Menomaru

Things had not gone as planned.

The knight had gotten to him. She had struck him and struck him good. To think that one of the most powerful great demons of his world was beaten by a human from another. This was beyond his understanding. At least now he would not have to share her company no more. The only comfort he found.

"To think... the great... Menomaru would be defeated by a mere human... in a place like this..."

"... by an enslaved human girl no less." He gave a low chuckle with his teeth gritted Before he finally departed from the world of the living.

Alberich

Alberich had gone forth after the mothman had spoken his last Words and lit his now dead body ablaze using his fiery crystalline sword.

"Good riddance." Alberich said with a smirk as the flame around his sword ceased to burn. He had not needed to step in, not that Mordred had given him much room to make the necessary attack on Menomaru. But that did no longer matter, the enemy was defeated.

"Coward or not. All is allowed in a war in order to win. Or would you rather lose than give up a few ideals? Knight of Camelot. The end justifies the means. If you aren't prepared to use all the tools available in order to get hold of for example The Holy Grail then do you truly deserve it?"

He knew that asking these questions could possibly anger the knight, but as it now where he had only her to work with. He had to get inside of her shell further in order to better guide her to where he wanted her.

Emilio

"Hooh? What's that?" Emilio looked to Nanoha dashing off and he shrugged to Vita before dashing after at high speed midair.

He stopped a distance behind Nanoha and surveyed the scene, making sure there was no hostiles nearby but this odd looking woman.

"Fate? Whose that? This girl? I don't know her." He shrugged abit and then spoke into his communication device to whomever was on the receiving end.

"Commander? There is a strange girl here with a scythe. Engage for retrieval? Extermination?"

"Tch."

It was clear that he hadn't known a single thing about the relationship between a Master and a Servant. 'Enslaved'? That was a laugh. Mordred had been summoned because she wanted to be. She remained loyal to her Master because it was what she chose to do. The circumstances with her temporary Master were markedly different, but Evangeline hardly seemed to expect much from her aside from preventing her death. This wasn't an issue at all.

Before Private Minami could say much of anything, the Red Knight was already making her way back to the sewers. As Alberich tried to give her some kind of talk about some kind of nonsense, trying to assume he knew what her thoughts were, knew what she wanted, she simply gave him a quick, sharp look.

"I don't have time to kick your ass right now," the blonde said, before jumping back down the hole. They had that weird slimy thing to take care of before it could hurt anybody.

@Dezuel@PKMNB0Y

---

Vita glanced towards her current ally. She'd never met him before in her life, even prior to being summoned by Hayate. From what she understood, they had come from entirely different universes. There was no way they could have met. And to be frank, she didn't exactly feel like talking to him anyway.

"I've never met you before today," she replied, shrugging her shoulders and resting her hammer on her shoulder. There were no more enemies now... wait... what was... Nanoha was running off? Almost immediately Vita went to follow her...

And when they arrived, it was clear that Nanoha had run off before actually thinking, having seen the glimpse of the scythe and not much else. This... certainly was not Fate Testarossa. She was tall. Very tall. Tall was a bit of an understatement, really, given she was absolutely giant. Over four meters tall, snow-white hair, a long, fluffy white tail... this person was very obviously not human.

"... Don't be stupid, Nanoha," Vita complained as she stepped forward, looking up at the huge girl.

"Who are you?"

@KoL@Dezuel@PKMNB0Y

"Tachibana Hibiki, member of S.O.N.G. Um... you wouldn't have some other name we could use?" the girl said, taking the person floating in the sky mostly in stride--but not without a degree of apprehension, given the last person that she'd seen able to pull off something like that without any apparent effort. But his name was just depressing... and he didn't look all that anguished, either!

---

It definitely wasn't unusual for the police to approach him rather than some of the others running around... though that would normally have been due to previous experience with the police department. Maybe it was because he was actually on the ground and not caked in blood? In old New York, that sort of thing would be alarming rather than just off-putting.

"I agree that we should meet with your superiors if this will lead us all to have somewhere to stay. That this is New York suggests that none of my assets are available, and I expect that this extends to the others here."

Inuyasha handed the earpiece back to the man who handed it to him. After waiting for the man to speak to his superior he followed the man to where ever his master was. He seemed to be a faithful guard, which was likely why he got promoted to command. Maybe Inuyasha would talk to him later, should he need information on this new world.


"Oh, I didn't mean to insult you," he said to the white haired woman, "I just thought you were one of the crowd of fans trying to talk to me. Though, now I guess you were more under cover at the time, and didn't have time to change into your super outfit. I tend to go by "Iron Man" when I'm in my armor, stopping evil dragons from destroying the city or something similar."

"They're wyverns, sir." Jarvis commented, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Dragons have four legs and wings. Wyvern have their front legs combined with their wings."

"Whatever." he said, hopefully shutting Jarvis up. "I guess I'd better talk to the cops." He nodded to the two women. "Ladies." he said, then flew off towards the cops

Stark landed behind Tyr, who seemed to be addressing a mutant, and addressed the cop. "I didn't catch all of that, but if the UN wants to talk with us, I'd love to talk to them. Tell me, will we be speaking with Secretary Guterres himself or someone else? I've met him before, actually, in my universe. Is he even Secretary General in this universe?" He was trying to charm the cop of course, putting on this talkative persona that he always did when dealing with the public.


Well, that was interesting. A dragon attacked the city, something he was certain was a myth, and now he had to try to explain this to the people of this world. He slung his rifle over his back and walked over to the cops. "Apparently, your city just came under attack from mythological creatures." he said to an officer there, one of the few that weren't on crowd control, "Fortunately, people strong enough to stop them were around to do your job for you. I think we need to discuss compensation. If this "UN" wants to talk about it, I'd be happy to join them." Sure, he didn't manage to help, but Tony had, and they needed the money to figure out a way home.

Another man there, one that appeared to be Engineered as well, judging from his animal-like appearance, had mentioned money as well, so he was glad that he wasn't the only one. Tyr walked over to the man and held out his hand. "Hello, I am Tyr Anasazi, mercenary and bounty hunter. Are you also a soldier of fortune?"

@PKMNB0Y@KoL@Raineh Daze

The lieutenant nodded to Klaus in approval as he seemed to give the go-ahead for the escort; of course, his reaction was a bit less reserved when Stark flew around, given that the superhero was a far more familiar sight to him than the entire rest of the colorful cast that had gathered in front of the police.

