TruthHurts

World of Light

Level 3 (XP: 21/30)

Edinburgh MagicaPolis - Aether Paradise

With everyone in agreement, Wonder Red pivoted to face the Center's exit. It was true that this could very well be a trap in its own right, the Consul luring these interlopers into the open with a public gathering and news of war on their HQ. Red wasn't blinded by vengeance. He knew it was entirely possible, even likely. It was a risk. But if they didn't take the bait now, then what happened yesterday - the library, Sierra, the wanton destruction of their own city and endangerment of their own people - would probably happen again.

Jumping into the fray to stall the enemy was part of the job description.

"On me," Red commanded, before he broke into a dead sprint out of the Center, retracing their steps back to Aether Paradise. The crowd, while thinning out as the speech was over, was still dense enough that the four Seekers had to bustle and barge their way past them all, at least to match Red's speed. They soon reached the lakeside railing again, with Red skidding to a halt and, in one swift motion, ripping the cloak off himself. As the piece of clothing fluttered in the air, taken by the wind out to the water, Wonder Red fixed his eyes up at the floating platform.

"Wondeeeeeeeerrrr JUMP!"

Wonder Red's CENTINEL suit thrummed with energy, the very ground beneath seeming to vibrate just the same, reaching out to the feet of his teammates as, before everyone's eyes, Red rocketed off the ground, springing high into the air, a feat which the other three, despite being suit-less, was granted in the moment.

Wonder Red and his fellow Seekers soared up, the ambient nanoparticles generated by the CENTINEL suit forming a rainbow colored trailed behind him, until they all touched down on the front-most edge of Paradise.

"Team!" Wonder Red shouted, snapping to an at-the-ready pose as he stared ahead at who or whatever stood in their way. "The mission: locate and confront Consul L! Be on your guard and leave nothing to chance!"

---

348 Words
+1 EXP

World of Light

Rank 6
36 / 60 EXP

Midgar
Underground Nexus

Raz was trying to give the beast a wide berth, continuing to pepper its center mass with Psi-blasts, but the thing was pretty damn nimble for its size. The big house head (was that it's head? Or was it the two... heads?) swung towards him, dragging the rest of it behind, but the ribbons were even faster; they lashed ahead of the Other, swiping at Raz, each strand long enough to reach him. Luckily ducking under sharp whip-like things was part of his forte. The Aquato family had been on rotation for lion replacement ever since they lost the original lion while on the road in upper Ohio. It was kind've like a chore wheel, but less painful.

Jump, bounce, duck, slide, Raz slipped past every ribbon strike by the skin of his teeth. Part of him, beyond the show-boating hoops and hollers he did with each successful dodge, was sure it was all thanks to this fancy 'Brain Drive' capability his new outfit came with. He was more focused than he'd ever been before, his brain running so fast and clearly that the world almost moved in slow motion.

Thanks to this heightened sense of attention Raz was able to catch sight of the emerging group of allies down one of the dark tunnels, even while dealing with the Other. "Hey guys!!" Raz called, waving as he spun around and dealt three more blasts in rapid succession, two of which missed the mark just barely, disturbing some butterflies clinging to its limbs. Guess he wasn't all that perfect still. "Made it in time to help with the big one!"

With the added backup, Raz changed tactics - most everyone who joined were grounded, so he'd take to the air above the Other to keep its attention split. Having made a little more than a semi-circle around the monster Raz stomped down hard, skidding to a stop for a brief moment as his Levball, boosted by the Drive, sprung him high, high, high up, managing to almost match the two stone heads. At the zenith Raz began to levitate, in the more classic sense, borrowing Sakura's power again. He wasn't sure how much control he'd have now, but it didn't really matter.

"Hey, jerkface!" Raz shot at the Other, verbally. "Or, uhh, Jerk...faces? You big thing!" Witty as ever, he aimed Mental Connection at one of the heads, sending himself careening fast towards it. He wasn't going in for a dive-bomb, however, instead managing to slingshot himself right past and end up about where he began, just floating in the air now, the momentum placing him just above the Other. There, Raz used TK, the tell-tale hand floating down to the rubble that had trapped them moments ago. TK, too, was significantly improved thanks to the Drive, allowing Raz to grab hold of a real hefty chunk of concrete and lift it up.

