Mistress Dizzy

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

“Ugh.” After the world shattered, Jin found themself lying on the ground. It was dark, and cold, and… well, dark again. Hadn’t it just been the afternoon?

The scenery was beyond bizarre. Part of their brain recognized buildings and water, as if they were still at the dock. The other part was all but screaming in fear, not knowing where they were – and worse, who they were with. The other people who had been at the gazebo were all there. So Jin wasn’t going nuts, that was good. Before they could stop gaping and work up the idea to speak to anyone, there were uniformed people streaming from that prison structure. And that, despite the weirdness, was definitely a prison.

Jin watched as the large drifter took off immediately. Bold strategy, that. They always find it better to just move with the flow of things. Already, their mind was recognizing that this was reality – at least for now – and that they just had to accept it. That was the “beauty” of the foster care system. You learned to get used to new and strange things very quickly, for your own survival. As several guards took off after him, Jin was shoved into line with the rest of the poor souls around them. And then the guards cracked their left shin with their baton, hard.

“GAH!” Jin yelped, leg reflexively jerking away. “Asshole...” They muttered through gritted teeth as the guard went to the next person. They were going to have a nice chat from that drifting jerk who had gotten them all into trouble and pain. Jin felt their stomach knot as they were led on, as they saw the other “prisoners” that were part of this debacle. What the hell was that goop? What were those helmets? And… what would happen if a person had no money in this system?

As they were led forward into a far too cozy courthouse - the rich just couldn’t help themselves – Jin stumbled forward, nearly tripping over the small young woman who had been brought with them. “Sorry.” They apologized.

And then, there was a judge. Furrowing their brow, Jin felt as if they recognized this man somehow. Even with the strange costume, the mask and the novelty judge gavel, there was a vague familiarity. Like they had seen that person’s eyes somewhere before. When he asked what they were doing there, Jin stayed quiet. They didn’t trust the law, or cops, and despite their compliance, Jin would much rather be anywhere but here. All they remembered was not to tell the cops a damn thing, especially when they had no lawyer.

Unfortunately, someone else didn’t know that, or care. To Jin’s surprise, it was the same guy they had met that morning. Dakota, right? They had been so busy trying to not get hurt again that they had barely noticed that yellow streaked hair. Dakota, brave or stupid that he was, tried to plead their case with the truth.

“He’s telling the truth. There were these strange cracks everywhere, all over the school, er- the place where we were previously.” Jin was surprised to hear their own voice, backing Dakota’s words. Great – stupid impulsive brain! “I wrote down the locations of quite a few.” They raised both hands, making slow, sudden movements. “If you’ll allow me to reach into my pocket, I can show you the list.”

Star Wars: A Legend Reborn (Nobodyman123 and Mistress Dizzy)

Kijani wrapped herself up in as many of the small blankets she could, sipping at the warm tea. Thank the Force for her gentle-hearted Master.

“I… I feel like I still don’t know. I haven’t a clue as to why or how Vader comes into things, but that doesn’t even bear thinking about. So my choices are between Eskel and Adam. Between duty and… my heart.” Because she had come to some very startling conclusions between her vision and coming back to base.

One: She was in love with Adam.
Two: She still didn’t feel worthy of love.
Three: He had probably long since gotten over it and moved on.

It was the second she needed to work on.

“I’m not sure I should be telling you this, Master Yoda, but Adam confessed that he loved me before he left. I turned him down, because for one thing I don’t know what he could possibly see in me. I still don’t to be honest. But now I realize I made a mistake. I… I just don’t know what to do.” She drank more tea, staring into the rough earthenware mug like it held all of the answers.

“Did I mention I had to face down the swamp beast to rescue Prince Eskel earlier? Heh. I can do that, but I can’t make a simple holocall to someone I’ve been dying to speak to for weeks.”

Young Justice

Location: Mission Briefing Room
Interactions: Talking to Zach @crimson flame

Kassandra startled slightly, tearing her attention away from the situation at hand as she heard the two new arrivals coming in. Maya, on the surface, seemed impressive enough. She carried a beautiful sword and seemed at ease with the weapon at her side. The other girl just seemed rough by comparison. She also had the stones to attempt to insult Batman, which nearly made Kass’ jaw drop. Just why would she go and do that? It made no sense, and left a bad taste in her mouth. She had met people like that and did not want to meet any more.

