Yankee

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World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

Word Count: 3378 (+4 exp x2)
Level: 8 - Total EXP: 201/80
Location: Inside the Qliphoth, The Dead Zone
_{ft. @Lugubrious as Sandalphon & O}

Pit would much rather face off against an enemy that was easier to understand than O. A big, straight forward monster or a horde of demons was much preferable to someone that could completely change the battlefield on a whim and summon everything from zoo animals to carnival rides. That was so not nice, rides like that should only be used for fun but the Consul was using them for evil! But since everyone else must have felt the same way, he felt that leaving any one of the enemies unchallenged would be bad.

But then, how could they challenge O?

It might have been possible to make the Consul spend all of his money and get him out of the fight that way, but that plan seemed well above what Pit could grasp. His fusions had made him more clever and, he assumed, smarter if he could read now, but he had no idea what O's movements could possibly cost. Did it matter what kind of currency he used? What if he had way more money than they could drain - he'd presumably been alive in the World of Light this whole time amassing it after all. And how much time would it take, how many more contraptions and habitats could he summon before they made him go bankrupt?

Pit didn't want to try and figure any of that out, so instead he stuck with searching for O's real body.

Lady Palutena had told him that the Consul was most likely physically present, and he was inclined to believe her. But as he'd expressed (mostly to himself) just before, trying to find him seemed like an incredible challenge. Still, it wasn't like he was just about to give up.

However, he currently had to deal with the newest terrain that O had conjured up. Pit shivered involuntarily as the ice and cold set instantly set in, though the polar bears popping into existence a moment later quickly gave him the chance to warm up again.

"He's gonna make us fight cute little bears?" Pit said, despite the fact that these were almost twice as tall as him standing and easily three times his weight, with sharp claws and teeth to boot. Unfortunately for the bears though, there was no way they stood a chance.

Freshly healed thanks to Junior, Pit's battle with one of the polar bears didn't last long. As the mammals split up and went after one each of those in the enclosure, the one targeting Pit stood and brought both of its paws down at him, but only after it had made it out of the fiery goop moat. At that point it had already taken a couple of light arrows while it was slowed. Pit sidestepped the double swipe and parried the next swing the bear took with the broad side of his bow. He spun into a two handed slash, cutting deep across the bear's fur. It roared and rushed in to snap its jaws at the angel, but he caught it by letting it by down on the divine metal of his weapon. Pit then brought his foot up sharply, a vertical kick to the polar bear's chin that sent it stumbling backward onto its hind legs.

A strong charged arrow, big and bright, was enough to put it down after that. Pit glanced quickly over at Junior and Rika to see how they were doing - they seemed alright? Sort of? Pretty alright. They definitely had it from here.

"Alright, time to get a move on then!" he said to himself. He couldn't see anything past these concrete walls, so now was the time to abandon the left side of the arena. Pit leapt up, clearing the enclosure with a few flaps of his wings. He landed on the opposite side of the walls and took off running as soon as he hit the ground.

He flitted around the battlefield looking for any hints to where O might be. The hollow was barren of much else besides the people fighting in it though, so there really weren't many places to hide in the first place. It didn't take long at all for Pit to feel frustratingly like he wasn't getting anywhere. Every moment he spent fruitlessly searching it was less time spent helping his friends and fighting the bad guys. If he could just find the guy it would all pay off, but that was the problem - finding him!

Close by, but not close enough that he'd hurt himself with his own stuff. Somewhere the big ugly worm wouldn't strike. Somewhere hidden that we wouldn't think to look, he thought to himself, having repeated those few lines like a mantra in his brain while he searched. If I wouldn't think to look there then how am I gonna think of it now! ...no, wait, just. Where haven't I checked already?

The angel had flitted about the whole area it seemed like, and he hadn't seen so much as a clue - but if it was somewhere he hadn't looked yet, might not even think to look, then... He turned suddenly, slight curls in his hair bouncing as he looked to the only other place that he hadn't checked in the arena: the door they'd come through, standing atop a raised ledge that half surrounded the final hollow.

