Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[The Regal Rper]

Paladin & Nadia | JFK Airport, NY

Time was a strange thing when you were amplifying your entire body. Seconds didn't become seconds, they could be extended further. In the Soul Bridge between Resonance, in the Soul Space the law of time functioned differently and in amplification, when you reached a certain degree or level of utilizing your spirit energy the laws of time started to slow down-- though not always in obvious ways like it could or would for truly talented Amplifiers.

Nadia’s incoming attack was easy to read but difficult, given the close combat proximity, to dodge. The high knee had two options, try to block and give up the ground or take it and lock her down. There were a few things running through Yeong’s head, take the initiative and try to kill Nadia, distance himself, or push forward. Right now Sonnetta was possibly dead if not out of commission, it was just Brennan and him left, they were losing this in numbers and he knew clearly that had it not been for this terrain shift, perhaps they would be doing slightly better. His next action changed how this fight went on.

Nadia’s hit did land but so would the soul menace that Yeong charged into his fist. The knee didn't land dead center, striking his plexus and stomach all at the same time, rather Yeong shifted in the few seconds he had between the blow landing and the boost that came with another Paladin down, to get his fist in just a second faster than Nadia’s leg would land. Turning his torso by leaning slightly to her inner space past the raising leg, making it possible for his fist to go flying straight into her solar plexus as she connected with his gut.

With Soul Menace, even if she caught it, the result would be the same.

’This whoreson..’ Nadia thought as the attack came in close, these paladins were nothing but trouble as she seen it. Though the traitor witches had the priority of her killing intent, the church was now pushing it, or whatever they called themselves. They were well matched, but she was just a hair bit faster in the long run, an endurance run did not favor him.

As the blow struck home it was not without feeling, but it was not to the extent or effect that the Paladin had counted on, Soul Menace could not be overlooked, but she had her resonance up and was and had emptied her body of air and her knee acted as a wedge as the blow stuck home, she felt it, felt it a lot, she even had to take a knee before focusing a wrathful face upon the unknown Paladin. Then there was the situation with Adrian’s sudden vanishing. For now, more immediate matters were taken into consideration.

Dani could feel herself increasing her hold on the reins, however with that came awareness of the lack of madness reverberating to her. Adrian’s had begun to feed back into her the moment her own began to set him off, but now there was just hers. ’...W-Why can’t I sense him…’ Dani murmured internally with an overarching sense of dread. She couldn’t assume the worst. She couldn’t sense the other paladin either, not that she was the best at soul perception anyway. However her anxieties would still weigh on her. ’...Bastards… Rat, fucking, bastard…!’ She growled out.

’He is likely just out of range, he neither the paladin would die so easily, but if we do not focus here, I cannot say the same of us.’

’I know… I know…’ Dani replied, though the growl in her voice hadn’t yet gone. ’What’s the plan here? Take the heat you’re giving me and shove it up his ass?’

’Old Russian tactic, while I try pulling myself together, we bait him into the back foot, then hit him from the sides. I- I don’t think it is good that we kill them, but we have little choice, they are helping the enemy and will not talk to us. I cannot fight him as if he were just some peasant on a bridge, if I don’t go all out then we are at his mercy.’

Except the paladin didn't seem like he was about to let them push him to the edge so easily. By the time they'd finished the short back and forth, that minor gap Nadia had made to take a knee had already been closed. Yeong was very aware that there between them, Nadia had the physical advantage, and his time limit made this battle of attrition his disadvantage.

At the same time with Adrian's sudden disappearance spiritually at least, Dani would at least find her own madness wasn't becoming this terrible weight she barely could handle any longer as she found it easier now to rein it in.

At least until the chipping in the resonance began again as Yeong struck with his blade.

Nadia for her part withdrew the blade and spun, leaving Yeong and his overeager charge to carry him forward as she rolled with he knee to the side, rising up in mid swing she took Dani upwards, aiming to slam her with sideways swing into the armored knight, she was grateful that at least the madness was dying down now, but she could tell the man was trying to break apart their resonance, it would not be so easily done however.

He blocked it with both blades, the act again causing a dissonance in the resonance. Yeong followed up with a move that shoved Dani’s blade to the side with raw strength pushing back against Nadia’s before he raised one blade up and struck Dani with Soul Conduction running through his second blade again.

As Yeong pushed the blade back, Dani’s hissed in response. The flames spiked and flared in response to being battered back and from the tip spawned the fiery scorpion tail. The appendage curved immediately upon sprouting, coming back towards not Yeong but his weapons. She hadn’t found something she couldn’t melt with the damn thing yet. ’Let’s see how you do without your fuckin’ toothpicks…!’

With the actions of Dani, Nadia did not know just how to take it, attacking his weapon never occurred to her, as they were tools, the real danger was in the hand that used it. Which on that note, there were now other things to consider, but the present held the attention of herself currently. With Dani’s heat that one sword should melt, even as he hammered and prodded at their union and resonance, she was not sure what would happen ultimately. The current plan was simple: take the heat from the melting blade and use that to fuel Dani, or to heat blast him as she leveraged back in with her own power, readying her left hand. ’I’m not sure if we’ll have the power to take on those witches too, this holy rollers have fucked everything.’

The effect Dani wanted was successful. Not only did she end up superheating the weapon, melting it in the process but before Yeong could do anything of significance he was forced to drop the blade Dani’s tail was heating and create some distance as it was completely demolished.

Mentions: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul


Interactions: n/a

 

[Sir Les Paul]

North of JFK Airport, New York City, New York
GM Post​

en route to Eastern front​

A set of quick explosions and a portion of the wall came crashing down. From it, there were several individuals, but only two with soul signatures that had likely been commit to memory: Adrian and Brennan. Not that either were responsible for the destruction of the wall. No, that came from the ordinance of one of the suit-wearing members of Fox Hunt; magitech and plastic explosives made for a dangerous combination. Not necessarily that they made explosives stronger, but that portable shells made for great methods to concentrate a blast. There was no around the wall and over it was apparently more hassle than just going through it.

"Fight is over, you dipshits lost. Innit that right, Bren'?" Adrian announced, his tone haughty but his voice coarse as if exhausted or hurt.

"Y-Yeah—" another voice, Brennan, his broken up and half-choked, "Yeah–Yeong, stand down. Stand the fuck down." he demanded. There was desperation in his voice.

The dust and rubble settled. Adrian was covered in blood with a nasty gash on his left side. Brennan had a broken arm, blood-staining his white robes, what appeared like vomit on his torso, and was captured inside one of the metal restraining clasps Adrian could turn his hand into. His other hand persistently had a spike stabbed into the back of the Paladin, just ever so nudging him forward with pain. Behind them both was the black-suited demolitions expert of Fox Hunt.

"Let me get you caught up. Brennan here is my brother. Apparently he found God after MIBVI. God turned him into an asshole," Adrian explained, his voice still strained. It didn't stop the spiteful sarcasm from seeping through. The strain did make plenty of sense, though; he was actively bleeding from the gash in his side. "Brennan has an Anti-Madness wavelength and has agreed to use it on Dani," Adrian explained, jerking Brennan back slightly, "Dani is the flaming sword. She's also my girlfriend. You might want to get used to her for family reunions."

Brennan could only grunt as a reaction, given he was actively being choked by his brother. Adrian relented. Brennan took a breather.

"I-I'll do whatever you want, Addi, j-just stop touching me..." Brennan spat out, his proud mouth now just begging for a release from the pain Adrian could inflict. It was probably the same story was Simon.

"Not until you all stand down," Adrian pressed, making a pointed demand at Yeong.

Meanwhile, the bloodsucker in the black suit finally chimed in with his own piece of information, "The others are alive, but hurt." He said no more. He didn't even clarify who the others were, working off the implication that the others were the two Paladins. There was more to explain, like the fact it seemed the three underground Witches had fled, but he wasn't about to divulge more information until the situation was confirmed to be resolved. The fact Simon and Sonetta were both in magitech restraints probably wouldn't sit well with Yeong, so somethings were just best left unsaid.

---

Car Rentals JFK Airport​

Predictably, the zombie brute would change its path to interrupt the shot taken at the Witch. Even with the spiritual suppression going on, the projectile from Aki was more than sufficient to blow a large hole in the flesh of the undead mongoloid. Almost immediately after, stitchwork would begin trying to pull the wound back together, though not to great effect. The hole created was mangled pretty severely; no amount of mere stitchwork was going to put it back together again. Instead, it looked like a poorly sutured field dressing from a novice. Not that it mattered, the thing was dead to begin with.

Wes was not so fortunate with the spiritual suppression. His ability to hear a wavelength as sound itself was nearly mute. If it were a dial, it would have been rolled down all the way from ten to one. Likewise, his ability to generate soundwaves was hardly a tenth of what it was to begin with. The difference came down to the nature of their traits. Aki had a Volatile Soul. Significantly stronger than a regular one at the cost of stability. Korne was cursed with the same limitation; had he been at his full might, even the dull edge of Wes's gong might have cut through stone.

The shortcomings of Wes while suppressed would hardly remain at the forefront of scene for long.

The razor thread the Witch had set finally came taut around Feng. While it couldn't cut any of her weapons, it didn't need to. It would cut through her clothes and into her back, not deep, but enough to draw blood, and definitely enough to cause that burning sensation that came from broken skin when such a thin cut was made. More importantly, the Witch was trying to wrap her in it entirely, though Korne and Wes kept that from occurring around her torso and arms. She had moments to try to break out of this would-be cocoon of death. Not that there would be a moment to breath after.

The centipede of corpses from earlier took this chance as an opening to throw more of its ghastly hatchets. It may been shorter and damaged, but there were still dozens of decrepit arms capable of tossing axeheads at the quartet to try and split them open. This did mean they only had one shot at hitting her. Those same very axes would end up cutting the razorwire that the witch used in her attempt to bind Feng. It was same reason the hulk kept at a distance; it couldn't engage without also being caught up in the strings.

The patchwork witch was delighted by this. Cackling in her arrogant splendor, she would still taunt the group, "Oh how presumptuous of you... I think I'll stitch that mouth shut after we piece you back together."

RedArmyShogun @Shotgunpenguin EmperorsChosen

 

[Haze-]

Wren
The Derelict Mansion; Czech Republic​

Grumbled, inward annoyance, followed by shuffled feet and barked rebuttals— then,

“…” — There was the plastic crinkle of a chocolate bar wrapper, being folded in on itself in Wren’s hands, cutting in through it all.

She took a slow, awfully slow, bite of the snicker’s bar she’d (almost magically) produced out of her pockets as she watched the shitshow unfold in real time, heard Sara’s voice grow louder with annoyance and excitement, felt the shit-eating grin grow wider on her face. Wren was enjoying the melodrama, for once. Bright glee flooded into every fiber of her very being the moment her eyes landed on Sara tugging Dante by the collar, yanking him like a disobedient dog.

That theatergoer bliss was temporary, admittedly, it poofed and turned to dust in the wind once she noticed Sara wasn’t beating the lights out of Dante, as she hoped she would. Alas, a wolf could only dream.

“You tell ‘im, girl.” — Wren threw back the remaining chunks of chocolate down, thumbed the corner of her mouth and half-pumped her fist, cheerleading for the other werewolf. They were a fucked-up pair, horrendously dysfunctional, and she was painfully aware of that. Sara was monogamously pair-bonded to him, it seemed, like swans and geese, or a delusional duck. He was way worse, hadn’t solidified the bond with her at all.

Why would he, after all?

Dante had probably pair-bonded with a mirror a long time ago, when he was a child, maybe. That much was Wren’s hunch. How could he be so self-centered if not?

“Sauerkraut.” — She mouthed, pettily, at Dante as he fumbled to pronounce the Duke’s full name, shooting him a deadpan stare with her arms crossed, listening as he went on. He was surprisingly cooperative, for once. Whatever Sara had done to him just then was working wonders already — “Hey, you sure y' okay man? Yer’ knees went all shaky when she started yellin’ at ya’…” — She asked, off-topic. Seeming so plain and no-nonsense in her worried delivery that Dante wouldn’t have had a clue in the world if she was being serious or not.

“So you can be cooperative…” — Wren mused, moved from the question entirely, not even giving him a beat to check if his legs were still shaking. They really weren’t, at all. But maybe they were,

The world may never know — “What we’ve seen from their souls oughta be incriminating enough, I guess…only thing is figuring out how to get to this dungeon.” — She hummed, threw out a hip. A hand coming up to rest on her chin, twist her focused scowl. Pretending to be a detective, deep in thought, thoroughly sifting through the pages of her mental flipnotes, fiddling with her rolodex. And in truth, she really was. The problem was that her memories, her flipnotes, had already gone blurred from distracting herself with Dante & Sara’s show.

A receding tide sinks all boats. The tide, in this case, was the idea of Dante getting the beating he deserved. The boats, the intricate details of the memories she’d absorbed from Lee, already far too many fathoms below surface level, sleeping on the ocean’s floor. Not that the Jiangshi had much to show anyways.

The bulk of the info was with the bloodsucker.

Kisei approached, with another distraction to completely null her train of thought, speaking on the differing amounts of passion with which Zosar and Wren spoke in their distinctive romance languages — “That just sounds like yer’ biased, honestly.” — A silver wolf-ear turned and batted at the hand that landed on her shoulder, an involuntary tic. She side-eyed the Hoshi at her side, grinning wide — “And I don’t give private lessons for free either— ESL language tutors are on demand, y’know? He has to pay my premium fees 'fore I start teaching him.”

Then came the link between their souls. First, he called her spicy, then he moved on to compliment her, try and get her confidence up. She was noticing a pattern, feeling like it was something out of those frat parties all over again, the ones she’d used to sneak into in her foster home days. Was it him making moves on her, or was it her being delusional?

Delusional, definitely. Compliments and praise did something to her, as Zosar was aware of; got the cymbal-banging monkey living inside her head to do pirouettes, make a ruckus.

She huffed out through her nose, getting a word in before their link snapped.

‘Yeah…don’t worry about it, I’ll pull through in this Danteful world. For now. I’ve been getting used to him anyways…Though, do spare some room for me to join in on the fun when you eventually make up your mind and decide to beat the shit out of him.’

