Yankee

Expedition to Isekai

______________________________________________________________________

It was no shocker that Inaba didn't respond to him when he called out, nor when he jogged to catch up to her. In some schools the student council's words were akin to law, but in Kuroshio that was not and had never been the case. Probably never would be either. In some ways, the familiarity of being ignored (while still just as irritating) was grounding. Sure they were in the Otherside, but things would be just the same as normal until they were rescued.

It was a futile hope.

Masato was not one of those "Portalheads" that kept up to date with every piece of media about the phenomena, nor did he have any interest in them at all besides the casual. Hopefully he could be forgiven for completely forgetting a staple of those stories... the monsters.

His next words to Inaba dried up in his mouth when he saw those eyes staring out of the brush. He couldn't do much more than stare back, and when it struck it was with such speed that nothing he could have done would have prevented it from disemboweling his classmate.

Miraculously, it didn't happen. There was no spray of blood or cry of pain; Inaba's stick collecting had saved her life, giving her a lifeline, however short. It was incredibly lucky. She was surely blessed by Bishamonten, who'd appeared as an avatar in the form of Suzuki. What the hell am I thinking?

Suzuki's dropkick snapped not just the monster, but Masato into action. "Fuck," he said, and then again, "fuck, fuck, fuck."

Out of pure desperation he threw his shoulder into the beast hovering above Inaba, but it barely even budged. When more wolf-bears revealed themselves he'd tried to grab one of them to stop their charge, but his hands only came away with fistfuls of coarse hairs as they ran by towards the group of students. He didn't dare look over there, but the others had to be in a better position anyway all grouped together near the fire. He focused on the monster in front of him, thoughts racing and heart thundering. Just what the hell was he supposed to do here? The thought of running did cross his mind, but his feet refused to move until a few rocks were pelted at the wolf-bear. His gaze flickered to the source, Kogen, and somehow after meeting the other boy's eyes Masato's headache came back in full force.

"Don't be an idiot!" he shouted at Kogen. The current situation was too dire for Masato feel the slight burn of shame he usually did when he interacted with the chuunibyou, but there was some other heat in his chest instead. Anger, probably, at Kogen trying to act the hero. Portal monsters were a whole lot different than upperclassmen.

After Inaba swung her bag at the beast, Masato snatched the girl by her shoulder to rip her free out from under the wolf-bear's paws. It didn't matter if she got a little cut up, so long as she was alive. If she could get her feet underneath her she could run, and all four of them could regroup with the others and figure this shit out. For what little good it would do Masato took hold of one of Inaba's fallen sticks only because he had nothing else to try and defend any of them with.

One Piece: The Devil's Due (Always Accepting!)

Man, seeing all these characters is making me excited. The lack of a backstory section is only making me more antsy to know what everyone’s deal is. Y’all better get posting! I know I want to, might even have one by tomorrow if I get into it~

@Pacifista

I'm pretty excited to get started (or keep going?) too Thank you, and I think my own post hopefully won't take so long, I'll probably continue on from the sample.

One Piece: The Devil's Due (Always Accepting!)

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION:

A spunky and vain fantail goldfish mermaid. Though originally hailing from Fishman Island, she left it two years ago to explore the world's oceans. Her feelings about the home and family she left behind are complicated, but ultimately she departed on an optimistic note. Being a tinkerer, budding inventor, and self-proclaimed genius, Suiten needed to expand her horizons for both the good of herself and her kingdom. Though she sometimes claims the only reason she is traveling is to see the world and what humans have to offer that she could never learn under the sea, she is also looking for something: another Sunlight Tree, or more specifically, any similar phenomenon that would bring light from the surface down to the sea floor. With the bubble housing Fishman Island only getting more crowded and dangerous since "The Devil's" attack on the holy land above, propagating their people properly throughout the world and finding more places that Fishmen and Merfolk could safely call home is Suiten's goal. And if she can't find such a place, she will search instead for the means and experience to create it herself.

CHARACTER GOALS:

This might be redundant considering this is the goal of all roleplayers, but I wanted to have fun while writing, so my intention with Suiten is a "fun" character. For an RP like this especially I think one needs to really enjoy what they are writing to stick with it! She will be fun for me to write, so I hope she will be fun to interact with as well. To me, some of my favorite One Piece characters are the ones I find the most fun, and some inspirations for Suiten are characters like Bon Clay, Robin, Boa, and Usopp. I also wanted to do a character who wasn't a Devil Fruit user, and figured a mermaid would be an interesting way to go for that.

My main intentions are for Suiten to stir up a little trouble and then go on to become a recurring character in other people's stories, as a temporary ally or even a thorn in the side. I'd love to pop into other stories and see the varying reactions of "Oh, her again!" vs "Ugh, her again?!"

