X-DREAMERS [IC - BASE]

[Coryn02]

General Grievous - Gateway

 

The General followed the conversations that ensued. Utakata reiterated the base tenets of his current situation for the benefit of yet more newcomers.

 

As always, Grievous' mind was alive with thought. There being so many people in one place meant that the XDRS must either draw on a large number of dimensions for their recruits, or that all of them were brought here. Probably both, if there were as many dimensions as he suspected.

 

Wouldn't it be something if there was a dimension in which I were Force-sensitive... That would be a fight I'd rather avoid.

 

Something circled in the air overhead. As it approached, the General could make out a four-legged creature with a long neck, flying on feathered wings. Clearly another agent, of a species that didn't exist where he was from. It spoke in a female voice, introducing itself as Twilight Sparkle, and conferred with its fellow agents.

 

"...man, this multiverse is WEIRD." Temeraire commented, referring to Twilight Sparkle.

 

"Different worlds have different biology." Grievous said, waving an open hand. "Not that we should be surprised."

 

As more introductions followed, the General's attention was caught by something ironically tied to his previous comment.

 

A great purple beast had arrived with one of the agents; a threatening monster with a long tail that stood on its hind legs, armed with pointed fins on its forelimbs.

 

Sensational. Is this an aquatic predator? Imagine what an army of these could do, as amphibious war beasts...

 

Though his curiosity was piqued, Grievous dared not step closer. He wouldn't want to cause a scene by unnecessarily threatening someone's tamed creature.

 

As he studied this strange animal, Twilight Sparkle mentioned she would handle questions. As it happened, there were some slight logistics that might need to be in place, were he to serve as an XDRS agent.

 

"Will there be accommodations made for new recruits?" The General inquired. "I have certain... Requirements, if you'd be willing to accept my service."

[Mikasa361]

♫ Name: Utakata and Lara ♫

            ♫ Players: Temeraire, General Grievous, Vaccaria, Tien ♫

            ♫ Support: Princess Twilight Sparkle  ♫

            ♫ Status: Utakata- Much better ; Lara- Trying to keep her cool ♫

           

            ~~ It's not worth it ~~

 

 

Lara has too many things to say to Cistina, especially about her cold and obviously false apology. But Twilight steps in, as she always does, and addresses all of the newcomers. Lara steps back and sighs in defeat, realizing that maybe it’s not worth picking a fight. Regardless of the situation- Cistina is hurt and needs to see someone, perhaps Raine. She doesn’t want to fight someone- physically or otherwise- someone who’s already injured. It’s never worth it. 

 

Temeraire addresses Twilight first, asking if she is the leader. Lara herself knows that answer, but chooses not to respond, her eyes scanning over the remaining newcomers. Grievous asks about accommodations. She wonders what Utakata and the new boy would ask, but she doesn’t want to address anyone at the moment. Keeping a blank expression, Lara watches as the newcomers get their answers, turning her cube over and over in her right hand. 

 

…

 

Utakata is ready to spring forward and restrain Lara, considering her body language. But the second Twilight intervenes, she relaxes, and so does he. He can sense something wrong with Cistina, especially when she addresses someone named “Cerya”. He nods, acknowledging that, at the very least, something is wrong with her. So he lets her words go, not wanting to really think of them too much. After all, nobody here is named Cerya- and regardless of who she’s addressing, her sentence made some degree of sense. He may have given the impression that he knew more than the senior agents- and while he was merely trying to express he understood Lara’s words, perhaps it was the wrong thing to say.

 

Oh well. 

 

He smiles at Tien, brushing the past five minutes off his shoulder. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” he says, “By the way,” he says, looking at the white marbled rock in the lad’s hand, “that’s a cool rock right there. Is it part of a collection or something?” He can honestly say he sees a lot of his sisters in this boy, Shizue especially. From the shy demeanor to the interest in pretty stones, his heart aches of homesickness. But like he usually does in these bouts, he keeps a gentle expression and allows it to subside. It’s not, as he always thinks to himself, something he should allow to get to him.

Edited June 30, 2019 by Mikasa361

[Pachimew]

Status: Stable

Location: Gateway

People: Lara, Utakata, Cistina, Grievous, Vaccaria, Garchomp, Temeraire, Twilight Sparkle

 

Tien’s gaze slipped past Utakata to wander around the others, taking a quick stock of the others at the Gateway. 

 

A girl with something very odd on her head punched the air, as through running through a kata. Perhaps she was an ardent. Cistina looked shaken at a sudden lecture from another woman, her expression strained in a way that Tien recognized and empathized with. He thought for a moment about going to her and asking if she was alright, but--

His gaze slipped past Cistina onto the creature beside her, still eyeing him. He wasn’t about to get close to that. 

 

"Will you be coming with me, Garchomp? You can stay with the other newly-arrived."

 

The creature--Garchomp--finally looked away from Tien and shook its head, which at least answered Tien’s unspoken question about its ability to understand people. Probably it wasn’t going to randomly attack him. Probably. Hopefully. He could take his eyes off it for a minute, anyways, Fractal would warn him. 

 

His gaze went back to Cistina. The woman who’d chided her stepped back as Twilight stepped closer, extending a wing around her. Tien breathed a small sigh of relief, glad that someone else was helping. It kind of reminded him of how Fractal helped him…

 

That left the Shardplate-creature, and...a man who had managed to stay just out of his line of sight until now, sitting on a levitating broomstick.

 

Tien stared at him, thought process momentarily derailed. “Fractal,” he said softly, “are you seeing this?”

 

"Looks like the Surge of Gravitation," Fractal buzzed. "Perhaps applied by an outside source to the broomstick, rather the human? I do not see an honorspren or highspren with him, and we have both seen very clever fabrials."

 

Ahh, that made sense. Tien nodded in understanding and moved on.

 

The Shardplate-creature was approaching Twilight, but she looked unruffled by its approach. That was good; her calmness meant that she could probably handle it, and it kept the creature’s attention away from him.

 

So that was everyone, and--

 

"Utakata is talking," Fractal informed him. 

 

Tien blinked, turning his gaze back to the man in time to catch the tail end of the sentence. "...that’s a cool rock right there. Is it part of a collection or something?"

"Ah--" Tien brings up his hand and opens it so he can see the rock more clearly. He hadn’t really looked when he’d picked it out. "Yeah, it is! I found this one near a quarry--" He’d been scouting the battlefield ahead of time and taken a detour to see what they were fighting over in the first place-- "the way it’s marbled looks a little bit like a parshman’s skin, right? We’re supposed to go up and fight the Parshendi eventually anyways, so I guess it’s kind of a reminder of that goal!" Not that he was really looking forward to more fighting, but you did what you had to…Tien dug his hands back into his pockets to find other rocks to show Utakata. 

[Kiran]

Karen and Nidrak

Allies (?): Hibiki, Raine, Enterprise

Location: Castle

Current Morph: Spotted Hyena, Karen

 

They yelped as they crashed roughly to the ground, the fall aggravating their partially-healed injuries. They scrambled to their remaining feet, whirling around and snapping their jaws shut to threaten Hibiki’s retreating form. They hadn’t expected to be dropped and left behind like that (did the girl not care for her ally’s safety? Was she that confident in the healer’s ability to protect herself?), but didn’t have the time or energy to dwell on it. 

 

Hibiki had left and Raine hadn’t moved, so Karen and Nidrak stared at Raine, growling, teeth bared and tail curled under their belly. What was happening? Why? Raine didn’t look like she was in a position to attack them, being busy tending to Oil Girl, but that didn’t mean that someone else wouldn’t come in. Either way, neither of them wanted to start an unnecessary fight with a free human. 

 

We could ask her, see what her intentions are, Nidrak suggested, unsure. 

 

No, let’s just leave, he replied, not bothering to articulate the multitude of reasons why he didn’t think that they should stay. It didn’t really matter, when Nidrak could feel his thoughts on the matter. 

 

Xe agreed and they slowly began backing away, eyes trained on Raine the entire time. When they’d decided that they’d gotten far enough away they turned and bolted, running off and purposefully avoiding the stairs. They saw an ajar door and ducked inside, finding a small closet filled with cleaning supplies. The small space was both comforting and frightening; the lack of secondary exits was concerning, but the out of the way space meant that they’d be unlikely to be interrupted in the minute it would take for them to demorph. 

 

They nosed the door shut, then took a few deep, shuddering breaths. It served the dual purpose of helping to calm them down and letting them smell for anyone nearby. Cleaning chemicals, dust, blood, Hibiki, Raine, Oil Girl, the stale scent of over a dozen others. A few old scents that they didn’t recognize. There wasn’t anything unexpected, really.

 

What now? 

 

Karen took another breath. Honestly? I have no idea. We’ll start by demorphing, I guess. We won’t be able to get out of here without hands, anyway. 

Nidrak gave him a nudge to start the demorphing process, clearly glad to get out of the injured body. 

 

Demorphing was incredibly gross and strange, but that was hardly new. When the process was completed, Karen sat down, arms resting on his knees and forehead resting on his arms. So. No idea where we are except for information that we can’t trust, there’s a good chance that the others are dead and the world’s doomed, we can’t get back home, and there’s apparently a bunch of other people (that might be violent) stuck in a similar situation. That about sum it up?

 

We can’t worry about all that right now, Nidrak replied. Xyr voice was shaky - even if the rest of the animorphs hadn’t known that xe existed, xe still didn’t want to think about them being dead. It hardly seemed possible, after all they’d survived. We need to decide what to do next. 

 

Can’t just hide in a closet forever. 

Exactly. 

 

Check on magic gal, then? 

 

Mm. 

 

They stood and opened the door, peeking around the corner to see if anyone was coming. Karen winced at the smudged bloody pawprints clearly leading to the closet and stepped around them. 

 

They returned to the room where Raine was still tending to Oil Girl. Karen briefly wished that he had external pockets to stick his hands in. “Yo, I’m lost,” he said, raising one hand in a lazy wave. “Need some help?”

 

Why.
 

Like you had a better plan. 

 

blood and mud in a foreign land, trying to understand

[Marcus Pheonix]

Rimuru Tempest - Travelling to another world, again

 

Rimuru winced as his katana was struck from his hand. He raised his hands in defeat.

