territories, including ones that we do not always agree with, this 'Dracula' may not be particularly interested in the aims of our United Nations project. Regardless, I will simply reiterate Lord Gwyndolin's question, as I'm curious of Manhattan's stance on this matter."

She retains a great level of neutrality in her mannerisms that makes it difficult to tell what she actually thinks.

Edited by HilarityEnsues on Jun 14th 2023 at 7:20:43 AM

"Unless you can deal with ancient curses of a dying world," Vaali said with a surprising amount of weakness behind it.

Baldric stepped in. "That aside, we're currently laying low, we're on the run from the Tyrants Guild back home."

"Right! That," Vaali continued. "Yeah we kind of killed a Martinet and now we're very much wanted by the law."

"The Martinet had it coming, and was quite potentially possessed by a Perfectite," Tannhauser added. "The poor living conditions of Outset only ensured that we'd act."

"Right," Baldric said dismissively.

"What about you lot? Where the hell is this place, do you have any idea why our sky vanished?" Vaali asked.

Athena, Mai & Yuri, Pokemon Stadium Lobby, Castelia City

"Nice music, Matt," Mai said as she jammed to the beat of the new song Matt decided to play.

"The three of us are used to fighting as a team," Athena nodded to the Incenaroar before pointing to Reisen. "We just met Reisen here, but if she is fine with a 4v1, then we'd be happy to fight alongside her."

Both Mai and Yuri nodded in agreement. When the three saw their opponent, all three thought the Pokemon was beautiful.

Trevor, Grant & Alucard, Castelia City Entrance

Trevor, Grant, and Alucard all remained silent as they eyed the Zacian, trying to see if he were lying. Eventually, all three of them decided that he wasn't lying.

"It seems like we have been going around in circles," Alucard noted to the others.

"We apologize for wasting your time, Sir Hound," Trevor had turned to the others. "We shall stay out of your way while we discuss our next plan."

The three of them walked off to the side allowing anyone else who might want to enter Castelia to do so while they had a discussion.

"Okay, we know Sypha ran over in the direction of Anor Londo," Grant began. "Lord Gwyndolin says they'd not seen her and pointed us in the direction of Anor Londo."

"Sir Hound over here says that Sypha ain't in Castelia City," Grant continued. "Thus she has to be in Anor Londo still."

"She could be in Dracula's Castle," Alucard pointed out. Both Trevor and Grant glared at him, but didn't dismiss the point.

"So what do we do now?" Grant asked.

Once again, Trevor walked over to the Zacian, "Alright, if you see someone fitting the description of Sypha Belnades, please tell them that I, Trevor Belmont, am in Anor Londo. Should I leave there, I will come back here and tell the guards here where I am going to the best of my knowledge."

Trevor, Grant, and Alucard walked away to avoid anyone overhearing them.

"I do not believe it wise for me to return to Anor Londo," Alucard noted to Trevor and Grant. "I am not sure how Lord Gwyndolin would react if they were to find out I am the son of Dracula."

"...Alright," Trevor nodded. "We shall meet each other again."

"Sure," Grant waved bye to him. "Make sure you don't die."

"Don't worry, I won't," Alucard said as he left Trevor and Grant. "And do be careful in Anor Londo."

As Trevor and Grant headed back to Anor Londo, Alucard instead headed back towards Northern Manhattan to visit with Father Frost again and see what was discovered from the various lands in this world. If Sypha wasn't in either Anor Londo, Manhattan, Castelia City, or Castlevania, then they needed some sort of map to this entire world, and the best bet for that is in Manhattan.

Sypha, The Painted World of Ariamis

Once Sypha discovered out that the canvas was sucking her in, she started crying for help and trying to pull out her arm. However, it was to no avail as she was sucked slowly into the Painted World of Ariamis.

"Crap..."

That was certainly not something Sypha had intended, though perhaps she should feel lucky that she could even move, given she appeared to be inside the portrait. She had heard rumors of there being magic to create entire worlds within portraits, but she had never encountered magic like that before now. Standing up, Sypha brushed off the snow from her body. As she had no way back outside the portrait, she headed down the rickety bridge, hoping she could find some place to stay before she freezes to death.

Edited by GameGuruGG on Jun 14th 2023 at 6:16:14 AM

Voya Nui, cliff village.

Having clambered up to a higher vantage point, Piruk looks out over the craggy ice and across the water, and doesn't fully believe what he sees: Land, to both the north and the east. A handful of other Matoran had followed his lead and found high perches to investigate, chief among them a white-armored one◊ with a scope built into his mask.

"Kazi, what do you see?" the green one calls out.

Kazi squints for a long moment before responding, looking back and forth between the two distant landmasses. "A... city, to the north? East, woodland. Can't make out much more."

They both look back down toward an expectant, listening Garan... and merely shrug. The black-armored one frowns and looks down at the ground in thought, interrupted only when the handful of others he'd sent away return and make their reports: The village parameter is clear, and nothing had evidently changed about the island itself from what they could discern. No disturbed Rahi causing commotion, nothing.

"Okay," Garan begins. "get a scouting party ready to man the fortress near the lagoon entrance, watch for arrivals. If you see so much as a Takea breach, you send word. Got it?"

The group all nod in confirmation and head off as ordered.

Voya Nui, mountain dwelling.

The situation seemingly stable for the moment, Axonn makes his way back into the cavern and soon arrives in a large lightstone-lit chamber, the far wall opposite the entrance decorated with a finely-polished carving of a Kanohi Hau◊ as the first thing any visitor might see. This constitutes the twos' home on the island, hidden from wandering Rahi and Matoran by confusing winding passages and false walls, and stocked with stores of food and water for the both of them, as well as stacked, orderly collections of stone tablets containing records of the island's goings-on, Order of Mata Nui affairs, and the writings of Brutaka himself... who Axonn finds poring over an assortment of these tablets and looking undeniably troubled.

