Zoey Boey

World of Light

Vandelay Campus - Signal Tower

Location: Midgar Sector 06, the City of Glass
Raz’s @Truthhurts22, Roxas’ @Double, Sakura’s @Zoey Boey, Sandalphon
Word Count: 5611 (+6)

Out of the five teams, four got off to a decently quick start, even if the routes quickly communicated to them by their new mission control weren’t exactly straightforward. Goldlewis, Partitio, and Roland were given a rough direction to head in to reach Production, the crew headed for R&D were pointed toward a section of robot residential zoning in hopes of reaching a subway that could take them to their volcanic, Giovanna’s team could set their sights on the identifiable landmark formed by Security’s forward watchtower, and Zenkichi could lead Karin and Blazermate toward the grand Atrium in search of Finance. The journey in store for the last team turned out to be a bit more complicated.

“First, please refer to me over the comm lines using the callsign Halo,” Sandalphon began. “I will do the same for you, as Skywatch. The office of Kale Vandelay, who DespoRHado’s most capable associate means to hunt down, can be found within the upper reaches of that superstructure.” She directed her gaze up at the crowning feature of the campus, the sky-scraping ‘V’ tower. “However, I believe that when Sam flushes him out, Kale will flee to a more remote and well-defended location. If you join the large-scale firefight currently taking place in and around the Atrium, there’s no chance of reaching it in time. That’s why I would like 2B and 9S here to assist you.”

At Sandalphon’s command, the DespoRHado androids called in two Flight Units, descending from secure airspace at high speed only to slow to a smooth hover beside their operators. They both arrived in their sleek, aerodynamic flight forms, but a moment later they reconfigured into their imposing mech forms so that 2B and 9S could climb aboard.

Sandalphon nodded in approval. “These will fly you into the vicinity of the tower, at which point I would like you to lend tactical air support until the VIPs surface. Once they do, you’re free to pursue and engage.”

”You got it, Halo.” Sakura said, practicing her Callsign. It also sounded cool. She was admittedly nervous about flying. ”We got this, guys.” She said to Raz and Roxas, and offered them both a high five. Roxas was the first one to reciprocate. Raz had to leap up a bit to reach his, but he was sure it looked cooler than it felt.

”Nice!” Sakura said with a big grin.

Seeing the humans do this, 9S glanced over at 2B, gingerly raising his hand as if to offer one himself. He thought better of it before she saw anything, though.

Once locked in, the androids reconfigured their Flight Units again, providing somewhat tricky but ultimately serviceable platforms for Raz, Sakura, and Roxas to stand on, or at least hold on to. The black coat bedecked Roxas jumped up on 9S’s Flight Unit.

“We will forgo our typical evasive maneuvers to avoid ejecting you, but hold on tight anyway” 2B advised them flatly. Roxas was quick to take this advice. The last thing he wanted was to become a smear on the ground.

”Let’s do this!” Raz, pumped as ever, with his previous worries for today put on the backburner, pulled his goggles down. He was ready as he ever was.

Soon after, Sandalphon waved everyone goodbye, and the Flight Units took to the air. The wind whipped the Seekers’ hair and clothes as the ground receded beneath them. In a matter of moments team Skywatch was cruising high above Vandelay campus, able to see almost everything neither underground nor within a building’s interior. Fights between Vandelay robots and the DespoRHado assault force could be glimpsed all over, along with widespread destruction, especially near the Atrium, where all the well-trimmed lawns and hedges appeared to be on fire. They approached their destination, soaring without a care over the bitter corporate warfare down below, but when they drew near the stupidly huge ‘V’ things began to get interesting. What looked like from a distance like flocks of birds and fireworks clustered around the towers ended up being a huge dogfight between the companies’ airborne forces. Aerial Unmanned Gears called Sliders, outfitted with missiles and sometimes worn as winged jetpacks for gun-toting cyborg paratroopers had engaged an armada of bomb-chucking AIR-1N fliers and (much more dangerous) VU-TOR1 bots, backed up by long-range GNR support from the tower itself. The result was a chaotic mess of explosions, gunfire, and light rays.

“Enemy sighted. Moving to engage,” 2B announced.

“Engaging targets!” 9S confirmed, allowing his partner to take the lead. “Let’s thin the herd!”

Both Flight Units opened fire with mounted machine guns, quickly annihilating a half-dozen enemy robots with streams of incendiary death. Their opponents turned on them quickly, taking potshots or moving to intercept them. With their speed and maneuverability limited by their passengers, the Flight Units held firm, allowing the Seekers to join the fight.

Sakura made some type of loud, nervous noise, holding on tight to 2B’s Flight Module. She was glad she had Levitate, but she still didn’t want to fall. She stood up and fired a one handed fireball at nearby fliers, to no effect, the relatively slow projectile missing entirely. ”Not good enough..!”

Using her psychic powers to push herself against the flier, she hyped herself up with a yell and let go, standing only on her feet. She gathered energy in her hands. ”Hadoken!” She fired a much bigger fireball towards a nearby flier. It absorbed any bullets it encountered, and though it wasn’t a direct hit, her advanced techniques let it explode to knock anything nearby off course.

”If they get close to us or behind us, I can protect us, 2B-san!” She shouted down to her pilot. If they flew behind them, her fireballs gained both travel distance and speed as the enemies would be flying right into her blasts, making them actually fairly effective as air-to-air projectiles.

Her first challenge came in the form of two Sliders, one with a cyborg attached and another flying on its own. Locking onto 2B's Flight Unit, the Unmanned Gear fired off a couple semi-active laser-guided AIM-9X Sidewinder rockets. As they homed in on the street fighter’s ride, the cyborg paratrooper followed behind them, his Yellowjacket-3au auto rifle ready for some good old-fashioned spray-and-pray.

”Crap!” Sakura shouted, immediately undercutting her previous confidence-filled statement. She brought her arms back together and then forward, palms out and wrists almost touching, firing several fireballs as fast as she could. She was trying to knock the missiles out of the air and provide visual obstruction. The fireballs were forceful enough to trigger any impact based explosives. As for the paratrooper, well, she had to deal with the missiles first. ”There’s a guy on us!” She said, any further details cut off as her fireballs detonated the missiles in a burst of flame, shrapnel, and concussive force.

"Roger." Assuming that Sakura's call-out meant that she couldn't deal with the paratrooper, and that she was ready for intervention, 2B reoriented the Flight Unit in order to shoot the new threat down herself. The dual chainguns opened fire, their salvos ripping through the air to cut the cyborg down, but doing so threatened to send Sakura tumbling if she hadn't steeled herself as 2B believed.

”H-hey, woah!” Sakura said, flailing her arms, her eyes bulging. She managed to grab onto one of the big sticking out parts of the Flight Unit. ”You’re pretty eager, aren’t you?!” She called out with a nervous smile.

“Ah.” Realizing her mistake, 2B made an effort to even out her Flight Unit, as well as to apologize. “...Sorry,” she muttered. Sakura wouldn’t get any better than that, though, since the android needed to focus to keep the pair out of the thick of things, where attack could come from any direction. Bullets, bombs, and missiles filled the air, more frenetic than ever now that a couple new powerhouses had joined the fray.

Unlike Sakura, Raz wasn’t afraid of a little air time. Once defensive maneuvers were made, Raz used the momentum of the curves and barrel rolls to fling him up high! ”Yaaaaaaah!” As he reached the peak of his leap the dogfight below threatened to leave him behind, but he was quick on the draw. Targeting one of the unmanned Sliders with Mental Connection, Raz zipped right over to it mid-flight, and slammed down on top of it. ”’Scuse me,” he said, gripping the Gear’s main body in TK, ”I’m gonna borrow this for a sec!” Wrestling control of an automated robot was tricky to say the least, so Raz’s “borrow” ended up more as a “hold on for dear life and pray”. He used the strength of his TK to try and guide the Slider towards its allies, wrangling it like a rodeo bull as it tried to steer itself. It was all just a big lump of chaos. Though chaos was a tactic that sorta kinda worked! The Slider clipped and slammed into a lot of its kin, enough to disrupt the majority’s pursuit of the others, and Raz peppered out some Psi-Blasts at the manned ones, striking the passengers - and if all else failed, they’d have a wild target to try and shoot, one that barely knew what it was doing itself.

Unfortunately there wasn’t a whole lot Roxas could do. Even just freeing one his hands in order to summon a Keyblade would risk him losing his grip and potentially fall. But if he did nothing then it was more likely that 9S would end up being shot down. In other words, he had to something. So he risked freeing up one of his hands to summon Oathkeeper. With it he took some potshots with Blizzaga. He wasn’t sure how much the wind and flight speed would affect his accuracy but maybe he’d get lucky and hit something? He was hoping Blizzaga could maybe freeze up some servos or mechanical joints, which might possibly result in enemy bogeys losing their flight control and subsequently going down. Luckily for him, the basic Sliders and AIR-1Ns both tended to stop moving momentarily while flying whether to attack or seek targets, which meant that as long as Roxas could take aim he could probably land a few hits on the low-health war machines. And 9S slowed down his Flight Unit to give the keyblade master just that chance, slow enough that Roxas could stand atop it. Of course, doing so made it that much easier for the GNR units lined up at the windows of the nearby tower to take aim, the direction of their beam cannons foreshadowed by thin red targeting lasers.