I am also super open to Suiten joining a player's crew eventually if the story turns out like that. I absolutely love scenes where characters put aside their pride to ask for help, and I think that kind of more serious arc would really benefit Suiten and lead to some personal growth. I envision Suiten's story beats would be maturation, discovery, overcoming bias, trust, and slow burn friendships.

CHARACTER NOTES:

Organization: Fishman Island
Position: Nobility
Starting Sea: South Blue
Devil Fruit: N/A
Skills & Abilities: Besides what's normal for her race (speaking with fish, swimming extremely fast), Suiten carries a bunch of contraptions and parts to make more. Some are very useful especially in a pinch, while others are useless.

RELATIONS:

Zeitan

Another mermaid and Suiten's sister.
Eccentric in her own way, she stayed behind on Fishman Island
and awaits Suiten's return.
.

Jacquotte Delahay

With the self-given moniker "The Dread," she is captain of the Red Dread Pirates,
a small time crew operating in the South Blue.
After a humiliating run-in with Suiten she has been trailing the mermaid ever since.
.

SAMPLE POST:

Last Week in One Piece:

It's the something day of the something year, and I'm once again wishing I started some kind of log from the get-go. Since making my way from home I've made no progress in my search, but I did manage to finish something pretty amazing the other day.

It wasn't often that mermaid were spotted outside of the Grand Line, though as it happened no one had spotted Suiten yet today in the South Blue. It was early in the afternoon and she was swimming lazily, making as few flicks of her tail as possible to move her forward. The sea was vast, and there were so many stretches of it that were just devoid of anything interesting. It was either water, sand, or darkness as far as the eye could see. This was one of those sections. If she was lucky, Suiten could catch sight of some fish out there, but for the most part she was just swimming aimlessly and bored out of her mind. During these periods of open ocean travel she tried to entertain herself in anyway possible, which sometimes meant she would work on her "travelogue." It usually didn't help. It certainly wasn't now.

Now I'm going to...

She trailed off in her thoughts, pushing her tail once to turn over and float gently down on her back with her face staring blankly up towards the surface. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, a cascade of bubbles escaping her lips.

Narrating to myself is so boring! I need some handsome dummy to dictate to.

Eventually she felt her back hit the seabed, and she lay there for a little while to doze. A break every now and then wasn't such a bad thing, was it? She could have chosen a more pleasant area to rest, but so far she'd seen barely anything for miles so she didn't find it likely she'd come across a comfier spot anytime soon. Besides, this spot would have been nice enough if not for some irritating noise that was steadily growing louder. She tried ignoring it until it got too much to brush off.

Flipping around, Suiten's eyes snapped open and her cheeks puffed out into a rather cute looking pout. Her hands were resting on her hips where scale transitioned into skin, and she stared into the dark where the sound of scraping was coming from.

"What's with the noise?! Some people are trying to... to..." A shadow loomed over her, and she let out a strangled "Uwaaah!" as it passed.

● ● ●

"Net's pretty heavy t'day."

"Come off it old man, you say that every damn day."

"What's wrong with tryin' to be opta- optermistic? 'Sides, it really is. C'n hardly lift it."

The man, a sun-tanned elder with a cropped haircut, struggled to turn the crank wheel. He let out a grunt as his companion, a shorter but stockier blondie with a rope tied around his forehead rolled his eyes. Commercial fishing vessels had all but cleaned out these waters a few years ago, but some traditional fishermen remained hopeful that their livelihood hadn't disappeared for good.

After a few minutes of watching the struggle, the younger fisherman stood up.

"Alright, alright, out of the way. Age finally caught up with you huh? Let me do it."

He grasped the crank in both hands and pushed. The look of surprise on his face when it barely moved caused a bout of laughter from the elder. A vein visibly pulsed on his forehead as he put his back into it, gritting his teeth. He made space for his companion to assist and together they hauled the net up from dredging the sea floor. There were fish in it, but not many more than usual. Maybe less even, since so much space was being taken up by one huge specimen. A sleek tail of reds, oranges, and golds about three feet long greeted the men as the crane held their bounty aloft.

The blonde man whistled his appreciation. "I had no idea there were fish this big left around here."

"Told ya it was heavier th'n usual." The older man stroked the patchy stubble of his chin. He glanced at his partner while the fish wiggled. "Wonder what it is, how much its worth. We could be eating well tonight."

"Haha, the whole town could be if we cook it instead!"

"Cook who?!"

The two men screamed and stumbled back as their captured fish finally reoriented herself, sitting up to reveal a human-like body attached to the tail they'd been admiring. She brought her hands up to grip the ropes and glare through the net, but the expression was completely non-threatening thanks to her slightly green face and swirly, dizzy eyes.

"Ugh... s-so rude..." She mumbled. Her head was swimming, and not in the normal way.

The more experienced fisher recovered first while the younger was still staring slack-jawed. He coughed into his hand to clear his throat and then asked, "Er... uh... are you okay, miss...?"

"..."

"...?"

"St... do..."

"Whatcha say...?"

