ONL

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Alexander Polawski

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Location: The Bus
Skills: N/A

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Alexander didn't ignore Manny per say when he didn't look back at his fellow baby boomer to answer his questions, as he spoke back to him all be it in a lowered tone. "The only thing I guess about this place, is that they know their shit. Can't pull vehicles like these out of their asses, after all. That's good." Alexander answered Manny, leaning his head against the window as he felt the cool A/C blow on him. On all of them in the bus. Thalia and Beatrice were both talking behind them, but his thoughts were drifting further and further away with the bus, the cool air, the tired ol' bones of a man who'd been through a whole lot of shit.

This all felt familiar...

A memory of Alexander...

Theme for a young man's return.

Autumn 1972.
Sub-urban Chicago, Polawski-residence.
Home...

It felt odd to be standing out in a rain which was cold and not warm, in a wind that carried with it brown, yellow and red leaves from the autumn trees signalling the end brighter days and the beginning of darkers ones. Some might call it poetic, a fitting metaphor for the mind of the young man standing out on the rainy street of Chicago. To him it was more than that, something much more: It was home. A home he had not seen for a very long time, a place he'd feared he would never return to, even feared that he actually would. He hadn't even had time to visit it before going straight to his fathers funural. And now? It wasn't much of a house the way it looked in the autumn rain, shadowed by grey clouds and an absent sun.

But to Alexander, it was the only place he had left to go.

The sound of military boots against the wet concrete could do nothing to drown out the sound of memories piling up in his head as he walked towards the front porch. It looked just like it had before he left to go to 'Nam, only sadder. He remembered having spent many times out there, avoiding his father's scoldings while watching people walk by. Now none looked at him, perhaps not noticing the military style of his attire or simply not caring. Alexander Polawski, young but scarred, walked up the small staircase up to the porch, fumbled for the key in his pocket, and locked himself in.

Dusty, dark, devoid of life. The interior was one of a house left empty. Not in a hurry or in an orderly move, but in the way you'd leave your house assuming you'd return shortly. It wasn't returned to, not by the man who lived there. His father. William Mathias Polawski, droven over by a car while drunk. Alexander saw evidence of his earlier presence everywhere in the newspapers stacked underneath the coffee table, case for his father's glasses, the photograps hung up on the wall. Taking of his jacket and hanging it up on a hanger, the young soldier already a veteran walked up to pictures of his father, his mother and himself. His mother died not long after Alexander was born, he never knew her. His father and he always argued. But on all those pictures Alexander looked at, they looked happy, all of them.

Even William and Alexander had been both happy once in a while.

The cabinet of booze was left open, one of the last signs that his father had been up late and drinking, been alive. Alexander knew how much he drank, he too had stolen a few sips here and there before he went overseas. Whiskey, Brandey, Wine, there was plenty to drink there. As Alexander approached the cabinet, the image of he and his father in a fishing boat on Lake Michigan kept popping up, the man and the boy both smiling. That could have been them now. Reunited and happy. But thanks to the inhabitants of the cabinet...

The sound of bottles clinking against one another was only matched by the pouring of liquid down the drain in the kitchen. Back and forth the young man marched between the living room and the kitchen, grabbing each and every bottle from that cabinet. On that day, Alexander swore never to touch a drop of booze ever again. His father had warned him not to go, to stay and do better than that. And now, that Alexander sat on the kitchen counter and poured every last drop of alcohol down the sink, tears silently running down his cheeks, he promised his father that.

Old man, look at my life. I'm a lot like you were...

Alexander was brought back to reality with Daytona talking over the intercom like a tourist guide would when arriving to Disneyland, if they did that he didn't know having never been there. The gist of it was that they had a significant settlement in Mexico Beach, lead in a military fashion by the "General". Their induviduality forsaken in favour of survival. Yup, that was the military for you. "Me neither Manny, me neither...But if someone's going to weather this shitstorm, it's a military." That's when he saw the town roll past them, the massive wall that certainly was the perimiter defences of the camp and the gate. First truck went through, gate closed and was gone when it re-opened. Camp Mexico Beach. "If we don't get the boot from the General, it sure could Manny...I'm getting to old for this shit..."

