Zoey Boey

World of Light: the Endless Now

JURI HAN

Level 5: 44/50
Location: Dead Zone
Word Count: 1 point
Points Gained: 1 (+10 defeated one wrestler i forgot)
New EXP Balance: Level 6: 05/60

---

To Juri it became apparent that everyone liked her plan over the so-called tactical genius. Thus she smirked smugly, crossing her arms and shrugging. No big deal. Juri said all kinds of smart things, all the time. She was a genius, and somewhere floating around in the multiverse was the paperwork to prove it.

Who wasn’t a genius by Juri’s standards was the clumsy knight who nearly got them all caught already. ”Do I even have to say anything, Queen Clutz?” She whispered harshly. ”Tchuh,” With a shake of her head she moved away.

Juri herself was doing just fine. Since their enemies were blind she didn’t waste her time with crouching, standing up with her hands behind her head. Her Sombra influenced bodysuit was more socks than shoes. The artificial cyan toenails were strange, but she liked them. And it allowed her freedom of movement of her feet like normal.

She stepped over rocks and didn’t slip or do anything stupid like that. Juri was a sneaky spider. Walking over some mud was a walk in the park.

Soon they had to evaluate their next options. Juri was interested in the spaceship. ”Maybe there’s some sweet ass alien loot in there that could help us.” She ventured. ”Plus, like, I dunno. Looks pretty safe?” But obviously if the main team with the big shield was going in one direction, she'd follow it. Juri was confident in her own ability to remain stealthy and steady, so she didn't care where she ended up.

World of Light: the Endless Now

JURI HAN

Level 5: 43/50
Location: Avenger -> Dead Zone
Word Count: miniscule im tired
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance: Level 5: 44/50

---

Juri pulled up the hood of her raincoat, the one that would be able to withstand the ravages of timefall much more than her flesh. From what she understood she didn’t have long anyway. But if she was going to die within the decade she might as well die young and beautiful and not haggard and gray.

Juri had spent some time working her stealth, getting as close as she could to various people on the ship without them noticing. Including swapping and swiping a few personal effects, just for fun. It didn’t seem like her fighting was going to help much anyway. Juri didn’t like the idea of this mission. If any one of her idiot teammates screwed up, they were all toast. And some of these people were real fat bastards, or made out of metal. Juri would batter them away from the BTs if she had too. And she doubted corpse dust would trigger a voidout.

Once down there, the emitter field turned on, and Juri’s natural intelligence plus the expertise of her infusion made her feel like she understood the machine quite well. With just a flick of her wrist she could turn it off and blow the whole mission wide open. Not that she would, but…she liked having power like that. Notably it was anti-magic, which drew Juri’s eyes to Fortune. ”Oh, but, you don’t have to worry, Fortune. You. Can’t. Die. Right?” She teased.

Some guy named Edward started explaining his grand plan, and Juri made a slack jawed ‘idiot’ face. ”Or I can just use my eyes and ears and see where the odradeks are pointed. Doy.” Juri said. ”If anything we should just move like a big square with a carrier on each corner.” But that last addition was half-hearted. Really she just wasn’t going to rely on some callout system she thought was weird.

Blazermate asked to be carried, which made Juri scoff. ”Don’t look at me.”

”Nobody better screw this up. Just stay low and slow, it’s that easy. Even a baby could do it.” Juri said.

World of Light: the Endless Now

Bless This Mess - Junior, Rika, Juri, Edelgard, Pit, Roxas, Witch

Word Count: 2918 (+3)

Having been fairly quick to get to the head of the queue, by virtue of feeling no shame in making a run for it, the Koopa Kids got to make their choice of table. They picked an empty one, foolishly thinking that they’d get to keep it, but that would not last.

A plate full of sausage and eggs was set down and quickly stuck into by jr, while the lone pogofruit that had been forcibly added to the plate was sternly ignored. His second plate was meanwhile full of fruit, which was for his motley crew of minions. In a great contrast to her brother Rika had gotten an omelet with every weird vegetable in it, alongside having prompted the creation of, and then received the first portion of, a wonderfully odd fruit salad, both of which she began taste testing to see what all the new foods were like.

Thanks to the boon of poultry that the kitchen had at the moment, Pit was about to enjoy the amazing combination of fried chicken and waffles. Doused in sweet maple syrup, with a few of the chicken sausages and a veggie omelet on the side, he had a full breakfast awaiting him to dig in. And an apple juice to go with it. Despite often saying he was not a kid even if his appearance was youthful, Pit did usually seem to gravitate toward the younger Seekers. Like in mind, perhaps. So it didn't come as a surprise that he ended up at the third table. His wings were drawn up close to his back so that he didn't take up much more space than usual, and he didn't waste any time before starting to eat.

After privately seeking counsel with Lady Palutena, he felt a little better about the whole BB situation. He had to wonder how Junior felt about it though. Was he really fine with it besides just the fact he thought the babies were being lazy? And they really let babies drive go-karts? Babies and Link get to race and I still can't get an invite? Before he could think to ask, a noise cut through even the din of the mess hall.

A loud screech announced the Witch as she noisily dragged an extra chair up from Sandalphon’s table to the kids’, completely ignoring the seats already in place. She’d brought with her a portion of fish—specifically, an entire eight inch long dead fish, which lay flat on its plate alongside a mound of spinach and stared out at the world with cold, empty eyes.

Shortly after, Edelgard arrived with a picture-perfect breakfast consisting of assorted fruits, nuts, smoked meats, and a pair of eggs over easy. She sat and, the picture of noble grace, began to cut into and eat tiny, easily-consumed portions of each food, savoring the breadth of choices the Avenger had to offer. The morning's briefing lay heavy on her thoughts, especially the idea that any one of them being grabbed by these invisible foes would spell the entire group's immediate demise. She’d take Rhea again over that horror. As she took her seat, Pit shot her a smile. They'd missed her (and Edward and Midna) back at Palutena's Temple as the goddess and her army commended the commanders; he'd have to fill her in sometime.

