Ace stood by and listened as the mysterious young woman spoke with precise cadence. His mind attempted to drift towards Shizuka, he worried for her safety as she was in the company of people he did not trust. Nevertheless, he paid mind to the stranger's instructions. As she continued to speak, and others asked questions, he grew more uncomfortable. She knew too much, was certain about too much. He no longer felt as if he was in the presence of a normal human being, she seemed almost omnipotent. God isn't a woman wearing a schoolgirl uniform, right? The shooting in the distance had stopped, apparently Pepper was finished [i]cleaning up.[/i] The woman had finished speaking, and asked if they had any questions. Who wouldn't? Ace stepped forward. "How do you know so much, and who are you?" He asked. Typical questions for sure, but important questions. [center]___[/center] Shizuka let out a loud yawn, and laid her head down on a control panel in front of her. She had always been fond of the comforting hum that could be heard from the inside of a gummie ship. During her time in the academy she would often drift to sleep while in transit to different worlds for training. She missed how simple things once were. "You're welcome." Shizuka said, her cheek pressed against the blinking board. "It shouldn't take us too long to get there, with the warp drive we can just follow the coordinates of that ship..." She let out a sigh, blowing air out of her mouth like a leaking balloon. She regretted slapping Ace, even if he had said something stupid, that was a terrible way to part ways. She knew this could be a foolhardy venture, but she felt obligated to help Asahina. "You two, you're responsible adults, right? Please don't make me regret doing this." Shizuka said, before pressing a button that sent the ship into warp drive. Within moments the ship blasted forwards, and left Agrabah. [center]____[/center] Asahina did not feel entirely comfortable leaving Shinto behind to deal with Nomis's machinations, but she couldn't exactly force him to come with them. At the very least he seemed capable enough to fight, he was able to knock Dominic into a wall easily after all. "Here it is!" Asahina rushed through a doorway, having followed Shinto's instructions. As she ran onto the roof of the ruined ship, she had to shield her eyes from the light of the sun. As her eyes adjusted she strained her eyes to look around. Blue, everywhere she looked around her it was blue. A sense of dread filled her stomach as she realized they were stuck in the middle of an ocean. She walked to the edge of the ship and looked down, by a stroke of luck they had landed on a small island, otherwise they'd be at the bottom of the sea right now. Her options were grim, it seemed as if they would have to fight eventually regardless. [center]____[/center] Ryoko tapped a finger on the arm of her chair, her sharp nail nearly tearing into the cushioned material. Shinobu could be quite imposing when he wanted to be. Luckily he was one of the few people she respected, so she tried not to take offense to the way he was speaking to her, she had expected this, after all. "I was handling something else, in the streets. I had encountered another group of rebels, myself and a mercenary engaged them. They all escaped, except for one that decided to teleport the others away and sacrifice himself. He was bound and I was making my way back to the palace. He's in my hotel room at the moment, by the way." Ryoko said with a snicker. "As for Nomis, I told him to use his ship to stop the rebels if they got too far, as they had infiltrated the palace. I sure as shit did not tell him to just blast the thing into ground zero. I swear that man is going to give me an ulcer. Between this and him blowing up the warehouse in Hollow Bastion, he seems to have a predilection towards destroying Empire property." Ryoko said. She crossed her legs and sat back. "He's getting out of control, I don't see why someone like him should be kept around... What do you think, Shinobu?"