Posted January 17, 2019 (edited) Name: Evonna Durand [Players-- Vincent, Sora, Pascal] [Support-- Chikako, Echo] [Status-- Interested in my girlfriend's story] ~~Yeah, how DID you get here?~~ Chikako took a bite of her pajeon thoughtfully. She listened to everything Pascal had to say- especially Pascal wondering how she got there. "Well," she started off, "I've been coming here off and on for a couple of months. See, I discovered an access point early on not too far from where my clan lives. We've kept it in the family, though the Hokage-- the leader of the village-- is the only other person we've made aware of the discovery, for now at least. Right now my family's been taking various errands and small missions to make sure our world is kept safe from any further harm. I've just been coming here off and on. My sister wants nothing to do with this kind of thing right now, since she and I just became Chunin- er... higher ranked ninja. Yeah. My world is a little crazy." Evonna raised both of her eyebrows in response. She was indeed very interested in this girl's story, and indeed she had a lot to learn about Chikako's world. She also had a lot to teach Chika about her world. It was interesting to see how people were able to come here and go home. "I'm very interested in the people of this organization as well. I've always liked meeting new people." Chikako smiled at Evonna. "It's always good to have connections." Evonna nodded. "That it is. There are some interesting people I've met, including a girl named Tara--- M***E. I LEFT HER ALONE." Chikako giggled. "Looks like someone doesn't know how to keep track of people." "Tais toi, Chikako." "Nani...?" "Shut up. I.... M***e. Oh well. I hope she makes her way back safely. Who else have I met.... Some kid named Edward but I think he decided to go home... Sora.... Ooh! I also met someone named Lara Croft. She's a little intimidating, but she speaks French so I like her." Chikako giggled and took another bite of pancake. "I heard of her.... I think I saw her once too. She was really, tall." "Anyone's tall compared to you though, to be fair." Chikako puffed her cheeks. "Tais toi. Anyway.... I'm excited to become a part of this organization, hopefully." Evonna smiled at her. "Me too." Edited January 19, 2019 by Mikasa361 Share this post Link to post
Posted January 18, 2019 (edited) [ Ready Players -- Sora | Pascal | Evonna | Vincent ] { Support -- Chikako | Echo ; Status ; Encounter -- Strangers Keyblade ; Oathkeeper -- Unarmed } Confrontation -- New Faces ; New Friends She kept saying 'Master'. Why, and in what manner, was the man this girl's 'master'? Sora's mouth tugged down at the corners, blue eyes staring at the girl as she stares back. She seems so quiet and withdrawn, maybe even stiff. "Are you okay?" he asks her, voice soft as if hushed to avoid being overheard. "Echo." Sora tried the sound of her name, smiling as it rolled free from his tongue. "It's nice to meet you," he added a heartbeat later. "Huh? You don't... need food?" It was a strange idea to him. Echo was human, right? At least, she looked very much like a human. So why wouldn't she need food? He was about to ask, head slightly canted to the side and lips parting to let words pass. Pascal's voice continued through the air, capturing his attention as she began speaking more directly at him once more. Xander and Natsuki... That was the blond man with the crown and the uniformed person. Right? Yeah. Nodding faintly, Sora took another bite of his food and chewed then swallowed before verbalizing. "If I remember to, I'll get something before we leave." Almost like an after thought, he quickly scarfed down a few more bites. His gaze shifted towards Chikako and Evonna, listening to the former's situation and then the following back-and-forth. At last, his gaze returned to Vincent, studying the blond-haired man and his mismatched eyes. Edited January 22, 2019 by ValidEmotions Share this post Link to post
Posted January 18, 2019 [ vincent ; -- add. echo ; -- for. s & p ] -- status. dormouse ; wound demios ; dormant } for you, the abyss. -- Vincent taps his fingers on the side of the counter, one hand coming to rest beneath his chin as he considers the girl's words, his eyes betraying nothing as he watches her fold away pancake after pancake. "Impressive," he says, a light word, using the brief amount of time his comment gets to consider his options here. He could be honest -- after all, they were seemingly truthful in their dealings with him so far, but where was the security in that? A half truth then -- just enough to gather their trust, but not enough to implicate himself. Vincent deals in small, delicate measures, and he knows when he must be careful, tread lightly, protect himself. He listens to the black-haired girl's tale with only half a ear, picking out important information and discarding the rest. His fingers play a soft melody on the wood that only he can hear -- a repeated, sad song that reminds him of a past that is no longer remembered. When the girls' bickering finishes and there is a small lull in conversation, multiple pairs of eyes fall on him naturally as the successor to such a tale. "Nothing much to tell," Vincent says, a soft smile playing on his lips. "The world I come from is a place of natural societal chaos. Cracks in dimensions aren't as much an abnormality as they become flavour text to pass on the story of your ancestors. And I," here, he reaches into the folds of his dark cloak, through the seemingly endless layers of black fabric, and draws out a single gold pocketwatch affixed to a chain, which he snaps open. The clock's hand bounces between the two numbers steadily, an enchanting rhythm that almost gives off an unsettling feeling. "Happen to be part of a group that investigates these cracks." He is leaving out details -- of course. The Tragedy of Saliber was not named such for no reason, and despite Pandora's best efforts -- the Abyss grows bolder by day, and they are not any closer to finding out the truth. Gilbert's eyes from their childhood, wide and panicked, with that purple-red-yellow bruise on his face echoes in his mind, and Vincent's eyes narrow slightly. He remembers -- being a child, being beaten for existing on the same plane as the woman -- Lacie, cursed Lacie -- who had caused such disparity, being a child born only to an unkind fate. "It just so happens that I was pulled into one," he says cheerily, although his eyes do not change -- they are calculating, near-glowing. "And here I am now. With Echo, my companion -- who has followed me into an unknown world." He does not mention -- the implications of Echo being so far away from the Abyss -- morbidly, he wonders if the girl would die should they reach a place where the Abyss' lull no longer can contact them -- Noise, dear Noise, would he be able to rest, then? -- and smiles instead, closing his pocketwatch and tucking it back into the folds of his cloak. "My organization members are all busy on their own." Not so -- for certainly his disappearance has confirmed Break's suspicions on his activities. "So I have nothing but time and curiosity that is yours to spare." At the mention of servants, Vincent's eyes widen in surprise before he schools his face back to one of complacency. He hadn't pegged the ones before him as very high standing in society -- nor ones to own slaves, since it seemed interestingly enough there existed worlds and people who considered loyal servitude wrong, but perhaps he was wrong. That would make his job easier, certainly -- he is nothing if not good at adapting, and it is all the better for him if there are certain concepts by which he is familiar with. "Well, that's what servants are there for," he murmurs, almost as a secondhand comment, not putting much much thought into his words. "For cleaning." -- Echo blinks, staring in surprise as Sor's bright, passionate blue eyes gaze directly at her. She has half a mind to look away, to break herself from that fiery glance, but instilled manners from a childhood raised by noble households holds her in place, and she returns the look, blinking quickly. "Echo is fine," she replies, lowering her voice to match Sor's suddenly quiet tone -- why? -- and tilts her head. The corners of her mouth lift into a quick, small smile when he says her name, gone almost immediately -- she likes it, how quick and simple her name sounds when spoken across his tongue, and nods in confirmation when he repeats the words she had said just a moment prior. Had she not been clear? Echo is surprised when something is slid across the table in her direction; she glances over at Master Vincent, who seems to be showing off Pandora's watch to the gathered crowd. Blinking, she stares down at the two fishcakes on the plate, looking up to quickly meet the black-haired girl's bright smile. Surprised, Echo offers no reaction in return, and stares at the food, unsure. Was it -- for her? Who else sat at the corner? "Echo is full," she says, a little mournfully, staring at the little cakes. Contrary to her wording, a second later, when Vincent does not seem to be paying attention, Echo reaches forward and takes the cakes, eating them quickly. She is full -- but Echo knows, from watching the Nightray family dinners, that people can and do overeat. Then, she swallows and waits for further command, as it seems they are finishing up their conversation, now. Share this post Link to post
Posted January 19, 2019 [...] [Bowser] Almost as soon as the dragon had run off, there was a buzz of activity. Most of the cops ran off to go chase that dragon. He would have joined them, but by now the rest were too far away. Bowser lashed his tail, having no patience to listen to the argument next to him. He looked around again. In the chaos of the situation, it'd be useful to know if needed to look for a bail out.... He ignored the chatter of the nearby group, approaching an officer instead. Bowser drew himself up to his full height before standing close to the officer who looked like sn anthropomorphic frog. "Tell me what you lot got planned." Bowser crossed his arms and stared down at the frog officer. Share this post Link to post