Humming happily to herself, the Witch sliced the fish open lengthwise and began to pick out the bones. Her gaze eventually found Junior, however, whom she regarded with not a little curiosity. “Now what kind of thing are you? I didn’t think dragons were actually real.”

Oh, one of the new people? The angel had seen a few new faces at the meeting, but he hadn't given any of them more than a passing glance at the time. Inching away slightly from the woman's wide, dead-eyed fish plate, Pit left explaining what a Koopa was to the actual Koopa and instead let the Witch in on a universal truth.

"Everything's kinda real," he said casually, "even if it's in a different world from yours. Cool, right?"

”No.” Juri answered bluntly, on the Witch’s behalf. ”At least not when it’s the eleventy billionth time we’ve had the conversation.” For Juri it was more like three, counting this time. But they were on the Avenger, for crying out loud, who wasn’t with the program already?

Juri didn’t seem to have any mind for breakfast at the moment, instead she dropped her tommy gun on the table, and then leaned over it at Junior. ”I wanna see if you really are some kinda genius turtle, or just a regular dumb kid. You said you can make my gun shoot flaming bullets?” Juri asked.

”You’re not gonna eat?” Came the voice of Roxas sitting down more or less next to Pit, but his question was directed at the spider lady. ”I would if I were you. There’s no telling when we’ll get to eat next once the mission starts.” He sat his own breakfast onto the table, a plate containing a stack of three pancakes drizzled with syrup and topped with minced cuberries and a glass of pogofruit juice to drink. He’d gotten here a little later than some of the others mostly because of his three Pokemon nearby who were digging into their own meal consisting of nutritious Pokemon food. Clearly the Nobody was making sure he got them their food before he secured his own.

Jr, who had somehow been taught to not speak with his mouth full, but not to not shove his mouth full of food, had taken a while to clear up his tongue so it could be used to reply to the questions.

”I’m a Koopa, not a dragon, which is way better!” he first insisted, before reaching for his chest and tossing out a trio of pokeballs while explaining that ”and Mimi, Dazzle and Peeka are all part ghost” as he did so. The mon then promptly grabbed fruit he offered them and hurried off to join the others, Rika added that ”and I’m part ship”

The ship girl also had a mind to ask Juri ”How can you just, like, not try out this neat food? It’s all real weird” which in her mind was very much a compliment.

Juri made a defensive hand gesture at Rika and Roxas. ”You wanna get the hell off my back? I eat when I want. Right now I wanna see if dragon boy can really make my gun better.”

”Sheesh. Excuse me for living.” Roxas muttered. It was just a suggestion, not worth getting his head bitten off for it.

Pit suppressed a snicker, then leaned over to quietly tell Roxas, "Juri just pretends to be a sourpuss." He really didn't know the woman too well, but since she'd played minigames with them and seemed to actually want to be part of the group despite the attitude, he figured that she just wanted to make sure people knew she was tough. Then again, he hadn't been on the receiving end of said attitude yet, so his opinion could still change.

”Also yeah I can for sure do that! Easy!” Jr then replied to Juri as well as he grabbed the gun, and set about doing some on-the-table tinkering, snapping open a toolbox to do so. The modification was, as it turned out, pretty simple, as the prince removed the gun's magazine, and then into the slot below the chamber carefully inserted a hair from his magical paintbrush which would coat the tips of the rounds being pulled past it with burning ink as they were pulled past it.

”Probably won’t work while we’re in that magic suppression field, but after, you’ll be burning things up!” he informed her, a little annoyed that his work wasn’t going to be useful right away, before having an idea and asking ”Hey, do you want an even bigger gun for that bit? Got this crank operated thing that’s thiiiis big if you want it” as he spread his arms to denote the length of the Maulcher rotary gatling gun that he had strapped to his clown car at the moment.

Juri tilted her head, looking at her gun. Grabbing it by the back end she looked right down the barrel, taking in the now almost imperceptible adjustment made to it. ”That’s it?” She wasn’t sure what she expected. ”I coulda done that. I thought you were gonna hit it with a hammer or something.”

”On the contrary, Edelgard interjected. ”What may seem simple to those without the gift of magic or artifice is often the result of years of study to simplify an incredibly complex process.” A bit put-off that the many months she'd spent learning magic, and the years after refining that process, could be so thoughtlessly deemed ‘too simple’ was simply galling to the empress. She did her best to keep the derision she felt for Juri out of her voice, but such a monumental task was impossible even for somebody of Edelgard’s willpower. Juri was just that annoying.

Juri then reached her hand into Rika’s fruit salad, scooped up a bunch of it, and shoved it into her mouth. Dusting her hands off she looked at Roxas and Rika as if to say: ‘Happy?’ Then she kneeled one knee on the seat next to Junior, not quite sitting down. ”Nah. That’d just slow me down. We gotta be quiet if we wanna protect our creepy fetus machines from the antimatter ghosts.” Juri said. She glanced around, slung her gun over her shoulder, and promptly stood back up and buzzed off to the breakfast line.

”Well that was rude.” Roxas muttered under his breath. She didn’t ask permission or anything. And who knows if she washed her hands or not. He probably should have confronted her or something, but also thought it wasn’t worth picking a fight over. So instead he slid his plate in Rika’s direction. ”You can have some off the top of my pancakes if you want.” Essentially offering to let her replace some of the fruit Juri took.

A well made offer, which prompted the lengthy spear with a set of cannons at its base that had just teleported into Rika’s hand to be dropped in favor of a fork with which she could spear the peace offering alongside an ”ooo thank you thank you”

The Witch had been watching with eerie intensity while Junior disassembled the gun. She’d read up on killing machines like this on her telephone device, but to see its inner workings displayed so clearly before her… “Ingenious,” she whispered. And then, louder: “I’d like a big gun.” She met Junior’s eyes. “If you have one to spare anyway…”

”Huh?” the prince replied, seemingly a little confused by the request, though not at all put off by the spooky gal’s eye contact it seemed. Instead he started by unintentionally insulting her ”The Multcher’s probably too heavy for you” before asking the question that had caused his confusion ”Wait, who are you again?”

