Blazion

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

”Is that a short joke?” The smaller girl remarked, just to tilt her head as she listened to her Captain. Having abandoned digging through her supply box for anything worthwhile until she could look around, Kailani now leaned against the railing near the bow of the ship, trying to catch a glimpse of the approaching land. Still, though she wasn’t looking to Siobhan she still listened, and finally slid her gaze over to the pale woman with a puzzled expression. ”That’s pretty stupid. For the record, I think it’s pretty neat – you managed to survive Ka Li’Ai, after all!” The girl gave a little mock salute however, a grin lighting up her face.

”But you can count on me, boss!”

As The Coral Skipper crept toward the city however, the perplexing puzzle of fishmen was pushed aside for growing excitement. It would be Kailani’s first time visiting an actual city off of Pekelo Island, and she was excited! Excited to see how they lived, what sort of things they’d have, and what their ships looked like intact!

Apparently it was all very smoky. Huh.

The dark skinned girl’s head tilted slowly in puzzlement as they approached the island. It was odd. Everything was blackened and charred, smoke drifting into the sky. Somehow Kailani didn’t think that was typical for a town, right? ... Right?

No, definitely not. A glance at Siobhan’s face as they approached the docks confirmed that.

As soon as her Captain jumped to the docks Kailani followed, finding that the charred wood held her weight far easier – she was much smaller than Siobhan, after all. Taking a few steps forward the jungle girl glanced around, just to lift her head. Sniffing the air a frown crossed her lips before Kailani turned her chocolate gaze to the fishwoman.

”Smells like burnt flesh!” She tilted her head, tapping a finger against her bottom lip. "Really burnt though - not evenly cooked like on purpose."

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

”Ow!”

That was not a pleasant way to wake up.

Kailani grumbled on the ground of The Coral Skipper, feeling the bottom of the hammock she was sleeping in rest against her back from its abrupt adventure being upended, along with her. She was having such a nice nap too, sleeping in the constant sunlight peeking out from the friendly, fluffy white clouds.

Plus she was still a bit sore from the day her and Siobhan had braved the Ka Li’Ai.

”Why am I a porky pine?” The sun-kissed girl finally asked as she rolled away from underneath the hammock to sit up. She tilted her head, strands of dark brown filling her vision before she blew them away. ”... Wait, land?!”

An excited squeal erupted from Kailani and in an instant she was on her feet, going right to the rail of the little fishing boat to try and catch sight of the approaching land, not quite able to catch sight of it yet. Siobhan was good company and all, but she was finally going to see more of this world outside of Pekelo Island! Though she’d never get tired of the rolling white waves either, there was something exciting about finally being able to see their settlements, and the people that inhabited it!

Abruptly she left the side of the boat to go to her little box of supplies, digging through it.

”You said people here like gold, right? Maybe I can buy some clothes with some of my ornaments, even if your style seems a little bit odd – eh?” Chocolate orbs widened as Kailani looked to Siobhan, just gaping for a moment.

”... You can move your fin?! That’s so awesome! I don’t know why you would though, it’s pretty cool.”

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

October 29th, 4:33PM
Kasimir Castle, Gotham City

”Well, it’s less impressive than the Grim Grotto, but here’s the Castle’s ‘civilian’ garage. Well, my garage anyway - the staff have their own garage around the side.” The purr of the snakeskin green Viper’s engine filled the cavernous garage as it rolled into the room, the automatic door slowly sliding shut behind it. Lights lit up above them, highlighting not only an array of tools along the back, and a lift, but a number of cars. Most were expensive, more money than an average person would make in their entire life. Not to mention in much better shape than the dinged up Viper.

”You’ve probably seen at least glances of it already anyway, but here’s the official welcome.” The car came to a stop just before the lift, Zoey parking it before turning the engine off. She slid out of the driver’s side, sighing again seeing the slight dent in the metal.

”Most of them are mine, but the yellow camaro over there belongs to David - you’ll meet him later tonight. In the meantime, let me start by showing you how to buff out the smaller dents.”

After the events of last night - namely being chased by hitmen to Bludhaven and then picking up a deadly stray - Zoey had loaded the Viper up into the Grim Jet before returning to Kasimir Castle. It was just a little bit ago that she had washed the blood and gore off the Viper after a small tour to her new guest of the Grim Grotto, ending up bringing the car through the off-passage of the labs to return through the actual gates of the castle.

Tours seemed a little silly for the kid that could see through walls, but Zoey couldn’t help but follow the well-bred manners.

Malcolm, who had remained mostly silent for the whole tour, partly in childlike amazement at what he was seeing and partly from the enormous effort it took to (poorly) hide his giddy joy at actually being in a car, chose about that time to pipe up as he extricated himself from the expensive ride.

”To be frank, Zo, before this morning I lived in an abandoned subway tunnel and ate garbage.” The boy replied with a slight shrug as his eyes wandered every which way across the woman’s labyrinthine home, the look of astoundment he’d been wearing all day still very much plastered on his face ”So I don’t think you actually own anything that could be called ‘less impressive’ to my eyes right now.”

Smirking a little at that, but fidgeting in slight discomfort for a moment at the feel of the fancy shirt he’d been wearing all day, he continued.

”Alright, so… how do we start?”

---

No matter what she tried to do in order to distract herself, it just wouldn’t stop nagging at the back of Karen’s mind.

He was still down there, that Bang guy. She had tricked him into removing his hazmat suit and then dragged him down into the ocean where he…dissolved? She didn’t want to think of it like that. He had told her that he wouldn’t die, just be disabled. She needed to believe he was correct on that notion, and she needed to find a way to save him.

Disgusting pervert that he was, he didn’t deserve to be stuck like that for any longer than necessary. It was for that reason she had asked for Zoey’s help in building a better hazmat suit for him...one that didn’t leave him leaking radiation everywhere.

