Krayzikk

Phoenix Wing (A Fairy Tail RP-Always Open, Open)

Lux Harken

The look of embarrassment changed to one of relief. He held out one hand to the bathrobed knight and spoke. The relief on his face working its way into his voice.

"Thank you. I was starting to worry that we would have to tighten our belts on the way out of here."

Jason just might actually fade away if that happened.

"By the way, my name is Lux Harken. Do you mind if I ask yours?"

@Silvan Haven

Cyare Staunton

@Plank Sinatra @HereComesTheSnow @Caasicam

"Cyare Staunton." The tall woman shifted her sheathed sword (not like she could buckle it around a robe) to her left hand, shaking Lux's hand firmly with her right. Cyare frowned internally, just a little, at the mention of tightening belts but she didn't let it show. She withdrew her hand a moment later and returned her sword to it, adding, after a thought, to her introduction. Added with reluctance and in a much softer tone, however. "The Pawn."

"This is Angel and Kaia."

Phoenix Wing (A Fairy Tail RP-Always Open, Open)

<Snipped quote by Silvan Haven>

@Krayzikk @HereComesTheSnow @Caasicam

Angel Ferrara: The Other Guy

"Big enough to go six ways, though?"

Angel ran his hand along the back of his neck somewhat with an uncharacteristically half-bullish grin on his face. Kaia liked to typecast him as the complete innocent of the duo - which was mostly true, save when it came down to the nitty gritty of the paychecks that would keep Ferrara and Iona fed, clothed, and rested on their whirlwind southbound adventure. It was there, along with fights, where his rare beacons of confidence could shine.

And it looked like right now they might need that.

"Because my partner and I are already helping Cyare on the bridge job." He hoped Kaia would be cunning enough to play along. She usually was, but she wasn't exactly as up to speed as most of the others that had congregated; he'd hoped to talk to her about the job with Cyare before anyone else showed up. Angel hadn't really expected it to be a problem. "We were just talking out the details on the way here."

@Plank Sinatra

Kaia Iona

For a fraction of a second Kaia paused, though really because she had been trying to get a clearer picture of both where everyone was standing and their general impressions. It went a long way in telling them apart when they weren't talking. Aye aye cap'n.

"Yeah, I haven't had the chance to beat the crap outta something in ages."

The fact that maybe (definitely!) her vision wasn't a hundred percent great didn't mean that she had any problem at all making her sightless eyes large and innocent. They couldn't possibly be monstrous enough to take that opportunity away from her, right?

@Caasicam

Lux Harken

A thoughtful look fell across the light mage's face. They certainly had a point, a sizable paycheck split four ways (or two, it depended on how each team divided their share) was reasonably fair. Add two more people to the equation and things started getting tight.

"What about a two job contract?" He said after a moment. "I think we've all come to realize that jobs are a bit scarce in this city at the moment. What with the crowds of mages flooding the place. I suggest that we cooperate together on this job and then, once in a place somewhat less thin on jobs we pick up another to make up the difference."

What followed was accompanied by a wry smile and an awkward rub to the back of his head.

"Normally I would just let you have the job but our communal money pouch ran out this morning and all the other quests I could find pay pocket change."

@Silvan Haven

Cyare Staunton

The mage drummed the fingers of the hand on her hip in thought, the other still resting at her side. On the one hand, she would be within her rights to press the issue. Four voices versus two, they could press out the two unknown mages without too much difficulty. Unless they wanted a fight. Which would make things much simpler. Perhaps not the nicest course of action, but when jobs are scarce, one must do what is necessary. Without a home base she and Rei had to pay for places to stay, on top of their supplies. Easy enough in a market saturated with opportunity. Much harder when competing with a flood of other mages. On the other hand... Cyare's face softened, almost imperceptibly, at the mention of the state of their finances.

"Five shares splits more fairly than six." The Tactical Mage stated, her posture standing down from borderline battle-ready to a more relaxed (if no less alert) stance. She continued after a moment to let that sink in, ignoring the light weight of her wallet and the metaphorical weight of her hotel bill. "I have money left over from my last job. Your purse is running light, and if I remember correctly, Ferrara and Iona are in need of funds, as well. My associate can choose what to do with his share. I will take the sum of what is owed to me with the subsequent job, when they are not quite so scarce."

"You have a deal, sir."

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Lugubrious @Sho Minazuki

"Negative." Benjamin said into the radio after a long pause, scowling. Survivors and wounded. Emphasis on the and. Implied the wounded was one of their own, not one of the survivors. JCL was further from the ship, too. His first instinct was to send Amy to help them, or Lauren or Sangue. But no matter who he sent they'd have to reach the lower levels alone, and either he or one of his teammates guarding the survivors would be alone. Could they handle it? Probably, on all counts. But this place was deadly. Opening up one of his teammates, or their wards, to additional danger had the potential to be a devastating tactical blunder. Nothing he could do.

... Yet.