Suiten shook her head vigorously, and though still dizzy she shouted, "s-stand back if you don't want to be cut to pieces! You humans think you can catch me? H-ha! I can free myself in forty different ways!"

At this point the blonde man got himself together and stood, holding his hands up to try and placate the mermaid. "Hold on, you're the one that ran into our net! Calm down and we'll get you out."

The crane began to move again to deposit the net on board, but Suiten either hadn't heard the man or didn't believe him. She rummaged in her bag and produced something that looked like the hilt of a sword. It held no blade and was unremarkable, save for the way Suiten was brandishing it. "I warned you! This thing gathers water and compresses it to be super sharp!"

"We said we'll let you go!"

"Hiyah!" She clicked the button and a puff of air came out of the hilt, but otherwise nothing happened. All three of the people gathered on that little boat held their breaths for a few seconds before letting them out all at once.

"Ehe... right. It only works underwater..."

The blonde sailor facepalmed, while the older man let out a relieved chuckle. "You sure gave us a fright, missy. But we promise not to hurt ya. We're simple folks just lookin' fer some fish, not fish-men."

"Okay... thank you," Suiten said, though she grumbled "mermaid" under her breath. After taking a few moments to relax, she believed the guys didn't have any ill intentions. They worked to lower the crane and open up the net until she was free. She stretched out on the deck of the small vessel while the sailors smiled, a bit mystified by the encounter. Until.

"Yay~" Suiten stretched her arms over her head, and the device she'd kept a death grip on slipped from her fingers over the side of the boat. "Oops." Still powered on, it sucked in sea water and sliced a chunk out of the ship as it tumbled down below the waves.

"THE BOAT!!"

POST ARCHIVE:

𝕊𝕆𝕌𝕋ℍ 𝔹𝕃𝕌𝔼 𝕊𝔸𝔾𝔸

SEA LAMP ARC:

[1][2][3]

One Piece: The Devil's Due (Always Accepting!)

I hope this is alright, its surprisingly hard to get goals down and condense things into something that's both satisfying and makes sense.
Anyway, I gave it my best! Here's my application:

a mermaid

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION:

A spunky and vain fantail goldfish mermaid. Though originally hailing from Fishman Island, she left it two years ago to explore the world's oceans. Her feelings about the home and family she left behind are complicated, but ultimately she departed on an optimistic note. Being a tinkerer, budding inventor, and self-proclaimed genius, Suiten needed to expand her horizons for both the good of herself and her kingdom. Though she sometimes claims the only reason she is traveling is to see the world and what humans have to offer that she could never learn under the sea, she is also looking for something: another Sunlight Tree, or more specifically, any similar phenomenon that would bring light from the surface down to the sea floor. With the bubble housing Fishman Island only getting more crowded and dangerous since "The Devil's" attack on the holy land above, propagating their people properly throughout the world and finding more places that Fishmen and Merfolk could safely call home is Suiten's goal. And if she can't find such a place, she will search instead for the means and experience to create it herself.

CHARACTER GOALS:

This might be redundant considering this is the goal of all roleplayers, but I wanted to have fun while writing, so my intention with Suiten is a "fun" character. For an RP like this especially I think one needs to really enjoy what they are writing to stick with it! She will be fun for me to write, so I hope she will be fun to interact with as well. To me, some of my favorite One Piece characters are the ones I find the most fun, and some inspirations for Suiten are characters like Bon Clay, Robin, Boa, and Usopp. I also wanted to do a character who wasn't a Devil Fruit user, and figured a mermaid would be an interesting way to go for that.

My main intentions are for Suiten to stir up a little trouble and then go on to become a recurring character in other people's stories, as a temporary ally or even a thorn in the side. I'd love to pop into other stories and see the varying reactions of "Oh, her again!" vs "Ugh, her again?!"

I am also super open to Suiten joining a player's crew eventually if the story turns out like that. I absolutely love scenes where characters put aside their pride to ask for help, and I think that kind of more serious arc would really benefit Suiten and lead to some personal growth. I envision Suiten's story beats would be maturation, discovery, overcoming bias, trust, and slow burn friendships.

CHARACTER NOTES:

Organization: Fishman Island
Position: Nobility
Starting Sea: South Blue
Devil Fruit: N/A
Skills & Abilities: Besides what's normal for her race (speaking with fish, swimming extremely fast), Suiten carries a bunch of contraptions and parts to make more. Some are very useful especially in a pinch, while others are useless.

RELATIONS:

Zeitan

Another mermaid and Suiten's sister.
Eccentric in her own way, she stayed behind on Fishman Island
and awaits Suiten's return.
.

Jacquotte Delahay

With the self-given moniker "The Dread," she is captain of the Red Dread Pirates,
a small time crew operating in the South Blue.
After a humiliating run-in with Suiten she has been trailing the mermaid ever since.
.