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Nigel "Hadrian" Cooper

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Location: The Bus
Skills: N/A

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Nigel's stoic look around the bus continued throughout the first better part of the bus ride to wherever Daytona were taking them, wherever and whatever their base of operations were. It had to be decent at the very least, with all the organisation that had managed to pull off with helicopters, trucks and radio. But Nigel "Hadrian" was looking around the bus at the various clusters of peoples resting in their seats. He wasn't in the mood to day-dream like Hank and Wayne were about beer and summer vacations, although perhaps he should? His guard was up, though the presence of the sane Erica did help.

Nigel "Hadrian" eventually settled down with looking out the window alongside her, trying to calm down after the initial meeting. Maddog had offered them safe passage and shelter after all back there, and his words had appeared true and honest in nature. So he was uncertain of what to feel about Daytona's talk about the settlement. Military-run small town with good walls and large numbers of living people. Military-run meant efficient and strong, but not always merciful. The 95 % acceptence rate was another double-edged sword. He caught sight of Erica looking at the boy in the back, and he couldn't help but possibly think what she did.

"Been to Florida before, Erica?" Nigel "Hadrian" asked his fellow survivor by his side, turning from the others to look at her, attempting to make normal conversation. Normal conversation in a desperate and unormal situation, but with a small smile. "It looks nice, if it wasn't for all the Undead. Never got the time to travel here, wish I had now." He continued, looking from Erica and out the window again as the wall and gate came into sight. "Reminds me of the Aurelian Walls. These guys really know their construction. Only people with good siege weapons can get through that." Nigel "Hadrian" commented, partly to himself but also to Erica, if she listened. To her he could talk like that without being called a nerd, which was refreshing.

Looking back at Erica, he pulled a smile as he straightened himself in the seat. "Let's hope Fortuna is on our side this time."

🦄 Darker Than Black - Merged With T.S.

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Robert Adler

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Location: Chicago (Grimaldi Books)
Skills: N/A

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Things were getting tenser than church rat in a Cat-Beauty Contest. The Caesar fella was still keeping up his guard to them all, but mostly to Adelaide and the security company that he and the Brit was adement weren't to be trusted. Robert himself watched their stage-worthy exchange run its course while he walked up from standing in the staircase and leaning against the wall instead. He was familiar with the law, and the thought of brokering a deal had crossed him more than once. But the heated words from Adelaide to Caesar, Keystone and the new lady made him keep his mouth shut.

He wasn't getting paid to broker deals. Not today, and especially not by Adelaide.

Robert grabbed his cup of coffee while he watched as the defeated Caesar was led out by Keystone, undoubtedly having to leave without what they wanted when they first entered the book store. But hey, what had they given them? Only vauge hints of murder, conspiracy and illegal surveillance, but no more. But with the two guys out of the way, the lady stepped up to Adelaide as she had walked towards him. This was starting to plant the seed of "Being Pissed Off" in him. "I suggest you pick your words wisely, young lady. It's already been a dead-end with your two friends, and we've got important things to attend to. And you heard what she said; easy to be honest, difficult to lie." Robert told Claire flatly, a hint of annoyance flowing with his words as he lifted his coffee to take a sip.

🦄 Deeper Than The Sands - Merged With T.S.

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Mahendra Huq Zalil

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Location: In The Nile!
Skills: N/A

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The lack of a answer to Mahendra's inquiry into the possibility of an ancient Egyptian pharao's mummified remains being on the ship did little to calm his fears. On the contrary, the sight at the stern of the ship stood only to hammer through the point; the very near death of Vera! As the Bengali and American (Mahendra assumed) duo kept on their swim back to the ship, Vera had earlier fallen into the same predicament as them. Concerning, but solvable. That a lifeboat decided to join in on the fun, more specifically with Vera, that was concerning!