Feeling her feet touch the metal of the Grim Grotto’s hangar, Karen was eager to see what progress the other heroine had made.

“Zoey!” Karen called out, glancing about the cavernous hangar. When she didn’t receive the expected response, she quirked a brow. Stepping further in, the Wizardess carefully surveyed the area for any sign of the redhead.

Sadly, there was no sign of Grim. What she did find, however, made her heart skip a beat. It was a pool of blood on the ground. The first thought to enter her head was that it was, in fact, Zoey’s. That alone was enough to cause her heart to start pounding in fright, and she quickly began moving deeper into the Grim Grotto.

“ZOEY!” She screamed, now far louder.

Still no response. Pursing her lips firmly, Lady Arcana lifted off the ground and in a burst of speed fled from the hangar to observe the great castle from above. Her keen eyes - surpassing even the finest hawk - scanned the area until they were able to at last locate their target.

She was fiddling with her cars.

Feeling her shoulders sag in relief, Lady Arcana sighed. Flying back into the hangar, she opted to send a text message to Zoey.

’Zoey, I’m in the hangar.’

There, simple and to the point.

---

A buzzing quickly caught Zoey’s attention, or more specifically the vibration against her hip. That, after all, was far more noticeable considering the loud bangs that were echoing in her ears from observing Malcolm straightening out the dented metal bumper of her Viper, hung up against a post.

The billionaire’s slim fingers plucked her phone from her pocket to check the message, a slight smile gracing her lips seeing the sender. A bit inconvenient timing, but she was always happy to help Lady Arcana. She was probably coming to check in on the project she had asked for. After a moment however steel-blue eyes flicked to the young boy at her side, and the redhead made a thoughtful hum. Finally, she sent a text in response.

’Be right there. Bringing someone.’

”Malcolm. Slight change of plans - I have a guest waiting for me.” She nodded downward, towards the labs where the young boy could no doubt see. ”Come along, I’ll introduce you.”

”Huh?” Malcolm’s head perked up Zoey’s words, giving her a quizzical look for a sec, before his eyes followed hers down to the floor. ”...Oh.”

There was a long moment as he simply stared downward in silence, to his credit, only slightly slackjawed at what exactly he saw in Zoey’s basement.

’Is that who I think it i-’

”You have got to be shitting me.”

”Language.”

---

It didn’t take long to lock up the garage once more and venture through the castle to the wine cellar - really, this was a fine entrance when it was just her, but Zoey really needed to make a new one if David and now Malcolm were going to be using it. From there the billionaire once more almost absently went through doing the correct sequence of pulling out wine bottles to get into the secret passage that led downward.

”Lady Arcana,” Zoey called out in greeting as she entered the last door. As soon as she entered her private labs some of that tension that always seemed present in the billionaire bled away, and she offered the heroine a warm smile. Though… the blonde seemed a little stressed.

”... Is something wrong?”

Lady Arcana exhaled upon seeing Zoey up close and confirming that she was alright. Indeed, she appeared no worse for wear than usual. So that begged the question of what was up with the blood.

Her eyes immediately fell to the small child beside her, growing wide in the process. Was it his blood? Had he been hurt, and Zoey brought him here? He did look pretty rough, in all honesty, so that seemed like the most likely outcome.

”I...I was just worried when I saw the blood,” she confessed, her eyes remaining on the boy. He looked younger than her by at least a couple of years. She offered him a warm smile. ”Hey there, I’m Lady Arcana. It’s nice to meet you!”

’Holy shit, she’s actually talking to me.’ Malcolm managed to articulate in his head through the raucous internal screaming that echoed through the entirety of his brain as he kept his eyes much averted from the woman in front of him. ’It’s only the most powerful being on the face of the planet. Don’t look like an idiot, don’t look like an idiot, don’t-’

”Eh?”

’DAMMIT!’

Mentally slapping himself to get his shit together, the boy actually managed to turn his glowing orange peepers towards Arcana and form his face into some awkward shape that somewhat resembled a smile.

Jesus Christ she was a lot taller than what he’d thought from those newspapers he’d used for bedding.

Prettier, but taller.

And literally filled with lightening.

’Aww, fuck me…’

”I’m Malcolm and, uhh… likewise.” The boy finally spoke, somehow managing to sound coherent in defiance of his own brain.

Meeting Grim, the mythic bane of Gotham’s crime was one thing. Meeting the closest known thing the world had to an actual God less than a day after that was a little bit over his threshold for crazy.

A slight grin tugged at the corner of Zoey’s smile seeing Malcolm’s awkwardness at meeting Lady Arcana. She managed to choke down the chuckle that wanted to build up in her chest, merely nodding in approval that the small boy managed to introduce himself. Could use some polishing, but his manners were there.

”Don’t worry, the blood isn’t mine,” The billionaire finally said, drawing her gaze back to Lady Arcana. She dipped her head slightly in apology. ”I washed it off my car - my Viper, not the Grimmobile. Ran into some trouble last night.” That pleased expression quickly changed to a grimace as Zoey recalled the reason for the blood, the hitmen - or more accurately who had most likely sent them. It left a sour taste in her mouth, but she quickly forced a smile back in place.

”Malcolm assisted me when Zoey Kasimir was targeted for assassination.”

Lady Arcana blinked for a moment, her head slanting to the side. He...assisted her? This little kid? Then again, he did have some pretty funky looking eyes, so maybe he wasn’t a normal kid. Probably had one of those metagenes, since she didn’t feel any magic coming off of him.

”...Wait. Targeted Zoey Kasimir?! They were after the real you?” her jaw dropped at this, wondering why on Earth a bunch of hitmen would be after her civilian identity.