Posted January 21, 2019 (edited) Natsuki Allies: Raine Status: Injured [burn on arm, chilled, injured leg, old stab wound, various minor wounds] Perhaps it had been a mistake to brush off Xander’s concerns. Natsuki curled up on the ground, hands shoved into their pants to coax some warmth back into their cold-stiffened fingers. The back of their neck stung, having been completely exposed to the wind, but the rest of their body hardly felt better. A few of their fingers on each hand were numb. They remained there for far longer than they should have. The fighting continued around them, but they couldn’t seem to force themself to move. Their exhausted body refused to do anything but curl increasingly tight around itself, desperately trying to hold onto any scrap of warm that remained. The sounds of the battle dimmed and they managed to unfold themself for a moment and stand, a sick feeling in their gut. It was frightening that they could have died if the attack was stronger, but more important was how useless they’d been. Was everyone else okay? "Natsuki!" They shoved their hands into their armpits and stumbled towards Raine, grateful when the healer moved to meet them halfway. “I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize anyone,” they said, shaking their head. “Is anyone else injured?” They wouldn’t question Raine if she thought it was best to heal them now (not after being threatened by Sveta for doing so so many times), but they had to ask, even if they felt awful. Even the old stab wound in their gut ached, and that was the least of it. None of it was even close to life-threatening, though, so they could wait. Xander was already gone, rushing off to see Illidan, and -- well, okay, they could see why. Illidan's skin had turned an even more unnatural shade, and even though he was larger it looked like he'd suffered for not having a shirt. They weren't sure why anyone would walk into battle without a shirt, especially while carrying such impractical weapons, but it wasn't their place to judge while he was hurt. Even if he'd kidnapped Xander twice and had been reckless and incompetent for the entire mission. Was Xander mad at them? Not they were worried about that or anything, it just seemed weird that he hadn't waited to see if they were alright. They didn't need him to, of course, it was better that he didn't, really. Xander was busy with Illidan, and there was no reason for them to feel upset about that. Which they didn't. Edited January 21, 2019 by Zor Share this post Link to post
Posted January 24, 2019 # Bowser... And Xander and Illidan, who are presumably within earshot # The frog creature in uniform freezes when the King Koopa stomps over to demand what was going on. She carefully looks up at Bowser, meeting the gaze of a creature almost twice as tall as she was. While her resolve is strong, once she begins speaking, her words tremble a little, betraying her nervousness. "Um! We were planning on interrogating everyone involved in the incident, but everyone started to just hop on away... So we put them in jail for a little bit so we can question them one at a time!" She tries very hard to not look at the koopa's teeth, which were mere inches away. "The forces are trying to catch that ice dragon to stop them from causing more trouble... but right here we're going to move the white-haired human to the interrogation room to have them give their version of the incident! Where's the interrogation room? Directly in the middle of the building, of course!" ~~~ Raine -- Marketplace Jail [secretly tired] - [unarmed] - [running out of SP] Natsuki's expression was unreadable. Their neutral expression had a slight frown, masking what they were really thinking; from Raine's experience, they didn't tend to speak of their feelings much, if at all. But one thing she could read, however, were the slight physical cues pointing towards their numerous injuries and the lingering effect of that dragon's ice. “Is anyone else injured?” they had asked. Raine reached out, gentle, as if to shush them. Stop worrying about others. Her tender hand touched Natsuki's cheek and she closed her eyes -- they didn't need to explicitly ask for healing, nor did Raine think she had to ask permission to help them. Wispy magic rose from the healer, lifting the tips of her cloak as if they were touched by an updraft, and the other agent's cold was dispelled and their wounds began to mend through arcane power. Direct contact was the most energy effective, given her current handicap... or that was the reasoning her logical mind chose to follow. Duty done, she let out a sigh, breaking the moment of silence. "This day continues to get more eventful, doesn't it?" Share this post Link to post
Posted February 14, 2019 (edited) Anders Allies: Keaton, Ray, Tsuki, Leo Most of the enemies slipped on the grease, but two kept their footing and the ones on the ground wouldn’t remain there for long. The urge to flee was counteracted by Justice’s desire to stay fight protect, but there was little that they could do but hiss and lash their tail. Keaton howled in pain, and Anders spun around to see what was wrong. At the sight of the blood staining Keaton’s fur he pushed Justice to the back of his mind to stop the spirit from interfering with his healing spells, but that didn’t do any good if -- Whatever curse the box had placed himself under must have lifted, because he suddenly found himself in human form once again. After a taking a brief moment to recover from the disorientation of his viewpoint rising several feet he held out his staff and cast a group healing spell. Green light gathered around his staff, then spread to envelop the injuries of Keaton, Ray, and Tsuki. The magic was enough to stop any bleeding and close small wounds, but was too rushed and unrefined to heal most of the injuries completely. To try to keep the fallen Heartless from re-entering the battle he swung his staff in a wide arc in their direction. The temperature around the Heartless dropped sharply, and a crescent large, jagged spikes of ice emerged from the ground in the wake of the staff’s tip. Status: Uninjured, not a cat Justice: inactive Panacea: active Natsuki Allies: Raine Natsuki allowed themself a contented sigh in a moment of weakness as warmth flowed from Raine’s hand and into their body. If they leaned into the touch a little, it was only because of the tension melting from their body. “Thank you,” they said softly, suppressing the tinge of disappointment they felt when Raine removed her hand. The cold did strange things to the mind. “We could go for a less eventful mission once in awhile, I think.” They felt like they should say something else -- something about having missed Raine, or being glad to see them again, but they don’t know how to say it without it sounding awkward or as if they only missed Raine’s magic. Expressing their emotions had never been rewarded, and so it didn’t come easily to them. They felt as though they were somehow missing something, but they didn’t say anything else. Status: Uninjured, confused Edited February 16, 2019 by Zor Share this post Link to post
Posted February 17, 2019 Illidan, Lord of the Illidari <Status: Injured; still hecking cold> <Location: Marketplace Jail> <Agents: Xander | Raine | Natsuki | Bowser> <Other Participants: Marketplace Police Officers> "Are you alright?" "I mean, I've b-b-been through worse than this... D-D-Damn, though, is this c-c-cold!!" "Come on, let's have Raine get a look at you. I know you came here to rescue your friend but I'm afraid you won't be able to help anyone until you get your wounds checked out." Illidan shivered and grunted in response - he hated it when others were right, but goddess damn it, Xander literally couldn't be more right. Plus, he was sure that in all the chaos, Nora had likely gotten out anyway and was up to his own antics... The Demon Hunter froze up at the mention of an interrogation - he never did well with anything having to do with the cops, damn that Maiev - but with him still feeling as if he'd been frozen, he couldn't do much to protest other than low, angry growls mixed with his sharp teeth chattering from the cold. He then glances towards the turtle... dragon... thing. He wasn't quite sure how to describe that creature... Looks like the Shadowstrider siblings had run off again. Typical. Now if only he weren't freezing cold! Maybe then he could get something other than involuntary shivering done! ~~ Nora, Illidari Demon Hunter <Status: Stable> <Location: Marketplace Jail> <Agents: Tara | Kouji> <Other Participants: Carol> Carol, Slayer of Miracles <Status: Stable> <Location: Marketplace Jail> <Agents: Tara | Kouji> <Other Participants: Nora> After grabbing as many weapons and various other valuables as they could carry, the Demon Hunter and young girl motioned to Tara and Kouji to follow them, and then began to make way back towards the cells. It didn't take long for them to see that nothing short of war had taken place there. Nora couldn't help but stare and speakly quietly to himself. "...what the hell happened here...?" ~~ Rayla, Alolan Prodigy <Status: In Battle; Injured> <Location: Kaden's Wares> <Agents: Keaton | Anders> <Enemies: Heartless (6 Neoshadows, 6 Soldiers, 6 Air Soldiers)> <Other Participants: Tsuki | Kaden | Selkie | Leo> Tsuki, The Beast That Calls the Moon <Status: In Battle; Injured> <Location: Kaden's Wares> <Agents: Ray | Keaton | Anders> <Enemies: Heartless (6 Neoshadows, 6 Soldiers, 6 Air Soldiers)> <Other Participants: Kaden | Selkie | Leo> Tsuki grunted, barely shielding herself with her wings as the aerial shadow creatures continued to bombard her. Was there no end to this?! "Of course they just keep on coming. I come to the market with an archer and just when I get into a fight with something that flies he's nowhere to be seen. Of all the rotten luck..." Wait. Something that flies? ...That's it! Ray's eyes light up with that tell-tale spark of hers - she had a plan. "Tsuki, they're flying creatures! Let's hope that type matchup still works!" Tsuki knew exactly what her Trainer meant and aimed her Thunderbolt at the flying creatures that continued to harass her, zapping away with the electric bolts. "Let's see how the lot of you deal with this!" Share this post Link to post
Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) Raine -- Marketplace Jail [visibly tired] - [weapon get!] - [running out of SP] No other words needed to exchanged. She nodded in response to their gratitude, and moved on. With Natsuki taken care of to her satisfaction, Raine made her way to Xander and Illidan. She sighed to herself, sorely missing the presence of her staff. Without it, she had nothing to support her while walking. Still, she lifted her chin and approached in a dignified manner, hands tucked into her sleeves. The winged demon was shivering visibly, dark skin paled with cold; despite his earlier reflex to run off with Xander, he still came back to fight. Before beginning, Raine quickly glanced at her hands for open wounds just as a precaution. She recalled Xander and his Fel curse having been transmitted by blood, and that the experience did not look pleasant at all. She put a hand on the demon's chest -- admittedly making contact a little rougher than she wanted to -- and cold surged through her senses. She fought back against it with her magic, summoning mana first to dispel the frost and then to heal the wounds Illidan had sustained since the last time she had healed him. When the glow faded and he was all well again, Raine took a step back to show that she was finished. If he was really a new recruit, she had plenty of time to scold him about teamwork once everyone was back safe. "Right," she finally answered Xander. That question felt like it was asked so long ago. "We should call. It would be wise to contact anyone on our team in the market so they can come assist us, or at least help us secure an escape." Some of the prisoners -- 'prisoners', in quotes -- she had seen earlier had returned back to the scene of the jail cells: Illidan's subordinate, the child in witchlike robes, and the two children in sporty clothing. They all held various weapons in hand, one of which was the bright blue orb and spiked sunburst silhouette of the Crystal Rod. Ah, the Crystal Rod... Surely, she could get another similar one made if this one were lost. She won it as a trophy after beating legions of monsters and humans alike in the Meltokio Colosseum armed with nothing but a deck brush, focus, and fighting spirit. People said that healers couldn't hold their own in a melee. That morning, those people were proven wrong. Despite her exhaustion, the weight of the weapon was comfortable when she took the staff back in her hands. She slipped her hands over the familiar engravings on the shaft and thrust the butt of the weapon into the ground for support. "Thank you for bringing these back," she told the four. "I'm sure everyone will appreciate your gesture of returning their items. By the way, have any of you seen a unicorn horn in the room where you found these? That one is mine as well." Edited February 17, 2019 by TehUltimateMage Share this post Link to post
Posted February 18, 2019 [ Ready Players -- Circuitraider | Light | Qaksh ] { Support -- Entry Voided ; Status ; Gathering Supplies ; Form ; Vehicle | Weapons ; Disengaged | Sensors ; Standby } Assistance -- Organics ; Necessities Required A breath mint? Circuitraider stared up at the the orange beast for several moments, wondering if she should honestly answer his question. Didn't she already explain to him that she didn't eat organic food? The Autobot decided not to respond and, instead, focus again on the masked merchant. He was staring at her, gaze shifting between the other two less frequently. "What'll it be, Beautiful? It's yours for only a mere 300 million pixels." Qak appeared to balk, staggering back a step and lifting his head higher as he gasped, "That's a lot...!" He apparently wasn't going to address her earlier commentary. Fine. But did he truly think her so gullible? "That's a rock." The words vibrated through her speakers, the last word containing emphasis as if the merchant might have been blind. How did pixels convert to human cash? Glancing towards Qak, she quickly searched for the tiny bag he kept secured around his neck. A small section of metal near her engine compartment lifted and slid open. In the next moment, a thin dark steel cable slithered out and rushed towards the bag. Smaller, lighter-colored wires scurried into sight, spreading from the cable as they began to flicker with blue light. They probed and shifted, finding the card that Qak had used. Data filled her system, a quick blip of chatter that exchanged information within her code. Only a moment and then she was done, withdrawing the cable sans card. It disappeared beneath the metal frame. "You can have three pixels for the stone," Circuitraider offered. "W-What?!" sputtered the merchant, his hand slipping briefly against the ground as he got to his feet too fast. Ungracefully, he regained his composure, a strained grin flashing across his features. "Surely, you're jesting! You have such humor, Lady! Is... Is it worth so little to you?" His hand gripped the side of his cart tightly. It was a rock and there was no way Circuitraider was going to tolerate otherwise. Deeming the merchant unworthy of further response, she started to pull away from the stall, tires rotating backward to put space between her and the merchant. Intentionally, she eased open her door to touch Qak on the leg, closing it with a prompt slam. No sense in leaving the two organics behind. The merchant gapped, surged forward, and floundered with his arms. "Wait, no! I can go to 100 million!" Circuitraider rolled one more inch before coming to a stop, reorienting her attention on the merchant. "That stone's been compromised. I don't think anyone will buy it now that it contains someone else's saliva on the surface." "50 million?" "Are you asking me now? That isn't even worth 100 pixels." "Fine! 25 million!" "With that, I can get several better stones for sixty thousand." "Five million," the merchant snarled, leaning forward. "Make it a hundred thousand pixels," Circuitraider hummed, letting the merchant here the eye-roll she couldn't make. "One million pixels and no lower," the merchant finalized, slamming his hand against the surface of his cart. His eyes narrowed as he continued to lean forward, glaring at Circuitraider. "You'll not find a better item than this. It's a beautiful piece with some glamorous light effects." He snorted once. "Alright, fine. The light show better be worth it," Circuitraider ceded. "Qak, you licked it." The cable came out once more, making a B-line for the dragon's small pouch, and claimed the card that was hidden within. She tried, honestly, to bring it down. Why would a rock be worth more than a few human dollars? Well, hopefully Qak could bring out whatever had caused his strange reaction. It better be something good to be worth $10,000. Shoving the card at the merchant, she watched him conduct the transaction before returning the card back to Qak. "I can hold it or someone else can. But we are done here, yes? Good." A moment later, she began moving away from the merchant. "You still have other food to get." Share this post Link to post
Posted February 28, 2019 (edited) [...] [Bowser] You had to love it when someone was spilling their guts for you. At least, that was how Bowser felt. He grinned, but it was far too toothy. Well, now he knew what he needed to know. The location he'd been given was an odd bonus, but not something he was interested in questioning. No, when he looked around, something else caught his eye. The man who was walking away with some cube thing looked a lot like... "A Fire Emblem?" Bowser cocked his head slightly, closing one eye to think. Yeah, looked like the Corrins from that Smash tournament. A lot. They all had that sort of delicacy, polished white marble look to their faces with fancy hair, though this one was blond, wavy-haired, and had a particularly angular face with purple eyes. And then there was ... whatever kind of humanoid said Fire Emblem man had stepped away from. Purple and green with large horns, a blindfold, a very long and straight ponytail, wings and goat legs. Some kind of short pants as well, a far cry from his companions' outfits. He didn't quite look like any of them, really. Then there was a silver-sorta straight and spiky-haired girl with a staff and slightly darker silver eyes. Tiny nose and pale skin. She had an orange and white outfit, equally as distinct from her buddies'. The last one would have looked the most unassuming of the lot despite the black uniform, if it weren't for the fact he thought he saw a gun on them. Otherwise, they looked pretty ordinary - shorter black hair, dark eyes, skin a bit darker than the rest. Looked was the word. If those cursed plumbers had taught Bowser anything, it was to not assume someone was an ordinary human. Though, he could still take them in a fight. The weird bit was them all being from different universes. You saw different worlds hang out at nexuses. You didn't see ragtag bands where everyone was from a different universe seemingly joined at the hip. Almost. He'd made up his mind. Bowser approached the silver-haired girl, the purple humanoid, and the human(?). "Hey, you! What's with you lot and your buddy all being from different universes?" Edited February 28, 2019 by DuskOfTheStars Share this post Link to post