"We're being held prisoner." he speaks up after a long while, his arms folded.

"And Mata Nui has abandoned us... you've made your point quite clear over the past thousand years." Axonn chides his companion, gently resting his axe against one wall. "If you haven't noticed, we may have bigger concerns than your ongoing crisis of faith."

The taller one simply glances aside. "For once, I'm not merely being poetic." he elaborates, his mask shimmering briefly as if in use... only for nothing to happen. "I can create portals to and fro, but not only are we seemingly in an entirely different place, I'm being prevented from accessing any adjacent pocket dimensions, that is to say, prevented from leaving. No wall or barrier or force I've ever encountered has been capable of that—not the walls of the world's heart nor any mask of shielding."

This seems to catch the shorter one's attention. "You're certain of this?"

"Certain." the taller one nods.

"And you're certain this isn't simply Mata Nui testing your lack of faith?" he half-heartedly offers for a lack of any firmer conclusions, before looking to that wall carving as if he expects it to offer some guidance straight from the mouth of the Great Spirit. He very much wants Brutaka's assertion to be incorrect, that some higher being with unknowable designs hasn't stepped into Mata Nui's place, in part because he isn't entirely sure what either of them would do. What could be done? This is the sort of revelation that drives a being to madness. "Or the work of the Great Beings, stepping in to-"

"It's never so simple." is the last thing he hears of Brutaka before a brief draft is felt, and the titan is no longer there when he turns to look.

A sigh.

As intelligent as his friend is, Axonn thinks to himself, he can be incredibly foolish. He simply hopes he isn't about to bear witness to the results of that foolishness.

Voya Nui, a chamber far below Mount Valmai...

The Ignika, unlike its chosen guardian, can see clearly and unimpeded by madness or avaricious intent.

It sees ruins and the site of a fierce battle, a defeated monster licking its wounds in retreat, that monster's severed tail, and blood not entirely its own staining the ground. It sees comradery, and it sees one sleeping as if in recovery, in sharp contrast to their fellows. Nearby it sees... masks. Not like Kanohi, and especially none like itself, but possessing an inner power all the same.

Seeing this sleeping one, it thinks about its own current guardian, and how detestable it finds him. Covetous and wholly undeserving of its trust, he'd only been chosen because it sensed others of his kind and sought protection, but those others are gone now, vanished with the rest of the world it once knew, by means it can't hope to fathom. The sleeping one, though... had they been the one to fell the monster, and at what was clearly great personal risk? It can surmise as much but has no way of knowing for sure. It can reach out, though. It can test them, and their comrades too, and it can watch.

Western coast of Bugaria.

Above the sand, a hole in space appears, as if a passage to elsewhere had been torn in the fabric of reality.

Out of this passage steps a tall, armored, biomechanical being◊. Clad in gold and blue and standing at just over 10 feet, the being seems to exude immense power, aided in no small part by a physique that suggests impressive muscle even though none is immediately visible beneath his armor, as well as a wicked two-bladed weapon—of the sort that could only be effectively wielded by a being of his stature—that sits stowed across his back alongside a set of daggers. On the warrior's face sits an elegantly-crafted, curved mask from behind which peer a set of brilliantly-glowing red eyes that seem to intently study his surroundings.

A beach. Across the water is the distant island from whence he'd come, as expected, but sitting inland and stretching to the north and south as far as he can see is an autumnal forest of... trees? Something is undeniably off about them, he notes, appearing more like small grasses and shrubs, but vastly enlarged proportionately to tower over even him, with blades the size of tree trunks and leaves that would dwarf most Matoran.

Dismissing the portal, Brutaka begins to make his way along the coast to discern any signs of civilization before progressing further inland, gait and general demeanor showing little fear or concern for what he might encounter, though maintaining a watchful eye nevertheless.

Edited by Chortleous on Jun 16th 2023 at 9:03:27 AM

Castelia City, THE THUNDERDOME - Seven's light show

Even with their enhanced reaction speed, Seven doesn't have the time to properly gauge the reach of the Lopunny's... Ear strike? Huh. That's a new one.

Anyways, it's coming their way too quickly for them to accurately assess how far these can extend to; They decide to play it safe by throwing themselves backwards, conceding quite a bit of ground as they keep it low to the ground to stay under the auricular assault, performing a backflip as their hands hit the ground while upside down for a second push, sending them further back to land on their feet.

Opting to try something else than rushing back into Melee range, Seven stretches their arm out towards their opponent, aiming the palm of their mutated hand towards the Lopunny as it begins emitting a beam of purple light; It is quite wide and unfocused for now, barely tickling Lola's fur, but it is fairly obvious that sticking around and waiting for it to get worse is a suboptimal proposition.

Earth 11945, Forest Kingdom - Igno becomes a tour guide

"Alright, gotcha, no tricks! ... Unless it's funny enough to be worth the beat-down." Igno teases, muttering a small "You did good, Marena~" as he pulls his blade out of the ground and stows it on his back. "Come, it's this way!" He calls out as he turns around and starts walking back the way he came.

"You know, I always wanted an excuse to say this...!" Igno remarks as he turns his head towards the android with a grin forming on his face.

"I have such sights to show you."

Hyrule, Southeast Hyrule Field: Home Sweet Home?

During Vaati's contemplative flight, the wind sorcerer would spot a structure isolated from the rest of the field by a cliffside and a wooden cliff. The quaint rustic little cottage seemed like it would fit right at home in the kingdom he'd once tried to conquer...just maybe not in the cliffside overlooking the expansive field before him.

Should he decide to investigate, Vaati would find a shady oak tree beside the house, as well as a pot and fireplace, a stable, a flowerbed surrounding the property, and—perhaps most importantly of all—a sign at the front of the cottage.