It was worth a try. Nothing else had panned out so far. Hoping that it didn't look like he was deserting, Pit ran towards the area, eyes wide and searching for anything that could at least point him in the right direction. That direction, however, turned out to be the one he was already heading. The Gravemind becoming a giant torch cast bright flickering light over the whole area, and he could see things in, well, literally a different light. Sections of the raised area looked dissimilar to the rest of the hollow when cast in the white orange glow of fire rather than the ominous deep red natural lighting - and those sections rippled minutely in response to the sweeping movements of the Guardian's arms, or the powerful attacks being thrown out by Pit's companions.

By the time Sectonia's Reaper's Scythe was cast Pit was within range of these suspicious flaps of flesh. When the queen's blade came down and severed the Gravemind's tentacle Pit had the two halves of his bow in each hand, one reversed, as he cut away the camouflage. When the roller coaster was being built he couldn't help but pause and watch though, especially when its entire construction spanned only seconds - its operation too, as the track curled around Sectonia and the coaster itself slammed into her over and over. And, when the whole thing crashed down on top of her and she didn't get back up, didn't even look like she was there anymore at all, Pit bristled all over. There was no way she had- she hadn't just died, right? Sure she was really full of herself and super critical of everything, but she was one of the Seekers; a friend.

Pit gripped his swords tightly and dove into the hollow space he'd uncovered. Behind the makeshift tarp of infested hide lay a small, narrow passageway, its walls and roof roughly carved into the Qliphoth’s constituent material, but its floor reasonably flat. As he darted through, the cacophony of flame, magic, gunfire, and dead voices behind him grew fainter, and a new noise reached him from up ahead. After another moment he emerged into a small cave illuminated not by lambent pustules or demonic sorcery, but kerosine lamps. They surrounded a rug arranged in the center, and on that rug sat a man in a wheelchair. It was a sturdy contraption of steel and radial spokes, with an upholstered seat of shiny black leather reminiscent of an office chair, and a sophisticated medical device including heart monitor and oxygen tank. And in that chair sat Consul O, his fingers interlaced with his elbows propped up on the armrests, his eyes closed and his head bent forward as if in meditation. He twitched and muttered as the seconds went by, but did not react to Pit’s arrival.

The angel had arrived with his blades raised ready to swiftly strike down the crafty Consul, but he hesitated when he actually found the villain. He's an old man...? Pit's eyes jumped from the wheelchair to the helmet, his brows furrowed. It wasn't quite the grand reveal he was hoping for, and normally he'd feel bad for attacking a geezer on their last legs like this but...

But he had to go. Just look at what he'd done already - he'd been trying to kill them, and might have even just succeeded at it.

Pit's bright eyes flashed with emotion and he stepped into a X-shaped cross slash with both of his swords, scraping hard against O's armor and toppling the man over in his seat.

“GAH!” Before hitting the ground, O suddenly jerked awake, like someone jolted from a dream. His wheelchair hit the ground with a rattling crash, and the Consul spilled from it over the edge of the rug onto the ground. The table set up next to the wheelchair, decked out with a half-empty bottle and wine glass, fell alongside it as collateral damage. O did not rise, but lay there groaning until he managed to turn onto his side, at which point he greeted the sight of Pit with one arm raised in placation. “W-wait! Stop!” He rolled onto his back, his legs weak but seemingly not dead weight, and held up both hands. “I surrender! I can’t fight. Not in this…useless body. Can barely even stand. So…you’ve won. Congratulations.” Though his voice sounded growly and resentful, the fear in his voice was real. In person, he also sounded more British than he did through his avatar. He coughed, one hand pressed against the armor by his ribcage. “I beg you…don’t kill me.”

"You were fighting pretty well before! What, you don't wanna summon a gorilla or something now that you're cornered?"

Pit's divine weapons were still raised in threat, the gold glinting in the lamplight. He was glaring down at O, but the fact that he hadn't already attacked the man again spoke volumes. But he also couldn't just stand guard over O the whole time either when he was needed elsewhere. He shifted, feathers twitching.

