The Evrensel Conflict: Prologue -- The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday (Stealth)

- Kiana Kaslana, Herrscher of Flamescion -

The darkness was incredibly aggressive and did not take lightly to Kiana's threat, sweeping her off her feet and soon after, casting her off, aiming to throw her away into the abyss for her trouble. Luckily, she was saved by the strange, ninja-like man, though thanks to her initial disorientation, Kiana didn't realize this was a clone at first. All she knew was a sudden gust of wind prevented her from being tossed away and allowed her to be caught in the Tokui Clone's arms.

"I'm fine, but the others need our help!" Kiana answered quickly and she threw herself out of Tokui's arms, her sword's flames reigniting, but she stopped in her tracks once the sound of an imminent meltdown began to ring out.

"The core...? If we don't stop that, then we're all dead!" Turning on her heel, Kiana pushed herself off the ground in a dash, rushing after the real Tokui and Anri. Seeing that he man following the peculiar child looked identical to her saviour, Kiana was initially confused, but put it to the side, it wasn't important right now. The melting core took priority and had to be stopped before it was too late. This was likely to be where the darkness was thickest, but Kiana had faced much the same before in her life, it wasn't about to stop her now.
 
Bem

Bem's anxiety would only grow as she was grabbed and lifted by the darkness, her chittering only growing more frequent as she'd be pushed upwards, clinging to Luer's bow for her life, though ironically Luer would seem to be taking it worse than even her.

Though as the overwhelming light would force her eyes shut, she'd soon find all the unpleasant sensations of the shadows would fade away, and upon opening her eyes, she'd see yet another landscape that made no sense.

Some of the group had already begun charging off after the odd machines, while others were struggling with their landing from the previous place, to the bee's confusion. It had been surprisingly gentle with her, so maybe the darkness was just misunderstood? But the thought made shivers run through her body, she really didn't want it to grab her like that again.

Finally releasing the bow at hearing Luer, she would be confused by the loud words of the invisible man calling to her. She didn't even know what a 'core' was, but whatever it was is definitely did not sound good.

"I will follow the humans.. for now." She'd answer back cautiously, her tone self-confident, but fear would ooze into her words as she'd march off after Sekiro, leaving Luer to himself with a pout. A moment later, Bem would be buzzing in the air as she'd fly after the ninja, flying much more cleanly now that gravity appeared to be working correctly, easily keeping pace with some of the slower members of the party; a little girl, the male with the much larger amount of qi, and the fully grown woman.

It seemed they weren't trying to kill or capture her. Yet, but one could never be too afraid. She was very glad to be above them, being out of their touching distance helped her relax somewhat, especially considering the strange, terrifying scenario she found herself in.
 

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The station's reality defying physics changed once more as everyone moved down the corridor. It became so dark, it was like all lights were suddenly shut off, even turning around to see behind them was pitch black. When the lights returned, it was dimmer and softer, far away from the team. No longer shining through the wide gaps between the horizontal walls, now it was shining through the cracks of an endless dark metal floor, with the walls revolving into massive, uneven brick towers.

The drones continued on though, passing by above the team still. They were heading for the lights beyond the towers, somehow they knew the core to the station was there, even as the topography of this place was constantly changing. But, Idan would get a first hand account of why it had changed so drastically.

Dozens upon dozens of drones were flying passed these blocky cairns, and the first to fire upon the cairns to make more space would be crushed. The blocks would suddenly expand outwards to smash the drones, or create surprised obstacles the drones would crash into before they had time to evade. As well, the cairns would begin to spin and move side to side. The drones would be smashed as they tried to evade, exploding into piles of debris to fall back down to the ground. Idan's drone was flying towards two cairns that were moving towards each other; making themselves a massive shredder for the drones. There was still time to try and take control of the drone to turn around, or make a jump for one of the towers that was beginning to slow down in speed.

Once enough of the drones were destroyed, the towers would stop expanding and moving. The ground team would find it easier to head to the light, as long as they avoided conflict, as the darkness was fighting against that which was trying to hurt it.

But, easier said than done. Anri, Wolf, Bem and Tokui were leading the way, yet once they were about to enter between the cairns, another source of light would flash off in the distance to their right. A massive one, like an explosion of white exactly like the one that had blinded them all when they arrived on this station. When the light faded, the team would hear the sounds of electrical screaming. It was loud, echoing all around them. Like electric guitar cords rubbing against a microphone with a bass right to your ears. It was a horrid sound, with the monster making it flying around the corners of the cairns towards the four.

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It was massive. Thicker than the cairns, and twice their size, the machine-monster easily smashed through the blocks like they were made of sand. No debris fell from them, instead it was shredded into micro-fibers from the machines claws around its body, seeping into it like the thing was absorbing the metal, feeding off it.

It turned right towards Anri, Wolf, Bem and Tokui, and looked right down at them, covering them in a red light that shined down upon them from between its many drills along its 'head.' With another monstrous roar, it began to fly down towards them. Better move.​
 
