The Grand Crossover RP - Pathway to Origin [IC/PG-13/Moved to NCM for Finale]

[Merci]

As the Divine continued to gather up, Viligance doing his job, Isamy silently examined each individual. She had full confidence in Jecht and Sephiroth's competence, but what about the others? There was certainly a wide variety of people, all of whom wanting to change their reality in some way.

 

Matthew, Arthur, Alister, Dorian and Darcy were all pretty average, but Riley was a little bit worrying. He had been sitting on her throne before she even entered the room, after all. Kobalt too, and his dragon. There were also those two professors, Kozaky and Frankram. Even though her DM clothes would protect her from whatever they attempted, somehow, she felt like she should avoid interacting with them directly. Kiotso and Xeta made her a little uncomfortable, but she wasn't racist. Then there was that Sayer person, whose mere presence definitely made her uncomfortable. Even though she was a century old, she could feel a wide gap between their experiences - he was way older than her, and she knew it.

 

Her eyes then lingered on a spiderwoman for a bit, who was hanging down by a web from the ceiling, with a look of confusion. Dismissing it, she looked elsewhere. When it came to ideals, she liked Sheibra and Judaihime the best, and not only because they were all girls. The two of them ad suffered, and they could understand and agree with her own ideal the best - the one of removing all despair from the multiverse.

 

"Um-"

 

Standing up from her throne, Isamy ended up at a loss for words, being slightly embarrassed in front of so many people, though she kept a cool face. The plan was simple - gather up a bunch of warriors and have them delay the Counter Corps while she continued to search for the Key. But now that she'd actually done it, it was only then that the fact that she had to lead these people  had begun sunk in. They were all depending upon her to grant their desires, and she could tell that not all of them trusted her very much. She'd never had this sort of pressure before, and after a(n unnecessary) deep breathe, she spoke.

 

"Thank you all for coming, fellow Divine. Now, I- um, wait, is everyone here yet?" She paused awkwardly to scan the room once more. There were still a few missing, like that insane Melvin guy or the muscular guy with the gas mask. Should I wait? But I've already begun speaking... Now they're all giving me weird looks. Not good. I shouldn't have stood up yet. It's too early. I'm going to lose their trust. Calm down, Isamy. Let's just sit back down and pretend that never happened. Then the immortal sat back down onto her throne, in an increasingly awkward manner. "...Let's just wait then."

 

 

---

 

 

Most of the Counter Corps had already gathered. One by one, he analyzed them one last time, reassessing their abilities and trying to predict whom would work best with whom. He found it particularly hard to pair Big Boing with anyone, since her abilities were rather unique compared to the others. Perhaps he should team her up with Cody Renner, and then assign either Jin Akatsuki or Kenpachi to aid them both.

 

Then again, it might be more beneficial if he simply allowed them all to form their own teams... Yes, that would be the most logical choice. If he forcefully paired up two warriors who hated each other, the rivalry ad friction could prove detrimental to their success. Because of that, it would be far better to have them choose their own partners, ones that they'd be comfortable with. As long as they all kept their determination and weren't distracted by anything else, they had a choice to win this.

 

Although, there were still a few left behind that Emiya couldn't help but note. They should've seen the gigantic sword fall out of the sky already, so either they were busying themselves with their equipment, or... doing something more important than the fate of the very multiverse itself. He would have to start without them.

 

"Everyone, thank you all for coming." Emiya spoke up in a confident, powerful voice, although it sounded kind of rude since he was still leaning against the giant sword. "As you all know, the multiverse is collapsing due to the activities of Isamy Maximus, who intends to use the power of the Door of Origin to rewrite it into her own image." Stretching out his right hand, a bright light was emitted for a split second before a golden ring materialized above it and landed onto his palm.

 

"Before I begin, each of you should equip this ring. This will protect you from the corrosive effects of the Shadow Realm, the realm to which we'll heading to in a bit. It also gives you a '+5 Sanity boost', by the way."

 

After putting the ring on his finger to serve as an example, he flicked his hand and projected identical shining rings into their hands. Of course, they could choose not to wear it if they wanted, but that wasn't recommended unless they preferred to face their deepest, darkest fears directly over and over and over and over again and go mad from it, or they had enough confidence in their own willpower. If there was anyone like that here, he'd have to admit he would be genuinely impressed.

[Phantom Roxas]

Sora tried to grab at the little girl playing with his hair, and pulled the Keyblade away when she went so far as to lick it. He had almost forgotten how strange the girl was, but it made him happy to know that she at least meant no real harm. Then, Kenpachi asked a question Sora was reluctant to answer.

"It's… Complicated," Sora said. "What I mean is, Roxas was my Nobody. He was my other half, so I guess you can say I'm just as strong as him. However, now…" Sora pointed to his heart. "He's in here. We fought some enemies that we couldn't stop on our own, so Roxas offered to become one with me again. I can still feel him, in my heart, and I know he remembers you too!" Sora held out a hang to Kenpachi, but as Sora got close, he stumbled, as if just being in the very presence of this man was enough to make gravity itself feel heavier. Sora regained his composure, and laughed. "Sorry. I guess you've gotten pretty strong since you helped out Roxas."

Emiya then began to speak, and Sora turned his attention the red knight. Emiya spoke of a place known as the Shadow Realm, and warned everyone that they would need to wield a ring in order to maintain their sanity. As an expert in wearing stat-boosting rings, Sora nodded and put on his ring without a second thought.

---

Eria looked around, trying to find other people that may have lost their way. Her eyes caught a boy who had his own blade planted in the ground, trying to keep him up. Eria ran to the boy, afraid that the Counter Corps could have lost a member before the battles had even begun. She approached the boy, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asked, keeping a calm voice, knowing that if she was more forceful, she wouldn't be helping the boy.

Eria then heard the voice of Emiya, and she felt something swell up in her throat at the very mention of the Shadow Realm. Maybe it was different for all these people from different universes, but for Eria, it was a place people would equate to Hell itself. Eria took a deep breath, took her ring, and slipped in on her finger. "This is for Gagagigo," she told herself.

---

Arthur smiled as MachGaogamon tried to be friendly with the gruff man, but then Isamy decided it was time to address the people in the throne room. Or at least, at first. After noticing that not everyone was present, Isamy became quiet again, suggesting for us to wait. Deciding that it would be no harm to speak up, Arthur chose his words carefully.

"If I may, Miss Isamy, do not think you should have to wait for everyone else. If they have not found it important enough to arrive here swiftly once Vigilance delivered your message, then perhaps it would be in our best interest to just continue on without them. Should anyone arrive late in the middle of what you have to say, I'm sure that some of us could just bring them up to speed."

[Dad]

"It's… Complicated," Sora said.  Kenpachi could tell by his voice that something had happened.  Something Sora had trouble discussing.  He wouldn't press the issue.  "What I mean is, Roxas was my Nobody. He was my other half, so I guess you can say I'm just as strong as him. However, now…"  Sora pointed towards his heart.  "Other half huh?" Kenpachi was thinking.  If Roxas was just half of Sora, there was no telling the amount of strength Sora could muster.  And Kenpachi knew from experience, that when you go through something tragic.  When you lose someone dear to you. . . . he began to reflect on his battle with Unohana not long ago, where he'd slain her.  When you lose someone dear to you, it unlocks your true potential.  Sora had a lot to lose from what Kenpachi could understand.  And Kenpachi felt the same.

