The ends of the animeverse. It's a quiet place, beyond the edges of the stars. Serene, Peaceful....
>BOOOM!!!<Usually, Anyhow.
<Stay away! You'll ruin it!!>
<Dammit, it's my turn!>
Two entities, percivable only as balls of light to the human eye, one steady and bright, the other flashing crazily, dueled. The air, if there had been any, was torn by explosions and devastaing blasts, the were beginning to warp and rend the fringes of the universe that was being fought over. A slight ripple in the fabric of the universe heralded the arrival of another presence.
<THAT IS ENOUGH!!>
<Dad!>
<Father!>
<That will be quite enough. If you keep this up, neither of you will have a playground. I know I taught you better than this.>
<But-!>
<But-!>
<But nothing. Settle this. If you must fight, do it the right way. You're beyond this direct squabbling, like the beings you govern. Order and chaos must battle, but you are not permitted to endanger your worlds directly. It's high time you began acting your age. Understood?>
<Yes, sir.>
<Yes, sir.>
<Good. I'll be looking in on you soon, and I expect to see it arranged.>
With that, the third presence was gone, and the two forms regarded each other uncertainly.
<Acting our age?> *puzzled*
<I think he means Avatar warriors> *uncertainty* <Some of the gods used them.>
<We're MORE than some stupid gods!>
<That's why we have to be better than them.>
<I'll get better ones, you know....I'll win!>
<No way!>
<Betcha I will. In fact, if you don't think I can, how about if I win, it becomes my multiverse?>
<No! You blew up your last multiverse! Everyone died of insanity!>
<Hah. You ARE afraid.>
<Am not!>
<Then why don't you agree? Prove me wrong.> *Smug*
<...>
<Told you so.>
<Fine. I agree.>
<Yes!> *triumph* <A contest, then?>
*resigned* <Yes, a contest>
<Excellent. I'm going off to gather avatars. We'll begin on the nexus?>
<Yes.> *quiet*
<Fine. I'll meet you near Earth. Get ready to lose!>
OOC: Yowza! I've started. This is one half of the beginning. I'll post again later, which will be the cue for Y'all to start. I'll post instructions at the end of the next post.
Elsewhere, on a plane more easily observable by human senses, the ball of steady, soothing light appeared in a large, opulent tiled room, with pillars supporting a tiled ceiling....but strangely, no apparent walls. The room was surrounded on all sides by a starfield, and one wall held a vision of the third planet from the sun, a blue jewel occupying the entire wall. In the center of the floor, a large crystal clear sphere was inset into the floor. The light hesitated in the middle of the room, and slowly began to change.
Shifting itself into the form of a young woman, still glowing with light, the light slowly dimmed until the form was given detail and definition. Finally, the light faded entirely, leaving only the impression of glowing to anyone observing the young woman. Tall and graceful, she possessed a sort of regal elegance that most human rulers could only aspire to.
She walked across the room, pausing to staring out at the blue-white gem of earth.
"I shouldn't have agreed to this, Remnald."
A short, hairy man, with a shaved bald head and an eyepatch shimmered into view behind her. "You've said many a time that your brother has an innate ability to push your buttons, my lady." the short man replied with a relaxed air.
The woman favored him with a tiny smile. "True. But I worry for them." She said, gesturing to the blue planet. "My hubris may cost the multiverse it's life. Even if I find the right heroes, my brother can find effective counters. The diversity of the multiverse is now it's biggest weakness..."
"As the humans say, perhaps we should 'Think outside the box'?"
"What do you mean, Remy?" the woman asked him curiously.
"Most everything to be found in your domain has a weakness..." the short man began, "What we need are heroes who can exploit them."
"But we don't know who, or what my brother will muster...and we can't prepare them for everything..."
"But...Over here..." The short man pointed to the crystal sphere, and another earth appeared, though slightly different. "This version of earth has none of the heroes, but their exploits are passed around as entertainment, ne? These people would know what we need them to..."
The woman looked intrigued. "But they would be killed with the events that are everyday occurences here."
"Quite. But if we allowed them to...displace members of our multiverse for the duration..."
The woman's eyes widened. "Remy...find us some suitable candidates, and arrange for their astral forms to be brought here!"
"As you say, my lady." The short, hairy man wavered from existence, leaving the glowing woman alone.
*****
Later:
Remy had returned to the room he had departed to find the glowing woman still there watching the earth. Approaching her, he spoke. "My lady...these are the suitable ones that have the best range of skills and knowledge...would it not be faster to insert them directly into new bodies?" The short man eyed the woman hesitiantly. She simply smiled and shook her head.
"No, we need to work with them, not just expect that they will do our bidding, Remy. Also, we cannot risk placing them where they wouldn't do the maximum good possible."
"I see. So we bring them here, minus their physical bodies?"
"Yes. The Observatory can sustain their astral forms for them while we make our proposal, and explain the situation." she agreed, smiling. "Will you call them?"
"I would be honored, My lady."
With that, the short man's hands began to spread, and runes made of light formed between them as he cast a summons...
****
On another plane, eight souls were pulled abruptly from their bodies, and whisked away...
--------------------------------
OOC: Here we go! What I need from players is this: Write your departure from the 'real' world, your arrival in the 'Observatory' (The Room where Remy and 'The woman' currently are) your reaction, and if you like, noticing that you are now somewhat ghost-like.
As soon as I have one of these from each of the participants, I'll begin the scene.
Oh, and also, I know you haven't been inserted yet. It's coming, no worries. ^^
How strange...
The young man blinked, lazily regarding the unfamiliar ceiling above him. I suppose I'm having one of those dreams again...
Last thing I remember was turning off that damn clock... he thought boredly, recalling the events leading up to that point. Though it was odd how realistic it had all felt.
He remembered listening to the soft symphony of the morning birds...
He could almost feel the gentle breeze wafting through his open window...
Even the headache from bumping against the wooden frame of his bed when that cursed alarm blared to life felt... real... ...wait...
There's something important about that last one... He blinked in slight detachment, his awareness slowly catching up with his thoughts.
Floating to an upright position, he gazed down at himself, noting idly his somewhat ghostly complexion as well as the other figures nearby. "...now this is definately new," he muttered lazily, wondering when this dream would start making sense.
Oh-kay.... I really need to get more sleep...
Seeing the weird building looking like something out of Greek mythology, the regal being in the middle of the room, and oh yeah, the fact that he was a felt like a ghost, made the boy blink... much like the other awkening person in the room.
Let's recap. I woke up... after 4 hours of playing Smackdown 5. Good, I remember that. That was all clear...
Along with the hitting of the sleep button in the darkness of his room.
And then waking up after his mother complained about her being late.
And then getting into the shower...
And being sucked into the shower-head. Wait, that didn't seem right...
"Hmm, that definately doesn't seem right..." he mentioned as he looked at the other beings.
What the f*ck? I don't remember there being a party, or a LAN, or anything last night...
Grumbling to herself, and for the moment not paying much attention to her surroundings, she sat up, and yawned. "Hmm...turned off the monitor, read with 'im, and went to bed...so...why am I not in bed?" she asked herself, brushing some dark brown hair back behind her ear. "Speaking of which, where the hell am I?"
Finally looking up, she paused for a long moment, squinting her eyes. "O-kay...it must be a dream...or my vision went on LSD overnight. But I don't talk in my dreams, so...where did I leave my glasses?" The question was more directedat the floor than anyone, and she still wasn't paying too much attention.
