[IC] Kingdom Hearts: The Lights of the Multiverse Redux [No Longer Full]

[Double]

Ruler of the Sea

The Emperor's call may as well have been music to the Nobody's ear. As soon as Michael's voice disappeared, he practically dropped the cleaning tools on the spot. Even Toxsac wouldn't dare defy a pardon from the Emperor. Seth chuckled to himself as he exited the bathroom. Now more relaxed than ever, he figured the next thing he should be doing was wait for the others to get back. That suited him just fine, the less effort needed on his part the better.

Seth first made his way to the Lounge Room. Sure, everyone had their personal quarters and whatnot, but this was essentially a break room meant specifically for when the crew needed to unwind. There were lounge chairs, a couple of tables for eating or snacking as well as a few designed for cards and other games of chance. In fact, a couple of the Moogle crew-members were on their break and looked like they were playing Liar's Dice. Seth raised his hand to speak, but the Moogle's quickly shot him a dirty look that told him all he needed to know. He'd played with this group before and - due to his lack of a Heart - proved unbeatable, as if having no Heart gave him an actual advantage over the others. In their defense, it actually kind of did.

Seth shrugged, and decided to unwind on a couch. He grabbed a drink from the mini-fridge first, however, and only then did he sprawl out on the couch so he could pop it open and take his first ice cold sip, "Ah..." he instinctively said with a satisfied tone. It was the first real relaxation he had since coming to this Earth. Right from the start, he'd been dragged to the Keyhole and then threatened by the Old Man, then dragged into battle against Heartless with everyone else and spent the rest of the time since scrubbing bathrooms. An honest-to-god break felt really great.

"Y'know, I ain't seen you do a lick of training since we set out from Renovation, kupo..." said one of the Moogles, glancing in Seth's direction. It was no secret that most Moogles tended not to like him. They didn't like anyone who was a Nobody, "...shouldn't you be using this chance to catch up on that?" at this other Moogles gave glances of agreement. They didn't want Seth here. That much was clear. Seth did what he usually did when confronted by anyone: he shrugged.

"Fine... fine..." he muttered, standing up, "I can tell when I'm not wanted. Enjoy the game." he was just about to be out of the room, when he shouted back, "Six fours by way. You're all liars!" the Moogles all checked their dice and collectively groaned in frustration, their game ruined would now need to be restarted thanks to the Nobody.

"...and you wonder why we won't let you play, kupo?" Seth heard one of them shout back faintly. He grinned, feeling satisfied that he'd gotten at least a tiny little payback for their treatment of him. He did however decide to take up the Moogles on their suggestion and made his way to the ship's holodeck. Well it was actually called the Simulator Room but Seth repeatedly kept calling it the holodeck - much to some of the others' chagrin - because frankly that's exactly what it was. It could simulate any environment, the only difference was that most of others were using it to create training scenarios. Now it was Seth's turn.

He started up a program for a desert area, set to the twilight hours. No particular reason - he could conjure sand anywhere after all - he just decided this particular field looked prettier than others. Although to anyone who saw it they'd just think it was desolate like any desert, so Seth's definition of "pretty" was likely very different than most others'. Coming in here alone wasn't exactly the brightest idea, after all one usually needed a sparring partner or a spotter at the very least. Well, Seth had an idea for getting around that. He lightly stomped the ground and a human-sized pillar of sand shot up, he then used very swift slicing motions with his right hand until the pillar was carved into an exact sculpture of himself, "Let's see what happens if give you the ability to move..." he touched the sculpture's forehead and injected a little of his Darkness into it before taking a few steps back.

The sculpture appeared to shiver a moment, then was was still as a statue. Then, all too suddenly, it shot a gaze at Seth, "It... is... alive!" quipped Seth in a joking tone, having just realized that he kind of reenacted Frankenstein. The sculpture - or Sand Golem rather - lurched forward before suddenly going into a full sprint in Seth's direction. It could move exactly like him, right down to mimicking his superhuman speed and agility. It leaped at Seth and tried to use add momentum to his punch using gravity. Thankfully Seth matched the Golem for speed and dodged the attack easily. The Golem's fist hit the ground and kicked up an absurd amount of sand and dust, even leaving behind a bit of an impact crater where it struck.

"Whoops... looks like it can hit as hard as me too..." Seth said, noting the Golem's apparent ability to use the Fist of Destruction, "Might not have thought this completely through..." he wasn't worried, though, far from it in fact. Instead he grinned his usual grin and cracked his neck and knuckles some. It was time for a little brawl.

The Golem went on the attack again, still trying to lay into Seth with the Fist of Destruction. The Nobody started quickly dashing backwards to keep out of its reach, also throwing up sand obstacles along the way. The Sand Golem smashed right through them, but notably did not manipulate them at all. Evidently its abilities were limited to that of the physical. No spells, sand, or Corridors, but even just the Fist of Destruction on its own was still a force to be reckoned with. Deciding he was finished with experimenting, Seth started fighting back. It didn't take him long to reduce the Golem to dust, the Nobody reabsorbing the Darkness he'd injected into it.

"Hmm... not quite enough..." Seth said to himself, rubbing his chin thoughtfully before grinning real wide to himself. He just had another idea, possibly worse the first one. The next person who walked into the Simulator Room would catch a rather interesting site. Seth... surrounded on all sides by no less than five Sand Golems, each one looking and moving exactly like him. Each and every one of them out for his blood from the look of it. Of course, the Nobody himself would be just be laughing it up, as if playing a rousing game of Russian Roulette.

[ShadowVentus]

@SMS@Letter Bee@Rex

Taking a moment to listen to what was being said, and analyzing the body language of both the girl standing before him and the self-proclaimed Nobody leader, Taka dismisses his blade, his hand falling back to his side. "The feeling is mutual. In fact, if you wish, I-" The Nobody, sounding as if he were about to try and lend Mai a helping hand, cuts himself off. He brings his right hand to his head, his grip tightening slightly as if he were trying to search for something within his mind. "...If you believe you can't carry your own weight, then sure, your comrade can fight alongside you...I won't be going easy..." Taka's hoped his idea of a public mockery will force Mai into deciding that it would just be a battle between the two of them. He'd rather fight with Drake at some other time.

[ShadowVentus]

((Collab between ShadowVentus and Letter Bee))

Flashback

At first, there was nothing a pitch black darkness, a void of nothingness surrounding the young keyblade wielder as he floated about. He wasn't certain as to where he was, for to him, he was simply having a dream. "What has happened to me...I can feel everything slipping away....am I becoming one with darkness...?" With that question echoing itself, he is about to close his eyes and allow himself to disappear, when suddenly a light shines in the distance, the ray that is reaching out to him feeling familiar. "What..is that...?" Before he can fully comprehend the situation, the light brings forth his keyblade, his weapon now acting as a magnet, dragging him towards the light, until finally...he awakes.

He would find himself in a white chamber, with thirteen alabaster thrones, upon which sat 11 other people, one of which was a regal-looking beardless Greek man who wore a black robe with silver trim. This man, lowering his hood, would look old with pronounced wrinkles, but his power, authority, and energy could not be underestimated, Taka would know that instantly. The Greek would then address Taka:

"Young man...you must have many questions to ask."

"You're right about that...I may as well start by asking this...what am I?" Taka decides to go with the obvious question. This would help him figure out just what happened to him, and if whether or not this is a livid dream. He certainly seeks to know if he still has some form of purpose..

"Why," said Master Leo, "you are a Nobody, the leavings of the body, mind, and soul left behind when an unfortunate person loses their Heart. You have acquired a life of your own, and with it, a purpose; to gain a Heart of your very own. And I, Leo the Second Mathematician, am able to help you in that quest."

"A Heart....if that is truly my purpose as a Nobody, then it seems I have no choice but to accept your help." With that, he extends his hand, calling forth his keyblade. "I hope that this blade can be of some use in my search..." He then brings his free hand to his head, starting to feel a headache come along. "I can't seem to remember anything beyond my name...is this a part of being a Nobody..?" He inquires, feeling rather lost, rather...empty.

