Saiyan

The Second Falling of the Big Brother Government - (A Tale by KrystalKleo & Saiyan)

Isaac had never thought that his mother would blame him, but he appreciated that Zara was kind enough to say it anyway. He glanced at her in between watching the steaks, as she added that his mother did what any parent would have. "Yeah, she did," he agreed. "She was a badass, alright." And for every life he saved or town he protected, his mother's sacrifice would mean a little more. "Where do think I get it from?"

He kept a slow and steady rotation of the steaks to get an even cook. A frying pan and some animal fat would've gone a long way to a better meal but Isaac had been distracted by the conversation. Plus, he'd never been a fussy eater so his cooking was pretty bland.

"No siblings," he laughed. "Am I lucky or something? Is it that bad?" he asked, bouncing the subject of conversation back onto her. "What was life like for Zara Singh in the beginning, huh?"

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Magical energy? Zell scratched his head as he listened intently to Adam. His expression was not one of optimism. When Adam pointed at the windowsill over the road and worked his magic, Zell was amazed as the plant grew in vibrance and vigour. Then Adam continued his lesson and Zell's eyes returned to the Druid. As the gang went north through the city, they continued onto the Big Bridge.

"But look where we are!" Adam said. Zell looked around the quaint city, smiling, his eyes eventually drawn up the huge mountain ahead, it's top crowned with beautiful buildings and statues. It was quite a wonder. "If you can't figure out how to teleport on your own, someone in the Adventurer's Guild probably knows how."

Zell nodded. "True enough. Ppreciate your help, my mate."

And with that, he continued the rest of the way in silence. Well...

"TELEPORT!"

Silence after one last fail.

...

Being at the front of the group, Zell was the first to walk into the impressive-looking building that was The Adventurer's Guild. With his hands on his hips and his chin raised, he strutted further into the room like he owned the place. That trademark one-sided grin appeared as he sighted the beer barrels and bottles along the back wall. "Sweet." He hit the bar. "Alright mate," he greeted. The bartender gave a curt reverse-nod. "We were told adventurers can get some answers about how things work around here."

"Up them stairs," was the brief but not impolite response. Zell nodded a thank you, then turned to his friends, repeating the bartenders words if any of them weren't in earshot. And so, up the stairs they went to be recieved with a hearty greeting from a woman who went behind the desk. "Afternoon to ya," Zell offered as he walked over and leaned on the counter. As always, his first instinct was to flirt, but he managed to supress this. It helped that this woman had the strangest looking ears he'd ever seen, second to the red-skinned devil-doctor from earlier. "Pleased to meet you, Lucy. Me and my friends are new in town... new in the universe actually, and we have no idea why we're here or why we've been given these Source crystals. We heard through the grapevine that you might be able to clear up any queries we might have."

When she informed them of all they'd need to do to register, Zell, who was stood side-on at the counter, looked from her to the gang and smiled. "Team name guys," he grinned. "This should be fun. As for the leader; you don't need two guesses as to who gets my vote. My Mexican brother from another mother, the healin wheelin dealin light-beamin, James 'The Brain...' what is your surname?" Zell didn't care, he'd made his point. "As for team name, what about - and I know you guys'll love this -" he paused for suspense, then drew a line up across the air.

"The Zell Squad."

Nodding a few times, his eyebrows raised expectantly. "Eh? Eh? Gotta nice ring to it, don't ya think." No positive reinforcemrnt came so he thought quickly. "Or maybe, The Zellionaires." No takers. "Zell's Angels. Vroom vroom."

Well, it was a long shot. He got bored and turned to scan his crystal. "Just here," he checked before waving his hand over the scanner. "Can you at least tell me my class? And maybe how the hell I use my teleport?"

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@ZapdosWon't let ye down sir o7

The Second Falling of the Big Brother Government - (A Tale by KrystalKleo & Saiyan)

"How could I possibly refuse," he answered, agreeing to cook for them. "I'm not the best cook, but I'm not horrible. A couple steaks shouldn't be rocket science." He quirked an eyebrow at her, then added, "I hope."

He watched her run her fingers through her chestnut hair, once again thinking that; he was glad that they'd met. He checked to see if there was any gas in the oven. No luck. But it wouldn't take long to set up a fire. There was easily enough materials to do so, just in this building alone. After gathering some broken pieces of concrete, he made a circle on a flat panel of metal, then started loading up scrap wood.

"Tell me more about yourself, Mr Issac. You seem to know plenty about me."

