The Escapist Avatar Adventures The Rising Dawn Airship: Recreation Room Nina | Phillip | Rugal Bernstein | Caim & Angelus | Dolores & Kyuubey | Rising Dawn Staff | and... Violet...
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The party was going rather well as Rugal maintained his observations of his target, as well as being sure to interact with the other guests.
Social graces was a martial art he felt was underrated and one that seemed to be paying off right about now.
Despite it all, he was still able to answer Caim's question: "I'm not too certain of that myself either. Doesn't seem to be like any other animal I've seen. It's strange, I remember before we docked at the Citadel, Major Rhodes asked about seeing a white rabbit-like creature on the ship. Keep alert and calm, if Dolores is involved, we can't tip her off. For now, just-....hmmm...ahhhh..."
He began to pause a bit as he attempted to put his request in terms Caim could understand. "Pretend that-...You are in a hive of man eating insects who react only to non-conformity. Oh, and remember that time at Dillon's Wedding? Don't mistake the dipping sauces for shots this time..."
While Caim was trying to figure out how the hell Rugal knew about that, the man himself was distracted by no less then his daughter and her new (Scantly clad) friend.
"[sub]It's fine. She still has more class and modesty then Mai Shiranui. Especially ever since she threw her lot in with those "Dead or Alive" Slut-[/sub]Ahhhhh, another new face. Pleasure to meet you. Any friend of my daughter's will always be welcome here. Make yourself at home and don't worry, we have our own share of strangeness about us. I'm sure you'll fit right in." The Acting Captain politely said as Jenny, Blade and Diane began to mingle nearby. "Hmmm...God, it's so hard to get a buffet with actual vegetarian options that aren't just side salads." he munched loudly as Jenny's wheelchair softly wheeled over. "Ahhhh, I see the two of you are getting along rather fine. Good, I was actually a bit worried I'd have to break up some row or something." The Gardevoir said to Diane before helping herself to a freshly made Poffin, using her powers to nick it from the meal table and drop it into her own hand. (As well as being sure to bring an extra one to her friend Chrysalis.)
It was about this time that the music began to change and John made his play, revealing the true intent for this party to the entire ship.
Rugal was-...surprised to say the least but he was still able to bend down slightly to whisper to his daughter "[sub]John is just after asking Molli to marry her-[/sub]"
[HEADING=3]"OH SHIT! OHHHH, HE'S PROPOSING! OH MY GAWD! Awwwww, That's made my damn night now! WOW! ~LOVE HAS COME TO TOWN!!~"[/HEADING]
While it was a rather touching moment, it was a bit soured by the Rising Dawn's new "Medical Technologies Expert" Dr. Violet having a far less composed reaction and one more akin to someone squealing at a major twist in some god awful reality TV show.
Still clad in that violet rimestone doctor's coat/fashion car crash, he stood uncomfortably close to the proposal, trembling with excitement with his fingers crossed muttering [sub]"Say yes, say yes, say yes!"[/sub]
Foreign Keys: The Lieutenant, Lola Selmy, Lolita Selmy Primary Key: Dolores Selmy Powers:Leave this Open Is Essential: True Is Administrator: True Biography:
Code:
I want a character that has a really dark past. Like... Black Lagoon dark. She should have all sorts of physical and emotional trauma. A father that uses her without thinking of her like a person, a mother that's too busy to take notice. She has to be useless and envious of her little sisters, but too prideful to back down from harm coming her way.
I want her the curse the world and the world to curse her.
But that being said, it's not some fetishistic abuse. Her character needs to be about overcoming the weight of the past against all odds. At the end of it all, she should stand strong and tall above all of those that have hurt her. Her heart should be magnanimous enough to forgive all.
Her insecurities should be her power. She wants to become other people, her heroes, so that she can be strong like them. And then in the final confrontation, she realizes that she was all that she needed! Borrowed power does not a hero make!
Outside of that make her pretty and cute, but flat. I think it's adorable when a young woman is self-conscious about her breasts. That part is fetishistic.
The Escapist Avatar Adventures The Rising Dawn Airship: Recreation Room Let's just be honest here, it's a whole mess of characters!
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"As you wished, here are your refreshments miss." The host voice cut through the slow meloncholic music and quiet contemplation of the duo. "Oh! Uh, thanks." Nina turned around, having to get Phillip to take the water glass since she didn't have the third hand. With a remarkable degree of dexterity, Phillip quickly coiled around the glass of water for Dolores while Nina took her mixed drink and the small platter of picky foods. From cooked pig skins, baked goods, and several delicious treats; Nina couldn't help looking at them with a hungry eye.
"So, how'd he do, anything not covered in Stardust?" Nina eventually asked her personal chef, which after only the briefest of waits made her groan. "Really, practically everything?" She rolled her eyes while bringing her attention to her mixed drink. "No no, it's fine. You still have some stuff on you anyways right? It's not like I need to worry about having a severe peanut allergy and the host literally dumping peanuts over every single meal right in front of my face." Nina said, emphasizing the last part so the waiter behind the counter could clearly hear her. She'd start walking down the tables at this point, perusing the dishes, much like someone would do when getting a new cookbook and looking over new recipes. "Don't be too hard on that guy though Phillip, he didn't cook the stuff. Sure he could have tried getting something different, but there's no reason to get upset with the waiter. Do you at least see that plate of inky pasta stuff you made?" She asked, frowning as she heard the answer. "I can't believe that captain, how can he call himself a cook after that. It's just plain rude... Although... inky, that does give me another idea." She said eyeing her mixed drink. "No way? Is this a Digrat?" She laughed taking a sip. "Oh my god it is! Haha, I can't believe they'd make this, I love root beer!"
"So, you see anyone suspicious yet? Or John?" She asked looking out into the crowd again, eventually looking behind herself to Angelus specifically. "Her? Na, Angelus is pretty cool, her husband as well. I highly doubt they'd be responsible for pranking us." She argued, taking another sip as she continued along the tables, enjoying the Twitch plays Pokemon inspired drink. "Hmmm...God, it's so hard to get a buffet with actual vegetarian options that aren't just side salads." Nina stopped short as she saw these two, utterly stunned to see Pokemon just out and about. A grovyle and gardevoir were having a grand old time at the buffet, and she couldn't help but gawk at Jenny. 'Oh my god, it's a gardevoir! They have psychic powers! What if she reads my mind and sees- What if she's reading it right now?! What if she's not even a she!?' She started to rev up the mental gymnastics within her skull. Nina was extremely familiar with the fandom this particular pokemon garnered across the internet, and had made numerous contributions to it herself, most being rather risque. Enough in fact that Phillip lifted a tentacle to point at Jenny lazily, causing Nina to awkwardly cover for his unheard remarks abruptly. "Hahaha, ya that's right! They do have a LOT of good food here! Oh hey, nice to see you three[footnote]Diane,
Jenny and Blade[/footnote]. My name's Nina, this is Phillip, and- Oh geez, how silly of me! I forgot to give Lt Dolores her stuff she asked for! She must be wondering where we got off to! Nice to meet you, maybe we could chat some other time?" She proclaimed a bit louder than she really needed to before ducking back towards Rugal and company.
The only thing that managed to stop her in transit was John's marriage proposal, which she didn't initially realize was the case until Violet was so kind to inform the entire room of. Although she didn't react in quite an outlandish regard as the good doctor, Nina did pause to watch Molly's reaction. Her mother was a sucker for this kind of sentimental garbage and she would be a liar to say she hadn't picked up a little of that herself. "Well... at least that's one thing off the list of things to do. We found John." She spoke quietly to Phillip slowly eyeing the two.
"Mankind's greatest folly is it's desire for independence."
Lizzy pressed Maria closer into her side. The coolness of the metal barrel was nice. It kept her awake. Though it had only been some few hours since she awoke from that strange nightmare, she felt like she had been waking for the past year. She shook her head, brown hair slapped her cheeks.
Living was so tiresome.
The sweet release still lingered at her finger tips, the gold liquid BlackHarte had called Mercy. Lizzy remembered how good it had felt to be embraced by that girl in her dreams. How good it felt not to have to worry about adult things in this adult world. No more suspicions, no more skepticism, no more doubletalk. She longed for another hit of that beautiful bliss.
Still, she had work to do.
She leaned against the back of her chair and sighed. There was a pleasant smell in the room that reminded her of violets. As the music changed she steeled her heart. There was a shimmering at the edge of her vision. She drew Maria from her holster and pulled back on the chamber. She slot in the bullet that the General had given her and slid the cover back over. Then she released the safety.
"Captain, are you feeling alright?" Lizzy looked over and smiled. It was a staff member and by the looks of it she was the comely girl from the young Lieutenant's squadron. Lizzy thought about it for a moment, her name dancing at the tip of her tongue.
"Yes Ilana, I feel fine, I just haven't gotten much sleep these past few days."
Ilana nodded and hurried off to the prep room to do whatever it was that it was her job to do. This entire party was a big staging for Lieutenant Langley to propose to Lieutenant Faust, and like all good proposals in fairy tales, every pair of observing eyes would be waiting for her answer.
For the tiniest moment, no one else would be in the spotlight. Even the universe would skip a beat just for this fraction of a second.
And when the music stopped and John knelt down, he opened the box in his hands to reveal a glimmering ring, Captain Elizabeth Donnell pulled the trigger.