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The station's reality defying physics changed once more as everyone moved down the corridor. It became so dark, it was like all lights were suddenly shut off, even turning around to see behind them was pitch black.
'Breathe. Breathe. Long as I don't provoke it... I should be fine... Should be... Maybe I should pull out the pipe bombs?' Idan uncertainly ruminates to himself as he rides into the pitch black darkness, an urge to reach into his rugsack pressing up against his mind. 'I shouldn't... Last time, didn't go fuckin' well for me, did it? Need to be smart. Can't go at this half-cocked.' He suppresses the thought as-
When the lights returned, it was dimmer and softer, far away from the team. No longer shining through the wide gaps between the horizontal walls, now it was shining through the cracks of an endless dark metal floor, with the walls revolving into massive, uneven brick towers.
"Fuckin' finally." Idan mutters to himself at the first sign of light. 'Maybe just maybe somebody else dealt with that shadowy bastard?' He considers. 'Wait..' Idan takes a moment to look at the source of light from the endless dark metal floor. 'Why are the gaps smaller than-' "Oh shite." His hopes are dashed as he realizes that the cracks of light are smaller, dimmer than they were before. 'At this rate, if the light keeps disappearin' like this, soon we'll be stuck in the shadow with no where to run.' He pessimistically ponders, settling himself closer to the drone.
The drones continued on though, passing by above the team still. They were heading for the lights beyond the towers, somehow they knew the core to the station was there, even as the topography of this place was constantly changing.
Idan hangs on for dear life, ducking and weaving as the drone hurries towards the light, a reprieve from the darkness. 'Get me there. Get me there. Get me there!' Idan inwardly chants, hoping as he shouts, "Follow the drones-"
Dozens upon dozens of drones were flying passed these blocky cairns, and the first to fire upon the cairns to make more space would be crushed. The blocks would suddenly expand outwards to smash the drones, or create surprised obstacles the drones would crash into before they had time to evade. As well, the cairns would begin to spin and move side to side. The drones would be smashed as they tried to evade, exploding into piles of debris to fall back down to the ground. Idan's drone was flying towards two cairns that were moving towards each other; making themselves a massive shredder for the drones.
"-Oh fuck me!" He remarks, as he quickly throws his weight onto his side, spinning the drone around. As he does so, he shouts, "Turn around! Get down! Goddammit! If you all y'all break, who the 'ell is goin' fix the core!?" Once he turns the drone around, he leans forward, tilting the drone's flight path down towards the group.
It was massive. Thicker than the cairns, and twice their size, the machine-monster easily smashed through the blocks like they were made of sand. No debris fell from them, instead it was shredded into micro-fibers from the machines claws around its body, seeping into it like the thing was absorbing the metal, feeding off it.

It turned right towards Anri, Wolf and Tokui, and looked right down at them, covering them in a red light that shined down upon them from between its many drills along its 'head.' With another monstrous roar, it began to fly down towards them.
Where immediately he sees a giant metal worm, flying its way towards a little girl, an uncomfortably familiar masked cloner, and a man with a samurai sword. "Fuck that! Ain't no chance in 'ell!" He curses aloud as he does what he's best at, running away. Shifting his weight again, he tilts the drone towards the worm's wreckage in the cairns, looking for a path to the Core. 'If nobody gets to to it, we're all dead.' Idan thinks to himself.
 
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An Obstacle Appears! DO SOMETHING!
Anri

Anri couldn't help but marvel at the shifting shapes that were the structures that they approached by following the drones. The structures seemed to be alive in a way, as it actively destroyed the drones as they approached. It was doing this possibly out of self-defense, since some drones had attacked it. Regardless of why they attacked, they would eventually slow down and make way to reveal a light that was presumably the objective. Luckily, the man that had grabbed onto a drone was able to move it away from imminent doom.

As Anri and the others pressed on, there was yet another flash of light. As sudden as their own summons had been, a beast of metal had appeared before them. Anri found it interesting to look at. A combination of strange spears and an overabundance of claws down its body that were sharp enough to destroy debris that came into contact with it. Observations made when her training kicked in to analyze it for weaknesses and dangers. Said training would also kick in when the beast itself glared so hard in her and the others' direction that the light changed color.

It didn't take the beastie violently flying in their direction to figure out that they needed to get out of the way and keep going. Being of large size and similar ferocity, Anri joyfully ran out of the way of its charge and kept going. The fun thing about large monsters was that they were, well, large. Plenty of bulk to test out what worked and what didn't work, and Anri was plenty ready to see. She was no stranger to mobile combat, and she had just the thing to set up a way to stall for time from it.

She flicked at the rune on her Rifle until it reached the one for water. Now, some back home question the effectiveness of a projectile made of water. Those people have never been hit with water going at them faster than a splash or a wave, let alone a large amount of conjured water going faster than a cannonball. The weapon was made for felling monsters, after all. Still… Anri decided to go a bit further this time. It was a tough-looking one, so best to play it safe.

Anri pulled out a small beetle from one of her many pockets. It moved a bit, indicating its life. She placed the bug into the chamber of her rifle and closed it quickly. Anri jumped and leaned forward to adjust her aim. Upside down shots were simple for the strange child, so aiming at a spot where the beast was headed was just as easy. Pulling the trigger, the beetle and its life force was converted into raw aquatic magic, and condensed into a small spell projectile. It sped faster than a cannonball to its intended spot on the floor.

Landing from the front flip and leaping forward to keep up her momentum while continuing her run, Anri shouted out an indication for what she had done,

“Water come up! Douse and drench the monster!"

At first, it seemed to do nothing, but soon erupted into a large geyser of conjured water, blasting out from a large area from which it had landed. The intention was to cover and soak the metal monster with water, though if it was knocked or damaged from it, that would be fine too. Either way, Anri had to prepare for the next action…
 
Tokui Uchiha

The flame user was quick to get back on her own feet and follow along, to which Tokui nodded in approval. She then made a comment that drew the shinobi's attention "Hm. At least now I know for a fact that meant grave danger"

It didn't take them long to get into inscrutable darkness once more, but light was yet again quick to return. Different in shape and intensity, but there nonetheless. Sharingan blocking tricks were getting kind of tiresome, but Tokui was starting to get used to not expect results from his ocular jutsu. He did see the mechanical objects struggle in their fight against the darkness, but it was evident it wouldn't attack without provocation, so they should be-

Just as Tokui thought the situation was easing up, yet another, ugly and annoyingly loud mechanical object came to fight. Evident by the way in which it dispatched obstacles and made a beeline for them.

As it charged Tokui readied himself for a last second dodge with a Substitution Jutsu, but staying as long as possible to bait the weird mechanic construct. The young one was indeed carrying a weapon, which blasted the thing with water. Seeing this, both Tokuis kneaded chakra and molded it into a lightning contained within their left and right hand respectively. "Raiton Bullet" "Ibuki" In no time flat from each other, both jutsus were released, roaring back at the mechanic worm like furious thunders in a violent storm. The roar would of course be backed by two mighty lightning bursts slamming on the accursed device.
 