"Ah-er... Mr. Stark--you are Tony Stark, right? Iron Man? I'm sorry to say that Secretary Gutierrez doesn't exist in our world... Unless you mean as a character in the comics, but I guess that's not as relevant right now. In any case, if there are no objections my men and I will bring you right over. I can't do anything about paying you, though--my check's from the government, after all..."

Leo gave a pensive nod as the man in front of them gave a sheepish smile before turning towards his subordinates--or, at the very least, those who weren't busy cleaning up the mess in the area. Everyone was quickly led to the array of police cars and, assuming they wanted to, promptly boarded one before the squadron drove off, leaving the corpses of the wyverns behind them.

---

Given the amount of insanity that had only just subsided, the roads of early-morning Manhattan were abnormally empty. Most of the news had given warnings to stay inside until the situation passed, and most were willing to oblige. It wasn't long before the group of police cars slid up to the UN, where there was an abnormal showing of military muscle from the US troops assigned to stand guard. As soon as everyone had left their respective vehicles, an older man in a suit calmly motioned towards the group to follow him.

"My apologies for the urgent call; as soon as the representatives for China, Japan, and the UK relayed reports of similar incidents, we could not help but call you all here. My name is Stanley Sharpton, and I represent the United States. You can introduce yourselves in front of the rest of the delegates; there is little time to waste."

There was an audible gulp from Leo as the group was led into the building and, subsequently, to the main chamber of the building where all the representatives from the other nations were anxiously speaking amongst one another.

The second that they had all wntered, the panels almost instantly quieted down, and Mr. Sharpton calmly took his seat as the proceedings began.

The pre-discussion briefing was fairly short, all things considered; the declaration of a worldwide emergency coupled with clips from the recent wyvern fight and other similar incidents the world over only served to emphasize the importance of their meeting here today.

And thus the proceedings began, with each character introducing themselves as they might to the politicians.

"Now, with that settled... Gentlemen. Ladies. I propose we form a temporary special dedicated council to aid in resolving this crisis. This is under the assumption that they give their assent, but given how our own firearms did little against those enemies just now, I would like to hear any arguments for the latter."

There was a bit of murmuring amongst the crowd, but given the lack of outright objection Mr. Sharpton nodded and turned towards the group.

"My apologies for the sudden proposal, of course, but we will surely give you ample compensation for your a--"

"Hm? I should have hoped you older folk wpuld know better than to interfere in matters like these."

The culprit of the statement was nowhere to be seen, and the room grew deathly silent as everyone began to turn their heads around to look for the culprit. After a few seconds of empty silence, the politicians began to relax.
At least, until a large rift opened up in the middle of the room and slowly pried itself open. The inside of the gap was dyed a deep purple, with a large amount of eyes that seemed to flit about, staring at everyone they passed over as a single figure stepped out of the hole.

"Well, then... Altair, I leave this stage to you. Let me know when the proceedings are over," the voice responded from inside the gap before it closed behind the figure. The woman, Altair, glanced at the group and, eyeing Meteora with a wary expression, held up a hand as if to motion everyone there to stop.

"Rather than fight you all as I have done in the past, I will instead welcome you newcomers to this world. It is not my own, but even so, it is one full of abundance and beauty—or, rather, it would be. I am not here to destroy this world, nor do I seek to destroy any others—no, instead, I am here to protect it. To seal off these gardens from the insects that may pervade throughout—it is for that purpose that I stand before you today. Should you fail to see likewise, I am afraid that it is your throat that I shall come for next."

"That's a rather harsh ultimatum. If anything, shouldn't the opposite be true?" responded another woman, who, at first glance, seemed to be wearing a blue elevator attendant's uniform. "Oh, but if this is to be a place of peace, then let me introduce myself. I am Elizabeth, and I will be the first to oppose your selfish impositions upon all of humanity, Ms. Altair. Should man not be free to seek the answers so barely out of reach? To deny them of such a thing... I will not tolerate it."

"...Hmph. I am under orders not to harm any of you right now, but you, Ms. Elizabeth, may be an exception. Alas, I need only say this much. All of you gentlemen should know what sway your words have on the world. I sincerely hope that you should not make an enemy of me."

"Likewise. I won't show any qualms about stopping your farce the next time we meet, and I won't hesitate in defeating all of you should the need arise."

The two women glared at each other for a few moments before they both turned around and left the same way they came, leaving the whole hall in chaos.

Leo simply stood by, slack-jawed at the whole affair. They came like a storm, but even so...

"Erm... So, uh... What should we do, everyone?" he asked, almost certainly expecting a flurry of arguments from all sides. "I don't really understand the whole situation, but... I don't know what to say about this situation anyways..."

Almost as if to break the tension, another gap soon appeared right next to Youmu's ear, speaking just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Oh, by the way Youmu, Yuyuko has gone missing. One moment, she was asking me for some food from the Outside World, and the next, she was gone. If you find her, please let me know."

And with that, the gap closed back into nonexistence, leaving Leo staring blankly at the space thereafter.


"E-eh? Who? Fate?" the Celestial asked in a half-panic as she watched the magical girl fly off towards some odd figure in the distance. Without giving the matter any further thought, Tenshi followed suit, only to find that Vita was already there with Emilio to discount Nanoha's initial theory. The tall woman in front of them was rather imposing in height, but given that she was currently flying, Tenshi felt no sense of inferiority. Rather than that, this girl felt INCREDIBLY abnormal, in all senses of the word.

"Ah... My apologies; it seems you have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Priscilla. I found myself here rather suddenly, surrounded by all of these odd creatures. I humbly thank you for dealing with the rest of them; it gave me some time to gather myself off to the side. May I ask for your own names?"

"Priscilla... Was it? I am Hinanawi Tenshi, a Celestial from Heaven. You said you were fighting off those 'creatures'—do you have any idea what they might be?"

"What they are...? I apologize, but I am just as clueless as you are. They simply came towards me like a bunch of Hollows, and despite my own warnings, they continued to mindlessly attack. It was as if they had no minds of their own, in fact—a far cry from what I know of. Mayhaps they were golems of some sort?"