In one swift motion Raz swung his arm overhead, willing his TK to follow suit, circling upwards into the air behind, then over himself. "You might have two heads, and that's better than one..." He said, performing a karate-esque chop-esque swipe downwards. The hunk of stone mirrored it, Raz effectively slamming it down on the Other's head(s). "...but that just means you have twice the mouths to eat concrete with!"

---

560 Words
+1 EXP

World of Light

Rank 6
35 / 60 EXP

Midgar
Underground Nexus

"Aw man! Can't believe I'm stuck on this side and not there fighting the bad guys!" Raz rolled back and forth atop his glowy Levball, so practiced with it that he barely had to think to work it like an anxious pace. He paused briefly to add, "because, uhh, I want to help everyone, of course. Not so I can keep doing cool bad-guy-fighting things," before continuing to circle around. The sounds of their friend in combat muffled, all Raz could do was bound around in wait. If only he had Clairvoyance he could at least see what was going on.

From the sounds of it the going was tough, especially with such a large amount of Other while the team was split. It wasn't that Raz didn't trust the others of pulling their weight, but it felt wrong to just be standing there when half his team was in trouble!

Luckily they could teleport, only Luka only managed it after the fight had concluded. Or, so they thought.

"Whoa! Didn't miss all the fun I guess." Raz prepared for the fight, tugging his goggles over his face, and following Luka's lead - not that Raz had done this before himself - pulled on a chord tucked just below his coat's lapel. The peacoat's collar sprang up, curling over his head, completing the psycho-isolation field around him. Raz's own display flicked on, a criss-cross of diamond lights forming two crosshairs where his goggles were.

"Woooow..." Raz's thoughts strayed for a moment as the Brain Drive's effects hit him, affording him more focus and reaction speed than he was normally used to. He was quick to acclimate though, and just as quickly sprang into action. "I'll run the flank!" Springing back onto a Levball, Raz tore across the concrete, drifting around the huge Other's berth, peppering its side and rear with a flurry of Psi-blasts, each one hitting harder than the last, to try and divert its attention.

---

Level 3 (XP: 20/30)

Edinburgh MagicaPolis - Aether Paradise

Wonder Red's sudden outburst was, thankfully or otherwise, ignored, and any follow-up was put on hold by Band coming in to pull him back. Red didn't even open his mouth to argue, only nodded thoughtfully. True, he'd nearly sold out their position for no valid reason. He was just not used to running blind.

"Of course," Red agreed, no hint of anger or annoyance to his voice. "I'll handle myself better in the future."

This was put to the test almost immediately, though, once Mewtwo divulged more information. Only the group could hear the Pokemon's thoughts, which was good, considering how dense the crowd still was. Red's face was hard to read as Mewtwo explained the severity of the attack, not just because of his iconic mask, though the more he heard the more Red clenched his fists. It was strange that L took the fight to their home base with a consul other than N, but it wasn't anything he commented on in the moment. He looked back up to the floating Aether Paradise, to Mewtwo, Ace, and finally back to Band.

He straightened his back and raised his chin. "Detective Band. This is a dire situation; Alcamoth has been hit with an attack of an extreme severity. Casualties we are not sure of, even if some of Alcamoth managed to escape. And the civilians..." Wonder Red paused, raising his fist in front of him. "For all we know Alcamoth could be razed to the ground right now. L has to answer for this. As Mewtwo said, L is injured, her main method of attack is hobbled. She can't be expecting news to have reached us - she's holding a public ceremony, so she isn't worried for an attack, meaning she very well could be unprepared for it. I can get us up to the structure from here."

Wonder Red lead into the end of his little speech by turning his gaze to Aether Paradise once more. "This could be our only chance to engage Consul L, Detective Band. If we leave her now, we're giving her the opportunity to recuperate, regain her resources, tuck herself away behind her organization and all its members... whatever the case may be, I trust your judgement," he concluded, meeting Band's gaze, the intensity clear even through the mask.

---

[center]333 Words
+1 EXP

390 Words
+1 EXP

Disc Fall: Fictional Drive (A Multifandom Adventure of Cosmic Proportions!)

Always love crossover goodness so count my hat in the ring

World of Light

Rank 6
34 / 60 EXP

Midgar
Underground Nexus

The platoon's tear through the underground tunnels was proving challenging, but very fruitful. The Others, as bizarre they looked and tricky they were to handle, had been just a step away from being cakewalks for the crew, especially once they joined up with a second platoon to trek further in. He would've chatted more but honestly a lot of his focus was in avoiding the patches of water that were all over the place. And, shooting bad guys, obviously.