She brought her attention back to the screens in front of her. From what she could tell, a circus was some type of human festival where they did multiple amazing things. Something called a ‘trapeze’ where humans flew through the air. A bunch of – what were they again? – elephants doing tricks. So on and so forth. She wondered what exactly she could bring to the table that would not be so obvious. Evidently she’d have to go to Zach for advice, since he would be taking the lead for this mission. Somehow, she felt like this suited his showy nature.

She had been introduced to the computer several weeks ago, and while she was no expert, she could use it well enough to get onto the internet and watch videos. Some of them had Zach in them, and she was still wondering why. It was a true pleasure to see Viktor pop up as well in one instance. That poor, delicious steak, though…

“I suppose my illusions could make a decent show, though I’d have to put some polish on them somehow. Zach, do you know if I can use my natural talents to come up with something?”

Tiny and the Terminator [Mistress Dizzy & Shifter_Master]

Jinny listened to Slade quietly, saying not a word. Then she pulled her hand from her mouth and smiled slightly. “Thank you. That makes me feel better.” She stood up, the happiness back in her eyes now that they weren’t half-surrounded by nosy onlookers.

“Let’s see what else this place has to offer.” She unfolded the school map that they had been given, and looked it over. “It sounds really normal on paper. Gym, classrooms, Oh! Wait, they have a mechanic shop. I’m going. Come on!” Putting the map back in her pocket, she strode down the walkways that crisscrossed the school and all of it’s facilities.

They passed a large, Olympic style pool and a smaller one that looked like it was just for recreation. Both were currently empty. They also passed a closed off building, that upon closer inspection was a gun range. By the time they reached the mechanic shop, a standalone facility with either white smoke or steam pouring out of a small chimney, they had seen a lot of the campus.

Jinny pushed the door open excitedly to see a tech-head’s paradise. Tools of all sorts, blueprints posted on the walls, and plenty of material to work with. “Wow...” Jinny murmured to herself. She had the same feeling when she’d first entered her uncle’s weapons room. A sense of awe… and a desire to get her hands on everything.

However, there was someone else already there, and he seemed to be working on something already. Jinny was surprised, as the school year hadn’t even started yet.

“Um… hello.” She carefully approached the short boy at the work bench and greeted him.

A kings' political marriage plan- closed

"Prince Droka, it is a pleasure." Jinayah curtsied, ignoring the faintest pop of her knees. "I am Princess Jinayah of Apura. It's a true pleasure. I am sorry to hear about your brother." Not knowing the context behind his death, she could only think of what it would mean to lose one of her own sisters.

"You're luckily still in time for the main ball. Would you prefer to dance, or should I show you to the food table?" Then again, perhaps the Prince would simply prefer to rest after a long time of travel.

A kings' political marriage plan- closed

@Bright_Ops You are! My apologies. I should be able to post tomorrow.

A kings' political marriage plan- closed

Sooo...

What are we waiting on?

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Around 2:00pm

Jin managed to find their way back to their beat-up vehicle and sat in the front seat, blank. Their head was pounding after crying so hard. Everything felt blurry and wrong. Despite not wanting to look at anyone, they noticed several more cracks around the school as they had traveled. Well, that was going to be someone else’s job, now, wasn’t it? And the only cracks Jin would have to deal with would be the ones on the sidewalk where they might be sleeping again…

A few cars passed by, pausing, but Jin waved them off. They were like parking lot vultures, desperate for a spot on the ever busy campus.

There had to be something they could do. Picking up the phone, they decided to dial a number they hadn’t dared to in a while.

“Barclay First Baptist, how may I direct your call?”

“Hello, um… may I speak to Pastor Northman please?”

“One moment.”

There was a brief silence on the line. Then someone new picked up.

“This is Pastor Northman, how may I help you?”

“Pastor, it’s me. It’s… it’s Jin. Ifriti?”