”Over there! In the tower!” Roxas said to 9S, having to shout in order to make sure the wind speed didn’t overpower the sound of his voice. He also pointed his Keyblade in the direction of where he was spotting the GNR units as well, ”Get me close if you can! I’ll take care of the rest!”

Registering both the threat and his passenger’s attention, 9S pushed his Flight Unit forward. “Understood!” The trio peeled away from what was quickly becoming a machine feeding frenzy and made for the snipers’ nest. While the GNRs zeroed in on the imminent threat as best they could, they needed to ‘lock in’ a beat before their beams of light blazed forth, which gave 9S enough time to evade them. When the android got close enough to pull up alongside the row of glass windows, Roxas found the gunners just one tricky but still very doable jump away.

Roxas pulled up his hood so that it would help obscure his identity on any stray security cameras, then he lunged forward and launched himself off the edge of 9S’s Flight Unit toward the nearest window of the tower. The white and red GNR Unit stationed there scrambled to try and fire its beam weapon but the red beam only served as a tell Roxas could exploit. He crossed both his Keyblades in front of him within the red line so that when the beam came it was reflected away from Roxas while he was barrelling toward it in midair. Then he twisted himself around and used that momentum to bring the Keyblades around and down onto the GNR Unit. Then he followed that up with an additional slash from each of his Keyblades and that seemed to be enough to finish the unit off.

Now the Keybearer found himself in a window-side hallway staring at an entire row of a dozen GNR units. They’d been previously aiming their weapons outside the open windows to try and shoot down aerial foes. Now they were whirling around and training their arm-mounted beam cannons at the newly arrived intruder. Roxas jumped to the side, narrowly dodging a volley of beam shots. Instantly he dashed forward toward the nearest GNR while simultaneously hurling one his Keyblades at the next one down the hall. Before the nearest could get off its shot Roxas made it near enough to bat the cannon away from its aim by hitting it with his Keyblade. Meanwhile the Keyblade he had thrown had crashed into the cannon of the next GNR, also throwing off its aim as well.

Roxas then hooked his Keyblade around the neck of the GNR right in front of him and forcibly pulled it in front of him to take the incoming volley of shots from the remaining GNR units. Sort of like using a human shield, except with a robot rather than a human. As the GNR he hid behind fell, Roxas dashed forward to continue his assault. He used flowmotion to launch himself between the parallel walls of the hallway, slashing his way through the line of GNR units along the way. When he reached the center of the enemy cluster, the Keybearer quickly thrust Oathkeeper straight up above him, ”Thundaga!” he called, conjuring an AOE of lightning strikes around him to fry the circuits and electronics of the robotic foes he was fighting. After that he remembered the sigil that Sandalphon placed on him before the mission started, ”Halo? This is Skywatch.” he told her over the magical connection, making sure to remember to use callsigns instead of names, ”I need an extraction, tell 9S I’m coming out hot! He’ll know what to do!”

"Understood, Skywatch," Sandalphon replied, her voice clear and calm. "...Request confirmed. 9S en route."

Then Roxas ran forward to the end of the hall. He finished off whatever stragglers remained of the GNR’s and then… he leaped straight out of the window and back out into the sky - hoping 9S got the message and would grab him before he became a splat on the ground below.

Luckily, the Flight Unit cruised by just in the nick of time. Trusting Raz to fend off the Sliders currently in pursuit, 9S swooped in close to the building to catch Roxas just before he really began to fall. His death-defying maneuver went off without a hitch, but the three were hardly out of the woods just yet. Missiles from the Sliders exploded against the surface of the building just meters away, sending a shower of glass down as the Flight Unit picked up speed. A moment later the Sliders emerged from the smoke and closed in, locking on for another salvo.

”I need you to catch me from falling again.” Roxas said to 9S, but unfortunately had no time to wait for a response. He launched himself from the side of the Flight Unit and in mid-air appeared to change into a streak of light that homed in on the nearest Slider. As soon as he made contact, Roxas attacked it with a Cross Slash. Now he was in the air among the Sliders with only moments to act, ”Thundaga!” he let loose the spell to zap and fry the other Sliders around him. He started to fall but only for a moment or two before 9S and Flight Unit swooped by and caught him.

Meanwhile, 2B and Sakura’s had continued their flight path around the periphery of the fight, avoiding the machine mosh pit while they picked off AIR-1Ns and Sliders. It wasn’t long until their efforts attracted some especially unwanted attention, though. A high-pitched, keening screech announced the entrance of a large VU-TOR1 unit. The mechanical bird of prey swooped in and began to hover near the Flight Unit, the beats of its massive energy wings strong enough to buffet Sakura with wind. It let out another cry and extended its talons upward before coming down in a nasty triple slash.

The chances of this giant bird robot being another mook to blast were fairly low, Sakura thought. Sakura crossed one arm to withstand the wind, her short brown hair and headband whipping around. Sakura focused on the oncoming bot and braced for impact. She met with the triple slash with her forearm, scraping aside the dangerous blades with blue sparks. With her focus on defense in order to get a bead on this thing, and no further action taken, the Vulture backed away. It then executed a corkscrew dive, driving its talons to strike twice as it passed by. Seeking to tear up the Flight Unit as much as Sakura, it would repeat the corkscrew two more times, adjusting its aim to pursue its target each time.

Sakura blocked the dive as well, wincing from the pain. But, way better than getting hit. When she noticed the Flight Suit getting damaged, though, she knew she had to act. Grabbing onto the raised section of the Flight Suit, she watched it come in for its next dive. Hopefully she had gotten enough of a read on this thing's timing to hit the anti-air! ”Right there!” Sakura shot her leg upward, bending it with impressive flexibility, the top of her foot angling over her shoulder. It was Sakura’s signature Chin Buster kick, a solid whomp to Vulture’s metal body to interrupt its dive and knock it out of the air. If she could create space with this, she could begin throwing her hadokens to stop it from getting close again. ”Really hope I don’t have to try and jump towards it…” Sakura muttered, having seen Roxas do some crazy stunt out of the corner of her eye.

Her well-timed kick struck on the perfect beat, knocking the Vulture up in a backflip with an affronted squawk. When it righted itself, it found a volley of fireballs headed its way, and promptly flew around. 2B rotated her Flight Unit to keep it trained on the enemy robot, and when she had a clear shot she let loose. The burst of bullets clipped the bird and persuaded it to fly back into melee range, where 2B couldn't get a bead on it without endangering her passenger again.

The android called to Sakura over the roaring wind. "Do that again! Once you stagger it, I want you to jump straight up!" The Vulture swooped in to slash with its claws once more.

”A-alright! If you say so!” Sakura said, steeling herself as the Vulture dive bombed her. It was hardly an advanced dive kicker, so Sakura repeated the same timing, throwing her strong leg upward to smash it away. Then she brought her foot down, crouched, and jumped into the air.

Barely had the street fighter lifted off before 2B took action. Golden energy streamed from emitters on the Flight Unit’s long, rigid ‘tail’, coating it in light to form a huge swordblade as the machine began to spin. It pivoted around in a full revolution and cleaved clean through the Vulture’s middle in a splendid golden crescent, sending its halves spiraling to the ground as the air hummed from its passage. The blade dissipated and the Flight Unit halted its momentum just in time to catch Sakura on the way down, like she’d executed the mother of all kickflips, equal parts exhilarating and terrifying.

Sakura lay on her belly, hanging tightly onto the flight unit, shaking. ”Hoaa-haha…ha! Wow! Okay! We did it!”

As intense as that encounter had been, the Seekers formed only a small part of the fight in the skies–a fight now visibly going in one side’s favor. Relatively slow and featuring only lobbed explosives in terms of attack, the AIR-1N units ended up as fodder for the faster and harder-hitting DespoRHado forces. Though they also lacked durability, the Sliders could avoid damage better and deal out a lot more, especially with a cyborg at the helm. Vandelay’s Vultures were their side’s saving grace, but what they made up for in ability they lacked in quantity, and enough punishment would put them down just as easily.

The Seekers weren’t the only third party in the fight, though. By now, the fighting on Vandelay Campus had definitely caught the public eye, and helicopters full of news crew had taken to the sky to buzz around the facilities. A little too close, in fact. One helicopter, its doors thrown open to reveal a daredevil photographer ready and willing to take chances for an exclusive scoop as the vehicle drew closer. At the same time though, it drew the attention of a wave of AIR-1N reinforcements flying up from below, and the machines did not seem to discriminate between non-Vandelay targets. In only a few moments the chopper would be swarmed by bomb-tossing robots.

At this point Raz’s Slider-Hijack plan had gone belly up. While it did result in crashing a decent chunk of the assembled Gears, the one he was riding threw him off a while back, and with both 9S and 2B focused on helping the other two he had to sort out his method of flight on his own. How has he managed that?

Just barely.

Utilizing the shared Levitation from Sakura, Raz was bobbing through the air like a tennis ball in water; since he still hadn’t mastered the art of ball-less levitating, he figured he’d use his weakness as a strength! ”Whoaaaah! Ahhhh-hah! Look out below!” A steady rhythm of Raz freefalling and then levitating straight upwards, unfocused in how to control himself, kept him at an okay level in the air. And every time he passed an enemy, be it a rogue Slider or an AIR-1N Unit, he’d telekinetically snatch and sling it at another attacker.