"He's in here. We fought some enemies that we couldn't stop on our own, so Roxas offered to become one with me again. I can still feel him, in my heart, and I know he remembers you too!"  Sora offered a handshake to Kenpachi before nearly stumbling, but catching himself quickly.  "Sorry. I guess you've gotten pretty strong since you helped out Roxas," he said laughing.  Kenpachi obliged, shaking Sora's hand and smiling.  "You could say that."

 

Before their conversation could continue however, Emiya had spoken, and Zaraki immediately turned his attention to his own Captain Commander (which was new considering in his world, he WAS the Captain Commander).  He picked up Yachiru from her scurrying and poked her in the forehead to make her pay attention.

 

 

Emiya began the meeting among the Counter Corps without a hitch.  "As you all know, the multiverse is collapsing due to the activities of Isamy Maximus, who intends to use the power of the Door of Origin to rewrite it into her own image."  This annoyed Kenpachi the most.  Whoever this woman was, she was attempting to rewrite everything Kenpachi held dear.   His past fights, his friends and allies, his entire world would be erased because of this woman's self absorbed, close-minded attitude.  Kenpachi wouldn't allow it if he had a choice.

"Before I begin, each of you should equip this ring. This will protect you from the corrosive effects of the Shadow Realm, the realm to which we'll heading to in a bit. It also gives you a '+5 Sanity boost', by the way."

 

Kenpachi held the ring up high, and Yachiru met his hand with hers, raising her ring as well.  He urged Yachiru to put her ring on, and she did oblige nodding in compliance.  Kenpachi did not, however.  Instead, he put the ring into his pockets out of respect instead of crushing it altogether.  "Oi.  Yachiru.  What's he mean by sanity?"  Yachiru snickered.  She whispered into his ear, "It means you might have to fight some scary stuff Kenny."  Kenpachi remained facing forward as a crooked smile crossed his face.  "Sanity?  Sorry I don't remember having such a useless thing in the first place.  And if it means better fights would be lost, then I can't wear it."  Suddenly Kenpachi was excited.  He couldn't wait to find out just what types of opponents he would face.  Would they be human?  Would they be demons?  Would they be aliens?  With the types of fighters gathered here, there was honestly a large chance Kenpachi would fight something or someone he'd never seen before.

 

And that's exactly what he wanted.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

[spoiler=Foster's Prologue]

The teleporter rematerialized an African-American man in the dress whites of Neighborhood Watch's military arm, and an aide in a similar outfit used a device to scan him. "You're clear, sir." The aide announced. "Proceed to her office, but be careful." The man nodded, ignoring the klaxon of the planetwide Red Alert as he proceeded through the hallways, an armed escort following him to his destination. These were dangerous times, especially here on Stalwart, the headquarters of Neighborhood Watch. One of several "leases" Itsu had handed out when she created the pocket universe for her world of Hearth, Stalwart was a fortress, safe against any potential attacks. Three layers of automated orbital defense platforms, the Rashomon Gates, kept any ships at bay, while a sophisticated series of Dimensional Stabilization Generators kept the world and much of the surrounding space immune from anyone trying to enter into that space from anywhere else. Finally, a massive orbital ring cloaked Stalwart in a planetary shield, with any access to the planet's surface needing to be cleared through the local command structure, and ships were not permitted beyond the shield, instead docking at facilities along the ring. Outside of the port moon of Halifax, Stalwart is the largest port Neighborhood Watch has at its disposal, and contains the elite Home Fleet as one last defensive measure.

Yet Neighborhood Watch is in chaos due to all of these anomalies erupting out of nowhere. The sophisticated courier system Neighborhood Watch employed to keep its outposts and bases in touch with each other had disintegrated under the strain, leaving ships, installations, and operatives stranded and in the dark. And even those assets were vanishing as communications broke down and the anomalies affected the dimensional travelers. Like Itsu, people were having their personal timelines cut by the anomalies and either changing radically as their temporal states desperately struggled to reassert themselves, or simply no longer existing. Contingencies were being enacted to treat this as an attack, and all efforts were being focused on Hearth. Whatever courier captains were willing to risk it were heading along the primary channels, sending out alerts to head to either Stalwart or the nearest base. Yet Stalwart itself was quickly becoming besieged, the space around it filled with fighting fleets. Neighborhood Watch had made many an ally, and many an enemy, and these many factions either thought Neighborhood Watch was to blame, or had lost their alliances with Neighborhood Watch and became hostile. The once-proud organization was crumbling from the waves of flux and rapid changes, and Foster counted his blessings that he had been pulled from the far-off world of ISBN-0-7434-3525-7 to see the Supreme Director of Operations for Neighborhod Watch: Delilah Atlas.

The guards approached the double doors to Delilah's chambers, and prepared themselves as the breached her main office and surrounded her desk, her chair with its back to them. Foster strided in, and announced. "You wanted to see me, Ma'am?" The chair spun around, the guards cocking and raising their weapons, only to see a weary blonde-haired woman dressed in a similar unisex dress uniform as Foster, but her blue eyes were starting to turn gold. Similarly, faint pink highlights could be seen in her hair. Delilah was created from Sayer, the leader of the Arcadia Movement, but Sayer's mind remained within her as a malicious alter-ego, Sybil, who possessed incredible raw psionic power. They shared a similar relationship as Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, being two sides of the same coin. And Delilah was trying her hardest to make sure the coin does not flip. "Yes...we have received a message from Itsu...regarding the nature of this cataclysm."

"Itsu? She knows what's going on?"

"Somewhat. She has an...invitation...A portal fixated on her. She is using her divine abilities to suppress its influence, but she is also suffering from the ill effects of this catastrophe. We're sending you to support her in finding out what's going on, as well as to locate a very valuable asset we have."

"What kind of asset?"

Delilah handed him a small handheld hologrojector with a green crystalline datachip inside, which powered up to display the model of a starship, a sleek and angular design with two powerful-looking nacelles resembling swept wings. "The And With Strange Aeons. It's a prototype ship we've been very protective of. As it launched off on its maiden voyage, it disappeared, and these anomalies started occurring. We need you to discern whether or not the Aeon is the cause of these problems, but bring it back regardless."

"And if Itsu doesn't want to go hunting after one of our ships?"

"Check the crew manifest."

Foster punched in some codes, scrolled through the list of crew, and finally found the name she wanted him to find, his pupils dilating in shock. "You don't mean...?"

"You will find Itsu to be quite agreeable when she finds out who is on that ship." Delilah suddenly gasped and grunted, the pink in her hair spreading like wildfire. She grimaced to him. "Go...go before...She can...stop you..."

Foster ran out of the room, the doors closing behind him and sealing shut. As he ran off with the crucial data, he could hear the sounds of the guards' pulse rifles going off, and shed a single tear for Delilah.

