---

Normal? Jonas lightly shook his head as he took another glance at it, frowning. He tightly gripped the steering wheel, lightly rapping on it with one free finger. Squinting, he turned to eye the younger, creepily immature passenger, via the rear-view mirror for a couple of seconds. "Normal," he rhetorically asked in a light, quizzical sort of manner.

"Nah, that ain't even close to normal in the slightest," he murmured placing an arm on the window as he inconspicuously leaned his head to the side. "... well, for people who aren't nomads, anywho..."

Jonas kept tabs on the wolf-girl and Jotunn, nodding his head as he accelerated a bit to try and keep up with Otsana. "That far away, eh," he spoke to Otsy, cursing mentally to himself. The rapping stopped completely and the doctor gripped the wheel much harder than before. How friggin' peachy...

"... gotcha', I'll do my best to make it t'the fight as quickly as possible," he shouted out, falling a little bit behind Otsana and Klara. This was obviously going to be a bad idea if he tried to match their speed... but heck, going in without a plan was going to be a recipe for disaster...

And even more disastrous was that one out of six people here wanted to destroy that mechanical monstrosity.

Jonas was a little bit miffed by Brenda's response to have them not engage the dragon. His frown deepened as he passed through the traffic, eyeing the few fleeing civilians... some were even taking in the spectacle... well, they weren't paying em', so they would do them. "Look, it doesn't matter if others have beaten us t'the chase, we gotta take that thing down too," he shot back, passing by a slow moving truck.

"YEAH!" Brown shouted, the last flakes of her chocolate spraying onto the back of Jonas's head rest as she spoke. Eyes peering into the distance Brown listened for the metal dragon's roar. Her heart began to race at the thought of fighting it, of beating it like she had with the robot back at the arena. Countless fights before she had approached with either caution or complete abandon.

All that mattered was winning. Was breaking the opponent and achieving superiority over them. Before Brown's victories had felt fleeting or hollow, always against lesser foes or under questionable circumstances. But as she sat in the jeep with a monster in the distance just begging to be fought the memory of what she did back at the arena made her smile.

"We dunno if whoever is takin' the dragon on is capable of actually defeating it... and besides," Jonas accelerated a little more, nearly catching up with them and possibly breaking the speed limit for god knows how much he cared. "There are multiple reasons to take it down - for face, to make sure it doesn't kill any more of the people who are going to pay us if we complete this task, and any sort of information we might get outta' them," he shouted the last part as he made a very steep turn.

"... tha's includin' any leads on your brother," he whispered loudly enough only for the brawny beaut. Hopefully that would give her more of an incentive to fight with Askin and... Klara.

Brenda nodded her head at the mention of her brother. She doubted that he'd be here... but then again, a town being threatened by robots and willing to throw money at whoever solves it was going to be a Nomad magnet.

"We don't need a reason to fight the dragon! It's there, it's dangerous, and we can kill it without getting in trouble."The girl punched her hand into her other open hand as she looked over to Brenda, wondering briefly why the girl wouldn't want to fight.

But fifteen minutes?... hmm. He took a brief glance at the metal corpses once more that riddled the landscape... Maybe they could use these vehicles and robots alike t—

"Jesus Christ Askin, close th' door!"

Wait, what the fuck?

"Askin, what the hell are you doing," he shouted, somewhat moderately befuddled by the gung-ho attitude of the midget man as the side door flew open at the guy's behest. The doctor was more than aware of what he was doing... even as absolutely foolish as this was.

Jonas' eyes widened a bit as he grind his teeth, watching as the guy slip off his seat-belt. Yeah, he didn't know what action movies he was watching, if he had been, but this was honestly stu—

"I have you, small one!"

The motorbike swayed slightly as Klara bolted from the seat and swung an arm out in Askin's direction as he flew towards them. The pair of them were inches away, but in a moment of incredible coordination, or perhaps just blind luck, Otsana swung the handlebars around so hard the wheels left the ground just as Klara nearly swung herself out of the sidecar entirely, reaching out to grab hold of Askin. It looked as though Klara would miss him by inches, but by some miracle the ice giantess reached out and grabbed onto Askin's arm just as gravity took over and brought the bike back onto all tires with a slam.

"I admire your gall! she remarked with a out-of-breath sounding laugh, swinging him around to drop him onto the sidecar behind her seat. "But perhaps a warning next time? I can't imagine a fall like that would be pleasant!"

"I had complete faith in you," Askin said serenely.

Jonas slammed onto the brakes, skidding as the idiot rashly jumped with the resolution that he was going to make it into the vehicle. Sure, he was a nomad, but there was a time and place for this... and this? This was not the time to be pulling a stunt... but thankfully as it turns out, he wouldn't go splat on the pavement... thank god for Klara's long reach over Otsy, jeez...

"Heh," Brenda said, "Maybe hitting his head will learn him."

... someone was gonna get their ass lectured after they took out this dragon.

Otsana 's tires screeched as she reflexively tapped the brakes, her eyes going going wide as the Nomad jumped between the two vehicles. She ducked as he barely passed behind her. Unfortunately for everyone involved, she had swerved to try to avoid him too. The motorcycle skidded as he landed next to Klara. At the speed they were going, she didn't have enough time to stop, and they went straight off the freeway. Branches whipped at her face as they careened down the mountainside. It was all she could do to keep them from hitting the big obstacles, every small bump threatening to flip them over. She breathed a sigh of relief as they reached the edge of the woods, only to realize that they were headed towards a rocky outcropping that just happened to form a perfect ramp to launch them towards town. "Oh you're kidding me!"

"There are not more of those branches are there?" Klara, being much larger then Askin in addition to sitting farther up, had taken the brunt of the damage from the near misses with trees and had the leaves and twigs stuck in her now disheveled hair to show for it. Askin untangled a particularly unhappy-looking twig from her hair, and gave a small thumbs up.

Otsana pumped the breaks, but between the damp leaves and their momentum it was clear they weren't going to stop in time. "Hold on, we're going flying!"

"Flying? Flying to wha-aaaaaa-aAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Klara's exclamation trailed off as her question was answered, the bike sailing off the ramp and into the open air.

"Seems like a good time to ask, Klara" Askin shouted, as they went up, up, up on their weightless akimbo missile of a motorcycle, "do you want to go up and punch that dragon now?"

Klara's eyes went wide with excitement. "If you are offering, I would be more then happy to wrestle this Nidhogg imposter!"

"Don't know what that means, but great! Stand still, don't move until you see the light!" The butterflies were going wild in Askin's stomach. Pain he could handle, but the unnatural height was something else entirely. It was all going so quick, the motorcycle gunning through the air, the wind rushing by, Otsana triumphantly gunning the engine—Maybe if I reach down deep inside and find my inner wolf. Unfortunately, Askin found only more bouncing butterflies.

Steeling himself, Askin revealed two tiny bottles from beneath his cloak. In a blur of motion, Klara vanished into the left-hand container. As they reached the height of the arc, Askin swung back his hand, then threw, opening up the bottle at the height of the throw to send Klara rocketing through the air. With the other bottle, Askin fired a sharp shotgun blast of air at the frost giant's heels, oofing a little at the impact.

"VAAAAAAL-HALLA!" Klara unleashed a war cry with a mixture of shock and bravado as she soared into the sky, past the wings of the great metal beast and flying out of sight of the people closer to the Earth. "Vile beast!" Klara's voice echoed from beyond the dragon's large back as it started to jostle in midair to remove the unwanted guest. "Now you will see how the Jotunn fight!"

---

... ok, maybe not a stern lecture, but more like an ass whooping after this all! Jonas' eyes widened as he continued skidding down the road, his teeth grinding as much as the wheels on the pavement. Squeezing the wheel as they slid down the road, the doctor looked over outside Brenda's window as he saw the trio tumble down the hill.

"Oh my g- uuugh," he groaned, shaking his head as the vehicle came to a stop with another truck passing by him as he did. He craned his head back staring at the overhead of the jeep; if his stares were any more fiery, he would probably burn the jeeps ceiling off.

Sighing, he turned his vision back to the road, breathing in and out for a few seconds as he accelerated forward, twisting the wheel to the side as he switched lanes. Good, at least those didn't fuck up... unlike someone else he was thinking of right now.

"I'm gonna smack Askin upside the head when we deal with this mecha-dragon," he mumbled, turning himself to look at Brown before motioning his index finger to the now open door. "Brown... y'mind closin' that," Jonas spoke in an exasperated voice as he turned back to his usual position.

Brown reached out and slammed the door Askin had so carelessly left open when he threw himself from the car. Fingers still wrapped around the door handle Brown looked up at the Dragon thrashing around in the skies above with the snow women clinging to it's back like a giant, angry, snow born tick.

Once mosquito nips did as said, he began accelerating as he alternated between scanning the clearing and keeping an eye on the road. As Jonas began driving, he rapped his fingers a bit as he continued forward, speeding up as he ignored a few of the signs until reaching the turn off the freeway, leaving the forest out of the way...

As he drove, something popped into his head... he started alternating between looking at the side of the freeway and the road, humming a jazz tune as he began drawing up an idea. "You two may wanna hold on," he spoke coolly as the jeep began to decelerate, as well as slowly diverging off the side of the exit.