”Mhm,” Zoey gave a short nod in response, deciding now wasn’t the time to discuss if Grim wasn’t the real her as well. ”I appear to have angered someone.” The billionaire couldn’t hide how her tone darkened, how her pale fingers at her side flexed in a slight itch to have the protective sparking of her glove. She knew exactly who would’ve sent those men. After all, her word against his if past events were taken up wasn’t much in a court, but in the land of politics? It would smear his efforts, not to mention her own recent actions overshadowing him.

Shaking her head to clear the dark thoughts clouding her mind Zoey focused back in on Lady Arcana.

“Pulled up alongside me when I was driving on the highway. I led them to Bludhaven rather than further into traffic. When I got somewhere quiet I was going to fight back, but well, Malcolm saw I was in trouble and…” Zoey shrugged, casting an appraising glance to the boy at her side. ”Assisted me. You know how people like us can’t help but step in when we can.”

Malcolm scratched the back of his head and shyly cast his eyes slightly to the side as Zoey’s own moved towards him.

”My dad was a Marine, he taught me how to look after myself.” The boy explained somewhat sheepishly, eyes finding a particularly interesting spot on the wall (and everything behind it) to look as he spoke ”...And with all of them focused on a bright green sports car in the dark, at night, it was pretty easy for me to get the drop on them.”

He made a point of leaving out the part about how he outright ripped through and killed three men in the span of a few seconds. That probably wouldn’t fly too well with the living thunderbolt in front of him, who, if the newspapers he used as blankets over the past year were to be believed, did not particularly appreciate that kind of thing.

Seemed like a good call in his mind. And even if it wasn’t he was kind of locked in it now.

Karen noted how well-spoken he was for someone his age. She honestly couldn’t have carried on a conversation that well yet a few years ago. In fact, she only got to where she was now because of having to be the Wizard. It kind of made you grow up pretty quickly, when you had to constantly act all mature.

”Well, I’m glad neither of you were hurt,” she continued to smile gently, eying the pair over once more. Was Zoey thinking of adopting him or something? Maybe she was afraid to hand him over to the police because of his…condition.

Wait.

”If neither of you were hurt, why is there so much blood?” Lady Arcana quirked a brow at this, once more craning her head in the direction of the mess on the metal floor.

All at once Zoey’s features carefully schooled themselves to a neutral mask, hiding the wince that wanted to emerge. Having known Lady Arcana for over half a year now, Zoey was well aware of how she would feel about whose blood that was. Still, she had resolved to never lie to her…

Malcolm, for his part, simply stiffened and paled slightly at Arcana’s question, keeping his eyes focussed on that one piece of wall with like his life depended on it.

”I… uh…” He licked his lips nervously, trying to find some way to explain away that particular landmine ”...I’m very good at taking care of myself.”

Zoey’s hand landed on Malcolm’s shoulder, squeezing very gently. She still didn’t know how well he reacted to physical touch considering he was on the streets before, and they only had a few hours getting to know each other, but nonetheless she tried to give comfort to him.

”It’s alright, Malcolm,” The billionaire said in a soft, but firm voice. After a moment Zoey lifted her head to meet Karen’s gaze, steel-blue to brown. Her face was still neutral, voice even. ”Arcana…” She regretted not being able to say Karen’s name currently, her real name, but none the less carried on. She stood by not lying to her despite knowing her friend would be very, very unhappy with her.

”The blood belongs to the men who attacked me. They’re dead, due to my actions.”

Lady Arcana had suspected as much when Malcolm explained that he was very good at taking care of himself, but he was so young that it was hard to imagine that he could have really done such a thing. But Zoey had confirmed it, and so now it was beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Her smile was gone, her eyes darting between the two of them before settling back on Zoey. ”...How did it happen?”

Zoey took a deep breath, exhaling heavily through her nose. The lack of smile, of the usual affection in Lady Arcana’s gaze made it plain she was unhappy. She’d be even more so when she heard the rest. Her gaze briefly traveled down to Malcolm, seeing how uncomfortable the boy was. He shouldn’t have to deal with this. Besides, it was Zoey’s actions that caused this, by leading the men to Bludhaven in the first place.

”...Malcolm, why don’t you go explore the castle for a bit?” The billionaire finally said, squeezing his shoulder once more before withdrawing her slender fingers. ”Lady Arcana and I need to have a talk.” She offered him a slight smile, forced though it was.

Zoey’s hand didn’t get far in its retreat from Malcolm’s shoulder, as without looking, the boy’s hand quickly, though gently caught it mid-flight as his eyes shifted from their allotted space on the wall to the floor before him, before slowly, wearily making their way upwards to meet Arcana’s own.

Jack Talhaiarn didn’t raise a liar. Nor a weasel who couldn’t accept his own actions.

”Two died running Zoey off the road. Died in the crash.” The boy began, he’d be proud of only slightly squeezing the woman’s hand as he spoke, if he had the mind to even register it. ”When they went for her car, I… whipped a pipe at one of their heads to distract ‘em, ran into another and took ‘im out at the knees, stole that guy’s knife and used it on his friend before finishing him off.”

Wetting his lips, taking a breath and squeezing just a little tighter now, he continued.

”Then I rushed the third guy, picked up my pipe again and went to town on his face.” He swallowed hard, both at what he was saying and what was coming next ”They were dead before Zo got outta the car.”

Finally releasing Zoey’s hand, the boy cast his eyes downward again, avoiding Arcana’s once more.

”I’ve been fighting people like this… day and night. Non-stop. For almost a year now... I just stopped thinking about it after a while.”

Lady Arcana’s frown deepened, but her expression simultaneously grew soft as the boy ended his explanation. She...understood what it was like to grow up in a horrible environment. That was one thing she understood better than anything else. She didn’t know what exactly Malcolm had gone through, but it was clearly something horrible.

Stepping towards him, she slowly knelt down and extended a hand to his shoulder. ”I never blamed you, Malcolm. After everything you’ve been through, nobody ever stepped forward to show you a better way.”