SAMPLE POST:

Last Week in One Piece:

It's the something day of the something year, and I'm once again wishing I started some kind of log from the get-go. Since making my way from home I've made no progress in my search, but I did manage to finish something pretty amazing the other day.

It wasn't often that mermaid were spotted outside of the Grand Line, though as it happened no one had spotted Suiten yet today in the South Blue. It was early in the afternoon and she was swimming lazily, making as few flicks of her tail as possible to move her forward. The sea was vast, and there were so many stretches of it that were just devoid of anything interesting. It was either water, sand, or darkness as far as the eye could see. This was one of those sections. If she was lucky, Suiten could catch sight of some fish out there, but for the most part she was just swimming aimlessly and bored out of her mind. During these periods of open ocean travel she tried to entertain herself in anyway possible, which sometimes meant she would work on her "travelogue." It usually didn't help. It certainly wasn't now.

Now I'm going to...

She trailed off in her thoughts, pushing her tail once to turn over and float gently down on her back with her face staring blankly up towards the surface. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, a cascade of bubbles escaping her lips.

Narrating to myself is so boring! I need some handsome dummy to dictate to.

Eventually she felt her back hit the seabed, and she lay there for a little while to doze. A break every now and then wasn't such a bad thing, was it? She could have chosen a more pleasant area to rest, but so far she'd seen barely anything for miles so she didn't find it likely she'd come across a comfier spot anytime soon. Besides, this spot would have been nice enough if not for some irritating noise that was steadily growing louder. She tried ignoring it until it got too much to brush off.

Flipping around, Suiten's eyes snapped open and her cheeks puffed out into a rather cute looking pout. Her hands were resting on her hips where scale transitioned into skin, and she stared into the dark where the sound of scraping was coming from.

"What's with the noise?! Some people are trying to... to..." A shadow loomed over her, and she let out a strangled "Uwaaah!" as it passed.

● ● ●

"Net's pretty heavy t'day."

"Come off it old man, you say that every damn day."

"What's wrong with tryin' to be opta- optermistic? 'Sides, it really is. C'n hardly lift it."

The man, a sun-tanned elder with a cropped haircut, struggled to turn the crank wheel. He let out a grunt as his companion, a shorter but stockier blondie with a rope tied around his forehead rolled his eyes. Commercial fishing vessels had all but cleaned out these waters a few years ago, but some traditional fishermen remained hopeful that their livelihood hadn't disappeared for good.

After a few minutes of watching the struggle, the younger fisherman stood up.

"Alright, alright, out of the way. Age finally caught up with you huh? Let me do it."

He grasped the crank in both hands and pushed. The look of surprise on his face when it barely moved caused a bout of laughter from the elder. A vein visibly pulsed on his forehead as he put his back into it, gritting his teeth. He made space for his companion to assist and together they hauled the net up from dredging the sea floor. There were fish in it, but not many more than usual. Maybe less even, since so much space was being taken up by one huge specimen. A sleek tail of reds, oranges, and golds about three feet long greeted the men as the crane held their bounty aloft.

The blonde man whistled his appreciation. "I had no idea there were fish this big left around here."

"Told ya it was heavier th'n usual." The older man stroked the patchy stubble of his chin. He glanced at his partner while the fish wiggled. "Wonder what it is, how much its worth. We could be eating well tonight."

"Haha, the whole town could be if we cook it instead!"

"Cook who?!"

The two men screamed and stumbled back as their captured fish finally reoriented herself, sitting up to reveal a human-like body attached to the tail they'd been admiring. She brought her hands up to grip the ropes and glare through the net, but the expression was completely non-threatening thanks to her slightly green face and swirly, dizzy eyes.

"Ugh... s-so rude..." She mumbled. Her head was swimming, and not in the normal way.

The more experienced fisher recovered first while the younger was still staring slack-jawed. He coughed into his hand to clear his throat and then asked, "Er... uh... are you okay, miss...?"

"..."

"...?"

"St... do..."

"Whatcha say...?"

Suiten shook her head vigorously, and though still dizzy she shouted, "s-stand back if you don't want to be cut to pieces! You humans think you can catch me? H-ha! I can free myself in forty different ways!"

At this point the blonde man got himself together and stood, holding his hands up to try and placate the mermaid. "Hold on, you're the one that ran into our net! Calm down and we'll get you out."

The crane began to move again to deposit the net on board, but Suiten either hadn't heard the man or didn't believe him. She rummaged in her bag and produced something that looked like the hilt of a sword. It held no blade and was unremarkable, save for the way Suiten was brandishing it. "I warned you! This thing gathers water and compresses it to be super sharp!"

"We said we'll let you go!"

"Hiyah!" She clicked the button and a puff of air came out of the hilt, but otherwise nothing happened. All three of the people gathered on that little boat held their breaths for a few seconds before letting them out all at once.

"Ehe... right. It only works underwater..."

