@Villamvihar
After some discussion, we agree that Shineyd's accepted. Congrats! :D
Please place her in the CHAR section. ^^
After some discussion, we agree that Shineyd's accepted. Congrats! :D
Please place her in the CHAR section. ^^
The Jest
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@Th3King0fChaos Looks fine to me as well, mate. ^^
Galactic Bazaar - Marketplace district
"Well... That happened." This was all Maria could think of when she saw Alan - her guide to getting a good roof seat - ran off chasing after an old cowardly friend and leaving her behind. Not that she minded that though, him being there was a convenience for her and not much more.
Thus, sticking to her original plan, Maria wandered around the area mostly looking at the skyline to see if there was any rooftops worth heading up to.
She found a building suitable to her; nice, tall, and seemed emptied out for a time. As she was walking towards the roof however, she heard something in the building's middle-most floor. Curious, she snuck just outside the they were in and decided to eavesdrop. It was a group of three sitting opposite to each other three-to-two on a round table in an otherwise abandoned and messed up room. It seemed she stumbled on a condemned building, the kind that seedy business types are often seen doing business in.
To one side was a boy and a girl, about the age of her comrades, the boy looking slightly younger than the girl. She couldn't make out their attire exactly, but she could tell one had black hair, and the other had a sapphire blue.
To the other side, was a small man in a suit with a couple of armed brutes on both sides of him. Giving the impression of being a crime lord. She couldn't make out their voices, and their minds are just filled with thoughts of the boy and the don backstabbing each other sooner or later. The girl, on the other hand, was difficult to make out, possibly due to the long range.
However, there was one thing she could hear that caught her attention.
"These are gifts, from us to you, courtesy of Moonstrike."
Courtesy of Moonstrike? Were those two a part of Moonstrike...? No, it didn't seem like it. The way the boy phrased that suggested he was some outside force...
Before she could think on it more, she heard something in her mind.
"Hey Maria, Where are you right now?" The voice said. It was Alan's voice. While he doesn't have telepathy, Maria used her own to make a telepathic network of sorts between the Star Marines back during the war, using herself as the core keeping it up. All her allies had to do was say her name, and use their mind as a transmitter and receiver, and she could pick up messages from them and send messages herself.
She looked towards the deal happening in the other room. This was something to think of for another time. Whoever they were - friend or foe - Moonstrike One will likely mention them when asked either way.
"Still trying to find a good scenic spot on the rooftops. ...Did you catch Klein?" She asked Alan, walking down the stairs and towards the entrance of the building.
"Who do you take me for? Course I did. Guy says he's going to join us, but I want a good scan of his head first just in case." Alan responded. Maria couldn't help but give a sigh. She already tapped into Klein's mind while she was in eye contact with him. She could only see so much from such a quick look around, granted, but from what she saw, there didn't seem to be much to worry about. Still, may not hurt to have a good thorough scan just in case.
She exited out of the building and noticed people around her looking towards something in sheer awe and fear, some of them running away screaming. She looked towards the direction they were looking at, only to find...
"Ah, there you are. See, Klein, what'd I tell ya? She always pops out in the nick of time." Alan said, very nonchalantly given what's happening...
Alan's arm was on fire. White fire at that. By the looks of things, it didn't seem like Alan noticed, perhaps his own magic enveloping him doesn't cause any pain. More importantly, his arm was on fire in public, in the middle of the street. Not even she could imagine what must be going through Klein's head to see Alan just walking around in broad daylight in a town of thousands with white flames moving up his right arm, encompassing the right side of his chest.
"Explain... Now." Maria simply said. Though the way she said it was in a deadpan tone to match the deadpan expression on her face, it was still rather easy to tell: She was pissed.
"Hmmm...? ...Oh, ...Right. Long story short: Turned it on to make a point to Klein here, and now I can't seem to turn it off. Every time I try to force it to turn off, it gets even worse. ...Oh, and now both arms are on fire, ...Okay!" He said as he suddenly noticed his left arm was now matching the right. Maria put her hand to her face; one would assume as a reaction of shock, but in actuality, it was to contemplate on what was going on with him. This was bad... Alan was lighting up like a human bonfire, and everyone around them was seeing them as a bunch of freaks, monsters, and/or aliens by proxy. Clearly it wasn't something he was in control of, but it's definitely his magic - his lacking of pain to his now burning arms proved this - so it's not like he's been infected by another's...