Zoey could only stare down at the two, once more flexing her fingers slowly, now absent of any weight. She hadn’t protested when the young boy had taken her hand, letting him squeeze it - even gently doing so in return to give him comfort. She wasn’t good with children, with people in general, but even she knew that gesture. The billionaire didn’t even interrupt his talking, letting him explain what happened. Maybe it would be therapeutic.

Her heart ached when he squeezed her hand again. When his gaze dropped. Zoey had no fear of Karen losing her temper at a little boy, not when he was so vulnerable. Her faith was rewarded when the heroine knelt before Malcolm, comforted him…

Maybe that’s what she was supposed to do, too? He had withdrawn his hand, but he was just a little boy. Smaller than even Karen’s real form. The memory flitted through her mind of him last night, wiping away those tears when she hadn’t offered more than a word of comfort.

Zoey was so in over her head. At least David was already a teenager when she took him in.

Stepping close to the boy the redhead’s arms reached out, gently wrapping around the boy’s shoulders to awkwardly hug him to her. Zoey’s hand rubbed against his back gently, comfortingly, remembering when her own father would do it when she was upset.

”It’s alright, Malcolm. Everything’s alright. I’m not innocent of taking a life last night, either, but you didn’t know better.” Her steel-blue gaze flicked to Karen briefly from where she was looking down at Malcolm’s head, this time not hiding her grimace before she quietly confessed. ”... After all, I killed the last of them. It’s not your fault.”

For a moment, Malcolm froze stock still at the now-foreign though distantly familiar sensation of a hug. His composure, that had remained stubbornly steadfast throughout this whole ordeal, silently beginning to crack.

’No, Malcolm. Don’t you dare.’

A shiver ran up his spine, and a burning licked at the corner of his eyes.

’Don’t. You. FUCKING. DARE.’

The boy’s teeth clenched with the effort of forcing down the emotion that threatened to spill out of him at any moment and his arms wrapped around Zoey’s waist, slowly and wearily at first, before clamping down with as much strength as his tiny body could muster.

And after minute or so more of war within the boy’s own head, something occurred that had not happened in a long time-

Silently, without noise or fanfare, Malcolm finally allowed himself to cry.

Karen wanted to say that she held Zoey responsible for her actions, and she did...but now was not the time. Not when her Malcolm was breaking down in tears against her. He wasn’t that much younger than her, and had even killed people...yet right now he just seemed so much smaller than she ever had been. Even when her dad had beaten her, she didn’t think she’d ever felt as broken as he clearly was.

Gotham truly was an awful place to grow up in.

Slowly standing again, Lady Arcana shot Zoey a firm glare before softening her expression as it turned to Malcolm. ”It’s alright. Nobody is going to hurt you anymore now that you’re with us.”

”You’re safe here,” Zoey added on quietly. Her gaze traveled up to Arcana, having caught the glare. She gave a short nod of acknowledgement - they would be talking later. However then she returned to looking down at the short dark hair of the boy she had taken in. She could feel her shirt getting wet with tears but she didn’t raise a single noise of protest.

A hum built up in the redhead’s throat, soothing and soft. Zoey didn’t have many memories of her mother, just a constant hum that followed her through every room she went. That’s what the billionaire often did, it having become instinctual, and what she was doing now.

”And you don’t have to fight as long as you’re here, I promise you that.”

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

October 22nd, 10:26 AM
Gotham City Hall, Gotham City

“Nicole. What’s happened so far?” The quiet, clipped and cold voice had the young woman sitting near the back of the City Hall forum glancing up, nodding a greeting before looking down to the clipboard in her arms. Her note taking hadn’t stopped even then, and the dark haired woman merely adjusted her glasses before beginning to go over them in a low whisper, conscious of the debating voices at the front of the room.

“The hospital issue has been tentatively decided on by burning the bodies, except for the families who pay to just have the body locked away in a morgue slot until the whole issue is resolved. Uhm, the … the skeletons are also being ground down into ash since the bones seem to keep moving, from what I understand.”

“Yes, I heard about that. The graveyards?”

“A few more recently dead have already emerged from their graves, with signs of others following. Police barricades have been keeping them back, it seems stationing more around the city graveyards is the leading solution.”

“And as for the lack police of coverage in the rest of the city?”

“Not mentioned.”

“Of course.” Zoey leaned back slightly into the seat she had taken, right at the corner of the large room filled to the brim with people. Officials, concerned citizens - it was almost as though people cared about this dump called a city. Though, the billionaire wasn’t all too convinced - more than likely they were more concerned about their own hides.

Or in the case of one specific man, what he could get out of this.

Steel-blue eyes narrowed as a burning, white-hot anger coursed down her spine and spread throughout the woman’s entire being. Since Zoey entered the room and took her preferred spot - corner, back to a wall, good view of everything - saved by her personal assistant, she couldn’t tear her gaze from the man heading the open forum.

William Murphy. Mayor of Gotham City. Tall, handsome, charismatic. Won his election with honey-sweet promises to focus on the rights of citizens, though there were whispers on the streets of what other promises were made behind closed doors. That’s how it always was in this city, he was no different than any other politician.

Except that Zoey hated that piece of trash disguised as a man.

His face was burned into her visage almost two decades ago, before she ever knew who he was. When he was no more than one of numerous corrupt beat cop, and her a teenager, brimming with overconfidence and hope for helping this poor, corrupt city she had just moved to. Did he even remember? Did he feel any remorse?

He certainly didn’t suffer nightmares that kept him up for days on end. Didn’t becomes a shell of what he could have been. If she knew who he was back then, he’d have been buried all those years ago, with the rest of them.

Now here they were. Him, Mayor of her town. Her, three threads of sanity away from breaking into his home and murdering him where he slept.

Heh.

A nudge to her arm, though Zoey didn’t even spare a glance to Nicole. Didn’t need to see her assistant’s pinched, worried gaze. It brought her back to reality though, and to the fact that glaring a hole through Murphy wouldn’t actually put a hole through him. Focus. Nicole was pointing out something to her.