"Whoa!" the young man felt disorientated after his surroundings changed abruptly. "What the fuck was that?"
He looked around the room and noticed a couple, plus a few other ghostly figures.
Alright, I've gotta be dreaming. I must've been playing so much Enter the Matrix that I passed out, and now I'm dreaming.
Then he noticed that he had the same ghost-like feature as some of the other occupants in the room.
Oh man, It's gotta be fucking embarassing to be passed out in the middle of the room in school...
Stretching a bit, Cy slowly opened his eyes. Then promptly closed them again. "Bright."
Letting the eyes adjust as he opened them again, he scowled at the scene. This was not his bedroom... And whoever these people were, most of them looked too incorporeal to be of any threat in a dream.
Looking down at himself to check for any changes, his scowl deepened as his form looked as incorporeal as the others. This was not a good start to a dream.
Bringing his gaze to bear upon the solid looking 'female' form, he waited for now.
Mornings sucked. This is the cardinal truth of life.
At least, that's what Carthrat thought, as he trudged down the street to the tram stop. Waking up at the ungodly hour of 7:00am.. walking through the cold morning air.. crossing the road without looking either way...
"Look out!" yelled someone, and he made a fatal mistake, doing just that.
Oh, a car, were his last thoughts before a sudden flash of bright light..
<->
Now this was odd, he thought, looking about his surroundings.
"Hey, I must've died and gone to heaven. Or something," he says aloud, or at least tries to, given his present form.
Ginn's mind registered that enough sleep had been obtained and it was time to procure another form of energy. However, it was noted that this does not often happen, as usually his cell phone alarm usually wakes him up for school in the morning.
Ginn slowly opened his eyes. He beheld a place never before seen, with entities he had never met in his life. He played it off as a dream.
Whatever, time to turn over and go back to sleep, I've got school in the morning.
Ginn turned over and closed his eyes.
Bean not someone who woke easily. However, being cold was one of the few things that could do so...and he definitely felt a chill.
...Okay. Never had a dream like this before...no bank vaults in sight, dammit. Wait...is that EARTH?
Bean looked around, seeing a number of tranclucent figures, similar to the state he found himself in. In the words of Doctor Beckett....Oh boy...
The woman smiled briefly at Remy, who simply bowed and stepped back. She herself stepped to the middle of the room, and let some of her power show though.
To the eight figures standing...or in one case, lying in the room, she began to glow brighter. Not blindingly so, but the light was enough to grab one's attention.
"I beg your pardon for bringing you all here so uncerimonously..." she began softly, but somehow clearly audible to all in the room. But I need your help..."
"You mean I'm not dead?" says Carthrat, eagerly.
The young ma-err, half-apparition just kind of... stared at the woman.
"I don't know where here is, but can you stop pretending to be a lightbulb? I don't want to have to ask for shades."
May blinked as the voices finally drew her out of her musing, looking up, and finally noticing the ghost like appearences of herself and everyone else.
"Oro...this is one way to wake up, I guess..." she muttered, crossing her legs and yawning.
Folding her arms on top of her legs, the young woman drew back into herself, watching the others in relative silence.
Don't think about it...you're somewhere, with a bunch of strangers...find out what the hell is going on first, and then...right, don't think about it.
Bean's attention was grabbed by the voices, and promptly somewhat irritated by the non sequitors of the first to speak. "Gerf...talk about misplaced priorities..." he mumbled. He was about to ask a question of his own, when the lone girl in the group spoke, interrupting his thoughts...though it was her first word that grabbed at his attention.
Is that...? Well, how many girls...It must be, but...yeah
His thoughts moving quickly, he examined the tranclucent form of the young woman, opening his mouth to ask a question....when he realized he had no idea how to phrase it.
May blinked several times as the word Gerf penetrated her awareness. Turning her eyes towards the source of the sound, she raised her eyebrows.
I know three...one is me, Neko-chan...and Bean. Heather would freak out if she was a guy...which leaves...Thank you captain obvious, he's even blonde!
"Oro?" she inquired softly, eyeing the man curiously.
Bean tilted his head curiously, then his eyes widened. She must have...and so she's asking if I'm...
"Oro!" he blurted, then caught himself and nodded.
May began to giggle under her breath, a sort of dismayed, exasperated laugh.
"Oro ro..." she answered, grinning wryly as she tried standing up, testing the range of movement nervously ebfore making her way over to the man, and sitting down next to him.
Folding one leg on top of the other, she rested her elbows on her knees, and sat their, glancing over at Bean nervously.
Carthrat blinks, though the fact that he's kinda trasparent means that he can still kinda see with his eyes shut, or something.
"Only an otaku would say 'Oro' the first thing when they're dragged into a weird situation!" he blurts out. "Or, uh, maybe an actual Japanese person. Yeah. Something like that.
We should introduce ourselves! Yeah! My name is Carthrat, sometimes C-Rat, sometimes Rat, if you laugh at my name, I'll kill you, I've had it for the past three years. Two years? I dunno.."
He abruptly shuts up, realising he's rambling.
Bean shifted a little, and gave the girl who he hoped was May a slightly nervous smile as she glanced him, trying not give away that his social skills were limited to talking to cashiers in stores.
And that he couldn't seem to figure out what to do with his hands. Dammit, I hate crowds....?
He looked up as the first one to talk suddenly started talking again, his mouth dropping open as he recognized the name...
"..."
May frowned at the third person, sighing as she recognized the name. "Right..." Raising her voice a little to reply, and pushing down a wave of unease. "I guess you'd know me, unless you're a different Rat that doesn't know Asrana..." she replied, poking Bean Bean gently and smiling.
"Calm down...it's just me..." she murmured quietly, a tad nervous.
"Aka Karthuratsu Tanewaki, eh? I don't know what you are doing in my dreams, but it's nice to know there is someone I... Met before in a way. Though I'd rather be dreaming of my fiancee."
Looking at the 'woman' again, he asked. "You said you need something from us? Might as well find out what this dream is about."
"And if it isn't Sai. And May. And blondie, who must be Bean, because only Bean would look at May like that, and I don't think there were any other blondes on the forum," says Carthrat. "Oh, and this isn't a dream. It must be heaven, because I just got hit by a car, see, and I doubt I survived that. Though I suppose I can't discount the fact that I could be in a coma- hey, I'm rambling again, aren't I?"
Sparing a quick glance at Karthuratsu Tanewaki, Sai nodded. "Yes, it is I. Though I think this is Limbo rather then Heaven."
He nodded towards May and Bean. "Good to have you here I guess."
Bean smiled apologetically, his expression warming, but still nervous. "I'll try...Sorry." he gave her a quick grin. "Nice to meet you in person...erm, sort of."
He forced himself to relax, scooting over closer, though not too close, lest he make her uncomfortable. "I'm glad you're here...I'm not good in crowds by myself." he whispered.
He looked up, nodding guardedly to Cy, then looked at Carthrat, frowning as he rambled. "Yes." he said shortly, then glanced at the glowing woman. "Uhm...Like...Sai? said, why are we here?"
The woman smiled wanly, sweatdropping at the interaction.
"Nothing so religious." she corrected Cy, smiling as her glow dimmed slightly. "Remy and I call this room the observatory..." she trailed off, gesturing at the window where an earth turned merrily outside, "For obvious reasons. Also, none of you are dead." she assured them.
