Jakeozzy

Metro 2033: The Journey [Jakeozzy & Kanman]

"Or I toss this here nail bomb into the hallway, you die screaming, and us two enter the metro and close the entrance behind us. If I wanted to hurt you, do you think you would still be hurling threats at me?" The Major said, struggling with his moral compass to not just do like he said and cake this muppet all over the walls. He spared a glance back at Raisa, who just shrugged and circled a finger around her ear. This guy wasn't all there, it seemed! He nodded in response, sighing quietly as this little standoff continued.

"Come to us, you play by our rules and you get in the metro, you get to live, and we go our separate ways after Volgogradsky Prospekt. Deal?" the old stalker offered, not losing his cool.

"All for the pipe bomb idea, myself," Raisa added, causing the Major to turn and shake his head at her. He had this under control... Hopefully.

Metro 2033: The Journey [Jakeozzy & Kanman]

Raisa nodded at the Major, finally ready to continue. The last leg of their journey would be underground, fortunately. The darkness and lack of changing environment would make her feel far safer. The stalker nodded, and stepped down into the busted-open floor, placing a foot in the vent. It wasn't a metallic ringing because of the vents being surrounded by thick concrete. But there was a sound akin to that at the same time. The hallway. He lifted the rifle to aim at an entering intruder, but whoever it was seemed smart enough to stay outside.

Raisa raised her weapon to the door, flexing her fingers on the AK's foregrip. They weren't safe yet... The old man said to call out contacts, but she figured he got the idea by now. Instinctively she moved into the corner of the room, whilst the Major took up the role of 'negotiator'. With no indication to drop her guard, Raisa's aim was rested on the door.

"Identify," the Major ordered calmly. He seemed awfully collected to say about two minutes earlier he'd more or less said 'kill anyone on sight'. "I am an independent stalker. Heading to Volgogradsky Prospekt. I have a friend in here with me. We're not looking to fuck this up now that we're so close to the metro. Are you?"

Raisa raised a brow at the old stalker's chat with.. well, whatever or whoever was in the hall. She could bail right now, but the man was right. After all that crazy on the surface, it'd be a shame to end this in bloodshed. Human blood, that is.

Metro 2033: The Journey [Jakeozzy & Kanman]

Raisa hastily pulled her dark green rucksack off as she reached the window, tossing it inside before jumping up herself. Relieved at making it, she pulled herself inside with the thrill of the moment pushing her physical limits, falling forward onto something soft below. Perhaps it was the Major himself who laid old mattresses over the floor? She'd ask him when he was safe! Without checking the room or the nearby hall for contacts, she hopped back up into the window, throwing an arm down for the Major, mutants encircling him as he waited. Further up the street, a demon raced through the air, talons at the ready to peel him off the wall if he wasn't quick about his escape. Without a moment of hesitation he jumped as high as his gear would allow, and his wise choice of companion clasped her hand around his to pull him in, albeit with some difficulty on her end. The demon crashed into the window slit just after the Major fell through, its roar emitting through the whole building as it struggled for its prey.

"OOF!"

One shot from the stalker's powerful rifle, and the beast recoiled straight back outside again. They were safe. For now. What was that noise just before he fired?

"Get off me, damn it!" Raisa complained under the weight of the man and all his equipment. What she needed after that experience was space! The aged soldier chuckled as he pulled himself back to his feet and stretched, giving Raisa some time to recover and pull herself together. They were in a maintenance room, in the back of the apartment building. There was an air vent in this same room they would use to crawl into a service tunnel near Volgogradsky Prospekt, it'd been conveniently mined with machine tools and exposed in the floor by other stalkers.

"Let's move when you're ready, the sooner we're in a breathable place the better," the Major said in monotone, calming from the experience rather quickly.

Metro 2033: The Journey [Jakeozzy & Kanman]

It was right there, just a little bit further up the road. But why now of all times did mutants have to start showing up? Their confidence grew as night drew closer, that much was clear... But they seemed riled up more than usual. Nosalises and watchmen growled at each other just outside the building at the end of the road, oblivious to the two humans, and what lurked above. It wasn't normal to see the groups facing off, not that Raisa knew that. The Major however knew something had drawn the nosalises out into the Moscow cold, into watchmen territory. But what? Or... who? His eyes scanned the windows around them for activity His gaze then rested upon the slit-like windows in the back of whatever that building used to be. The air vents in there would take them down into Volgogradsky Prospekt. They just had to make it there in one piece first.

"Sokov. This is it. Hear the flapping above us? More demons. Stick close to the walls, move fast, be deliberate. We have one shot only at reaching the target building, if we fuck up then that's it... Be wary of human contacts and call them out if you see any, stay with me!" The Major commanded, picking up the pace as he held his rifle up to the gathered mutants. His pace quickened, eyes darting from his scope to his feet every few moments to ensure safety. Tripping and being mauled wouldn't be his idea of a glorious death...