 

 

The silver ship glided towards the giant blade, eventually setting down near the meeting place. Landing gear extended from the bottom section of the ship as it carefully thrummed down towards its landing spots. The autoturrets along the exterior emitted landing lights in the twilight of the realm they were in, and additional lights came on near the back. Inside, Itsu was strapping on a red scabbard with a katana inside as Foster's backpack-like Recourse Integration Gear charged up with power, the blue semi-circular indicator filling up with wedges of light. He finished syncing the RIG to the Inch of Will, and then stowed a camouflaged-colored egg-shaped piece of equipment on the bottom of the RIG, where it clamped on magnetically. the two nodded to each other and Itsu asked out loud. "Open the cargo bay doors, Brad." The reply from Brad was very monotone. "I'm sorry, Ma'am, but I'm afraid I can't do that." There was a brief moment of silence before the doors at the end of the huge storage compartment that composed the belly of the ship started to part and a slight ramp extended down the few feet from the deck of the bay to the ground of the Unlimited Blade Works. "Sorry. I'm just kidding. You can go out." They rolled their eyes and groaned as they walked out. "Next time, never let your in-flight movie be 2001: A Space Odyssey." Itsu agreed to this. "At least I know I won't give Brad any orders that will conflict with his programming." They strolled out onto the ground itself, and approached the group, where they received the bands. As soon as they both clasped it around their fingers, they both felt a bit better and relieved. Itsu then announced. "Hello. My name is Itsu Fudo, and this is my associate, Commander Cincinnatus Foster." Foster spoke up. "You can just call me Foster, or Commander, if you want to use a military structure." Itsu continued. "I've dealt with Isamy before, but I never imagined she could go to these extremes. We're willing to team up with anyone that wants to be accompanied by people with experience, combat expertise, plenty of equipment, and a freakin' spaceship." She indicated back to the plane-sized craft behind her. "Any takers?"

[Jolta]

"Sha- shadow realm?" Tamae questioned.

 

"I have heard of it. Basically a counterpart of Hel, the Underworld, Yomi. In other words, where people go when they die," Gin explained what 'she' knew, "when they are killed. In a more specific manner. For now, we seek a worthy team."

 

Gin put the ring on, and so did Tamae. "Remember Tamae..." Gin blushed while beginning to speak, "if we don't make it..."

 

"There there, fret not," Tamae smiled while she patted Gin's head amd held 'her' near her large breasts. "Now, I believe we should begin forming our teams..."

 

"You're right, Tamae," Gin blushed, before walking up to a girl with long, blue hair and a staff.

 

He then connected and twirled his index fingers. Such a long period of limited social interaction took its toll. He only talked to his family or non-humans. That was it. "U- um... I- I need a team... And I wasn't really hoping, but..."

 

---

 

"So..."

 

Otto put her ring on. Her dragons had a fitting one on their feet.

 

"Well, I think I will have to wait for an ally... or we could do this. The three of us. Together... wait..."

[Kingdom Xathers]

"... not sure if light blue is my colour," Alister mused to himself as he made his way to the Throne Room, stopping briefly by a mirror in the hallway to look himself over again; the armor he had put on was not his usual brown/earth-toned Praetorian Armor, but a far brighter set having at least three shades of light blue, trimmed with gold accents and possessing green sphere-like holo-generators on the chestplate and gloves.  The green spheres, for some reason, possessed the same sigil as the one on Alister's own pocket watch.

 

Out of impulse, Alister reached into his vest's inner pocket and pulled out that watch, the watch that had been in his possession for so many years.  It was unfortunate that it had somehow broke, but Alister had not pulled it out to find out the time; rather, he stared at the picture on the inside of the watch, a picture of himself back in his youth, standing by his friend Kaden, the father of Ratchet.  The happy smiles on each of their faces... what he wouldn't give to have those smiles back, to have Kaden back....

 

"... this is the only chance I have left... isn't it...?" Alister uttered to himself, getting slightly teary-eyed by the time he replaced his watch back into the pocket, once more proceeding to the Throne Room.  Upon entering, Alister made sure to keep as much distance from Sayer as possible, instead passing by a tall man with long silver hair, taking note of a faint smell of vanilla and roses about him, before stopping by a bronze skinned man standing by a young human male and a large, blue-furred creature with a rocket attached to its back.

 

Sayer didn't mind that Alister was actively avoiding him.  In fact, he couldn't care less.  To him, Alister and anyone else he saw fit was to be more of a mere plaything at the very least.

 

---

 

Upon hearing Emiya's words, Alexander was immediately reminded of what he himself was fighting for: all of the dimensions he had traveled to, all of the individuals he had met and befriended, all of the good he did for those worlds... he couldn't let that be erased.

 

"Could this ring be any more tacky?" Jeanne's words snapped Alexander out of his thoughts.

 

"I see no problem with it," Alex replied, slipping his own ring onto his finger.  He was quite familiar with the Shadow Realm, having once traveled their with Umbris, if only for a few minutes.  He was thankful that this ring would help to block out the Realm's detrimental effects on his mental psyche.  "It doesn't have to be fancy to do its job."

 

Jeanne begrudgingly did the same with her ring.  "If it will help me get Cereza back, then so be it."

 

At this, Alexander gave another half-smile, but dropped it after a while, thinking of how Bayonetta must be faring in the Divine's clutches....

 

---

 

"... could this thing be any more cramped?" Bayonetta muttered to herself as she looked around the area in which she was held captive, surrounded by all of these random items and artifacts.  She herself was contained within a seven-cubic-foot energy field, which was blocking of all of her powers and her confiscated weapons.  Were that not the case, she would have made her exit a long time ago and that would have been the end of it.  "I don't suppose I'll be getting a prison meal anytime soon," she added, trying to ignore the growls of her hungry stomach.

 

"Better than my current situation, at least," replied another voice.  Bayonetta, confused, began looking around for the source of this voice.  "Over here, to your right.  Next to this staff."

 

What Bayonetta saw confused her even further, yet also gave her a bit of a warm, fuzzy feeling; within another containment field sat a "Build-A-Bear"-esque stuffed lion doll, complete with a red vest, brownish-red cargo pants and a pair of admittedly cute white-and-blue sneakers.  Bayonetta didn't know whether to be completely perturbed or to start fawning over it.  Instead, she blurted out, "Either I'm starting to get hunger-induced hallucinations, or I'm really speaking with a talking stuffed animal.  Then again, if this were a hunger-based delusion, wouldn't I be seeing you as a banana?"

 

"That's, uhh... that's not for me to say," replied the lion doll, starting to feel a tad bit uncomfortable....

 

---

 

Alexander once more snapped out of his thoughts when two new arrivals came by, one of who Alexander almost immediately recognized.  "Itsu...? Itsu, is that you?  Hey!" he called out, wave an arm up.

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Richard Mason

 

The idea of bringing back his parents seemed so farfetched that he couldn't comprehend how happy he'd be. But removing their fate that nearly broke Richard in the first place would be a win-lose scenario. He can win by getting his parents back like they never died, but he would lose some of his reasoning and would never had become Azami Yamada's right hand man. It's uncomprehendable of what other consequences shall become of his actions. Only time will determine what will happen. And with time, comes anything happening to us. he thought.

 

Richard sighed as he stood outside the door of his quarters. Then, Vigilance appeared before him. He only looked at the bodiless set of armor as it informed him of Isamy wanting him in the throne. "I will arrive shortly; thank you." he said to Vigilance as it continued to move along and inform anyone else unaware of this. Walking into his quarters, he armed himself with his sword and shield and proceeded his way to the throne room. "If I'm still alive in the future, Izamy should consider recruiting more messengers."