Their pass through a strange, red-bathed section of the tunnel, filled with disparate thoughts loosened from the minds of countless others, definitely skeeved Raz out a fair bit. Being reduced to just a mote of intellect or memory, well, it was sorta a psychic's worst nightmare. Luckily they didn't hang around in there for much longer.

Raz noticed the relative lack of Others since the big fight a while ago, assuming they just never stuck around in these back parts for whatever reason. Luka pointed out the tire tracks, and Raz went over to check them out too, squatting down to poke at them, as if that would cause them to reveal their secrets. "Are you sure these aren't like, Other prints? They're all made out've random junk. Some gotta have tires, right?"

It was then that something happened. To put it in more words, a literal stampede of Others emerged from a dark offshoot towards them. Raz sprang into an action-y pose. "Wah! Sorry, it's actually nice junk you guys are made out of!"

Panic compliments aside the fight never actually happened, with Dexio collapsing the entrance before the Vase Paws could make it through. This, of course, had the side effect of collapsing the entire room, with Raz only just managing to roll out from a chunk of concrete that would've turned him into a psychic pancake, and not one of the tasty kind.

"I'm alright," Raz answered through Brain Talk. Luka took control, as leader and all, so Raz hopped up onto a Levball, helping to at least somewhat light the collapsed part of the tunnels they were stuck in now. "Just my luck that we didn't get stuck on the side with the big hole, huh?"

---

Level 3 (XP: 19/30)

Edinburgh MagicaPolis - Aether Paradise

With the night having passed uneventfully for himself and their hideout, Wonder Red was just a smidge eager to get back to action the next morning. 'Action' meant danger and imperilment, most of the time, though Red was more hoping to be of further use to his comrades. Pick up the slack he felt he was giving.

The group gathered to discuss the daily news; the story about N's fight with a woman in green, apparently known by Albedo and Frisk, was noteworthy, but even more pressing for them was the headliner, the "War on Alcamoth". Definitely something to worry about, though with the news only being announced today, surely the campaign has yet to start.

...

Later, when the crew arrived at the hearing Consul L was conducting (Wonder Red still beneath his trusty dull cloak), it was clear that no, actually, whatever this so-called war actually was was actually already over, courtesy of L herself. Wonder Red was taking the statement with a grain of salt, as it was just as likely to be a lie on L's part, though she did appear physically injured, at least from how far away Red could see her. He turned to the others first as L was on her way out, masking the conversation with the din of the crowd.

"What do you all think? Could she be telling the truth? Is there a way to investigate further?"

Before any proper planning could be accomplished, a new figure suddenly appeared beside them, a strange purple-ish beast that Wonder Red recalled was a kind of Pokemon, though he interacted very little with Mewtwo during his short time in Alcamoth. He too was beaten up, and gave Ace a strained look before he collapsed from his injuries. Between that, L's speech, and Ace's sudden shock of whatever Mewtwo's words were, it was clear that something certainly had happened at Alcamoth.

"...it'll be alright," Wonder Red sternly said. "Commander Nelson would have evacuated as many as he could in the Virgin Victory, if anything happened there." The way he said it made it seem more like he was trying to assure himself than the others. For a moment he looked down at the unconscious Mewtwo, then up to Aether Paradise, contemplating something...

And then he dashed away from the others, through the crowd, towards the lake. It wasn't the smartest play, barely even a thought-out one, but Wonder Red couldn't leave without confirmation. He simply couldn't stay blind.

"CONSUL L!"

With all the lung power afforded to the Wonder One-Double-Oh, Wonder Red's voice boomed across the lake, echoing even over the noise of the crowd. Perched on top of the railing that surrounded the lake, Wonder Red leveled a finger up to the platform, vaguely in L's direction, his cloak still wrapped around himself. "What did you do to Alcamoth to ensure its surrender?!"

There was a pause, a moment where Wonder Red's brain caught up with him, as if he left it behind when he first dashed away and it only just returned to him. He followed it up with, "as a concerned citizen of yours I'm... worried, of Alcamoth's retaliation! I need to know how much you've done... to, to keep us safe!"

