Lamentable Nights: Act 03 - "Cloudy with a chance of ______"

Pasonia
Posts: 175
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:43 am

Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pasonia »

(my apologies for the long delay in posting. Here's a little post before the main meat. I promise that will be up soon!)
Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: 1:00pm
Weather: Cloudy->Clear
Location: Inside Marston High -> Abandoned Marston Security Outpost
PCs: Martin Chang, Sanae Fujiwara
================


"Ah, abunai!"
"What the shit, that was way too close!"

Martin gritted his teeth in anxiety as the fight unfurled before him. If it weren't the fact that he had let him late, they would have been out of the woods.
Instead, a delayed move nearly cost the whole team to get injured... and that's being forgiving. God damn, what have I done?!

Martin berated himself under his breath for allowing things to get too hot, yet Sanae was the first to bow to Martin in absolute, unreserved apology.

"Go-gomenasai, Martin-san! If it wasn't for me...!"
"Eh? Why are you blaming yourself for this? I was the one who made the decision, so that was my fault!"
"But, but if I... if I could have helped them, this..."
"It wasn't you, Sanae, please--- uh-oh?"
"Are?" Sanae was a little taken aback by Martin's sudden change in expression.
"The guard, that guard, that big bloke over there! He's looking this way dangerously. We have to get away now!"
"Eh, nani?!"

Martin gestured Sanae onto the bike, just as a nearby security guard - a beefcake darker and larger than the one at the bike shop - noticed that they weren't Marston staff or student, for one simple reason the pair didn't know.

Martin and Sanae were both wearing sandals, and, unbeknown to the pair, school rules prohibit staff and students to not wear covered shoes such as sneakers.

Whatever the reason for the guard's agitated response, Martin quickly lifted the bike over in the other direction, sensing the situation quickly going south; Sanae quickly followed, as the pair started being chased by the security guard. The students were all surprised by the sudden commotion, while the goatee-and-beauty duo made their escape.

"Sanae, hang on a little!"
"Ha-hai!"

What followed next was a series of chaotic shouting and commotion as Martin handled the bike across narrow corridors, forcing people to crash left, right, center all trying to not get overrun by the bike. The security guards were alerted, but were late to Martin's every turn as he rode quick enough to avoid them.

Soon, they were just a straight dash out of the school building.

"Stop those two on the bike!"
"I can't catch them, Dan! They're too fast!"
"We need to intercept them before they get to the main gate!"

"Kyaaaaa!"
"Watch out, Sanae! Hang tight!"

The same beefcake guard surprised Martin as he showed up at the front door, right before Martin was about to make a break for it. The students, already alerted by the commotion, either started cheering the escaping "lovebirds" or whipped their cameras out to snap the incident.

Martin breathed hard. Crash into the beefcake, risk injuries? Or slow down?
He could feel himself peddling, but it was as though his mind had entered a state of temporal stasis, like a bystander watching the incident in first-person slow-mo playback.

"Hey, you dumb nuts! I need some help over here!"
"Sanae, I'm going to pedal there before they get us!"
"Ha-hai, okay! Please be careful, Martin-san!"

Martin could feel himself concentrating something like energy - although it wasn't the physical kind - to the tip of his feet. Entering an exhilarating yet frightening experience, he began to pedal very hard - much harder than usual. Even Sanae, as used to getting a ride on bikes as she had been, had to hang on to Martin as he spun the wheels crazily. For a moment, even the highest gear setting on the bike didn't seem enough to accomodate his need for speed.

"What the heck---?!"

The beefcake, meanwhile, wasn't expecting the bike to speed up so unnaturally. He thought that by forming a human wall as a deterrent, the two intruders will give up.

To be really, really fair, the guard wasn't expecting himself to feel like wetting his own pants in the few moments he was allowed to grasp the situation.

In the end, common sense prevailed; he threw himself to the right, barely ducking past the bike as he leaped away. Martin had to steady himself for the dash, and he could feel Sanae's death grip on his waist as the bike went aloft for what must have been an eternity.

After that, no one attempted to stop Martin from getting away - not even the guard that saw the pair going in - giving him a wide berth and a much easier time as he rode out of the school, before taking a sharp left outside of the compound, and dashing away.

============

Meanwhile, the growing mystery continues for Marston students, who had the fortune of witnessing two incredible events in close vicinity. Student photographer Terence Gills, easily one of the best event photographers, had a shock he never thought he'll be in for:

A blurred snap of Martin and Sanae on a bike.

"Hey, Terence, did you get a good shot of them for that straight dash?"
"No, not quite. They rode way too fast."
"What do you mean they rode way too fast, ace?"
"I know this sounds a bit strange... but they're pedalling so fast that the snap became blurred! I wonder if the camera's damaged or something?"
"You sure you didn't set like 1/2 shutter speed?"
"You doubting me, bro?! This is 1/500 and the image is still blurred!"

The incident in Marston would, from that moment forward, become known as the Weekend Thunderbolt Biker Incident.

============

"Ah~~~ girigiri SAFE ya na!"
"That was too close a shave! Sanae, you okay?"
"Daijoubu! -- Umm, I mean, yea, I'm okay. That was too close!"

Martin started to break into a laughter himself, while Sanae looked on, confused, as the two of them rode on to a deserted canal path, leading to the outpost.

"Hai, hai! Sore wa tottemo kiken ne?! I could feel as much when you're hugging my waist so tight!"

That got Sanae blushing beetroot, though Martin wasn't there to see it, as she released her vice-like grip on Martin's waist.

"S-sorry..."
"I was just kidding, Sanae!"
Martin then let out a sigh which sounded like relief, yet Sanae felt instinctively that there was more to it.
"... for the first time in a very long while!"
"...what do you mean, for the first time...?"

Martin smiled - at least, honestly doing so rather than putting on a show, as he had been to others - but again Sanae wasn't there to see him do so.

"I haven't had any chance to kid around in the others' presence that much. My community... those aunts you saw the other day..."
"Is anything the matter with them--- eh, sorry, I shouldn't be---"
"No, it's fine, it's not particularly offensive. They just want me straitlaced, like my father."
"Straitlaced... like, strict, stern, not smiling?"

Martin nodded rather tersely to that.

"To me, they're bounded by the rules of a past... a past whose barrier is breaking down with the advent of such things as the Internet. Therefore, telling them that I have new ideas is pretty much useless... iran ne."

Sanae pondered for a while, allowing the breeze to caress her hair while she lets it flirt with her thoughts too.

"...I feel the same, Martin-san. That's one reason I wanted to learn more English; my parents' thoughts are stuck in the past too. Funny, that we all speak Kansai-ben, but nothing I say got through to them."
"I could feel for you..."
"My dad frequents Go salons, my mother does the housework, and neither of them understands why my Home Economics has never been anything but a barely-pass."
"Home Economics... gosh, that. One of my cousins was barred from taking my Go lessons until she got her Home Econs right... and she ended up giving up on both!"
"That's so wasteful...!"
"I know, right... she's easily one of the brightest sparks among all my cousins. This auntie was the first person I deliberately chose never to speak to ever again."
"What happened...?"

It was Martin's turn to allow the wind to slap his face and hair about messily.

"Well, the rest of the aunties didn't want to offend her though they know she's unreasonable, so till today she still thinks she's right."
"Souka... sore hidoi na."
"It's toxic even trying to talk sense to her, and it's too late already for Penny."
"Penny?"
"That cousin. Last I know, she's into Chinese Chess and made a death vow never to return to Go. I wouldn't get too close to that sort of poisonous conviction."
"Ah, souka..."

It was then that both Crossers felt something other than the wind rub/slap them, and that broke the rather tense topic in clean halves. It was a tingling sensation somewhere in the back of the head, and instantly the both of them knew what happened: M, Sophia, and the rest are definitely close!

And as they thought just that, the outpost came in clear sight, hidden above and behind the deserted canal path they were riding on.

"Uwah...?! Martin... you felt that?"
"Yep! Hang on a little, I'll ride faster! Let's do what we can, and not think about what we can't! Ikuzo!"

Sanae grinned, out of her own accord, happy that she's found one person this far from home who could actually understand her.

"Hai!"
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marcien
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by marcien »

and since paso's "soon" is taking more than three weeks to happen, i'm hijacking! hur hur. *trolls around*

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: Around noon
Weather: Cloudy
Location: ???
PCs: Sophia (Oriole), Randall Kayne, Mirto
Other PCs: Makoto, Cassius, Martin Chang, Sanae Fujiwara
NPCs: Feradine, Cyanate, Lanette Hindfell
================


If Sophia had a physical brain, it would hurt a lot right now. She did not understand why she was unable to hear the voice of the raccoon panzer's mind. It was as though something was purposely blocking her from using it. On top of that, strange pictures are showing up in her mind. Panzers...? It was as though Oriole was a panzer. But that is not right. Even though Oriole did live with panzer children and played with them as one of them, she never felt like a real, real panzer.

And she heard Mister Randall shout really loudly. Ehh? I can hear Mister Randall but not Mister Raccoon? It must have been really loud, for Sophia was sure the cliff was quite a distance up. When floated herself up, she found that he and, oh no-- Madam Lanette, and another crosser who was Mister Jacket's link, were in big trouble because of the huge ice stray-blight. Huh? Why did Mister Jacket break their bond?

She could tell that the crossers are having difficulty dealing with the stray-blight, but that was the lesser of her concerns. At that moment, Feradine's voices were screaming all around in her head. Poor Mister Feradine, he is hurt. He wants a crosser badly, that's why he is chasing Mister Randall and Madam Mirto. He has lost his humanity but he still remembers having a friend. But now that he has become a blight, he only knows this method of showing his feelings.

So Sophia tried to make Mister Randall and Madam Mirto escape first. If they were gone, maybe Mister Feradine's heart would not hurt so badly. Sophia can escape on her own later.

But Madam Mirto came back. The crossers seemed determined to deal with Mister Feradine so that he does not eat up Sophia. Sophia was grateful for that, and with some cooperation, they launched what Cassius would call a "combo attack" against Mister Feradine, pushing him off the edge of the cliff.

Mister Feradine, however, came back up, and this time, with his crosser, Mister Raccoon. No, that's wrong, Mister Raccoon is a panzer! Panzers cannot bond with a stray, or a stray-blight.

Mister Raccoon attacked, and for that moment, Oriole heard him: No fragment? Bah, I'll just kill them, these trash trash trash tras--

Hey, Sophia, are you there? came Mister Mad Hooder's voice. He sent out a shadow to encase the four of them as he approached them.

Mister Raccoon was not happy about Mister Makoto rescuing them. What?! Another stray?!! FUCK THIS ALL I'm tired of all this, FUCK you--

And she heard another unexpected voice. Oh no you don't. Hurt. Miss Oriole...!

Cassius! Then, her surroundings started to melt and change form. This must have been Mister Makoto's power.

"Sophia!" Huh? Mister Martin? Sophia found herself with her and Mister Makoto's linked crossers.

"Mister Martin! Miss Sanae!"

If Sophia had a physical brain, it would hurt a lot right now. So many things have just happened within a short span of time. ... Will Cassius be all right...?
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Sentrovasi
Posts: 163
Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 12:55 am

Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Sentrovasi »

Date: Saturday, June the 5th
Time: 1.10 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Abandoned Marston Security Outpost
PCs: Randall Kayne
Other PCs: Makoto, Cassius, Martin Chang, Sanae Fujiwara, Sophia, Mirto
NPCs: Lanette Hindfell

"There's no way we can get away in time!"

Randall wasn't usually given to such negativity, but he was utterly exhausted, and more than a little desperate. What was he thinking of doing? If the girl's shield had done nothing to stop the knife, his own Enomena were probably equally useless, and it was a bit much to expect her to be in any shape to run away, especially after he had just brusquely forced her to the ground. But one of them could still flee...

"Sophia...!"

He had barely uttered the words when the world around him seemed to go dark. Was this it? His heart sank a little in his chest before he realized he still had a chest. And that both Sophia and the other girl were still with him. And that the darkness seemed... oddly familiar.

The cocoon of darkness unraveled around them, and they found themselves in an unfamiliar, rather dark and dusty building. Facing them, on the other hand, were several very familiar people.

"Sophia!"

"Mr. Martin! Miss Sanae!"