Probably not the flashiest thing in the battle for the news copter to focus on, but whatever. Raz noticed the chopper, and the robots moving in to attack it, and pivoted (best he could) to reach it as well. ”Oh no you don’t!” Raz cut his levitation, spinning into a dive that would get him to a spot under the chopper faster than the AIR-1Ns could fly to it, then kicked it back on, slingshotting himself up and up and– thunk! He hit his head against the bottom of the chopper, just as he gripped one of its skids.

”Owwww.” A little head trauma wasn’t going to deter him though. He swung himself up and over the edge of the chopper, landing inside with the news crew. ”Okay, everyone, remain calm!” He raised his hands to show he meant no harm. [color=FF8c00]”I don’t mean you harm! But those guys do!” Raz turned to “those guys”, being the Vandelay robots, and began a counter-defense for the chopper, zapping them with charged Blasts and TKing away any bombs they chucked at ‘em. He also struck a suuuuper cool pose for the camera people. That was important.

“Whoa!” After hearing the thunk the photographer had leaned out of the chopper to try and get a bead on what hit it, only to get a snapshot of a giant, goggled head. Nobody could have missed the junior Psychonaut’s ungainly stop-and-start flight through the chaos, but he hadn’t expected Raz to board the helicopter in person. “Here, grab my hand!” he yelled over the punchy whir of the rotors, crouching with one hand extended, only for the boy to vault in himself. The minute he landed, he got flashed by the photographer’s camera. “Nice!”

Of course, he wasn’t blind to the danger. “Yeah, no kiddin’!” When the fight began, the man went into overdrive, maneuvering around to get the best angles despite the danger of falling. Once satisfied, he let his camera fall and produced a notepad instead. “The name’s Frank West, by the way. You got time for a quick interview, kid?”

”Uhh…” Raz paused his defense to look at Frank over his shoulder. ”Maybe later? I’ll get my people in touch with your people.”

Frank raised an eyebrow. “‘Your people’?” After Raz said that, though, the man took notice of his custom uniform for the first time. Those colors, the holographic orange wires…it had to be! “Oh, I gotcha! But what’s Psych-OSF doing out here in the first place? What can you tell the people at home about the situation unfolding at Vandelay?” The next second a bomb exploded against the chopper’s exterior. While it was weak, it still caused the flying machine to rock worryingly, for all the difference that made to Frank’s composure. He was already jotting down notes. “Relax, I’ve covered wars, y’know.”

Raz flinched, not from the bomb, but from Frank’s question. ”Aw crap.” He looked down at himself as if to confirm that yes, he was still wearing his clothes. He totally blanked on what his being there meant in the greater scheme of things, turning this clash of two factions into a sort of melee-a-trois, to get a little fancy.

”Nothing! I can’t tell you anything, I just… I just work here.” He refocused his efforts on protecting the copter - these Vandelay bots had to run dry eventually, right?

As soon as he noticed the news helicopter, Roxas could only let out an exasperated sigh. Were these people nuts? Vandelay was a literal warzone right now. This was no place for a non-combatant! The Keybearer indicated to 9S that Raz was with them and looked like he needed a pickup. Roxas spoke into the sigil in order to reach Sandalphon, ”Halo? This is Skywatch. Looks like the media’s showing up, but they’re just a casualty waiting to happen. Any idea how to get rid of them?” he asked her, hoping she’d have a suggestion. If not then maybe 9S would?

“That’s not surprising,” Sandalphon replied, and she sounded about as happy about it as she sounded surprised. “Media attention is an inevitability given an operation of this scale. I brought it up to Sundowner during the planning stage, but he said to ignore them. Normally the media remains at a safe distance; whoever’s in there must be categorically insane.” She paused for just a moment to think. A warning shot was out of the question. “If you cannot convince them to leave with words, you’ll have to do so indirectly with danger.”

”Great, no pressure then. I read you, Halo. I’ll see what we can do. You should know Raz is already over there. I hope he hasn’t said too much.” Roxas replied with a shake of his head. Unfortunately he didn’t know exactly what they were going to do. But he supposed they could probably start by going to get Raz, ”C’mon, 9S. Let’s go grab Raz. See if you can draw some attention on the way there. We need to convince those reporters that it’s too dangerous to stick around here.”

”Raz-kun..!” Sakura shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. ”Oh, right.” Then she began to psychically transmit her thoughts to Raz.
”Raz, this is Sakura…Are you in the helicopter? Can you tell those guys to get the heck outta here?! What kind of crappy cameras do they have where they have to be so close, anyway?!” Sakura transmitted her thoughts.

”Trying to run damage control right now,” he thought right back, ”in a lotta different ways!” Continuing to glance over to Frank, since it was hard to remain totally silent under his interrogation, Raz figured it was time to work some journalistic magic.

”I am not on the record here!” He kr-zppt a trio of AIR-1Ns that had gotten closer with a big burst of Psi-blast. ”You can’t quote me on anything, I don’t consent, I have the right to remain silent, uhh…” He felt himself floundering a little, digging the hole they were in even deeper. This guy covered wars! So, as Raz was trying to protect the copter from the mounting explosive offense, an idea sparked. Not a good idea or anything, but…

In a brief lull of battle Raz spun around to face Frank and tugged his goggles up. ”Mr. West, sir, my name is Razputin, and while I’m sure there’s plenty I could divulge to you right here and now, I have a proposition for ya.” He paused to fire some more blasts out of the open door. ”If, if you and your crew fly to safety, then after this all blows over I can score you an exclusive interview with ex-Secretary of Defense Goldlewis Dickinson himself! I’ve been working under him for a bit now, so trust me, he’s way more in the know about what’s going down than myself.”

The newsman’s eyebrows went up again. From flat-out denials to huge promises? This guy must be getting desperate, and the story here must be juicy. Even Frank could see which way the wind was blowing though. “Now we’re getting somewhere!” he joked. Outside the chopper, the population of AIR-1Ns had dwindled down to almost nothing. Raz had been doing a good job, and the efficiency of his psi-blasts against these bots in particular couldn’t be understated. Of course, more enemies could show up any time. “There’s a lot more that I want to know, but I’ll get outta you guys' hair. I’m already in a boatload of trouble for endangering the chopper,” he chuckled wryly as he turned to yell at the pilot. “Let’s get out of here, pronto!”

“You got it,” the anthropomorphic rabbit in the pilot seat called back. Though he’d been doing a spectacular job with evasive maneuvers so far considering he was piloting a civilian helicopter, he seemed happy to leave the danger behind.

“Sure you’re gonna be okay, kid?” Frank peeked down from the helicopter’s side doors. It was a long way down, so hopefully whatever Raz used to fly had more juice.

This was about when 9S’s flight unit came by, with Roxas in tow, ”I hate to ask, but… how much did you have to tell them to get them to leave?” It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Raz, because he did. But of the Seekers on this team, Roxas was the one with a direct line to Sandalphon. So it sort of fell to him to keep her in the loop on this stuff so she could keep everyone else in the loop. As Raz hopped onto the Flight Unit, Frank waved goodbye, and the chopper peeled away.

Sakura looked uneasily between the news copter as it flew off and the barely safe skies. As well as the rooftop below which undoubtedly she and the others would have to drop down on at some point to do battle. ”Are we ready?” She asked.

“Attention, Skywatch,” Sandalphon hailed them. “I just received new intel from some of my androids. Kale Vandelay was just spotted on the bridge leading from the Vandelay Building to a Signal Tower, and Jetstream Sam is confirmed to be in pursuit. I’m transmitting the coordinates to 2B and 9S. Make haste.”

”Guess it’s time for our actual mission. I’m ready when you guys are.” Roxas said, with little else to do but wait for them to go on the move.

”Good!” Sakura said, holding onto 2B’s unit tightly, knuckles white. ”Let’s show ‘em what we can do.”

Confirming the new data, 9S nodded. “Coordinates received. They’re moving fast. Hold on tight, everyone!” With that, both Flight Units began to pick up speed, descending in a wide arc around the Vandelay Building to leave what remained of the midair mayhem behind.

World of Light

Level 8: 06/80
Word Count:
Location: Home of Tears
Points Gained: 1
NEW EXP balance--- Level 8: 07/80

---

—

After listening to the story, Jesse felt that she could probably become real friends with most of the Seekers with a little more time.

Right now it just feels like we’re close allies because of all the battles we fight together. But they’re all so…likeable. Most of them, anyway. It’s nice.

The next day, their quest for the Quest Items continued. Right now their best bet was facing down Pizza Face.

At the top of the tower, the boss emerged. Jesse blinked. “Pizza…Face. Pizza Face. Yeah, I don’t know what I was expecting.” She said. She wondered if he had the piece on him, where he’d be hiding it.

Is it one of the toppings?

As she began to sprint and Float and fire her gun at the minions, she couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd imagery of the brave knight taunting the giant floating pizza. “To be honest, not sure if he’s going to be very receptive to insults to his honor.” Jesse said.

It seemed like the minions were mostly covered, so Jesse figured it was time to start putting holes into the guy. Floating above the fray she switched her Service Weapon to Spin. Pizza Face was a big, unarmored target, so the damage of Spin should hypothetically be the highest out of all her weapons even at mid-range. She began to fire into his cheesy face, Levitating while strafing.

After her gun began to steam, overheated, she dropped to the floor and Evaded pre-emptively to cause Pizza Face to lose her. Then she saw Ichiban cut through some Forknights. One barely survived.