Ichiban

Lv. 2
████████████████████

Location: The Under - City of Tears

The meeting with IGV and subsequent plans to take on Those That Slither in the Dark were things that Ichiban just, did not have the mental capacity to deal with in the moment. It was a lot, apparently stuff these people have been dealing with for a while, but Ichiban was just some guy bumming around the city doing oddjobs for cash. Not only was he not quite clicking with the politics and deception, he also felt like he simply was out of his depth. He decided to remain quiet for the meeting, and when everyone left the spooky haunted mansion he took his leave, thanking everyone for the opportunity and for having met them.

That was about it for Ichiban's interactions with the Seekers, at least for as long as it took them all to hunt down the Slitherers and strike them off the list. Only when everyone met back up in front of P's tower, ready to continue Gallo's plot, did his mophaired head crop up again.

"Hey guys!" Ichiban strolled up to the group as if they were old friends which, in a way, they were. "See you all are about to go up the tower, huh?" Ichiban craned his neck to look up at the towers, letting out a low whistle. "Geez, that's really high. Hope there's an elevator to it."

An awkwardness emanated from him after that greeting, one which didn't go away as everyone continued chatting and prepping. Eventually, just before things got on a real roll, Ichiban stopped Nadia and Omori away from the rest.

"Hey, look," he began, rubbing his neck, "I know this whole, dealing with the Consul stuff, it's pretty important to ya guys for some reason. But Consul P... he's just a kid. Kids can be mean, sure, get it in their heads they can act however they want, but that's the worst of it. P is that kinda kid given a prime minister's budget, kinda." He looked back up to P's tower, eyes wandering the top floors in search of the elusive Consul.

"And y'know, I don't like judgin' folks too much, but that Gallo guy, he gave me a real weird vibe." What Ichiban wasn't saying was how that weird vibe extended to most of the others too. Nadia and Omori excluded, the other Seekers seemed a little less scrupulous than Ichiban figured heroes should be. Two of them were even cosplaying as some seriously bad dudes for cryin' out loud! Shaking his head, Ichiban kept on rambling.

"Look, you guys gotta do what you gotta do. I just wanted to try an' say... P just needs to get put in his place. Y'can't hurt him too badly, or let Gallo do whatever he wants to. Guy's got some serious hate on this kid, it's kinda freaky." He looked back to the others nearer to the gate. "Guess I can't really stop you either way."

---

701 Words
+1 EXP

549
+1 EXP

497
+1 EXP

World of Light

Rank 6
28 / 60 EXP

Midgar, Suoh
The Otherlobe -> Clearing Party

Quick to realize the problem with standing still on a battlefield, Raz leapt off the post, just in time for the lightning to spark past him, making the hairs on his neck stand straight.

"O-kay, point taken!"

Raz stumbled into some ankle-height water, luckily not enough to summon the Hand of Galochio, but he still jumped out onto a raised platform as fast as he could - only just avoiding another zap to electrify the wide puddle he was in. "And here I was thinking water couldn't get any worse," he quipped.

Not alone for long, Raz hopped onto his Levball and launched up into the air to meet Peach as she float over. "Sakura!" He wasn't calling for their actual teammate of course, instead borrowing her power of Levitation. Like, sure, he was levitating too, but that was a different kind of levitation! One he needed, as, after the default Vision of Sakura appeared in the air next to him ("Here to help.") at the peak of his jump, his fall stalled. Raz was now floating, for real!

...though he didn't have much control of it. Whether from Sakura's inexperience with her new psychic abilities or his inexperience with this brand of levitation, Raz couldn't really maneuver in the air, leaving him to lazily forward at an even level. He twisted and turned midair, only succeeding in spinning him around like he was in anti-gravity.

As Raz passed by Peach above the battlefield, slowly rotating upside down, he shrugged. "Eh, better than nothin'." Following up Peach's volley on the Rummies below, Raz began peppering them with numerous Blasts once more, raining them down from above at a fast fire rate, helped in part by the subtle annoyance Raz felt in his failure to levitate properly. Together they literally rained firepower down on the group, with Raz twisting and spinning away from any bolts of lightning shot his way.

---

327 Words
+1 EXP

World of Light

Level 3 (XP: 18/30)

Edinburgh MagicaPolis - Hideout

In the aftermath of their fight against their pursuers, Wonder Red noted Albedo's reaction to Frisk and Nightingale. While he didn't mean for his attack to bring much harm to the man, Red couldn't deny that he was getting careless. The whole situation was something he hadn't trained for, so he couldn't rely on what he learned from the CENITNELS for everything.