"Hold on to what? Why do I want to hold—"

"I'm about to test th' roll bar," he announced as he brazenly turned off the side of the road... and began skidding downhill in the somewhat open plains.

It was difficult to control as he was plagued with constant bumps on the mountainside, as well as obstacles that constantly threatened to damage the vehicle from time to time. Steering to avoid a capsized vehicle and other miscellaneous items, it was an agonizing thirty seconds of trying to avoid everything that got in the way before everyone in the truck received some sort of recoil upon successfully navigating the hillside. Jonas' head bobbed forward a bit in the process as he turned back to look at the other passengers.

"Y'two alright," he grunted, blinking a bit as the hood of the jeep was caked in a thin layer of snow.

"Yep! That was fun!" Brown threw the branch of an evergreen tree that and snapped off and fallen into her lap during Jonas's maneuvers. Pine bristles clung to her dirty hair like sprinkles on the world's most unappealing scoop of ice cream.

"Don't worry about me," Brenda stated.

Once they responded, Jonas lurched forward before bouncing into the back of his seat, mumbling "Peachy..."

Well... they seemed closer to the town, judging by how far away they were... give or take two minutes? "Anyways, I think I gotta' plan on how to handle that... thing," he leaned out the window and jammed an index finger at the jet powered, fire slinging target. Leaning back into the jeep, he began driving forward once more.

"Problem is, I kinda' need the albino smurf to be here," he grumbled, steering to avoid a pile of robots. Jonas looked over at Brenda for a split second before continuing. "Say Brenda, y'think you can make some large spears either out of rock or this stuff," Jonas quizzed, removing a hand from the wheel to point out the window at the wreckage's scattered throughout the landscape.

"I can do anything with stone," Brenda was quick to answer. "Just need to give me a minute to put together something that'll dent that."

A few dozen yards down the road, a motorcycle flew through the air, a screaming metal deathtrap. A person went flying up and away at impossible speeds before the cycle flew out of sight, Klara's lingering roar of VALHALLA filling in the empty space the vehicle and its occupants had just crossed.

---

"I will kick your ass so hard Askin I swear to God you'll tie my boots with your tongue!"

"I trust your judgment and accept whatever ass kicking or boot licking you feel appropriate," said Askin, untangling a few unkind branches from his hair. "But you have to admit—that was pretty sweet."

The woods quickly gave way to the outskirts of the town, the rooftops giving the driver a landing ramp. With a thud and some bouncing, they soon landed safely, speeding along a downhill road towards the center of town. Otsana's white knuckle grip loosened, her tail looking less like a pom-pom as she turned to glare at him.

"Is this the part where I tie your boots with my tongue?" said Askin. "Or should I wait until after we kill the dragon?" He still felt a little loopy, but was otherwise upbeat. In fact, now that the whooshing panic of the motorcycle jump was comfortably in the past, Askin had to admit, it was quite fun.

Otsana replied with a swift punch to the back of the head, prompting a soft little oof from Askin. "Yeah, that comes later," she said, shaking out her hand, "Im still using it." She swerved to avoid a stalled sauerkraut truck. "Not today..." she muttered.

"If you say so," Askin said politely. They wove through cobblestone streets choked with abandoned vehicles and dozens on dozens of shattered robot corpses. It was like watching someone thread a cinderblock through the eye of a needle. "A lot of work to harass a snowed-in Podunk in upstate Germany," Askin muttered. Podunk. An American word, apparently, unfamiliar on his lips but more than appropriate, Askin thought. "There must be more to this. You know, Otsana, I'm starting to think we're going to see much worse than a dragon before this is over."

"Mmm yeah not a lot of payoff. At least with the Rio attack you have the prize money to go after. This seems more like a test run than anything else." They passed a burning car. "Lets you work out the kinks before you attack a bigger city. And, since it sounds like they're hiding in the Alps, you've got a place to hide should things go wrong."

"A test run? That does make sense. I think this was the plot to The Incredibles, wasn't it? The final show these people must be planning..."

Smiling then, Askin chanced his luck with a gentle, friendly punch to Otsana's shoulder. Good thing we're here, huh?"

Otsana rolled her eyes as she pulled into an alleyway, off the main roads but close enough to the action. "Feh, they're just lucky they haven't brought in the Heer." She pulled out her phone, sending their location to Jonas via text. "Either way, time to get paid."

---

_Japan.

---

---

In a few moments, the glorious stadium fell apart. Reduced to rubble in merely seconds, before anyone had a chance to process what was going on.

Then the freak storm disappeared.

Brooke was pinned underneath a chunk of stone, and pushed herself up onto her knee. The piece of stone merely fell off her. Like it was going to stop the great Vanburen! She brushed herself off, as she looked around. All she could see was fog, rubble, and everyone else trying to figure out what in the hell happened. She wondered where Jill and Margot went.

There was only one way to find out!

"Yo! Margot! Jill!" Brooke called into the thick fog, that was more like a smoke. "Where are you at?"

Though, in the fog, concealed several shapes... their glowing purple eyes glowed bright and clearly in the fog. They circled the fighters, Brooke looked around as she saw more and more of these eyes. She didn't know what these things were, but she was quick to get into stance with her legs shoulder width apart, and her hands face height - one hand ahead of the other hand. She didn't know where to start, but she had been trained to take on multiple people.

But, she didn't notice the giant creeping up behind her... until she heard his heavy breathing. She turned around, and saw his massive glowing purple eyes.

She tried to defend herself, but she couldn't guard against a sudden lightning strike hitting her. Brooke loudly cried in pain as she violently convulsed. She dropped to her knees, and was in so much pain that she could barely defend against the giant chain mace being swung around. She was hit with the mace, and was launched into the remains of another building.

"Humans... first you attack sacred Oni grounds, then you have a tournament celebrating it..." The beast said in his deep, gravely, voice, as he stepped forward. "... How arrogant of you."

Finally stepping into sight, the warriors could see his massive demonic body, adorned with the remains of a dragon as armor. He had dark-blue skin, and stood at least thirty feet tall. Every breath he took emitted smoke.

"I am emperor Daichi of the Oni clan!" The Oni loudly proclaimed as his fellow Onis stood around him. "Yesterday, humans broke the truce between man and Oni... sad, because that truce was the very thing that was protecting them."

Many of the Onis stood around him, wielding their iron clubs. Slamming them on the ground in a threatening display as Daichi continued his speech, "Which is why today is the day I exercise my birthright, and claim control of all Japan!"

Brooke pushed herself onto all fours. Jesus, that was one hell of a blow. It felt like she was hit with the full force of a train... even though she should be strong enough to take any blow. Blood was dripping off her body, and she wiped off her face. Her hand was stained with her reddest blood.

"And as my first decree as emperor of all Japan!" Daichi shouted as he raised his hand up into the air - still holding the chain. "I am beginning a new isolation period! There will be no one to save you!"

Suddenly, a massive cloud appeared over the Stadium. Rainfall came, before a massive hurricane surrounded the island of Japan. Creating a dome in which no ship, no plane, no animal, could penetrate. Planes that were arriving in and out of the country crashed, and boats were either destroyed, or stranded. Daichi lowered his hand, and fiendishly asked.

"... Any objections?"

---

_Germany.

---

---

Seven-Seven's face immediately twisted up upon hearing what the rude man said about her and Justin.

He was on their tail for two long weeks, but the way he spoke implied that he knew about Seven-Seven. He did mention a "reunion" between the two of them. She searched her entire systems for any information on this man, but couldn't find anything. By all means, she didn't know the man. Still, she wasn't going to take his threat lightly.

On the other hand, Justin crossed his arms, and stared at the man. Not even flinching at his threats - though, he found them a little amusing because he sounded like such a child with all the swearing. He turned his head upwards, he figured that this imp of a man was just another bounty hunter. Ugh. They have to find Edward Gallo soon as possible, not deal with this asshole.

"Nice speech, man. It shows how good your vocabulary is," Justin said, staring down this man. "But, sadly, we don't got time for this." Justin stared The One dead in the eye, as his arms fell to his sides, and he walked cover.

"You're not the first freak to come after us," Justin said, "But I can tell that every one of them so far has retired, so-"

Of course, Justin was much smarter than The One. He suddenly slammed his fist onto the ground, creating another shock wave as he shouted, "Hammer!" Which knocked everyone away from him. But, this worked in Justin's favor, as he also knocked Seven-Seven away. Her lower body transformed into a jet as she stabilized herself in mid air and managed to get more distance on the two.

"Take him out!" Justin shouted, and Seven-Seven deployed a machine gun out of her shoulder, and opened fire on The One. There were so many questions in her head about his identity, but she didn't care.

---

_Brazil.

---

---

After walking out of the building, Sage put a hand on their hip and looked at the side towards Mikhail.

"How did it go, young master?" Mikhail asked.

"Poorly," Sage said. "They're hiding something from us... perhaps we should look into th-"

"After we get the First Light," Mikhail said. "Remember, young master, we're on a mission..." He trailed off, before adding on. "Once we get the First Light, we can rid the world of these corporations."