Once the communication was cut, Wren was back in the real world as if the exchange hadn’t happened at all. She flung her hand up, raised it like she were the teacher’s pet trying to get their attention. Looking straight at Sara with an idiot smile on her face, her tail wagging a slow pendulum — “I volunteer to join the search, Miss Middleton!” — She put on an accent, made an effort to make it sound as annoying as humanly possible before sauntering over to Sara. Hands going to her pockets; lazy, unhurried.

“You might have the better nose but I’ve been sneaking into people's rooms and using these claws to pick locks since I had memory. You’d love t’ have a thief’s eyes and intuition while you’re lookin’, no?” — She batted her lashes, puppy-dog-eyeing her for a while before finally deciding that she would invite herself on the tracking team no matter her answer — “’Course you would. I might even find where those keys go to in record time…”

She waltzed on over where the Baroness scent wafted stronger, trailing not to look like an idiot roaming the mansion aimlessly. Only stopping when she overheard Kisei. Another distraction, once again. She’d completely lost the scent already.

“We are exemplary D.W.M.A agents and we would never rob or disrespect the dead.” — She clarified.

“That being said, if by chance any of yer’ pockets— for whatever mystical, magical reason— turn up with a handful of gold bars and antiques that would sell for a nice buck in a pawn shop by the end of this mission, make sure to invite your best friend Wren out for dinner with the spare change. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

“She’ll love it, even.”

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic Pumpkid
Tags: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn
New York City - North of JFK International - NYC
September 26th​

With sudden speed and surprise, Nadia did not follow her opening as the wall exploded on one side of them, searching with her soul perception, it didn’t much matter as Adrian showed up with a Paladin, whom he said was his brother… Was it really his brother? And why was he calm? It was all a bit too much to process as a bloodsucker walked alongside the pair, Adrian persuading the Paladin with his oh so kind touch.

It seemed the Paladin also had a calming wavelength to him, though Dani was back in control a bit, it might not be a bad idea to let him see her, while Nadia continued collecting heat from the molten metal. She didn’t trust a single person here aside from her partner. Too much betrayal had happened this day. Speaking of, she shot a glare at Yeong, and said a loud for all to hear, that could hear, the following statement.

”I am Nadia Semyonov, leader of a scattered squad of the DWMA. The Bloodsuckers are mercenaries that are attempting to enact a plan against the Kaiju with us and the blessing of DWMA Headquarters.

The Witches ambushed us and never spoke in challenge or purpose, or at all. Your men then attacked us and shot one of mine, and tried to do more than one gunshot. I am sorry for their deaths but I do not leave an enemy to linger behind me to wake up and fire a second shot.

They had innocent souls, but such is the fate of most soldiers.

However, it seems your witch allies killed more of you than the few I got from the gunline.”

There was also the issue of Adrian to deal with. She also badly needed to get in touch with command to inform them of this state of affairs. ’Dani, do you want to get out of weapon form and approach them for help, or would you rather stick close to me, or me getting near them with you?’

The explosion instantly had Dani’s attention, albeit for a moment. It shot back to Yeong before she recognized the signatures associated. Her soul flatlined with relief, then spiked with anger before stabilizing somewhere in the middle as a growl filled their soul space. ’Ain’t that the same fuck who started shit with us?’ She questioned, sounding none too pleased.

She had many mixed feelings about this for a number of reasons. Dani was plenty relieved that Adrian was back to normal and she hadn’t fucked him up. She also didn’t like having to rely on that piece of shit’s wavelength. She liked even less that he called him her fucking nickname for him, but she also didn’t want to completely tear into him because he was apparently Adrian’s brother. Dani was uncharacteristically conscious of not talking shit about someone’s family while in their presence because of her own family. It was the same reason she didn’t vent to Gauss’s brother about his sister. That feeling was amplified since it was Adrian, which made her even more pissed off as she wanted nothing more than to smack the crap out of the douchebag, at the least.

Alternatively, she wanted to be a petty bitch and not accept any help from any of these fucks, especially Brennan. A groan escaped her.

’...I’ve never wanted to stab someone and not stab someone so much at the same time in my entire life,’ Dani grumbled in displeasure.

’I can’t say I disagree, do you wish to refuse the offer? Though I am unsure if they actually are related… Still, it is up to you if you want that help or not. I shall not force it one way or the other. It would be easier to accept it, but you seemed to have calmed a bit on your own.’

’I really fucking do, but I also don’t hate him enough to risk losing my shit again and it spreading to Adrian or someone else,’ Dani replied, though a part of her still really wanted to refuse it. ’Don’t really trust the fuck either, even being held… but his buddies look captured and half their chorus are fucking dead, so…’ She seemed to be more trying to convince herself than anyone else at this point, evident by her following sigh.

‘...Take me over there. I’m not dropping the resonance though, even if he is a whiny bitch now,’ Dani told her. However, the scorpion tail that had melted Yeong’s weapons did slowly dissipate, as did the flames immolating the blade itself.

’Yes, about that… Well, it can wait.’ What Nadia had meant about that was up in the air as she did what Dani wanted, jaunting over to them and past her former, if not current foe.

”I will not be disarming just yet, but we will see what he can do. Also, what is the situation in the other walls? Are the Witches still here? Do you know?” This latter bit was aimed squarely at the bloodsucker that had blasted them out.


Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Dani) Sir Les Paul (Adrian/NPC's) The Regal Rper (NPC's)

 

[The Regal Rper]

Paladin | JFK Airport, NY

The explosion was what gave him pause and the AW was what made him tense the moment he saw who was in his grasp.

Brennan’s command to stand down had Yeong staying frozen still, but what had him staring intensely at Adrian and his supposed big brother even more, was the fact they really were blood related when he studied both of them carefully.

His head nodded, eyes narrowed, and without word or fanfare he tossed the remaining katana aside behind him to the ground, a distance away from himself. He was no fool to assume he could simply power his way through this. After all, he knew he had been reaching his limit in the fight. The fact Adrian was sensible and not radiating madness and the intent was to remove Dani’s lingering effects, did enough to have him step down.

He merely stood silent, still and listened.

It was a relief to know the rest were alive, his adopted older sister including.

This day truly had been just one chaotic mess, the fact they were on the losing side might have stung another Paladin, for Yeong, he was more relieved to hear his sister and the other paladins hadn't died and no more sacrifices.

Mentions: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul

Interactions: n/a

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara MIddleton​

Date: September 27, 2067
Location: The Derelict Mansion, Liberec Region, Czech Republic
Interactions: Dante, Zosar, Wren, Kisei, Elly, Witchling
Mentions: N/A
Pumpkid The Regal Rper Haze- Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun

She can smell it…

That absolute bonafide fear.

Her tail was wagging precisely for that very reason. It was so funny to be able to smell that fear from him, to know that what she was saying was actually being heard and processed, to know that there was hope for Dante yet.

Sure, it was a strange way of seeing that, but it was fine.

Sara crossed her arms and looked between Dante and Elly as they spoke, watched Zosar look through both bodies, and listened with her ear swiveled to face Kisei as he spoke of the next step. The Witchling was rather silent, which made Sara wonder if she was okay.

While the jokes and banter between the others she didn’t react to in favor of focusing on the mission, the comments regarding any gold or whatnot had her sighing - mostly from disappointment. “It’s blood money. Regardless of what form it comes in, you better not use it on me.” Why was she the only one here with a proper set of morals?

Well, proper morals for a werewolf, as the Vena Clan didn’t care if they smelled dead bodies and disturbed gravesites if it meant finding the trail of the deceased.

Looking at Wren when she inserted herself in this little search party, Sara gave an amused snort. Well, given that Wren was coming along and Sara was to be the lead, that automatically meant Zosar and Dante had to come with. “Alright then, but Zosar’s gotta come with us since he got the keys and you're his weapon, and you gotta behave since Dante’s coming along. Now…” She cracked her knuckles by bending them backwards as she stretched her arms out, made sure her hands were covered with gloves, and crouched low, getting on all fours. She didn’t seem to care much about the blood she stepped in, nor the dead bodies she put her hands on as she leaned over them. It was likely strange to see a human crawling around as if she were an actual wolf without any wincing from the gross smell or feel of blood and viscera, even if she did have the wolf ears and tail to offset this.

Once she had the scent profile down of the two dead undead, her amber eyes were wide - her pupils dilated to large saucers - as she looked further into the corridor. With a growling huff and a brief tug on Dante's sleeve to signal him to follow her, she let her nose guide her as she jogged on her legs. “Come.” She said, as chased the scent trail. With narrowed eyes, she sniffed each door with a couple whiffs, before shaking her head as a physical note for her to not waste her time with a door that held no promise in its scent.

That was, until, she smelled a door that had the Baroness’s scent all over it - new and old. She looked at the door handle, and then back at Zosar. Making sure everyone’s ready, she tested out the door - pushing and pulling on it to see if it was unlocked, which it wasn’t.

She looked over at Zosar, but before they could be civil about this and use the skeleton key to unlock it, she summoned as much strength she had naturally and kicked the door down with one swift launch of her leg, breaking the lock as the door swung open swiftly, nearly breaking it off its hinges.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Atlantic City - New Jersey​

Events were unfolding at a rapid rate, but Maria now did not find herself alone in the sky, drenched in sweat the mage gathered her thoughts and processed all that was now unfolding, as well as the results of her own actions and the report from Gauss.

The heat built up around her in the atmosphere was sweltering, akin to hot humid summer day, and while sapping it was not enough to stop her current efforts in saving the helicopters. And said helicopters also save themselves in part. Or rather the magitech designers did. With herself providing the extra lift and the powerful engines and fuselage of the modernized relics proving able to withstand and make use of it, her repeated barrages had saved the greater majority of the squadron.

This is partly what she had in mind with technology meeting magic, but there was no time to focus on that, as she loosened her tunic top via the topmost fasteners and took off her neck ribbon, all in an attempt to cool off a little as she wrapped the ribbon around her broom and extended her right arm to the horizon, tilting her broom in its flight to wave at the aircraft, she would talk with them later she was sure.

It seemed the new witches were offering Raph and Ark a chance to get into the skies, though she was unsure how effective they would be as on with taunted and flew circles around the Kaiju and two more were up to something, with one working on ice from below and the other... what was she doing? It did also seem like the sea monkey zombies were not nearly the threat they were before... The question now was, what did she do? Then there was the report from Gauss, which caused her to pipe up; "Are we sure this thing is the same monster or even a natural occurrence?"

She did not expect an answer, but it was a bit absurd that the creature would develop a power all of its own like that... Hopefully it did not gain the same from the trio making its move against it.

Either way she was not alone, as she turned around and worked up the courage to get close to the witches at the rear most areas and asks simply, "How might I be of assistance?" Though this was asked of the witches, the broadcast was open to Guass and the others on the team, if the witches had nothing to ask for over this sweltering sea, maybe they did.

Interactions: Merciless Medic (Raph-Noah) Meredith (Chanterelle) Sir Les Paul (Gauss) Peckinou (Arkayis) The Regal Rper (Ark)

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Feng Long - Aki Kiyoko - Wes Carpenter - Korne
New York City - Car Rentals JFK Airport
September 26th​

Things were turning to shit and quickly at that, if Feng could lure them all in close, if she could call upon her trait, even if just a little, or if her weapons could empower her that much, then Feng was confident she could destroy them all. Rip and Tear.

But that was easier said than done as the situation evolved into a 4 on one, with the witch bitch aiming to constrict and hold her in place, Wes unfortunately was useless in this situation, minus as a shield and a pair of eyes, but Aki was doing rather well. She could out damage the repairs on that giant, and might even shoot through it. Then there was the sting of wires cutting flesh, akin to climbing over razor wire, which she had happened to herself from time to time while robbing warehouses, still, it did anger her somewhat that her nice clothes and flesh were being cut up.

Making use of Wes to break the wires off of her back and side, Feng dives forward, aiming Aki to pop a few shots at the witch again. The giant would have little choice but to intercept.

‘If anyone has some ideas, I want to hear them. Otherwise we keep moving and I get in close to where she can’t use those wires.’

The wire couldn’t scratch either him, Aki or Korne, but the same couldn’t be said for Feng. Little by little, the cuts would start to pile up, turning an annoyance into an actual threat of blood loss if the fight dragged on for long enough. And as Wes slowly realized, this was probably what the witch had wanted in the first place. The circle would rob them of their strength, making fighting back much more difficult than normal. The undead nature of the abomination in front of them meant that it would keep getting back up an infinite number of times, all the while the razor sharp threads the witch waved around them would slowly limit their movement.

She was taking some sort of pleasure in this, like a sadistic trapper watching her prey dance around in her web. Wes grimaced in his soul space and tried to strain his ears for even the slightest hint of Feng, or Aki’s soul signature. Hell, he’d even take Korne’s right now for the possibility of boosting his own wavelength enough to give them an edge. But all that he could hear was the world around him, the groans of the shambling mass and the sadistic words of the wire witch.

‘Keep an eye out for those wires. She might have strung some up to catch us if we rushed her.’ Either she was far, far too cocky and left herself completely open, or she was trying to bait them into rushing in. While the wires weren’t sharp enough to cut deep just by pressing against them, it’d be another story entirely if Feng were to run into them.

’My idea is get out of this circle,’ Korne responded, his tone a little harsher this time around. It was full of frustration.

’Something is wrong—a Witch strong enough to cast all these spells should be strong enough to just kill you. If she’s weakening you, it’s probably because she has to,’ Korne added, continuing on with his frustration and tinting his tone with a new layer of sardonic chant. The more he put together, the more this didn’t seem plausible. All those zombies, a massive magic circle, controlling countless strings that were both stitching the zombies and cutting into Feng? Not to mention, summoning hatchets. Korne wasn’t even sure if a Witch from the Mabian line could do that, and she could, he had doubts that she would be this sadistic bitch in front of him.

He could understand how Feng, who apparently never fought foes stronger than her, might not understand the nuances of Witches. Thing was, he did. He and Sam weren’t Spellbreakers, but they were one of the best counters to Witch. Right up there with the Hoshi clan. What could a Witch do if being blitzed by a man just a few steps below a Warrior God? Point was, the three-star knew their limits. That barrier shouldn’t be that damn strong with so much going on.