“... So if anyone should have an idea to put forth towards the Mudos…”

Ah.

Rising up from her chair Zoey strode with purpose to the small podium set before the councilmen. Every step, every person put to her back made the billionaire’s already tense, burning muscles coil further. Anxiety, paranoia, that underlying rage. Then standing there, waiting to be addressed.

When Murphy’s glittering black eyes met hers, cold steel-blue to that fake, infuriating warmth, something flicked in his gaze. Recognition. Realization.

“Miss Kasimir,” He greeted after a heartbeat, that same warmth inflected in his tone. It made Zoey’s jaw tense, her teeth gritting together. “You have a suggestion?”

Inhale. Exhale. “Concrete.” A pause.

“Pardon?”

“Get a few dozen workers, a couple concrete mixers, and cover the graves. Prevention is key.” For a moment the Mayor stared at her, a frown tugging at his lips. Whispers filled the room, thoughtful agreement from the citizens at her back. It took a moment for Murphy to respond, his words slow and thoughtful.

“There’s no room in Gotham’s defense budget for something of that magnitude-”

“I’ll pay for it, then.” Something changed in Murphy’s eyes then, the faux warm gaze becoming calculating. It made the small hairs on the back of Zoey’s neck stand on end, made her already tense muscles tighten further. The pause this time was longer, his gaze searching hers. She met him head on, head held high.

“...Miss Kasimir, as noble as your intentions are, we cannot merely disrespect the dead by covering their final resting places over. Families will have to be contacted, those without listed next of kin tracked down, really it’s just a lot of red tape that can’t be ignored without proper protocol.” Fire burst in Zoey’s chest, adding to that white-hot rage that never cooled. Her slender fingers flexed, missing the familiar spark that would’ve started up had she been wearing her gloves. When she spoke again her words were biting, anger bleeding into every syllable.

“If we don’t do something about what’s happening the only family that will be contacted is for those who lose their lives to these things! Wasn’t your entire platform built on keeping Gotham safe, Mayor Murphy?”

“And I am keeping Gotham safe, Miss Kasimir, from ideas that would sue our city into the ground, or trod all over the wishes of our people.” Their eyes didn’t part from each other, and in that moment Zoey knew that any singular, slim chance that he wasn’t the same man from seventeen years ago was dead. He was looking for something, there was a reason he was doing this. “Now if that’s all, I’ll let you know if something changes - as I’m sure you will to me as well, of course.”

And if Zoey Kasimir couldn’t find out what it was, Grim could.

---

October 25th, 9:53 AM
Owl’s Rest Cemetery, Gotham City

Something changed.

Three days had passed. Three nights of terror, of destruction, of death. The blood of police barely able to contain them, the blood of citizens in the street without even the meager protection that their presence held.

And Mayor Murphy’s quiet backroom deals to have a load of cargo delivered via the Gotham City docks while there was so much chaos, absolutely decimated by Grim’s wrath.

She might’ve gone a bit overboard getting the Grim Jet to sink the ship, too.

He still hadn’t relented to her plan either, but Zoey was tired of playing his waiting game of who would break first. Tired of seeing blood in the streets that was so easily preventable. It would’ve been easier to wait just one more day or two for him to cave under pressure, or even to just grease his palms to get things rolling, but she wasn’t willing to risk more lives. Wasn’t willing to play his game.

“I told you there were some good guys in the force.” A grunt was the only reply the Captain got, but Jaina wasn’t too worried about it. The short blonde woman stood at her friend’s side, watching the construction crew work. It took some convincing to get the owners of Owl’s Rest anywhere near here, but they finally relented to give them the access the broken locks couldn’t. Two dozen construction workers - those who both wanted to protect the city, and those whose greed eclipsed their fear. Three cement mixing trucks, five smaller ones. A surprising handful of off-duty Gotham City’s finest, watching over everything with sharp eyes.

“Not going to say thanks?” Captain Jaina Jasper’s tone was teasing, but Zoey’s eyebrow merely twitched lightly. She was so tired. So exhausted.

“...Thanks.” The billionaire finally rumbled lowly. Her steel-blue orbs slid over to Jaina’s, holding her friend’s gaze. “And when the commissioner finds out what you and them are doing? This wasn’t exactly sanctioned.” Jaina shrugged.

“His nephew was one of the officers hurt in the past couple nights. I doubt even he is going to stop you.”

“Good.” Zoey returned her gaze forward, watching as Nicole followed the shouting foreman around, making sure he had everything he needed. Everyone was on edge being here, but it was quiet during the day - anything that did move was quickly put down. Mostly into concrete.

“What do you plan to do when Murphy gets on your back?”

“Ki-”

“Aside from sulking?” Zoey huffed, glaring darkly.

“He can puff and moan all he wants. If even the Commissioner is on my side, his ratings will plummet if he tries to oppose what I did.”

“He might fine you, at least.”

“Let him. Threatening to move Kasimir Realty’s Headquarters will end that right quick. I have no fear of making an enemy of a coward.” Beside her, Jaina could only sigh and shake her head. Slowly her gaze moved forward as well.

“... You really need to see a therapist, Zoey.”

“Fuck off.”

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

_Collab

“Well, here we are!” Siobhan proclaimed, hopping out of The Striker and onto her stolen fishing trawler, The Coral Skipper. It was a bit larger than the quickly rebuilt vessel that had taken them through the storm, but was nothing special. It certainly wasn’t designed to endure the kind of harsh weather they had witnessed minutes ago.

While it wouldn’t be taking them to the Grand Line, it served their little crew of two just fine at the moment.

“Your ship sucks,” Kailani chirped happily, not seeming bothered at all despite her proclamation. She didn’t hesitate to clamber out of her patched, battered little ship and into the fishing boat, beginning to look around. There wasn’t much to look at admittedly, but it was still exciting. “This is the first boat I’ve seen that hasn’t been split in two, or horribly maimed or anything! I could do so much with this! … Okay, not that much, but I can still improve it!”