“You had strong form Lord Rimuru; however, you must remember to parry at the last stroke, a rigid arm is more easily broken,” Hakurou said politely. Rimuru grimaced, his words of criticism seemed to sting more than the impact on his hand.

 

[Answer: That is due to your skill – Pain nullification]

 

Rimuru rolled his eyes, “That was just a rhetorical thought Great Sage” he replied in thought.

As Rimuru went to retrieve his sword, Hakurou moved over to Gobta and the other Goblin Riders. It was definitely a good idea to utilise Hakurou's experience to train the fighters and himself. Rimuru sheathed his katana and summoned Ranga, the tempest wolf leaping out of his shadow to his side.

 

“Hakurou, I have other work to do for the day,” Rimuru called out as he mounted Ranga, reverting to his true form. Hakurou turned on bowed.

 

“Very well Lord Rimuru, I hope to see some improvement tomorrow,” the Sword Saint said. Rimuru felt a shudder run through him.

 

“Come on Ranga, Rigurd said there were people here to see us,” He said. The tempest wolf shot off, his long legs carrying them swiftly from the training grounds and back into the centre of the village.

As they travelled Rimuru looked at the surroundings, roads were being paved, shops and houses were being put up, all thanks to the assistance of the dwarven artisans. Perhaps he should no longer refer to it as a village, their little forest village was growing into a town.

It didn’t take long for Ranga to carry them to Rimuru's home located near the centre of town. Rimuru's mood dropped slightly as he saw the crowd awaiting him, the Goblin Lord Rigurd at its head. There had to have been several hundred goblins, most likely hearing of their village on the grapevine, and wishing to join the community. Rigurd's words quickly confirmed Rimuru's thoughts.

 

“My Lord! Several tribes have travelled here. They wish to join our village and be bestowed names by your grace!” He said as Rimuru arrived atop Ranga.

 

“How many are there?” Rimuru asked.

 

“A little over 350, according to Souei’s observations. What shall you do my lord?” Rigurd asked.

Rimuru’s magic sense scanned over the crowd. The small goblins were eagerly shifting about, trying to get a look at him.

“Great Sage, would I be able to name all of them?” Rimuru asked.

 

[Correct – however, two days rest will be required if names are given in one session]

 

Rimuru sighed.

“Okay! Step up. Your name shall be, Tamago. And you will be, uhh, Tomaygo…

 

Rimuru proceeded to name all the remaining goblins; but as usual, he fell into a deep sleep. But when he awoke, he wasn’t in his bed. He was laying on dirt, with open sky above him. Ranga, who would usually be lying next to him during his rest, was nowhere to be seen. Rimuru focused his magic-sense into the immediate surroundings; several humans, what appeared to be a golem, or an insectoid monster with a metal carapace, and a winged unicorn (?), were grouped not so far from him.

“Great sage, where are we?” Rimuru asked his internal helper.

 

[Unknown – the surrounding area matches nowhere in the forest of Jura, nor any of the territory that has been traversed, caution is advised]

 

“Hmm, it’s happened again. Though this time I’ve kept my body, and I don’t think I died this time either. The last thing I recall was handing out names to new inhabitants, and we had been prepping for conflict with the orcs. Perhaps the group there are mages who summoned me, like Shizue. Great Sage, is there any curse of obedience placed on me?”

 

[Negative, there are zero changes to you and your body]

 

“Well then, I guess I should figure out what’s happening,” Rimuru concluded. He began to move closer to the group, squidging along across the ground. His human form was armed, so it would be best to stay the unassuming slime for the moment.

 

“Hello! Was I summoned here by you? Are you demon lords?” Rimuru called out. None of them had even noticed he’d arrived yet, so he was having his doubts about the nature of his summoning; but it was best to get the direct questions out of the way first.

Edited July 2, 2019 by Marcus Pheonix

[Pachimew]

Status: Stable [Fractal: Curious]

Location: Gateway

People: Lara, Utakata, Grievous, Vaccaria, Garchomp, Temeraire, Twilight Sparkle, Rimuru

"....and this one’s from--"

 

"Hello! Was I summoned here by you? Are you demon lords?"

 

Tien startled at the new voice, almost dropping his rock as he spun to see who’d spoken. Then he blinked in confusion. Nothing was there…?

His gaze traveled downwards and landed on a small blue blob. Tien cocked his head. Was that what had spoken? He supposed it must have been. Fractal buzzed curiously and started to move away to investigate.

 

Tien tapped his foot quickly on her pattern as she reached the ground. "Stay close," he said softly.

 

"I’ll be back in two heartbeats if you need me," she promised.

 

Tien nodded slightly and turned back to Utakata as Fractal darted away to speak to the blob. 

"Hello," Fractal said, raising herself from the ground to become a complicated three-dimensional shape. "We did not summon you, nor are we demons. We were pulled away from our own world. So far as I understand, this is the case for everyone here. I am called Fractal; I am a Cryptic. Who and what are you? What world do you come from?"

Edited July 7, 2019 by Pachimew

[TehUltimateMage]

Raine -- Front Hall

[who's this?] - [sorry, i'm a little busy]

 

 “Need some help?”

 

Raine lifted her eyes at the voice, startled for a brief second, then shifted her attention back to the injured girl. Right -- it took a while to get used to the multiverse again. She could no longer read others' presences based solely on mana signature; too many beings didn't emit mana at all. 

 

"Nothing you can assist me with at the moment, no," Raine replied without looking up. The person who claimed he was lost appeared to be a fit human male with no distinguishing features or visible weapons, arriving from a direction inside the castle. Evidently, no one had intercepted him yet or explained the situation to him, so asking him to do anything would be a waste of time. 

 