"It is, it is," said Leo, trying to hide the glee in his tanned, wrinkled, face. "Being a Nobody is being alone, adrift, without anything but the company of one's friends and the kindness of strangers. But I am here to help, and I have the knowledge to make said help effective." A smile. "But come, come and stay at our palace for a while; see for yourself what we have to offer. Then, we will give you a purpose, a quest that will be the first step to regaining your Heart..."

"Seeing as I have nowhere else to call home...all I can do is follow your lead, milord. I hope to be able to repay you in some way..." Taka states, his personality seeming to be the only thing aside from his name that he has held on to in this new life. This decision to dedicate himself to Leo's teachings and guidance seemed to be the only surefire way to give himself purpose once again, to give this empty shell of himself meaning, until perhaps one day, he was well enough to thrive on his own terms...as a Nobody.

"Oh, you will, you will..." Leo smiled at that; it would have sounded ominous if not for Taka's inexperience.

[Letter Bee]

Present Day

"All right, I'll have us teleported to the Gummi Ship," Tocsax was weary as well, and with that, everyone would be teleported to the Gummi Ship, including Ryteb and Mac, who would, for the sake of the former's insistence on seperating himself from the group, would be sent to the far end of the residential parts of the vessel.

He would then lead Drake to the training area, a gummi-colored room with training dummies, small droids with stun bolts, a seperate room that served as a shooting range, and a mini-arena with strong magitech barriers that would reduce collateral damage from training spars and duels. After that, he would portal down earthside again to offer Adelle the job he should have been offering, with a downpayment of a *large amount* of magically-warded Munny to her family.

Then, finally, it would be time for the group to head to 'Alternate World War II'.

Timeskip

A week later, a week spent talking, training, or just lazing around in the Gummi Ship, Emperor Michael would ask everyone to use the Ruler of the Sea's systems to teleport to his whale-sized, whale-shaped ship, the Manisa League. To get Ryteb to accept the teleport, Emperor Michael, through hologram, would say to the Mage:

"And before you ask, we have information about Restam," he was trying to seem grave. "He's appeared in your destination world." The silver-haired eighteen year old would then wait for Tocsax, who had admittedly lost some face with the group, to take the band of 'adventurers' to the teleportation room, which would lead to the Manisa League's own chamber for teleportation equipment (the rest of the ship was warded against teleports). After a security check by black-armored (but without actual dark powers) guards, the party would be led to the large vessel's Operations Room, a giant place with several tables with holographic projectors, monitor screens, chairs all around, and finally, one giant table whose centre projected a globe.

And at the head of said giant table was Emperor Michael XIII Sideros, still clad in his imperial crown and special forces armor, and Maria di Italia, whose figure was concealed by her robes of black and white silk with pearls. Empeor Michael would then say:

"All right, we've come to the world of 'Alternate World War II', whose divergence from the 'Original Timeline' is that the climatic conflict of the 20th Century continued on to the 1950s, thanks to the Nazi Party discovering dark sorcery that allowed them to send forth and control the Heartless. The Nazis, by the way, are a group of people who believe that the color of one's skin and the blood that ran through one's veins made one better than other humans," that last explanation was for Drake and Ryteb's sakes.

"For some time, we didn't know who gave the Nazis dark sorcery and allowed them to control such dark beings. Now..." Emperor Michael was now showing a hologram of a tall, handsome, and arrogant-looking man in a black robe, showing a group of Nazis feats of sorcery that Ryteb would recognize as Terra Atum Magic. "...now Ryteb's story has given us the final clue we needed to fill in the picture. Restam, one of the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness, has allied with the Nazis and taught them actual magic!" The young man's face turned grave again.

"And it gets worse; apparently, Stalin, the leader of the U.S.S.R, a group of countries who believe in glorifying the common worker while at the same time hypocritically oppressing them, has been approached by another Seeker of Darkness, Lavinia," the records would then show a beautiful blond woman with strong-looking hips, wearing farmer's overalls, a straw hat, and carrying a large, ominous looking scythe, "who in turn has the power of Agriculture, which sounds like a weak power at first, until one remembers that it allows one to control plants, sharp farming equipment, and machines. And finally, there is the Princess of Heart, a young woman living in the United Kingdom, which is barely withstanding the Nazi onslaught."

"The Princess of Heart is named Lucille, or Lucy, Bolt. She's eighteen-years old and working as a mechanic in a shop in Britain's capital, London, and who is being guarded by an Independent Keyblader, a Jew named Judah bin Issac, an Independent Keyblader with the ability to 'exorcise' possessing entities, including fragments of Leo, but that is a matter for the future."

"Either way...Tocsax, do you have a viable strategy for this world?" A chance for Tocsax to regain face.

"Yes," the boy caught on. "We're going to have to split our seven - no, eight - members to tackle the various objectives, which include the Princess of Heart." He would then face the group.

"Ryteb came here for vengance, so he will get it; he, Mai, and Taka will be sent to destroy the Nazis and their leader, Heinrich Himmler - their former leader, Adolf Hitler, died in mysterious circumstances. Ryteb will also kill Restam." A hologram of Berlin, the Nazis' capital, will then be projected, showing swarms of Heartless and mundane troops.

"Drake and Seth, meanwhile, will be sent to kill Stalin and Lavinia," a hologram of Moscow then showed, along with defenses as thick as those in Berlin, "while v2, Mac, and Cheese will have an assignment in London; negotiate with Jude and recruit Lucille into the ranks." Tocsax would then look resolute.

"Any objections?"

@Double@Arty Fox@SMS@Rex@Ryteb Pymeroce@Gentlemanvaultboy@ShadowVentus

[Ryteb Pymeroce]

Ryteb raised his hand, as something was weighing on his mind. Mostly Retsam, but there was a more pressing concern.

"So, your sending us into deep enemy territory, where Retsam and the people he's trained in the mystic arts are, along with an army of both humans with... gonnes?.. and the Heartless. Simple question here, anyone gonna pack us a lunch? Fighting a hoard really builds up an appetite."

In his head, the youth already started making calculations about spell efficiency and the general elemental resistances that they were likely to encounter. It was still going to be a shit storm, but he did have some ways to mitigate the bullcrap.

Looking at his companions for this mission, he sighed. It was a girl in some kind of weird dress, and a guy who dressed like Retsam during his angst period. He could almost hear "Wake Me Up Inside" playing from the music orbs. Of course he rigged it so that it played "Happy Happy Song" on an endless loop, but still...

[Rex]

Once Drake was show the training area. He waited for Tocsax to leave before he got down to business. He examained the shoot range and found a disk launcher. He walked out into the area where it would fire and pointed his sniper rifle out into the empty air. He waited for a few seconds before he yelled, “Pull!” a small disk, about the size of a diner plate soar through the air. Drake tracked it through his snipers scope before he pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through the air and collided with the disk. Shattering it to pieces. He pulled a lever on his sniper rifle and an empty shell flew out before he aimed his rifle at the air again.

“Pull!” another disk flew through the air and again he followed it before he fired and the bullet shattered the disk. He pulled the lever and another shell exited his rifle before he pointed it to the air. He yelled again and another disk flew through the air. As he followed the disk, a memory flashed in his mind.

memory:

He looked through his sniper rifle at the intersection atop a building. He was there for almost the entire day before he saw his target. He quickly reached down and pressed a button on a small device next to him. The light at the intersection quickly turned from green to red as a blue limo came to a stop. He switched his scoop to infrared and the scoop scanned the people in the limo before he identified his target sitting in the back of the limo. He waited for a few seconds before he pulled the trigger.

The bullet left the barrel and soared through the air. The tip of the bullet spun clockwise while the bullet itself spun counter clockwise. It tore through the windshield and through the secondary window before it tore into the man’s head in the back.

In seconds there was screaming as the front doors of the limo opened and two bodyguards rushed out while the back door behind the driver opened and the man’s 12 year old daughter rushed out and rushed over to her father as the bodyguards as they pulled her father from the limo. Drake didn’t seem to care as the girl tried desperately to keep her father alive, but she didn’t know he was already dead.

The man was a politician. He was pulling ahead of his opponent in the poles so his opponent had contracted Drake to kill the man. Drake was use to people like politicians or others with power coming to him to have someone killed. They would pay him anything he wanted to just have someone they didn’t like killed. However, this wasn’t the last he’d see the girl.

