I myself am interested, and shall make my CSes ASAP. ^^
The Jest
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3 yrs ago
Forum: Casual Roleplay
Planet Plenty - War-scarred fields
Not far from the Circle of Hell's shipwreck was the mentioned Vice-Admiral of Alexander Kherol, Kotaro Winterborn. But he did not fly here immediately after the ship's crash-landing. On the contrary, he was here even before the ship crashed. It's been two weeks since the crash, and by extension, two weeks since the negotiations to peacefully end this rebellion crumbled to dust. He watched as the Circle of hell dropped from the sky at the hand of the rebels and was the one who destroyed the cannon that caused it to happen, before then retaliating against the rebels for what they did. Not at that moment though, he gave them time to surrender themselves before he gives the order to suppress them in Grand Admiral Kherol's name. By now, Time was up...
However, he had larger priorities to deal with at the time, which was in part the reason for the time limit. After the Circle of Hell crashed, it unwittingly allowed for a jailbreak to happen as a result of the malfunctioning security of the ship. As a result, a large number of very dangerous criminals escaped and were wandering about the Planet - need it be to try and escape off the planet or to simply cause havoc and satisfying whatever desires they may have there - causing things to become even worse for the bystanders of this battle than it already was. As such, Kotaro's top priority was the capture of these criminals and the protection of the rest of Plenty not involved in the war.
Twisting the arm of Plenty's Garrison Commander, under Grand Admiral Laguna, to work with him on this, Kotaro personally orchestrated and commanded the recapturing effort, sending his best men to procure the criminals, dead if necessary. For two weeks he's been dealing with both criminals and rebels, and any who tried to come after him or the Garrison Commander personally, he reluctantly had executed - well, reluctantly in the case of the rebels, he had no sympathy for any Circle of Hell escapees who dared to come after him.
Kotaro currently was outside a large tent, giving orders to soldiers left and right, when suddenly appears a small person in a yellow hood - a boy by the voice and stature - by Kotaro's side from out of nowhere, prompting a few soldiers to jump and point their guns, only for other soldiers to intervene and push the guns away. Those who are under Kherol - and currently working for the Vice-Admiral - have seen this boy appear and disappear quickly so many times now that it does not phase them anymore, and so they have to explain to soldiers under Laguna that this boy is on their side.
"We rounded up the last of the criminals, Boss!" The hooded boy said, the outright cheerful tone offsetting the hooded appearance he was taking.
"Well done... But faster than expected, were there any issues."
"Errm, well, Some of them chose to fight us and died, Ma'am Nuletta in particular made quick work of quite a number of them. Also, Sir Zebul said he found a ship managed to escape out of the blockade Laguna made, definitely wasn't one of ours either."
...How many was on that ship?"
"Two, maybe three." Kotaro could not help but sigh at this failure. Despite his efforts and the efforts of his men, it seems a few criminals escaped back to the Ascendancy anyways. He thought about what Kherol would do at a time like this...
"...We'll leave them be for now, but not without an eye watching over them. Have Sir Zebul give the details of that ship to one of our recon units to conduct a search, and relay what they find to me. Have the Harlequins keep the prisoners from escaping until another prison ship arrives. If they attempt an escape again, they are authorized to kill."
"And...what about the rest of us, boss?" The boy asked. Kotaro took a deep breath and sighed. As much as he didn't want to, he knew exactly what order to give to the boy, he knew what had to be done.
He made his Ultimatum, to back out of it would be going back on his word and cowardice, especially after they crashed the Circle which caused this further chaos in the first place. He gave the rebels more time to surrender than he likely should have; this bloodshed would have been spared a while ago had he simply arrested their leaders when he had the chance. While he understands their motivations, their extreme aggression and lacking of regret and foresight to the ramification of their actions cannot and will not be tolerated.
"...Time's up. Have the Paladins work with Laguna's Soldiers to shut this rebellion down. Sir Zebul and Madam Nuletta are on recon and rescue duty. They are to find any innocent bystanders still in the warzones and the four remaining leaders of the Rebellion. Relocate the civilians to safe zones and bring the four elders to me. How you do it is up to you, but I want them alive. There are soldiers likely protecting them, kill them only if you feel there is no other option to take, but otherwise, I want them captured as well. The rest of the Paladins are to locate and destroy the orbital cannons stationed across Plenty. The rest of the armies are to overwhelm the Rebel forces, diverting their attention away from the Paladins' activities. Commander, once the cannons are destroyed, relay to Grand Admiral Laguna to bring in her fleet to encompass the world. If things go as they should: their best weapons will be gone, their elders will be captured, and the amount of ships and soldiers should be enough to diminish their morale to the point of surrender." Kotaro said. Thinking from the perspective of an experienced Commanding Officer, this strategy may seem too simple to work. However, Kotaro realizes that these are not soldiers they are dealing with, they are not experienced machines of war that has seen military strategies in action before, they are young and old farmers who were given weaponry and are driven by a reckless passion, drunk on the power they were given. Best to match the strategy to the opponent, lest more people die than necessary. The hooded boy did a bow, and just like that, he vanished in as much of a blink of an eye as he appeared, reappearing on another hill not that far from Kotaro's position before disappearing again.
"Now wait just a minute, You can demand your freaks to do whatever you want, but those are MY Armies and under Grand Admiral Laguna! You have no authority to make orders to them, specially not when it's essentially making them bait!" The garrison commander yelled from behind. Kotaro turned towards him and coldly stared daggers into the commander's soul, before immediately unsheathing a regular blade and pointing it towards the commander's neck.
"I don't recall asking for your opinion, Commander. It was because of you and Grand Admiral Laguna's stepping out out of your expertise that a lot of good people died, and the farmlands are now ruined. We may not be able to recultivate this planet because of your scorched earth tactics. I don't know why Grand Admiral Laguna got involved, and I don't care. Counter-insurgency is our department, so until this rebellion is ended, I am taking the reins of this operation and the authority that comes with it. If Grand Admiral Laguna is unsatisfied, she may take it up with Grand Admiral Kherol after this is over. Now, give the order. Wait for our signal and commence a wave-by-wave assault on the rebels." He said. He knew that it was possible this action could qualify in Grand Admiral Laguna's eyes as insubordination, however there was argument to be had about this whole operation being worse.
The Garrison commander nodded in agreement and headed off to fulfill his order, worried that he was now caught between a rock and a hard place, between the Vice-Admiral having his head, or Grand Admiral Laguna.
As Kotaro prepared himself for this gambit, another soldier came towards him from the crashed Prison Ship.
"Vice-Admiral, ...We recieved word of unexpected visitors that arrived on the Ship."
"Visitors...?"
"They claim to be a relief unit sent to assist the staff in evacuating the ship, remanding any prisoners that didn't escape, and overall be a boost to the crew's morale." The soldier explained.
Kotaro was quick to think about this, indeed it made sense for a relief unit to come down and assist the Circle of Hell, and hopefully get it running again. He ordered one himself after all, and it's been two weeks so it must have been known by now by some that the ship was wrecked here on the planet. By all accounts, these people seem legit.
And yet, something about this doesn't feel right. Kotaro has been on this planet for all of the two weeks that the ship has landed for, and no one came to help with the situation despite his best efforts...and the one he did manage to contact, said they still couldn't come for at least another two days, simply due to the distance.