 

~~~

 

 

Twilight Sparkle -- Gateway

[giving the Talk] - [taking questions]

 

"Hibiki told me this already, but I just want to be certain of it... You're the leader here, right?"

 

"Will there be accommodations made for new recruits? I have certain... Requirements, if you'd be willing to accept my service."

 

“Hello! Was I summoned here by you? Are you demon lords?”

 

"Yes," Twilight confirmed. "I am the founder of the eXtra-Dimensional Restoration Squad, and I lead the organization with the help of King Xander. Our job is to resolve anomalies happening in the multiverse."

 

Glad that people were beginning to open up with questions instead of immediately jumping at each other's throats again, the pony continued, addressing everyone with her answers. "Recruits?" she replied to the cyborg creature, then spoke to the rest of the group. "You don't have to stay and work with us if you don't want to. You haven't been summoned by us. The Gateway is designed to pull existing anomalies towards it, so we probably prevented you from getting dropped elsewhere in the multiverse and landing somewhere dangerous. That is, it is very fortunate that you survived the jump! Everyone, if we find your way home, you're free to return to your world."

 

"But, if you want to help our cause, you're welcome to do that too. When worlds begin to mix like this, the results are often wild an unpredictable, leading some worlds to twist, change, or vanish completely. This behavior causes worlds to scatter its people and places into other worlds, creating a chain reaction that destabilizes them in turn. We, the XRDS, are actively trying to stop this by putting everything back in its place."

 

"Whether or not you chose to stay and help us, there will be rooms provided during your time here. We'll see what we can do about your requirements," Twiliight concluded, nodding to Grievous. "What would they be?"

Edited July 5, 2019 by TehUltimateMage

[hikarinomemori]

 

Temeraire Rhowa, Warrior of Light
<Status: Stable; content>
<Location: Gateway>
<Current Class: Pugilist>
<People: Lara | Cistina | Twilight | Utakata | Grievous | Vaccaria | Garchomp | Tien>

 

~~

 

It wasn't too hard to tell that this was Temeraire's first time in a world other than her own, but she had to admit, Grievous had a point. For all she knew, there existed a world where the Primals were benevolent beings.

 

Wouldn't that be the day.

 

Temeraire listened intently as Twilight spoke, a little surprised that this Extra-Dimensional Restoration Squad had more than one leader. It seemed this group worked more like Ul'dah's Syndicate; here was to hoping it didn't have rampant greed-based corruption in the leadership, as well.

 

...yet hearing that the Gateway was designed to pull anomalies towards it made Temeraire absolutely thrilled for some gods-forsaken reason. It meant the Mothercrystal wasn't behind this, after all - whether Temeraire chose to stay and help, or go back to Eorzea, was entirely her own choice.

 

Better enjoy this while I can. It'll take some getting used to, being outside of Eorzea, but...

 

"Oh, you'd better bet that colorful tail of yours that I'm gonna stay and help out, Twilight. Helpin' people who need it is kind of my thing."

 

~~

 

Hibiki Tachibana
<Status: Stable>
<Location: Observatory>
<Gungnir Symphogear: Active>
<People: Stan | Natsuki>

 

~~

 

"You know, typically newbies aren't allowed up here."

 

Hibiki sighed, resisting the urge to apologize - this was kind of important. "I'll remember that for the future, but one of your friends wants you downstairs, Stan-san. I didn't catch her name, but she's got white hair and orange clothes, if that helps."

[Coryn02]

General Grievous - Gateway

 

The Kaleesh's attention towards the great beast was redirected when Twilight Sparkle answered his questions.

 

Recruits? You don't have to stay and work with us if you don't want to. You haven't been summoned by us. The Gateway is designed to pull existing anomalies towards it, so we probably prevented you from getting dropped elsewhere in the multiverse and landing somewhere dangerous. That is, it is very fortunate that you survived the jump! Everyone, if we find your way home, you're free to return to your world."

 

For just a moment, the Supreme Commander  of the Droid Armies, felt the gaze of the universe itself upon him. He trembled for a moment.

 

... She talks as if she didn't even build the Gateway. That essentially means the universe itself wanted me to be here.

 

Then, he smiled beneath his cold mask.

 

Ha... Fate has chosen me for this task.

 

"But, if you want to help our cause, you're welcome to do that too. When worlds begin to mix like this, the results are often wild an unpredictable, leading some worlds to twist, change, or vanish completely. This behavior causes worlds to scatter its people and places into other worlds, creating a chain reaction that destabilizes them in turn. We, the XRDS, are actively trying to stop this by putting everything back in its place."

 

This additional information confirmed what the General suspected already: his own dimension was in no habitable state at the moment. Whether it could recover at all, none could say, only reinforcing his decision.

 

"Whether or not you chose to stay and help us, there will be rooms provided during your time here. We'll see what we can do about your requirements," Twiliight concluded, nodding to Grievous. "What would they be?"

 

Thoughtful for another moment, Grievous considered the barest minimums for his survival aloud.

 

"I'll need a medical technician, to help me maintain my health. Replacement parts too, just in case."

 

"And a sparring partner. I'll have to stay sharp if we're defending the universe."

 

While it seemed trivial compared to the other concerns, he actually considered this request the most important. If he were to be in combat against anything the universe could have concocted, he'd need to be stronger than he was. This was beyond battling the Jedi.

 

"Have you got anyone who can keep up with me?" The General added, with a hint of amusement.

[Mikasa361]

 

 

♫ Name: Utakata and Lara ♫

            ♫ Players: Temeraire, General Grievous, Vaccaria, Tien, Rimuru ♫

            ♫ Support: Princess Twilight Sparkle  ♫

            ♫ Status: Utakata- More focused on the little brother and the food ; Lara- Intrigued ♫

           

            ~~ Two entirely different priorities ~~

 

Utakata blinks when he sees some weird looking pattern fly towards the new androgynous addition to the gateway. He raises an eyebrow at them, unsure as to if he could really be surprised anymore. Although seeing a two-dimensional pattern become some strange three-dimensional shape…. Really seems to take the cake here. He glances over at Tien and nods his head in the direction of the source of his puzzlement. 

 

“Hey, Tien, what is that?” 

 

He also takes note of the sudden rush of questions towards Twilight. The newcomer just has no idea what happened to them- he could relate to that one. Temeraire makes a comment of how willing she is to go out there and help, how it’s her ‘thing’. Grievous asks about medical maintenance and a sparring partner, to which he immediately shakes his head. No, he really doesn’t like sparring with people he’s unfamiliar with, especially if they don’t look in any way human. He thinks about these rather useful questions.

 

However. 

 

He only has one question for her. 

 

“....What is the kitchen like at base?”

 

...

 

“What is the kitchen like at base?”

 

The devil? Like that’s a bloody dealbreaker. She snorts at Utakata’s rather random question. Of course they have a nice kitchen, but with people such as Raine on base, she often wonders why exactly they even have it. 

 

She perks up when she had realized what Grievous had asked Twilight.. She’d been looking for some new opponents as of late, although she had a bit of trouble finding the right person to train with. Lara straightens out her back and tosses her hair behind her, ignoring for now the fact that she completely forgot to braid her hair back because of everything that happened after her talk in Stan’s room. She ignores the little flutter in her heart when she thinks about it, and focuses on Grievous. 

 

“What kind of sparring are we talking?”

Edited July 7, 2019 by Mikasa361

[Marcus Pheonix]

Rimuru Tempest - Pondering his options

 

Rimuru wondered if his magic sense was playing upon him; as the first one to respond to his query appeared to be a mass of squiggly lines.

 

“Yo great sage. Am I seeing this right? Is that a ball of lines?” Rimuru asked his all-knowing sage.

[There are no abnormalities in magic sense’s use]

 

“Wow… there are some weird creatures here,” Rimuru concluded

 

“Hi. I’m Rimuru the slime, Rimuru Tempest. I’m from The Forest of Jura” He responded, his little slime body stretching to mimic a waving hand.

 

Rimuru’s gaze shifted to the winged unicorn as she began to explain the situation.
“Hmm, as Fractal said, they aren’t Demon lords… That makes sense. If this is another world, and it’s the world that’s doing the summoning not an individual” He thought to himself.

 

If his world was experiencing problems and he was summoned here to save him; he had no other choice but to stick around. If he didn’t want to get bored, helping would be the best solution. At the end of her speech, she began to address the insectoid’s requests.

A sparring partner? Was he training as well? Rimuru couldn’t see a sword hanging from his side; though his metal exoskeleton looked more than capable of holding out in a fight. Shortly after his declaration, the attractive British woman responded to him. She definitely worked out, Rimuru thought; noting her toned stomach and legs. It seemed like she was also keen for a sparring partner.

 

“Umm, if by sparring you mean training. I had been practicing under a sword instructor prior to my transportation here. Would you be able to accommodate me?” Rimuru asked the insectoid.

[Kiran]

Karen and Nidrak

Allies (?): Raine, Enterprise

Location: Castle

Current Morph: Karen

 

Surprise, irritation. He hadn’t expected to just be brushed off like that, and it rubbed him the wrong way. “I know some first aid,” he said, crossing his arms. “She looks- huh.”

 

From a closer vantage point, he was able to see that the girl wasn’t bleeding as much as the depth of the wounds suggested. More importantly, tubing, wires, and metal plating crossed through her flesh. “I don’t actually think they covered that.” 

 

He was still annoyed (let it go) (says you), but, well, maybe it wasn’t something as simple as applying some pressure or pinching an artery shut. Clearly Raine had a lot more important things to deal with than him, but something almost felt… off.

 

Because you aren’t the center of attention?

 

Shut up. 

 

So yes. 

 

No, seriously, don’t you find it weird that something strange is happening and we weren’t immediately caught up in a life-or-death struggle or found some Yeerk plot or something?

 

...Huh. 
 

Natsuki

Allies: Hibiki, Stan, Raine, Enterprise, Kardrak
Location: Castle 

 

Natsuki sat with their forehead against the cool wood of the table. Unusually for them, for the moment they weren’t thinking of all of the things that they had to accomplish. Stan was lying on the floor, but he was just being dramatic. Probably. The Gateway would be fine with Xander taking care of it, and Natsuki didn’t particularly want to be around Xander at the moment. They knew it was cowardly, and they hated themself for it, but making Xander upset felt different from making other superiors upset. Instead of fear and a drive to do better, it was as if there was a crushing weight on their heart, telling them to curl up and hide. Inconvenient, unhelpful. Useless emotions interfering with the job again. 

 

Perhaps they should have followed Raine, but it was too late now, wasn’t it? 

 

As they were indulging in lamenting their situation they heard armored footsteps. Too light and quick to be Xander. They turned their head to the side to see, bleary, then shot upright. A faint tinge of pink dusted their cheeks at being caught in such an unprofessional position. “White hair and orange clothes?” they said, straight to business, unaware that their hair had become even more mussed up than it usually was. “I’ll come with you, in case she needs more help.” 

 

Did that sound too eager? They weren’t too eager, they just needed to do something. Even if a few seconds ago they’d wanted nothing more than to just lie on the table. 

 

Not waiting for a response, they strode out of the room and down the stairs. The girl hadn’t said anything about why Raine needed Stan, so they didn’t expect to see blood smeared across the floor or Raine kneeling next to an unconscious girl. Their eyes widened, and for a brief moment a shot of fear went through them. Cold rain and blood on their skin, dark stone and slick plants, fire and blood and darkness. Their fingers twitched towards their radio, but the heavy weight was missing. Sveta wasn’t coming.

 

They pushed away the images, bothered by their intrusion. The situations weren’t similar at all. They willed shots of drugs to flow into their system and the world clarified, stilled. They took in the scene before them as they rushed towards Raine, letting it chase away the remainder of the flashback. 

 

Dark fluid, revealed to be oil by scent, smeared bloody paw prints leading away, Stan and the girl not being behind them anymore. The girl’s injuries were partially healed, but they could see cut wires and tubing beneath her skin. That was what Raine needed Stan for, then, like how she couldn’t always heal Natsuki themself alone. 

 

“What’s her status?” Natsuki asked as soon as they were close enough, ignoring the slightly irritated young man standing nearby. He wouldn’t be any help with this.

 

 
 

Edited July 8, 2019 by Zor

[Pachimew]

 

Status: Stable 

Location: Gateway

People: Lara, Utakata, Grievous, Vaccaria, Garchomp, Temeraire, Twilight Sparkle, Rimuru

 

"Hey, Tien, what is that?" 

 