Years later she’d hire him to kill the politician that had her father killed. He did the job and got paid, but then the politician’s wife would hire him to kill of the girl. He never let on he was hired by the other at one point or the other. He’d kill for one client, only to kill that client down the road. He didn’t care, as long as he got paid.

Present day

He pulled the trigger and the bullet soared through the air and shattered the disk. He unloaded another shell before he aimed at the empty air and yelled “Pull!” the disk flew through the air and Drake followed it, but another memory flashed in his mind. a burning building. It stopped Drake from pulling the trigger and the disk hit the floor. Drake sighed as he had another disk fly through the air. Again he followed it, but again the burning building flashed in his mind causing him to miss his chance. He sighed before he decided it call it quits.
He walked out of the training room and as he did. He remembered what he told Apokaukos: “I don’t kill kids.” This made Drake sigh as he took a pill bottle from his pocket and swallowed another pill.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Drake said to himself before he headed towards his room.

Time skip

Drake followed the group as they were leaded to their new destination. While they met and talked with Emperor Michael, Drake scrolled though the hologram from his watch. He was listening to their conversation while checking his inventory. He wanted to make sure he had enough equipment for the mission. He looked up from the hologram when Tocsax told him he’d be pared with Seth and they would be going after Stalin and Lavinia. After Tocsax finished, he looked over to Seth and shrugged.

“I’m cool with the arrangement. As long as I’m not paired with the robot I'm cool,” Drake said before he added, “You got anything you want me to store in my watch Seth? I have space to spare for any equipment you don’t want to carry.” When Ryteb asked about packing a lunch, Drake just sighed and rubbed his eyes.

“This isn’t some field trip kid. We’re going to be fighting for our lives here. It’s them or us. So if you’re going to crack jokes, just stay indoors and let the grownups handle this,” Drake said before he added, “if I’m understanding this world correctly: we’re going to be killing human beings. So if you have a weak stomach. I’d suggest staying here.”

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

v2 sat heavily on the bed that had been supplied to him about this, the largest gummie ship he had ever seen, and experienced something new. Up until now there had always been something to do. The heartless were a never ending source of conflict. When they were on the ebb he was expected to do various public appearances, television interviews, hospital visits, schools, honoring heroes and mourning victims where people could see him do it. Making himself visible. There was also the occasional human or robot crime to stop, which he did with as much forced relish and showboating as his battles with the heartless. He tried not to get involved in tense police situations for that reason, but sometimes that was unavoidable. He hated it. It was an embarrassment, like he was a cartoon character suddenly thrust into the real world, but they loved it and congratulated him all the same. When he wasn't doing any of those things, he was out looking for them. v2 always had a job to do.

Except now. Now he was alone, no one had given him any directives, and he was free to pursue whatever he wanted until the mission resumed. v2 was experiencing first the first time ever the concept of "down time."

It took him about a minute to decide that:
A). He hated it.
B). He never wanted to experience it again.
C). There must be something productive he could be doing on this ship!

He threw open the door to the pointless, pointless, pointless room and strode very quickly down the hallway, searching. Luckily, He spotted it almost immediately. The Princess was just coming out of her room. Alone. Unprotected. That, he decided, was unacceptable. Setting his own objective he quickened his pace to catch her at the end of the hall and bowed.

"[Good afternoon.]," he said in French. "[You may call be v2. I will be your personal guard for the duration of our time on this ship. Please go about your day as though I am not here.]"

---

For the next week v2 was Adelle's shadow whether she liked it or not. The Seekers of Darkness were still out there, able to teleport with ease, and he could never shake the disquieting impression that they had retreated to easily. They hadn't seemed to have taken significant damage, and while it would be extremely foolish to attempt to take the Princess on this vessel he considered them fools and so it was not outside the realm of possibility.

He followed her everywhere. When she perused the library he was looking up to make sure no heavy book fell on her head. If she was in the infirmary he made sure none of the needles were planning anything suspicious. In the hallways he was always a step behind on the off chance that she should trip and fall. At night he stood post outside her door only because he was afraid that if he stood in there that would be the slight that made her go complain about this. v2 was pretty sure the only reason he was getting away with this was because all concerned parties just assumed he'd been assigned to it. So he made sure to be as accommodating as possible, within reason, so as to minimize the chance of someone bringing the hammer down.

Perhaps someone had noted his behavior, however. He was now, after all, being assigned to recruitment of another Princess on this war ravaged world. It was interesting to think about this war. In was within, for, this conflict that his forebears were first constructed. He wondered whether his world was unique, if there wasn't some analogue to the great steel giants that walked before hidden away on a secret off shore island somewhere in this worlds Japan. However, that was irrelevant unless they were going to Japan. Which they were not.

"I do not suppose we are meant to keep a low profile when recruiting the princess?" He asked, an actual relevant question.

[Arty Fox]

Mac and Cheese

Both Mac and Cheese were quite excited by the prospect of visiting London, even if it was one set in an alternative past for them. Mac stood between Cheese and v2, the former looked rather taken aback when she was told to work alongside the robot, looking very much someone who regretted teaching another person how to override the sound system. Thankfully a crew member quickly flipped a switch and music disappeared.

The week had been somewhat tiring for the pair of them and Mac had gained a number of bruises and aches that he subconsciously massaged from time to time. Cheese herself appeared to have a lot more energy about her and remained rather chipper after her own training sessions on her own and with the others, even after being caught a few times ‘borrowing’ various things from crew members and team mates alike.

“So that’s what Nazi’s are.” Cheese held her arms crossed at the very idea behind them. “Apparently they tried to invade the Fae realm but died.”

“Bet they stepped off the path or something.” Mac added with involuntary shiver. “Question: can I punch Hitler? I feel like it would be very satisfying for numerous reasons, including bragging rights.” While his tone was light hearted and joking, Mac would happily do so if the opportunity should show itself.

Even without a face Mac was quite obviously glaring daggers at Tocsax when Ryteb was listed to go on the mission. A rumour had circulated around the ship that Mac had thrown quite a fit, and a table, earlier during the week but the exact details were very much up for debate.

“How much…metal is there going to be around the place?” A very important question as far as Cheese was concerned. She rubbed her exposed forearms nervously.

“Wear long sleeves.” Mac chuckled a moment after when a thought entered his head. “Actually we could all go in disguise or something. Me and Cheese should be alright but you guys…”

“You all look like you’re going to a costume party.” Cheese stuck her hands in her pockets and looked to be foraging for something. “More jackets and jeans, less cloaks and dresses all round. Apart from me and Mai I guess.”

“Yeah, you said this was World War Two right? So browns and shirts, I’m guessing there’s still rationing and stuff going on…” He looked at Cheese with his head tilted. “What are you doing?”

“Good luck charms.” Cheese stated having managed to grab the last one from the depths of her pocket. “I managed to make one for each of us. Took me a little longer when we picked up a few more people after our first fight but now they’re all finished.”

In her gloved hands Cheese held chains with little objects on them, mostly little things like a key or a ring but one did have a spoon coiled tightly around it. One of the others may recognise one of the items being something they had thought they had lost, certainly by the way they were squinting one of the crew members recognised something of theirs.

“So this what you were doing on Thursday.” Mac plucked up one of the chains and tied it around his wrist and felt a subtle warm pass over him.

Cheese radiated with pride. “Had to wait for the moon to be in the right place for these to make them this powerful. Don’t thank me, I consider it quite rude.”

lucky charm

A strange Fairy artefact that stops enemy critical hits from landing, improves dodging and makes bad hair days a thing of the past.

[ShadowVentus]

Once he found out whom he had been grouped with for this mission, Taka couldn't help but remember just what had happened during the week leading up to them approaching this new world. It wasn't an event he could easily forget...

Flashback

((Collab between SMS and ShadowVentus))

The following day after their adventure in France, Mai had remembered the new guy's challenge to her and Drake. However, she had taken offense to him saying that she couldn't pull her own weight, and as such had been wanting to settle the score before Drake found them and interfered.