An excited giggle burst forth from the sun-kissed girl’s mouth, her all too eager to examine everything. Within moments she was leaning over the bow of The Coral Skipper, almost hanging off the edge as she investigated the outside. It seemed The Striker was well and truly abandoned to her.

“It does kind of suck,” Siobhan admitted, stepping towards the center of the vessel and dropping her metal case next to a pile of other clothes that were hung on the rigging as if it were a clothesline. “But it’s only temporary, till we get somethin’ better.”

She had stolen it soon after she entered West Blue, and it had served her purposes here well enough. Obviously, she hadn’t felt confident taking it into the Devil’s Tempest, but so long as she avoided the storms here - child’s play for a Grand Line-class navigator like her - then it would carry them where they needed to go.

“I know she’s not much to look at, but make yourself home!” Siobhan offered the other girl a warm smile. “I’m feckin’ soaked, so I’m gettin’ out of this shite.”

“Hmm?” Kailani didn’t even look up from her position hanging over the front, her feet actually off the ground now with only her knees and thighs keeping her in the ship, catching her as she leaned over the edge. Finally Siobhan’s words clicked in her mind however. “Oh! Right! Good idea, I’ll grab the stuff out of The Striker, I packed some clothes with my other supplies - though I want to see what this side of the Great Storm has to offer!”

It took some wiggling and nearly pitching off the ship before Kailani managed to pull herself back in, darting right passed Siobhan to jump back to her original ship. She left wet footprints along her path but didn’t seem to care. Within moments she had the basket of food pulled out of the small storage place and thrown to the other ship, followed by a box of other supplies. There wasn’t space for much else, but it served her purposes well enough, just like the ship itself.

Siobhan meanwhile had hung her brown long coat, shirt and pants all along the rigging where they would hopefully dry out in due time. There were several other outfits hanging there, giving her a range of choices. Most of them she had stolen from various stores when she was getting ready to leave an island, since bringing a wardrobe all the way to West Blue would’ve been a bit difficult.

By the time Kailani returned, Siobhan had slid her black shirt down over her head, with a pair of blue jean shorts accompanying it. She didn’t bother with her shoes, however, wanting to let them dry. Instead she slipped on a pair of black, heeled sandals.

“Phew...much better!” Siobhan chirped happily, stretching her arms to the sky. “No more wet clothes. Now I just need to figure out our next destination.”

“Sounds good!” Kailani responded immediately, smiling brightly. She tilted her head slightly, examining Siobhan - or more accurately her clothes - before just shrugging. If people changed in front of each other on this side of the storm, who was she to judge?

Though, she was a bit envious of the range of clothes Siobhan had. If the pale woman didn’t tower over her Kailani might be tempted to borrow some of hers.

Rummaging through the box of her things the Pekelian pulled out a pair of leather shorts that reached to her knees, and another set of chest bindings. She regretted that the strange dress off those who crashed on Pekelo were often ruined or stained with too much blood to completely remove. Oh well. Kailani shucked her current clothing, soaked from the Ka Li’Ai, before her quick fingers had her new clothing and bindings on. The girl began to investigate the line Siobhan’s clothes were on next, tilting her head.

Then she just shrugged and threw her own soaking clothes over it. Good enough.

“Righto,” Siobhan muttered, hunched over a table near the stern of the ship. Across its surface was a large cartography map, which the redhead was busily using various tools to chart their next course with. Laid across an irrelevant section of the chart was her list of potential crewmates. “Mm…”

Her first attempt at tracking one of these guys down had technically been unsuccessful, though she had managed to get an awesome new shipwright regardless! Still, she hoped this time her next target would still be alive.

“Mushuro Takeuchi...he’s become a pretty big name around these parts...” Siobhan muttered.

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

Hello! Welcome to the thread, co-GM Blazion here. The height rule was actually put in place relatively recently because a lot of CS'es that were accepted had shorter heights, so it started to seem a little silly when compared to DC heights. Our shortest character [excluding younger characters] is 5'5'' for example!

Anyway, Blackstripe is always the one to accept or decline character sheets, so take this next bit with a grain of salt, but your character might not be accepted since we already have a Lex Luthor analogue [Rammon of Akkad, played by Alfhedil]. I only had a chance to glance over your sheet since I have to head to work, so maybe BS might feel differently.

Either way, hope that settled any worries you had over the height thing! Good luck!

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

Welp that's Kailani's recruitment sequence done. Onto Mr. Panda!

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

Laughter couldn't help but bubble up from Kailani's throat, feeling the spray of sea salt against her face, the warmth of the sun on her head, and more than a few pairs of eyes at her back. The grain of wood beneath her hands was familiar, the rush of wind that had that hint of electricity fizzling in the air. It made a tendril of nerves curl through her, but at the same time...

"Ehhh! Kailani! If you survive, make sure to bring back that off-island food!"

"Don't be an idiot, of course she's going to survive with that demon at her back."

"She's not a demon!" The words spilled from her dark lips almost as a knee-jerk reaction, having been saying them repeatedly over the past couple of days. Kailani glanced behind her, seeing the tribesmen who had come to see her off. Surprisingly the back and forth came from Ywa'n's cousins, Mella's cousins, who had... well, even more shockingly helped with building the ship. Lua's sister seemed to have a fascination with Siobhan after the Tournament.

Her mother was there too. The Chieftain stood tall, proud on the beach, watching her only daughter drift off into the great black storm cloud. Kailani was too far away, but she liked to think that her mother's eyes were glistening.

"Be safe, Kailani."