The blonde sailor facepalmed, while the older man let out a relieved chuckle. "You sure gave us a fright, missy. But we promise not to hurt ya. We're simple folks just lookin' fer some fish, not fish-men."

"Okay... thank you," Suiten said, though she grumbled "mermaid" under her breath. After taking a few moments to relax, she believed the guys didn't have any ill intentions. They worked to lower the crane and open up the net until she was free. She stretched out on the deck of the small vessel while the sailors smiled, a bit mystified by the encounter. Until.

"Yay~" Suiten stretched her arms over her head, and the device she'd kept a death grip on slipped from her fingers over the side of the boat. "Oops." Still powered on, it sucked in sea water and sliced a chunk out of the ship as it tumbled down below the waves.

"THE BOAT!!"

POST ARCHIVE:

SOUTHERN SEA ARC:

[x]

World of Light

Word Count: 571 (+1 exp)
Level: 3 - Total EXP: 124/30
Location: Dystopiascape - Sector 7

The meeting was concluded, morning agenda decided, and heroes were rolling out. Although Pit was eager to check on the friends they'd left in Seiran and see what Bridges was all about, he ultimately decided to go with the group headed to fend off the machine attack. It sounded like the simplest course of action, and after everything that had happened recently he needed something simple. Hopefully things went well and it improved the team's morale.

Before completely adjourning, there was the ominous red spirit of the Chimera he'd fought together with Goldlewis, Karin, Roxas and Midna - the latter having taken it with her out of the Astral Plane (which apparently was still part of Galeem's world since the Chimera's defeat had resulted in a spirit in the first place). As for what, if anything, to do with it...

"I'll hold onto this," the angel said. No one else seemed to want anything to do with it, so Pit took it upon himself to safeguard it. He hadn't felt anything like what he now knew as "Redshift" when he'd been handling the red Abberation spirits, so it was probably safe! And maybe those Neuron officers could purify it back to normal if it was corrupted or something. "I promise not to turn into an evil mutant."

After that the groups split up again. The compositions this time meant only Roxas remained of the group Pit had been with yesterday, but he was plenty personable enough not to mind a team change up. In fact when Susie mentioned a bodyguard, Pit smiled at her and thumped a fist to his chest. "If you're worried about fighting you can count on me, Susie! I'm captain of Lady Palutena's royal bodyguards so there's no better person for the job, heh!"

The group exited the train and arrived in the slums, to varying reactions. As for Pit, he kept his focus on the mission at hand. They wasted no time in getting a move on to the city's edge while Giovanna laid out her plan.

"Ooh, good idea!" Stretching his legs outside of the city walls sounded pretty good, plus everything Giovanna said made sense. If they wanted to get anything done, taking the fight to the enemy was definitely the best way to go about it. Pit approved. A question did come to his mind though, so he looked between Giovanna and Zenkichi as he asked, "If people can figure out where the machines are outside the city, and know when they'll attack, couldn't they find out where they're coming from too? Why don't they go destroy the base?"

Actually, was that explained during the first SOU meeting? Pit concentrated, trying to recall anything... but he only remembered something about secret factories. "We should try and find one of the labs they're being built in! That way we can stop the raid on the city, then swoop in like bam! Taking out a whole manu-factory should put a dent in their forces, right?"

In his mind it seemed straight forward enough. So first order of business was to find a crew that would take them out into the wilderness beyond Midgar. As they walked, a loud whistle sounded through the air. Its source was a tall man in vest and tie standing on a soapbox. Pit nudged the nearest person to him. "That guy's talking about fixing stuff, maybe he knows a salvage crew?"

Expedition to Isekai

______________________________________________________________________

The class prez was not gathering everyone into some sort of meeting.

He was on the verge of spacing out, staring at some spot between the burning bus and the tree line. His sleeve was stained red from swiping at his nose, and the short locks of his hair were plastered to his forehead and neck by sweat. It was the first time he'd seen a dead body so close before, besides his grandmother's wake when he was just a kid. It was an entirely different situation now, plus they were... in danger, probably. Masato was relieved that the bus hadn't actually exploded, despite the palpable disappointment on Kanamori's face, but would they get lucky enough to avoid danger twice? They were in a freaking Portal. Somehow the bus had gone right through and delivered them here with no obvious way back.

It was a surprise that most of the students were so calm about the whole thing. Maybe they were still in shock, or maybe they were just doing their best to hide it. Maybe for some there was a measure of excitement too - who hadn't wondered what the inside of a Portal was like, after all?

He came back to himself again when Nakagawa asked him a question. Before he could answer, Kondo cut in, and while her words were irritating they were technically true. They were all students at the same school, on the way to said school when the accident happened, but this was as far from school as they could be.

"She's right," he sighed loudly. "Not that many of you ever listened to me in school anyway."

Still, it would be best to stay together. If this ragtag group of middleschoolers needed a leader... well, he'd be lying if he said he wanted to do it, but he'd accept the responsibility if it came to him.