"Hmmm, where to start?" Isaac said, squatted down at their makeshift fireplace. "Was a vault dweller once upon a time. Grew up in a small colony of about two hundred people. A few friends, school... mother worked as a mechanic. Father died when I was pretty young - cancer. Life was alright though." His memories flooded back as he scratched out some sparks on his flintsteel. Sure enough, they had a fire going. He looked up at Zara and grinned - an expression of mischief to thinly viel his sadness. "I fucked it up," he told her, before hiding his face once more as he sorted out the steaks. "Broke the rules so badly that me and my mom were exiled. We got attacked the second we left the vault. Mom saved my life but lost her own in the process." He shook his head. "Shit - that's the wasteland for ya."

When he was certain he had control of his emotions, he was looking up at Zara again, two skewered steaks being held over the fire. He'd somehwat forgiven himself for getting his mother into that mess in the first place, but it still wasn't nice to talk about. He'd become numb to killing and death over the short few years he'd been out in the wasteland. It was so ordinary. One day it would happen to him.

Still... his mother never knew that. She didn't get a chance, out here.

Escape from the Prison Mine

Titus Hart CS

In the dreary stone cell, the big brute known as Kruger recited his message while [NAME] Titus Hart scrawled the words in the form of a letter. The [AGE] 21 year old often provided his services as a scribe to other prisoners - an easy way to gain favour with the right men. Kruger had influence due to his time served and his effective ability to beat the living shit out of most who stood against him.

"And errr... just... I love you... n all that."

Titus looked up at the man, the usual dispassionate expression on his face. "Perhaps something a tad more endearing would be better?" Kruger's quizzical reaction only made him look dumber than usual. Titus elaborated, a performative tone reminiscant of the stage.

"My love for you defies the heights of mountains and the brights of stars,
Let it be your warmth until I have you in my arms."

Kruger's face lit up. "Ooh, that's fancy. She'll like that - put that."

Titus scrawled the last of the letter and signed it with Kruger's name. Then folded the paper in two. "I'll make sure the guard gets it."

[APPEARANCE] Standing up, his 6' 1" height had Titus at eye-level with the thug, although at 170lbs and no skills in combat, he wasn't even close to having the same kind of presence as Kruger. Nonetheless, he had something of an aura of his own. He kept himself well groomed - a blade for shaving, water to slick his hair and clean his face. Even his prison garmants seemed better-kept than most around him. And his fearless, piercing gaze never wavered. Even when he first arrived at Northern Redemption District and was intimidated and bullied to no end.

"What do I owe you, Titus?" Kruger asked after patting the younger man on the arm with a meaty hand.

"Nothing for now, I may come to you for a favour another time," was the reply. "Just continue to keep your goons in line, if you would be so kind."

Kruger nodded briskly. He turned to leave, but paused and turned back, deciding to finally ask what he'd been wondering for a while. "Your face don't fit in this place. Where'd you come from, eh?"

[BACKGROUND]Titus sat back down on the edge of the bed and crossed one leg over the other. "I was born to Penelope Hart and some horny nobleman. I grew up in Richmond - hardly rich, to be perfectly fair, but what small town is. Had a good childhood, a close relationship with my grandmother, a small band of friends. Left town when I was 16, went to the city to seek my fortune - and fortune I found. And enjoyed. Until it came to an end."

"How'd you end up here?"

"Failed heist on the Golden Sun's Treasury." Kruger's eyebrows shot up, impressed. It was always so weird to Titus to hear prisoners be impressed with grand failure. The bigger the failure, the worse your sentence, the more impressed people were. Stupid. "The city tax house. Was going swimmingly well until one of our team doomed us all by... well... a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. The details are inconsequential now. We were arrested, sentenced and split up. I was sent here with a life sentence to serve."

"You must have some skills then, being in that kinda game, eh."

[CLASS AND SKILLS]"Me? I'm but a simple alchemist. I'm familiar with mixtures and compounds for healing, poisoning and other delights. But my main role on in our gang was on matters of explosives." Titus looked up at Kruger to gauge his reaction to this. Long had the prospect of escaping this prison mine been on his mind. Kruger may be another valuable ally in this endeavour (he'd already met other interesting characters who he'd marked as such.) Kruger didn't react in any particularly notable way - he was impressed and surprised, as to be expected. "Anyway," Titus moved on swiftly. "We will be late for supper, should we get moving?"

Escape from the Prison Mine

@ZapdosThere you go, bossman. Let me know if anything needs changing.