Besides, if they ran around long enough distracting her by trying to break out, Sam would eventually rescue them. They just had to survive.

’That barrier can’t be that damn strong between my blade and her bullets,’ he said, doing his absolute best to provide some type of a morale boost given the situation. Truth was, he didn’t have any agency to make Feng do a damn thing, so hopefully some positivity might be the icing on the cake.

‘Maybe she’s just stupid?’ Aki proposed simply. ‘Either way, yeah, let’s just break the barrier.’

’Yeah, it might be nice to have a good hold of Aki now, but this little circle is hurting us more than not. Those three years of house arrest really put me off my game.’ While partially true, it was as Korne has surmised, Feng knew very little about fighting witches, low level sorcerers and jiangshi was another matter, so she was not totally ignorant on the undead. She was simply used to being the battering ram, or going behind said battering ram to lay waste to anything and everything behind it in a furious rage that was tempted by martial resolve to some degree.

’So get out of here and go for her… man, I miss having that Russian around…’ Taking aim for the barrier’s side closest to the witch Feng decides to go all in on movement, aiming Korne and Aki at one point while making use of Wes as a cumbersome shield aiming to get out of the circle, out of the barrier and on the witches doorstep.

’Hey Wes, if we get through this I’m going to slam you into that giant or the ground near that witch, I’ll breathe out, but I want to see if we can get a bit of sound out of you, see if we can rupture those eardrums. I can’t talk about fighting witches but I found with sorcerers if you could break their focus you could break them.’

‘Right.’ Wes couldn’t find any fault in her train of thought. While meisters and witches were stronger than the average person, the fact remained that there were some places that were impossible to toughen up. The eardrums were one of those places. If ruptured, the person's sense of balance would be completely thrown off. Solid land would feel like a swimming ocean, up becomes down, down becomes up. Even if she could adjust quickly, it’d still be a moment where she would lower her guard.

And from what he’s seen of Feng and Aki, a moment was probably all they needed.

Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Dani) Sir Les Paul (NPC's) @Shotgunpenguin (Wes)

 

[Sir Les Paul]

North of JFK Airport, New York City, New York
GM Post​

en route to Eastern front​

Adrian didn't actually have much information on the situation. In fact, he wasn't in any position to control anything aside from his brother. If not for their presumed allegiance with Fox Hunt, it wouldn't be clear their side was the winner here. Still, it was. Fox Hunt was already working on salvaging what they could of their convoy and stealing some of the church trucks to make up for what was lost. To the victor go the spoils, after all. This unironically would constitute actual theft as the Church used vehicles under their actual registration, but that would be neither here nor there. They left plenty of first aid for the wounded priests and knights.

Adrian also let up on his brother, removing his spike and subsequently the pain wavelength from his back. All once Yeong finally stood down, of course. The knights, much like Nadia, weren't so quick to relinquish their weapons, but it seemed no one cared so long as they stayed in their little section near the crosswalk with their wounded. Their guns hardly mattered without the might of a Paladin making use of the cover fire.

Thus, it wasn't Adrian that ultimately answered, but instead the member of Fox Hunt that had been escorting him up until now. Not well known, but the techhead Bloodsucker went by Talon. Maybe something to pick up later if their small army wasn't too overwhelming.

"All but three Witches are accounted for. Sibyl has no signs of their Soul Signatures, meaning they probably fled. The remaining corpses do not seem extraordinary in any way," he rattled off, providing facts that he was fed over his ear-piece in a fairly matter-of-fact tone. "There are nine confirmed fallen knights and roughly two dozen wounded. They are being given treatment in an armed station at the North intersection. As for the walls, they're not our priority. We'll drive around them. Our mission has not changed; we have confirmed enough equipment remains to complete the objective," he continued, no longer directly answering questions as much as simply prattling off relevant information.

Meanwhile, Brennan, with rage in his eyes but that sullen, defeated look of a man bested, simply stared at both Nadia and Dani. He was angry, he was upset, his ego was broken, but he was man of honor. An asshole, perhaps, but it ran in the family. He lost and his penance would be the use of his skills for the unwashed masses. In this case, Dani.

"Well I can't help you while you're resonating," he told them, sarcasm mingling with condescension in his words.

He sighed.

"Your wavelengths would minimize the Anti-Madness effect," he told them, doing his best to avoid outright admitting that the duo was stronger than him. Still, the shame was obvious.

---

Car Rentals JFK Airport​

The plan of "hit the barrier" would prove slightly more difficult than perhaps anticipated, but there was a solid chance that any plan the quartet would have came up would have proven more difficult than anticipated. The giant was slow, perhaps, but the moving centipede-corpse with the ghostly hatchets was not. As it would turn out, the field had a few more traps at its disposal, least of all the razorwire the Patchwork Witch was using. Human arms burst out from the ground once Feng neared the barrier, trying to pin her in place. It was the name of the game, apparently; pin and control the opponent. Each time it happened, more razorwire came her way and another series of attacks from either the brute or hatchets.

It made movement inside the magic circle more of a dance of dodging and positioning, seeing as nearing the Witch herself would prove quite difficult with her brute acting as a barrier and her razorwire filling any gaps. A war of attrition is what this might have been, but this fight was effectively four against one. Three weapons and a Meister, even while weakened, had more stamina and spiritual energy than most duos.

With well-timed footwork, expecting the frenzy of hands, and actually adding distance from the Patchwork Witch instead of closing in, Feng was able to reach the barrier in range with Korne. As it would turn out, Korne was right. A combination of his oscillations and the volatility of Aki made cracks in the barrier until it finally cracked open, causing the entire thing to collapse. It was not an immediate process, but it did earn them their freedom.

Of course, it would also turn out that the barrier and the Magic Circle were two wholly separate Spells. The barrier came crashing down in a reign of green, ethereal light, but the Magic Circle itself was still present and dampening their souls. Not a difficult problem to amend, but it did mean there was now an area around the Patchwork Witch wherein they would be significantly weaker. Thus, they didn't eliminate the effect, they only changed the nature of the fight. Which became much more obvious once the Witch, in an act of desperation, changed her tactics entirely. She conjured a rain of what had to be a hundred or more oversized needles to come crashing down on Feng and her immediate area like a rain of steel death, solely for the purpose of skewering her. Given the length and height of the needles, this spell may not have been possible inside of the barrier, but now that it was gone, it seemed she had new possibilities.

Breaking the barrier wasn't a win condition, it only marked the beginning of Phase 2.

RedArmyShogun @Shotgunpenguin EmperorsChosen

 

[RedArmyShogun]

The Missing of the Giant Mountains
Investigative Mission
Date: 09/27/67
Location: The Derelict Mansion - Liberec Region - Czech Republic
​

With Sara, Kisei, and Zosar all collectively being first to descend upon the room be it for fact finding or shallow greed, the method of doing it just angered the little witch who at least had no way to threaten them... Well, at least not likely. But having her house being constantly vandalized for no good reason was a bit too much as she called out;

"Hey! You are spreading blood everywhere and the key he found would open the door! Hopefully your DWMA will at least clean the dead bodies out of my home... Well, provided I live..." Casting an eye over the room, she speaks, mostly to herself and in general for those that were still listening, "I never spent much in terms of time in her chambers. This was a guest room, Brother Lee also had one, but he had nothing and would sleep standing up. Well, I think he was sleeping? I kept my master room at least."
Wren and Dante, miraculously, were linked for one small parsec of a moment, a second where they shared the exact same reaction at seeing Sara crawl on all fours up to the Baroness’ room, the same question mark popping above their head. He, estranged, likely for the absurdity of the sight, she, on the other hand, because she simply couldn’t wrap her head around Sara’s need for getting low and running her nose along the ground when she herself was picking up the scent just fine standing on two feet. Hell, they didn’t even have to pick up the scent— it’s not like the bloodsucker’s room was hidden or anything. She was doing too much.

Or maybe Wren was doing too little? Maybe being raised 99% human had dulled those canine brain-itches of hers. That, or, more plausibly, Sara just really wanted to get on all fours and act like a dog.

The question stuck to her like jumping cactus needles grabbing onto her pant leg, a string of lint on her favorite sweater, lost in thought, barely reacting, only waving a dismissive hand at the little witch as she complained on excessive use of force on the door, scratching a black claw on the side of her face [color= #d9381e]“Just sue us for property damage or somethin’.”[/color]

Upon entering the room, it would seem, if Brother Lee was a simple man that needed next to nothing, the Baroness was very much a creature of comfort. A full rack of dresses in gothic or medieval styles, mostly only three colors were prominent, red, black and purple were in the center of the room, a coffin in true Vampiric noble arrogance rested atop the bed, the wood was ebony ironwood, polished to perfection with a velvet red interior a velvet gown laid atop the bed with a nightcap and some slip proof socks, akin to those in a hospital or sold in colder climes. None of these were likely of interest to the agents and none of the females were small enough to wear her dresses as the gaze would be drawn to a bedside dresser and mirror stand, a vanity stand, and small cherry wood case contained several articles of jewelry, fashionable if not dated, yet the treasure hoard the two agents had sought out was nowhere to be seen, minus a scant handful of gold coins. Ornate candles, paper and a wax seal and sigil stamp were also among the items, being out of place with a charger for the damaged cell phone and a modern music player.

Some bags of what seemed to be medical blood, yet not quite right were also upon the table, the contents were rather obvious and superficial and there were a number of very powerful drugs designed for a bloodsucker and a number of blood totems and bloodsucker designed items for that race's magic were also on display. Likely of no use to the agents at all as their eyes would go to the next item on the dresser.

Catching the eye of Elly or Kisei a bound diary that looked ancient and rebound in leather many a time, like an ancient book of grudges, its pages were thick as the Christian bible, its design ornate and ancient. Pilfering the smaller key from Zosar, the lock would be opened, curiously it was an enchanted book, trying to rip it open would have ended badly... Likely enchanted by the hand of some witch or even the baroness, the tome glowed with an eerie light, a self-lighting book, how convenient. Flipping through the pages much of it was written in ancient Romanian and would require AI translation tools to read it, or a call to Wallner to ask if he could, regardless of the course, the first entry dated slightly over 100 years ago and was a musing about waking up for the 2nd World War and the cooperation with the Soviet Government that allowed her to survive for a time and was of little value for the agents. Flipping forward there were some more "recent" entries noting various run-ins with the DWMA, including that of Gauss's team and the prideful manner in how she had tricked the fools, though she was a little distraught about her extra help being killed, for such help was hard to find...

Flipping to the most recent pages there would be complaints about the new home, about her wealth and servants being kept on a leash to be sure she played her part by the Duke's own hand and yet more importantly a page that explained the blood pack...

The Duke's plan was clear and present, he had used his captive to create and manufacture artificial blood that had the properties of actual human blood, at face value to sustain the various bloodsucker races, while he built an Army, seemingly to throw off the chains of the DWMA and treachery of man. While outwardly a reformist and a key supporter of the monster accords, the High Vampire seemed to have only done this to bide his time. Additional notes revealed human experimentation and creation of monsters, as well as some basic information on the turned agents, and the missing CIA witch. It answered more than a few questions and contacting Wallner would be a must. Most of the Agents were still alive, with a murmuring about the Witch being the next object of experimentation, other poorly explained medical and chimeric feats of the hostage scientist were forthcoming and a wish to kill the seer witch and to take the Duke's work for herself.

Even till the very end she was loyal only to her old master and none other, everyone else was to use or be used by, additionally the pages were filled with her insecurities as the weakest of the High Vampires and of her arrogance to those below her. The book would make for an interesting read for intel for sure, though some of its credibility might be in question. It was of little consequence to the agents at hand, but a narrative from the perspective of the Baroness wasn’t likely to detail out the actual means of making the synthetic blood, the adjustments to the rituals it needed, or even the new blood rituals that were possible because of it. Historians would drool over a book written in the pen of a Baroness that was more so a pawn, but it would likely become little more than a footnote in a larger story.

The real story was how much fine goods he could carry. It didn't show in his face but the prospect of finally being able to capitalize on something extra when he had been playing ‘good boy’ for years in EAT was something Zosar realized he missed greatly as he moved towards the jewelry and gold to search for its spoils and valuables. Blood red gems, quartz, sapphires and more. Being mindful of the others at least, even if he really wanted to pocket everything else for himself he searched through the jewelry, pilfering necklaces, rings, earrings but taking his time with each piece to examine it for a few seconds before either shifting it aside or pocket it. Back when he had been in EAT he never had done this even if he wanted to, portraying himself as Lawful good hadn't been hard but it also hadn't always been what he wanted, so this was the first time in years. Had he been with an entirely different team of strangers or acquaintances, people he was shaping an image with perhaps he would have taken less, maybe even more surreptitiously. Here, in this group though, he was bluntly open about it. His suit had a few pockets for gear within his belt that were empty given the mission, and he filled these, along with some of the gold coins in a more secure place.

Most that was taken was dominantly going to be sold but for some items he took, people came to mind as gifts. Sara was one such example, but he wrote the notion off purely based on her morals. Aki, Feng, Adrian, even Dante, especially his own partner were others that came to mind with other things he took. When he finished, three pockets had to be occupied but that was more due to how the jewelry fit into the small pouches of his belt than it being a great quantity. Whatever was left and didn't get taken he would look through again to see what he could leave with.

Of course, Sara wasn’t all too thrilled that Zosar and anyone else began pilfering, but she wasn’t about to throw a fuss. If Dante decided to join in, she wouldn’t even bat an eye. She would just let her nose guide her, before skimming a bit of the diary before growing bored and continuing with anything else.

Knock—Knock—Knock.

A series of rapid-fire, albeit small knocks on the door of the derelict mansion. Over and over it would seem. Something the Little Witch owner would be the most privy to. It seemed to be a scouting party of the mountain gnomes from earlier, hunters or something of the like, using their limited Fae magic to help them cover the distance.

Knock—Knock—Knock.

Again and again. The triple-set knocks was a well-known trait of the Fae. Whether it was the Little Witch or the leader of the agents, they cared little. What they needed most was a way to tell the DWMA of what was happening. In truth, some of the scouts had tailed the group for most of their trip, using a convenient form of greenseeing through the foliage to avoid detection from Elly and her absurd range. Only now, in a great and dire need, did they forsake their overly-cautious nature, knowing only that the Undead were no longer present. With them gone, whoever was left was perhaps their best and only hope of immediate intervention.