“Let me get this one, Ichiban!” Jesse called out. She had been meaning to try this move out. She reached her hand out and locked psychically with the Forknight. A thin blue tendril of energy connected him to her, and he was stunned by the sudden intrusion into his mind. Jesse squeezed her hand slowly like she was crushing a stress ball. Then there was a release, and a blue clarity seemed to overtake the Forknight’s mind. Now he was under Jesse’s control, having Seized his will. The Forknight turned on his fellows, distracting and damaging the other minions to give Jesse’s allies a little bit of extra breathing room.

“Nice. Glad that’s working again.” Jesse said.

Nomadic Odyssey: Find Your Heart

---

”All right, Rosie!” Bea said cheerfully. ”I guess I should say my friends call me Bea.” She said. She wouldn’t mind any half-truths or omissions- they were just strangers, after all. Beatriz believed in being nice to strangers, not divulging all your life secrets to them in two seconds.

”Pay the bills, huh? Maybe I should show you to my auntie. She’s convinced this ain’t gonna make me no money.” She says with a little laugh. ”Yeah? It’s, uh, quite a crowd.” Beatriz said. Rosie didn’t exactly fit what Beatriz pictured as a ‘fighter’ herself, being a seven foot tall…painter? Definitely with the ‘artistic pursuits’ and that little artist hat. Beatriz stared at the hat. What was that thing called? The name escaped her.

At Rosie’s question, Bea grinned sheepishly and rubbed her arm. ”What, me? I- uh. Y’know. Money? Would be nice. Who doesn’t like money?” She asked rhetorically.

”Or, uh. Fame would be pretty good. People knowin’ I’m good. And there’s lots of strong fighters here, so, a good chance to get better. ” She said. Though, clearly, she was fumbling. The true reason escaped her still.

”And, y’know, it might be fun?” She shrugged, with a final wincing smile and raise of the eyebrow. Self-conscious, she face palmed for a moment.

”And the stone, I don’t know about that stone. I don’t see how a little fuckin-” She makes a half-hearted gesture with her thumb and index finger, like she was holding the stone. ”I don’t see how a little rock could make anyone stronger. The idea of picking up a rock and suddenly being better almost- it almost bums me out for some reason.” She says.

Then she glanced over at the ongoing drama, having been too busy talking to participate in any saying of ‘Ja’ or ‘Nin’ or otherwise. Jaden was getting mad at some pink man.

”Uhh…man, whatever.” She looks back at Rosier. ”What the fuck is that thing on your head called? That hat? That painter hat?” She points up at it, and then snaps her fingers, a puzzled look on her face. ”Like, ra ra, reh..raaa, somethin’. Raa somethin’.”

World of Light

Sakura Level 9: 52/90
Karin Level 5: 47/50
Location: City of Glass
Word Count: dasdk
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance--- Sakura Level 9: 81/90 +28

Karin Level 6: 26/60 +28

When Goldlewis mentioned Sakura and Raz had committed a felony, she pulled on her collar, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of her face. ”O-oh…crap.” She gulped.

”That’s not good. I knew I was never cut out for army life. I hope they don’t make us clean the bathrooms with a toothbrush.” Sakura said, glancing worriedly over at Raz.

—
Sakura and Karin woke up bright and early as usual. Well, not for Sakura, who had often maintained an entirely chaotic and inefficient sleeping schedule to have more time for training when she wasn’t in school. But she wasn’t going to school anymore, she was fighting in a war…that did mean less time for training though. Fortunately, experience was a great teacher.

Karin was back in her adventurer’s outfit, golden hair hanging by her shoulders. A sleeveless black and blue waterproof top tucked into dark trousers with knee pads and boots. Sakura was wearing her OSF outfit. White headband, black pants and sneakers. And her red, midriff baring top underneath a thick black vest. Both fighters had their respective gloves on to reduce the risk of splitting their knuckles on the faces of their enemies.

Karin stood to fighting position when Goldlewis was startled, and Sakura did the same after looking at Karin wondering what the heck the problem was.

When the message complete, Karin put her hands on her hips. ”Interesting. I am glad we were made aware of this. I have no problem with mutually beneficial agenda advancements.”

”So, what, we just go there and smack every jerk we see?” Sakura said. ”That almost sounds too good to be true.” She punched her palm, excited to see some action.

—
Once there, Karin regarded the oncoming androids coolly, prepared incase it was somehow a trap. But with the evidence of battle all around them, it was clear the opportunity being presented was real.

”Very well.” Karin regarded their new allies, temporary as they may be. ”I suppose we must make haste.”

”Their petty squabbles born of insecurity and greed will make ample opportunities for justice to rise from the ashes.”

”You and me should stick together, Raz-kun. Our psychic powers can help each other! Plus, we’re a team. And with Karin, that makes three!” Sakura said.

”Not so fast, Miss Sakura.” Karin said with an easy smile. ”With so few members for each time, having us doubling up would be redundant. Best we split up so other teams could use our skills, yes?”

”You make a good point. And that way, you won't have to lose to me in any competitions about who beats up more bad guys.” Sakura said. An obvious undercurrent of ‘I’m teasing you’ in her voice.

Karin’s eyebrow twitched, her smile unfaltering. ”On second thought, perhaps you and I should-”

”No, no, no, you’re right, you’re right!” Sakura said, offering Karin a fist bump. ”See you when it’s over.”

Karin sighed. ”Indeed.” She punched Sakura’s hand.

”I think you fight better when you’re a little mad.” Sakura said, shaking out her wrist with a giggle. With that she went to follow Raz and Roxas to their theater of battle.

World of Light

Sakura Level 9: 51/90
Karin Level 5: 46/50
Location: City of Glass
Word Count: weh
Points Gained: 1 (i dont want to do the math right now.
New EXP Balance--- Sakura Level 9: 52/90

Karin Level 5: 47/50

—

Sakura was happy to be re-united with her friends after finishing her game of darts. Everything had worked out after all. They got some pretty vital intel, it sounded like. The faster they got to punching the bad guys, the better. That was what Sakura was good at.

At the hideout, they were introduced to a newcomer, Roland. And everyone began talking. About a lot of stuff. If everyone was giving their two cents, this would come to about a dollar.

Sakura’s main contribution was setting a reassuring hand on Mister Geralt’s shoulder when he talked about Ciri. She knew he cared about Ciri a lot. ”She sounds strong. We’ll find her, and until then, I bet she’s fine.” She said. But she knew it wasn’t that easy not to worry, and her tone of voice indicated as much. But that didn’t mean reassurances weren’t worth giving out.

Karin nodded enthusiastically at Roxas’ well-earned boasting about his powerful weapon. ”If you truly believe that would work…well, eliminating the Guardians are our top priority. The Consuls, the politics: it’s all obstacles in the way of that singular goal.” She said.

”As for your Organization, Roxas, well, it’s hard to say what exactly-” Karin said, trailing off.

”I think I’ve only really met one. She helped me in a fight, even after she insisted some horrible mean thing was the only way to win. A grumpy person that was secretly nice.” Sakura said cheekily.

”Hmph.” Karin crossed her arms. She wasn’t going to acknowledge that with a comment.

Roxas and Midna had a minor disagreement, and Karin felt she should speak up. ”Don’t forget you two are talking about two completely different Darknesses. We’re all from entirely different worlds. The same words will describe different concepts.” Karin said.

”Yeah…” Sakura said, thinking about some of the truly horrible things she had witnessed in her time as a ship girl. At Raz's mention of her reporting in, Sakura nodded.

”The team is gonna feel a lot empiter with Peach-san...” Sakura said sadly. ”But I'm right there with you, Raz-kun.” She gave him a salute.

”Hey, Karin-san. You still owe me a fight. Wanna get outta here before bed?” She asked.

Karin looked around at the others. ”If you’ll excuse us. We’ll travel a safe distance from the hideout and keep things relatively quiet.” She said.

”Right!” Sakura said.

So before resting, Sakura and Karin left, and they finally had that spar they’d been meaning to have. Later that night they returned to the hideout and bedded down.

Karin never dreamed, and Sakura rarely had a nightmare. Karin was excellent at sleeping. Karin was the best at sleeping- her body was a temple and well-oiled machine that needed rest, and she could will herself into restful slumber whenever she pleased, and wake up on subconscious command. Sakura just ate oatmeal and drank milk and stuff.

But that was why Sakura was still awake when she heard Tora gently crying, and it broke her heart. Poor Tora. She hadn’t known him long, but she’d never seen him without Poppi. It must be so hard on him. That was why Sakura didn’t fall asleep until after Tora did. But she did spend a while staring up at the ceiling and thinking of her own family, wherever they were. Sakura talked with Geralt a few days ago, and learned not to worry. To be honest, she was just…sure. They were fine. Citizens somewhere, living ignorantly in some Galeem-fueled bliss, probably waiting for her to come home. Sakura sighed and tossed her arm over her eyes.

Nomadic Odyssey: Find Your Heart

---

Beatriz’s face softened, her eyes widening as Rosie stepped in on her behalf. Bea was also struck by Rosie’s beauty and…size. Meu Deus, she was nearly two feet taller than Beatriz. She’d never seen someone so tall in person. Much like the guard, Beatriz was immediately pacified, her angry fist unclenching.
The pointed words made her avert her eyes and sheepishly rub the back of her head. The tall lady was right. Beatriz wasn’t sure if she would have actually hit the security, or had just done some show of strength, or if it would have even mattered. Fortunately it looked like cooler heads would prevail, this time. Papi always did say she was a hothead… according to him, the Barro fighting temper skips a generation every time. First it was grandfather, and now it was her.