Titus Hart CS

In the dreary stone cell, the big brute known as Kruger recited his message while [NAME] Titus Hart scrawled the words in the form of a letter. The [AGE] 21 year old often provided his services as a scribe to other prisoners - an easy way to gain favour with the right men. Kruger had influence due to his time served and his effective ability to beat the living shit out of most who stood against him.

"And errr... just... I love you... n all that."

Titus looked up at the man, the usual dispassionate expression on his face. "Perhaps something a tad more endearing would be better?" Kruger's quizzical reaction only made him look dumber than usual. Titus elaborated, a performative tone reminiscant of the stage.

"My love for you defies the heights of mountains and the brights of stars,
Let it be your warmth until I have you in my arms."

Kruger's face lit up. "Ooh, that's fancy. She'll like that - put that."

Titus scrawled the last of the letter and signed it with Kruger's name. Then folded the paper in two. "I'll make sure the guard gets it."

[APPEARANCE] Standing up, his 6' 1" height had Titus at eye-level with the thug, although at 170lbs and no skills in combat, he wasn't even close to having the same kind of presence as Kruger. Nonetheless, he had something of an aura of his own. He kept himself well groomed - a blade for shaving, water to slick his hair and clean his face. Even his prison garmants seemed better-kept than most around him. And his fearless, piercing gaze never wavered. Even when he first arrived at Northern Redemption District and was intimidated and bullied to no end.

"What do I owe you, Titus?" Kruger asked after patting the younger man on the arm with a meaty hand.

"Nothing for now, I may come to you for a favour another time," was the reply. "Just continue to keep your goons in line, if you would be so kind."

Kruger nodded briskly. He turned to leave, but paused and turned back, deciding to finally ask what he'd been wondering for a while. "Your face don't fit in this place. Where'd you come from, eh?"

[BACKGROUND]Titus sat back down on the edge of the bed and crossed one leg over the other. "I was born to Penelope Hart and some horny nobleman. I grew up in Richmond - hardly rich, to be perfectly fair, but what small town is. Had a good childhood, a close relationship with my grandmother, a small band of friends. Left town when I was 16, went to the city to seek my fortune - and fortune I found. And enjoyed. Until it came to an end."

"How'd you end up here?"

"Failed heist on the Golden Sun's Treasury." Kruger's eyebrows shot up, impressed. It was always so weird to Titus to hear prisoners be impressed with grand failure. The bigger the failure, the worse your sentence, the more impressed people were. Stupid. "The city tax house. Was going swimmingly well until one of our team doomed us all by... well... a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. The details are inconsequential now. We were arrested, sentenced and split up. I was sent here with a life sentence to serve."

"You must have some skills then, being in that kinda game, eh."

[CLASS AND SKILLS]"Me? I'm but a simple alchemist. I'm familiar with mixtures and compounds for healing, poisoning and other delights. But my main role on in our gang was on matters of explosives." Titus looked up at Kruger to gauge his reaction to this. Long had the prospect of escaping this prison mine been on his mind. Kruger may be another valuable ally in this endeavour (he'd already met other interesting characters who he'd marked as such.) Kruger didn't react in any particularly notable way - he was impressed and surprised, as to be expected. "Anyway," Titus moved on swiftly. "We will be late for supper, should we get moving?"

Escape from the Prison Mine

@ZapdosLol sounds good to me, I think I can handle that.

Escape from the Prison Mine

@ZapdosProbably not the best idea to take on another RP at the start of summer, but the premise is too tempting. Any idea how fast the pace of the RP might be? Faster or slower than one post per week?

The Second Falling of the Big Brother Government - (A Tale by KrystalKleo & Saiyan)

"You got this," he said in encouragement as he stood, arms folded, leaned against a lone fencepost.

I do not aim with my hand, I aim with my eye.
I do not kill with my gun, I kill with my heart.

As Isaac watched Zara, his bottom lip in his mouth as if to get the last taste of their kiss, he couldn't help but be taken back to his early lessons with The Courier, Cairo Storm. The veteran roamer of the wastes - bane of the bullies, hero of the weak - hadn't wanted to take on an apprentice. He refused when young Isaac first asked. The kid wore him down. Half a hundred requests, fourty-nine rejections. After following him two miles north of the New York area and almost getting killed in one helluva showdown, Isaac's tears, passion and perseverance finally got him the answer he was looking for.

And now he was teaching someone else. How to aim. How to kill.