 

---

Richard made it to the throne room at the moment Izamy began speaking and changed her mind. It was odd. She was less determined and focused as Lady Azami is. But he didn't mind it. It gave a new experience so he enjoyed the change overall. But then, a strange man spoke to Izamy about just saying what she had to say, and if anyone's late, they're late. "I disagree." said Richard. "If she wishes to wait, let her make that choice. It wouldn't be wise to inform others after the speech. I should know."

[TFfan1]

Adriel turned the ring over in his hands, debating over whether or not to put in on. Do I really need it? I'm a creature of light, an angel, shadows cringe at my presence. I've dived headfirst into Hell itself, faced the Seven Princes, and...and...I lost. What if that hides within the shadows, my failure, my loss? I can't afford to put everyone at risk if I fall just because I got cocky. He slid the ring over his finger, a wave of calm and peace rushing over him. He smiled, then he noticed a girl in a parka looking at him. He raised an eyebrow as she awkwardly approached him.

 

"Hi. Sorry, you looked familiar. My name's Autumn, Autumn Colwind."

 

"It happens. I am Adriel."

 

"You seemed pretty...well, lonely. Thought maybe you could use someone to talk to."

 

Adriel considered politely declining, but there was something about her. She was kind, outgoing, just like Arael, his late best friend. She'd practically been a sister to him. Adriel thought about what she'd tell him

'You need someone to stand with you, it balances you. You can't operate as a loner, no matter how hard you try.'

 

"Actually, I'd like that. Thank you."

 

---

 

Mammon strode into the throne room, From his pocket he produced a silver coin, which he began turning over in his fingers. The coin was special to him, one of the few things he really, honestly valued. It was a remarkable coin, one of thirty. He looked at the throne, Isamy uncomfortably staring down at them. She doesn't look happy, the little brat's over her head. He turned to look at some of the others. There better not be any bloody mind-readers here. Can't risk my own slice of the multiverse. Though, perhaps I should keep my eyes on the odd ones, Isamy would probably be grateful for me weeding out the bad eggs, maybe give me their share... Mammon looked around, picked out those he found...unfavorable, and began planning the downfall of each of them.

[Gαr]

Unlimited Blade Works

 

The barren wasteland where the Counter Corps resided intrigued and fascinated Ed while at the same time depressing him. The various blades and swords that were stuck in the ground reminded him of a graveyard of sorts, each one representing countless stories and experiences to be solemnly remembered. It was a marvel to a swordsman like Ed. And the most intriguing part was that this expanse of landscape was no real place at all, but a projection of Emiya's soul. And that in of itself depressed Ed that a single person could have such a bleak past to make their very soul so stoic and solemn.

 

Ed passed the time spent in there by meditating, examining the many swords that littered the horizon, and watch the others train and train himself. Everyone had varying powers and skills and abilities. Some were definitely more powerful than Ed who he wouldn't mind, and others not so much, but each one was unique. Once Ed saw the huge sword and heard Emiya's call, he immediately perked up. He took his time getting to where Emiya to where because he was still lingering on the swords.

 

On his way over, he took notice to a few figures that stood in the small group that had formed, especially a tall man with with a pink haired girl hanging off of his shoulder. Ed had very little interaction with anyone since he has been there and only knew that his name was Kenpachi and the girl was Yachiru. Ed arrived just in time to receive a ring that Emiya magically gave everyone. He quickly examined it before flipping like coin and putting it in his pocket. Sanity? Once I'm in the insanity of battle, I won't need anything like that.

[Love of Ghibli]

What a beautiful quality our leader possesses, uncertainty. Dorian said cynically at a somewhat low volume so that most likely only Butler could here. He rolled his eyes at the thought of actually waiting for other people. Once again his life was halted because of other people who weren't even trying to get in his way. Though this did give him some time to look around and spot his allies in this coming war. He could easily tell that there were plenty of super powerful beings in the place along with some entities that may actually be weaker than he is. Though what did annoy him was that there were a few "do-gooders" in the group. One of the late residents came in sucking up to the great leader. His overall body language came across as knight-ish. Someone who had the power of chivalry and all that noise. Dorian rolled his eyes again and looked around at more people. He snickered at the other young lad who had a very tall dog like beast accompanying him. He leaned over to Butler and spoke: Butler make a mental note remind me to ask that boy about himself. I want one of those creatures for myself. Butler nodded but thanks to his observation of the long haired one who was of the strong silent type, he asked. Are my services not good enough for you? Never that, I just want a new pet. That looks completely house broken and it looks like it knows how to use a toilet. Do you understand how great that is? Butler's face hung in comical shame. How dare he forget his masters constant need for the frivolous subjugation of others. 

 

Dorian wondered how many people they would have to wait for in order for them to get down to business. He also wondered that if this was a collection of bad guys how efficient are the good guys? How effective was their leader?

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Eria looked around, trying to find other people that may have lost their way. Her eyes caught a boy who had his own blade planted in the ground, trying to keep him up. Eria ran to the boy, afraid that the Counter Corps could have lost a member before the battles had even begun. She approached the boy, resting a hand on his shoulder. "All you alright?" she asked, keeping a calm voice, knowing that if she was more forceful, she wouldn't be helping the boy.

 

Eria then heard the voice of Emiya, and she felt something swell up in her throat at the very mention of the Shadow Realm. Maybe it was different for all these people from different universes, but for Eria, it was a place people would equate to Hell itself. Eria took a deep breath, took her ring, and slipped in on her finger. "This is for Gagagigo," she told herself.

 

The Keyblade War Hero

"Are you alright?"

 

Nero felt the hand on his shoulder as he slowly looked up, seeing Eria standing beside him. He slowly nodded as he tried to regain his composure. "I'm alright..." he said. "This place...just reminds me of the final resting place...of my Master and friend..."

 

After this, he heard Emiya's words, as he mentioned the Shadow Realm. The mention of it seemed to cause him to just clench his fist, as he slowly took his ring. Master Hao... Ryuusaki... be with me... he thought as he put the ring on. However, as he did, his eyes caught sight of a young man with...a Keyblade?! A-A Keyblade? A warrior who has control of the Keyblade...? Nero thought, slowly making his way towards the young man.

 

---

 

The Gunslinger

 

"A ring to keep sanity? Heh, well sounds interesting." Tyson said, as he took his ring, quickly slipping it on. He put his hands behind his head simply smiled as he looked at the group that had been gathered here. Quite an interesting turn out, and to think they were all from different universes & timelines...it just made him even more excited.

 

Man, if the guys could see these warriors now. They would have a field day with trying to do a bit of friendly sparring!! he thought, chuckling slightly.

 

---

 

The Assassin

 

Matt took the ring, slipping it on his finger. He slowly looked around...Eagle Sense wasn't even needed at this point...somehow he knew he could trust this group of people...

 

Though I've thought like that before. Nine times out of ten, trusting someone in the Brotherhood backfired. he sighed, as he fixed the hidden blade gauntlets on both arms, making sure they were fully operational. Let's just hope this time, me trusting these people won't cost me anything...