Tien froze. He shouldn’t have been surprised, really, he wasn’t very subtle, but he couldn't help the automatic worry that clenched at his chest. "That’s, um, uh…" Swallow hard, take a deep breath, get your bearings, he told himself. There are stranger things than Fractal, and nobody knows what she means. "That’s Fractal," he said out loud. "She’s...she’s my friend." Yes, that was a good way to describe her. Simple, evasive, and true. 

 

Twilight started to speak, and Tien turned to listen. 

 

"You don't have to stay and work with us if you don't want to." He let out a small sigh of relief. Cistina had already said that, but it was good to have it confirmed anyways. "That is, it is very fortunate that you survived the jump! Everyone, if we find your way home, you're free to return to your world." Fortunate, huh? Less reassuring, but still. He had made it. And he was free to return...though Tien didn’t like that ‘if.’

 

"When worlds begin to mix like this, the results are often wild and unpredictable, leading some worlds to twist, change, or vanish completely. This behavior causes worlds to scatter its people and places into other worlds, creating a chain reaction that destabilizes them in turn. We, the XRDS, are actively trying to stop this by putting everything back in its place."

 

...Oh. That didn’t sound good. That was a vast understatement, obviously, but Tien didn’t think he could actually handle thinking about the larger implications of returning home to find that the world had changed; or worse yet, of never being able to return home at all--

No. No no no. Tien squeezed the rock he’d been about to show Utakata. He couldn’t let that happen. If he was here, that meant his world was already destabilizing. He didn’t want to go home if it was in the middle of self-destructing--he wanted familiarity, storms did he, but he wanted safety and to live more. 

 

He could stay. He could stay and help until he was sure his world wouldn’t fall apart. And Fractal would be happy to have new places to explore.

 

Tien breathed deeply, nodding to himself. He could do that. He could. 

 

~~

 

"Hi. I’m Rimuru the slime, Rimuru Tempest. I’m from The Forest of Jura."

 

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Fractal said. She buzzed curiously as the little creature--slime, it had said--formed a small appendage to wave. Fascinating. Could Rimuru mold its whole body like that? What was a world that provided for such an evolution even like? Oh, there were so many things to ask… 

 

It seemed like all of them would have to wait, however. Twilight Sparkle was speaking, and Rimaru seemed more interested in her speech. Fractal supposed that was fair. Rimuru approached the Shardplate-creature, and Fractal decided to return to Tien for now. She had questions, yes, but she wanted to discuss things with Tien first. Convince him to stay long enough for her to ask them.

 

Conveniently, he’d already decided that he would.

[Eto]

 

 

 

[ add / hikaru

status: working / hungry

location: tokyo, japan ]

 

 

Add was going to punch God. Actually, no, that would be too simple. Add was going to punch every incarnation of gods and goddesses within the multiverse. Gods were supposed to guide the creations for the betterment of the world by giving them the means to pursue greater goals or whatever, right? They were supposed to be helpful and not send their subjects to some backwater world populated half by normal humans and half by cannibalistic humans with weird glowing appendages. Well, Add would have liked to call them cannibalistic since according to every news article he read they were only capable of eating the normal humans, but that was obviously a lie. Of course it was a lie, it had to be! If they only ate people then surely Add wouldn’t have to be fixing his teleporter drone for the sixth time that month because some stupid, worthless ghoul decided to take a bite out of it like the animal it was.

 

Slamming his wrench onto the bed, Add sighed in frustration. He had locked himself in the bedroom for the past three hours trying to fix the damaged drone in his lap to no avail. Drone repair was something he was used to considering how often he took them out for battle or exploration into the unknown. He normally didn’t mind repairing his drones; it gave him something to do, something to keep his hands busy while his mind drifted elsewhere. He wouldn’t be nearly as frustrated if the damaged drone in question wasn’t the sole key to hopping between multiverses. The longer it was broken the more desperate Add grew to leave the cannibal infested world and get back to his mission.

Exhaling loudly from his nose, Add fell backwards onto the bed. He dragged his hand down his face, moaning in exhaustion before pulling out the flip phone in his pocket. Add wasn’t sure why Hikaru wanted phones that “looked cool when you opened and closed it” when they had perfectly good communicators, but he stopped trying to argue when Hikaru threw himself on the floor and began wailing for forty minutes straight. 

 

Add pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, wiping down the screen and keyboard of the phone. He opened up his texts with Hikaru and began typing a new message.

 

> Are you coming back yet? I need your help with the drone.

 

Several blocks away from the apartment Add was staying at, HIkaru was happily waiting at the counter inside of a fast food restaurant. The city was still asleep; most businesses were still closed save for those who kept themselves open into the wee hours in the morning. Hikaru, the sole customer in the restaurant, hummed to himself as the cashier approached him with a brown bag in their hand.

 

“Thank you!” Hikaru chirped to the McDonalds worker, who handed him the bag of takeout with a wary, confused smile at the strange tongue. Whoops! He’d forgotten that those who lived in this strange, new place -- ‘Tokyo’, it was called -- spoke an unfamiliar language. Not that any language barrier had bothered him before in the past -- he found that a smile and a wave went a long way, no matter where he was. 

 

Clutching the bag tightly to his chest, Hikaru rushed from the store and out onto the streets of the bustling city. ‘Tokyo’, despite the warnings of danger everywhere he looked -- news sites reporting on recent activity, warning posters put up to remind people to avoid certain alleyways and dark nights -- was still busier and livier than the areas he was used to, and the atmosphere gave the young fox time to pause and smile happily to himself. He loved this -- when the place was busy and he was able to blend in as an oddity, ears tucked beneath a large beanie and tails carefully and masterfully stuffed into the oversized backpack on his bag. It had been a struggle at first to hide his more animalistic features, but eventually Add figured out an efficient way of doing so.

 

Add -- ! Remembering the mechanic brought a smile to the fox yokai’s face, and Hikaru beamed to himself -- scaring quite a few passersbys as he did so -- and quickened his pace. He needed to get back to their shared apartment before the fries grew cold!

 

Suddenly, Hikaru felt something vibrate in his pocket. Momentarily confused, the yokai shifted his shopping to one arm and dug around in his pockets, puzzled, before his fingers touched on a familiari item and Hikaru pulled out the little flip phone he had worked so hard to obtain.

 

Humming to himself, Hikaru analysed the item for a quick second. The phone was so fun to use -- he could flip it up and down and up and down, but quite troublesome to carry around; the rounded shape of the phone with the delicate screen meant that he would most likely snap the thing in two if he tried to hold it while in fox form, but certain sacrifices had to be made, right? He had nothing against not transforming for a bit in order to be able to use his new toy. 

 

Opening Add’s message, he scanned it quickly before typing back a one-handed response.

 

> Onw my way !!!!!!!!!! : DD !!!! ((( : 

 

Now he needed to hurry -- if Add required his aid with something, he couldn’t miss a single minute! Even if he didn’t quite understand the complexities of the drones the mechanic was so familiar with, he loved being around Add when he worked and watching the other man’s face change ever so slightly in accordance with what he was trying to figure out. Quickening his pace, Hikaru shoved his way through the crowd, trying not to wag his tails as he did so. 

 

--

 

Unbeknownst to Hikaru, he was being watched. From an alleyway, a young man watched Hikaru skip down the road gleefully. He’d seen the boy -- from far away at first, and then more often as he’d gotten closer and closer, every step taking the bouncing beanie closer to his grasp.

 

Then, he paused suddenly -- digging around in his pockets, and he’d watched curiously as the white-haired boy pulled a flip phone -- truly, a relic from older times -- from his pockets and scanned the contents.

 

A poorer citizen, then? That would make it easier. To -- 

 

He wet his lips, feeling chapped skin and iron under the taste of his tongue. 

 

The boy headed in the opposite direction, and he followed -- slowly, at first, and then quicker and quicker, getting closer as the white-haired one didn’t seem to notice any of his surroundings, much less someone following him.

 

Yes -- this would be an easy meal. 

 

--

 

Back in their shared apartment, Add squinted at Hikaru’s reply. He wasn’t sure if he was having trouble reading the text because of how harsh the blinding, white light of the phone was in the dark room or it was because of the excessive use of exclamation points and the ridiculous “smiling faces” HIkaru insisted on using. Add stared at the message for a moment longer, all the while contemplating adding another hour in his and Hik’s daily reading session, before sighing in defeat.

 

“Cataclysm,” Add said as he leaned his head upside and off the side of the bed. On top of the dresser a small cube suddenly lit up with purple light. The ears on top of the cube twitched curiously as two white eyes on the front of the cube sleepily blinked open. The cube floated up into the air, its new tiny mouth appearing just in time for it to yawn. 

 

“Good afternoon, Creator!” Cataclysm chirped happily. It flew towards Add, ears perked up in interest. “Is there something I can do for you today?” Add rolled over onto his side before presenting Hikaru’s text to the cube. 

 

“Could you translate this?” Add asked. Cataclysm floated closer to the phone. Cataclysm hummed thoughtfully, whiskers twitching. 

 

“Oh I know what that says!” Cataclysm said proudly. “It says: O. N. W—” 

 

“This was a mistake,” Add said. He sighed before lifting himself up by his elbow, tossing his phone onto the comforter. Even as he stood up from the bed and headed towards the shower, Cataclysm continued to translate. 

 

“Exclamation point. Exclamation point. Colon. Deeeee.” 

 

“Cataclysm!” Add yelled from the bathroom. He stuck his head through the door to find the cube floating just a mere inches away from his face. “You,” Add said, pointing his finger at the cube’s face. “Should go watch the door and tell me when Hikaru arrives.” The cube bobbed itself forward vigorously in an attempt to nod like a human would.

 

“‘Kay!” the cube said happily before floating off towards the entrance of the apartment. Add watched Cataclysm wander off until it turned the corner. He closed his eyes, rubbing his temples in frustration. Whatever, Add thought as he returned to the bathroom, shrugging his jacket off. He would reprogram Cataclysm later if needed. 

 

On the outside, their shared apartment looked perfectly ordinary. Having lived with Add for what seemed like forever now, Hikaru was familiar with the white-haired man’s likes and dislikes, and exactly how he wanted to keep a home. Though Hikaru himself didn’t really have any preferences for specific table settings and how to make the bed in the morning, he enjoyed those moments where it seemed the small things brought Add joy. With this in mind, Hikaru shifted the bag from his arms to rest slightly on his hip, freeing up his hand to dig around in the large jacket for his keys.

 

He pulled them out, the metal intertwined with bits of lint and candy wrappers, and shook the mess off before shoving the key into the keyhole, sheer luck ensuring that he unlocked the door after only one attempt. It was still strange to the young fox yokai that human living required certain intricacies, when before he would have simply knocked down the door and left it to be fixed later. 

 

Before he debate internally with himself any more on the strange manners of human living, Hikaru’s attention was drawn by a small cube to his left, one that fluttered around him for a split second before calling back.

 

“He’s here!” 

 

So Add had awakened Cataclysm, and still required his aid? This was curious, and Hikaru tilted his head before he removed the beanie on his head with a hand, shrugging off the backpack. Flickering his ears to rid them of the stiffness obtained from lying still for all of his trip, Hikaru was just about to set down his bag and undo his outer jacket when Add’s voice sounded from the hallway before him.

 

“Took you long enough!” Add huffed. He had hastily put on a pair of clean clothes before heading out of the shower to great his companion. Add folded his arms across his chest as he entered the living room. 

 

“Add!” Hikaru called immediately, perking up at the sight of the mechanic, dressed immaculately and with his arms folded across his chest. Although Add’s figure was slim, he still radiated control over the ensuring room, and the young demon broke out in a wide smile at the sight of Add’s sudden imposing form. How endearing! He loved it when Add was serious.

 

“I got McDonalds,” he chirped, completely ignoring the other man’s words as he bound up to him, opening the bag as he did so. “The lady was super nice when taking my order; all I had to do was point! And they gave me one extra ketchup too! Look!”

 