Beatriz watched as the security guard was warded away, and the tall lady finally turned her attention directly onto Beatriz.

”I guess it was a close call. Th-thanks for savin’ my ass.” She said. ”I really did have- holy shit, my backpack. You fixed that, too? How?” She held the zipper between her fingers in amazement.

”Seriously, thank you!” She began to dig through her backpack. It took a few moments but she finally found her lanyard with ID at the very bottom, where it had wiggled its way past everything the teenager had stuffed in there.

”Found it!” She said, with a nervous giggle. She put it around her neck.

Bea cleared her throat. ”I’m Beatriz Barro. It’s nice to meet you.” She extended her hand out for a handshake. ”This is, uh, my first time fighting at the carnival, but I’m a long time fan. I’m assuming this is your first time because I definitely would have remembered you.” Did that come out wrong?

”I just mean…there’s a lot of unusual people this time around. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”

Nomadic Odyssey: Find Your Heart

---

Beatriz put the ear plugs her mother gave her into her ears as the announcer spoke.

“The last thing you, filha, is tinnitus! Do you want your ears ringing while you fight?” Mami had said, insisting the two plastic plugs into Bea’s reluctant hands. She hadn’t wanted to look uncool in front of the other fighters.

“Ringing before you get hit, anyway, my God, I don't know why you chose this to be your hobby. You’ll put your mother into an early grave with all this.” She had said, kissing Bea on the forehead.

”Sorry, mami.” Bea said, rubbing the back of her head.

“Oh, don’t be sorry, just be yourself. I’ll get over it. You’re a good girl, if anyone could have talked you out of it, you would have listened.” Her mother said.

“...Yeah? I guess that makes sense? I just- I have too. And hey, maybe I’ll even make you proud while I’m at it!”

But now, as Bea tried to subtly slip the plugs into her ears when nobody in this massive room was looking, she felt grateful for them. Because it was really loud in here. Bea is no stranger to loud, but she is a stranger to concerts. That kind of artificial loud that doesn’t come from people talking and fireworks and celebration, but massive speakers placed in every corner in the room.

The lady- with some kind of worm on her head???- announced an open bar and buffet. Well, she was too young for the bar- not that she would want to get drunk anyway. And the last thing she wanted was to eat herself sick on fight day. Instead she used what was available to produce a turkey sandwich, the kind she’s been eating all year. That was the best tactic, Beatriz was sure. Everything had to be perfect if she was going to be in winning condition!

Beatriz sat by herself in the corner, two hands on her sandwich. A t-shirt, some jeans, her backpack. That was it. She was glad she still had her ear plugs in when a wannabe Jaden Raldo got on the mic and started- Beatriz nearly choked when she looked over and saw the real Jaden Raldo rapping on the microphone! What is he doing here?! She thought the ninja rapper thing was just a gimmick! But the guy really was decked out with swords! Is he going to be fighting?! Beatriz was suddenly feeling a little star struck. She’d never gotten a chance to go to any concert before.

It was also nice to see a little familiarity, at least. Because some of the people here, were… unusual. Beatriz knew it wasn’t like this last year. But something about this year was different. Instead of martial artists from all over the world, at least half the people here were total weirdos! Beatriz really had no idea what it could be. Though she had heard people mention the Power Stone… was it drawing people out of the woodwork? This Fighting Carnival was either going to be the strangest, or greatest, it had ever been and ever would be. She supposed she should be thankful. She wanted to meet great fighters, right? well, now she would. All because of a weird rock.

There were interviews happening, people showing off…members of SHINING were here. A bunch of people floating around. Bea was trying her hardest not to feel inadequate or boring in comparison. She thought that being able to create a ball of ki would make her able to keep up with the most extravagant ki using fighters. But now she wasn’t so sure.

“Hey, you, kid.” Someone said. Beatriz startled, almost choking on her sandwich, whirling to see the source of the voice. It was a tone of voice that she had heard all too often, and one she wasn’t expecting to hear here of all places.

”K-ggk- bwuh?” Bea replied eloquently, looking up at the security guard.

“You’re not supposed to be here. This is for fighters only.” He said. Bea felt heat rush to her cheeks.

”What?!” Bea shouted, hoping she had misheard.

He cupped his mouth. “You’re not supposed to be here! This is for fighters only!”

”I AM a fighter!” Bea shouted back, resisting the urge to punctuate that sentence by punching him to the moon. Though given he was a security guard at a place like this, he was probably tougher than his plastic badge suggested.

He didn’t seem convinced by her statement. “Really? Aren’t you a little young? Where’s your badge?”

”It- it’s in my bag.” She nodded towards it. But she was still holding this sandwich in both of her hands. Do you know how hard it is to look like a badass when you’re holding a turkey sandwich?

She looked around for a place to set down her turkey sandwich. But there wasn’t any. She didn’t bring a plate with her. If she sets it down anywhere, it’s ruined. She could try holding it in one hand? But what if it fell apart? Or slipped off her hand? It was her only option, so she went for it.

Unfortunately, undoing a zipper with one hand is also very difficult. At least it is when you have a ratty ass backpack with loose strings that get caught in the zipper braid. Bea gave it a few tugs.

”Fucking shit-” She swore under her breath.

“Alright kid, that’s enough.”

”Could you just hold my fucking sandwich for two seconds-” Bea said.

“Just pick up your bag and let’s go.” The guard said, firmly taking her by the arm. He was going to do the escort walk thing! Why didn’t she just wear the stupid badge?! She felt like crying!

”No! No, I-” Going against every instinct in her body, she regretfully dropped her sandwich. It plopped against the ground, and she pulled her arm free and descended upon her bag. In her rush, she tore the zipper right off the backpack with a metallic pop.

”See?!” She exclaimed, showing the guard her broken zipper like it was a testament to how strong she was. It ended up just being a testament to how crappy her back pack was.

When she went to dig through her backpack, she realized it was full of crap. Extra clothes, first aid kit, extra lunches, her fighting gear- her lanyard must have sunken into all this! Bea made a very uncool noise of desperation and failure as the guard grabbed her by the arm and began to escort her out. Would it be possible to figure out an alternate solution? Almost certainly yes. But Bea got a twitch in her eye and a glint of intent, and any Nomad here who had been in more than a few fights could tell she was about to start one.

”Maybe I’ll just show you, eh?!” Well, you didn’t need to be a Nomad to figure that part out.

World of Light

Beneath the Mask IV

Location:The City of Glass - Vandelay Campus
Attendees: Susie, Raz, Goldlewis, Zenkichi, Roxas, Midna, Karin
Viewers: Blazermate, Tora, Giovanna, Geralt, Sakura, Pit, Benedict, Partitio
Word Count: 1566 (+3)

While some semblance of control had been reestablished within the debate hall, the accusations leveled by both candidates had done irreparable damage to the professionalism and integrity of the debate. Both painted an ugly picture of one another, with animal cruelty, illegal fusion, and the willful sabotage of Seiran on one side, and debt-based forced servitude plus child soldiers on the other, nothing proven, but all plausible enough that anyone looking for a weapon to wield against the other side would happily take hold. Of the two men, however, only one currently harbored the position-mandated responsibility of public welfare, that being Shinra. Despite the strong inherent incumbent bias in his favor, Armstrong was making a strong case for himself purely by going one hundred percent offense, even if his claims couldn’t be substantiated.

With the event already behind schedule thanks to the turmoil, the moderator wasted no time with the next question. “Gentleman, though the Ever Crisis is Midgar’s number-one concern, it is by no means the only threat we face. President Shinra alluded to ‘rogue elements’ earlier, and this next question is about them. What do you plan to do about insurrectionist and terrorist organizations like Avalanche, the Hermits, and Reunion, especially the threat posed by Reunion’s leader, former ARI researcher Jena Anderson? Senator, you’re up first.”

Raz kept his focus on Armstrong for this one; the Seekers’ knowledge of the bit players in the Ever Crisis was lacking, and the Senator seemed to know a lot of sensitive information, whether or not it was true.

“First of all, the Hermits are nothing more than a nuisance,” Armstrong declared. “The idea that they represent the same kind of threat as Reunion is a serious misconception. They are petty thieves and hackers restricted primarily to Quarantine Valley by the forces of DespoRHado operating as peacekeepers within Detroit, since General Affairs and Peace Preservation don’t really bother showing up.” He gave a dismissive shrug, then adopted a stern frown. “Jena Anderson, however, is considered Sector 08’s public enemy number one. She preys upon the sick and resentful, urging them to lash out at ordinary people just trying to live their lives. She’s a dangerous criminal, moving in secret through the city’s underbelly, spreading Redshift in your streets and homes!” He faced the audience. “But when my word is law as President there won’t be anywhere left for her to hide. We’ll expose her lies and give the people she’s deceived the help they need!”

Pain in my ass…no way she’s on her own…who’s working with her…gotta be some link to PubSec…redshift getting worse…Reunion attacks…Quarantine Valley…Hermits stronger than ever…everyone against us…can’t give up now.