"And what you did...! Even like this there's no way you'd surrender so easily. As soon as I leave you're gonna try and kill us again - so I'm not going to let you."

O scooted away as best he could, backpedaling toward the wall of his little hidey-hole with his hands raised in front of his mask. “I’m more use to you alive!” he insisted, his tone urgent. “The others–I know their weaknesses! They dismiss me as some doddering old fool, but my eyes are as sharp as ever! D, for instance. His weakness is light! Holy miracles! And that’s just the beginning.” His back bumped against the wall, halting his retreat. “Look, I’m just a man. The rest are all vampires and monsters and ancient gods, but not me. Just an old man, terrified of dying. A man of business–we can make a deal! I promise!” He turned his head away, cowering.

Though it was surely a boon that one of the Seekers had found O in the flesh, that it had happened to be Pit and Pit alone meant that there was no one who could speak sense to the angel, or who would cut O down regardless while he was fearfully begging for mercy. Even the goddess in his head was silent, unwilling to pass judgement on the Consul or just curious to see what her favored angel would do.

Pit bit his lip in hesitation. He was angry but he was also tense and unsure - maybe it actually was that easy, and O was choosing to preserve his own life over continuing the fight. If O truly was surrendering then... he couldn't just murder the man, could he?

"I..." Pit lowered his swords. "...argh! Okay! If you give up then - I'll... tie you up or something, and you'll tell us how to beat everyone else."

And afterward O could still face justice without pulling some trick to escape, or so he figured. He glanced down at his sash belt where the goddess whip was tied, which was the closest thing he had to rope.

A vivid red light shone from behind Pit, casting his shadow against the wall in front of him. He looked up sharply, eyes wide for the briefest of moments before they hardened. Hot anger and embarrassment bubbled up as he realized he'd been tricked, but it was too late to do anything about it.

The next moment, a wall of thick, solid acrylic surrounded Pit, enclosing a three-foot space around him from floor to ceiling. The instant the perimeter completed, the tiny tank filled with salt water around him. Finally, half a dozen Southern Sea Otters poofed into existence around him, confused but not hostile, and making the tank that much more cramped. The walls of the little cave shimmered with the crimson light of O’s eyes, refracted through shatter-proof plastic and seawater, until they vanished and the Consul himself stirred. “Damn it all,” he grumbled as he righted his wheelchair, then climbed inside. “I’m in for it now.” Purple energy began to surround him, and the next moment O warped away.

And so Pit was left in the hidden area, alone, and very much in danger of drowning. He hadn't had any time to suck in a breath and hold it, so his air supply was low on top of having already swallowed water. The salt was stinging his eyes but he forced them to stay open, glaring at the area O had last been before he started moving in the small tank. That jerk! That evil old man! That... what was that bad word Geralt and the Koopas said? O was that! When Pit escaped he was not going to be fooled again.

He raised his arm, his sword still held tight in it, and went to smash the makeshift hilt of it into the clear wall but stopped himself when one of the otters swam in front of him. He shook his head and waved the same arm so that it would swim by, and only then did he crack the sword against the acrylic. Unfortunately the water slowed him a little, and aquarium tanks were very, very sturdy - it didn't splinter let alone break, and the reverberation of the hit shook the inside of the tank painfully. He winced, and the otters shuddered. Poor things… but he had to get out!

Alright, next plan. His lungs were already starting to burn when Pit dismissed his current weapon. He raised his arm up high again and summoned the Upperdash Arm around it. The much larger weapon ate up a majority of the tank space above him, and... well, he couldn't bring it down in front of him. At best he could knock it against the acrylic from an upright position. Annoyed, Pit willed the Arm's disc to spin for more power - and it churned the water in the tank so forcefully that it made him dizzy, caused another otter to smack into his face, and pushed water up his nose.

Pit dispelled the Arm amid a coughing fit, which only worsened the situation as the saltwater rushed into his mouth. Now he was beginning to panic. Palutena's voice buzzed in the back of his brain and he tried to focus on it while thinking of how to break himself out of this. If only he'd come here with back up, but everyone else was... no, there was one person!