"We are currently on another plane of existance...one quite parallel to your own, but not intersecting. Bringing you here in person was decided to be unwise...so we called for the astral, or mental energies that make up your selves, so we could entreat you for assistance..."
"Hang on, do you mean my physical body is where it was just before I came here?" says Carthrat, turning pale. "Uh, well, um.. fuck."
May sighed as the questioning began, taking a slow breath to suppress a wave of anxiety. Smiling slightly, she shifted closer to Bean, hugging her arms.
"Not good with crowds either..." she murmured, drawing back into herself to watch the proceedings.
The short man stepped up beside the woman for a moment, glancing at Carthrat.
"If I may..." he interjected, glancing at the woman in apology, then turning back to Carthrat. "...The timing of the call was unfortunate, young one, but your physical form has yet to perish. We've made arrangements to delay any serious repercussions of an absence."
Beside him, the woman nodded. "As well, Your families and loved ones will be cared for in your absence, should you accept our request for help."
"And what sort of help would you be needing?" The young man, who was silent until then, asked rather bluntly.
"Err... sorry for my rudeness," he quickly apologized, looking rather sheepish. "I'm not exactly a morning person." Nor do I like crowds... he admended silently.
May breathed a sigh of relief at the woman's last statement, tenson seeming to drain out of her.
"That's good..." she said to herself, smiling a little more brightly.
That's...a thousand less worries of the moment...
The woman waited a few moments for her information to sink in, then cleared her throat delicately. A soft gesture, but one that was somehow commanding, and drew the attention of everyone in the room.
"I can understand being here as you are now is disorienting, so I'll explain, as simply as I can...please, ask for clarification if you don't understand."
The woman paused, gesturing to the crystal sphere set into the floor, and an image of the earth appeared in it. After a moment, the earth split into two...then four...then eight...the process continued until the sphere was full, so small, that individual details were lost, and so many that couting became impossible.
"This is the multiverse I'm charged with the governing of." she said softly, staring into the image shown. "Until now, my brother and I have fought for dominance over it...but in a moment of weakness, I allowed my brother to bait me into fighting with the whole of it as a prize."
"Ordinarily, this wouldn't concern you at all...but...our father has forbidden us to directly wage war for it. We are to behave as...'adults', and recruit champions...avatars to fight in our stead..."
So saying, she looked up at the group, trailing off, the implication left unsaid...
"So that's why that 'your loved ones will be cared for in your absence' sounded so weird to me," the mostly-silent young man remarked. "You don't expect us to make it back alive, do you?."
The man shot Kwok a dirty look, but the woman just smiled. "I certainly can't make any guarantees. What I'm asking you to do is dangerous, but you were chosen for a reason. You all have a good chance of success..."
"Right," the young man smirked, ignoring Remy's glare. "Here we have two nervous otaku lovebirds that look like they're about to faint if one more person joins the 'crowd', a rambing idiot, a kid who apologizes before the answer is given, and who knows what the rest are like. Yeah, we stand a REAL good chance of success."
Said 'kid' spared a moment to shoot a scathing glare before turning back towards the woman. "He does bring up a point though," he said, looking rather uncomfortable with his admission. "Why did you pick us in particular?"
Bean looked up at the first speaker, his frown turning into a scowl. "Your chance of survival drops further with every word that tumbles out of that hole in your face." he told Kwok icily. Without waiting for a response, he turned back to the woman, waiting for an answer to the boy's question, his hands curling into fists.
"And add a completely tactless moron to that list," intones Carthrat. "But yes, I'm also quite interested to know what a bunch of otaku can do for you, Miss..."
Ignoring the arguing couple for now, he asked something he wanted to know about the contests first. "What will happen if your brother wins?"
May sighed, rolling her eyes at Kwok. "Can't people be close friends anymore?" she muttered to herself, turning her attention back to the woman as questions were asked.
The woman smiled, almost gratefully at Cy and Carthrat, and began regaining control of the discussion.
"First off," she began, turning to Cy, "To answer your question...I should explain about my brother. While I seek to preserve the balance of life...he seeks to upset it. Being this way is...innate to us. While not the complete truth, you might say we embody the aspects of order and chaos."
"The problem is...to successfully oversee this...I need my brother's influence...and he needs mine. Without him, My universes tend to stagnate. They lack the force for change that he provides. And...without me, his tend to degenerate into a morass of violence and decay, eventally dying of insanity."
She frowned into the globe. "This would not be a problem...save for the fact that my brother doesn't care about bringing universes to life with his influence, or using it for good. He wants me gone, so he might have his way with our realms...until they stop being amusing to him. Which is usually when he has burned them out. I provided him a way to rid himself of me, as a result of speaking without thinking." she finished quietly.
Ginn finally turned over and sat up, after listening to everyone chatter for the last few moments.
"Wait a minute. Why does this seem so familiar? Man, this sounds just like the very anime that we watch. Is this why we were chosen? Cause we should have seen it all?"
The woman smiled wryly, nodding to Ginn's statement. "I suppose that's true. Our multiverses are fashioned in our own images, after all. And your supposition is quite accurate. I've called for you, as our obervations suggest you have an extensive knowledge of many different worlds of this place...enough so that you have a signficant edge over any person from these worlds...which is why you were chosen." she explained calmly.
"I will help you as much as I'm able, without interfering directly...but we need your help..."
"So how do we help?" says Carthrat, bluntly. "Technically, you saved my life, so I'll do whatever, even if it means I have to fight with my elite martial prowess and top-notch combat skills." Only a slight hint of sarcasm makes its way into his voice.
"Can't forget my great skill in magic either, eh?" Smirking at Karthuratsu he added. "Though if this is an Astral projection, our egos by themselves should be enough."
"Absolutely not," agrees Carthrat. "I left my guns in my other shirt, though, sorry."
Making fake patting down motion, Sai raised an eyebrow. "And I think I left my Staff of the Magi in my other Robes of the Archmagi."
"Yup, we're down to our own devices like mere mortals," says Carthrat. "Curses. Foiled again."
"Yes, but with my brains and your brawn, we should be able to overcome anything anyways. That's how it was, is and will be." A small smirk made it's way onto his face again, then slipped again as he turned to the woman once more.
Carthrat chuckles. "Whatever."
He too turns back to the woman..
The woman smiled. "You may be down to your own devices...but I think we can help with that." She told them. "Another part of the reason we didn't call you here bodily is that compared to the inhabitants here, your bodies are somewhat breakable...."
Carthrat involuntarily winces. "That's not exactly comforting, y'know."
"Just what do you mean by giving him a way to 'rid himself of you'?" Kwok inquired. "Do you mean that as in permanently, like killing somebody? Or wiping someone from existence, which would probably be more appropriate for someone like you and your brother's apparent power level."
Shukuen glanced between the conversing parties, 'seating' himself to a more comfortable position and waiting while questions were answered.
"Nothing so dire." The woman looked amused for a moment, then her expression saddened. "I am bound by my word in a literal sense. I agreed to turn this multiverse over to him should I lose, and it is the nature of the order that makes up who I am to mean what I say." she answered grimly. "And it is against the nature of order to impose itself on others, as that creates disorder."
She sighed heavily. "Whereas my brother has the freedom to act as he sees fit, no matter the circumstances. So, were I to win, the status quo will remain undisturbed...but if he wins, I must withdraw..." she added bitterly.