"Lady Munn!" Mahendra shouted at the top of his water-filled lungs as the lifeboat fell upon his superior, not seeing clearly what was going on. Oh the horror! The humanity! His fears of death were washed away in an instant however upon laying eyes on Vera...swimming towards them. "My Gods, have you been harmed, Lady Munn?" Mahendra asked her between her greeting them, her telling the watching passangers that they were fine, and George catching their attention. A steel door. Their salvation! "This has been..." Mahendra started to say, still between his heavy breaths of survival, before continuing. "...too much of an exciteful day, if I may be so bold." He stated with a final tired sigh of breath, before continuing to swim the ring towards the steel door.

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Richard Barker

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Location: Main Deck (Stairs -> Stern)
Skills:N/A

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"Ah great, just like home..."

No one had given Richard a straight answer. No one had answered him at all, or even bothered to pay him more attention than you give a jaywalker risking his life across Times Square during rush-hour just to save some time before your sorry-ass shift starts. Yup, this felt just like New York for you. Not that Richard needed to get any answer from the crew, as the sound of talking, gasping and the subsequent crash of something into the water somewhere at the stern gave him the answers he needed; Something and/or someone had fallen off the ship, and now shit was hitting the fan faster than a sewer rat through your plumbing.

Richard made his way towards the stern of the ship, weaving and pushing his way past anyone who had the inconvinience of standing in his way or just going the wrong way. Faye was naive and curious, at least in his own opinion, and his best bet now was to go look for her there. Either way he could at the very least prove or disprove that she had been the one falling into the Nile...during the night...with possible man-eating animals swimming around. Yeah, he was going to look for her.

"Hey Faye, what's the situation? Who decided to jump ship prematurely?" Richard did find Faye standing at the side of the Main Deck, and made his way to her. Still smoking his cigarette, too tired of the shit of things catching fire or ripping up to care at this point, stood beside her and looked at her with an unfamiliar look of concern. "Are you okay?"

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Alexander Polawski

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Location: The Bus
Skills: N/A

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This was as surreal as Alexander was allowing himself to believe without claiming that this was actually a really bad dream, or a very good nightmare. He had been through so much shit already, and not just after the world ceased to exist like he knew it. With the help of Manny, the first and best doctor the old veteran had been around since all of that began, whom he trusted a whole lot to not leave him like he perhaps should have, Alexander silently limped his way to the ever growing group of people around the chopper. Manny had spoken to him, but Panama had told them to shut up, and he recognized the same intent behind those words from his Sergeant. Then they were herded into a school bus of a Gun Trucker's wet dream.

This was real. They were getting onto a bus and getting the Hell out of there. An older lady with the codename pulled straight of a Chris Rea album would be their driver, but other than that it felt reminicent to Alexander. Did his world repeat itself, just in the very long run? It felt like he was boarding the bus taking him to the airport to finally take him out of 'Nam, and back home. With the help of Manny, Alexander managed to get onboard and support himself limping down the aisle, giving Daytona an appriciative smile and a "Ma'am."

Alexander wanted to stick close to his own people though, and sat down behind where Beatrice ultimatly would be seated, making space for Manny to sit beside him. He wanted to say something, ask something, tell something, but in the comfortable seat and the A/C'ed air, the tired old man just sat down and took a breather. But he did look at Manny and gave him a smile for his words earlier. "Yup, fellow Baby-Boomer. Tied to the hip. Are worse parts to be tied to, or people." That much was true, as Alexander looked briefly at the others entering the bus. He knew none of them like he did with Manny, Thalia, Beatrice and...Thana...wherever she was. But they were safe, and to old soldiers who had been out there, safety was more than one could ask for. So ol' Sparky from Chicago looked out the window, deep in thought.

