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[h3][color=d7d7d7][b]Roland[/b][/color][/h3]
[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/581952321546879006/1120967522892648530/BlackSilenceIcon.webp[/img]

Level 2 Roland - (2/20) - Level up! Learned [hider=Counter]
After making his attacks, Roland will automatically counter the next attack or combo attack directed at him with his currently held weapon. If Roland overpowers the attack with his counterattack, he will nullify the enemy attack and deal damage to them as if he had attacked them with a basic swipe of that weapon. If the attack matches Roland's in power, both the attack and counter are nullified. If the attack is stronger than Roland's counter, his counter is nullified and he takes the attack's damage as normal. Ranged attacks work the same way, but Roland will not deal damage if his counter is stronger. 

Once Roland has countered that single attack or combo attack, he no longer has Counter until his next round of attacks. 
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[b]Location:[/b] Sector 6
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2134
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For a brief moment, despite the assurances of her sense of smell, Giovanna had worried that her hypothesis might have been mistaken. Seeing was believing in most cases, after all. When a tired male voice called out to her in reply, however, her fears were laid to rest. His jokingly indignant first remark made her snicker; given that her sense of smell transcended human limits thanks to her bond with Rei, she didn't need this guy to reek in order to detect him, but it was way funnier if he thought he stunk.

This wasn't all fun and games, though. Whoever this guy was, he'd come to extract information from her. Quickly putting two and two together, Giovanna realized that the Seekers' pursuer must have not only been tailing them since Dendemille, but also been privy to the conversation within it. [i]Happy Chaos?[/i] She recognized that name from the security breach in the White House back in her own world. In the moments prior to that incident's dramatic climax she even got the chance to lay eyes on That Man herself, and she counted herself lucky that she never played a major role in those proceedings. Giovanna operated in the wiggle room left by a certain set of rules -the laws of the United States of America- but a man like that broke all the rules. If he was here, that did not body well.

Unfortunately, her ability to answer Roland's inquiries stopped there. Not being present for whatever went down inside Dendemille, she'd been relying on an explanation from Goldlewis in order to get a hold of the situation herself. If anything, Roland probably knew more than she did. That made bargaining for the continued secrecy of the Seekers' activities difficult. But maybe she could still work something out.
Sensing no immediate hostile intent, Giovanna relaxed a little. "We know him only by reputation. We're trying to figure out what he's up to ourselves. I don't know whose side you're on, but here's the deal: we're not involved in Midgar's affairs. We're just looking for a powerful monster hidden somewhere in the region, maybe even Midgar itself. If we don't take care of it, the whole city's in danger. Once it's dealt with, it'll be back to business as usual. You'll all be free to play your political games to your hearts' content. So we're not anyone's enemy, okay? Leave us be and we'll be outta your hair in no time."

Roland rolled his shoulders. So whoever this Happy Chaos was, they did know something about him. Or rather, it seemed like they knew about him, but hated him. Roland knew what knowing a crazy was like... Assuming this girl was telling the truth. Considering how her face looked when he mentioned the name of that distortion, she probably was. [color=d7d7d7]"Well... I suppose I can understand why you are with some nobodies if that is the case. My job is to protect President Shinra. As long as your not interfering with that, we're good."[/color] Roland said, giving a bit of a sigh. 

He wasn't happy about what would come next, as walking into a trap wasn't really good for one's health. But considering how that man seemed to be able to destroy entire plates of the city, Roland had no choice. [color=d7d7d7]"I've still got questions for those that were there at the time. And if this guy is your enemy too, I don't see why we can't work together for a little bit. "[/color]

"Work together?" Giovanna crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised. As odd as doing that with her eyes closed felt, she couldn't be sure that her new acquaintance did away with his vanishing act just yet. For all she knew, this could be an elaborate ploy to make her perceive and then forget about him again for the sake of a clean getaway. 

"What makes you think that's in the cards? Either your loyalty's to Shinra, or the common good, and you've gotta know the two don't exactly overlap. The Turks in our group--they ditched Shinra in a heartbeat after realizing what's at stake, and I bet General Affairs isn't happy. Is that why you're here? I can't smell any more goons nearby, but what reason do we have to trust you?"

So far, the fact that none of the new recruits turned traitor -even if a few abandoned the team along the way- was nothing short of miraculous. That could change at any time, especially since it stemmed in part from the recruits' awakening. For this man to join the team, he would need to wake up, too. "...If you really wanna do this, there's something you need first. That stuff you said you didn't understand? It's because they've [i]got[/i] you. But I can snap you out of it. Then you can make the call. So before we put any trust in you, you're gonna have to trust me first." 

What was this 'common good' talk? This person was a bit naive if they thought this city worked like that. Although that being said, Roland wasn't the biggest fan of how things were either. But thats that and this is this. And all of this talk of 'they' got to him and all of this about trust and stakes made Roland a bit skeptical. [color=d7d7d7]"Hey hey. Why does it sound like your trying to get me to join some kind of cult?"[/color] Roland said, Giovanna sounding a bit like she was trying to start something big. Although considering that portal looked vaguely demonic, them being a cult wasn't off the table... But then how did they get two turks to join a weirdo cult?

"Huh...I guess it probably does sound like that," an amused Giovanna admitted, running a hand through her hair. While a healthy amount of skepticism about the Seekers' deal would ordinarily be a pretty normal reaction, but so far plenty of new recruits joined in without question. On second thought, both Turks had been press-ganged into it, either with a luster purge from Roxas or a post-fight friend heart. [i]Oof.[/i]  Giovanna furrowed her brow as she scratched her head, then shrugged. "Well, them's the breaks, I guess. As long as you're under, you're a liability," she told Roland, comparing his state to an anesthesia-induced stupor. "Live in ignorance if you like, we can't save everyone. Just know there's so much more at stake than you could possibly realize. Your call."