Shinra glared at Armstrong as if the Senator had stolen his thunder. “DespoRHado’s clumsy attempts to do the job of Neuron are the exact reason -and the only reason- that Anderson had evaded capture so far. But I digress. Anderson might claim that she seeks to end discrimination against the infected. The fact is that redshift is a cruel and relentless malady, almost impossible to stop let alone cure, and such a nightmarish disease warrants countermeasures of utmost seriousness. Portraying the thankless and self-sacrificing efforts of Peace Preservation as ‘oppression’ is the product of a truly warped mind, if she even believes her own lies. In truth, she is merely using it as an excuse to try and justify her crimes, and her followers in Reunion are just the same. As for Avalanche…” Shinra gave a dry, humorless laugh. “Need I say anything, really?”

Without waiting for the moderator’s go-ahead, Armstrong narrowed his eyes at Shinra. “But Mr. President, didn’t they just blow up one of the city’s precious Mako Reactors just last night? And you’re saying they’re not a threat?”

“The exaggerations of the media should not be relied upon,” Shinra told him evenly. “While they managed to cause a scene, the damage to Mako Reactor 1 is not critical, and repairs are underway. It was ultimately a feeble attempt, befitting Avalanche and their feeble justification for eco-terrorism. They claim that Mako is the lifeblood of the planet, but look around Midgar! The land is full of life, and trees as tall as skyscrapers bloom from Kunad Highway and the Valley of Ruin! If Avalanche doesn’t fall apart under the weight of its own inadequacy, it will be dealt with soon.” He stroked his mustache as he stared at Armstrong. “I’m curious, though. Misrepresenting government programs? Preying upon the weak and downtrodden? Inciting them to violence and crime? Working to destabilize Midgar? Put another way, Anderson’s modus operandi is not so dissimilar from your own, Senator.”

Armstrong’s lip curled. “Midgar needs change, Mr. President. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Anderson doesn’t believe in change, and thanks to her, people everywhere have been suffering, especially the undercities! That sound familiar to anyone?” He gazed over the audience. “But I believe in change, and under my leadership I’ve turned things around for Sector 08. Fighting back against the status quo. Giving people the chance to think and fight for themselves!” He put his fist over his chest. “And that’s what I plan to do for the whole city, whether they’re suffering thanks to Anderson…” He turned his pointed gaze to Shinra. “Or anyone else!”

Stifling a wry laugh, Goldlewis shook his head. “They couldn’t call each other the same as that terrorist lady fast enough,” he murmured to the other Seekers. In a way, it was almost heartening to see that the oldest trick in the book -comparing your political opponent to the biggest universally-condemned villain you could think of- still held true here. He couldn’t help but wonder more about this Jena Anderson, though. That name had been floating around for a while. Shinra painted her as an insurrectionist, while Armstrong posited her as a tyrant. What role did she -and Reunion- really play? The Seekers still knew almost nothing about the Chimeras, Redshift, or the Astral Plane, and if Anderson did, it might be worth finding out. Somehow.

”I get the broad strokes of it, but what exactly is a ‘terrorist’ anyhow?” Midna asked, such a concept having not been invented in her world (yet).

Roxas could really only stand in silence. The talk of groups and terrorists just sort of flew over his head for the most part. The only thing that really stood out to him was the focus they were putting on Jena Anderson, whoever that was. They made it sound like she was singularly responsible for all the Redshift stuff that Neuron had to deal with, but was that really true? Could one single person really be behind all of that? He wanted to ask about that, but another conversation started up before he could.

Goldlewis would’ve tried to bend close to whisper in the imp’s ear if he could tell where she was. “Someone who commits violent crimes to coerce civvies or the government into somethin’ for some sort of’ ideological purpose,” he told her as discreetly as he could.

Midna wasn’t quite sure how said ‘terrorists’ thought that would work, or how it exactly applied to the one group she did know about, who’s attack on the reactor made complete sense to her militarily without any coercion angle, though she kept that to herself rather than make it a whole distracting line of conversation. It was very much a concept outside of her time, though whether she liked it or not, it was one she was likely to get quite familiar with should the path forward involve looking into organizations branded as such.

”Hmm… Well either way they are mentioning quite a few people of interest we should look into ourselves perhaps.” Susie said softly, scratching her chin.

"Oh, definitely." Zenkichi added. "Though I'm with Shinra on this one. PubSec might be under Konoe's thumb, but those cyborgs are hardly decent investigators. I wouldn't doubt that they've pulverized plenty of evidence that could have been used to actually implicate the people they're after. Call me biased all you like, but not everybody in PubSec is rotten."

”True, that one cyborg we’ve met didn’t care about collateral damage. And you have to wonder how much intel those like him have destroyed in their rampages…” Susie said, remembering how they ‘assisted’ DespoRHado at that construction site.

Raz relayed what he was able to pick up from Armstrong to the group - PubSec, redshift, the Hermits strength, Reunion, Quarantine Valley. ”Do we know anything about any of that?” he asked, ”between getting into Psych-OSF and the Other fights earlier I sorta forgot some of our debriefing…”

That was too much ground to cover for now. “We’ll have to sum up later, the next segment’s startin’ any second,” Goldlewis whispered back.

”Could always think about it,” Raz joked.

The veteran was not joking, though. “You stay outta my mind, son. I’ve stared straight into hell, and it ain’t suitable for anyone who’s too young enough to drink.”

With a nod, Raz returned to the debate. ”You got it, sir.”

And just like that, Roxas missed his chance. Hopefully he’d remember to bring up his question later when the chance presented itself.

---

Right, the terrorist groups... but with men like these as leaders, was it really any wonder why people would fight back against the regime? That being said, Pit couldn't agree with their methods. He'd seen the effects of redshift himself first hand last night - why would anyone purposely infect other people with it, let alone innocent people?

For a moment the merchant's fist unclenched, resting his arms on the bar counter. Partitio wondered if the city would be better in the hands of someone like Armstrong, would the people's lives be better? Neither fellers' seemed like good folk, but still to him there was something to the big man's words. Call it being too narrow minded or not seeing the bigger picture, but he liked the sound of change cause it's the same damn thing he'd do. Heck it's exactly how he pulled himself and all the folk back home out of the depths of poverty, the merchant put a hand on his chin and looked to Benedict and nodded to the television "That big feller…He makes a good point, at least about change. Don't care much if it's good or bad..Just needs to happen, for all them fancy words there is a small grain o' truth." the other man took a deep breath, sighing before he replied Admittedly Mr. Yellowil I agree, to that indeed Midgar is in need of change. However that may come… the two nodded in silent agreement, for once their matter of opinions could be set aside and returned to seeing the debate unfold on the strange box people called a television.

"No way, what's the point of changing if it doesn't make things better?" Pit countered, glancing at Benedict and Partitio with his eyebrows knitted together. "That's what they're arguing about, right? Which one of them is better for the city? But they're both bad guys." Though it wasn't like the Seekers could interfere right now anyway, so the citizens could only pick between the familiar and unfamiliar. It was frustrating as an outsider, so it must have been doubly so for the people that lived in Midgar.

"Once we beat the guardian and free the city, it'd be nice to find someone good to take over."

Giovanna smiled, a little bitterly. “Best man for the job got outta the game a while back, if you ask me.” Vernon hadn’t just left because his term had ended, though. Midgar had defeated him, convinced him that it could never be a place he could be proud of. Even then though, he couldn’t have imagined just how bad things could get.

Sakura was grinning, happily counting points for both Giovanna and herself. She asked a random person nearby if they wanted to join but to no avail. “Who?” She found herself asking off-handedly on natural curiosity, though she’d probably regret it if she heard some big long political answer.

The secret agent made an effort keep a hold on her typical bluntness as she replied. “...Vernon.”

“Cool! That’s too bad. ” Sakura threw another dart.

These people, these Seekers saw nothing but black and white; good and evil, neither side mattered. Benedict closed his eyes, and shook his head "You think it's so simple, while I applaud that your view is incredibly naive. Everything isn’t as simple as what you think. What is right for you is not right for someone else." the former Turk spoke in the same tired voice one would hear an adult explaining something to a child, but he lacked the motive to even add an element of condescension to aim at Pit.

"This is the real world, not some fairy tale where the hero's win." it wasn't necessary to say let alone look in the Nopon's direction when Benedict spoke, it was implied or a given "Now come on there partner there’s got to be some good in this world," Partitio sheepishly raised a finger, he didn't see no sense in arguing over this again least of all in a public place still he could get on board with what the angel boy had in mind "Look we can all talk bout' the nitty gritty when it darn well comes to it fighting for change has its merits no matter how it gets done."

”Well, beating the bad guy is fun all in all. And if a new bad guy takes his place, you beat that one, and that one, and that one… Eventually you’ll run out of bad guys. There are so many of them after all.” Blazermate said, totally missing Benedict’s point. ”Either way, what do you guys think about looking into the people they mention? Enemy of my enemy and all that.”

If only things were that easy. “It’s almost impossible to find anyone in this city,” Giovanna told her. “Especially if they don’t want to be found. We still don’t even have a good way to delve into Quarantine Valley. The more I hear, though, the more it seems like we ought to pay it a visit. Right now, it and Suoh interest me the most.”

What Benedict said had rubbed Pit the wrong way, which was clear from the agitated floof of his feathers and the wrinkle of his nose. This world was filled with plenty of heroes from plenty of other worlds where they did win, and the angel was going to make sure that was the case here in Midgar too. After Partitio and Blazermate shifted the topic he shoved the last of the peanuts into his mouth before chiming in again.