Reexamining his stance on how he proceeded, Wonder Red followed the rest as Albedo led them to their hideout, a cozy-looking restaurant helmed by an elderly cat. Wonder Red thanked her for her hospitality and discretion as everyone settled in to rest and formulate their next movements.

First matter of business was interrogating Sierra, who unfortunately didn't have much information on hand. Nothing that gleaned much light on the biggest mysteries the team had at least. "Consul N? Are they in charge of this region too, alongside L?" They didn't have a lot of information on the Consuls before coming here, and if Alcamoth gained any itself since they departed, they had no way of knowing. Red continued, "it sounds to me that Consul N didn't have much of a plan in dealing with us in spite of having one prepared for us in the Metro, meaning we're a rogue element to them. Either that or the impromptu attack was a method of testing us. He also doesn't have a way to follow our movements... outside of simply asking." Wonder Red nodded to Sierra. "We'll have to be more secretive of our actions from here on." Wonder Red pulled out a pamphlet from somewhere on his person. "If everyone could read these infographs on non-verbal military communication then we could effectively--"

Red's planned night of rigorous war-time lessons were unsurprisingly (to everyone but him) shot down. Trying very hard not to look disappointed he put the pamphlets away again. "...ahem. Very well then."

Even with the hideout supposedly safe, Wonder Red didn't want to take anything to chance, especially with their presence made known very destructively. "I'm going to keep watch for the night, in case anyone tries to hunt us down."

Grabbing a generic shawl from Grammeowster to hide his very noteworthy attire, Red took a seat in the restaurant near a window and settled in for a stakeout, keeping careful eye on any patrons that came in, or any goings-on happening just outside.

---

403 Words
+1 EXP

World of Light

Rank 6
26 / 60 EXP

Midgar, Suoh
The Otherlobe -> Clearing Party

Oh, that was a lot easier than he was expecting. Maybe political espionage isn't all that tricky to do? Classic military-industrial complex move to make something seem super complicated just to get a bigger budget.

With the info leaked and about probably one person in Psych-OSF the wiser, Raz retraced his invisible steps back to the Cafeteria, though luckily he could make a shorter trip to the restrooms and exit from there to really sell the "I had to go to the bathroom real bad" alibi, as humiliating a cover that made.

"Oof, stay away from the french toast," Raz said to some passing breakfast-goers to really sell it. Of course Raz hadn't eaten any breakfast, and before he could chow down on anything, the squad was on the move.

Fighting eldritch monsters on an empty stomach? How hard could it be?

* * *

In a flash of spectacular psychic displacement, their platoon found themselves on a small concrete island within some dank, flooded tunnels. Seeing the terrain Raz grumbled. "Oh great." He scratched at his chest nervously. "Uhh, me and water don't do well together, so... are there any Other fish things we have to worry about?"

Luka mentioned his own ability to teleport, which Raz was all-too eager to try out. Teleportation was a power he never got the opportunity to try before, despite being sorta-mentored by Ford Cruller, teleportationist extraordinaire. It reminded him that he hadn't updated the old man in a while - even if Ford could see plenty through Raz's eyes, a verbal debriefing never hurt. Plus, he had to figure out where Ford was at!

All things for later, of course. For now Raz followed suit, utilizing the SAS connection to near effortlessly follow Luka to their next vantage point. "Whoa, that was awesome!" Raz did a little three-step dance in place, the young Psychonaut utterly ecstatic to be living his lifelong dream, even if it was a little to the left of what he was used to.

Making their way further through the tunnel, Raz - sticking to the railtracks and small bits of debris to stand on - tried a little something. Every since he'd been connected to SAS there was a fuzziness in his brain. Something in there felt loose, not in a loose screws kinda way, but more like a plug that wasn't quite in all the way. "Peach, Sakura," Raz thought to his two conspirators. "I think..." There was a slight static of interference as, for a brief moment, Raz mentally shifted the psychic transmitter stuck in his noggin (however SAS truly functioned) into a new 'port'. "Okay, I think that you guys can use my kind of Levitation now! I dunno how it works but, I don't really have ONE psychic power like you or the others have, so it sorta feels like I can kind of choose which one to provide? Psychic mumbo jumbo, it's more a feeling than anything, but try it out! You can levitate over water. I can't, but that's, uh, that's a me thing."

