Double

World of Light

S.O.U. Headquarters

@Lugubrious Goldlewis Dickinson, Tora & Poppi | @DracoLunaris Midna | @Zoey Boey Karin | @Yankee Pit | @Archmage MC Blazermate & Susie | @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Geralt, Zenkichi | @Dark Cloud Benedict Pascal

Word Count: 496
Level 5 Roxas: 18/50
Exp: 1
NEW EXP Balance--- 19/50

The morning finally came. Roxas was groggy for the first bit of it. But the smell of breakfast had a way of energizing just about anyone. So by the time Roxas was eating a doughnut and drinking a glass of OJ, he was pretty well awake and feeling better. He listened for a little bit as others conversed around him. They were also introduced to Vernon, who was the person that was absent from yesterday's meeting. Which meant that everyone was here, exactly what Roxas was hoping for.

Goldlewis and Vernon were getting caught up on events, with Benedict joining in the conversation as well. And Midna offered some suggestions of her own, but ones that weren't the same as the ones she had yesterday. It was here that Roxas figured he should probably interject. He gulped down the last bit of his OJ and cleared his throat, "Personally, I think you had the right idea yesterday, Midna." he told her in reference to her Mercenary suggestion from the last meeting.

"It gives me an idea of my own, actually." he said, clearing his throat a bit louder to make himself heard, "Benedict is right, we have to walk on eggshells around Psych-OSF and others. That's why..." he considered his words, "That's why instead of trying to find a foothold, we should just make one ourselves." he hoped the comparison made sense, and then looked over in Midna's direction.

"Remember what you said yesterday? I say we go with that plan. Instead of trying to stress ourselves over allying with the factions, we should just become one of our own. That way we can do things our way and not have to restrict ourselves to whatever red tape the other factions would likely weigh us down with." after a brief pause he continued, "Though maybe calling ourselves mercenaries would be a bit much. Instead what if we become like those genius detectives in mystery novels? The kind who can take down the criminal organization because he isn't weighed down by the restrictions or regulations that the police operate under?"

He rubbed his chin in thought, "Huh, you know a 'detective' might be easier for people to trust than a 'mercenary'. Since a detective can be someone who will help you out with your case no matter how big or small it is. People might, I dunno, relate to it?" and as he spoke another idea came to him, "And helping people would help us establish relations and connections we could potentially tap too, right?" He glanced around to gauge reactions or responses.

World of Light

The Astral Plane -> S.O.U. Headquarters

Word Count: 505
Level 5 Roxas: 1/50
Exp: 1
Bonus Exp: 16 (Hot Pursuit + Startup + Enceladus)
NEW EXP Balance--- 18/50

As the fight against Enceladus wore on, Roxas couldn't help but start to feel... dragged down in some way. Some invisible weight on his mind or in his heart. Maybe it was just stress and fatigue, but the Keybearer couldn't shake feeling like it had to do with the place they were in. Maybe this was what the redshift felt like? If so, then he couldn't let this be drawn out for much longer. But after having popped a Curaga to get Goldlewis back on his feet, Roxas was effectively on fumes until his MP finished recharging.

As such, he took a slightly more cautious approach. Rather than charge in, he elected to stay with Goldlewis. Both to give himself a safe moment to recharge, but also to help guard the unarmed Goldlewis from being targeted by attacks. With Flowmotion he was almost always quick enough on the draw to swoop in and guard or parry an attack that would have hit more vulnerable Goldlewis. But after a few moments he saw a chance go in for a finisher alongside his allies and took it without a second thought.

It was tough, but the Seekers eventually managed to beat the thing down. Or at least it looked that way, but apparently not. The chimera was back up and seemingly ready for another round. But that was when the officers of Neuron showed up. They could summon powerful looking armored beings to help them fight, which only bolstered their numbers. Roxas was getting exhausted by this point, but his MP did finish recharging. So rather than directly join in for the attack he cast another Curaga so that the other Seekers could get back some strength before joining in on the final assault.

Roxas felt like he was going to conk out at any moment. And the next several minutes were honestly a blur. They were brought out the Astral Plan and back into the city, and Roxas was pretty sure they were being flown at one point. Honestly he was too busy fighting his drowsiness to really register it any of it. That and he was beginning to think of something else.

Throughout the trip back and right up to the point when Roxas finally fell asleep, an idea had begun forming in the Keybearer's mind. Whether this was a good idea or not, he wasn't sure. But at least now he was finally starting to grasp how things worked around here, and maybe this plan of his was the way he could actually help them gain some kind of foothold in this Ever Crisis problem? He'd have to bring it up with the others, but right now he was too tired - and most likely so was everyone else. His idea could wait until morning.