Idan would just turn the drone around before he was crushed with it, missing the shredding cairns by mere inches as he turned it around. Flying through the metal worms wreckage avoided its path, as Idan would slip behind it without its notice, yet the dust and smoke created from the smashing of its metal blades into the cubed cairns would block his vision and the drone's. The drone would smash into a cube floating in front of its path, and Idan would slide across it with only a few scratches and stopping just as his legs began dangling in the air.

While below, Tokui and Anri's double team move would work. Electrical bolts would zap across its metal body, illuminating the darkness of the whole place, and the machine would scream out as it lost its focus on the four. Its head twisted to the side, but it didn't stop moving. Instead of aiming for them all head on, its was going to crash down on top of them instead. Yet, Anri and Tokui both would feel something wrap around their chests right before it would crash down upon them. White, metallic wire, with a hook at its end to latch onto their clothing. Whoever fired it at them was hiding in the darkness, and quickly pulled them out of harms way.

The worm rolled across the ground, kicking up metallic dust and debris as it screamed out a horrid sound. When the electricity coursing around its body faded, there was no sign it was wounded. The worm would writhe around in place, building up momentum of its movement once more, and float off the ground once again. It began to search for the others once more, as it piercing red eye scanned through the darkness to find them.

They could stun it, but killing it seemed to take a lot more. And with time a factor, they needed to hurry. The cairns had somehow separated into two sections: Above, where Idan was, the cubes had stopped twisting and began platforms to walk across, yet hadn't stopped moving side to side. Some were hovering above, and others were larger than others, making them good cover to hide behind if the worm came back to stalk the top, but they would have to 'frogger' across the moving platforms.

Down below, the cairns still continued to move and twist like cube tornadoes. But the gaps between them were wide enough to run through. If they were careful in how they maneuvered between them, they wouldn't be crushed or shredded into pieces.
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Anri and Tokui's savior would put his finger to his lips, and listened for the echoing sounds of the metal worm. It was hard to tell where it had gone, but the cairn they were hiding behind was still and solid enough to climb up to the top where Idan was. The choice for how to safely get to the other side was up to each of them.

"You two okay?" Their savior asked finally, in a hushed tone.
 
Tokui Uchiha

Having successfully impacted the machine with his double jutsu, Tokui smiled to himself as it collapsed. That was until a few details dawned on him. There was a significant lack of power in his jutsu. While his chakra reserves were less affected, it also felt noticeably weaker. That showed in the device not showing signs of damage or wear, and while it could also be a result of an unknown material of unseen resistance for Tokui, he had his doubts. Fed by his failing eyes that couldn't summon a Susanoo, let alone do their signature jutsus. Finally, the collapsing mass of metal was falling on them, which Tokui expected for himself, but not for the young warrior. A wire pulled his thoughts, along with him and the girl, to safety.

Tokui quickly got to his feet, staring into a figure with a white mask. "I am. Thank you for covering for my mistake." He said as he glanced towards the young one and her weapon, then towards the flailing machine, and finally towards the rest of the group, including the idiotic (or perhaps brave) machine rider up above. "We need to get to that core thing. Introductions can come later" As he spoke, he made a sign, and three more copies of himself appeared behind him. Two ran back with the oldest one, forming a wide triangle perimeter, yelling into the darkness and making sparkling signals of lightning, while keeping an eye on each other and for the metal beast.

"That will give us some time, let's use the platforms above to make it fast to our destination while that is distracted. Carry the archer, I'll carry the young warrior and the one already up there. I scanned them all, the rest can keep up by themselves." Tokui explained his plan to everyone, including the fellow white mask, hoping no one would object. He still didn't know what this core was, but everything screamed at him that time was of the essence. So he felt forced to ditch stealth directly, and instead opt for deception and distraction. His clones would not spend large chakra amounts on fighting, they were not there to turn that thing to scrap metal anyway. "Let's move everyone."

With blindingly fast Flickers, Tokui picked the girl yet again, and got to dash for the light "Sorry for picking you up again. I don't mean to insult you, but we have no time." The clone reached the injured man in a few Flickers, slinging him over his back. He said nothing, words wouldn't heal, and he knew no medical jutsu. Now that he thought of it, he has no medical supplies at all... Problems for later.
 
Idan Graves

"Argh! Fuckin' hell."
Idan groans and curses under his breath as he's suddenly slung over the teleporting ninja's back, once again feeling the pain of his dislocated arm. He moves his good arm around, trying to reach for his rugsack. However, as his balance shifts on the side of his dislocated arm, he winces in pain and draws his good arm back. Craning his neck forward, into the back the ninja carrying him, he quietly mutters, "If that drill drone comes near us 'nd you lack anymore tricks up your sleeve, put me down."
 
Anri Gets Carried
Anri


Anri didn't get the chance to reload her rifle before she found herself being yanked away by a rope of some sort. Sudden things like this weren't enough to make her drop her gun, but the one who made it for her would probably be angry if she had. In any case, she and the serious guy that kept going near her had soon come into contact with the owner of the ropes that brought them out of harm's way… He looked like a sorcerer that had conflicting interests of concealing his identity and standing out with garb of moon white. He seemed to know what to do, though.

Before she could do anything further, she was picked up once again, this time joined with the adult from earlier. It seems he was injured somewhere along the way. She didn't mind, honestly. Though she was quick, they probably found this faster.

"We're headed to the light, right?"
 
Bem

Bem had been flying relatively low to keep herself closer to the group, but suddenly being confronted by whatever that thing was, her relatively quiet buzzing would suddenly fill the air as her wings would desperately climb higher to avoid the creature as it shred through the walls like it wasn't even there.