At least, she didn't imagine that. Kailani blinked in surprise, her mother's words almost lost on the wind, but finally she raised her hand in a final goodbye to her tribe. Even as the heat of the sun faded under the great black clouds of Ka Li'Ai, the 'Devil's Tempest' as Siobhan called it, the warmth of her tribe remained. Finally, she turned her eyes forward, grip on the wheel tightening.

"Alright Siobhan, let's do this! We are the bosses!"

The roar of Ka Li’Ai began to drown out all other sounds as the small vessel drifted closer and closer to the edge. Rainfall was the first herald to increasingly turbulent seas beneath them, along with ever more harsher winds that beat at the sails with enough force to tear them. Deeper and deeper into the monstrous storm they sailed, and soon their little ship found itself being flung against the rocks that encircled Pekelo.

With each impact against the rocks, a layer of the ship peeled off: an intentional design that enabled it to survive what was the most common downfall of most vessels that had attempted to brave the storm.

Blow after blow against the rocks chipped more and more of the layers away, but their progress continued. Already The Striker had made it further than the original ever had, and although the relentless downpour made it difficult to see, there was little doubt that they were on the right course.

The very first strike of the vicious outcroppings of rock against the thick hull had Kailani’s breath catching in her throat, hearing the groan of wood as it splintered - then fell to the water. The Striker continued onward, relaxing that little bubbling unease that had been growing in her chest.

”... Wow, that actually worked.”

Any hint of sunlight had been utterly engulfed under Ka Li’Ai’s rage, the cold bite of rain that heralded the eternal storm beating against the two girls’ skin in a mockery of their earlier departure. Still, they moved forward. Bit by bit, blow by blow. It seemed as though every minute they lost more of their protective layering, until finally the vessel remained naked to the dangers of the sea, vulnerable and weak.

A wave rose up, taking the small ship with it, before crashing back at level. The vessel shuddered under the abuse, a sharp turn on the wheel narrowly avoiding another deadly rock, the tip barely seen in the dark skies and crashing waves. Further it crept, little by little-

CRACK.

”Well, fuck.”

There was a scrape along the hull, a sliver of missing wood from grazing along one of the sharp rocks. Kailani’s heart beat quickly against her chest, a war drum against her rib cage. One more hit and they’d be done for.

Cracking. Crimson. Cold.

Not again, not again, just a little bit further!

Sunlight.

Kailani’s breath once more caught in her throat, a parody of her earlier nerves. One final crashing wave set them down into the sea once more, propelling The Striker forward. Away from Pekelo Island. Away from Ka Li’Ai.

There was so much sea.

The islander’s grip went slack against the ship, staring out across the expanse of blue. Unblocked by rolling dark clouds, sunlight everywhere - were those clouds white?! She didn’t know clouds could come in white! How did the horizon even manage to stretch so far!

”It’s beautiful…” The edges of her lips were tilted up, the smile on her face soft and wondering. It was more than she could dream of. There was just so much to explore, so much to see-

And there was water splashing against her ankles.

”Oh, oh right! The hole! Don’t worry, I can fix that!”

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

Siobhan seemed pretty impassioned by her little story, Kailani had to admit. At the very least she was trying to be comforting, which made the islander's smile a bit more genuine. Really, how could her tribesmen call the fishwoman a monster? She was just a big softy. Kailani met the other woman's eyes confidently, her lips twitching further upwards seeing that grin.

... Did Siobhan just say she was going to destroy the world?

Huh, maybe she was a demon. Whoops.

The prospect seemed a bit ridiculous, admittedly. Who'd want to destroy the place they lived on? Siobhan seemed completely sincere though, not to mention confident. So Kailani had been rescued and ultimately agreed to side with someone who wanted to destroy the world. After a moment, she did the only logical thing. Kailani burst out laughing.

"You're insane, Siobhan!" The brunette managed. Her expression was much more carefree, relaxed and happy despite Siobhan's proclamation. "You have to at least let me see the world first! It's only fair! After that - well, I suppose once I've seen it all I'll be just as bored of it as island life. Might as well help!" Her chuckling died down, eyebrow quirking with a smirk playing at her lips. It... was a little worrisome, but hey, Siobhan seemed like the right sort. She probably had her reasons - and she knew more about the world out there than her!

Though...

"... Er, the one piece of what? Does this have to do with that cake thing you keep talking about?"

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

“You know, your fin is pretty funny to watch when you’re- ACK!” Not for the first time that day Kailani was once again interrupted. As Siobhan swam to her the darker skinned girl couldn’t help but watch the fin bobbing through the water behind her, being entirely distracted. Not that she was some great warrior with reflexes that could’ve saved her from being submerged anyway, as the redhead pulled her into the water.

Kailani’s head broke the water sputtering, dark brown hair plastering her skin. She glared at Siobhan, but the grin on her face was wider than ever.

“Just for that, I am taking a bite out of that fin of yours when you go to sleep!” She teased playfully, taking being soaked surprisingly well. No use crying over spilled Kailani! After all, she’d think it was hilarious if their positions were reversed.

Siobhan’s next question, however, had Kailani sobering up quickly. As always, almost defensively, there was still a smile on her face, but it was small, even a touch sad. Wistful.

“Mella’s my best friend. Was my best friend. Which I mean, really, no surprise! She was the only person on the island with as big a wanderlust as me!” Kailani sunk slightly into the water, until her mouth and nose were submerged. She watched the surface, watched how Siobhan drifted on her back. Only when her lungs ached for air did the brunette lift once more, taking in a deep breath.

“She... died, two years ago, when we first tried to leave.”

---

“Hey, wake up! Wake up, sleepyhead! Jeez, you’re lucky I covered for you, your mother would’ve been – are you still not awake?!”

Kailani yawned as a feminine voice continued to pierce her dreams, content to ignore her friend. When her ears picked up the sound of approaching footsteps the islander even rolled to her side, back to the shadow that now blocked the few rays of sun that trickled from the sky.