He activated Sandalphon's glyph even as he choked on water.

One second later, a sigil of radiant blue light manifested on the floor, illuminating the hidden hollow. There was a bright flash, a familiar silhouette visible within, though it quickly gave way to the glow of Sandalphon’s distinctive three-ringed halo. In the brief period since she’d returned to the Avenger she’d evidently found time to change back into her blue-and-black formal attire, freshly washed and dried since her last outing, and in her hand she held her high-tech gunstaff.

Despite the bizarre and inexplicable problem facing Pit, the archangel parsed the situation at a glance and came up with a plan. Though she figured that the strength of her Hammering striker would be enough to pulverize the acrylic, the shockwaves from the impact would cause the angel and otters alike a great deal of harm, and the ability to heal someone afterward did not justify a solution that hurt them. Sandalphon unslung the Eye of Sol, then summoned her Annabella striker, and together the two opened fire. Their superheated slugs melted straight through the acrylic and vaporized water, creating two holes at a time that water could drain through. Guided by her steady hand and impeccable accuracy, the two rifles blazed again and again, no shot ever endangering the tank’s contents. After only a few more seconds Pit could breathe again, and not long after that, the cumulative structural damage to the tank led it to fall apart.

The pieces of acrylic were nowhere near as sharp as glass shards, so as the sea otters scattered around her, Sandalphon immediately dropped her weapons and stepped forward to catch Pit in her arms. “Pit. Can you hear me?” If he required resuscitation, she would not hesitate to provide it.

He trembled, grasping her arms weakly until he started to cough. He leaned away as water came up and vaguely answered her question by nodding afterwards. He was a hardy angel, so every pull of air and dislodge of water from his lungs would see him back to fighting shape in no time - but for the moment he let Sandalphon support him and tried to talk to her in between gasps.

"Thanks– Sandal–phon– stupid– O– found– him–" he stopped to properly breathe, and after a moment he raised his wings to help steady himself as he got his feet under him.

"I–" he coughed one last time, a flicker of frustration passing his face as he inhaled. "I found O's real body...! He was an old guy...! He told me he surrendered and told me D's weakness– but then he...!"

Pit still pulled in great mouthfuls of air as he spoke, and rushed his words, but he was recovering quickly. "C'mon, we gotta get back out there!"

A quick scan confirmed that Pit’s vitals seemed to be stable, so Sandalphon had every confidence that the young angel would spring right back into action. “If you’re alright, I’ll go back to standing by and return when needed. Sectonia reappeared aboard the Avenger, so everyone is accounted for, but the battle is hectic enough that nobody need waste time protecting me.” She stood aside to let Pit run past her and back into the fray. “You mentioned D’s weakness? I can disseminate the information throughout the team.”

Pit paused at the mouth of the hiding spot leading to the tunnel, bouncing on his feet as he turned to answer her.

"Right - it's miracles and light. Figures 'cause he's a vampire and all." It was a great relief to hear Sectonia wasn't actually dead, and though he had expected the archangel to take to the field now that she was here he understood why she'd go back instead. Having up there as back up had saved his life, so he wasn't about to try and convince her to stay anyway. With the information delivered he hastened to get back to the fight, calling over his shoulder to Sandalphon just before she warped back to the Avenger, "Thanks again for the save!"

He was out of O's hiding space only a second or two later, and as soon as he stepped foot into the arena proper again he learned where O had disappeared to. In front of his eyes a reinforced building rapidly taking shape.

Hello!

Welcome to RPG! Don't be afraid to ask any questions you may have. Good luck and have fun!

Back Again

Welcome (back)!

hello hello!

Welcome to RPG!