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Nigel "Hadrian" Cooper

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Location: The Bus
Skills: N/A

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Nigel "Hadrian" certainly wasn't as optimistic as the old man with the redneck-made pegleg was, though he knew better than to argue. He admitted himself for the pat-down by Maddog and for them to take his things, before walking towards the bus. Did he, or any of them have much choice? Wayne and Hank were more than happy to join those military people, while Erica had told him that it was a leap of faith. It surely was, and one Hadrian felt he had no other choice but to leap head into alongside her...them. They had appeared sincere in their offer to be allowed entrance and safety, at least for a short while if they did as they were told.

But Hadrian really, really hoped he would get back his belongings. First of all they were his, and secondly they couldn't possibly appricate how much effort had gone into crafting all of it. Barbarians, the lot of them. Including the young soldier who appeared to have a death wish. He liked the dog though.

Nigel "Hadrian" boarded the bus as well, keeping silent as he walked and found himself a seat. Was it in defiance to his new 'masters'? In protection of himself and the others he trusted against those he didn't? In truth it could be that, but what else was there left to say? Nigel and Erica had already asked Maddog several questions, and recieved no answers. To him, it wasn't their turn to speak. Though he figured they would get more questions in return before the wool was pulled off their eyes. Nigel found a seat behind Wayne, though more out of safety than preferance. If they were going somewhere, might as well do it together. Even if his name surely would change in not too long.

He really needed to come up with some good names for those two, though he still didn't know what Shovel-Knigth was.

PXO: Alpha Academy

Cole Phelps

Level: 1
Day/Time: Day Three - Evening
Location: Floor 49 - Tetris Castle -> Into the portal and to Azeroth
Tag: Vent @Zarkun - Rubick @WXer - Constantina @DracoLunaris - Blue @Holy Soldier - Zero @arowne97
Experience: ////////// (0/10)

Platform City sure wasn't Los Angeles, and Tetris Castle sure wasn't the Central Police Station of L.A. Cole Phelps, the star turned to the black sheep, then turned to the martyr of a conspiracy that was never fully exposed, remembered vividly the city he left behind. A city of wonders, of the modern American world with too many dark secrets to sweep under any carpet. It was dark, but it was still an awe to the observer. But as Cole walked through the streets of Platform City, on his way to what he was told was Tetris Castle for a vaccine, he knew that L.A. might dim in comparison. Not go dark, but just dim. It was like pulled out of an overly-funded Mark Bishop movie with all the money spent on the background.

And yet he knew awfully well that this world had nothing to do with his own. Not directly, and neither did he. Perhaps later?

Detective Phelps took the vaccine with ease. He was a former marine, he had been through much worse in base-camp, and from the talks before and during his walk to what he was told would the briefing, the vaccine was seriously needed. Or perhaps he needed a drink, because when he finally rendevouzed with what he could only assume was his team, he wasn't sure if this was a really big joke, a Hollywood Halloween-party, or if this universe was just that...otherly. First of all it was the Prince dressed in Middle Eastern clothing, then the large knight in not-so-shining armor and the one who looked like a wizard...

No seriously, was he the only normal man in the room?

Cole Phelps had to chuckle though, 'cause it was just too amusing. If he was going to get used to it, better do it fast. He remained quiet, yet observant as the briefing began, switched hands and ended. All the while he took notes in his notebook, plenty of experience telling him that it could be important later. Their mission was to find the source of a metal called "Saronite", finding out if and what connection it had to the Mugen-virus that was so dangerous, and stop some deadly Lich called Arthas. "Sounds like plot pulled straight out of a Pulp-magazine." Phelps had to comment, looking up from his notes at Darion Mograine with a polite smile. "I'll take that as a compliment, Sir."