She was a cultivator at the beginning of her journey! Things like this are for later, at most she could fend off a spirit boar, but this giant abomination would other-worldly! Was it a god? It had to be a god! What had she done wrong? Were they trespassing? This wasn't fair-

Wait were the humans fighting? Why?!

Bem would sit there, hovering high up, hopefully out of range of the creature as she'd try her best to calm down the panic flooding her system, screaming at her to just leave and head in a direction, any direction, and get away from that thing, yet feeling oddly attached to the group of people she'd just met.

She couldn't help herself, as much as she tried to deny it, she was an affectionate bee, and if something wasn't trying to kill her, that made it a friend, as much as the hive had tried to drill otherwise into her.

But that was a god! and someone like Bem, or the ones below her, offends a god and lives.

Well.. At least not without some divine interv-

Bem would almost squeal with delight as a figure clad in white would appear from seemingly nowhere, her eyes sparkling, overjoyed as he'd pull them into cover.

"OHMYQUEENTHANKYOUSOMUCH!" Bem would hum to herself, her fists shaking in front of her in appreciation as she'd buzz with newfound vigor, deciding to stay, at least for the moment, to see how this "hidden master" would save them all.

It was just like in the stories.
 


As their knight in shining white armor nodded at Tokui's plan, he turned his head around just in time for Bem to fly right over and begin fawning over him. For some reason. His white eyes went wide with surprise at the sudden return of the big bee lady, before turning his head slightly at the metallic sounds of the worm echoing somewhere far off.

Quickly, he grabbed onto Luer, pulled out the grappling hook once more with his free hand, and quickly wrapping the same arm around Bem's body, shot it to the moving platforms up above. Quickly, the three were pulled up, with the knight releasing Bem once above to let her fly once again, and using his cape to glide down to the platform Idan was on. With everyone above, they would get halfway there to the light, before they would once again hear the worm. They could see it red eye shining down on Tokui's clones through the gaps of the platforms, like a snake stalking its prey.

It would launch itself at them, with that horrible metallic screaming noise and the sounds of its drill mouth scratching against the ground, trying to eat Tokui's clones. Whether it did or not, it would fly upwards after its initial attack towards them to search for them once more. They would have a few minutes to hide, either behind one of the floating platforms above and below them, or make a run for the light and see if they made it.
 
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Idan Graves - Making Bad Choices

From Idan's position on the clone-ninja's back, he hears the screeching of metal against metal in the distance. Craning his head to the side, he's just in time to see the creature approach, drilling through the air. "Hookwolf's flyin' cousin..." Idan mutters under his breath, the metallic creature reminding him of a violent cape from back home. As he sees it getting closer and closer, his flight or fight response kicks in overpowering his reason as paranoid thoughts begin to bubble. His breaths become shallower, his heartrate races, and he moves without thought, acting on familiar instincts.

D̷̝̞͑Ę̶̦͖̀̉͆́͒T̷͍̑̾̂̓͘O̸̧̢͇͎̤̒͒N̶͖̦̍͊̈̈́A̴̙̬̱͉͆̿̀͐͊T̴̻̱͈͕͆Ẽ̸̘̻̈̓̑͗ ̶͇̘͎͉̤̌̉̅̚̕A̸̭͎͋̔̃̾̋Ǹ̵̮̟͓̣Ḑ̵̟͈̥͗̓͝ ̴̜͍̬͙̀͐͐̈́D̴̞̃A̴̼̣͓̱̖͆̄͆Ŝ̷̢̮̬Ĥ̵̡̰͙̰̞̀

With adrenaline coursing through his system, he leans on the side of his dislocated arm - ignoring the pain - and reaches into his rugsack, panickily digging around until he feels a long familiar tube. Pulling out a pipebomb, he puts and holds it in his teeth as he reaches back into the rugsack and pulls of a roll of black duck tape. With the pipebomb still in his teeth, he hastily peels back a length the roll and circles it around before ripping, creating an adhesive mess he quickly attaches to the side of the pipebomb.

"ehk! 'ee! Go!" He grunts - pipebomb still in his mouth - as he squirms, pushes, and kicks the clone-ninja holding him until it lets him go.

_______________________

With his buckles and grunts going unanswered, Idan pulls the pipebomb from his teeth, grabs a lighter from his pocket, and sparks the fuse. Awkwardly, from his position along the clone-ninja's back, he tries to toss the sticky-pipebomb to the shifting pillars below.
 
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Hanging in there
Anri


Anri hummed a tune. There wasn't really anything else she could've done, honestly. The big monster was distracted, with doppelgängers, and she was being carried as they ran towards the light. So…yeah. Nothing to do but hum and think. The objective was to secure an area, but behind that, Anri didn't really know what else they would do. Sure, they could probably hold out, but she didn't know what they were fighting to begin with, and it seems neither did most of the others. Though she didn't know that for sure, she never asked. So she decided to ask in a quiet voice,

"What do we do when we get there anyway?"
 


When the bomb went off, the place barely shook, yet it was still loud enough that the metal worm, once it finally turned to their direction, focused on where the sound of the blast came from. With another robotic roar, it charged downwards like an arrow; smashing through the moving platforms, and diving through the rotating cairns. The sound of metal crashing together as it crashed through pillar after pillar echoed all around them, yet Idan gave them enough time to make the short run to the light.

Approaching the light would be blinding. There was nothing visible beyond it, yet it radiated a warmth like that of the sun. The closer they approached it, the more it engulfed them all, until the strange topography of the every shifting metallic platforms and walls disappeared into the shining white of the light.

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They would all walk for a few dozen feet aimlessly, with no sounds around them, until finally coming through the other side. The space was now difference once more, even more unrecognizable to the space station they had woken up in. The warmth of the light had been replaced by a chill in the air, a drop of temperature by around 20 degrees.

While above, the darkness was now filled with dozens upon dozens of stars. The shifting shapes of metallic blocks formed into more strange constructs all around them, yet the most solid looking of it all was the pyramid in front of them. The light they had traveled through disappeared once they were through, and the entrance to the pyramid was their only way through.