The Crosser-Stray union must have been touching in his own right, but Randall had more important things to figure out for now. The shadow around them had coalesced into M... or Makoto, as he remembered he was now known. From the breathless looks on the newcomers' faces, they had only gotten here in the nick of time. Not that Randall was one to be ungrateful for small miracles.

"It's just once surprise after another. Next thing you know I'll be bonding with the Train. Thanks a lot, kid." He nodded at Makoto in thanks before turning back to the two prone girls.

"On another note, this isn't at all what it looks like."

Trying his hardest not to simply fall to his knees as he knelt besides Mirto, he looked at the wound in her arm. Through his Ether-tinted vision, he could see the residual traces of Ether left behind from the knife, although fortunately it seemed to have little effect on Mirto's pattern. Without a word, he removed a small first-aid kit from his bag and got to work sterilizing and dressing it.

"Martin," emphasizing his use of the other man's real name, "you're going to want to take a look at the redhead." Mundane worries seemed the least of their concerns in the wake of what just happened, but he still had to be sure the girl's wound wouldn't turn septic.

He knew they had to get them to safety - this was no place for them to hang around, not so close to the event horizon. With Sanae off to the pharmacy, he knew what his next course of action was. Without skipping a beat, he placed a quick call, listening for a bit, then hung up. A taxi would be arriving in ten minutes.

His reason for calling was twofold. He had no idea if the strange man - Cyanate, he had called himself - would be coming back with that monstrous Stray (his last words were certainly chilling in their own right), but the middle of a dusty abandoned building was not the most adequate of places for the two girls to recover, especially since his bandages had done little to staunch the wound.

Secondly, the presence of outsiders might stay their hand. There must have been a reason why the battle was conducted so far away from anyone; it was likely that Cyanate would not be as inclined to use his abilities with outsiders nearby.

Casting his phone back into his bag, he disposed of the small band-aids Sanae had passed him. He had no idea what the ditzy woman must have been thinking, but he appreciated her good intentions, even if the inappropriateness of it was slightly irritating.

Turning to the conversation, he could hear Sophia speaking.

"I... I just saw him fall off the cliff with the mean-looking Panzer..."

Now it was time for a talk.
Last edited by Sentrovasi on Sun May 22, 2011 6:54 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Pasonia
Posts: 175
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:43 am

Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pasonia »

(Okay, first it was the initial delay, then my own rage at my computer resetting by itself - with ALL the input I had on the post gone.
So it's been dang long. Sent nearly ruined the simulated RP I had with AYC, but I have no one to blame but me. My most sincere apologies.
Also, this is Part One of Two, in case my forgetfulness means AYC has to post the second part to this.)


Date: 5 June, Saturday
Time: 1.10 PM
Weather: Cloudy->Clear
Location: Abandoned Marston Security Outpost
PCs: Martin Chang, Sanae Fujiwara
Other PCs: Makoto (M), Cassius, Sophia (Oriole), Mirto, Randall Kayne
NPCs: Lanette Hindfell
======================



"Sophia!"
"Mister Martin! Miss Sanae!"

Martin hurriedly knelt down to take a better look at Sophia. Her eyebrows seem a little furrowed - maybe she's worried about something - but she doesn't seem to be badly harmed in any way.

"Come, let me take a look at your hands. Which one did that... crow... grab you with?" Martin took a while to suppress the "bitch" inwards, though he still couldn't bring himself to call Hailey by name.

Sophia raised out both her hands.

"Thankfully... it's all right. What a relief. Okay, guys, please move into the outpost."

***

The outpost was a little dusty, but it was better than being seated out in the open; besides, there were abandoned sofas that could look better, but comfort after such a dangerous outing is still a respite no matter what, Martin had thought.

However, Makoto obviously didn't share Martin's sentiment; his expression was pitch-black with anger. Sanae, sensing her linked Stray's anger, tugged at Martin for attention.

"'Go scope out the scene', says the louse..."
"Excuse me?"
"You better be thankful, O Bearded One, if I were just a little bit slower everyone would be in pieces."

Martin wanted to blast out in anger at Makoto's apparent shallowness in viewing the entire situation, but each time he thought of that Sanae comes to mind. This time, though, he couldn't help it.

"Oi! What's the meaning of this? Have you forgotten that your partner is new? Everyone could wind up dead if we didn't detour. I'm not taking any chances with that Ether!"

At this, Sanae felt a huge rush of guilt; everyone could be safer if it wasn't for her. At that thought, she could only grimace in guilt.

"E, to... I'm sorry for all this trouble---"
"Chigaimasu. You informed us of what you were suffering, that's enough. I cannot answer to your loved ones if you get hurt."
"..." Martin's attempt to put her at ease only served to unsettle her even further.

"Still!" Martin turned around quickly, knowing his argument with Makoto wasn't done with, yet. "I cannot absolve myself entirely from this - it's true I slowed you because we took the detour, but it's for the sake of Sanae and everyone else, trust me."

Makoto cocks an eyebrow in mockery. "That's not what I'm griping about," he scoffs. "Doesn't change the fact that if I hadn't come to the rescue, god knows what would've happened."

At this point Martin knew that speaking further is useless; Makoto's words clearly brick-walled the entire conversation.
"I'm speaking to a wall, aren't I?! I'm sorry I cannot be bothered with you any further."

Martin unconsciously placed a finger to the bridge of his nose, a habit Sanae noticed about Martin whenever he was thinking deep. Sanae scans the rest of the crew quietly behind Martin, but her own thoughts were interrupted when one of the guys she's never seen before starts to blurt Martin's way.

"Martin," Randall growled, "You're going to have to want to take a look at the redhead."

Martin looked in the direction of the "redhead", and found Lanette absolutely smashed, the adjective descriptive of her consciousness rather than drunkenness. She was injured and scratched all over, but thankfully, still breathing normally.

"I don't remember she being this weak...?"
"Yea. Well, she was thoroughly beaten despite not being weak."
"No kidding... That's some serious opposition."

"Kizutsuku... ka?" Sanae's attention turned to where Randall knelt, but held back her shriek upon noticing the extent of Mirto's wound - the wound bled through the gauze despite Randall's best efforts to keep it steady.

Worried, Sanae dug through her bag in a flustered manner, and in seconds she was able to retrieve four thin plasters from her bag. Not sure of how much help those plasters would do, she handed it forward to Randall anyway.

Randall, of course, was not exactly amused by the feeble attempt at help, but it was a temporary respite anyway. "Thanks," he had begrudgingly muttered at Sanae's offer.

Martin noticed the situation beside Lanette, then blurted, "There's a pharmacy nearby the private school where you can get some gauze. Sanae, if you could?"

"Ha-hai! I'll be back soon!"

Sanae then took the rented bike outside the compound, and sped off down the same canal they came by.

Makoto surveyed the room for a little bit, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"Damn. What the hell was happening there, Sophia?"

Martin agreed with that question; there were a lot of unanswered questions.
"I'd like to ask too. If someone's getting cut and another's out cold, it has to be serious. Sophia, if you would please...?"

Sophia, who had taken Sanae's seat on the sofa, was shifting about uncomfortably. Obviously, explaining everything would be a scary reminder of what just happened.

"There was a Blight... me, Mister Randall, and Madam Mirto tried to fight it off. We got it to fall down the Cliff, but... it came back... and a mean-looking Panzer tried to attack us and Madam Mirto got injured... and then Mister Mad Hooder saved us."

Martin instantly felt dissatisfied at the answer, but wasn't sure which part of it didn't satisfy him. Then he suddenly remembered about Hailey grabbing Sophia away.
"What's with that bitch bird carrying you away, then? Did she harm you?"

"Eh? No... no, she didn't, Mister Martin! She just wanted me to... read that mean-looking Panzer's thoughts."
"What did that beast think of?"
"...I don't know."
"What'd you mean, you don't---"
"I can't read him... and... a-and..."

Makoto was about to berate Martin for bringing Sophia to tears, but even as Martin shoved Makoto back and tried to reassure Sophia that it was okay, she still began to cry at the thought of Jacket.

"Sophia...?"
"Uuu... Mister Jacket...!"

Martin frowned. He didn't know who this Jacket guy was, until a spark in his head suddenly threw his thoughts forward.
"...Is he the guy with the yellow jacket?"
"Yes, grouchy," answered Makoto. "So... what happened to Jacket?"

"Uuu-! I don't know, I... I just saw him fall off the cliff with the mean-looking Panzer-! Uuu..."
"There, there... hush, hush... it's all right..." Although Martin knew they existed on different planes, he still could not help but lend Sophia an Ether-enabled shoulder to tug on. However, that meant there were still a heck lot of incomplete information, and none which could claim to not be tainted by varying levels of prejudice and exaggeration.

"...so Sophia doesn't know any more, eh..."
Martin could only connect the dots of the fight to a point where Sophia had met them.
A fight ensued which at first, ended in a tie between this Jacket guy and the enemy Blight. From the movements he saw, it seemed that the Panzer was controlling the Blight, something he didn't know could be achieved.
A second fight broke out shortly, that ostensibly injured the mint-haired girl Mirto. It also brought everyone into a dangerous situation that, from Makoto's point of view, can only be resolved by an escape skill of his.

But just as there are macro and micro objectives to a fight for position on the goban, there are macro and micro objectives to each action any individual undertakes.

It's just not clear enough what they were, god fucking dammit!

Martin turned towards Randall, already ditching the blood-soaked plaster.

"How about you? From Sophia's story, it seems you know a lot more. You were earlier to the scene, right?"

"Yep!... but this depends on what you want to know."
"Fuck you," Martin snapped, right before Sanae came through the door hurriedly with the gauze already unpacked from its seal. "Of course I want to know everything from the beginning. What went on at the Cliff?"
"Which Cliff?" Randall had taunted, not really concentrating on Martin's words.
"Come off it. You want to eat a photo of that cliff with those three, eat my fist, or spit out what you know?"

For once, Randall's own smirk disappeared, but Martin's gaze at him was a strong demand for answers he couldn't really bring himself to refuse.

"It's simple. There's a Panzer, a Stray-Blight, and a surprised trio. Apparently they want this Jacket guy, so a fight broke out on the Cliff. I was there when you were still undecided on going to the cliff, so I took a bike nearby and sped down to help... of course, it didn't go that well for me and the bike."

Martin's lips curled in anger. "That 'bike nearby' is my bike. Nobody else rode to the CC today when we knew of this."

"Sue me for saving a life," retorted Randall, growing increasingly impatient. "In the end, though, I wasn't the hero. Jacket-dude sacrificed himself, and threw that Blight off the Cliff with a push that got him tumbling too."

"So that was what Sophia saw at the Cliff... but it doesn't explain why that Panzer wanted another Stray when he already has a bad-ass one to kill the rest with."

Randall lightly shrugged, smiling slightly at Mirto's wound finally halting its free-flow of blood. "Unfortunately, that's all I could say. I wasn't there at the start, you really should ask..."

His words trailed off, but his gaze fixed on Mirto, who was sweating because of the blood loss, but was still conscious enough to be in deep thought. Sanae noticed the girl biting her lips, as though she was struggling to free herself from something that is tugging at her heart.

"The poor girl's suffering from guilt..." Sanae remarked, not loud enough for everyone to hear. Sophia, her face wrought with worry for Madam Mirto, could only mutter an agreement as she read Sanae's thoughts quietly.

"Jacket..."

Martin breathed hard. No one dared to disturb her speaking.

"... was my Stray. I was his bonded Crosser."

Martin wasn't sure what expression to wear at that point.
Surprise? Yes. Shock? Yes. Sadness? Yes. Anger? Yes.
Looking around, Martin realised quickly that he wasn't alone. Everyone else wasn't quite sure now what expression to wear. Not even Randall could respond properly, even though Martin would rather kill than admit that guy is better at such situations than he could ever hope to be.

Martin and Sanae's gaze met, and implicitly they agreed on just one thing.
Whatever revelations to come next would be surprise, shock, or both.

At that thought, they could only keep their silence, until Mirto, her voice slightly trembling, began to speak again.
Johker
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2010 4:23 pm

Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Johker »

(i'm really sorry this took so long. please don't hate me! anyway, I used cyan for Cyanate's text! geddit? ha ha ho hilarity.)

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: 1:10 - 1:30 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Nameless Cliff
PC: Cassius
Other PCs: Sophia , Mirto, Randall, Makoto [M]
NPCs: Cyanate, Feradine, Lanette Hindfell


~ ~ ~ ~

Cassius was in a rather difficult position now.