Knock—Knock—Knock.

Time was of the essence.

“You'll have plenty of time to clean up, dear,” Elly replied to the witch in her descent. As they made their way into the room, the woman began searching it with her Soul Perception until she came up on the journal. Leaving the others to do as they pleased, she was first to review it, humming as if she were enjoying a novel, albeit Elly’s eyes darted from side to side as she flipped through, not digesting its information as leisurely as her demeanor portrayed.

As the knocks came, Elly’s eyes visibly narrowed as her head swiveled to look towards the doorway of the Baroness’s suite. She could see the souls now. Fae, gnomes. The same types of souls they encountered at the village. The meister was slightly irked that she didn't notice them before when she scanned the area.

Her hand clasped around the book, snapping it shut as she made her way toward the door. “Keep up the search, I'll be back once I let the gnomes in,” She replied simply as she stepped past the witch. Upon reaching the main entrance, Elly pried the door open with a polite smile. “Visitors~! What a surprise. I hope you didn't come to see the Baroness.”

As Elly eventually made her way down to ground level and the main door, it was to her expectations and detection, the Gnomes. Of interesting note, it seemed they had a wagon pulled by a pig with some cargo and mounts in the form of dogs with saddles. Curious for a magical race to use such, but the gnomes were further down to earth than many of the fae.

Greeting her would be a few concerned faces hidden behind beards as the headman Heimdall and foreman Trygve would greet them, or rather there was no greeting as the most senior of the two spoke. “Humans! About damn time! We’ve been waiting for you, though your senses aren’t as attuned as our own… I was about to break down the door, or go through a window.”

Behind him were some of the manastones as they were termed from the worksite, more like crystals by all accounts, but they were seeping red - a dark, ghastly, red.

“Your enemy has decided to make a move for the mountain, for the wild mana of the leyline for reasons we do not understand, yet it stinks of corruption and ritual. We Gnomes are doing all we can to keep the Vampire Lord’s machinations at bay. We want you to take care of this, but if your fancy technology can help with it, you may want some more men. I can tell you more but I’m not sure how helpful it will be.”

This situation drew out many facets of Kisei. One such being his mentality of ‘to the victor go the spoils’, of which he would indulge in here now to the best of his ability. Regardless of what Sara said, he was not above swiping the few gold coins or trifling through the jewelry for any fine pieces, looking particularly for gold, platinum, or significant gemstones. He wasn’t one to hoard them, per se, but if they could easily and securely fit into his jacket pocket, that’s absolutely where they would go. One ounce coins of a high-karat gold value could go for upwards of $3,600 in the current economy. DWMA Agents were paid well, but not that well.

Kisei even made a sly comment to Zosar, who apparently had his mind in the same place. ’Yo, see if Wren wants a dress; we obviously aren’t gettin’ Sara in one,’ he suggested, only half-joking. To which it got an amused snort. The Baroness wardrobe had to be worth a few grand bare minimum—even accounting for them being used by a corpse.

The rest of the search wasn’t terribly interesting up until the diary Elly had unlocked. The motivations and rantings of the Baroness were of little interest, but this Duke she had worked for… he was a different story. Synthetic blood was a hot topic for a while. Kisei was no expert, but he did know at the very least that the current medical-grade blood replacements wouldn’t cut it for Bloodsuckers. They needed the real thing. In fact, the real thing from animals was better for them than a manufactured replacement.

If there was actual promise of a replacement they could use, that could help ease the stigma Bloodsuckers had on them. Then again, maybe not. Bloodsuckers, much more than werewolves, were considered Monsters first and foremost. There was just something inherently different about being a walking, talking corpse.

The rest of what was written about the Duke was, well, atrocious, but it was no more offensive than some of the stuff Kisei had already seen. Even humans could do horrendous things to their own kind. Nazi Germany was just one example.

The real problem came with the Death-damn gnomes. Not to shoot the messenger, but news about the Duke likely meant he was on the move as a result of killing the Baroness. Which itself meant he was either going scorched Earth or enacting what he could of some plan as quickly as he could, indicating he didn’t want to see some Bloodhunters.

Kisei sighed, frustrated and defeated, like a cashier learning they had to pull a double. A quick glance over to Elly then a simple sentence followed, ”We probably ought to call HQ. Wallner might work, central might also be appropriate given the scale… either fuckin’ way, I doubt there’s a minute to spare.”

Elly’s pleasant visage dropped slightly as the gnome began to speak. She glanced over to Kisei at about the same time, giving a brief nod. “Certainly doesn't sound like it,” She agreed, stepping back from the door but leaving it open were the gnomes to follow.

She pulled out her phone again. “Let's start with Wallner,” Elly declared as she dialed and held the phone out a bit on speaker. “We need to report to and update him regardless.”

In short order the team would contact Waller who went from professional, to confused, to, while not horrified, the look of concern, like that of a parent that had learned their child was in the hospital. For a few moments he processed all of this and crossed his arms, as if to confirm his own thoughts the DWMA regional head did not like what he had heard, not one bit.

“Mein Gott… If the little witch and all you said your partners saw is true, well, we have a serious situation. I also would like this dealt with silently… Duke Richter Von Kleist was instrumental to the Monster-DWMA accords, even if just at face value, he is also long lived and very powerful as a combatant. There are reasons he was able to keep his castle for so long.”

Pressing his hands against the desk, the man was quick to activate another terminal and patch into HQ, with a video file of what was discussed up to now being sent and while not asking for permission, all that he was about to do would be open to HQ to review. Or to even butt in.

“Stopping this, what I believe to be a massed blood ritual is your primary task… Or so I would like to say. There are likely multiple teams at work, if this blight is allowed to spread it will mean, well, suddenly we’ll have a few thousand more bloodsuckers connected to the Duke.

There are three primary missions I wish to give this team, I’ll be routing anything and everything I can to assist, but you must be the spearhead. I care not in what order or how you do them, but these are the primary tasks;

First, stop the Duke, and by stop I mean take captive or make the Undead dead. I will task other teams to this task as well, but taking him out is of prime importance.
Second, secure the Scientist Witch and her work if she has made actual blood artificially. This will be a major boon for the DWMA in dealings with the Monster Clans in general and has great medical potential, which doesn’t bear needing explanation. We will deal with the Wicca Council if need be, but she is a strategic asset.

Third, secure and release any survivors from the dungeon and neutralize the traitor agents… This set unfortunately is not nearly as important as the first two. I also know of two possible ways to get you in, and reasons I choose this group.”

There was a pause and a stop in the conversation, opening it to the agents in the room, or HQ on the other end. Kisei wasn’t one to mince words in a situation like this. He had an all-too important question he felt was worth asking.

”Logically speaking, shouldn’t halting the ritual take precedence? The Baroness used a similar diversion to escape. What is to stop the Duke from the same?” Kisei suggested, respectfully, even coldly, but a mark of his more professional side. Kisei wasn’t sure if it was an assumption that eliminating the Duke would halt the ritual or if there was some information the group wasn't privy to. Most Bloodsuckers kept the details of their conversion rituals fairly secret, so Kisei wasn’t entirely sure what it would entail.

Nodding his head to the affirmative at what Kisei had to say, though he didn’t seem set to change the course. “You are very correct, that is why Reinforcements will be sent with airmobile assets to deal with this great force and the ritual sites, as there is likely not just one. However, if we kill the Duke that should negate his influence on the ritual.

Or so is my reasoning.”

Elly crossed her arms as she listened. Typically, she would have been somewhat apprehensive of such a change in plans. She wasn’t a Bloodhunter, after all. However, Kisei could feed off the undead and in turn enhance themselves. Her hand overlaid her chin with her fingers tapping against her lips in thought, a small smirk stretching across them.

“What do we know of the Duke’s combat abilities?” Elly inquired.

“He’s a skilled swordsman and is attuned to the physical prowess of his kind, in addition I can say reports do not have him without some obsidian trinkets. It is said he is on par with a generic three star meister. He is in fact a Meister of his own kind and has a weapon by the name of Anna Stout, a greatsword.” Came the clipped reply.

”Just to clarify, do you mean he is roughly as dangerous as a standard Three-Star agent? Not even an Elite?” Kisei asked, replying quickly but still demanding of information he felt necessary. There was a difference between fighting a run-of-the-mill Three-Star and an Elite. Given they were Bloodsuckers and thus undead, it further muddied the waters. Bloodsuckers rarely adopted the principles of Soul Studies even though they could with an Undead partner; it was against the pride of the older regime. And, the younger regime were the ones to often side with the DWMA. They had Dante to deal with magic, Kisei himself lowered the threat of Undead, and Zosar with Wren was ruthless. If magic and a few cheap tricks was all the Duke had, assassinating him without casualties wasn’t off the table.

There was a bit of a pause from Wallner’s end as he said something another under his breath before continuing. “I would not say standard per see, nor an Elite, the existence of the Duke is somewhere between, he can amplify his own wavelength, has the natural traits of his race and can use magic, well, bloodsucker magic that supports his melee approach to battle, such as blood shields or carrying out the summoning of familiars akin to those that the Baroness had deployed outside of the enthralled.”

“We however have not seen him achieve resonance. One of the top ten or even some of your mentors would likely handle him easily but he has held his own against even senior hunters. He fortunately would chiefly stay at his castle and rule over his holdings, we did not consider him a priority threat… Until now anyways.”

This time Wallner spreads his hands against the desk once more and continues, standing up partially as he hunches over. “It may not be an ideal fight for your team, but if you all feel unable to finish the job, then I ask that you buy time so I can get those who can finish it, into the castle. We are dealing with a strategic threat if what the Gnomes said is true. Should he be able to corrupt the leyline, or even just get his blood into the water table and rivers in large pathogenic causing amounts, it will be a grave disaster for Central Europe. We are talking tens of if not hundreds of thousands of vampiric thralls and soldiers united to his will and household. Depending on the spread, maybe even more. Such a thing has not been seen since the days of Dracula.”

Whether Wallner knew it or not, he vastly simplified the situation. If there was a non-zero percent chance they could make a difference, and that difference was on such a grand scale, then it was likely worth trying. So long as that non-zero chance wasn’t some miniscule one-in-a-million odds, that was. There was also some bias from Kisei with the knowledge that in the most dire of situations, he would likely survive and with the help of Kidd probably even protect Elly. Perhaps most of the team, depending on the situation.

Even if there were a casualty, it would likely be Sara or Zosar. Kisei didn’t care to admit it, but he would likely trade either of their lives for a shot at saving ten thousand or more.

With all that was said, there was little more for Kisei to add. The facts were poured out in front of him. He didn’t like the odds, but the stakes were just too high. With eyebrows raised, all he could do was turn to his partner and ask the simple question:

”You gonna bitch out now?”

Elly’s smirk didn’t fade throughout the explanation. Every once in a while, her gaze would shift to Kisei, a cheeky smugness in her eyes. Her haughty smirk turned into an innocent smile, or as innocent as a devil’s grin could be. Though not one to refrain from considering casualties or a sacrifice for victory, casualties weren’t in her consideration. Kisei’s leech was a direct counter to anything undead, Dante and Sara could counter magic, and Zosar and Wren could pack a big punch. If that weren’t enough, Kisei was also basically a cheat code with the ability to call to Kidd, and that was without the high Elly was still riding.

“No~... I was planning to net another victory and more accolades with it. Are you?” Elly asked, tilting her head a bit with a hum.

A three Star Meister who fell above the standard rank against a duo of Two Stars wasn't going to have the easiest time even in a normal match, so the fact the Duke wouldn't be resonating with a Weapon made this much easier at handling if the whole team was going into this fight. That didn't mean the odds were totally in their favor for an easy win. In this mission alone, a higher end Two Star level AW that had been weakened had proven a difficulty for both Sara and him going at it. Even with Madness having been a factor or the decades extra of experience Brother Lee had or terrain advantage, it had taken more effort to beat a weakened enemy that should have been fair game. Kisei's anti-undead ability took time to take effect, it wasn't instantaneous, that had been the biggest thing he learned from that fight unlike with the Fae situation where it had seemed so quick in effect. Dante and Sara’s anti-magic would be useful. Individually though how did they measure and stack as a whole? If the Duke came with his own cavalry that would force the team to split attention. Those rogue Agents were on his side, they could be with him. These were all possibilities he believed had all been thought over. Success was possible, he didn't doubt that. In fact there was a strong chance of winning this with no harm-- but….

Something was telling Zosar he was taking a huge risk more than he realized if he were to engage in another intense fight so soon. He didn't feel any different, so he wasn't sure where the thought came from. It honestly struck as odd which fed into weighing the situation. Given how everything has gone so far, if any real harm occurred, it either was Sara and him or one of their partners that would be taking the most of that.

He hadn't forgotten how he got the chemical burn scars that lightly decorated his face presently and how, had it not been for his reflexes and position, he would have lost vision or gained some impaired vision in one eye- if not worse purely based on the scars he had now. Casualties, injury, and harm were just a part of the job, he knew that. Every injury was costly in time though, and Zosar had no interest in paying for things that he could avoid wisely. Whatever this feeling was, it told him if he ate dirt here it might set Wren and him back even further or worse, Sara and Dante were a factor too in all this. Plainly, he wasn't feeling as empathetic or sympathetic as he normally would be inclined to risk paying the normal fee in proceeding right now with this peculiar sensation he vaguely felt lightly nagging him. At most he would be fine delaying things, and that was about as far as he was willing to go.

Seconds of contemplation went into what he was about to say but those seconds of consideration had him shift his opinion a bit. Maybe he was just overthinking, he reasoned. It was a vague sensation, the sort of feeling a person got when they thought they had seen something in their perception radar for a fraction of a moment only to find nothing when looking; putting too much weight on it was just going to be a distraction.

Scratching his sideburns, Zosar looked at Wren, glanced at Sara and Dante, then back to his own partner. The passing gaze said it plainly: Thoughts? If they had any.

With Wren though, Zosar reached out to his partner, lightly touching an arm to hers.