So who are these guys...?
"Are they still on board?"
"As far as we know, yes."
"...Very well, gather some of the men and follow me. It's high-time we tell Warden De'Silva of our progress anyways." Kotaro said. The soldier nodded as he prompted a small legion of soldiers to follow Kotaro as he walks towards the Circle of Hell.
On the way, he's using his hands to invoke silent orders to his men, prompting some of them to move away and leaving about four men with him as he continued his walk.
The Vice-Admiral is coming...
Circle of Hell - Holding Cells Block B
"GAH!" was Alan's reaction to hearing this person (Finnbar) talking to Jan and happening at his cell, jumping into an odd frazzled position for a second before immediately relaxing and staring at the two in front of him.
"Holy shit, that yelling actually worked?" was all he could think of, so utterly dumbfounded to actually see someone outside his cell after the yelling to the point where he was basically blocking out what the two people were saying to each other, even momentarily not catching what the person asked him.
His eyes widened and he shook his head to get his mind out of the gutter before actually taking a look at the one talking to him.
This person was staring into Alan's soul, and Alan stared right back into his. There was little doubt in his mind, he recognized the old shape-shifting colleague all too well. This was Finnbar, one of the Star Marines he met so long ago, a brother in arms who chose to fight against the Ascendancy with the others, one of the Star Marines who he missed due to his training back on the Rau've planet.
That said, what in the hell was he doing here talking to this woman and acting like an Ascendancy inspector? Did he actually re-join with the Ascendancy since he last saw him, or was this some kind of ruse to get as far into the ship as he was? Now that Alan thought about it, they were suppose to come here for Realist, and not from the experience that got him to this point in the first place, just waltzing in to grab Realist off these people was a bad idea.
Either way, regardless of whether he's joined with the Ascendancy again, or whether this some kind of inside job, what Alan needs to do is the same, he knows exactly how to greet his old friend...
"Yeah, I got a name... It's Kiss my ass and burn you 'Ascendant' Grand-Delusional FUCK! ...My Parents had issues." Alan said, first giving a nod with a stoic face before going angry with the insult then going into a laxed shrug afterwards. It might seem like a bad move on his part, but in his eyes, this was the best way he could either confirm this one's on the Ascendancy side, or tell him that he's on his side without fucking him over, all while trying to make it natural for the actual ascendancy witness right next to him. If he's with the Ascendancy, then Alan'll have naturally shown his...'disagreement' with that decision. If he's working under cover, then the priority was keeping that cover intact. The nod just before his statement, at least in his own mind, was a subtle acknowledgement of the situation to Finnbar, akin to a Wink. It could be looked at as that, or it could naturally just be in conjunction with his response before he thoroughly answers.
The last little joke was for no reason, though. He just felt like adding that there for the sake of the mood.
"Ey, what do you know, sounds like my plan sort of worked." Joey blurted out, overhearing what's going on in the floor just above his own and the additional yelling of his cell mate.
"Shut, up, Joey... Actually yes, yes he is. Shoot him please. Seriously, no one will miss him."
"Oi, what the hell?"
...Is what I want to say, but as annoying as he is, we need him to get us off thi rock, specially since this wole ship feels abandon. I haven't eaten anything all day, and I doubt Maria had anything for days now. Tell the cafteria person they need to step up the food frquency here. Alan said, once again using rambling and treating Finn as hostile while hopefully giving info to him from Alan himself by relaying that info subtlely into his seeming tangents, to show that Joey was an ally, and that Maria was indeed there with him.
---
The girl still was silent to answer this Doctor. She may not seem it from hearing the yelling of her two allies and still being unphased, but she is did have a good sense of hearing. She could hear that there were other visitors on the floor below her, no doubt talking with Alan...and Alan being Alan in response. She looked towards the Doctor, and at that point it'd be clear to him just how odd this girl seemed.
Her eyes were a beautiful violet, yet they were utterly empty, there was no shine to them, no light, not as if she was blind, but as if her very soul was taken from her, as if she suffered enough labotomies to be deemed catatonic.
But that was not the most odd thing he'd see. No, the really odd thing was revealed when she turned her head to see him, and by doing so, exposed the small black valve seemingly attached to her left temple, the same kind of valve you see on pipelines or other such machines was sticking out of her head. One would have sworn it to be some kind of prank, a fake prop gag used to trick people, but no, someone like the Doctor here may be more perceptive in realizing that that valve was physically melded to her skin, as if surgically implanted to her skull.
Maria, meanwhile, simply stared at this doctor for a few seconds. Based on what she's hearing outside Alan's cell, this person must be with the ones down stairs. Could he be just a simple nice guy stationed in the wrong place, or... Joey did seem like he always had a reason behind his consistent yelling about, and the only reason they came there in the first place was because the Xuanxang along with their friends were coming here as well. Could this doctor be a part of the same crew as her allies? Possible, but there was no easy way to tell, now that she had that restraint on her neck. This would easily be solved if her telepathy came back, but it didn't.
"...Maria...Friend or foe?" She simply asked. It did seem a little risky, but even if she can't read his mind, neither could he read her...at least she hopes not. That aside, her name wasn't a unique thing that she alone would have, it should not be sufficient enough to cause any problems for the others.
@The Man Emperor @jdh97 @Th3King0fChaos
Circle of Hell - Armory
The timing was perfect, almost too perfect, as if on que. As soon as Blue Crow attempted to make a downward slash towards Nero, a Distortion in space would be detected to the right of Blue Crow near a wall, which seemingly made the wall break like pieces of glass from a window, revealing a relatively large portal, about right feet in diameter. For most it'd be strange enough on its own, but for the Star Marines, there'd be something oddly familiar about the color and feeling of this portal. As if from out of nowhere, a giant armored purple hand - it was more like a claw really, a 3 foot tall gold-plated open hand - flew out of the portal, attached to it by lengthy disturbingly thin stick-like arms. It grabbed onto Blue Crow's arm, and without warning, pulled him off of Nero with a hard enough force to throw mercenary off his feet and into the portal it came from.
As soon as Blue Crow disappeared into the portal, three black chains, each link with two iron thorns to its sides - a design of which Nero in particular may recognize - burst out in his place, each one floating in the air, and like the tendrils of a monster, simply floated around in the air until it found the three Tayanen that assisted Blue Crow, stabbing themselves into each gelatenous glob and pulling them into the portal as well with great force.
As soon as they slithered back into the portal with Tayanen in tow, the portal quickly shrunk and disappeared, as if devouring itself, leaving the wall that it supposedly broke down to open returned to its former state as if nothing happened at all.
All that remained, were the twins, Nero, and the silence of the Armory.
@letter Bee @dragonpiece @FalloutJack @Th3King0fChaos
---
Outside the ship, over a couple of hills opposite to where Kotaro was located, was where Blue Crow and his Tayanen aliens would wind up, a seemingly camouflaged tent, about as large as the command tent where Kotaro did his strategies, though a lot more spacious, there was hardly anything in there, save a few barrels and a few people, most of them women. The one who grabbed at Blue Crow was a woman just as large as her hands would have suggested, covered head-to-toe in an overly exaggerated armor. Complete with bladed wings, a horned helmet with a golden visor completely covering her face and a long blood red skirt covering the lower half of her body.