Carthrat thinks. "If he can supposedly do anything he wants.. wait, you said we were fighting through.. 'avatars', didn't you? So that would supposedly mean he's going to bring in people of his own.. was there any limit on the number of avatars used? If you or he can bring in any amount, this may get messy very quickly."
May hummed, leaning a little towards Bean, keeping her voice soft so as not to disturb the discussion. "Probably limited to under a dozen...well, maybe...Chaos IS Chaos, he could probably decide to trample any rules...but the effective limits of the battlefield would have to be considered..."
Pausing, she stopped talking for the moment. "Gerf...being rambly..."
Keeping her eyes on the discussion, May glanced around again the others.
Bean thought a minute, then leaned back to Asrana. "Maybe...From what she's saying, Chaos sounds like an ADD kid. We might be able to exploit the lack of support an leadership on his side of things." Bean paused, then smiled faintly.
"I keep telling you...be rambly all you like. The best ideas happen that way." he whispered, then turned back to the conversation himself. Is it me, or have we already made our choice?
"No set limit," The woman told Carthrat. "Though my brother prefers to work his influence through situations...he finds people themselves to be tiresome. You'll probably find he's limited himself to no more than the size of your group. However, if he does gather an army, I can readily do the same...and I'd have you eight lead them..."
Kwok smirked.
"Well, I hope he gathers an army then. Two armies, fighting to the death to protect the order and status quo of the multiverse, sounds good to me."
"Really? It sounds like shit to me," replies Carthrat. "You know, the whole concept of ARMIES fighting each other on the whim of TWO PEOPLE, for what seems to me simple selfish desire that will lead to the deaths of BILLIONS OF PEOPLE if it's fought across the planes! Yeah, that'd be REAL FUCKING FUN! There won't be a multiverse left to protect once we humans are done with it! Did you know there are enough nuclear missiles to destroy the world like twenty times over? Huh? How about enough munitions to destroy fucking everything a thousand times over? Yeah, real fun. Real good idea, I can't fucking wait to get started."
"Natural selection at work, rodent-kun," he shrugged nonchalantly. "Survival of the fittest. Those who can't cut it, won't make it. That's the same for sports team, the same for life, the same for this battle. The remaining people will be the best of the best, able to propel the human race into a new era and away from the stagnating pool of growing stupidity and foolishness around the world."
"And I doubt nukes would come into play here, our hosts' brother wants the world destroyed as much as we do. No world, no living beings, no playground."
"Really? He sounds like he'd like to sit down and watch the fireworks," replies Carthrat, simmering down. "Maybe you should be on his side, seeing as you're all enthused about it. When you die due to complete random chance, maybe you'll rethink your argument."
"Both him and his sister are gonna sit down and 'watch the fireworks', as you put it," Kwok countered. "Why else have they chosen 'avatars' like us? Obviously they're not gonna do anything, so they're having us do all the dirty work."
"And if I die from 'complete random chance', then so be it," he added. "You have a chance of getting hit by a car even when you're standing on the sidewalk, but I don't think you'll stop going outside just because of that. I ain't kidding either, I know someone who's been hit by cars several times even though he's walking on the sidewalk."
"And you really don't want my opinion on the OTHER issue."
"There's a subtle difference between going out to war and wal- why the fuck am I even bothering?" replies Carthrat, turning away in disgust.
In a flash of light, a large, wicked looking trident appeared in Remy's hands, the short, hairy man stepped forward, brandishing it, and enraged expression on his face, levelling it at Kwok. The woman quietly
put a hand up, gently pushing at Remy's chest, arresting his forward movement.
The woman frowned at the two of them, giving Kwok a searching look. "I called you here to prevent the worst from coming to pass." she told him quietly. "If I wanted a long, bloody war, there are thousands upon thousands on those worlds who are far better at engaging in mindless violence than you." She said, gesturing to the sphere. She gave Kwok another searching look, and for the first time, he noted her eyes were an extraordinarily intense shade of green. "Can I count on you to defend my multiverse? If you share my brother's goals, it's best that we part ways..."
Finally speaking up, after spending most of the conversation trying to figure out how to speak, and listening to the arguments for both sides, the last form said, "I'll help... though, it does suck mightly that I'm not my avatar here, he could do some MAJOR damage."
After thinking for a moment, he then added, "Though, it's probably for the better... if I was my avatar, I'd be the ultimate example of Chaos. Nearly limitless power in the hands of an asshole, that's my avatar"
Finally, turning to Kwok, he mentioned, "Oh, most people would put the damn shovel down when you start digging the hole. I'd suggest you follow that example."
"...I suppose I'll help too," Shukuen said after a moments thought.
Besides, any time away from the family can't be all too bad, he added, smiling wryly.
Kwok held up his hands defensively.
"Hey, chill babe, I never said I wasn't gonna help," he replied. "I'm not particularly inclined to be turnd into a super being's plaything, so of course I'll help. Being a chess piece is better than being a doll, at least a living chess piece gets to do his own thing."
"And I have no idea what you're talking about," he said innocently, turning to Ryder. "Dig what hole? I didn't do nuthin'."
The woman gave Kwok a long look, as though trying to see inside him. Sighing softly, after a long moment, she nodded. "It will suffice for the moment." she decided, frowning, and giving an apologetic look to Remy, who grudgingly stood down.
"Take care." she warned. "Your attitude will endanger yourself, and these others. Best to make sure where you stand now."
Turning to the rest of the assembled ones, she smiled at Shukuen and Ryder. "I thank you for your support. Do the rest of you have your decision made?" Glancing at Carthrat, her voice softened. "I will not force you...as has been noted, this is our fight..."
May frowned slightly, tapping the floor with one foot. "I guess I'm in...if Bean is," she answered, smiling a little and shrugging.
"I'd like to fight, but not without more than one person I'll naturally trust."
Bean gave Kwok a disgusted look, and nodded, flushing a little at May's vote of confidence in him. "Yeah, I'm in." He smiled slightly at May in return. "Can't exactly run off to trust the fate of this place to HIM."
Shukuen frowned at Bean and May, As if we don't have enough problems right now, he grumbled.
"Don't mean to interupt your warm and tender moment," he said with a slight hint of sarcasm. "But I think you both need a serious attitude adjustment."
"We were brought here together, I assume because we're expected to work as a team."
"If neither of you are willing to work with the others, then what good will you be then?" he asked flatly though narrowed eyes.
Carthrat's voice has a sudden, hard edge to it.
"But you havn't yet told us what we'll actually be *doing*," he says, putting clear emphasis on the last word. "Fighting? I can hack that. But exactly what? How does this 'avatar' combat tie into everything? Do we get superpowers or something? You said our bodies are 'breakable'. What does that mean? It's all so vauge and I just don't know..
Look, I'll do whatever you say. As far as I'm concerned, you saved my life. And I'll trust anyone here with my life, if you're all from the same place, as I suspect you are.. well, except for him," he continues, jerking a finger at the irritating young man with a suicide wish. "But.. I don't know. Maybe I'm just being scared and confused."
The quiet boy nodded as Shukuen berated Bean and May.
"He's right y'know," he said, "if we're going to be a team, you can't just trust each other and keep a distance from the rest of us. You both are no good to the group if we can't rely on you to help the rest of us."
Returning to his thoughts, the boy thought dryly, I wish Amanda was here... she'd love this sort of thing.
May clenched her jaw, pausing a moment before replying.
"I'll trust someone as soon as I know them. I can recognize Cy and Rat by there banter, and I may have suspicions about who the rest of the people here are, but until I do know who they are, or get to know them, I'm not going to walk into this trusting them with my back."
