Omori Meets with Miss Fortune
Word Count: 4106 (+5)
For the most part, Omori remained quiet during the meeting. Most of it was catching everyone up on how other teams were doing, and what had happened elsewhere. But he made sure to listen close, telepathic communication or not. What became of Dead Zone; Even he can imagine what resides there from the name alone, was a bit concerning, but will be worried about later when they have a means of
not getting reduced to ash and bone. The young boy shut his eyes for a moment, but he didn't fall asleep. He didn't really answer for suggestions on where to go either.
Dystopiascape did seem interesting though, but it wasn't like he was against going anywhere else. They'd have to wait on Yellow Team first to do anything it seems. ...Hm. So they'll be practice-fighting each other? Omori didn't react much when he and Cerberus weren't a part of the match up, but the offer was still there. He brought a hand up to his chin in thought. Then decided against participating with a shake of his head.
"Maybe when I'm stronger. Wouldn't be fair otherwise." He told Mewtwo. But it wouldn't hurt to watch, see how the rest fair in battle.
So he joined those spectating the fight between Susie and Nadia first. It seemed normal enough...wait, never mind, the cat lady's using her own head as a projectile. Admittedly, not something Omori expected. The pink-haired robot was doing well too! Torn tendons and muscles regenerated against bombs and blasters, the bridge got blown up, and somehow Susie's attempt to charge her blaster took too long. He wouldn't admit it outright, but anyone could tell he was getting engrossed in it. Susie slammed Nadia against the remnants of the bridge, but the latter recovered with a cocky grin! Oh crap, that's gotta leave a mark, she had practically obliterated Susie in a game-winning combo! Didn't even stand a chance!
...Maybe he had the right idea in not participating.
Omori could spot the two fighters appearing in the plaza again. The young boy, less hesitant than last time, followed after Nadia.
The feral seemed to be riding high after her win, making her way back from the plaza of arches to Ark Mall with some pep in her step. And why not? Even if her opponent came to the fight a little under-equipped in terms of technology or power, she presented a fresh challenge that Nadia managed to overcome with style. Plus, small-scale, more personal fights like that one were her specialty. After all her struggles against big, powerful monsters lately, and the violent bar brawl back in the thieves' den in Limsa, a sporting duel turned out to be a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Once back on the ground floor of the multi-level complex, she meandered through the open space a little, not quite sure what to do with herself. While Mewtwo requested that all the Seekers engage themselves in some warm-up fights, it did not specify what to do after. A quick look around didn't turn up any of Nadia's comrades, either. She considered heading back to the Garfront Center, but knew how long it might be before Yellow Team's transcontinental train rides would turn up a suitable location to send her off to, and just lazing around that place as she waited sounded pretty boring. Maybe Mewtwo meant for the Seekers to keep cycling through matches until the call to action came? Nadia scratched her neck, thinking.
Nah, he'd've definitely said so. Footsteps behind her made one of her ears twitch, and her head turned to see a young boy following in her footsteps. His familiar apathetic expression and distinctive monochromatic color scheme gave him a gloomy air that she recognized. Twice now she'd spotted him in her vicinity, noticeable but easy to forget, like the passing shadow of a bird in flight. In the Argentum Trade Guild he'd been just one more stranger in a massive and fast-moving crowd, and in the Garfont Center her attention had been elsewhere, but now here he stood out in the open, with some kind of interest in her. Nadia flashed him a friendly smile. If he felt as down as he looked, maybe she could cheer him up! Few things made her happier than bringing a smile to a kid's face, whether that meant playing with them, doing tricks, or giving out the occasional treat. She turned around and crouched down, her tail curled around her feet.
"Hey there li'l buddy!" she greeted him, leaning with her forearms rested on her knees. "My name's Nadia, but everyone calls me Miss Fortune. Purr-leased to meetcha! What's your name?"