Unfortunately, Vaati would find the text nearly illegible. The words were engraved with clean precision, but the letters twisted and merged in confusing and unorthodox ways; like an offshoot of an offshoot of an offshoot of the Hyrulean lexicon. If he squinted his eyes and tilted his head, Vaati might be able to decipher "_i__'s _o_s_," but that was probably the best he was going to get. Seems he really was in a strange and foreign land.

If the young Minish decided to investigate further, he'd make some conclusions that probably didn't need much to confirm. The stable had been in recent use, judging by the fresh food left out for the mounts. Glancing through the window, it was clear that the house was empty, but not abandoned; the furniture was neat, and free of any collections of dust. Though most importantly of all was a discovery that Vaati might have expected, given the rather hospitable habits of the Hyrule he once knew:

The front door was unlocked.

Mountains Outside Manhattan, The Dark Place: Return

Light.

Mr. Scratch blinked, and not just in disbelief. After years that felt like moments and moments that felt like lifetimes, the creature of Darkness had to occasionally test that his senses could still work, even in this sensory deprivation tank that was his home and impromptu prison. Feeling his eyelids move was part of his routine of exercise; something to occupy his mind when there was nothing better to do—and there was never anything better to do. Not unless he wanted to stroll down memory lane for the millionth time, and daydream about what he'd do differently if he could get a do-over. Fat chance of that, of course; doubt even a Permit of Perpetuity would let that wish slide.

So he blinked, and in that moment of full darkness, Mr. Scratch sensed the contrast. He shut his eyes and counted to ten, and when he opened them once more he confirmed the facts as he saw them. There was light just outside the Dark Place, in the near-airtight gap between the void and the outside world, where that Cybertronian SNAKE had collapsed the entrance in a way that couldn't be broken from the inside.

And yet there it was. In an ironic twist for the ages, light had found its way into where dark could not escape! It was almost enough to make Mr. Scratch cry, but his heart wasn't in the right place for those kinds of feelings; after all, he didn't have a heart.

But he did have a stomach, and that was full of rage.

It took a bit of maneuvering, and a helluva lot of force, but the cracks in the seal were soon chipped into windows, then finally a door. With the caution of a veteran venturing into minefield territory, Mr. Scratch stepped out of his insufferable cage and out into the scorching daylight.

Too bad he didn't have some shades; a midday sun after an eternity of darkness was torture on the retinas! Thankfully the headache subsided after a minute, and as he stared out at the familiar landscape, Mr. Scratch quickly discovered that it wasn't quite as familiar as he expected:

Gotham was gone. He'd known the tall and gloomy modernist design for over a decade, and there wasn't a goddamn trace of it in the skyline set before him now. But he knew the skyscrapers in front of him as well...or rather, the Old Model knew them like the back of his hand. Why wouldn't he? Manhattan was where he and Alice lived, after all.

And so Mr. Scratch found himself on the precipice of getting his wish granted: a new city, a new identity, and a new mission—to find Starscream, and rip him apart. Bolt by bolt.

"Fuck a duck." he sighed, taking his first steps toward the City that Never Sleeps. "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Castelia City, THUNDERDOME: Ding Ding!

Krillin entered the ring on the side opposite Red. As the Pikachu swapped his hat for a headband, the police officer set aside his helmet to reveal the perfect smoothness of his bald head. Perhaps in the right light, the glistening surface of his scalp would serve as an improvised HM05!^note Flash

As the champion asked if Krillin was ready, the martial artist smirked and assumed a well-practiced fighting stance.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Krillin replied. It was way too late to ask if they had any spare gi lying around—size youth large.

Considering that he was the challenger in this friendly little spar, Krillin made the first move: he closed the distance between Red and himself the old-fashioned way, then proceeded to crouch down for a sweeping kick. He assumed that someone of the Pikachu's energy levels would be more than used to such an obvious move, so he prepared another strike after this feint. Once his leg had swept through the (presumably) empty air where Red once stood, Krillin would tuck his sweeping leg back to his chest, support himself on one hand, and use his other leg to deliver a back kick to wherever he saw Red (or predicted where he might be).

It was a move that probably wouldn't seem out-of-place in a breakdancing competition. While it gave Krillin a slight advantage in swift execution of his strikes, it was quite the awkward position to land in; not to mention it'd be wildly unbalanced. A quick thunder shock or an iron tail to Krillin's stabilizing hand would cause the martial artist to tumble to the ground.

The Painted World of Ariamis, Suspension Bridge: Don't Focus on the Kindling

Stepping carefully across the rickety suspension bridge, Sypha's initial prayers for a warm shelter would be immediately answered: at the foot of the snowy ruins stood a lone but blazing fire, stoked by a sword embedded into its heart and kindled by...let's just hope those bones belonged to animals.

The bonfire would offer considerable warmth, at the very least.

Looking ahead, Sypha would see that the ruined structure was only a flight of stairs and a small courtyard away. Though the front gates appeared to be shut, the Speaker could spot a flight of stairs off to the right of the giant doors. Since the courtyard extended farther out of sight over to the right, there was a chance that the stairs tailed around the far wall and allowed access from the ground floor.

Of course, all of that might come secondary to something else Sypha would notice: the sound of feet shuffling clumsily through snow, just out of sight.

The Speaker was being watched, and judging by the sounds of the shuffling, there were more than one pair of eyes on her.

Anor Londo, Streets: A Chance Encounter with A Saint

Grant and Trevor were granted access back into Anor Londo with little more than a nod from the Silver Knights. The strangers had departed not long before, and with the express permission of Lord Gwyndolin no less; far as the guards at the Castelia gate were concerned, that was carte blanche to come and go as they pleased.