"I wonder where he is." She had spent some time walking around the ship, and eventually stumbled in the simulation room, where she found the newcomer practicing his agility against some dummy robots. "Hey, new guy!" She called out to him as she stepped closer.

Just wrapping up with the last of the training dummies, the Nobody hears a voice calling out to him. Turning around, he sees the girl from earlier. However, she seems to be alone. "I see you've come after all...will your comrade be joining us, or have you decided on a different outcome?" He inquires, secretly reveling in his successful taunt. This would give him the opportunity he needed to fully gauge if this is the person he was sent out to find. If so, then he would be ever the more closer to obtaining a Heart.

"No, he won't be." The girl says as she crosses her arms over her chest. "I didn't like how we parted ways yesterday. I guess I still have my pride as a sword wielder to uphold." Although she was still quite young when compared to the other members of the New Shinsengumi, her skills weren't anything to scoff at.

"Hmph, then I guess we should get moving on. For the sake of your pride, at least..that much, I can respect about a fellow wielder." Taka states, beginning to back up slightly as to give them an even amount of space for the impending clash. He summons his blade, gripping it tightly, wielding it back-handed as gets into his fighting stance. "I hope you can keep up." He remarks. As he speaks, the the simulation room alters itself to better suit the fight, transforming into a sole circular white platform, surrounded by a dark void.

"Ooooh, a back-handed grip. That's something I haven't seen in a while." A smile forms onto Mai's lips, as she summons her own Keyblade before going into her fighting stance. "I wish the same for you." Their new environment looked like it had enough space for them to run and give distance if needed. Given that this was her first time in the simulation room, she had kept a mental note to stay away from the edges as she wasn't sure if stepping over would cause her to fall or not.

Following that, she had kept her eyes on her opponent, her smile slowly curling into a frown as she concentrated on the battle that was to unfold. Waiting for anything that would spark a reaction from her, she wanted to get a feel for his fighting style first before going becoming more active in the fight.

Taka begins by throwing his blade at Mai. As it builds momentum, Light begins to collect around it, boosting the offensive power of the blade. In case the Spark Raid was dodged, Taka would cast Dark Blizzaga, sending forth a large burst of ice shrouded in darkness.

The girl watched as the blade flew in her direction, and sidestepped at the last possible second to minimize the chance of getting hit should it fly back towards its owner. Before she could do anything else, a barrage of ice had already been shot towards her. Unsure of what would happen if she dodged the icicles, she chose to block every last shard as they got within reach of her Keyblade.

Once the last projectile was gone and an opening was clear to her, she dashed forward within arm's reach with her opponent. "I won't give him time to cast anymore magic." Mai swung her Keyblade a few times in his general direction, watching how he would react to such an aggressive move.

Unfortunately for Taka, his keyblade was still in the process of returning back to him when the barrage of close hits began. However, his agility training from before certainly seemed to pay off, for he was able to buy himself time by dodging the first few swings, taking the window of opportunity given to him from these evasive maneuvers to launch himself upward, catch his blade, and then transitioning into Dark Break, slamming his blade down towards his opponent multiple times. "It almost seems like she's holding back. She's going to regret that.."

Each swing of hers gave the boy a chance to distance himself before jumping into the air to regain possession of his blade, with her final swing throwing her a bit off balance as she misjudged their distance. Her opponent's follow up attacks were strong, with each strike pushing her down more as she blocked them.

Once he was finished with his volley of attacks, Mai found the strength to jump up after him and meet him in the air. "I need to keep him out of the air." She knew she was at a disadvantage at range, and she wanted to keep whatever gap he had with her as small as possible. And that started with keeping him grounded. The girl swung her Keyblade down as hard as she could, hoping that should the boy block, it would be enough to throw his blade out of his hands, if not, then the smack of the Keyblade was hopefully enough to send him crashing to the ground.

The heavy swing from his opponent sends Taka hurtling to the ground, his agility allowing him to right himself just before he reaches the platform, but sends him sliding back a few paces, almost to the edge. "Not bad...however, it still isn't good enough to even allow you to dream of taking me down." Pointing his keyblade skyward, the Nobody is enveloped by light as he creates multiple columns of light, each one forming beneath Mai, forcing her to continually move out of the way at a very rapid pace. If she moves too slow or too quickly, the Light inflicts a fair amount of damage to her.

A small smirk formed on Mai's lips. "We'll see about that." However, a source of light suddenly appeared underneath her, and it took her a moment to realize that she should probably move away from it. She barely avoided most of the pillars by jumping backwards, but she noticed that she would fall off the edge if she continued to do so and jumped to the side. However, she didn't take into account that the pillars homed in on her, and so the last pillar of light managed to hit her.

The attack stung, getting hit by such an attack for the first time in her life. "What was that?" She wasn't sure how to describe the pain, but it felt like it was burning her skin in a different way from a fire does. After a moment, she shook off the sting that was left behind. "OK, let's give this a shot."

"One silent step." In the blink of an eye, she was beside the newcomer. "Two steps, infinite." She pulled back her arm as far as she could, "Three steps, absolute!" Instead of her Keyblade, her balled up fist was what met his face. "Three stage punch!" This technique was a variant of her family's sword technique. Nowhere near as fatal or lethal as the original technique, it was one she liked to use during friendly duels, and she had been wanting to use it for a long while. Blocked or not, the force of her punch was enough to send a human sized target flying backwards for several feet at least.

Left completely wide open from his previous attack, Taka's eyes widened in shock as he received a hard punch to the face, the impact having enough force to send him flying just to the edge of the platform. His blade impales itself within the platform a fair distance away, leaving him completely vulnerable for any sort of attack.

"Ngh..." He groans as he stubbornly gets back unto his feet, wobbling slightly. "That technique....just who are you!?" To Mai's surprise, the Nobody sounds rather...conflicted. Suddenly, he clutches his head in his hands, as if he was striken with a sudden blow to the head. With a shaky right hand, he calls back his keyblade, it reappearing in his outstretched hand in a flash of light. "I'm...not done yet..." He mutters, steeling his grip as he points his blade straight at Mai, holding it with both hands, seeming to struggle to keep it raised due to all the damage he has undergone. "Ragnarok!" The tip of his blade glows brightly before releasing a large array of light projectiles in her direction, sending another wave directly after the first one, before using the blade to support himself so he doesn't collapse.

Mai pondered for a moment before answering. "I'm no one special. I'm just a regular girl." She exclaimed as she materialized her Keyblade in her hand once more after dispersing it for her earlier attack. "I should probably finish this soon." Their duel felt like it was lasting more than she was used to, and she didn't want to risk getting hit by another magic attack like before.

She watched as he struggled to even raise his blade towards her, and then decided to hopefully end the fight with her next attack. Before she could do anything, he had fired a cluster of shots towards her. Having a feeling that these were also homing like the columns of light earlier, she waited for as long as possible to dodge them. Once they were close enough, she ducked to the left and dashed forward and under in a very quick manner so that the projectiles wouldn't be able to turn back towards her fast enough as they hit the ground in trying to do so.

A second wave of projects were shot, and she did mostly the same for it, except in the opposite direction so that her balance wouldn't be thrown off. The moment she was in range, she twirled her Keyblade in her hand until she was holding it backwards, similar to how her opponent held his own blade earlier. She struck him in the abdomen with the bottom of the hilt of her weapon, only just strong enough to knock the wind out of him.

Being thoroughly shocked by her speed and the sudden switch in her style of holding the blade, Taka takes the blow, his blade dispersing on its own as he stumbles slightly before completely collapsing, having used up quite a bit of energy. Despite being so drained and just receiving a blow that knocked the air out of his lungs, he stubbornly began talking again, his whole body trembling as he repeatedly try to get back up, only to fall back to the ground. "This outcome...was too..familiar...I feel like I've had..this exact same fight before." He pauses as he finally musters the strength to get back on his feet, clutching his head once again.

"Your face and the way you wield that blade are the only things familiar about you...Your name escapes me...what is it...?" He inquires. The Nobody fully well recognizes that he has lost this match, and is more than willing to give her his name, but, he would at least like to know the name of of the person that has managed to defeat him.