“Ah, hello Jin. How are you?”

“Not, aah… not great. You see-” The story came tumbling out. Jin had to hold back the tears that threatened to fall again.

There was a long silence at the end of the line, once the story was all told. “You could always stay here. We’ve discussed this before.”

“Yes. We have. But I-”

“All you have to do is renounce that ridiculous notion about not being a woman.”

Jin winced.

The pastor continued. “I’m sure the parishioners would love you. But you would have to be normal. We don’t tolerate this newfangled nonsense about a thousand genders and whatnot. Just come as you are, as God made you to be, and you will be fine.” Despite his demeaning words, there was a genuine cheer in his voice. The invitation was real. “Now come on. You come up here, we’ll find you a nice proper dress and work this thing out to find you some more suitable work for a young woman.”

Jin was trembling, though out of anger or fear, they weren’t sure. Now they remembered why they hadn’t called this man back. This is what it had come down to before, the reason they had preferred to live in their car rather than the church.

“I’m not a woman.” It slipped from their lips before they could stop it. And once that was out, the rest Jin had been holding back decided to follow. “I’m not pretending to be anything other than myself. It’s not ridiculous, it’s my life. I can show up, but it will only be as me.” Their voice was rising, anger spilling forth.

“What if someone made you decide between a hot meal and a roof over your head, or your belief in your precious God? How would you feel about that?!”

The pastor huffed, the noise staticky through the old flip phone. “There’s a difference between you and me, child. My beliefs are real.”

“Argh!” Jin screamed sharply into the phone, and slammed it shut, hanging up on the infuriating man. Unfortunately, that was about all the old piece of tech could take, as there was a distinct crunch and a fizzle. Dreading the consequences, Jin opened up the phone again to see the screen cracked to pieces, black and dead.

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit!” No phone meant no way to communicate. Meant they couldn’t start digging for new work. Every application – every damn one – needed a phone number.

“Fucking dammit.” They slipped into the backseat of their car, removing a lockbox and opening it up. Inside was cash – Jin’s entire life savings, in fact. It wasn’t much. Jin gathered up as much as they dared, hid the lockbox again, and headed out.

Maybe they could afford something cheap at the school store?

3:30pm

They could not.

Everything at the school store was priced for students who could afford to go there and spend that kind of money. Jin didn’t need the latest tech, they just needed something that worked. Even the cheapest model there was about a hundred bucks past their limited price range. With sheer frustration, Jin stormed outside, stomping down the sidewalk and dodging cracks. No doubt looking like a crazy person, as no one else seemed to be taking note of them. Their feet followed a large, long crack that only seemed to be growing. There wouldn’t be enough concrete at the school to fix this.

After seemingly being led to a small gazebo, they entered and slumped against the wall, ignoring everyone around as they were sure they’d be ignored.

“What else can go wrong today…”

Young Justice

About a week after their failed mission, the day dawned clear, bright and warm. It was a stunningly beautiful spring day, the kind you just wanted to spend outside. And that is just what one member of the team decided to do.

Kassy headed down to the beach with her MP3 player tucked in her top and a pair of sun-yellow waterproof, wireless headphones. Soaking up sunlight was usually Daphne’s deal, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the day too. Once she settled down on the sand, some way away from Mt. Justice, she relinquished her legs for her usual orange tailfin. The cold ocean water washed over her tail. It felt fantastic to be in her natural state during the day.

Slipping the large headphones over her ears, Kassy did the one thing she would never do in the presence of others. She began to sing.

Ja in the meantime had just gotten his first bit of outside for the day. Today was gonna be one of the days he decided to bother someone else. Daphne would need some time to try the meditation techniques he had taught her, on her own. To truly master one’s abilities, they had to battle with themself. That inner fight had to become a conversation until your abilities could finish your sentences. This was what Iwisa taught him.

She also told him that he needed breaks, lest losing himself to the Red Beast. So, today was a break from training and stuff too. Going down the list of people to bother, he realized that he hadn’t gotten around to Kassy as much as he liked to. Well, maybe not bother her but at least see what she was up to. It was getting close to lunch time…maybe she’d want to eat lunch with him and stuff!