About an hour ago, Cassius had been wandering about aimlessly when he saw a peculiar sight. Namely, a large, black bird clasping onto Sophia, soaring through the sky together. Somehow, from Cassius's mind, came the completely incorrect assumption that this bird was going to bring Oriole back to its nest to and feed her to its newly-hatched young, because that's obviously what all mother birds do to feed their hatchlings.

Fueled with panic, Cassius began running after the bird, which was by now, a mere speck in the sky. He couldn't very well teleport to where they were headed, for the simple reason that he didn't know where they were headed. Nonetheless, he decided to trail after them, using his ether-tracking skills. After desperately running after them for an hour, he finally reached a certain unnamed cliff with an unnaturally great amount of ether traces emanating from the location.

Just as he arrived however, he saw that Oriole, who was accompanied by Crossers he didn't recognise, was now in a different situation altogether. That carnivorous mother bird had disappeared, but emerging from below the cliff came a dangerous looking Panzer upon a dangerous looking Blight. Mysteriously, the Panzer seemed to be in complete control of the Blight, something Cassius was certain Panzers hadn't been able to do as of yet.

The Panzer flung a knife through the air and cut through the Crosser girl's arm, subsequently getting lodged in the ground. It was at this moment Cassius sprung into action. He had to prevent that Panzer - his own kind - from harming Oriole and her friends.

Don't. Hurt. Miss Oriole...!

Cassius then assumed his half-human form and pounced toward the enemy...

"I'm here to save you, Little Miss Oriole!!"

Where have I said that before? Why does it sound so... familiar?

i've... tried to rescue Little Miss Oriole before, haven't i...?


but why don't I remember it?



was it a long time ago...?




was it... during that time?


...Only to realise Oriole and the Crossers had been wrapped around in some strange darkness. When this darkness had lifted, they had, to Cassius's surprise, disappeared. Meaning that Cassius was the only person left on that cliff, along with the enemy.

"Ehhhh...?" was the only confused response Cassius could muster. (Cassius had neither witnessed nor experienced M's powers before this.)

Little Miss Oriole's disappeared.

just like that time i tried to rescue her.


just like that time.



but... when was it?




i... have to remember...


Just then, there was an ear-splitting explosion that threw Cassius off his feet. Even more confusing to Cassius was that the source of the explosion seemed to be the knife that had been lodged in the ground close by to him. Cassius landed face-first into the ground. In pain, Cassius lay in a crumpled heap.

where are you, Oriole?

don't disappear like that last time...


i'm not going to forget you this time...


From the corner of Cassius's eye, he saw the Panzer dismount the Blight and start walking toward Cassius. As he approached nearer, Cassius noticed two things: One, that he was likely to be a raccoon Panzer judging from his ears and tail. Two, that he looked absolutely furious.

Cyanate yanked up Cassius head by his hair, causing Cassius no small amount of pain. Then, glaring directly into Cassius's widened eyes, he spoke.

"Where the fuck did they go?" Cyanate hissed.

"T-they who?"

"Your goddamned friends, you bloody IDIOT!"

Cassius decided that this dangerous raccoon Panzer was indeed dangerous, and quickly whipped out his MPUD, wanting to retrieve his pistols from its storage matrix. But Cyanate, being far quicker, grabbed Cassius's wrist and gave it one savage twist, leaving him unable to write with his right hand for months, and causing him to release his grip on the MPUD.

"Gaack--" yelped Cassius pathetically, clutching onto his injured wrist.

Cyanate picked up the MPUD from the ground and smiled devilishly at Cassius.

"Now, just what am I going to do with you?"

C-Crap.
Last edited by Johker on Mon May 30, 2011 9:12 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Pasonia
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pasonia »

Date: 5 June, Saturday
Time: 1.20 PM
Weather: Cloudy->Clear
Location: Abandoned Marston Security Outpost
PCs: Martin Chang, Sanae Fujiwara
Other PCs: Makoto (M), Cassius, Sophia (Oriole), Mirto, Randall Kayne, Graciel Flay
NPCs: Lanette Hindfell
======================



"...'was'. Jacket was my bonded Stray."

Martin struggled inside of him. The unusual emphasis meant something more, something crucial to this whole thing. Yet any more questions at this point can potentially put the girl off.

"... Um, excuse me....." Martin rummaged into his head for a bit before remembering Mirto's name. "Mir---"

"...Our contract... was broken..."
"...Huh?"

Martin noticed the atmosphere of the room dipped into sheer tension. Looking at Sophia, whose eyes widened with what he felt was a mixed tinge of fear and curiosity, and Makoto, who was evidently struggling to understand the situation, he couldn't help himself anymore. The quest for answers prevailed.

"Mirto... your name, right? ... why--"
"Jacket... he did it... he broke the contract... to protect me."
"Protect you...?"

Martin willed himself to focus. All the information coming in now must be processed quickly enough for everyone's sake, but it's not happening for Martin.

"That Panzer... he was going to kill me. I don't know why, but he was looking for Jacket... and Jacket's being bonded to a Crosser was a roadblock to whatever schemes he had."

Martin then suddenly felt a flush through his head; the whole situation was finally clear.

The reason for the fight is Jacket. Mirto was an unwilling, and unfortunate collateral, and if not for the unexpected yet timely intervention of the rest, she would definitely not have survived.
On the other hand, the fact that Mirto had so many people intervening into what was her fight alone was a miracle in itself, considering the situation.

"So..."

"Jacket... broke off the contract to keep me safe."

An attack for a significant piece of territory failed due to multiple surprise moves that unsettled the attacker. However, the opponent won't fall for the same thing twice... maybe even build up a concrete game plan to take everyone else down and get to his objective---

"What are you thinking of, Mister Martin...? You're confusing me..."

Martin grimaced - there goes his train of thought with Sophia's probing!

"... Sophia... it's really difficult for me to focus..."

Martin gritted his teeth in utter mental anguish. When his train of thought gets messed up - which by itself is pretty rare - he would go swearing in his head while the events in his head swing left and right without any particular pattern. Sophia could see his thoughts as blur-beyond-recognition images, and that was when she knew she had inadvertently screwed Martin's mental state up.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry, Mister Martin...!"
"What happened to him--"
"Nope--- ugh... okay, I'm fine, I'm fine..."

Inwardly, Martin begged Sophia to lie for his sake that he is fine.

...

It was then that a welcome distraction arrived in the form of Sanae, who decided to pick up from where Martin left the discussion.

"Sore ja... Miruto-san..."

Mirto was slightly miffed by the mispronunciation of her name.

"Y-yes...?"
"Why... is this Jaketto-san so important?"
"I... don't know. He... said something about a fragment."
"A fragment...?"
"Please, um, Miss..."
"My name is Fujiwara Sanae. Nice to meet you."

Mirto had no wish to answer any more, and Sanae was literally just confusing her.
"Uh, well, yes..."

Randall sensed quickly that Mirto had entered her withdrawn mode again, now that she was done explaining. Martin, meanwhile, had just recovered sufficiently enough to start asking questions again.

"Uh, Miss Mir--"
"I------- think that will be enough questioning for today you guys," interjected Randall before Martin could finish his statement. "Everyone... should be pretty tired now."
"But I haven't even---!"
"We can leave answering questions later, Martin. We don't know if that Panzer is circling the area, waiting for a chance to strike while we're down. I would say that this is actually a pretty dangerous area to hide in, we're like a huge 'get me here' Ether beacon."

Martin thought about this strange keyword, "beacon", then suddenly his eyes lit up. Randall may be right for once; the kid doesn't know it, but what he said caused the goatee-dude to suddenly reminded about Sanae's leaky Ether problem.
That, and he had honestly forgotten how close they were to the scene of the fight!

"...We'll have to split up and get away from the area quick, then. Hoodie-kid, are you still able to get them away from here?"
"...Yes?"
"Okay... I want you to whisk everyone away from inside here."
"...Huh?"
"I'll explain later. Teleport as far as you can. No one but me will walk out of this outpost on foot from now on."

Sophia tugged at Martin's shoulder at this time, apparently unwilling to leave.

"Mister Martin... please let me go back... Uuu..."
"...You can't mean, back there?"
"Yes, please... Mister Cassius and Mister Jacket are in danger..."

"...yes, sir, sorry, we'll be late by a bit. Yes, about three minutes, give or take."

Martin narrowed his eyes at Randall.
That totally sounds like he made a cab booking.

"What the heck's that about?"
Martin asked, pretending he didn't know what Randall was up to.
"Oh, uh, I told this guy here to port us to this spot where I booked a cab, you see."
You booked a cab without my knowledge, you little...?
Martin shot him a rather flabbergasted look, but inwardly he knew it didn't matter where - just as long as the rest gets out of trouble.

"Well, shit be me. Sanae, your contact number."
"Are?"
"No, well, I need you to message me to tell me you guys are safe, you know."
"Ah, hai..."

Martin quickly thumbed his mobile number in, as Makoto prepares the rest of the group for teleporting. Randall had the unenviable task of slinging a not-so-lightweight Lanette on his shoulders, but he had some help from Sanae.

"Guys, please stay safe. We'll keep in touch," remarked Martin. "Miss Mirto, please do not be disheartened."
The injured girl didn't respond to Martin; she was apparently still lost deep in thought.
"Randall, Sanae, I'll be counting on you guys."
"Mm."
"Hai."

Makoto quickly recited a few notes, and in a few moments a huge, large shadow-like thing enveloped the group sans Martin and Sophia.

"Whoa."

The shadow then somehow morphed into the shape of some strange flower; in moments, the group disappeared right before his eyes.

"Whoa!?"

Martin was surprised, but he held the surprise in, then walked out of the outpost calmly, with Sophia in tow.
A few moments later, his mobile rang a little.

"Martin-san, we're taking the taxi now. Shall we talk on Goban-Tenka later?"

"Okay, they're out of danger now," remarked Martin, as he swung his bike around and kicked the stopper up. "Let's go, Sophia!"

"Okay, Mister Martin!"

===========

Graciel felt a little queasy today.
Everything was so normal it's abnormal, for one. Aside from the one where his features were being suspected, things have been a little quiet on the radar today...

...or is it really just him.

He resisted the urge to yawn loudly, and no sooner he was done with his little break outside of Stray Cats that someone began to ring his bike's bell.

He turned around, curiosity getting him a little, and found himself...
...looking squarely at Martin and Sophia on a bike.
Last edited by Pasonia on Mon May 30, 2011 9:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pictor »

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: 1:33 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Nameless Cliff
PC: Hailey, Cyanate
Other PCs: Cassius
NPCs: Feradine

================

"G-Gah!!"

Cassius had to admit, it was quite hard to move around with a broken hand, never mind having to dodge a barrage of exploding knives at the same time! Even a slight jostle sent a jolt of excruciating pain shooting up his arm.

"Oh shoot! Where's he pulling all of those things from?!"

"Huuuu! Feisty new one ain't he, Feradine? Reminds me of target practice back at the academy!" Cyanate, despite his own scuffs and bruises, seemed to be enjoying the situation just fine. Reaching into his sleeves, he withdrew three more explosive blades, then nudged at the patiently-standing Feradine by his side. "Go after the ones that got away. Screw civilian casualties, if we let them do what they want, our covers gonna be blown. Don't fuck up this time, or I'll have to get myself a new pet, you hear?"

"Grrrrrr..." With a low, humbling growl, the creature gave its master what appeared to be a slight nod. Lurching over, Feradine 'sunk' into a shadowy pool and the ground, and speed off past a panting Cassius.

"H-Hey! Where's he going?!"

"... To clean up. Huhuhahaha....!" The raccoon panzer brought his knives close to him and gingerly licked along the flat side of a blade. "But I'd be more worried about yourself, kid. It's just one pest after another, huh? Looks like I'll be doing a little cleaning up myself!"

"Man, why do they always do that? It's kinda gros--- W-WOAH!" Cassius barely had time to react as another explosion kicked up a cloud of grass and dirt in his face. He rolled to the side to avoid the impact, cradling his injured wrist.

*WHUD!*

"Ouch!" Unable to see where he was leaping, our canine hero unfortunately tumbled right into a tree. Before Cassius was able to even rub his sore head, a sinister face appeared from behind the dust cloud.

"Surrrpriiise~!"