Now back to square one, the two visitors might try to ask around about Sypha's whereabouts. Unfortunately, they would find that the various Silver Knights they spotted around the lost city knew nothing about a witch in blue robes. What's worse, they could offer very little in terms of where to search next—until they met one knight who pointed them towards another "outsider" resting by a fire in a nearby residence.

Should Grant and Trevor follow this lead and knock on the door to this residence, they would be greeted with a warm "Please, come in!" Considering that the voice was masculine, it was obvious that this "outsider" was not Sypha. Still, a lead was a lead.

Upon entering the sparsely-furnished home, Grant and Trevor would spot a man sitting cross-legged beside the fireplace. He was a slightly stout man, dressed in full armor that might not have been too out of place in the Wallachian jousts a century or so back. Though his face was largely concealed by a bucket-shaped helmet, there was a brightness in his voice that suggested that he always spoke with a smile.

"Ah, fellow Undead I take it? Then welcome, friends! I am Solaire of Astora, a Warrior of Sunlight. And who might you be?"

Edited by TheodoreHastings on Jun 16th 2023 at 6:15:05 AM

Eastern Woods (Wulfrik)

"RrrRGggGAaAHh?!" the Chocobo Eater shouted in confusion as Wulfrik's manuever rather easily flipped it onto its back, leaving it flailing its arms against the ground futilely in an unsuccessful attempt to right itself, like some kind of massive infant.

"NoOoOoOoOo! HoW cOuLd ThIs HaPpEn To MeEeEeEe?! YoU cHeAtEr!" it screeched in petulant rage and disbelief.

Guardhome, First Floor

"Oh! We art vegetarian, Yoriichi-kun!" Amako explained with a smile. "So, please asketh Our hosts to prepareth for Us only fruit and vegetables. And water to imbibeth, pray."

"Of course you can," the green-haired woman replied not unkindly to Luna as Nel returned with the cutlery and napkins. "And a chocobo is basically just a giant chicken."

"Alright... I've got all that, let me just communicate it to our chef," she drawled once everyone's orders were in, then strode back into the kitchen.

"Thank you, C.C.~!" Nel called after her, pronouncing it 'See-Two'.

"Yeah, yeah..." the evident C.C. replied with a dismissive backwards wave.

"So what do you all think of the place?" Nel asked, looking between the strangers gathered. "It's nothing like it was in its heyday, but I think it's still pretty cozy and we've managed to keep it livable!"

While the party was answering that question, the verdant-haired woman emerged with a neutral expression and their drinks, which she sat wordlessly before them before returning to the kitchen. Conveniently, Ellie's even came with a pair of bamboo straws!

Guardhome, Upper Floors

"Eh, depends on what you mean by dangerous," Lilynette answered with an uncertain shrug. "Starrk and me are plenty dangerous ourselves. It's just that this particular friend has been... out of it for a while, and we're worried she might not be herself when she finally wakes up. Nothing we can't handle, either way."

"Easy, Pup," Starrk meanwhile offered his own rebuke, reaching out his own hand to go between the weird toxic thing and the wolf. "She's a friend."

He sighed slightly in either exasperation or relief or frustration that he was put in this situation in the first place, pocketed his jellybean, and raised the hand that wasn't attempting to keep the wolf at bay to wave half-heartedly at the blue woman.

"Hey there, Samus," he greeted casually. "Nice of you to finally wake up. You slept so long I was starting to wonder if you'd have forgotten who I was by now. Hell, forgotten who you were yourself by now. But I'm glad that doesn't seem to be the case. Welcome back." The perpetually tired man offered her a small, but genuine, smile.

Western Ivalice

Link turned to Lilian and raised an eyebrow in askance as she approached, but smiled in understanding and nodded readily with an affirmative grunt as she explained her concern. He'd only met four royals in his life so far, to his knowledge, and to be honest, one of them hadn't fared so well after meeting him, but he knew how to show proper respect! Kneel with one's head down, don't interrupt or speak unless spoken to, et cetera!

At the same time, however... Well, maybe it was just the wind or Lilian's imagination, but a small voice seemed to spring up from nearby, impish and feminine with no obvious source:

"Heheheh..." it snickered quietly. "Some bodyguard if she can't even defeat a single man without having him disarm first... But then, you're hardly ordinary, are you?"

The Moonlit Castle (Carmilla)

Once the vampiress ascended the stairs in the center and chose a wing to check, she would quickly discover another set of stairs leading upwards, as expected. Perhaps unexpected, however, was the presence of a black cat◊ at the top of the stairs, which startled as soon as it noticed her coming and bolted up what turned out to be more flights of stairs, surprisingly managing to outpace the bloodsucker. That said, Carmilla doubtlessly continued up and up the stairs until she reached their apex, which led to another, longer and more grand hallway. Glancing out the open windows between the torch brackets and columns on either side would reveal a pair of large, symmetrical courtyards containing flowerbeds filled with yet more of those white night-blossoms, as well as hedges and fountains.

Just as Carmilla turned the corner into this long hallway, however, one of the pair of massive doors at the far end, whose line patterns resembled the ones at the castle's front entrance, slammed heavily shut. Unless it was just the wind, there was evidently at least one other person here who was awake, after all! That said, even to the vampiress' enhanced senses, there were no signs of movement beyond the doors other than a light pattering of cat feet followed by a repeated patting sort of sound.

As she indubitably chose to continue onward after making whatever preparations she felt necessary for confronting whatever was on the other side, Carmilla would quickly come face-to-face with the source of these noises as she opened the door. The◊ expected◊ throne◊ room◊ contained enormous windows of stained glass, through which beams of moonlight fell upon the strange and elaborate architecture of the space, the absurdly large throne, and the pair of creatures occupying said chair.