His sister meanwhile was entirely chipper again thanks to pancakes, and so said ”Oh are you new? Hi, I’m Rika!” before offering actual useful information by telling the Witch that ”The Avenger’s got an armory with all sorts of stuff in it. Probably got a couple of cannons in there. I think there was this energy blasting pistol? Oh and a shotgun that fired snakes.”

“I only showed up yesterday. I’m still adjusting to this place.” It was as much an excuse as an explanation, a way of playing off her behavior and curiosity. “As for who I am… Most people just call me Witch.” If her experiences so far were any indication, they’d probably start coming up with awful pet names for her right about now, and she could do little but grin and bear it.

It wasn’t all bad news, though. “A gun that fires serpents, you say? That sounds nearly too perfect to be true.” She leaned in closer to Rika, trying her best not to smile too creepily for once. “Would you help me find it before we go?

"Snakes? Why wouldn't you want one that shoots lasers or something? It would be way stronger," Pit chimed in as he polished off the last of his waffle.

“What a bold chicken you are! But no, I think I’ll stick with the snakes.” A laser-light could burn you once, but an angered serpent would strike time and time again, with noxious venom in its fangs. The Witch knew well which of the two she feared more.

"Wha- how come he gets to be a dragon but I'm a chicken?" came the complaint, along with a bark of a laugh from the (not) dragon in question.

Rika meanwhile just nodded, confirming that ”Mmm. Or. at leasts that it looked like it did? The monster it came from was really weird and just, full of snakes” Rika confirmed, smiling back with the social graces of someone who’d only learned she could do so a few weeks ago, which in this case meant very enthusiastically.

”and yeah, we can do that. We were probably gonna swing by after crushing a pair of spirits, coz I don’t think a weird sausage man and a really really really big crab are gonna make stuff we can really use. Maybe. Probably” she informed the Witch, before recalling how manners worked and adding ”Oh, and my name’s Rika. I picked it myself” to introduce herself.

With his pancakes gone now, Roxas just focused on his orange juice instead. He listened to some of the conversation about guns shooting different things but most importantly getting a proper introduction from Witch. ”I’m Roxas.” He said after swallowing down a big gulp of orange juice. ”I think I’ve been around for about… two weeks? Give or take a day or two?” After this he felt some nudging against his shin and looked down to find Scamp looking like he was trying to climb up. ”What? You want to meet everyone too or are you just looking for a chance to sneak a bite?” Roxas teased, but picked up the Yamper anyway and sat him on his lap before adding, ”Alright, alright, but I’m watching you, buddy.”

”Sorry about that, he’s Scamp, my Pokemon partner. He doesn’t bite but he likes to get up to mischief if I don’t keep an eye on him.”

Seeing that now seemed to be the time for introductions, Edelgard joined the round. ”I am Edelgard von Hresvelg. This is all…very different to me, I must admit. Before…whatever happened, I was an emperor. Now I am without a home, and all I know is that this Galeem creature is responsible.” Edelgard had stopped eating, setting her silverware down and crossing her hands atop one another as she spoke, her tone even and somber.

”Yeah?” Jr replied, misinterpreting this as an attempt as boast before laying out the smorgasbord of royals the seekers had among them ”Well our Papa’s the Koopa King, Sectonia a queen, Ganodorf’s the ‘King of Evil’” the prince paused his pointing to put air quotes around the gerudo's name ” and Midna over there’s a princess. But like one of those ruling princesses like Peach or Zelda, you know? Also she hates Ganondorf’s guts or something I dunno.”

Names, names, names. People put too much value in their names, and the Witch found it hard to really care. She preferred the dead, who didn’t talk so much and mostly didn’t care about what they were called. Maybe she’d get lucky and all these people would die in the upcoming mission, leaving her free to raise them all up as obedient and convenient servants.

Her expression remained eerily blank, but she did at least respond to them all with a small nod. “What a delight,” she said, without emotion no inflection, “it is to meet you all.”

She’d better hurry and prove herself indispensable before they all got better acquainted with her.

”And to meet you too!” Rika replied cherrily, not at all picking up on the meaning behind this lack of emotion, before asking ”Do you wanna head out now to get that gun? I’m basically done,” almost guaranteeing they were about to get at least a bit better acquainted.

Young Justice

The Incorrigible Iceburn!

Interactions
Infiltrator Team -> Entire Team

---

After serving up a proper Grade A ass-kicking, Iceburn was feeling pretty damn good about her own performance and the team. Sure Quiver was hurt, but that was inevitable in the line of duty. He would be okay. Viktor and Quiver had grabbed the canisters of evil, anti-karmic juice. That was the objective, and it had been secured.

But before she could even think that she shouldn't be celebrating too early, it was too late. The thought of not celebrating too early counted as celebrating too early. Something bad happened to Stormcaller, they had all heard it through the comms.

"Ssshit." Iceburn frowned, biting her lower lip. What was going on out there? They had to find out and help, especially now that they had the serum they needed. Rain commanded her to push forward and surge ahead. Sounded just fine to her. Now that they were on the way out, she could go all out without worrying about conserving her energy. It wouldn't matter if she was exhausted if she was safely extracted with the others.

"I'm on it!" Iceburn called out. She forged ahead, slamming her foot on the ground and launching herself into the air. "Make way for Yooooung JUSTICE!" She slammed both fists on the ground, creating a large explosions of fog, mist, and wind that shot outward and knocked into every armed guard aiming at them.

She then widened her stance, and inhaled, before clenching her fists and brining her elbows in with a harsh bark. "RAH!" Iceburn flexed her arms, shaking with exertion as the fog solidified into two walls on either side, creating a pathway for them to move through, about seven feet high. Like always her walls ate regular bullets for breakfast, but sonic weapons would create large cracks in the barrier after just one shot.