The response Emilio would get in the midst of this was a simple one: if they were sapient to any degree, attempt to retrieve them for questioning and cross-examination. Unless their lives were at stake, it was made explicitly clear that, if possible, no one was to be 'exterminated' in any way, shape, or form.

---

Once Inuyasha had arrived at the designated location—the same apartment complex that everyone had come to a while earlier—the man who had contacted him over the earpiece was there waiting for him.

"I apologize for the roundabout method to get you here; the city's currently in a panic, and my men are all over the place trying to keep some semblance of order," the Captain stated before glancing at the buildings behind them. "In any case... Inuyasha, was it? I'll keep things brief; this is not the Japan you know of in any way, shape, or form. The subordinate that I have stationed here should be able to give you a better briefing than I, but to keep things simple, a group of people in a similar situation to yours have already contracted with us, the Japanese military, to help keep the peace in exchange for lodging, funding, and direct support from us. The offer is also extended to you, should you choose to accept it. The choice is yours and yours alone."

Unlike with the politicians earlier, there was no need to dance around the topic—the heart of the matter was most important, after all.

---

The moment that Mordred re-entered the sewer, the sound of something gurgling began to resonate quite loudly from the direction that the slime creature had moved off to. Something was happening, of course, but in the darkness here what that something was remained to be seen.

Of course, once anyone arrived with any sort of light, they would see that the slime had tripled in size over the few moments that they had gone off to deal with Menomaru.


The Anguished One smiled at the three as they gave their names in turn before nodding in silence.

"Ah... Ben, Hibiki, and Misaki, then? I shall keep those names in mind for the future. As for your questions... I do have another name, of course, but this current title is what 'suits' me the best at this moment. As for alternative actions... Well, sadly, I believe it is a little later for that now," he stated, glancing off to the side towards the incoming police lights. "I believe it is in all of our bests interests if I withdraw for the moment. However, Ms. Hibiki, it should not be long until you find what you seek."

Without another word, The Anguished One floated back off into the distance, far away from the police that were only now arriving on the scene.

"Ah... We missed our chance..." Misaki sighed, shaking her head as she tried to figure out how to get out of this situation as the policemen ran over on foot (over the broken road, of course). There was one oddity, though—namely, the black-haired girl who was crying out Hibiki's name.

"Uh... Who?" Misaki asked as she watched the girl leap into Hibiki's arms in a hug.

"Hibiki! Hibiki! Thank goodness you're all right!" she said, a wide smile on her face as one of the policemen nodded his head in turn.

"So you're this 'Hibiki' she kept talking about? Suprisingly informal outfit you have there. Ms. Kohinata helped us evacuate some of the citizens from the area before... All of this, really," he said, gesturing towards the road. "In any case, though... You should get somewhere safe. Who knows if whatever caused this might do it again..."

Misaki stared at the officer, half in amusement and half in shock at his assumptions.

"Is he... Is he an idiot?" she asked herself before shaking her head. "Actually, this might work in our favor..."

"Excuse me, but... Are there any shelters nearby for us to head to? I'm afraid my home was caught in the crossfire here..." she said, discreetly slipping out a remote from her bag and pointing it at the officer. With a small 'click', the man seemed to have stars in his eyes as he turned to address them.

"Oh, of course. It's just down that way. Walk three blocks, take a left, walk two more blocks, and you should be there."

"Thank you very much, sir."

"No problem. Now, if you young ladies... And your chaperone, I assume?" he asked, to which Misaki nodded before he continued on. "Right, if you could get going to safety, I assure you that we'll get to the bottom of this."

And with that, the officers left, to which Misaki let out a deep sigh and massaged her forehead.

"Hm... By some miracle, I managed to get rid of any liability for this incident... Or so it seems. I really have to question law enforcement sometimes," she said, shaking her head before turning to the other three.

"Well? I don't think that pressing him for any details on the situation would have helped us much, and I would much prefer gathering information from a crowd; far less conspicuous," she stated, placing the remote back in her bag before beginning to walk off. "Shall we get going?"

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@Dezuel@KoL@Rin@TheFake@TheUnknowable@Crusader Lord

To be honest, there was a great deal of things happening right now that Youmu didn't entirely understand. She was hardly unaware of how things were run in Gensokyo, but this seemed markedly different. Still, she understood the situation itself. This... was not the world she knew. Somehow, universes had been connected in a way that would allow people from them to be transported between different worlds. This was another version of the world she knew. The same went for nearly everyone here. And this, naturally, was dangerous. This world didn't seem prepared for many of the threats present in different universes on its own. No, what the half-phantom girl didn't understand was just who all these other people were. Things were happening quite quickly, and to put it simply there had been no time for proper introductions. Certainly, Youmu had introduced herself with a bow, but there did not seem to be time for proper introductions on the part of the many individuals representing... different countries, perhaps? Was that the function they were serving?

There wasn't any further time to wonder, however.

Youmu knew that hole in the air. The purple void filled with unblinking eyes. The deep pit of blackness was familiar to her, after all, the one who controlled such a space was a frequent guest at Hakugyokurou.

"Yakumo-sama?!" Youmu almost immediately shot to her feet, placing a hand on Roukanken's hilt as she did. This was... this was strange, why was she here? Who... who was that?

The girl in some sort of military outfit...

There was silence for several moments, aside from the words of the silver-haired girl known as Altair and the white-haired girl who introduced herself as Elizabeth. Then, as swiftly as they had appeared, they were gone.

And then, next to her ear, another gap.

Yakumo Yukari's words.

"... Y... Yuyuko... -sama...?"

For a moment, the fact that Yakumo had been rather calm and unconcerned and that there must be a reason for that didn't sink in. All that reached Youmu, after everything, was the fact that Yuyuko had disappeared. A feeling like sinking lead hit the small girl in the chest. Yuyuko-sama... had disappeared. Dully, Youmu sat down, eyes fixed ahead. No... what had happened? What had happened to the one she served with all her heart? Where had she gone? Certainly, Youmu's deepest desire had been to return home, but if Yuyuko was not there, if she could not return to Yuyuko-sama's side...

Needless to say, it was obvious that Youmu was distraught over the news. Perhaps, if she thought for a moment, she'd realize in all likelyhood Yuyuko was in this world...

But even then, what if she wasn't?