Namely, a woman◊ in a white, blue, and gold dress with impressively long blonde hair, who was bound up by chains extending from the sides of the room, and the ebony-coated, red-irised cat on her shoulder, the same one Carmilla had seen on her way up, batting at the sleeping lady's face to try to wake her up.

Castlevania, Castle Exterior

The man in red armor waited patiently for the promised Lord of the Castle to arrive, and at Dracula's approach, he whistled sharply to his men, who quickly mirrored his own motion in kneeling before the Count.

"Our thanks for the information, Your Lordship!" he said with a hefty dose of respect. "Our intention when we find that pair of women is to take them prisoner, and then interrogate them as to their origins and motives. As enemy combatants taken captive in wartime, they'll be treated with the respect and dignity afforded to all the Empire's prisoners of war... even if those wretches did ambush my men."

"Considering that Your Lordship has provided their general whereabouts so readily, and those whereabouts are hardly nearby, I don't think a search of the castle or estate will be necessary, Your Lordship," he continued with a confident nod. "Having said that... well, we couldn't help but notice that you all arrived in this odd fusion of different worlds only recently. It was difficult to miss the light-show and quaking on the horizon that preceded the place, after all! I have standing orders from my superiors to inform them whenever a new land such as this appears and has been contacted, and they'll likely wish to send a small delegation, probably consisting of a high-ranking officer and an aide or two, to speak with you about a possible non-aggression pact or alliance. Would Your Lordship be amenable to such a delegation, or nay? And, begging your pardon for not introducing myself sooner, but I am Captain Ivan Ivanovich. May I ask what Your Lordship's name and titles are?"

Gallian Capital (Aliorumnas)

Luckily for the famished Aliorumnas, there was just such a shady alley right off the street in question! Although, she would find that although she was the only person in the alley, she was not its only occupant, nor was she the only one who was hungry!

Once she had removed the Cloak of Invisibility, a pure white and unhealthily thin kitten with blue eyes, no more than a couple weeks old, rushed up to her from the corner of the alley and readily began rubbing up against her leg while meowing loudly. What it wanted was hardly a mystery. Affection, perhaps, but definitely food!

Speaking of food, the three places for a bite that were closest happened to be a bakery out of which the enticing scent of sugary yeast was wafting, a classy coffeehouse which she would still be able to grab an inside or outside table at if she was quick about it, and a more proper restaurant that very obviously sold seafood, if the fish and crustaceans adorning its sign were any indication. That said, there was a bit of a language gap between the magic-user's version of 15th Century Eastern Europe and 20th Century Eastern Europa, but it seemed like there was enough similarity to guess the meaning of words with good accuracy.

That said, whatever the Aliorumnas chose, the kitten would be right in front of her, eagerly brushing back and forth across her legs as she walked as cats were wont to do, and liable to trip her up if she wasn't careful!

Outskirts of Gallian Capital

"'Wanted by the law'?!" Welkin quoted, taken aback. "I, uh, I'm afraid I don't know anything about your 'curse', as it were, nor why your sky has changed. Sky's the same as it ever was, from our perspective! ...And I'm not quite sure we should allow known criminals into our capital city, even if you are from a completely different jurisdiction. No offense meant, of course."

"Eh, what's the harm, Boss?" Largo questioned, rubbing his chin. "These folks'll stick out like a sore thumb no matter where they go in town! Should be easy to identify and find 'em if they cause any trouble!"

"That may be the case, but... to be honest, I'm also a bit concerned their appearances alone may cause a panic."

"Oh! I know, Welkin!" a sudden new voice piped up from the nearby waist-high grass, which was followed seconds later by a new soldier◊ standing up and revealing herself, previously perfectly concealed unless the observer was practically right on top of her.

"If we're worried about them causing a scene, I'm sure it would put people at ease if they had a member of the militia with them, right?" she suggested, tilting her head with a sunny smile.

"...That idea does have some merit..." Welkin admitted thoughtfully. "Alright, you've convinced me! Do you mind accompanying them, Sergeant?"

"Why, not at all, Commander~!" she replied with a grin, then pivoted to the Party.

"Sergeant Alicia Melchiott, at your service!" the brown-haired lady announced, saluting smartly and then motioning for them to follow her as she began strutting down the road toward the city. "Well, come on! I can explain some details about Gallia as we walk to Randgriz! Oh, for starters, that's the capital's name!"

Anor Londo, Palace

Silver's eyes widened a fraction of an inch in surprise at the revelation that Dracula was so close by, though Zariah's subsequent comment gave her a moment to recover and regain her cool. When she spoke again, it was in a carefully neutral tone.

"I believe there are a few related matters Your Grace should be informed of if my answer is to make any sense," she began. "First, the name of Dracula, and the manner of creature he is, are apparently shrouded in myth in many worlds other than the one that I come from. Where I come from, he and his supernatural powers are historical fact, and he has often caused trouble in the part of the world I am from, so I harbor a healthy amount of skepticism about negotiating with such a creature."

"However, our current state of affairs is also not the first time the City of Manhattan has been displaced between worlds. In fact, we are fresh off of a different unwilling transportation to a different sort of crossroads of worlds. On that other crossroads, which was referred to as 'Battleworld', a Dracula which was foreign to us had also been brought unwillingly to the same conglomerate of lands. According to what information we could gather, he had made war upon humanity with a dark army in his homeland, and sounds in many ways similar to how Your Grace described the Dracula who is apparently relatively nearby."

"The interesting thing was that the creator of Battleworld sometimes granted boons to those whom he was pleased with, in the form of wishes to be granted, with certain limitations. Dracula's first wish was for the resurrection of his human wife, Lisa, and her resurrection was granted. After that point, for the entire duration of his time on Battleworld, Dracula made no move to aggress upon any other territory, nor attacked any humans to our knowledge, and only went to battle to repel those who invaded him. It is possible that he still held a desire to destroy humanity and was merely biding his time, but the possibility that he had given up on his crusade led Lord Osborn to conclude that Dracula should be offered an invitation to the summit that was previously planned, prior to our being transported to this second new world."