"Really? This was the first time I had encountered magic like yours though." She certainly had been in a good number of duels and one-on-ones back in her world, but none of them involved magic. "Maybe it's the punch?"

"Oh, I haven't told you my name yet. That is disrespectful of me." Mai had been too pre-occupied with settling the score that she had forgotten to introduce herself properly. "Mai Tenkawa." She decided her occupation was of no importance for the moment, as she disliked flaunting it around unless it was needed for some reason. "And you?," she asks as she extends her hand out for a handshake.

"Mai Tenkawa.....a name I certainly plan to keep memorized..." The Nobody states as he removes his hand from his head, the pain easing a bit as one of the many gaps within his rather fragmented memory of her is filled. He accepts her extended hand. "My name..is Taka. I believe the purpose of my existence...may somehow have you involved. As long as you don't mind...I'd like to be your partner for a while. Perhaps I can learn more about my purpose if I were to fight alongside you..." He remarks, sounding rather confident about his proposition.

"Taka?" It was a name that she hadn't heard of in a long time. "Nah, it's probably just a coincidence." The person who owned that name whom she knew was long gone. The person in front of her is different. She knew that.

Mai was taken aback by his sudden proposal of being her partner for the time being. "Uh, I don't mind. But are you sure? I don't know how I can contribute to that, if at all." She says as she scratches the back of her head with her left hand. "I'm no one special as I said earlier."

"I'm very sure of this...as for you being special or not, there's more than one reason why one can be deemed that...we all have some sort of purpose, after all." Taking a moment as if he were processing what he just said, he rubs the back of his head as well. "My apologies. I'm perhaps being too forward with my words...I owe you an apology as for how I reacted when we first met...I'm grateful for this second chance." He responds, his tone having a hint of what almost sounds like happiness. Then again, won't can't tell with a Nobody just how they're feeling, especially when no visible facial expression is displayed.

"Well, if you say so." Taka seemed to believe in her more than she believes in herself. And she was a little happy about that. "Nah, don't worry about that. I'm not one to carry a grudge over something like that."

"I'm looking forward to working with you then," she exclaims as she flashes him a smile.

Glancing at Mai and Ryteb from the corner of his eye, he looks right at Tocsax from his position against a wall, leaning back, arms crossed. "I'm perfectly fine with this pairing...things will certainly be more interesting." He remarks. Upon receiving his lucky charm from Cheese, he gratefully equips it to his right wrist, feeling a similar warmth wash over him. Rather than thank her, Taka simply nods at her, accepting it as if it were a specialized piece of equipment for this particular mission.

[SMS]

The rest of the week was mostly uneventful for Mai. Aside from her duel with Taka and her training sessions with Tocsax on magic, she spent most of her time reading about other timelines in the Multiverse that caught her attention. The one where people piloted giant robots was one of the timelines that she liked reading about, especially the one that had extra details on how the robots worked and such. That, and avoiding whatever pranks Seth had been pulling on the rest of the crew. She seemed to have been successful on that front. Until yesterday at least, when she fell for the whoopie cushion prank of all things again.

"I'm alright with that." The new world that they were about to enter was similar to her own. Except that the war still seemed to have been going on. She briefly wondered for a bit if a version of hers existed in this timeline, but thought that it would just make her head hurt and so, she dropped the idea. "I won't be helping Ryteb with the revenge part though." She didn't have a stake in his revenge, and as such, decided against getting involved in it unless it was really needed.

Drake's words stuck with her however. The girl wanted to avoid killing humans as much as possible, but given the situation, it didn't seem like much of an option. Despite that, she wanted to decrease the body count as much as she could. Even if it means getting hurt herself in the process. They may have been killers or mass murderers, but she thought that killing them only meant to continue the cycle of killing. And she didn't want that.

Before her thoughts got too negative, Mai shifted her attention towards her fairy friend's good luck charms. "Oooh, thanks Cheese." Immediately missing the fairy's statement of not thanking her. She pondered for a second on how to wear it after she took one from Cheese's hands, before deciding to tie it onto the sash of her hakama. It didn't look too out of place on her, its purple color blending in with the color of her hakama. "I'll certainly treasure it."

[Rex]

(Collab between @Double and @Rex)

The Ruler of the Sea

The Nobody sent a quick glance to Drake. So he was partnered with the dangerous one, then? Then again, the same could be said of Seth as well, so maybe they were a match made in Heaven? Okay, that was doubtful. Still, if he was gonna be partnered with the man, Seth might as well make with the playing nice, get a head start and all that.

"So... guess we're going to Russia, then." he said to Drake, who then offered to hold onto any excess gear in his watch-thingy. Of course, Seth didn't carry a whole lot, but he still checked his pockets. Nothing but a music player and a punchcard for Monty's place. One more meal there and he'd get a free Gyshal Smoothie. Note to self, get that Smoothie first chance I get. Oh, he almost forgot, but there was also the charm that Cheese handed out. He wasn't sure exactly what it would do, but whatever it was it surely couldn't hurt. He simply pocketed it, hoping that was enough for whatever echantment it had to still affect him. But to Drake he shook his head and, with a shrug said, "Nah, don't think I've got anything worth storing away right now, but..." he looked Drake over and quickly opened up a Corridor to his left and reached into it.

"Hmm... where did I leave that... ah!" from the Corridor he pulled out a spare jacket. It was blue in color, and not a tailcoat like the black one he currently wore. It also had no hood and instead had a white fur collar. Dropping the jacket on a nearby table, Seth then went about removing his black coat and tossed it over to Drake, "You'll need this. Traveling through Corridors exposes the Heart to Darkness and that risks corruption. Coats like that one will protect you from it. I don't have a Heart, so there's no risk for me." he put the blue jack on while he said this, almost havin forgotten what it felt like to wear it, "Oh yeah, they can also cloak your presence, so even the most magically sensative person can't trace you. Convenient, huh?"

Drake nodded before the hologram appeared from his watch again. He continued to check his inventory to make sure he had everything. He pressed a few buttons and three small, slender cylinder looking objects appeared from the watch. One was a chrome color, the other was a rust red color, and the last one was coral orange colored. He placed the three in his pockets before he pulled his revolver from its holder. An auto reloaded appeared from the watch and he used it to load the six bullets into his gun before he placed it back in the holster and took the second one out. He did the same before placing it back into its holster

Drake looked back to Seth to see him open a portal and take out another coat before he took the one he ware off. He mentioned the dark corridor and how it could affect his heart before he threw the black coat towards Drake.

Drake caught the coat and looked at it for a second. [i]Never thought I’d wear the color black again. Guess it’s just another reminder[i] Drake thought before he put the coat on while he said, “Good thinking, we wouldn’t want the Shadow Nexus from getting stronger. Don’t think I can handle another incident like before.” When he had the coat fully on, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

“You know, this might have worked out for the better,” Drake said before a smile formed on his face as he continued, “Someone like you could have been a great Bounty Hunter in my world. So in a way, it’s like Tocsax is sending two Bounty Hunters to kill Stalin and Lavinia.”

"Maybe I was a Bounty Hunter in your world," Seth said with a shrug and playful grin, "or not. That's the trouble with being in my situation... my own reflection in the mirror may as well be a perfect stranger." he sighed, but quickly changed the subject, "So, if we're all set, I'l get us to Moscow." he opened another Corridor and looked at Drake once more before ducking through it. The Corridor stayed open, waiting for Drake to follow.

Moscow ~ Grand Kremlin Palace

On the other side of the Corridor, awaited a fairly cold city. It felt like one of the colder seasons, probably Autumn because it didn't feel cold enough to be Winter. That, and if it was Winter there'd be snow and ice, and yet there was none. The two found themselves within a complex named the Moscow Kremlin, or just Kremlin for short. More specifically, they were outside the Grand Kremlin Palace, home of the Soviet Prime Ministers and, before them, the Tsars.

The palace itself was a large building, mostly white in color, but it had a green roof and golden clock at the base of a golden dome that pointed straight up. As to be expected, it was well guarded. A mixture of Red Army soldiers and Secret Police patrolled the grounds. No doubt Stalin himself was somewhere inside, "I would have taken us directly inside, but I didn't want to chance us walking into a trap." Seth whispered to Drake, both having ducked into a hiding spot in the bushes by now, "Besides, we'll have better chances if we create some sort of distraction, something for them to focus on." an idea bega forming in his head. He didn't really like the idea, but it seemed like the only smart choice for now.