*Shink-!*

At that moment, Cassius had instinctively tried to tackle Cyanate head on, but was stopped when his opponent produced a knife pointed straight under his neck.

"Heh, as if I'd fall for that trick twice. Sorry kiddo, not exactly a big fan of getting man-handled like that." The half-raccoon applied a bit more pressure on his knife, sinking it into the younger Panzer's flesh just slightly.

"Tch..." Cassius winced as a droplet of crimson trickled down the tip of the blade and dabbled onto his shirt.

"Still feeling the same about trying to be a big damned hero?" Cyanate tilted his head with a mocking expression. "Psh, what the fuck's up with Panzers these days? Getting along with humans and Strays. All I had to take of before were those piles of trash, but then you--"

Suddenly, Cassius grabbed blade of the knife with his bare palms and tore it away from his throat. Seizing the opportunity, he headbutted the unsuspecting Cyanate straight in the face, causing the Panzer to stumble.

"G-Gaaah!! You little--!"

"Do not call Miss Oriole trash... trash."

"Keh... heh... heh heh..." Still gripping his face, Cyanate brought himself to his feet. "So, you've still got a bit of fight left in ya. That's good! I didn't want this to be too boring! But look at yourself..."

The raccoon gave a quick glance at Cassius' two hands. One was already beginning to swell ad bruise, while the other had a large gash across the palm.

"You really think you can beat me?"

"Hmm... I sure do!"

"Eh?"

Cyanate spun around to a voice behind him, only to be greeted by a boot straight into the gut.

"G-GUH!! KAH....!" The hooded Panzer tumbled off to the side, gasping for air. He gave a sinister look up at his surprise assaulter. "Y-You bitch... you're still around?"

"What, you think I just left? You stupid or something?"

With quick flick of her wrist, the figure brought out a pack of cigarettes from her back pocket.

"Tsk. All out, huh?." With a sigh, she tossed the empty pack away. Taking advantage of the moment, Cyanate tried to dash to his feet, but was immediately struck down by another kick, this time to the shoulder. Flinching onto his back, the raccoon Panzer was forcefully pinned onto the ground by a foot planted firmly on his chest. Then, a hand grabbing the hem of his collar jolted his head upward.

"Oi. You've caused enough trouble for one day, don't you think? Those idiots that ran off, they're one thing... but you shouldn't be touching Noco's little boy toys, yea? If anything happened to them... that'd make her sad."

Releasing her grip on Cyanate, Hailey brought her hands together and cracked her knuckles.

"... And that just won't do. What was it I heard you say... 'Naughty kids needs to be taught a lesson?'"

Still trapped beneath his attacker, Cyanate gulped anxiously. For some reason, he seemed to feel a malice that was beyond anything he's ever experienced.

"Looks like big sister's gonna have to take a punk to school."
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by SavviG »

Date: 5 June, Saturday
Time: 1.23 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Stray Cats
PCs: Graciel
Other PCs: Sophia (Oriole), Martin Chang
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


He watched Martin and Sophia pulling up. Martin's eyes still focused onto Graciel as he neared. Marting stopped the bike right at Graciels foot. He opened his mouth to speak but paused mid way as he examined Graciels attire instead.

'Ah, please, stop, Mister Martin! Stop!' said Sophia who was still clutching onto Martins back. 'We need your help mister Graciel! Mister Cassius is in trouble!'

'Cassius is in trouble? Where at?'

'At the cliff side with a blight and bad racoon Panzer!' and Sophia pointed to the general direction. 'They attacked us and everyone!' She looked upset and worried.

Bad Panzer? Cassius is squaring off with a Blight and Panzer?

Graciel then turned to Martin who only made eye contact for 2 second and broke off. Graciel don't know what to do to with him.

Silence. Martin hasn't spoken a word yet. Not even a curse towards Graciel. Sophia noticed the uneasiness between to the two.

'uuu... Stop that mister Martin... We have to help mister Cassius!' said Sophia. Time was running short the more they waited.

Silence. Martin felt a itch in his jewels. Curse that bird and his headed simulated a throbbing sensation.

Martin nodded. Only just acknowledge Graciel's existence due to the fact he is unlike the bird.

'Right, I understand Sophia. Lets get going.' said Graciel.

Graciel turn back to the door and shouted in, 'Boss kitten, I've got emergency things to take care off, I'm off early today!' and he made a run.