"...By another's?"
"...Ummm...Everyone like my Act? Just down here to promote the circus in town and...accidently got too carried away on the oil. Don't try this at home, hehe... Come on, come on, come on...turn off, damn you." Alan said, at first trying to write it off as a freak show performance to try and keep people from being scared of him, before then whispering to himself to turn the flames off.
...It did not work, and if anything, it started to get worse as he suddenly became a bit nauseous, white flames suddenly coming out of his mouth at unspecific intervals like the breath of a dragon. He turned his head to the floor as soon as he figured that out to keep from hurting anyone on accident, and the flames were enough to shoot him up and hover off the ground for a few second crashing back down a flaming mess. The flames continuing to slowly explode outward, yelps of fright echoed throughout.
"This reaction... If I'm right... Alan, stand up, raise your arms and look towards the sky." Maria said.
"The hell...? Now's...-Cough- -Cough- not the time for stretches, little lady." He said as he slowly got up, spitting up white plasma-like slime from his mouth that erupted into a flame of its own.
"Just do it!" Maria said, trying clearly to be as stern as her static voice and expression can make her. Not having much to lose, Alan slowly did as he was told; he looked towards the sky, and stretched his burning arms as high as he could. He could feel the energy building up within him getting focused into his arms and head.
"Oohhhhh, SHHIIIIIIII-" Was all he could say as all the built-up energy suddenly burst forth from his hands and mouth, creating a giant pillar of white flames shooting towards the top of the dome, tall enough to where just about everyone in the Bazaar could see it, and all of the civilians began look in awe and dread. The civilians around Alan, Klein, and Maria in particular now running away in panic. The Bazaar's Security department and law enforcers saw what happened and were effectively on the move towards the source.
Meanwhile, at the northern part of the Bazaar, where some of the more important buildings reside, including a Stock Trading Center, the security there had effectively saw the pillar as well and an alert was called asking for all forces to come through. A couple of guards stayed behind to guard the trade center.
...Bad luck for them.
As they stared at the pillar of white flames in the distance, they heard what appeared to be a hiccup, and looked towards the right, seeing some boy in a lavish red velvet coat, moving erratically on shaky legs and with some goofy smile on his face; basically, a drunkard.
"Aye! 'Ello Guvnors! ...Any of you two know where I can find a good bar at?" The drunken man(?) said in a rather gritty cockney accent, looking closer, he looked quite young, no older than maybe 16...wearing an ancient captain's hat, and an eyepatch, one would assume he's out trick-or-treating early.
"...I think you've had enough already. You got an ID, boy? You look a little young for a drunk."
"Wh-Wha-No, Not for a swig of the good ol' rum, just some cheap food to fill me up. Just pulled some muscles and blew me load - not...in that way - and I am abso-flutely-flamished." The poor kid on his shaky legs looked like he was a brisk wind away from just collapsing on to the ground. Didn't take long before that actually happened. Prompting one of them to run off towards him.
"Hey, You alright, kid?" Said guard asked. The boy's eye were practically spinning in circles as if his whole world was spinning out of control. The guy tried to do what first aid he could for him, until he suddenly felt a sharp pain of his own, as from behind him, something large bit onto his arm, he couldn't see what it was before a sudden rush of searing pain like nothing he ever felt before coursed through his arm and his entire body, too painful to even scream as he himself went on the ground, he couldn't see what it was that bit him, before he went unconscious. But he could see a faint shadow of what it was on his last moments of consciousness...
And what it was: a giant lizard, painted in a reticulated pattern of orange and black, humanoid much like a Karusian. But whereas Karusians were more akin to dragons, this one was more a humanoid form of an actual lizard. More accurately, he was a giant muscular Gila monster, in torn grey jeans and a fur-loined bomber jacket. The sleeves of which were removed, likely to not get in the way of the other factor of this giant lizard man, the sleek black metal contraptions that could be described as his arms.