Posted March 3, 2019 [ Ready Players -- Ray | Anders | Keaton ; Heartless ] { Support -- Leo | Ranulf | Kaden | Selkie | Tsuki ; Status ; Battle -- Engage } Consume -- The Heart ; It Calls # Keaton | Anders # Pain. The Heartless knew pain, echos of life that rekindled in the shadows of their bodies. It squirmed as the beast's teeth sunk deep into a shape not quite born of flesh. Thrown, the Neoshadow passed by its fellow, the second sinking into the ground. It slammed into a pair of Soldiers, the bodies tumbling into a knot of darkness and clattering armor. A heartbeat - and the injured Neoshadow faded like water vapors. The feline-turned-human smelled of magic, the staff before him signaling the being's skillset. Green light flashed briefly. With a motion of his arm, ice followed in the staff's wake. Soldiers froze where they stood, trapped, or fell to the side, blasted back. Several perished. The reality of the hunt; some prey could fight back. Their swarms, the numbers of their bodies, became increasingly important - necessary. But Light always struggled against the Darkness. It was why the two warred in every heart. One Soldier. Two Neoshadows. The former jerked and danced. The latter retreated into the ground, spreading power outward. Dark pools sprung into existence, circling their two prey. From one, it rose partially, head coming into view as claws shot for the beast's leg. Its fellow surged from another pool, leaping free of its swirling doorway. It spun like a spiked wheel, its path directed at the creature's body. Armor clinked and chimed as the Soldier moved, waiting. Its jerky motions smoothed into purpose-driven choreography, boot-like feet marching towards the spellcaster. It bounced off one foot, twirling its body with the other leg outstretched to kick. It spun, its path slightly curving around the human's side and towards his back. Its spinning ceased and claws reached out, rapidly and repeatedly scratching in hopes to strike flesh. # Ray | Tsuki | Leo # Vines ensnared them as they tumbled backwards from the bat, thorns piercing their forms and nailing them to the magicked vegetation. Allies were swallowed whole and crushed into oblivion, cutting their numbers down until only a Neoshadow remained. It slipped free of the vines, compressing and thinning its body until it held no substance, only the absence of light. Within the ground, it darted away from the trap and raced towards the man holding the tome. With speed, it launched from the ground and rolled through the air, a violent flurry of sharp claws. Lightning rained upon them, shooting through their limbs and wings with bolts of energy. Some plummeted to the ground, fading into nothing before they even hit. Others, still, floundered through the air without orientation. The three righted themselves, Air Soldiers correcting their paths and regrouping. Once more, they circled the bat and dove in a unified assault. [ Target -- Neoshadows | Soldiers | Air Soldiers ; Count -- x3 | x1 | x3 ] [ Status ; Decaying ] { Threat Level -- Light } Share this post Link to post
Posted March 3, 2019 Lightpon ~ "Good" Life Lessons As Qaksh jumped, Light yelped and snapped her hand--there was a puff of smoke, and she found herself behind the stall of a very surprised woman with tan skin, wearing little more than fake bird wings and feathers. "Oops! I wasn't watching where I was going," Light hastily said, ducking out of the booth before the woman can react. As she picked her way back through the crowd, she heard Qaksh's voice echo excitedly: "That power! B-but Circuitraider is right, I think. He's probably trying to sell us something way over its actual price." Light paused, cocking her head. The pretty ball? What kind of power? Is it dangerous?! She arrived as Circuit was haggling, and watched with wide eyes as the robot talked the merchant down. I almost feel sorry for that beastkin--wait, compromised?! "Are you saying that the price lowers if the stuff gets licked?" Light ran up and asked Circuit intently. "That means I've been scammed all this time!" Light scowled momentarily. Wait, but if licking... We were looking for food, right? "But that also means we have an easy way to get food for cheap, right?" Light grinned, feeling a wave of joy sweep across her. Learning something new and helping other people is nice... Though there was this weird thing tickling at the back of her head... It didn't seem like such a good idea for some reason. Light cocked her head slightly, thinking, as she walked beside Circuit. [3.16/15] Share this post Link to post
Posted March 4, 2019 (edited) Pascal -- Jeon House [eating] - [taking a call] - [havin a flippin' good time] It was sort of troublesome to hear from Chikako's story that the barriers between worlds were weakening enough to have stable portals appear, but that information was not new to Pascal. If anything, it would make it easier to reach places further removed from their current locations. Vincent's world, however, seemed to already have a degree of dimensional travel. Based on his words, he was practically a veteran at hops. That would be very useful! While they were chatting, one of her pockets buzzed. Pascal stuffed the rest of her food into her mouth, and dug through one of her hip pouches -- darn thing felt bigger on the inside and stuff always got lost in there -- before her hand finally emerged holding a glowing cube small enough to fit in her palm. The moment she placed it onto the table, the cube began speaking. “Pascal, this is Xander. We have a situation. We could use your assistance.” Pascal paused for half a beat, demeanor suddenly serious. The king didn't tend to ask like for help like this, so it must have been something big. Did his group have a run-in with some bad guys? It wasn't hard to imagine that with all the traffic between worlds, there'd be troublemakers, even if there were more than enough people willing to help defuse a situation if one broke out. Or, shooting a glance at Sora, maybe it was an issue with the Heartless? Xander didn't specify what kind of assistance either, but the mage figured that she would be most useful on the scene in person, whether the assistance needed involved smashing monsters or showing the king how a computer worked again. "Me 'n Sora -- and some friends -- are gonna be on the way. We can find you through radar, but give me the deets. What's going on?" She looked wistfully at the last few of the pancakes on her stack. She was getting kind of full, despite her earlier bravado, and it would be a shame for these to go to waste. Doing a quick volume calculation in her brain, she concluded that if she compressed it into a ball, she could fit about four-fifths of a single pajeon through the communicator and send it to Xander... ...but, statistically, spherical balls of batter were probably not what Xander was thinking about right now, so instead she flicked open another one of her pockets -- this time with minimal searching involved -- and took out a small, squishy item wrapped in paper. She set it on top of the cube. With a swipe of her finger, the object vanished in a sparkle of blue light. "I just sent you a Melange Gel," she explained. "Eat it if you need an energy boost! We'll be there as fast as we can." "Sorry everyone," she told the gathered group of interested recruits. "We're going to have to make a small detour before we check out the base. Thanks for the food, chef!" The reptillian monster working the kitchen replied with something between a grunt and a huff, rolling her single eye in a universal sign of exasperation, and tossed a box her way. Pascal caught it, and in one smooth motion poured her plate into the container. It was a shame that lunch was interrupted, but what was life without a little more excitement? She was getting a bit bored just eating, anyway. Usually eating happened in tandem with working. That was maximum efficiency. Oblivious to any exclamations or complaints from the the assembled gang, Pascal hummed to herself and checked the cube's radar. Two points of light were very close to each other, towards the north. It gave her an idea where Xander called from, and the likely location of Natsuki -- or at least, the location of Natsuki's communicator. "Let's go!" Edited March 4, 2019 by TehUltimateMage Share this post Link to post
Posted March 4, 2019 ♫ Names // Kouji Minamoto and Tara Andreassen ♫ ♫ Players // Natsuki, Raine, Xander, Illidan, Bowser ♫ ♫ Support // Nora, Carol, the Po-Po ♫ ♫ Status // Tripping ♫ ~~In the ruins of the prison~~ “What the hell happened here…?” It was the same thing Kouji was thinking. The place looked like a complete mess- like he imagined could have happened if Kendogarurumon took control like last time. He was thanking everything that he was outside (sort of)- that prison wasn’t the nicest place he could be- but it looked like hell. The walls and the ceiling were completely destroyed, all the rubble scattered around the floor. There were some guards who just seemed confused, one of them talking to…. Wait. What? Was that…. Bowser? Again? Kouji’s eyes widened, glancing over at an equally shocked Tara. She shook her head as if she had no idea what the hell was happening either. Tara looked around, her sky blue eyes wide with fear and confusion, just like they were when they first bumped into each other. Where was the girl who was so eager to suit up earlier? He sighed and took a look around. There was not just Bowser, but a regal looking man, a demon looking thing the color of Spyro the Dragon that didn't seem to know what a shirt was, a pale-haired woman dressed in orange, and what looked to be a police officer... but their outfit didn't match up with that of the other officers in the area. Kouji whispered to her, "Hey, do you know anyone here?" Tara blinked and turned to face him. She nodded. "I-uh, yeah. I think. S-so I just became part of-- er-- a multiverse squad-- uh-- XDRS, they called it, and these are a few agents. Um.... Over there is Xander, that's Illidan, and that's Natsuki. I.... don't know anyone else to be honest." Kouji blinked, confused and very concerned. "Guess someone's gonna have to explain that a little more in depth later," he grumbled. The regal looking man-- Xander-- whipped out a cube and started talking to someone named Pascal. On his end, something popped out of the cube. His brows knit together, but why should he have any more questions that needed to be answered? He was already extremely confused about what was happening. He held the katana close, in the event someone was ready to attack. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 4, 2019 Illidan, Lord of the Illidari <Status: Stable> <Location: Marketplace Jail> <Agents: Xander | Raine | Natsuki | Bowser | Tara | Kouji> <Other Participants: Nora | Carol> Nora, Illidari Demon Hunter <Status: Stable> <Location: Marketplace Jail> <Agents: Illidan | Xander | Raine | Natsuki | Bowser | Tara | Kouji> <Other Participants: Carol> Carol, Slayer of Miracles <Status: Stable> <Location: Marketplace Jail> <Agents: Illidan | Xander | Raine | Natsuki | Bowser | Tara | Kouji> <Other Participants: Nora> Oh thank Elune, he wasn't freezing cold anymore and even the wounds sustained from the fight were gone. Illidan really needed to stop taking healers for granted; nasty habit, that was. "...thanks, Raine. Goddess, I almost got into a really bad mess with that one..." He soon spotted that dragon turtle again. Wasn't that the same one from the earlier fight? Illidan never forgot a person's aura once his Spectral Sight caught it. This guy sure got around, and from what little of the conversation he caught, there was a tone of authority to his voice. He was snapped out of his musings by the sight of Nora - his Illidari - and three younger people, who were now either speaking with Raine or sitting off to the sidelines. Nora handed out everyone's stolen weapons as he spoke (including that strange "taser" device Illidan had been told about earlier). "A... unicorn horn? I can't say that I saw it; something like that would've lit up my Spectral Sight like a Winter's Veil tree." Then the young blond girl spoke up - Illidan noticed that she had a very peculiar harp with her. "I didn't see it, either. Sorry." ...perhaps this time he should leave the situation to Xander. He was far more level-headed around the police anyway, and Illidan was sure that he'd end up getting them into even more trouble than they were likely already in. He hated being such a massive screw-up sometimes. That's when he heard the dragon-turtle-thing speaking to them. "Hey, you! What's with you lot and your buddy all being from different universes?" Nora took massive offense to the dragon turtle's tone. "How dare you speak to Lord Illidan that way, you--!!" "Nora, stop. His tone doesn't anger me. In fact... I find it amusing, how he speaks to me as if he could possibly have any semblance of authority over the Lord of the Illidari." He then spoke words to the draconic creature that he knew he'd likely regret later on. "Who died and made you king?" ~~ Rayla, Alolan Prodigy <Status: In Battle; Stable> <Location: Kaden's Wares> <Agents: Keaton | Anders> <Enemies: Heartless (3 Neoshadows, 1 Soldier, 3 Air Soldiers)> <Other Participants: Tsuki | Kaden | Selkie | Leo> Tsuki, The Beast That Calls the Moon <Status: In Battle; Injured> <Location: Kaden's Wares> <Agents: Ray | Keaton | Anders> <Enemies: Heartless (3 Neoshadows, 1 Soldier, 3 Air Soldiers)> <Other Participants: Kaden | Selkie | Leo> Ray almost hadn't noticed the incoming healing from Anders. Then again, she hadn't expected other people capable of healing, only Pokemon. She could tell she'd be in for a load of surprises in this "Extra-Dimensional Restoration Squad" she'd gotten dragged into. Load of good the healing did, though, as the three remaining aerial creatures just ended up attacking Tsuki again. "Shall I give them another, Rayla?" "Go for it, Tsuki! Zap those freakshows right outta the sky!" And Tsuki did just that, aiming another round of Thunderbolts at the creatures. Hopefully this would end them for good. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) [...] [Bowser] Bowser ignored the attempted interruption. He wasn't talking to the other winged humanoid, and he wasn't interested. The first one was shutting his friend up, anyway. And then.... "Who died and made you king?" This horned humanoid thought he was so smart, did he? Bowser could practically taste the attitude in the winged creature's tone. The Koopa snarled and huffed a puff of smoke from his nostrils before baring his teeth. "Think you're smart, huh? You're talking to the King of the Darklands. So how about you can it, smart mouth? Unless you're interested in telling me what I wanted to hear about." The demand to shut up was punctuated with a stiff swing of Bowser's tail. The Koopa clenched his right hand into a fist before opening it again, though it was still at his side. Edited March 5, 2019 by DuskOfTheStars Share this post Link to post
Posted April 5, 2019 (edited) Illidan Stormrage, Lord of the Illidari <Status: Stable; irritated and embarrassed> <Location: Marketplace Jail> <Agents: Xander | Raine | Natsuki | Bowser | Tara | Kouji> <Other Participants: Nora | Marketplace Police> Nora Lightvale, Illidari Demon Hunter <Status: Stable; slightly concerned> <Location: Marketplace Jail> <Agents: Illidan | Xander | Raine | Natsuki | Bowser | Tara | Kouji> <Other Participants: Marketplace Police> ~ How irritating! This creature was a king, after all, but Illidan had witnessed ogres more regal than this! Despite this, he'd felt that there had been one too many fights in the marketplace, and there was no way he was going to push yet another one. As if on cue, Xander noticed the butting of heads. Great - not only was he irritated, but he was now embarrassed to the Twisting Nether and back. This was very humiliating... "Are you just going to let that creature get away with that tone, Lord Illidan?! The nerve of him...!!" "Enough, Nora! I don't like him any more than you do, but I've been in far too many fights today and I had no plans to push yet another one - especially not with 'His Majesty' over there. He looks like he could slaughter me and I don't want to press my luck." "...regardless of your husband's intervention?" Nora grinned as he teased Illidan with the mention of his crush on Xander. For a few minutes, Illidan blushed heavily. He quickly cleared his throat. "A-Aye - Xander or no Xander, I was not about to fight. Now, there's something else we need to discuss, Nora. I'm sure you've seen it by now." "How could I not? The man's lighting up like a Lightdamn Winter Veil tree!" "Aye, and we need to get it under control." "...you're not suggesting...!" "I am, Nora. And you're going to help me ink it." "ME?! I was barely steady with my own tattoos, and you want to help me ink one for a Fel-laden king??" "You don't give yourself enough credit. You did fine with yours and Xander's will be small." "...fine. But he's the one deciding on the design of the tattoo - I'd be remiss if it wasn't something from his world rather than ours." "I'd ask for nothing less." "Is there anything else, Lord Illidan?" "Yes..." Illidan leaned in close and whispered in Nora's ear. "...you're not serious! Inking a new one is hard enough!" Nora lowered his voice after Illidan made the motion to quiet down. "...do you realize how hard it is to re-ink these tattoos?" "I do, and I'm willing to take the risk... But this one has to be a secret. Keep it between us, all right?" Nora simply nodded. "Good--" Nora held a finger up, startling Illidan a bit. "On one condition: you have to tell him if you end up liking the design. I know you have piss-poor communication skills, Lord Illidan..." "Nora!" "...but it comes off as downright creepy if you don't at least ask him first. And don't expect me to do it for you - it's coming out of your mouth and that is final! Otherwise, it's ix-nay on the attoo-tay. Both of them. Got it?!" Illidan was too startled to speak, simply nodding in response. "...I'll take that as a yes, then." Illidan then raised his voice once more. "Xander, once you're done getting your friend back, we have things to discuss..." Edited April 7, 2019 by hikarinomemori minor changes to headers Share this post Link to post
Posted April 12, 2019 (edited) Raine - Marketplace Jail [Restore HP/MP] - [regrouping] - [eyes on the objective] Raine accepted the gel, grabbing the small package softly with three fingers. Her expression was neutral, but she did feel relieved and thankful for Pascal's foresight, if not a little worried about what kind of unhinged plan that wildcard would come up with. She was on call and she was on her way -- but Raine wondered if that were the wisest option right now. Xander seemed to have echoed her thoughts, because he had announced his intentions just as she had popped the healing gummy in her mouth. While she did advocate at first for simply talking to the police, their scattered ranks meant that it might have been easier to simply steal Reshiram back at this point. The half-elf kept her suggestion to herself, though, since the king seemed to be making progress. "Yes!" she overheard the frog officer. They were talking to a human this time, so the policewoman seemed a little more at ease. "Hello! We're sorry for the inconvenience... but I'll ask my supervisor if you could get someone to talk to! By friend you mean that white-haired human, right?" Without really waiting for a response, the officer skipped away, giving Bowser a cautious side-eye before disappearing around a hall. ~~~ Bazaar Police Boardroom # Xander, Raine, Natsuki, Illidan, Nora, Bowser, Tara, Kouji # That frog had returned shortly after she left, and after exchanging a few more words with him, told Xander to go to a specific room and to bring everyone he was associated with. Said room felt refreshingly normal and unornate, with cushioned chairs on wheels, some larger than others, arranged around a plain table with what Raine recognized as some sort of communication device set in its middle. Some whiteboards crowded the room's edges, filled with telling memos such as doodles, tallies, and platonic love poems to Pumpkin; despite the rough exterior of some of the officers, they seemed to like have their fun. Raine wondered if they even took their work seriously to begin with. It felt like they were waiting for about only ten minutes, just the group and the casual conversation amongst its members, before Raine felt her mana-sense suddenly extinguish. Moments after, a woman opened the door to the boardroom and strode in. She had brown curls pulled back tightly into a bun, revealing a black and white tattoo on the back of her neck of some kind of strange, stylized leaf and flower — a common spot to get a marking, Raine figured, if Stan’s tattoo placement was anything to go by. She had a striking dark eyepatch over her left eye, and the standard uniform decorated with a myriad of patches hinting at her rank. A whole different creature than the grunts they had encountered throughout the day, but usually that’s how it goes in bigger organizations… She looked human, but without her ability to detect mana signatures, Raine couldn’t be too sure. Now that the initial surprise at the return of the anti-magic field had faded, Raine quietly watched as the chief placed her things onto the table and sat down to head the meeting. Edited April 20, 2019 by TehUltimateMage Share this post Link to post