At least, at first. Approaching the circular hole, two more would form besides it, one to the left, one to the right. All three would have lights shining down upon them from above.

The left entrance would begin to play music that echoed through it. The sounds of female singers, like that of a church choir in the midst of a religious chant. The central entrance emitted the sounds of battle, the marching of a battalion, the faint shouts of orders, and even fainter sounds of iron clashing together like that of swords.

The right entrance was the quietest of them. The sounds of the other two besides it would drown out the noise it produced, but if they could listen in clear enough, they would actually hear what sounded like a faint buzzing. The hum of electricity passing through an engine, and stepping into through the hole would make their skin vibrate.

Something was giving them all a choice of which way to go. But was there a right way?
 
Things happened way too fast for the still recovering archer. Though he was content to walk with the others he still felt disoriented. Damn moving things. Nothing can be gentle. So as Bem agreed to walk… begrudgingly? he followed the others for what felt like a few blinks. It was hard enough to keep focus on not being sick, let alone with the structures moving and the drones buzzing all around. Everything went to hell so damn fast Luer was pretty sure he just added whiplash to his current symptoms of discomfort. Between the child and the man that could apparently clone himself (oh how handy that skill would have been in his past…) running ahead and the sudden appearance of a huge metal worm, the archer was struggling to keep up mentally with everything let alone physically.

He was quick to take note to how things went when the others attempted to fight. That is to say, not well. He was ready to help them despite his still slightly nauseous stomach, but he did not get the chance to. The moment he was prepared to jump into the fight he was grabbed. He did not expect it, and had little time to protest to it. But the worst was yet to come when they were suddenly jerked off the ground. This sudden movement churned the archer's already nauseous stomach into full chaos. He could not take it.

Once he and Bem were let go of, he got only a few steps of distance from where he was before falling to his knees, leaning over and ultimately losing his fight to not puke. An unpleasant enough experience on its own, he had not much in his stomach to dispel, so it was half just dry heaving, much to his dismay. Thankfully he at least had managed to quell it before too long, at which point everyone had already made their choice. "Please… do not ever do that again…" He complained breathlessly and amidst a cough. No, that was not fun.

He could not, however, get up. Which either was obvious, or this man likes to carry him, since he found himself once again in the arm of the man clad in white with a small whine.
 
COLLABORATION POST: GM, Idan, Kiana, Tokui, Moon-Knight, Luer, Anri

As Idan is carried further and further away from the metallic monster into the white-warm light, his struggling stops, his heartrate slows, and his breathing returns to normal. He mutters in relief, "Thank fuckin' Zion. I thou-"

However, his words stop as he shivers at a sudden drop in the temperature. He curses under his breath, before craning his neck up to see the darkness above. With exasperation in his voice, he exclaims. "We're not outta'tha fuckin' woods yet!? Really?"

As he hears the sounds of chanting, war, and the slight buzz of electricity(?) - from in front of him, where neck can't crane - he taps along the sides of the clone-ninja carrying him. "Can ya let me down now? This is startin' to cramp."


-

The knight would put Luer down once they seemed to be in safety. With three doorways to choose from, the most obvious candidate in his mind was the one that was already here before the other two opened up.

But that didn't exactly mean it wouldn't be a trap of some kind. "Anyone have a flair gun or can shoot a fire ball?" He asked the group suddenly.


-

"I mean, if somebody-" Idan wriggles in his grasp. "-would put me down. I could probably make somethin' like that." He tries to reach for his pack before suddenly wincing in pain and grabbing his arm. "Shite! Scratch that. Fire lass-" He nods his head towards the woman mentioned. "-over here's probably your best bet."

-

As if the terrible worm of metal wasn't a problem by itself, what followed was a similarly peculiar situation; a much colder room, with three pathways waiting, each making strange sounds. Dusting herself down, Kiana rolled her shoulders and shook her head to get herself back in gear. Once Idan's voice called her way after the Moon Knight's request, Kiana's expression became firm as embers began to form around her hands.

"I've plenty of fire to spare, where do we need it?" She simply asked, eyeing every doorway that seemed to lead only to total darkness, pitch black that could not be parsed at all without light, the question was; which path to take?


-

"Can you shoot something down each of these?" He asked her, pointed to the three passages. He wanted to see what was inside them, how far they went, and if anything was waiting down there to ambush them.

Each was so dark, they couldn't make out anything past a few feet.


-

"Gotcha." Kiana replied as the embers formed into brilliant flames in her palms and with three swift motions, she'd throw fireballs down each pathway, so that they would land someway inside each of them, providing small sources of light. She wasn't finished though, as with a raise of her hand and a few more embers surged from her hands, the fireballs would brighten further still, illuminating the passages ahead of them just a little more.

-

The unusual darkness of this place struck once more, as while Kiana's fire illuminated the passages greatly, they would each reach a distance of twenty feet before they blew out. Not because of the cold around them, or lack of oxygen.

But instead, like the darkness' ate' the fire. Still, from the short time they could see, the passages were circular and smooth looking, unaffected by the shifting blocks that phased through and changed the stations topography like previously. And the sounds each made didn't disappear by the sounds of the fire, remaining as is.


-

"Shit." Moon Knight muttered under his breathe.

-

Kiana let out a small grunt of frustration as she lowered her hands. "I'm so sick of these shadows." She spoke harshly, then looked to Moon Knight. "Ever seen anything like this?"

-

"Nothing like this," he answered her. "Attacks light, leaves everything else intact."

-

Luer was far from feeling content. The last thing he needed was picked up again after throwing up earlier. Once he was put down he simply slumped on the floor and groaned. He did not have anything more to throw up even if he wanted to. "I said it before… I will say it again… please… do not ever do that again…" He said in a whine. He knew carrying him could not be helped after he threw up, but it did little to settle this feeling at all after he was yanked into the air the first time.