‘Can't say I am psyched to go, but I won't turn the choice down if I'm the minority. Not this time at least.’ On the surface it made the statement callous, heartless even considering the stakes, and odd in its own way considering last time he had been fine entering a far higher risk scenario. At the same time, the statement made it clear he wasn't at the point of refusing to go further. The link provided no insight here either, as it wasn't going to display something he no longer felt keenly. ‘Normally, I'd put more stock into this but…what do you think?’ The question looked like he would weigh her opinion higher in his overall decision.
[color= #d9381e]‘You gonna bitch out too, huh?’[/color] The response came almost immediately on their link, with her bumping a hip against Zosar’s, quirking her brow and shooting him a grin. A jest, as usual, but her mind was somewhere else entirely, Wren had been making that obvious at a glance ever since Wallner started dumping the info on them. She had her seconds of concentration too. Even now, she was taking an absentminded beat, humming to herself, twirling a long strand of silver hair between her fingers, [color= #d9381e]‘I’m not too psyched myself, honestly…’[/color] thinking if there even was a correct response she could give Zosar at all.

There was a righteous response, the obvious, sentimental one, of course— she wouldn’t catch a wink of sleep knowing she’d her inaction allowed over a thousand innocents be brainwashed and enslaved by some geriatric from the Victorian era. But she wasn’t sure if she could spit out that response at him with her chest fully puffed out.

They weren’t at their 100% at all; it wasn’t hard for her to pick up on Zosar’s exhaustion from their link. She could even tell by just looking at him [color= #d9381e]‘But…it’s the right thing to do, no? Can’t just turn around and head back home now when we have the chance to do something about it. There’s a lot on the line…’[/color]

For a second she furrowed her brow, sighed, deep in thought. An awful serious look that didn’t suit her at all. After a while she simply shrugged, scoffed [color= #d9381e]‘Bah, fuck it. I’ll give it my all if you’re on board with it.’[/color]

Witnessing his partner take to the floor and sniff the ground like a hound dog was by far the most bizarre for Dante. He should have guessed being a werewolf meant doing canine activities. It was completely different to see it in action. On top of that, having no problem crawling over a corpse with bloodied shoes. Yep, it's official. Dante may be an asshole but the group was weirder than him. What did he expect from a group of misfits?

That memory still ran in his head even as he listened to their next task. The Duke had started making a move and it would be catastrophic. The question was whether to retreat or deal with it head on. The old Dante would have no problem and just accepted, but the reality was that his bond with Sara was not as strong. It was barely enough to get by on one mission. This was entirely different. They would be going against the boss. He would have to continue cooperating with Sara when he is currently exhausted and wants it to be over. This is a hell of a first day for the carrot top.

He noticed Zosar shifting his gaze between him, Sara and Wren. Either they were curious about their decision or he was just as concerned. Dante wasn't sure what the right move was and it surprised him that he was hesitant. All he knew is that if his partner needed him, he would try for them. Even if he was scolded earlier, he was glad Sara could grow a spine, but also secretly thankful for being kind. He couldn't convey that. It isn't because of his tough guy attitude. He just didn't know how. Luckily, Sara seemed to have an idea about him given her experience. That is a relief in itself.

Sara had a thoughtful look on her face as she wiped the almost coagulating blood on her armored pants, but her mind was already set even before Wallner gave the options. She gave a confident smile, her tail wagging and her wolf ears perked up with eagerness. Despite the struggles she had with Dante, she also knew that trial by fire can make or break teams, and she was hoping this moment will forge them into strong team members instead of making themselves brittle and shatter. She gave a smirk, glancing at all of her team members, then at Wallner. “Whatever my team will do, I’ll give it 100%!” She then looked over at Dante, giving a reassuring smile, as if letting him know that she would be okay.

There was an immediate chuckle cutting in from Wren, utterly amused at Sara’s enthusiasm.
Her shoulders slumped for a moment; head shook as a grin started tugging at the corners of her mouth. The wereweapon drawled out one final grumble, a sign of whatever bits of common sense remaining in that half-empty skull of hers finally taking their leave “Well, we've got a job to do. My momma didn’t raise no bitch. I’m in too.” She stretched, rolled a shoulder before adding, “My momma didn’t raise shit, actually. That bitch was absent.” as if throwing in a(n uncalled for) fun fact.

“I feel like we’ve done dumber shit before already anyways— might as well throw in ‘fighting an evil vampire lord’ into the list. ‘Sides, think about the glory, y’know? After this, we’ll be Elly, Kisei, Zosar, Sara and Wren— the vampire hunters.”

…

…

…

“And Dante too, I guess…I dunno.”

Interactions/Mentions: EmperorsChosen (Elly) Sir Les Paul (Kisei) Merciless Medic (Sara) Pumpkid (Dante) The Regal Rper (Zosar) Haze- (Wren)

OOC Note, continuation from this point will be happening today if I can do it.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Blood Hunt
Elimination and Recovery
Date: 09/27/67
Location: Castle Kleist - Liberec Region - Czech Republic
​

With no opposition to the mission and one being halfhearted at least in private, Wallner would simply take the next step and suggest his next line of thought that being to add their numbers to the assault force, nor did HQ dispute his words. With the Western Europe branch signing off on it as well, Wallner would quickly take up the work of a politician and logistician, grabbing and pulling any and all forces that were under his Authority and what local military assets the Czech Republic could dispatch. The plan or rather the improvised throwing shit at the wall and seeing what would stick would unfold.

Elly and her team were expected to run the distance or highjack a civilian vehicle in transit while what air mobile assets and what DWMA agents not on assignment that were left in this part of Europe would be sent to seek out the ritual sites and to control any outbreaks that escaped the Gnome's efforts of containment, witches were also being summoned, but they, like the majority of the Czech armed forces were too far away and would take time to mobilize.

Even what little the Czech's were able to mobilize were not even from its armed forces in one metric. Helicopters were being flown by outsourced civilian instructors from Pardubice Airport where 6 modernized MI-17's were located and could fly to nearby Chrudim to bring in elements 43rd airborne regiment, whom much like the American 82nd, while deployed via aircraft had none of their own and depending on others to airlift them. And six helicopters of this design could only carry 24 troops. In short this meant only one of the 5 companies that made up the regiment could be sent. First Commando with some elements of the Weapons Center could be sent, with the helicopters being armed with old Russian made rocket pods being mounted to the choppers for air support and a four-man flight element via F-35's. Given the political wrangling of the DWMA and Wallner's insistence that the structural damage be limited to the outside (and the Czech agreeing in case the DWMA was very wrong with its charges), their armaments were primarily cluster munitions and JAGM's.

As the team finally made its way to the castle the massive spires and grounds were dotted by dozens if not hundreds of skeleton soldiers, creatures of myth and science, and lesser vampires with an assortment of weapons were seen via eyes and sensed via Elly's Super Soul Perception. Far too many for the team to make its way through without risk, even as the darkness of the September night came down around them, time elapsed under an hour, when the F-22's and Mi-17's coordinated their maneuvers with the choppers going in first. The terrain being so uneven, so remote, proved to be a challenge for the choppers as they took any and all flat land, they could to deposit the commando force and mortars. Then two Czech F-35 fighters would come in fast, unleashing a bundle of cluster munition against the ramparts and towers, soon after trails of contrails, barely visible with the hot orange glow in front of them would strike the various bridges and larger creatures among the Duke's forces, the Air Force had done what it could, however three things became immediately clear;

One, the traitor DWMA pair made their presence known, firing their weapon form at one of the Mi-17's, taking out the engine after it had started a rocket run around the outskirts, on fire and out of control, there was no one like Maria that was here to save the day, the helicopter simply vanished into the misty fox and the WHUMP of an explosion could be heard, the crew was lost in all likelihood.

Two, with this new threat and what seemed to be a MANPAD fired at the jet fighters, Air Support would get away from the castle and it was made clear over local radio that they would not return till the air defenses were delt with, their words choppy, likely the effects of the mountains or a jammer, the Jets still keeping close enough to be heard but not seen.

And three, the infantry were dropped off in pockets, some closer to the castle, some further, while the undead hoard turned its ire upon them, it became rapidly clear, that this contest was more even than not, additional help from the commandos was very unlikely, but they had done their job, bought time and thinned enemy attention from the gate house, which had it's doors splintered and trashed by one of the earlier missiles. The way into the castle was clear, though what was inside, well, it was hard to say, something was hampering detection from the outside of the inside. Likely Obsidian, regardless matters now fell into the hands of the agents currently deployed on what they would do now and which objectives they would attempt... Two were given the upmost priority.

Interactions/Mentions: EmperorsChosen (Elly) Sir Les Paul (Kisei) Merciless Medic (Sara) Pumpkid (Dante) The Regal Rper (Zosar) Haze- (

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

Date: September 27, 2067
Location: North of Steel Pier, Atlantic City Beach, New Jersey
Interactions: Chanterelle, Maria, Ark, Gauss, Arkayis, Noah
Mentions: N/A
Meredith RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Sir Les Paul Peckinou

Maria’s complaints were pretty much tuned out as Raphael had maintained his spell. He - in fact - wasn’t paying attention to much aside from the keywords from Gauss about this thing possibly not being the original KN9… Whatever that meant.

There was no time for hypotheses in Raphael’s mind, they needed to slow this thing down enough to make such theory-crafting less dangerous. They needed to buy more time, but unfortunately he also knew that without information, they couldn’t buy the time they needed. It was a strange balancing act that Raphael honestly hated.

But that was when his concentration became even more manageable. He noticed Magic Circles were appearing around his own, and he looked around as he continued his now paltry concentration to notice Witches were helping him. They even helped to slow down the KN9 and its minions with whirlpools and ice.

This awe he felt was… magnificent. He always held some sort of bias against Witches for being entitled and rude, looking down on Sorcerers just because they weren’t Witches - especially if they were men. But seeing them help him in this way made him realize that not only were there a variety of Witches that differed in opinions about Sorcerers, but they also could set aside their differences to help. Honestly, he thought this little trait was beyond Witches.

Glad to know he was wrong.

As a Witch came with her pelican summon and suggesting they can fly in the sky using her pelican, Raphael honestly felt amazed. This lovely islander even had the desire to look beyond the fact they were mere Sorcerers. It honestly warmed his heart.

And seeing as the other Magic Circles from the other Witches were rudimentary copies of his own, he slowly disconnected his Magic Circle, standing up and giving the Witch who addressed him with a bow. “That would be perfect, milady. Thank you. I want to get on top of that thing and prevent it from using any magic. Oh, and my name’s Raphael.” He smiled.

He looked back at Gauss, wondering if this was even okay, but they needed to get this KN9 to stop, so he spoke on comms. “Gauss, a summoner Witch wants to give Ark and I a lift. I’d like to see if I can get on top of the KN9 and suppress its magical abilities. Is that alright?” He at least was wanted to see if Gauss opposed, but it wasn’t like they had any other options aside from standing there and doing nothing.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

Date: September 27, 2067
Location: North of Steel Pier, Atlantic City Beach, New Jersey
Interactions: Gauss, Arkayis, Chanterelle, Maria, Ark, Raphael
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul Peckinou Meredith RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper

Maria’s ramblings and complaints only mildly amused Noah. Sure, she made a good point, but it also seemed like she lacked trust in those she’s with. Still, whatever she did ended up saving the helicopters and they didn’t crash or anything of that nature.

What soured him was when Maria said she wouldn’t mind running away. He rolled his eyes. At least the other mages didn’t seem keen on running, from what he could tell at least.

Then she asked if it could even use magic, which had Noah extremely confused by Gauss’s subsequent answer. That’s what the scene commander said? Strange… What else could it be and where is the real one?

These answers they couldn’t worry about yet, but sitting here in weapon form, watching as many mages came together to subdue the monster and its many minions, was an awe-inspiring sight. The chains, the lava, the ice, the whirlpool… He was just glad that his lightning did something - where this strength came from, he had no idea. He actually felt comparatively useful to everyone else here.

He spoke up to Gauss as he noticed a Witch with a strange and large pelican coming up to Ark and Raph, tone contemplative. ‘I feel like we should do somethin’. Of what, I dunno. If this thing ain’t even the original kaiju, maybe there’s somethin’ that sets it apart if we take a closer look at this thing in front of us. Unless ya wanna wait for Chant’s intel.’ He listened to Raph on the comms and hummed. ‘Oh… We should probably give Raph some backup, just in case he gets in trouble on the kaiju.’

Better to be safe than sorry, but he wanted to add a more aggressive idea to the table so they weren't just sitting ducks.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Daniella Ethalyn - North of JFK International Airport, New York
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

A sheen across the face of the blade with a pair of Dani's narrowed eyes stabbing at the paladin. She wanted to be petty as all hell, but that wasn't what gave her pause. All of a sudden his wavelength wouldn't have much effect when it did so before? When they first met, he was so damn fast that the pair couldn't react even as they began resonance.

Momentarily forgetting about her pettiness, the resonance slowed to a crawl and the sword enveloped in light and Dani appeared standing in front of him. Now, her glare was fully visible as she looked at him.

"Oh yeah? Speaking from experience your wavelength worked pretty fuckin' well before. Or is it just the healing part that ya' have performance issues with?" She growled out accusatorily, however, she hadn't yet offered a hand to let him try, indicating that she did want the questioned answered. It didn't make sense that before there were several of these paladin's that could blitz them easily but now they managed to win duels against them. "And in case you or your friend's want to try anything else, aside from Adi's spikes, my fuckin' tail still works like this too."

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper

 

[Sir Les Paul]

North of Steel Pier, Atlantic City Beach, New Jersey
GM Post​

With the new Wiccan support, a lot could occur within a short timeframe. No small amount for Gauss to take in, but truthfully, the situation was growing more and more beyond his control. He laid the initial groundwork, but like a scene commander for any mass casualty incident, it would soon outgrow the means of a first line responder, even one trained in leadership. Beyond that, there was just so much that Gauss could not know.

Maria had been asking questions of the like to the degree it had somewhat irked Gauss. Could the creature learn magic? Was this some natural occurrence? Was this even the same creature?

He didn't know any more than he did the last time she asked a question. More so, she continued to ask questions of this kind as if he wouldn't relay anything he learned immediately to her.

Irked though he was, he wasn't about to bark at her. He already felt bad enough for how he treated Arkayis not that long ago, he wasn't about to do the same thing to Maria. He just wouldn't respond to her. He didn't have the will to continuously tell her that he wasn't aware of what was going on.