The manager didn't have enough time to catch Graciel for questions, only to see his tail disappear and a goatee guy riding off. 'That guy... running off like that.'

~~~

Graciel ran as fast as possible to catch up with Martins crazy speed on a bike. As Martin peddled to a corner he slowed down to make a turn. He felt a sudden lump landing on his shoulder and he looked around to see who or what dropped on him.

A cat was perched onto his left shoulder. Martin was wide eyed now. 'Get off me shoulder and use your own legs!' thought Martin. He tried to balance the weight by leaning slightly to the right.

The cat said 'You peddle fast, look you almost catching up with the guy on the moped.' Martin didn't quite catch all the sentence due to the wind whistling in his ear.

The Martin was getting used to the balancing and was now speeding up.

A kid with a ice cream on one hand watched a fast approaching biker storming past. The man had a cat clutched on his shoulders and he was peddling really fast. In slow motion, his mouth was open in a "O" shape and his free arm raised pointing at him without breaking contact.

Martins eye caught the kid pointing at him. 'oh hell no' said martin.
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by marcien »

bwahahahaha i finally get a chance to post! huuhuuhuhuhuuhu.

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: Midday
Weather: Cloudy with a chance of ether snow
Location: Dawnview Park (yet again)
PCs: Sophia (Oriole)
Other PCs: Martin Chang, Graciel Flay
NPCs: Feradine
================


Soon, Sophia began to feel a chill on her back. No, it was not the sort of chill you get when you think something bad is going to happen, it is the sort of chill you get when someone pulls open the collar of your shirt and throws ice down your spine.

"Snow!", exclaimed Martin. He slowed down in his paddling, since snow makes the ground slippery, he should not be going so fast.

"That means that Mister Feradine - the stray blight... is nearby..." said Sophia.

When he heard that, Graciel leapt to the bicycle's handlebars, making Martin stop. "I will go find a place to snipe the blight from. The fountain clock seems most suitable."

"What? Oi, you can't mean...?

"It's is irresponsible of me, but if you two could keep the blight near the fountain, I promise to shoot it down immediately. I won't let it harm any of you! Promise!"

"You're telling us to be bait?!!"
"Okay, sure, Mister Graciel~!"

Martin looked over at his stray. Does she even understand what the cat panzer was asking of them? Before he could retort, the cat had already skidded off in the direction of the park's fountain clock.

"It is all right, Mister Martin. Mister Feradine is injured already, I can definitely protect us!" With that, she headed towards where the snow was thicker.

Martin was much less confident. He had only read about stray-blights from the bloody PDF, and whatever he knew was no comfort. If anything, it could be something even worse than the train blight. Moreover, snow? Just what is with that?

-- -- -- -- --

Aww... the clock statue isn't tall enough! lamented Graciel when he reached the fountain. I have to hurry up and find another place to shoot from~

That's right! I am looking at a five-storey library museum! I should use that instead. I should still be able to see the fountain from there... So he pointed his MPUD guider in the direction of the library roof and transported himself there.

Now assuming his human form, Graciel pulled out his rifle from storage and started setting it up. In the mean time, he dialed up Mrs Berry on his MPUD.

"What is it, Graciel?" he heard from the speakers.

"Noco... Umm, there's a raccoon panzer whose controlling a stray-blight running around..."

-- -- -- -- --

Martin did not need to see it to realise that the stray-blight was very near. A deep growling sound reverberated through the park.

"Be careful, Sophia!"

Then he saw it. A huge man of muscular build. It clenched its fist into a ball, and then materialised an armoury of icicles.

"Sophia-- here!" He grabbed his stray's shoulders and steered her to face Feradine. "He's a whole lot of icicles!"

"He's gonna shoot them!" Sophia's held up her arms in front of her. Her fingers and palms dissolved into a thin glutenous substance to form a round shield in front of them.

-- -- -- -- --

"What?" came the expected surprised reply. "Tell me more."

"About an hour ago, a raven panzer enlisted the help of Sophia... She's a friend, a stray linked with the concealer... Because of her empathic powers. ... there's another agent on this case?"

"Don't worry about the raven. What next?"

"Somehow they got into a fight with the raccoon and the stray-blight he is controlling... It has some snow-kind of powers... Then the crossers- ah, they were in a fight with the stray-blight too, they got away together with Sophia. But before they left, Cassius attacked the raccoon."

"The new kid?"

"I suspect he may be in trouble. He is not responding to his MPUD..."

-- -- -- -- --

After its barrage of icicles failed to hit its target, Feradine gave out howl and sprinted after them.

Martin could only gape. How can something so gigantic move so fast? He scooped Sophia up and his arms and ran for the fountain.

-- -- -- -- --

"You're supposed to look after your partner, Graciel. Didn't you teach him to not go running off on his own?"

"That... I'm sorry! Ma'am!"

"It's fine, I'll call for backup."

And the line went off. Graciel trained his scope on the hulk of a stray-blight. He squeezed the trigger.

-- -- -- -- --

A shot rang out and a white explosion erupted from Feradine's back. The stray-blight gave a painful cry. It clutched its chest and bent down. It started shrinking in size.
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by marcien »

i love villainy. *trolls jacket* also, i'm switching hyder's pronoun he/she around, for fun~

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: 1337
Location: ???
PC: Hyder
Other PCs: Oriole, Martin Chang, Jacket
NPCs: Unknown crosser guy, Feradine
================


They have lost contact with Cyanate. With his habit of running wild, everyone knew that it was a bad thing.

"Just who the heck sets their MPUD to explode? Does Cyanate hate Geminesca that much?" laughed off the crosser. With Cyanate as a field agent, it became normal to expect the unexpected. "Do you think you can help us out here, Hyder? At least let us know what the crazy guy is up to."

The child closed his eyes. He peered through his eyelids, through their connection, into the consciousness of his previous link. "He has sent the stray-blight after the other crossers. A sniper is with them to take Feradine down."

"Has he forgotten the orders? Since when has retrieve-the-fragment turn into go-crazy-and-beat-up-anyone?" the man sighed.

"I will deal with it." The child called Hyder got up and keyed in the coordinates into the MPUD on her left upper arm through her sleeve. She left the room.

-- -- -- -- --

The child had no trouble spotting the stray-blight. He rolled up his sleeve to draw out a crossbow from his MPUD's storage matrix. The she pulled out a shiny brown coloured arrow. It is a thin copper pipe filled with liquid nitrogen. He held it up to his lips and blew lightly into it.

She loaded the arrow into her crossbow and trained her aim upon Feradine.

When the liquid nitrogen filled arrow hit the stray-blight, it first reacted to the pain. But that pain slowly subsided as the cooling ether entered its body from the panzer weapon. It felt its strength being restored as the ether flowed through the rest of its body, nearly healing all of his wounds.

Now, besides being filled with the panzer's ether-technology (which served to recharge Feradine as it was cold - the same element of its body), the arrow was also filled with Hyder's ether. It was this which caused the change in Feradine's body. While under the control of Cyanate, it possessed the body of a WWE wrestler, a reflection of his controller's own violent mental state. Now under the control of this stoic child, Feradine's body transformed into that of a slim-build Youth Olympic gymnast.

Retrieve the fragment, was the commands that rang out in its head. The stray-blight ignored the linked pair in front of him. And to the sniper that had just taken a few shots at his head, he materialized a giant icicle and hurled it in the direction of the library museum roof. It then leapt away and ran off in the direction of the sea.

-- -- -- -- --

"It transformed, and then it left?!" asked a bewildered Martin.

Retrieve the fragment... Sophia heard Feradine. "Oh no! Mister Feradine... Now he's going after Mister Jacker! The sea!

-- -- -- -- --

Graciel blinked in confusion when he saw the white vapour evaporating from the stray-blight's back. He was sure that he shot at its head! Realising that something was wrong, he decided not to wait for the transformation and fired another two shots. While he did hit it in the head, the wound healed to form scars.

What is going on?

Now the stray-blight seemed to have detected his presence. It looked over to him, formed an icicle out of nothing and--

Oh no he's gonna throw it here! Graciel scrambled to pack away his rifle and avoid the shot.

...

Eeek cold! My tail, it's frozen! sobbed Graciel, relieved.
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pictor »

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: 1:40 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Nameless Cliff
PC: Hailey, Cyanate
Other PCs: Cassius, Hyder
NPCs: Feradine
==============

"Damn you. Don't underestimate me!!" His hands still free, Cyanate quickly reached to the side and seized one of his knives which had been knocked a few inches away. Even in his pinned-down position, the raccoon Panzer was able to retaliate with considerable power. But Hailey was quick to react. Leaning back just slightly, she narrowly avoided the blade, which swept dangerously close across her neck.

"Grrrrraaaaaah!!!" Cyanate took advantage of the his assailant's opening and sprung quickly to his feet, then without wasting a another second, switched his knife to a reverse grip and lashed out once again.

"Too slow!" Without even batting an eye, Hailey moved in and blocked the strike before the knife could even reach her. Using Cyanate's own momentum against him, she performed a strategic shoulder throw that chucked her opponent across the grassy field.

"G-Geh!" Cyanate grunted painfully as he tumbled along the ground. Taking this short moment of reprieve, Hailey turned toward the bewildered Cassius.

"Hey you. Little dog."

"Yes?!"

"As quickly as you can, find a way to get in touch with your commander. Tell her everything that's happened."

"U-Um..."

Hailey sighed. Giving her MPUD a quick tap, she brought up something that hasn't seen the light of day in years; her old HQ credentials.

"Panzer Hailey Geminisca. Main Head Quarters. In terms of rank, I'm on par with your dear commander Noco Sue-Berry. In other words, I'm your superior."

Another commanding other than Madam Berry out here?! From the main HQ no less! Cassius scrambled to his feet and slapped his still-bleeding hand against his forehead in salute.

"S-Sorry about that ma'am!! I didn't know ma'am!!" Cassius stood frozen in his pose. Blood from his wound was already leaking onto his face and trickling downward.

... Is this kid being serious...?

"Yea, yea. Don't worry about it. Now go!!" From the corner of her vision, Hailey spied Cyanate beginning to stir from his prior defeat. "Before this guy decides to go after you next."

"But what about you, Ma'am??"

"Psh. You really think this guy stands a chance against me? Now skedaddle before I write you up for disobedience."

"O-Ok!! Field Scout Cassius, carrying out orders!" Without another word, turned heels and sped off into the forest. He still wasn't really sure who that lady was... but she helped him out of a bind, and she seems to know Madam Berry. He hoped that she'd be alright.

Turning back to Cyanate, now back on his feet again, Hailey cracked a smile.

"So now that we're alone, you wanna tell me what you're doing all the way here, Raccoon? What sorta dirty tricks are you up to this time?"

Cyanate responded by spitting a mouthful of blood on the floor and baring his teeth in a scowl.

"Go to hell, Geminisca. You fucking traitor... I don't have to tell you jack shit."

"Heh. How scary... you haven't changed a bit."

"Neither have you. Still a bitch... LIKE ALWAYS!!" Lunging forward, Cyanate sent three more knives flying in Hailey's direction. The crow Panzer prepared to dodge, but was suddenly interrupted by something sleek and black dashing out in front of her from the trees.

"GRRRRrrrrr...!!"

"Oh?"

"Wha---?! Feradine?! What the hell?!"

The Blight, barreling at full speed toward the edge of the cliff, simply sent Cyanate's knives spiraling off into the air, as if they were nothing. As his projectiles detonated in mid-air, Cyanate stood with his mouth agape.

"Feradine! Hey! What the fuck are you doing?! I thought I told you to-"

"This one is under my control now."

"Oh ho... who's this now?

From Hailey's perspective, it seemed as though the new figure that had appeared faded onto the scene from thin air, right behind Cyanate. It was a young child, no more than thirteen. And she seemed... awfully familiar. Cyanate himself first jumped back, startled, only to have his expression twist into a hateful scowl.

"....You. What are you doing here? I've got the situation under control."

"Clearly you do not, or else I would not be here." The child's expression remained blank, and her voice monotone as she continued. "The Leader's new orders for you are to cease your actions and immediately return to base."

"What?! Bullshit! Why?!"

The child closed his eyes and exhaled gently.

"Because of your rather rash and poorly planned decisions, it would seem the young Miss Hindfell came to harm."

"Well, that brat was--"

"-- As you should know, her safety was the agreement we had with a certain business partner. But now that is no longer the case." Opening her eyes once again, the child shot an accusing, but subtle glare at Cyanate. The Raccoon Panzer grit his teeth. He knew where this was going.

"Shit... you're saying she..."

"Yes, it would seem that Miss Lin has decided that she would no longer be our company. She is on her way to the Hindfell daughter now, but I doubt she knows her location exactly. Which means... she will most most likely try to retrieve it from you first."

The child calmly closed his eyes once more.

"You have enjoyed yourself toying with simpletons so far, but even you should know that there is no chance you can expect to handle the Hindfell retainer."

"Grrrr...."

Cyanate clenched his fists firmly, but seemed to resigned just a little. What Hyder said was true. There was no way he could stand up against Lin. After all, that bitch was a...

"Well, shit. Guess I'm done for the day."

"Hey!! You two having a lover's spat or something?! I'm still here! Geez Cyanate, I knew you were a freak, but you're into little kids now? Come on--!!"

Cyanate grumbled a string of curses under his breath and turned toward Hailey, who had been standing there the entire time.

"Tch. Looks like I'm gonna have to drop out. We'll finish this some other time... Geminisca..." Turning back to the his young Cohort, Cyanate crossed his arms with an irritated expression "Alright then. Beam me up, you brat."

The child nodded. With a quick flash of her MPUD, the raccoon Panzer vanished from the scene. With Cyanate gone, the child turned toward Hailey.

"Miss Geminisca, was it? Thank you for entertaining that ignoramus. Without this distraction, I do not think I could have caught up with him." Despite the child's sincere tone, Hailey was not entertained.

"My, you're polite. Too bad I hate suck-ups. That idiot wouldn't tell me, but perhaps you would. What the hell are you people up to?"

The child did not respond immediately. He turned toward the edge of the cliff, facing the ocean.

"Our goal...? Well, I suppose it would not hurt. Take this as thanks for your patronage."

The child smiled. It was at this point that Hailey felt a strange chill in the air. Was it her animal sense kicking in...? The strange presence that was coming from this kid... there was something not right about it.

"It is... The Rebirth... of everything. And for that, we require the fragment."

"... What are you talking about...? The fragment is just a--"

--!!

A sudden realization dawned upon Hailey. She nearly punched herself for not having realized it before.

"Son of a gun..! It's that Stray, isn't it? The one with the mask. To think you fuckers actually found it..."

The child's smile faded back into a plain expression.

"And what of it? Do you plan to stop us from reaching him? It is already too late. Even you cannot catch Feradine now. That Blight excels in feral instincts. He will find the fragment any moment now."

Now, it was Hailey's turn to smile.

"Aaaah. So you're counting on that black thing that whizzed by just now, hmm? That makes things easy." Whipping out her MPUD again, Hailey began to fiddle with the controls. "Now then... it think this is enough of an 'emergency' to use that."

The child remained unphased, but cocked his head in curiosity.

"What are you doing?" Without looking up from her MPUD, Hailey answered with a bemused grin.

"Hey, kid. You know who I am, right?"

"You are Hailey Geminisca, a former member of the Panzer Main Head-Quarters weapons development department."

"Ho ho! Very good, I'm actually pretty flattered! But I wasn't just any member. I was the boss. Chief Engineer, Primary Weapons R&D. Then, one day, they kicked me out."

With one last key-press, Hailey halted her typing and looked back up toward the child.

"... Wanna know why?"

LOADED GALLOWS. COMMENCING FIRING OPERATIONS. T-MINUS FIVE SECONDS...

An electronic voice spoke from Hailey's wrist-mounted device. The translucent, neon panels flashed red, dancing wildly with scrolling data and digital charts.

"It's because I stole something."

FOUR.

"...."

THREE.

"Wanna know what it is I stole?"

TWO.

"Well, here's a hint."

ONE. FIRING VOLLEY.

*THOOOOOOOOM------!!*

Suddenly an indescribably loud noise erupted from the horizon. The entire ocean seemed to become engulfed in a brilliant white light, and a violent torrent of wind buffeted the entire shoreline.

"Ah...!"

The child had to steady himself to keep from being blown off his feet. At the same time, she shielded her eyes from the blinding glow. A few feet away from her, Hailey stood completely undaunted. With her hands in her pockets, she stared straight into the light with a solemn expression. Finally, after what seemed like forever, both the light and wind subsided. The child, looking up from behind her blocking arms, was completely stunned.

LOW-ORBIT SATELLITE W.M.D. LOADED GALLOWS. FIRING OPERATIONS CEASED. TARGET.... NEUTRALIZED. ASSESSING COLLATERAL DAMAGE REPORT...

"Hot damn. Wish I had a smoke for this."
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by marcien »

you idiot, pictor, you're supposed to be sleeping!! did you wait up for my post and then spend 3 hours on the reply? you're gonna become a zombie >=(
for some reason, hailey always seems to be owning my "kuudere"s. first redmist, now hyder. siiggghh -.- (and is that a hint of a yangire streak you gave hyder, pictor? =3)
(also, i think hailey would have been more superior than noco)


Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: 1345
Location: Cliff → ???
PC: Hyder
Other PCs: Hailey, mysterious crosser man, Cyanate
================


THHOOOOOOMMM-----

"Ah...!" the child could only watch the superweapon completely dematerialise Feradine.

The raven panzer was proud of what she had done. There is no kill like overkill, after all. "Hot damn. Wish I had a smoke for this. Right, -- Hmm?"

As stealthily as he had appeared, the child has disappeared. "... You're a sore loser, aren't you?" Hailey scoffed.

-- -- -- -- --

Hyder entered the room and closed the door in silence. Before Cyanate could open his mouth, she reported, "I have failed to retrieve the fragment. We have lost Feradine to Geminesca's weapon. Geminesca - the rogue chief of the Weapons Development Department. I knew that the development for it had been halted, but I had not made the connection... It was my mistake. I apologise."

"So that's what the flashiness was about. Now, no need to get so upset, Hyder. We were rather unlucky to run into that ex-department-head panzer, that's all. No need to throw a tantrum about it," replied their leader seemingly nonchalantly. "Although, wouldn't your dear scientist in the Engineering Department have known about it, Cyanate?"

"Al...Alkane didn't say anything!" the raccoon panzer retorted.

"If we had acted with more discretion, we would not have attracted the attention of Geminesca, no?"

"No..."

"Hnn~ So now, let's try to avoid her notice from now, shall we?"

"Yea, sure..."
Hyder nodded.

"Ah, right! Could I trouble you then, to bring a message to Benzene? I'm sure he would be quite interested in a little competition."
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by marcien »

we're ending the third arc? what? it seems like we compensate for the quantity of the posts with the sheer length of each post ^ ^

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: Midday
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Dawnview Park
PCs: Sophia (Oriole)
Other PCs: Martin Chang, Graciel Flay
================


Mister Feradine disappeared. Just like that. Sophia did not completely understand why, but she felt that it was crying.

She then heard Graciel's cry. My tail, it's frozen! I'm... stuck...

Turning to Martin, she asked, "Mister Martin, do you see Mister Graciel anywhere? I think he's stuck somewhere..."

Martin instantly looked in the direction at which Feradine fired the giant icicle. There is a cat dangling by his tail from the roof of the library? "Yes... I see him."

-- -- -- -- --

Location: Roof of Herston Public Library and Museum
PCs: Sophia (Oriole), Martin Chang, Graciel Flay
NPCs: Noco Berry
================


"... and Cassius has already been brought to the infirmary," Mrs Berry updated the group.

"So he's safe? Thank goodness..."

"Wait, that's all??! Just what the hell was that stray blight about? Wasn't it controlled by you panzers?!" exclaimed Martin, unsatisfied with her explanation.

"That is what I want to know as well," sighed the English Shepherd panzer, "What I can assure you of, though, is that from my knowledge, the panzer main command did not approve of any panzers collaborating with blights. Or of any bird panzers activating the use of a superweapon."

Turning to Sophia, she continued, "Now then, Little Miss Oriole, do you know of a reason why the raven panzer would bring you to this scene?"

"Umm, Big Sis Panzer wanted me to read the thoughts of the bad raccoon panzer. But somehow I couldn't... But! I heard Mister Feradine's thoughts! Something about... a fragment... Mister Jacket is the fragment that Mister Feradine had too bring back to his masters! But Mister Feradine is already..."

Upon the sound of that word, Noco Berry grew uneasy. It was one of those things that someone of her rank would never hear of, legally, that is. "I see, thank you for tell me that, Sophia."

"You're welcome!"

I hope you have an explanation to this, Hailey.

-- -- -- -- --

Weather: Cloudy with thunder
Location: Dawnview Park
PCs: Sophia (Oriole), Martin Chang
================


After they separated from Mrs Berry and Graciel, Martin walked on silently, with Sophia floating behind him while hanging onto his collar. Sensing her linked crosser's worried thoughts, she peered into his face and asked -
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by SavviG »

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: Midday
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Roof of Herston Public Library and Museum
PCs: Graciel Flay
Other PCs: N/A
~~~~~~~~~~


Noco left soon after Sophia and Martin left, leaving him alone on the roof.
He stood on the roof gazing out the open seas and then fell flat on his back.