"Fine..." Sage said. "But, since we are here, let us rid Rio of the beast, before we find it."

Mikhail nodded his head, before looking at Rosie, whom left not too long after Sage, and asked. "Who is that...?"

"No idea," Sage said, "But, he has no light... only darkness."

"Perhaps you should keep an eye on him, young master," Mikhail said. "I'll continue to gather information." He quickly departed, leaving Sage alone to face Rosie.

Sage walked over towards Rosie, and asked,

"Since we seem to be the only two after this thing," Sage started off, speaking calmly. "We might as well work together... Rod Lightning never gave us a lead at all, but he's in the slums."

Sage grabbed their chin and asked.

"Unless you know something I don't."

---

_Germany.

---

---

"Oh shit," Jaden said to himself. "Looks like I didn't think this one through!"

Case in point, a shield deployed on kick, which rendered his attack completely inert! Damn it all to tits! Oh yeah, and she didn't seem too happy about it. And he also couldn't fly! Jaden did his salute and disappeared in another cloud and smoke and appeared right on top of the dragon again. He looked around for a moment, trying to come up with another plan. He started swiping away at the dragon wildly, slicing off bits and pieces of it's armor with his swords. An armor panel came off, and Jaden's brow furrowed as he released he couldn't get inside of it this way!

In the middle of his thoughts, the dragon made a sudden turn and Jaden was nearly knocked off his feet. To maintain his balance, he jammed both swords into the dragon's back, and locked himself in place. Before he looked forward.

He didn't notice it yet, but there was a giant woman joining them, too. Jaden rolled his eyes, but now, the dragon was thrashing around trying to get her off. Jesus Christ! He grit his teeth, as he resisted the urge to teleport off and let her stupid ass fall off the dragon. But, he was going to make this work. He had the perfect plan!

---

The sky broke, and when it did the cracks went in every direction.

Verga had little time to react—the rain came down not like a storm unfolding naturally, but like a child's toy dropped from the kitchen counter and shattering into a million billion pieces across the tiled floor. This, some part of her faintly thought, as she covered her face against the remorseless wind and remorseless rain, must be what it's like at the bottom of the ocean. Her ears popped from the tantruming air pressure.

It was seconds later when the stadium began to fragment under her feet with the sounds of lightning and thunderclaps, and Verga suddenly found herself sliding down the side of the building. Debris soared past her. Before she could dodge, one chunk of rebar came at her from her blindspot, and beamed the woman across the head.

I've gotten slow, she thought with jagged spite, cursing herself quickly and wordlessly.

The stadium finally gave way properly, and it plummeted away from Verga's feet, collapsing to the earth. Quick thinking this time, and Verga's Singularity technique drew gravity around her like a tight-knotted blanket. The stadium was gone, and she hovered in the air above the chaos. But up in the sky there was still wind and rain and spinning airborn detritus. She had to move. Maneuvering her way to the ground, tightening and untightening her Singularity, hovering in midair and falling like a rock, ducking and dodging and finessing—Verga eventually reached solid ground, and when she did she felt like she'd just spent a week out in the tundra.

And just in time. The feeling had barely returned to her lungs when the storm suddenly broke apart and dissolved, and then it was gone. Quick as a baseball strike, broken grayish twilight took its place. Mist hung heavy in every direction.

Then, the oni appeared.

They were about what you might expect, the creatures of mountains and fairy-wine and children's stories, all rippling muscle and beards and horns, and tattoos like fire. And, according to their leader, they were now calling the shots.

"Any objections?" the leader demanded.

That was it, then. Like all the most common violence, it was so aggressively mundane it might've seemed unrealistic. But real life wasn't an action movie, and in real life, the mundane wrote the rules, and here, today, real life was nothing more than a muscle-head who wanted to play big boy and call himself emperor. Verga may not have paid much attention in history class, but even she could see the infinite chaining pattern of kings furiously masturbating to their own fame and power across past and present and future.

Give it a few hours, and the nomads'll probably revolt their way through the oni like rats eating through a rhino, Verga thought. Who was it, the one that compared nomads to rats? Verga had heard that phrase before, on TV, or in a magazine. Rats, creatures in endless supply that live more-or-less harmlessly wherever you look and wherever you don't look, creatures more than capable of eating anything alive if you have enough of them. It was a good description, Verga thought. And if you couldn't count on the rats, then wait a few days, and the international community would come down like a thousand oni-sized hammers on the barrier surrounding the country and the self-proclaimed emperor.

There was a smart strategy here. Hang back, wait for the other nomads to mobilize themselves, wait for them to soak up the brunt of the undoubtedly powerful oni-attacks, and then maybe sneak up behind the oni chief and melt his brain out with the Antiparticle, or something. Traditionally you would say some smart one-liner as you did it, too. But Verga was not good with one-liners, her head was aching from the hit it took earlier, and to be perfectly honest something about the oni king and his my-penis-is-larger-than-yours attitude was really just setting her off today. More than anything, right now, she wanted something to hit.

But before she could put the smart strategy away in the garbage and maybe vent her general frustrations, a woman emerged out of the rubble and approached the emperor, and her hands were raised, not quite surrenderishly, but clearly not motioning to attack. It looked almost if, if Verga's eyes weren't playing tricks, that this woman wanted to talk.

---

(@lavulman's planning a post right after this with Jill trying to talk to the oni emperor, just so people know and don't go full attack-mode right off the bat before he gets a chance to finish the post)

_Japan.

---

---

---

The hero’s interest piqued when Margot mentioned that she knew her. She seemed kind of familiar herself. Who was she again? It was on the tip of her tongue when the drizzle turned into a downpour… more like a horrible death storm, actually. Jill’s scarf blew every which way in the wind as Pit Stop beeped rapidly, displaying various data and updates on a flickering holographic display above the bike. She nodded. Though everyone seemed to be getting out just fine on their own, Jill got the feeling she would be needed soon. She rushed out of the stands before she struck a pose and focused.

“HENSHIN!” she shouted, becoming enveloped in a blinding flash of light for the shortest of moments before reappearing, now fully suited up with her helmet donned. Beautiful Blaze was ready to to go…

Right as the stadium started falling apart. Pit Stop quickly took control of the bike and sent it leaping over Jill’s head, smashing a large chunk of rubble just poorly enough to send a couple of fairly hefty rocks knocking against her helmet. Way to take the wind out of her sails… Pit Stop booped encouragingly.

“Right,” Jill said. “Shine on!” She couldn’t even tell if anyone was around to hear the catchphrase, though. The fog was too damn thick… That is, until she heard Brooke cry out for her.

“Present!” Jill said. “Hold tight, I’m gonna switch on my fog lights!” She swung herself on top of her bike and did just that, the high-power beam cutting under and through the fog and illuminating the ground ahead of her for a decent distance. She stared intently into the glowing eyes in the distance, and the engine purred as Jill slowly turned the bike around, cautiously searching for her friends… until she heard Brooke cry out in pain. The engine’s purr turned into a roar as she popped a wheelie and spun around, fire and lightning arcing out around her body as ki poured into the tanks of her equipment. The front tire landed back on the ground pointed in the direction of where she heard the cry, watching as the Oni emperor moved and made his speech.

She clenched her fist around the handlebar as the storms began to set in. She clenched it so hard that it looked like it might come clean off. Whatever truce some assholes broke didn’t justify this asshole hurting innocents. Her glare was threatening to burn holes straight through her helmet, but thankfully her expression remained hidden. Right as she was about to rush him and smack him in the face with her bike, Pit Stop beeped quietly.

She opened her mouth to tell the drone off before simply sighing quietly. He was right. She wasn’t too familiar with the Oni, but she knew enough history to know that things had the potential to get far worse before they got better if this escalated any further. This was way bigger than her and she needed to swallow her pride, at least for now. She dismounted her bike, the roar fading back to a gentle purr as she started walking towards the emperor with her hands partially raised. She stopped in front of him, looking up to meet his gaze while altering her posture to a more official stance with her arms at her sides, to the point that you wouldn’t have guessed that she wanted to beat the shit out of him just a little while ago.

“Emperor Daichi of the Oni clan,” Jill said politely. “My name is Beautiful Blaze, Justice Rider Number 99, AKA Jill Breicen. Please forgive my ignorance, but though I was uninformed of any transgressions against your people, if you are willing to cooperate I will make sure those responsible are brought to justice. Though I am prepared to use force, in the interest of preventing further bloodshed and on behalf of the people of Japan, I ask that you please consider further negotiations!” She continued to stare into his eyes, her expression refusing to falter even under her helmet. Part of her thought that it was only right to try to avoid further conflict. Part of her also thought this was probably the stupidest, most reckless thing she's ever done. Well, if he decided to squash her right then and there, at least no one could say that she didn’t try...

---

The woman in the costume limped confidently out of the wreckage, and when she spoke it was in the clipped and clear-spoken voice a stranger uses to another stranger in the elevator, the kind of voice that goes along with hotel lobby music, and outlet malls where sales representatives demonstrate revolutionary zipper-designs and the hottest new lipstick. She wanted to negotiate, apparently. Verga glanced around, at the dead and the dying and the thousand and one scattered pieces that had once been an arena, and she didn't think it was hard to tell exactly what kind of negotiations the oni emperor was interested in.