[Phantom Roxas]

Eria frowned at what the boy told him, but the boy took off when he saw another person in the Corps, this being one with a key-shaped weapon. It vaguely resembled the weapon she saw the boy wield. Perhaps the two new each other? Thinking that they did, Eria smiled. "Well, I guess he at least has a friend."

Eria heard a voice, and turned to see a small girl, about four feet tall. She was shy, but coherent, offering to form a team with Eria. "Sure, I'll help you! We're all friends here, right? Oh, um, my name's Eria. What's yours?"

---

Sora stared at Kenpachi, noticing that he was hiding his ring. "Aren't you going to put that on? You heard what Emiya said." Before Kenpachi could answer, Sora saw someone approaching the smaller gathering, wielding a Keyblade. Sora approached him with a smile. "Hey, you have a Keyblade too! I'm Sora! And who are you?"

[PikMan]

*This post takes place before TFfan1's post.

 

Autumn tore her gaze from the winged man to listen to Emiya's speech. So Ismay's the bad guy? Why is it all these great huge catacalysms always seem to be caused by one person being a jerk? Sighing, she put the ring on her finger. She, too, had experience with rings (that Water Ring practically saved her life) and didn't really pay it any mind. Although the Shadow Realm nonetheless intrigued her. She wondered if it would have any ill effects on her regardless, seeing as how she is primarily light-affiliated.

 

She turned towards the winged individual again. Upon closer examination, he seemed... familiar. The grey hair was what put it in her mind, but his mannerisms reflected that of someone confident, but who lost a lot in the past. Just like...

 

The man turned his head ubruptly towards her, apparently finally having taken the hint that someone was staring at him. Autumn was caught off guard, and after a second or two, decided to introduce herself.

------

Bane was very intrigued by Ismay's promise, he had to admit. His loyalty to the League of Shadows was still present, but they alone wouldn't be able to save anyone now- Especially considering the Joker's unexplained escape from Arkham. With Batman's disappearance, no one was able to stop Joker and he sent Gotham spiraling into chaos. The plan to nuke the city didn't go forward because the reactor vanished unexpectedly and for no real reason.

 

It was then Ismay appeared to him with the promise of godlike powers. With that, the League of Shadows would be invulnerable, and any corruption would be easily squashed beneath him. So naturally, he accepted.

 

Vigilance led him into the throne room, where a few of the Divine members were already waiting. One in particular stood out- He wasn't really a human, more like a small black sphere with limbs, wings, and a mechanical eye. The sphere-like being looked at him for a moment and approached. "Hey, musclehead, what happened to your face? Did it get horribly disfigured in an explosion or something? Acid? Bazooka to the face?"

 

Bane already didn't like this person. Speaking through his mask which somehow made his voice project more, he said "The truth is much more severe than you realize. My name is Bane. Why are you so curious?"

 

"Hello Bane, I'm Xeta. And I'm asking because I was previously asked to be the doctor on board. I'm well-versed in all the sciences- Astronomy, chemistry, war torture, but my strong suit is, and always has been, biology. So I figured I'd make myself useful and do the medical work. 'Course, if it's bad enough that you're wearing a mask, there's not much else I can do. But then again, this is coming from a guy who got his left eye torn out in a black hole, so who am I to judge?" Xeta rolled his remaining eye and turned. "Well, it's been nice talking to you, Blaine."

 

"It's Bane."

 

"Gehsundeit."

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

After Sarah finally got her act together and made it with the others, she was given a ring, which was suppose to reduce the effects of the Shadow Realm, which she could only imagine was like venturing forth into hell itself. To be honest, Sarah found the ring to be obsolete; if she even could be driven mad, then Ifrit would've already accomplished such a feat the day he sealed himself into Sarah's soul as a sacrifice. And the ring seemed too simple to be of any real beauty, so wearing it just for the sake of it being a ring was quickly ruled out too. However, there was one more thing that seemed to be the deal-breaker, perhaps what Emiya had said...

 

"It also gives you a '+5 Sanity Boost', by the way."

 

"Just for that, you can have this back," Sarah sourly tossed the ring back to its owner as she said this, already disliking the tone of her new leader. Something about the way Emiya was speaking screamed LookatmeI'mamightyhotshot to Sarah... not the type of leader she needed for an endeavour like this.

 

...

 

Inside the Shadow Realm, Lerna, the Witch of Infinite Possibilities and born of Galina Hikari falling into despair, continued to plot the demise of the Messengers of Magic, so that she and her brethren could feed off the humans' despair unrivalled. Already though, she had to make some major adjustments to her already ambitious plot. Lerna had learned of the capture of Juubey from her original universe, and had infected multiple humans with Witches' Kisses in an effort to scout out Juubey's location. Neither Unlimited Blade Works nor Izamy's castle have been breached yet; both leaders had a knack of maintaining just enough forces to bring each siege to a grinding halt. However, the Witches' Kisses certainly weren't going to waste, with what Lerna automatically harvesting the victims' souls whenever they died before the Kisses themselves were removed. And although Lerna had a finite supply of humans to infect, there was no need to start rationing... not just yet.

 

Eventually, Lerna's persistence was beginning to pay off. A large-breasted woman with a Witch's Kisses managed to enter Izamy's vault unscathed, and had found Juubey in an instant, along with several other artefacts; a book on demons, a strange red and white ball and a sceptre of some kind to name a few. Getting out of there alive was another matter entirely, but that wasn't entirely necessary. What was more important was that the victim could retrieve enough information of Izamy's castle for Lerna before her inevitable demise. The victim proceeded to slip out of the vault to find Izamy, whilst keeping an eye out for other Divine members.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

[spoiler=Melvin's Prologue]

...

I've got nothing.

Plus, it's Melvin from Yu-Gi-oh! Abridged.

Does he really need a prologue?

 

 

Melvin strolled through the castle singing to himself while wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses he appropriated from one of the people he had recently hugged. Besides, how useful would that mustached cop with an axe be anyways? He couldn't take a mere hug. "Dueling Melvin Style." Melvin sang to himself. "Melvin Style." He then started to do a rather silly dance of him prancing about with his hands in front of his pelvis, miming the action of riding a horse.
"Torturing hos, hearing their screams until they pass out.
It's so sick, but I like to make them know I'm going flat-out.
I just need the Pharaoh 'cuz this show is what he's about.
He's not getting any copouts."

Just as the song was getting good, he reached the chamber where he was to meet his new "boss", though he had no respect for this Isamy girl, and they both knew it. He simply found her faction to be better than the other one, and thought a world where he could kill and torment the Pharaoh over and over and over again would be a dream come true. He simply walked up to Isamy and asked. "What's shaking, Nomelons?" He thought that was a good nickname, referencing the lack of fruit or bosom that his new leader had. "What land of lollipops and flying babies are we going to today?"

[Kingdom Xathers]

---

Inside The Divine's Vault

---

"Well, seeing as you are what you are and not just a mere hallucination," Bayonetta continued, giving an intrigued yet endearing look at the stuffed lion she was speaking with, "that begs the question: How did a curious thing like you come into being?"

The toy lion crossed its arms looking off to the side. "Well, I suppose I should start by mentioning that I wasn't always like this," he said, brushing some of his mane over his right eye, seemingly out of instinct. "For one, my name is... well, actually, I have two names. In reality, my official Title is "Rubedo the Holon", but if it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to be called by my human name, Gabriel Guerra."