Shrugging, she closed her eyes. "I can work with Rat, and I'll naturally run with Cy and Bean. As those three are the only people I know, those are the three I will make my judgement on."
Raising his 'hand' up, Sai tried getting everyone's attention. "Everyone be quiet for a moment. May brings up a good point. Why don't the others introduce themselves first, then we can get on with our 'mission briefing'."
"Point to you then. It was rather rude of me not to introduce myself earlier as well, even if we know each other already."
"I suggest you just call me Shukuen though, or Shu if you want," Shukuen said, managing to refrain from glaring... just barely.
"Ginn."
Man, I'm already reminded of Naruto...
Sai looked at the last two. "Well? We don't have an eternity. Or do we?"
"Wait, Cy! You forgot! This must be like a computer game, they're lagging out!" exclaims Carthrat.
"Eeeew. Lag bigger then 1 second? What are they on? Dial up?" was the reply.
The boy grinned at everyone, and started to wag his finger...
"As if I would tell you anything more than," he began before closing his eyes, "Sore Wa Himitsu Desu."
Thank God that they can't hurt me for that one. he idly thought.
Bean had a vaguely irritated and defensive look on his face, but as the introductions continued, he relaxed slightly, though still looking guarded. He perked up a little as the smartass remark was made, and grinned. "That must be oneesan. Hi, Ryder."
Ryder snapped his fingers and said, "That was quick imouto... 10 points!"
He then pointed to Kwok and said, "50 points to the person who can identify the moron over there who's just pulling himself out of the hole he dug."
May laughed as Bean recognized Ryder, seeming to relax. "Ryder-jisan..."
Shaking her head, she eyed the young man. "Lesse...we have Cy, Rat, Bean, myself, Ryder, and Shuk. Considering everything...he might be Kwok," she mused, shrugging.
Bean pointed to the remaining man. "Don't forget Ginn." he added. "Hmm...eight...Soulriders?"
Sai nodded. "Looks that way. Though lets wait for confirmation first."
Moving up closer to the young man, he waved a hand in front of the guy's face. "Oi. Anybody in there?"
Kwok slapped Sai's hand away.
"Stop that," he snapped. "Neither you nor your hand is a bug, so stop flying around in front of my face."
"And the name's Bond. James Bond," he lied. "Not THE James Bond, just A James Bond."
"That's ok. My real name is Neo and I know Kung Fu. Now either you work with us, or you'll be the first casuality. As they say. 'Friendly fire isn't.' Kapish?" By the end of his little speach, Sai's face hardened and lost all traces of a smile.
"I'd like to see you try," Kwok stared back hard into Sai's eyes. "Just how do you propose to do that with our current form? Since we're kinda ghostly-looking, we're probably immaterial."
He tested out the theory by slapping Sai across the face.
Stepping back out of the other guys range he answered. "Did I say anything about 'Now'?"
"Well, in that case, it's all good," he smiled. "Anytime you wanna bring it, just say the word."
"Anyway..." he turned back to the glowing woman. "So how exactly are we going to do this? Are we all going to be dumped into one big world then hunt around the world then kill them when we find them?"
The woman shook her head, watching Kwok with concern, while Remy simply watched him with utter distaste. "No...My brother will set the terms." she told them quietly. "And it will be up to you to adapt to the changing conditions...his tastes never run to any one tactic for too long."
Kwok frowned. "Well, that doesn't seem too promising. Since he's defining the terms, I'm guessing neither party knows who the avatars are?"
"You should find out in short order...subtlety was never one of his strong points. A condition you seem to share." She observed mildly. "It is in your best interests to get along with these people."
"Hey, I didn't start it," he said, looking innocent. "He was the one who threatened me, why don't you tell HIM to get along with me?"
"Cut the shit," says Carthrat, flatly, before turning to Order.
"I'm not sure I get it. Your brother can force various circumstances upon us, hmm? Right, I can see that. But what do we actually have to do to 'win'? Survive for a set period of time? Somehow find a way to dispose of him? Kill anyone who follows him? Find the magical lost jewel of the Koranstavian and place it within the temple known as the Eye of the Storm?
Because, given the amount of information we have, I know which side I'd rather be on, assuming I had no morals or ethics. As willing as I am to help, there's not much I can do without a goal in mind."
The woman smiled at Carthrat. "I know." She replied gently. "I will lay it out as I see it, once I feel I have everyone's undivided attention. As it stands now, some of your group are coming to terms with this event, and the one young man appears to be demonstrating a lack an understanding of what I've called you here for."
She crossed her arms and smiled. "Not exactly ideal circumstances for a full explanation..."
Carthrat sighs, throwing a glance at everyone else in the room.
This was gonna take a loooooooong time.
Ryder simply leaned against one of the walls in the Observatory, looking rather bored and irriatated.
"Guys, will you all just shut up and listen to the woman?" he snapped.
"Don't look at me," Kwok replied. "I"m all for listening to something other than all the bitching."
Bean looked up at Kwok balefully from his seat on the floor. "Then how about you shut that flapping hole in your face? By my count, you're responsible for eighty percent of the problem so far." he ground out.
He turned to their 'host', and nodded. "Sorry for the lack of attention..." he murmured, shifting uncomfortably.
"By my count," Kwok snapped back. "You're about to be responsible for a lot more when I beat your ass down for keep trying to start a fight with me."
"Both of you... JUST SHUT UP!!!" Ryder shouted as he stopped leaning, his eyes burning from annoyance.
"You both are acting like children, and be honest with yourselves, do you think this bickering will help you any? We're here, and we've all agreed to help, so why don't we all just shut up and f'n listen to the woman. I for one actually give a damn about what she has to say!" he ranted, his eyes shifting between Bean and Kwok.
Bean eyed Kwok, then began to snicker, nodding to Ryder. "Hai, hai...You're right..." he murmured, turning to their nominal 'host'.
"Why're you yellin' at me?" Kwok shrugged helplessly. "I was all ready to listen already, I didn't go around starting things up."
"...would you all just quit trying to squeeze in the last word and just listen for once?" Shukuen muttered in mild annoyance, still waiting for the woman to begin.
Remy had finally had enough. He leveled a finger at Kwok, stepping forward.
"You. Be silent." He snapped. Then turning to the rest, he leveled a flat glare over the room. "The rest of you, ignore him for now. She will address you."
The woman smiled wryly at her attendant, but made no move to chatise him. Once she saw she had everyone's attention, softly, in a voice easily heard, she began to speak.
"Our kind have waged battles for the multiverses in our posesstion since...well before my time." she smiled wryly. "In fact, long enough ago that no human word really can describe the length of time. We're much like humans, really. We have our peaceful periods, and our periods of war."
"What I'm asking you to get involved in...Well, it's like a duel. It lacks the scope of our most horrifying wars, yet I was foolish enough to put up the multiverse in my personal care up as the stakes. The rules are fairly simple. My team of champions and his team of champions must test each other. It can be combat...a race...a sport, or anything of that nature. One team must best the other in a contest."
"Unfortunately, since my brother made the challenge, he sets the terms. There are two things for him to decide. One is the nature of the conflict, and the objectives, and the other is the size of the team. One can be flexible within limits, but the other is set in stone for the duration of the contest.