Verga could recognize the costume, vaguely, the one the self-styled diplomat wore. She had no small distaste for the showboating of the Justice Riders and their ridiculous dress-up games on TV, but seeing the woman force herself to suck this man's cock with pleases and thankses and polite niceties—no, Verga wasn't going to stay on the sidelines a second longer. Frigid bolts of pride and spite directed her, like hands shoving a steering wheel straight into oncoming traffic.

Before the eyes of the oni procession could shift from the Justice Rider, and before the self-proclaimed emperor could respond, Verga tightened her muscles, like her entire body was sucking on some invisible straw, and there was a sudden surge of heat. She stepped out into view and a mass of boiling, hot-gold stardust pulsed out from her body, like a great prehistoric monster, and it carved out a dizzying silhouette of light on its way towards the oni emperor and his attendants.

---

---

Calvin watched helplessly as the dragon's fire spewed throughout the town. He noticed something as he stared at it; There were not one, but two people clinging to it, and some weird, flying person following it. Luckily, the dragon seemed more preoccupied with getting the fleas off than actually destroying the town at the moment. That gave calvin plenty of time to react... And think of a way in hell that he could actually fight the thing from so far away. He had snowballs, but even if he charged one with enough ki and energy to hit it, it probably wouldn't do anything. It was still better than just standing around.
Luckily, this town was high in the mountains, giving plenty of snow without having to spend ki creating it. Calvin picked up a decent hunk of snow from the side of a step. In a light blue glow, the small mound he collected turned into 12 neatly crunched up snowballs. Charging his arm with ki, he hurled the first one into the sky!
... Which must've practically been a mile from the place he actually wanted to hit... He threw another one, this time after doing basic calculations in his head to make sure he was atleast within the ballpark. Again, no sell. The next four balls he threw fared no better. Calvin was forced to face the reality of his situation: That was a giant dragon, flying almost a hundred feet off the ground. Is this how people felt back in the dark ages? Some big, scaled bird comes in and attacks from a point nobody can reach? And even if they could, they could just bounce off any attacks?

Calvin needed to adapt, if he wanted to hit it. He climbed up the water spout of one of the buildings, and climbed up again until he was on top of a two story building. Now, he had a better vantage point, but he was still a bit short. Unless... Calvin focused more of his ki, creating an enhanced version of Ice Wall beneath him, giving him an even further boost. He hurled two more snowballs at it. One of them actually hit; Hit a spontaneously appearing blue barrier, that completely negated his attack. Now Calvin needed a better method of hitting it. What he needed, was a more powerful snowball that wouldn't split apart just upon contact. He crunched up his 4 remaining snowballs, into just one, and channeled it with about 1/4 of his total ki, causing it to shimmer a bright cyan light. Yet once the light finished glowing, it was just a regular snowball. Calvin leaned back with his shoulder, turning his entire body to face the giant robot dragon. Suddenly, he hurled it with enough force to make his hair blow for a second.
The object sailed through the winter air. Despite three people around it, the snowball actually managed to land a bulls eye; Right back into that blue shield. Just as Calvin anticipated.
But right as he was about to start crafting another snowball, Calvin noticed the fragments of the snowball exploding. Several plates along the dragon's neck and side were now covered in sheets of ice. That was all Calvin felt he could do, for now. He didn't want to burn any more ki on something that he couldn't even know for a fact was working from this far away.

---

Margot was feeling much better than one could expect for someone that survived a building collapse. She laid on the ground, trying to collect herself in the eerily quiet statidum. Sopping wet from the sudden downburst, she couldnt yet tell if any of the hurt she felt was tied to a bleeding wound. At least nothing felt broken, nor did she feel herself fading as if she were bleeding out.

A thick fog has fallen over the stadium. Rubble turned into vague outlines a mere meter away from her face. Yet she could feel the ground rumble wtih several hefty footsteps, several powerful ki users emerging from the fog. She crept out of the way, following Brooke's voice but not calling back. With her mask's thermal vision, she got a good idea of the size of the Oni before they started their speech.

She reached for her sword's hilt to steady it and keep it from dragging as she skulked off at an angle, only to find it empty. Resisting the urge to swear, she found that her dagger was still in place. She stumbled as the ogres pounded the ground, sounding like so much thunder. Barely missing some rebar, she took the chance to consult with her mask.

"Daichi of the Oni" didn't bring up anything on the very limited network connection left, the emergency services taking up most of the bandwidth left. Thankfully her mask was quite happy to point out the general direction of the sword's transponder. She sacrificed some stealth for speed as Jill stepped up to talk to Daichi. It was quite clear the Oni had no reservations in beating anyone down. Thankfully the fog hid her long enough to reach her sword. She turned towards the group of oni, crouching in the shadows to observe.

She only barely noticed Verga's attack in time, the bright light giving it off. She jumped out of the way, her clock singed by the passing blast. By the time she stood up again, it was clear that the attack had drawn the Oni's attention towards her.

@lavulman@Oddsbod@Surtr

---

"Ughhhh." Brown blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. For several moments she thought she was still asleep. Dreaming. All because of the roof above her head in place of the usual open sky she slept beneath. She shifted atop her bed and was greeted with the splinters of pain shooting through her muscles like bolts of electricity.

Gritting her teeth she leaned up in bed, actually managing to do so successfully unlike the days prior. Shaking the sleep from her head Brown turned and threw her legs over the side of the bed.

"Morning," said Askin. It was sunny again today, and the little room they shared drank deep from the yellow morning. On the table between Askin and Brown's beds sat a tall black thermos, alongside an empty mug. Askin held its twin, full to the brim and shedding thin coils of steam. He sipped it politely while flipping the electronic pages of the little square Kindle resting in his lap. "Brenda was in earlier," he said to Brown. "Dropped off some tea from the café downstairs. Help yourself."

"Mmmm." Brown said nothing and reached out to the side table. Her hand wrapped firmly around the black thermos and pulled it to her. She made no move to the cup set out for her. Instead she unscrewed the top of the thermos, pressed it to her lips, and leaned backwards.

Dark, rich, and particularly hot liquid flowed into her mouth and down her throat. Had it been just a little hotter it would have scalded her flesh, but even if it had she would have kept drinking. Tea wasn't normally something she drank. Same went for coffee and pretty much anything you had to sit down and heat up. But Brown knew that tea had caffeine, or at least thought it did. And she knew that she liked caffeine.

"Well alright," said Askin, impressed, as she drained the hissing-warm thermos in a single swig. "So the whole shoot-to-kill thing is just your default for everything, huh? I can go get more, if you like."

"No." The seal between her lips and the thermos was broken as she pulled it away. Wisps of visible heat still trailing from the top and the opening of her mouth as she set it back down. "That's all I needed. I can't sleep very well so I never have to worry about being sneaked up on. But I never feel well when I wake up, so a pick-me-up like that helps a lot."

Wiping her arm across her lips Brown leaned back, legs over the side of the bed with her arms pressed back into the mattress to support her. She felt the warmth from her belly and the slow trickle of awareness brought about the caffeination of her blood.

"Sleep and I don't get along either," he said, in a pleasantly guilty tone, as though sleep was a neighbor from whom Askin once borrowed a drill gun which he'd never remembered to return. "I used to be a real caffeine demon, actually. But you can't live on pick-me-ups forever." He observed the dark shadows that lined Brown's eyes, like flotsam staining a gray winter beach. "You can buy melatonin tablets at most pharmacies. Luna is reliable, that's what I always take. Settles down all the things you don't want to think about. I think there's a pharmacy just a block down the street, if you want to do some shopping."

"Pills don't work on me very well." Brown said, rubbing her eyes. "But going shopping...that sounds nice."

"Besides the pharmacy?" Askin asked. "Ooh, you know, that does sound fun. Jonas mentioned we might be going up north. Maybe we could splurge on some nice winter gear? I can ask Brenda about the best local shops."

Askin took a careful sip of his tea. His book was apparently very engrossing; he never looked away from it when he spoke up next. "Do you ever have nightmares, Brown?"

Brown focused her dirty, dull brown eyes at Askin and stared into him. Though he didn't look up to meet her gaze she continued to stare as she sat in silence.

"I-"

She paused, looking down at the floor and then back at Askin as if searching for something. A reason to mistrust him, a reason to lie, a reason to refuse to say anything. But Brown couldn't and part of her wanted to speak. Badly.

"All I ever have is nightmares. I can't sleep without something bad happening inside my head. It's not that bad anymore, I guess. I've gotten used to it."

"Yeah," he said, nodding, as though agreeing with Brown on the weather. He turned the page on his Kindle. "I never got used to it, so maybe you're handling things better than me. Me, I dream about water. Miles of it. I'm at the bottom of a lake. It's dark, and I'm surrounded by dead folks. Not the kinda thing you want to dream about."

He turned the page again, then turned it back, and he wasn't really reading the book anymore, that much was clear, though he wouldn't meet Brown's eyes either. And his voice never loses that pleasant murmur of impossible neutralness, the voice of how-are-yous and nice-weather-we're-havings and welcome-home-babes. But no, no eye contact.