And then when Molli said yes, just like I knew she would, my heart leaped...
Wait. Hold on. What happened? Where is everyone? Why is it so dark?
Hey... did...
Did I die?
I'm dead? Who killed me? This wasn't part of the story.
No. I can't have died. Who was there to kill me? Why would someone want to kill me? This isn't part of the plan. This... I cannot accept this. This isn't how the story ends.
No! I don't care how many people you hijack to try and kill me, I can't die! I won't die! To continue to try and solve your problems by murdering me is so stupid! You keep doing the same thing over and over again, hoping that it'll work [i]this[/i] time. Uhg,
I'm so done with you.
The seventh time. You think you would have caught on by now. Well, whatever. I can always just do this.
A white life engulfed the world, starting from the East and spreading to the West. The shining was swallowed whole by the white light, and all the wrongs were undone and the dead were returned to life. The damages and harms that the world suffered were erased and our band of heroes once again found themselves in a familiar place.
The Rising Dawn was resting softly in a lush field of grass. It seemed to be spring. Everything outside was calm and peaceful. The ship was bare of life, except the heroes that occupied it. Brilliant and extraordinary individuals that were tasked to keep the world safe.
They were meeting each other for the first time in this new world. A new adventure.
System Message:
The following entities have been removed by an administrator:
"Vultne his conservare?" The voice was gentle and sweet. The sun was warm on his face. The air smelled like fresh wheat, sunbaked stone, and the mild earthy flavors of oak.
"Hmph," this voice was a little deeper and had some gravitas to it, "non huic mortitude en domu mi. Virem excitate."
Rugal felt two gentle taps on his face, and when he opened his eyes he found a young woman dressed in plain robes standing over him. She was comely, but simple. She had curly brown hair and amber eyes. Her brown tunic ran down to her ankles. She smiled, "Qui est?"
"Loquoturne latinam barbarus? Virem aut ex Brittaniae aut ex Germanicae esse puto." A girl a little farther on laughed.
"I think he's from another world entirely!"
"Such a strange thing to suppose, Kyuubey, but I will defer to your expertise in this matter. Servant, rouse him. We bring him back to my estate. Jove in heaven smiles upon those that tend to travelers."
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Lost to Love
Code:
inuart's story
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What even had he done? Just one second he was plotting to break his friends free from the confines of the Rising Dawn and now he was in this barren field of dirt? The plains seem to stretch on forever. The smell of fire and steel stung his nose. Even without any context he knew that there had been at least a battle here, but there were no corpses.
Weapons on the other hand littered the dirt field. Everything from broken blades to abandoned siege weapons lay on the earth. His head hurt terribly. Where was he? When was he?
All he could remember was a blinding white light that had enveloped the world.
He heard a scream from a ways away, somewhere deep in the field of ruin.
It was a woman. It sounded so familiar. Inuart jolted to his feet, his head swam from his sudden ascent, but he could hear the cry again.
Where was it?
It was to his left. He turned and saw in the distance two men chasing a woman through the field of ruin. They were in steel mail, brandishing swords and shields. Inuart couldn't make out the emblems, he was too far away. Then one of the men lunged forward and tackled the woman to the ground. There was another ear-splitting scream.
Even beyond languages Inuart understood what that pitiful tone meant.
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Table for Two
Code:
nina's story
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"Excuse me miss," the station attendant said, gently shaking Nina awake. The air was warm and the lights were dim. The soft yellow glow bathed the wooden walls and floor in an other-worldly light. It pulsed as if it was a beating heart. But not in a bad way, it was actually kind of nice.
"Miss, you're going to miss your train," he said again. He held out a ticket that had... Phillip's name on it. "I'm sure your owner paid a lot to bring you onto the main cabin, so let's not make him upset alright?"
This was a train station. But it was one of those old train stations you would see in the old movies. It had the glass roof above and the open air tracks. Yellow lamps hung down from high up on the ceiling and swayed back and forth as the rumbling of locomotives passed on other tracks. The train in front of Nina was one of the older kinds, a long fancy series of opulent cars each fitted with creature comforts. The outside was painted delicately with scenes of some foreign epic.
Where was this?
The sky outside the glass was foreign. It shimmered brightly with dancing stars and twisting galaxies. The other patrons around her were... strange. She knew intuitively that even though the gentlemen and fair ladies that were boarding this train looked human in their fancy dresses and sharp suits, they were really just like Phillip.
Speaking of which, where was Phillip?
"Your master is already on board, please miss. He is waiting for you in car five, next to the kitchen car. Please follow Ms. Lockstar to car five." He motioned to a girl wearing a chef's uniform who just happened to be passing by. She was carrying quite a large load of cooking materials in a big cart behind her.
"Eh? What was that?" She said suddenly.
"Miriam, do me a favor please. One of the guests has left his pet, Ms. Zaczoltski here by accident," the attendant said softly, motioning to Nina.
"What?" the girl called Miriam pouted, "Well, alright Reign. But you owe me!"
"It's literally one car up from your car. It's hardly even a bother, Miriam."
"Well I don't get paid to look after a guest's carry on!" Miriam shot back bitterly. She paused, looked over Nina and turned to start walking again. "Well, come on then. This way, human."
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Child in Chains
Code:
bonnie's story
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God, fuck, shit, damn. The jungle was hot and humid as a drunkard's hairy balls. The buzzing of the insects, the wet stickiness of the vines, the leaves, the branches, and even the fucking earth beneath B.C.'s feet was conspiring to piss her right off. Whatever happened was bullshit. Fucking, one second she had a hot pirate chick at her hip, and the next second a white light dumps her off on some god forsaken jungle world full of bugs, lizards, and whatever tentacle monster rapist creature that lurked deeper in the buzzing fuckwit of a ecosystem.
At least whatever happened gave her back her weapons. That was at least some consolation. So whoever teleported her this time was at least a little better than that whole thing that happened with Balance.
As B.C. pushed through the foliage and the heat, she heard the sudden roar of engines overhead. She immediately recognized the distinctive whine of faster-than-light thrusters struggling in an atmosphere.
Where was this?
When was this?
There were voices ahead. Men. The language was batshit gibberish, full of hard stops and nasally whistles. B.C. hid behind a tree and looked out. In the distance there was a clearing... a fire. Smoke... and the cry of women and girls. There were several flashes of light. Laser weapons.
One of the women broke into the jungle, dashing through the ferns and vines, her chains jingly madly behind her.
The men, soldiers most definitely, called out orders. Two shots rang into the jungle, incinerating the cover as they passed through. There was a scream and a thud. One of the soldiers broken into the jungle and stalked after the woman who fled, inching closer and closer to where B.C. was hiding. She could see the fallen body of the woman ahead. She was strikingly beautiful, with blonde hair and frankly ridiculous curves. Were those natural? And she was wearing even less that B.C., makes sense given this awful climate.
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Reason to Rise
Code:
anjali's story
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"Let it alone Vil, that's just another naked corpse," Freya said. She stalked slowly through the swamp examining the bodies that had been coughed up by the churning roil of the land.
Vil, a towering construct leaned over Anjali's body and raked it's fingers gently over her bare back. "No. This one is a corpse, but she is not dead."
"What kind of game are you trying to play here Vil? Are your sensors malfunctioning? There's no one that can come out of this bog alive. Each of these corpses have been in this mud for at least a moonscycle." The girl leaned over the rotted body of a soldier and pulled the backpack off of it. "Only thing useful left is the metal in the gadgets they were using."
"No. I am not malfunctioning," Vil wrapped its massive hands around Anjali's waist and hoisted her body out of the mud, "This body is fresh. Maybe still functioning."
Freya flicked on her scavenger's loop and glanced over Anjali's body. "It's a body in good condition, but I'm not getting any vital signs from it."
"Give her time, she will awaken." Vil said softly. It placed Anjali on the air-raft and poked her cheeks gently with a claw. "Wake up, won't you little snake girl?"
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Abandoned Abyss
Code:
nadalia's story
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Ash. Nothing but ash as far as the eye could see. There was a crown of light that eked through the clouds around the horizon, casting weak orange rays across a landscape of uniform grey, but that was it. The soot was drifting down like snow, piling on top of layers and layers of the warm grey carpet that covered the land.
Where was this? Was this the age of the ancients? Or was this mankind's age of dark?
No. This was different. The fire here burned, but was covered up by this ash, these clouds. It was almost like someone was trying to smother the burning soul of this world. She felt the embers inside of her flicker and her dark soul felt uncomfortable. The presence of man here was... perverted. They were here, but different and in a way that put her ill at ease.
Outside of herself, it was as if there was nothing in this world, just ash and emptiness.
But underneath a pile of ash somewhere in the distance, her keen eyes saw something stirring, buried beneath the false snowfall.
The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Child in Chains | Some Freaky-Ass Jungle "Load up on guns, and bring your friends..." B.C.
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One moment, B.C. was preparing to answer Mio and follow it up with a long drink from what was undoubtedly a flute of very expensive booze, the next she was stepping through a suspiciously-familiar feeling portal. She didn't even remember getting to her feet and starting to walk, she was simply sitting one moment, and then moving forward the next. But the Space Convict was far from stupid, and the sensation was familiar enough that she stomped one foot and swore skyward at the top of her lungs. Not a-fucking-gain! This was the work of some inter-dimensional fucktard like that stupid crystal from earlier that day. Balance or whatever the fuck it's name had been.