@PKMNB0Y@TheUnknowable@KoL@Raineh Daze

Why did people who could fly always make cryptic statements before leaving? He hadn't explained anything--or even if he had another name--before disappearing. What she sought? She wanted a way home so she could find Miku, did that mean that she wouldn't be here for long and could find her way home?

Answer: apparently not, with a very familiar voice calling out for her just a moment later--barely enough time to turn around and catch the other girl before they both ended up on the ground. Again. It wouldn't have been the first time that had happened, but it was nice to not get their clothes all dirty again... even if those clothes were still her pyjamas and Miku had managed to get dressed somehow.

"Miku! You were brought here too?" the brunette responded, relief nevertheless creeping into her voice. Even if she was trapped alone, away from home, and with no proper clothes, at least Miku was here with her, a warm place to come back to... though with her focus on Miku she was only half aware of the conversation going on and the leaving officer.

"Eh? Where are we going? The shelter? But there's nothing left to hide from."



The UN understandably wanted to form some group to deal with the crisis and an offered proposal but it was strictly lacking in... details. The representative had shown that there was some crisis going on, but Klaus had already known that simply from the fight that they already had to do. In old New York giant winged reptiles were not a regular occurrence and nor were people able to fight them on even footing, though of course some had existed in secret. Whilst he had helpfully established that this was less of a localised phenomenon than the collapse, his proposal hadn't really given them any more information or a suggestion beyond working together.

An agency under UN oversight might have too much friction with the jurisdiction of sovereign countries, and a vast amount of criminal damage in the mere process of fighting off any potential monstrous invaders. Working on a UN council would probably lead to a lot of paperwork and criminal charges, but if there was funding to be had, maybe it could be one source and those of them brought there could form a less public group to confront the threat. Or, in other words, he could establish Libra once again.

But before that could be suggested or discussed in any way, two girls appeared from nowhere, one rather militant and the other oddly old fashioned. Then promptly left again, leaving none of them the wiser. Not wishing to be missed out on if everyone did start talking at once--and aware of Leo's question, though that was a much harder answer--the redheaded man raised his hand.

"Does anyone know who they were or what they were arguing about?"

It seemed related to their problem, but cryptic statements could easily be interpreted to be relevant even if they weren't.

Emilio

"We are to bring you to the army for questioning. These are our orders."

She was to be taken to the army for questioning, this was the reply he had been given by those in charge. He had no idea what she were but it was surely not human. Not that he felt worried overly much about it, he wasn't human himself after all. None of them were as far as he could tell, but as the moment now were, in his own world Wong had worked alongside humans against the Psychiccer only group called Noa. So to Emilio they were allies, if temporary so.

It was sometimes hard to figure out what Wong actually wanted to do. Emilio tended to not bother too much figuring out what, and that same thing applied to him to som degree even in this world. As long as the army would provide him with entertaining missions he would not have much reason to leave them. Though if they decided to fire on him or get in his way he wouldn't have any qualms about leaving them.

Right now though he wanted to toy around with someone. Preferably a non-army member. Like a renegade or enemy whose emotions would yield the amusement he wanted. Not that he exactly wanted to kill everything he saw, but tormenting them in specific ways mentally foremost. For some reason he felt good whenever someone else was having misfortune. As if it was a sedative to dullen a buried feeling within himself.

"The army does not want you to be exterminated it would appear... heh heh. So let's go shall we?"

Whatever the army had in store for this scythe wielder it was surely something amusing. He did not question that. What they did was of no concern to him though as long as he got to have some fun himself. Being locked up in a room waiting for assignments were boring.

Alberich

Alberich kept his cold stare as he followed Mordred. She was not interested in talking or paid him any respect. He realized that she was probably not going to be of any use to him at all and he would have to look elsewhere for potential allies. She could get into that hole and get herself killed. What difference would it truly make? He could just report back to the others that both she and Menomaru both died and the fourth one deserted.

Then he would be assigned with someone else who could be more cooperative to his goals. If the thing down in the hole got away or not it wasn't all that important as long as he got away himself. He smirked as he wandered down the hole. He might aswell take the time to memorize her moves would she eventually in her arrogance and recklessness turn her sword on him. She did seem the type who would swing before thinking.

Do not look down on me or you'll die. Woman. Marin, Seiya, Hyoga and even Shiryu underestimated the powers of the brain of Asgard.

"I'm sorry! I got a glance of your weapon and got confused. Please, accept my apologies," Nanoha said, bowing deeply, in a typical Japanese way. Nanoha's apologetical bow didn't last long; she turned around to face Emilio as he asked the Priscilla to come with them.

"Japan has no army. We have the Self Defense Force. They are not the same thing. Furthermore, we are here on behalf of the National Diet—they are the highest echelon of Japan's government. We would indeed be glad if you could come with us but not under the threat of termination," Nanoha said, trying to be reasonable. In case a fight broke out she would obviously retaliate, but never allow someone else to be exterminated. Even if she had to fight her own companions because of that.

---

@Dezuel@VitaVitaAR@PKMNB0Y

Vita gave a glare towards Emilio. The way he was talking was no way to convince anybody to come along with them. Even she knew that. Besides, this girl hadn't done anything wrong, right? Why threaten her at all? It just made her annoyed. Nanoha could be kind of dumb sometimes, too, but it was at least in a different way that didn't go on about just up and killing somebody who wasn't even doing anything. No matter how bad Vita's temper was, she'd never consider doing something like that.

"They'll give you somewhere to stay, or something," Vita said as she stepped towards the huge, scythe-wielding girl, resting Eisen on her shoulder as she did. Privately she wondered if they actually had any rooms large enough for someone who was this tall, but maybe they'd work something out. The tiny redhead wasn't exactly the best when it came to being convincing, but as far as she knew that was the truth. If a fight broke out, so be it, but right now it looked like this girl wasn't going to be fighting anybody. So why not just tell her the truth? "They just want to talk to you."

@Dezuel@KoL@PKMNB0Y

---

"... Eh? It got bigger, huh?" Mordred questioned, resting Clarent on her shoulder as she approached the blob. It didn't seem to actually be doing much of anything, but that didn't mean it wasn't attempting something. And so, it was important to try and stop it. She wasn't the type to try and talk, and this thing didn't look like it was going to try and do any talking anyway. Swinging Clarent off her shoulder, the red knight darted forward.