"Nice!" the man cheered, walking over and giving Zara a high-five. He wanted to kiss her again - grab that tiny waist and pull her in tight. Best to keep it casual. Isaac was usually a good judge of character when it came to the fairer sex. He'd seen enough, to be sure. Zara though - she was different. Hard to figure out. On the one hand, she was fierce like fire; would probably like a guy who could match that energy - take the initiative. One the other hand, she was just getting out of traumatic situation. Who knew what could trigger her - set her off. And as stated; she was fierce like fire - he'd probably lose an eye or something. "Let's go again."

He watched her practice for a little while, pointing out any flaws and making sure she didn't grow any bad habits in her technique. Where he could, he'd praise her like royalty. Just like his teacher.

"Alright enough," he finally said. "Let's go eat. Them mole rat steaks sound even better, right about now."

And with that, they headed inside, Isaac giving her a pat on the lower back. "You'll be a shooter in no time, emerald eyes."

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Zell was ready to charge through the hospital until the staff made it clear that random yelling of 'lightning bolt!' - and other signals of attack - were pretty part'n'parcel when it came to healing adventurers. In the end, he simply grinned. "She's back, ladies and gentlemen."

They didn't have to wait long for Lillianna to appear. Zell smiled and bowed his head slightly in leui of a greeting. After chuckling at Adam's awkward but endearing offer of water and a hug, James dispelled the cringe by making a joke and Zell laughed outright. Overall it was a lovely moment, and the twin-element wizard was also full of emotion.

"Glad to have you back with us, Lily pad." Zell leaned over and gave the tearful wizard a pat on the back with a little rub for good measure.

As James went on to catch her up on the current state of affairs, Zell folded his arms and listened, throwing in a, "Hear hear," of agreement when the Cleric spoke on the valiant deaths of Clive and Arthur. The conversation went on to the purple light that had briefly shone from their Source crystals - something Zell himself had noticed but not thought much about. Somehow this talk turned into an attack on him.

"You! Since when can you teleport Zell!? What the fuck man? I showed you mine so why didn't you show me yours?"

"Ha," Zell grinned at James for the sexual joke. He wasn't sure what exactly what the hell was being said here, but he knew a sex joke when he heard one. Good one, James. Zell stared at James for a second before his expression changed upon realising that; it seemed from the man's face that James wanted Zell to play along and discuss their new powers.

"Well? what can you say in your defense?"

"Well I just..." then it dawned on him. Teleport!? "What WHAT!?!?!?"

At that moment, MacKensie burst into the room and made straight for Lillianna, all the while Zell was digging into his memory banks for what James was talking about. And he knew just where to find it. That moment when it felt like he'd lose MacKensie to that fucking tin can. He was too far away. He couldn't have made it, he simply wasn't fast enough. But he did make it.

"Holy shit," he whispered quietly to himself, the realisation too powerful to keep the thought from spilling onto his lips. His eyes went left, then right, as he tried to make sense of it. MacKensie asked him if he was okay and he mutely nodded. Whatever happened next, Zell was completely preoccupied with his own thoughts, quite happy that he did indeed have a magic power of his own (and a fucking cool one too,) but completely mystified as to how the hell it worked.

Joji soon joined them, and with new information from MacKensie about where the Academy was, Fenna made a call to leave and go finally complete their mission and get rid of this cube that had been the cause of so much grief.

...

The group's path took them through a huge marketplace. All the while down the road, Zell had been trying to activate his Teleport.

Squinting.

Blinking.

Grunting.

Pointing.

"TELEPORT!" Shouting.

Nothing was working. "Come the fuck on," he whined as they passed a bunch of stalls and shops.

Merchants were shouting their wares, people were bidding and otherwise in hearty conversation, creating a boisterious atmosphere reminiscent of market-streets in London. It would've been a nice feeling of familiarity had Zell not been sulking about his so-called Teleportation power that he couldn't get to work. By the time they made it through the big market district, Zell had given up, and they were passing warehouses.

"Do me a favour," Zell asked Adam as he steered over to walk beside him. "Could you jump in that in that river over there and start drowning?" He held his hands up in defence to any reaction. "Don't worry, I'll save you... I think... I just need a little motivation." Then a hand went to his chin as looked up in thought. "Actually, I don't swim particularly well. Never mind." He shook his exasperatedly and changed his plan to simply asking the Druid for advice. "You've got powers, bro... how do you activate them? Is there anything you say or do, in particular, to make it happen?"

The Big Bridge MacKensie had described was in the distance. It looked like their directions were holding true.