So far, his sniffer had led him outside as he didn’t feel her presence from the Blue on the inside of the base. Remembering she loved the ocean, intuition led him to the beach. For such a trip, he wore the green sleeveless hoodie he was gifted and some simple black swim trunks just in case she was swimming already.

On the way, he debated on sneaking up on her to surprise her. Mischief made the decision for him, chattering softly, he skittered across the sand like a raccoon. Upon catching sight of her, Ja was careful not to make a sound as he approached. Though as he got closer, he found himself slowing down and his ears twitched. His lips quivered a little and the back of his eyes stung as he listened.

Ja could do nothing but sit back and listen. The boy had heard singing many times in his life, and at times even sang himself. This, however…this was much different. Beautiful felt like the wrong word…it wasn’t strong enough to describe Kassy’s voice. Ja’s memory told him that she said that she wasn’t very good at singing…She lied.

Kassy had gone back to the excellent music store in the mall for more things. They taught her how to get the music onto her device, and even offered some suggestions. Today’s soundtrack was Queen (Queen of where, she didn’t know) and she was simply singing along to one of the songs without a care in the world. Freddie Mercury spoke to her soul.

“Can anybody find me… somebody to love?” Her voice carried across the beach, a velvety alto, rich and smooth like melted butter. It belonged in a smoky speakeasy, crooning into a silver microphone over a jazz band.

There was a bit of amateurishness, her voice lifting excitedly as she ran through the lyrics with Freddie. She was just a touch too fast, perhaps too loud. She gestured along with the music animatedly. But she was clearly, utterly happy.

“Every day, oh I try and I try and tryyyy!” She carried on, blissfully unaware of Ja’s presence behind her.

The boy had only gotten about an arm’s length away and a little off to her left side before stopping. He simply sat with his hands laid on his knees in silence. Any thought of pranking the mermaid vanished into thin air. He could feel the happiness in her voice and it, in turn, made him smile a little. He felt a foreign warmth come to his face, one that the rest of his body didn’t share, but he didn’t mind.

“Uzuri wa kichawi…” Ja couldn’t help but mutter softly.

The song finished, Kassy nailing a high note near the end. She grinned to herself, as the music died down. Then she blinked, and ever so slowly turned her head.

“...”

On pure instinct, she dove forward into the water, splashing heavily as she doused herself, her music kit, and Ja. Poking her head up, she stared accusingly at him.

“How long have you been there?!”

Getting super soaked by the splash of Kass’ panic knocked Ja out of the daze that she inadvertently put him in. He jumped a bit, but still sat pretty stably, albeit shaking any large clumps of water from his afro. Upon her question, he blinked and pursed his lips. The wonder in his eyes still remained as he stared back.

“I…am not sure…I was going to surprise you but you were singing so nice and…” Ja trailed, having retraced his steps. Oddly enough, the way her eyes bore into him actually made him feel kind of bad, to which he broke eye contact.

“I am sorry, Kassy.”

Kassy’s gaze softened, and she looked away as well. It was hard to be angry at Ja and his soft, pretty eyes. “It’s okay. I’m not mad, you just… startled me really badly.” She ran a hand through her thick curls, dislodging water. “...I’ve never sung in front of anyone before. Please don’t laugh too much, okay?” The fact that he said she had been singing nicely had seemed to soar straight past her.

His wandering eyes blinked back into focus on her last bit of words.“Laugh? At what?” His tone found genuine confusion.

“I mean…I suppose startling you would have been funny if it wasn’t that bad for you…Plus your singing made me too happy to laugh…” Ja said, though the phrase tasted strange. Being too happy to laugh didn’t make sense, but he didn’t quite understand how to describe it.

“Uzuri wa…kichawi…” He said it aloud again, hand on his chin to remember and his head bouncing left to right.

Kassy looked just as puzzled right back at him. “I don’t know what that means. But -- wait, are you saying it wasn’t terrible?” She seemed lost for several moments, gaze going distant. “But I was always told…” Dropping into silence, she went very still. “She always told me to…” Something strange seemed to be happening, as her gaze darkened. There was something different about her eyes, suddenly. She shut them, taking in a deep, deep breath. When she looked up again, everything seemed to be fine.