"All of that is to say, Your Grace, we have no idea if the Dracula who has been brought here is closer in temperament and action to the Dracula of my homeworld or the Dracula that was encountered on Battleworld, but Lord Osborn intends to at least send a well-guarded envoy to that distant castle to feel out its owner's disposition, and possibly invite him to the summit if he is not hostile," Silver at last concluded, keeping her hands folded primly at her front.

Area 11, Northern Edge (Starscream)

Perhaps he'd predicted this, but the Britannians naturally saw Starscream approaching on foot and the nearest path into the city was ready with a pair of identically armored and armed soldiers once he finally reached the edge of the Settlement's ground level.

"Eyyyy, whazzup wit' you, wise guy?" one of them drawled, holding his gun incredibly casually. "Izzit cartoon dressup day and I miss the memo, or somethin'?"

"State your business in the Tokyo Settlement, outsider," the second one demanded in a calm but resounding bass voice. "If we're not satisfied with your answer, I'm afraid we'll have to ask you to leave."

Fuuka/Manhattan Border

Howard snorted at Fernandez's uncertainty, cracking a grin again.

"It was 'Does your universe have real people with superhuman abilities, and if so, what are they called?'" he reminded the Searrs grunt, then shrugged lightly. "Hey, think of it this way, man: we losers all gotta answer that question, and I can tell you right now the first part of our answer is gonna be 'yes', so it's not like you're not gonna get any info of your own outta all this, heh. Fair?"

Tokyo 205X, Karakucho

"Oh, cool, so is the Velvet Room like the name of your- Hey, wait a minute..." Ringo cut herself off in realization, narrowing her eyes at Kyubey before rushing out of the alley and pushing a psychic shout toward Homura and the rest of the group:

<HEY, HOLD IT! YOU BETTER NOT HURT TAKESHI, YOU GOT THAT?! HE'S MY BUDDY, OKAY?!>

<I'm sure Homura-chan wouldn't-> Minako tired to assure even as she and the others sprinted after Ringo around two corners and back down the street they'd come from. <I mean, I don't think she would... Would she?> she asked Mami a little nervously. In spite of having spent time fighting alongside the taciturn girl, Homura was still more a mystery to The Fool than most.

Spotting Oriko and Leif a little ways away from their destination, the SEES Leader quickly waved to them and beckoned with a call of "Oriko-chan! Leif-san! Over here!"

Sooner rather than later, they found themselves in front of the alleyway to the Velvet Room door again, whereupon Ringo threw open the door with reckless abandon and charged right in, followed quickly by her comrades, Minako, and Aigis.

Earth 11945, Forest Kingdom, North (Igno)

"I don't know where those words are from, but something about them sounds disgustingly corny, and I don't like it. Don't do that again," the android retorted dryly as she easily kept pace with the shape-shifter in spite of wearing what seemed to be high-heels. Come to think of it, how had she been fighting so well in high-heels of all things, anyway?

"Guess if we ever encounter other people, it's gonna be hard to know who I'm talking about if I just call you 'hey you' or 'freak'," she remarked as they trekked through the woods. "What's your name, weirdo?"

Manhattan, Church Grounds

Nearly the first locale both Alucard and Scratch would see upon crossing the big, obvious bridge into Northern Manhattan (or perhaps in Alucard's case, simply flying over the water), was the familiar sight of a smallish church with adjacent graveyard plots. As Alucard made to open the front door, however, it swung open of its own accord - or rather, because someone on the other side had opened it.

Standing in the doorway was a man in a spiffy suit and tie along with red sunglasses and a white-and-red striped walking cane. Pausing for a moment, this man seemed to realize Alucard was there half a second late, and said, "Oh, excuse me, Sir." Then he stepped graciously to the side to hold the door open for the dhamphyr.

Also just inside the doors was a familiar face: Father Frost! "Oh, Alucard! Back so soon? Did you find your friend? Please, come in! I certainly hope- Oh, wait a moment! Let me introduce you two! Matthew, this is Alucard, who I was telling you about earlier. Alucard, this is Matthew Murdock, a very fine lawyer friend of mine and a member of my flock."

"I believe in your time, they'd call me something more like a 'barrister' or 'legal scholar'," Matthew explained with a smile. "Anyway, pleased to meet you; friends call me Matt! Father Frost just insists on my full given name because... well, you know how priests are."

"So, son of the biggest, baddest vampire, eh? That's gotta be tough," he continued, letting the door swing closed when Alucard presumably proceeded inward. "Sorry, I'm not making light of you, I promise. I read your interview in the Bugle. You and your mother certainly seem like decent people. It's just... not every day you meet somebody you read about in the paper, you know? Guess I... don't quite know what to say. Haha!"

Laughing a little sheepishly, Matt took a seat on a nearby pew after feeling his way over. Perhaps the lawyer's blindness would become obvious to the Son of Dracula by this point, if he hadn't deduced it sooner.

Edited by darksidevoid on Jun 17th 2023 at 10:12:27 AM

Elaine, Eastern Ruins, Guardhome, First Floor Dining Hall.

Elaine, of course, had never heard of a 'chocobo' before now (or a 'chicken', for that matter), but much like the odd dead-eyed fish in the river earlier in the day, she's not about to question a free meal.

"Yeah, nice place." she remarks, sitting on her haunches with her forepaws up on the tabletop. "Thought we were gonna be roughing it. Not that I mind roughing it, you know, wild Eevee and all, but—sweet, thanks—I could go for some cooked food and air conditioning after... that."