Multi-Interest Check of Interests

Lawman

Name:
Hector DiLorenzo

Alias:
Lawman

Age:

Appearance:
The uniform is generally darker and more tarnished. The hat has been replaced by a gray helmet paired with darkly tinted goggles that help mask his identity. There's also usually a tattered scarf blowing in the wind behind him.


Power/Skills: Very skilled rider on his motorcycle. Also quite an expert at wielding his primary weapons of choice. Beyond that, not much beyond a seemingly ghostly or phantom-like aura about him.

Equipment:
Mauser C96
Ithaca 37
Side-Bar Police Baton
Harley-Davidson Flathead motorcycle
Bowie Knife with a strange symbol engraved on the blade

Personality:
Dedicated, Determined, Angry, Mysterious, Merciless

Brief Bio:
Hector DiLorenzo was an officer with a promising career in the SCPD. He was a motor unit, and thus issued a standard flathead motorcycle to serve as his primary transportation for patrols and pursuits. But he was also known for carrying a couple of personal weapons as a preference, namely his Mauser C96 which he first used when fighting in the trenches of The Great War. But he also carried a bowie knife with a unique engraving on the blade, a keepsake and family heirloom that just so happens to also serve as a suitable backup weapon.

But all that changed after a few short years on the force. DiLorenzo accidentally discovered corruption within his own motorcycle division. Apparently they were sharing a cut of the profits from a local mob boss's bootleg operation. But because DiLorenzo wouldn't let himself be paid off, he was marked for assassination. His own former partners sabotaged his bike in order to arrange an accident, then shot him for good measure. By all accounts, he should have died.

Instead, he heard what sounded like the call of a woman's voice. Telling him to awaken, to rise and take his vengeance on those who had betrayed him. He awoke, alive against all odds. He'd been found and nursed back to health by a man who owned a dairy farm not far from the site of DiLorenzo's "accident". The ex-cop remained there for a brief time, enough to heal and to repair his wrecked motorcycle. After that he rode off into the night, becoming the spirit of vengeance known only as "Lawman". And while his ex-partners were his primary targets, he decided there was no harm in dishing out some retribution to other criminals along the way.

Notes: The bowie knife he carries once belonged to Nathan H. Bedford - Hector's grandfather on his mother's side. Nathan had fought against the forces of General Sherman during the Meridian Campaign of the Civil War. He, too, was shot and left for dead only to miraculously survive and live to fight another day. He was carrying the bowie knife when it happened, and the knife has remained in the family as an heirloom ever since.

World of Light

@Lugubrious Nadia Fortune | @Zoey Boey Jesse Faden | [@Majora's End] Omori, The Knight | @Yankee Therion | @TruthHurts22 Ichiban Kasuga

Home of Tears

Word Count: 1,148
Level 3 Ganondorf: 34/30
Exp: 2
NEW EXP Balance--- 36/30

For the unlucky staff that operated on Ganondorf, they were in for a surprise when the King of Evil jolted awake just as they were about begin treatment. The Gerudo proved... most difficult. The last thing he remembered was all the fighting down in the Womb, and he was still very much in that combat mode mindset. This combined with his size and raw strength made it almost impossible for him to be restrained, since he would just easily break out of anything they tried to strap him down with.

"I am the great Lord Ganondorf!" he roared at what he could only assume were his would-be "captors". He even took a swing at one poor fellow which sent him crashing into the nearby wall and collapsing in a heap, "You will never hold me cap... capt... you will never..." his voice trailed off and his vision blurred. At some point someone managed to sneak up on him with a needle prick, and the King of Evil collapsed into unconsciousness yet again. This time under medical sedation.

The next time he awoke, he found himself in a room that didn't look like any dungeon he'd ever seen. It was too clean, and the bed was too cushioned. But even more importantly than all that, Ganondorf felt... normal? No coughs, no rashes from plague, no... anything. He'd been... healed? Nearby he saw his two swords leaning against the wall. That settled it. If he still had possession of his weapons then he couldn't possibly be a prisoner. So with that in mind, it led him to his next question, "What is this place, exactly?" he pushed himself out of the bed and grabbed the weapons.