Iceburn then jumped onto the wall with a poof, figuring Viktor could do the same if he wanted. The wall was just wide enough to comfortable stand a single foot on, so acrobatically minded people like herself and Viktor would have no trouble navigating on top of it. She also used the ice wall to grip onto her boot and propel herself forward, sliding as she blasted ice missiles to suppress all the bad guys, focusing on the ones with sonic weapons first.

As a result, one of the riflemen got a few good shots on her before she could move back into cover. The rounds sparked off of her thanks to her natural superpowered mist barrier, and she fired a double ice rock blast to knock the bad guy to the ground. Still, her shoulder and arm were bleeding now, stinging from where the bullets hit her. The mist barrier only gave her a small margin of error to make mistakes like that, she couldn’t withstand sustained fire. It would take time to get her personal ice mist recreated in that spot again. A thrill shot up Iceburn’s back and she continued forward with her mission, concentrating intently.

Hopefully with her efforts the team could easily make it outside and reunite with the others.

Iceburn spotted the unconscious Stormcaller with Talos defending her.

"The objective is secured, Zatara!" She informed the magician. "We got what we came for, let’s get the hell outta here!”

World of Light: the Endless Now

JURI HAN

Level 5: 43/50
Location: Mafia Town - > Avenger
Word Count: 2167
Points Gained: 3
New EXP Balance: Level 5: 46/50

---

Juri cackled, watching Fortune disappear into the air. She saw an opportunity and she took it, her finger always on the trigger. Only now, after the fact, did she think she could spin that into a lesson for Fortune, for their later conversation. ”...Stinky. She’s the stray cat who just spent the last week up to her elbows in fish guts.” She said flippantly, to herself, leaning down to pick up her weird Fulton pack thing.

Juri wasn’t the sentimental type, so she didn’t bother looking over her shoulder at Mafia Town. And she tried to ignore that Fortune was more friendly with whats-her-face at Mafia Town during the thirty seconds they knew each other, compared to the entire week Juri was working with them. Even that robot, Blazermate, didn’t seem to like her.

What a waste of time. The world was full to bursting with idiots and clowns. Juri didn’t need, or want, any of them. She yanked the cord and watched the world be pulled away underneath her. For a little bit, up in the clouds, her life hanging by a literal thread, Juri had nothing to do but think. She hated this stupid balloon.

—

Juri hadn’t waited for Fortune directly, instead she had gone to her room and changed back into her cyberpunk bodysuit outfit she got when she merged with Sombra. So she ended up having to stalk the halls, looking for her. When she did, she skitted up behind her and swept around her shoulder, getting into her face, before pulling away.
”Enjoy the ride up? Consider it a point well made, Fortune. It’s easy to stab someone in the back.” She said, turning from her and looking at her nails. Juri thought about the throne room incident and scoffed, some anger stinging her insides once more before she shoved it down.

”I have to admit, I didn’t expect it, considering the only reason we have this little back-and-forth is because you think you’re better than me. So to try and get me killed while I’m trying to earn money for your goodie two-shoes world saving cause?” She shrugs and smirks. ”It’s impressive. But it does limit our options.” Her voice was cool and collected. In one hand, she held two bottles of beer from the bar.

”See, Fortune, I don’t think you meant to try and kill me. I just think you’re a soft little pussy cat who lives in la la land, with a desperate lack of foresight. So I’ll fill you in on something: I kill people for money.” She says, casually. ”You only ever saw me on vacation, shakin’ down chumps for their chump change, so I’ll let ya off easy for not knowin’ that.” Juri winked.

”I only bring it up because I can be very patient. I want you to imagine a future where I wait to do what you did. While you’re fightin’ zombies or robots or aliens or wizards or whatever the fuck, I want you to imagine trying to do it with me in the back of your head. Waiting to swoop in give you a little love tap. Ya really think you could stop me so easily? You couldn’t stop me from yankin’ yer little balloon cord. I’m not sayin’ this to brag, or to say I’m better than you. I’m just bein’ honest. I’m fast, Fortune, and patient. Even if you went for my throat right now, I could get away, hijack a pod and be outta this ship.” She wiggled her fingers, and digital particles wafted off of them.

”And then you’d have to think about me. Forever. Unless you holed up somewhere and abandoned this little crusade, which you could do if you wanted.” Juri laid out the facts, thinking them fairly indisputable.

”So those are two options, where we are now. Either you continue being a Seeker until I eventually find the right moment to strike and kill you, or you buzz off to work at a sushi restaurant somewhere.” She shrugged and made a face, like she found both choices undesirable.
Then she locked eyes with Fortune, her artificial eye glinting from underneath her asymmetrical bangs. ”The third option is the one where you grow a brain and realize that like it or not, we’re on the same team now. I do so enjoy our little back and forth, kitty. But there’s a difference fucking with someone and fucking them over. Stick to the first and you’ve got nothing to fear from me except maybe waking up to find a spider in your bed.” Juri grinned and leaned forward, the double entendre intentional. She extended her hand and flexed her fingers so that one bottle was bottom out toward Fortune, offering it to her.

So far, despite her well-deserved reputation for mouthing off, Nadia has ended up uncharacteristically tongue-tied. From the moment Juri showed her face and started dressing her down, the feral’s mind had been racing at a mile a minute, fueled by a mix of fresh emotion and fermented resentment bottled up over the course of their many encounters. But she was getting nowhere, just spinning the hamster wheels in her mind as she attempted to whip up a half-dozen half-formed retorts and annoying puns that never got past the conceptualization phase. Nadia sputtered and scoffed, trying to deflect and downplay while failing to find the perfect comeback.

Part of it was that she still felt conflicted. Her rivalry with Juri combined personal distaste with a sense of duty. At the end of the day Juri was a bully, and it was Nadia’s job to protect people who couldn't protect themselves. Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't have fun doing it, which was her modus operandi in general. This nutjob certainly deserved it. But she also didn't want to stoop to Juri’s level and take sadistic enjoyment in putting others down. It was a tough balance to strike, and everything coming from Juri’s mouth made her mad enough that it was hard to focus. As the martial artist wound down, though, Nadia finally got something to work with. She lifted her eyebrow at the proffered beer, then crossed her arms.