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

The Spiderling is very happy to have a job

@SporkoBug

(Looks at the posts I have in the chamber coming up)
(Awkwardly pats Webb on the head)

:)

Please blame Ezra for anything that happens to Webb in the future lol

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

Front Office, Silverside

Earlier
_{Mentions: Ezra, Poppy, Vincent, Khor (in passing) || Interactions: Matthias (@ERode), Leon (@Herald)}

---

He'd learned about Omakase's fate before he'd even crossed the border back into Silverside. A chill far colder than the weather swept down his spine and lingered as anxiety crept in. He'd told Poppy that the Dark Aces were in Pennystakes and making themselves comfortable. He'd warned her they were up to something and still it had turned out like this. They'd moved right in and hadn't even been sneaky about it. Flaunting their takeover. It unnerved Adel for plenty of reasons, but the primary one was-

He hadn't heard from Poppy.

When he walked into his own home base he had no idea if she was alive or dead.

It shook him. But he feigned indifference even in front of his own people. Especially in front of them. He'd kept his connection to Poppy, to Pennystakes, hidden for this long and he wasn't about to let it slip now. There was a storm of emotions going on in his head, but none of it was so much as hinted at when he made a quick round of the office and spoke to everyone. He wanted to call her, find her, but there was other business that needed his attention. He had to be patient. Business first.

The comms equipment had made it back to the office intact. Alright, he'd deal with that tomorrow. Gonzalez... Eagle had apparently picked a codename, and insisted on being present when they used the equipment. Sure, whatever. Webb had been given his assignment. Fine, as long as he wasn't around the office. Someone complained to him about moths in the building and - next. Swift had not yet returned. Not surprising. Various updates on situations across Nocturnia were given to him, and after hearing everything he nodded, turned around, and walked stiffly to his private office. As he left he heard Griffon's complaints about his lack of reaction to Eagle's codename follow behind him.

As soon as the door closed Adel whipped out his cellphone, punching in a number memorized long ago and dialing.

Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.

The voicemail of the number you have dialed is–

He had enough self control that he didn't chuck the phone at the wall, just snapped it shut harder than necessary. An unanswered phone didn't mean anything. It might still be alright. He'd try again later; there was still other business to attend to.

Adel rounded his desk and prepared two succinct emails to two very different people, though the body of the emails related to the same information. He'd told Captain MacAoidh that he'd send over anything else he learned about Vincent - and when he'd spoken with Vincent earlier, the Lion hadn't come up at all, so it was likely the man didn't know anything about their connection. Good. The message he sent to Leon was in-depth but to the point, going over anything he thought might help the detective's investigation: the organization of Vincent's men and the equipment they had access to, Vincent's elite that he may want to look out for, and the powerful 'Solaris Eye' that would prevent nearly any undercover work.

And, though it was the information Matthias had wanted in the first place, the message to the Lodestar was but a simple: Got it. Send a time and place.

He was still fishing for in person meetings after all.

Next on the agenda, looking up The Eel's identity since he'd seen her - oh, that was quick. She didn't seem like the type to keep her name confidential in the first place. Khor Kosavić. Interesting.

...

He picked up his phone again, hit redial and pressed it to his ear. It rang, then hit voicemail again. Come on, Pops.

He reached over to his ashtray and pulled an old half-smoked cigarette from it. He'd gotten plenty of ribbing about this kind of behavior before but with the way he went through these things? He wasn't about to drop any more of his fortune into the habit than he already had to. And he did have to. When he died from lung cancer it would at least be that which killed him and not a mafiaoso's bullet. He'd probably only get one puff out of it, but regardless he carefully snipped the end and re-lit it.

A few minutes later he called again, with the same result. He was beginning to plan routes in his brain to take through Pennystakes to find her. Half-secret passages they'd used as kids, the Magna's old shortcuts. Would she have stayed in the Stakes or run? Whatever was best for the children she looked after, he assumed. If she had gone into hiding it would take time to suss her out, which meant it could be a while until he knew if she was even alright. He didn't know if he could stay focused without at least knowing.

Adel took several measured breaths, redialed, and called once more.

Pick up.

Realizing his eyes were squeezed shut Adel opened them, his gaze flickering rapidly across the various items on his desk until it landed on a small common house spider.

Pick up.

He watched it crawl across the wood, and almost without conscious thought he reached out, the lit end of his cigarette hovering over it.