Raisa followed him, adrenaline pumping. She was going back underground, as long as she did exactly as the expert said. She followed him a little slower, as she had to keep their backs covered. Look out for human contacts? Where did he get that idea? No time for thinking, only time for doing.

The veteran stalker fired a single 7.62 round into the crowd, causing both the nosalises and watchmen to scarper. This in turn had the demon swoop down into the open street to pick an unfortunate watchman up and carry it away to its nest. The other mutants were getting out of the area, and sharpish!

"Move, run!" The Major took to bolting away from the wall and straight down the street, soon followed by Raisa when she'd heard him break into a sprint. Being younger and carrying less gear, she overtook him - but that was good - he said she'd have to help him up. Making that high window slit would be easy!

What they didn't expect right now was to hear a terrifying roar from above, and then in the buildings on either side of the street, and behind them...! Both their hearts sank at the cry for their blood, but they were so close now!

Dragonball Xenoverse - Side Story

"I guess... I'm game. There's always room to improve, so I can be like you two!" Blaze chimed in, trying to feel something other than scared out of her mind. She could fight, but.. like the people in the scroll? Hell no could she keep up with that! The ki blasts launched from the Saiyan's hands were ridiculous, too - she'd get vaporised trying to match that. "Besides... Izaroth is right. If I sit back and let time fall apart, it doesn't matter where Earth is, the whole universe could feel the effects, and Terra might..." she didn't add the words that should follow, and instead made a determined look at Trunks, who nodded in return.

"I want you to train together, for whatever might come our way. There's ways to accelerate it, but... not yet. It would only be a waste at the level you both stand at." Trunks replied. "There's an empty island we use. That, or we can send you to an uninhabited place in the universe, but breathable. Whichever you both prefer."

The Elder Scrolls: Souls of Many Shades [Jake & Cronic]

"Hey Delphine, some loser in shiny armour is looking for-"
"She's not here."

Aria's expression grew curious as the owner's assistant answered from behind what should be Delphine's desk. A big fellow, a Nord, good sort. "She took off in armour, with that one they keep calling 'Dragonborn', just told me to look after the place in her absence. You need a drink, or a room?" he asked.

"Just dropped by to see how the village is coping. Dragon attacks tend to leave a lot to clean up," Aria replied, concerned.

"Ms. Draconis, don't you worry about it. All is as it should be thanks to the Jarl's men giving us a hand."

With that question answered, Aria gave a polite bow of her head to the Nord she couldn't quite remember the name of. She went back outside to survey the damages all over Riverwood herself. By now the foreigner from across the river was crossing the bridge into the village, the Thalmor on the guard post above staring at them the whole way.

Metro 2033: The Journey [Jakeozzy & Kanman]

"Bitch... She's waiting for something... Can't see it from here, probably dinner," the masked stalker sighed through the muffle of his filtration mask, as he twitched his fingers ever so slightly on his SVD's scope, focusing on the Demon in his crosshairs. It was perched on the edge of an apartment buildings roof, its growl could be heard from street level, just faintly audible on the wind. One bullet is all it could take, but the hell that would ensue if he missed or merely wounded the mutant wasn't worth it. Conserving his ammunition was also a survival priority. Trying to remain unnoticed by man or beast was for the best on the surface, in the dead city that was once Moscow. Up here, life always hung by a thread. If the living horrors didn't get the unlucky stalker, it might be something that bullets couldn't deal with. Anomalies, 'the dead', crazy but real enough... Too many dangers to count in this place. He still had two hours of light, maybe one hour of air if everything stayed calm.

"Fast and quiet, Sokov - we're close now. Let's go," the stalker spoke clearly as the mask allowed, taking one hand away from his rifle to tap the girl in her late teens on the shoulder. As she reacted, he turned into the alleyway they had stopped at the entrance to and raised his rifle to continue on.

Raisa made a barely heard 'mhm' and looked over her shoulder to see the Major moving. She scanned over her sector one more time, making sure it was all clear down the ruined street before stepping back until she was in the alleyway he was leading her into. At least the aforementioned 'bitch' would have a hard time hunting them in such a tight space. But if the case was ground-based critters, there was not a chance they would survive. They hunted in packs, they could quite easily trap the two humans and rip them to shreds. Quiet, aware, mobile - the three words the Major had told Raisa Sokov were repeatedly mouthed by the young woman as she followed him. They watched everywhere, twitched their eyes at every sound emitted from the decaying city ruins and its new inhabitants.