"What do you dream about?"

"..." Brown's lips tighten as she burrows holes into Askin's forehead with her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, only to close it, only to open and then close it again. Like a fish desperate for air but too scared to take a breath. Eventually she bites her lip, hard. Hard enough to taste something warm and red.

"My mama...my papa...and the fights." The words rolled from her lips like a deep exhale. Quiet, smooth, almost inaudible to anyone not specifically listening for it.

"I'm sorry," said Askin. "I don't want to press, I mean, if there're things you're not comfortable talking about—whatever you want, in your own time."

"I'm never comfortable talking." Brown said flatly, grabbing handfuls of the bedsheets as she sat on the edge of the bed facing Askin. "My moma and papa...they wanted me to be something. I was supposed to be the greatest fighter, the greatest nomad that had ever lived. And I wanted to be that but..."

A lump formed in Brown's throat as she reached around, pressing a hand into her back. The thick, sickening black veins radiating out from her spine though unseen never left Brown's thoughts. Askin, on the other hand, seemed to have been caught up on something she said. He sounded almost perky when a "No shit! Really?" escaped him. There was a moment when it looked like Askin was fighting off a laugh, but he apologized quickly. "Sorry, sorry, I mean, sorry, it's not that that's funny, but, no, yes, absolutely. I understand completely."

Brown's eyes grew cold and angry as for a moment she felt Askin was mocking her. She looked ready to lash out at him, eager to wrap her hands around his windpipe and squeeze till her palms touched each other. However his quick, albeit seemingly insincere, apology stayed her hand.

"It's not funny, no," he said, and his little laughs were a bit sober now, like stones laughing. "I'm sorry for laughing, Brown, really. But I guess it kind of is. Funny, I mean, just a little bit. Cause, you know, it's the same, really, that's my story too. The parents, the greatness, the nightmares, the whole thing."

The girl paused unsure of what she was hearing was the truth or simply a jest.

"Really? What-what happened?" She asked.

"Nothing special," he said, as though automatically, but then he hesitated, and added, "Well, it was pretty special. It was me. I'm born like this, see, the ki of a monster, this one very special baby who was supposed to do all the special things no one else could do. And that's what they told me, over and over. They believed in me so much. Can you believe it? They believed in this." He gestured at his diminutive, half-dressed body. "But that didn't work out too well for them. I didn't do what I was supposed to do, and then bad things happened. And now I'm here buying Luna for 21.95 at the pharmacy because it makes the nightmares not so bad. So I guess in the end it didn't amount to anything special after all."

Brown didn't look at Askin. She turned her head away from him and simply looked at the floor. A mix of anger and bitterness on her face as the non-genie's words sank in.

"I was supposed to be special, or at least normal. My parents wanted me to become someone great and I tried to do what they wanted..." Brown's hands curled into fists, her own nails cutting into her palms as they squeezed them together. "I'm the opposite of you. I was born wrong. Wrong time, wrong day, wrong place. My body is diseased, cursed."

The anger and bitterness on Brown's face crept into her voice, as ever word brought more and more of a buried rage to the forefront of her speech.

"I worked hard, I did what I was told. I wanted to be the greatest! I wanted to make them happy. All I ever did was work and try, and when they realized I couldn't be what they wanted they threw me away!" Brown stood to her feet, voice raising as she stepped away from the bed and towards Askin.

"Do you have any idea what it feels like? To know that other people can effortlessly do something that takes you so. Much. Effort? A day didn't pass by that I wasn't reminded of that fact. It haunts me even now after everything I've done, with how far I've come. Everything I do feels worthless because I'm still weak. I'm still less then others, still trying desperately to catch up when people bound ahead of me!"

Askin drew in his legs and slid them off the mattress. He was sitting up now, but the low little motel bed put him at the disadvantage. He had to look up even more than usual to meet Brown's eyes, whose cold spidebite anger made him feel small, somehow, in a way that actually being small never had.

"You got dealt a shitty hand that would've killed most people. And you did so much with it. You saved hundreds of lives and single-handedly crippled a fifty foot death robot. You're the person most other people wish they could be. You're not weak. And, and the thing is I know you know that too, somewhere, and I know that even if you do know that it doesn't make things better. Because the voices in your head don't care that you're not weak, and they don't care that there isn't a single person in the world that you're less than. They're so good at ignoring the facts, that you're strong and brave and the fact that everyone should admire you. And that sucks. That really sucks. I'm sorry, Brown."

"I am weak!" Brown bellowed, thrusting a finger at Askin as her eyes began to water. "I beat that robot, but I nearly died. That's always the way it is. I either lose and end up half dead in a ditch, or a win and I end up mostly dead in a ditch. Nothing I do is ever easy. No matter what I do, who I beat, or what I accomplish I never feel strong! Strong people aren't like me. They win and they feel good, they don't win and end up breathing their own blood for a week."

"I wouldn't know much about that," Askin said politely. "I don't find many things easy, and I don't really win. So I guess there's at least one person in the world you're stronger than."

He kept his eyes up against hers, and he didn't look away.

Brown fell silent. For a moment she simply stood there, staring into him before it became too much, so she stared down at the floor boards. Stepping backwards she dropped onto her bed with a look of anger on her face. She wanted to hate Askin. Wanted to resent him for his Ki, for the gifts he had that he did not. Yet sitting there he seemed so small and frail, and his words so familiar that it was a struggle to retain her anger.

So Brown simply laid on the bed and stared up at the stranger, unfamiliar ceiling. Across from her, Askin flopped back as well. Their knees pointed at each other neutrally from across the little isthmus that separated their beds

"Here's my theory," said Askin. "And I think I can make an accurate guess here, because I went through quite a few drugs trying to find the right sleep aid. The usual anti-histamines, see, they're good at knocking you out, assuming you don't have a tolerance. But that's all they do, they kick you off to sleep, or they don't. And that doesn't do anything about the nightmares. Luna is nice, I think, because it's mostly a relaxing drug. It doesn't kick you off to sleep, and it doesn't just wipe away the nightmares, but it makes things easier. Sometimes by a lot, sometimes by a bit, but it makes things easier. I don't think it's healthy, to try and turn your problems on and off like a switch, or hit your goals or miss them, one or the other. You just gotta take every little easiness you can find."

Lifting his left leg in a slight little kick, Askin gave Brown's discolored knee a gentle nudge with his sole. "Let's go shopping later. I bet we can find some killer new winter clothes. And maybe the Luna will work for you after all."

"I don't need winter clothes." Brown said, her voice low and disinterested as she continued to look at the ceiling. "But that Luna sounds...nice. Some candy would be good too..."

"Suit yourself," said Askin. "Me, I've always liked playing dress-up. Hope you don't mind indulging me on that."

Brown shrugged, though lying on her back it didn't seem like much. "It's fine. I've had to stick with these clothes for a while and if I get new ones they're just going to get dirty, nasty, or trip me up. Besides with G-tummo I don't need to worry about the cold."

"I've always kind of liked the cold," said Askin. "It's a nice excuse to go and bury yourself under some blankets, some quilts, sit down with a nice cup of tea. Doesn't get much better than that."

---

_{Japan.In the part that's Japan.}

---

---

Right when Jill came at Daichi with her hands up, the Onis were ready to pounce on her, and rip her to pieces.

However, Emperor Daichi put a hand up as a signal for the rampaging Onis to stop. He had the power to crush her - and everyone here - himself, but yet he heard her out. At least to humor her. Or maybe out of some misplaced sense of honor. He stroked his beard as Jill spoke, pondering what she said.

"Beautiful Blaze of the Justice Rider Clan," Daichi said clearly, his voice deep and reverberating through the area. "Under Oni-law, I ought to wipe out all of humanity. Because in the eyes of my people, there is no individualism. There is no "few," there is merely all or nothing."

A bit of flames came out of his mouth as he stepped closer to Jill, his chains began to rattle with every step. At this point, he was imposingly standing over Jill. However, he didn't make one hostile move. He merely leaned in closer to Jill.

"If my Onis even thought about violating the treaty," He growled, "I'd kill them where they stood, but unlike you humans, we are all disciplined, and respect each other. Especially the emperor of the clan!"

He pulled back, standing up straight, "... You need to control your kind better, human."

Daichi's Onis were holding back as Daichi spoke, even though they all wanted revenge against humanity, they respected their leader as Daichi said. They held back, their weapons on the ground.

"Nonetheless... I am willing to consider your offer," Daichi said, "Beautiful Blaze of the Justice Rider Clan, if you- MY EYES!"

The orb of a white light flashed and burned Daichi's eyes, stunning the demon. He had no choice but to cover his eyes with his hand as he growled flames. The rest of the Onis were similarly stunned, and Daichi could only feel anger. He knew exactly where the blast came from, she took away his sight, but Daichi knows how to see on a different level.

"And this is what the humans call diplomacy!?" Daichi shouted at Jill as he began to cover. "You insult me!"

Tortuga ran through the streets like a charging bull as the storm intensified.