He pulled the packet from the bag, waving it around to accentuate his story.

 

Add opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly frowned when he saw a familiar brown bag in Hikaru’s hands. “What did I tell you about bringing that garbage into the house?” Add asked, staring pointedly at the offending bag. “Last time you brought it home you got grease all over Starfall.” Add could remember the last time Hikaru offered him fries from a similar brown bag. When he pinched the fry between his fingers a disgusting grease had oozed out onto his glove, staining any fabric it touched. Add’s fingers twitched irritably at the memory. “I hope you aren’t planning on bringing that food into the bedroom,” Add said disapprovingly. 

 

Hikaru cocked his head, seemingly confused by Add’s hostility. He shook his head, emptying his mind of his worries as he smiled brightly. Knowing Add doesn’t like mess -- and remembering the last time he’d tried to enjoy his fries by wandering around the house and touching everything that drew his fancy, Hikaru leaned up to give Add a quick peck on the cheek, his tails twitching with affection, before drawing back. Add turned his head away when Hikaru kissed his cheek only because he didn’t want to get grease his lips and not for any reason.

 

“I’m gonna eat these on the balcony!” Hikaru declared, proud. “I want to watch the cars! Maybe I can hit one if I throw these down.” 

 

Add subconsciously rubbed his cheek, mumbling to himself under his breath before suddenly remembering where Hikaru was going. 

 

“Oh, no you don’t!” Add yelled as he rushed after Hikaru. The yokai had already opened the balcony doors when Add grabbed his wrist. “We are this close to getting out of here for good,” Add hissing, raising his hand and then pressing two of his fingers close together. “We’ve already wasted enough time in this dimension as it is. Besides,” Add snatched the bag from Hikaru, shivering as he spotted the grease stains pooling at the bottom. “You’ve eaten nothing but these fries for the past 3 days. I know you’re new to human cuisine, but that’s no excuse to eat nothing but fried potatoes and nothing else.” 

 

Add, realizing he was still holding Hikaru’s wrist, let go of Hikaru before clearing his throat.

“I need your help with repairing the device, but once that’s over I’ll order something better for you or cook something you like, alright?”

 

Hikaru blinked back in confusion as Add spoke quickly.

 

But -- his fries! It’ll only take a second … Hikaru mewled in protest, a sound at the back of his throat when Add grabbed the bag from his hold easily and inspected the stained brown paper bag with a slight shiver. 

 

“But they’re tasty,” Hikaru whined back as a response, and he had half a mind to grab the bag from Add’s hold and swallow it whole, but was stopped when Add lets go of his wrist and seemingly readjusts himself.

 

The promise of food -- other food, new things to try -- and Add potentially cooking is too good to pass up, and Hikaru quickly forgot the McDonalds he had been so desperately striving for only a second before. “Okay!” he chirped eagerly, ears perking up as he waits for further instructions. He can do this -- be good, obey Add for now, and he will get food as a reward!

 

Add lead Hikaru into the living room and towards their shared bedroom. Once inside, Add flopped down on the bed and gestrued for Hikaru to get closer.

 

“Do you see these two panels?” Add asked as he gestured towards the middle of the drone in front of him. “I need you to hold them open so I can work inside of it. It shouldn’t take too long; I know what I need to do, but I can’t hold the panels open and work at the same time.”

 

Hikaru nodded in response to Add’s words -- that seemed easy enough! Admittedly, he was not quite the best person to work with his hands, much more used to brute-forcing his way through most things, but he did not want to disappoint Add as of right now. Not when there was delicious food on the line. 

 

He took the two panels into his hands, adjusting his grip. They are pried easily open, Add’s drones consistently well-oiled and checked for regular maintenance, and peered at the mechanic curiously.

“Oh! While I was walking today I saw a curious man. He had hair, except not on his head! The middle of his head was bald, and his hair was all around it! But no one else seemed to think it was weird, so I tried to pretend, but I really wanted to touch his head …”

 

Add hummed noncommittally as he reached for his needle nose pliers. He already learned early on that Hikaru didn’t expect Add to engage with him while he went on his rambles which was more than fine by Add. It was nice to hear Hikaru gush about his experiences out in the world however mundane they might be. 

 

Add nodded along to Hikaru’s raving as he twisted a red wire inside of the drone. From the kitchen Add heard a distinct wet squelching sound. He visibly cringed, a disgusted noise emitting from the back of his throat. Did the bag fall off the counter? Even if Add didn’t plan on staying at the apartment for much longer, he knew he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to leave until he scrubbed the grease off the floor.

 

“Ultimate Fury,” Add said as he twisted a wire. From the other side of the room, the aforementioned drone came to life. Its front screen blinked on as it floated up into the air. It turned towards Add expectantly. “Get rid of the brown bag in the kitchen,” Add said, vaguely pointed towards the door the bedroom. Ultimate Fury made an upbeat, robotic chime in response before floating out the door. 

Satisfied with his handiwork, Add removed his pliers from the drone and wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead. 

 

“That should do it!” Add said. He threw his pliers back into the tool box he acquired them from. Rubbing the back of his neck and sighing with exhaustion, Add glanced over at Hikaru. “I know I said I’d cook something for you, but if you wanted to go somewhere else to eat, maybe somewhere we’ve already been, we can do that too. Either way, as soon as you’ve eaten we should move on to that organization’s headquarters. I’d rather not waste more time than we’ve already have.”
 

Hikaru barely noticed the noise from the kitchen, too wrapped up in explaining the exact details of his day to the other man. He wanted Add to be able to experience what he was not there for, considering it was so interesting to the yokai at the time. Determined to express exactly why the day’s events had brought him joy, Hikaru did not pause in his speech even as Ultimate Fury whirled to life and disappeared into the next room. Add’s drones were nothing if not efficient, and there was no need to worry about them messing up, ever. 

 

Instead, he turned his attention back to Add and returns to the present when the mechanic leaned back with a smile, his voice suddenly filled with triumph at the results of his handiwork. 

He perked up immediately at Add’s words, ears flickering as he considered his options quickly in his mind. He loved it when Add cooked, true, but -- the temptation of going out to eat is too strong.

 

“McDo--” he began to say, but was abruptly interrupted by a sudden crash in the kitchen. What was that?

 

--

 

From the balcony, a shadowy figure rose. He came in through the window, slowly, pacing his footsteps even as the hunger burned a warm pit deep in his stomach. 

 

He had to be patient -- that is one of the lessons they were taught, but day by day that passed he found himself remembering only the face of a man he had once trusted so much, and none of the lessons passed down. Perhaps this was not what he would have wanted, but he was not here, and instead there was only the scent of stale air and the desire for blood. 

 

He reached a room that he took a second to realise as the kitchen; the stovetops are only vaguely familiar as part of human living, something he barely remembered as a tool humans use to cook their meals. The lingering smell of previously cooked food made his stomach turn and he covered his mouth with a hand, brushing past the old eyepatch as he does so. He had to move away, closer to the two --

 

The shift of his heavy clothes knocked down the bag on the counter, and out spilt something disgusting -- yellow sticks coated in grease and oil, and a smell that wafted up to be entirely unpleasant to his nostrils. 

 

He paused for a second, to see if anyone had heard his movements, but when minutes passed and no movement occurred he relaxed once more. Before he can take a step forward, break from this room into the next, however, a small beep sounded and a white item fluttered into the room.

He reacted almost immediately, drawing back in surprise. An attack? But no -- the item did not strike towards him immediately, almost seemed to not notice him for a second, and that pause is all he needed.

 

Immediately, he attacked; a glistening, glowing blue kagune waved from underneath his cloak and curled tight around the white machine. The drone beeped furiously, the previously clear light on its interface now a flashing, urgent red, but he did not give it any time to pause or sound an alarm. 

 

He tightened his kagune, feeling the tentacle echo in his blood as it curled tighter and tighter around the drone. More appendages slowly emerged from the darkness under his large hoodie, brushing the fur against his chin as he drew himself to his full height and ripped the finely-decorated parts of the drone into pieces brutally, not hesitating in his actions. He wanted it to stop -- the beeping, the flashing lights, the sudden, jerking movements reminding him of a past he longed to forget, and then --

 

Silence.

 

--

 

“Someone’s here,” Add said. He stood up from the bed, hands clenched into fists as he cursed under his breath. He should have known that the sudden noise was from an intruder, but how did they possibly get in? The front door was rigged with a security system; if anyone unauthorized tried to enter the room they would be blasted to smithereens. Add bit his thumb anxiously. He rushed to the door and slammed it shut, quickly latching the bolt lock just in case. Add’s drones were technologically superior to everything in the garbage pit of a planet he landed in so he doubted someone could break into the system without him noticing. If that was the case, how did someone manage to—

 

The balcony. 

 

Hikaru didn’t close the door behind him. Not only that, someone must have been watching the apartment to see Hikaru leave the door open. Knowing exactly what inhabited the world, Add only knew one kind of person that would try to sneak into someone’s apartment when its occupants were clearly awake. 

 

“We’re going now,” Add hissed. Add didn’t doubt that he and Hikaru could chase the ghoul out of the apartment given time, but even the slightest chance of the teleporter getting broken again was too much. Add would rather let the monster take him then sit around in the creature’s disgusting world for another half year.

 

Add’s sudden shift in mood was enough to warn Hikaru that something had changed -- the fox yokai’s ears straightened, the calm, casual air abruptly broken with the sudden sound from the kitchen echoing in the way Add’s eyes narrowed.

 

The mechanic stood up sharply, thinking to himself, just as Hikaru gently let the sides of the machine close, freeing his hands. 

 

Add marched over to the bed his eyes burning with fury. With a flick of his wrist, the dynamos laying on top of the dresser came to life. They floated towards their creator as the other drones in the room all slowly came to life. Add reached for the teleporter. He pressed a button on its side. There was a soft hiss as the panels on top opened, revealing what appeared to be a rotating blade. The cracked screen on the side of the teleported blinked on. Glancing down at the screen, Add could see the last coordinates he had entered: the coordinates for the so called X-Dreamer’s home base.

 

Someone began pounding at the door fiercely. The wooden door splintered on each impact, causing shards of wood to fly off the door and scatter upon the ground. Instinctually, Add grabbed Hikaru’s arm and pulled him closer least he get hurt or try to approach the intruder. The yokai let out a yelp, suddenly interrupted from bounding forward and engaging the mysterious attacker -- a ghoul, for certain -- Add turned back to the teleporter and, without hesitating pressed the ‘travel’ button. The blades inside of the device began to spin increasingly fast. A purple light began to emit from the device just as the pounding on the door grew louder. Add turned towards the door, fists clenched as the teleporter began to make an audible whirring noise. The door suddenly flew off its hinges. Add could see a glimpse red pupils surrounded by black sclera just as the room was bathed in violet light and—
 

---

 

 

Stars hung overhead. The air was cool and crisp, the grass a verdant green, and there was a door launched straight at Add’s head. Add ducked down, the door sailing straight over his head. His dynamos flew down to catch him, creating a small platform to break his fall. He gulped in the air. His fingers shook as he tried to stand up. The dynamos shifted their position until he was standing up and they were completely under his feet. Add looked down at his hands, touching his fingers together as he opened and closed his fists. He seemed alright so far. He pressed his fingers urgently to his neck. He could feel a steady, if not somewhat quick, heartbeat pulse under his fingertips. The teleporting didn’t cause any heart problems—unlike that one time—but he’d need to check his vitals later. Taking in his surroundings, Add manage to spend a good 4 seconds looking for his companion before a bright, blue appendage suddenly blocked his view. 

 

He reared back, his dynamos keeping him in the air. He raised up his leg and kicked towards the appendage. The dynamos pointed towards the enemy, purple electricity bouncing off the surface as they shot a purple laser directly at the enemy. The attacker howled with pain as its appendage was signed. It jumped away just as Add floated backwards. 

 