Eventually, the groggy Gerudo had wandered into a lobby of some kind where he spotted Nadia looking like she'd seen a castle full of ghosts, "Are we... still in the Womb?" he asked, still not aware that the group had long since left that wretched place. He listened to whatever explanations he was offered and almost appeared to sigh in relief for a brief moment. It took a lot for something to get to him, but that place certainly was beginning to after spending what felt like an eternity down there.

One-by-one, the Seekers eventually were gathered in the lobby of this Sanitarium place. Apparently this was where the group was directed to after leaving the Basement. Speaking of directions, there appeared a man Ganondorf did not recognize. He was unconscious before and so this was his first time seeing the man in the red suit. Despite appearances, the man looked like a reasonably capable fighter, so what was someone like that doing in a place like this? Oh well, it mattered not. Eventually Ganondorf realized his hair had become untied during his treatment and exasperatedly tied it back again.

"Blast it all!" the Gerudo muttered, "If we are indeed in a town of some kind, then the first thing I'm going to do is find someone who can do something about this." he said in reference to his hair. In a matter of moments he was exiting the Sanitarium and out into the Home of Tears itself.

---

Finding his away around wasn't too difficult. After crossing a fountain courtyard, Ganondorf found himself among a marketplace. Perfect, if there was anyone who could cut hair in this town than this was surely where they could be found. After looking around for a few minutes, a sign reading "Killer Cuts" caught the Gerudo's eye. Walking up to the door, the King of Evil pushed it open and entered the establishment.

"Ah, welcome!" said the proprietor as soon as he heard the door open. He was certainly a... ghoulish looking fellow, with his red eyes and gaunt face with green skin. And yet, despite that he was also quite dapper and well dressed - wearing dark blue formal attire with a matching wide-brimmed hat, "Are you perchance interested in a styling, Milord? I offer only the finest styles here at Todd's Killer Cuts." he then brandished his literal scissor-hands in a sort of flourish.

"...Indeed." grunted Ganondorf, eyeing the scissor-hands with no small amount of suspicion.

The barber - Todd - picked up on this and immediately offered a more reassuring tone, "Ah, I assure there's nothing to be alarmed of, Milord. These hands were the unfortunate result of a cursed pair of scissors. Only way to break the curse is if I use them to create six-hundred and sixty-six hairstyles. So naturally your patronage would be of great help to me in reaching that goal."

Ganondorf merely shrugged, "Then, by all means." he said before he was then directed to sit in the barber chair.

"Wonderful, wonderful!" exclaimed Todd, "Now, what style can I create for you today, Milord?"

"Just something short and presentable will do, I grow tired of this lion's mane on my head." said the King of Evil, then he added, "A soldier's cut will be fine. And trim this beard a bit while you're at it. I'd rather not walk about town looking like a wild animal."

"Very well then..." said the barber who then flourished his scissors around Ganondorf's head. In fact the style of the Gerudo's hair and beard were changed almost instantly as if by magic rather than by physical cutting, "How does that fair, Milord? I trust it is to your liking?"

Ganondorf turned his head side to side as he examined himself in the mirror, "Hmm, yes, much better." he stood up from the chair and turned to face the barber, "Now what fee do I owe you for your services?"

"Why, none at all, Milord!" replied Todd. This elicited a raised eyebrow from Ganondorf, "As I explained earlier, my curse can only be lifted by creating enough hairstyles. Simply allowing me some amount of progress toward that goal is payment enough. Good day to you, Milord. Do consider enlisting my services again should you fancy another style, won't you?"

"Hmm, perhaps." and with that, Ganondorf exited the store and went back out into the marketplace.

Unfortunately, he was currently lacking in funds. But still... perhaps a bit of exploration wouldn't hurt. If nothing else, Ganondorf would do well to get the lay of the land. And fortunately, this place seemed infinitely more pleasant and preferable to that dreadful Basement.

World of Light

The Astral Plane

Word Count: 494
Level 5 Roxas: 0/50
Exp: 1
NEW EXP Balance--- 1/50

Roxas had to dive out of the way of a finger laser. This thing was a chimera? The floating arms and body of it reminded him of a familiar enemy from his own world: the Heartless known as a Guard Armor. It, too, had body parts that floated about and could attack individually. And from what Roxas could recall, each of those parts could also be individually destroyed, "I've faced a Heartless similar to this in my world!" he told the others, figuring it was best to share what he was thinking. "If this is anything like that was, then we can destroy the parts one by one if we focus our attacks!" while Roxas wasn't sure if this would work against this specific enemy, some kind of plan was better than having none at all.