“You can't kill me,” she said flatly. “Look. I know you act like this tough-ass punk chick. But you get your kicks in the little leagues, and now you're in the majors. That shtick isn’t gonna fly.” Her ears lay flattened against her head, and her indelible smile was gone “You think I'm soft? That you know anything about pain?” Wearing an incredulous look, Nadia gave a slow shake of her head. “I've had my neck slashed. My lungs punctured. Last week, I got torn in half.” Nadia ran a finger along the huge scar on her bare midsection. Then she inserted her fingers into the scar tissue of her neck. “I was cut into pieces. By an actual assassin, by the way. I leave every battlefield coated in my blood because I pull myself apart to fight. And nowadays, I barely feel any of it. I. Can't. Die.”

Nadia gave Juri a wry smile. “So, y’know, you don't really scare me. You can drop that act–I bet it gets tiresome, anyway. But you're right about one thing.” Her grandstanding done, the feral sighed. “I went too far. I thought I'd give you a taste of your own medicine, but we’re not the same. We’ve both been fooling around, I guess. I may be stupid, but I’ve learned you’re not just some asshole. You’re an actual psycho. Now that I know that, this isn’t fun anymore.” She shrugged. “So forget it. I’m done playing with you. I’d say sorry if that meant anything to you. If you’re actually gonna stick around here, you’ve got villains and monsters you oughta be kicking instead of beggars and grandmas. So if you can’t help screwing over innocents anyway, I guess I’ll take responsibility. For dragging you into this mess.”

The feral stepped back, an uncommonly dejected look on her face. She couldn’t fathom what happened to Juri to make her such miserable person–then again, maybe she was just like this. Either way, Nadia wanted nothing more to do with her. Whether the two stayed away form one another or came to blows for real, though, was anyone’s guess. After a moment, Nadia reached into one of her pockets and pulled out the Free Lemonade. She extended the magically-filled pitcher as if to clink Juri’s beer glass in a toast. Her grin had resurfaced, her frustrated turmoil buried. “So here’s to new beginnings, hm?”

Juri scoffed, looking a little confused. She was growing frustrated with Fortune’s dour attitude, but when Fortune smiled and offered her lemonade, Juri relaxed. ”Sheesh.” She clinked their glasses together. Guess she’d keep the second beer for herself. ”You saw me as just some asshole and tried to get me killed by the mafia, and I’m the psycho who showed her true colors?” Juri teased. She popped a bottle open with her finger and took a sip.

”And if you wanna talk about how you know more about pain and loss than me or whatever, you probably shouldn’t follow it up by demonstrating how you’ve perfectly recovered from every injury you’ve ever had and can’t feel pain.” Juri giggled. Oh, maybe Fortune had her own little tragic backstory, but who didn’t? She’s acting like being able to come back from being chopped in half was a terrible curse, like she’s not looking at someone with a missing eyeball.

Though, maybe, considering how unobservant Fortune is, she just hadn’t noticed. Juri lifted her bangs and showed Fortune her green eyeball. ”This one’s an advanced prosthetic, in case ya didn’t know. Let’s just say I didn’t lose the original on purpose. So you know, boohoo for you that you can just pop yours back in.” Juri let her hair fall back into place.

Then she let out a breath, feeling like she had to make herself clear. ”One more thing, since you missed it: I wasn’t saying how I could easily kill you with my own bare hands and feet. I was just saying that I could come up behind you and push you five feet to the right and fuck you over while you’re distracted. Like you did to me. I mean, use your imagination, chick. If you’ve never had a situation where you’re one misstep away from death, then this Seeker shit isn’t the ‘major leagues’.” Juri used air quotes.

”I wasn’t trying to scare ya. I was just sayin’ if you wanna escalate things, you’re gonna have to worry about me full time. I assumed you’d know the difference between on and off-duty. You didn’t, so, here I am makin’ myself clear.” Juri leaned back and let herself flop against the wall. If Juri was constantly putting on an ‘act’, it looks like she had slipped out of it without noticing at some point between Fortune speaking, and Juri’s own rebuttal.

Drinking her lemonade while listening, Nadia maintained an expression of bemusement (achieved mostly through her eyebrows). For a little bit now, Juri had been talking like more of an actual person, and less of an insane caricature. To an extent she’d thought that the martial artist’s absurd attitude had to be a charade, especially given her own persona, but all of a sudden her theory seemed a lot more plausible. Of course, that didn’t mean Juri was being reasonable. For one, she was missing the point when Nadia brought up pain, but the feral really didn’t feel like explaining anything. Though, she couldn’t suppress her instinct to banter completely.

She put her pitcher away, then brought up her hands in mock resignation. “Okay, okay, I get it. I thought you could Han-dle things if I spiced up the action a little, but I was wrong, so consider me rebuked. I’ll find someone else to goof around with.” Nadia turned to go, no mirth on her face. Ever since Carnival Town, the two of them had butted heads time and time again, but through all the fights and arguments they’d never grown to respect one another. This not-so-friendly rivalry had run its course. “After all, with friends like mine, why would I need enemies?”

”Aw, don’t be such a sourpuss, goin’ and makin’ me feel lonely.” Juri smiled, still low-key. Relatively speaking, anyway.

”If I see you goofing around with someone else using your little claws, I might get jealous. Don’t be a stranger, kitty!” Juri called out to Fortune, and then pushed herself off the wall to head in a separate direction. She took another sip of her beer. Maybe Fortune would get it in time, maybe she wouldn’t. And maybe Juri would change her mind later. That was the best part about being Juri; she could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Hypocrisy was for suckers. Now she had to find something to kill the time on this ship.