'Maybe I could visit Cassius, I could bring him some cake or a fruit basket.' He rolled his head over to see the melting ice off the side of the roof where the attack has struck. Then, something popped up in his head, something was new in the conversion that they just had.

"Now then, Little Miss Oriole, do you kn.." Little Miss Oriole? That was what Noco said. This is the first time hearing of Sophia's real name. 'Oriole huh? hmm~'

He looks straight up to sky, and sees a bird flying by. One then two, then another two flew over. Something sparkled from the end of one bird. A glittering lighted trailed towards him.

And at that moment he realised what it could be. He couldn't move in time and let out a long yell instead.

*plat*

...

Graciel laid still, breathing heavily, eyes opened wide, heart beating fast ... he turned his head ever so slightly to see the substance laying right besides him. A close encounter and lucky it landed off target.

~~~~
Location: Dawnview park (Fountain)
(Silent scream from roof of library)


From afar of the library, in the park. A man, smoking, is walking his dog. The dog ears perks up and sniffs the air. The large dog then faces the library and barks furiously.

'Aye! What you yapping ...- about?' He paused and watched a flurry of light bits shooting into the sky from the roof of the library. 'C'mon Macie, it's only-a' bunch of kids or somethin' lighting fireworks at birds.'

The man turns around to leave. He yanked his dog to follow.
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by AYC »

This post... ended being a lot longer than I had expected. Whoops.
Also I discovered I can't write straight up ham. So at the moment, Benzene's like a weird fusion of Jacket, Hailey and M. Or a smarter, yet crazier version of Black Star.

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: 2:32 pm
Location: Pebbleton Docks - some seemingly abandoned warehouse...
PC: Benzene
Other PCs: Cyanate, Alkane
================


Their internal clocks tell them that it's fourteen hours, thirty two minutes, and fifty seconds to the precision of a nanosecond when a small blue bleep notifies them of an incoming transmission to the main telescreen.

With a sort of hesitation, the small, streamlined robots exchange brief, slightly nervous and slightly puzzled looks. It's almost as if they're saying -

Uh. Are you going to get that?

As if the vehement shaking of their shiny little heads wasn't enough indication, a loud explosion and burst of fire from the chamber behind them reminds the metallic trio of what exactly they're in the middle of. Or rather, what they're next in line for.

"Tch! I was sure that it was going to work this time - !"

From the smoking debris of the room hobbles a severely dented, scorched black, but amazingly still functional comrade, squeaking its way out of the line of fire on a sole wheel - and at this, the trio jerks back in what would a grimace. Losing a wheel! It's like the robot equivalent of amputation... except that it can be replaced with due time.

By which "due time" can be anywhere from a few hours to never. A shared look between the four metal brothers brings programmed tears to the shabby one's eyes, and it makes the severe mistake of chancing as contemptuous a look as it can muster (even if it is impossible with their current build) backwards into the dark recesses of the burning room behind it.

Needless to say, the aforementioned missing wheel comes flying out like a small missile and impacts the robot in its cranium, knocking it over facedown with a sole, clear clang and an oddly silent crash onto the floor. A collective shudder makes its way through the remaining three robots.

"Don't give me that look! You brought this upon yourself - seriously, what the fuck, what kind of robot tries to run away when I'm trying to blowtorch a newer, better part onto your freaking armor?"

Knowing their master, by "blowtorch", he probably means a flamethrower. Silently, their heart - as much of a void as it is - goes out to their now fallen, but probably still working, companion.

"Shit, you should be happy you got to be in the first batch! But no, you had to be a little wussed-up retard and tried to make a run for it, sheesh. It's just a little fire - you guys can't even feel it!"

So says the master who loves to make things explode. That's probably why he makes them do these test runs every. damn. hour.

And honestly, the man himself is near indestructible. He goes into the room completely unarmed and unprotected - no lab coat, no goggles, no nothing - and here he is, coming out completely unscathed minus a slight extra tussle of the hair. Even his eyes stay the same color as they always do, despite the large amount of still smoldering embers behind him.

They don't even reflect the flames! Yikes.

Done with his little tirade, however, their master now turns to the trio with a frighteningly foreboding expression and a sinister grin so wide it looks about ready to cleave his face in half.

"Well then... who's next?"

If they had been equipped with the necessary glands, the three of them would've broken out and been drenched in sweat by now - but in this respect, their master had not been so kind. Thusly, the robots turned to each other with what should be a panicked look and dreadful shudders racking their metal frames.

Who's going to tell him?

The more streamlined of the trio barely manages to print the statement out on its communication screen before the man roughly grabs it by the head and less than gently drags it toward him with an increasingly psychotic zeal. Try as it might though, the remaining two robots can only watch with fear as their leader struggles in vain to escape from their master's death grip of impending doom. Or maybe it just wants the master to realize that he has someone waiting to talk to him on the other line.

Benzene, on the other hand, isn't having any of it.

"Haha, the hell you're trying to pull? You know I have selective literacy, so you're not going to pull a fast one on me, punk! There's no fucking way you're getting out of this one, kiddo."

... Or in other words, their master has gone off the deep end. It's already past the point of no return! He's gotten too caught up in his own pace, and they're only here for the ride now! Just. like. every. other. bloody. time.

In the meantime, the currently captured robot seems to have resigned itself to its fate, and stares rather despondently back at its fellows, almost as if guilting them into helping its sorry ass out of this mess. Which would be completely successful, actually, if they had an actual conscience to start with. And if they knew that they could pull it off... because seriously, you'd have to be nuts to try anything funny with their master. Honestly, they've tried.

Usually it comes back and bites them in the metal tush tenfold anyways.

Looks like it can't be helped! Wisely, the remaining pair of robots decide to turn away from the devastating scene that's about to unfold in the sinister bowels of hell, much to the chagrin of their master's next victim - their robot friend.

...

Well, paying no mind to the same grim future that lies in wait for them in the next ten minutes or so, hopefully whoever's waiting to talk to their master won't mind a missed call. ... Or two. After all, their master is a rather busy man... torturing them and the like, amongst other things. Surely, anyone who even tries to contact the crazy man in question should be very - very - well versed in that? Or else they should be aware that their master's dedication to his work far exceeds his reliability in performing other trivial things, like receiving phone calls... or exercising his common sense.

Ultimately, it's nothing to blow a fuse about, unless you're some equally insane or maddening person. But how many more of those kind of nutcases can possibly exist, haha!

Unfortunately, it is in fact one of the aforementioned nutcases on the other line. Actually, it's two.

"BENZENE YOU SHITHEAD - HOW LONG DOES IT FUCKING TAKE FOR YOU TO ANSWER YOUR BLOODY MPUD?!"

"..."

Without so much as a flinch, their master releases the poor robot with a nonchalant toss and marches over to the now illuminated telescreen with the widest crazy grin that the robots have ever seen to grace his face. Or one that they'd have liked to forgotten.

"Well well well, look who it is. What do you want?"

"I want to know why it took you so fucking long for you to answer your fu - "

"Cyanate."

"... Yes, boss."

The hooded Panzer sulks slightly in his seat, and the female Panzer in the other screen sits up a bit straighter in her chair, despite the disinterested expression on her face. Talk about ruling your subordinates with an iron fist.

"What do you have to report?"

"AHAHA! So glad you asked - "

"I'm not talking to you."

The robots marvel at Alkane's lack of fear towards their master. Maybe it's because the two have xx amount of distance between them from Panzer HQ to this little seaside town, but they do know for a fact that Benzene hates her with a burning passion for it.

With a triumphant sneer in the wolf Panzer's direction, Cyanate begins his report, his to-the-point tone a sharp contrast to the toothy grin on his face. "Actually, I've been asked to pass on a request."

Although the female Panzer narrows her eyes slightly in suspicion, Benzene looks about ready to have a field day, even though his robots strongly suspect that he's jumping the gun and letting his imagination run wild with possible miscreations and future blueprints. The raccoon hasn't even mentioned any details yet. Or even who the request is directed towards in the first place.

"Alkane... how much did you know about... Geminesca's time in the department?"

"... Tch."

Swiveling her chair around to face a nearby piece of complicated equipment, she waves her hand dismissively and starts to fiddle with the many buttons detailing the console, as if the conversation was more or less over. "Nothing. What goes on in the weapon dev. department is not and has never been a concern of mine."

Then, with a brief glance in the direction of the screen, Alkane adds plainly, "I do know, however, that she was... dispatched from her position for corruption."

Cyanate scoffs and shifts irritably in his seat. "Or so the records say, right? Actually, it turns out that the bitch stole and took off with a top-secret Panzer weapon."

Although she keeps her face directed towards the numerous other floating screens around her, a raised eyebrow can be made out underneath all the charts. "... So she ran off with the control key for that, huh..."

Ooh, mystery. Too bad their great master Benzene has no interest in subtlety.

Crossing his arms, he scoffs arrogantly and gives the other two Panzers a ridiculing look, mocking their rare show of uncertainty. "Che, I have no idea who this Geminesca person is, but if all you two are going to do is piss yourself like wimps over this 'top-secret' weapon, you can stop wasting my time." The cheeky look on Benzene's face does nothing for Alkane, but it does make a highly visible tic form on the Cyanate's jaw in annoyance.

The raccoon Panzer forces a crooked, pained but nonetheless menacing grin on his face to mirror Benzene's equally sinister one, and he forces out through clenched teeth, "You arrogant prick... well, you know what? Actually, I have a request to pass along to you too."

"AHAHA! Oh, yeah? WELL. LET'S. FREAKING. HEAR IT."

At this, the chunky little hearts of the motley trio of robots drop straight into their nonexistent stomachs.

Uh oh.

"Rather than hear... let's have you see it, shall we? And maybe now you'll know what there is to get so scared about."

Oh, yeah, scared.

Maybe Benzene might not be fazed by the amazingly bright blast on the screen, but the robots nearly jump out of their steel shells from the ear-splitting noise and the almost deliberately slow-motion annihilation of the Stray-Blight via giant laser blast. Even Alkane pauses her work for a moment to observe the footage, and although her calm expression hides any sign of shock, the slight narrowing of her eyes is enough to show that she's scrutinizing the footage with great deliberation. Not that they can blame her, it did look awfully -

"Weak."

... And of course the boss would beg to differ. Rather than be stunned or solemnly dissenting however, he looks absolutely crazed with a matching psychotic grin to boot. It's quite frightening, especially since everyone knows what's coming next.

"AHAHAHA! This is what you morons have been so scared shitless over?! What a joke! AHAHAHA - "

With a sigh, Alkane returns her attention to her work while Cyanate grimaces at the rather unbecoming sight, and merely waits for the laughing spell to wear off. The robots are just all too used to this kind of behavior by this point.

"What are you trying to get at, Benzene?"

"Exactly what you're thinking, woman."

Or in other words, their master thinks he can make something bigger, better, and a lot more flashier.

"... Is this honestly the request, Cyanate?"

Unfortunately, the annoyed expression on the raccoon's face says it all.

Uh.

"Have fun with that, you sick fuck."

Benzene turns away from the now blank screens with heaving shoulders, wide, dilated eyes and black lightning flashing in the background. Somehow, undergoing his hourly test runs seems like a faraway, oddly peaceful dream right now. Or else getting scorched to a blackened mass and losing a few wheels in the process seems doesn't sound too bad either.

Because the horrifying aura emanating from their always so kind master makes it seem like he's just about to do something so much more worse.

...

. . .

!!!
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pictor »

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: ~4:00 PM
Weather: Dark clouds, thunderclaps in distance
Location: Nameless Cliff - lower shores and bluffs
PC: Hailey, Jacket
==============