“Thank you, Ja. Knowing my singing isn’t bad makes me really happy.” There was a shy, sharp toothed smile on her face now.

Ja nodded to answer her question, but she seemed aloof. The distant look in her eye spoke to memories, the jungle boy knew the look well, he wore it sometimes too. Seeing it emboldened him to crawl closer. He was at the ocean’s rising and falling border with the land when she seemed to snap out of it. Her smile quickly reflected one from his face as well.

“It is not only “not bad” but it’s actually really good! I have not heard anything like your voice before.” Ja felt the need to elaborate, unashamed by the enthusiasm in his tone.

“Wait, really?” Kassy’s eyes lit with happiness, and even her cheeks lit with embarrassment. A happy embarrassment, if there was such a thing. Swimming forward toward the shore, she grabbed Ja in a sudden hug. “T-thank you! That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

She let him go just as fast, looking down as she had practically saturated his shirt. “Oops. You might have to change. Sorry.”

The sudden cold of the water rushed through his system, but his training kept him from instinctively flinching. Instead, he giggled. “It is okay, Kassy.” He reassured, clawing through the back of his hair in hopes that his hand didn’t get stuck. Ja wanted to say something else but a low rumbling growl escaped from his stomach.

“Oh yeah, I forgot why I came out here…again.” He chuckled. “I was wondering if you wanted to go find food with me. Of course, you can always go back to your singing though, and I’ll leave you be this time.”

Kassy giggled, having heard Ja’s stomach complain. “Food sounds good. I think I skipped breakfast so I could get out earlier. Would you like me to hunt some fish? There’s decent pickings around here. Big, fat, lazy fish that have never been hunted before.” She grinned, sharp teeth on display.

Ja bit his bottom lip in thought. There was American food on the inside that was sometimes good and sometimes bad. Then there were times that someone inside would yell at him or Red Robot would have to chase him from the kitchen because a bag had someone’s name on it. Ja wasn’t sure why they were so mad…he didn’t eat their bag.

On the flip side, he didn’t get the chance to go to the ocean too much. BSF claimed that he would swim away…though to Ja, he wasn’t sure where he could go. He could get pretty lost on his own…but this time, he wouldn’t be, and surely Kassy knew the way back. So, returning her toothy smile, he nodded.

“It sounds like fun!”

“Great!” After depositing her headphones and music player in the sand, Kassy pushed herself back toward the water. “I know a really good spot full of tasty ones. Let’s go!” And she slipped into the ocean with barely a splash.

Ja watched her go and his grin stayed. He hadn’t met someone, other than his Amai, that understood the excitement of the hunt before…He wanted to jump in the air but didn’t for now. Instead, he looked down at his shirt now soaked by water. Pulling off his gift from Daffy-Knee, he found two sticks to prop up the shirt in the sand to allow it to dry.

Turning back to the unknown bounds of the ocean, he felt a side of the Red that he hadn’t dove into yet. It felt like the first time he was thrown off of a cliff to fly. Though, this time, it was by choice that Ja took the leap.
--

Present Day

Location: Mission Briefing Room, Mt. Justice
Interactions: Probably staring at Batman

Kassy was once again in awe of the Batman. Even she knew his exploits. To see him in person was actually a little scary. His presence had shut her up entirely. Even though she had questions. Like 'what was a circus' and 'wouldn't it be suspicious if they just showed up and pretended to fit in'. But she didn't say anything, not yet.

Hopefully Sanctuary

Devika grinned when she heard that Roxy had never played Scrabble. "It's so much fun! You have to know a lot of words, but it's great." She started to explain the rules as they headed back home.

"...and if you play all the tiles in your hand, that's called playing out and it's worth 50 points!" They were now pulling back up to the house, which was good because Devika had just finished the rules. "It'll probably make a lot more sense when we're actually playing."

"And if that doesn't work for you, we have other games." There was a warm cheery feeling emanating from her. She could have reined it in, but she wanted to spread the pleasantry.