She takes a long sip of water and looks around at the assembled group, some of whom hadn't been present for the fight, trying to guess at what points of common interest such a motley assortment might have in the interests of making smalltalk. She opts to start off with the obvious. "Same boat, huh? I was asleep, my trainer's apartment, then when I woke up I was under that big tree on that hill with some of the rest of you guys."

"We all pretty much wandered off in our own directions..." she raises a paw to indicate those she'd arrived on the hill with. "...while me, Conan, Makura, Ninetales n' Prettyboy here saw the ruins and figured we might find some answers and an ass to kick, cus I think that's sorta how it goes where some of us are from. Guess we kinda fuckin' did, huh?"

Hewkii, Castelia City, Castelia Battle Stadium, THE THUNDERDOME.

His pillar maneuver nearly scoring him a victory, Hewkii has precious little time to plan his next move before Arturia retaliates by using an ability even more uncannily similar to those wielded by the Makuta, leaving the distracted Toa only enough time to put his arms up to brace himself and, aided by his stone powers, dig in his feet to barely keep himself from skidding clear out of the ring by no more than an inch, putting him in the same perilous position as the gijinka—it's unfortunate, he thinks for a moment, that his mask's power doesn't work on himself or he'd be having a far easier time of things. Welp, there's that lucky hit.

In the commotion, however, he still registers that shield ability of hers... but he reckons if it's anything at all like the sort of protection afforded by a mask of shielding, it will only work for physical attacks that the user can see, and she'll have a rather difficult time seeing the force of gravity multiplying itself around her by a factor of five, the only sparse warning she'd receive being the Toa's focused glare and a telltale soft glow from his mask which it's supposed to do, as I should probably more explicitly note.

Time to do something really stupid.

Simultaneously, and to take advantage of what he hopes to be Arturia's momentary disorientation (if not immobilization), Hewkii channels his experience with more aggressive Kohlii play and charges, putting his full weight and momentum into a shoulder bash should he reach his destination, cutting the mask's power just before impact. A gamble, the Toa realizes, because if she has the reflexes to evade in that brief window, he might not be able to stop himself before barreling past the boundary.

If she somehow halts his charge, though, he figures at least he won't be so close to the edge anymore.

Edited by Chortleous on Jun 17th 2023 at 5:06:55 AM

Zacian, Castelia City Entrance

"I'll let her know if I see her," The large hound assured the group as they left. "You all take care now."

Castelia City, The THUNDERDOME

Krillin's prediction is essentially correct. Red's initial sweeping kick misses as the Pikachu uses Quick Attack to rapidly move out of the way in a manner not entirely unlike a short range Instant Transmission. His back kick, however, does manage to connect, sending the electric mouse tumbling backwards across the ground.

But it becomes apparent that Red got an attack of his own on Krillin, too. The martial artist would find himself getting an electric shock on his leg at the moment of impact, and the fighter probably has enough experience to tell the mouse is holding back to some degree. Not out of pride, but because this is a sport where safety has to be prioritized over people going totally full throttle at each other.

Red manages to get upright again, dusting himself off.

"Nice! I can tell this isn't your first rodeo."

Arturia suddenly feels her body weighed down significantly, and finds herself struggling to move under the influence of Hekwii's power. She ponders what options she has at this perilous moment. She didn't have time to fumble through her inventory for her Dynamax Band, and she wasn't sure if that was particularly sportsmanlike to use in a friendly spar like this anyways - or if it'd even help. Her assumption was that Hekwii's abilities would not be as effective on a larger area of mass, but that was merely, well, an assumption.

Oh, right. If she went deep into her movepool, she did have something exactly for this very situation - Autotomize. It temporarily gives a boost of speed and cuts the user's weight by 100kg at the same time. Now this woman most certainly does not look like she even weighs 100kg under normal circumstances, so it's a real open question how in the world such a move even works. But these were not normal circumstances.

Hekwii would see Arturia's entire body vibrate and glow with some sort of energy, and then… she stands up, in spite of her inherent troubles doing so. Somehow she became lighter, though she was still heavier than she was before and her movement was clearly strained. She attempts to simply roll out of the way of Hekwii's charge, hoping that he ends up taking himself out of the arena. She has time to do little else except slowly get back up on her feet.

Notably, she didn't move that far away, and is still vulnerable if Hekwii has time to react to this, if her wobbly legs are any indication.

Lola sees Seven retreat and use… hyper beam? Wait no, this attack doesn't exactly pack a punch. But she intuits that it's not a good idea to stick around and find out what this does.

She jumps way, way up into the air, to the point that it looks like she's flying. She soars over the beam, and descends with a kick aimed square at our bio mutant furry. Rather straightforward, but demanding immediate action in response.

Edited by HilarityEnsues on Jun 17th 2023 at 9:12:51 AM

Guardhome, Upper Floors: He Doesn't Know Many Tricks

After seeing the dangerous substance retreat from the room and combine with the (literally) alien figure in front of him, the wolf didn't seem all that relieved when said figure commanded him like a common dog.

Why should he calm down? Because that ooze wasn't everywhere anymore? All that demonstrated was that this stranger had a dangerous weapon at her disposal. A boxer doesn't drop his guard when his opponent pulls his arm back for a haymaker. What proof did the wolf have that this creature wasn't pulling this toxin back so that she can shoot it back out?

The man with the eyepatch was quick to side with the woman, and while that didn't offer the wolf much comfort, the boisterous voice of a certain fairy at least diverted his attention:

"Oh there you are, furball! The kid's sleeping in this room. Everything okay out here?"

Seeing the fairy float outside a nearby doorway, the wolf ceased his growling...but not before letting out a sharp bark aimed at Dark Samus, as if to warn her not to get too close. With that line in the sand drawn, the wolf eased up on his aggressive stance, and walked further down the hall.