Now with a distance between them, Add could properly assess the intruder. It was a young man, around his age perhaps, with matted blond hair and deathly pale skin. He had the signature black and red eyes that all ghouls had, although, it would be more proper to say signature eye considering that he had a large, black eyepatch over one eye. The man appeared to be poorly groomed. His hair looked greasy like he had dumped it straight into a frier. His attire, which was just a ratty hoodie, pants, and boots, were stained with unknown substances, and his hands were twitching irritably. Add shivered with disgust once he realized how much dirt and filth the stranger probably dragged into the apartment. The most obvious of the man’s features were the eight long appendages—kagune they were called—sprouting from his back. If Add recalled correctly, kagune were designed specifically to hunt humans which probably wasn’t good for the nearby group of humans the man was staring at. 

The man looked confused for the most part, glancing to and fro while he licked his lips nervously, but once he got sight of the nearby group of people, he perked up. He blinked at them, taking a step back as though he was uncertain what to do. Add followed his gaze. His eyes landed on a familiar white haired man near the group and he sighed with relief. 
 
“Hikaru!” Add called, startling the ghoul out of his stupor. “Get off the ground! The garbage man came with us!” Add eyed the group warily. Now that he thought about it, they should have arrived at X-Dreamer’s homebase, right? If Add was being honest with himself it didn’t look like much. He’d have expect a multiversal organization to have more resources than just a small planet, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
 

Hikaru groaned in response, sitting up as he felt soft grass brush his fingertips. Momentary dazed from their rather unconventional teleportation into the new world, the yokai took longer than usual to gather himself before the events of only moments earlier snapped back to him and he instantly shot up, alert.
 

A ghoul! A mixture of delight and fear combined in his stomach, excitement at the prospect of battle and the quick realisation that they had dragged an unknown creature into an unfamiliar land with them fusing together. Growling low in his throat, Hikaru watched the exchange still halfway on the ground. 

 

“You should really knock before you enter someone’s home,” Add said to the ghoul who quickly turned to glare at him. “If you’re going to try and eat someone, you should at least be polite about it.”

“I don’t need advice from food,” the man hissed. His voice was low and raspy as though he hadn’t spoken in a long while. “Nothing you say will matter when I have my hands around your throat.”

 

“Very scary,” Add said, faking a yawn. “I’m positively petrified.” With a nod of his head, Starfall floated up to his side. “Listen, if you so much as think about touching me with those grimy hands of yours—” Starfall snapped open, sparks dancing off the crystal inside of it. “—I will personally punt you out of orbit and into the sun.”

 

The ghoul bared his teeth. He glowered at Add before he took two steps forward “Oh? Are you approaching me?” Add sneered. “Well come on, you gremlin.” Electricity sparked in the palm of Add’s outstretched hand. “I’ll put you into the ground!” 

 

The ghoul let out an inhumane snarl. at the insult, his kakugan snapping awake with furious red veins. His kagune fiercely pounded onto the ground as he braced himself to attack, sparkling blue electricity up and down the ghoul’s form as the appendages howled into the air, splitting the fluffy white clouds and covering the sun’s rays.

 

There was a brief pause, and then his kagune shot forward -- drumming against the ground and slicing through the grass, towards the small group of gathered humans.

 

--

 

Food -- !

 

--

 

[ boss encounter ]
 

 

[ dimitri alexandre blaiddyd
classification: ghoul
kagune type: rinkaku
power level: ?? ]
 

[Pachimew]

 

Status: Panicked

Location: Running

People: Lara, Utakata, Grievous, Vaccaria, Garchomp, Temeraire, Twilight Sparkle, Rimuru, Add, Hikaru -- Xander, Nata

BOSS BATTLE: DIMITRI

 

Tien bolted.

 

Maybe if he’d been a better person, he would have stayed. Tried to protect the others, tried to fight the, the, the human-shaped whatever that was, but he wasn’t and he didn’t. He just ran, kicked into high alert, a single split-second heartbeat away from summoning Fractal. He couldn’t fight that, didn’t want to even try--there were other people here, one of them had to have something! Tien was a messenger, this was his duty--alert others, run messages, don't get killed.

 

Which way had Cistina gone? There. That way. Their base must be in that direction. Tien ran, Stormlight keeping him from tripping or tiring. Someone there would help, could help, where Tien didn't have the courage, and he could still let people know--

 

Tien slammed into someone. He blurted out an automatic apology as he stepped back, then got a good look at the person he'd bumped into. Gilded armor, a circlet--darkeyed? That was a conflicting signal, but the man didn't look remotely Alethi in the first place. What he did look, despite his eye color, was important.

 

Tien snapped into a salute. "Sir! Attack at the Gateway!"

Edited July 8, 2019 by Pachimew

[Mikasa361]

 

 

♫ Name: Utakata and Lara ♫

            ♫ Players: Temeraire, General Grievous, Vaccaria, Rimuru ♫

            ♫ Support: Princess Twilight Sparkle  ♫

            ♫ Status: BOSS time ♫

           

            ~~ Snap into it ~~

 

 

 

A sense of alarm flooded his body the second Tien started running. And for good reason, too. 

 

For in front of him are three newcomers- none of whom he feels any sense of comfort around. 

 

Bold of him to think that he’d be comfortable around anyone at the Gateway currently, though. 

 

Utakata notices that they don’t all seem to be in league with each other. Two of them were- the one with the foxlike features and the one with the crazy look in his eye--

 

--Well. 

 

Rather, the one with the white hair and the crazy look in his eye. This man seems rather nonchalant in attitude towards the third man, who gives Utakata a feeling of nausea. That look in his eye, is not normal. The matted blond hair, is not normal. That eye with the black sclera and the bright red pupil, is not normal. 

 

Those eight blue arms, are definitely not normal. It’s strange, though. It doesn’t look anything like Utakata’s tailed beast mode. None of the vibes this man gives off tell him that he’s one of the nine jinchūriki. No, not at all. Nothing about his hair or his clothing can tell him that. The eye, while he could perhaps recall seeing someone with a similar feature, a certain orange haired and heavily-pierced man coming to mind, looks totally new and unfamiliar, especially with the veins bordering his eye and branching out as if his face were made of clay and hit by a rock. 

 

And the look that he sees when the man turns to face the group- the one of hunger and bloodlust….

 

Danger. 

 

Utakata, you’re going to need me, aren’t you?

 

Hang on, Saiken. But be alert. I might have to bring you in-- SHOOT. 

 

The man’s tails move forward- in their direction, and the moment one of them gets close he jumps back. “NOPE--” he shouts without a second thought. He feels the adrenaline shooting through his veins- yes. He knows exactly what is going on here. He’s in danger. Again. 

 

What the hell made him think he’d be safe here? 

 

Saiken. I need some of that chakra. Now. 

 

You don’t have to tell me twice. 

 

As he had done before, Utakata feels the chakra emanating from his body. He notes that his wounds feel slightly better, but perhaps the adrenaline had yet again helped him from noticing that they even hurt in the first place. Or, perhaps, it would be the accelerated healing taking effect. 

 

Perhaps there are perks to having a Tailed Beast, after all. 

 

…

 

“NOPE--” Utakata’s yelp is the exact thing Lara is thinking. Immediately she picks up the gun she had dropped to the ground. Oh hell no. Not today. She takes a few steps back when she sees the strange tails attack as if they had minds of their own. What on God’s green earth are those? 

 

Lara fires a shot at one of them. As intended, it misses. But she wonders if that’s enough to try and get him to back off. 

 

Little does she know. 

Edited July 8, 2019 by Mikasa361

[hikarinomemori]

 

Temeraire Rhowa, Warrior of Light
<Status: Stable; In Battle; OH HELLS NO>
<Location: Gateway>
<Current Class: Pugilist -> Ninja>
<Allies: Lara | Twilight | Utakata | Grievous | Vaccaria | Garchomp | Tien | Add | Hikaru>
<BOSS Enemy: Dimitri>

 

~~

 

"NOPE--"

 

That yelp was enough to alert Temeraire to the danger presented by this weird guy. He looked like a Hyur but there were these things coming out of his back. And he had that ravenous look on his face, like a starving jackal. A Voidsent, perhaps?

 

No time to dwell on that.

 

Before she could move, Temeraire heard a gunshot ring out. So one of the people here was a machinist, most likely. No time to figure out which one just yet, though - definitely not in the middle of combat.

 

There is no way in the seven hells that I'm becoming someone's dinner.

 

Temeraire drew out her daggers, arming herself, eyes darting around for an opening. She wouldn't attack just yet, instead opting to crouch down low, hoping to remain hidden.

 

She wanted to see what the others would do first.

[Marcus Pheonix]

Rimuru Tempest - Mighty Morphin Slime Ranger

 

Rimuru didn’t have time to wait for a reply from the insectoid as the crowd grew once more by the arrival of three new individuals.

Rimuru sensed it straight away, that murderous intent, the aura of a killer had just wafted into their location. It was emanating from a blonde-haired young man. His visible eye was blood red, highlighted by the jet-black sclera, Rrimuru felt a small chill ripple through his body, this man was dangerous, he’d definitely be able to hold his own against the oni back at Rimuru’s village.

A small chuckle couldn’t be contained, however, as Rimuru noted the eyepatch.

 

“He looks like a chuunbiyou!” Rimuru exclaimed, unable to contain himself. He was reminded of his days as a salaryman; walking past the parks on his way home. He would see groups of young boys and girls, all wearing eyepatches; posing and miming intense battles.

 

The man’s intimidating presence was instantly quaffed by Rimuru’s own stupid imagination. The gunshot that sounded from the athletic lady’s pistol drew Rimuru out of his bemused state; his laughter died down and he turned his thoughts back to combat.

The other agent’s actions had yet to be openly hostile, great-sage confirmed that the shot fired earlier had not hit the man. The man in question was seriously outnumbered, even with Fractal’s friend sprinting off. While his aura was intense, and his bizarre tentacles were unusual Rimuru wasn’t concerned for the time being as they wildly struck the ground.

 

“Let’s get this kid to stand down great-sage” Rimuru declared.

 

Rimuru activated his skill Mimic, his small slime body was engulfed in a black - magicule filled – cloud. The magicules raged upwards like a blazing bonfire. The fog cleared; revealing towering dark blue wolf, a white mane bordered its neck and chest, and two spiralled horns pierced out of a star-shaped pattern on the centre of Its forehead. Black sparks of lightning bristled through it’s main, dispersing at the tip of the tallest horn.  A bolt of black lightning struck down violently in the path of the oncoming tentacles.

Rimuru growled, lowering his gaze down at the tentacled Chuunbiyou.

 

“Stand down. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself being the one eaten!” Rimuru declared, his high voice from his slime form persisting despite his larger size.

 

“Dammit, he has electricity running up his body! Why did I use lightning? He might be resistant to it! I should have used the black fire, it worked great in subduing the oni! Oh please stand down, those tentacles are freaky!” Rimuru thought.

[Coryn02]

General Grievous - Attack at the Gateway!

 

Lara asked about what kind of sparring that he'd asked Twilight Sparkle about, as did a smaller creature that looked as though it were a ball of water.

 

What world would a creature like that come from? Maybe a water world, like Naboo? It's intelligent, so perhaps it's more threatening than it appears...

 

Just as he was about to respond, the General heard something thrashing off in the distance.

 

That doesn't look good.

 

His augmentations made it out clearly: a human, but obviously not a normal one. It had grown a number of dangerous-looking tentacles from its back, and had an eye with a black sclera to match. And it was barreling towards the Gateway.

 

It wasn't often that he had to face off against something with so many appendages at once. Assuming it put up a fight, this might be a good chance to prove himself to the XDRS.

 

While it was possible that this was another dimensional refugee like the others, Grievous wanted to take no chances. If another fight was going to break out that diplomacy couldn't solve, he would not let there be casualties.

 

Much sooner than expected, the strange human got close and lashed out. A popping sound resonated, while Lara brandished a weapon. Clearly a gun, but nothing that had seen use for centuries in his own world.

 

The intensity of the situation made Vapaad a favorable lightsaber form in this situation, but the Kaleesh decided that it might be best to keep his demons locked away for now. Shii-Cho was adaptable, reliable, and did well against multiple opponents. Each of those tentacles would probably rip him apart or run him through, if they got the chance.

 

He waited, biding his time for the right time to strike. It would never come soon enough.

[TehUltimateMage]

 

Twilight Sparkle -- Gateway

[fight fight fight!] - [gotta protect everyone!]

 

 