Then the Wizard spoke up, adressing what was to be believed to be the team on this mission and giving them a very brief talk. Phelps didn't have much time to say anything before Rubick jumped into the portal, making him stand awkwardly before the others as he had expected to introduce himself like the other team had. Pocketing his note book and pen, he looked to the others in the team and gave a quick nod. "Cole Phelps, detective. Call me Phelps if needed."

And with that, he too entered the portal.

🦄 Darker Than Black - Merged With T.S.

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Robert Adler

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Location: Chicago (Grimaldi Books)
Skills: N/A

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Robert stood leaning against the railing of the stairs, watching the situation that should have happened earlier that day. Caesar was caving in on Adeliade's demands, having slid his cellphone on the counter for her to type in whatever information was needed. Robert himself enjoyed watching the massive man of muscle having to admit some sense of defeat in front of a much smaller lady, though he knew just as well as Adelaide that knowledge was power. He even enjoyed it for himself a bit, holding back his smile from going out into a grin, and just pulling the sides of his smile a bit.

Though he still wanted to go and get his own things sorted out; his and Adelaide's that was. Working with Caesar didn't directly help him determine what had happened in that book store, but he had to wait for Adelaide to finish her business with the Mexican. She was the one holding all the cards, like "Mama" controlling the protagonist in the song with the same name. That's when Robert raised his brows in surprise - Yeah, he couldn't do the whole "Look at me! I can raise one brow as a time! I'm so cool!" thing, so both brows it was - at Adelaide's wording. Though she did have a point. Without trust society wouldn't function as they knew it. Besides, Wentworth couldn't possibly be as bad as he made it out to be? Robert lowered his brows and swapped looks between Adelaide and Caesar, assuming he was one of the two witnesses needed for the signing. He remained silent, this was up for the two others to iron out.

🦄 Deeper Than The Sands - Merged With T.S.

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Mahendra Huq Zalil

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Location: In The Nile!
Skills: N/A

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Mahendra could do nothing except give the kind man a smile of tired appriciation and keep on swimming. The man had with no concern for himself thrown himself off the perfectly working ship in order to help Mahendra in his time of need. Had he been British or a Subject of His Majesty King the 5th, it would probably have made a very fine tale of Imperial comradery, akin to that of the Great War against the Empire's enemies. Mahendra however did not know as of yet if the man was British or not, but he didn't care right then and there. He just smiled at the man, breathing heavily as he kept swimming. "Yes...yes that would be very unfortunate. But...but so far, so good, as they say."

With every stroke forward, plowing forth through the heavy waters of the Nile, Mahendra felt the previous tight grip of Death loosen from his back. He had been saved a bit earlier, but the thought of hippos or some other unforseen divine act was not lost on him. So it was best to keep swimming, even with safety coming ever closer to the duo. But then another person fell from the ship. Could it be...Dear Gods! "Lady Munn! By the fate of bad fortunes, Lady Munn has fallen over too!" Mahendra exclaimed through his breaths and strokes, having watched Vera fall overboard and into the dark Nile alongside the two others. What kind of night was this? Was there some Ancient Curse that lay upon the Nile that specific night, or the ship itself? Mahendra wondered..."...There aren't any mummies...on the ship tonight, is there, my good man?"

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Richard Barker

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Location: Lower Deck (Richard's cabin) -> Main Deck (Stairs)
Skills:N/A

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All right, he hated those pants. Absolutely dreaded them, and he wasn't sure whether it was because they reminded him of the scag of an ex-wife Beatrice, or if he just didn't like the pants themselves. They were striped black with light grey fillings in-between, perhaps okay in themselves but not looking overly fitting with the rest of his beige clothing. Now one could argue that Richard shouldn't care, he wasn't one of those young dilletantes he inherited their father's billions of oil-money just to throw lavish parties with more booze, drugs and flapping skirts than any illegal gangster meeting in Havana. And he didn't. No, it had to be the first.