"That's not exactly what I meant by 'dangerous.'" the fairy chuckled as she returned to the bedroom, a large four-legged friend following soon behind her. "Go by your definition, and the kid's plenty dangerous too. Back in Termina, we were moments away from stopping the moon from crashing into the planet, if you can believe it! Hence the reason why it's really, really important that we get back to the kingdom the exact moment we left it. Not much room for error, y'know?"

The wolf gave Lilynette little more than a passing glance, then walked immediately to the sleeping child's bedside. A few investigative sniffs, and the wolf's tail started to wag slowly. He chose to sit beside the bed, facing the doorway.

He wouldn't growl if that alien figure chose to step inside, but he'd get awfully defensive if she tried to do something forward, like approach the bed or touch it. Didn't matter to him if she was friends with Eyepatch; Eyepatch wasn't the wolf's friend.

Manhattan, Church Grounds: Seeking Direction...Just Not the Spiritual Sort

Fortunately, Mr. Scratch's journey to the Big Apple was nowhere near as bad as his first trip to Gotham all those years ago. Then again, it was hard to top a crime-ridden city that just lost its caped crusader. In the first hour alone, the creature of darkness witnessed grand theft auto of an Oscar Meyer weiner truck, was subject to a "toll" enforced by big men with tommy guns, and crossed paths with a literal Internet meme who had decided she wanted a her own castle in the city.

Compared to that, even an occasional scene of criminal activity was little more than background noise. It wouldn't even make him blink! But what did capture Mr. Scratch's attention was a noise he'd never heard as he passed a Catholic church on the outskirts of the city:

It was just a few words, judging by the composition—a greeting to a pale young man with blonde hair and the fashion sense of a Renaissance Fair enthusiast. Or a romance novel character, come to think of it. But what made the creature of Darkness pause wasn't the people speaking, just the words themselves. Words that he had never heard in his or the Old Model's life, and yet words he understood perfectly.

...well THAT'S new. the creature of Darkness thought. Don't remember installing Rosetta Stone in the Dark Place. Did that nerdy little baby-god do this?

Curious to test the extent of this convenient universal tongue, Mr. Scratch followed the lawyer and the cosplayer into the church. Once inside, he quickly stepped towards Father Frost as Mr. Murdock took a seat at a nearby pew.

"Excuse me, Father." he asked the holy man in English, then made a subtle glance to see if the Son of Dracula had understood him. "I seem to be a uhh...a little bit turned around. Gee, Alan, that's putting it lightly. I didn't exactly expect to find this city...here? I'm sorry, I know I'm not making sense."

Judging by the stranger's appearance, he was evidently well-off. A black three-piece suit, a gold chain, a watch valued in the 4 digits, plenty of cues that this man had either the checking account of a big wig, or the clout of one—probably both. But the fact that his shoes and pant legs were covered in dirt would tell Father Frost that this poor man had been hoofing it, and hoofing it hard. Must've woken up on the outskirts of the city or something.

Hyrule (Southeast Hyrule Field)

It wouldn't be long before Vaati's attention fell on the cottage, and as he approached it with quiet steps, he leaned in closer to attempt to read the sign, only to realize that if this was Hyrulean script, it was warped and mutated beyond his recognition. Deciding that he would eventually decipher it, the mage's attention shifted to the rest of what was present, coming to the conclusion that whoever lived here or took care of the house, they came by often enough that the house wasn't abandoned.

He should move on and leave it behind. Staying too long would risk him being seen and starting a confrontation. And yet there he was, trying the door and realizing it was unlocked. Taking a few steps inside, Vaati looked around with a focused gaze, just to make sure there was nothing or no one in there to ambush him. Once it became apparent that it really was just him, Vaati made a beeline for what he hoped to find most in the house.

A bed. A real, honest to whatever god was watching bed.

Guardhome, First Floor

"It's a pleasant change of pace from the monastery, that's for sure." Alma replied, with Ramza offering a nod of agreement. "There's more than likely a good bit of history here, I'm assuming?"

Once they both got their drinks, the siblings clinked their glasses together and took a sip from their respective mugs, with Ramza opting to speak up next once they'd put them back down.

"What is it you do here? You must have some reason for making this place livable beyond simple survival, some purpose that keeps you in the area." Ramza mused aloud, trying to figure out the puzzle that was presented to him.

Guardhome, Upper Floors

   "I'm...awake? Yes. I'm awake now."    The alien woman confirmed, not taking her eyes off of the wolf as it barked at her. Once it left, however, she looked at Starrk, and offered an attempt at a smile herself.

   "It is good to see you. Surprising, but good."    She went on to say, closing her eyes briefly and looking as if she was listening to something. Apparently, either by hearing the voices or by sensing their energies, she'd deduced that there were others on the lower floors as well as the new people on this current floor. To that end, she exited the room, and after getting a lock on the wolf's energy signature, she followed after him to peek into the room he'd gone into, hearing snippets of conversation from the sprite that was hovering near the beast. Taking notice of the child on the bed, Samus slowly stepped into the room, hanging back so as not to provoke the wolf any further.

Western Ivalice

While she couldn't pinpoint the source of the voice she heard, Lillian knew that she hadn't lost her wits or had a bout of Confusion out of the blue, which meant that someone else, or some-thing else, had tagged along without her knowledge or consent.

"Lady Oaks is hardly ordinary herself. Even before she fought alongside Thunder God Cid, she's had a reputation for being a terror on the battlefield, especially if Her Highness was in danger." Lillian said in response to the unseen commentator, feeling compelled to speak up in defense of her countrywoman. "Without seeing you in action, Link, I can't say for certain how you'd stack up against her. But if you two were to spar, taking her lightly would make any potential duel a very swift one."

Edited by Bored_Man on Jun 17th 2023 at 11:23:58 AM