"I think we should look for them too! There's gotta be a way, otherwise how do they all meet up with each other?" However the Seekers decided to try, it meant a lot more field trips in the future.

Geralt watched the back and forth about good and evil and reality and ideals, and just sat there. It was a conversation he'd had a thousand times and would likely have a thousand times more, but tonight, he just wanted to see what was going to happen. "Giovanna, how much of what he just said about Anderson is true? We didn't stick around Detroit very long to get an idea of how bad things really are."

Crossing her arms, Giovanna pursed her lips for a moment before answering. “Our intel on her is limited. We know she’s a former head researcher from the Administration’s R&D division. Supposedly went missing…twenty years ago?” She furrowed her brow. “She appears without warning, often in the middle of Gate events, as if she’s instigating them herself. Aberrations and redshift follow in her wake, but they never seem to bother her. Under her leadership, Reunion commits terrorist acts. Everyone in the organization’s redshifting, lots of ‘em barely distinguishable from Aberrations.” So all in all, most of what the candidates said about Anderson was true.

"Fuck." Geralt sighed. That sounded like one hell of a problem to deal with. And the Seekers would likely be the one dealing with it.

”Wait, 20 years ago? Uuuh…. Is that galeem time or our time?” Blazermate asked, noticing the massive time gap that could have possibly happened. Unfortunately for her, Giovanna didn’t know what she could possibly have meant by that.

“I thought you were there for that. We learned it while we were in Detroit. At least here, people have memories going back about that long in this city. Which…presents a serious problem. We don’t know what that’s going to be like when people have to reconcile that much time being lost or replaced. I only had a few weeks of memory from being in the Land of Adventure, thankfully.” Geralt reminded Blazermate.

Sakura stood up straight. “Uhh, what? Wait, what? Really?” She looked at Geralt. “But that doesn’t make any sense, Mister Geralt. How could-? What, like a big shared dream?”

Geralt just shrugged. “Galeem’s basically a god. It can do whatever it wants with this world. It could have been pulling people from other worlds for decades, or centuries even, building this place up slowly.”

Sakura tried to wrap her head around that. ”I haven’t noticed anyone getting pulled in, have you?” She asked. She hesitated on aiming her next dart.

”Oh, man. That’s really creepy.” Sakura said.

“Unless he dropped them right in front of us, we might never know.” Geralt replied simply. “But that’s all hypothetical. We have no idea how this really all works.”

Something about that didn't seem right to Pit, but he couldn't say for sure. "When it happened, it seemed like it was everything at once..."

”Geralt-san is right. Still…makes this whole place seem faker.” Sakura concluded uneasily.

World of Light

The Under - Pizza Tower

The Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Primrose’s @Yankee, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Ganondorf’s @Double, Ichiban’s @Truthhurts22, Omori’s [@Majoras End]
Word Count: 3663

”One, two, three-” Bowser muttered drowsily to himself as he counted the number of people in their party once the doors shut, and came to the fortuitous conclusion that ”and yup, that’s everyone”

”Remarkable work on escaping everyone, and it looks like we’re safe, for now, at least” Kamek, who was only barely holding himself up using his broom as a walking stick, offered as praise to the successful city escapers. After seeing him in this condition, Barnabee courteously lent the old reptile a hand. Out of everyone who made it here, the Hive Knight was in the best condition by a long shot, thanks to his abstinence from the fight with Consul P and the warp-dashes that made him a frontrunner in the Seekers’ flight from the Home of Tears. Thus, he happily offered his assistance to anyone who needed it.

”I mean, Purse did say it was dangerous, but maybe that is just the upper floors like those tree stump guys said?” Rika theorized worriedly, as her scout plane swooped around the rafters to check if that was the case. Neither her scouts nor Barnabee could detect anything wrong though, at least not in the tower’s ground floor. Those hallways with their weird portal-doors might be another matter, but neither dared to go through.

”Even if there is nasty stuff hiding out there, I don’t care, I am beat” Jr replied. The prince might have not had to do any running, having rode first his car and then drake back when his machine got totaled by a kick, but he’d been on healer duty since they arrived at the tower, and his body burned with fatigue and mana overuse resulting from having healed each and every single person back up to full hp, just incase they had had to keep fleeing.

However, with the gates barred, and nothing hammering at them, at least audibly, it seemed that they really were in the clear. The moment that became clear the troop all piled over to warm themselves by the roaring fire. Gauntlets and armor were removed, weapons put aside, and guards were finally dropped.

Well, after a few dry bones were deployed to act as guards anyway, you could never be too careful, especially now that they knew that just not ticking off the Gleaming was enough to be safe from their lifelight touched minds.

”So I guess nowhere’s safe now, huh” Jr said, broaching that subject, but from the rest of the Troop he got no answer. Despite the fancy camping equipment available, the other three had more or less conked out moments after sitting by the fire. Kamek sat with his new wizard’s hat tipped over his eyes just a little ways off, while Bowser was hunched over, with Rika lightly hugged to his side, stilling the nightmares she had immediately started having of friends turning to foes.

The prince longed to join them, but the slowly dulling burnt feeling caused by mana overuse that the same spells that had caused it ironically could not cure was keeping him up. So instead he took a look around to see if anyone else was resisting or being denied the call of slumber.

”Huh, you guys came prepared,” Ichiban said to no one in particular as he picked a nice puffy sleeping bag from the piles of supplies. ”Guess it makes sense. You’ve all been doin’ it for a while now, yeah?” Noticing how many of their party were already conked out, Ichiban decided not to keep blabbing and walked to the fire. He laid his bedroll out on the fringes of its warmth and sat down. Out of combat, his outfit had returned to the normal frumpled suit of his. He wasn’t going to sleep just yet though, instead sitting cross legged and staring into the fire, just… hanging out.

”About … 5 days at this point” Jr replied, counting them off on his fingers ”and this stuff is new as well so, ehhh, we aren't that prepared. Just kind of winging it and hoping we find a town by the end of the day. Guess we’re lucky queen bee got this stuff when she did”

While he spoke, the prince pulled over his beat up flying machine from where it had been set down, took a quick look at the internals and started trying to do something about the mess being used as a shield and then being kicked had done to it. After a few moments he ended up giving up however, as it quickly it became clear that not being able to sleep did not mean he had the mental or physical energy to do any engineering

”Not that we’ve not had adventures and stuff before though, though a lot of the times papa’s the bad guy who the hero is trying to stop for those” the kid then went on to say ”It’s kinda fun to be on the other side of things, except for all the stress and death and horror and other not fun stuff”

"Hmph, in other words, you've been getting lucky." Ganondorf commented rather bluntly. He didn't try to be hostile or argumentative, though. He was too tired for that. The Gerudo sat a few meters away from Jr and Ichiban, leaned back against the wall. But he wasn't paying full attention to the conversation. He was examining something that he held in one of his hands. The other Seekers would recognize it as a Spirit. And it wasn't the only one in his possession, as the King of Evil possessed a second one that he held in his other hand that currently rested on the floor.

"What a waste of perfectly good talent." He said in reference to the individuals he had obviously had to kill, "I'd have preferred to add them to my army. They were quite tough." he added with an almost disappointed tone. But he knew he had to do something with these Spirits otherwise they would fade away and be further wasted.

”We did also have a vague map to find those towns, but only those on the surface. And cars for a bit to get around. Everythings got so much tougher since the Consuls showed up and started messing with us” Jr complained, before frowning a little at the spirits. ”Couldn’t you have, you know, just not killed them then?” he asked after a few moments.

”I don’t believe that would have been possible.” Ganondorf answered after a brief pause of thought, ”These two were relentless, they hounded me nonstop while I was retreating through the cavern,” and then as if prove his point he held up his hand that held Riptor’s spirit for the Koopa kid to see, ”This one especially. It doesn’t help that I defeated them once already in the Thorn, so it’s possible they wanted revenge for that defeat in addition to being controlled.”

”So you weren't fast, smart, or strong enough to get away without killing them. Got it” the prince casually sniped, before pointing out that ”if you want them in your army, just make them strikers” before snapping his fingers ”oh, I should do the same with the flukes. The flying ones could be good” before popping open his car’s glove box and rummaging around for the glass bottle he used for spirit storage.

Exhaustion prevented tempers from flaring too high, but to make sure of that Primrose chose this point to let out a sigh and stand up. She had been resting with her legs drawn up and her head laying on her knees, eyes closed but not sleeping. The dancer didn't feel comfortable enough to sleep out in the "open" like this, in the lobby of some strange and apparently dangerous tower. Even surrounded by allies, despite the days of danger she'd shared with them so far. She stretched lightly and then quietly approached those still awake, starting with the King of Evil.

"Take this," she said, handing him a delicate, pinkish red pearl. She brushed her hair back to reveal a similar one fashioned as an earring. "Affix it to your ear. It will make communicating easier."

She moved on to Ichiban then Bowser Jr. (giving the prince extras for his family when they woke up), as well as any others awake. Nearby they could see that Therion, still in his beast form and curled up nearest the fire, had one connected to his cat ear as well. Barnabee accepted a linkpearl without complaint. “Thank you, kind maiden,” he told her. “I regret most keenly mine absence from thy battle against the city’s foul despot. Shouldst thy company fall, after all, the hope of Her Majesty’s ill-fated kingdom would die with thee. Now, the fanged blade of the Hive Knight shall know no further truancy!”