Ah, he was slightly hoping to walk up next to her before she noticed him. Probably would be less awkward that way. Thank goodness she didn't bear any ill will, if that smile was something to go by. As Nadia stopped and crouched down to the smaller boy's level, he took note of her scars. Right, her skin seemed to break apart as it stretched out.
"I'm Omori. Nice to meet you, Miss Nadia." Puns aside, he formally introduced himself, deciding to go ahead and break the ice a little.
"You both did good out there, I was watching the whole match. How're you able to do that, using your own head and stuff to fight without...you know...?" He asked her, a hint of curiosity weaved into his usual neutral tone.
"Oh, you were?" Nadia sounded a little surprised. She did remember a couple Miis around the archway after her match with Susie concluded, but they didn't say anything to her and she didn't pay them any mind. Even after seeing the people spectate Diddy Kong and R.O.B., she'd totally forgotten such a feature existed whilst absorbed in her own battle. Maybe newbies didn't draw a crowd. If so, that just made Omori's viewership all the more special! "Well thanks! I hope I looked cool out there, heheh." She tilted her head as she considered how to answer his next question. "Well...it's a long and honestly, pretty painful story. Suffice to say, I can't die, so whenever I come apart, every bit o' me's still alive and kickin'." She shrugged as if to say
that's life. "If ya think that's weird, I betcha haven't gotten out much! Some of the stuff I've seen on this trip so far makes my whole thing look paws-itively tame."
She held up her hands as double finger guns. "Speakin' of which, I saw ya at the meetin' earlier. were ya thinkin' of comin' along with us?"
The boy nodded.
"There are people out there I need to protect." He explained. He then turned his attention to his sole weapon, holding it out in front of him to where the shiny blade acted as a reflection. He couldn't help the sigh that escaped his lips.
"But I'm not used to fighting alone. That thing that dragged us here seemed to have weakened me too. I need time to bounce back." For a moment the sudden appearance of Omori's knife left Nadia in a state of mild concern, but it turned out to be more of an accessory to his contemplation than anything. "Haha, yeah," she told him, totally not nervous at all. "Everything's, y'know, topsy-turvy and all. It can be pretty dangerous out there, so take all the time ya need, 'kay?" She stood up, swishing her fish tail, and put her hands on her hips. "Hey, have ya had breakfast today already? Ya look like ya could use a good pancake, my treat. I was at this place earlier, just loaded 'em up with strawberries, cream, and chocolate. Sound any good?"
Of course, Nadia's reaction to the sudden knife didn't go unnoticed. It
was a bit jarring, seeing a kid wielding a knife.
"Ah, sorry." Omori apologized, twirling the knife in one hand before pocketing his weapon.
"Didn't mean to startle you." She then, surprisingly, offered to treat him to breakfast. His eyes widened slightly. He was going to answer, when the growl of his own stomach beat him to the punch.
"Right, that...does sounds good right now." Omori decided to take her up on the offer with a genuine smile.
The feral's heart soared; she couldn't have kept a straight face even if she wanted to. "Sweet! Walk this way, then."
She set off in a silly walk toward the Ark Mall spiral staircase, from which a number of bridges extended at the different landings to provide easy access to the multi-tiered gallery's floors. Planning to retrace the steps that took her to Pancake Bar that morning, Nadia didn't need to pay too much attention to where she was going, so when she gave up her silly walk to start the climb upstairs she sparked up another conversation.
"So, what's the coolest thing ya seen since ya showed up in the World of Light?" she asked. "For me, it's gotta be the Luma Pools. Way up on the western shore, it's this huge jungle fulla pink grass and leaves, and diamond-blue water so sparklin' and clear you could see right to the bottom! The reef out in the shallows by Limsa were great, but the Pools were the stuff of dreams." She sighed as she recalled the tranquil paradise, so soothing to her soul after the horrors of war. "How 'bout you?"
"Dunno." The monochrome youth shrugged, taking in his surrounding while keeping up with Nadia's pace.