Once Ivory and The Pioneers reached the stadium, they were taken aback by it's sheer ruin. Already a crowd had formed, kept at bay by a few barriers and policemen trying to keep the panicked crowd under control. Ivory dismounted Tortuga, and walked with the rest of The Pioneers single file forward. One of the police officers held his arm in front of her approach.

"Hey! You can't go in there! Step back, uh... ma'am?" The officer quickly faded from his routine words as he took in Ivory's bizarre appearance.

"I am here on official business. I believe this shall suffice?" Her mesmerizing voice tickled ears, as she held up a laminated slip of paper. The guard held took it, and shot the Sergeant a suspicious look. They shrugged. He turned back to Ivory, and stuttered his response.

"I uh... Think I'd have to take this in to get a look at it. Could you just hang tight?"

"I'm afraid not, then." Ivory continued walking. The police guard tried to hold his arm out again to prevent passage, but Tortuga, directly behind her, grabbed his arm and gently shoved him back. He watched helplessly as all six enigmatic figures filed one-by-one into the ruined Stadium.

Ivory's earpiece had buzzed again. It wasn't the gentle buzz from when it was being tuned into, but violent and static.

"BZZZZZTIvory?BZZZZZZZZZTcloudBZZZTJapanBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTcan'tBZZZZZZZTStick to theBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTMission!"

"Hello?" Ivory asked, confused, before the wild buzzing took over. Suddenly, Ricochet abruptly lunged and ripped it from the side of her head, crushing it between her two fingers. "Ricochet! Shame on you!" Ivory said, in a disapproving, disappointed voice that almost sounded angry.

Ricochet made no reaction. But sure enough, Ivory turned her head. One of the TV's meant to show the fight from the lobby was intead showing an emergency broadcast, which flickered on and off, the screen bearing a crack on it. It showed that a massive hurricane had formed around japan. It was more like a donut, with an extremely large eye and thin barrier. It completely enveloped Japan, and had destroyed any incoming ships or planes. Authorities are still scrambling to understand what is happening.

This was a cue to Ivory that she was able to sneak in, take an Oni, and leave. As the Pioneers approached the Arena, they stopped in the hallway, looking out to see them. The seats of the stands had been shattered by win, an overwhelming downpour had formed. In the middle of the arena, a group of monsters had stood. Giant, colorful creatures, with steam surrounding them. A large one stood in front of the group, challenging anyone who dared to stand up to him. But then a figure wearing armor approached him, their hands slightly raised.

Were they a Symbiote, like the Pioneers and herself? No, couldn't be. Ivory received no response when she tried to control them. She could tell from her voice, however, that they were a female. They were proposing a treaty with the Oni, to ensure no violence would occur. But that couldn't do for Ivory. She needed to bring in a specimen. Luckily, a fighter in the ruined stands shot a glowing orb of light at the giant Oni, blinding him.

"You insult me!" The oni bellowed to the armored woman, which looked like an action figure compared to him. Good, a conflict was likely to stir. But Ivory couldn't risk them being rational, and attacking whoever it was that fired the shot. Ivory needed to take measure. She turned towards her group, and nodded towards Haunt, who had been hanging near the back of the group. Both of their faces glew orange for a few seconds, before fading. Haunt turned invisible, and crept towards the crowd of Oni. He knelt down by one, and made a razor slash with his claws at the back of their quadricep. He then moved side to side, slicing several wounds onto Four of the Oni, before retreating to Ivory.

_Rio.

---

---

“I have to be that careful?” Rosie pouted. “Well, I guess with a reward like that, some extra effort would be expected…” he got up and left once he was waved away, eager to get out of such a drab place.

He stopped right before he went out the front door, blending in with the shade; he heard something. Something about, if he was not mistaken, a First Light? Boy, this was a special one. Hopefully that would never be something he’d need to worry about.

He left the building, deciding to get this over with before they could realize that he might be taking too long. His hand was proudly on his hip like he had never stopped walking. He loosened up a bit once Sage started talking, an index finger pressed against his cheekbone as he thought.

“Well,” Rosie admitted. “I don’t know anything that’s actually relevant to the job, if that’s what you mean...”

He gave a devilish grin before he continued.

“Though I did try to grill poor Rod for a little more info before I left. I’ll be sure to let you know if I get anything useful out of him…”

The demon paused for a moment, considering whether to pry with any questions of his own.

“But as long as we’re talking about who knows what,” he mused. “How did you figure out where our target is? It sounded like you had some… prior history with it, during the briefing...”

---

_Germany.

---

---

“YES,” Seshat shouted as the ninja bounced off of her shield. “YOU DID NOT THINK THIS THROUGH!” She huffed as he vanished, turning her attention back to the dragon. It only got harder to understand these humans as the centuries went by.

She watched as the dragon twisted and thrashed, apparently having gathered even more Nomads since the last time she checked. It was moving around too much for her to get a decent shot off on it without the risk of hitting someone else, as well as preventing her from landing on it, so she decided to hang back and wait for it to calm down. Maybe it would fry that awful ninja in the meantime, as well.

---

_Japan.

---

---

Jill stood tall as the oni emperor spoke. She was trained to stare down kaijin like this, after all. Didn’t stop her from feeling jittery as hell on the inside, though. Her tank was all clogged up with nervous anticipation and the indignant anger she’d swallowed before. Which led to anticipation, as Daichi, against all odds, actually seemed to be considering her plea.

And all that indignant anger came surging back the moment she realized what was going on when that flash of blinding white light exploded in front of her. Her helmet helped reduce the horrible, agonizing glare, but not by much.

“GOD ████IT WHO THE ████ DECIDED TO PULL THAT ████ RIGHT AT THAT SPECIFIC ████IN’ MOMENT?!” Jill ranted, every curse drowned out by a piercing bleeping noise from Pit Stop as the bike rolled over to the Justice Rider’s side. She raised her fist to slam it against the dash, only to miss the bike entirely, her vision still obscured. She huffed, and the bike inched forwards to let her try again. She just sighed and tapped it with her index finger. She’d have to beat the shit out of whoever did that-

Was that Skeletor talking to her?

She turned her head to the now only slightly blurry figure telling her that diplomacy had failed. Pit Stop beeped rapidly.

“Why yes,” Jill agreed aggressively. “The skeleton man *does* make a very compelling point!” The Justice Rider struck a pose.

“Sorry Daichi,” Jill said unapologetically. “But it seems that diplomacy has failed! Pit Stop, let’s go!” She leapt on to her bike before she wheelied, backed up, and turned her gaze back to the necromancer.

“So you wouldn’t happen to have a plan of attack or anything,” Jill asked quietly. “Would you, Skull Man?” She figured that she would take any extra, coordinated help wherever she could get it when it came to oni.

"So, y'good t'go?"

Jonas leaned out the side of the jeep, arms resting on the retracted parts of a window. Looking at the woman, he awaited any sort of affirmation. Once she stated that she understood the plan, Jonas gave her a small smile and a brief nod. "Good; I'll try t'find those three and send Otsana your way," Jonas pulled his head and arms back into the jeep, giving the Brazilian woman a thumbs up.

"... oh, and one more thing."

Turning away from Brenda, Jonas began shuffling through his bag filled with medicine, gauze, needles, and the 'artifact,' the doctor let out a small "aha," before producing what looked to be a black walkie talkie. Twisting back to the woman, he lightly tossed the item towards her, allowing Brenda to easily catch it without much resistance.

"Here, hold on t'this just in case you need t'contact me for anything," Jonas said, calmly producing another walkie talkie as he kept it on hold, wiggling it a bit as if to emphasize the point. "Now, lets give this town a warm, nomadic greeting," he smiled a bit brightly as he popped the talkie into one of the cup holders.

Grabbing the wheels, Jonas hit the pedal and began accelerating away from the woman, rolling up his window as he did so. Now, he needed to get to Brown's role in this all... well, Brown and Klara's, anyways...

"Oy', Brown, how ya' feelin' there," he quizzed the "eccentric" little nomad, looking up at the rear view mirror, forcing a small little smile. Once she answered back, he nodded and focused on the debris around, trying to find a way back onto the main road. As he scanned the area, bobbing his head back and forth as if to get a better look, he finally spoke up.

"... y'know, I don't think I ever got around to your role in this whole shebang," he mused, grunting a bit as he made a rather sharp turn. Looking back up at the rear view mirror to make sure she was paying attention, he alternated in intervals between talking with the peculiar girl and keeping an eye on the road.

"You and Klara will not be engaging the dragon at all," he paused, letting that all sink in. She seemed to be the type of girl who enjoyed beating things up so, he figured Brown might be none to pleased to hear this. After a few seconds, he continued onward.

"Instead, both of you will be assisting the people under attack from the dragon, civilians," Jonas raised a hand up from the wheel, palm facing towards the ceiling as he continued explaining. "Essentially, escorting them to safety, destroying any threats that, well, threaten them or you, and basically spread the word that our group handling the dragon."

Jonas stationed his hand back on the steering wheel as he eyed the side. "Because hell if someone tries to make off with our hard work," Jonas grumbled, thinking back to that irritating imbecile with some skills to back up his talk... should of severed his tendons when he got the chance...