"Let's go!"

She swung her blade down, red light crackling across it as she lashed out towards the foul-smelling creature.

@Dezuel@PKMNB0Y

---

What in this world was happening?! Sanaki held a composed face in front of all of this, but her mind was racing as two women, oddly dressed, appeared before all of them in this room and made announcements. One dressed as if to fight in a war announced that this world was her "garden" of sorts and vowed to kill them all of they didn't take her side and plan, with the other in blue attire threatening the woman in return. Both had appeared from some strange portals of sorts filled with eyes and an odd voice. Then another one of these gaps appeared next to one of the members of this small group who had appeared to fight the wyverns in this rather large city, a thing Sanaki watched with a sense of concern, seeming to say something about a missing individual before disappearing and leaving the sword user seemingly in a distraught state. All in all, the room seemed abuzz with the chaos of talking and worried tones, the new arrivals who had left again being the source of this alongside whatever else might have already been stewing under the surface. It felt like a room of panicked senators, jabbering on without getting to the point, other matters just driving them from a unified front of sorts.

Sanaki put a hand on Youmu's shoulder, albeit reaching up to do so, gently but very firmly aiming to try to get the swordswoman's attention.

"If someone you know is missing, she might be in this world, you know," the small Empress said directly to Youmu, trying to say something to help snap the other female out of the funk she had fallen into, "After all, we are all here right now, so it isn't a long shot to think this could be the case."

Then after giving a light nod to the swordswoman following her words, the small Empress steeled her resolve more and calmly stepped forward in front of the group, presenting herself in front of this board of somewhat visibly frantic old men without so much as an ounce of hesitation. She was well versed in these sorts of matters, visible age aside, and such a scene was one she had been able to maturely handle many a time in the past. It was like a fish taking to water.



The small Empress knew how to put on a presence, especially on a stage, and right now she was doing so to the best of her ability to seek to bring this crowd of chaotically talking state heads and national representatives and such (as she assumed they were at least) to a halting of this trivial state they were currently in. It was a time to act, not to patter on about two new arrivals and their ultimatums. If they did not act and unite together, she could foresee the collapse of any measures to handle this entire crisis altogether.

Even if her age was one thing, if it at least got them to shut up and calm down once more, then it would at least be worth the effort on her part.

@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR@KoL@Raineh Daze@TheUnknowable

---

---

The brown-haired girl one second had been in the arms of Prarie and the others, and the next she had felt swallowed in a sudden blackness. She hadn't even the time to call out to her biometals, all sitting about on her waist, in order to transform and even attempt to fight back against such a sudden and overwhelming force. Yet as she began to stir, one thing was certain...she felt the all too familiar sensation of falling, as if plummeting through the air towards the ground. Yet as she was finally opening her eyes, Aile's mind was jolted awake by the raw fact that she was falling, through the air, towards the top spire of some very tall building that wasn't anything like she has seen back home in style or construction. Though before she could absorb anything, she snatched up the green biometal Model H that sat on her side.



"MEGAMERGE!" the girl crid aloud quickly, the familiar light of her transformation enveloping her body in a heartbeat before fading to leave her in a transformed state.



As her wings kicked to life in a moment, Aile flew to the side to dodge being impaled on the top of this building, before altering her angle and using her wings to hover in place next to its top spire proper. Though the adrenaline had her looking out for some Pesudoroid or other monstrosity that might have brought her here, perhaps some altered transceiver tech being used somehow to bring her here, as the hormone faded from her veins the reality of the situation came on more suddenly. These buildings in structure and materials were utterly alien to her to an extent, being like those back home in overall shape but not made of metal, or the same building style, nor even being as advanced in tech by far. Earth and stone, it seemed, as a contrast to the prospectively small (from her height in the air) and non-hovering vehicles on the ground that seemed to emit gases as they chugged along. It was disorienting, but soon a voice snapped her from this state of awe that was coming on by-

"Keep a level head, Aile. We need to get our initial bearings," the voice of Model H said aloud in its calm and composed, but not apathetic tone, though its words seemed to echo into the girl's mind as if on purpose to get her attention at this moment in time.

"He's right you know," the voice of Model X followed within her mind, calm and astute but with a more care and emotion audible in its tone of voice, "Z would say the same thing, but he's trying to get a read of the situation before he speaks up himself."



Aile mentally sighed to herself in relief that the Biometals were there for her, since they weren't really the ones able to get "freaked out" by a sudden situation like this. All the same, as she began to assert a better sense of calm over herself, she had one question in her mind that came above all others-

"Where am i?" the girl said aloud to herself, taking in the scene with a quiet tone that was filled with a minor sense of disbelief and surprise even still.

@PKMNB0Y@Rin

"We should start moving to this shelter though I dislike being controlled unless it serves to meet my own goals."

He strted moving at a leisurely pace towards the direction indicated by the guardsman. At this point he was simply making things up as he needed to. There was no overarching plan but he was sure that he would be able to come up with something sooner or later.

"Given that we all seem to be misplaced from whereever we should be, I think that the best thing would indeed be to gather some information."

He doubted that any of them were as lost as he was, though it seemed that he was the only one that had been in this sort of situation before. Even so, this city was quite unlike anywhere he had ever heard of.

@Raineh Daze@PKMNB0Y



It wasn't particularly difficult for her to grasp the magnitude of the situation. Certainly she had seen the bloodshed that had come of a handful of wayward immortals, none of those had anywhere near the supernatural might as any of those she had seen today. She stood up.

"I agree that decisions need to be made. Every one of us seems to be exceptional in some way. In my opinion a proper course of action would be to give us whatever cooperation your governments are able to in order to gather information about whatever is going on and, if necessary, the resources we need to combat any threats."

@Crusader Lord@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR@KoL@Raineh Daze@TheUnknowable

"How come—" Meteora almost jumped out of her seat in the UN Assembly once they were invaded by none other than Altair as well as a second someone that she had a good idea of who it could be, thanks to her prior research on the ghost girl named Youmu. "This is the absolute worst case scenario. Or maybe, not," she thought out loud as the Mop-haired Princess made her declarations.