"We have survivors of our own to guard. Amy and I are sweeping the last of the residential rooms. Once we do I can send them back to the ship and be on my way. Ten, fifteen minutes. Maybe less." A beat, and he added; "We'll hurry."

"Amy, guard Moss' door and cover me." He jerked a thumb towards the closed, locked door and then pointed to the slightly open one belonging to one "M. Millade". "You've got a good line of fire. If it's not human, it dies. Anything tries to get into Moss' room, it dies. Anything with red eyes, it dies. You get the picture. Let's make this quick."

As soon as she nodded, Ben was moving towards the other room. He flipped Artorius and Lawnslot forward into a reverse grip, and pressed two buttons in quick succession. The first triggered the release on Lawnslot's battery, sending Aura flooding into his body. The gauge on his BaSTEEL's cheerfully swelled to an immense degree, registering, after the flood subsided, an Aura reserve of 186%. More than enough. The second function was a little more impressive. While their owner stalked forward towards the door, Artorius and Lawnslot released a locking mechanism with an audible click. Their blades rotated out ninety degrees in unison, stopping with the satisfying sound of metal on metal. The shotgun assembly now completely exposed, it slid forward on previously concealed rails towards the sharp side of the perpendicular blades. Lawnslot was passed to his right hand, both tonfa seeking their other half. Once they found it, they connected at the hilt with a heavy click. Locking mechanisms engaged. Lawnslot's handle slid down on an unseen pole at its center, a pole that slid smoothly through a channel at its twin handle's grip to align both in single line. Bastille's leader closed his hand around the new, two-handed grip easily, listening to the satisfying series of whirrs and clicks as the shotgun assemblies connected into a single, solid crossguard.

Finally, as Ben reached the door, three soft schinks of well-oiled metal sliding against metal ending in a soft clack when it reached the end of its rail in quick succession as the previously forearm-length blades extended on three hidden, telescoping segments. He swung Caletfwlch once, cutting through the air to double-check the sword's integrity, before placing his left hand on the handle, thumb on the trigger mechanisms, and bringing it up to a ready position.

Rather than give anything potentially waiting on the other side any warning, Ben kicked open the door to Millade's room hard, stepping through the open doorway in the same breath, prepared to cleave any enemy waiting beyond in half with a fraction of a second's notice.

Persona - Academic Akrasia (Being rebooted, see new int check)

Daisuke Miyamoto was a lot of things. Bit of a troublemaker. Not that great at academics. Hard worker, stubborn to a fault, and borderline fearless. People who knew him from grade school might say brave. His sister would. But the thing about bravery, at the end of the day, is that to be brave, you've gotta be a little stupid.

Daisuke had that covered.

Which probably explained why, at the sight of a crash, he was sprinting towards the scene of a horrific accident, and not away. He was making a beeline for the cab, at first, despite the obvious damage. If there was even remotely a chance anyone was alive in there, he was gonna get them out. His bike practically left the ground, the handlebars proving to be useful in nudging members of the crowd out of the way. They were all standing so fucking still, shouldn't someone be calling an ambulance? The cops? Someone? Fuck, even he wasn't so goddamn brain-dead. He could feel his heart sinking lower and lower the closer he got, though. No one was alive in the-

R͉̲e̠̲̙͜e̢͖̗̼͕̝̜͕e̸̯o̶̺̤̲͓ͅo̟͙̬̮͕̕o̧̹̜͇o̦̺̦̥o̴͕̜̱͍o̳̺̺͉o͉͓̟͈̙o̝̙o̮͉͔͚͔͞o̭͉w͙͉̙!̪̺͓̻̘

...

Instead of sinking lower, his heart leaped into his throat and started beating like a jackhammer. Something about that noise was wrong, and the banging of metal on metal wasn't helping. When the first bot emerged from the wreckage, he had already started thanking his lucky stars he wasn't headed into work today. He'd be so late. He was locked, for the first few minutes, in a staredown with the lead droid. He probably looked crazy. But something about it felt wrong, like there was something more behind the sickly gold than mere ones and zeroes. Still, even if he wasn't the best student, even Daisuke knew one thing.

You didn't ship your product pre-activated.

He stuffed the gum from Kimiko in his mouth dutifully, but didn't say anything just yet. He dropped his bike, first and foremost, and rolled his shoulders back, pushing his shoulderblades together until he felt the familiar, satisfying stretch. Without taking his eyes off the lead mech, he crouched down and scooped up a long, thin piece of debris off the ground. Heavy, battered, and metal. Might have been a part of the truck, might have been a signpost, it didn't look like much of anything anymore. But it'd do. He rapped it once, twice, thrice against a trashcan, hoping to break the trance the crowd seemed to be caught in.

"Listen to the man!" He yelled, pointing the rod briefly at Hitoshi before swinging it up and onto his shoulders, resting both wrists on its length. "Get the fuck goiing!"

The most efficient McDonalds-employed reformed delinquent chewed the gum thoughtfully, still with his eyes locked on the machine ahead of him. He didn't get a good count, but there were a lot.

"Well, Kimiko-chan. Think I'll take the ones on the left."