"By the way... if this Earth is anything like the others, Stalin's probably pushing 70 by now. Hope you don't mind assassinating an old man." Seth grinned, then continued to whisper after a short shrug, "Anyway, leave the distraction to me. When they focus on me get inside and take out Stalin. Look for an office or conference room or something, and stay out of sight. We don't need both of us tripping the alarms." with that he darted out of their hiding spot still staying low.

Drake looked at the lucky charm that Cheese had given him. He wasn’t one to be given gifts and really wasn’t sure what to do with it. He wasn’t much for believing in luck, but Cheese seemed pleased with herself and he didn’t want to get on her bad side. He might not believe in magic, but cheese was a whole other issue. She seemed to embody what the others called magic. In the end he took the charm into his pocket and said, “Thanks Cheese. First time someone’s given me anything that isn’t a bullet or money or both.”

Drake then followed Seth through the corridor. If felt damp and cold as he went through it. It was like the Shadow Nexus. However, this Corridor had something the Shadow Nexus didn’t: Silence. When the Shadow Nexus took over it was like he could hear screaming of people being tortured. This corridor was dead silent. The only sound was their feet as they crossed the darkness.

Once out of the corridor, Drake had to shield his eyes from the sun light before his eyes adjusted. Once they adjusted he looked at the building their targets were in. a smile formed on his face as he said, “At least we know we’re in the right place. This Stalin guy should be here. He’s some kind of ruler so this has to be it.”

Seth mentioned something about Stalin being old and if Drake had a problem killing him. Drake chuckled at this and joked, “Nah, the older the target, the easier the pay off. The old guy might die from me sneezing.” In truth, Drake never killed anyone over the age of 50. He was never contracted to kill someone over that age since many people in his world didn’t see the elderly as a threat. However, Drake was worried. It wasn’t Stalin that would be the problem, but the other target. He didn’t like going into a battle without some knowledge about his target. Lavinia was a rouge factor he didn’t like.

Seth volunteered himself to be the distraction and to lure the guards away while Drake searched for the target. Drake nodded and surprising trusted Seth. However, before Drake could say anything. Seth ran off. [i]Damn it all[i] Drake thought before the hologram from his watch appeared. He pushed a few images and two small metal flies appeared from them. He placed one into his ear while the other zipped off after Seth. The flies were small communicators. Drake hoped Seth wouldn’t break the fly before realizing it.

“Me tripping an alarm?” Drake said before he pushed a few more images on the hologram and his goggles appeared in his hand. He placed them on and pressed the right side. His goggles scanned and showed a few red spots in and around the building near him. His smile grew before he said, “Just who the hell do you think I am?” Drake then snuck towards the building and waited for Seth.

[Letter Bee]

"Every Keyblader is a person of mass destruction," said Tocsax, "that is a basic fact. The Emperor could simply use orbital bombardment to clear the area, but he's saving it for the world of Panem, where the sparser population makes military targets easier to seperate from civilian ones. Right now, though...we need to inflict as much damage on military targets while sparing civilians."

Then, to v2, the Nobody would say:

"That would go without saying; the Japanese are still under suspicion despite their surrender in this world, and someone with a computer box as a head and his fairy companion would draw even more attention. Thankfully, Cheese has disguise spells and you and Mac are both diplomatic. Be warned, though, Judah bin Issac would see through any disguise, mundane or...non-mundane, but not even he would start a fight in the middle of a populated city of allies. Also, yes, there would be a lot of metal in Lucy's mechanics shop, a bothersome amount. Thankfully, I have a special solution for that," he would respond to Cheese, before accepting her gift of a 'lucky charm' and handing her a small, plastic box in return.

"This box contains a special kind of cream that acts like 'sunscreen', only it works against the Anti-Fae energies given off by metal. You still can't touch the stuff, but you can be in a place with a lot of it without suffering."

"And now," Tocsax said, "to send the rest of you," he had noticed Drake and Seth heading off, "to send the rest of you off."

And with that, the other teams were teleported to their targets!

@Double@Arty Fox@SMS@Rex@Ryteb Pymeroce@Gentlemanvaultboy@ShadowVentus

[Ryteb Pymeroce]

That man... Drake... really pissed Ryteb off. He assumed that just because they weren't freaks of nature like him, that they were inferior. And not understanding about death? The young mage let out a chuckle at that, one of the tenants of Odin's training was being one with nature. That wasn't the frilly flowers and birds crap, it was about the order of the food chain, and the part death played in the world. For life to continue, death was necessary. If people didn't understand that, then they'd never be able to wield elemental magic.

The fey woman, Cheese, handed out some charms to everyone. Ryteb took it and wrapped it around his wrist. It was a kind gift, but wasted on him. In his heart, the boy knew that at best he had a few weeks left, so it was best not to get attached to anyone. When Mac spoke about blending in, the boy subtly used some magic to transform his robe. Instead of an apprentice's robe, it was now a green blazer with a crest on the back. It was the alchemical symbol for fire with the Arabic version of the number 2 over it. Odin had picked the symbol for him a long time ago, and it only seemed right to use it when going into battle.

Teleporting was something that Ryteb would never get used to. He may have come from a world of highly advanced magic, but teleporting was always kind of sickening. Especially if you've just eaten. Shaking of the sickness, he looked around to see that his group had teleported into some kind of allyway in a city. Another bloody city. This one seemed to have more of a sinister feel to it, but still...

"Right... this Nazi party has more than likely become Retsam's tool." he said to the others, "He always was a bit of a control freak. So, to draw him out we should break his toys."

[Double]

Ongoing World War II ~ Moscow: Grand Kremlin Palace

Before Seth could get to work, a small little light of some kind zipped at him from behind. Before he had a chance to question it the object attached itself to the Nobody's ear and suddenly he could hear Drake's voice. A communication device? Seth shrugged, deciding to roll with it and whispered back to Drake, "Last time I was on a mission with you you went nuts and nearly killed us. Need I go further?" his tone was dry, but the Nobody was clearly being playful and just teasing. The whole Shadow Nexus thing didn't bother him like it did everyone else. That much was clear.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Seth straightened his posture. If he was going to act as the distraction, than the first thing he needed to do was get spotted. That was surprisingly easier said than done, as it kinda felt like he was going against logic itself. Still, the Nobody put himself in line-of-sight of the first set of guards he spotted, even waving at them, "Hello, comrades! Where you looking for me?" unfortunately Seth never learned Russian, so he had to stick to English this time around. Not that it mattered, the two patrolling guards began shouting in Russian as their hands all reached for their guns: both were apparently armed with a Mauser C96. But if they thought their intruder was just gonna stand there and take the bullets, they were sadly mistaken.

Both men opened fire, but the Nobody was quick to duck into a Corridor. By the time they registered what he'd done, Seth emerged from a Corridor directly behind them, "Sorry, comrades, but I can't have you shooting at me." all of a sudden kicked up a small, isolated cloud of sand that forced its way down the barrels of the handguns, dirtying them up and jamming them so badly they may as well have been a couple of paper weights. Seth took off running at that point, purposely leaving the men themselves unscathed so they could give chase. This, combined with the gunfire, naturally got the attention of other patrolmen around the complex. Within moments they were each approaching the scene with various firearms drawn. But each time, they fell victim to the sand, it turning their weapons into useless hunks of iron. By this time, Drake should have easily found his opening to get inside. Of course, that still left the Nobody outside and staring down an increasing number of Red Army soldiers, now disarmed of their guns but still able and willing to fight.

"Right... army..." Seth muttered to himself, as if he'd just now remembered that the numbers were heavily against him. But if he let something that minor get to him, then he wouldn't have survived for as long as he had, "Okay then... guess this qualifies as a bad enough situation for this." he clutched both hands, feeling the energies of a magic spell take form in each one. The men were brandishing batons, while others pulled out trench knives, while a few guards from other positions were now arriving on the scene and taking aim with fresh guns. All too suddenly, Seth threw up his hands and released the spells he'd been charging, right as the men with the remaining guns took their shots. But no one died on that spot, instead the world just... stopped.