With that said, it didn't mean Maria wouldn't know what was going on. Perhaps not with KN9, but the third Witch on a broom was conjuring Magic Circles with Witch Script and runes Maria was familiar with. True through it was that she was no Witch and thus could not will her magic on the go, she could still write runes and maintain Magic Circles. Of the four pupils of Rand, she had taken the best to Witch Script and writing spells. Raphael might have had beat with Magic Circles, but the actual writing that went within them was her domain. Even if it was not her element, she could tell precisely what the plan of these Witches would be by the script on her Circles.

The plan was simple and even involved basic Spells she knew, just on a larger scale. They were going to create a pressure bubble around KN9, filling it with water, then lowering the pressure in a vacuum all while stealing its heat. Basic physics: lower the pressure, eliminate the heat, freeze a larger area a lot easier. Freezing KN9 hadn't worked before, but Maria had no immediate means of knowing that, and this decrepit creature seemed half dead as it was.

The Witches did not respond to Maria, but not out of any spite or negligence. They simply couldn't hear her through the roaring winds.

Meanwhile, Gauss could in fact respond to the question being asked of him. Raphael at least elected to ask the Meister-leader of their group for some input, alike Ark. Obviously, that man was thinking with his dick. Which, admittedly, was far. This avian Witch had a certain appeal to her. She was no Bellamira, but Gauss could appreciate that specific flavor.

What he didn't appreciate was the suicidal idea Raph had.

"If it turns out you can suppress KN9, then you leaving makes sense. What doesn't make sense, Raph, is jumping on it. Perhaps try from a range first?" Gauss replied, providing a fair amount of constructive criticism regarding the plan Raph had suggested. What Gauss imagined was Raphael trying to leap on the back of the Kaiju like a cowboy and getting his dumbass incinerated in the process. Worse, from what Gauss knew of him, that absolutely seemed like something he would do.

Ark on the other hand merited a simpler response: "What the fuck is the Earth Sorcerer gonna do from the air?" Gauss asked, his tone conveying just how incredulous he felt the idea of Ark going airborne was.

Unbeknownst to them, Chanterelle had been waging her own underground war with the fungal army—and winning. Like a snowball gaining momentum, the more influence she gained over the colony, the less that it seemed to possess. Ultimately, that made a fair amount of sense, if only to Chanterelle. Fungi did not have brains in the conventional sense. Their intelligence grew as their size grew. When she took over individual creatures, she shrank their colony. Not that she could immediately control them like puppets, but she was creating waves in the ape fish army. Even once their paralysis from the bolt wore off and all that remained was Raph's suppression, Chanterelle was able to keep them locked in place. All the while being able to extend her command and weaken the whole of the creature.

The true extent to her control had yet to be clear, but she at least was getting a sense for just how large this army was. She knew not if he should control it all, but she could at least make them weaker targets for her companions.

"My name is Tia," the Pelican Witch announced, lacking no sass or confidence in her voice.

"And, why bother listening to that human anyway?" she asked, glaring over at him with no small amount of distaste within her tone or eyes. This was the type of Witch Raphael had expected. Prideful, condescending, hateful to those she saw beneath her. She saw Gauss, Noah, and Arkayis as exactly that. Humans beneath the capability of those blessed by magic. "They have to work as pairs to achieve a fraction of what we can do alone," she added, "concerning yourself with them will only slow us down."

RedArmyShogun Meredith Merciless Medic Peckinou The Regal Rper

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

Date: September 27, 2067
Location: North of Steel Pier, Atlantic City Beach, New Jersey
Interactions: Chanterelle, Maria, Ark, Gauss, Arkayis, Noah, Tia
Mentions: N/A
Meredith RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Sir Les Paul Peckinou

Raphael froze. The idea of the wiccans coming in and helping now felt fucking absurd. Of course, why should he believe that Witches were good? None of them were saying anything, they were trying to take over this entire operation in the guise of helping them.

He took a deep breath to calm the rest of his anger as he stood up to disengage his Magic Circle, noticing the Magic Circles being created from the ones in the air. He huffed, glaring at the one known as Tia. He heard what Gauss said, and he shot his glare at Ark. "Ark, why aren't you fucking asking your team lead?" His nostrils flared as he glared at Tia. "And you...!" He growled, his voice low as he approached her, keeping his volume down. "Never disrespect my team lead, no matter what the fuck he is. I care more about chain of command than wiccan reputation because I'm just a lowly mudblood Sorcerer, huh? That I should answer to you?" He mocked her, using words that a Witch had used against him in the past. "He may have to work in pairs, but what the fuck are all the other Witches doing here? Helping everyone like a meister-weapon duo, because none of us can defeat that alone." He pointed at the KN9. "So you trying to prove a point about your magical superiority is not fucking important. If you're so strong and you think I don't need my team lead's help or guidance, then take it down yourself."

He huffed and looked at Ark again. "Ark, let's go. Get me close with your earth spells so I can wrap its arm with my chains. It looks like they're prepping something up there, so don't get me too close, I don't wanna get caught." He was sure those chain-entrapping Magic Circles from the other Witches will stay, and if not because of his mini outburst towards a fellow Witch despite keeping his voice down, then Chanterelle seemed to be handling the fungal apefish and keeping them at bay. He stormed off, grabbing Ark's bicep as he went to try and drag him along.

He spoke on the comms, opening the air for his own team in particular. "I'm aware my little angry outburst towards that pelican chick might make it difficult for us, but I don't care. Gauss, I dunno what Chant's doing, but whatever she's doing, it looks like it's working. Still, I might need your help." The prideful monster in his chest stirred upon saying that, but he used his anger from earlier to push through and ignore it. "Cover me, I'm gonna get close-ish. If you got another idea that's better, go for it, but I'm not just gonna let that Witch-Bitch's words ring true and let you stand there and do nothing with no one to delegate commands to. This may be out of your league, but you can still help, you're not useless." Honestly, Raphael was hoping that those little compliments would help, he wasn't even sure if what he himself will do is going to help or make things worse, and he'll feel better with Gauss moving around and doing something at least. "Just don't get close to KN9, it looks like they're trying to freeze it." To what extent, he had no idea, just that he saw the whirlpool and the ice from below and Witches in the air, so they might be trying to cover it with the freezing whirlpool or whatever they're doing, but he spoke to Maria to try and figure out what was going on up there. "Maria, what are they doing up there?"

He hoped the Witches didn't stop what they were doing just because he got mad at one Witch, but considering how petty they were, he wouldn't be surprised if their Wiccan pride kept them from continuing. He gave one last comment. "Even if they do stop, I'm confident we'll all still make a difference. Just don't give up." Heartwarming, he just hoped that was a good time for that.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Castle Kleist, Czech Republic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

While leaving in good spirits, it didn't take long for the situation to go to shit. The castle had some kind of anti-air defenses in place which forced the air support off shortly after their initial work. That, and the traitor duo. Elly had trouble seeing past the walls of the keep and its towers, but it was fairly difficult not to spot complex resonance going off. Then again, she supposed he could simply have another pair at his disposal, but that would be somewhat coincidental.

The air had done their job in getting them a way in. The infantry were occupying the attention of the undead. All they need do was take on the Duke, though Elly couldn't see bodycounts within. Something was blocking her vision to an extent, causing her to huff.

"That's bloody annoying..." The meister muttered.

There were several options. The Duke was, of course, the primary target. Ideally, eliminating the AA emplacements would allow air support to return. Elly would also like to eliminate that duo in one of the damaged towers, if only to ensure they couldn't hit the group from behind. Elly also had no idea where the traitor mage was. However, they were also on a time-crunch. They were essentially going in blind, or blind to an extent.

"I can't see a thing out here. Somethin' in the walls, maybe... Kisei and I will take point. Sara and Dante, middle. Zosar and Wren pick up the rear," Elly commanded simply. Kisei could weaken any undead adversaries and after boosting her, she would have the best reflexes to be able to react to an attack or trap. "Hopefully I can see more once we step inside... If I can locate the pair, I'd rather be rid of them first before we engage the Duke. If I'm still bloody blind, then we focus on finding him and eliminating him first."

'Make sure you keep the drain on, dear. Whatever's inside should be good for another few shots,' She added to Kisei.

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Haze- Pumpkid Merciless Medic

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov
New York City - North of JFK International - NYC
September 26th​

While she pondered what to do in regard to Adrian, she decided to leave well enough alone for now. A remarkable change, considering back when this program started, she would likely have sought out how best to break him too. And speaking of changes, she looked at her defeated foe. He would only be a future threat if left alone, of that she was sure. While the Holy Men would overlook this being a misunderstanding with the DWMA, she was sure that a Paladin or two may pay her a visit later.

There was no point kicking Brennan while he was down, this always just a bad case of sort of friendly fire. Or so she hoped, as the bloodsucker with Adrian quickly answered her questions, or provided a good enough status report. At least now she was not totally blind. "If possible, I want pictures of the witches you and your fellows took out, someone is going to answer for all of this."

It all just did not make sense. The Witches were a bit different than the usual, and never mind the badges they each had. But theorizing and explaining such to any of those present would be an exercise of futility as Dani decided their next course of action. Dani had questions of her own, ones Nadia did not expect an answer to, but would not ask herself, all the same.

"Good. We'll gather what we can and continue with the plan to stop KN9. I'll help where I can for now, but that leaves one more issue..."

Turning her attention to Brennan and the unknown Paladin that she was facing, she tightens her jaw briefly, an audible pop, could be heard by those close enough as she worked through what to say next. "Minus the misunderstanding of the witches, and your natural, hmm, problems with the bloodsuckers, why were you all here so soon? Was there anything different than how your orders normally come down? We barely engaged them for more than a minute and started to push back, before all of you fell upon us. I do hope you all weren't in league from the start. I just find it even more unlikely your group would be working with witches."


Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Dani) Sir Les Paul (Adrian/NPC's) The Regal Rper (NPC's)

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Atlanta | Rings: 0/1

Despite letting the team lead know he was planning to join the Summoner he still waited at the very least to see if there would be protest, as if there was any it would be what stopped him, so while his attention was partially dedicated to the witch he now knew as ‘Tia’, Ark wasn't actually as distracted as his actions might have led one to believe.

Suppressing the minor amusement from Gauss' reply wasn't impossible if you could follow the basic etiquette of noble detachment or masking one's emotions, though he doubted Raph truly meant jumping on the massive titan, it was slightly amusing to picture just what Gauss had imagined in the moment. What changed that amusement was Tia’s inquiry.

Raphael's visible expression and body language was too easy to read, and even if you didn't know him it didn't take much to see he might say something. Though in all honesty the sentiment was simultaneously understood. Ark hid it far better than Raph cared to, the expression on his face did not sour at all in fact except his smile lightly losing its strength, yet it did not dip into displeasure. He truthfully wasn't the slightest pleased in what Tia had insinuated. Though he had picked up on hints of it, far better than Raph clearly had.

This was where coming from a family like the Duulwin and a Wiccan House gave him unique experience that most Sorcerers or Witches raised on Earth to some extent, didn't have. Ark’s uncle, his father's younger brother, wasn’t actually a mage like his dad. In fact all of the siblings his father had, save one younger sister, had never shown a sign for magical aptitude out of four other siblings.

It was a common assumption in his experience at least, that people just believed he came from a family with strong magic ties. When in reality his father's side was dominantly human or Demon Weapon, and had been with DWMA for a full century. They only gained the magical diversity after his grandmother married into the family. Realistically, Ark was the fourth mage on that side of the family. His familiarity though stemmed in how the two sides of his family were involved either politically or otherwise. Tia’s view at its core wasn't entirely wrong, factually a Meister without a Weapon against a sufficiently skilled Mage could be handled with ease and that was where ego came into play. That view wasn't actually that uncommon, whether Sorcerer or Witch, whether on Earth or from the Realm. It's just that the view differed in how it was seen. He knew several mages from England, growing up there, that held a similar view on Meisters and Weapons, out of jealousy or personal belief; Africa had a mixed spectrum due to the innate culture around spiritualism and the occult; there were mages that, much like him, had an appreciation for their spirit based counterparts. The atmosphere the Realm bred, clearly seemed to still generate these sorts of mindsets.

The only thing that kept him from shifting this whole situation by responding to Gauss was when Raph turned his ire onto him-- something genuinely, he found slightly off-putting given he had just been about to reply to Gauss had Raph not decided to turn his ire at the Witch to him. How he had issued the notice of his interest may have been an overstep in usual procedures, so he would credit that at least as a mistake he would avoid repeating. Unlike his time in teams abroad, he had to recall there was a different way of doing things here.

That momentary pause, and the very visible break in his mask to a quirked brow and slight frown was what allowed Raph to get the first word in to the Witch, but instead of cutting him off, the Earth mage allowed him to talk. At least, for now. Though as he went on, Ark could see the chances of interjecting weren't about to be a successful endeavor, if anything, it would get ignored.

So instead of interrupting or cutting Raphael off, Ark let him finish, and the moment his friend made the move to him, he held a hand up.

“Give me a second, I'll follow shortly. I have some words with her before I rejoin, don't worry.”

Then to Gauss he said over comms: “I'll be coming behind Raph to explain an idea I had that I was willing to try. I'll be there shortly.”

Listening to the relay that Raph was making as he distanced himself, Ark could only sigh. Somehow he felt Raphael choosing to push Gauss to do something, also felt like the wrong move. In a fight like this unless he was using Arkais and Noah to cut down the suppressed ground forces that Chantel was clearly gaining power over, there wasn't too much to do but wait for an opening like them without air mobility.

Which brought him back to addressing Tia.

“Tia, let’s not forget the strongest being in the world that matches a god, is human, with or without their partner.” This he said with caution. Ark's expression here was plain unamused but nowhere in his tone was there an implication he was mocking. What he had just said were just plain facts. Black Star was the only human so far to possess the title of Warrior God, and that title didn't come attached to the late Tsubaki. Just as Herakles was the strongest Meister, Black Star was the most powerful mortal on earth. It was his skill that got him the title even if Tsubaki had bolstered it, that sort of power wasn't anything to laugh at.