Finally discovering the main road, Jonas swiftly sped back onto it, causing a small bump to occur in the car. Recoiling just a tinge, Jonas hurriedly drove to the town, watching the dragon constantly fly around... and seeing something akin to a... human flying around it... he thought it was a human. Jonas squinted for a second before weakly shrugging.

Didn't matter right now, focus on the task ahead.

---

Upon entering the town, most of the streets were devoid of any life... nevertheless, Jonas wasn't too shocked as he began slowing down, whistling a short tune before coming to a complete halt. Taking his hands off the wheel, Jonas stretched to the best of his abilities before quickly grasping the key, turning it, then pulling it out of the ignition.

"This is your stop for now Missy," Jonas grunted, taking a step out of the jeep as he got a superior full on stretch. He eyed Brown, waiting for her to exit the vehicle as he analyzed the vicinity. Damn. Still no sign of them all. He sighed before shaking his head.

"I'll try to find Klara and send her your way, but for now..." Jonas took in a small breath of air and focused for a few seconds. In that time frame, it looked as if Jonas was shedding his skin, comparable to a snake as an identical version of him popped out from behind him.

"My clone will back ya up, at least until either of us find Klara," Jonas ruffled his fair, shaking his head as he grimaced a bit. His clone was more like a watchdog, to make sure Brown didn't get into trouble or do anything stupid.

"Anyways, if ya need, me give me a shout; I'll be... somewhere around town," he mumbled, climbing back into the drivers seat and starting up the jeep. Giving her a small wave, Jonas sped away from the girl, delving deeper into the town as he began seeking out his other teammates.

"Otsy, Klara, Munchkin, where are y'all," he gave one shout, hoping to smoke out his elusive teammates.

---

_Japan.^{In the part that's Japan.}

---

---

After the flash faded, Emperor was blinded by rage.

He felt his Onis getting attacked by an invisible foe, he knew this had to be the work of a Nomad. He loudly growled as he faced the woman who had attacked them before. A tall, blue-haired, woman, that was just brimming with ki. It will do nothing to save her. Daichi raised his giant mace up into the air, and swung it around in a circle above his head. With every loop it made, it was surrounded in a thick coat of electricity. Once it was completely surrounded, Daichi quickly launched it directly at Verga.

"My Onis, eliminate the humans!" Daichi shouted as his team of Onis immediately launched themselves at the Nomads. Though, he had one word for Jill. "Justice Rider Clan, eliminate the blue-haired woman and maybe I'll let you survive to warn the other humans!" He growled.

But, there was something on his mind... Where is Aiko? He thought to himself.

---

_{Tokyo, downtown.}

---

---

"Oi, noodleman!"

The gruntled Yoko sat upon a man's food cart, with her legs folded, and holding a bowl of noodles in hand while her staff was leaned upon the cart. She was wearing her traditional Hatanaka gi, with consisted of a leotard with no pants, and a gi jacket. Leaving her legs exposed, but she had an annoyed look on her face. As she stared at the terrified cook.

"You gave me burnt noodles! What? Do I look like some dumb bimbo to you!?" Yoko said as she grabbed her staff. "Give me my money back!" She pointed it at him, with her lips poked out.

"Hey! No need to get violent, Ms. Hatanaka!" The carter said, "I'll cook you up a new batch-"

"Oi, no! I want my money back! I need to get to the tournament!" Yoko said as she gave the man an annoyed look, before she poked him with it.

"Don't hit me with that stick again!"

"It's no stick, it's a staff!"

Right then, the huge rainfall picked up, and Yoko looked up. "Oi... nobody said anything about any rain." She said, scratching the side of her head as she looked around the crowded streets. She looked at the stadium that was in the distance. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed the rain swirling around the huge building, and then went, "Oh, no."

The building was being torn to pieces by a sudden hurricane. Yoko hopped off the cart, and broke off into a sprint towards the building. She knew what was going on... she could feel their ki. She could feel the evil presence of the Onis. She never knew that she would encounter the evil beings now of all time, but she was trained all of her life to face them. This was what she lived for... protecting-

During her sprint, she bumped into someone, and stopped as she looked at the person.

It took her a moment to realize just who it was, before she knew it, she was being launched through the air, right into a wall. She was quick to react, and "landed" on the wall, before hopping off. Facing her opponent with little pain, she realized just who she was fighting.

Her first encounter with an Oni.

The evil spirit was grey skinned, had horns, vaguely humanoid. Almost having the shape of a human girl. The pointed ears, horn, and eyes said it all. The demon wore clothes that was a mixture of traditional Oni attire she was told about, and a modern attire. The demoness wore a gi - but her gi jacket was wrapped around her waist, revealing her sports bra that was somewhat concealed by the red beads around her neck.

"So, you're the Hatanaka," The Oni said as she played with the beads around her neck, walking towards Yoko. "Wasn't that hard finding ya'." She crossed her arms.

"Evil spirit!" Yoko loudly shouted. "I must vanquish you!"

"Yeah, yeah, that truth and justice crap," The Oni said, "I wanna know something." She said as she circled Yoko, whom had dropped into a stance, and kept her staff pointed at her at all times.

"I know you lost the sword and all..." She trailed off. "Your punk ass father couldn't-"

The instant the Oni mentioned Yoko's father, the girl lunged at her, jabbing her staff forward - but, the Oni used her superior reflexes to grab the iron club on her back and block. The two were locked in a contest of strength, Aiko's raw brutish power, against Yoko's elegant strength, pushing against each other.

"Don't ever speak of my father!"

"Oh... hit a sore spot, right?" Aiko said as she raised an eyebrow at the girl. She parried the staff, and Yoko took a few steps back. "But, I wish to speak with my grandfather... and possibly return his soul to my father..."

Yoko pursed her lips.

"That'll never happen!" Yoko said as she jabbed at the Oni again, only for the demoness to sidestep. "Not as long as I'm standing."

"... But, you don't know even where the sword is," The Oni said in an annoyed tone, as she pushed the staff to the side. "And you're not even trying to look for it! So shut up."

She swung the iron club, and hit Yoko across the jaw with it, and sent her flying backwards, she quickly walked forward, before saying, "Even if I can't bring my father back the sword, maybe killing you will bring his little revenge-quest to an end..."

She raised her iron club up into the air, and tried to bring it down on Yoko, but the girl quickly deflected the attack with her staff, and used the other end of the staff to watch the grey-skinned girl in the ribs. Pushing her away as Yoko made a full movement and whacked her in the head with the other end. Knocking the demoness over.

"What... are you talking about, demon?" Yoko said as she stayed in position and allowed the Oni to get up, doing one quick jab to hit her in the face with her staff. And the Oni faded away into shadows for a moment, before reappearing a distance away.

"A few young Oni were killed a few days ago," she answered as she raised her club up into the air, and called down a bolt of lightning that empowered it. "and my father intends to repay humanity by killing a million humans..."

She slung her iron club over her shoulder, as she said, "... I want to stop him, before it is too late."

@Surtr

---

"And this is what the humans call diplomacy?" roared the Emperor. "You insult me!"

“If no one else was going to do it,” muttered Verga, the vindictive satisfaction soothing her like warm water over snow-numbed fingers. With the Emperor blind and distracted, maybe this was her chance—but there was no clean shot through the wreckage anymore, action bursting to life among the nomads and the demons. It was a proper fight, now. But there was still an Emperor to deal with. Verga had decided already that this was her victory, and no one elses.

Ducking through fighters and magic and flailing martial arts, she forced her way towards the Emperor’s procession. She wasn’t even halfway there before a poleaxe nearly took her head off. A well timed punch shattered the blade as it went by, and Verga drew herself up into a proper stance as her path was blocked by one, then two oni. From behind, two more.

Verga had no patience for clean, honorable fighting, but clean, honorable fighting—one on one, no interruptions—was how she’d been trained, and as the mountainous demons bared their fangs and pounded their weapons with ritual rhythm, and growled from their throats with the sound of trees growing in fast forward, she knew she had no advantage here. Abandoning any pretension at martial arts, Verga dropped her stance and drew up a packet of heat and ki into her chest, and once again there was a gush of light and heat. Another ring of boiling gold stardust blasted out from Verga’s body. It exploded over her attackers, and they went flying.

For a moment, Verga stood and shook in place, sweat hissing off her skin as evaporated steam, and her hands would not stay steady. Twice, in just minutes—there’d be no more stardust like that any time soon.

Stilling herself, she turned to try and locate the Emperor again, and as she did something heavy and metal came rushing up to her out of the fighting. Verga raised her hands, a hardened shell coming up out of the air between her and the oncoming shape, but she wasn’t fast enough; with a lightning-sharp snapping sound, the lens of gravity was blown apart, and Verga went stumbling and skidding backwards in a crash of metal and electricity, her legs pinwheeling.

She struck her head against a rock, and she saw stars, and blood. For what could’ve been a second, or maybe a minute, her brain spun like helicopter blades.

No. Screw it. Screw this. And screw him.

Verga rubbed the blood from out of her eye, blue hair glued stickily to her forehead and cheeks, and after a quick glance, she caught sight of the Emperor.