He used his Keyblades to bat away an incoming couple of fire bolts. Then he fired back with a couple of Blizzagas before having to dive out of the way of another incoming finger laser. This time Roxas decided to move forward and close the distance between himself and the chimera. It tried to launch a punch at him but the Keybearer was able to guard against it and strike back with a Dual Counter. After that he unleashed a flourish of melee strikes on the same arm he had just countered against. He was trying to put his strategy into motion by focusing his attacks on a single part in the hopes of destroying it sooner.

But Roxas also knew he had to tread lightly. This thing had already demonstrated that it could hit, and hit extremely hard. The Keybearer understood that he was likely the only Seeker in this current group capable of healing. And so Roxas had no choice but to divert his attention way from his attacks every now and again in order to check on the well being of his teammates. If it looked like everyone was taking a beating, he could fire off a quick Curaga to give the Seekers a second wind if needed. But this also meant that he had to remain on guard a bit more, and as a result he started to not get in quite as many attacks as he would otherwise have liked to. He also knew that if he went down, that would mean the group would lose its only current healer.

After spending nearly a year doing missions for Organization XIII alone, Roxas had to admit that this current situation of taking an entire team into account was actually kind of new to him. He just had to hope he could get the hang of it quick because otherwise he and the Seekers would be in serious trouble.

Multi-Interest Check of Interests

Probably earlier. WWII started in 1939, and I'm assuming we'll be somewhere in 1933-1935. That's just my guess, though.

Multi-Interest Check of Interests

For the record, my vote went toward 1930s. Omega knew this already but I figured I'd put it on the record here anyway.

Multi-Interest Check of Interests

@Omega Man Just letting you know I'm here. And you already know where my vote goes.

World of Light

Jesus you people keep firing off posts like a machine gun fires bullets lol.

@Dark Cloud

We call it the "Weekend Rush". Everyone knows the update is coming and those who procrastinated or simply had busy have busy weeks uses the weekend to get all their posts out before the update leaves them behind.

World of Light

Suoh -> Musubi's

Word Count: 590
Level 4 Roxas: 25/40
Exp: 1
NEW EXP Balance--- 26/40

Roxas was left slack-jawed for a bit after Raz quite literally stuck the little door onto Sakura's head. After that he lowered his goggles over his eyes and then... nothing. Well, nothing from an outsider's perspective, anyway. The fact that they now both appeared to be sleeping meant that whatever Raz had done worked. He guessed. This was completely new to Roxas and truthfully it kinda confused him. But Raz did ask him to stay on watch and keep their bodies from being disturbed, so the Keyblade Wielder sat down on the pavement nearby them and just kinda... stared.

Eventually, the two of them woke back up at around the time Goldlewis came to pick them all up. From Roxas's angle, it was all completely uneventful, dull even. But he made a mental note to ask Raz about what happened later. He wanted to at least know if their efforts had worked out or not. But for the time being the Seekers had to focus on their upcoming dinner with Luka at that Musubi's place. Roxas was... not exactly thrilled. The Psych-OSF hadn't really made a particularly good impression on him yet and having to go deal with another one was definitely not something he was looking forward to. But he kept quiet and went along with it for now.

Along the way, Peach fused one of the Spirits she had showed them with herself. The changes were pretty noticeable, but most of it looked like it could be written off as merely a change of hairstyle and wardrobe, for the most part. And yet... Roxas just stared in disbelief. Did these people seriously have no regard for their own sense of self? They seemed to have no problem at all with letting themselves be changed and influenced by fusing with these spirits. It just seemed, wrong to Roxas. He then inevitably started imagining what fusing would do him if he were try it... and he physically shuddered and even recoiled a bit.

Uh uh, no way. He did not want to have put himself through that, not for any mission. He'd fought too long and too hard to prove his existence. There was no way he could just let it be... violated like that, "S-sorry!" he quickly said when he realized he'd had such a visible reaction to the fusion, "I'm just... surprised that you can so easily let something change you like that." he looked away then, not exactly wanting to continue that line of discussion. But it was pretty clear that he had not come to terms with the idea of fusing. Or that he even wanted to come to terms with it.

Eventually though, he was sitting in the restaurant with everyone else. Luka had to give them all paper menus because, of course, everything in here was only readable for psychics. Just another annoyance to add to the growing list. But Roxas knew better than to make a scene here, so he just read over his menu and picked the first thing that looked good to him. He spent practically the entire dinner just sitting in silence, picking at his food, almost looking like he was just waiting for this to be over and done with. He dared not open his mouth, lest he say something that would land them all in trouble.