Eventually they came across a more open area, and here is where they first caught sight of the Others. Seemed like a pretty small group, though it wasn't like this was all that'd be in there. "We shouldn't spend too much energy dealing with these guys," Raz messaged the platoon, "let's pick them off one at a time, don't let them group up." Not that he was the leader or anything. Hopefully Luka could do with a tactician.

Raz hopped onto one of the above-water tracks, grinding fast down the tunnel towards one of the Rummies, zipping towards it with a quick Mental Connection. He slammed into its body at full force, using the momentum to spring further up into the air. He took aim mid-flip, nailing the Rummie with a volley of Blasts, before finishing the flip by landing on top of a lightpost. "Can't reach me here, can you?" He taunted, continuing to fire at it, and any others his hit-and-run attracted. Even if he didn't do much damage to them on his own, the quick shots were sure to set them up for his teams' attacks.

---

713 Words
+1 EXP

World of Light

Ichiban

Lv. 1
██████████

Location: The Under - City of Tears

Omori (@Majoras End), Koopa Troop (@DracoLunaris), Ganondorf (@Double)
- - -

When confronted over his breakfast-time thievery, Ichiban gave a sheepish look. "It's... free, right? Is there, like, a rule against takin' too much?" He looked down at his plate of half-eaten foods sadly, setting it down on one of the buffet tables, defeated by this supposed rule. He kept the stuff he put in his pockets, though.

"Mornin', Omori!" Ichiban greeted the monochrome kid, chomping on a piece of bacon he retrieved from his forgotten plate. What, he wasn't going to let bacon go to waste, was he? "Hope y'had a nice night. It's been forever since I slept in a place like this. Definitely better than getting rained..." His rambling slowed to a halt as his brain caught up with his eyes, staring wide at the ominous shadow, er, shadowing Omori. For a second he stood there, silent, then let out a sigh of relief as other people commented on it. "Phew, so I'm not going crazy here," he muttered. Omori didn't seem too bothered by it, but Ichiban kept his eye on this whatever-the-hell.

As it happened he was roped into the group's meeting, or at least he wasn't kicked out of it and decided to stick around. Not that it really meant anything to Ichiban. Three masks? Black Egg? Flame clocks? The talk of Consuls was a little more understandable, though Ichiban wasn't as familiar with them as far as them being some dudes in charge of a lot of stuff. And while he figured the talk of "this world" was just a funny manner of speech for these guys, there was enough of a grasp on the general concept for him to kinda follow along.

"So what you're sayin' is," Ichiban butted in, "these Consul guys are forcing all the folks that follow them to keep fighting each other? An endless gang war to keep them from crumblin'?" Ichiban crossed his arms and rubbed his chin. "Damn. If I'dve known what these guys were up to sooner I would've talked to them. That's no way to be runnin' things. The boss needs to look out for the people under him, not just use them for his own gain." Maybe not quite grasping the severity of things, but the sentiment resonated with the team's mission all the same.

Nadia offered to let him tag along. Ichiban chuckled nervously. "Who, me? I mean, sure, if you think I can help. A lotta what you guys were talking about, I honestly didn't understand it. But I'm always willing to lend a hand!"

They got underway, heading off to continue their quest, and on the way to meet IGV Ichiban struck up conversation with some of the other Seekers - namely Bowser's posse and Ganondorf.

"Hey guys," he said, excitement clear on his face. "Those're some great costumes! That Bowser suit looks super realistic, and your hair for Ganondorf, how long did that take to do?" Seemed he was nerding out over the pair, for... some reason.

* * *

With a short walk through the marketplace that was the Collection, Ichiban, Nadia, and the others arrived at the meeting spot their mysterious messenger said. A spooky mansion. Not the most comforting place to meet a stranger, though maybe that was the point. It wasn't like folks would be waltzing through and interrupting things in there.

Though just getting to the meeting was difficult on its own. The spooky building was full of weird things!

This is the riveting narration you get with Ichiban, here.

"The hell?!" Ichiban, as simple and down-to-earth as he appeared to be, had never encountered anything close to the spirits that popped up inside - it was a wonder how he was justifying their existence. Whatever the case he was quick to pick up a dusty stool from the ground and hold it up like a weapon.

"You sure this wasn't just a trap to get you guys with?" He asked as the group made their way through the ghosts, Ichiban a lot less flashy than the rest as he merely batted things away when they got too close, decently strong about it. "Like, this IGV guy could be workin' with the Consul?"