She placed her hands on her hips and began to scowl. Only to blink and look down when she realized that she didn't feel the frilly skirt that she had been wearing earlier, her hands instead brushing against metal. And after a glance, her suspicions were confirmed: She was wearing the same halter top, leather pants and leather jacket that she had when she was initially snatched away from her "shopping". But more than that, she had the grenade belts, sub-machine guns and Beamer that she had lost.
"My babies! You're back! Oh, momma's so happy!" she cried out, her earlier indignation almost completely forgotten as she drew each weapon and lovingly kissed it.
And even with her normal disdain for the Confederate weapon, she pulled out the Beamer and gave it a light peck as well, adding, "I'm even glad to see you too."
Then, with an MP7 in either hand, she strode into the jungle with renewed confidence. After all, she had her guns and explosives back! She could tackle just about anything, now, even alien tentacle-rape monsters, or the odd dinosaur. Delighted as she was to be armed again, however, that still left the question of where the fuck she had ended up. She didn't have any experience in jungles, especially since she usually avoided the wilderness. It could have been on Earth, or some other planet for all she knew. And when she could hear the telltale sounds of advanced engines in the air and the flashes of laser-fire, she realized that she probably could have made a temporal jump too. Which would've been problematic.
She rushed forward before ducking behind a tree just outside of a smoking clearing. Then she listened and waited. Running footsteps, multiple people, and the sounds of voices. Most of them men, but a few... A few were female. Whatever the men said however, she couldn't immediately understand. Even with her CUNN1NG-L1NGU4L Bod-Mod, it would take some time to be able to translate or speak it. But the context was clear. Barked orders and threats. Typical.
A sudden fall into the foliage next to her interrupted her thoughts. When she glanced down, she couldn't help but snort and shake her head. It was a woman, chained-up and scantily clad, face-down and ass-up as she had fallen. B.C. shook her head before she sighed at the sounds of the stalking footsteps of one of the soldiers.
"Well, honey, guess it's your lucky day," she drawled, holstering one sub-machine gun before she unhooked one of her grenade belts, "Because I'm gonna be your motherfucking savior."
She lifted the grenade belt to her lips, clenched the priming strip that connected all the pins between her teeth, and tugged. The next moment, she was cackling as she tossed the armed grenades into the clearing and bent down to grab one of the girl's chains with her now-free hand.
"Hope you can still run!" she said, whooping as a large explosion rocked the trees a good distance past them.
Pulling the girl to her feet, she let loose a burst of gunfire behind them in the direction of the currently-lone soldier. Then the Convict broke into a run with an exhilarated grin on her face and laughter in her chest. Now this was more like it! As inconvenient as the earlier dimensional-fuckery was, she had no doubt that subtle subterfuge at that party was going to be rather boring, even with the rather entertaining Mio on her arm. Running for her life with a hail of bullets and an explosion at her back? That was fun.
"So, what's your name, babe?" she asked with an excited and breathless giggle, "You can call me Bloody Cherie!"
She heard voices, two of them, coming near. She was confused. The thing inside her, it was confused, too. Had she not just had been inside a ship? A lot of people around her?
This did not smell like it. This felt pleasant. Swampy. But she did not know how she got here. Someone picked her up. Already? Was she dead? What a thought. Of course she was dead. Apparently this had not changed.
She was placed on something, then felt porcelain on her cheek. "Wake up, won't you little snake girl?"
She opened her eyes. Something loomed over her, something ... something that she had never seen before. And a human. She slowly rose. "I am awake..." Her voice sounded hollow, as it had before. But it still surprised her. "I am ss ... where am I?"
As she looked around she saw what she had smelled, a swamp all around them. An area that brought her comfort for some reason. Maybe because she had been revived in one. And she felt powerful. She looked at the human and the construct again. "I do not know you ... who brought me here?"
A loud bang deafened the room, crimson marbles danced in the air as the very shadows themselves reached out to gobble them up. Where had this come from, so out of place from the happy scene that had been painted before her mere moments ago? This felt like a dream, watching as the droplets warp into scurrying beetles, time seemingly creaking to a crawl as Nina felt her perspective on the surroundings wane. And that was when everything went black with a light yellow hue.
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"Excuse me miss"
Her eyes felt heavy, much like when she'd had her wisdom teeth removed. Dazed and unfocused, she slowly became accustomed to her new location she found herself in, or had she always been here? She hadn't seen this place, this train, these lights, that nebulous space scape she thought was simply a monitor screen displaying a neat background. There was someone talking to her, that much she was sure of, another new person? Groaning softly as she sat up from the bench she'd apparently felt appropriate to rest on, she pressed her hand to her face, wiping the sleep from her eyes and touching... her hat? A quick pat of her head and removal of the cap confirmed she was indeed wearing it, and not only that but her outfit from the previous day?
"Miss, you're going to miss your train," He instructed, placing a ticket in the conveniently presented cap. Nina hadn't had much experience with trains, being much more of a luxury item than a reasonable form of travel. But as she plucked it up to examine it she found he wasn't wrong, that was definitely Phillip, but... how? "I'm sure your owner paid a lot to bring you onto the main cabin, so let's not make him upset alright?"
That certainly got Nina's attention, although she couldn't tell if this guy had misspoke or perhaps she'd misheard him? "Look, uh, sorry about that maybe I'm just a bit out of it from last night sir but... just give me a second here." She requested, gently waving her hand for him to slow down a moment. 'Oh my fucking god what the hell was in that digrat?!' She shakily looked over her surroundings again, starting to feel like she'd been unknowingly casted in the next Hangover movie. She had her duffle bag which she'd used to carry Phillip in, but a quick pat of it confirmed it was empty, but he couldn't have gotten far? She couldn't have left him somewhere unattended!?
A couple beads of sweat started to form on her brow as her scan of the area had her vision fall on the passengers boarding the train. The consistency was striking; each one of them, their skin seemed to wave like a woven tapestry of tendrils than flesh. This wasn't her seeing things, but reality; even this man seemed to exude a similar tone. He didn't seem to appreciate Nina's request much either, clearly trying his utmost to keep things civil much like a customer service rep from Bell. "Your master is already on board, please miss. He is waiting for you in car five, next to the kitchen car. Please follow Ms. Lockstar to car five."
'Master? His Pet? What the fucking christ are these two talking about!? Where the fuck am I!? Where was Phillip!?' Nina thought to herself, finally getting to her feet as she watched the exchange between the two. She needed to get out of here, getting on this train when she had literally no idea where she was would only help her get even more lost. It was only when a singular black tentacle extend outwards from the front of the train did she take pause. At the end of this tentacle was the comically oversized chef's hat she'd given Phillip. That shitty hat that she'd found at a garage sale was like a ray of hope in this dark time. He was on this train, Phillip was on the train!
"Well, come on then. This way, human." Miriam commanded as Phillip's tentacle quickly retreated back into the train's interior from afar. "Nina, my name's Nina?" She corrected, noticing that Miriam too was different than what Nina would call the norm. "Sorry that I passed out there on the bench but, what's going on here?" Nina asked as she quickened her pace to keep up with Miriam, unsure if the woman if Nina could call her that would even give her the courtesy of an explanation given the tone Miriam spoke to her in. At the very least, she knew following this person would get her to Phillip, they could figure out a game plan after that.
Explosions rang out in the shrubbery as shrapnel and fire engulfed the pursuing soldier. In an instant the forest was assailed with a flurry of weapon fire, thick streaks of iridescent light left trails of burnt wood and hissing steam in the humid atmosphere. The soldier that had caught the full brunt of the grenades lay on the floor, shocked, but the kinetic and thermal energy from the blast did not pierce his bodysuit.
Syl stumbled to her feet gasping as the chains snapped taught around her neck. Her hair was a storm of spun gold as her legs began to match B.C.'s stride.
"My name! My name is Syl i Olya Lolome i Phraesia Ohnlo Pasie!" She inhaled sharply at the exertion of saying her full name in one breath, "Call me Syl! And we need to turn right! We need to turn right immediately!"
The soldiers were in pursuit now. By the footsteps there were about four or five of them.
"Cherie! TURN NOW!" Syl screamed as she dug her heels into the earthy jungle floor and scrambled suddenly eastward. The chain snapped taut and pulled B.C. toward Syl just as a volley of laser fire bore into a colorful boulder, leaving thick burn scars on the scaled surface.
The boulder stirred, great feathers bristled and threw off the cover of fallen leaves and vines. A brilliant light flickered across the golden feathers on the back of the massive beast before it turned its head toward the soldiers and opened it's maw.
A beam of golden light lanced through the forest, tearing apart trees, stone, and soldiers with a fury like the sun itself. Once it finished unloading the energy it had harnessed from bathing in the sunlight, it rose to two massive legs and bellowed into the sky, shaking the canopy and sending the fauna into a frenzy.
The soldiers moved to cover, battered but not yet broken. They trained their rifles and the gargantuan death-lizard instead of B.C. and Syl and began to fire at it's stony hide. The dinosaur charged forward, feathers bristling as they gathered more energy from the sunlight and sent arcs of lightning leaping between it's thick white teeth.
Syl threw herself over B.C., holding the convict's head in-between her arms and bosom. "Stay quiet! This is the territory of the Dahmahwa. If you are so reckless you will wake more from their daylight slumber."
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Reason to Rise
Code:
anjali's story
[hr]
Freya pulled a stake gun from her belt and held it toward Anjali, "Seven hells! Vil! Get away from that! She's a vampire!"
Vil placed it's other arm, a massive porcelain blade, on Freya's stake gun gently. Vil smiled behind it's perpetually smiling mask. Anjali could see in the eye-hole that this... thing was organic. It had old scarred skin pulled tight around a yellow reptilian eye. The massive thing was amused.
She realized it had an aura, a flickering amber light around it that resembled a salamander.
"Calm down master," it said softly, voice reverberating in the hollow shell of it's chest, "she is not that kind of child of the night."
Freya lowered her gun, still somewhat cautious of Anjali. She flicked a switch on her armlet and put on a set of goggles, stepping carefully around Anjali.
Vil craned its neck back to Anjali and ran a clawed finger through her long hair gently. It cocked it's head, "You are unsure of a great many things. But allow me to alleviate you of some of your ignorance." It took a step out of the swamp and placed a foot on the air raft, lowering it enough so that Freya could climb aboard. "You are currently in Offal, the Bog of Dis. This world's name is Amaranth and we are some ways away from civilization." It tapped Freya on her head with its hand. "Introduce yourself, my master."
Freya tutted, annoyed that her construct servant was giving her instructions, but she introduced herself anyway since that was the right thing to do. "I'm Freya Alyonne. I'm a Soul Tinker, I build automatons and infuse them with souls captured in crystals." She sat down and began unload the contents of her bag. It was mounds and mounds of broken weapons, pocket-watches, knives, pots, and badges. Every now and again there would be a beautiful blue gemstone that fell out of the shattered tools. "Vil and I are recycling right now. These soldiers died fighting in Kalbotha, a mountain up in the North. Their bodies get carried here by the rivers and earthquakes. Their tools and soul gems are integral raw materials for constructing new dolls."
Vil stepped inside of the raft and folded its knees into its chest and bent it's arms inward. In this pose, Vil was no taller than Freya, and just as wide. "And I am Vil, Freya's dutiful servant automaton." It motioned to itself pleasantly.
Freya started the raft's engine and started to steer them out of the bog. The mangrove trees ran for as far as the eye could see, and the black mud below them bubbled with decay. All over the surface were floating cadavers, corpses in military uniforms stripped of whatever salvage could be torn off of them. In the distance Anjali could see other air rafts and what she assumed were other scavengers scrounging around in the shallow mud looking for useful materials among the corpses.
"Now it is your turn, little snake girl," Vil put its hand on Anjali's bare shoulder, "who are you?"
[hr]
Table for Two
Code:
nina's story
[hr]
"Are you mental?" Miriam asked as she adjusted the lapis headband that held her immaculate red hair in place. She swept forward daintily in her heels, towing the great assortment of kitchen tools behind her as if they weighed no more than a heap of cotton. "You don't even know how you got here? I sure do hope for the sake of your master that you are quite a good toy for him." Miriam shook her head, her blue eyes were back-lit with some sort of bio-luminescence.
"Have a good trip!" Reign called out from behind them as he gave a polite bow.
Looking at more of the other guests, Nina saw that not only were there tentacle monsters, but monsters of all sort of different shapes, sizes, and ethereal make up masquerading as human. There were creatures of pure magic, ogre-like beasts, creatures of pure suffering, flitting essences of fairies and brownies, and even other more eldritch entities.
Was this Phillip's surprise class reunion or something?
"Not to mention he's forcing you to wear clothes? I'll never understand that kind of fetish. A human's natural state is to have as much bare skin as possible. They are, after all, carnal beasts at heart," Miriam continued in her strangely aggressive rant. Miriam glared at Nina "Are you even broken in? Aye, I can stomach that he's given you a name, and one as Earthly as 'Nina', but on the cross of my father's heart I cannot understand why he'd choose such a scrawny boy-looking girl like you to be his pet."
Miriam pointed toward one of the open doors as she passed it. "Aye, this is your car. 'Have a nice trip,' is what I'm supposed to say, but I for one would be glad if the administration would stop insisting that it's fashionable to bring thrice fucked pets aboard." Miriam tossed her luggage into the next car and vanished into a mess of other staff.
The car the Nina found herself in, and the one that Phillip was in, was a dining car. It was huge on the inside, far larger than possible given the size of the cabin on the outside. There were six tables side by side in the main area, and twelve more four-person boots set up on the side with the windows. A long bar occupied the other wall of the cabin.
The people here wore beautiful and elegant clothes, decorated to a fault with glimmering gemstones and precious metals. There existed the same variety of all sorts of foreign creatures, some having dropped their glamours and returned to their natural forms, and others still enjoying the quaintness of pretending to be human.
Phillip was at on of the booths, already having been served a beverage.
A violet-haired women was leaning against his booth chair, chatting nonchalantly with the eldritch horror. She had eyes like broken glass and a dress that held a galaxy in it's midnight weave. She smiled when Nina entered the car and waved.
"Ah, so this is the 'roommate' you were talking about?" the woman smiled, "she's a cutie, I'll give you that." She held out a gloved hand to Nina. The rings on her fingers were adorned with little human skulls. "I'm Talavie, I was just introducing myself to Phillip here. He's a gentleman of few words, you're lucky to have someone as understanding and gentile as he is."
"Must have had more alcohol last night than I thought..." Nina apologized, quickly coming to terms with the fact that until she understood exactly what was happening, going along with the flow was probably the safest option. This Miriam clearly was speaking to her not because she wanted to, but because she felt obligated in some rhyme or reason. Given the attire, Nina assumed she must have been one of the crew's cooks. How high up the food chain she was was an entirely different story, Nina wasn't well vested in the culinary hierarchy. She was pretty at least, that rack attached to her chest definitely garnered Nina's envy. As she followed along, she'd also notice the strength Miriam displayed, clearly inhuman to say the least. Despite this, Miriam's stab at Nina's boyish appearance would fall semiflat as Miriam's immaculate hair was nothing compared to Nina's locks, not that Nina'd mention it herself. [small]"Maybe he just likes to think of it like wrapping for a present..?"[/small] Nina said meekly, looking at the floor as even she felt awkward suggesting such a lie.
She knew Phillip better than all of these people, even the mention of sex was more than enough to drop Phillip's interest like a rock. Whenever she'd watch a pervy movie, hold a commissioning livestream, or have one of her occasional 'Non-Alcoholic Stress Relieving Evening Encounters of Solitude'; Phillip would make himself as scares as he possibly could within the confines of their apartment. It was convenient for Nina to keep him a secret, but she'd be lying if she wasn't a little disappointed her own little tentacle monster was as asexual as could possibly be. Clearly from the window, this was her Phillip and not some nega Phillip, so how why he have bought this ticket with all these perverts? That question was at the forefront of her mind as Miriam presented her car. 'Just play nice with her, no need to stick it in her face for being suck an ass...'"Thank you very much for the help regardless, Phillip will be very pleased I've returned, I wish you well." She said, mostly to Miriam's back as she didn't seem interested in waiting for anything Nina had to say.
Nina merely rolled her eyes before opening the door to the dining car, then quickly had to do a double take as the car seemed way too big to be part of this train. "Ṅ̛̦̄́̃͌͠i̤̎̋̽̆̔̕ñ̥̓̊͆̂a̡̢̿̇̏́́̏̈͘̚͞?̨̓̅̀͌̅̀͜͡͡" Phillip beckoned her to the booth with a curling tentacle, his voice sounding like a very congested Michael Smith to Talavie. Swollen to his enlarged state, Phillip took up the full size of the booth's seat, several tentacles dangling below it while a couple lay on the table like elbows slowly swirling a glass what Nina could best describe as a greenish blue mist that swirled like cake batter. Nina would wave back to the new woman as she approached, clearly enamoured by her galaxy dress although admittedly unsure if she'd get sucked into it if she attempted to touch it.
"Ah, so this is the 'roommate' you were talking about?" the woman smiled, "she's a cutie, I'll give you that.""Well, I do what I can." Nina smiled sheepishly as she accepted her hand. "I'm Talavie, I was just introducing myself to Phillip here. He's a gentleman of few words, you're lucky to have someone as understanding and gentle as he is." Nina glanced over at Phillip, getting the idea he was enjoying Nina picking up the majority of his side of the conversation. "Oh, you have no idea. He really is one of a kind, definitely changed my life for the better. But that dress you're wearing is, if I could be so bold, absolutely stellar. It's so pretty!" Nina giggled.
Out of the corner of her eye, she'd notice Phillip stretch a singular tentacle up and into the glass. It wasn't even one of the ones with a mouth, just a fairly mundane tendril that dipped into the mist like it was getting into a hot tub. "Sorry, if I'm interupting anything, I got a bit lost outside." She said glancing back from Phillip to Talavie. "Didn't really know we were going on a train ride today... or tonight? Um..." She hesitantly added, unsure how the ruse she was maintaining would hold up if it appeared like she wasn't as 'broken in' as Miriam had put it. All it took was a brief motion of Phillip, a 'Please continue, go on', for her to ask. "Do you work in this train Talavie or are you a guest like Phillip too?" Feeling that was quite tame of a question
Talavie laughed, running her fingers over her lips. Her eyes sparkled in the warm light of the cabin lamps. "I am a guest," she finally said. She whistled and a swarm of shadows came careening toward her from the far side of the cabin.
"This is my husband, Nocturne." Talavie motioned to the swarm of darkness that swirled around her feet. "He is staff and handles security on this train."
The living shadows named Nocturne chimed back an affirmative response.
Talavie tilted her head and smiled, "He would like to thank you for complimenting his handiwork. He says the dress took quite some time to fashion."
Nocturne rang, his voice was like the ringing of Christmas chimes.
"It is hard to find a celestial who is capable of appreciating such art, let alone a mortal girl," Talavie repeated, "he says. Still, I do wonder why you two are here. Neither of you are the colors of our world, you stand out like the moon in a starless sky. And even past that, for you both to be on this most unique of train rides." She turned to Phillip, "So tell me, is it a curiosity, or a perverse lust that beckons you two? It is exciting, so much so, to know that I can bear witness to the end of a world parallel to ours. Truly, it will be the most beautiful of deaths."
Nocturne rang. Talavie rubbed it's "head" with her free hand.
"Most fortunate indeed," she whispered, "it will be the greatest spectacle of all deaths. The end of all ends. A once in a life-time opportunity to see how a universe comes apart at the seams." Her skull rings glimmered as if they were reacting to her honeyed words. "Not to mention that the catering, so I hear, is to die for."
The bard moved without thinking, muscle memory having him institutionally reach for the sword on his hip - then blinked in surprise when he actually felt steel at his side. What's more, he felt the familiar weight of armor on his shoulders, and heard the crinkle of leather. He was armed? When did he put on his old gear?
No matter - he surged forth, a mixture of combat training and Albert's serum enabling Inuart to close the distance quickly. He could see through his charge that the standing soldier was only wearing a chain shirt and a helmet - must have been of mediocre rank, or the army was not well funded. A open neck was not a surefire way to living long. Tightening his grip on his longsword, the bard waited til he was just upon the solider, and swung for the neck. Through a combination of surprising his enemy, as well as the windup to his attack, the nameless solider's head was lopped off, a messy gush of blood following in it's wake. Somewhere in the back of Inuart's mind, he vaguely remembered a lecture about blood pressure enabling such a spectacle; and brusquely pushed the memory and the headless cadaver aside. With the first soldier out of the way, there was the matter of the second, in the midst of a distasteful display. The bard's lip curled in disgust, and mercilessly kicked the second in the ribs to get him off of the woman, then followed suit in his execution; plunging the tip of his sword into the brigand's neck. Messy, but it got the job done.
The soundtrack of the soldier's death gurgles in the background, all that was left was the woman herself. Inuart turned to look at her, looking up and down to survey any damage. Barring her emotional distress, the only real impression he got was a... interesting sense of fashion. Certainly not something befitting of a battlefield. The best he could guess, this person was probably a civilian caught in the crossfire. What did draw his attention, however, was the curious blindfold, appearing to be wrought of something like leather, a motif repeated by a series of belts around her neck and shoulders.
He felt hesitant to approach, considering what had just transpired moments ago, and instead elected to simply speak to her, "What in the devil are you doing in a place like this?"
Typically, Inuart would have asked something along the lines of 'Are you alright?' after finding someone in distress, but given the circumstance, it seemed to be more of a stupid question than anything. The only people who are 'alright' on a battlefield are the victors.
It took Nina a second or two to realize Nocturne was the formless swarm of shadows, being so used to her eyes playing tricks on her it wasn't until Phillip gave her a prod of her wrist that she realize Nocturne was in fact real. "Hello! Good to know who I gotta call if I'm in trouble." Nina greeted the shadowy figure. Likewise the bell jingling caught Nina off guard not initially connecting the random sound would have come from Nocturne, but Talavie's translation was appreciated. "I can imagine, it looks amazing, I'm a bit jealous~" Nina lightly chuckled. "Sure there's some that don't appreciate the arts but, really, you're wearing a literal starscape as a dress. Who wouldn't think that's incredible?" Nina argued her point.
It was at this point Talavie went into concepts a tad beyond Nina's understanding. Colours of worlds, extinguishing universes, and catering that impressed a being that was literally wearing space. If it not for her attempting to keep her charade going, Nina would have had a much easier time responding to Talavie. It was the inexperience in this sort of grand scale that clearly dwarfed her. She drew smut for the internet and made people's websites look nice, what did she know about universe ending events or interdimensional travel. "Well, uh...""Food primarily, there are many here of the arts. Strong ones at that, like the one you spoke to." Phillip said, setting his drink down, the colour it once had muted to a dull grey, the tentacle that had been in it slinking back into his mass. "Much to learn indeed."
Nina couldn't fault Phillip, as far as she was aware this was the first time he'd ever been with chefs outside of earth. Obviously people from entirely different existences would have different ways of cooking. The talk about the end of everything was still on her mind however. "Like Phillip said, he's very interested in the culinary arts, practically eats, sleeps and breaths it." She joked. "But this end of a universe, I'm sorry but could you explain that a little more? How exactly will we be able to see an entire universe disappear from a train car? Like, you say that this is a once in a life time opportunity, but... why would a train be needed to see that? Uh... apologies if this seems rather odd, just trying to wrap my head around it is all."
Whomever would be working as a waitress in this establishment would take Phillip's beverage at this point, adding a quick. "Root beer for her?" motioning to Nina. "Oh! Thank you very much!" She then watched as they moved back to the food area, having a quick glance at some of the other people here on the train.
[hr]
Within the Grassy Plains of Grass
Code:
Those not important people not trying to save the world
[hr]
She couldn't remember what had happened. As far as Hillary could recall she had been hunting for this mysterious party room Rugal had instructed everyone to attend to. A mix of duty to inform the attendance of Miia's current situation and eagerness to enjoy some fabulous food. But now she was in an open space, the feeling of dozens upon dozens of thin blades piercing her body as her consciousness finally came to her. Had she been sleeping, she must have given her formless state she currently had, but that would quickly be fixed.
From the origin planes, the long grass seemed to swell up in one section, like a mass of grass clipping had been grabbed by some invisible force. As it collected more and more, it started to take shape. A torso, head, arms slowly molded from the mound and soon Hillary stretched her arms out in a long yawn to allow her voice box to form. "Am I now?" She said allowed patting her chest, pivoting on the pseudopod of grass blades that made up her legs. The grass was long and tall, but with Hillary's eyes she'd be able to spot several sections of the grassy plain that has disturbed. She would quickly swoosh over to the nearest one.
Although she won't know Diana at that point, she would slowly pap her face. Because of her composition, the pap was like having a pillow gently pressed up beside her face repeatedly. "Heeeellllooooo~ Hello! Please wake up please!" Hillary called before looking around her and moving to another person, Ton Ton. "Ah! Mr. Ton Ton? Wake up!" She called out, prodding his tummy a bit.
When Rugal awoke, he instantly knew something was wrong, though the change of scenery and local was a bit of a dead giveaway.
He quickly rose to his feet, falling into a more defensive stance as he gave his rebuttal: {"German in fact, though where I hail, Latin is considered a dead tongue. So the fact we are speaking it raises several questions to me. First things first, I want the current year, our location and whom is in a ruling authority here. I have little time to waste, so do us both a favor and don't waste any."}
It was then that he began to notice the strange outfits and the classically designed buildings nearby, as well as that thing Molly seemed so attached to: "Kyuubey...Figured you'd be involved in this. Had my suspicions before, just wish I could have acted upon them sooner. Where did you take me? What of the rest of the Dawn?! So help me if you laid one hair upon my family-"
He took far too long to figure out what had happened and now they were paying the price for it.
Sure, David had been around a few "Resets" before but this one really took the cake.
"[sub]nooo....nooo, fuck....dammit..[/sub]" he groaned in his dazed state, looking like he would after a rough night...or a weekend...or any night really.
Either way, he began to stir as he felt something against his nose.
It felt like he was laying down on a field of grass, because he was, but something was off. It was like something was pushing the grass up to his face. Opening his eyes he'd initially see Ton Ton standing up beside him, but obviously the little lizard stuffy was too far for him to touch him. And then it'd finally hit him, the grass had formed a hand and was touching him. "Hello? Mister? Are you okay? Please wake up." A woman's voice pleeded, sounding quite a bit breathy and gentle, but full of concern.
"WHOA-WHOA-WHOA-STEADY UP! I'M AWAKE I'M AWAKE!" He spoke in a startled panic, having thought it was something belonging to a creature or a god awful monster.
Getting up on his feet and pulling out his weapon, he took aim at first before stammering "Alright-...What exactly-...are you?..."
Realizing he might get his answer better while NOT holding her at gun-point, he then put his weapon away before asking "You one of the Dawn?"
Hillary would scoot back rather swiftly and silently on her pseudopod, throwing her hands up in the air in surrender. Having never seen Hillary before, David would currently understand her as some sort of grass monster woman. Almost like a statue of grass clipping, below the knees just dissolved into a blob of grass. Ton Ton was currently resting on her lap, apparently asleep still. "Don't hurt Ton Ton!" She yelped, leaning over him a bit but not smothering him.
Once David calmed down, she'd stand back up a proper. "Hillary is not technically part of the Dawn, but Mr Rugal said he would help her get back to the Laplace." She said to him, looking over him with her grass eyes. "What happened, do you know where we are? Where has the ship gone?"
Having seen Ton Ton in that state did much to both calm and stress David out anymore.
"Dammit!...Alright, the ship is still nearby, we just got dumped outside of it. Alright, look, I know you are confused right now but this mightn't be the safest place right now. I want you to go around and start helping people up. Got to get our people out of here and take a head count before we do anything else. Some REALLY weird shit just went down and we need to be ready, alright?" He quickly barked before moving around to assist the other members of the Dawn. "Alright, Hillary will make sure to try waking everyone up mister!"
[hr]
Rising Dawn: Brig
Code:
The Warmth of life into this tomb...
[hr]
"-Guys! I'm telling you! Something really fucking weird just happened!" "That's not the part I'm disputing. It's that we can't do anything about it! They'll kill us if we try to escape."
[color=6c1504]"Dammit...I know that old puppet of mine is on board. If I could get though to h-"[/color] "We are NOT doing that. Not anymore. If we get this second chance, we do it right this time. Am I understood?" "Shhhh...Doom is TRYING to nap!"
All the members of the Cartel were rather mixed in their reaction to this "Reset" as some would call it. After all, they had no idea what exactly caused it nor if they were affected by it.
Cortex was less interested as he finished item no. 41253 on what he would do to Chrysalis for her utter humiliation of him and breaking of his heart.
But there would be a slight snag to his "Fill her eyeballs with petrol and light them on fire" plan as he noticed a strange cyan mist start to gather around his cell.
[color=b4b4]"...What th-...Guys. GUYS! SOMEONE'S HERE! SOMEONE'S HERE?!"[/color] He cried out to his comrades before he felt a strange burning sensation around his arms.
It wasn't exactly warm in there and the mist cooled it more but the more he felt it against his skin-
[color=b4b4]"Ahhh-AHHH-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH![/color] He cried out in fear as the mist began to grasp his short frame, lifting him up into the air slightly as the life was literally sucked from him. "GUARDS! GUARDS! YOU WORTHLESS SHITS! GETTING THE CELL OPEN!" Wesker shouted before quickly taking action, swiftly prying the lock on his door as Cortex's screams began to turn into whines.
[color=b4b4]"AHHHhhhahhhhh[sub]ahhhuhhhuuuhhhhh[sub]uhhhhnnn...[/sub][/sub]"[/color]
[color=6c1504]"NEO?! NEO, YOU BETTER NOT BE DYING ON ME! FUCK YOU MAN! OHHHHH SHIT!"[/color] Bison panicked as Wesker managed to get to Cortex's cell, though a less then friendly face was there to meet him.
A large skeletal figure stood before Wesker, one he remembered from the battle of Denver.
He was cloaked in the strange mist as he held up the skeleton of the recently deceased Dr. Neo Cortex by his oversized skull. "What are-...What are you-...How-....Do you know-...wha-...""What are-...What are you-...How-....Do you know-...wha-..."
Wesker's fear and anger quickly turned to sheer confusion as the figure kept reading out every single word he said, right before he said it. "...Are you Psych-" "No. Too much chance of the Demon Lord Belial invading my thoughts. YOU HEAR THAT BELIAL!?...I KNOW YOU ARE OUT THERE! YOU WILL NOT CLAIM ME! NO MORE! AHAHAHAH!" The confused king rambled before throwing Cortex's remains at the wall, prompting a violent response from Wesk-
Before Wesker could raise a hand against Leoric, he could only watch in awe and shock as the business end of Leoric's mace, at speeds he didn't even believe would be possible.
Bounding against the wall, he attempted to get the mix up by flash stepping behind-
A simple movement with his mace was enough to end that, he knew this routine, this style, this entire encounter over and over and over again.
Wesker was a lot harder to fight then Cortex, but do it enough times and you can notice their patterns and tells, it's something he learned rather well in his quest.
He died the same way the last 2 times they fought, he would strike with the handle of his mace right into Wesker's throat, pin him against the wall with him before giving a brutal overhead swing down onto Wesker's skull.
Without even waiting for the blood splatter to hit the floor, he made his way towards the remaining prisoners.
"My hero," the woman said happily as she turned to face Inuart. She smiled broadly, more so than any sane person ought to have in the situation at hand. The earth beneath them shuddered and tiny earthen hands rose from the ground and latched onto the fallen bodies of the soldiers, slowly pulling them beneath the shifting earth.
The woman stumbled to her feet and dusted her short leotard off with her hands. She straightened her tabard and turned to face the oncoming wind. "I was being escorted," she said, "from the Tear back to Crosis after I performed the yearly harvest rituals. My escort and my assailants clashed, and this is the result."
The wind shifted suddenly and unsettlingly. The battlefield was utterly empty, but the ruins of equipment told a tale of a battle involving tens of thousands of soldiers. Had this strange woman not told him that this was an ambush on her escort, it would look the ruins of a battle over the Heavens themselves.
Her hair caught the wind and fluttered dramatically around her. She put a hand just above her breast and turned to Inuart. "My name is Alesha, and my hero, who are you?"
[hr]
Table for Two
Code:
nina's story
[hr]
Talavie chuckled, "Indeed, indeed. I'm personally looking forward to Ms. Lockstar's amazing stews. From what I hear, they'll make you feel like you just crawled out of your mother's womb!" Nocturne answered with similar sounding sentiments in his particular chiming voice. He shifted from the floor up Talavie's leg and settled around her bare shoulders like some sort of living scarf.
Talavie laughed and teased her husband by running her fingers inside of his shifting form. Nocturne chimed to answer Nina, but she couldn't quite understand what he was trying to say. His words were music, which while it was good for conveying emotions, it was difficult to discern academic thought from the melody.
"You're making it too simple Nocturne," Talavie chided, "she's not of our colors. There's no way she'll understand what you're trying to say."
"To put it more simply, this is Anazorzia, the land of wonder and dreams. We exist outside the boundaries of normal worlds, and as a result if we go far enough out from the center, we can watch the events of the multitude of realms around us unfold without entering them."
"Ah, Count. It's been a while," Talavie bowed her head.
The Count was a tall lanky man with grim eyes hidden behind a set of wire-rim glasses. He his his face beneath a large black hat and wore a simple trench coat over his suit. He bowed in return, "There is no need to be so formal, Lady Death, Nightmare." He addressed Talavie and Nocturne respectively with their titles. "And you, traveler, and his companion." He addressed Phillip and Nina. "Please, call me Crown."
One of the well dressed waitstaff arrived with a tall frost cup of root beer and set it in front of Nina before bowing and taking his leave.
"Tell me Crown, who else do you know received the tickets?" Talavie asked.
Crown adjusted his glasses. "As far as I know, the Matron has afforded a good number of us the invitation to our current macabre festival. Within my own circle, Faith and Scripture both were given the summons. I know that the mongrels War, Deceit, and Envy are all aboard as well. If I were to be honest, though my name is neither Truth nor Candor, both of whom are in car seven, I think every single person of worth is on this train." He leaned over and looked at Phillip and Nina, "As well as these two foreigners. We ought to have The Spider in to clothe the human in something more appealing. She sticks out like a sore thumb."
[hr]
Right to Rule
Code:
rugal's story
[hr]
"How rude. I'm utterly destroyed," the girl on the wall joked as her handmaiden back away from Rugal shocked. "Even the gods would not dare to be so upfront. Was it not you who was on my property unconscious until I have come home from the baths? Now you wake and accuse my pet of actions he could not have committed? I ought to have expected little and less from a German barbarian, but this takes it to a level I was not expecting."
"Humans think what humans want to think. I have found that if they don't make sense, it's best just to leave them to their own thoughts." Kyuubey answered, his tail flicking back and forth calmly as he gazed at Rugal. "You know I do not lie, and I will tell you that I have never seen this man before this point in time."
"That is assurance enough," the girl hopped off the wall and walked up to Rugal. "I am Livia Lucretius Lamia, daughter of the great family Lucretius, which traces our lineage from Lucretia the Pure, who was taken forcefully by the last king of the Romans! This is the land of Etruria, which once belonged to those who were called the Latins, but now belongs to us by method of conquest!"
She stopped posturing and let her hands fall to her hips, "Formalities and decorum aside, this is the 500th year of the Roman Republic, and second year of the tenure of the great Julius Caesar. Now that I have introduced myself, would you like some bread and wine in my estate, or shall I let the wolves have at your flesh for threatening my pet?"
[hr]
Abandoned Abyss
Code:
nadalia's story
[hr]
The ash was so thick that Vihaan struggled to breathe. The world was so utterly gray that even the beating of his heart seemed to disrupt the silent rest of the drifting soot. Yona stalked behind him as silently as she could, flashing over the short distances instead of slogging through the blanket like Vihaan was.
The whir of the Inquisition's engines overhead gave him some sort of reassurance. The Desire Drive had fired up correctly and they had torn through space just as the temporal anomaly manifested. All in all, it was a success in his book.
"Do you even know what we're looking for?" Yona growled through her rebreather. She wiped some of the white powder from her goggles. In this world even her fiery red hair looked colorless.
"I can feel it. It's here somewhere." Vihaan turned around and glanced at the horizon. Where there was once an eternal sun that drifted at the edge of the mountains, there was now only darkness. He shook his head. It was so bleak here that he wasn't sure he hadn't already died.
Up ahead he saw a hunched grey figure. A woman wearing black robes and a sad crusted crown. Vihaan kicked the frozen figure over.
"Do you recognize this one?" Vihaan asked.
Yona nodded, "This was the one that set my soldier ablaze. Fiery soul, this one. Can't say I'm not glad to see her swallowed in ash. It's as appropriate as it is ironic."
Vihaan placed a radio on Nadalia's frozen body and turned it on, signalling the Inquisition to retrieve the body. Then the two pressed forward into the plains.
"What kind of world is this?" Yona asked after a long period of silent hiking.
"It used to be verdant and beautiful. The god was a kind girl who loved the change of the seasons. But her people wished for an eternal summer. Good weather, good harvests and easy life. They hated the winter. So they captured her as she was changing the seasons and cast her deep into hell to extend the summer."
"What short-sighted hubris," Yona spat.
"The way I see it, the people got upset at their god the moment it stopped benefiting them. This death by apathetic neglect suits them." He couldn't help but laugh to himself, "People who stumble at the first sign of hardship are hardly worth calling people at all."
Yona nodded, wrapping her thermal blanket around herself more tightly. The ash storm was growing in strength.
"Here it is." Vihaan said suddenly, starting to dig into a mound of ash. He dug out the body of a young girl, face frozen in half-sleep, skin grey, and lips parted as if she were about to speak. The ash sloughed off her body like mud. Vihaan tore the clothes off her chest and grabbed the small grey gemstone in her chest and ripped it out.
The body turned to ash and was swept away in the wind.
"Alright, the other one is at the bottom of the abyss. We'll take the Inquisition for that one."
"Sounds like a plan," Yona answered as she lit a flare and fired it high into the air.
The flickering green flame in the sky was the last time this world saw color.
Ton Ton finally roused from his slumber, a mixture of Hillary poking his stomach and the argument that ensured over his slumbering body and sat up right, rubbing his beady eyes as he groaned, [color=15650D]"Uggghh, When did we fall asleep???"[/color]
Feeling the "grass" underneath, Ton Ton looked between Hillary and David with confusion, before whipping his head back to David, the memories all flooding back. The black gelatinous monster, Laeta, David saying there was someone who knew about everyone on the ship -
[color=15650D]"Cadolbolg!"[/color]
With a terrified gasp, Ton Ton tried to get up, stumbled and fell off of Hillary's lap, landing in the cushy grass below. He popped back up, his body language frantic as he looked this way and that, [color=15650D]"Cadolbolg?! Where are you! It's me, Ton Ton!"[/color]
He looked at David, his voice growing more panicked as he asked, "David, have you seen him?" then to Hillary, [color=15650D]"Have you seen my little brother? He's a little baby dragon, a bit bigger than me. He's got silver scales, a turtle shell, and these feathery wings-"[/color] he stretched his arms out for emphasis, before curling inward, his hands (paws?) on his head as he continued to panic, [color=15650D]"Oh, he was so scared and he was crying for my help and I didn't get there in time and it's my job to look after him, and something bad's happened, I dunno what I'm gonna do! What will I tell Mister Caim and Miss Angelus?"[/color]
After a few attempts, the Boss was able to come to a happy conclusion - her barriers *could* in fact hold back the Mercy. The only problem being, should She assist Venia, She'd have to be constantly monitoring the barrier. A task that would require Her undivided concentration and attention, but if it could minimize potential casualties, the Boss would take it. Which of course, left the matter of Teresa and Lucifer. Lowering Her hand, she addressed Venia again in this 'space between' that only Gods could comprehend,
"It appears my hypothesis is correct. My shields can restrain the Mercy - and it is because of this, I propose this compact. I will aid you on your quest, break the barrier your father has erected. I will use my shield to hold the Mercy back between our travel through each of the Labyrinths your sisters have created. In exchange, I ask you grant my son a little bit of time. Let him and Teresa go for now, fulfill his promise, and save her for the very last of your cull. Are we in agreement?"
Venia danced back and forth on her feet. She spent this time thinking about the proposal. "That sounds reasonable. I will hold back myself until it is time. But the moment that my lord Father's barrier collapses, I will fall upon the worlds within with all of my ability. To know that the end is so near quickens my heart."
She smiled, honestly and girlishly. "It does make me wonder though, how strong are you that you can say with such confidence that my lord Father's barrier is so easily done away with?
"I am One who has spun life into much of creation, including the world Lucifer has traveled from. Your father is in my domain as we speak. My sight may have been obscured, but My way will not be blocked."
She smirked, and added, "If My son can push pass it, it should be no effort for Me."
"It's easy to come out of, it's hard to get in," Venia added, "though, if I do recall. The one curating those that pass is one of your own as well? A 'King Solomon,' or something like that. If you could set him free from my lord Father's clutches, then I would be so eternally grateful. Without him, lord Father's retainers have no order, and the barrier will be easier to break."
"Solomon? He should be long dead...But, If that is the case, I could send Lucifer after him, or... I do have another agent on that side as well. One of my Clerics. Without me however, her powers are practically nonexistant. But, if Solomon is the one I know, then perhaps my Cleric can help him break free through the thread of commonality between them."
"It's worth a shot!"
"Do you know where Solomon lies in that world? Many things seem drawn to the Rising Dawn, so it is possible he is there, but I do not want us to waste any time on a mere hunch."
Venia just pointed toward the wall. "From what I can see, he's been cherry picking people from the sheltered worlds, stashing important characters, gods, and leaders in a cocoon deep within the barrier. There he hopes that I will not deign to reach him. Go there and destroy him and his wife, and set the prisoners within free so that I may cleanse them of my Father's influence when I arrive!"
"Hmn.. If that is the case, I will need to journey with Lucifer and Teresa. If I am to send my agent to deal with Solomon, especially if he is as formidable as I remember, they will need all the help they can get in this fight.
But, I have no intention of forgetting my part of the bargain. I will return to you the moment Solomon and his wife are dealt with. But first, we need to put on a show. Have Teresa and Lucifer believe that you have been sealed by my power, then the three of us will make our journey back in."
Venia tilted her head, "How should I make that look? I've never been sealed before!"
"How about I throw up my barrier like before, but all around you. I say something that sounds like it would belong with a sealing incantation, and you pantomime looking distraught. Perhaps even throw some Mercy against it, since My barriers seem to be able to contain it. Following that, I declare you are sealed, and we take our leave. The moment I'm gone the barrier will dissipate."
Venia smiled, "Okay!"
The Boss smiled, and the conversation ended.
Looking back to her son, she could see he was attempting to comfort the very scared Teresa, and a pang of guilt seared through her breast. She did not like what she was going to need to do later, but for now, she would grant Her son this indulgence.
"I have decided that she shall be sealed. Come, close to me."
She beckoned the two close to her initial barrier, gesturing for them to put their hands on her shoulders. She raised her hands, voice ringing sonorously in Celestial tones as the trio lifted up into the air, up up up, her barriers manifesting below on the areas around them.
Venia cast her arms out as if to embrace them, and her smilled widened. "Wonderful!" She exclaimed, "truly wonderful!" The waves of her ocean rose to swallow Teresa, but crashed against the Boss' barriers as they did on BlackHarte's black wall. The pale girl stood alone in the swirling Maelstrom of Mercy, grinning, "This is not the end, interloper!" She cried hammily, waving her arms around as she orchestrated an assault on the Boss's shields. "I will be free soon, you cannot contain me forever!"
The Boss lowered her hands, the "ruse" completed, and turned to Teresa, "Now I have a task I must ask of you. Myself and My son need to return to the world from whence he came, as one of My agents needs me. You are the best suited to bypass this barrier...and I am to understand My son made you a promise?"
Lucifer brightened up at the turn of events and wrapped an a friendly arm around Teresa's shoulder, [color=eca222]"That's right, I told you that I'd show you my home world! Get The Boss back to watching over the place and I show you around. Kill two birds with one stone!"[/color]
Teresa nodded sullenly, her eyes darted nervously back to Venia churning below. "....Aye. There isn't anything for me to do. I... myself am the key. So long as I am with you, BlackHarte's barrier will allow us to pass through it's dark maze."
"Good. Then let us make haste..."
As they began their movement towards the AA world, specifically the Dawn, Lucifer felt the Boss' hand on his back, a message strictly between Her and him passing through thought, "When we return to our World, you and my Cleric becoming active again will bar me from taking further action. I will not appear beside you when you enter that world, but I will be watching and giving what aid I can. Because of this, I will warn you, and ask you pass this along to my Cleric; Solomon walks again, return him to his eternal rest - but be careful. He retains his power from life, if not more."
Before Lucifer could say anything or react - the three were already gone.
[hr]
Origin Plains a much needed homecoming
[hr]
Luke and Teresa appeared on the Origin Plains with little incident, overseeing the large portion of people, be they Dawn affiliated or no, resting peacefully. Luke could feel the comforting presence of the Boss on his back again, and he sighed with relief. That was the Boss's way, always felt but never seen. He took a look over the plains, searching for one person that had cross his mind several times - ah. A little ways away, designated by a black lump of fur with a patch of white cloth, he could see his quarry. His shoulders relaxed, a sigh of relief escaping his chest before he whispered, [color=eca222]"Found you."[/color]
The ghost of a smile flickered across his face as the Devil flicked a finger over himself, resuming his 'human' guise once more, his steps casual as he approached. He paused, looked over his shoulder to Teresa and called back, [color=eca222]"I'll be back in a bit. Feel free to wake someone else up and have a chat with them. You wanted to make friends, right?"[/color]
He took a few more careful steps, before his 'casual walk' turned into full on power-walk, which then turned into a hearty jog, stopping just before the black furred lump. Garm, ever the faithful hound, was curled around his human pack-mate, the young girl leaning into his side like he were a giant body-pillow, her expression serene. He almost didn't want to disturb her, but at this point, he was feeling a bit more selfish. The tall man bent down on his knees, a cautious hand reaching towards a bit of hair that fell over her face, moving it behind an ear. His little reverie was stopped by the sound a huff from the lupine guardian, a pale blue eye opening to regard him, [color=356D60]"Took you long enough. She was worried about you."[/color]
[color=eca222]"I know,"[/color] he reached over and scratched the big wolf behind an ear, [color=eca222]"Thanks for keeping an eye out."[/color]
[color=365D60]"I don't do it for you."[/color] The wolf yawned and stretched his front paws, gently moving his side to rouse the young woman next to him, [color=365D60]"Just pretend I'm not here. I know what to expect at this point - and don't say anything. If you call me a 'good boy' I'll bite your hand off."[/color]
Luke chuckled, and turned his attention back to the Cleric who was waking up. Teri sat up, stretched, and rubbed her eyes with a groan, [color=0E59E4]"I don't remember falling asleep..."[/color]
When her eyes opened, she stared at Luke for a hard second, then blinked in confusion, [color=0E59E4]"Luke?...What are you- Is this a dream?"[/color]
Luke didn't need any further prompting, wrapping his arms around the Cleric's shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug, burying his face in her hair. Teri gasped at the sudden contact, her arms wrapping around his back and returning the gesture, her voice shaking with excitement as she buried her face into the fabric of his shirt, [color=0E59E4]"It is you! I was worried sick!"[/color]
[color=eca222]"m' sorry."[/color]
She sshed him, reveling in the contact before she pulled back, her expression curious, [color=0E59E4]"Wait, if you're here, does that mean you figured out what's happening?"[/color]
[color=eca222]"Sort of. But first thing's first - you feel that?"[/color]
[color=0E59E4]"Feel wha-"[/color] Teri stopped mid question, her brows furrowing in confusion before her eyes widened in delight, a surge of Aura following after, [color=0E59E4]"You found The Boss! I feel- I feel.."[/color] Teri's expression grew conflicted, and found herself at a loss for words. She had lost her connection to the Boss before, feeling so alone and scared; and every time it came back that connection always came back in full force, the intensity of the emotion making the corners of her eyes mist. She looked back at him, the corners of her mouth quirking up as she said, [color=0E59E4]"I guess I'd say 'right' again. Thank you. You must have worked hard."[/color]
He laughed, rolling his eyes nonchalantly, [color=eca222]"Just a lot of teleporting. It was nothing. Besides,"[/color] his hands moved, gently cupping each of her cheeks, forehead leaning to bump her's, [color=eca222]"Even if I did have personal stake in it, which I most certainly did, seeing you smile again is worth the trouble."[/color]
That seemed to placate the young Cleric, her eyelids drooping before shooting back open, [color=0E59E4]"Wait, if the Boss is back, what about the Host? Can't they see us?"[/color]
[color=eca222]"They can't. Not right now anyway."[/color]
To help his reassurance sink in, the Devil-turned-Bartender brushed his lips gently against hers. Then the dam holding back the tidal wave of relief seemed to give way, and they kissed a little more frantically before Teri gently pushed him away, laughing softly as she said in a gentle firm voice, [color=0E59E4]"We are a little out in the open...And Garm is *right* here."[/color]
[color=365D60]"In all fairness, I did say to pretend I wasn't."[/color]
The duo laughed, before Luke stood up, pulling Teri up with him, [color=eca222]"Well, as nice as that was, we've a bit of work to do now. Boss told me that you and I need to find King Solomon - as crazy as that sounds. Before we go do that, you start waking up the others around here. I'll go find Teresa and rejoin you where you're done."[/color]
[color=0E59E4]"THE King Solomon?! Teresa? WHAT?!"[/color]
[color=eca222]"Like I said, sounds crazy, but it's word from up top. Teresa, on the other hand, is a friend I made along the way. Like I said, I'll reconvene with you in a minute. Go wake the others up."[/color]
With a little wave, the Bartender began a casual jaunt back in the direction he came in, whistling a happy tune. Talk about a weight of his shoulders.
Teri on the other hand; stood up, stretched and scratched Garm behind an ear, before she hurried off into the rest of the fields to wake the others.
[HEADING=3]Teri and Garm are now waking up other sleepy PCs.[/HEADING]
Speechless would be an apt way of describing Nina's reaction to Talarie's description of Lockheart's cooking. Sure, birth is a beautiful thing but using that to describe food of all things was a bit much even by Nina's standards. To the contrary, Nina watched curiously as Nocturne traveled up Talavie's leg. Phillip had done similar times before, but the knowledge of the two's relationship with one another added extra context to what would have been a rather mundane interaction.
'Kinda wonder if this colour stuff they keep talking about is actually a colour, or more just a name..?' Nina thought to herself as Talavie chastized Nocturne lightly about talking in his foreign language. She didn't mind too much, since she was getting a translation without asking what was there to complain about. Some friends from her childhood had grandparents of a similar situation, hence why she was about to reassure Talavie there was no issue when another man introduced himself.
"Well, that's convenient." Nina replied, left scratching her head a bit at how that'd logistically work. Her mind wondered back to the time yesterday when she was in the cluster space with the Deadly Sins, a void world with the cosmic marbles enveloped by an endless sea of black... and llamas. Where would you put tracks in a space like that? "Don't think about it too much." Phillip piped up as he notice Nina's wandering in her stillness.
"Huh?" She replied, noticing that woman had bowed to this new fellow. Seeing that the Count bowed as well left Nina feeling a bit out of place as the only one not bowing, and made a half assed attempt herself. This new Count Crown fellow was an interesting one, the glasses reflecting the light combined with his hat gave Nina the 'dastardly villain impression' while she was simply relieved his trenchcoat was open. Having to wonder if that was that kind of trenchcoat on top of all the other things rattling in her mind was far too much to bare. "Phillip.""Uh, Nina. Nice to meet you Crown."
The sound of Nina's root beer hitting the table and the slow familiar fizzing of carbonic acid converting to water and CO[sub]2[/sub] was all that was needed to grab Nina's attention, slamming her butt into the booth opposite and giving a friendly wave to the waitstaff as they moved onto their next customer. "You have no idea how much this means to me!" She smiled and started drinking while listening to the other patrons.
The name Envy nearly got Nina to choke on her drink, having not left her on good terms after the sweater incident, seeing her again was the last thing on Nina's to do list. Phillip just silently gave her a knowing look, causing Nina to cover a bit more of her face with her hat until Crown finished the last of his words. "Sorry about that, I'd be wearing a beautiful dress with this nice matching hat and shoes, but someone decided to pull a stupid prank on me and totally destroyed it. Can you imagine?"
"You're feeling better though." Until now, Nina hadn't noticed but Phillip was right. The burns she'd experienced that morning were gone, even while at the party she was still a bit tender in places. Checking over herself again she would confirm that indeed, those injuries were gone. It was almost like they hadn't happened in the first place, but she still remembered it..? "Ya, I guess I do." She eventually replied, reminding herself to ask Phillip about that later. "But we wouldn't refuse some high end tailoring if you're offering. Nocturne or... Nightmare? He certainly showed you all have way better stuff than anything Earth's got available, isn't that right Phillip?""Heh, go nuts. But keep her in one piece, would you?" Phillip in a rare moment joked. "So where is this The Spider?" Nina excitedly asked.
"Formalities and decorum aside, this is the 500th year of the Roman Republic-"
"...You mean to tell me...That I'm in Roman Times...Julius Caesar is still alive...Oh, out of all the hair-brained...insane-..."
He sputtered in anger and confusion, while he accepted that being part of the Rising Dawn included all matter of madness (Even that time
In past times, this would be the part where the old Rugal would work though his anger issues with the entire countryside, but...he couldn't do that, not anymore, not if he wanted to be able to live with himself. Okay...Calm down...There is a out of this. There always is. You are NOT going to become some footnote in Roman History. Okay, okay...focus...focus...
Taking a few moments to pace over, have a nice deep breath and count backwards from 10, he massaged his face in his hands before quickly changing gears to a much more "Polite" tone" in which he said-
{"...Apologies, Livia Lucretius Lamia, daughter of the great family Lucretius, whom carries the blood of Lucretia the Pure. I understand my-...words were rather charged. I've had a rather stressful morning and-...If you accept my apology, I in turn shall accept your offer for bread and wine. Once more, I cannot stress my regret for my outburst. My line of employment is-...annoying...}" He said as he finally composed himself and tried to think of something, anything he might be able to do to make this right.
{"Now, if you would permit me, I would gladly lead my services to your estate in exchange for lodgings. Merely until I can get my bearings and move on. Oh dear, completely forgot, My name is-..."}
This was a bit of a snag in the plan, while he could just use his own name, the possible repercussions of world leaders reading about "Infamous Crime Lord Rugal Bernstein spotted in Roman times" running though his head.
...Then again, if there was to anyone with a time machine back in his home world...
"Rugal Bernstein of Rising Dawn. {Now...Might be head off, I feel like I've done enough laying down for one day."}
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