While all hell broke loose in the conference room that suddenly felt too small for all those people, Meteora reached for the Book of a Thousand Miles and flipped its pages with the kind of practiced skill that only a genius mage was capable of. "Here it's," she thought as she found the spell she was looking for. "That may as well be exactly what we needed to begin piecing this mystery together." Instead of unleashing any flashy magic, Meteora focused her attention on the chaos around her and used a spell to tidy up things in her vicinity. The same spell that failed when she tried to use it on Souta's room because the other world's reality rejected it. Altair's presence raised some questions in her head and, before answering any of them, she needed to know to what extent her presence had affected this world.

While Meteora waited to see if the chaotic scenery was going to fix itself with her magic, Sanaki's imperious declaration got her attention. She agreed with most of what the smallish empress said, except that she missed one crucial detail that Meteora just thought about. "Mister Secretary, and Representatives, as someone who went through a similar scenario before, I agree with Sanaki's words: Now isn't the time to panic. Instead of it, you should come together to find a solution to this problem and, more importantly, you should ask yourselves: 'Is our world really the real one and, would we defend it even if we are someone else's creation?' If you cannot answer these questions sincerely, you have no hopes of defeating the likes of Altair who thrive on other's doubts. Most of us have something to protect that is worth more than our own lives—that's what Creations such as us are made to be, examples to inspire you— but..."

"...Do you have the resolve as well?"

---

Stark had removed the armor and was straightening out his suit when the meeting began. He sat in the front row with Tyr, Jarvis waiting outside at the nearby security station with Tyr's weapons. They wisely hadn't allowed them to carry guns inside.

Stark stepped from his seat in the front row up to the podium. "Hi. My name is Tony Stark, in case you didn't already recognize me. I've been protecting my world from threats like this, even the odd alien invasion, for a couple of years now, and I'm more than happy to continue protecting your world. I was investigating inter-dimensional travel before arriving here, so I was already hoping to figure out a way to return to my world if you want to continue that research. I'd even be willing to share some, but not all, of my tech to help you defend yourselves. That said, we are not from your world. I have friends in my own world, and a Fortune 100 company I need to return to. My friend here," he motioned towards Tyr, who was walking onto the stage. "is from space, and the future. He doesn't belong here any more than I do, and I would guess that the same goes for the rest of these people."

Tyr walked onto the stage and up to the microphone. "I am Tyr Anasazi. I didn't ask to come to this world, but as long as I'm here, I'm willing to fight your enemies. But you need to learn to fight them on your own. I'll teach your scientists to build Gauss guns, so you can protect yourself. I'll train your troops. I'll even help your space program if that's what it takes to get back to my world. Just know that that is my only concern."

With that, he went back to his seat and sat down, Tony retaking the mic. "Well," he said, a bit surprised at Tyr's response. "Any questions?"



"So, I'm in a different future world from the different future world I've been to before?" He scratched his head. "This is confusing. But if there are other people like me here, I need to meet them, to see if they can help clear this up. I've worked for various rulers before, and worked with a team. If you need me to help stop demons or other threats to your people, I'm willing to help. Just tell me where to go."

Misaki paused for a moment at Hibiki's reactions, trying to figure out how to explain the situation to her. The old man, at least, had understood what she was getting at; after all, it'd be near-suicidal to wander about as they were without any place of residence or a stable source of income. At the very least, she could try figuring out how to get IDs for the near future handled, but that would require government buildings to let them through in the first place.

"Mmm... Well, if you have some home to go back to—and, given your reaction earlier, I would assume you don't—then feel free to look somewhere else. it's getting late, and though I would rather be sleeping at my bed back in Tokiwadai, our current situation makes that possibility seems quite small. At the very least, we won't be probed too hardly at a shelter as compared to... Anywhere else. And no, I am not renting out a hotel room for the night. We only have so much money for the moment, after all," she calmly stated before continuing on once more. Though it was weird walking alongside the man she had pepper sprayed just a little while ago as if nothing had occurred, the esper still had the worry in the back of her mind that he would return the favor tenfold in the future. Of course, antagonizing him at this point would have no merit to her unless the situation called for it, so for now she hoped that he would at least let sleeping dogs lie.

Miku let out a sigh of relief as she hugged Hibiki, letting time tick slowly by for a few moments before letting go. The smile on her face was clear for all to see, though there was a twinge of bitterness at the blonde girl's mention that their home had all but disappeared here.

"Um... Hibiki, did you already go to our dorms? Were they there?" she asked, shifting her glance to the side. "I was in... Ikebukuro, I think? There was some talk about a giant wolf and a black bike, and the police were all trying to get people to move. I was helping them out, so I didn't get a chance to look for you until now..."

There was a bit of hesitation in the girl's voice before she continued to speak, shaking her head as if to dispel any doubts about anything else in her mind.

"B-but I think that we should follow the people you were with to the shelter. If our home really is gone, then I don't know where else we would go..."

---

The shelter itself (when whoever else who was going there had arrived) was already fairly lively with people who had been evacuated. It was a park, more or less, with various temporary tents set up within to house those who were displaced for the moment. Of course, there were people off to the side giving emergency medical care and handing out things like sleeping bags and whatnot, but that much was a given. There were people chatting about left and right, and there remained a constant tension in the air, but other than that...

Well, given the circumstances it all felt fairly normal.


"Hey, what are you doing throwing words like 'extermination' around like that?" Tenshi asked, clearly displeased at Emilio's choice of words just as the rest of her companions were. "There's no need to act like some omnicidal shrine maiden when things are peaceful... Well, okay, maybe not peaceful, but you understand what I mean!"

The woman—Priscilla—gave a wary glance over to Emilio before nodding her head. Despite his words making her a bit wary, the three young women with him seemed to be reasonable enough to not start fights for any good reason.

"...Very well. I place my faith in you four. Let us be off."

With a nod, Tenshi took flight again, only to realize that Priscilla wasn't following.

"Um... Can you not fly?" the Celestial asked, cocking her head to the side in curiosity. "We can go by foot too, but..."

"Yes. My apologies, but I am unable to take to the skies as you have."

A soft 'oh' slipped from Tenshi's lips as she quietly landed on the ground and nodded.

"In that case, walking is fine. As much as I hate to admit it, though, I have no idea which way to go to get back if we're not flying, though..."