"Those safety PSAs... Eh, hold on." He pressed a thumb to his nostril when he felt his nose still bleeding and snorted out the other side. A clot shot out onto the ground earning a disgusted noise from his fellow student councilman. "I guess we're supposed to stay put and call the authorities." He reached into his pocket and found nothing. He patted his uniform and jacket down and realized everything had been in his bag, which was on the bus, which was on fire. "Damn it... Kondo, your phone?"

"I can hardly see, I only grabbed what was in front of me." That being a notebook she held up, proof of her hard work in order to beat Maeda. Well, whatever. Masato glanced up at the basketball club's captain.

"Nakagawa?"

"Nope."

"Fuckin'..." Masato grumbled. He cupped a hand around his mouth, about to shout for a phone, when one appeared in his peripheral vision. Without a word Ichibangase, tried a few calls and then shook his head, showing the phone screen to Masato, Kondo, and Nakagawa: NO SIGNAL.

Yeah, that figures. With a quiet word of thanks to Ichibangase, Masato moved on. "Then let's do a head count, see what supplies we got, stick together and stick it out until the army picks us up."

What else were they supposed to do anyway? Thankfully everyone was still all in one place, and Okumura was already tending to the wounded (which Masato had refused when she first called him over). He was pretty sure everyone had made it out, but he hadn't actually done a roll call or anything and he couldn't make Kondo do it with her impaired sight. He started a mental count when he noted a student breaking away from the group and headed into the trees.

"What the hell is she doing?" He had said it to himself, but his words drew the gaze of the people around him towards the girl. "Inaba! What the hell are you doing?"

World of Light

Location: The Under - Ash Lake

Hearing the Koopas' perspective on both Consul F and the timeline discrepancy was interesting but ultimately it didn't lead to any answers either, as Teemo pointed out after Asgore's promise. Once the Seekers said their goodbyes to Asgore and left his abode, they quickly found the pipe he'd indicated. During their brief search, Barnabee mused on the old king's circumstances. While some didn't think that Asgore would have resorted to violence, Primrose was of the opposite mind. Even if he had nothing else, Asgore still seemed to have his convictions. As it were, they didn't need to worry about hypotheticals. A quick and slightly unnerving trip through the warp pipe after Barnabee and Rubick dumped Primrose into the Home of Tears, where they would worry about the future.

The dancer pulled all six foot three of herself out of the water and sat on the basin's edge. She was jealous of Rubick's quick thinking to avoid being dunked, but only a little - with the "rain" from the lake above them it would only have been a matter or time before they were soaked either way. At least she didn't have to worry about a wet fur coat like poor Teemo.

Once everyone was together on the other side of the pipe, Rika and Bowser Jr. went ahead to ask about their missing comrades while the rest of the group followed behind. At that point Rubick asked for more information about the Consuls. Though his question was directed at the Koopas, Primrose chimed in with a comment. "There isn't much information to tell as far as I am aware... perhaps if we can catch that Consul here in the city we can do a little interrogation."

Of course, that would have to wait. Rika and Junior returned with a cheeky message left with the city's guard by Ms. Fortune directing those she knew to her hotel. Turning in for the night sounded like a good idea, so to the Habbo Hotel they went. After booking a room to herself and drying off as much as possible, Primrose turned in to bed.

^{____________________________________________________}
Level: 8 - Total EXP: 117/80 ------ Level: 6 - Total EXP: 57/60
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●● ---------------------------- 𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●
Word Count: 1369 (+3 exp)
Location: The Under - Home of Tears

The next morning, after a shower and some breakfast, Primrose was feeling ready for another day. Before heading downstairs, she wanted to do something about the stench of the egg she was carrying. She rummaged through the room's small kitchenette area, finding a jar that would probably hold it. It was clear like glass, not quite flimsy but certainly not as solid as glass either - some other material she wasn't familiar with, but it would do.

I wish I had thought of this last night, she thought with a sigh, sealing the rancid egg into the jar and washing out her emptied bag and the robe she'd wrapped it in. Hopefully the smell wouldn't linger too long. A small conjured flame helped with the drying process.

Along with her things, a couple of spirits Primrose picked up yesterday glowed faintly at her. Unlike the Koopa Troop, who'd she'd witnessed gathering up each and every little spirit they could, she'd only taken the two from the Ancestral Mound. Before wrapping the jar back up in cloth, she took the Bluggsac spirit and crushed it in her hand.

Item Acquired

Bile Bomb
A vial of noxious yellow liquid. It's sturdily built enough to not be easily broken by accident. When thrown and broken, its putrid, malodorous liquid is freed. It's extremely unpleasant and tends to induce potent nausea in most living things, but may attract certain unwholesome wretches to whom such foulness is finest perfume.