The other guard was better off in comparison, a tiny robot snuck on him while he was about to head over to save his partner, tasering him with electricity and knocking him unconscious. From out of the shadows, an old man in a white coat to match his equally silver hair and mustache slowly walked out to stare at him, grab the bot, and then look towards the Lizard.
The boy in question was none other than the Pirate that entered the Circle of Hell and escaped, Arron Falcon.
Making the old man the now-confirmed accomplice, Professor Audric Abreo.
This third one, the lizard, was an unknown however. But most likely, it was the one Kotaro and Ein caught on the Security camera that day.
"A bit excessive, don't you think? Casualties to a minimum and all..." Professor Abreo said. The lizard sighed and looked at the old man with his brown eyes.
"He'll live, The venom's powerful, but non-lethal. ...He'll just wish he was dead for a while. Besides, I do what I need to." The lizard said in response. The professor sighed and shrugged.
"...Fair enough. Still seems a little extreme, but we don't have time to discuss ethics. Grab the captain and come inside. We got work to do." Abreo walked into the Trade Center right after saying this. In response, the Lizard nodded and grabbed the mumbling Arron Falcon by the right leg and dragged him inside the Trade Center. Arron mumbling a song all the while.
"~And they sailed their ship cross the ocean blue, a bloodthirsty captain and cutthroat crew. It's as dark a tale as was ever told, of the lust for treasure and the love of gold~"
A Collab post with @FalloutJack
-Clap, Clap, Clap-
"Bravo, Bravo, An excellent display of technique over strength. People often overlook the value of such things, don't they? They oft tend to think of power as the only way to do things. Using brute force to get whatever they feel like is oft a bully's perception. Wouldn't you Agree?" Nero heard a girl's voice say from behind him, complete with the sound of a slow clapping in applause. Should Nero look behind, he would see a rather...odd duo walking towards him and the people he's beaten up.
The one talking was a girl, looked not that much older than him, maybe even the same age as him, wearing a rather old fashioned black lolita dress, complete with black high-heel slippers and silky gloves, a small top hat leaning to the left of her head, holding an indigo umbrella over her with purple leather gloves.
To her left was another person, slightly taller than the girl and Nero both, dressed up in a white hooded cloak. Most of the body was covered in it, but what could be seen was his face, his short blonde hair and blue eyes, and some of his rather odd sophisticated attire, starting with the white collar and blue tie seen through the hood, to the grey pants and brown leather shoes the white cloak couldn't reach.
"Ah great...another couple of freaks to go with this punk-ass..." One of the hooligans on the ground from Nero's attacks said, trying and failing to get up, still in pain from the beatdown.
"Well, I don't disagree, but...M'lady, are you certain this is wise, walking up to him like this? ...Erm, Just after a fight, I mean." The hooded man asked the girl, blatantly ignoring the voice of the downed hooligan. As a response, she put her fingers to her chin in contemplation, her heterochromia eyes of emerald and amber looking intently at Nero as if staring into his soul...or something like that.
"Hmm...Well, ...Yes, I think it's very wise. He did save us some trouble after all, it's only fair we thank him for it." She said in response with a smile, immediately lightening up as if faking the intensity of the staredown.
He had stopped when the voice seemed to address him, looking back with some idle interest and not - at first - knowing what the owner of said voice was going on about. Nero turned around to give whatever this was his full-ish attention. What were these two all about? Did they lose a bet? Why the odd arrangement? He responded to the question with an ”Uhh, sure.” response, scratching his head and…oh. Found one of the guys’ teeth in his hair. Must’ve been when he headbutted his lower jaw. Nero wasn’t exactly sure what to say to this for two very good reasons. Number one, while he had plenty of technique, there could be no question that he graduated from the School of Badass Rumble, kicking the crap out of anyone who gave him trouble. Just because he was smaller and more wiry than these guys didn’t mean he didn’t exercise as much brutality as agility. Number two was that he had NO fricking clue why the lolita and the cultist wannabe were even talking to him...yet. It took him a moment, but Nero smirked at the pair now.
”Oh, I get it now. Bounty hunters. Yeah, sure, all in a day’s work or some shit.”