He took a moment to rub his head as he heard Idan, taking slow breaths to try and help calm his body down. No, he did not feel any better. He gestured towards Tokui to drop Idan near him. "I can take care of that arm…" He commented. All he really wanted to sleep… and drink something to get that vile taste out of his mouth. But he could not ignore their situation, and as useless as he was right now, healing was about all he was good for at the moment. That did not require he move much.


-

A shinobi must be plentiful and resourceful when it comes to strategies, Tokui thought, but kept said thought to himself as he held the man through his struggles. There were more pressing matters at hand than arguing with a civilian about their rescue. Said views on the person he was carrying changed a tad bit when he noticed he was crafting an explosive through the pain of a dislocated arm. Anri's Tokui, the true one, she was more cooperative. Motivating Tokui to answer when she asked if they were headed for the light "We are, yes."

Not long after, the young girl came with another question. "I will leave that part to those of us who at least know what this core talk m-" He cut himself off as one of the clones tailing the group saw the metallic monster deviate towards the explosion caused by the guy carried by him. There was no need for the extra clones to attempt a distraction again, good call on the injured's part.

Not much was left until they met the light, and the light radiated them with warmth. This lasted just a few moments, however. As the light faded away, along with the heat. Now in a colder area, they were met with a strange choice.

Five Tokuis scanned the area, until a passenger asked to be put down. "Right, apologies", then, just as he was about to let go, the archer indicated he could help with the arm. "Understood." He said, as he allowed the pyrotechnic artist to stand on his own next to the archer. "That goes for you as well. You have good aim." Another Tokui commented as he put down the one eyed shooter. He could see the empty socket through the hairs of her bangs, but they just met. There's a time and place.

The guy in white asked around if someone had a light source to likely use on the darkened paths. After a brief exchange with the fire lady, fire was shot... Achieving nothing. Tokui thought for a moment, wondering if he knew of something like this. "I could send clones, but they are frail. And my eyes can't pierce this darkness."


-

Idan groans as he's let off of the clone ninja's back. "Finally! Bein' held like a sack of potatoes by Oni Lee's long lost cousin isn't how I expected to spend my day."

He looks towards the the fiery girl. "I've actually knew a cape like this in the Bay. He was a Shaker, had this dark fog-like thing that fucked with light, radio signals, and shite like that. Did the petty cops-n-robber runaround with a group of his. Though this-" He gestures to the shadowy door ways. "-is on a way larger scale. Shaker 10 or 11. Capable of throwin' shite through the darkness. Easily an S-Class Threat. Same going for whoever tinker'd up this place."

Idan turns towards the sickly archer and beckons them forward with his good arm. "Alright. Come'on. I've been 'round the block with this before. Just get over here and shove the arm right. I won't cry."


-

"Thank you!", said Anri. "Captain Evelynn had me learn how to use this since Argus didn't wanna teach me.

She sat where she was for a moment to see what everyone else was doing. Some were trying to deal with the doors, while others were getting aid for their injuries. Anri, not paying attention to everything, as you do, only noticed the older man asking to get his arm popped back into place. Very painful experience, but effective for a while. She also noticed one of the ladies casting fire spells. It looks like the darkness is back, and now a real obstacle. Hm.

She gets curious, and moves towards one of the doorways. She doesn't enter any of them, obviously, but she does get close enough for a closer look.

"Hm."

Randomly, she took out one of her knives and threw them into the darkness, listening for any reaction.


-

The knife would go through, however, she wouldn't hear it hit anything, or even drop. It just disappeared.

-

"Ooh. Let's see…"

Anri proceeds to take out two more knives and throw them into the other two doors.


-

Luer nodded, though he frankly did not want to move. He took a breath and forced himself to his feet slowly, then made his way to Idan. He took his left hand glove off and handed it to the other man. "Here, bite." He stated, moving to wrap his arm left arm gently around the man's dislocated one.

Whether or not Idan chose to actually use the glove or not, Luer gave him a moment and when he was ready, he braced his right arm against Idan's body. With one quick motion, pushing against Idan with his right arm and pulling on the man's arm with his left, he popped the dislocated shoulder back in place with a rather loud 'POP'.


-

Idan bites into the offered glove and closes his eyes. He winces in pain, as he feels the archer wrap one of their arms around his dislocated one. Knowing what's about to come next, Idan steady himself as the archer braces against him, planting both his feet firmly against the ground. Inside his mind, he begins egging himself on. 'Come'on. Ya fuckin' go-' However, his thoughts are interrupted by a flash of pain and the sound of a loud 'POP!'

Surprisingly, Idan manages to keep his groan of pain rather minimum, only unleashing a short grunt before spitting out the glove and muttering a rapid, "Thanks..." as he starts to work his arm around.


-

The same thing happens to the second door, but interestingly, the third door seems to do something to the knife. The one that hums with electricity, as the knife passes through, right before it disappears into darkness, Anri would see small electrical sparks fly off it.


-

"Ooh! They're not just sounds!"

Anri giggled in celebration for the little victory. She pointed to the Right entrance and said, "This one's dangerous."

She then pointed to the left entrance. "This one sounds sorta like a church or even a cult."

Finally, she pointed at the central doorway. "This one looks sounds like an active battle."


-

"Wonder why." The Knight wondered aloud. Seemed like a strange trick for a trap if whoever was doing this wanted to kill them.

-

Idan chuckles incredulously. "Wonderin' now of all times? Aft'ah the worm 'nd the darkness, and the whole tinker tech base miles wide, I'd say lets give up on askin' why 'til we meet someone with some damned answers."

Idan looks down each the doorways, listening for their respective sounds. After listening, he gestures towards the left entrance. "I'd rather not go at all, but we're kinda screwed if that meltdown shite doesn't get repaired. So if we gotta head forward, I'd say we're best takin' our chances with the cult soundin' folk." He points at the central pathway, emitting the sounds of chaotic warfare. "An active battlefield in this day 'n age would mean largescale capeshite, either somewhere in Africa or an Endbringer attack." He points towards the pathway on the left, with the small hum of electricity. "And I forgot to pack my rubber gloves today, and I ain't riskin' gettin' shocked to death."