"I've just been staying in Limsa for the most part. Although, I did think the trade guild ship was pretty cool. Don't think I traveled through the Luma Pools either, but they do sound neat." After a moment of thinking, he spoke up again.
"Then again, Limsa's not the only town I've visited. Dirtmouth, I think it was called. It's sort of a quiet town, but that's cause the residents take most of their time exploring the depths of the nearby chasm. That's what one of the elders explained to me." He recalled to the feral.
"I decided to have a look myself, but didn't risk going too deep in. There's only so much you can do with a knife and your wits. Especially when you're having to fend off bandits." Omori shook his head in disdain.
Nadia nodded as she internalized the new names. "Smart kid. Fights are more dangerous than ever in this world 'cause guys under the influence can't back down from a fight." Omori didn't paint a very vivid picture of his experiences, but she didn't need him to wax poetic to understand that he'd been through some hardship. Hopefully nothing to the degree that she did as a kitten, but who knew. "I sure hope we don't go underground anytime soon. I'm good with green grass and blue skies for a while!"
Once up the stairs, a short trip across the catwalk brought the pair to the third floor. The highest of the lower tiers, it featured some room out in front of the rows of businesses and facilities that made for decent atmosphere. Already the ovens at Monas' Pizza were beginning to heat up in preparation for the lunch rush, which nowadays were busier than ever thanks to the employment of a new and very popular
Mona to replace the Mona that went off with the Phantom Thieves. Industrious noise -and sometimes fumes- wafted over from the workshop, the apothecary Sophie's Cauldron, and Prince Fleaswallow the frog's Flea Market. Nadia, however, set her sights on the humble but aromatic
Pancake Bar. When she approached, the owner and cook -a jovial man whose toque rested on a fully receded hairline- treated her to a smile. "Well, if it isn't the lovely Ms Fortune! What can I do for you?"
Nadia patted a hand on Omori's shoulder. "Actually, I wanted to get this guy somethin'!" In front of the boy stood a wide array of plastic bins full of topping, almost too many to choose from. "Whatcha think, Omori?"
"I can even cook certain things inside the pancakes," the owner said with a wink as he flipped a pancake, not even bothering to look. "Chocolate chips, for example!"
Woah.
He didn't react much this time, but they could tell there was a glimmer of intrigue in his eye. The youth would have to choose carefully, any combination can be a gamble when it comes to taste and texture.
And he could order toppings IN the pancakes?! The possibilities could be endless! After a moment of concidering his options, he decided to go for a drizzle of chocolate syrup, lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar and topped with a mix of fresh berries. He did also concider whipped cream, but he didn't want to go
too overboard.
"Yessir!" the owner cheerfully replied. "You're third in line, so I'll have that out for you in a few minutes, soon as I'm caught up."
Nadia paid for the pancakes with a couple of the last few gold coins she had on her, which she didn't seem to think twice about. With the order in progress, the feral then headed over to one of the nearby tables to sit down. "So," she began. "Why not tell me a li'l about yourself, kid? If we know your story, we can help keep an eye out for your friends!"
Omori followed behind, sitting across from her.
"Not much to say there. I used to live in Whitespace before all this, but I don't remember much else before that. You don't have to imagine what it looks like, it's mostly a void. When I'm not spending time there, I was with my friends in Headspace, which is basically Whitespace's neighbor. More colorful, full of life." He began to explain. Unfortunately he didn't have his map of Headspace on him. Something crossed his mind, and he pulled out the journal he's been keeping notes on enemies on. At the back page was a drawing of
himself, but with a group of more colorful people. "The one in the colorful shirt is Kel, and that's his brother Hero. The girl with the bow's Aubrey, and the older girl's Mari. She's my sister." He pointed out each of them to Nadia, then he pointed to the green haired boy wearing a flower crown.
"Basil. Something happened, and he went missing before Galeem reached us. We were busy looking for him." He quietly sighed.
"I can't vouch for Mari, but Basil doesn't like to fight. The rest of us can atleast defend ourselves, but..." He trailed off.