He didn’t actually give a damn. Maybe it was just because they were weird, but he didn’t really wanna be involved in whatever they were doing. Looked like something they’d insist on him wearing a funny hat for, and that was gonna be a straight-up NO.
Bounty Hunters, you say? ...Well, I suppose you’re not too far off. You’ve certainly saved us a lot of trouble, considering these three were three of our targets, Escapees from the Circle of Hell prison ship. ...Three of a most unfortunate few that escaped the Planet it crashed on… Oh, what was its name again… Plenty? ...Oh, I didn’t mean to scare you with that little bit of bad news. You really needn’t worry, it hasn’t been put on the news yet, but we managed to round up a majority of the criminals that escaped. These are but a small few that managed to escape our grasp. We’ll be capturing the rest of them soon, so you can rest easy tonight. ...Honestly, it shouldn’t have gotten this bad. If we could have focused on it, none of them would have left there, not free or alive, anyways. Unfortunately, of all the luck, this happens right in the middle of a blasted rebellion of all things. It’s just one thing after another... The girl ranted as she walked forward, purposely stepping on the three he beat up with her high-heels, making them screech in pain. The hooded man simply walked around them as he followed her.
“Mmm, Madam, If I may, aren’t speaking a touch too much on confidential affairs?” The man asked her, trying to keep his voice low.
“I’m only going into as much as what the media does, nothing I say is anything he won’t hear later on anyways, Consider it a sneak preview in gratitude for his service. After all, ...he couldn’t possibly know of this beforehand, right?” She asked him, once again looking directly at Nero as she said her last sentence.
The mention of Plenty and the Circle of Hell didn’t narrow his gaze because of that. It was more the thought, all of a sudden, that these two could’ve been working for the crow-boy with the shiny sword. Not such the case, it would seem. The girl seemed to be going on and on about her troubles finding these people, as they’d escaped and she was there to round them up, not him. Not that he could’ve been so-easily identified...except by his fighting style. Well, as it happened, not here for him, probably just a coincid- No, it’s not. She definitely was in the know, somehow. The way she walked up and stared him right in the eye while seemingly daring him to either own up or deny having any knowledge of what went down in Plenty town said it all. Nero put on a big smile now.
”As I said to a friend of mine earlier, I ain’t got no interest in farming.”
He was full of it, lying to her face, and she would know it. She knew it even before she walked in on him, and she wanted to hear him say what he said. These two might’ve been trouble, after all, despite what they said. There was something...ahh, what? Familiar? Yeah, that was a good word for it. He didn’t know ‘er, though. All his memories worked and she wasn’t on his shit-list yet, so what was this all about?
Indeed she could tell that this one was lying, he knows it. His statement neither confirmed nor denied her subliminal accusation on his whereabouts...well, that was fine. She may not know why he was there, but she knows he was without a doubt. That spike in underworld magic she sensed back then during her raid on one of the rebel bases on Plenty was no lie. The fact he would make such a throw-away line as that was good enough for her to at least work under the assumption he was there.
“No interest in farming…? Well, me neither.” She said, at first with a smile on her face before then relaxing her expression and turning around. “I respect the working man as much as anyone should, but such activities are a bit too rough on these sensitive hands. These farmers go through enough during their time without a band of reckless misfits running about making things worse for them. Which is why I’ve taken to hunt down as many of them as I can and bring them back to Planet Alca where they belong.” She said, walking back as she talked, once again stepping on the group. If Nero had good ears, he could probably hear the sound of snapping and popping coming from them as she did. She then turned around again looking towards Nero, this time with a rather solemn expression.
“Sadly, there’s a few of these criminals that are more…difficult to find and capture for one reason or another. We will find them sooner or later, of course, but I’m beginning to think our normal approach may not work all that well.“ She said, an especially painful stomp on one of the hoodlums at the word Difficult, before she then sat on the three like a makeshift throne, twirling her fingers about as she spoke. The hooded one walked to her side, a look of shocked disturbance on his face.
“Madam, please, there’s little reason to go this far giving info to this person we don’t even know!” The man whispered.
“All I am saying, is that we need some information to help with the search, it’s a classic tactic of investigation.” She said, suddenly having a cup of tea in hand of which she sips...where the hell did she get that from?