World of Light: the Endless Now

JURI HAN

Blazermate

Level 5: 40/50
Level 13 Blazermate (Holding 2 level up) - (57/130)
Location: Mafia Town
Word Count: 1599
Points Gained: 3
New EXP Balance: Level 5: 43/50

---

She had earned it, hadn’t she? Juri had taken a few steps forward after the Boss had reached into his pocket, hand outstretched. Even after refuting her demand for more respect, Juri was going to suck it up and walk away. It would have been a real big moment for her. Instead, he scattered her money all over the floor, and then just looked at her. Like she was a starving peasant, scrounging for scraps. All of them like vultures. The smile on her face was a corpse’s smile, uncanny and false.

The nerve to treat her like gutter trash. To treat her like she would ever kneel to anyone. Juri didn’t feel like she was asking for much. Just a little respect. Her fists clenched, for her real eye shone with violence. Juri wanted to reach out and rip his throat from his neck. She was right there. He wouldn’t see it coming. Smug bastard. Her prosthetic eye, cool and collected, led the other to Blazermate, over her shoulder. That helpful little robot. She’d do whatever Juri wanted, right? She showed up in the fight and just started doting on everyone. You don’t have to kill anyone to walk out of here with your dignity, Juri.

”Blazermate…pick up those pons.” Juri ordered, like she did it all the time. Even though this was the first time speaking to Blazermate at all. She only knew her name through other people saying it on the Avenger.

Juri didn’t really have to ask though, Blazermate was used to this whole ‘collecting things’ thing and made a bit of a game out of it, zooming around grabbing poms and making a ‘wakka wakka’ sound while grabbing them, well, saying that in her voice. She was fast, so it didn’t take her all that long.

Juri watched all this go down, and let out a sharp bark of a laugh, clapping her hands together. Her mood brightened considerably, and she took the opportunity to get her real revenge on the mafia boss.

”Too cheap for a little burlap sack, huh?” Juri asked. ”What a dump. Remember on my first day when I said the pizza was okay? I lied. I never tried any of your tacky, overpriced, greasy pizza. Not that I ever would. It probably tastes as cheap as you. See ya, losers.”

Blazermate gave a polite wave herself saying. ”I like your boys, they’re pretty nice. Keep good care of them boss man!” Blazermate said, as she followed suit but much more friendly than Juri.


The boss scoffed at the martial artist as she turned to depart. "You must not have had real Mafia pizza then. Feel free to go get some...on your way out!" Since Juri was already going, though, his statement lacked any real punch. After giving a quizzical look at Blazermate, who he really did know what to make of, the mafioso called over his underlings in order to get a situation report on the Battle Royal Rumble and issue fresh orders, with no further mind paid to the irate quitter.

Indeed, Juri just opened and closed her hand a few times as she went out the door. Out in the open she wrapped her arms behind her head, acting cool and casual like she wasn’t just nearly driven to murderous rage. ”What a phoney.” She said derisively to Blazermate.

”Guy doesn’t know the first thing about runnin’ a mafia. He was just coastin’ on my competency. Only a matter a’ time before someone actually dangerous comes along and takes his place. You know, throwin’ money on the ground like that starts wars back where I’m from.” She said. Then she opened her palm expectantly for her pons.

”You can keep some of ‘em if you want. You did help out back there. Like, I dunno. 10% or something.” She said with a sniff. Really, Blazermate saved her a whole lot of trouble, blowing her gasket over some insults.

Blazermate shrugged, giving a counter point and for once putting on a more serious tone as she gave up the pons. ”Why would you want them to be a real mafia? Being all serious, not fun, being rude, violent in a bad way… and serious. Why would you want that? This is way easier to deal with and you don’t have to be on edge around everyone.” Blazermate then went to a more casual tone of voice. ”I’m sure you would rather deal with goofs than people who like ripping fingernails off. Or brand you.” Blazermate said with a sagely nod. The Yakuza were still a thing back where she was from, although they only did basic thug things. The Rubberrobos were the ones who did the supervillain ‘take over the world’ stuff, and they were goofs. Although unlike these Mafia goons, they actually had a way to easily deal with medabots.

”Tch.” Juri scoffed defensively. ”That’s just how the real world works. The only reason that guy didn’t get killed by someone more ruthless was because he had my help. But he treated me like trash because he doesn’t live in a ‘serious’ world. It’s only a matter of time until someone else comes along and kills him for real.” Juri said.

”Someone who had spent a little time in darkness would have respected me.” Juri looked at her fingernails, making her way to the edge, and then dropping down to the nearest platform. ”Speakin’ of which. I’m gonna give Fortune a piece of my mind.”

”Pretty sure if someone is too ruthless, they end up without anyone helping them and then a hero comes and takes them out. Power of friendship is a real thing you know.” Blazermate said, shrugging since she knew about half of what she thought juri was talking about..

”Why what happened? Did her puns get on your nerves?” Blazermate asked, not sure what was going on there.

”And yet here I am, walkin’ away from that idiot because he tried to treat me like dirt. This ain’t a hypothetical, robot.” Juri said.

As for Fortune... ”Hah. Yeah, right. Nah. She’s just another moron living in la la land. She was messing with me, swiping and sniping at me while I was trying to help the Boss. She thinks she’s so clever, but if she thought for even half a second she would realize pissing me off is a bad idea. Do you think it’s hard to stab your ally in the back? Because it really isn’t. If I wanted too, I could bide my time and do the same thing to her, only I’d end her permanently.” Juri kicked the ground on the last word.

”What does she think I’m gonna do with the money? We need the freakin’ money, robot. As much as we can get our grubby little paws on.”

”Not really? I mean I guess we do for cool items or something, but Susie is handling all that. Ask Sectonia and Ganondorf, or Jr., those guys seem to have a lot of really strong magic items on them they use a lot. I’ve even got a couple myself. This world is kinda more ike a video game trying to merge to be a real world instead of like, the actual real world. So thinking of it like that kinda helps a lot. Pretty sure you can find some item that just gives infinite money if you put your mind to it. I know a few areas where the money is literally just flying in the air waiting to be grabbed.” Blazermate said, not really sure how to handle this. Were these two fighting over MONEY of all things? Money that often just floated in the air in a lot of places? She’d need to hear Nadias side of the story, who knew she would stumble into this hot mess.