The raven's black eyes shot briefly toward a distant rumbling in the darkening clouds looming over the horizon.

"Tch. If a storm hits now, this'll become a drag. Better pick up the pace."

A quick swoop took Hailey closer to the surface of the waters. The waves were doing a bit more than just frolicking right now, but she should be alright at this altitude. Furrowing her brows, the raven drew her focus back to scanning the shoreline. There was something she was looking for.

*Anomaly detected! Anomaly detected! Relative position at approximately....*

Suddenly, a small device nestled within her wind-ruffled feathers began to make a commotion. If a bird's beak could be a bit more flexible, one would have noticed it curve into a quick smirk.

Bingo.

Hailey adjusted her flight path to the series of coordinates being rambled off by the MPUD. Although, that was really just a formality. Her heightened avian senses already told her that what she was looking for was near. Of course, the continuous trail of streaming black fumes floating into the air was also a dead give-away.

Breaking to a slow hover, Hailey brought herself safely onto the rocky shores. Then, in a familiar puff of black fathers, a human woman stood where a bird once was. With care not to slip on the wave-licked rocks, she made her way around the base of the bluff. The plumes of black were like a signal flare. It lead her straight to her target.

And sure enough, there, jammed uncouthly between two jagged outcroppings of rock was some sort of jumbled figure, still being abused by the lapping waves. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the figure was somewhat humanoid. It was completely unconscious, although it didn't exactly appear to be in the best of shapes.

Making sure she had firm footing on the rocky plateau, Hailey rolled up her sleeves and crouched down. Sinking her fingers into the icy water, and somehow managing to get a decent grip on the unceremonious heap of a character, the bird Panzer pulled him onto shore.

"... Yikes."

Now out of the water, the full condition of the individual could be clearly seen. A mess of deep cuts and deep gashes covered his pitch black body. From these unsightly injuries, streams of a similarly black, ink-like substance seeped forth, smearing an ugly path back into the sea, where it stained the water and boulders around where he had been just moments before. The dark liquid seemed to be continuously evaporating into the air, creating an ugly haze around the scene.

The sight was enough to make even Hailey grimace just a little bit. It was almost like looking at roadkill. If it were run over by a semi, that is. Another quick glimpse told Hailey where the majority of the black "blood" was coming from. The figure's left arm had been completely torn off from the shoulder, leaving nothing more than a grotesque stump. Crouching down beside the figure, Hailey carefully flipped him over onto his back, revealing his face.

It appeared as though he was wearing some sort of a white mask, but there were no signs of life from behind the hollow eye sockets, which only stared out eerily in an emotionless state. It was kind of strange, really. Hailey's never had to deal with a Stray with a physical body before. If a living person is rendered unconscious, they would at least shows some signs of life. This one felt completely cold, kind of like a doll.

"So this Mr. Popular, eh? The one everyone's getting all hot and bother about."

The town had some sort of an obscure pet-name for him... what was it? Oh, right.

The Phantom Jacket.

*Warning. Subject Stray Spirit's inherent Ether levels are below survival thresholds.*

Yea. No shit.

"What the fuck did this dumbass do to himself...?"

Well, whatever it was, the problem was going to fix itself. How long has it been now... three hours? ... Four? To be honest, Hailey was amazed there was even enough of him left to find. But this was no time to spend dawdling. Giving her MPUD a few taps, Hailey summoned a round, palm-sized device from her machine's storage matrix. With a press of a button on its side, the device suddenly expanded, producing a long, glowing spike from its base, making it look like some sort of an oversized thumb-tack.

"It's a good thing he's not concious. This is gonna hurt like a bitch."

Raising the device high, Hailey brought the spike-end of the device down onto Jacket, piercing his chest through. A small spurt of black liquid jettisoned from the punctured wound, briefly staining Hailey's fingers before dissolving into the air.

Immediately, the device planted into Jacket's chest began to glow a soft green.

*Ammo packet activated. Deploying Ether supply now.*

Hailey watched quietly as the green glow eventually coursed through the Stray's entire body. Ever so slowly, the flow of the black liquid was stemmed, until dark haze cleared up completely.

"Heeeh... so it does work after all."

Admittedly, the device Hailey had just brutally impaled Jacket with was a battery of sorts used to recharge larger, Ether-based Panzer weaponry. But Ether was Ether, no matter the source. For an emergency treatment, this was the best she could do. But it's not nearly enough, and it wouldn't last for long.

"Now, to get this idiot out of here. Hee hee, I hope Noco doesn't mind if I 'borrow' the teleportation grid under her jurisdiction. Hmmm... still need a place to keep him though..."

Where, where, where would it be?

Someplace nice and quiet and safe, where no one would think of discovering.

... The warehouses? Nah, he'd probably get picked apart by rats if I left him alone for even a sec-

Wait a minute.

.... Rats, huh?

"Ufufufufufu...."

With evil schemes brewing in her head, Hailey once again began punching keys on her MPUD. After a liberal application of security breaking, a large neon panel appeared suspended before her.

*Teleportation Gate Accessed. Standing by.*

More rumbling in the distance. That's the queue to get out of here.

Bending down, Hailey scooped up the lifeless Jacket and haphazardly slung his remaining arm over her shoulder. However, as she did so, she caught something strange that she hadn't noticed before.

"... Hm?"

Jacket was knocked out, that's for sure. Under his condition, there's no way a Stray could retain consciousness. If anything, his body should be nothing more than an inert husk right now.

But, despite all that, Jacket's right hand was balled into an unrelenting fist. Hailey didn't know exactly what it was, but the grip felt... desperate. As if it held onto a last semblance of something important.

Between the gaps of his strained fingers, one could see a sea-soaked tussle of shredded yellow cloth.
Sentrovasi
Posts: 163
Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 12:55 am

Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Sentrovasi »

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: 1:38 PM
Weather: Cloudy with a chance of Panzer Superweapon
Location: Travelling; Road perpendicular to Tranquille Driver
PCs: Randall Kayne
Other PCs: Mirto, Sanae Fujiwara, Makoto
NPCs: Lanette Hindfell, Unknown Taxi Driver Man

The dark shadows peeled away from the sphere which surrounded them, retreating to the walls and floor of the small alley they found themselves in.

"Where are we?" Randall asked, moving forward with the still-unconscious Lanette slumped over his shoulder. Much as the Japanese girl was trying to help, her tentative gesturing in a five-foot radius around Lanette and exclamations in Japanese weren't exactly helping.

"Eh, two hundred meters from the outpost, give or take." M (Makoto) himself seemed a little unimpressed by the sheer magnitude (or lack thereof) of their trip. "We're just behind the bus stop you got the cab to stop, now."

Randall nodded. "Just... act normal, and try not to look like a bunch of kidnappers."

With any luck, the four of them visible to normals would look like nothing more than a dysfunctional family. If one ignored the wound on Mirto's arm and the obviously-battered Lanette, anyway.

Fortunately, the bus stop was relatively deserted. Most of the students at Marsworth Victor Dalton were privileged enough not to have to worry about public transport, and this part of the city seemed relatively uninhabited, anyway. In fact, the few blocks here seemed to have seen very little use, and a few of the other buildings in the vicinity were new enough not to have appeared on the official town map yet.

What was waiting there for them, though, was the cab they had ordered. Mercifully.

Aware of the appropriate measure to take, Randall let Mirto and Sanae carry Lanette into the back of the cab, while he took his place in the front passenger seat. He reflected that the only other adequate position would have been Lanette in the boot, but that was a completely separate genre altogether.

Makoto, of course, didn't need a space set aside for him. As Mirto gave her address to the cab driver, the nonplussed Stray just began to walk alongside the moving vehicle. At sixty kilometers an hour.

"Excuse me, I need to take a call."

Taking out his handphone, Randall lazily dialled a random series of numbers and then put it to his ear.

"Hey, Makoto!"

The boy started before realizing that Randall was talking to him.

"Hey yourself, old man." His tone wasn't unpleasant, but rather rude in a familiar way. "I see you're getting yourself into trouble as usual."

"To be fair, that was only the one time. I see you've gotten yourself acquainted with a supplier already." Conscious of the driver's presence, Randall refrained from using the term "Crosser" indiscriminately. "How's it working out for you?"

"First day on the job and already I'm getting into trouble." Makoto smiled just a little wearily. "Same old."

"I was wondering about that, actually. No chance we could have done without the taxi?" Randall hadn't thought about it then, but if Makoto could have teleported them the three kilometres there...

"Hah, if only. I haven't tested it out yet, but I think there's a definite limit to how far I can jump and who I can carry." Makoto shrugged. "It's my first day, I'll figure it out."

Please do. And add it to the wiki. Weight/size/distance restrictions? Does he have to know the location personally?

"Well, the rest of us here owe the two of you one, anyway," he took the chance to nod to Sanae from the side mirror, "so don't say I don't give credit where it's due." Randall tucked the handphone back into his bag.

"Duly noted," Makoto grinned, continuing his casual walk as the taxi crossed the intersection at Tranquille Drive.

It was awkward not being able to say anything to the others behind, but with one of them unconscious, one currently reclusive and the last prone to babbling in Japanese, he wasn't really sure how to begin.

"So... uh. You're into goatees?"
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AYC
Posts: 228
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:35 pm
Location: In hibernation.

Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by AYC »

Date: 5 Jun, Saturday
Time: 7:00 pm
Weather: Rain
Location: White Waters Condominium, Mirto's Room
PCs: Mirto
NPCs: Lanette
================


Mirto's had one too many head-on collisions today.

Or maybe she shouldn't have been hunched over in her chair, struggling to gather the strength to keep herself from nodding off... but then again, using her Crosser powers had been awfully taxing on her body. It's not entirely something that could be helped.

Nonetheless, when Lanette suddenly sits up in her bed, Mirto's groggy state of consciousness makes it rather difficult for her to dodge in time. Or rather, gather up the motivation and energy to bother noticing the first place.

"Owowowowow -"

But at least she's a little more awake now. Albeit suffering quite a bit of pain to her forehead.

"Ow..."

With a rough toss of the covers, Lanette jerks back into a sitting position, nearly hitting Mirto again with the sudden motion.

"H-huh?! Where am I?!"

"At least you're as energetic as ever."

The younger girl jumps slightly, and turns to face Mirto with widened eyes, as if she hadn't noticed her presence. Honestly, what's with people bonking heads with her and forgetting about it immediately afterwards?

"E-EH?! Mirto? Wait, what's -?"

Mirto keeps her face expressionless as Lanette has a brief lightbulb moment and takes the time to, much more closely, examine her surroundings.

"... This is Mirto's room... isn't it?"

"Yeah. You've been out for a while, Lanette."

The aspiring superhero jumps again, and quickly scans her surroundings again like a hyperactive child. Mirto raises an eyebrow at the action, but only drops her chin onto her bridged fingers in response. If she was to take a wild guess, Lanette's probably still trying to piece together everything that she's remembered about the cliff to her current situation, and if anything, Mirto's going to let her take her sweet time to figure it out. When she's ready for answers, she'll be here to provide them.

It's taken her a good two hours to get herself calmed down and ready for this, after all.

And Lanette seems just about ready for her turn of twenty questions. "AH! Where's... where's that one Panzer?! I remember I was supposed to kicking his butt! ... But then I blacked out... I'm pretty sure I took a few swings at him though..."

Er... and the first question just so happens to be the one that she doesn't have the answer to. Great. "I'm not too sure either, actually. He was the one that knocked you unconscious though."

Lanette flushes red at this, though Mirto's not sure if it's from embarassment or rage that she was so quickly defeated. Probably both.

"... I see. Darn it." Her shoulders droop slightly as she lets out a sigh in resignation. "So... where's Jacket? He beat the Stray-Blight, right?"

Mirto bites her lip slightly, bracing herself. In a sense, it's the coming of a different kind of storm. "He didn't. ... I don't know where he is."