“Then might I suggest we stop beating around the bush before we start slipping into a troublesome territory?” He asked as she kept sipping her tea.
“I suppose you’re right… Have you by chance encountered anyone strange lately? ...Present company excluded? ...Specifically, we’re looking for a boy, about your age and… how do I put this… Well, let’s just say he’s special. May have been backed by aliens? Know of anyone with any peculiar…abilities?” She asked Nero.
Genuine confusion here. Apart from the girl’s mode of speech - that dichotomy of sophistication and sadism towards a perceived foe - she started talking about things that were a bit outside of Nero’s personal knowledge. The tea was also a bit of a throw, but that wasn’t what was important. Fact is, the young assassin was having a hard time trying to figure if she had him and his crew in mind or Squad 0 or somebody else. Was Moonstrike backed by aliens? He honestly couldn’t remember...because he just didn’t care! I mean, she could’ve been talking about Crowley, but how would he begin to know for sure or figure out a good way to put the heat on ‘im without implicating himself? It didn’t help that he hadn’t really paid much attention to his current crew enough to even know if they were being implicated either.
”Ya think you could be a bit more specific on what you're looking for? ”Special’ and working with aliens covers alot of ground. I ain’t got time in my life to play guessing games. Why doncha’ take your guy’s advice and just cut to the chase, already?”
Yeah, he heard the guy muttering away, even though the guy was trying to keep himself muffled. The lack of patience made the blondey’s words carry. So yeah, Nero was saying that she should just lay it out plain for him or leave him alone.
“Does it now?” She asked, giving a little chuckle at his response.
“Very well. A few prisoners of the Circle of Hell with exceptional, outright magical abilities, escaped from Plenty alongside the riff-raff below me, and are now with other similarly gifted criminals, one of which was said to produce white-hot flames combusted from his own body. We know that they are here - in one of the most popular areas in the Ascendancy - for reasons I can’t possibly fathom.” The girl explained.
Not that he really needed her to be more specific, per se, but that he was getting rather impatient about his time being taken up by this girl who seemed to have some idea of what he was and may or may not be after him and the crew of the Xuanzang. It seemed right to just get her to confirm whether he needed to attack her right now or not, hence why he asked. The answer uhh...didn’t ring any actual bells, funnily enough. He kinda’ forgot what some of the wayward Star Marines he’d been around did, you see, and he hadn’t seen many people while aboard the Circle of Hell that weren’t guards he’d taken out or the Blue Crow and company. So really, he couldn’t think of who she was talking about and shook his head.
”Nah, I would’ve noticed white freakin’ flames or anything like that. We done here? I still got shit to do.”
He hadn’t gotten his snacks yet, dammit!
“Hmm...I see. Well, that’s a dead end then. I appreciate the cooperation. If you garner any information on the matter, do let me know, I’m a rather easy person to find when I want to be. Sir, get these ruffians ready for transport.” She said. Whether she actually believed his answer or not, it seemed she was content to accept it easily enough. The hooded man beside her breathed a sigh of relief that she did not dig deeper into this info trade. He had no idea how far down the confidentiality rabbit hole she’d have stepped further into before she got in trouble. In response to her order, he picked up the three and was about to secure them.
But just as he was ready to leave with them…
“Oh, there is one more thing, actually.”
Oh, Goddammit…
“Apologies, but I promise this is the last thing I feel the need to ask. Would you happen to have heard anything about a stolen AI program? It seems that was unfortunately taken during the skirmish on the Circle of Hell as well. I’m not really knowledgeable when it comes to advanced technology, so it’s difficult to explain why it’s relevant. It’s an AI, so I imagine it’s due to what information it may hold. More importantly, ...Let’s just say it has been very dangerous when it was loose, it’s imperative we get it back before it causes anymore harm.” The girl said.
Yup, that clinches it. She was hired by their enemy to find them, but Nero decided to remain playing dumb on this. His actual response was to give her the most incredulous look you could ever give someone, snort with amusement, and say ”A stolen AI? Get real!”, before laughing. He’d been kinda’ surprised by all of this, but he was playing it off as well as he was because he had a certain level of street etiquette that made him seem like just another schmoe doing nothing out of the ordinary.