The destination was the next station inward, on the line from their home station, Kuzminki. The mutant attacks finally got out of hand, and the two must have been some of the only ones to escape. Going by surface was safer, considering the monsters might have hounded them all the way through the tunnels without relent. Not to mention, bandits inhabited those tunnels. Bullets in the front, teeth and claws in the back - or chancing the freezing, toxic Moscow of today. It had to be this way.

"Major, you've done this before?" Raisa asked as they reached the opposite end of the alleyway, both peering around their corners after nodding for a 'go' signal. "Traveled this area, I mean?"

"This route, yes. Proved troublesome, lost a companion to something big with claws. Knowing the shortcuts is essential to staying alive," the Major replied as he passed Raisa's corner to continue moving down the relatively intact street. His companion would check behind them in the alley before catching up again. "There is an entrance to the service tunnels behind the bandits' station in one of these buildings, Sokov. Getting old here. You might have to pull me through the high window when we get there."

"Can do, Major," Raisa agreed, her attention suddenly taken away from her mentor. A pack of three watchmen darted across the street ahead, crossing from one building to another. Of course, this wasn't a playground to them - mutants had to treat the surface like a minefield too. The Demon from earlier would love to dig its talons into the unluckiest of the three watchmen and carry it back to her nest. Raisa noted this, checked their three and six o'clock, checked the sky, and went to catch up with the Major once again.

'We must be close now...'

Dragonball Xenoverse - Side Story

The two began to ascend the steps. Ki could be felt inside; the energy of time itself, perhaps. Blaze was going to reply to Izaroth, but the place was awe-inspiring, and so, attention drawing - how could a building so small contain such a marvellous flow of energy? It did feel a little strange, though... Once inside, Blaze descended the steps into the central chamber when her partner was ready. The purple-tinted scroll on the table.. that was the off-feeling in the midst of every other sense.

It was only Trunks and the bird in here. The former turned to face them, while the latter flew straight up to each of the summoned warriors to inspect them in its own way.

"Our boss isn't here... Odd. But overseeing time's correct flow can't be an easy job, even with the Patrol helping," Trunks said, giving Izaroth and Blaze a curious gaze as he reached to pick up the scroll with the purple aura. Without an explanation, he opened it faced at them so they could see what they were here for.

----------

The scroll would be a 'replay', a tainted history in which a black-haired human and a Namekian fight with what they called a Saiyan. The Saiyan in question mopped the two up fairly quickly - there was a perfect shot for the Namekian to take, sacrificial, but it looked as though it couldn't fail. With a crimson light in his eyes and a sudden flare of a purple aura, like that of the scroll, the Saiyan broke free effortlessly, leaving the human to be shot by the Namekian's blast attack. With that, the Saiyan effortlessly sent a lethal ki blast at the alien, presumably killing him.

When it was over, Trunks waved for the bird to come to the scroll. It seemed to 'purify' it with beats of its wings.

"This timeline has already been corrected, we made sure to save the 'feed' from the corrupted timeline for further study. We have no idea what's been causing it, but villainous fighters from every era of Earth's history have been given a significant power boost, effectively changing the outcome of major battles that ended in victory originally." Trunks explained as he showed the purified 'feed' to the two. It goes exactly as it looked as if it should have. With a red-haired Time Patroller's intervention, the powered up Saiyan is beaten down enough for the Namekian's attack to work. Even though his apparent comrade is dead, the fight is won. Before the Namekian can ask whom the mysterious warrior is, he's already returned to the Time Nest...

"Further work will be needed to completely repair the timelines, but first we have to find out whatever is causing the enemies of the past to become stronger. That way we'll be able to stop it before it ever happens!" Trunks finished, closing the scroll and giving it to the bird, who would fly off and stack it neatly on a shelf. "The Patroller you saw is my own partner, by the way. He's a Saiyan like me, but he's got quite a ways to go yet... He's new-ish, like you. It was actually a gamble letting him fight with Raditz, but it turned out okay."

----------

Blaze was holding Izaroth's arm the whole time the scroll had been displaying the corrupt and pure timelines, it was like watching a thrilling movie to her, until she realised that people had actually died in battle... Then her grip only got tighter! It had just hit home now that this may well be a death sentence, not a job. As reassuring as it was to have the big guy here as a partner, ...could she keep up with him? The last thing she wanted was to be dead weight.

"...I don't know what to say... We actually watched history change... We're supposed to change history... Isn't a god supposed to do this kind of thing?" Blaze asked, quite stunned.

"Think of us as a god's personal army, in that case..." Trunks offered a reassuring smirk to the girl. Though, it didn't seem to help.