The chains followed suit, letting go of the Tayanen as soon as they were out of the portal and reeling back into the black cloak of another woman. Most of her features were completely covered in the black cloak she had, save for the boney hand showing out of her sleeves, and the black black hair on her head looking like the typical Grim Reaper if it happened to have barely wore skin upon its bones and nothing else. Blue Crow wouldn't be able to see her face, however, due to a blood red mask she wore.
At the doorway was another roughly as young as the other Star Marines, wearing a white lab coat over to contrast the long black hair and military battlesuit, fiddling with her Omni-tool as she looked outside, her blue eyes focused on both. The noticeable glitches in the camouflage of the tent seen through the thin curtain of its walls as she fiddles suggests she's the one responsible for it.
"...Heeey, Blue Bird. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything." Said a boyish voice by the barrels. Sure enough, a boy dressed in what appears to be a loose and freed full-body straight jacket with all the detached belts on his pant legs and sleeves, a black-and-white checkered scarf around his neck, and messy short purple hair to go with his violets eyes. A cheerful expression on his face as if a friend paid him a visit, an expression that seemed to completely offset the mood of the situation of everywhere else on this planet.
These were four of the nine members of the infamous Squad 0, the vey same traitorous squad who massacred the other Squad leaders back in the battle of Proxima, led by this happy-go-lucky boy whose bright eyes stared at Blue Crow... Crowley.
Circle of Hell- Holding Cells Block B
You ever taken a stop to look at your current situation and ask yourself: "What sadistic bitch you happen to believe is in control of your destiny did you piss off to lead you to this moment?"
This was one of those times for one Joey B.
A simple escort, he said. Just head to where they were going and meet them there, he said. Could be fun ruffling Natty's feathers, getting her target first, . he said.
Hindsight's 20/20, they say, and it was in hindsight that he realized how careless he was with this idea. Of course this ship would still have plenty of guards on standby, and considering the level of criminals that would be - and were - released out into the public, of course they weren't going to be a bunch of peons keeping what remains of them intact.
The thoughts were rolling in his head, cupping his hairless chin with his right hand in contemplation and blowing the messy blonde hair out of his sapphire blue eyes, as he sat criss-crossed on his small and most uncomfortable bed, a wall of iron bars to the right of him.
This was Joey B. Albion, former official member of the Xuanzang crew, now an unofficial part-timer of that same crew. ...Well, until a couple days ago, now he's also an inmate awaiting a death sentence in one of the ship's stops for treason, desertion, federal homicide of military officers, and now - ironically enough - breaking and entering the very Prison ship once someone comes to pick the prisoners back up on their regularly scheduled flight to the death ca-er-"prison planet", yeah that's it; complete with two minors as accomplices. ...Oh yeah, they're probably gonna die too, huh?
It all started about a few days ago, Joey patched into the Xuanzang's communications from his own ship - Some call it stalking, he calls it insuring himself Natty isn't doing something way in over her own head and dragging his pals along for the ride - and heard about their mission from Moonstrike to go to pick up some sort of special agent/secret weapon whatever from the Galactic Bazaar. Interested in what they were dishing out, he decided to ride over to the Bazaar to meet up with them. However, by the time he got there, it was too late and the Xuanzang was long gone, likely with these 'agents' in tow. Seems he wasn't the only one looking for the Xuanzang though, he met up with a boy and girl asking for where that very ship was. Mite confusing at first; he couldn't believe the possibility that these were the supposed special agents they were taking. It seemed the girl had Telepathy though, basically projected the information right into his head while the boy just watched impatiently.
These were the rumored Star Marines he heard so much about back in the war, the supposed special agents that were supposed to be the Ascendancy's Trump Card back in the Battle of Proxima. They were captured by the Rau've but were treated hospitably rather than as prisoners of war. When they decided to Rebel, the girl - Maria - ran off on a mission given to her by one of them - a guy named Tarak - for information and potential aid and was to return to her friends immediately after her finished, but she arrived too late. After that span of Telepathy was, over the boy - Alan - explained that he left himself behind on the Rau've planet to train with some Rau've mentor and only recently completed enough training to be of help to the rest of their friends, but it seemed he also arrived too late with Maria being the only one of his friends that was around.
Realizing the three of them were basically all on the same boat of missing the same ship with their friends on it, Joey proposed to the two kids to come with him to get them on the Xuanzang and reunite with their friends there. They were suspicious - Stranger danger and all - but fortunately Maria's mind magic made things run smoothly as she could tell that he meant well. After deciding to tag along, they followed him to his ship and they headed off to follow the Xuanzang.
That is, until he once again patched into their communications and overheard the Briefing for their mission on Plenty, something about some super-AI that they wish to grab from a crashed Prison ship there. Now, Joey has heard about the situation down on that planet in particular, that it has been a planet under Civil war and rebel suppression for weeks now. He also knows about the Circle of Hell, a massive Prison ship carrying the worst of the worst. This situation seemed like a pretty dangerous mission for them to go on. At the same time, they now know exactly where they're going to go. As such, after some discussion, the three decided to head to Plenty before the Xuanzang reaches it, and capture the AI first. Not only would it help save their friends some trouble, but it would reunite Maria and Alan with the rest of them, and he can rub the fact that he succeeded in this mission first in Natty's face. Three birds; One stone!
Alas, they underestimated the capability of the prison ship's guards. The initial thought was that the Prison guards would be scattered about trying to fix their ship, take in any escaped criminals, and guarding the ship from any rebels who want to take out ascendancy soldiers.
...What they did NOT know is that Kherol's Vice-Admiral just happened to be down on this planet as well with his own squadron rounding up any criminals that escaped, AND dealing with the rebellion at hand, and so there were far more guards than they thought there were, ...they were also far more competant and capable than they thought, managing to capture and restrain the two magical kids while pointing a lot of guns at Joey's face. Interestingly, seemed odd how prepared they were for two Star Marines, but they seemed to think the two kids were affiliated with pirates...Something about them coming for their Captain? Joey had no idea what they were on about, and it seemed the two kids were just as confused.
Either way, it looked like it was just a case of bad luck.
Which brings us to present day, with Joey locked up in a Cell on the second floor of Cell Block B, looking at the utterly massive area just outside his iron bars.
--------------------
Cell Area Description
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Cell Area Description
As this is a Prison ship, it's only natural that this would be filling up the most space within it. Oh, not this Block, rather just the three Cell blocks in general. They all generally have the same design to them, a massive rectangular space of five floors, the walls in five rows lined with prison cells and an open space right in the middle that serves as a sort of courtyard for them. Usually when times comes to let them out to exercise, they place equipment in the open area to use, and when an announcement is being made, real easy to have the prisoners' attention when the ones making the announcement is front and center. The three cell blocks are layered on top of one another, forming a tower of sorts, cell block B being right in the middle. Below that is Cell Block C which is the only one connected to the rest of the ship; if anyone came into the Cell area of the ship, they would arrive in Cell Block C, and would need to ascend upward to get to Cell Block B, and Cell Block A at the top, the top most area of Cell Block A being where Solitary Confinement for the worst of criminals is held. At the end of this hallway was the room reserved for this ship's "guest of honor", Realist's cell. The three block are divided by thick layers of titanium alloy which makes up their central courtyard, the very center of which opens up like a door in order for an elevator platform to go through, before immediately closing upon its disappearance with a razor's edge.