There
was some things he was leaving out, but he didn't want to drag his new acquaintance into something he'd have to deal with himself.
"Other than that, my life was pretty normal, I guess. Think I've been stuck in this place for...two months? Give or take?" Nadia drummed her fingers on the table as she took in the list of names and their corresponding faces. None of them rung a bell. "Well, don't worry yourself too much. As long as ya keep pushin' forward, you'll run into 'em again at some point. Just a matter of time."
The boy simply nodded in response, opting to look through the list of foe facts he's collected so far while waiting.
And speak of the devil, Nadia's ears pivoted again, this time at the sound of distant shouts. She heard 'hey', 'get back here', and 'stop, thief', all exclamations she'd received a fair few of during her own escapades. These yells seemed to be coming from the a level or two above her, however, and with a brow raised Nadia turned her gaze upward. Right away she spotted a
familiar kid sprinting along the railing of Ark Mall's fifth floor, her trusty umbrella in one hand and a brilliantly sparkling
time piece in the other. In hot pursuit she spotted a
man in a yellow superhero costume, complete with the likeness of a beer glass for a helmet, who was not only running at a furious pace despite his portly build but actually catching up to Hat Kid, much to the young one's terror. It looked like she'd already seen Nadia, because as Wonder-Beer tried to grab her, Hatty dove off the fifth-floor railing and sailed down toward the feral, popping her umbrella to break her fall. "Darn it!" Wonder-Beer hollered before gathering himself, and with a 'hup' he vaulted the railing to plummet down after her. As Hatty ran to hide behind Nadia, the Wonderful One hit the ground with a powerful slam, but seeme to be fine.
Red-faced and wheezing, he extended an accusatory finger at the kid peering out from behind Nadia's legs. "H-hey, what's the big idea? This kid yours?" he asked. "She grabbed that hourglass right outta Dr. Shirogane's lab!"
Nadia held up her hands in a placating manner as her tail curled around Hatty protectively. "Whoa there, hold on a sec, dude! Just hear meowt. I'm just a friend of hers, but I'm pretty sure those thing belong to her?" She looked down at the kid, who nodded, then back to Shirogane. "I wasn't on the team at the time, but apparently the boss of the first area knocked her ship outta the sky and scattered those thingies all around the world. They're what her ship uses insteada gas."
"Huh? Y-you sure?" Wonder-Beer scratched his head. "But wait, that means you're...that means
she's...part of the hero team?"
Hatty nodded, looking very smug, and Nadia backed her up with a shrug as if to say
that's the facts. "If ya don't believe me, just ask Peach!"
"Ugh, well...you coulda said something at least kid, jeez! I get some people have a no-talking thing, but come on..."
...
Well then. Luckily Omori didn't need to intervene, probably would've if the beer headed guy continued to harass the poor kid. She looked like she was around his age, maybe younger. As Nadia defused the situation he gave Hat Kid a polite wave.
"Hey," Then Wonder-Beer mentioned a no-talking thing. So she's a quiet type too?
"I get it, prefering not to talk too much?" He tilted his head to the side.
"Wanna stick with us for a bit?" As Wonder-Beer headed back to Shirogane's new lab, Nadia uncurled her tail and plopped back down in her chair. "Yeah, you could have some pancakes with us! How about it?"
Hatty's eyes lit up. "Ooh!" After stashing her time piece, she ran over to the Pancake Bar's counter to place her order, which she did by mostly by jumping and pointing to the things she wanted.
Nadia smiled. "Lucky I was around to clear that up, huh? Wasn't that dude's outfit hilarious? Goes to show heroes come in all shapes and sizes, whether you've got a six-pack or a good stout." Not expecting Omori to appreciate them, she giggled at her own puns, glad for the sudden infusion of beer-related humor that the encounter with the Wonderful One provided. "That's Hatty, by the way. At least, that's what I call her, 'cause she's never told us her real name. Despite bein' young, that hat's filled to the brim with courage and determination, and she's a real parkour whiz. Always haber-dashing around." Still grinning michievously, she leaned back in her chair. "Just proves that heroes can be pint-sized too, eh?"