Stopped, that is, except for Seth. The Nobody looked up at the clock on the building, confirming that it had indeed stopped, as did the men who were trying to kill him. Well, maybe not stopped completely, but slowed down to a major degree. Seth had just used one of the strongest tools in his arsenal. He cast the Stopga and Haste spells simultaneously, leaving him in a brief state of space/time where he moved faster while everything else around him slowed to a crawl. It wouldn't last long, but it would be enough.

Seth zipped forward like a blur, stopping just short of a guard who had fired his gun. Seth noted the bullet seeming to almost be suspended in midair. He playfully flicked the bullet aside and then got to work. He turned the guard and pointed his gun at another, and forcibly made the guard's finger pull the trigger again so that another shot was fired. He repeated this process until all the gun-holding guards were effectively shooting each other dead. As for the guards he disarmed, Seth quickly went to work again. He went around, smacking them across the head so that his increased speed would be translated into a powerful blow. For some, he simply rammed into them, the men appearing to stop in midair. For others, Seth snatched their batons or other blunts and simply bashed them across the back of the head. And for one particularly lucky man, Seth decided it would be a fun to make the man literally punch his own lights out. He a noticed a canteen strapped to the man's belt and decided to help himself to a sip of its contents.

For good measure, Seth double checked the trajectories of all the bullets already fired. Seeing that some of them were flying toward what could a populated area or even just critters who were scurrying about at this moment of time, Seth decided to meticulously move the bullets off course until he was sure that each one would just hit the ground, a tree, or the wall. This would have to do, because the Nobody realized he was just about out of time. He zipped back to his original position just as time resumed, eager to see the results of his "work". It was definitely. All the Soviet men just suddenly went flying, knocked out by what, to them, had to seem like an invisible force. The guys with guns appearing to just shoot each other dead for seemingly no reason. And let's not forget about the lucky guy who knocked himself silly with a self-inflicted uppercut against his jaw.

Seth looked around at handywork, chuckling with amusement, but soon left so he could go find Drake and catch up.

[Rex]

“Yeah well, don’t worry about the Shadow Nexus. It won’t be making an appearance,” Drake said in responds to Seth’s comment as he slowly snuck towards the windows of the building as Seth started his distraction. He started checking the windows to see if one was left unlocked. To his surprise, the third window he checked on the ground floor was left unlocked. He slowly and quietly started to open it. He climbed into the window and to his luck. There wasn’t a table under it with a bunch of items that hindered his entrance. He slipped into the room before he slowly closed the window and radioed to Seth, “Third window on the ground floor is unlocked, best bet in getting in for you. Unless you want to use the front door?”

Drake quickly took out his two revolvers and pointed them at the door as it slowly creaked open. He waited for the unlucky bastard to walk into the room to be filled with lead. However, instead of a guard, a white Persian can walked into the room and looked at Drake. It then trotted over to its bed in the corner and curled up into a ball.

“Guess I’m not a threat to you?’ Drake whispered before he slowly snuck towards the door. He turned the inferred back on in his goggles and saw only three guards in the hallway. The hologram appeared from his watch and he pushed a few images before three more metal flies appeared from his watch. However, the flies looked more like bees then normal flies. He let them fly out the room and towards the guards. They silently landed on the necks of the guards and quickly stung the guards.

To the guards, the sing felt like a mosquito bite. The guards slapped their necks, but it was already too late. The guards fell to the floor just before Drake snuck out of the room. Night, night Drake thought as he knelt down to where the bees now lay. He scanned them back into his watch before he stood up and looked around.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a map of this place would you?” Drake asked Seth through the communicator. He didn’t know whether to go left or right. Hell, he didn’t even know where the target was.

[Arty Fox]

Mac and Cheese

This London was different than the one Cheese and Mac were familiar with. For thing it was a lot shorted in comparison made up of squat, squalid buildings of brick and mortar that jostled each other for what little space there was available in the narrow streets. The city sounded different too; less engine noises and taxis rolling down tarmac and more general hustle and bustle of humans only occasionally punctuated by the roar of a van making deliveries.

Stepping out of the empty side street both Mac and Cheese came to the conclusion that they had no idea where they were. Shops lined the main road they had stepped onto already very busy with people going about their afternoon business.

“You two stay close to me.” Cheese ushered them towards her. “I can make the three of us less noticeable. Not invisible mind but at least we won’t stick out so much.”

There was a slight harness to her tone still from earlier when Mai had thanked her; as a Fairy the very idea that he actions could be repaid or acknowledged by simple words was something about humanity as a whole that infuriated her. Before they had left the ship Cheese had managed to grab a change of clothes consisting of an itchy green dress with a jacket and tights so she looked almost part of the crowd before them.

“So that’s how you and James get out of toilet duty.” Mac muttered.

Mac too had managed to grab some clothes and now wore plain brown trousers and a red jumper over a shirt and tie. Overall he felt as if he were either going for an interview or playing a part in a very old film. Sadly, nothing could’ve been done to change how his head looked, neither he nor Cheese had been surprised when the ships magicians had failed to alter or undo the Goblin Kings spell, which was part of the reason for Cheese using her own magic instead.

“So then, where do we head?” Mac asked aloud as he glanced at the fruit stall beside them. “Any ideas V2?”
@Gentlemanvaultboy

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

v2 did not have a change of clothes, but someone had fortunately thrown out an old brown rain coat in the street where they landed sufficient to hide his bulkier bits. He quickly threw it on, quietly pleased that true to stereotype it always looked like rain in London. The little charm that Cheese had made for him, which he had quickly and wordlessly snatched from her hand as per instruction, was still clutched in his hand but that really wouldn't do. He brought it up above his head, opened up his mouth, and the charm fell with a few metal taps into his gullet. With that, he could carry his helmet in one hand and still have a free hand for his keyblade if he needed it.

“So then, where do we head?” Mac asked aloud as he glanced at the fruit stall beside them. “Any ideas V2?”
@Gentlemanvaultboy

@Arty Fox

"Synagogue." v2 suggested. "I find the idea of Judah not practicing his faith in such a trying time extremely unlikely. A Jewish community suffering from unusually high Heartless activity is where we are likely to find him. He can then lead us to the princess."

[Letter Bee]

Team Mai, Taka, Ryteb

Ryteb was right. But, everyone else was too distracted to make a decision. This was the time they would notice that an unnatural gloom was hovering over Berlin, with storm clouds covering the sky at incredible speed as it began to rain, weakening any fire spells cast and obscuring the three's vision...

Team Drake and Seth

Seth, meanwhile, would find himself suddenly beset by a number of motorcycle-riding troops, light vehicles with machine guns mounted, and a trio of tanks possessed by Possessor* Heartless! Said Tanks had a large main gun, but their primary means of attack against Seth were their own machine guns, which spat out Darkness-infused bullets at the Nobody. Not merely that, but being possessed by Heartless, Seth's Dark Sand would affect the tanks less.

Drake, meanwhile, would be beset by Lesser Nobodies, such as Dusks** and Creepers***, as well as Soviet Special Forces, which were trying to fire at him, using special rounds that were meant to be armor-piercing, as well as trying to halt his advance with grenades. Nevertheless, he would sweep past this opposition and find himself in a large room, where a beautiful, blonde and blue-eyed woman in a black robe, wielding a great scythe was waiting for him, waiting for him with several globs of burning molasses, which she hurled at the Bounty Hunter, trying to catch his attention!

"Sorry," said the black-robed blonde, "but I can't let you near Stalin now." She would then support her globs of burning molasses by conjuring up, from the floor of this large room in the Kremlin, a gigantic tractor arm, which would try and hit Drake full-tilt as the globs of boiling molasses tried to deny the Bounty hunter any way of escape...

Team v2, Mac, and Cheese

In one of the areas of London reserved for Jewish Refugees, Judah bin Issac, an albino who had found unusual physical endurance thanks to the magic of his Keyblade, was indeed praying. The 'Synagogue' he was in did not look the part, being a converted warehouse where the Rabbi stored his holy texts. As the time for prayer began to end, he sensed a presence coming closer...but he didn't know what. So ten minutes later, he put on his raincoat, and moved outside the building, facing three people, people who, through his mystic senses, shone with capital-l Light. The white-haired, purple-eyed boy - it would normally be red, if not for his Keyblade - then faced the three, a slight tone of suspicion in his voice.