The Elder Scrolls: Souls of Many Shades [Jake & Cronic]

As Aria rode across the stone bridge into Riverwood, two hunters also on horseback stopped on their ride out and looked at each other knowingly, the male of the two raising his hand to get the redhead to halt. The female Dunmer kept her head on a swivel, specifically keeping watch on the forests. The male was an Imperial, a genuine look about him, but he seemed troubled.

"Madam," he greeted Aria with a tip of his head. "You were one of the dragon slayers, saved everyone last week, aye? Impressive work... Got to tell you, though. Thalmor been pokin' around here the last few days, probably about the dragon. You might be better off heading back to Whiterun if you're uh.. disliked. Just a heads up."

Aria raised an eyebrow and peered over his shoulder. Riverwood seemed much the same as it always was, save for a little more liveliness, but that was to be expected with Thalmor presence. Aria would bet even Aldmeris in their home territory was deathly quiet... But would that be through dutiful discipline or fear? "Thanks. I'll watch myself, enjoy your hunt," she replied calmly.

"Hunt?" the Imperial smirked and chuckled, lowering his voice, "We're outta here - maybe head to Windhelm. No Thalmor in Windhelm!" he whispered giddily before once again giving a bow of his head and taking point. "Let's get movin', Lithas. Long, cold, dangerous road ahead."

The Dunmer woman snapped to attention and gave Aria a quick smile before following after the Imperial, their horses quickening into a run as they moved further away from Riverwood.

"Since when did the Thalmor care about dragons killing defenceless Nords?" Aria asked herself, letting her horse trot slowly into the village.

--------------------

Once dismounted and the horse secured outside the inn, it didn't take long before the Thalmor demanded a moment of Aria's attention.

"I would demand a moment of your attention," a golden-armoured Altmer stated plainly, like they all did...

Aria began to nod slowly. Dealing with these types was pretty irritating. Not to mention, every single time they spoke it was demanding, there was always something they wanted, they wouldn't ever give, or bargain, it was just their right to do whatever they wished, and everyone would comply with them, yes? No!

"Get to the point, I don't have time for people who have no time for any blood but their own," Aria replied in a dull tone very similar to the Thalmor soldiers' own. He seemed a little offended. Good!

"Your lack of cooperation has been noted. You shall tell me where I might find a woman named Delfine," the soldier commanded without losing his cool.

"Owns the tavern here, didn't delve into her personal life. Privacy is important to some people," Aria coughed.

"Are you trying to get yourself listed, girl?" the Thalmor shot back, causing the sides of Aria's mouth to twitch upward. If she could provoke him into trying to arrest her, this would be a very interesting trip to Riverwood indeed... She wondered if Jarl Balgruuf would tolerate one of the Dominion's agents being killed or injured on his turf. Was it worth chancing? ...Probably not.

"Already answered your 'demand', mind getting outta my sight?" Aria cheekily added. The Thalmor and the Akaviri hybrid stared each other down as Riverwood ground to a halt for that moment, all eyes on the pair. Fortunately for younger onlookers, the Thalmor decided to walk towards a guard bridge, breaking visual contact with the Odd Jobs' boss once out of murdering range. Aria smiled sweetly at him before he turned away, started humming politely, and entered the tavern!

"My win," she snickered.

--------------------

Across the river, a figure in foreign clothing and autumn-coloured hair in a ponytail looked on...

"Same as she ever was, yep..." he smirked.

Dragonball Xenoverse - Side Story

"Whatever you decide, I'm with ya'! Can't really see myself fighting some weird time-space war-thing without a hand to hold," Blaze said, blushing and laughing a little before correcting herself, "You get what I mean by that, like a pal, not.. the other thing. 'Cuz that would be strange. Like, how many 'guy meets girl' manga with crazy powers in 'em do you have to read to see where this should go?" she shrugged, rambling on about cliché couplings for the moment.

After they passed through yet another gate, the two would suddenly find themselves walking a pathway of stone slabs, in a dome rather than an open-skied island. It was a beautiful, very Earth-styled garden. There was a little cottage off on the right of the pathway, and what looked like some kind of fortified shrine or temple straight ahead. That was where Trunks was already ascending the stairs, a large bird was flying around him.

"Not that it would work anyway, you're way older than me, and I'm into shorter guys, maybe a bit thinner even if you do look all muscle to me. But I guess that's one reason the dragon chose us! I shoot 'em, you slap 'em! You know, that sounds kinda cliché too! Why can't the smaller one kick ass, and the bigger one shoot laser beams from their hands for once? I-I mean in stories, not here, of course I can't suddenly hit fifty times harder than I can now~... And that sucks. I feel like less of a skilled martial artist now."

Blaze finally took a deep sigh, and realised the change in scenery.

"...Wonder who his boss is. God?"