”No one would ever believe a story like this. A girl in fancy dress with her cultist pal are out looking for prisoners escaped from a prison ship around the food planet, and on top of that they’re looking for a rogue computer program? Come on… I don’t know shit like that! I’m just a dude shopping!”
Wow, tell the whole world, why don’t you, Nero? Oh wait, that might’ve been the point. He wanted to make the guy in the robe sweat about how their not-very-covert activities were going to get out a little too soon, and want to beat a hasty retreat.
The “cultist” looked like he was going to say something about what Nero just said, but hesitated and chose to say nothing. To be fair, it was understandable that of him as a cultist, what with the whole hooded cloak and all, and so he couldn’t help but give a look that just said “Touche’”.
The girl, on the other hand, gave a few blinks in silence at the response Nero gave, before pressing her hand to her mouth to contain her laughter.
“You’re a funny guy, funny and interesting. I ask about people with special, outright magical powers, even about one that can combust white flames, and you don’t bat an eye. But the more real and often seen occurrence of an AI being stolen, that’s the point of no return for your suspension of disbelief? You have a rather...unique perspective on things, don’t you? ...Not that I mind it. People like you keeps people like us on our toes, make things entertaining and interesting.” She said, a child-like smile to match her child-like appearance.
While the two were...for lack of a better word, flabbergasted by Nero’s response one of the ruffians thought it was a good idea to get out of there, pulling a knife out and dashing towards the little lady.
As if sensing his approach, the girl’s smile immediately turned to a frown of, what could only be described as solemn boredom.
“I ain’t going back to Alca, you gothic freaky bi-” He didn’t even finish his sentence before he noticed something was very wrong. With what appeared to be just a flick of a couple of fingers by the girl, the punk’s knife holding arm was removed from the rest of his body, blood splashing out and covering the top of her umbrella. If Nero had good eyesight, he would notice right then how this happened, as light seemed to reflect off what appeared to be strings around the, as well as the punk. It seemed the poor bastard got caught in monomolecular fiber cords, not just him but the other two as well unknowingly. It seems that was why she was moving back and forth through the ruffians, like a spider spinning her web, she was tangling up her prisoners.
She looked down towards the injured man, his screams muffled by the “cultist” covering his mouth.
“Relax, We’ll have that cauterize as soon as possible. Be thankful we live in an age where a limb can easily be replaced if need be. But pull a stunt like that before we leave, and especially in a crowded area as opposed to here, where people could get hurt…And the next thing I remove, you won’t replace.” She told him with a cold stare. It seemed this was enough for the other two to get in line and comply with the Cultist. Her head turned back to Nero, and once again there was a smile on his face.
“Sorry about that, Now where was I…? Oh yes, The AI… Well, disbelief aside, if you don’t know about that either, then we’ll have to go looking elsewhere for it. Thank you for your cooperation, if you find out anything about the AI or any other escapees, do let us know. ...Ah, My, how rude of me, I spoke all this time and I’ve yet to introduce myself. ...I am Madam Nuletta of Nyx. This hefty hooded fellow is my partner, Sir Zebul of Baal. Ask a soldier, and they’ll tell you where to find us. Now then, we should get these three moving before another starts trying to escape.” She said, finally introducing themselves to this young man. She turned to the cultist, “Zebul”, and the two decided to walk off, Zebul relieved that this potential nightmare was over. She then stopped and looked towards Nero again.
“May we meet again, Nero.” She told him, and without seeing his response to that, she turned and ran off.
Believe it or not, Nero enjoyed the display, although some of that reminded him a little of the chain girl of Squad 0 when the girl here was messing with those monowires. Still, his amusement was unexpectedly shut down when she mentioned his name. All the other stuff, he could let go and claim to have no knowledge of, but then she revealed that she knew of him, somehow. THAT surprised him, although she hadn’t seen the look on his face, the sudden eyes-widening and general WTF-ness. There was ALOT to examine here, and almost a guarantee that he wasn’t going to remember those ridiculous names…
Good thing he recorded that shit with his Omnitool!
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