“I won't bore you with the details but Raphael and I are no stranger to being looked at for simply what we lack despite what we can do. Of course, your support is still appreciated but if we're to work together seamlessly, let's avoid creating this kind of tension again. Now, if you'll give me a moment, I'll have to communicate with the team lead before I officially can go off with you. He asked a question I haven't had the chance to reply.”

All it took was a shift of earth to get closer.

Though with how Raphael clearly seemed so set in his belief the Wiccan support was also the volatile unreliable ally here, he needed to make some space to avoid letting Tia overhear what he would say. At the very least there was one thing he agreed with, and that was how they could still make a difference as he reached a more audible range for the utility Meister and chain mage.

“ I don't think we should count them out yet, Raphael. Pride may be a keystone of Wiccan society, but they wouldn't just abandon a task so quickly.” Ark countered.

Though given Maria clearly had a habit of complaining, not that Ark wasn't used to that by now or even just desensitized to it by mere engagement with other mages in his past, he didn't doubt the thought of taking flight wasn't on everyone's mind if things got too dicey.

Still though, he was defending the Witches here, but in all honesty it also stemmed from how an action like that would look. If this were unsalvageable then yes, fleeing like Maria kept saying she would, was fair, but at this moment they had things under control. Abandoning this task as it were would be more damning to the Witches and their respective superiors, just as it would look bad on all of them for letting something they had under control get out of control because they all had decided all of a sudden this just wasn't worth it anymore. And most reputable Houses, most esteemed Courts or power grabbing families that sent one of their own mages out on missions like this, wanted to hear one of their own had been the source of great merit in a joint operation.

Not the reason the operation went astray.

The meritocratic nature of Wiccan society made the adulation of success addictive, and he knew this was also a means to add some credit to the belt.

To Gauss he said: “In regards to what I had been going to say earlier. My magic doesn't require me to be grounded, with a higher vantage point I could get some greater area control with a bird's eye view giving me a better angle to work from. If they really are trying to freeze it, well, my best bet is getting a better view to hit those areas.” Stating simply.

Mentions: Merciless Medic

Interactions: RedArmyShogun
Peckinou Sir Les Paul Meredith

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Atlantic City - New Jersey​

With some fascination, Maria watched the witch at work, though she was irked at having not been answered, that had been the story of the day. No one here could satisfy her curiosity in regard to the beast. KN9 was simply too much of an unknown. Though the whole situation stunk to her. Too much just did not seem right, or, as if the chaos was controlled, directed, not chaos at all. Yet Gauss was not who she needed to talk to on it. And unfortunately, she may never be in the position to be of a level to know all this information, provided anything was to be learned.

With some interest, she looked on as she pondered how best to work her own spells into this. By working with the witch, she could either write a new spell, reinforce the spell being cast, or... Pausing at this Maria, would be distracted by the team comms. It seemed things were getting interesting over there... Interesting in all the wrong ways, Raphael was clearly upset over something, hopefully he did not escalate the situation with their allies. No, he did exactly that for whatever reason, he said as much over comms.

"He would be very lucky to not need to do anything. You are misjudging what we are fighting a great deal, likely as you are so far away. You do not know it is sweltering out here... Or was." She said at Raph's mention of Gauss getting to sit back and do nothing, as if that were a bad thing. She would happily change positions. Still, there was what he asked, what he had suggested, changing his mind between getting close and not, wanting Ark to move them out here.

And in short order after Gauss objected to this plan, Ark chimed in saying his magic would not be affected. For once over the course of this Maria spoke candidly with a small bit of swearing, too much of Dani's influence no doubt. "Do you even fucking hear yourself? You'll chain it down? This thing is the size of Godzilla! It stands taller than most of those damn buildings and part of it is STILL in the water. Calm down and think about this. Both of you. Your magic is not so great that you can part the seas or form a road this far out Ark. This monster is something else when you are up close given the sheer scope of it."

With that said she continued onwards; "They are attempting to freeze it, though I think I might be able to repurpose it, you all should get ready on land. I'm going to help with this spell, maybe make an alternative plan, destabilize the local water and pressure, though, that is beyond my skill alone... We'll see what happens." With that, Maria started summoning a number of spell circles, drawing out the heat and pushing it upwards, creating a vacuum effect, this in turn should help the air cool from the plasma effect, as the spell circles glowed, Maria seemed to be pondering turning them into explosive blasts, yet she was holding it... It remained to be seen to what purpose.

Interactions: Merciless Medic (Raph-Noah) Meredith (Chanterelle) Sir Les Paul (Gauss) Peckinou (Arkayis) The Regal Rper (Ark)

 

[Sir Les Paul]

North of Steel Pier, Atlantic City Beach, New Jersey
GM Post​

"You'll have to forgive me, but I'm going to trust Maria here," Gauss said, quickly and sternly, more of an injection to the conversation.

He took no pride or enjoyment from Raphael defending him. What he saw was a tantrum that would only offend the Witches. The battlefield was not the place to be discussing the paradox of tolerance. Complaints from Gauss about Tai wouldn't impact her autonomy to do anything. Raphael throwing a fit would only burn his bridges. Whatever Ark did, Ark did. If bridges were burnt and time was wasted for no positive benefit, then it wasn't worth going scorched Earth amidst a battle. In truth, what was going through his brain at the foremost as he listened to Raphael pop off was that he would likely be expected to include in his report. If he didn't and Tai complained, it would be his ass.

So, in truth, all Raph did was make more paperwork. Assuming they survived, that was.

"Let me make something clear. Our kind is not at war anymore," Gauss told them both, plainly, "and, in this scenario, your Magic certain does seem pretty superior to anything I can do."

He side-eyed Tia. "But, that doesn't mean you're right," Gauss told her, his focus being effervescent before he switched over to Raphael, "It also doesn't mean you can just be confident that you make a difference." His tone was sardonic, somewhat dark even, dark enough that the sarcasm wasn't as much an insult as was hopeless.

"Maria tells me you can't just chain down willy-nilly and given what I've seen of your magic with sand, Ark, I wouldn't trust a land bridge you make out of it," he told them both, remaining assertive, "so, here's what you'll do. You either make a plan that Maria tells me isn't stupid or you go off without my approval."

All the while, Tia was livid. She had her arms crossed while Raphael began his initial reply, but as she spoke, she only clenched up tighter until her body language became entirely rigid and she was holding back her rage. Ark made it no better by referencing the Warrior God. Raphael hit her in her principles, Ark hit her in the pride. She was fuming, ready to explode, and the straw on the camel's back was the ultimatum that Gauss ultimately gave. If not for her indignant fury, she would flown off without them some time ago. They were wasting time, after all. Raph was insane if he thought he could speak over people that much for that long.

She stamped forward, ready to yell and rage. First directed at Raphael and Ark, screaming, "THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO?! WHY"

"WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF MABA! WE HAD MAPPED THE EARTH WHILE THE HUMANS THOUGHT IT FLAT!" she shouted, trying to instill in them the pride of their people. It could have been effective to some, or racist to others. Her tirade would not get to continue long. "YOU HAVE NO SPINES AND NO MANNERS. I OFFER HELP AND YOU MAKE YOUR OWN PLANS. DO I EVEN GET A SAY?!"

Gauss answered. "No," he told her flatly. He had also quite literally stolen her attention with the flaming arm from his back, using it to turn her head towards him by cupping her cheeks.

"You'll have to forgive me for not getting in closer for you to hear, miss, but my scythe here likes to see Witch's burn and you're really pissing him off," Gauss told her, more of a threat, really. Tia was still just left stunned at the boldness and audacity of Gauss to touch her at all. Anger turned to confusion at his flaming arm and in the realm of Witches where the most assertive personality often won, him speaking over her like that was a clear sign of dominance. The same kind he used when he gave Ark and Raphael their ultimatum. Tia went from screaming to speechless.

All the while, Gauss had to pray Noah could convince Arkayis from not literally trying to erase Tia from existence.


RedArmyShogun Meredith Merciless Medic Peckinou The Regal Rper

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Death City, Nevada
The Partner, pt. 2​

Buggin Beats, had seen some growth over the years. Located closer to the Historic District's tourist trap, the place it sat now was formerly where Soul and Maka initially met when it had been a local music store before that had been knocked down and repurposed into a mall center where Buggin Beats was something of a residential attraction. It was no Duchess of Discord with its extravagant design and booking requirements and beverages of all kinds, but it was certainly of higher caliber than your standard nightclub. Agents who didn't want to cruise all the way out into the East or didn't want to deal with the exceptional wait time, often came here. It was considered the more local hang out, not just for DWMA Agents, but for the average citizenry and with its proximity to the residential area, homes and apartments, made it a favored choice of visit for many.

With it having been shut down for the better part of a year under construction, Zosar could see two new buildings that had been connected to the establishment during its time of renovation.

Passing through the entrance of glass doors and being stopped by a security guard who requested ID and another who scanned for a entree fee’s payment, the vinyl glass records that hung on the wall of the entrance could catch an eye before being allowed entree through the long hall towards the double doors watched over by another two sentries.

Midori had heard of this place, but had yet to visit it. In truth, it wasn’t all too impressive. Being ushered in, it reminded him of the Jitterguise. Perhaps it was own bias, but he felt his choice of club had a bit more soul and personality. Then again, this place was basically repurposed for its current establishment. Perhaps that derision of history lent to the odd ambiance he felt.

If he was correct about its history, that was. He wasn’t exactly a Death City historian. Either way, this place would certainly do for now. Drinks, lights, a dancefloor, and music were all that he really needed. After a round or two, he could vibe anywhere.

Given that Zosar picked the place, Midori was content with letting him choose just how they would proceed. Drink? Dance? Food? All his call at the moment. Midori was more interested in conversation.

”So, my lovely Elly, did I tell you that Zosar here had the rare honor of being trained–even if briefly–by the Hoshi?” Midori asked, though quite pointedly. He was fairly certain he hadn’t discussed that particular topic at length, but now in this club with plenty of noise to drown out their conversation, it seemed like the time.

”Zose, I got reports from time to time, but nothing is better than a direct source,” Midori continued, shifting focus to his former pupil. ”How’d that go, exactly?” he asked, this time more genuine.

He had hoped to evade talking about that if he were being honest. Especially in front of Elly. However, the small amused smile stayed plastered on his face the moment Midori probbed him for an answer.

"It was…" searching for the right word here. He hummed. "eye opening. Reminded me a lot of when I was starting, but worse. Doubt I'd say no to going again though." And he meant that last one. If given the chance, he most certainly would.

Leading down the staircase, Zosar made his choice. He headed for the dance floor.

"Why, Elder Souta leave me some compliment?" It was rhetorical, but the rictus grin made it hard to tell if he believed there would have been any.

Following the two, Elly raised a brow at Midori’s statement. “Oh really~? Quite impressive,” She hummed in response. “What kind of strings did you pull to get that gig?” She inquired curiously.

”He didn’t,” Midori responded, then flashed a wide grin. ”I did. I called on the Hoshi to house him when he was a target, and they honored that request,” Midori explained, though his wording made it sound more like he just took a shot in the dark and it happened to land.

With that, it seemed Zosar made his choice; he wanted to dance. Dance, Midori would do. The atmosphere was lively enough, music had a decent beat. It still didn’t hold up to the Jitterguise, and everything paled in comparison to the Duchess of Discord, but Midori could see the appeal. This was closer to the residential District, so it was likely meant less for upscale agents and aimed closer to those living in the nearby housing or younger agents still in the apartments. He figured the prices would reflect that later, though that had yet to be seen.

Midori bounced along to the groove alongside Zosar, awaiting Elly to join them amidst the dancefloor.

”Elder Souta said little… in the reports… it was all in Japanese, so a touch is lost in translation, but something along the lines of hawks breeding a kite,” Midori said, answering the question Zosar had asked while they grooved along waiting for Elly. ”Mostly, those that watched you commended the efforts, but essentially said you were a terrible candidate for the Old Ways,” Midori informed him, giving him the blunt truth. ”That soul of yours doesn’t work well with our style, and for all your determination, you still had fits of frustration,” Midori added, giving more direct explanations for the viewpoints his family had.

”Harsh old bastards, huh?” he tacked on, chuckling slightly once he shared that opinion.

Zosar couldn't help but laugh. He had expected as much. It had been a good experience regardless, and he had enjoyed his time there. The prospect in his mind of going again wasn't off the table entirely. Even if he would never be the best match for the Old Ways.

Didn't know what to make of the hawks comment but he took it in good stride anyway. “They certainly are hehe, well, at least I got to go. Sure Adra’s having the time of her life.” On the tip of his tongue he almost asked whatever happened on the intel on who was targeting him. So that perhaps in the future he could do digging on his own, but, Midori knew him, knew that if he probed he might go looking.

And they were out here to have fun…he let it go. Switching gears he turned his attention to Elly, “So I take it you already figured out who I was when we met at the Dojo?”

He hadn't quite understood the smile she had flashed since they had never seen each other before now. Unless Midori mentioned appearances, he couldn't have guessed what the smile was. She was hard to read, at least, for now.

Time whittled all things, even defenses weakened with time, it would with her too.

“I take it you weren't there polishing on strategy plans for missions?”

Elly gave a coy shrug at that, mixed in with her movements. “Your soul’s a bit difficult to misinterpret, dear. Probably one reason why the harsh old ninjas didn’t care for it much,” She chimed. There weren’t that many of its type, after all. “It’s a dojo, there are a limited amount of things I could’ve been doing. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you found me suspicious,” She added with a mock tone of offense. “What ever have I done to deserve that~?”

Midori looked at Elly point blank with a raised eyebrow. He wanted to see this exchange between his former pupil and his new partner come to a conclusion, so he didn’t verbally interrupt. However, his body language revealed his entire attitude about the loaded question Elly had posed to Zosar.

She certainly hadn’t changed.

Elly’s eyes turned to Midori, as if predicting the expression he would make. She tilted her chin slightly, giving him a tone of mock innocence before a smirk played at her lips. “What?”

He took stock of Midori's reaction at least. Seemingly almost unamused, not impressed, it gave him the feeling of someone looking at another as if it whatever they had done was sort of expected.

Couldn't fault her there on her statements though. He had always known there was an effect that came with his soul. It was what drew some of the others in to the fight in the first place.