As additional security, a sensor is in place on the block "gates" as the elevator goes up and down, detecting the elevator and how many are on it as soon as it passes by, so as to prevent any prisoners from just jumping to the lower blocks while the Elevator is going through the floor. If too many are on the elevator than there was supposed to be, the gate won't open.
At least, that's how it was supposed to be, however, thanks to the crash, the security system on the ship malfunctioned, which included the security gate of the Cell Blocks. In fact, most of the cells in all the blocks were broken open along with the Block gates in the center. Any prisoners still on the ship are those with Cells that still worked even after the crash, and all the doors in Solitary Confinement - Realist's Cell included - has their own backup systems to keep them locked in case of such emergencies as this.
As additional security, a sensor is in place on the block "gates" as the elevator goes up and down, detecting the elevator and how many are on it as soon as it passes by, so as to prevent any prisoners from just jumping to the lower blocks while the Elevator is going through the floor. If too many are on the elevator than there was supposed to be, the gate won't open.
At least, that's how it was supposed to be, however, thanks to the crash, the security system on the ship malfunctioned, which included the security gate of the Cell Blocks. In fact, most of the cells in all the blocks were broken open along with the Block gates in the center. Any prisoners still on the ship are those with Cells that still worked even after the crash, and all the doors in Solitary Confinement - Realist's Cell included - has their own backup systems to keep them locked in case of such emergencies as this.
--------------------
Needless to say, Joey and his two new pals were placed in the working cells of Cell Block B. Let's see...He was on the third floor of Cell Block C, and Maria and Alan were placed just above his own, with Cell with Alan on the fourth Floor and Maria on the fifth and top floor of the B-Block.
One would think these three were capable of breaking on their own, and indeed, Joey does have an unorthodox idea of how to get out of his own predicament. However, As soon as Maria and Alan were captured, they were given mechanisms designed for restraining Kaisoken-infused magic like the Star Marines had, particularly a collar on their necks that seemed to suppress their magical capabilities. Joey could probably escape at any time, but he's toothless without the guns he had with him, and even if he somehow gained them, what kind of asshole would he have to be to leave two kids to fend for themselves on a ship wrecked prison?
He has an idea in mind to help the others get out. Problem? ...It requires getting a guard to come here, and wouldn't you know it? They're pretty few and far between at the moment thanks to this mess.
At this rate, nothing was gonna get done fast. Figured now's the best time to try and get something done. So Joey walked up to the bars of his cell, slapped his cheeks, did a few stretches of his arms, then, with a look of determination, he grabbed at the iron bars, took a deep breath, and...
"OI! CAN SOMEONE GET THEIR BUTT OVER HERE!? PRETTY SURE IT'S PAST LUNCH BY NOW! KIDS NEED THEIR FRUITS AND VEGGIES OVER HERE!" Joey yelled out, the damaged but spacious Cell block echoing his voice across the other Cell Blocks.
---
"OH SHUT UP ALREADY!" A much younger boy's voice brashly yelled in response from just above Joey. The angry look in the pale boy's red eyes almost pushing through the bars as he looked down towards the direction of his loud neighbor. Irritated, he walked back toward the middle of the cell, pushing his fingers across his short snow-white hair. Out of the three, he was the most impatient and consistently focused on escaping, as Maria was more concentrated on meditation and Joey was annoyingly laid back. This was a regrettable decision on his part.
Unlike Joey, he didn't have any weapons on him, hell, he didn't have much of anything on him save for his clothes and his Omni-tool. He didn't need much of anything, as a Star Marine, he was only ever truly reliant on his magic and his physical skills. This, for the moment, is the main factor behind the irritation he felt at present. It was bad enough that these Prison guards locked an Anti-magic collar around his neck, preventing him from just melting the bars and escaping, but Joey's consistently patronizing 'requests' has happened at the top of his lungs has gotten on his nerves for long enough.
"Aw, come on, Al. At this point I'm just playing around."
"You've been at this for fucking Days! DAYS! Even at night for fuck's sake! The few times it actually gets someone here, and what do you do? NOTHING!"
"Calm down and just relax, kiddo. I do have an idea, it's just, they never seem to show up at the right times to pull it off."
"Right time? WE'VE BEEN HERE FOR ALMOST A WEEK! A GODDAMN WEEK, JOEY! We had plenty of times these guards came around, AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING WITH THE ONE ON YOUR FUCKING FLOOR! I HAVEN'T HAD A GOODNIGHT SLEEP OR BEEN ABLE TO THINK ABOUT JACK SHIT FOR FOUR DAYS NOW, BECAUSE YOU'RE CONSTANTLY YELLING BULLSHIT! SO EITHER DO SOMETHING, OR SHUT, THE FUCK, UP!" Alan yelled, the talk between the two echoing across the entire Cell Area. Even people in Cell Block A, and Cell Block C below would be able to hear their screams reverberating off the walls.
Alan couldn't see it, being exactly above Joey's own cell, but Joey was smiling. Not a patronizing smile, as if laughing at the flustered boy above him, but rather a small smirk of confidence, as if things were going the way he wanted them to go.
Amidst all of this, Maria was quiet, sitting criss-cross on the middle of the cell floor above Alan. She said not a single word to stop the bickering of the two, and seemed utterly unphased by their verbal warfare as she kept her focus within herself. As the collar around her neck would suggest, she was indeed a Star Marine as well, but unlike the others who have naturally aged since their time in the war, Maria was still the small pale girl in the purple dress they all met on that day, seemingly haven't aged a day. Of course, the other Star Marines noticed this during their time with the Rau've, but she had no answer for them as to why, only a theory that perhaps the dust injection process that went awry and made her need that cybernetic in her head also stemmed her growth.
She did not flinch out of her concentrated state of mind, not even as Alan's bombastic yells echoed like the wrathful whispers of wraiths. With a deep sigh, she opened her dim violet eyes, a lack of shine in within them as if she had no soul within that small body of hers. Something the guards never gotten used to and were always so freaked out by, but something the Star Marines knew her for well enough. The guards believed that she was simply a husk, some sort of well-kept undead shell; despite the collar on her neck preventing any harm to come to them, none of the guards wanted to go anywhere near this girl when the time came to give her food, treating the task as a punishment more than a chore. But as the Star Marines learned in the past, she was very much alive, and did have emotions and spirit like the rest of them, she did show care, kindness, even some degrees of passion for things, but simply lacked the ability to show these things, not because she was holding back but because the Cybernetic plate in her head simply made her physically incapable of emotional response of any kind, resulting in a perpetual look of sheer apathy.
So while she did not look like it, she was very annoyed at verbal sparring of her partners, moving her waist-length white hair away from her face after the concentration she built up was broken by them. She'd tell them to quiet down so that she could continue her meditation, but her emotionless whispers would be overridden by their loud voices. Unfortunately, thanks to her collar, she can't even telepathically tell them to quiet down.