Bayonetta nodded in acknowledgement. "They call me Bayonetta," she replied, "but my own real name is Cereza. Just felt it would be fair to tell you."

"Nice to meet you, Bayonetta," Gabriel said, the cat-like mouth of this doll form curving into a brief smile. "Anyway--" he began to say before taking note of a sound nearby. "Someone's coming!" he gasped out a whisper before falling limply with a cute *squeak*. Bayonetta, too, feigned being asleep momentarily, to avoid suspicion. She could hear high-heeled footwear coming from somewhere close by for a few moments, and then... a doorway opening and closing, then the footsteps once more, muffled this time, telling Bayonetta that whoever was wandering about had just left.

"Okay, they're gone," Bayonetta muttered to the stuffed lion as soon as she was certain no-one else was around. "Now, you were saying, my little Cheshire?"

"Oh, uh, right," Gabriel stammered, slightly smitten by the pet name. "Anyways, Isamy sealed me inside this form when she stole my soul from my original universe." He looked down at the floor, remembering what had happened. "Sayer, he... I can't believe I let my guard down for that one instant. He took that opportunity to kill me, and...."

""Sayer"?" Bayonetta repeated slowly to herself. "... now, why does that name sound familiar? Oh, if only I could remember where from."

Gabriel heaved a sad sigh. "With me dead, I wasn't able to assist the others in stopping the comet. Idris... Yuri... Russell... God, I'm so sorry...," he sobbed, covering his button eyes with his paws.

Bayonetta was now beginning to feel sorry for Gabriel, and it certainly wasn't because of the doll-like looks. "But it wasn't your fault Gabriel," she said as reassuringly as possible.

"But I remember!" Gabe blurted in between sobs. "I remember how it was supposed to happen! I was supposed to call upon my powers as a Knight of the Magnum Opus and stop the comet!"

 

Now that he mentioned it, Bayonetta was also suddenly reminded of what should have happened in her own universe, had Isamy not stolen her away; Jeanne would have ripped Bayonetta out of Jubileus' eye just before the goddess re-awoke and, although Jeanne was still blown away out of reach, Bayonetta was still able to kill Jubileus before the incomplete Dea could destroy the universe as they knew it.  "... I know what should have happened," Bayonetta uttered, her fist clenched tightly.  "But blaming ourselves for what did happen isn't going to help anyone.  Gabriel, you have to remain strong, for your world.  Promise me that you'll at least do that."

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Matthew Supplex

Matthew didn't find it odd that Sephiroth caught on to his attempt to dissuade any kind of questions about his world, but it couldn't be helped now. "Although you have every right to know the details, I must decline your request for information. There's very little that could oppose you and I'm certainly not going to banish the little that remains." Matthew explained to Sephiroth, remaining calm and collected throughout his speech. Matthew examined the other recruits that were inside the throne room, some looked strong and Matthew knew he was in no way, shape, or form the strongest. However, if you possess other traits, strength might not be an issue.

Kiotso Senju

Kiotso paid no mind to most of the other members of the Divine, but Isamy herseld posed fairly interesting. Speaking now didn't seem at all useful, no, he would continue to observe.

[Yosuke-kun]

Cody Renner

No sooner had he gained the ring than Cody slipped it on. Any form of power up he could get was more than welcome in this fight, even if it did sound like it was straight out of Dungeons and Dragons. Next up, find a few people to fight with. It didn't take a genius to know that Cody would be utterly screwed on his own in a place called the Shadow Realm. Besides, Cody worked better as a team player than a solo act. 

 

There were two girls not far away from him already on that from the look of it. One was a little more timid than he thought any of these people would be, and the other seemed to be very kindhearted, and had blue hair. On the other end, he saw a tall man dressed some kind of samurai robe with a small pink haired girl seated on his shoulder. The girl seemed harmless enough, but something about the tall samurai sent chills down Cody's spine. That, and this man was either brave or foolish enough NOT to wear his ring. Yeah, it'd be better for Cody not to have any form of involvement in that man, just in case the Shadow Realm got the better of him.

 

Then there was the boy standing off to the side, just staring at his ring. He didn't seem to be armed, and Cody had only seen him a few times around the Unlimited Blade Works. He was always alone too, and when he did see him, he was in one of the training facilities. No doubt he was strong, but would Cody be able to work with him? The boy looked like he'd be nice enough, but he was too much of an enigma to Cody. The fact that he also refused to wear his ring didn't help either.

 

Turning back to the blue haired girl, Cody made his decision. He walked over to the two, and began the process of introduction. "Hey, you two are forming a team, right? My name is Cody Renner. Would you mind if I joined in? I'm not very strong, and have nothing particularly special about me, but I'll do what I can to help."

 

Jin Akatsuki

 

The Shadow Realm, huh? Good. I might have some sort of advantage there. Admittedly, Jin had no idea how the universe they'd be going to would be, but if he was right, he should be able to manipulate the darkness their the same way he did in his world. That'd save him some aura at least. With that in mind, he decided to pocket the ring that Emiya had given them rather than wear it. At the very least, he'd have it ready if he needed it, and it could throw his opponent of if he gained some power boost seemingly from nowhere.

 

Jin couldn't help but notice that the people around him had begun forming teams now. While Jin was certain he'd be able to handle most challenges he'd face on his own, he felt it'd be better he joined up with someone else. At the very least, he'd be able to help protect them. He activated Chaos Sight, and began to walk through the crowd, surveying each of the people at once, and deciding who he'd ally himself with.

 

"Sanity? I don't remember having such a useless thing in the first place. And if it means better fights will be lost I can't wear it."

 

The words belonged to a large man not far off from Jin with a small eccentric girl on his shoulder. Strangely enough, Jin noticed that this man didn't seem to have any soul, or rather, his body and his soul were one thing. Did that mean he was a ghost of some kind? The next thing Jin noticed was the massive amount of power he felt radiating from this man. It was enough to rival even that of the Demon Kings, and Jin could tell he still had more stored away. Jin considered asking this guy, Kenny as the girl called him, for a team up, but then realized that this man didn't need Jin to help him, and Jin wouldn't need him. Still, he wanted to see this man's full power at some point.

 

"Hey Kenny." he said trying to get the man's attention. "You're not wearing you're ring either, right? Then remind me to have a spar with you if we both live through this." Having said his piece, Jin continued to walk among the group, until he saw someone he'd recognized.

 

"Ayame?" he asked quickly deactivating his Chaos Sight. Sure enough, Ayame and Naomi stood there not far from Jin. They looked exactly how he remembered them two years ago when they went missing. Then this is where they went. Jin had no need to even ask why he wasn't picked up at the same time as them. If he was, he'd only be a hindrance to the Counter Corps. "Ayame, Naomi, what're you- Never mind that. You guys are both okay, right?" 

 

Looks like I found my team... Jin thought to himself.