“Kailani! I know you’re awake! You never move when you’re sleeping – you’re a denser stone than the entire island!” A small giggle bubbled up from Kailani’s chest, but she playfully, stubbornly refused to rouse. A huff above her signalled the end of her companion’s indulgence and the Chieftian’s daughter let out a squeaky yelp as the other girl jumped her, forcefully rolling them along the wooden deck.

”Me~lla!”

“Don’t ‘Mella’ me! You’re so irresponsible! Did you sleep out here all night?!” Kailani stuck her tongue out as the two finally stopped rolling, ending up pinned beneath her much stronger friend. Above her Mella was frowning, though the amused glint in her bright blue eyes let Kailani know there was no real anger to her words.

“Maaaybe. What’s it to you?” Kailani blew air out of her mouth, a combination of her own dark brown and Mella’s black ponytail. The taller girl shook her head, finally sitting back to let her up.

“You better hope this works, you’d be an awful Chieftain.”

“So I’m told!” Kailani bounced up, stretching her arms high above her head. A series of satisfying cracks sounded out as she loosened up, tilting her head to look to the sky. The sun was just beginning to peek over the edge of Ka Li’Ai’s cloudy wall, bathing the island resting in the eye of the great storm. The light washed over the wood beneath her feet, the deck of her and Mella’s ticket off the island – a ship that had crashed on the far side of the island, surprisingly intact. It was still pretty much a wreck of course, yet slowly but surely her and Mella had repaired it, even making a few improvements.

Of course, while Mella was helpful in lugging materials over, not to mention covering for Kailani when she ended up putting more time than was advisable into their ship, more often than not it was Kailani fixing the ship while Mella sat nearby talking of what life outside Ka Li’Ai must be like. A great warrior, a better friend, but awful with creating anything with her hands. That was fine though, Kailani enjoyed the company. Sometimes it was Mella urging her to stay late, actually – their wanderlust matched and fed off each other!

“We should leave today.” ... Which is why that didn’t sound as crazy as it should have.

“Today?” Kailani quirked an eyebrow, tilting her head from the sky to instead look to the wings of their ship, the white material folded neatly and waiting to be deployed. “I don’t know, the ship’s repaired, but there’s still a lot I wanted to do to it.”

“Please, you’d be content to tinker away at this making it perfect for the next fifty years! Come on, it’ll be rough but we’ll be fine – I brought some food, we have enough supplies to patch up anything on the other side, and besides...” Mella stepped in front of Kailani, into her line of sight. There was a confident smile playing at her face, and she lifted her tanned chin. “I trust in this old bucket, because I trust in you.”

Kailani met her friend’s eyes, brown to blue, and slowly her head tilted to the side as she considered. Her sun-kissed fingers rose, tapping against her bottom lip thoughtfully.

“... You’re not just trying to escape Kwati flirting with you again, are you?”

“Oh shut up!” Mella laughed, shoving Kailani. The latter grinned even as she stumbled back from the forceful shove that sent her a few paces back. Her friend was strong.

“Alright, let’s do it!” Mella blinked, apparently having been ready to argue. However her face immediately lit up, brightening the atmosphere as though Ka Li’Ai was never there.

“Yes! That’s what I want to hear! Come on, let’s get this ready! ... How do I get it ready?” Kailani rolled her eyes, jumping from the ship into the soft sand.

“Come on, I’ll double check all the repairs are set and you can do a supply run – I doubt whatever food you brought is enough for your stomach.”

---

The sun beat down on a pair of dark skinned backs, water sloshing around their feet, then their knees. At that point Kailani jumped in, though Mella continued to push until the water was around her waist. Scrambling in after her Kailani gave her a thumbs up, before turning back to the wheel of the ship. Mella took point at the head, bright eyes looking forward.

The rock of waves was comforting, like a soft goodbye to the island they had grown up. The air was warm, the call of birds above them as they approached the great wall of black clouds.

Soon the light was engulfed.

Soon they were soaked through with rain, their ears deafened by thunder.

Soon all Kailani could hear was screaming, not able to discern if it was hers or her best friend’s.

Cracking. Crimson. Cold.

Mella’s fingers the last part of her to submerge, Kailani’s own clutching to a piece of splintered wood like a lifeline.

Darkness.

---

“I don’t honestly remember much, even after waking up. Everything is sort of fuzzy – I had a pretty bad head injury, and was nearly split in two,” Kailani tapped absently against the grooves of the great scar along her torso, a jagged, scraping path from her right shoulder to her left hip. “It doesn’t help that most of what I remember is being in agony for the first few days. There was a lot of my mother yelling, I remember that – she was the angriest I’ve ever seen her. Not as angry as Mella’s family.”

Kailani’s lips pursed, and she let out a heavy breath. “Ywa’n’s her brother. It’s why he hates me – he blames me for what happened. That’s one of the only other things I can recall from the first few days with the healers – him busting in, in a rage just yelling at me about how I ... well, I honestly don’t blame him for hating me."

“Anyway, my actions caused a lot of unrest. Mella’s family wanted me executed. It’s why the Tournament was brought forth eventually. Appease the people, put new blood onto the throne, all that good stuff. Of course I wasn’t going to let that happen – Ywa’n doesn’t understand, but I sort of feel like I owe it to Mella, to try again. See what was out there like she always wanted, not get shackled here for the rest of my life. This time I made a boat, rather than relying on someone’s else design, so I was pretty confident too! Until, you know, a geyser broke it in half.” Kailani offered Siobhan a smile, it weaker than her usual beaming one but still there. She was always smiling, or at least trying to. This ... was probably more of the latter.

“Part of me wants to believe, since her body never washed ashore, that she somehow made it to the other side.” A soft sigh escaped Kailani’s lips, though the smile didn’t falter, and she sunk further into the water, her eyes cutting to the side. “I know it’s impossible. No one’s survived Ka Li’Ai.”

“... Well, no one but you.”