Idan turns towards the girl who threw the knives. "Smart move, kid. Tossin' somethin' in there to test 'em. Say, you know how'ta handle explosives?"


-

"It's not a meltdown," The Knight quickly told Idan.

-

Idan shakes his head. "I'm pretty sure I heard somethin' 'bout the station bein' compromised, 'nd a core meltdown being impendent." He begins to noticeably scrutinize the cape figure. "Or are you sayin' it's somethin' else? If so, how didya find it out?"

-

"It'll still compromise the stations structure if we don't stop it. So if you want to play 20 questions still, we can either find it before it kills us, or we're sucked out into space once it spreads to the rest of the place."

-

Idan puts his hands up defensively as his face turns into a deliberately neutral expression. "Fine. Keep your secrets. Thanks for the warnin'."

He quickly turns away from the white-caped figure and begins rummaging through his bag, pulling out a well ear-marked, tanned-paged book, labeled 'The Anarchist Cookbook, by William Powell'. Without even opening it's pages, Idan begins muttering under his breath as he pulls out a few aerosol deodorant and a long, green, and ashy-covered cord. Quickly, he begins to pop off the tops of the aerosol cans.

His mutters become louder, audible, but not addressed to anyone in particular. "Fuckin' hell... AI... Space... Bullshite... How the fuck did I get involved in this capeshit?"

He rips off three lengths of the green cord with his teeth and tries to fit each of them inside of the openings of the aerosol cans.


-

Luer shook his head. It was all nonsense to him, quite frankly. He sighed heavily and swatted at Moon Knight. "Not helping. Do we take our chances with the cult or not?" He asked. Yes, he still felt sick thanks to this guy. He glanced to Idan at his muttering and shook his head to that too. "You will never get an answer. Not one that makes sense much less truly is an answer.

With that said, he glanced to the others around. "I am in agreement with our ill tempered arsonist. The cult is likely to be the least dangerous- or at best the most manageable of the threats."


-

"The others wouldn't want me to handle it again, but I know how!"

It wasn't part of the standard training in the Order, especially for younger members, but Anri had learned how to handle and use volatile substances. She can't remember where she learned it, but perhaps it was better that way…


-

Idan looks up from his work and nods. "That's good enough for me. Catch-" He tosses one of the fuse-attached aerosol cans to the little girl. "Spark up the end of that green cord, toss it towards whatever looks at you funny, and get far away from it." He chuckles. "Might need tah keep it handy if we're bustin' into a catholic church."

-

Anri catches the metal cylinder easily, and takes a moments to inspect it. It was very light for a bomb, but she wasn't going to question someone who's used these a lot. She placed it in one of her many pockets, such that it disappeared from normal sight.

"…oh!"

Anri had no sense of timing or urgency, even in dire situations such as this. As such when the thought came to her, she failed to realize that this may not not be the best time or place for introductions. That being said, she decided to make one anyway.

"My name is Anri! Templar from the Order of the Dawn Covenant."


-

At the girl's words, Idan thinks to himself. 'So she is a part of a cape group... Templars? Dawn Covenant? Sounds vaguely European...'

He shakes his head, breaking himself from musing. 'Can wonder 'bout that shite later. For now...'

Taking a cue from the little girl, he - now pocketing the other two IEDs - barks up. "Name's Idan. Just 'nother civilian of Boston's shittier cousin."


-

"Good for you," Was all Moon Knight said to her as she gave introductions, his tone very much brushing her off as just a child who will cause problems for them.

-

Luer eyed Moon Knight for a moment. Apparently he was worth less time than entertaining a child. He chortled, moving to give Anri and the others who might not know a bow… slowly. "Luer Lastez. Guard for hire." He offered. He would rather indulge the child with a weapon that threw herself at a threat ten times her size than the man that ignored a question relevant to their current situation. Idan seemed to agree as well, even as hot tempered as he seemed to be. He gave the man a nod before glancing to the doors. They were getting nowhere… he was tempted to take the risk and go through one himself. Hehe… Ryan would be displeased with me. I probably should not.

-

Tokui disregarded the fire lover's comment, it didn't seem productive to argue on who even is Oni Lee. Be it a compliment or otherwise. The young girl also gave checking the darkness a try, Tokui didn't perceive anything once the knives passed the dark veil. He remained observant and remaining a passive member of the talk about the passages. There was a slight leaning in the group towards going in the choir passage.

Anri made a small tangent out of introductions. Barring the figure in white, no one had a problem with that. Considering he may be looking at what could be allies for a while, but still keeping in mind he was being kept in the dark quite a bit by circumstance, he chimed in "I'm Dokuro, a wandering shinobi." Deciding to keep his real name off the table for now.

"As for the passages, I do have to agree on the choir one sounding the least troublesome. Although..." As he spoke, one of his clones approached the buzzing entrance, and stuck his hand inside the darkness.


-

The clone would feel a tingling sensation in his hand from the electricity, but besides that, it didn't shock him. The tunnel seemed to only react to metal of any kind.

-

Feeling no futher danger, the clone delved deeper into the darkness. Once his tools passed the entry point, though, a shock of electricity made him pop and vanish. The main body moved towards the electric path with the remaining clones, he took a deep breath, and entered with two of them. This time redirecting the electricity to himself properly, and turning it into chakra.

-

Not everyone had responded, but that was fine! They would probably do that later anyway. Still, without names to put the faces to, Anri didn't know if she could call them friends or even allies. People who don't introduce themselves tend to not stick around, so she never had a reason to consider them proper companions. Well, whatever the case, Anri had some names!

"Yay! From this moment until however long our friendship lasts, you're my allies!"