Twilight nodded, preparing to answer both the General's and Utakata's question, but her attention was drawn away by a painful yowl ringing through the field. Her ears perked up immediately, on high alert. She froze to listen. 

 

One of the humans, white-maned, was standing in the air, supported by a few small machines and looking down at a blond haired one, who she guessed was the one who screamed. Neither of them appeared too hurt however -- even if the latter looked quite dirty -- and they stared at each other for a tense and hostile moment. A third human was close to the first, also bristling at the blond one. 

 

Oh no, not again. More frenzied newcomers? A set was rare, but it did seem like they knew each other... At least she knew this time for certain that Xander and Nata were on their way to subdue the more violent of newcomers.

 

The alicorn stepped forward. Her attention was trained on the white-haired one all through their hostile banter, ready to intervene. Twilight's first priority was to make sure that no one injured themselves, and that included the two young men who looked like they were about to fight through intimidating each other with their respective displays of power. But -- despite facing the white-haired man and his machines, the blond man smashed his tentacles into the ground and sent them rolling behind him towards the assembled group.

 

As always, Lara was the quickest to the draw and a gunshot rang through the air, but the rest of the newcomers drew their weapons (or in the slime's case, too a new form?) and stayed on guard. Twilight's magic blazed to life around her horn. An arcane pink glow swirled around it and shot forwards before spreading, forming a tinted barrier before the claw-like tendrils could sink into any of the gathered humans. The pony flinched and dug her hooves into the dirt -- those tentacles were a lot more solid and durable than their ephemeral appearance suggested.

 

"Run!" Twilight shouted. "We'll take care of this!"

Edited July 11, 2019 by TehUltimateMage

[skwerl56767]

   ((Look I'm actually getting involved again!))

 

   The flames of the Gateway had died down soon after both machines noticed them, fast enough that Fiddlesticks quickly lost interest.
   You sure grow bored quickly, don't you? one of her threads teased. She mentally huffed at it.
   I'm just looking for something to do, she muttered back.
   You just planned something!
   We're all busy looking at the fire. Or what WAS a fire.
   "Hm," Typhues grunted, as if in response to her thoughts. His wings fidgeted as the scene calmed, and the 56 model looked at him. "I guess everything's okay."

 

   A shriek nearly cut him off, resounding somewhere close to the Gateway's stones, but out of sight. Both machines perked up again. Without the fire accentuating everything, figures were again blending into the dimly-lit grass and the sky. All of them were too distant to properly see what was going on, but it looked like some people were leaving?
   Typheus' eye followed the moving shapes leaving the scene as he tried to focus on what they were. They were coming closer, it looked like. Fiddlesticks kept looking at the horizon, wondering if they should do something about this, or just stay out of it...
   Just then, she caught a shadowy form displacing the green grass. Then a much-too-familiar bang echoed from the clearing that kicked her engine up a gear: a gunshot!
   Typheus jerked back to toward the Gateway, eying the stones and the distant figures. He could see it too now... dogs? Giant snakes? There were black things moving rapidly along the ground, then they were stopped by a barrier; not blue like Duke's, but pink against the skyline. Twilight?

 

   He shot a worried look at Dynarst and Kelsier, just to catch their reactions, before a red-brown shape darted out of his peripheral.
   "Fidds!" he barked impulsively, immediately reaching to stop her. Too slow! Dang that mech! his threads growled.
   Fiddlesticks didn't listen to him, running ahead, ears laid back, already loading her turrets and feeling her momentum carry her. There's a fight there's a fight there's a fight! Finally I can beat something up!! She whistled happily. It's about time!
   "Fiddlesticks!" Typheus roared after her. He ran after her, only glancing once at the Luthadel humans in embarrassment of letting her run off like a child toward danger. She was quickly gaining speed, rushing toward the Gateway, so he snapped his wings open and fired the thrusters to catch up to her. She only looked back at him when he kicked off the ground, figuratively grinning. Her iris was completely dark, yet the rest of her eye glowed bright with excitement.
   "Don't look at me like that!" he reprimanded her, "where do you think you're going?!"
   "We're going to fight!"
   "Fiddlesticks!" Worry flashed through his expression for a second. Before he could point out that she didn't have a clue what they were running into, she beeped and went into a full on charge, heading toward the snakes - wait, tentacles?! - that were stopped by the barrier.

 

   He thought quickly. She's a brash idiot and needs a second to think, was his first thought. He gave his thrusters an extra flush of fuel to go ahead of her, flying up higher so he wouldn't hit a Gateway stone. What's going on, what's going on... His eye darted over the scene. The barrier was Twilight's, and she had raised it in front of most everyone else present. The black snake-tentacles were definitely aimed toward them. The air was tense. Those things must be what caused the gunshot.
   Moving fast, he dipped down and unsheathed his right bayonet, striking the long blade across one of the outer tentacles, more intent on redirecting his partner. He felt an unusually strong impact ring up its edge, giving him a brief shock; those things were tough?
   As Typheus flew up and back to keep his distance, Fiddlesticks, having caught to flash of his blade, immediately jumped sideways to avoid it, killing an unfortunate amount of her momentum. She resumed her movement in a strafe and opened fire on the tentacles, shattering the silence with the rattle and bangs of heavy artillery. Pings rang out as bullets that missed hit Twilight's barrier. She didn't really care if she was doing damage or not; this was fun!
   Typheus hovered away from her, quickly reassessing the scene. Human, wolf, horse, human, alien, human, human - those things are from a human?!
   What IS that?!

Edited July 12, 2019 by skwerl56767

[Mikasa361]

 

 

♫ Name: Utakata and Lara ♫

            ♫ Players: Temeraire, General Grievous, Vaccaria, Rimuru, Add, Hikaru ♫

            ♫ Support: Princess Twilight Sparkle  ♫

♫ Enemy: Dimitri ♫

♫ Status: BOSS time ♫

           

 ~~ Six-Tails: At the ready! ~~

 

Ah. The bots are here, Lara thinks to herself as she sees Typheus from the last mission yelling at…. He called her Fiddlesticks. Interesting names, but she definitely heard stranger names back at home. She once heard of someone named Chardonnay, and she worried that the poor girl had her share of bullying for her name alone. There was also a man once she met named Quest. Fiddlesticks was not that unusual to her, especially for a robot. 

 

Twilight had formed a half-dome shield between them and the man with the weird appendages, and Lara thanks her lucky stars that she has something to get behind- even if it’s for a moment. She sees Utakata look at her with confusion and some fear at the gun. “Lara what the hell is that???” 

 

“No time to explain,” she snaps back, “It’s called a gun. That’s all you need to know.” She slips around the side of the shield and takes aim. She fires towards the knee, and without looking to see if she managed to hit, hides back behind Twilight’s shield. “What the devil are you doing, Utakata???” 

 

Indeed, he looks strange with that odd aura surrounding his body. It’s a fiery orange colour, which makes her briefly wonder if others can see it. They have to, right? As far as Lara is aware she doesn’t have any super special superhuman powers, as useful as they would be right now. If not, had anyone been paying attention the sudden yellowing of his irises would also be a dead giveaway that he’s up to something. 

 

Typheus struck a tentacle with his blade, and seemed surprised by the impact it made. Alright, they’re not ethereal, Lara thinks to herself. But maybe if I can wound him…. Hopefully that bullet hit. She sees Fiddlesticks beginning to shoot in that direction, and is thankful she managed to get a shot in before Fiddlesticks began to attack. Hopefully if they wound him they can restrain him and figure out what in the seven hells he’s trying to do right now.

 

…

 

This is complete madness. 

 

Right now he just needs a power boost. That’s all he needs right now. 

 

Saiken. There’s a chance I may need more than this. But for now remain on standby.

 

My power is yours when you need it. What are you planning?

 

I just want to see if I can use my jutsus and do something. If I’m lucky maybe I can trap this guy in a bubble and send him far away. 

 

He would still be on the planet.

 

...Point. Think maybe I’d have to ink bubble him?

 

Not unless necessary, explosive bubbles should suffice. Think with your head, not your adrenaline. See what Lara’s doing? She’s attempting to hurt him. That weapon looks like it could kill if she hits the right place. 

 

….Think she’s trying to apprehend the guy?

 

I think so.

 

On it. But no promises I won’t kill him if he tries to attack me. 

 

I’m aware. Just use your head. 

 

Utakata nods and acknowledges the slug’s advice. Perhaps this guy would be useful to the XDRS if they were able to take him in. As long as he wasn’t this frenzied all the time, that’s something Utakata thinks he can live with.

 

Temeraire seems to change almost immediately when the man attacks them, and she appears to take on more of a kunoichi’s look. What…? He thinks to himself. The newest blob…. Thing? ….takes the form of a large wolf, and the more time passes here the more Utakata just wants to find a room and hide. This is a lot to process. 

 

Then he sees the strange creatures that came in. One comes after the man’s tentacles while the other begins shooting a barrage of…. What are those? They appear to be stronger versions of whatever Lara just fired, but he has no idea what this strange weapon is. None of it makes sense to him. 

 

But none of it matters now. Utakata grabs his pipe and picks up the tube of fluid that he realized was next to him. Dipping the pipe in the fluid, he turns so that the bubbles could fly out from behind the shield without the strange barrage of small projectiles hitting him. Hopefully the explosive bubbles do the trick….. PLEASE don’t let those things pop most of them.

Edited July 12, 2019 by Mikasa361

[TehUltimateMage]

Raine + Stan -- Front Hall > Infirmary

[backup's here] - [natsuki, oh, natsuki]

 

At the new, familiar voice, Raine looked up and locked eyes with Natsuki, then shook her head from side to side.

 

"Not good," she replied, trying to keep cool. Natsuki was here -- good -- and it was always nice to have an extra pair of steady hands. "She's still breathing, but all I can do is keep her stable at the moment. I'll need you to prepare an antiseptic in the infirmary, as well as tools to for cutting and draining the excess oil, if possible." Half machine people... they were incredibly troublesome to heal, and with this girl's insides damaged so dramatically... Her magic could take away the pain, at least... but it had been a long, long time since she had felt so incapable. 

 

"Don't try to lift her," she warned. "Even with your strength, she is impossibly heavy."

 

Shortly after she and Natsuki finished speaking, two more people arrived on the scene. Hibiki was back with Stan and his tools, as instructed. Good.

 

"What's all the fuss about? Hibiki didn't explain too much--" Stan paused. From the pawprints leading away from the front hall, Stan expected that Raine needed some help wrangling a robot dog or something. The smell of blood mixed with the pungent scent of fuel, though, was enough to silence him and flatten his usual smile. With his bag slung over his shoulder, he too approached the girl. He gave Natsuki a respectful glance on the way, and crouched beside Raine to take a look himself.

 

He was no stranger to fresh wounds or various flesh wounds, although he hadn't personally been this close to something this dire in a while. For some people, the sight of blood made their skin crawl, but Stan had banished that fear long ago. Bodies were exactly like complex machines, after all, and a person's natural fear of bones and innards was an instinctive alert that there was something, very, very wrong with a situation. Stan noted the all too familiar burn and impact patterns of an explosion marking the victim's left side--

 

Stan paused during his examination to look behind him, towards the young man who was simply just standing around. He was keeping his distance, but didn't seem like he was going to leave any time soon. "That your girlfriend or something?" he jokingly asked him. Hopefully he'd lighten the mood.

 

He dragged his eyes back to his work, fishing out a small flashlight from one of his pockets to give him a little extra light. Even through Raine's healing, he could see the metal within, and he understood why the healer needed him so urgently. This woman -- her mechanical parts were integrated in her body as if they had grown with her flesh. They were much more robust than the delicate circuitry he was used to seeing in cyborgs and she almost reminded him of a motorcycle, albeit one that was shaped like a person who had a hole in her side.

 

"Yeah, I think I can do something about it." He clicked his light off. "Might need to torch some things together, but it looks a lot worse than it actually is."

 

Raine gave him a nod. She still looked tense despite the good news. "Natsuki and I will offer you support. I know we shouldn't move her too much, but it would be much more convenient to do this in the infirmary. Hibiki, would you oblige?"

 