[Hälō]

Jecht

 

"He talks too,huh? Nice to meet ya, the names Jecht." Jecht starred up at the massive 'Digimon', grinning as he extended his fist for a bump. The force that resonated from their seemingly simple gesture, was substantial, but would only be felt by the two. Satisfied with the power he felt from his new ally, Jecht turned to watch as a few the missing members arrived. None of them seemed particularly interesting, except maybe the man in the mask, who seemed to be talking to the black beach ball... "Where I come from, we kick our sportswear..." Pointing the black sphere out to the boy and his 'Digimon', Jecht couldn't help but laugh. "We call it Blitzball, and back at home I'm actually the champ!"

 

Sephiroth

 

Sephiroth grunted at man's response, no longer showing any signs of interest. "Very well." Watching as the spiky haired child walked up to Isamy's throne, Sephiroth decided is was time to start this meeting. Turning his back to Mathew, he offered the man a warning. "As long as my soul remains in the lifestream, I'll never truly die."  

 

"What land of lollipops and flying babies are we going to today?" Sephiroth furrowed his brow, as this was the first thing he heard as he approached. Giving the boy a strange look, Sephiroth chose to ignore his  ramblings, and simply step past him. Now staring down at the Time Witch, Sephiroth spoke in his most soothing tone. "It would appear that we're all in attendance... You've gathered us here to achieve a goal, and if you wish for your plans to succeed, you need to take initiative." In reality, he couldn't careless about this girl's emotional state, but it was indisputable that she was necessary for his own plans to succeed. Even If he had to deal with her weakness for the remainder of the war, It was small price to pay for ultimate power. 

[Dad]

Most of the Counter Corps had gathered.  There were more than Kenpachi had expected, quite a few of them were strong.  Some not as strong as others, some not as strong as Kenpachi, but one person stood out as he called Kenpachi by his nickname.

"Hey Kenny.  You're not wearing your ring either, right? Then remind me to have a spar with you if we both live through this." the man called to Kenpachi.  He wasn't sure who this man was, but he'd definitely have his name by the time they fought.  This excited Kenpachi very much.  "You're on stranger.  I'd be happy to fight ya."

Meanwhile, Yachiru continued to be her hyper active self as they awaited more instructions from Emiya.  She was busy creating nicknames for Sora, who had just scurried off to meet someone familiar.  She was thinking in the back of her head, that she would give him his nickname before the journey began.

"Hmm.  Feet-san?  (Sora's feet were not hard to miss).  Nononononono.  Copper-dono? (The keyblade had tasted like copper when she tested it earlier.)  Nononononono.  Spikey hair-kun?  Spikey hair!  Just like Kenny used to have," she said laughing over Kenpachi's shoulder.  It was hard to smile during these times, what with the entire fate of the universe being tested.  But even after every ounce of strength had to me mustered to even face this day, Yachiru still was able to put a smile on her face.  That brought a smile to Kenpachi's own face, and made his 'heart' catch fire.  Everyone around was prepared for the fight of their lives, and it had been a long time since Kenpachi had a comrade besides Yachiru.  He slowly began picking out a team to join, and instantly turned to Sora who he hoped would join him when he asked.

"Yachiru.  Are you ready?" he asked, grinning ferociously.  

"Ready for what Kenny?  Is it time to start our adventure?" she said, perking up a bit.

"Damn right."  He clenched his hand tightly around his Zanpaktou.

[Phantom Roxas]

Arthur chuckled at the boy who questioned what said. He sized the boy up the boy. He was certainly older than him, but Arthur was confident that he could take him in a fight. Before he could reply to the boy and Isamy, the silver haired man approached Isamy, saying what Arthur would have said himself.

 

"Precisely! And if there are some stragglers, just leave them behind. They're just going to drag us down if they couldn't so much as be here right now."

 

---

Before the young girl could answer, another young boy approached Eria, introducing himself as Cody. "Oh, hello Cody! My name is Eria. If you want to join our team, the more the merrier! I mean, I wouldn't want to break off from the rest of everyone, but I guess if worst comes to worst, we'll have to be better off in smaller groups. Oh, but enough about me, we still don't know what the third member of our party is named!"

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Sora stared at Kenpachi, noticing that he was hiding his ring. "Aren't you going to put that on? You heard what Emiya said." Before Kenpachi could answer, Sora saw someone approaching the smaller gathering, wielding a Keyblade. Sora approached him with a smile. "Hey, you have a Keyblade too! I'm Sora! And who are you?"

 

The Keyblade War Hero

 

"Nero..." he stated his name, as he looked at the young man, and at the Keyblade. "I can't believe that the Keyblade...that the Keyblade found its way into another warrior's hand so quickly..." Nero looked at Sora and sighed for a moment. "I take it...when that came to you...the worlds were in a dire situation again...correct?" Right now he couldn't believe this: even after the Keyblade War, the Keyblade found a new host...and if the young man answered the way he bet he'd answer...then history was slowly repeating itself.

 

"And tell me...who taught you to wield this weapon...?"

[Phantom Roxas]

Sora nodded. "Nice to meet you, Nero! Actually, I got the Keyblade about five years. When I got it, my island was under attack. As for who taught me, well, I kind of taught myself. I mean, I met this old sorcerer, Yen Sid, who taught me even more things." Sora caught himself, remembering the situation. "Sorry, you're from a different universe, right? What was it like for you?" Sora looked back, seeing Kenpachi and Yachiru. Without thinking, Sora grabbed Nero's hand and pulled him to Kenpachi and Yachiru. "Hey Kenpachi, guess what? Looks like I'm not the only one with a Keyblade here." He looked back at Nero, then looked around at the other people at the Counter Corps. The Keyblade was a powerful weapon, and it wouldn't do to have both wielders from it on the same team. Sora would have to point that out to Nero, but right now, he was more concerned with getting to know his fellow Keyblade wielder.

[Kingdom Xathers]

---

The Divine

---

Making his observations of those around him, Alister seemed rather impressed by just the sheer aura radiating from them, in particular the gruff, bronze-skinned man (whom had identified himself as "Jecht") and the one with the long silvery hair.  The blue-furred one was also impressive as, even though he could not feel the force himself, Alister did see the vibrations come off of his fist-bump with Jecht; if the blue-furred one could withstand a fist-bump containing that much force, he could certainly absorb far greater than that.

 

Still, Alister felt that he wouldn't have to worry about playing catch-up with them or the others; he could still keep up with the best of them, old age or not... though he couldn't help but feel rather left-out.  Guess he'll have to break the ice.

 

"Pardon my intrusion," Alister spoke up as he gave a respectful bow to the four individuals before him. "General Alister Azimuth. Four-Bolt Magistrate of the Lombax Praetorian Guard, and Elder Councilman for the Centre of Advanced Lombax Research--"

 

Alister was suddenly cut off by some buffoon of a youth, dancing along to a song he was singing at such an obnoxious volume.  "Ugh!  Kids and their damned mainstream music these days," Alister uttered under his breath, his scrunched facial expression further emphasizing his distaste.

 

 

Meanwhile, Sayer was making observations of his own: using his camouflaged Reconnaissance Ocular Devices, he was able to observe every individual in the Throne Room at once.  He didn't care if anyone suddenly took notice of these eyes.  In fact, he would have liked if someone suddenly freaked out at having a beachball-sized floating eyeball staring at them from a distance of twelve inches (at most).  Deciding that it was his turn to "mingle", Sayer walked up to the first person he picked at random: a large, muscular man wearing a peculiar face-mask who was speaking with what looked like a black beachball.