Well it wasn't a second egg. Primrose could take a guess at what the potion was, so she refrained from opening it, just tucking it away with the now-bound jar and the rest of her things. As for the remaining spirit, she considered turning it into a striker. It's defense was very strong, and it would make a good summoned shield in a pinch, but... even if logical, she didn't like the idea of hiding behind someone or something else. Discarding the idea entirely, she decided to crush this spirit as well.

Item Acquired

Baldur Shell
A badge that bestows the ironclad fortitude of the Elder Baldur. When in the process of casting or charging a spell, the wearer is protected by a ghostly carapace that prevents damage and knockback from most attacks, although strong enough ones can overpower it. This protection can only happen four times before the badge breaks, although it will repair itself if the wearer takes a rest.

With a new accessory pinned to her skirt and everything else settled, she made her way to the lobby. It was good fortune that they'd found Miss Fortune's message last night, giving the group the peace of mind that their fellow Seekers had indeed made it to the city - now they'd just share information and plan their next course of action. The area was lively with hotel guests, but not many Seekers just yet, save a familiar man in a dark cloak who would have been hard to spot if not for the colorful, still dripping umbrella propped up against his chosen seat.

Therion lounged in a corner of the lobby with both of his feet propped up on a small table in front of him where a couple of apple cores sat. His brow was furrowed, watching a frizzy headed man in a red suit stuff a bunch of food into his clothes, but when Primrose approached him his gaze flickered over to her. The dancer hadn't physically changed while they'd been apart, as as for the thief - he didn't look all that much different himself. The most noticeable thing being a tiny pair of horns on his head. At Primrose's curious look he raised a hand to flick them, showing they were fakes.

For Therion

Loki's Horns
A horned headband that isn't auto-equipped (not to mention permanently equipped) if touched like other Binding of Isaac items. When the wearer shoots/throws/otherwise used a projectile, there is a 25% base chance that three copies of that projectile fly out in different directions, those being 90% to the left and right of the original direction, and the opposite of the original direction.

Spirit absorbed:
Ammomancer
The host is a bit shorter and paler, with a slightly larger and rounder head, as well as redder eyes. No modification to the host's pre-existing black robes. The host's personality is a bit more prone to bursts of madness. This spirit confers the Power Shellomancy, which allows the host to summon a Shelleton if given a few seconds to channel. These Shelletons can fire off wide waves of slow bullets or a sweeping red eye beam, dealing respectable damage. This spirit also confers the Weakness Bonkers. If the host summons three Shelletons in a single encounter, he will then go nuts and mindlessly try to rush down and melee attack any available targets. If staggered by enough damage however, either from enemies or allies, he will regain his senses.

Primrose took the seat next to him, crossing one of her long legs over the other. Therion yawned, stretched, and then indicated the penguin clerk at the lobby's front desk whom he'd overheard deliver a message to each Seeker he'd seen come and go already.

"Fortune left a note about meeting here, nine o'clock," he informed Primrose. "Shouldn't be much longer now."

"I see. Seems you've been out and about already?"

"Sold some stuff, made some coin. Was hoping for a break in the rain but it hasn't stopped since we got here."

That would be because of the lake right above the city and the water leaking down through the earth, but Primrose kept that to herself. It would come up anyway once everyone was together.

"Surprised you used your full name."

Primrose glanced at Therion, and he nodded his head towards the clerk again. Ah, right - yesterday when they were reserving rooms, they were asking for the guests' names. She sighed and tipped her head back. "It's fine. It doesn't mean anything here," she said. Here, she wasn't a nobleman's daughter turned vengeful murderer - she was a dancer out to save the world. Her lips quirked up in a small smile and she turned to Therion again. "I'm curious to know what name you put down."

"Don't worry about it," he grumbled, looking away. He wasn't the only traveler in their eight man group back in Orsterra that didn't have a surname, sharing that little fact with H'aanit, and he could probably have gotten away with explaining that to the clerk and checking in anyway. Instead, he'd given the first surname that crossed his mind, which happened to be of the same friend that he'd been thinking about at the sanitarium. He didn't particularly want to be ribbed by Primrose about it, so thankfully she just laughed and dropped the subject.

Moving on, she nodded her head towards the man Therion had been observing earlier stealing food at the breakfast bar. "Not quite on your level, is he?"

Therion scoffed and rolled his eye. "No kidding." Honestly he was surprised to see Ichiban here at all. Was it coincidence, or did Omori tell him about the Seekers after he'd split up from them yesterday? "That guy showed us to a hospital yesterday, dunno what he's doing here now though."

"Another new addition to the—" "No," "—team? We picked up—" "he's not." "— a couple yesterday as well."

Despite the thief's protests, Primrose called over to Ichiban. At that point, the Seekers were filtering back into the lobby to regroup so it wouldn't just be Therion who was familiar to him. When the hour came, the Under team was reassembled with a few new faces. News was reported, stories told, and there was a grand total of three mask fragments between them all with more to go. Primrose told the other half of their group her suggestion about seeking out and dealing with the city's Consul as soon as possible, while Therion vaguely mentioned the great stash of items in the sewer below. Nadia let them all know about the letter left for them overnight. A mysterious meeting request like that could turn out to be useful.