~~~

Raine - Infirmary

[modern medicine] - [with stan and nat]

 

Unlike the fridge, the medicine cabinets at the base were well stocked. Raine had learned a lot about what Natsuki called 'modern medicine' during her time with the organization, and in moments like these that knowledge really showed its usefulness. Some of it she knew already, such as keeping proper hygiene and the meaning of changes in vital signs, but much of the theory and practice was new and fascinating, having been developed to respond to a world without magical healing. She liked to think that knowing anatomy made her a more effective healer (though in the end, it probably didn't make a difference).

 

Once the wires, pipes, and structure were repaired, it was a simple matter of calling upon mana to accelerate natural processes and stitch everything up. Right now, though, she sat within arm's reach, eyes half closed and a faint glow emanating from her while she held two fingers on the girl's neck to monitor her breath and pulse. It was mostly up to Stan and Natsuki to do the technical part. It was already an incredible feat for Raine to hold back her healing while still sustaining her vitals, so as to give them the ability to work on the innards. The words the other two exchanged sounded distant. She assumed they were giving each other instructions.

 

After what seemed like ages, Stan tore off his rubber gloves with his teeth (the two other agents insisted that he put them on and disinfect all his gear; he grudgingly obliged) to signal he was done. He put his welding pen aside, then blinked his eyes a few times to refocus them to a normal zoom level. When he got up to stretch, Raine snapped back to attention, the glow of mana responding to her now alert state and spreading across the girl's form, repairing her flesh in a matter of minutes.

 

The girl was now sleeping peacefully, but the three agents were too exhausted to exchange any further words. Stan dropped himself onto a chair, taking in a deep breath and let out an equally big sigh. 

 

Edited July 13, 2019 by TehUltimateMage

[DuskOfTheStars]

[Enterprise]

 

Enterprise's eyes fluttered open. The pain was gone. Am I...? The world came into focus around her.

 

Gone was the warmth of the sun, light of the sky. Instead, a white ceiling greeted her. She looked around. The room was white, with several beds and sink, as well as cabinets. A white-haired woman, dressed in orange, a black-haired person, and a man with brown hair and bright green goggles were sitting in chairs around her. Who...? She didn't recognise any of them. She didn't hear - or - see her eagle in this place, either. Wherever she was... it wasn't home.

 

She tensed. How am I here?! I was fighting Sirens... and then one got me... and.... She'd presumably blacked out, before waking up here. But... where was here? There weren't any repair ships or obvious military doctors or military personnel, yet one of the group appeared to have welding supplies.

 

"What... what is this place..." She spoke quietly, on alert. She had no idea who these people were, who they were aligned, what they were planning. It left her unsettled.

[hikarinomemori]

 

Temeraire Rhowa, Warrior of Light
<Status: Stable; In Battle>
<Location: Gateway>
<Current Class: Ninja>
<Allies: Lara | Twilight | Utakata | Grievous | Vaccaria | Garchomp | Rimuru | Add | Hikaru | Typheus | Fiddlesticks>
<BOSS Enemy: Dimitri>

 

~~

 

The first thing Temeraire noticed was the tiny slime turning into what she knew was a wolf. Of course, that didn't stop the slime from still having quite the high-pitched voice.

 

...and then... it seemed Twilight was more resourceful than appearances let on. With a simple glow of the horn, the colorful horse had created a powerful barrier (though it was a bright pink - Temeraire supposed she had to expect that). That definitely pinned the Squad's leader as a scholar (she just couldn't see Twilight as a white mage).

 

Then two very strange, mechanical beings arrived to help against this freak. Automatons, to be certain, if their weaponry was any indication, though some of it was missing their mark and bouncing off of Twilight's barrier instead.

 

Another gunshot from Lara - yep, definitely a machinist. Only machinists used guns, as far as Temeraire knew. They built automatons, too - did these two belong to Lara? Or were there more machinists in the castle that she didn't know of?

 

And then Temeraire catches sight of Utakata's aura before he... blew bubbles? Temeraire knew not to underestimate anything, but Utakata using bubbles to attack struck the Sun Seeker as odd.

 

Better to attack from behind the barrier, instead of trying to sneak to that freakshow. A shuriken ought to do it.

 

With lightning-fast reflexes, Temeraire draws a shuriken and throws it, through the shield, past Utakata's bubbles, and to one of the freak's tentacles. Hopefully that would slow him down...

 

~~

 

 

Hibiki Tachibana
<Status: Stable; relieved>
<Location: Infirmary>
<Gungnir Symphogear: Inactive>
<People: Stan | Natsuki | Raine | Enterprise>

 

~~

 

As soon as the white-haired woman was on a bed, Hibiki had dispelled her Symphogear and plopped down in a nearby chair to catch her breath.

 

Of course, it wasn't long before she heard a new voice. It came from the white-haired woman!

 

"Oh thank goodness! You're okay!" Hibiki was so relieved!