Posted April 16, 2019 (edited) ♫ Names // Kouji Minamoto and Tara Andreassen ♫ ♫ Players // Nope that's it ♫ ♫ Support // Nada ♫ ♫ Status // Getting out of there ♫ ~~Stay with me!~~ Tara had briefly asked Xander if it was alright for her to go find Pascal. She had no business there- Xander could take care of making sure they all got out of there. She, of course, would just sit there in tense silence and contribute nothing. Tara knew this well. She knew herself well enough to know that she would be more than a burden to them all. So as they slipped away from the group, Tara started looking around for the same cube that Xander spoke to Pascal through. She hoped there was one conveniently lying around- but did she know how to call Pascal was the question. No, she did not. She was useless, as usual. Even Zoe, who wasn't even here and even so barely did anything in battle to begin with, had more of a use than she did in this very moment. Useless, useless, useless! Tara wanted to cry, how was she going to find Pascal to begin with? Kouji was sick of all of this nonsense. He barely even grasped the idea of a multiverse to begin with, then he was put in a jail, and then look at that! He never wanted to be a part of any of this! What if they asked him to join their little gang of rag-tag misfits? Why did Kouji even show up at this stupid marketplace to begin with? None of this- and he meant none of this- made any goddamn sense! He looked at Tara, who as they walked seemed to grow more and more tense. He sighed. Good God, he thought, now she's going to cry and now I have to deal with it. What the hell do I do? Even she knows more about this whole shabang than I do, and she's the one that could cry at a moment's notice. To hell with my life, I'm not going to handle this properly, am I? He thought about it. It was entirely possible that anything he said could send her into a teary mess. He really had no idea how to properly comfort anyone, much less an emotional mess like Tara. Even now he could see the tears in her eyes as she looked around the remnants of the prison, looking for God-knew-what. He just wanted to go back to the Digital World, where things made more sense to him. It was a thing he could grasp, with people and creatures that at least looked semi familiar. But no... he had to be transported here, in a place that looked like a media addict's sweet dream. He saw people from various games and manga he recognized- hell, he even saw Spyro the Dragon somewhere. There were others, perhaps from other forms of media around the market. It was a trip, that was all he could really process. He briefly recalled what led him here in the first place. It was that fight, when he had to travel alone. Tara had been gone by then, probably accidentally found a portal, maybe she fell in doing God-knew-what. Knowing her, it was all too likely that she traveled by accident, and perhaps that knowledge was reassuring. He got his ass handed to him though. He had no idea what it was- all he knew was that it had a cloak and a mask that looked like a deer skull. Looking back, he must have also been intimidated. After he lost, he had been shoved through something- he assumed now that it was a portal.... And suddenly he was more alone than he had been back in the Digital World. Still. Now he had a person that he could sort of call a friend, someone who was too anxious to travel alone and didn't want to travel with Takuya and the others, so she quietly followed him around. He tolerated her enough, and it sucked knowing how close she was to losing her mind. And, very briefly, he wondered how it would have been had the tables been turned. "Hey," he stammered, "um.... Let's just.... do our best, I guess." He cursed himself for his statement. He cursed himself for having no clue what to say. Anyone else would have done a better job than he did, yet he was the only one here. There were officers scrambling about trying to get a feel of what just happened. Would any of them have bothered to comfort an anxious twelve year old girl when they had their jobs to do? They were all busy, Kouji envied them for not being stuck with such a daunting task. Yet it seemed to do the trick, as he noticed Tara's posture relax a little bit. Much to his shock, she looked at him and gave him a shy smile. "T-thank you," she responded, then kept walking and looking around. They approached the area from which they came, looking to see if there was something in there. Kouji gripped his blade close, not minding the security that it brought to him. Perhaps those greasy guys who were obsessed with swords and kept their facial hair to their necks were onto something. He noticed Tara keep her left hand to the holster that held the knife, making it clear that the gun was merely for show. They were on the same page, thank goodness, when it came to self defense. Be prepared at all times, just in case someone tried to pop up and make a kill. The two started looking through the rubble. Tara gasped when she saw something. That was it! It was someone's cube, she was unsure which of her fellow agents it belonged to. But she had no doubt it was the same communicator Xander used to talk to Pascal. Success! ...Or, perhaps, not so much. As she turned the cube in her hand, she was unsure what exactly she was supposed to do. She saw Xander press something that made the cube float, but... She had no idea how to call another communicator, or even how to pull up a map. She turned it around and around in her hand, and her heart sank. Perhaps, once again, she was simply useless. Kouji was ready to leave when he noticed Tara was ready to cry again. He looked around, unsure yet again what to do. Tara looked up at him, and noticed his stance. Was he going to walk away from her? The anxiety hit her harder than it did before, knowing that the one person she actually knew was going to talk away, possibly forever. "P-please," Tara whined, "D-don't go! Please stay here with me, I can't be here alone!" Her eyes were wide and fearful, the tears falling down her cheeks as her voice was soon reduced to sobs. Tara fell to her knees and kept her head low. Kouji paused, looking at her in shock. He had no idea if she even trusted him, but he supposed that it would be nothing but cruel if he walked away now. While he didn't trust a lot of people, he felt a pang in his chest. It.... hurt to see her like this? Kouji sighed, slipping off his jacket. He had no idea what he was doing. But perhaps... Kouji slipped the jacket over Tara's shoulders. Her sobs continued to rock her body, but she held the jacket close to her. He sighed again. Perhaps it would help a little bit. He took it just a half step further, knelt down, and gently patted her back. "I won't leave you alone. Don't worry. Uh.... It'll be alright. Yeah. It'll be.... fine." Edited April 17, 2019 by Mikasa361 Share this post Link to post
Posted April 20, 2019 (edited) # Reshiram # Reshi's holding cell is small and different. Barely five paces deep and two paces wide and blank walls on all sides and a door closed on one end, it feels stuffy and claustrophobic. There is a bed touching the wall on three sides, and a desk placed near it, its arrangement uncannily recalling one of a doctor's office. The officer had left the manakete on the bed after bandaging the worst of their injuries, and other than the camera installed on the ceiling in one corner of the room, it appeared that they were alone. ~~ Perhaps an hour had passed. The officer watching the room noticed the human in the room had changed their breathing and begun to stir. The rhinoceros -- the bulky officer in charge of this area -- watches these events remotely and, after waiting a moment to verify that the puffy white-haired human was truly awake, he reached for his walkie-talkie. "Chief, our charge has woken up. Do you want us to do anything?" He listens for the response. "Bring them to the boardroom. There are people here to see them -- and I would like to ask them some questions myself." The officer grunts in affirmation, downs his coffee, and begrudgingly gets up from his chair. ~~ A knock on the door. A low voice comes from the other side: "Are you awake? The chief said she wanted to see you personally. I do not think you are in trouble, but I've been sent to get you." The door creaks open slowly and the officer pokes his horned head, peering at Reshiram with small eyes and feeling pity at their sorry state. "Come," he says. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # Xander, Raine, Natsuki, Illidan, Nora, Bowser # Marketplace Police Boardroom Interrogation Crossworld Bazaar Police Chief Carmen S. Durmad had her hands full, both literally and figuratively. There were too many attendees for them to all fit in her main office, so she requested that they gather in one of the smaller boardrooms. They all insisted on coming along, including two shirtless horned men and one of the many incarnations of Bowser Koopa, and at the risk of having them wander off and cause even more damage, Carmen had allowed Xander to bring along all the people who were associated with him. Pushing the door shut with her heel, she placed her name tag down onto the table, followed by a close-topped mug of coffee and a stack of old fashioned pages backed with a clipboard. Printouts were tough to get compared to simply using screens or holodecks, but there was a certain permanence inherent to ink on good quality paper. She shuffled through the papers when she sat down at the head of the table. “King Xander, from the Extra-dimensional Rescue Squad… XDRS. I have your bazaar registration and right of transport. A kudos to who whoever filled in the paperwork! It’s a work of art. No one else really knows how to do it properly, or takes it even remotely seriously. Really, it was a breath of fresh air.” Raine kept her expression blank, but couldn’t help but feel some amount of satisfaction at the inconsistency. So Twilight did slip in a few smart lies the official paperwork — Restoration was a word that was a little too loaded for a multiversal exchange hub, and even within the organization no one could really agree on what the R in XDRS meant, anyway. This also meant that it was likely that Twilight was obfuscating some of the squad’s other activities. Natsuki’s expression didn’t change much, but the corners of their mouth twitched upwards and their eyes brightened. It was rare that anyone respected proper paperwork at all, and even if they were only doing their job it felt good to be praised for it. “I’m glad you’re willing to discuss this diplomatically, instead of blasting another hole in our building,” the chief continued, relieved but clearly displeased. “This kind of trouble is unprecedented. While I do understand the desire of you and others — who are still at large — to be citizen heroes with your powers, sometimes it causes more trouble than if the police handle it on their own.” She sighed and rubbed her chin. “That said, understand that all we want is to clarify some information for us, to help us keep control over the situation. As you might know, the sheer variety of abilities out there makes enforcement a daunting task.” “We would be more than happy to clarify our involvement in today’s events,” Xander said. He folded his hands in his lap, straightening his back to make himself as presentable as possible. Xander was intimately familiar with meetings regarding the terms of a prisoner’s release, although he was normally the one being bargained to. Xander cleared his throat. It mattered not. He knew what he was dealing with. “We are not blind to the severity of what has happened and I formally apologize on behalf of Extra-dimensional Rescue Squad for the damages we may have caused,” Xander said. “From my understanding, my friend was not in their right mind when they attacked the market stalls in jail. The gray dragon—the one that ran off after unfusing with my friend—had forced themself onto my friend prior to them becoming…” Xander made a vague motion with his hand. “Whatever it was that attacked the market. I can say with full certainty that Reshiram had no intentions of conducting any criminal activity before arriving here.” “That said, I’m afraid I do not have the full story.” Xander glanced over at the other agents expectantly before looking back the chief. “I believe some of my colleagues could fill you in on some of the other details. If you have anything more to ask from us we will be happy to tell you what we know.” Illidan and Nora were both very much uncomfortable, but it wasn’t Carmen’s appearance that unnerved them. Not that they could’ve seen her, anyway, but neither of them could see at all now due to the anti-magic effect robbing both men of their Spectral Sight. It especially made Illidan on-edge, as he’d already ended up startling himself with one of the chairs just a few minutes prior (and thus he’d decided to remain standing from that point onwards). Nora, meanwhile, was sitting down in one of the chairs, simply being careful not to move it. Raine gave a nod when Xander passed the podium to the rest of the group. Since no one else seemed like they were going to provide information -- not that she trusted them to say anything not incriminating in some way -- she knit her fingers together and began explaining what she knew. "That grey dragon had attacked the northern sector. A couple of people stood against it, including Bowser's attempt to hold it down, but I haven't been keeping track of them -- they're unaffiliated with us. Those heroes seemed to have pursued the dragon as it attempted to mask its escape." Raine herself hadn't seen any more of the fight than Xander had, though she recalled how Natsuki had explained the situation to them and simply reiterated the facts. She waved a hand towards her fellow agent. "Meanwhile, Natsuki led a team to evacuate the area. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any civilian casualties, but we did not have the opportunity to verify this before your forces put the entire area to sleep, Chief Durmad. I don't blame you for that decision, but it seemed to have done more harm than good." She shook her head. It was a gamble to critique the officer -- but the half-elf had a feeling that Carmen would respond positively if faced with honesty. If the chief was offended that Raine was telling her how to do her job, she was doing a good job hiding it. "Natsuki and I woke up imprisoned here. We were uncertain if we were wrongly accused of causing mischief. That was short-lived, however, as the dragon's rampage returned to this very building and this time, as you've seen, Reshiram was separated out after sustaining enough damage. " Raine paused. She uncrossed her fingers and sat up straight, holding Carmen's gaze. "From my understanding, they are currently in your custody." Seeing that the silver haired woman had finished with her report, Carmen let out a hum to signal that she acknowledged all the presented information. She finished writing the final sentence on her notepad, then looked up. The two horned men were suspiciously tense and nervous and the Bowser hadn't spoken yet, but the other three seemed to be at ease. "And you are?" "Raine. Raine Sage, Sylvarant." "Thank you, Raine, for your report. And thank you Xander, as well." Xander was professional and apologetic, but Raine was bold. The officers had put the surrounding people to sleep and held them temporarily until they could bring them out individually for further questioning; Carmen did not explain herself at the silver-haired woman's accusation. Hanging onto that would simply give the other woman more leverage. With their immaculate record, Carmen really had no reason to suspect foul play from this group, and they did aid with evacuation... And yet, it was her job to keep the pressure on, and cross-check the information from the XDRS with the testimonies they had been collecting. "Reshiram is indeed under our care at the moment. An officer reported to me shortly before this meeting began that they are alive but still unconscious. Since they are still sleeping, Xander, would you have information on the nature of their powers? What they can do, and why they've been specifically targeted?" Bowser stood nearby, watching the entire situation. “Extra-Dimension Rescue Squad?” That was a new one. He continued to listen, noticing that none of them seemed particularly intimidated by the officer. Instead, the ones who'd talked were plenty confident. Heh. He looked around again, before returning his attention to the main discussion. The only sign of Xander’s relief was the slight slumping of his shoulders. It made perfect sense that the police would ensure Reshiram’s safety, but having confirmation that they were out of harm’s way eased some of his worries. “Reshiram is a Pokémon,” Xander began “One that’s capable of switching between their natural form and a humanoid one.” To his knowledge, Reshiram hadn’t spoken to him, if they even could speak, about their past. Considering how wary they were of strangers and agents alike, Xander doubted that anyone knew more than him about Reshiram’s past. Still, his time with them in Ylisse had given him a strong indication of what made them so timid. “They were a servant back in their homeworld,” Xander said. “A servant that, to my knowledge, wasn’t treated fairly. As you could probably already tell, they are exceptionally strong. Their powers mostly rely on fire, but I’ve noticed that they prefer to keep to themselves than start a fight. I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if whoever Reshiram served before came to collect them with little care for the well beings of everyone in the market, Reshiram included.” Xander couldn’t imagine anyone hearing Reshiram’s screams, seeing them struggle against the gray dragon and then continue to believe that their attack on the market was voluntary, but it was entirely possible that none of the officers saw it. Xander didn’t want to lay all his cards on the table, but giving Carmen an idea of how much of a victim Reshiram really was seemed like the best option. "A pokemon..." Carmen trailed off. Her pen stopped on the page. "We can run a search on the pokedex. It would be the best place to start, and then we can find out from what derivatives they're from." Reshiram. That sounded familiar. ...that was that dirty great furry dragon that set the Unova Pokémon League on fire, the white one. ...the same kinda Pokémon that grey thing had absorbed. “I've seen a Reshiram before,” Bowser interjected. “Had these powerful balls of flame like the stuff that weird eldritch dragon threw at us. Didn't look much like the eldritch thing though, and that's when the thing had that Reshiram absorbed. Heard someone else saying it was a legendary. Whatever that means. I've punched out eldritch before, anyways.” He huffed. Carmen raised an eyebrow. The Bowser spoke up with more information regarding Reshiram. He sounded growling and aggressive when mentioning that grey dragon. A vendetta, perhaps? Though it seemed like he knew just as little about that 'eldritch creature' as the rest of them. "Sounds like it was borrowing Reshiram's power, in this case. It could be