”God, you’re clueless. What do you mean, ‘not really’? Anything you have right now, you can have more of with money. If you’ve ever actually played a video game you’d know how many valuable items you can get with it. That’s why they put the coins in the game, bolts for brains.” Juri said. ”Now shut up about backsassing everything I say. I don’t wanna hear it.”

’Kay. We should head back to the base thing then. Oh, and I’ve gotta go pick up the action heroes autograph. He looks like someone I might know! Maybe? IDK.” Blazermate said, happy to go somewhere else. Juri was going to be a weird one to talk to.

”What? What are you talking about? Base thing? Action hero? Gimme a proper noun to work with here.” Juri said.

”Uh…” blazermate said, thinking. ”Rambo and the Avenger?” Blazermate said, shifting a bit sheepishly.

Juri knew what the Avenger was, but… ”Rambo? You saw Rambo walking around? You’ve seen the movie Rambo?”

”Yeah, that black ops guy that was around here somewhere. He looked like Rambo!” Blazermate said. ”He’d be super useful to have on the team too, if he’ll come.”

Juri stopped, looking around, and then lifted her hands indifferently before letting them slap limply against her thighs. ”Well, good luck finding him. I’m sick of this stupid place, so, I’m going to where Fortune is and then I’m splitting.” Juri continued downwards.

Blazermate shrugged too, and went off to look for Venom Snake. She thought to herself. ”Well shes abrasive. I don’t even think that ‘king of evil’ was that abrasive, and the title would make you assume that! Even if both of them were a giant turtle or a giant knight guy.”

World of Light: the Endless Now

JURI HAN

Level 5: 38/50
Location: Mafia Town
Word Count: 647
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance: Level 5: 39/50

---

Juri didn’t expect it. She would give Fortune that much credit. As her calf was snatched and she fell onto her chest, rolling to the left narrowly avoiding a knife that scraped against the floor. ”Hey!” She yelled. Juri snapped to look at Fortune with something akin to moral outrage. It was a weird look on her.

She turned her attention to the henchmen, weaving in and out, using them as human shields against each other. She kicked a shotgun out of ones hands, snapping it half with the force of the blow, and smashed him into the pistol wielder with a spin kick. Three rushed her with claws and she bent and twisted her body away and backwards from the strikes. That was when she slipped on some of Fortune’s blood and took a claw across the face. ”Ugh!” She span away with a flash of yellow sparks, getting slashed a few more times before she rolled away.

”You’re seriously pissin’ me off, Fortune!” Juri growled. All Juri asked was that she stay out of her way. She’d underestimated Fortune, assumed her to be the goodie two-shoes type. But now she was trying to get Juri killed, cackling all the while. Or maybe she just didn’t understand the gravity of the situation, living in some carefree bubble where life and death didn’t exist. Juri would have to remind her that it did, one way or the other.

That would have to come later though. Juri struggled through the fight, having to play it far safer than she normally would have let Fortune swing back again. She baited the cat girl into lunging too early by pretending to be distracted and launched her away with a pinwheel kick. A small amount of damage, but an anti-air with big push back. ”Back off!” She warned. Then Juri jumped into the air and flew away.

Wait, what?

Juri flailed her arms around as she floated helplessly through the air into the mafia ball. ”What?!” She yelled, infuriated. Juri wasn’t some two-bit henchperson to be used in a special move! Fortune cackled, but she left, having done enough damage to satisfy herself, apparently. Juri wrenched an arm and a shoulder free and waited until she was rotated towards the top, behind Mabuchi. She burst forth and aimed to stab her fingers like a knife into his back like she was trying to pry apart his vertebrate. She slammed her elbow into the same spot and then roundhouse kicked him off the ball. Then she turned an accusatory finger towards the boss of the chef mafia.

”Don’t ever use me in a special attack ever again!” She said. All she wanted was her money. A part of her wanted to kill the boss, too, for this humiliation, but that would be more trouble than it was worth. When she did kill him, what would she do? Run mafia town? No thanks. She’d learned her lesson after taking over SIN after Seth. Boss knew where the money was, he couldn’t give it to her if he was dead.

Juri leapt off the ball towards Mabuchi. With Fortune gone she could finish this. Trying to bait out an anti-air attack due to the seemingly predictable nature of her jump arc, Juri front flipped midair, halting her descent for a moment before streaking down with a divekick strong enough to lift Mabuchi from the floor on impact. Juri would turn and do several elegant, sweeping spin kicks to knock him up and away.

Juri would be fighting hit and run style on Mabuchi. She was pretty sure she was faster than him, so all she had to do was clear out when the mafia ball came rolling through. Even better, she would try to dodge his attacks and knock him into its path. Caught up in all this, she hadn’t noticed Venom at all.

World of Light: the Endless Now

JURI HAN

Level 5: 37/50
Location: Mafia Town
Word Count: 465
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance: Level 5: 38/50

---

Juri landed at the top plate, and glanced around. There were spirits everywhere.

”Oh, my god…Tony, no! Alfonso? I can’t believe it.” She gasped as she strolled through the wreckage. With a nudge she kicked one of the identical goon spirits with her boot. ”Ricardo, you too? Benny? Paulie? I can’t believe- okay, forget it.” She let out a little chuckle at her self-satisfied humor.

”They really don’t make bloody aftermaths like they used too, huh?” Juri sped inside. ”Guess it’s gang warfare after all.” How could she make money off of this? It all depended on what she’d find inside. If the old boss was already dead, she’d probably just buzz off, since the Seekers were leaving soon anyway.

Spider dashed inside and, to her surprise, saw the boss man holding his own. And to her delight, he immediately offered her money for violence. For a moment she thought she was going to have to extort it out of him with some sarcastic crap, but luckily the chef mafia knew exactly how things worked. ”Let’s go, then!” Juri widened her stance dramatically, a grin spreading across her face. One of her eyebrows raised, though, as she heard a familiar voice behind her.