"In this case, the permanent objective has been chosen as the unchangable one. In another bit of poor fortune, he isn't required to divulge this information until just before the contest begins. As for the other, the size of the teams, that's been deemed flexible, but he's chosen to begin with between five to ten members." She paused, looking around at the group. "That's a basic outline of the situation." she finished softly.
Ryder nodded as the woman finished, and said, "OK, that makes some sense... we're your champions in this competition."
However, he then opened his eyes and said, "We can't compete like this though... What aren't you telling us?"
"We've aranged for you to displace some...more durable people who live in my domain." The woman smiled faintly. "You may find you aquire some helpful skills, too..."
"So, you're saying we're going to displace these people that you chosen?" Shukuen asked, slightly unclear on the concept. "How exactly would that help us?"
"I think I know," Ryder began as the idea became clear to him.
"Basically, we're going to be using bodies from some powerful people, and we'll inherit thier skills. Am I correct?"
"Lady, you SO go upsold," says Carthrat, shaking his head. "What was his stake on this, again?"
Kwok made no reply to Remy's command, although he did remain silent.
That is, until Ryder reached the conclusion that they were the woman's champion.
~/ We are the champions, my friends!/~ he sang in an obnoxious voice.
~/ And we'll keep on fighting, till the end! We are the champions, we are the champions! No time for losers, 'cause we are the champions, of the world! /~
Bean sighed and turned to May, almost conversationally. "Someone should put that cat out of it's misery...the poor thing sounds like it's dying..."
"..and anyway," continues Carthrat, "How long do we have before things start happening?"
Remy stepped forward to answer Carthrat. "It will be within days, in your terms." he told the boy seriously. "We do have some time to prepare, but not a great deal...and much of it will involve travel, I imagine."
"Heh. And seeing that we don't really know what we're going to do makes it difficult to prepare for it.." chuckles Carthrat, resigned. "Well.. I'm all outta questions. Nothing left to do but wait.."
Ignoring the explanation for a moment, Sai approached the woman, drawing her aside. Nodding to Remy, he put his 'hands' behind his back and cleared his throat. "I wanted to ask a favour before I agree to help you. If I help you, I am leaving someone back home. Someone I want to know what is happening to me. I will not pull a Matt on her." Sai scowled at the name.
The woman regarded Sai seriously for a long moment, and her neutral expression softened. "All right." she agreed, smiling. "I can arrange for a message...or did you have something else in mind?"
"Well, if you can do it, and you probably can, I woulnd't mind seeing her right now." He smiled a bit at the thought of seeing his fiancee again.
The woman nodded. "I can...but what you're asking is potentially dangerous....If I assume you mean bringing her here as you are now?"
Sai nodded. "Yes. I haven't seen her in a bit, and if I am going to risk my life for you, I want to see her one last time."
She smiled a little more. "I understand...but you should know...Human beings are not talented in mental disipline, by and large....the only reason you need not concentrate to maintain your astral form is that this room does it for you." She paused, looking at him seriously "I will protect her, if I can...but you must keep the time short...lest she get drawn into the feud as well."
Nodding, he agreed. "I understand."
She smiled and nodded. "Then I would be happy to grant you this." She glanced at the short man, and, seeing him busy with explanation, she raised her own hand. Light swirled and danced in her palm as she began to repeat Remy's earlier spell...
OOC: This is happenning off to the side, for everyone but Cy. You can watch, and make observations, but not hear what's being said.
Carthrat goes back on his last words as another question pops into mind..
"Hey, when we get warped into our new bodies or whatever, we won't be with each other, will we?"
Remy frowned. "That all depends on whom you choose to be placed into." he answered, after a moment.
"We can choose? And here I was thinking you were going to pick them," replies Carthrat. "I *so* bag Xellos."
OOC: Introducing a new player! Here's Ra-chan, part one! XD
It looked to be another boring day at work. Actually, it looked to be an EARLY day at work.
Damn 7am shifts. Rachelle, often known as Ra-chan and even more often known as Inuyasha-chan, wasn't too happy to be gracing the store's presence even before the sun had decided to rear its ugly head over the horizon. But hey, one didn't argue with work, did one? Not really. But truth be told, Ra-chan wasn't the most awake of people at 7am and as she stumbled around the store, she was thinking how much she'd rather be in bed. It had been a weird morning already. Usually her fiance was still awake when she had to work this early. He hadn't been around online when she dragged herself out of bed though, for some odd reason. Well, maybe he had fallen asleep. Or he was 'resting his eyes' or something. Ra-chan smirked slightly at the in-joke. He ALWAYS did that. Ah well, I'll just talk to him later then. No big deal.
Pulling a ladder over to one of the shelves, the still-tired woman climbed up to reach something on a top shelf, many things -but- work on her mind. Perhaps she should have been paying attention. Perhaps she should have been holding onto the ladder better. Perhaps she should have just stayed in bed that morning and called in sick to work. Whatever the case, as she was standing up on tip-toe to reach something just barely out of her rather extensive reach, her foot lost it's purchase and she began to slip.
Usually a tippy ladder wouldn't be so bad, but hey, this was Meijer and the equpiment wasn't all that great to begin with. As she grabbled to keep herself upright on the defective piece of crap, her hand reflexively reached for the shelf she had been close to. Not having much purchase, her hand slipped off and she found herself falling backwards towards the rather hard, tiled floor, the ladder rocking dangerously above her.
She took it remarkably well. With a sigh, her eyes shut and she waited to hit the ground. Ah well. I should have known it was going to be one of those days. With that, she held her breath and waited for the impact with the floor.
And waited....
And waited.....
And....nothing.
OOC: Here's Ra-chan, Part 2!
"The hell?" Not sure what she'd find, the woman opened an eye, expecting flourecent lights and finding....something completely different.
"Hello, sweetheart." Sai greeted.
"EH?" Out of all the faces Ra-chan had been expecting when she opened her eyes, her fiance's was not one of them. A manager, yes, another employee, perhaps....but Cy?
"Wait, wait...I hit my head, this isn't real, right?"
The woman, standing slightly behind Cy, smiled faintly. "She may need a moment to adjust...just as you all did." she told Cy.
"Yeah, I know." Turning back to Ra-chan he smiled. "It's not quite a dream. We are here in spirit one could say."
Nervously, Ra-chan rubbed the back of her head, as if that would discover some sort of bump...or something. This didn't SEEM real. In fact, Cy was positively.....see-through. "Right, right....but I was at work!"
"And I was sleeping at home. Someone with a lot of power, pulled us both here. She has a job for me and some others." He semi-pointed to the others.
"Right.....okay.....right." Noticing the woman with a brief glance, then glancing around the rest of the room, she took into account the other ghostly figures. One looked familiar, as if she had seen a picture a long time ago of him, but other than that, Cy was the person she recognized.
"Yes, some of them might seem familiar. We have a genuine Soulriders gathering here."
"Oh?" Her eyes traveled around again, then stopped. "Oh my God! It's KWOK! Okay, this is definitly not a dream because the day I start dreaming about him is the day I stab myself in the foot." Noticing her own ghostly state, Ra-chan probed her shirt, tugging at the horrid aqua-colour she was forced to wear every day at work and fingering the ghostly nametag that proudly displayed the phrase: 'Rachelle F. I can help!'
Sai smirked. "So it is him. Well the rest are Karthuratsu Tanewaki, Ginn, May, Bean, Shukuen and Ryder." He pointed to each in turn.
She sighed. "Not exactly the clothing I was hoping to be wearing to meet my online friends but....eh....hello. I guess."