Roland was confused for a lack of a better word. While this all sounded like a cult sorta deal, there were things that didn't make sense and they had some answers about... something? What was this about him 'being under' something? Wait... was he under something when that Happy Chaos fellow was at the debate? He did mention something about being able to control... something... And there were Turks with them, all having been 'fixed', and they were no pushovers. Roland started to scratch his head in annoyance at what was going on. [color=d7d7d7]"Gah... what would this involve..."[/color] Roland said, defeated. Granted if it was anything he knew was bad, he'd retaliate. He wasn't going to be some weird test subject for a wing.

"A shock to the system." Giovanna put one hand on her hip and held her other up, manifesting a friend heart above her palm. "This thing can free you, but you'll resist it if you don't loosen up first." Discarding the heart, she crossed her arms. "By the way, you turned off your stealth power yet? It's pretty awkward talking with my eyes closed, you know."

Roland looked at the cartoony looking heart. Well, he hadn't seen anything like that before. And it was far, far too pretty to be anything from this city... And come to think of it, Roland didn't have his mask on at the debate until things started to get hairy, so they did already know his face... [color=d7d7d7]"Sigh, either your telling the truth, or your even higher up than I am and are just running experiments on turks."[/color] Roland said, taking off his distortion mask to reveal his tired, slightly worried face. [color=d7d7d7]"Come on, lets see what this does..."[/color]

"Did you just say 'sigh' out loud?" Giovanna laughed, incredulous. When she opened her eyes, she found a rather ordinary-looking man in dark suit. Though she hadn't been paying a ton of attention to the debate broadcast, she remembered seeing a lot of people in that sort of attire over on Shinra's side, which made sense given Roland's stated allegiance. Rei, who'd been sniffing him, slunk over to take up her usual position behind Gio's back as the secret agent approached.

"Alright, what's the best way to do this..." she muttered to herself. She stopped right in front of Roland, her chest barely an inch away from his as she sized him up. Tall, thin, composed. Clearly professional, but that 'sigh' and that funny exchange about smell hinted at an inner dorkiness. Plain, but not bad looking. "...'Kay. I'm throwing you."

Before he could object, she pounced on him like a tiger. Her legs clamped down around his neck, and as Gio pulled him off balance, she twisted her midsection to slam him down into the hard asphalt. The hard landing left him stunned, winded, and, more critically, pretty hurt. Enough for Gio to conjure the Friend Heart again and smack it into the forehead of the man asphyxiating between her thighs. Roland was instantly healed, and as Giovanna released her headlock, suppressed memories flooded back into his mind just as the oxygen flooding back into his lungs. 

Roland gacked and sputtered, having just been crushed between this woman's thighs in a surprise attack. [color=d7d7d7]"Gah, what is wrong with you?... Well, at least it wasn't as painful as Ms. Head Librarian's introduction into her little book club."[/color] Roland said, getting up and cracking his neck. [color=d7d7d7]"So is that it? Crack a man's neck and shove a heart into him? Are you sure your not part of some freaky dominatrix cult or something?"[/color] Roland said, on guard now, but having been friend hearted, his memories came back. A bit slowly at first, but as the two just stood there, he remembered more and more. [color=d7d7d7]"Wait... This isn't the city I know. Whats going on?"[/color] Roland said, glancing at what he'd assume would've been the backstreets. They were remarkably clean, and it was still too early for the sweepers to be out and about.

"Welcome to real life," Giovanna said as she rose, casually dusting herself off and straightening herself out. "Midgar, Dystopiascape, the whole world, it's all a lie. A giant mashup of different worlds, crammed together by Galeem." From here, surrounding by buildings, neither of them could see the Lord of Light in the distance, but it was there. Always there. "Whatever it is, it messed up everything. Sounds like a conspiracy, but it's true. Good news is we can mess it up right back. And the monster I mentioned it just one step on the road to to get there." She put her hands on her hips, smiling wryly.

A few thoughts then went through his head. Without that introversion that just happened, Roland would be stuck in more or less the same grind as before. That, and he noticed pretty quickly that Ms. Librarian wasn't here either. And while his world was messed up, he did have a pretty good group of friends that weren't here, or might not even recognize him if they did meet up again. That... well... [color=d7d7d7]"Well... I guess I can take a look at whats going on. Still strange, but thats that and this is this. Name's Roland, a grade 9 fixer."[/color] Roland said. Even saying that, it seemed even in another world, the way of the city was ever still present. 

"Giovanna." After scratching Rei's head, Gio beckoned Roland to follow her. "C'mon then, Roly-poly. Midna's gonna be back any second, and we've both got a lot to catch up on."

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Upon entering the portal, Roland found himself in quite the circus. Giving a nervous chuckle, Roland introduced himself to everyone the same way he did to Giovanna. To be fair, he didn't really need to say his fixer grade anymore considering he doubted Hana or the Head was even present in this city. It was mostly habit at this point. Looking at the group, they had been halfway through discussing their plans about dealing with Happy Chaos. And it was quite the strange crew. There were a fair share of humans or human adjacent sure, but there were a couple robots and people who clearly were not human as well. He also got a bit of an earful from Goldlewis as well as Roland was new to the group, and had to be caught up on exactly what was going on in much better detail.