Pick up...

He brought the stick down sharply, crushing the arachnid among the ashes on the lacquer.

Poppy if you don't pick up the fucking phone...!

The voicemail of the number you have di–

This time he did throw his phone, the hardy little thing pinging off the side wall and landing unharmed on his sofa. Adel dragged a hand through his hair, pulling at a few tangles that had formed throughout the day. If Blackheart had hurt Pops he didn't know what he'd do.

When the small screen on the phone's front lit up Adel raced over to snatch it up and answer. As soon as he heard the familiar voice say Addy he let out a sigh of relief. Better late than never.

"I'm glad you're alright."

She was alright, but wasn't exactly safe. She'd been pushed into Iron Gate, which is where she currently was after having done the latest round of headcounts. She had her men but not her resources; as fast as the takeover had been she hadn't had time to grab anything but the cars and kids for the most part. And on top of it all Vincent still had a hostage of hers. Her stress was at an all time high, and the question of whether she could complete her mission and rescue him was at the top of her worries.

The situation sucked. But since she was alive, it was salvageable.

"Come here," he told her. "To Silverside."

Poppy had been trying to stay out of the game for a while, but he knew she was still street smart enough to make it through Elysium and Brewery with little issue. "We have the space. If we don't I'll make it."

There was residual anger from the other end of the line. Obviously she was upset over the takeover. Pennystakes had been her home far longer than it had been Adel's. Poppy prided herself on being able to look after her own, and she saw Adel as a little brother. She didn't want to accept his help, especially when she knew he had a lot of his own issues to deal with.

"What other options do you even have?"

He'd said it a little harshly, but it was true. Iron Gate was a small, broke area. How long would it take her to stabilize it? How much would it cost her? And in the mean time, how was she going to feed and and protect the people that depended on her? If she let him help then she had a lot more options. He made sure she knew that, and the conversation moved to pushing back against each other. Unfortunately for her she'd almost never won an argument against him, and it only took a little more pushing to convince her to accept the invitation. Silverside was a bastion in Nocturnia, and it was far safer for everyone if she took shelter there.

"Yeah. ...don't worry about th- ...I know. ...he will be. I'm meeting with Vi- no it didn't have anything to do wi- It's fine. ...yes. ...look, we'll put our heads together when you get here. So get here."

She agreed, lapsed into talking about next steps, very obviously started to be sucked back into her own head. So Adel interrupted her.

"What do you want to eat right now? I'll order a hundred of it and have it delivered."

Poppy let out a breathy chuckle on the other end of the call. Adel didn't smile (the offer was serious), but he felt a little better knowing that she could still find her humor. She declined though, and ended with a promise to take Omakase and head to Silverside.

"Alright. See you."

He waited until she disconnected before he closed his phone. That was one less thing he had to worry about, but he knew he still wouldn't rest easy until she'd actually made it here. Not that his rest ever really came easily. Once she arrived they could talk more. Maybe he could get Vincent to return the kid, now that he wouldn't be able to get much use out of them.

After a moment Adel stood, poking out of his office and grabbing the nearest employee he could find.

"We're taking in Omakase. Tell Griffon." He would do it himself, but the sooner he arranged lodging for Poppy's kids the better. "They'll integrate into our organization until further notice."

The woman he spoke with nodded. Before she headed out toward the front Adel called one last thing after her. "And put in a catering order."

New but not really new

Welcome back!

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

The driver interrupted. “Gonzalez made it? Ayy good shit! Bastard still owes me money. Wait Canary’s? I guess that makes sense we always thought he was a little freaky. Is it true the Canary’s are feather’ies? One of the boys was pushing him around calling him a furry, so if the Carany’s are this clandestine furry cult, then holy shit I owe Jim fifty dollars for clocking Gonzalez.”

@flux

where would you make character adopts?

Have to say I've never seen that before. At least in regards to written OCs, usually I only see art or character design adopts. There's no section for it, but I guess you could put it in the character sheets section, or the gallery section? Not sure if it will catch on though.