Persona - Academic Akrasia (Being rebooted, see new int check)

"I've been alright. I went to school today."

As they left the school grounds, Daisuke dragging his bicycle behind him, Kimiko pulled out her allocated pack of Friday gum - not a pack at all, truly, a large circular box containing enough Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape (TM) to put a Megazord on a leash. She tore off a strip about as long as a finger, rolled it into a tight circle, and popped it into her mouth.

A whole new kind of bubble, she thought in approval as they began traveling a route of streets familiar to them both.

"I don't know what I'm going to do this weekend, though. I think my parents are out of town. House gets quiet." She tossed her hair over her shoulder (perhaps not coincidentally, the left shoulder; thus affording protection to her auburn mane from the gum she chewed on the right side of her mouth) and made it bob slightly with a shrug. "I'll think of something. I usually do. What's up?"

@Plank Sinatra

"Not much. Having to cut back on my hours a little, boss is trying to groom the new guys. And one of the teachers was bitching about me looking too tired." The (reformed) delinquent snorted, a puff of air exiting his nostrils to produce the sound. The noise, really, summed up his opinion on the perceived lack of sleep. Still, he changed gears pretty quickly towards a slightly related line of thought instead of lingering on it. "Been trying to keep up with homework. Make sure sis does hers."

"Not much. All in all."

Phoenix Wing (A Fairy Tail RP-Always Open, Open)

Cyare Staunton

@Plank Sinatra @Caasicam @Silvan Haven @HereComesTheSnow

"Nothing malicious. He is very loyal to you, Ms. Iona. If a little tongue-tied when it comes to explaining why. You picked a good friend." Cyare answered, almost warmly for perhaps the first time that morning. It was quite easy to see the bond between the two of them. The Iona girl and Ferrara spoke and interacted with an ease born of familiarity, as though each already knew how the other would react to each event that occurred. Such musings, for most, might have prevented her from noting the other two mages present. Or from processing the information gleaned from their conversations. Cyare Staunton the Tactical Mage was not most people, even without her magic. With it she could comprehend the entire scene as easily as breathing.

And the first thing she noted was that the newest one, that one simultaneously greeting her and sizing her up, had recited the details of the job she had claimed. And the flyer he held was for the same job as the one she had taken the previous day. Her attitude cooled almost immediately, reverting to a reserved and formal address paired with a cool (albeit polite) tone. Not one without steel behind it, however, as the shift in her posture from 'almost relaxed' to 'highly focused' indicated.

"Hello. While it is no doubt a pleasure to meet you, I am afraid that job is taken."

Persona - Academic Akrasia (Being rebooted, see new int check)

ost

"Yeah."

She had learned the Seven Styles of Bantz from under the floral-patterned wing of Nakamichi-kun. It was not as though she could not have scratched Daisuke's itch for someone to talk to, bounce his hot-blooded zeal off of. But sometimes it was best to just reflect on your day in silence, you know? Banter and cursing was nice, but if you did it all the time, things stopped being funny. You learned not to laugh at most of it, which was sad.

Kimiko still liked to laugh.

Anyway, that probably wasn't what Daisuke-kun would take out of her silence. He'd probably just think she was daydreaming about baseball or detective work or a kaiju made of Bubbalicious. There wasn't a deeper meaning behind Saitou Kimiko's silence very often, and she wasn't easy to read when there was one.

She decided to try communicating her intent to her bike-wielding classmate more directly.

"I don't know if I've ever seen your bike."

This was a start.

"Do you park it at McDonald's often?"

@Plank Sinatra

"Yeah. There's a bike rack out back for employees." Daisuke started walking the bike next to him , headed away from the school down towards the street. He supposed Kimiko probably hadn't seen it before. He was usually gone by now, before most people had made their way out of the building. So it made sense that she'd be curious. She was like that. Curious, that is. "It's decent enough. Gets me where I need to go."

"So, how've you been?"

Persona - Academic Akrasia (Being rebooted, see new int check)

is this better @Crimmy

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

I also drew Ben. :D @Krayzikk I wanted to give him an appearance... if it doesn't fit tho it's fine ha ha

My Hider

Transparent Render w/ watermark

Transparent Render w/o mark

Non-Transparent

@NarayanK

This is absolutely fantastic.

F a n t a s t i c.

You are a god among men

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

One down, four to go.

"Just relax, sir. We've still got four more people to find. We've cleared the cafeteria, the rest of my team is there. The way should be clear. They can make sure you're safe, even if something shows up in the hall. I recommend you go to stay with them until it's time to go." Ben said clearly and calmly, pointing out the door and down the hall to indicate where he meant. No doubt this man knew where he meant, but it was best to be completely clear. You never knew what effect stress might have had. Still, though, the survivor might have some information they could use.

"Do you know if anyone else was on this level? We found two of your coworkers hiding in the fridge, and my friends found a bunch more survivors below us. But we're still missing those four, so we're checking the rooms. Do you know what Grimm were on this level?"