that it has little power on its own. I will issue out a notice to be careful -- in case Reshiram isn't the only thing that that creature could bind with." It was hard to say -- Pokemon didn't typically shift between two forms, though it was entirely possible that this one just came from a world from which they did. The testimonies of the XDRS corroborated the idea that Reshiram was an innocent in this scenario, but that didn't change the fact that the dragon-in-human-form was their only real lead to find the true culprit, nor did it fix any of the damage caused in the crossfire. Carmen wanted to massage her brow, lie down, and wallow in her frustration, but she focused instead on finishing her notes. "We will continue to gather information on our end and find whoever else was involved," she continued, "but we will have to stay in close communication over this matter. The Marketplace police doesn't have jurisdiction over anything other than the Marketplace, which is why it occasionally relies on world-hopping organizations like yours to collect bounties." Everything was polished and clear. They had all the reason to release Reshiram to the XDRS, once Carmen could ask the pokemon a few questions to verify the story on their end. Still... something didn't sit well with her instincts. She looked towards Illidan, although she didn't think he could see her with his blindfolded and dimmed eyes. "I assume all of you here were in a degree involved in the two fights? Can you recall any of the other people on the scene?" "A woman on a unicorn," Raine said immediately. She would not have this perfect plan get derailed, now that they were so close to leaving this room with Reshiram. "She was present in the first conflict as well." Illidan opened his mouth to speak before Nora beat him to it. “There were also four other Blood Elves in the first fight. One was my father, another was my brother, and the other two, a brother-sister duo, were friends of my father. Said duo was involved in the second fight, as well. ...there was also this octopus-girl-creature-thing, I don’t know how to describe her, but I haven’t seen hide nor hair of her ever since the first fight’s conclusion.” Illidan simply nodded, agreeing with Nora’s account of the fights and relieved that he had the young Illidari here. He wasn’t sure what he would’ve done had Nora not been present. Carmen noted this on her page. Interesting... Some of the fighters were related -- which made sense, if they were helping each other up. It was really hard to say if the dragon would have caused more or less damage without the intervention of civilian heroes. It was easy for Carmen to assume less to be able to pin some responsibility on those people getting in the way, though maybe these people were right and that the dragon simply would have rampaged with hits new power. In the end, though what had passed had passed -- and she would have to reprimand the marketplace patrol force for not responding quick enough to the threat. Before she could say anything, though, the communicator on her shoulder sparked to life. It rang once, before Carmen picked up the call. "Chief, our charge has woken up. Do you want us to do anything?" Carmen paused. Good timing. "Bring them to the boardroom," she spoke into the two-way radio, unhooking it and talking into the device. "There are people here to see them -- and I would like to ask them some questions myself." Hearing a grunt from the other end, Carmen nods to the room. "Looks like you will end up getting what you want fairly soon, Mr. Xander." Edited April 20, 2019 by TehUltimateMage Share this post Link to post
Posted May 2, 2019 # Xander, Raine, Natsuki, Illidan, Nora, Bowser, Reshiram # Marketplace Police Boardroom Interrogation (Part 2) They were fearful, but thankfully, they had complied. The door to the boardroom opened and in came the bulky rhinoceros, stepping inside and letting the comparatively small and frail human shuffle in. Xander was immediately on his feet and went to hold them, visibly relieved that his friend was alright. Carmen looked to the side. The king — the leader of the XDRS — almost seemed like a different person, between his professionalism and the compassion he showed to the people he was responsible. “They can’t speak a word, chief,” the officer said, after saluting his superior, striking one hoof over the shoulder. “We’ve tried all sorts of questions, and even small talk.” “I don’t think they’ve been doing it deliberately, Ivory,” Carmen replied. She crossed her ankles and readjusted herself in her seat. It was a long day. Seeing those two together, it was getting increasingly apparent that hard interrogation tactics would have gotten them nowhere… or worse. Based on the reports of ‘great power’ contained within this pokemon-human, pressuring them might have ended up causing a violent reaction. Now that the ice dragon was separated from its power source, so to speak, she didn’t anticipate any trouble apprehending it if it were still here in the market. The trouble now was finding them… and punishing them for their mischief. The XDRS was one lead, (and one with significant credibility, too) but it was a lead that didn’t seem to have any more information for her at the moment. Once Xander had finished whispering (whispering... apologies?) to the white-haired human in his arms, Carmen picked her pen up again, nodded, and addressed the king. “I’ll grant you permission: you can take them — Reshiram — home. Contact us if you get any more information about their origins.” The chief wrote out a note on the next clipboard page, tore the sheet out and folded it, then slid it across the table to Raine and Natsuki. “Here it is on paper. I will arrange the rest.” ~~~ Raine - Outside Police Building [escaped!] - [tired] - [that was close] Raine simply sighed, exhausted. That went… a lot better than she expected it to. Carmen had simply chosen to let them go in the end, after Xander promised to have an open line of communication between them. It was quite clear from the situation in the boardroom that the market police would have a hard time extracting information from a fearful creature who only really trusted Xander and no one else. Actually, she could imagine a few ways of forcefully extracting memories, but it didn’t serve any purpose to think of those now (especially if the police were so readily allowing them to walk out freely). Nod your head and smile, Raine reminded herself. All they needed to do was wash their hands of this and hope it never gets brought up again. As the group left the building — through the front door, this time — a familiar blur of red and white hair streaked down the path towards them. followed by a handful of other people. Pascal nearly barreled into Illidan when she tried to control her stop, tripping and tumbling right under the half-demon’s wings. “Xander, we’re here!” Pascal shouted, immediately rolling back onto her feet and holding up her staff in attacking position. “Who do you need me to figh--” She stopped mid sentence, paused and blinked. Pascal’s features suddenly lit up with a grin. Was that…? “Raine! Is that you? You’re here!” Before the half-elf could really react, Pascal bounded forward and threatened to topple her with a hug. Raine akwardly reached a hand up to pat the shorter woman on the back, reciprocating the action but also subtly hinting for her to let go. It had felt like two eternities since they’ve seen each other. Pascal still hadn’t lost an ounce of her energy. “Yes, it’s me. Pleasure to see you too.” “Shoot,” Pascal spontaneously remembered. She let go of her old friend. “We're late! I saw on the clocks on the way here, we're late to the Green Gate!” A pause. “You all did buy food, didn’t you?” When no one really answered, Raine’s brow furrowed. This was why they were out here in the first place, and no one bothered to complete the objective?! The healer stabbed a finger into her temple, exasperated. The group was as disorganized as it was when she last saw it. At least the organization’s papers were in order…? ~~~ Qaksh - Green Gate [food and orb secured] - [waiting with Light] - [where is everyone?] Qaksh paced around the green gate, back and forth and back and forth along the back edge of the teleportation pad. From glancing at the nearby clock with its glowing hands and numbers, it was past the meeting time -- a good part past the meeting time -- and he worried that he had gotten the time wrong, or worse, gotten the time so wrong that the rest of the group had forgotten him and left them behind. For a good while he considered trying to teleport back himself to see if the group was already back at base. But, in the end he stayed put: he was worried that the group might end up waiting ages for him, not knowing that he and Light had already returned. Maybe it was a bad idea after all to head off on his own, but at least he had some fruit and grains and other goods in his saddle, so they couldn't be too mad at him, right? Unless, what he bought wasn't exactly what the others were looking for... He had kept the unique Life-mana tasting orb in Light's possession, mostly because he didn't trust himself to immediately lose something so expensive. His frills perked up with visible relief when he saw familiar figures approach, one of them being King Xander. It was hard to tell humans apart, nevermind remember them, but the king's armor and hairstyle were unmistakable. (Qaksh, later, had realized with horror that there were three more people that were also part of the XDRS and waiting, but whom the dragon didn't recognize for about twenty minutes before Xander's arrival.) "Welcome back!" Quaksh broadcasted while Pascal went over to the teleporter's clerk and gave them their destination. He padded up to the correct area, ready to travel back. "I assume that everyone has had a wonderful time exploring the market? And um... Maybe some of you are eager to get back, and that's fine too--" [[Mission 02: Complete...?]] Share this post Link to post
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