@The Man Emperor @jdh97 @Th3King0fChaos
I apologize for how long it took me to make these CSes. But they are now finished. Enjoy ^^
Illiad City Arcanum
Vell was the first to speak, and boy did her words cut like a knife. Not that Helena minded though, simply scratching the back of her head with her free hand and giving a quick chuckle, sticking her tongue out as she gave off a goofy smile. She was right though, she and Dahlia were the only ones that were professionals at this, it was pretty risky to give rookies the chance to come into this and potentially screw things up for them. But Helena was a girl of fair chances, and she didn't pick the people she did in jest. For instance...
"And to top it all off, if there's one thing I'm good at, ...It's puttin' on a show~" the show woman said with a confident grin.
That confidence, that capability of putting on a good show, is precisely why Helena picked her for this band.
She then heard Dahlia's snarky comment before mentioning about outfits.
"No need to worry about that, Dahl. You look great as you are!" She said, going in for a hug to Dahlia, oddly keeping herself like this for an awkward few seconds as her head was to the left of Dahlia's. The very perceptive may notice Helena's lips making tiny movements as she did - enough movement to surmise speech, but not enough to be intelligible enough to read. After those seconds were up, she pulled away and gave Dahlia a big energetic smile of confidence, as if assuring her that everything's going to be alright. She then turned to the green-haired saxophone-playing Seth, smiling back at at his wit. This one was brought into the band at nearing last minute but did so at Helena's request. Helena only barely dabbled in the particularly darker arts of the school, so she barely knew this Necromancer. It was by sheer circumstance and coincidence she happened to stumble across him playing on his saxophone and, without much word, essentially pulled him into this...to the dismay of other band members for more reasons than one.
”Now then, do we have all our band mates here? Or do I need to conjure up a few substitutes.”
"Nah, I think we have more than enough people here for this. Although the thought of purposely leaving out a few and propping up zombies as they're needed's a tempting thought... it'd make for a good spectacle."
"HEY!" Almost all of them said in unison, leading to a rather mischievous chuckle on Helena's part.
"I'm just kidding around, guys. Hehehe... Oh, and Seth, remember what we practiced, start us off small solo, then wait for the right openings, and as soon as you see one, don't hesitate, just go for it!" Helena said putting her hands up towards the other band members who took offense to her idea, before looking over to Seth again and fist-pumping at "just go for it" for emphasis.
The song they chose to play wasn't originally designed with a Saxophone in mind, nor was it rehearsed with one in mind until Seth came along. This, of course, was the main reason for the band's dismay on the matter. However, Helena saw the potential Seth had when she heard him play, and saw how it could work with the song at hand. It's like adding a secret ingredient to a pre-made recipe: Unnecessary, experimental, and potentially dangerous to the recipe, but has the potential to make it even better if it works. She personally trained with Seth during the last few days before the competition in order to look for the precise timing of when they could throw in is saxophone, considering when the saxophone would best be heard in the song, and when it could compliment, not contrast, with the music being played. She must have played this song hundreds of times in the past 72 hours to pinpoint the openings, and when she finally found those openings and did one last rehearsal, it was...sublime.
As she walked over towards the Ishtar stage, she spotted the Marduk folk on the other side, clearly setting things up.
"We got some interesting competition...Well, well, well, Looks like Big Bro's in this too. I thought Jake said Willie was home-schooled?"
"The Head-Bitch probably forced him to come here or something, desperate times and all that."
"Or maybe he's come here by his own choice, I suppose it could happen. Could make things a touch annoying though. Who else do we got here...? A few ladies... Huh, didn't take Willie to be ladies' man type."
"Focus, Helena!"
"I don't like the looks of those guys one bit...A bunch of schemers, the whole lot of them."
"Hey, Pot, need a megaphone? I don't think Kettle can hear you calling it black from here. ...They're pressured to win this as much as we are and worse still is that they got a headmistress who'd probably punish them brutally if they fail, even when it's something like this. They got a lot riding on this, and who knows what else that crazy lady'll make em lose on top of that if they fail here. No doubt they've been forced to play some shady cards just as we're ordered to, that's how important things are right now..." Helena said. Perfectly timed after saying that, as if on cue, one of the Marduk's students created balls of super-heated Magnesium, causing the crowd to cheer in excitement.
"Hot damn... We got a fight on our hands after all." Alice said with a smile, putting on sunglasses as she stared at the magnesium orbs.
"Great, so we can't cheat, but they can bring out those fucking things to cheat Us!?"
"I wouldn't go so far as to call that cheating, not yet anyways... They're just bringing in some visual effects to get the crowd jumping, not too different to what Vell's been wanting to do, though if shiny balls of light's all they can do, I think you got this in the bag, Vell." Helena said as she continued to look at what's going on behind the curtain, pointing at Vell and giving her a thumbs up before popping her head out the curtains and looking at her band mates again, some of them clearly worried over what Marduk could pull. With a sigh, she hopped over to them.
"Don't worry mates, I got your back. I want this to be fair to us as much as it is to them. I've already have ideas of how to make sure of that." Helena told them with a wink in her eyes, sparkling with a starry confidence. With that she walked down to a platform beneath the stage, upon which were most of their instruments that they didn't have on hand themselves. Hopping on it and unstrapping her own instrument from her back, wrapped in tape like a mummy before a simple pull from Helena explosively unwrapped it, revealing a rather... sinister-looking guitar.
Not a concert with Helena where you don't see her with this in hand; it was her pride and joy...and the blade on it was real and sharpened, making it also her weapon of choice. With a throw of the tape, she wrapped it around her neck as a strap, holding the tail with one hand, and from her sleeve pulling out a thin amethyst jewel in the shape of a rounded arrow head with her other hand, raising it up to the sky.
"Now get up here, and LET'S ROCK THIS JOINT!" She said, a big grin on her face as her slit eye gleamed with a purple.
As soon as the rest of the band got up to the platform with her, and got their instruments ready, she stomped a button on the floor, raising the platform that they were on, the circular door on the ceiling above opening up to the stage outside as fog smoke from fog makers could be seen creeping in.
Jacob simply continued to stare out towards the stadium from the curtain as the band took their position underneath their stage. as he waited for the event to get started. More accurately, he stared towards the Marduk side of the stadium on the opposite end, at his brother as he and his 'friends' - though he hesitates to call them that - prepared themselves for this battle of the bands. For a time, he never knew William to be a musically-inclined individual, far as he knew no one else in his family was, and even Gilgamesha was a musician she certainly wasn't the type to teach it to them as things stand. Maybe he learned from his Aunt? ...Or maybe he's not here to actually play and just be a magical aid to the actual band members, seeing as instead of an instrument he seems to bring out a sword.
"Oh dear..." was all he could say with a sigh. He hasn't seen much of his brother since their departure, but he does remember his brother's magic, and recognizes the sword he made that was now in his hands, and by that sword, he could predict rather easily what he intends to do with it. In all honesty, it wasn't the fact that William's endangering Jake's classmates by attempting to use that ability that worries him, nor is it the possibility of him or his friends actually defeating Ishtar's band. No, what really worries him is the fact that he's having that sword revealed and to be used in the middle of an entire crowd of people, particularly in front of every Ishtar Student watching him as well. Sure, Helena and her group probably have no idea what that sword is or what it could do, but Ishtar students will always try to spot an advantage and exploit it, and so revealing a hand too early could spell doom for a Marduk student in the long run.