"If you want to fight Heartless in the homefront, the districts downward usually get 'blitzed' with Heartless from the Nazi's sorcerers. This district is mine to keep safe, and I won't let you farm for Munny here."

*khwiki.com/Possessor

**khwiki.com/Dusk

***khwiki.com/Creeper

@Double@Arty Fox@SMS@Rex@Ryteb Pymeroce@Gentlemanvaultboy@ShadowVentus@supertinyking

[Rex]

@Letter Bee

Drake wouldn’t get an answer since he suddenly found himself surrounded. He looked at the heartless and the solders and smiled as he said, “Wouldn’t want this to be too boring.” Drake then charged towards the solders. He knew fighting the heartless would be fruitless since they would just respond. Might want to look into buying one of those key swords Drake thought as he pulled out his revolvers and fired into the group of solders. His bullets whizzed through the air, but the tips would fall off and nets exploded out of them. They were his no lethal rounds called wire bullets. The nets were made of steel and it would take a while for any of the solders to get free.

Drake jumped to the side as a grenade exploded behind him. It took a few of the heartless down, but they just reformed themselves. Drake quickened his pace and blasted past the solders before he found himself in a fork in the hall way. He turned into the left hallway and rushed down it towards a large door. He busted through the door before he quickly closed it. He sighed in relief before he turned to see where he was.

Drake found himself in a large room which he assumed was the throne room or something like that. He soon saw a woman in black robes standing in the room. His attention went straight to her weapon. He sighed as he noticed he was still wearing the black coat Seth had given him. However, he didn’t have a chance to act as she hurled large globs of boiling molasses at him while a tractor arm rose up from the ground and tried to attack him as well.

Drake did his best to dodge the molasses, but some grazed the tip of the black coat. He suddenly dived to the left as the tractor arm slammed into the ground. He rolled back to his feet and sighed again as he took the coat off and let it fall to the ground. He tilted his cowboy has a little and smiled.

“That’s something I’d never thought would happen again: me wearing black while fighting someone wielding a Scythe. Bring back some bad memories,” Drake said before he took out his Blaze Blue sword. The blade began to glow blue as he continued, “I’m guessing your Lavinia. So I’m also guessing that bitch Philippa told you about all of us and our powers?” a smile grew on Drakes face. Only issue is, she only saw my Shadow Nexus. Not my other ability Drake thought. He’d never shown any of his new teammates his lightning manipulation. Hell, he’d never used it when he was summoned to fight this war, but now was a good as time as ever to show it off.

He got into a battle stance and waited for this woman’s next move. He would test the waters with her before going full force. He needed to gather information before attempting to kill her. However, his gaze would move from her, to her Scythe like something about the weapon brought up a memory he wanted to forget.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

((Collab between Letter Bee, Gentelmanvaultboy, and Arty Fox))

Cheese and Mac stood next to each other huddled beneath the makeshift umbrella that was her jacket, unfortunately for them it wasn't a very good umbrella so they were still soaked through from the rain.

"Actually we're just looking for someone." Mac spoke. "Judey or something?"

"Judah." v2 and Cheese spoke at the same time, somehow with the same amount of disappointment in their voices.

"Right, him." Mac nodded slightly. "Any idea where we might find him?"

Cheese looked the man standing before them up and down with utmost certainty that he was in fact Judah bin Issac. For one he held a keyblade, and for another he gave off an air of someone very powerful despite just simply standing there with the warehouse behind him. Why Mac was playing this silly game she had no idea.

"He is right there." v2 said, tilting his head at Mac. "It is obvious."

"Well someone obviously missed out on the 'sarcasm' function of your coding." Mac mumbled.

Judah bin Issac stared at the group warily, before saying:

"Well, it seems that this is more...ominous than I thought. There are many reasons for you guys to be after me, and few of them are good." With that, he pointed his Keyblade upward, enveloping the group in a wide barrier that pushed away the packs of surprised civilians, keeping them safe.

"Now," he said, "tell me, who sent you? The Nazis or the Soviets? Or are you other enemies?" Taking a fighting stance, Judah began manifesting a nimbus of Light...

"Do we look like Nazis!?" Mac almost shouted with more than a hint of panic in his voice.

"The Byzantine Empire." v2 answered truthfully. They really wouldn't have sent them in without trying to make contact with this man.

"Emperor Michael sent us." Cheese followed suit to V2 trying to explaining their reasons for being there. She had already placed herself between her companions and Judah. "He asked us to request your strength and further our cause to defeat the Seekers of Darkness."

"You are keyblader, are you not?" Cheese paused, awaiting his response.

"Do you think this guys even knows about other worlds?" Mac asked V2, hopefully quiet enough that Judah wouldn't hear him. "I mean, I'm not entirely certain it's really common knowledge. Wasn't in my world anyway."

"I do not believe the Empire would not have attempted contact with a talented Keyblade Master, had they known of his existence." v2 explained.

"All right, you're uttering nonsense," Judan bin Issac spoke, drawing his Keyblade. "If you won't tell me anything..." the earth would then begin to quake, "prepare to die."

v2's head hangs forward, an audible screech of metal on metal ringing out.

And with that, the earth underneath the trio shot up to spikes!

Mac wasn't fast enough and while he had managed to stumble away from being skewered he instead earned a number of ugly gashes up his legs. With a cry of pain Mac brought his own Keyblade into being. Out of clumsy instinct he moved to the side away from the spikes and cast a quick look at v2.

"You okay?" Mac didn't have high hopes though as to the answer.

v2's reflexes had carried him in the opposite direction from Mac as soon as he had noticed the spikes beginning to form. It had helped that he'd been looking down. "Angry with myself but otherwise unharmed."

Cheese had let go of her spell at this point prompting further gasps and cries from the civilians around them. Her attention was now set solely on Judah. In a blink of an eye where there had been one of her there now stood three of Cheese with eyes shining violet but completely unarmed.

"Judah, we aren't here to fight you." Her voice was slightly strained.

"Our intentions are entirely peaceful." v2 said, stepping forward arms spread. His helmet clattered to the ground as he stepped past the three Cheese.

"Please don't attack." Mac chose to stay where he was very much on guard to his surroundings. "It's somewhat painful."

"All right," spoke Judah. "So...The Empire; that means that you're allied with the Moogles, right? Never trusted them; their mercantile ways sound like people's stereotypes of us."

"Fair enough." Cheese spoke, after sharing a bemused glance towards Mac.

The forms of the three Cheeses shimmered and then were replaced with just one. She remained on guard though. Even though the situation appeared to have calmed somewhat there was still an uneasy tension between them that demanded she stay on guard.

"I apologize. I had assumed that you were aware of the situation, as the Empire was aware of you." v2. It was actually annoying. Here was a real boy they could have collected, in place of the substitute they had settled with. "Have you been contacted at all by agents from other worlds? I would like to understand how much you already know."

"Could we go inside first?" Mac asked from behind them.

Cheese hadn't reapplied her spell making their little group very noticeable to the citizens around them. No doubt they had very quickly become the latest piece of gossip.

"Let's go to mine and Lucy's mechanics shop," spoke Judah, lowering the barrier before, with a tap of his Keyblade, conjuring up umbrellas made up of artificial fibers and plastic handles.

"One of the few things the Moogles are good for," he would then turn to v2, and say:

"I was contacted by Moogles and one of their allies, a Greek so-called 'Excubitor'. I drove them away. Anyway, I'll guide you to the mechanics shop now," Judah said as he went off at a brisk pace.

"Told you my good luck charms were powerful." Cheese grinned beneath her umbrella. "You two okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Mac dispelled the keyblade and took his own umbrella from Cheese as he handed another to V2. "Cuts didn't go all that deep any way, just looks and stings like hell."

"No physical damage." v2 said as he looked at his own umbrella and replaced his helmet under his arm.

And with that, they all went off, to see Lucy...