“I can't say I suspect anything from you, I just found the smile you flashed me when I noticed you a tad odd before I left but maybe it was because I was still cooling off from that duel.” Deciding to brush this topic aside.

Midori picked up on the transition, but elected to take it a step further. ”Smiles and flashes aside,” Midori said as he glided onto the smooth dance floor and in between the probing lights, ”I want to know what you think you picked up from the Mountains. It’s one thing to read a report on progress, but that’s a whole culture. It’s what I grew up with…”

”You been all over the world, so color me curious as to what you think,” he said.

He thought about it as he moved to the music.

Impressions were always hard to shake until the real experience. He had known the Hoshi were a stern, austere sort, in the nature of their training at least. That was, overall, all he had really known. He hadn't ever considered what the people themselves were like and having the chance to…

“I'll admit, I wasn't entirely certain what to think. The training I went through aside…the environment was…not as estranged as I thought it would be. And the atmosphere was a lot nicer than I thought it would be.”

Hiroshi had told him the cousins of his family tree were a strict, traditional, uptight people that held a tight hierarchy in which very few outside were allowed free entry to engage with so casually. His father had said training with a Hoshi was grueling and that part had been true, but as a kid, with how he had started the comparisons hadn't seemed that great apart until the actual exposure.

The only thing that really stuck in his head had been that the Hoshi were an austere sort, that tolerated little in the way of failure, and upheld a training structure that was designed on breaking you past your limits.

It had colored a lens. One Midori had broken after their very first duel and following interactions after. The sense of minor surprise had worn off quickly living there. It had to for him to not offend.

“Living up there reminded me of when I was starting out, if I'm being honest. Lot more different of course,” he chuckled, “but in its own way it was..nostalgic. Even humbling”, he admitted.
“What I started out with was basically private tutelage. I was an eager, bullheaded kid that liked to have his way, you can probably imagine how insufferable that must have been. When I started training, I already had been learning martial arts at…four?”

Then he paused in his dialogue, almost gave what seemed to be an amused laugh and said, “You know I actually tried going what I thought was the easy route. Without suppressing” he clarified. “Thought it would be simpler but” shoulders went up in a shrug, “body couldn't handle it. Guess that explains why I fainted the first time I had a bad panic attack and why I was incredibly sore after it.”

“Point is, I didn't really quit till it hurt too much. Thought I could force it, and you have to understand, learning how my soul was different from everyone else's sort of gave me…well it made me think I could do almost anything. When that didn't work out the way I wanted, I had to learn it the hard way. Elder Souta’s training honestly...it helped remind me that I'm not always going to be able to twist everything into my favor. I thought that training would take me a week or two at worst to get the hang of it so I could move on to the other stuff. ” He was being honest here. There had been something of an ego at work at the start. “Showed me though. Reminded me of how hard I had it when I was starting.”

Yet again, Zosar had proven just how egocentric he was. In his defense, many within the program were. They struggled with their own issues and had difficulties understanding the plight of others. Their battle always somehow was worse than the one going on next to them. Still, Zosar was particularly bad about it.

Midori asked a fairly open-ended question, but there was so much left on the table that Zosar just didn’t describe. The mountains that led to his home were beautiful and dangerous. The trees there had evolved to absorb spiritual energy, an adaptation likely made due to the abundance of spiritual energy found in the hot springs of the area. Japan had many natural springs, but few had any true additional properties, spiritual, magical, or restorative. The Hoshi springs was probably the largest natural cluster of them in the world.

Yet Zosar said nothing about it. If it was due to ignorance, it was because he didn’t take the time to learn about it. If it was trying to guard a secret, such was a wasted effort while talking to a Hoshi and his partner.

The mountains were also beautiful. Kissed by the sun, warmed every morning by the sleepy grin of the orange sky giant as it slowly illuminated the ever-verdant trees and painted the family-village that the Hoshi had created in their retreat. One could see out for what felt like miles from a hundred different vistas. Other mountains and how their browns and greens overlapped in varying hues, creating a sense of depth perception, a simple-yet-intricate design only nature itself could lay claim to.

Misty mornings, clouds that felt so close you could whisk them up and eat them like cotton candy, and various unique places within his village that Zosar was sure to have seen. The beautiful rows of Japanese maple and their bright red leaves, the building style using complex yet beautiful joinery, limiting the need for nails or screws. Even the wood Zosar chopped, a relative of Mongolian Oak, that thirsted for spiritual energy, was an impressive thing in and of itself.

Yet, what Zosar decided to describe most was his input on the training. Sure, Midori wanted his opinion, but it shifted from what he felt like should have been a perspective regarding a land and people to a story of adversity and triumph from Zosar. The man had this ability to make just about everything he could about himself or his past.

For all that talk about how humbling the training was, Zosar had yet to learn any real humility.

”Well… most of us do have a hero complex, don’t we?” Midori responded, asking a rhetorical question in a lighter tone, not so aggressive or accusatory, but it was hard to really dilute that feeling given his word choice.

”We see one movie where a guy trains for a week and suddenly competes with people that have trained their whole lives,” he went on, ”it’s a story baked into all human mythology, really.”

Now, Midori had a point. He knew Zosar wasn’t exactly colored by pop culture or the media growing up, but neither was Midori. The Hoshi knew there could be a counter argument here, but he didn’t care; if Zosar tried to make that argument, it only proved he missed the entire point. Zosar described his thoughts about the training, and all it did was paint him as a fool with a hero complex.

He had to be shown by the indomitable will of nature herself that any difference in power he might have had didn’t really change things in the grand scheme. He was still just a man.

Midori let his eyes float over to Elly. She was beautiful, true. The dance floor was lively. It was just… always such a disappointment she was so guarded. Like a flower, the bloom was always most beautiful once the petals spread open.

”Thing is… we’re not really heroes…” Midori said, a statement that was aimed at Zosar but had a whole dual meaning toward Elly. A statement that while cliche, had plenty of layers to it. In a different context, it could mean wildly different things.

Though for him, it was the meaning Zosar had misunderstood completely. It might have been the eagerness to share a bit more on the contrast in expectation vs reality in being within Hoshi culture but it was clear from the initial first response alone, his answer hadn't been the one Midori had been looking for.

He was caught off guard by it, slightly, but aside from a minor head tilt, the visible expression on his face remained the same as it had before, pensive in an easygoing way as if he were still thinking. Though at the end of Midori's statements, his eyes turned to his friend to regard him in silence right before Elly spoke.

Elly was content to listen on. Much was said, and it gave her some added information on the person, even if just indications. What Zosar said matched with much of what Elly presumed about Hoshi training and heard from Midori, however as he spoke, she could tell that Midori wasn't entirely pleased with the response. He went along with it, polite at first glance but holding an ulterior meaning in what he said.

Her expression was slightly thoughtful, catching the tail-end of Midori's glance at her, before flashing a smile. “What about the scenery? Oh, or the food? I hope getting run ragged wasn't the highlight of the visit,” Elly chimed, giving Zosar a chance to dig himself out of his hole. “Perhaps we should move off the dance floor for that, though.”

“I think that would be a good idea,” he said in agreement, a glance at Elly, a small one where his mismatched eyes caught hers in a simple way of saying ‘thank you’.

He didn't lead the way to their next stop, but he certainly took himself off and made suggestions. When it came to the option of getting a drink there was a list of many non alcoholics to go off of, there were blender made drinks using a mixture of fruits, ice, and syrups, then there was also food. Most of it light stuff since no one really ate a full meal to go dancing the second after. The suggestions were up to the others to pick as they moved off the floor.

“So, the scenery!” He kicked off once they had settled. “There was this one part I really liked it was when we stepped past the primary building and the dip leading into the homeland itself, where just a little past the first row of green rooftops you got to see the extended civilization beyond, like peeking over a mountain to oversee the horizon, cliche, but that is my favorite part. Both from start to finish. I got to see the entirety of what your clan had built in vague details before I got to even explore it in person and when I did, you know the first thing that came to my mind?” The pause was short. “The Andeans” he mused, then added, “ were an old civilization that lived around mountain ranges on Peru’s spine, before the Spanish had roots made across South america. That old society has a label as a pristine society, pristine being the sense that it was not heavily affected by outside influences and thrived in its environment despite the difficulty of the ranges.”

The imagery was for Elly’s benefit, this tangent was to bring up a point. Not to show off.

“The thing about the Andeans is they grew a load of crops, while not impressive today was back then because of the sheer number they grew. The Oaks in your homeland reminded me a lot of them, Midori. Specifically because I tried recalling how many unique plant life such as those trees I encountered or had read about or knew of, and couldn't think of really anywhere off the top of my head that had mentions of trees or plants like the ones in your ancestral home. Not any accessible I mean or nurtured the way your clan has.”

He shifted his attention more to Elly and said: “Adra and I for example didn't lodge in the same place like you’d expect here or even in a two room style complex, we got split by gender into entirely different guest rooms of an apartment style that were basically their own individual units. There was even a public communal bathhouse that could be used not too far away from where I lived, but like our housing style, these were split by male and female also. I never personally used them, but I did take note of and look at the design when no one was around.”

Though such a place hadn't been open to him in the first place and his translator, Haruki, had let him know where he was and wasn't allowed to go.

“My one disappointment was not really hitting it off with some of your cousins like I thought I might” but frankly, it had been expected and confirmed.

His father and Hiroshi had told him when he had asked them what it was like training in their territory, and while for Hiroshi it was different his father had been clear.

It was akin to being a customer at a store or a guest at a hotel, you were to be treated with polite formality by all, but you weren't going to be making friends there with the staff and getting it mixed up was a failure in your own awareness. Even spending a year there, Ramires had explained that, most of the amicable relationships he had never went past pleasant exchanges. Hiroshi had really been the only friend he went in with and came out with. Most kept their distance but were welcoming when approached, and that was as far as Ramires had said he had ever gotten, and that was exactly as far as he himself had gotten. Even when his dad found himself interested in one Hoshi girl that had been his trainer, his own age group, she never gave him the time of day before he met his mother years later.

A hand went to grab some fries that he had ordered.

The brutal austere environment he had envisioned the Hoshi lifestyle to be, where the environment had stringent rules to be followed in an almost suffocating yet accepted nature did not fit the childhood impression in the back of his mind or the own expectations he had created that took and deviated from the thought.

At the same time, other things had been learned and confirmed. And as a glutton for new experiences, Zosar found the time there enlightening.

“If I'm not wrong, lot of the architecture there was Edo period based on I suppose if I ever go next time and meet them again you'll be there to wingman my comedic but?” he probed Midori.

Because not any joke he had made to loosen the mood had landed. And most at best received polite laughter.

”Well, what do ya know, Zose,” Midori responded, giving a slight scoff in place of a chuckle. ”You actually mixed up our architecture. It’s much older. Some of the oldest that still stands is close to Nara, but the bulk of it is Muromachi. Before the advent of Demon Weapons, the Clan was much smaller,” Midori explained, giving some very specific insight as to the designs of the clan.

”We weren’t impacted by religion much, so historically, we copied fortresses and large home structures more than government buildings or temples. The thing you really have to keep in mind is that we live atop a mountain with little resources. Everything we build must be from wood and carpentry is important–even more than most of Japan. This remains true even in current-day. Designs have improved with modern ingenuity, though. We have CAD and engineers just like the rest of the world,” he went on, musing over the actual nuances of architecture in his homeland.

”We go back way further than Edo, Zose… maybe that’s why you didn’t hit it off with one of my cousins; you didn’t grasp the roots enough,” Midori added, taking a teasing jab at Zosar. It wasn’t necessarily more upbeat, but his light play on words was at least better than the heavy subject matter he used earlier.

“Hehehe, guess I really was off, wow, Edo? How much like general history does your clan have on that mountain, that you know of at least? Even after Demon Weapons, I could be forgetting my history in that regard but there's never been a time the clan ever was involved with the old era politics or any of its discourse, as far as I'm aware, which granted” he chuckled, “isn't as reliable but still, do you know anything from I guess before Demon Weapons, that you’d like to share. I’d love to hear anything you had to offer.”

Elly had listened to the banter without cutting in. It was interesting, though Elly couldn’t say she was all that educated on historical Japanese architecture or culture. The most she knew was from Midori’s educating her, which made the reactions to Zosar sound about right.

She pulled out her phone and tapped against it to pull up some images based on the names they stated, scooting a bit closer as she tilted it so it could be viewed by both. “Like this, then?” She pondered, showing her phone screen with the results for a search of ‘Muromachi Buildings’. “Did the appearance of Demon Weapons cause the clan to increase in population to a faster degree?”

”Eh, not really,” Midori answered, somewhat dismissive of the question. On one hand, he hadn’t actually been there to account for it. More so, however, it was a complex question that merited a complex answer. Not something he was going to divulge at this exact time.

”You need shift your perspective a bit,” Midori told them, having ran through multiple options in his head for what to answer but ultimately failing short because of just how far separated their mental image seemed to be from the real thing.

”The Clan is thousands of years old and never intended to be as well-known as it is today. Actually, if not for Demon Weapons, we probably wouldn’t be. The Old Ways incorporate spiritual training, sure, but we were shinobi. Assassination can be done in plenty of ways and it’s not even all shinobi do. When Demon Weapons and Resonance came to the forefront, the Hoshi had to adapt,” he explained, trying to inspire the idea of what a world without Demon Weapons would look like. A world where humanity couldn’t just amplify its strength tenfold or more.

He then just shrugged, knowing he was towing the line here in what he could and couldn’t explain. Shifting their mindset was one thing, but he couldn’t just give them outright facts. He had to be careful.

”Even though you’ve been there, Zose, and you’re my partner, El’, there’s a lot I can’t just tell you. Kinda ruins the vibe, honestly, But, one interesting semi-fact I can pass onto you is that we don’t have a high value on Demon Weapons. There are Hoshi, like myself, that possess the gene; and, yes, we go through our own type of training, but it’s mostly wavelength control and regulation. Being a Demon Weapon with the surname of Hoshi is about as valuable as being the one that washes the dishes,” he told them, leaking what was a little-known fact but one he knew at the very least wouldn’t receive backlash.

Nodding at that, “That's understandable.” He replied in turn, taking the point of the statement.

EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper