Shivani - New Orleans

Shivani listened to Dr. Facilier's explanation before climbing out. Hearing their introductions, she frowned. Them again. she thought as she looked them over. Shocker+. She listened to the conversation before drawing her blade. "Take me to the battle. And you, hunter. I'll help you afterwards if you help me after the hunt." She looked to Facilier before leaning in to whisper, "I didn't know you were working with them. After this job, you had better be able to help me with my venture." She looked back at Shazay just as he had been interrupted by Hi-Hat. "By the way, my name is Shivani, not cat-woman. Best to remember it, human."

Arragoz Plizgin - Da Spess Bar

So, the new humie was something called a 'Say'n,' and 'e wuz scared of a cold storage unit, that just so happened to own multiple planets. From Takkaharra's description of them, they sounded like the sort of place the Ork would enjoy visiting. Ludicrously hostile environments made for excellent practice. If you could learn to survive, thrive, and most importantly, stalk targets without being heard or seen in the deadliest places known to exist, anything lesser was as 'eatin Squig Pie. At the thought of the delicious meat-filled pastry, the Ork licked his lips, and mentally reminded himself to raid the bar's fridge on the way out.

Now, back to krumpin' the humie. In addition to the altered outfit, he now had two choppas, which he used to block Arragoz' own. As for his comment on the stunbomb, the Kommando was blunt. "I'z gots no idea wot dose last two wurds mean, ya git." While saying this, the Greenskin raised his Slugga. At this range, dodging would be a bit tricky for the humie, and accuracy would be less significant. With a pull of the trigger, Arragoz unleashed another salvo of Dakka.

"Sure thing, gentlemen," Facilier said, making a spin before presenting a tarot card with exactly what Hi-hat requested. "Everything you need to know: right on this card."

Facilier handed the card to Hi-hat. "Now, you're sayin' that we're going to tell 'em of an attack, then come back in later for the Serpent's Eye, correct? Now, I think this job'll be a breeze, on account of my quite obvious charisma. And if you ever need a little magic," Facilier continued, dangling a voodoo amulet in front of his own face, "I think we've got it covered right here."

The bokur leaned over to Shivani. "Not a thing to worry about, ma'am. I fully intend to fulfill my end of the bargain just as I said it, like I said earlier."

Doctor Facilier and Sir Frederick Selous were being quite courteous and sociable. Shivani, however...

Shazay couldn't help but chuckle at how brutish Shivani was acting. After all, she was sitting in a very precarious position-- in danger of offending her employer!
"Aight, thanks, doc! The plan's gonna go off without a hitch, 'less you boys gonna start shit. Personally, I ain't recommending it. Hi-Hat, set up the teleporter for six people to these coordinates."

Hi-Hat pulled out a clunky-looking apparatus, and extended what looked to be a tesla coil from its base. He began typing in coordinates, periodically stopping to check the card Dr. Facilier had given them. Meanwhile, Xiangshi approached Shivani, scorn in her eyes.

"You are being very rude. Know this: we owe you nothing, and you have not endeared yourself to any of us. People are giving you golden doorways into wonderful employment, and you spit on their faces with every boorish demand you make. Should this trend continue, I will see no fault in abandoning you. And if you should raise your hand against us, we will see no sadness in delivering you to HFIL."

"Teleporter's ready! C'mon and get moving!" Hi-Hat said, wiping the sweat off his brow. He couldn't wait to get back to a place that isn't 85 degrees without any cloud cover.

Xiangshi moved to enter the teleporter, but not before turning back and glaring once more at Shivani.
"Improve your attitude, or face the consequences of your actions." she said, stepping through the glowing aperture of the teleporter device.

Marisa was careful to listen to everything that was said between Kakine and Misaka. So they'd be taking a route through... some kind of place where there was lots of stuff? She internally shrugged. As long as it gave her a good chance to slip away, she was fine with it. It's not like she was permanently running off, she'd be back to meet Crowley or whoever. But who wanted to just ignore such an awesome place and go off to meet some guy? She was going to explore!

And so, as soon as her two companions got going, she was happy to follow along... at least, until they got somewhere where it was nice and crowded and easy to escape...



The King of Knights paused for a moment when two newcomers appeared. The Samurai was not officially part of the UMMA, but his consistent aid was greatly appreciated by the council, and Saber respected him as a warrior. She nodded her head to him, and then Kazuma, who had also teleported in. She had not known they would be receiving further defense of this castle. Certainly, there was no way that Shadow Eternity would be able to obtain the Eye of the Serpent if it was so well-defended.

"Hello," she began, "Kazuma, Jack."

It was a simple greeting, but she was glad to see more allies. She was, admittedly, not sure how to feel about the ghostly maid, Shirly, who was currently panicking as if she had done something wrong, apologizing profusely and bowing over and over again. It took direct interference from Queen Tepes herself to calm the maid down. Shirley at last gave one last apology before moving to the Queen's side. It was only then that the Queen realized there were new arrivals.

"Oh, I didn't even know the UMMA was sending more!" she said with a fang-showing smile, "Well, I'm sure you already know why you're here, so let's get inside."

Just as everyone reached the door... it was opened by another maid. This maid, certainly, was not transparent... but closer inspection would reveal a plethora of stitches, around her wrist, her legs, her neck... and a pair of bolts in the sides of her neck, as well.

"... Ah, your highness!" she greeted the Queen cheerfully, "And guests too! Welcome home!"

Then she saluted. Well, at least for a moment, before remembering she was a maid and not a soldier and bowed quickly before stepping aside.

The interior of the castle was vast. A brilliantly red carpet stretched towards an elegant staircase leading up to the second level, and there were passageways in the dark wood walls leading off to other rooms. It gave the impression of old, elegant royalty... at least until you noticed the shelf of small, plush bat toys to one side, and a brief glimpse of a large television through one of the doorways.

"I hope you'll enjoy your stay," said the Queen, happily, as she turned to face Saber and the others, "But first, we'll need to head downstairs to the Eye's chamber."

Sir Frederick looked with mild interest as the oriental member of the recruitment trio berated the cat woman, "Shivani". This attitude of hostility could be very advantageous, if they truly didn't care about her. Nobody would be too upset if she was to go... Missing. Ah, but she was small time. Felix Sapien was a Least-Concern species in regards to endangerment, so it wasn't as if this was a once in a lifetime hunt.

As the trio entered the portal, Sir Frederick gave a last nod to the city of Nw'alens. The soulful jazz would be missed in whatever desolate dimension they were about to travel to, but the mosquitos... He would not miss them. And with a light chuckle, he stepped through into the unknown.

Dr. Facilier tipped his hat and danced into the trans-dimensional shifter.

Emerging on the planet Nox, before the castle that held the Serpent's Eye, Facilier stretched his arms out and hefted his black bag. "Now, this'll be a snap," Facilier said, snapping his fingers for emphasis. He looked around. "Lots of shadows... My kind of place. Perfectly suited for my... friends."

Facilier held up his amulet and called upon the Loa. The shadow spirits emerged from the darkest depths of shadow around the castle. "I'm going to have to ask you another favor," Facilier said. The Loa advanced upon him. "Look, look, I promise this time I'll get everything done. There ain't no way any of this could go wrong, see? When we're done here, I'll be sure to give you what you want. Now, I just need you fellas to stand 'round the castle perimeter, stayin' in the shadows, keepin' a lookout, and come when I holler. Doesn't hurt to have a bit more in the way of security, eh?"

The spirits dissolved back into shadow. "We shouldn't have any problems," Facilier said with satisfaction.

Shivani - New Orleans ==> Nox

Shivani glared at the woman who had been the last to address her as she stepped through. Shivani sighed and stepped through immediately heading to stand on a rock. With a glance over her shoulder, she jumped on it and looked around before sitting on the boulder. She wasn't trusting the people she was with and only wanted to find her home. She was sure who or whatever had been moving her around would likely take her elsewhere if she got left behind. She reached in her pack, pulling out a drawn picture of her wife and adopted daughters. She growled and punched the stone before jumping back down, probably interrupting what was going on. "You want to know why I'm in such a bad mood?" she asked everyone. "My family. I was randomly taken from my home with no way back. And don't think I haven't noticed the way you look at me, hunter. I'll do what I have to but if you want to keep me from killing any of you, tell me where I can go to kill the enemies. Trust me, it's safer than dealing with my Thu'ums." With that said, she looked at the paper again, a great sadness showing in her eyes, before rolling it back up to slide in her pack. "Any questions?"

Once again, Shivani orc'd out at any opposition from anyone. This "do what I want or you'll get me sword" nonsense was not endearing anyone to her. Xiangshi was nearly done with this shit, but decided to pointedly ignore Shivani as she vented, lashed out in impotent rage, and cried at what appeared to be a crude sketch of a family of catpeople.

Once Hi-Hat was sure that everyone was through the portal, he called over the teleporter. As the device flew through the portal, the portal closed with a disappointing "wop". Hi-Hat gingerly picked up the teleporter and turned to face the group.

"Alright, guys: we'll split up into two groups. Doctor Facilier, you're with me and Xiangshi. We'll head to the castle, and warn the people inside of Shadow Eternity. Shivani, hunter guy, you're with Shazay. You'll head into the forest with this bag of salt." Hi-Hat procured a decently-sized pouch of rock salt and tossed it to Sir Frederick Selous. "Find some good tactical positions, so we know where to open the portals. Once they're placed there, we'll wait for Shadow Eternity to attack before opening them and sending the necromancer forces in. It'll be a two-pronged attack: one from the castle inhabitants, one from our forces. With any luck, Shadow Eternity will either be slaughtered or bug out."

Xiangshi nodded. It was good to be away from Shivani, though this meant that she wouldn't get a chance to covertly give her her comeuppance. However, Shazay was a nice enough fellow. Maybe she'd learn to calm down and understand humility if he saved her from some spooky forest creature. Maybe.

Shazay nodded. He particularly liked Sir Frederick Selous, though the dirty looks he kept giving all the black people in New Orleans was sort of unnerving. It might have just been his imagination, however.

"Unless you've got any questions, we'd best move out," Hi-Hat said, moving in the direction of Castle Tepes's immense gate. "c'mon, Facilier. Let's hope the king of this castle understand the meaning of 'volunteer work'."

Looking at the gateway more closely--or more accurately, paying more attention to what her ability could pick up--told Mikoto some more about what would have to be done to get this thing to work again. The nearby cylinder, big as it was, seemed to be the only part of the contraption with any power... and if she wanted to hazard a guess, it was some sort of capacitor. One that wasn't connected to any sort of power grid and wasn't charging.

"I think if I charge this, we should be able to get it working," the schoolgirl theorised, circling around the cylinder and looking for anywhere wires or something should have gone in the past... rather than just frying the entire thing. Sure enough, there was a port on the back--one that she tentatively started feeding electricity into. This gate definitely wasn't something that she wanted to break.

---

"If anyone here is alive despite the dead, they aren't going to burn to death," the pale girl said after some thought, seeing no reason to go on a rescue mission. These two were the only living things she'd seen in here (for a certain value of living) and it seemed doubtful that there were going to be more people.

Following in Guts wake, and thus comfortably away from the near constant spray of blood, simply reinforced the idea: if they did find anyone living, they'd probably be cut in two if they didn't get the way in time.

Frederick nodded as he was given instructions. Find good tactical locations for the portals? Not a challenge for a hunter with any skill. Choke points, well hidden pathways, any high up ledge for an advantage in defense. This would be quick, and all things being as they were, painless. He followed Shazay closely, attempting to make conversation.

"So, in your dimension... How did the African campaigns fare? Not well, I take it?"

Kazuma Yagami
Castle Tepes

@VitaVitaAR "Hah, long time no see." Told Kazuma to Saber's greeting. It's been a while since he last talked to the King of Knights. "At this rate we are getting an all stars meeting for us here, don't you agree Saber? Hey, what's the girl's problem?" Kazuma said while looking at Shirley who kept constantly apologizing. Kazuma was willing to continue the conversation but then the Queen had finally spoke up. "Oh, I didn't even know the UMMA was sending more!" she said with a fang-showing smile, "Well, I'm sure you already know why you're here, so let's get inside." She said and lead the team to the castle's interior.

*wheet-whoo* "Not bad. I especially like the plushie decorations. It compliments your style well." Kazuma whistled in acknowledgment while adding comments in his usual style. Then he looked at the second servant. After the ghost-girl with self-esteem issues they were met with a girl probably snatched straight from some zombie army. Oh well, Kazuma was long used to strange things like this. His general modus operandi is to just roll with the events and see what happens next. Besides, getting new and weird experiences is fun. Kazuma loves adventures.

"I hope you'll enjoy your stay," said the Queen, happily, as she turned to face Saber and the others, "But first, we'll need to head downstairs to the Eye's chamber." Straight to the business. As much as Kazuma liked exploring new places, his job came first. He welcomed the Queen's suggestion and followed her to the underground levels.

Shazay pursed his lips, trying to remember African history through the haze of barely-remembered college classes. He did take a contemporary world history class, but only to sell Loa Dust to the students. What was it that happened in Africa...?

"Far as I know, whitey won in Africa an' enslaved the spearchuckers. Then you had 'em mine gold and diamonds and shit. Then some big lawyer named Mandela went round and started apartheid or some shit. Now they've got equal rights and De Beers mines gold and diamonds."

Shazay opted not to tell Frederick about the rich history of civil rights in America. Though he'd probably like the parts with the fire hoses, Frederick might not enjoy the ending.

"Aight, since you think you ain't a greenhorn, why don't you lead the way? Any bugbears or gangbangers come this way, you blast 'em. I'm gonna take the salt, and the cat lady can take the back. Any luck, we're done 'fore Hi-Hat's done with the king."


Hi-Hat breathed a deep sigh, and turned to look at the castle's gates. It was imposing, sure, but Hi-Hat had been through worse.
"Alright," he said, turning to look at Dr. Facilier. "Let's get out story straight: Shadow Eternity is on the way, and we know it. They probably don't. So, we're offering our help and a bit of intel. Now, without any further ado, let's get this shitshow started."

Hi-Hat reached up and took a mighty pull at the gate's massive doorknocker. As the knob swung back into the thick wood of the door, a mighty knocking sound reverberated through the castle.

Shivani - Nox

Shivani looked at the men with a frown. Salt. She was stuck with 2 men and salt. Could be worse. she thought as she looked at them. "Alright, let's get this done." she said, cracking her knuckles. "Sooner we have the spots ready, sooner we can get back to the castle. Right?" She didn't really know what to expect. She did know, however, there was a battle coming. That was where she'd fit in the best.

George Melons was riding high on a mix of hyperzine and mindbreaker toxin when his fuel gauge started buzzing. The trip had lasted for days now, and a different man, a LESSER man, would have been sober by now. But George Melons was a psychopathic bastard with nothing BUT money, and as such, he had been doing hard drugs since he was six years old. Piloting a stolen T-Wing Interceptor in a dimension unknown to him while high, however, was a new experience. He liked new experiences.

Right about then, George Melons was attempting to keep his calm, doing proven Buddhist exercises such as screaming the lyrics to classic rock hit, "The Touch", at the top of his lungs. The T-Wing was going down now, and it would only be a matter of moments before he and it were merged into a beautiful modern art piece in the center of a crater.

That was when he remembered the bottle of 'juice' sitting in the cup holder. A mix of Med-X and Adminazine, swirled into a bottle of goldschlager. With a screech, he downed the whole bottle... And managed to survive crashing directly into the surface of Nox.



His safaris through the multiverse had helped Frederick become accustomed to many strange things: Men who could become beasts, marvelous flying cars, women with voting rights... But nothing he had seen had truly compared to the sight of a rocket ship hurtling towards the ground, playing some form of strange future music as it went down. No sir, that was a new one.

Turning to Shazay, Sir Frederick made his disbelief known,"WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT?" his mouth had become agape, the shock having gotten the better of him at that moment. "By god, I think there was a man in th at thing! Quickly, let us make haste!"

Seeing the Ork raise his Shoota, Takahara pushed against the Choppa, bending the Axel Blade back into its raygun formation and unloading at the ork as well. If he could figure out how to free up a hand, he could probably end this a bit sooner. Under his suits, the tie was loosening... until eventually it came off all together.

"THAT MEANS YOU DON'T USE FLASHBANGS IN A BARFIGHT YOU SHIT-EATING GROT! MELEE COMBAT ONLY! THAT'S HOW PEOPLE WITH A SPINE SETTLE SHIT IN THESE PLACES! BUT NO, YOU'RE THE KIND OF LITTLE BITCH THAT WHIPS OUT A GUN AND FLASH GRENADES!"

Not bothering to dodge, he reached down to the knife on his belt, bringing it down three times, even as the bullets hit him. Sparks and occasional flecks of blood began flying from his suit, but by now, the tie was off- the civil accountant had given way to salaryman venting all his frustrations. And dear lord did he have a lot of them.

FIFTEEN SPARKING! RIOT RAIMENT SPARKING!

"THERE ARE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT! AND I'M GOING TO BEAT THEM INTO YOUR EMPTY SKULL, BEFORE I SEND YOUR ASS BROKEN AND BLEEDING TO EXPLAIN THEM TO YOUR DEAD ORK GODS!"

With that, Takahara leapt skyward, flipping over mid-air just below the ceiling. A tremendous purple skull formed around his right foot as he fell forward, attempting to plant it on the ork's face.

"RIDER KICK!"

---

Osaka
In a mid-price range hotel in the heart of Osaka, a young lady sat on the bed watching TV. This was Kayoko, the live-in girlfriend of the Hero: ASTRO FIGHTER- SUNRED! Her cell beeped away as she pulled it out of her pocket.

"Hi, this is Kayo- Ah, Vamp! Yes, the vacation is lovely! Even HE's enjoying the time off. Hm? ...Where would I hide a secret base if I were a hero? Probably something inconspicuous, like a hairdresser, or a pizzeria, or a bakery. Hey, you aren't giving up the world domination thing are you? I don't think he could take it if you retired. Is that so? Oh, how charming! It's so nice to have friends. Oh, that's him now! Bye Vamp! Have fun with your scheme!"

---

Evil Army Florsheim Base of Operations, Mitakihara city

The man in the purple robe, who had convinced Takahara to form Shocker+ in the first place, stood in a darkened room before his henchmen. Spear and shield in hand, he chuckled wickedly.

"Muhuhu... As the sovereigns of order in this world of chaos, we, the Evil Army Florsheim, have been personally chosen by Takahara for a dark task..."

"To ensure the continued subjugation of this world!" Shouted a humanoid pterodactyl as a spotlight focused on it.

"SUBJUGATE! SUBJUGATE!" Howled a tremendous wolfman, brimming with muscles.

"To create a world where humans and monsters can live together!" Two monsters- a lion decked out like a samurai and an armored tiger- spoke in turn. "And to ensure that heroes do not stand in the way of this society of peace!"

"This, we shall accomplish, as members of the Florsheim Mitakihara Branch! But first..."

The lights flickered on, revealing the monsters to be standing around in aprons. It seemed they were still getting... whatever this business was setup. The werewolf monster was moving around a large oven while the lion and tiger swept out the front. The pterodactyl had just finished washing her hands.

"General Vamp, it might be best to get the word out. You know, before we actually open, make sure we'll have customers."

"Ah, that's a good idea Dolgon! Hm... but everyone here's a bit busy. Ah! I've got it! Usacots... I have a mission for you!"

---

SALLY FORTH! ANIMAL SOLDIERS!

The Florsheim Animal Soldiers, Stuffed Animal-Type Monsters! The mighty Usacots! The fearsome Devilcat! The mechanical wonder P-Chan! And the psychotic Hell Wolf! Designed to use their innocent appearance and demeanor to kidnap children, General Vamp eventually came to the realization that kidnapping children tended to worry the parents. Now they were part of the regular rotation of monsters that fought against Sunred. Today, however, they were traveling around town putting up flyers for the new Florsheim Bakery that would serve to mask their operations in this world!

Arragoz Plizgin - Da Spess Bar

This time, the bullets struck true, and while the humie returned fire with that beamy shoota/choppa of his, that was of minimal importance. Admittedly, some of the beams burned holes in his shirt, but it could be easily replaced. What was important, however, was the humie's actions immediately afterwards. Takkaharra was angrily ranting on abowt 'Roolz uv 'n'gagement, only fightin' with choppas 'n' fists,' along wiff sum nonsense abowt Arragoz bein' a grot 'n' Gork 'n' Mork bein' dead.

Duz 'e fink I'z a Goff 'er sumfing? Wut kinda git duzn't use all da gubbins 'e az to win? That just ain't proppa. At the very least, it was an improvement over Spess Muhrines and the occasional skilled humie shouting praises to the God Empra. Primarily due to the fact that most of the prior mentioned gitz all said mostly the same stuff. They were rarely creative when it came to that sort of thing.

Back to the fight at hand, while Takkaharra was yelling, he'd pushed down on the knife-buckle of his belt three times. This caused it to shout something about sparkin.' Then, the humie leaped into the air, had an enormous purple skull form behind him, and flew at the Kommando foot-first, boot aimed at the Greenskin's face.

The force of impact was probably the first thing in the fight to cause Arragoz to feel legitimate pain. In addition, it also completely severed his head from his body, sending the Greenskin's now separated cranium along with Takkaharra as he slammed into the ground. Thankfully, the Ork's incredibly thick skull prevented his head from sustaining any lasting damage. As for the whole 'being decapitated' part, this wasn't the first time it had happened to Arragoz. A quick visit to the Dok, 'n' the Ork would be back at maximum fighting capacity within the hour.

While the Kommando's body aimlessly shambled about, the head, despite seemingly lacking the ability to even breathe, let alone speak, did exactly that. "Alright den, Takkaharra, you'z ain't 'alf bad. I surrenda, 'n' I'll 'elp ya get the Snake Eye or woteva it'z call'd."

Morgan whistled as she walked down the sidewalk. She wondered if she would be soon needed. "Getting a bit of the doldrums," Morgan said to herself. "I might have to turn right around and walk back to the library."

Morgan took a glance at her tomebooks before continuing on her way. Automobiles whizzed past her. Birds twittered, people walked past her in a hurry. Morgan thought that things were a lot less busy in the halidom, except in times of war. She thought again of her father and the battle of Valm.

"I really need to brush up if I want to match Father."

Shazay watched with consternation as George Melons's ship sank below the treeline. Fucking hell, he thought, another one?! At this rate, I'm gonna be with nothing but crazies. This asshole better be willing to join Shocker+, at least!

"Well," Shazay said, trying to mask his exasperation, "we'd best get to him soon, else he's gonna be manjerky in a couple'a minutes! C'mon, I think I know where he's landed!"

Shazay ran forward, in the direction of the crash site. With any luck, there'd be a good spot for the portals there as well.

Just up ahead was the smoldering wreckage of George's stolen T-Wing. Moving carefully to avoid any molten wreckage, Shazay advanced on the T-Wing's cockpit. He called out, trying to rouse whoever was inside of the ship.
"Heyo! You alive in there, or we gonna call the meat wagon?"

George Melons popped out from his little hidey-hole, foaming at the mouth. The Med-X had not interacted well with the Mindbreaker Toxin, and the trip was going south. An amiable looking negro approached, and said something about meat wagons... Meat sounded good right now, sure.

"My apologies, gentle magic black man, I haven't time for your wagons of meat! I'm on the run from the 'Star Fleet', and right now that involves laying low on a backwoods piece of shit world like this one, and stealing someone's identity! Any of you lacking a paper trail?" George Melons produced a sharpened trowel from the back of his pants, and held it up menacingly. "I swear to fucking god, give me your driver's license or I'll cut you six ways to Saturday!" he was trembling now. The three bystanders in front of him had begun metamorphosing into half-Predator, half-Gorilla creatures, and that wasn't something he wanted to be involved with. "Now hand over your valuables, all of you. Start with the jewels, then move on to drinks, then drugs... Actually, drugs first. Then jewels, then drinks... No no. Drugs, drinks, jewels. Yeah. FINAL OFFER!" the trowel was now dangerously close to Shivani's throat region. "You got any drugs, you Tajaran FUCK? Huh? Long way from Adoh'mai, aren't we? GIVE ME THE FUCKING DRUGS!"