"H-Huh?! But - can't you sense him? You - "

"Lanette. I'm not linked to Jacket anymore."

Here it comes.

"... What?"

Deep breaths, Mirto, deep breaths.

With a tone so level and calm it nearly surprises herself, she recaps everything that had occurred on the cliff, from Jacket's last surge of strength to being escorted back to the apartment by Randall, and everything between. There are some points in the middle of her explanation where Mirto's torn between laughing and not when Lanette chimes in with a few outbursts or the one instance where she clumsily tumbles out of the bed, so caught in the moment that she doesn't realize how close she's gotten to the edge of mattress. At other points, she has to stop and take a breather, still overwhelmed by the events despite how much she's tried to school herself earlier.

In the end though, she's just glad that she's kind of just getting this off her chest.

"Then Mirto... what are you going to do now?"

"I've already made up my mind," she responds plainly, and pulls together her resolution. "I have to get stronger... even if I'm just your ordinary unlinked Crosser right now. When the time comes... and if I ever meet another Stray, be it Jacket or someone else... I won't be useless."

Mirto takes another deep breath, and tightens her grip on the end of her sweater, keeping her determination in check.

"I don't want the same thing to happen again."

Whew. Now that that whole thing is done and over with... she lets out a small sigh of relief, and sits in a more comfortable position on her chair.

Lanette, on the other hand, looks to be about ready to jump out of the bed and back into action - enough so that Mirto is taken aback, and raises an eyebrow in surprise. In fact... if the sparkle in her eyes is saying anything, she's actually been motivated to go out there and beat up some Blight and evil Panzer baddies immediately, regardless of the numerous bandages and squares of gauze patching her up. Seriously... it's not like Mirto gave much attention to detail in her recap... or tried to make it particularly blood-pumping or exciting. She had just stated the facts, clear, plain and simple. Her last declaration hadn't really been meant to motivate anyone but herself either.

Maybe Lanette just has one vivid imagination, or maybe Mirto needs to give herself more credit than she'd have thought when it comes to story-telling. Or motivational speaking.

But in any case, when the superhero in question actually does hop out of bed, eyes burning for payback and proper justice, Mirto merely sighs and stands up, blocking the other girl's path.

"Hate to break this to you, Lanette, but aren't you still a bit too injured to be moving around like that?"

Despite the slight cringe she makes when she crosses her arms in her trademark pose, Lanette stubbornly stands her ground. "Hehe... You know us Hindfells are fast healers! I'm already fine, so don't sweat it, Mirto!"

... Oh, really?

Mirto resists the urge to roll her eyes, and instead, calmly walks in the direction of the door. It's not really much of a bold or provoking move, but it is certainly unexpected. At least in the eyes of Lanette.

"W-wait! Where are you going?!"

"Sorry, Lanette, but it's not over for you yet."

"... Huh?"

With a light shrug and one hand on the doorknob, Mirto replies lightly, "Sure, I might not be able to stop you, but someone else will. And I think I've kept her patiently waiting enough already."

Through the gap between Mirto and the door, Lanette can make out the familiar figure of a woman, and a very distressed expression.

"... Lin..?"
Pasonia
Posts: 175
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:43 am

Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pasonia »

Date: 5th June, Saturday
Time: 1:42 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Mirto's apartment area -> Randall's place -> Sanae's home
PCs: Sanae Fujiwara
Other PCs: Mirto, Makoto, Randall Kayne
NPCs: Lanette Hindfell, Unknown Taxi Driver Man


"So... uh. You're into goatees?"

Sanae noticed that statement was directed at her. "Eh?"
"Yea, well. I noticed you hanging around goatee a lot. What's with that?"

Sanae shuffled about a bit in the taxi, despite the obvious squeeze.
"Ano... I know Martin online for a while already. We play Go together on the Go Server."
"That black-and-white board game? Figures."
"E-to... maybe you think there is something between myself and Martin-san?"

Randall laughs. "Ha, isn't that the case?"

"Sore wa chau yo --- I mean, that is not it!"
"Then what gives? All these talking and getting together..."
"This is normal, between two people, you know. He is very helpful, he has been telling me things about Pebbleton and guiding me around the town. I find him a nice person, but we are not related the way you think we are."

"Hmm. Okay. It isn't really my business to probe around that much anyway, but thanks for the answers!"

Sanae could hear Randall end off with "...but Martin being 'very helpful'... ha!", but she was too tired to muster any more protest all of a sudden.

The taxi trudges along the slightly bumpy road, and soon little raindrops dazzled across the taxi's front windscreen in soothingly rhythmic pitter-patters.

***

Time: 1530... thereabout
Location: Sanae's room


"Ah, it's no good! It's raining again! I'll have to call for the taxi again to get to the Mall... oh, Sanae, you're back?"
"Y...yes..."
"How has everything been for you? Has it been fine?"
"Eh..."


Sanae couldn't help but think of events of the morning.

"Sanae?"
"No, well, everything has been fine! I even got to know a friend who lives here."
"A friend? Isn't this your first overseas assignment from the Education Ministry?"
"Yes, yes, but... I know this friend from online. He is a great person."
"'He'? Maybe I was mistaken and you might be luckier than me to find a Pebbleton husband!"
"Please don't tease me already, Sumire-sama..."
"Hai, hai! Please do settle in. You've been the most normal tenant I could find for a while, so stay that way, alright?"


Sanae mused a little while eyeing Makoto, who had been standing a little away from her during the course of the conversation. "Hai..."

"Later then, Sanae-chan -- oh, Mitsuki-chan! Have you been okay?"
"Nnn... good afternoon, Sumire-sama..."
"Stop looking so gloomy! Really, you should stop cooping yourself..."


Sanae closed the door. Makoto hung around in front of her while she returned to her computer.

Which, by this time, already had some cartoon playing on it without her realising it.

"A-re? Since when was I watching this...? I thought I was on another website?"
"Etosa... I changed it. I wanted to watch Tower of Draunest, ojou-sama."
"Eh?"
"I've watched that goatee used a PC before... as I have many other people. So I figured it would be a little easier, but the Japanese was a little bit problematic since I've never used a PC in Japanese before."
"..." Sanae didn't know how to respond.
"You don't seem happy, ojou-sama..."
"Iya... it's okay. Please tell me if you're done watching, Makoto-san."

Exasperated and grated by her link's inconsiderate act, Sanae flung herself to bed while picking up her MTT-DoMoCo phone. There was really nothing better to do on a drizzly afternoon - other than having her computer 'taken' by her Stray - than to check on her guide.

"'Martin-san, are you okay? Are you safe at home now? Thank you for your help today--'"
"WHOA! NICE ONE, RAYNOR!"
"UWAH!"

-beep!-
Sanae clicks the "send" button by accident, and off the message goes.

"Your message is sent. Please take note that the target telco may not support Japanese language text."
"A-re? I just sent in Japanese?!"

Sanae quickly glanced over her sent messages. She had indeed, and unintentionally typed out her message entirely in Japanese.

"Oh, how could I be this silly to miss this?! I have to re-send again... umm... this and that... umm... 'How are you, Mister Martin'... Uwah, it's hard to text in English!"

Makoto glanced back at his link while watching the show.

"Do you need to fuss so much about that crude goatee?"
"Crude... goatee? Martin-san... ka?"
"Yea, him. Totally crude."
"I don't understand. Martin-san has been nice to me, but everyone else seems to not like him..."

Makoto sneered a little. "Well, well... you don't know him the way we do...---"
Pasonia
Posts: 175
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:43 am

Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pasonia »

Date: 5th June, Saturday
Time: 3.40pm
Weather: Cloudy
Location: Seaside, close to Unnamed Cliff
PCs: Martin Chang
Other PCs: Sophia (Oriole)


"At-choo!"

A gust of cold wind howled past their bike, and Martin couldn't help but sneeze.

"---Are you okay, Mister Martin?"

Instantly, whatever she had intended to ask disappeared. But the doubts lingered.

"Ah, it's okay, it's the wind, it's a little cold."
Martin turned his head around, only to find his link's face crinkled with worry.
"A girl with a sad face looks more haggard than a grandma, you know. What's the matter?"
"Um... how is Mister Jacket?"

Martin paused, but didn't deliberate.
"I... honestly don't know. Based on everything we've heard..."

Martin's voice trailed off. He was not particularly concerned about this Jacket guy, having (maybe?) only seen him once in a flash-past encounter at the taxi, but his Stray's emotions tugged at him and he couldn't help but feel a little disheartened, yet at the same time a little overawed.

"...I... haven't seen this Jacket guy before, but he must be brave."
"Yes... yes, Mister Jacket is very brave..."
"From all I've heard so far, Strays are better-powered with a link, such as myself. You can do much better with a link than without."
"Yes, Mister Martin..."
"Therefore, knowing he's a wanted target, he could have hung on to the mint-haired girl Mirto for a source of power, even though he probably doesn't stand a bloody chance with that monstrous thing. Even that girl Hindfell couldn't fight its controller..."
"You're confusing me, Mister Martin..."

Martin gulped a little - he keeps forgetting Sophia isn't that fast to keep up with his habitual situation processing.

"Sorry. In short, what this Jacket guy has done for Mirto takes more than raw guts, considering his own existence. That's why he is brave. You should be proud to be his friend, even if he goes down for it."
"But... but I don't want him to... disappear..."

Martin's bike slowed a little, before he let out another rough sneeze.

"Atchoo--! Who the heck's cursing me behind my back now?"

Martin then suddenly turned around, with an idea suddenly struck in him, and soon they were riding uphill again.

"Mister Martin...?"
"He fell around the cliff area, right? Let's head back and look for him."
"But... but he fell so far off, Mister Martin..."
"Don't worry. I know how to get to the rocks under the cliff."

Martin suspects he may yet get a few answers.

***

Time: 4:20pm
Location: At the bottom of the Nameless Cliff.


Martin and Sophia arrived at the area where it would be likely that Jacket had fallen down to. The low tides made more of the area accessible, but Martin had doubts.

"Let's get this done with. If he's here, he's here. If he isn't, well..."
"I'm sure Mister Jacket will be fine!"

Knowing Sophia, Martin thought, she wouldn't entertain any other notion.

Martin heaved a little, then rode hard as he negotiated the slippery rock paths leading up to the area. After a good two minutes' worth of riding, they disembark around a...

"...black liquid stuff?"

Martin noticed there were faint traces of something black in the water, leading all the way into a puddle in the sand. But it wasn't flowing black oil. Martin couldn't quite tell what it was, but it didn't smell like oil.

"That's strange. Gramps said before that when he worked in the oil company, they never considered Pebbleton because the area has no natural oil reserves..."

Martin was about to scoop up the black stuff when Sophia gave him a feather.

"A feather...?"
"I found the feather near another rock there," Sophia blurted, pointing out to a nearby rock area. It was then that Martin noticed footsteps in the sand; slightly faint, but definitely recent. The water washed through the sand, making the path easier to detect.

Then it disappeared with no traces under rising water.

"...I think I got it. Sophia, I believe the Jacket guy's fine."

Sophia's eyes were that of delight and bewilderment rolled in one. Martin quickly explained that it is likely the black stuff was a form of Ether. The trace led to a puddle, which suggested that something that was making that black stuff was dragged from the waters - likely, Jacket.

The feathers and disappearing footprints doesn't say much, but Martin suggests it could be the accursed bird, as sparrows, not crows, are Pebbleton natives.

"So if you think of these together..."

"I know! Mister Jacket was brought to shore by Big Sis Hailey! She then took him to somewhere to heal! Mister Jacket... he must be safe now!"

For the first time today, Martin finally saw his link wear a more natural, relaxed smile on her face. Somehow, he felt happy for Sophia, and unknowingly he began to churn out a little smile along his lips.

"Mister Martin, you're smiling..."
"Oh? I didn't notice... --!!"

Martin's expression suddenly changed, the brief respite not even settling in.
He had forgotten they were not in a safe area!

"What's wrong, Mister Martin-- ah!"
"Quickly, we must ride out of the area now! The tide's coming!"

Martin quickly picked up his bike, urging Sophia to quickly do the same, forgetting he had been clutching her hands in panic. He then rode the pair out of the area just as a huge splash of seawater engulfed the area they were previously investigating.

"That was too close! Let's go home now, the storm's coming-- hmm?"

His mobile phone buzzed twice suddenly.

"Please don't tell me this is one of those spam advert messages from the telco..."
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