For Example...
"I'm going to the bathroom."
Jacob couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. To say that out of the blue when there was barely anyone else with them and going to a public restroom that has more than one space, and it's not as if anyone waiting for either of them, considering this current event has nothing to do with them. To top it off, he shuts the door but doesn't factor in the fact that the flash of light he used would slip through the cracks of the door. Alto may have been an honor student, but it's clear he's still an amateur in Jake's mind when it comes to Espionage.
He turned over to a girl standing next to him.
"If anyone asks, I went to the bathroom... and will likely be in there for a while." He said to her. Without waiting for a response from her he decided to walk over and open the door to the bathroom as well, taking a look inside.
The cheer of the crowd was deafening as a giant hologram of a Bard popped out of the center and the Marduk band came out ready to go. The Bard in question was essentially a giant humanoid light armor and silk pants over coats of warm colors and a light-green cloak over all of that as it floated in the middle of the arena with a small harp in one hand, as if waiting for the music to start playing.
Up in the sky box, Alfred Crowley fixed up his hair, getting ready for the cameras that would be turning on and showing him and Madame on the TV screen. As soon as the signal was shown to him that they were live, and broke up his professional ivory-white smile towards the camera.
"And we're back my lovely viewers as the Orpheus duel is about ready to take place, and boy do we have a treat for you today. Coming up as Ishtar's representatives for this Write competition are the world-famous Rock and classical stars, Helena Blackgram and Dahlia Sangrey, alongside a band they hand-picked themselves." Alfred said, with a smile to the camera.
"Dahlia AND Helena in the same band? Holy [Censor], Ishtar's not [censor]-ing around! Just one of those two idols could probably hold their own in something like this, and Headmaster Nergal managed to get both of them in the same band? Those Marduk kids are [CENSORED]!"
"Err... Yes... well... -Ahem- I wouldn't count out the Marduk band just yet, it seems they're showing off they got style of their own from the flares one of them just summoned up." Alfred said in response of Madame's clearly biased view as they viewed the Magnesium orbs Nika threw out. He then looked back towards the Camera.
"Now, let's discuss the rules of this game for those at home. The Orpheus Duel is a battle of musical bands playing simultaneously against each other with the quality of their music and the style of the band itself being judged the giant hologram of Orpheus the Bard. The music is heard by Orpheus, who transfers the sound waves into the harp he then plays, which then is transferred into a magical spectacle of visual art. The two songs are filtered out and divided but the visual art of the music is a combined moving picture that keeps going as the songs continue. If there's any screw-ups, or if one song is being heard louder and with more quality on the opposing side, it will be shown as visual distortions in the imagery. The object of the game is to keep the songs going and of consistent quality as possible. The two groups can make their own music louder and sharper using their magic, but they are not to directly effect the players on the opposite sides. No poison, no harm, and certainly no deaths, and any attempts to attack or manipulate Orpheus himself will lead to disqualification. Orpheus will then judge the music and the one with the most consistent show of musical prowess wins." Alfred explains to the audience at home, the screen showing cartoon examples of how it works as he explains it. As soon as it cuts back to Alfred however...
"Oi, Al. Looks like the stars are finally about to come on stage." Madame said. As if on cue, the Ishtar stage was getting filled with fog from dry ice, as the fog machines activated. Even from above in the skybox, the fog prevented the floor of the Ishtar stage from being seen and so it wasn't noticed when that floor opened up, and raised the Ishtar Band on the platform they placed themselves on. Helena was stuck in position with a pick raised above her head, and as soon as they were seen, the crowd roared as loud as a giant thunder, cheering on both teams.
Helena took a deep breath, giving a large happy smile, and opened her eyes. One of them, her right eye, glowing a deep violet, the same color as the aura of mana around her pick. Throwing the pick down at the cords of her axe-shaped guitar, A loud sound of the guitar's chord could be heard and a shockwave of purple energy exploded outward. Nothing so violent that it could throw even the people close to her off the ground, rather, it would feel like a sudden breeze blowing over everyone in the arena, over as soon as it began, but the only thing it seemed to do was give a rush of more energy towards anyone who felt it, the band of Marduk included. With one note, she got the audience pumped all over again. The sound was detected by Orpheus, who pulled a string on his harp creating a purple cloud momentarily that faded just as soon as it showed up. As if it was a test demonstrating how Orpheus worked.
It's pretty clear what this was to anyone who was the competitive type: An intimidation tactic, she was showing off her magic to show the Marduk band what exactly they were up against, smirking at them with a confident look upon her face. Helena's magical abilities were all about her music, as she could merge her magic into every note she makes.
This was her magic: Symphonic Enchantment, otherwise known as "Siren Magic"
They probably thought she was doing this to make them run away before the competition began. Not too far from the truth; she really wanted to see if they did or not, to see if they had the determination to go through with this despite who they were up against, and by extension, see if they're worthy, fun, and entertaining opposition. If they all stood their ground, her smirk would open up, bearing a fang. It was proof enough they had what it took to go face to face with them, and that's all Helena needed to be satisfied, it was all she needed to know that this was going to be good enough for both bands, for both schools, to rock this joint! She then slowly walked over to the Microphone as the note she played still echoed across the stadium before slowly fading, as did the cheering.
"Hello Iliad!" She gleefully said, in an instant, the cheers roared once more before fading again.
"I think it's time for a little story to start these games off... It's definitely story time!" she said in a almost comically low pitch, as if a child was trying to sound mysterious. Even so, it was enough to make them start cheering yet again. With a turn of her head to her band, she gave them a quick nod, the cue for the show to begin, and for everyone in Ishtar's band to do what they did best.
As the Ishtar band slowly began their song, Orpheus began his own work of visualizing the melody in play. A purple cloud formed above the Ishtar side of the stadium as Orpheus plays his soundless harp to generate the cloud. As soon as the melody began to intensify, the cloud took the shape of a giant book, opening up and exploding out multi-colored lights like stars in a night sky. This giant book, evidently, a storybook, is the foundation upon which the imagery by everyone's music springs from.
Helena's guitar, in particular, made a flock of tiny humanoid-shaped lights, glowing as purple as their moth-like wings, flying about Ishtar's half of the stadium like a flock of butterflies flying about.
As the Orpheus Duel began, a security guard standing on the catwalk of the stadium's open roof, just above the top most audience bleachers in the back, spectated the events happening before his eyes as the two magical bands began their songs. He seemed like an odd one to be sure, his shoulder-length turquoise hair all budded up and hidden beneath a security cap, hazel eyes darkened by the shade of said cap, the metallic black plating on his left hand - of course, that could just be a prosthetic hand.
As he placed a cigarette in his mouth and lit it up, he listened to the static on his walkie-talkie and stared towards the magical spectacle happening at the stadium's center.
"We're in position, boss!" a voice said from the miniature radio which he then grabbed a hold of.
"Wait for the Bishop's signal. Bishop, commence on my mark." The guard said into it. He then release the button he was holding on the radio and it became a blurred static once more. After which, he leaned on the railing, continuing to smoke his cigarette as he watches the show.