But with no other options, Richard lit himself a cigarette and pulled in the smoke while pulling up the new pants. He couldn't argue with the fact that they weren't sweaty from being out in the sun for too long, so that was something. Pulled up, buttoned in and held up by the same belt he was once again properly dressed like God intended to. But while he did that, his mind went back upstairs; how was Faye? When he had left her, she had seemed okay enough around the drunkard she had talked to. But what now? She was a good girl, clever, but naive after all. And he was the older, hardened detective. Geeze, that sounded more and more like a really bad pulp-novel that kids read those days. "Back to baby-sitting then."

Richard got exited his room, locked it and made his way upstairs again, showing his ticket to the guy at the stairs and casually walking upstairs. It wasn't until he poked his head above the Main-Deck that he heard the commotion around him. An alarm, loads of people talking or shouting about something having happened. What exactly? Richard had no idea, but turned to the nearest staff of the ship and decided to ask in his New York Arabic. "ماذا يحدث هنا؟ ما هو التنبيه؟"*

*Translation

"What's going on? What's the alarm about?"

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Alexander Polawski

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Location: Wewahitchka (C5 -> D7)
Skills: Navigation

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Alexander resisted the urge to throw back a witty comment to Thalia, though coming up with a good comeback along the lines of "So that's why I taste like shit/O's ever since we met?". It felt almost like when he was Thalia's age, young and full of life, ready with sharp words and quick action to get something done. Holding his tounge and moving forward, he almost wished himself back to that time. But then again, he didn't. Alexander did however think about what Thalia said just before she made off down the road. "Let's hope it's her fellow Blue Water Navies, would make most sense. Not many that can operate a Huey like that." The old veteran commented on the possibility of it being Thana's people. That would make things so much easier for them all...Could Thana be there?

Mugsy the One-Legged ass-kicker continued to limp forward on his good leg, pegleg and crutch a good distance behind Thalia, when he heard her talking excitedly up ahead with someone...the chopper-people? It didn't register with him at first, but quickly his brain went into overdrive at the exclaimation "Navy's Ash". That rang a bell louder than a Phantom dropping bombs over your sorry meatheads, and even if he couldn't see who she was talking to, Thalia's following All Clear was enough for Alexander to quicken his pace alongside Beatrice. "That's one of your guys, right?" Alexander quietly questioned Beatrice on the move, but grew silent as they came closer to Thalia. Who where they, and why were they here? It was difficult to say, or even make an educated guess about anything at this point. He hadn't gotten enough time to look at any of those people or the Huey itself, so he couldn't make any assumptions about it being Army or Navy.

They were told to surrender all their equipment and belongings to the guys in the chopper, much like NVA POWs or suspected VCs were. Alexander knew the drill, and followed Beatrice's lead as he surrendered the stuff he carried; Hammer, the box of nails, the battery, painkiller, the amazing mug saying "You're lucky I only have one food, or I'd be kicking your ass now." The only things he kept was the rosary wrapped around his wrist and the pegleg. What was he going to do without the crutch? Wack them with his redneck-pegleg? "Give me a hand, will ya Manny?"

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Nigel "Hadrian" Cooper

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Location: Wewahitchka (D8)
Skills: N/A

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What made Hadrian grind his gear the most in that situation? It had to be either A, that they weren't being given any answers as to what would happen to their belongings and more specific about that if and when they made it to whatever and wherever their base was, or B, that both Wayne and Hank had some very solid points to argue for in the face of the odds. The helicopter was more than armed enough to deal with Nigel "Hadrian's" Roman sword, more than he would ever like to admit, and if they had wanted to just rob them that galley could have set sail long ago. Not to mention that sleeping somewhere properly fortified was appealing.

Nigel "Hadrian" gave Hank one last dejected look, before looking forward again at the helicopter, its crew and the others surrounding it, even the duck-girl...This was becoming more of a comedy than a tragedy in Greek fashion. Now the guy known as Panama was going to start calling him Sportacus, wasn't that just one more joy in life? But he couldn't argue against the older man with his weapon, and resumed the usual look he gave students that annoyed him just that tiny amount too little to reprimand them. But he complied.