 

"Ah, the imfamous "Bane", I presume?" said Sayer.  "It's odd, I had imagined you to be somewhat more... "ethnic"," he added, doing nothing to hide the honesty of his thoughts.

 

It was at this moment that Melvin came into the room, and Sayer took immediate notice.  "Oh, for the love of all that is holy, satanic and everything in between," he blurted out, for once dropping his calm manner of speaking.  "She went and picked Melvin, of all people?!"

 

It took him a full five seconds to regain his composure.  "My apologies for my sudden outburst," Sayer replied after clearing his throat, his voice smooth and calm like iced venom once more.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

[spoiler=Bradbury's Prologue]

Deep within the magma chamber of Perch Mountain lies the Pound of Years, a prison ship originally designed to endure the depths of the corona of a star. Instead, Itsu commandeered the derelict ship to use as a secure vault for her...stuff...her stuff that she wanted no one to steal. After all, as far as she knew, she was the only person who wanted to enter the Pound of Years that could withstand the intense heat and crushing pressure of the bottom of a volcano's magma chamber. Once she climbed to the top of the mountain, she found the magma vent that led into the heart of the volcano, and dropped down, falling until the orange glow of the magma became present, and she dived into the fiery substance, her clothes bursting back into the flames from which they were summoned as her skin turned into metal, and segmented to become armor plating. Her body expanded and reforged itself in the heart of her sacred volcano into that of a mythril dragon, and used its wings to swim through the magma until she saw her target: a very dark shape against the stone of the volcano. She shrunk back down into a humanoid shape, and located the special hatch along the Pound of Years. Unlocking the hatch and letting the superhot molten rock in, she climbed inside of the lock and pressed the reinforced button at the back to begin cycling. Vents pumped the magma out of the lock as liquid nitrogen was sprayed into the airlock to rapidly cool it, until the inner hatch finally chimed. Itsu began to shapeshift back, finding it harder to assume a form that was not her true form, and flames cloaked her body, stitching and carbonizing elements to make a more practical, reinforced kimono for doing actual work and ass-kicking.
"Welcome back, Itsu." A synthesized masculine voice filled with wisdom and patience announced. "I regret to inform you that we had an intrusion very recently."

"An intrusion?" Itsu replied, sounding concerned as she went to check on her things. "What kind of intrusion?"

"One I cannot explain. One moment, Pure Edge was on my sensors, the other, it wasn't." A holographic screen popped up of a security video displaying Itsu's Weapons Vault, with the centerpiece being a sword with a circular, Keyblade-like guard, but a black rectangle for a blade. As the video progressed, all of a sudden, the sword was gone from its case. "Now, this is the peculiar part. None of my sensors are malfunctioning. I have had drones inspect my perimeter markers. Everything is functioning at optimum levels, including the sensors aimed at Pure Edge." There was clear concern in the artificial intelligence's voice. "There are only two explanations: either my own programming has somehow become corrupted or inefficient, or some sort of strange phenomenon acted upon Pure Edge to remove it entirely from this spacetime. Unfortunately, this is not the only discrepancy. I am detecting several pieces in your collections that appear to no longer exist."

"Don't fret, Brad. You're long overdue for a systems diagnostic anyways, but I have a good hunch it was the latter. A lot of strange anomalies are ravaging the multiverse, and this might be the work of one of them. But, to eliminate the possibility..." And to prevent you from driving yourself insane from this potential logic loop. Itsu added mentally. "...I will perform a check of your systems. Bradbury, enter Diagnostics Mode. Administrator Authorization India-Lima-Lima-Uniform-Sierra-Tango-Romeo-Alpha-Tango-Echo-Delta. Confirm."

"Vocal recognition patterns positive. Authorization code valid." Immediately, holograms surrounded Itsu that represented the operating system Bradbury was using. "Diagnostics Mode engaged."

After a few hours of sifting through Bradbury's various subroutines and packets, and scanning them for viruses using an independent program she uploaded from a data crystal she kept in subspace, she deactivated Diagnostics Mode, returning regular functionality to Bradbury. "Good news, buddy. You're clean, and I put in some cognitive upgrades. No need to be all bent up about this. But I know where we can get answers, though first, prepare the Inch of Will for launch, and take us up to the launch site on my mark."

"Roger that. Thank you, Itsu." The AI was another refit Itsu gave the Pound of Years, a versatile sentient program capable of a wide variety of tasks, such as being the curator to one of the most insane private collections in the multiverse. The dimensionally transcendental vault-ship was the closest thing Itsu had to a TARDIS, and stored countless pieces of equipment, trophies, curios, and enough gold bullion, gemstones, and other priceless artifacts to buy the Milky Way. But many of these objects had memories attached to them, and to see them start to vanish confirmed her worst fears for her: she was breaking apart, and unless she responded to Emiya's "invitation", she would most likely stop existing, and everything she had ever done would fall into the void with her.
After spending some sentimental time with her belongings, she finally found what she was looking for, and found a hovercart to begin packing. All manner of gizmos and doodads found themselves on the cart, as well as a strange katana with a red and gold hilt, a crossguard resembling a V-shape, but also seeming like a fox's head, and a bushy gold attachment with a white tip at the base of the hilt. She found an elevator and went down to the bottom of the ship to a massive hangar littered with various craft, but the one at the forefront, the retrofitted Tau Manta, was her vessel of choice. She loaded her gear inside of her yacht, and spent the next few hours prepping the Inch of Will for launch, giving the ship a tune-up for its voyage. Finally, she entered the ship and informed Bradbury. "Take us up." She could feel the ship shudder as the Pound of Years started to go up. She then tells Bradbury as she begins her pre-flight check. "Also, willing to transfer over to this ship? I know you can automate the Pound of Years, and I figure we won't be gone long."

"Are you sure?"

"I need a co-pilot. I can't plot jump coordinates on my own."[/color]
"Yes, ma'am." The ship burst out of the open magma pool at the top of the volcano and opened the hangar bay doors on its belly, letting the gravitic clamps fire the smaller ship out, and Itsu pressed in a series of coordinates as the Inch of Will blasted off while the Pound of Years dove back into Perch Mountain. They quickly reached escape velocity, Itsu still making calculations with Brad's help. As they rise up through the sky, the engines in the rear begin to glow with an infinite assortment of colors, until Itsu finished her calculations. She finally gripped both joysticks, and powered them forward, sending the Inch of Will off in a burst of rainbow energy that sent ripples through time and space.

 

 

 

Itsu turned to face the approaching Lombax and lit up. "Alex!" She ran up to him and hugged him tightly, spinning about before asking him, her face lighting up. "What are you doing here?!? How did you get here?!? This is incredible!!! I missed you!!!"

Judaihime walked out into the primary chamber where Isamy had summoned her, Yubel walking along on her right side, and Winged Kuriboh floating along to the left. Unlike most pretty princesses, this pretty princess had a look in her eyes of ironclad resolve and unbreakable determination. She looked around the others, trying to determine who is who, and who might be useful.

Foster, on the other hand, seemed a bit unnerved by Itsu's sudden outburst and just surveyed the others, waiting for anyone that might approach them to join their team. He half-wondered if he should put up a card table and some chairs with a sign on the table proclaiming "Team Tryouts".