The woman blinked. "Our number isn't full to capacity..." she allowed. "I can see you do have some of the necessary knowledge...."
Still feeling sorta giddy over the whole thing, Ra-chan just sort of shrugged and reached for Cy's hand. The shock was wearing off, slowly, and while normally she would have launched herself at him, she wasn't sure how well that would go over, considering her current state of being.
Sai turned to the woman. "No... I don't..." He stopped and looked at Ra-chan debating internally.
"I guess it depends...."
The woman eyed Sai. "I will stand by your wishes..." she told him softly. "But she could be an asset...."
"What?" Trying to grab for Cy's hand, Ra-chan only found that hers passed through it and she shuddered at the odd sensation that came with it. She pouted, then tried again. Still, nothing. "Damnit all! What's the point of SEEING you if I can't TOUCH yo-wait, what? Asset? What do you mean?"
Frowning a bit he answered. "It's her decision. I want her safe, but I won't decide for her. She's free to do what she wants."
Waving her incorporeal hand in front of Cy's face, the dog-girl tried to get his attention away from the woman. "Hello! What are we talking about now?"
Looking a bit upset, he told her. "She wants you to join our merry little band."
Hmmm, 'merry little band,' eh? That didn't sound promising. "So, ummm, merry little band as in we're just going to hang out or as in D&D sort of getting-attacked-by-monsters sort of stuff?"
"The second. Probably."
"Probably? What's that suppose to mean?"
"We're not sure of the way the 'contest' is supposed to happen. But hearing about the other 'player', the one that sets the challenges, it's most likely to get dangerous."
"Player? What player? And what contest? Look, the last I knew, I was falling off a ladder at work. Now I'm all ghosty-like with a bunch of people I don't know.....and you. But I have no idea what's going on."
"Well, it seems that two 'divine/semi-omnipotent' beings, decided to have a contest over the fate of a multi-verse. This woman, Order, and her brother, Chaos. If we win, nothing changes. If he wins, the multi-verse that they're contesting over will eventualy destroy itself."
"Wow....ummm.....cheerful." Pondering this for a minute, Ra-chan tossed her fiance a serious glance. "You're going to help, right?"
He nods slowly. "I hate to say this, but yeah. Dunno why exactly. Maybe it's some long buried honorable instinct?"
"And for some odd reason you don't want ME to go?" She tossed him another look. "Look, sweetie, I know you'll worry about me, but I'd worry about you too, knowing what I do now."
He gave her his special smile. "Yeah, I know. That's why when she asked, I said that it's your decision."
With a slight shrug, the brunette inclined her head towards the other soulriders. "I'm coming along too. What do I have better to do? Work? Psha. I'd rather hang out with you guys. Even if it is dangerous." With a small smile in return, she slipped her hand so that it would rest in his....if they weren't both incorporeal. It wasn't the same, but at least it felt better.
"Welcome to the 'team' I guess. Though I use the term 'team' loosely at the moment."
She tossed a glance over to Kwok, then did a sort of half-smirk, half-grimace. "I understand."
"I still think it's frustrating being this close and not being able to touch you though...."
"Well, if everything goes through quickly, we should be able to do that in a little bit. Just have to finish our mission briefing with the lady here."
The woman smiled slightly. "First, we should bring her up to date." she suggested, then proceeded to outline what she'd already told the others...
OOC: There! Ra-chan, you can use everything said before your entry as IC knowledge now...Assume she told you everything. You can ask all the questions of her you need, too. Ask quick, cause things start happening very soon. >_>
Bean double blinked, eyeing Carthrat. "You should really rethink how you phrase things like that." he observed. "Hmm...Who should I take?"
OOC: Welcome to the fold Ra-chan...
IC: "So, when do, y'know, get these bodies... I know of at least 5 people that are sick of being incorpreal right now, me included." Ryder mentioned dryly as he continued to lean against one of the walls of the Observatory.
ooc: Thank you! Beware my propensity to type too much! >_>
ic: Ra-chan eyed Ryder then arched an eyebrow. "Only five? Who here actually wants to stay intangible?" The woman sighed and ran a hand through her shoulder-length hair. "I'm not so much worried about who we get to be, but how we're expected to run into each other again once we are who we get to be."
"We could tie that in with who we pick," points out Carthrat. "If we made sure we spread ourselves so that a few of us are all from the same series, it should work out."
OOC: And beware inner monologues... you should have seen the stuff in the original DoD I had cooked up... ^_^
IC: Ryder grinned and replied, "Well, I said I KNOW of 5... You, Me, Sai, Imouto-chan, and May-chan. Kwok can stay a ghost for all I care."
Thinking about that last statement, he added, "Oh, I'm sure Order has a way around that problem y'know. It seems she's got everything under control... except Kwok-baka, but who ever has control of him?"
Always the skeptic, Ra-chan somehow managed to look both optimistic and worried at the same time. She wanted to think that everything would work out okay but a part of her knew differently.
"It would be nice, to be able to choose like that, wouldn't it?" Tossing a glance towards the woman, the brunette shook her head and muttered softly under her breath.
"But Order has nothing on Chaos sometimes."
Carthrat shrugs at that. "We may as well work it out, anyway. If it works, all is good. If we end up being randomly dropped in.. well, what have we lost?"
May hummed, smiling slightly as she tried to tap her foot against the floor. "Running with Rat's thought. Considering most contingencies of contest, we're looking at a combat team, and maybe a puzzle team. If it comes down to something like strength or speed in a race or weightlifitng competition, we'll have to rely on the abilities that come with a combat team. There aren't enough of us to split up much further and still be effective as a unit."
Shrugging, she glanced back around at all of them. "And yes, I know this is all a tad obvious."
"First though, who feels like working in a potentially similar way to a military unit, and who feels like a brain teaser?"
OOC: Welcome Ra-chan!
"Grr..." Kwok leveled a flat stare at Ryder. "Just wait till I get my hands on you..."
"And you know me, May-chan," he grinned as he turned to the ghostly girl, his attitude having seemingly taken a 180 turn. "I'm all for kicking ass, and probably won't be any good in brain teasers anyway."
"That's 'cause you've got nothing to tease." Bean replied glibly to Kwok, covering his unease with the situation by distracting his mind. "Hmm...May, should we prepare teams equipped for both? Something like a treasure or scavenger hunt may need deductive work and strength..."
The woman smiled faintly and nodded sadly to Ra-chan, and the displaced girl heard the woman speak, though her lips didn't move. But Order usually wins, because Chaos isn't focused.
Ginn spoke up.
"Speaking of teams, it would really help knowing what type of missions we'd be going into. If you're going to randomly drop us into bodies on different parts of your universe, then teams are moot point. However, if you have a specific goal in mind, along with intellegence to back it up with, we might be able to do something about it in teams."
May hummed, frowning. "Normally, I'd say to keep it simple and hope for the abilitiy to reorganize on the spot if that was necessary...however, as long as we're being paranoid, yeah, we probably should set it up for each team to be redundant..."
Bean nodded. "Yeah...Two teams? Four and five members?"
He paused as Ginn's statement sank in and he turned slightly, blinking in confusion at Ginn. "Didn't she already explain that?"
Ginn looks back confused.
"Eh?"
Bean pointed to the woman. "She said that her brother sets the objectives...she doesn't even know them yet, except that the designated objectives are set in stone...we only get to find out when he decides to tell us."