"As they say; When in Rome..."

Hadrian took a careful and slow few steps forward, making sure not to do anything sudden as he began to unbuckle his greaves and vambraces. Even Vercingetorix knew when to put down his weapons and submit. He didn't like it, but he didn't have to. Wayne and Hank were going it seemed, and it was best to stick together. Even if they hadn't watched anything but the History Channel. Then followed the rest of his belongings; his satchels containing much of his belongings, the binoculars, the shield, and lastly his sheathed sword. The last thing this called for was a parade. Hearing the sound of engines at the other side of the helicopter and people, Nigel "Hadrian" gave a look at the soldier standing between them and the Huey, really hoping he wouldn't do anything stupid. He looked again at Erika and spoke to her, holding his hands out to the sides to allow Maddog to search him as well. "I think we can only expect the unexpected right now. Lets hope for the best."

PXO: Alpha Academy

Bentley

Level: 1
Day/Time: Day Three - Evening
Location: Floor 49 - Tetris Castle to The Forbidden Lands Temple Bridge
Tag: @Guardian Angel Haruki@DracoLunaris@Holy Soldier@DJAtomika@Tenma Tendo@Zarkun@Wxer@arowne97
Experience: ////////// (0/10)

"I got a bad feeling about this..."

The mentally superior turtle named Bentley hadn't taken a vaccine for many years, though he was not a stranger to taking one. Hey, someone with as many allergies as him were bound to take one or more sooner or later in his turtle-life, but he was used to taking them himself; staying under the radar and away from the Police and Carmelita and all that. At first he was hesitant to taking a vaccine he hadn't tested himself, but he realized the immense danger he put himself in after being explained the severity of the Mugen Virus. So swallowing hard and looking away, he accepted the vaccine with a quiet whimper, hoping it wasn't a bad idea.

Next part of the overlaying PLAN - oh he missed saying that word; Plan. Something to work his big brain on - was to report to another one of the leaders of Tetris Castle, one that Bentley had a vague memory of in the back of his mind, stored beside the countless Tetris battles he'd done over the years. The Prince sat in a large console, quite fancy actually and something Bentley certainly would like to look at, but that was for later. The Prince briefed them on their mission - That was an odd feeling, to be told what to do instead of being the teller.

The green mastermind-turtle pulled out what could be best described as a green tablet with the texture of a turtle shell, typing away at it with determined concentration as he took notes of what The Prince told them; Step One, travel to the dimenson known as "The Forbidden Lands". Step Two, locate the entitiy known as "Dormin", and step Three, gather as much information as possible from him about the Virus. Ah, a three-step plan, that felt right. Though from previous ventures, this was certain to get complicated fast.

"We'll do our very best, Your Royal Highness...wait, am I the leader?" Bentley first told the Prince, though the realization that he was going to be the leader of one of the two teams, well...Bentley swallowed hard again. It had been a while since he had been in out in the field, but if their lives depended on him, he was sure to do his best. Bentley turned around his wheelchair and looked at the team, or Gang as he'd most likely call them, giving them a good look over.

"Nice to see new faces here. Oh hi Shantae, thanks for earlier today." Bentley said to the two groups going into the Forbidden Lands, recognizing one of member he'd met in the tavern. The rest, however, were all strangers to him. All were humanoids, except one was a fully functioning robot! Cool! Bentley coughed a bit, straightening himself in the wheelchair and trying to appear more confident. "I'm Bentley, good to meet you. Looks like I'm one of the leaders on this heist...mission, sorry, old habit. Back in my own reality, I was the brains behind the schemes of the famous Cooper Gang. I'm not the muscle of the Gang as it were, but I can crack any code or security system faster than the theoretical speed of light!"