What absolutely none of them knew was that being considered an ally of Anri meant a lot more. It meant that they were essentially handed access to yet another tool and weapon. The only difference? This one is was a little girl with a lot of experience. All they needed was to give her an order. Too bad no one told them that, though.
 
As Tokui ventured further into the darkness, he would feel his body vibrate from the electricity passing through him. Yet, the darkness did nothing else to him. He could hear the soft sounds of incoherent whispers, and distance echoes of screams, like those being slaughtered. Once the darkness was all he could see, the echoing sounds were all that he would hear.

Explosions could then be heard, thudding against buildings by the sounds of it. The screams became louder, like they were drawing in closer to him, while the voices that whispered became more understandable. They were chants in a forign language, one Tokui wouldn't understand, but they were praying for something. Perhaps whatever was causing the screams. More explosions went off, coming closer to him, and the screams began to drown out the chants, until they were almost unbearable; like daggers stabbing into the eardrums.

All before one massive explosion, right next to Tokui, went off, and all went silent once more. Tokui would feel nothing, but it was as if the explosion itself killed the voices that haunted around him. It was then he could finally see something in the disatnce. The reflection of light off something shiny. Approaching it, he could see its textures more clearly, the reflections coming from some source of light inside it, like a light bouncing off a hundred mirrors.

It floated in the air, rotating gently around and around, until lowering itself into Tokui's hands. The texture was strange to feel, sticky to the touch, yet as hard as iron to squeeze. The darkness would engulf him, and the others outside the entrance ways one last time, and in a matter of seconds, it would be sucked away back into the object Tokui would hold.

4mebhu8op3i01.jpg
The space had transformed one more time. Back into its original form. The core room of the station itself. Tokui would be standing atop the stairs, while the others would be standing along the rampway, with no idea what happened.

"STATION CORE STABILIZED! IMMINENT DISTRUCTION AVERTED! PLEASE FOLLOW PROTOCOL TO RETURN TO STATION ROLES, AND HAVE A PLEASANT DAY/NIGHT."

The automated voice spoke. The thing Tokui was holding, now in clear view with the light, was a crytal. Its shape was so jagged to look at, yet still soft to the touch. No light could reflect off it, and trying to look directly into it would give them all a strange feeling of unease. An unnatural color of black, with a form familiar for them all to recognize, yet its true form and power was still a mystery. How did this affect the core? And why did it act this way?

"You going to keep that?" A voice asked them all from behind. A man, dressed in a dazzy black and white suit, stood on the other side of the guardrail, leaning against it with a smug smile on his face, and a cigarette between his index fingers while looking to them all.
 
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Idan Graves - Master Diplomat and Magnate

Idan lets out a sigh of relief as the darkness seemed to be funneled into the crystal in the teleporting cape's hands. As the intercomm annouces the stablization of the station's core, he begins to celebrate. 'Fina'ly. After all th-' However, his thoughts are interrupted as the well-dressed man makes himself known.

'That fuckin' smug smile. I've seen that sort of look before. Bastard's carryin' 'imself as if he knows shite about what's going on.' With practiced relfexes, Idan rapidly reaches into his coat, momentarily considering whether or not to grab his improvised explosive device. However, even the 'ill-tempered arsonist' knows better than to try something so rash with a possibly unidentified cape. So instead, he decides to grab for his flask of alcohol - it's the cheap swill that burns on the way in and the way out, but it's still something.

After pulling it out and taking a swig, he offers it out to the snazzy suit individual across the guardrail. "We - or at least I - ain't lookin' for trouble, so how 'bout you simplify things for all of us. Two questions. What d'ya want and what can'ya give us?" Saying that, Idan looks around, trying to gauge the apprehensiveness of his recent comrades and whether or not any of them recognizes the suited man.
 
"Ho, I wouldn't dream of it, Mr. Graves!" The business man said to him first, pushing himself off the railing he leaned against, and slowly walking across it to the smaller set of stairs. "Quite frankly, it's an honored to properly talk with you face to face. I've been ever so fascinated by your life story. Your family's unfortunate tragedies, your lonesome life as you went through puberty, and your new found religious beliefs in survival in that little bible you keep called the 'Anarchist Cookbook.'" He mentioned to Idan, stopping at the top of the stairs.

"The same goes for the rest of you, of course." He then said to everyone else. "Anri, the innocent child soldier. Bem, the bee who wandered too far from the nest. The Wolf puppy who's ever destined to protect his master the Divine Heir. Tokui, carrying the shame of his mother's deeds as you wear that fun little headband on your head. Our good friend here, the mysterious 'Moon Knight,' who seems to know more about that black crystal than he's letting on. Kiana, who.... I'm talking to the clone, right? Or, wait, no, you're the real one? Sorry, I'm sure yuo struggle with that yourself sometimes still, wrapping your head around that." He gave her a real big smile her way agfter saying that.

"And Luer, the man of the hour, the man with the power, too sweet to be sour! Even if he has the look of a man who literally ate a whole lemon," he chuckled, walking down the stairs. "No, no, no, you did a really important thing here: You saved this station and everyone else on it. Whatever that is, it seems to at least respond well to you, unlike the drones we tried using to get it. And considering what your friends upstairs did, the station's pretty much yours now too. In fact, right now, you're all traveling across universes escaping from my boss, and even though I'm here, there isn't really much I can actually do."

"
So yeah, I'm not gonna give you all any big major threats, or try fighting you myself, I'm just here to say congrats. You deserve it, give yourselves a victory lap and a nice round of appaluse." He then started clapping to them, waiting for any of them to join in. "But... Well, I would be lying if I was here just to say all that," he continued after clapping, "I think I'd love to have that crystal of yours. Take it back home with me to give it some more study. See how it works, how it affected the base like it did, find out how it got here. And, in return, I offer this," He held up a small, old looking mobile flip phone.

"A way back home." He simply told, before flipping it open. "Press the green button, and you all get teleported back to your worlds. One time use only. And after you get back, it shorts out, and no one can ever use it again. And we never bother you all again."