World of Light

Word Count: 923 (+2 exp)
Level: 9 - Total EXP: 179/90
Location: Edinburgh MagicaPolis

Since being in close combat a couple of times now, the Ace Cadet was doing a little better than usual. That was to say he wasn't getting completely pummeled. His sword sheared the edges of Byte's ARMS making short bursts of sparks, the springloaded limbs curving away to prevent being completely cleaved off once the metal policeman quickly realized his opponent had the strength to do just that. So while flashy and fast paced, the battle between Byte and Ace amounted to mostly near misses and light blows traded back and forth. Normally the Cadet would be quite confident in outlasting an opponent in a contest of constitution, but he wasn't sure if the normal concept of 'stamina' applied to the metal man. It also didn't seem like Byte actually felt pain, while even a glancing punch by the robot hurt. He was also staying out of the crush shot's effective range, whether intentionally or not.

It was when Barq recovered and rejoined the fight that the Cadet suddenly found himself in danger of being on the back foot. With both parts of the pair working together, they could pull off short combo moves and increased Byte's mobility whenever he used Barq as a springboard. Not to mention Barq was all too happy to take a hit meant for Byte. Sometimes the Cadet heard shouts and gunfire not far across the market, but whenever his attention slid to try and determine his friends' status that little dog-bot would slip into his blind spot. Barq's punches (it actually opened its mouth to shoot out a boxing glove!) were not as strong as its partners', but they were enough to give Byte an opening. Always an opening, since the Cadet was foregoing any real defense in favor of dodging or countering. It kind of figured that the Cadet went for the long sword for an advantage in range, but his chosen opponent just so happened to prefer the same.

A brief tactical retreat saw the Cadet roll behind a half-collapsed store shelf. He took a deep breath to regroup and considered his strategy. If he could just get one good attack in he could take the officer out, he just needed an opening of his own. It was hard to tell if any of his items would work, but there was no use thinking about it when he could just test it instead. He reached into his pouch and withdrew a palm-sized paintball.

On the other side of the shelving, Byte swapped the Bubb ARM for a second Seekie. With an enemy-seeking missile equipped to each arm, he held them out towards where the Cadet had disappeared.

"No use hiding," the officer stated. "Lock on!" He threw the punches into open air on either side of the Cadet's cover. After but a moment the Seekies shifted course and flew right towards the hunter's position. Not about to stay an easy target, the Cadet vaulted over the top of the shelf and whipped the paintball at Byte. It splattered pink across his eye panel at the same time that the ARMS demolished the shelving in a mini explosion. They loosed electricity as they exploded, zapping the nearby Cadet - he withstood it, in order to get back on the offensive.

"Repair." Byte had begun to spin his head rapidly to clear the obstruction from his visual sensors. While he did, he wasn't punching. Which meant it was time for the Ace Cadet to make his move! The long sword had found its way back into its sheathe while he'd been fetching the paintball from his bag - the drawing attack the Cadet performed now was a wide horizontal swing sure to catch his target even if he happened to move. Unfortunately that also made it all the easier for Barq to speed in and intercept the blade. Barq howled and toppled over once more, earning a frustrated "Aw come on!" from the hunter.

Byte was done with the 'repair' and raising his dukes while the Cadet took up his counter stance. It seemed like it would be back to the give and take until an assist came out of nowhere.

Energy arrows shot towards Byte, slamming into him and staggering him. As a result the cop's focus naturally moved toward the source of the new attack. He thrust his arm in Wonder Red's direction, the masked hero just inside the Seekie's range.

Within the light showing through the holes in the ceiling, the jewel-like luster of the Nightsky Ripper's blade shimmered in motion. A swift and powerful overhead slash came down onto the golden coil of Byte's outstretched arm, cleanly severing it. Unable to complete its flight the Seekie clattered to the ground, discharging its electricity as it did, while the other end of the spring snapped back towards the officer.

"You should have geared up a little more before taking us on," the Cadet said, his stance shifting back to neutral to prepare to attack again. He'd be able to finish things now thanks to Red, then they could go help out the others. "Rust in peace!"

"Error." The remaining ARM shifted into a new type, a wide end cylinder decorated with stars, but by then it was too late. With Barq down for the count and no way to properly defend himself, a cross cut from the Ace Cadet's blade opened up Byte's metal chest chassis. He reversed his grip and brought the sword back down in the opposite direction, slicing through the clockwork mechanisms inside.

Introduction to me.

Hey there, welcome!

Hi 😊 I can't believe its taken me this long to think to join a RPG Forum

Quite a list of credentials you got there. Welcome, while most of the site is play-by-post if you're more into dice games definitely check out the Tabletop section. Have fun!