If and when the rest of the team had also given their introductions to the Gang, Bentley hesitantly entered the portal leading to the Forbidden Lands. Not that he was scared of portals, he had travelled through time after all! It was what lay on the other side that scared him. Poor turtle. Once safely on the other side, Bentley the Brain immediately felt the massive openness of the world mounting on his shell. It was just like Canada, Australia and pre-historic Earth all combined. And in front of the turtle rested a long, long bridge and a very tall tower.

"Roll me up in photons and call me Einstein." Bentley had rarely seen such tall a structure before, and took no time to activate the highly advanced piece of technology that was known as the Binocucom, in order to get a better look at the tower, or whatever the structure was. A shrine? "Be weary, Gang. I have a bad feeling about this."

🦄 Deeper Than The Sands - Merged With T.S.

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Mahendra Huq Zalil

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Location: In The Nile!
Skills: Stamina

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As far as Mahendra knew, he was out of mortal danger. He was far from being safely on the ship or on solid ground, he was soaking wet and out of breath, not to mention if he had lost any items or clothing in the ancient river that was the Nile. BUT he was alive. As he held on for dear life onto the life preserver, he couldn't help but think about the lady that he had spoken with. And to his current situation more relevant, ran after. Was his meeting in the Nile one of her making, or had the Gods looked unfavourably upon him for his actions and punished him? Or was he just that clumsy? He didn't know.

What he did know was that out of the blue, a wet scalp of hair had appeared in front of the Bengali cat-in-deep-water. A scalp of blonde had that belonged to the man greeting Mahendra and grabbing onto the life preserver to swim. What in the name of...Was Mahendra dreaming? Mahendra blinked a few times, trying to see if it was the water in his eyes that caused him these visions, but the more he blinked the clearer the man was. And he was attempting to help him back to the ship. "...thank you, Sir!" Mahendra managed to say between his breathing, starting to swim with the man back towards the ship. It was getting harder to breath, but with the help he managed to keep on swimming forward. He really didn't have any plans to die that night, not that like.

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Richard Barker

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Location: Lower Deck (Stairs -> Richard's cabin)
Skills:N/A

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Richard really didn't know what to think. Either he didn't know, or he was incapable of doing any productive forms of mental leg-work down on the Lower Deck after a long evening with what Richard would call "good ol' shit-heaping in a junkyard". He didn't know about any alarm or the like, or perhaps he just didn't give two shits then and there. What he did care about were his pants and just what the whole business with Franklin had been about. And he meant to find out, eventually at least. Not that he had much to go on, as he made his way from the stairs, through darkened corridor and towards his little plot of land that was his cabin.

Was it really worth investigating? The journal that wasn't Franklin's, that was. Richard questioned himself quietly as he unlocked the cabin door, and entered before closing the door behind him. He hadn't been payed and/or told to investigate the theft of a journal to God-knows-who of a lady, and neither did it have an impact on his and Faye's own case. Their priority was still the Gould-case. Then again, Richard thought to himself while tossing his fedora on the bed and taking off his shoes, the guy was clearly a crook. A crook that was lucky enough to avoid Private Detective Barker's tough questions and tougher attitude, at least for that night. And Richard didn't like his smug smile.

As Richard pulled off his pants and threw them carelessly at the bed alongside his fedora, his search for the still hole-less pair of pants commenced. His suitcase was a unorganized mess of chaotic pieces of clothing and miscellaneous items that mattered to him, and somewhere deep inside a pair of still good pants. Next time he had time, he'd have to find an affordable tailor to fix the hole. 'Cause far as he knew, Faye wouldn't, and he didn't blame her for that. He did however blame himself as he pulled up the other pair of pants from his suitcase. He really needed a smoke...

"...out of all the poor pieces of moth-infested cotton scraps I dragged along with me, I had to take the pants of ex-wife bought me? Richard, you really got some blind spots, Pal."