Omori nodded again, shutting his eyes in thought.
"Sounds like a strong kid. But yeah, I don't know if I'd be able to pull it off like you did. A sudden fight out here in public would be a terrible idea." He looked back to the feral with a faint grimace.
"There's a world of dif-fur-ence between you and me, kid!" Nadia told him. "Don't go lookin' at me like I'm some kind role model. You don't need to be
the best, or even my best. Just
your best, right? That's all we can ask of ya. It's up to us adults to do the rest." She remembered the pain she and the whole team felt when poor Hatty got bonked during the Orphan fight. The vengeance that followed was a testament to how jealously protective the team was of their little Hat Kid.
"Order up!" the owner of Pancake Bar called, as Hatty ran back over to the table. Nadia jabbed her head in the old guy's direction, gesturing for Omori to go grab his treat while it was hot.
The monochrome youth closed his journal and set it to the side.
"Be right back." He said as he got up and walked away to grab his plate of pancakes with both hands, careful not to accidentally spill the delicious-looking breakfast. Almost looked
too good to eat.
Almost.
He nodded to the owner in thanks, then walked back to his seat. Soon as he set his plate down he was already in the midst of cutting a slice of the stack out. Once he got down to eating he wouldn't be doing much talking, and Hatty wouldn't be doing much ever, so Nadia figured she might as well give them something to listen to as they ate up. She began to talk about Little Innsmouth, telling all about New Meridian's hard-knock but uniquely flavorful seaside district, of its Dagonian people, and her memories with them. She recounted the sights and smells of its wharves and markets, the lower-level streets that became canals at high tide, visions of coral smokestacks and jellyfish lanterns of colored paper. She spoke of her friends, like Minette the waitress, and Yu-Wan, and all the others. While her reminiscing did its job of filling time, it also served one other purpose. It had been over two months since she last saw her home, most of it spent in ignorance of the world's wrongness, and how long it would be until she could see them again she couldn't say. Telling stories like these, however inexpertly, helped to keep the memories alive. She got into such a groove that she unwittingly continued a few minutes after the kids finished their pancakes, which made for an embarassingly realization afterward.
"Well, hope the food was good at least!" Nadia said sheepishly.
Omori had cleaned himself off with a napkin when he finished his food. He did try his best not to make too much of a mess, but if you looked closely enough you could've see patches of powdered sugar still stuck around his lips. Nonetheless, he listened closely to Nadia's tales. He was used to being an ear for others to chat up and vent too after all. Once she realized she had been rambling for a while, he waved it off with a warm smile.
"It was. Thanks for bringing me here, Miss Nadia." "Mhm!" Hatty echoed, tossing her last strawberry into her mouth.
"You bet!" The feral wore a gentle smile, one that well and truly reached her eyes. "Y'know, we've been here a little bit, I wonder how the mission's going?" She leaned on her elbow to look down over the railing. "Wait, duh, that Mewtwo guy said the other team'd be visitin' a couple train stations, so we probably got plenty-a time." She turned back to the kids. "Anywhere ya wanna go? I'm sure we could find some other fun stuff around this place."
The boy shrugged, ever indifferent, then looked over to Hatty.
"You look like you know your way around the place. Got any ideas?" He asked her with a light nudge of his elbow.
"Hmm..." The little girl put a hand to her chin, thinking. Then she snapped her fingers, dabbed her mouth with her napkin, and leaped down from her chair to race down the third floor row toward the stairs. Nadia jumped up, waved at Omori follow them, and took off after Hatty on another new adventure.
Omori pocketed his journal and hurried off after them. He'd probably have to miss some of the other matchups, but he didn't mind in the slightest. Nadia and Hatty seem like cool people, so why not hang out with them for a bit longer?