Vell was the first to speak, and boy did her words cut like a knife. Not that Helena minded though, simply scratching the back of her head with her free hand and giving a quick chuckle, sticking her tongue out as she gave off a goofy smile. She was right though, she and Dahlia were the only ones that were professionals at this, it was pretty risky to give rookies the chance to come into this and potentially screw things up for them. But Helena was a girl of fair chances, and she didn't pick the people she did in jest. For instance...
"And to top it all off, if there's one thing I'm good at, ...It's puttin' on a show~" the show woman said with a confident grin.
That confidence, that capability of putting on a good show, is precisely why Helena picked her for this band.
She then heard Dahlia's snarky comment before mentioning about outfits.
"No need to worry about that, Dahl. You look great as you are!" She said, going in for a hug to Dahlia, oddly keeping herself like this for an awkward few seconds as her head was to the left of Dahlia's. The very perceptive may notice Helena's lips making tiny movements as she did - enough movement to surmise speech, but not enough to be intelligible enough to read. After those seconds were up, she pulled away and gave Dahlia a big energetic smile of confidence, as if assuring her that everything's going to be alright. She then turned to the green-haired saxophone-playing Seth, smiling back at at his wit. This one was brought into the band at nearing last minute but did so at Helena's request. Helena only barely dabbled in the particularly darker arts of the school, so she barely knew this Necromancer. It was by sheer circumstance and coincidence she happened to stumble across him playing on his saxophone and, without much word, essentially pulled him into this...to the dismay of other band members for more reasons than one.
”Now then, do we have all our band mates here? Or do I need to conjure up a few substitutes.”
"Nah, I think we have more than enough people here for this. Although the thought of purposely leaving out a few and propping up zombies as they're needed's a tempting thought... it'd make for a good spectacle."
"HEY!" Almost all of them said in unison, leading to a rather mischievous chuckle on Helena's part.
"I'm just kidding around, guys. Hehehe... Oh, and Seth, remember what we practiced, start us off small solo, then wait for the right openings, and as soon as you see one, don't hesitate, just go for it!" Helena said putting her hands up towards the other band members who took offense to her idea, before looking over to Seth again and fist-pumping at "just go for it" for emphasis.
The song they chose to play wasn't originally designed with a Saxophone in mind, nor was it rehearsed with one in mind until Seth came along. This, of course, was the main reason for the band's dismay on the matter. However, Helena saw the potential Seth had when she heard him play, and saw how it could work with the song at hand. It's like adding a secret ingredient to a pre-made recipe: Unnecessary, experimental, and potentially dangerous to the recipe, but has the potential to make it even better if it works. She personally trained with Seth during the last few days before the competition in order to look for the precise timing of when they could throw in is saxophone, considering when the saxophone would best be heard in the song, and when it could compliment, not contrast, with the music being played. She must have played this song hundreds of times in the past 72 hours to pinpoint the openings, and when she finally found those openings and did one last rehearsal, it was...sublime.
As she walked over towards the Ishtar stage, she spotted the Marduk folk on the other side, clearly setting things up.
"We got some interesting competition...Well, well, well, Looks like Big Bro's in this too. I thought Jake said Willie was home-schooled?"
"The Head-Bitch probably forced him to come here or something, desperate times and all that."
"Or maybe he's come here by his own choice, I suppose it could happen. Could make things a touch annoying though. Who else do we got here...? A few ladies... Huh, didn't take Willie to be ladies' man type."
"Focus, Helena!"
"I don't like the looks of those guys one bit...A bunch of schemers, the whole lot of them."
"Hey, Pot, need a megaphone? I don't think Kettle can hear you calling it black from here. ...They're pressured to win this as much as we are and worse still is that they got a headmistress who'd probably punish them brutally if they fail, even when it's something like this. They got a lot riding on this, and who knows what else that crazy lady'll make em lose on top of that if they fail here. No doubt they've been forced to play some shady cards just as we're ordered to, that's how important things are right now..." Helena said. Perfectly timed after saying that, as if on cue, one of the Marduk's students created balls of super-heated Magnesium, causing the crowd to cheer in excitement.
"Hot damn... We got a fight on our hands after all." Alice said with a smile, putting on sunglasses as she stared at the magnesium orbs.
"Great, so we can't cheat, but they can bring out those fucking things to cheat Us!?"
"I wouldn't go so far as to call that cheating, not yet anyways... They're just bringing in some visual effects to get the crowd jumping, not too different to what Vell's been wanting to do, though if shiny balls of light's all they can do, I think you got this in the bag, Vell." Helena said as she continued to look at what's going on behind the curtain, pointing at Vell and giving her a thumbs up before popping her head out the curtains and looking at her band mates again, some of them clearly worried over what Marduk could pull. With a sigh, she hopped over to them.
"Don't worry mates, I got your back. I want this to be fair to us as much as it is to them. I've already have ideas of how to make sure of that." Helena told them with a wink in her eyes, sparkling with a starry confidence. With that she walked down to a platform beneath the stage, upon which were most of their instruments that they didn't have on hand themselves. Hopping on it and unstrapping her own instrument from her back, wrapped in tape like a mummy before a simple pull from Helena explosively unwrapped it, revealing a rather... sinister-looking guitar.
Not a concert with Helena where you don't see her with this in hand; it was her pride and joy...and the blade on it was real and sharpened, making it also her weapon of choice. With a throw of the tape, she wrapped it around her neck as a strap, holding the tail with one hand, and from her sleeve pulling out a thin amethyst jewel in the shape of a rounded arrow head with her other hand, raising it up to the sky.
"Now get up here, and LET'S ROCK THIS JOINT!" She said, a big grin on her face as her slit eye gleamed with a purple.
As soon as the rest of the band got up to the platform with her, and got their instruments ready, she stomped a button on the floor, raising the platform that they were on, the circular door on the ceiling above opening up to the stage outside as fog smoke from fog makers could be seen creeping in.
Jacob simply continued to stare out towards the stadium from the curtain as the band took their position underneath their stage. as he waited for the event to get started. More accurately, he stared towards the Marduk side of the stadium on the opposite end, at his brother as he and his 'friends' - though he hesitates to call them that - prepared themselves for this battle of the bands. For a time, he never knew William to be a musically-inclined individual, far as he knew no one else in his family was, and even Gilgamesha was a musician she certainly wasn't the type to teach it to them as things stand. Maybe he learned from his Aunt? ...Or maybe he's not here to actually play and just be a magical aid to the actual band members, seeing as instead of an instrument he seems to bring out a sword.
"Oh dear..." was all he could say with a sigh. He hasn't seen much of his brother since their departure, but he does remember his brother's magic, and recognizes the sword he made that was now in his hands, and by that sword, he could predict rather easily what he intends to do with it. In all honesty, it wasn't the fact that William's endangering Jake's classmates by attempting to use that ability that worries him, nor is it the possibility of him or his friends actually defeating Ishtar's band. No, what really worries him is the fact that he's having that sword revealed and to be used in the middle of an entire crowd of people, particularly in front of every Ishtar Student watching him as well. Sure, Helena and her group probably have no idea what that sword is or what it could do, but Ishtar students will always try to spot an advantage and exploit it, and so revealing a hand too early could spell doom for a Marduk student in the long run.
For Example...
"I'm going to the bathroom."