He didn't have nearly enough pieces to be speculating with, but Ichiban was a man who followed his gut, and right now his gut was saying how bad of an idea this was. Nobody was willing to just turn back though, so he stuck with them. Eventually they encountered a huge, monstrous mutt-looking creature, and Nadia prepared to do away with her only weapon to get rid of it.

"Whoa whoa, hold on!" Ichiban leapt in front of her, arms raised to get her to hold it. "Here, lemme try somethin'." Turning to face Endogeny Ichiban knelt down onto one knee. "Hey there, boy... or girl... you here all by yourself?" As he talked gently to the dog monster he reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a pair of sausages he swiped from breakfast, looking as clean and hot as when he first stuffed them inside. "Here, how about some food? Nice sausages like these, bet you don't get them often in here, huh?"

---

879 Words
+2 EXP
LEVEL UP!

World of Light

Rank 6
24 / 60 EXP

Midgar, Suoh
The Otherlobe

Raz had an uneventful sleep, the excitement of the day and what was to follow not keeping him up. Well, not much at least. There was a good minute or so of laying in bed, staring up at the bunk above him with anxiousness. The reality of things were starting to settle on him now that the action was done with. He was a spy. Maybe not in an official sort of sense, but he was inside the Psych-OSF as a kind of double agent, or interloper, whatever the right word was. In a way he was being an actual Psychonaut, against the Psychonauts!

In a way at least.

Raz woke up before he even realized he fell asleep. It almost felt like he didn't, instead the day changed over and he was less exhausted. Weird feeling.

Meeting up with the other two in the cafeteria, Raz was a little surprised they hadn't run into each other at the outfitter, since they had all opted to change before heading over here. "Hey guys!" Raz hurried across the room to Peach and Sakura. His new uniform was a touch more practical than either of theirs, or at least it wasn't as impractical; a gray peacoat that reached his knees, under which he wore a black tactical turtleneck and a similar pair of some sorta cargo pants with kneepads. He swapped out his dress shoes for some boots, a dull red that matched his new gloves and messenger bag. He still kept his trusty helmet, though.

"Guess we all had the same idea, huh? I'm not great at picking out clothes for myself, but I think I did an... okay? Job." He looked over himself, giving his new duds a few tugs to fit right. "Kinda surprised they had things in my size! Well, my size-ish."

The three met up with Luka, were introduced to two of their other platoon members, and then Luka revealed that he would round the group out as the leader. A part of Raz had hoped that his experience in the old Psychonauts meant he could be the leader, but he set that disappointment aside for now. "I'm Razputin, but everyone calls me Raz. You guys ready for today? Operation... Scour, was it? Do we know a lot about it yet? We only just got recruited yesterday and didn't get much time for a briefing, eheh."

When everyone left to get their breakfast Raz sent a short psychic message to Peach and Sakura, bypassing the platoon's Brain Speak with his own psychic capabilities. "Before things kick off I'm going to sneak out. Get all the Psych-OSF info we have to the others... somehow." Hopefully Giovanna and her organization planned for an information relay with them!

Dipping away from the group when their focus was drawn to the breakfast line Raz made for the exit. The Otherlobe had a near identical layout to the Motherlobe, so it wouldn't be hard for him to find his way, but the tricky part would be leaving without being seen. Luckily, the familiar psychic training seemed to have knocked something loose in his mind...

Power Get!

Invisibility

Raz can turn invisible for a short period of time, perfectly hidden from sight - coupled with his mental defenses, he was borderline untraceable. His inexperience with the power limits some of its use however, as he can only turn invisible in short bursts, remaining that way for up to 15 seconds before the power fizzles out.

Ducking behind a potted plant in the atrium Raz popped his newly recovered ability, disappearing from view entirely. Time was of the essence now; he made a break for the Otherlobe's exit hatch, slipping down the tube and through the lobby as quick and quietly as he could, while also avoiding the bodies of staff and soldiers milling around.

Without much time left to spare Raz rushed from the Otherlobe, racing as far away from it as he could in the last remaining moments of invisibility, before finally leaping sideways into an abandoned alleyway between some surrounding buildings. He popped back into visible form, flat against the wall. "Hoo boy. I really need to train on that one..." He muttered, sidling sideways to make sure he was out of view a bit more.

"Okay." Raz surveyed the area. "If I was a secret informant wanting information on the goings-on of a military organization on the cusp of serious business, where would I hide...?"

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760 Words
+2 EXP