”I mean, you weren't the only one. Plus Rika said you helped out a lot on that dicy raid on the crawlers in the dark, or whatever they were called, e’s base so, eh, don’t worry about it” Jr told the bee man as he found a spot for the spare earbuds, putting down the fluke and fallen adventurer filled jar to do so. Then he took his own, tried to put it in where his ears used to be, found only scales, got confused for a very long tired moment, before going ”ooooh, right” and putting it into one of his cat ears instead.

”So are these, like, tiny phones or something? Oh or like sci-fi communicator things? That’s neat if so” he asked as he tried to get it to work with a ”Testing 1 2 1 2”

"It's some kind of magic," she replied, "just focus on them and you should be able to use it."

She demonstrated what had worked for her so far, holding a hand up to her ear and speaking softly. Her voice filtered through the matching pearls. She glanced at Barnabee, amused at the way he'd put his regret about not fighting with them against the Consul. "Indeed, this should help keep us all together - or keep informed when we split up."

”ahhhh, got it” Jr replied as he heard her voice in his ear, before doing one or two more tests of his own till he could send a response. Once done, he asked ”Where’d you get these anyway?”

"The Mermaid Corps were kind enough to give us a shell that makes them," she said, which might as well have been the truth. She and Therion had been led right into their base of operations, then to the captain's office where the handy magic device was just sitting unsecured. As the thief would put it, they were just asking for it to be taken. Primrose didn't show off the linkshell, just taking a seat after she'd passed out all of the pearls to those awake and lounging on her elbows. "And considering what just happened, it was the least they could do." Mind controlled or not.

”Yeah you don’t say. Can clear their own sewers or whatever, but when it came to hunting us down they were relentless. Their captain especially” Jr agreed, mostly in jest, before picking up the tape they’d recorded, twiddling it between two fingers ”We got a bit more from her as well before we sent her home.”

Jesse took Primrose’s pearl and held it between her fingers. “Thanks, Primrose.” She said. “It matches my hair.” She attached it to her ear. “Well, no, it doesn’t. But still, thanks.”

Ichiban turned his pearl over a few times, trying to see if he could figure out how it worked, which was never going to get very far. As he clipped it to his earlobe he said, ”kinda reminds me of these little ear things back in Ijincho. They worked the same, I think, where you connect ‘em to your phone and can talk and make calls without usin’ your hands. I never had one though.” He looked into the fire again, and sighed. He glanced between the other three, Jr, Ganondorf, and Primrose, before he continued talking, to the group as a whole.

”Before all of this happened-” he waved vaguely in the air, ”-there was a while where I was homeless, livin’ in a camp with other homeless people. This kinda reminds me of it. It was rough, but honestly, I don’t feel sad when I look back on it. I made some real great friends at that camp. They helped me get on my feet, showed me how to survive - heck, one of them even saved me from dyin’.” Noticing he was rambling, Ichiban scratched the back of his neck. ”Ah, hahah, sorry about that. Didn’t mean to make a spiel of it. It was just on my mind is all…”

”It’s fine.” From inside the sleeping bag he grabbed Omori finally spoke up to Ichiban. He sat up quietly, as to not wake Mewo up. Had he been awake the whole time? The boy glanced around at everyone else still up, subtly tensing up when he caught sight of the spirits Ganondorf held. He couldn’t imagine repeating his mistake killing anyone from the Home of Tears willingly, but between Junior and Ganondorf in their brief argument, he had to take the King of Evil’s side on this. It didn’t sound like he had a choice. He offered an apologetic glance at Ganondorf before turning his attention back to the fire. ”It’s good to talk.”

After the Gerudo flared his nostrils at Jr’s insolent remark, whatever he was about to say was cut off by the sudden gift from the dancer. Ganondorf said nothing, but he took the earring regardless. However he didn’t put it on his ear immediately. Instead he just stashed it in the satchel with his potions for the time being. And then he pushed himself to his feet, ”Then by all means, talk to your hearts’ content.” he suddenly said with a snappy tone, ”I’ve had all I can stand for one day.” He began to walk away from the group, albeit slowly due to his exhaustion.

That’s the last time I try to be civil with those idiotic Koopas. If these people want to play hard ball and make snide remarks, then so be it. ‘Friends’ indeed. Tch, what a joke.

…Well then. Omori slightly frowned at Ganondorf leaving. Maybe he should go after him? Barnabee just watched him go, displeased by the man’s tone. Such surliness was more demonstrative than anything; there wasn’t anywhere else in the Hub for Ganondorf to go. Hopefully he didn’t disturb those trying to sleep, any more than the conversationalists were anyway.

Jr meanwhile had almost entirely forgotten that he’d made the remark in the beginning, and instead was replying to Ichiban’s spiel by clarifying that ”We do have a home though. Or like a home base I mean. It’s this city called Alcamoth. Its all domes and glass and it floats and stuff. There’s a load of other non-Galeeming people there and everything”

”People who I guess we should probably update on this stuff at some point. You know about the clocks and Consuls and things”

"Mhm. Hopefully these little pearls will eventually help with keeping in touch with Alcamoth too, but in the meantime we could summon one of those Moogles... in the morning."

Primrose's gaze had trailed after the Gerudo King, only just keeping herself from rolling her eyes. Leave it to grown men to act as children, she thought to herself, having experienced plenty of that in her lifetime. She looked back toward the others when she spoke, fetching another Linkpearl from her bag and passing it over to Omori now that the boy was up and tapping her ear so he knew where to put it. He took a moment to curiously look at the Linkpearl, then connected it to his ear.

"I'd take comfort in the familiar while you can; it's something one can seldom do in this world, I've found," the dancer added, directed at Ichiban.

”Oh, no, I didn’t mean it like that,” Ichiban said to Jr, then to Primrose. ”I meant like, right here ‘n now. Sitting by this fire, in tents. Guess it’s not so poetic since it’s just exactly how I was livin’ then…” He shook his head. ”Well, if it’s no trouble, what’re your guys’ stories? I know a bit about some of ya already,” he continued, gesturing to Bowser and Ganondorf as he left, ”but th’ rest I’m pretty clueless on. Only if y’feel comfortable talkin’ about it.”

Omori shrugged. ”I live in White Space. Me and my friends were searching for my best friend, Basil, before Galeem hit us. He went missing.” He slightly frowned again. [b]”Still is.”

“All my life, prior to my exile, I faithfully served Her Majesty, Queen Vespa, in the Hive,” Barnabee replied simply. There wasn’t much more to it than that.

”Speaking of that, did we get chased in the right or entirely wrong way to get there” Jr interjected to ask.

Barnabee rubbed his fuzzy head, slicking back his feelers in the process, though they bounced right back into their upright position after. “Tis hard to say exactly, young sir. The Hive lies beyond the lower reaches of the bleak Forsaken Lands. On my way hence I ascended to the loftiest heights of said dreary cavern, whereupon I made my way through an expansive crypt and underground wood called Hollow Bough. I can only urge thee to keep thine eyes peeled for any such landmarks as we proceed.”

”Gotcha.”

Primrose listened to all the stories being told, making some mental notes on everyone. Though she still didn't plan on sleeping she'd shifted into a more comfortable position, and the conversation made for a good way to stay awake. When there was a lull she considered talking about herself. As far as she'd always been concerned her past was her business and no one else's, and even her closest friends didn't have the whole story when it came to her. But a few personality edits courtesy of fusion and one world changing event later, she found that she didn't mind the thought of talking about herself quite as much. Though some things she would leave out due to present company. Even if the kids had seen their fair share of horrors in the World of Light, she could spare them a little more.

"My life before was much like this," she began, "traveling the country, helping people. Well, mostly helping ourselves achieve our own goals - anyone else was only by happenstance. There was a group of us. Some of you may have already known that Therion was one of my traveling companions. We're from the same place, Orsterra.

"Before that I was a dancer." Here she would have fluttered her fan for dramatic effect, if she weren't so tired. "I was always on the lookout for a certain group of men. I still am, really."

She stopped there. It was enough to give her allies a little glimpse into her past, but nowhere near the entire picture. She capped off her tale with a warning, her voice turning sharp and dangerous, "They were evil men, each with the mark of a crow. So if you happen to see anyone with a crow-shaped tattoo, stay away - and tell me immediately."

The Hive Knight gave her a sagacious nod. He knew such villains were never to be trifled with, only to be dealt swift and uncompromising justice. “Thou hast my word.”

“You got it.” Jesse said. “Eyes peeled.” Though when she spoke up, she felt like maybe she should talk, too. “Er- I’m basically a government employee who fights monsters and collects doodads.” She said.

“Before that, well-” She waves her hand dismissively. “It’s a whole thing. Mood’s bad enough as it is.” She said good-naturedly, rubbing her shoulder. “But my job is actually pretty cool. Our HQ actually got pulled through, so hopefully we can make our way up there at some point. It’s north of here, as north as it gets in this world, I think. I might have to head back up there early though. Only reason I left was because I was Gleaming and didn’t know the full story.” Jesse scratched her jaw, and finished with a shrug.

”Huh. Guess we’re all kinda lookin’ for something here,” Ichiban noted, ”ya know, outside of the big stuff.” There were plenty more questions he had to ask them, but he didn’t want to keep anyone awake with them. ”I hope my friends are doin’ alright out there at least.”

“Here’s to savin’ the world, then.” Jesse said.

Nomadic Odyssey: Find Your Heart

@CaliforniaState ye