---

Mordred's sword cleaved cleanly through the slime's body, but it didn't take long for the gash that had been left in the gunk to simply reform over it. It was almost as if the weapon hadn't registered in the first place, and the slime continued to slide along. Though it had grown in size, it seemed to only want to move to the end of the sewer faster instead of fighting back.

Not like it mattered, of course, given the distinct lack of damage on its body after the fact.

---

"Er... Something along those lines?" the Captain stated, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to follow Inuyasha's own line of logic before shrugging it off as something for other people to clarify later. "Ah, well, in any case, if you're offering then we'll get you the contract later. For now, though..."

With that, the Captain simply tossed the youkai a keyring with a key on it before stepping into his vehicle.

"The others should be back in a bit. Go check out your room over there whenever you want, alright?" he asked before driving off. The Private could handle the logistics when she returned, after all.


Leonardo stood by speechless as the room seemed to devolve into a big ruckus and Youmu seemed to lose all touch with reality, but before he could really speak up two of the other girls in the room—Sanaki and Meteora, if he recalled correctly from their introductions—seemed to pull all focus on themselves. The smaller debates around the room seemed to quiet down, and there was an awkward silence before someone spoke up.

"To be quite frank, Mr. Reinhertz, it hasn't even been 24 hours since all of these incidents started occurring and, to be quite honest, I—as well of many of my colleagues here—were at a loss when Mr. Sharpton called us all together like this," one man stated, his hands tented in front of himself as a few others nodded in agreement. "But I think that the larger issue at hand is the fact that these people—whoever they were—could freely enter such a high-security facility and waltz out without so much as a response from the security systems. We want information just as much as you do, and despite my own misgivings, I have to admit that the 'Empress' over there does have a point. But at the same time, the UN is technically an independent organization, and we'd have to make appeals to the nations we represent if were to request funds."

"But at the same time, it's not like his proposal doesn't have any weight behind it now," another man responded, his eyes glancing around as he spoke. "We can supply you with some funding to start with along with someone to look over your actions, but so long as you provide results in aiding us—and I do mean all of us, seeing as how we are representatives of all the nations here on Earth—I do not think that requesting additional money should be too much of an issue. Am I wrong?"

The rhetorical question from the man seemed to punctuate how the situation was going, and Leo grimaced a little at how brazen he was. While it was true that they were essentially strangers here (and technically foreign immigrants as well), wasn't there a bit more tact that could have been put into this issue?

It seemed that Mr. Sharpton wasn't the only one who was a bit annoyed by how the situation had become about self-preservation, though, as there were a few other representatives looking at the one who had just spoken before Mr. Sharpton once again attempted to take hold of the conversation.

"Well, considering the fact that they have shown their merits to us here in the United States, I think that we would be more than happy to allow them to set up operations here for the time being. We can settle on a more logical budget for your actions and decide upon what funds you might have to reimburse based on the threat and the damages afterwards, but giving you extraterritorial rights in regards to unrestricted travel between countries coupled with a million USD should be somewhere to start negotiations, but I recommend we debate this further once you have found somewhere to settle down. As of right now, I believe that everyone here would like to consult with their own respective heads of state or what have you, and even then we must decide who would be on the council managing these people. Am I wrong?"

There was a bit more murmuring and a few more 'yeas' than 'nays' popping up in the area as the atmosphere in the area seemed to lighten up, if only a little.

"As for whether or not we exist as 'real', though? Well, I cannot speak for everyone, but I believe myself to exist here, right now, and that is what matters. My duty to this world and my nation mean nothing in the face of some philosophical 'what-if' scenario."

With that settled, the representatives seemed to slowly debate among themselves a bit more before finally adjourning the council, leaving some people to leave the room (some in more of a hurry than others). Of course, Mr. Sharpton was one of the ones who had remained behind, and a few others seemed to hover around as well, if only to see where discussions with the group from here on out led.

"I... Apologize for both our temporary panic and my colleague's behavior. Had I known things would devolve as they had, I might have spent some more time trying to rationalize the situation before leading you here," he stated, glancing over to Sanaki before quietly nodding. "While people may come to question your regency—and, quite possibly, the legitimacy of this entire affair—I believe that something like this was the best course of action we could have taken given the turn that the dialogue was being taken."

With a bit of a sidelong glance, the older man sighed and shook his head before continuing on.

"We cannot simply get you the funding that you need quite yet—there are still legal contracts to be processed, and the usual issues regarding extraterritorial rights remain hanging above all our heads. But you've proven yourselves thus far, so it shouldn't take too long to at least get you somewhere to live for the time being and some money in your pockets so you don't starve. For the time being, though... You should be free to explore the city. If you wish, we can give you some funds for the day, but... It'll definitely take us some time to find a building with enough openings to house all of you that would be okay within that budget and okay everything thus far. For the moment, though... So long as you return here by... Eight o'clock tonight? I believe we can, at the very least, supply you with temporary lodging. All other matters can be resolved after the fact. I apologize for taking up your time; you're free to go."

With a nod, Leonardo shook Mr. Sharpton's hand before taking a few steps back and walking over to Youmu.

"Um... I don't know who this 'Yuyuko' is, but... Isn't there a chance she could be here too? We could try exploring the city to see if we can't find her or not," he suggested, crouching down to see if he couldn't see eye-to-eye with her. "Klaus, would that be okay? I think we're the only ones here who know this place fairly well, right?"

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@Dezuel@KoL@Rin@TheFake@TheUnknowable@Crusader Lord

For several moments, Youmu simply sat and stared ahead dully, the light in her eyes seeming to even be dimmed or wholly nonexistent. The small, white-haired girl was unable to even begin to understand what had happened, why Yuyuko-sama could possibly have vanished, where she could have gone... any of it. She didn't really respond when a hand was set on her shoulder. It was one thing if Yuyuko had simply gone somewhere else, but to have disappeared entirely...

...

... Wait...

Not one, but two of the others present, the Empress and then Leo, pointed out that when Yakumo had mentioned that Yuyuko vanished, it could just have easily meant she was here. In fact, wasn't that the more likely option? Yakumo did sound rather unconcerned, and there was no way she would have been so nonchalant if the situation was as dire as the total disappearance of Saigyouji Yuyuko! That meant that she had to be here somewhere, didn't it?

Feeling slightly foolish, Youmu rose to her feet.