”Did you follow me all the way up here? Have a little schoolgirl crush, do ya?” Juri asked with that usual faux-earnest sarcasm.

At Nadia’s hesitance to join the fray, Spider just rolled her eyes. ”So you’re allergic to fun and money. Gotcha. Just stay outta my way, then.” It’s like every time Nadia was offered a chance to prove her worth, she chose the worst option.

No more wastin’ time. It was time to shed some blood and ash up the place. Juri was told to serve up some small fry, so she decided to clean up the chaff. There were eight goons left. Juri figured she could take ‘em out. She strafed to the side alarmingly fast and rattled into them with her tommy gun. She zigged, zagged, and then tossed the gun aside to get into the crowd. She popped one up with a light tap of her foot that let her charge up a sweeping projectile. She sent it forward to knock several of them off their feet with a sweeping ki strike.

”Guess no one can get any help around here, huh?!” Juri crowed. All she wanted to do was take them out, whether that meant crippling or killing them was of no concern to her. Inevitably she would have to turn her sights on Mabuchi, and she tried to keep the henchmen inbetween her and Mabuchi so he wouldn’t easily get the drop on her.

If he decided to keep going after mafia boss, she’d interrupt her own massacre for a cheeky divekick to the spine.

World of Light: the Endless Now

JURI HAN

Level 5: 36/50
Location: Mafia Town
Word Count: 518
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance: Level 5: 37/50

---

Juri’s ears perked up at the promise of immediate, random acts of violence. They rattled against the roof and cracked the cobblestones of Mafia Town. Juri had been having fun acting as Spider again, but this was sounding like it’d be all out war.

”Well, sounds to me like the circus has come to town.” Juri said. She had little interest in protecting Mafia Town, unless someone paid her too. But if there was going to be a fight, she wanted to be involved. And on raiders and invaders, she could really let loose and even be rewarded for it, just for free. It was pretty much a win win.

Juri sprinted outside, gun slung over her shoulder, an excited grin spreading across her features.

”These idiots are literally raining from the sky! Bwahaha!” Juri spotted a wrestler chasing after some chump, looking to scoop her up into a suplex. Juri’s boot cracked into his skull while he was distracting, and she thrashed him around until he went flying into a brick wall. He stood up fast.

“Th-thank-” The woman began, before Juri turned on her. ”BOO!” She exclaimed, and the victim shrieked and ran off. Juri giggled and turned her attention back to the wrestler, who was already charging her way.

She responded with a heavy kick, planting her front foot and twisting her rear foot forward to slam into him. Then with a cackle, she launched him upward with a wheel kick.

”Come on!” Juri taunted, slashing her foot upward with a streak of energy, which she followed up by sending it along the ground like a wave. When the wrestler went to step around it, she unleashed a fusillade of bullets towards him. Most bounced off his muscled arms, forcing him against the cracked wall. Juri rushed forward, kneed him in the chest hard enough to lift them both in the air, and then spun kick him through the wall. That was the end of that, and Juri took a few moments to kick him while he was down, before standing on his chest and using him as a vantage point to look around.

In all the chaos she saw Chrom and Rosanna raining fire down upon the invaders. Juri scoffed. ”Shouldn’t you two be doing your jobs right about now?” She looked in the direction of the plate. If the mafia boss had any rivals, now would be a time to try and serve his head up on a silver platter.

Didn’t matter much to Juri. She wasn’t getting paid to protect him, she was getting paid on a contract basis to attack his enemies. Besides, the Seekers were nearly done with this place.

…Still. She knew the route up. It wouldn’t take much to check up on him. Saving his life could earn her some big bucks, and there would probably be some skulls to crack on the way up, or down. The goodie two-shoes could run around saving people if they wanted too. Juri turned and ran, making her way to the familiar cannons that she used to launch herself up there.

Young Justice

The Incorrigible Iceburn!

Interactions
Infiltrator Team

---

Iceburn scoffed good-naturedly at Viktor's dry banter back at her. "Okay, those might be literally chill pills, but it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. And besides, the 'chill' part is also because it's cold. And it's a cylinder so it's pill shape. But it's also forcing them to- okay nevermind. It's Chill Pill. Fuckin'- fuckin' Chill Pill technique." Iceburn dusted off her shoulder even though there was no dust, to figuratively settle the matter.

She took a few breaths into her palms and then rubbed her hands together, making sure her C-Mist was topped off. Plenty of magic ice juice left in the tank, as long as she had a moment to catch her breath. Without a source of water (humid air helped) her ability to create ice drew from her stamina instead.

Iceburn moved inside, hands up and broiling over with mist, her stance low. She didn't notice the bad guys before Viktor did, but of course she would take his word for it. When Viktor fired his sonic emitter she followed his line of sight and saw some of them. They had regular guns, not the advanced stuff some of the others had. Of course guns were lethal, but they lacked the supernatural punch required to deal with her powers.

"Making cover!" She responded, using the moment of time Viktor bought to her advantage. She fired a blast down at the floor in front of her and created a wall of ice that leaned forward slightly, about seven feet tall. Bullets fired her way would crack and burrow into the ice, dealing little structural damage. A big sonic boom gun probably could have broken it in, like, one and a half shots. "I think making cover is better than taking cover. Haha." Iceburn quipped.

"Suppressing Icefire!" She shouted almost gleefully, and punched a few rolling uppercuts into the edge of her ice wall. The chunks arced towards the enemies in cover like kicked soccer balls. They would explode on contact, knocking anyone caught in the radius off balance. The ice would disable any guns on direct hit with the enemy's body, and of course knock them on their ass. The idea here was to force the baddies into hiding so they couldn't shoot her teammates. Still, one overeager gunman was flattened by a direct hit, their gun becoming useless as it was soaked in water and snow chunks. He stumbled to his feet, grabbing a sidearm and diving behind one of the pillars.

"Pow pow pow!" Iceburn shouted, making a show of it.