Jacob couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. To say that out of the blue when there was barely anyone else with them and going to a public restroom that has more than one space, and it's not as if anyone waiting for either of them, considering this current event has nothing to do with them. To top it off, he shuts the door but doesn't factor in the fact that the flash of light he used would slip through the cracks of the door. Alto may have been an honor student, but it's clear he's still an amateur in Jake's mind when it comes to Espionage.
He turned over to a girl standing next to him.
"If anyone asks, I went to the bathroom... and will likely be in there for a while." He said to her. Without waiting for a response from her he decided to walk over and open the door to the bathroom as well, taking a look inside.
The cheer of the crowd was deafening as a giant hologram of a Bard popped out of the center and the Marduk band came out ready to go. The Bard in question was essentially a giant humanoid light armor and silk pants over coats of warm colors and a light-green cloak over all of that as it floated in the middle of the arena with a small harp in one hand, as if waiting for the music to start playing.
Up in the sky box, Alfred Crowley fixed up his hair, getting ready for the cameras that would be turning on and showing him and Madame on the TV screen. As soon as the signal was shown to him that they were live, and broke up his professional ivory-white smile towards the camera.
"And we're back my lovely viewers as the Orpheus duel is about ready to take place, and boy do we have a treat for you today. Coming up as Ishtar's representatives for this Write competition are the world-famous Rock and classical stars, Helena Blackgram and Dahlia Sangrey, alongside a band they hand-picked themselves." Alfred said, with a smile to the camera.
"Dahlia AND Helena in the same band? Holy [Censor], Ishtar's not [censor]-ing around! Just one of those two idols could probably hold their own in something like this, and Headmaster Nergal managed to get both of them in the same band? Those Marduk kids are [CENSORED]!"
"Err... Yes... well... -Ahem- I wouldn't count out the Marduk band just yet, it seems they're showing off they got style of their own from the flares one of them just summoned up." Alfred said in response of Madame's clearly biased view as they viewed the Magnesium orbs Nika threw out. He then looked back towards the Camera.
"Now, let's discuss the rules of this game for those at home. The Orpheus Duel is a battle of musical bands playing simultaneously against each other with the quality of their music and the style of the band itself being judged the giant hologram of Orpheus the Bard. The music is heard by Orpheus, who transfers the sound waves into the harp he then plays, which then is transferred into a magical spectacle of visual art. The two songs are filtered out and divided but the visual art of the music is a combined moving picture that keeps going as the songs continue. If there's any screw-ups, or if one song is being heard louder and with more quality on the opposing side, it will be shown as visual distortions in the imagery. The object of the game is to keep the songs going and of consistent quality as possible. The two groups can make their own music louder and sharper using their magic, but they are not to directly effect the players on the opposite sides. No poison, no harm, and certainly no deaths, and any attempts to attack or manipulate Orpheus himself will lead to disqualification. Orpheus will then judge the music and the one with the most consistent show of musical prowess wins." Alfred explains to the audience at home, the screen showing cartoon examples of how it works as he explains it. As soon as it cuts back to Alfred however...
"Oi, Al. Looks like the stars are finally about to come on stage." Madame said. As if on cue, the Ishtar stage was getting filled with fog from dry ice, as the fog machines activated. Even from above in the skybox, the fog prevented the floor of the Ishtar stage from being seen and so it wasn't noticed when that floor opened up, and raised the Ishtar Band on the platform they placed themselves on. Helena was stuck in position with a pick raised above her head, and as soon as they were seen, the crowd roared as loud as a giant thunder, cheering on both teams.
Helena took a deep breath, giving a large happy smile, and opened her eyes. One of them, her right eye, glowing a deep violet, the same color as the aura of mana around her pick. Throwing the pick down at the cords of her axe-shaped guitar, A loud sound of the guitar's chord could be heard and a shockwave of purple energy exploded outward. Nothing so violent that it could throw even the people close to her off the ground, rather, it would feel like a sudden breeze blowing over everyone in the arena, over as soon as it began, but the only thing it seemed to do was give a rush of more energy towards anyone who felt it, the band of Marduk included. With one note, she got the audience pumped all over again. The sound was detected by Orpheus, who pulled a string on his harp creating a purple cloud momentarily that faded just as soon as it showed up. As if it was a test demonstrating how Orpheus worked.
It's pretty clear what this was to anyone who was the competitive type: An intimidation tactic, she was showing off her magic to show the Marduk band what exactly they were up against, smirking at them with a confident look upon her face. Helena's magical abilities were all about her music, as she could merge her magic into every note she makes.
This was her magic: Symphonic Enchantment, otherwise known as "Siren Magic"
They probably thought she was doing this to make them run away before the competition began. Not too far from the truth; she really wanted to see if they did or not, to see if they had the determination to go through with this despite who they were up against, and by extension, see if they're worthy, fun, and entertaining opposition. If they all stood their ground, her smirk would open up, bearing a fang. It was proof enough they had what it took to go face to face with them, and that's all Helena needed to be satisfied, it was all she needed to know that this was going to be good enough for both bands, for both schools, to rock this joint! She then slowly walked over to the Microphone as the note she played still echoed across the stadium before slowly fading, as did the cheering.
"Hello Iliad!" She gleefully said, in an instant, the cheers roared once more before fading again.
"I think it's time for a little story to start these games off... It's definitely story time!" she said in a almost comically low pitch, as if a child was trying to sound mysterious. Even so, it was enough to make them start cheering yet again. With a turn of her head to her band, she gave them a quick nod, the cue for the show to begin, and for everyone in Ishtar's band to do what they did best.
As the Ishtar band slowly began their song, Orpheus began his own work of visualizing the melody in play. A purple cloud formed above the Ishtar side of the stadium as Orpheus plays his soundless harp to generate the cloud. As soon as the melody began to intensify, the cloud took the shape of a giant book, opening up and exploding out multi-colored lights like stars in a night sky. This giant book, evidently, a storybook, is the foundation upon which the imagery by everyone's music springs from.
Helena's guitar, in particular, made a flock of tiny humanoid-shaped lights, glowing as purple as their moth-like wings, flying about Ishtar's half of the stadium like a flock of butterflies flying about.
As the Orpheus Duel began, a security guard standing on the catwalk of the stadium's open roof, just above the top most audience bleachers in the back, spectated the events happening before his eyes as the two magical bands began their songs. He seemed like an odd one to be sure, his shoulder-length turquoise hair all budded up and hidden beneath a security cap, hazel eyes darkened by the shade of said cap, the metallic black plating on his left hand - of course, that could just be a prosthetic hand.
As he placed a cigarette in his mouth and lit it up, he listened to the static on his walkie-talkie and stared towards the magical spectacle happening at the stadium's center.
"We're in position, boss!" a voice said from the miniature radio which he then grabbed a hold of.
"Wait for the Bishop's signal. Bishop, commence on my mark." The guard said into it. He then release the button he was holding on the radio and it became a blurred static once more. After which, he leaned on the railing, continuing to smoke his cigarette as he watches the show.
@VoiD That and you got an Unanimous acceptance by us. So get out there and show em your Peace, Love, and Understanding. ^^
Starting this off with a Teacher I've completed. More will be made shortly. ^^
[Tyler Blackmore Dropped; Hermit Arcana Now Open]
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