"Great. So how do you know we'll even be able to be in teams?"
"We don't," replies Carthrat, "But it's better than sitting around twiddling our thumbs."
"Oh, I don't know about that..."
A smooth voice, tinged ever so slightly with a manic, hyperactive energy issued from behind one of the Observatory's pillars, audible to everyone as the voice's owner stepped out from behind the pillar.
He was a stocky man, slightly ugly, but with a wild look in his eyes. In fact, he resembled nothing so much as Robin Williams in a fright wig.
The woman sucked in a sharp breath, not quite a gasp, but enough of a gesture of surprise to clash with the calm, dignified image she'd shown so far.
"After all, thumb-twiddling is an art. It's all in the wrist." He informed Carthrat, grinning with a slightly frightening amount of insanity bottled up inside. He turned to the woman and waved...then to the utter suprise of all....he rushed over and hugged her, grinning nastily.
"HI, SIS!!!" he bellowed cheerfully.
A twinkle flashed in Kwok's eyes as who he assumed to be Chaos hugged the surprised woman.
He rushed up to Chaos and hugged HIM (or at least tried to), grinning cheerfully.
"You must be Chaos!" his grin was an echo of the larger man's. "I've heard so much about you!"
OOC: Ohohoho ^_^
The man grinned and released the woman, a visible twinkle in his own eye. In fact, it was nearly blinding.
"I like your style! I really do!" Chaos enthused, throwing an arm over Kwok's shoulder, and suprisingly, it didn't pass through. "In fact, you have only one flaw."
Chaos grinned evilly. "You talk too much." He slapped a hand over Kwok's mouth, and when it came away, Kwok's astral form's mouth was gone.
"Yeah, yeah...cheap gag, but effective. Hey, a pun! Anyway, settle down little boy, and let the adults talk awhile, huh?"
Ra-chan tensed as Chaos entered the scene. If she could have squeezed Cy's hand, she would have. Not that she was scared (okay, that was a lie, she was a little scared) but having something as intensely uncontrolable around such as Chaos always put her on edge. Would put anyone on edge, really.
Except for Kwok. What an idiot.
"As much as we're thankful you shut Kwok up, why don't you tell us what we're all here for, eh?"
The woman's voice was icy cold as she added her own voice to Ra-chan's. "I would like to know as well. You were forbidden to enter this room, brother."
The man smiled brightly, his earlier dark edge seeming to vanish under a wave of hyperactive cheer. "Now, now...I followed the rules. I came in through our door, and I haven't killed or injured anyone. Yet. Even your jester over there isn't hurt, and I'm sure everyone will agree that this is for the best, right?Anyway, I'm just checking out the talent!"
He looked at the assembled astral forms, and, zipping around with disorienting speed, he inspected each one with progressively more peculiar methods, until pausing in his examination of Carthrat's teeth. "I'm allowed to stay until I cause a disturbance. Besides, You're not exactly blameless..."
Zip! Now he was beside Ryder, lifting his arm and inspecting the muscle interestedly, then sniffing beneath it. "...Bringing in outside talent isn't against the rules, but is sure is bending them a lot...never thought you had it in you, sis." he smiled admiringly at the woman before inspecting Cy and Ra-chan.
"Heh, cute." He smiled at Ra-chan. "And to answer your question, I'm here to even up the odds a little."
"You're going to kill Kwok?" blurts out Carthrat, his eyes taking that glazed look they do whenever he's about to start talking about random crap because he's as freaked as hell..
Chaos laughed. "No no no. I...maybe." He paused and slapped his own face. "No." He said again, firmly.
"I was just thinking to myself...Sis here's plan is pretty nifty. 'cause no matter who I pick, you all would be pretty familar with weaknesses, right? Don't answer that. Anyway, I was thinking, I'd hate to discourage the first truly impressive burst of inspiration my 'dear' sister has had in quite some time by killing all of you here and now...no, plently of time for that later. But supposing you go in and land yourselves in the bodies of real powerhouses...well, my team wouldn't have much of a shot, would they?"
The woman frowned, watching Chaos warily. "You are not to harm them directly...'brother'." she hissed.
Remy stepped slightly in front of the woman, his eyes narrowed at Chaos, and his weapon appeared in his hand again. Behind Remy's back, her hand gestured slightly, and with a sudden relaxation in his tense jaw, Kwok found he had a mouth again, though the warning glance she shot at him when Chaos's eyes glanced at her servant forbade him from making use of it just yet.
Chaos looked back up at the Woman, a lazy smile on his face. "Yes, yes...I won't. At least, not directly." he agreed disinterestedly. "But still...Something has to be done to even up the odds a little...after all, this little stunt DOES give you the advantage..."
"I've never seen you concerned about a fair contest before..." sneered Remy.
Chaos shot his sister a dark look. "Sister, muzzle your dog, or I will."
The woman gestured soothingly at Remy, and gave Chaos a grim look. "Why are you HERE?" she insisted, trying to keep his attention from the assembled astral forms.
Shukuen stared blankly as the two higher beings. He almost expected sparks to shoot between them any moment now.
Yeesh... this is starting to look familiar, he thought in amusement, remembering his own verbal banters with his sister. His features darken for a moment by that thought before returning to neutral.
Ra-chan was really temped to mutter 'sibling rivalry' under her breath, her thoughts matching Shukuen's. But, well, considering this personification of Chaos was in the room, that probablly wouldn't be a good idea.
Luckily, she was saved a rather embarassing search when Chaos was distracted. That didn't keep her from keeping her arms crossed firmly over her chest even when he was supposedly occupied elsewhere.
"Wait, are you saying we don't get to choose whose bodies we're going to be using?"
"Hey. How about we get to the point? While we seem to have the time, I'd like to get back home eventually. Some of us have a wedding to plan, and higher power or no, if I miss that, I'll kick someone's ass." Cy was getting a bit annoyed at all the arguing and beating around the bush.
Annoyed by Chaos' ramblings, Ryder said, "Yo, could you just get to the bloody point already? I'd like to have a body again, and she can't do that with you around..."
If he wasn't trying to destroy the universe, I could tolerate him... oh well. he thought while watching with an observant eye, contrary to his annoyed look.
"Am I the only one that's scared to freaking hell?" asks Carthrat, visibly shaking. "For hecks sake, if this guy wants to take all the time in the world to explain, let him before he starts excising Godly Might or whatever!"
Chaos turned from his sister and walked over and patted Carthrat's head. "I kind of like you." he said, smiling. "At least you're honest. Plus, you've got great teeth. Good dental hygiene is a virtue! But yes, your friends are right. It's time I came to the point."
He moved a heretofore unnoticed hand out from behind his back. In it, he held a rune made of motes of light, dancing and flashing crazily. "I actually came here because you're already dangerous. If I let you plan any more, you become a geniune threat to me aquiring a new toy. Not good at all. Can't have that. So..." He raised the rune, and the woman finally broke out of her daze, lunging forward.
"NO!" She cried in alarm, but she was too slow. Grinning madly, Chaos flung the rune at the floor, and there was a brilliantly bright flash of light. All the people not physically present felt a sudden pressure, and then a sudden force, almost like a shockwave, picked them up and flung them like rag dolls, physically blowing them out of the room...
"See you on earth, suckers!" He cried after them, laughing madly as he bolted from the observatory.
Using his will and body, Sai tried to remain close to Ra-chan. "Chaos! I'm gonna kick your ass from here to next century, you asshole!"