The air gathered up in her hands, and so did the light, and when her hands were full to the brim with something white and dangerous-looking, Verga flickered like a million tiny bulletshots. Then, just a scissor-snip through space and time, and Verga was there in front of the Emperor.

Her fistfuls of aether were thrown out in front of her, and momentum carried Verga straight and true to go crashing across his face. A crack of light and a heavy sigh of wind. They went to the ground in a sprawl, undignified as possible. Smaller, lighter, she was sent skidding away from his fallen, hilltop-shaped form, but still half-sliding over the ground Verga stumbled to one knee and turned on the Emperor.

“What next, huh?” She spat gooey blood and saliva from her mouth, and she gestured at the ruins of the arena, the clouded-up sky, the brawlers and the fighters and the leftovers. “Humans aren’t oni. Wretched, undisciplined, never unified—you said it yourself. It’s hollow, hypocrite justice, holding a creature like that to oni law.”

Stumbling up to another knee now, but still not quite standing: “And if you’re here because you’re power-hungry? You’re Emperor for a few weeks, you kill a few hundred people, and then you remember the world’s a big place, dozens of governments with more power than sense come down on you and your dome, and inside the dome there’s nonstop fighting from rebel nomads and rebel spirits and whatever the hell else until it all finally blows over—You don't win this.”

Now she was upright. One hand shoved the blood-uglied hair from her face. The other held a bunched-up knot of spacetime. “If you want revenge for a human crime, you'd be better off negotiating. Just do it with someone who isn’t an ass-kisser. And if you want a fight, drop the pretend-justice and just fucking punch me.”

---

---

“I’m OK, when do we get to fight the dragon?”

Was Brown’s response as Jonas checked on her in the rear view mirror. She leaned her head backwards, eyes staring skyward in an attempt to catch of the mighty metal dragon flying somewhere overhead. Several pounds of chocolate and being stuck in the back of a jeep for what was likely hours, Brown felt an abundance of energy that left her clenching and unclenching her hands.

Hearing Jonas mention a plan and her own part in it Brown’s eyes snapped to him and a smile widened across her face.

"You and Klara will not be engaging the dragon at all,"

“...What?”
Brown’s smile disappeared and she was left staring at Jonas’s eyes through her view of his rearview mirror. For several moments she just sat and stared as the scenery peeled past. Eventually his words sank in as the jeep rolled to a stop and she stepped out into the wet dirt covering the side of the road. By the time she opened her mouth to speak the jeep was pulling away and what appeared to be some kind of clone of Jonas stood beside her.

“Jonas!” Brown yelled down the road at the jeep, but he was already out of earshot. Kicking at the ground the pale skinned girl turned her eyes on the clone and walked right up to him.

“Why aren’t we fighting the dragon!?” Brown demanded, gritting her teeth as she held a fist up to the Clone Jonas’s chin “I know it can fly and I can’t, and I can’t really shoot things at it, but that doesn’t mean I want to hold stupid German people by the hand!”

Not waiting for an answer Brown spat and wheeled around. Looking around she scanned the skies for the dragon and began to look for anything of use. At first she saw nothing but trees, more trees, and the occasional roadside sign written in German. Looking down the road she saw the edge of the town she was supposed to go to…

“I’m not going to do stupid busy work. But there might be something in town I can use to get to the dragon…” Brushing past the Clone Jonas, Brown began sprinting towards the perimeter of the town.

---

_{Japan.In the part that's Japan.}

---

---

Despite her best efforts, Verga couldn't topple Daichi. He was pushed backwards, the ground he stood on was moved backwards. Yet, he still stood tall. Not strong enough to even let a human fall him.

The Onis were about to jump in, and tear the woman limb from limb, but Daichi raised a hand. Signalling for his Onis to focus on the Nomads. They complied, as they knew this would be a clean, fair, battle, between Oni and this disgusting human. He grabbed his chains, and slung them over his shoulder. His massive mace was hanging off from his back, before he stared down the woman. Who had decided to try talking him down... using some vague, condescending human logic. He grimaced at the human wretch, and listened.

She had the nerve to speak to him like a fool now of all times? Tell him that his aspirations are hypocritical and petty, and treating him like he didn't know there was a greater world than Japan?!

"Foolish, arrogant, human..." He growled, with every word he spoke, he was surrounded by a thick storm-cloud slowly but surely. "You dare talk down to me like I'm some fool after angering me!?" He asked.

"As for power.... I hold enough power to topple the world!" Daichi confidently said, "I don't need anymore power!"

At this point, the black stormclouds had surrounded him to the point that his purple eyes could only be seen through the clouds. It matched the cloud of darkness that was surrounding the Arena skies.

"... But, for all your tough talk, I don't think you can even ki-sense... such a basic technique..." Daichi trailed off as he loomed over Verga. "But, can you feel it now...?" He asked.

Suddenly, the sky opened up, and several lightning bolts came from the sky, and struck down around Verga.

"... CAN YOU FEEL MY POWER!?"

---

_Japan.

---

---

Shit...

Brooke took a bit of a beating, but was no worse for wear. Stunned, but not KO'd yet!

She was on her hands and knees in the remains of the destroyed stadium. She grinned as he looked at the wall. It was more broken than she was! She helped herself to her feet, before trying to catch her bearings. Okay, there's the Daichi guy, the emperor of Japan. He was focused on some blue haired girl... while the rest of his Oni goons were converging on the rest of the fighters. Including... Jill! Brooke broke off into (a not so fast) sprint as she moved over towards her.

One Oni was flying through the air with his iron club posed to slam down on Jill's head. Brooke was quick to get in between the Oni, and Jill, and put her arm up. The club hit her, but she stepped to the side, grabbing the Oni's arm. Before slamming him into the ground over her shoulder. The Oni got up, but Brooke was quick to launch two quick snappy strikes to his midsection, before he swung his iron club in retaliation and hit her in the side. All it did was knock her back a bit.

She used a defensive sidekick to launch the Oni off Jill. But, all that did was draw more to them. They attacked Brooke, but she countered, attacked, and threw the Onis around the best she could. All while talking to Jill.

"I don't have the slightest clue what's going on!" Brooke said, "But, I don't think we should try to take on an army!"

Brooke threw a kick, and hit an Oni in the stomach, before she whipped around to face Jill...

"We should..." Then she laid eyes upon her skeleton friend. "Holy shit, a skeleton!"

---

_{Definitely not Germany.}

---

---

Despite the best efforts of the Nomads, the Dragon was still functioning. Flying high up in the skies of Germany, above the fists of most Nomads.

It had some guests... but, it received a single of sorts. Before it's priority changed from flying around, fighting Nomads, to escaping. But, how would it get off a good five Nomads? Simple. It's engines went into overdrive, shooting off like overpowered jets. Suddenly, the speed of the dragon tripled in a short notice. And everyone holding on would have a hard time. To make sure that nobody would remain on it, it turned upwards, and began spinning at incredibly high speeds.

All while robots came out of the town carrying goods. From good, to hygiene products, to entertainment.

---

---

Japan

---

The sky puckered, like a pond's surface breaking to a thrown stone, and the metally smell of ozone flushed the air. Clenching her fist around the paradox she'd prepared in her hand, Verga flicked through spacetime, just as the heavens opened up with a undulating drum of ker-cracking. The place where she'd just stood bulged and exploded with lightning, barely missing the vanished Verga.

"CAN YOU FEEL MY POWER?" roared the Emperor. Though the lightning quickly dissipated, the air continued to heave and wobble, like a beaten tuning fork. Nature itself was struck dizzy and delirious.

It had been as predictable as a traffic light, of course, Verga expected nothing less after tackling the Emperor and then taking the time to talk and vent, but there wasn't any consolation in that. Even knowing from a mile away an attack would be coming, the split-second force of the lightning had forced Verga to peel apart the dimensions just to avoid it. My last get-out-of-jail card, she thought grimly, as she slipped back into reality behind the Emperor and felt some lilting power fizzle and die from her molecules. Stretching her muscles and skimming her mental checklist, it seemed, for the time being, Verga had lost access to all her shields. She'd have to make due with swords.

Foolish, arrogant human... Privately, Verga had been glad the Emperor ignored her words in favor showboating. Privately, she was glad for every drop of shallowness and ugliness and foolishness and arrogance Daichi had thrown back at her. The simplicity of a brawl with a king on a power trip, the sticky, tar-like joy of gorging her spite—this made sense to Verga. Nothing in the world made sense, except for this. Verga felt as though she'd come home after a very, very long day in the woods. Wasting no time, she surged into action, her every move fueled by the sharp, charged-up energy of pure cold malice, and the terrifying might of the Emperor was like arms stretched out in welcome.

The Emperor's bellowing challenge had seemed to invite a response, or at least a quip, but clever quipping and mid-fight wordplay all struck Verga as distinctly gouchey. And anyways, trying to exercise her sarcasm muscles always brought Verga no small amount of frustration. Her only response, upon reappearing behind the Emperor, was instant, silent aggression, hurling an enormous axe-head of bright blue time straight at the Emperor's back. Dodging and blocking was a game she couldn't play for long, but maybe if she could slow him down...