"That... that's right!" she declared, "Yuyuko-sama has to be here somewhere! There's no way she just disappeared completely... she's probably off enjoying a meal somewhere!"

That sounded like Yuyuko-sama... she was, after all, the silly type who would wander off if it meant she got to have delicious food.

"She probably wandered off to have something to eat," Youmu said, nodding to herself, "That... seems like something Yuyuko-sama would do.

@PKMNB0Y@TheUnknowable@KoL@TheFake@Crusader Lord@Raineh Daze

At the shelter Ben quietly lined up for food before settling in the corner with a cup of rather plain noodles. They were also far better than some of the meals he had had on the march which mainly consisted of dried meat and stale water.

Ben was well aware that his clothing and complexion made him stand out so he muttered a few words under his breathe and accessed one of his warrens. The corner he was in darkened appreciably.



Ennis decided that it would help immensely to see how this New York differed from hers. She walked out onto the streets and her first thought was of the roll of bills on her pocket. She pulled out the wad of bills from her jacket pocket, a folded packet of crisp fifty dollar bills. The easiest way to find out would be to try to spend some.

She walked into the first small coffee shop that she found after leaving the United nations building. A sandwich would be a bad way to confirm things. She walked up to the counter and placed her order, paying with a single one of the banknotes.

Emilio

"A large collection of humans with weapons. Sounds like an army to me. From where I come from, you are either with the army or you are not. Those who are not, are civilians and members of Noa."

"Oh and threats? No threats has been made. Little sister." Gazing with his purple eyes at Nanoha before switching over to Tenshi. "Ehh? Something wrong? Oh that's right. I did say we should not do it. That's fine isn't it?"
He gave a slight shrug. "Good grief. Off to the national diet then..." Emilio offered a slight smile and then landed on the ground, his wings fading away as he did.

Alberich

Alberich did not like the sight he was met with upon arriving at the scene with that big sludge. It appeared as if Mordred's attack had no effect on it either. He did not want to spend unnecessary long time fighting this thing in this place. It was not the ideal ground to do battle according to himself. Alberich allowed the tip of his crystal sword touch the ground in front of him.

"Flaming sword..." He said in a low tone of voice, sending a straight line of fire along the ground towards the giant sludge. The fire had an explosiveness to it, with enough force to cleave a tree in twain or melt through a Saint's cloth. Hopefully that would do the trick. If not then he had a few more ideas of what might just do it.

"It was the first place I went, since..." Hibiki answered, looking down at her state of dress once again, "It looked like some sort of office building. But if you're here, then anywhere could be home."

She was quieter than normal on the way to the shelter, frowning again as something had occurred to her. If Miku wsa here after all and dressed, did that mean that the others might end up arriving after all and in different places? She was rather glad to have ended up in Japan after all... her foreign language skills weren't the best, though they were definitely better than when she had started attending Lydian. Though it would be nice to go to another country to actually look around peacefully.

It was strange to be going to a shelter for something other than to check on other people, even if she'd had to do that before she got Gungnir... but once there, following along with the lines and picking up the essentials was easy enough. She even managed to get sandals to make up for her obvious "rushed evacuation" (not that she had even the faintest say in the matter). The food, though... cup ramen was so little... they would have to do something about the food situation soon, there was no way that she could hope that there were more shelters to survive on this little!

Maybe that blonde girl had some ideas?

---

Funds were secured... if not immediately, enough would be coming once something more troublesome than a pair of angry dragons began to terrorise New York. It meant that the first step in properly opposing any invading threats was possible: secure a base of operations and then begin to talk about it, rather than to conduct a philosophical debate in a UN agency--though he might need to take up the white-haired lady on that later, she seemed like an interesting person to talk with.

"I was going to see if I could acquire our normal office or something like it, if this is the same New York as ours. If Yuyuko likes food, then maybe you would be able to find her?" the larger man answered, thinking. Leonardo often ended up delivering food or in diners... or with Zapp, which added bars as well. If they were trying to find someone taking a food tour of New York then Leo, even if this wasn't Hellsalem's Lot, probably stood a good chance.

Meteora was surprised that her spell worked as intended. It seemed like this world didn’t operate by the rules she knew—no, it certainly did not. Otherwise, reality would have cracked quite a while ago. On one hand, it was good to know that Altair’s powers would be restrained like this, on the other, it meant that Meteora had no clue on how to deal with this situation at all.

Soon enough the meeting was adjourned, and they were given the freedom to go wherever they felt like. Meteora needed some time to draw more conclusions and think but all of this could wait until she had a much more pressing matter taken care of.

“While I believe that there’s such a thing as being too skeptic, I understand your peers’ position, Mr. Sharpton,” Meteora said, approaching the man just as he finished talking with Leo. “I need some time to think as well, given that this situation isn’t anything like my source material. But, before that,” the sound of a Meteora’s stomach grumbling cut her sentence in half, ”can I ask where is the nearest restaurant?” The silver-haired mage’s voice shrunk to a sheepish tone and her cheek reddened in embarrassment as she finished her statement.

“An empty sack cannot stand upright, after all.”

”They are not the same thing. The difference is in your intentions and what you believe in,” Nanoha asserted the differences between an army and a defense force once more. The auburn-haired mage wasn’t going to back down on her opinion so easily. If this Emilio person didn’t understand it regardless of her words, it was his problem. As a Japanese citizen and TSAB agent, Nanoha was firm in her conviction.

“As long as it stays that way everything is fine,” she replied, regarding the threats.

“Now that we are all set, let’s get going.” Nanoha said to no one else in particular before addressing her device, “Keep the Area Search active, Raising Heart. We can use it to predict any attacks as we make our way back on foot. Also, get in contact with the HQ and request a land transport, to rendezvous with us as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Master!” Raising Heart replied mechanically, performing the tasks that she was asked to.

Once the immediate needs had been taken care of, Nanoha turned around to check if Vita was alright and talk to the newcomer. “Would you mind if I ask what you were doing in a place such as this, Miss Priscilla? Also, do you know how was it that you got here? We are trying to figure out a mystery related to our own existence in this world and, anything that you can say would be helpful,” she asked smiling.

---

@Raineh Daze@Dezuel@TheFake@VitaVitaAR@PKMNB0Y@TheUnknowable@Crusader Lord